Currently {7}

Thinking about: Ted's first birthday! It's just around the corner! When I think about this past year, there are moments I feel like it flew by and others where I feel like it was moving at a snail's pace. I love those sweet newborn snuggles so much, but I am loving this infant stage even more. Ted changes so much every single day now. He loves to try and stand by himself...sometimes successful, sometimes not. He loves digging out handfuls of Cheerios from his snack cup. He thinks it's pretty cool he can hold on to his cup all by himself. He claps when I get him up from his nap, change his diaper, or take his towel out for bath time. I absolutely love this time with him. He definitely keeps me on my toes, but I honestly can't imagine it any other way! I look forward every day to see what he will learn or discover and I feel so much tremendous pride when he learns something new. The day he clapped for the first time, I felt like he found the cure for cancer...that's how excited I was. First time mom...what can I say? ;-)

Reading: Still on my book with my women's group. I'm really just not great at reading books like this. Why you ask?! Because I feel the entire book can usually be summed up in a chapter or two. However, it's also part of my Lenten commitment, so I am bound and determined to finish...I have three weeks! Eek!

Listening to: Getting my Lent on by listening to my dear friend Ike Ndolo's River album. It's been awhile since I've listened and it's just so awesome and so good for my soul right now. If you are in a mid-Lenten funk, this will get you through, I promise.

Watching: We rented Gravity and Delivery Man from Redbox and I actually stayed awake! Well, I guess I had to rewatch the end of Delivery Man Saturday morning, but close enough. I thought Delivery Man would be a little funnier, but it was still good. I'm always a fan of Vince Vaughn.

Also getting excited for the finale of HIMYM!! I'm sad to see it end, but really looking forward to see how Ted and his lady finally meet. I am a sucker for sappy comedies such as this. I heart Ted Mosby. I may or may not have named my son after him... ;-)

Thankful for: Relaxing weekends with my favorite boys. We had nothing on our agenda this weekend...nothing. And it was so sweet and wonderful. We went out for fish on Friday night and watched movies. We had an impromptu breakfast at the park after Jason's haircut. We also went to scope out a good spot at another park for Ted's birthday in a few weeks. I love weekends like this. Jason leaves for work before Ted wakes up in the morning and there are times he is even napping when he gets home. I love when we get to spend this time together as a family, especially with Ted learning new things every day!

Happy week everyone!

Currently {6}

Thinking about: Family. We just said goodbye to my parents after an awesome week. This is the first time they've been out here since Ted was born. We've been to Iowa to visit a few times and we also saw them in Mexico for my sister's wedding, but this is the first time they got to see Ted's room, play with all his toys and basically run his household. :)

We had such a fun week! We went to a few Spring Training games, the State Capitol Museum, the zoo and fun walks around the neighborhood. The weather was perfect, a welcome break from the midwest tundra, and Ted loved all the attention from his Grandma and Papa!

I absolutely loved it. I grew up in a very close extended family and it breaks my heart all the time that we don't get to see them every day. I cling to and cherish these moments with family.

Reading: I mentioned before that one of my lenten goals is reading (and finishing) a book. My women's group just started Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs. We don't have a great track record for following through with reading books together. Hopefully Lent gives us the grace of discipline to all finish...I'm on chapter 1.

Listening to: Silence and I love it. It was a crazy, fun, noisy and wonderful week, but I am enjoying the silence...for right now :)

Watching: Survivor. I am a Survivor nerd, so much that I am even in a Survivor Pool every season. I have yet to win, I usually come in 4th. I have watched since the second season and I love it!

Thankful for: My wonderful family. As crazy, imperfect, and flawed as we all are, they are mine and I am thankful for the ability to love them exactly where they are at and thankful they love me the same in return. Ted is very lucky to have such a big and wonderful extended family and I hope he gets to be as close to them as I was growing up.

Currently {5}

Thinking about LENT. I've mentioned before that I love the season of Lent. It is my favorite season of the Church. Something about the grace that comes with making (small) sacrifices. I always have trouble deciding what to do for Lent. There's the general giving up sweets, which I always try to do. Mostly because I have a serious sweet tooth and I always need to eat better. It's kind of ridiculous and often I am not allowed to go to the store by myself. The more important reason is that to me it's a sign of simplifying my life. Taking out the unnecessary/time wasting parts of my day and filling them with things that have more meaning. 

So along with the sweets, my Lenten commitments are:

 1) get up every day by 6:30. I am truly blessed to have a baby that sleeps until 7:30 most mornings and I have taken advantage of that. The excuse of sleeping until he wakes up was that he was still waking in the middle of the night or I worked late. Both of those excuses are long gone. My goal is spend some quiet time in the morning in prayer/reading.

2) attend daily Mass. I love the Mass. I love the simplicity and quiet of daily Mass. I have not been in years since I was teaching. With one babe in tow I think I should be able to accomplish this.

3) read a book. I still haven't finished Dad is Fat. It's ridiculous. Time to become a reader again. My goal is to also read a spiritual book. I have a stack of books I own that I have never read. I'll let you know which one I picked. :)

4) this is probably the most important one...no more Candy Crush. Beyond ridiculous. It's a serious love/hate relationship with that stupid game. I tried to finish the whole game before Lent, but I got stuck on the damn cake bombs. It was (sort of) fun, Candy Crush, but it's goodbye...for now ;-)

Reading SEE ABOVE.

Listening to a very fussy little boy...I'd say he's teething, but I've said that lots of times and the kid still doesn't have any teeth. But recently I cannot do anything unless he is sleeping. For the most part I don't mind leaving the laundry that needs folding, the dishes that need to be put away or the cleaning that needs to be done. It just makes me sad that I don't really know what's wrong with him. Maybe teeth? Maybe sick? Maybe he just doesn't want to be without his mama? ;-)

Watching the Oscars. I know I'm about a day late (more like 4 days late) and a dollar short. First I was supposed to be working on Sunday night, but ended up sicker than sick all. night. long. It was the sickest I have ever been and I think I lost 5 pounds...we'll just leave it at that. But, the Oscars! I used to be the biggest movie buff and still have a dream of being a seat-filler someday, but I can't seem to pay attention to movies anymore (Candy Crush might have something to do with that). I have seen not a one nomination, yet somehow all the acceptance speeches had me bawling. That and "Wind Beneath my Wings"...a serious mess. 

But then how funny was Ellen?! I loved that she ordered pizza! Luckiest pizza driver ever! Anyone else notice the seat-filler who got in on the action?! I think he was in for Matthew McConaughey. Lucky duck.

Thankful for my new job. I absolutely love it. Truly it's the best of both worlds for us. I get to spend most of my days with Ted and then I get to go and tutor kids for about 6 hours a week. I am using my education to help kids who need it and help provide for my family. My dear friend watches Ted about 3 hours a week until Jason gets home and then we watch her daughter on Friday mornings. Ted and Bridget are besties and it is the cutest thing to see them play together! I am so thankful that it allows me to hang out with a sweet little teething grumpy Gus as long as he needs.

 Ted and his bestie

 Pretty much his worst day ever

Better days :)