Embrace the Mess

Not long ago I came across a quote that instantly spoke to me, "Embrace the Mess!" These 3 words nearly slapped me in the face when I read them. You see, I'm a bit of a neat freak. Okay, maybe not just a bit; I'm a total neat freak! (I get it from my mom, she's the same way.) Some people would call it OCD. I like things to be in their place and for everything to be clean, picked up, and neat. While this can be a good quality to have, it can also sometimes drive a person crazy. As other moms know, it's almost impossible for everything to be in order all the time when you've got a busy toddler at home.

So, I decided to make this "embrace the mess" a new goal for myself. I even had the above print made to hang in our gallery wall in the living room as a reminder. I'm slowly trying to teach myself to embrace the mess. It's often much easier said than done, especially when you prefer things to be in their proper places. My husband often reminds me that Southern Living isn't coming for our home photo-shoot. The fingerprints on the doors, stainless steel appliances, and windows, along with the toys in the floor, are little reminders that our house is filled with joy and love. These little things are also reminders that we are blessed with the gift of being parents to a healthy and precious child. Once every other week, the fingerprints and smears are gone for maybe a day or two after the housekeeper makes her stop by our house. During the time in between her visits, I'm learning to let it go and embrace it all. Our house is a home, and it's the place where we live. I want Mac and our other future children to have good memories from home. I want them to feel like we lived in our home, and have fond memories of it. I want them to remember the times that their mama played with them or cooked their favorite meals, not all the times she spent cleaning up their messes.

Now don't get me wrong, I am still a neat freak. I struggle with embracing the mess almost daily. At the end of the evening before I go to bed, I pick things up and put them in their proper places. We're also teaching Mac how to pick up after himself, and put things away once he's finished with it. I'm just trying to loosen up and live in the moment instead of worrying about the house being in perfect condition all of the time. Because as much I hate to think about, I know deep down that far too soon this little boy will be a big boy and one day our house be too neat and too quiet, so for now we will embrace the mess.

Life with a 16 month old.

This week our little nugget turns 16 months old. He's growing up right before our eyes, and some days it doesn't seem possible that over a year has gone by. Mac is Mr. Independent! He is so much fun, but can also be quite the handful at times. Getting to watch him learn new things, and grow is one of our greatest blessings! He is in to everything, eats like a big boy, and can say lots of words. At his 15 month check up, he was in the 90% for weight and 95% for height. He is a growing, busy boy!

Being a mama to an active toddler some days is just flat out hard. At 16 months, he knows exactly what he wants but just doesn't know how to always tell us. This little boy can have quite the temper at times, and knows how to throw a mean fit when things don't go his way. He understands everything we say, but doesn't always make the best choices. Discipline has been challenging, but we're learning what works. He tests his daddy and my patience almost daily, but is the funniest little. He runs fast and screams loud. We've had to fully "child proof" our house, as he is in to everything. He's now tall enough to sit things on the counter tops, and just recently learned he can open doors; so he keeps us on our toes. He is quite the ham, and is ALL boy!

Mac, we love you to the moon! XOXO

nothing worth having comes easy.

It's often said that nothing worth having comes easy. Sure, we've all heard this a time or two, or three... Before Clete and I were ever married, I knew having a good marriage would take hard work. As I knew this before being a wife, and even have known the work it takes in the 4 years we've been married, I never realized how much harder it gets when you throw a child in to the mix. For the first almost 3 years, it was just the two of us. We could do whatever, whenever we pleased. Then, along came our little nugget! 

I never understood before how couples could be married for many years, and then once their children are grown they split up. How can you be married for 20+ years and then just let that go? I get it now though, it happens because once children come into the picture it's so easy to get caught up in the routine. If you constantly just go through the motions of everyday life and don't make time for your marriage then it will suffer. 

I'll be honest, I'm guilty of sometimes not making enough time for my husband. You might think to yourself, "make time for your husband?" but once you have a child it'll make sense to you if it doesn't already. Being a parent can often times be exhausting. Even though our children are our biggest blessings, they're also a lot of work. Especially a 14 month old who's in to everything. After a full day at the office and an evening of being mama, sleep sounds better than sex. I'm just being honest here.

As we celebrate our 4th anniversary this upcoming week, I look back and see that this past year of our marriage has been the most difficult. It hasn't been bad, it's just had challenges simply because we've had to adjust to having a little one in the house and figuring out how to make time to nurture our marriage. Though it's been difficult to figure it all out, this past year we've grown and learned more about us than any other year. We've learned that it is amazing what good communication and a little time together after the baby goes to bed can do for our relationship. It can be as simple as sitting on the couch and watching a tv show together. We've still got a lot to learn, but we've already agreed we don't want to be those people that don't even know each other anymore after the kids are grown. May we always remember that we vowed to take this journey together. We want our marriage to thrive for as long as we both are living, so we will put in the work it takes to have that. It won't always be easy, but as they say nothing worth having comes easy.

Birthday Wish List

March is sneaking in on us in just a couple days, and that also means my birthday is just around the corner! 27 is going to be a hard year to top with all the excitement we had adding a little one to our family, but I know 28 is going to be great! I've put together a small list of wants I'd love to be gifted so if anyone wants to inform my husband that would be much appreciated. Here's my wish list...

  

tory burch miller sandals | kendra scott elle earings 

Hunter rain boots | stella & dot bracelets | 50 mm camera lens

1. Tory Burch Miller Sandals. I've been eyeing these sandals for quite some time! My mom and sister both have them, and I want to add them to my shoe collection. Plus, they're the perfect sandal for our upcoming beach trip as they can be dressed up or worn casual. 

2. 50 mm camera lens. I have come to have a new love for dslr. After attending the Tulsa Mamarazzi workshop in January, I use my camera all the time. I would love to have this little gem that came highly recommended from the workshop leaders. I also need to make the purchase of a lens protector to prevent the lens from getting scratched.

3. Hunter rain boots. I've been wanting a pair of these for a while now. The rain boots I have I got when I was in high school, and that was 10+ years ago, so I think it's almost safe to say these would be considered a need! 

4. Kendra Scott Elle earrings. Kendra Scott just recently came to OKC and I've been dying to add some of her adorable and stylish jewelry to my collection but I've had a hard time deciding what I should buy. I've decided I want to add the "elle earring" in black since it will go with 90% of my wardrobe. Anyone who knows me well, knows that black is my preference when it come to clothing color. 

5. stella & dot bracelets. The gold "spike" bracelet has been on my want list for quite some time, but other things seem to come up that are greater wants. 

So those are a few of the things I'm wishing for this birthday. What kinds of things have been on your wish list?