The baby stage is totally not my jam. Yup. I said it. And I’ve pretty much always known this about myself.

Well it’s no secret that I just recently had a baby. And before you try to take him away from me, just hear me out. I am a person that thrives on plans, routines, and consistency. My mom and sister even used to laugh at the fact that my two year old would constantly ask me what the plan was for the day. Because that’s how we roll in our house… we have plans. We know them. We abide by them.

Welp.. if you know anything about babies, they are pretty much the opposite of plans, routines, and consistency. Especially at the beginning of their little lives. They may decide to eat every three hours or they may just randomly decide that they are actually hungry only an hour and a half later. A nap? Could last forever laying sweetly in a swing or he could decide to only sleep in your arms while standing and swaying with one foot in the air. And guess what? You NEVER know which is going to happen when. Because clearly babies can’t talk. These things are the epitome of unpredictable. And YES… there are a million books and blogs that teach you how to sleep train, how to decipher the 8 different cries, how to put your baby on a schedule, how to transition your baby from this to that, on and on and on. But at the end of the day, each one will usually say something like ‘But each baby is different so do what’s best for your baby and you as a parent!’ Gee, thanks. There goes having a special formula that is going to get me back to being that somewhat sane person that used to actually sleep. It all can leave this planning mama stressed out, exhausted, and exasperated.

BUT GOD.

Every New Years, I am one of those people that picks out a word to be a sort of theme for my upcoming year. I was convinced this year that it should be patience. Makes sense, right? I had just had a baby and I already have a 4 year old… surely that combination resulted in me needing a big ol’ dose of patience. Well in the middle of the night while feeding that sweet little baby, I kept hearing JESUS.. that JESUS is my word, not patience. It is way too easy for me to become consumed in this season of trying to figure my sweet little baby out. All of my thoughts become all about trying to think through why this tiny human does the things he does. I become hyper-focused on his sleeping, his schedule, if I’m doing all of the right things, and it’s just a downward spiral from there. And before you know it, I’ve totally lost sight of the One who created this precious little baby and decided that I should be his mother. So right in the middle of the night when the thoughts tend to run the most crazy, God chose to remind me of exactly that.

I was confessing all of this to a group of girls the other week so I asked them for accountability. I want to set my eyes on JESUS instead of relying on myself to do all the things or become obsessed with looking things up. One of the girls said ‘God over Google’ and now that’s pretty much on repeat in my brain. When my baby randomly wakes up at an odd time, will I turn to the Lord or will I google to try to figure out why? Anytime my baby does anything that’s not according to some plan, will I choose to focus on God or will I choose to fall down the rabbit hole that google allows? I am choosing God. Now don’t hear me saying that it’s sinful to be knowledgeable on all things baby or that it’s wrong wanting to use any tools or resources that are available out there. I just know that my heart and mind are easily swayed to believe that I should figure things out all on my own. Which is not what God desires for my life.

So to all the other mamas stressed out and trying to figure it all out (whether it is sleep training, common core math homework or teenage drama), let’s all just remember that the God of the universe designed our children. He knows them far greater than we ever will so our first call for help should always be to Him.

God, grant me the wisdom to parent my boys well.

Remind me daily that you chose ME as their mom.

Thank you for your grace as I make a million mistakes.

And most of all Lord, let me remember that my biggest call in motherhood is pointing them to YOU.

Amen.

Two months ago, I was officially welcomed back to the land of sleep deprivation, spit up, and baby snuggles. On December 10th, our little baby boy decided it was time to come join us in the world. It started with a wake up call at 4 am (here’s to no traffic!) and ended with Luke Richard Jones being born at 11:35 am.

My whole plan of how he would be born was pretty much thrown out the window immediately but thankfully God’s plan is much better than mine. As we were faced with the decision of having another c-section, we prayed together and trusted the Lord with the decision. We didn’t know it until the middle of my surgery, but the cord was wrapped four times around our sweet boy’s neck. So basically any laboring or pushing at all would have put Luke in distress and would have led everyone rushing me to the OR. Praise God for His protection over our baby’s life! We are so thankful for His faithfulness to us in all of the details.

Luke was 20 inches long and 7 pounds, 2 ounces. Definitely smaller than his big brother who was 8 pounds, 9 ounces when he was born. The doctor told me there was a chance I might have a smaller baby living in higher altitude and clearly she was right!

We are all so in love with our sweet little boy. Caleb has jumped into the big brother role head first and has loved every minute. Everyone warned us that we may see some behavior issues with him (and we did see a few at first!), but nothing directed towards Luke. Caleb has always wanted to be right by him, help with him, sing to him, kiss and hug him, etc etc etc. That has definitely been a huge blessing to have that brotherly love start immediately. And mama has to admit, it’s pretty nice to have a built in little helper that’s happy to go grab things or watch little brother while I’m in the other room.

It definitely is true that when you’re the second kiddo, you better be chill because you’re gonna be tagging along to way more things. Luke was only a week old when he got traipsed to big brother’s preschool Christmas program and has also already experienced his first Stockshow and his first big youth event among other things.

We are so very thankful for all of the million ways that people have loved us so well in these past two months. People have come to visit us, sent gifts, shown up with food, coffee, diapers, toys for Caleb, and just to hold the baby so I could shower. Since Caleb was born in Texas, this was the first time we’ve had a baby in Colorado and it ended up being an amazing experience. We’ve only lived her for three years, but it feels like so much longer. So thank you to all of our people. You sure know how to welcome a baby into this world.

Thank you Jesus for our precious family.

Last year was Caleb’s first year of preschool and he LOVED it. He made good friends, learned so much, and absolutely loved his teachers. His favorite thing? Wee Wiggle. (AKA gym time for preschoolers.) Let’s just say, summer felt long for both of us. The poor guy spent a lot of time up at the church while we worked, but he was a champ about it. But we sure were pumped it was back to school time!!!!

Last year, I asked him some questions as he started preschool because I thought it would be fun to see how his answers would change year to year. And sure enough, it’s funny to see how much he’s changed already!

What is your favorite color? Green!

What is your favorite food? Pizza.

Who is your best friend? Hava, Brooks, Maddie Moo! Dylan too!

What is your favorite thing to play with? My toy monster trucks.

What is your favorite animal? A lion and a tiger.

What is your favorite movie? Sing!

What is your favorite book? Doggy Dog.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor. Actually not a doctor. A fireman!

He loved answering questions and then decided it was time to ask me lots of questions back. Some of his answers totally surprised me, especially the fact that we haven’t watched the movie Sing! in a sweet forever. But you just never know what a 3 year old is gonna say. 😉

One thing that has not changed from last year is ALL. OF. HIS. WORDS. This kiddo loves to talk, talk, talk, and then talk some more. I’m not sure if he knows what silence is. If Nick and I are having a conversation in the car, he either wants to be apart of it or he will try to start a new convo with us just to be included.

One of his favorite things in life right now is wrestling with Daddy. He absolutely cannot get enough. He’s trying to learn the art of trash talk which is pretty hilarious to listen to. The wrestling can get pretty crazy so I’m glad to have no part of that. And it’s crazy to think that one day there will be 3 of them wrestling. So much for nice furniture. 😳

Caleb’s newest thing is being ‘shy.’ This guy is a total extrovert and loves people and wants to go and do something everyday. But although he is still all of those things, when we get somewhere he is suddenly shy and can’t say hi to people. Even if he knows them. Granted he doesn’t do this with family, but pretty much anyone else on the planet. But give him 10-15 minutes (depending on the situation) and then he’s all good. I guess maybe he really is shy and Nick and I should just accept it instead of finding it annoying? #parentingfail

Maybe this is TMI, but this guy is the toot police. You will never catch him tooting without saying ‘excuse me.’ It makes me laugh that this is the one thing we’ve taught him that he has stuck to closer than life. You can hear him playing in the playroom alone and just hear ‘excuse me, excuse me’ which obviously means he must be in there tooting. If anyone around him toots, he immediately says ‘What do you say?’ until they say ‘Excuse me.’ So just a heads up. 😉 I’m so glad that he has manners in this area… I just wish it was as easy for his manners across the board to be so important to him!!

Caleb is still our early riser. He wakes up anywhere between 6:45-7:15 in the morning. We have tried moving his bedtime around and it doesn’t seem to effect him sleeping any later so we have kept his bedtime around 7 (if we don’t have anything going on that evening). Believe me, he has plenty of evenings that he sees 9:00. When we put him to bed around 7, he plays in his bed with all his stuffed animals until around 8 and then passes out. He gets another hour of playtime and we get an extra hour of our evening. Win, win.

This little guy officially loves the copy game. I’m not sure if he does it to anyone besides Nick and I, but he thinks it’s absolutely hilarious to repeat what we say. He also absolutely cracks himself up with his ‘jokes’ that he tells. He will also repeat quotes from shows or movies that he thinks are funny and absolutely die laughing. It’s safe to say that this guy loves to laugh.

Caleb has BIG things going on in his life. Besides starting back at school and that he will turn 4 real soon, we are about to move to a new house so he will be getting a brand new room. Also, he’s preparing big time to be an awesome big brother come December. As much as he loves routine, he is beyond excited about all the new things coming up in his life!

We are so thankful to be this little guy’s parents. As crazy as parenting a 3 year old can make us, we sure do love and adore him. Here’s to another fantastic year of preschool full of new adventures!

BOY!!!!

So I am officially 24 weeks along which means I’ve passed the halfway mark. Praise the Lord!!! And it also means that we found out the sweet gender of our baby. Now let me give you some background on this. Before I even got pregnant, I always told people that I would gladly be a boy mom forever. As active & crazy as boys can be, that just seems easier to me than the emotions and drama that can come with girls (hello teenage years!). Nick was totally in the same boat. He was happy to stick with what he knew. And he’s a frugal guy so he pretty much was all about the fact that we own boy things. Caleb was the only one in our family that was rooting for a girl!

But then for 20 weeks, people kept saying I was having a girl. And I mean EVERYONE. I think a lot to do with it was they just wanted us to have a girl, but it seemed to be a consensus. Which led me to believe (with no reasoning whatsoever) that it was a girl. As we talked through names, we came up with one for a girl which then sold Nick on the idea of having a girl. So our family had accepted and expected a baby girl to be announced.

I turned 20 weeks while Nick was in Poland so Caleb & I patiently waited for him to return to head to the doctor to see our sweet baby.

We explained to our ultrasound tech that we wouldn’t be finding the gender out that day, but asked if she would put it in an envelope for us to hand off to friends. And that’s exactly what we did! We handed it right off to two amazing friends that had offered to throw us a gender reveal party that coming Friday night.

You know how funny it feels to know that someone else knows what you are having but you don’t know?! But again, we patiently waited for Friday to come to find out. (Is anyone picking up that the patiently is clearly sarcastic?)

We took a poll on social media and it seemed even the majority there thought that it would be a girl. So I was fully expecting Friday to be fun but also anti-climactic because we would find out we were having a girl and everyone would exclaim ‘I called it!’

Our people from our small group and children’s ministry staff came to find out what second baby Jones is going to be! We didn’t know how the reveal would go down so they set us up on the porch with everyone in the yard and this happened…

All the kiddos released the balloons down and initially I saw blue balloons & Nick saw girl balloons. And then someone sprayed us with silly string (which apparently wasn’t supposed to happen yet). At that point all I kept saying is ‘It is NOT twins!!!!’ Because pretty sure Nick asked that question every time we went to the doctor to confirm there’s only one baby in there. And let’s just say, if it were twins and I found that out in front of a group of people, I would have needed a moment. Ha! But we didn’t have long to think about it because then this happened…

We were absolutely attacked by blue silly string! All you’re missing from this photo is hearing our child screaming and crying. Clearly he really enjoyed finding out he was having a brother.

So there it is folks… we are officially a boy family!!! Go ahead and buy me all the #boymom gear.

Nick and I were totally shocked. We laugh because we totally succumbed to the power of the people to start believing it was a girl. But we are SO excited to have another little boy!

Also, since so many people have asked, Caleb is beyond excited too. His only reason for wanting a girl is so mommy could have another girl in the family. He sweetly apologized to me that night since I would be the only girl and once I assured him that I was more than okay with it, he’s all for a little brother. He’s already been creating a list of all of the things that he can teach him. Climbing a tree is at the very top of the list, but I’m thinking Caleb should learn first before trying to teach someone else. (Minor details.)

Here is my pregnancy update (for those of you that are into that kind of thing)…

How Far Along: 24 weeks! Moving right along!

Maternity Clothes: Yes and no! I’m still able to wear some of my normal tops & dresses, but officially in maternity shorts & jeans. Also, when my sister & mom were in town, they totally helped me overhaul my closet to make room for all the maternity things. Such life savers or else I would still be squeezing this belly in all my regular clothes…

Stretch Marks: Negative.

Sleep: I’ve officially started getting uncomfortable in the night and haven’t slept as well. I usually sleep on my back so the adjustment to my side hasn’t been going very well…

Best Moment Lately: This baby moves a LOT! A couple Sundays ago, Nick preached and the little man moved around like crazy the entire time Nick was up there. So he either really loves his daddy’s voice or else he was just being moved by the Holy Spirit.

Miss Anything: It’s no secret that I love clothes so I definitely miss getting to wear normal clothes. But more than that, I think I miss not being uncomfortable often.

Movement: Yes, see above! This baby loves to move & groove. Makes me a little nervous about his hyper-activity. Especially because my doctor said that the placenta is in front so I may not feel as much movement as there is. Ummm, because I feel the baby a LOT.

Food Cravings: It is all over the place. Nick laughs because he just never knows what’s going to show up in our groceries these days. I’m generally a pretty healthy eater but in the past couple weeks, I’ve consumed a lot of ruffles chips & ranch dip and I’ve also made Nick take me to Panda Express. And I definitely prefer savory over sweet.

Anything Makes You Feel Queasy or Sick: I’m doing better in this department thankfully! Sometimes there are smells that can set me off. Also if I get too hot, I start to feel really sick.

Anything Different This Pregnancy: I’ve gotten way more headaches and back aches. Nick so nicely reminded me that I am 4 years older this time. (Insert eye roll here.)

Have You Started To Show Yet: Most definitely!! I feel like the belly has super popped out these past 2 weeks.

Gender: BOY!!!!

Thanks to all of the congratulations, sweet comments, and prayers that have been coming our way! This baby is already SO loved.

So the past three and a half months, I’ve been a bit out of it thanks to this little thing called pregnancy. Yup, that’s right! We are expecting a little bundle of joy in December. Pregnancy was pretty hard on me with Caleb so I haven’t been totally surprised that I’ve been pretty exhausted and sick this time around too. But now I’ve hit second trimester and I’m hoping for easier times! Granted I still pass smooth out on the couch every night at 8:15 pm.

We are very excited around here! Caleb is all about taking care of me and the baby. And believe it or not, he will say that he wants a sister if you ask him! This next picture is right after we told him over his special dessert. Safe to say he’s pumped. 🙂

We kept the secret for a while so that way when we visited Texas for Mother’s Day, we could tell my whole family in person. We put Caleb in a Big Brother shirt and hat on the airplane and watched all the different reactions. It’s pretty hilarious to watch how quick some people caught on and some people we had to encourage to read his shirt. But everyone is pumped and planning for Christmas in Colorado!

I’m so excited to see this little guy be a big brother. He has such a caring heart and will be so sweet to see how that plays out with a baby sibling. We let him go to the doctor with us last time to hear the heartbeat which was so sweet. Him and the doctor decided it sounded like a train which he of course loved. 😉

The million dollar question is people wondering if we will find out gender. If you know me at all, you know I love to PLAN. So I HAVE to know. The next question quick to follow is which gender we are hoping for. I’ve already said that Caleb is rooting for girl and now Nick is rooting for boy. He prefers to stick to what he knows. As for me, I’ve never been quiet about the fact that I would thoroughly enjoy just being a boy mom. Apparently I enjoy the chaos of it all. But I’m feeling pretty indifferent these days which may be since Caleb and Nick have picked opposite sides. I will just reside as neutral. (But if it’s a girl… send help. Especially when she’s 16.) At my moms group, they have you pick out a bowl to see what you’re going to have and here is the prediction. So we shall see if it’s right…

I thought it would be fun to do a pregnancy update questionnaire just to document how things are going. (And who knows – this may be my first and last one.)

How Far Along: 14.5 weeks! I think I can officially say second trimester! (Everyone seems to have a different opinion on when it starts.)

Total Weight Gain: I’m not really sure because I don’t know what I weighed beforehand – life is better without a number!

Maternity Clothes: Not quite yet but I can feel it getting near…

Stretch Marks: Nope.

Sleep: Well I pass out EARLY and as long as I stay asleep, I’m good. But if for some reason something wakes me up (AKA my 3 year old), then I’m up for AT LEAST an hour staring at the ceiling.

Best Moment of the Week: We conquered VBS! As exhausting as it was to help put it on while being pregnant, it was all worth it. 🙂

Miss Anything: Not being exhausted all the time. Or feeling good. I feel like my family will remember me as ‘one who lays on couch.’

Movement: Yes! I feel like I felt the sweet pea for the first time this past week. It’s still pretty fleeting but so fun!

Food Cravings: This is all over the map. But pretty much give me all of the carbs.

Anything Makes You Feel Queasy or Sick: This is also all over the place which makes life real fun. You just never know when it’s going to hit. It’s like winning the lottery, except opposite.

Anything Different This Pregnancy: Well I fainted on the light rail so that was interesting. So now I’m cautious to stand up slowly and not allow myself to get too hot. I also was completely sick for days after our flight home from Texas. So apparently transportation is not really my jam right now.

Have You Started To Show Yet: Yes, I think so! This definitely happened earlier this time around.

Gender: We won’t know until the end of July!

Those are all the updates for now! We are beyond excited to be the Jones family, party of 4!

Happy Friday, y’all! Even more than that, it’s Good Friday. As strange as it sounds, I love this day that demands our attention to the death of Christ in order to understand the significance of Easter Sunday. Jesus died on that cross for us, but three days later, He rose from the grave and gave hope to us all! Hallelujah!!!

So speaking of things I love, I am bringing you a post of all of my favorites lately from the month of March. Because as crazy as it is, we are entering April, friends!

First up on the list is just how big Caleb has been getting! It’s so fun to see how much more he’s able to do on his own now. He is indeed a big kid! And he LOVES preschool so much. Every morning he asks, ‘Is this a preschool day?? Please, please, please!!!’ So hands down, that’s a fave for him, for sure.

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My second favorite is that my sister came to Colorado at the beginning of the month! Her job brought her to Vail so of course I wasn’t going to let her be that close without going to see her! I grabbed my friend Heidi for a road trip and headed up for a sleepover in the mountains. It was full of her fun work event, ice skating, and getting to sleep in and lay around. My kind of sleepover! (Also I’d like to note that I have not ice skated since elementary school and I pretty much rocked it. Boom.)

The drive home was definitely not a favorite. It was my first time to drive down a mountain pass while it was snowing and turning into not the greatest conditions. There was a trailer in front of us totally out of control, but thankfully I had Heidi to talk me off the ledge. This Texas girl still has some snowy mountain driving to get used to.

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Getting mail has got to be one of my love languages. ESPECIALLY if it’s a package. So maybe I should say that gifts are my love language. Because the other day, my mom randomly sent me a new hat. And guess what? I felt loved.

Isn’t it cute? And I definitely include myself in that ‘y’all.’ 😉

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If you’re from Colorado, chances are you have found yourself at Casa Bonita at least once. It’s kind of a rite of passage even if the food is absolutely terrible. Welp, I’ve only lived here 2.5 years and I’ve now been 3 times. Yup, that’s too much. But it’s become an annual thing for the student ministry and Caleb thinks it’s awesome, so I self-sacrifice and go. (I’m still waiting for my trophy.) So it’s absolutely not a favorite for me, but it is for the kiddo. Think cliff divers, arcade, caves, puppets, basically all kinds of randomness and you’ve got yourself Casa Bonita.

This guy begged to ride this car all night long and when he finally did, he begged for me to take the coin out so it would stop going. The poor kid is NOT a dare devil.

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On St Patrick’s Day, we celebrated with a dance party with a bunch of friends. If you know Caleb at all, you know he LOVES to dance. So it was pretty much the best night of his life.

We were laughing because the kid has got game. One of the little girls was being held by her mom and he went right up and asked her to dance. We of course may not think that’s as cute when he gets to high school. 😉

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So about the cutest thing ever happened in March and that was Caleb’s preschool Spring Program. The classes had been practicing all of their songs and they were beyond adorable. He was not happy to dress ‘fancy’ but he would do pretty much anything to make Ms. Paulette happy.

He has sang all the songs for me previously but his main focus up on the stage was the motions. He concentrated so hard to do them while watching his teachers that he pretty much forgot about the whole singing part. Every once in a while, he remembered and belted it out. Either way, it was absolutely adorable!

Him and his bestie hammed it up after the program. Since both of their daddy’s had to stay at church to work, we took them out for fro-yo. And that’s when the craziness REALLY ensued.

The sugar high came on quick and crazy so we ended up corralling them to the car. Apparently fame + sugar makes 3 year olds do crazy things!

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On Palm Sunday, Nick got to preach which was a huge favorite for all of us. It was such a gorgeous day after church, we had an impromptu photo shoot. Which I’m sure the boys just LOVED.

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Easter is coming which has us all excited! Since it was spring break this week, a friend had an Easter party for the kiddos. They colored, hunted eggs, made resurrection rolls, and played together. Fun morning for all!

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So I know I’ve mentioned Ms. Lauri here lots of times because she really is an amazing blessing to our family. Well it’s been her desire for the past few weeks to buy Caleb and Hava light-up shoes. And who were we to stand in her way of happiness? So off to Walmart we went for them to choose. And let’s just say, the joy on all three of their faces were totally a favorite!

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We decided to have a family fun day since it was Caleb’s spring break and we didn’t want that to mean he just had to sit at the church office all week while we worked. So we took the day off and planned some fun things. As not fun as it sounds, we started the day with Caleb’s first ever dentist appointment. He did great and actually may have had a little fun!

Next we tried out Denver Biscuit Co for the first time and oh boy, did it live up to the hype! Nick got a biscuit sandwich that was beyond huge (not pictured), Caleb got a biscuit completely saturated in strawberry sauce and whipped cream, and I got shrimp and grits in a biscuit bowl. We completely covered the spectrum and all were DELISH. We will for sure be back.

Next on the agenda was a trip to Board Game Republic! This place has a million games and also serves food & drinks. We sat for two hours and played all the games Caleb wanted. Pretty sure it was the little guy’s heaven. And if you love board games, it would definitely be yours too. The place was really cool! All that to say, our whole fam would say that it was a super fun day!!!

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And that was our March, friends!!! (That was quite the lengthy recap so it may just be my mom still reading.) We will be attending our church’s Good Friday service tonight and Easter service on Sunday morning. If you don’t have plans to attend one, I highly encourage you to find a church in your area and show up! This is a great weekend to find out all that God did for us through His Son. You do NOT want to miss it!

Happy Easter everyone! Praise God for the cross!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika

If we are gonna be honest here, mommin’ ain’t easy. There are tears and sweat all kinds of involved. Let’s be real, all the body fluids are involved. But even when it’s hard, even when I’m exhausted, even when I feel like I’ve gone way past the crazy mark… it’s worth it. Because of this.

This adorable (sometimes insane) little 3 year old belongs to me. And no matter if I’ve washed my hair, if I’ve yelled like a crazy person, or if I can’t even do a Pinterest craft.. he thinks I’m awesome. And he tells me constantly. Praise God for the grace of kiddos, amiright or amiright?

I wanted to do a quick update on this little guy because he is SO FULL OF LIFE. He feels all of his feelings in a BIG way. (Which can be a bit exhausting at times if we are being honest.) But it also makes him have such a sweet heart with a sensitive spirit. One of my favorite things that I never want to forget is sometimes he calls me ‘baby.’ And only me. We have absolutely no idea where he got it from (possibly Nick?), but he does it anytime he is trying to comfort me or sweet talk me into something.

‘It’s okay, baby.’

‘Can I do that, please baby??’

This kid is going to be a real charmer. We’re in trouble.

Don’t worry though, he is still all boy. We are all about dinosaurs, superheroes, cars, balls, trains, rough-housing, and Mario Kart. He makes things roar or race constantly. Because life is just more fun when you are running from point A to point B.

Caleb has also gotten himself quite the imagination. He is always playing in some creative way or making up some silly conversations for his toys. One of his newest things after getting a cash register for Christmas is charging money for everything. We constantly get told, ‘That’s eleven dollars!’ (And yes, it’s usually always exactly eleven dollars. Random.) He then puts the pretend money in his pretend wallet. And where he keeps his wallet changes. Sometimes it’s in his mouth, sometimes in the ground, sometimes in his belly… all really totally normal places.

Another thing he LOVES to do is take pictures on our phones. And talk to Siri. Is it ridiculous that this next generation will never know a world without Siri? Absolutely. But if my non-stop chatter of a son wants to use all of his words on a robot in my phone, then who am I to stop that friendship. He gets a friend. Mama’s ears get a break. Win win. (Side note: I’m not real sure photography is in his future.)

Caleb absolutely LOVES Awana at church. If he could go to Cubbies everyday of his life, he would be all in. It’s absolutely precious hearing him learn verses and see him so excited for a program dedicated to scripture. Plus give this kid a theme night and he’s all about that life.

Preschool is his FAVORITE. I’m pretty sure he wishes everyday was a preschool day (because he only goes on Tuesday & Thursdays). It for sure helps that his all-time bestie is in his class. We laugh because Caleb and Hava are definitely the best of friends, but half the time they may not even talk to each other in a group setting. They just know the other is there and all is right in the world.

I hate to break the news to my Texas peeps, but this kid is an all Coloradan boy. He loves him some snow. Playing in it, throwing it, and the newest: sledding in it. He got a sled for his birthday (because that’s a thing here in the mountains) and we finally got to take it out in the latest snowstorm. Let’s just say he cried when we had to go back inside.

Have I mentioned how much Caleb loves his daddy? It’s safe to say that Nick is the fun parent and I’m not even mad about that. And I’ve said it a million times but if Caleb grows up to be just like Nick, I consider that a win.

So yes, mommin’ ain’t easy. But I wouldn’t trade it in for the world. Parenting this little guy may help me recognize all of my flaws, but it also pushes me to be a better person for him everyday.

Thank you Jesus for the gift it is to be a mom. May I be more like YOU everyday so Caleb will see you in me. Amen.

Y’all. We were all about all of the Christmassy things this past weekend and I loved it. Caleb is to the age where he gets totally pumped about all of the things so it makes it so fun to share with him.

First up was a visit to Santa on Friday. We’ve done this every year he’s been born and it’s always a favorite. The first year he spit up on the big guy (being 2 months old and all), the second year he screamed in his face, and then last year he smiled so adorably. So we were excited to see what this year held! JoJo met us there which excited Caleb so much that he couldn’t decide which was more fun… seeing Santa or seeing JoJo!

These genius people hand out glasses to keep the littles entertained while in line.

We tried to do all of the things to pass the time. Taking lots of pictures seemed to be our solution.

Caleb brought his Jett figurine from Super Wings to show Santa since he was asking for a Jett that transforms (or in Caleb’s words, ‘Jett what transforms’). Better educate Santa so he gets the right thing, I’m guessing. He was SO excited and sat right up on Santa’s lap. He did a great job of taking pictures and telling Santa what he wants. He even let Santa hold Jett and play with him. All of it was so great until we saw the picture…

Neither him or Santa look like they’re having a great time. Even though they totally were! Too funny. Then the photographer insisted on a group shot. Because he clearly knew how to do his job (besides the above pictures clearly).

After Santa, we took a family pic and Nick did his best Caleb smile impersonation. These boys. Can’t take them anywhere.

We had lunch with JoJo and then headed to the mountains. We wanted to have a family day so we thought it would be fun to look around the shops in Idaho Springs and then have dinner at Beau Jo’s with their infamous mountain pies.

On Saturday, we had the student ministry volunteer Christmas Party. But major picture fail on that front. Then on Sunday, we had the Christmas Party that Caleb was BEYOND excited for. Our church did a Christmas Sing-Along that was super family friendly with kids in their Christmas jammies, fire pits for s’mores, hot cocoa bars, fun Christmas songs, Christmas movie clips, and snow! To say the kids had a blast would be a complete understatement. This event was a huge hit with everyone of all ages!

Caleb and his bestie Hava pretty much think they own the church. Which is fair since Hava’s parents both are church staff too. Church rats to the core.

But give them some snacks and put that first Christmas movie clip on and they were all in.

And then snow!!!!

After the sing-along, Caleb and Hava had a blast on the stage steps. Because again with the thinking they own the place.

Then we headed outside so Caleb could roast his first marshmallow for s’mores. Which he kept calling mushrooms. I was about ready to find a mushroom for the kid because I was so confused about what he wanted until Heidi stepped in and suggested a marshmallow. Good thing because that’s for sure what he wanted. And he was a BIG fan.

It was a such a great end to a festive weekend! I sure do love getting to experience Christmas through Caleb’s eyes!

Just call me nosy, but I love reading other bloggers’ day in the life posts. I’ve done two of these in the past and it’s so fun to go back and read what our everyday life looked like at that point, especially since the little guy is always changing! It’s basically just a play by play of a regular day in our lives. Nothing special so if this sounds incredibly boring to you, please feel free to skip. 😉

Day in the Life: March 2017

Day in the Life: April 2016

So both times I’ve done this before, it’s been on Friday’s. This time I thought it would be fun to make it a Sunday since ministry is obviously a huge part of our lives so why wouldn’t I document a really important day for that! I did somehow forget how busy those days can get so there were definitely times I forgot to take any pictures. Whoops. But here we go.. a day in the life of us from this past Sunday!

I am most definitely the first one awake in my family. I do this intentionally because mama needs some quiet time. First things first is shower. Then directly to…

Ahhh coffee. In a Christmas mug. My heart is full.

My Advent study started this day and I’m SO excited. (Especially sitting next to the Christmas tree.) I love doing a study during Advent season because it’s such a great way to prepare and focus my heart during this busy, chaotic time. Because I never want to lose sight of the reason for Christmas.

Then this guy is awake! Looking adorable and so big in his Christmas jammies. First stop is the potty for him and then to the couch. He loved being able to sit by the twinkle lights of the tree too. I’m raising him well. 😉

Literally the only time I take selfies of just myself is for one of these day in the life posts. For real. Check my social media if you don’t believe me. Ha! We all got dressed and ready for church! On Sunday mornings, I lay out Caleb’s clothes, Nick gets him dressed, then I do his hair. It’s a beautiful partnership.

Then we are on our way to church! (We are at a red light.. don’t freak out.) We have to get there SUPER early for all of us to be able to ride together but it’s totally worth it.

This guy wanted his own silly picture. Gotta love 3 year olds.

Nick had to head straight to a meeting when we got to church so Caleb and I explored the church to check out all the Christmas decorations. Our church looks absolutely amazing for the Christmas season and it for sure gives us all the feels.

First stop, the worship center. When the lights are down and the shades are closed, it looks absolutely magical.

We stopped by the photo booth because holy cuteness. And now a tree just like this lives in my house because I have the best boss in all the land.

And this is where the pictures stopped for the time being. A stop by our coffee shop, chatting with all the people, and then dropping off Caleb at his class. He stays for both services because I man the computer check-in station for first service and then we attend the second service. He gets to hear his bible story twice but yet when I ask what they learned about, his response is ‘Jesus and God.’ Ahh, the Sunday school answers start early.

We did have a photo shoot in the middle of the services for the children’s ministry brochure. And guess who got to be a super hero!

Clearly he wasn’t into it at all.

After church, we head to Walmart!

Grocery pick up for the win.

Caleb completely passed out on the way home. While eating Cheetos that he found in his backpack from Halloween. Because multitasking.

Once we got home, I got busy with all the things. Unloading groceries and putting them away, unloading the dishwasher, just all of those really fancy kinds of things. During all of this, Caleb ate lunch and went down for his nap.

Also, I baked the brownies for my high school girls event that evening.

Then it was time for my lunch. After all of that kitchen business, I wanted something simple so a breakfast sandwich it was. (Also, RIP Yeti cup. I’m pretty sure I left it on the roof of my car the very next day and now it’s gone forever.)

I enjoyed my lunch on the couch by the Christmas tree and football because it was Sunday after all. Caleb has been trained to know that we watch football on Sundays so not to ask for any of his shows. Brainwashing at its finest.

As much as I love my husband and his love for football, I chose to watch my show on the iPad instead. But we were still in the same room so it counts, right? And yes my taste in shows might equate that of a high schooler. Don’t judge.

When this little guy woke up, he and his daddy played Jets. Because he is obsessed with Super Wings and loves playing out the episodes. And it’s pretty cute to watch these two to play with them together.

Then it was time for me to head back to church for a high school girls event. These boys were working hard in the yard when I left. (Or one of them may have just been playing.)

I set up the table in the youth building as cute as I could for a fun dinner with the girls. It’s an event we do once a month called Tacos & Testimonies where we eat tacos (obviously) and then a woman from the church comes to share their faith story with the girls. It’s always such a sweet night together. I was there for quite a few hours and headed home around 9.

Nick and I chatted a while until I headed to bed to watch more Riverdale. And now I’m proud to say that I’m officially all caught up. Then it was off to bed! No picture happened but it was around 11:30 which is actually VERY late for me. But that’s what happens when you really need to know what’s going to happen with Archie & the gang, especially with the Black Hood on the loose. (Not a Riverdale fan? Your loss.)

But all in all, a pretty basic Sunday for our family! 🙂

Linking up with Sarah and Victoria for their fun Christmas link-up!