Ramblings.

My instagram picture from tonight, with the caption: "catching up on my blog, researching organizing ideas, and drinking my new favorite tea (stash chai - decaf!).  my kind of night."

Some recent thoughts/ramblings...

• I want to get better at blogging fast.  The purpose of this blog is really a memory keeper.  I want to preserve our days, the little moments and the big moments.  And I want to preserve them while they're still fresh and new in my head.  I get overwhelmed if I get behind, and think that I have to catch up with everything before I go on.  I'm going to try and get better about this.  I don't need to post everything.  I'd rather just not worry about that, but instead to just blog as life happens.  
• Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light"...I have been thinking about this verse for a few days.  God's invitation for us to come to Him, as we are...in our exhaustion, in our confusion, in our mess.  I love this.  I tend to try and "fix" myself and come to God after...but that is so backwards.  He wants me to come to Him first.  What an amazing God we serve.  Sometimes I just get blown away by the relationship He desires with us.
• We got an Omaha Children's Museum membership!  We have already gone a couple of times.  Cruz loves it!  I'm not regretting getting a membership at all...we will totally get our money's worth.  What a great way to get out during these cold winter months.
• It has been one year since I quit my job. :)  I can't believe a year has passed already.  I can honestly say that I am loving being a stay-at-home Mom.  That doesn't mean that there aren't hard days...or I should say hard moments (they happen everyday!), but I wouldn't trade this job for anything.  I love that I have been able to be with Eva for her first full year of life without handing her over to someone else during the day.  I am so grateful to my awesome hubby for working so hard to make this possible. He is one busy guy, and his hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed.  He works two jobs and still comes home and wrestles with Cruz and dances with his little girl. :)  His drive and commitment inspire me constantly.
• I've started watching Parenthood on nights that Tyler has to work late or is out of town.  I'm addicted.  It is such a good show full of real-life moments. 
• I recently cleaned out my kitchen cabinets and drawers.  And man did that feel good.  I don't even know the last time that I did that.  And then tonight...I ordered some new drawer liners.  I get a little giddy about things like that. :) 
• Tyler and I went on a belated anniversary date a couple weeks ago (that's what happens when your son's birthday is the same day as your anniverary).  It was SO good to go out with him, just the two of us.  (another goal of mine this year - make those nights happen more often!).  We went to Bonefish Grill for the first time.  It was so yummy.  I am craving their Bang-Bang Shrimp right now.  Then we went to see Argo.  We hardly ever go to see movies in the theater so that was a treat.  We even got a huge bowl of popcorn...I mean huge.  I came out of the bathroom and busted out laughing when I saw Tyler holding the huge bowl.  I don't think we even ate half of it. :)  
• I'm realizing how much of an organizing nerd I am.  I can't get enough of the organizing blogs as of late.  Tonight I wrote down all of the birthdays/anniversaries in a new spreadsheet for my household binder.  Am hoping that this will help me be better about getting cards out - in time!  I am horrible at that. 
• One of my new-found loves...running.  I started last summer and worked myself up to running 3-4 miles at a time.  I took a little bit of a break over the holidays and am trying to get back into it now.  I want to run my first 5K this year. 
• I love love love our community at Relevant.  I am so thankful for the people there. 
• I've been feeling pretty nostalgic about how quickly Cruz is growing up lately.  He's been watching old videos on my phone (he asks to do this almost daily) and seeing how little he was and how grown-up he is now is crazy.  I freak out sometimes thinking about how little time I really have with him before he's grown.  Am I teaching him what he needs to know?  Am I being a good example?  Do I get after him too much about silly things that don't really matter?  Oh I am constantly asking myself these kinds of questions...and am constantly learning new things about myself through this crazy job called parenthood.  Things that I don't like very much.  Things that I need help on bigtime.  I am so thankful that I'm not doing this alone.  
• The theme this year at Relevant is "Slow Down, Grow Deep".  And I feel like that is very much what I need to focus on.  So often I find myself hurrying through my days...I'm always telling Cruz to "hurry".  But really, why?  I don't want to rush through these days so much that I miss out on the mini stories, the relationships, and the things that God wants to teach me and use me in.  I am very task oriented and can very easily miss these kinds of moments.  My prayer is that God would teach me to slow way down...to be able to see what's right in front of me and for me to listen to Him each and everyday.   

LONG post. :)

so, this will show you what we've been up to in the last few weeks...i love having a decent camera on my phone to catch all the fun moments.

eating chocolate chip banana bread. what a messy, messy boy!

decorating easter eggs!!

showing me his artwork.

the finished line-up.

i took him to get his hair cut the day before easter...i couldn't take it anymore! i loved how it looked right after we washed it, but it was so hard to control every other day. :) i like the cut though, she did a good job. it's still kind of long.

opening his easter baskets from his grandma's. he opened them the day after easter because he had way too much candy from the hunt on easter! (pics to come).

lovin the bunny glasses. thanks, grandma jackson!

and of course, stickers. thanks, grandma titus!

flowers from my bosses on administrative professional's day. aren't they gorgeous? i have awesome bosses.

we took a trip to the zoo last friday morning...i think he was most excited about the chickens :)

making homemade playdough! so easy and so fun.

cruz can't stand to have sand in his sandals. he has to take his sandals off all the time at the park and shake out the sand. hopefully this little habit won't last long!

everyday moments.

our life...i love it.

cruz's new love...stickers.

he is getting better at brushing his teeth. boy was it a challenge to get him to brush at first.

this pic cracks me up. look at that belly!

he loves to read books. i love that he loves to read books.

intently working on some valentines.

his attention span probably lasted a minute or so on this project.

what a little cheeseball.

tyler's grandparents came to town a little over a week ago for a quick trip. we enjoyed spending time together one evening. they hadn't been to our house since cruz was born! cruz loved grandma letha. we enjoyed a nice meal out to red lobster that evening. it was so good!

making valentine cookies!

ps - i learned something about myself that night. i have a hard time just letting go and getting messy in a kitchen with a toddler. i had to keep reminding myself that it was ok that we were both covered in flour, that the floor was covered in flour, that the cookies weren't getting decorated...just squashed and broken....and that the sprinkles were getting everywhere. we had fun, but it's not an everyday thing for me. :) i do wish i could just let go...another thing to work on!

being a goof.

don't let this picture fool you...this didn't last very long. :)

so...do you know what is happening in this picture? we were at the mall and he was getting bored. so cruz figured he needed to entertain himself. how, you ask? by filling his boot up with popcorn. then taking it out and eating it. oh yeah. we got a kick out if it.

at the westroads mall play area. one of our favorite spots in the winter.

hanging out with his buddy nathan at the mall. my friend brooke and i enjoyed a nice friday morning with our boys at the mall. it was good to catch up. isn't her little boy adorable?

the stubborn balloon.

ok. this balloon has been up since cruz's birthday party...it has been almost two months. isn't that a little long? it's now a game...to see how long it will stay up. it doesn't want to die. i can't bear to throw it away. plus, cruz still loves it. he giggles so hard when we pull it down and hit his face with it. :)