Five on Friday: Bébé Books And Cozy Nooks

This is my first Friday post in a while and it’s fun to be back! Like I shared in Monday’s recap of our Christmas break, I’ve loved getting to unplug for a few weeks, and a quiet holiday season always feels like the best way to close out a year.  Even so, I’m excited to jump back into life and start the spring semester.  Here are a few updates from our last week or two since we got back from Cali!

1) Readjusting To The Cold

After our week of enjoying the beautiful 70 degree weather in Cali, we came back to some cold and snow here in KC.  Jordan had an unexpected snow day last week, which was fun, and we’re expecting a pretty good ice storm will keep us inside this weekend.  We’re just stocking up on all the snow day essentials (coffee, cinnamon rolls, Baileys, pizza, beer, etc) and getting excited to do some house projects and watch Netflix! We recently started watching Dexter all the way through.  It’s a lot darker than the shows we’ve been watching but I’ll be honest…it’s got me hooked.

Caleb is unamused by the cold weather (and by the fact that mom still makes him get out and walk in it).

2) Bebé Books

I happened to check out Bringing Up Bébé from the library last week and flew through it in a few days.  It’s a parenting book/memoir written by an American woman raising her kids in Paris and I love her perspectives on how the French raise their children differently. Since I love traveling and learning about other cultures I’m always so curious to read about the parenting styles around the world, and this book was fascinating to me.  So many of the principles in it are things we really value and hope to instill in Caleb and I learned a lot from the ways the French go about it.  I definitely didn’t agree with every single thing (and neither does the author!) but this was one a great thought-provoking read for me.  I’d definitely recommend it!

3) Baby Shenanigans

Speaking of parenting…I spent WAY too much time this week pulling this little nugget out of every nook and cranny in our house.  He is a speedy little crawler these days and loves to climb in between things, under things, and around things, especially if it’s to grab a fun cord or something else he knows he’s not supposed to have.  In a matter of about 36 hours, he’s started messing with the dishwasher, flipping over Olive’s food/water bowls and drenching himself in water, and even managed to climb three steps up the stairs without me realizing.  When the HECK did he learn to climb up stairs? Thank goodness for baby gates and all things babyproofing, y’all.  It’s going to be a crazy few years.

4) Cozy Little Nooks

Over these last few years we’ve realized that our home decorating tends to come in spurts, and winter is always a season where we get a lot done since we’re stuck inside.  This little spot between our kitchen and living room used to house an antique sewing table from Jordan’s grandparents and some fun pictures/art on the walls.  But as Caleb started getting into things and all the baby junk in our house started multiplying, we felt like we needed something more sturdy and practical.

Here’s the before…

And here’s a quick pic I snapped with my phone yesterday afternoon!

We didn’t want to spend money on something for this space, so we played around with a few things we already had. This kitchen island-turned-shelf has been in our guest room since we moved in since we didn’t have a place for it, but we brought it down this weekend and it’s the perfect place to store some baby toys and other random things.  It’ll also be a great place to put drinks and food when we host get-togethers.  The sign above the table was my Christmas present and that quote feels like a beautiful summary of my life and my heart in this season.  I can’t imagine a better reminder to be displayed in a spot where I spend so much time!

5) Back To The Budget

Woof.  Does January make anyone else start to feel blah and nervous about finances? With paying property taxes, insurance, and looking ahead at our plans and expenses for the year, I started to feel a bit anxious this week.  I’m so grateful to be a stay-at-home mom and I know we’ll be fine, but sometimes it’s so hard to find the balance between trusting God will provide and being responsible and intentional with our money.  Anyone else struggle with this? I updated our Mint budget accounts and am hoping to do a little brainstorming about ways we can cut back and be more intentional in 2017.  We’ll see how good we can be about keeping up with it!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay warm and cozy!