Crazy town, two friends and sunshine.

custom family illustration by my dear college friend, Lisa of My Little Buffalo

Whoooo. It’s kinda been crazy town over here. The mister has been working lots of hours lately (like 60/week) and so Max, Bauer and I have been trying to hold down the fort on our own. We are only kinda succeeding ;) Our part-time baby sitter has been on vacation, so I’ve been juggling all of the home/work/baby stuff solo. It makes me appreciate having a hubby to share life with even more! I can get by on my own for a little bit, but we’ve been pushing an entire week of crazy so I look forward to his work slowing down a little (hopefully?). I guess I didn’t realize how tired I’ve been, until two nights ago when I went to bed at 9:30pm and got out of bed at 7:30am… a total blessing. I knew I was exhausted and any work I attempted to do that night would be poor, unproductive work. So to bed I went!

I’m so thankful the weather has been absolutely gorgeous for about a week now — think 80’s and bright blue sky! I even dug out my flipflops for our walk today. Whenever Zack works a lot, or I have a lot of work myself to do, I’ve found getting out of our apartment for a bit helps so much. It keeps my focus on being productive when at home but I have the freedom to relax and adventure out when we leave the apartment. I’ve been researching free activities in our neighborhood that we can walk to and I’m super excited about what I’ve found so far.

For Christmas we received a few Starbucks gift cards, so grabbing an iced tea during the late morning/afternoon and sitting outside to drink it has been a real treat for me. Bauer and Max love the extra attention, too. There are so many restaurants and shops where we live, it’s a great walk getting there. AND! Once we get home both boys usually crash for a nap :) Bonus!

Yesterday one of my favorite friends, Joanna, came by with her daughter to play with Max while I checked a few things off my to-do list. It was so amazing. She even brought homemade cookie dough to bake in my oven (!) and Bauer may or may not have ignored even command to stop stealing the baby’s toys. Joanna’s visit was another blessing.

Zack and I have been praying hard, trying to be even more intentional and specific and receptive of what the LORD wants to share with us. I want to do more than just read a quick devotional in the morning, so I’ve been trying to linger on the verses and pages longer. It’s been really rewarding to see some of the difficulties settle down that life likes to throw at us :) Ya know?

And then also recently, another one of my favorite friends, Lisa (we met at Central Michigan University because our now husbands were roommates), sent me these two illustrative portraits. Do you just melt over how cute Maxwell looks? His blonde hair is starting to get so wavy and dare I say… curly! I kiss his sweet little head about 50 times a day. And then there’s Bauer. Lisa captured his cute-but-naughty personality perfectly. Zackary is looking as handsome as ever, and I just love seeing my pink moccasins on my feet. This family illustration is so special to me. It’s a great showcase for two parents who are working their dream jobs with a baby crawling around their feet, and a pup desperately trying to hide from the baby. Ha! Our lives right now may be a little crazy town but we are all healthy, happy and Zack and I are madly in love. (Eww, right Max?)

So. Deep breaths. :) I’m so specifically thankful for Joanna and Lisa who have blessed us this week with their gifts. And also for the posts I’ve read recently over on Edie’s blog… they are amazingly encouraging.

What act of kindness could you do for a friend this week? :)

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