Happy Friday everyone! We have been pretty lazy this morning (and by we I mean me + little, but we wish daddy was able to be bummin’ it with us!) and it has been fantastic. Every day this week has been filled to the brim with errands and activities so after breakfast this morning we skipped out on our usual bootcamp routine and played with a new (to us) Little People Zoo/Jungle and I was able to leisurely drink my coffee. We did eventually make it out to Trader Joe’s to get a few things, but back we came for naps and more lazing around. Mornings like these always recharge me and I never really realize how badly I need it. I hope you’re having an equally refreshing Friday, and if not that’s ok because Saturday is right around the corner. Here are a few quick takes from the week including but not limited to: blog links + my overly emotional self thinking about my child turning one year old next week (cue welling up of tears).

1. BLOG | I really enjoyed Elise’s blog this week about marriage, obedience, and vocations. As someone who has always struggled with identity and my plan vs. God’s plan this post really rang true for me. It reminded me of this time last year when I was really going back and forth on whether or not to stay home and what God wanted me to do vs. what I wanted to do. Really good stuff!

2. BABY | We are gearing up for party things next week. I need to get a few things but for the most part it’s going to be a lot of family and friends and babies hanging out and eating good food. My favorite kind of celebration. I am on the lookout for some simple yet entertaining things for the kiddos to do. Any and all recommendations on baby friendly activities/toys to have out during party time are greatly welcomed! I don’t want to go overboard but I also do want kiddos to be bored/cranky due to boredom. We went to a friend’s birthday last week and she had a bunch of balloons for the babes to play with which I thought was a really good idea.

3. BLOG | Something I have been trying to do as we have been unpacking and settling into our new home is to purge a lot of the unnecessary. We have made great progress throughout our cleaning endeavors but still have a LONG way to go. It’s keeping in theme with my word for the year and I think will help us to have a more organized + happy household in the future. Kelsey is an inspiration to me in the organization overhaul and has really been able to pare down and live a more simplistic life style. Teach me your ways!

4. BABY | I have been having SO many overly emotional moments this week (not pregnant). Just yesterday M was cruising between the coffee table and the couch and would walk over to a box of toys we have in the living room. She would pick one up and slowly toddle over to be and bring it to me. I would act so surprised and happy and give her a huge hug and she would break into this cheesy, toothy grin and then repeat the entire toy-to-mom-make-mom-happy transaction again. UGH. RIGHT IN THE HEART STRINGS, BABY GIRL. STAY LITTLE FOREVER.

5. BLOG | I met Amber at The Hundred Event back in August. Not only is she the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, but she is a registered dietician and twin mom (with another little one on the way!) and is ALWAYS posting about delicious, healthy, smart and most of all actually do-able recipes and ideas for families and kids. I really enjoyed her recent Toddler Snacks post because I feel like my child has recently started really snacking during the day and I was running out of good + healthy snacking ideas (and I’m sure she was tired of her 100th cheese stick I had given her for the day).

6. BLOG | Katrina has been a regular read/blog friend for quite sometime now and she has always had a way with words where I find myself nodding in agreement at my computer screen. She has really been knocking it out of the park lately with some posts about family + pregnancy. Here are two that I really enjoyed reading: click and click.

7. DAD | This past Wednesday was my Dad’s birthday so I thought I’d wrap up with post with a little shout to him. Happy birthday, Dad! Thanks for being a constant source of humor in my life + a great grandpa to M. We love you! (and below, quite possibly my favorite photos of me and my dad before my wedding ceremony – photos: Jessica Renee Photography)

Happy weekending!