I took this picture right after Henry's nap yesterday. I love it.

I could write a thousand words about why, but you should just know this: Henry is growing older. It's becoming more and more apparent each day. It's really hard for me to wrap my heart around. One day, when he wakes up from a nap, he's going to want to go and grab a beer with his friends instead of wrap his arms around me. One day, I wont be the center of his universe. As ridiculous as it sounds, that breaks my heart.

teaching henry.

The other day was a doozy, my friends. Hendrix started the morning by taking the jar of peaches I'd set out for his breakfast and spilling them all over the kitchen floor. He followed this amazing act by taking the Cream of Wheat out of the lazy susan and "measuring it" for me.

We are in a "new" phase. Henry is getting into everything BUT his toys lately. It's been infuriating, to be quite honest. It feels like every time I turn around, I have a mess to clean up. Even now, he's taking books of our bookshelf. So, here's what I'm doing. I'm starting to teach Henry:

When he makes a mess, he helps me clean it up. When he drives me nuts, I BREATHE and say, "Let's take care of this, together." So far? Henry thinks it's all part of the game. Really, I'm just raising Hendo to be his own person, to take responsibility. That feels pretty good.

getting rid of the temptation

So far, my quest to not buy anything new in the new year? Off to a rocky start. :-/

I haven't purchased anything for myself, but I did run to the store for a quick present for my sister-in-law's birthday. I then proceeded to go into Old Navy and buy for my dad and my sister's birthdays (Granted, I had a gift certificate, but-- ahem-- still spent over).

Anyway, on the way home from these stores, I felt great! I had gotten some awesome deals, and bought things I knew everyone would love! However, very little thought was put into them, and WASN'T THIS WHAT I WAS TRYING TO AVOID?

Grrrr... I'm not going to beat myself up about my slip up. This year is about finding myself and correcting the mistakes I've been making. ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY, you know!? Right?

& So, I did something today to help myself in this journey. I unsubscribed from the emails from my favorite stores. Here were the heavy hitters:

Bye, Bye, Gap!:

See ya' later, Victoria Secret:

Oh, this was BY FAR the hardest... I love you forever, Target:

Today, I'm working on our budget for 2011. I really do want to succeed in breaking my love of buying this year. I want us to start SAVING (what a novel concept!), and I want to spend money on things that enrich our lives, not just things that make me feel good for a little while. While it might not be something I can do in a day, I know I can do it.

Hendrix Updates!

• He's started saying "MORE" during dinner. Yesterday, he raised his whole bowl and said more. We're only a few words away from a lead in Oliver, people!
• He "dribbles" the ball. Okay, not entirely, but he throws it around and then chases it.
• He points to his diaper when he needs a change. THIS IS AWESOME. My mother-in-law is convinced we can start potty training already, but I'm pretty sure we're still a little ways off.
• He's started doing some animal sounds. Rooster and sheep are his favorites.
• He's started pointing to different body parts. Some days are better than others. Most days, everything is ear!
• He's started pulling on my shirt when he wants to nurse. The most fun place this has happened? IN LINE AT CHIK-FIL-A.
• Also, SCREAMING.

Mostly, this kid is growing at hyper-speed. I don't know who gave him permission to do this, but it wasn't me, I assure you.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King

Somebody already has a taste for social justice!

It is not my intention to indoctrinate my son. It is my intention to teach him my values. I cried while I read this book with Hen. I want to start a tradition of reading Dr. King books on MLK day. I want Henry to know this man before he understands what hate or racism is. I want him to respect a life lived in service and conviction. I want him to know this man, who gave his life for what was right. For now, it's okay if he just chews on it.

friends

So, I went to a book club meeting tonight. I seriously feel so hyped up from the social interaction, I might combust with joy.

IT. WAS. AWESOME.

Eric watched Henry, and when I got home, they were snuggled up together in bed, ying and yang style. I don't know if y'all caught that, but-- ahem-- ERIC PUT HENRY TO SLEEP. Seriously. Miracles happen everyday. Eric was so excited for me to get out. I was worried about Henry falling asleep without me, but Eric practically shoved me out of the door. Maybe Eric is hoping if he pushes me out of the house more often, I might expand my sweat pant rotation. But, let's not get crazy.

To be real, there was something about a group of women getting together to do something that is so empowering. So many of the women said things like, "I'm just lonely." And as much as I like to put on a brave face; I'm really lonely, too. It is so tough to make friends! I've tried the whole, "Oh, hey, you have a kid and we're both in the grocery store" thing, but I usually lose people at the whole, "Hey, not to be weird or anything but can I get your digits?" Because you know what? IT IS WEIRD.

So, anyway. I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but book club was the greatest. Now, where did I put my pjs?

Saturday Night Fever

After the holidays, things were a little crazy:

So, I got all crazy on their craziness:

Thank God Henry finally learned how to entertain himself with video games (don't let him know the batteries are out of his controller)!

Photo Wall

Dealing with the walls in the main room of the house has been a challenge for me. I was determined to put something on the wall over our television before the holidays.

Here's the before:

I knew that first and foremost, I needed to assess what I had. I hung the first picture you see above. I knew that I wanted the frames to be arranged purposefully. First, I dumped out all the frames that I owned.

Next, I arranged them by size and color. I was going to hang different colors and some art pieces I had, but I was worried it would look too busy and decided on going with all white. I used 3M "velcro" picture hanging tabs. They aren't cheap, but they work, and I didn't have to deal with nails --priceless! Here's the result:

To be honest, I don't think the wall is completely done. I would like to add either more frames or replace some of them with bigger ones. But, this was done for the holidays, and I thought it turned out great!