S W E E T – – – Lots of sweet to share this week. We welcomed spring with wide open arms + a smile on our face. – We have some of the worlds greatest friends. We met some new ones this week + I am pretty over the moon about them. Another Instagram success story posted up in chalk. These incredible friends make living away from my family much more bearable. I know it comes out of my mouth often, but it warms my heart to watch my kids become buddies with my own friends. So rewarding. – HELLO favorite weather of the year!! We find every excuse to meet up with our pals outside for crackers + juice. – Still daydreaming of our own back yard, but I tell ya, the sound of the city buzzing from our open windows fills that void in my mind for now. – Riggy’s bottom chompers broke through last night but he was too busy doing pushups to notice. We moved his crib into our bedroom + I melt every time I see him peeping at me over the bar. His smile! If you even glance at him, he giggles. I love his laugh + I love that Jonah makes him laugh the very hardest. – Grandma + Grandpa came to sleep over. – I didn’t leave the wash in the washer ONCE. That’s a record for me. – Lastly, we scored 7 maple bars at Smith’s the other night for $1.25!! Just what we needed before bed.

When it comes to holiday traditions, I usually stick to what I knew growing up. Holidays were never brushed under the rug. My mom changed decorations for every single one + I love her even more for it now. I want my kids to be able to say the same thing when they are older. St Patricks Day was no exception. My mom would make us green eggs with bacon + green pancakes with a green cup of green milk. Green. Lots of green. We wore green, we ate green + although I’m certain we didn’t take pictures of our food, I still remember it vividly. I had every single intention of recreating this green breakfast yesterday, but I was sound asleep when Jon left for work. {palm + forehead unite} Jonah, my food twin, loves his cereal. He had a bowl of Lucky Charms + didn’t think twice about it so I called it good. I printed out a couple of coloring pages from pinterest for him to color, which is actually kind of funny because he’s not usually into coloring, but since he thought the pot of gold was a bucket of golf balls, he was totally digging it! We hand delivered it to Jon with a pot of green hi-chews. His favorite candy in the entire world. {My very very very LEAST favorite candy, might I selfishly add. Hello worst.breath.ever.} Once he got home, we found the perfect excuse for a Sweet Pork Salad run + we had a festive “green” dinner at home, as a family. I whipped up some green milk for desert + then boys went to bed – jiggety jig. That’s our St Patricks day in a nutshell. Now lets break it down a little deeper shall we?

hi there. ‘tas been a while, eh? i’ve been missing you lately. but i’m not going to lie, at first i didn’t really miss you at all. i enjoy blogging. in fact, i really love it. i especially enjoy my family. i enjoy sharing our adventures. i enjoy taking pictures + i also enjoy editing them. it’s the pressure that i don’t enjoy. did you know that there is pressure that comes along with blogging? maybe it’s just me, i’m not really sure. but during this break that i’ve taken away from it all, i’ve tried to honestly pinpoint exactly what this pressure even is. where does it come from? what does it mean? does everyone feel it? here is the definition that i came up with.

it’s me. it’s my pride. it’s my perfectionism. it’s my crazy overprotective-mom ways. it’s jealousy. it’s feelings of inadequacy + comparison. it’s impatience. it’s fear. do you see something repeating itself here? it’s ME. it’s all inside of my head + guess who put it there?  me. no one is secretly putting pressure in my life when i’m not watching, no matter how bad i wanted to believe that. no one is sitting back grading me on how good of a mom i am, or how pretty our lunch was today. it’s ME doing it to MYSELF. it’s not until i recognized this little (kind of embarrassing, hard to admit) thing that was consuming my thoughts, that i could actually knock it off + get over it. our blog is a place where document our life. the place where i can look back on brighter days to help me get through a gloomy ones. a place where everyone is welcome, no pressure, no forced friendships + lots of real life happenings.

so, with that said. i am not going to commit to blogging 3 times a week or posting to instagram every single day. i am just going to tell you that i am content with my life. i am at peace with who i have become as a mother, a wife + a friend. i also know that i have a long way to go, but i have discovered the recipe to keeping myself grounded. you betchu booty i am trying my hardest to live every moment rather than stressing over “stupid crap” (jon’s words) that i cannot control. i am happy + it feels good!

1. calls himself “NONAH”
2. air bud phase on netflix. his reenactment of “baseball ouchie”
3. changes his own clothes 893,908,673,000,893 times a day.
4. “alot mom.” every time i get him some yogurt or pour him a drink. YOGURT ADDICT.
5. calls his summersaults a backflip. mastered the running backflip.
6. “no crying, riggy.” with the pointed finger + everything. binki duty comes second nature.
7. blew our socks off at his 2nd birthday party with how FAST he can fly on his scooter.
8. pretty much potty trained himself {still has to take off ALL of his clothes to go potty}
9. j is the laughing game master + he knows it.
10. says “dad sleep. mom sleep. riggy sleep. jonah no go sleep.” every single night.
11. started nursery. loves the popcorn song.
12. loves Barney. especially watching it with Collins.
13. the day i found him in time-out. he ripped his book + put himself on his bed.
14. builds piles everywhere he goes. he has to bring every ball, every pair or basketball shorts, his baseball helmet + every pair of shoes he owns, with him where ever he goes! even if it’s just to the other room.
15. he calls every dark colored soda “dad juice”

1. riggins born – when we found out we were pregnant with riggins, i will never forget what jon told me, “be brave. this baby needs you + so does jonah + so do i. you can do it.”

2. we sold waterprepared – i was up in logan the day that jon went to finalize everything at the bank + i got this text – “am i brave or are we crazy?” 🙂

3. i became full time stay at home mom. . . again – when i wrote the final email to Sweet Little Peanut announcing my “retirement”, jon told me again + again,  “you’re braver than you think, say what’s in your heart.” it worked, i have never felt more content with myself.

4. seattle – by now we had recognized our “brave” theme. jonboy loved to tease me with it. he’s not into cheesy, but he is very supportive of my crazy ideas. “who’s brave enough for the ferriswheel? with him assisting jonah’s hand high above his head. . . “who’s brave enough to try king crab?” you get the point. i loved our seattle adventures. our final trip as a family of 3.

5. jonger book club – jon has always been an avid reader + he is probably one of the most intelligent fellas i know. we started our book club as a new year resolution in january. we had every intention to finish 12 books, but we only made it through 6. {this one will most likely make the list again in 2014} jonboy picked out this RAWR book for the boys for Christmas without me knowing. in the back, he wrote them the sweetest message i ever did read, “merry christmas boys. be kind to each other. be friends with the dinosaurs. always be brave. always tell mom you love her. i love you. love, dad”