Embrace

2014 is here!  Life is slowly getting back to normal.  My Christmas decorations are down so my poor house looks bare.  I know a lot people are eager to get their decorations down but I am completely the opposite.  I love having lights on everything and a little Christmas cheer in each corner.  See our recent Christmas home tour here.

Like many others, the new year has me reflecting on myself more and trying to improve.  My overall improvement effort for 2014 is all about embracing.  I've read a few blogs that are coining this their "word of the year."  I'm jumping on the band wagon!  
Here lately I've had the strong desire to freeze time.  Since that's not possible, I need to embrace every moment.  Keeler is becoming more mature, well mature for a preschooler.  He has strong opinions in a lot aspects of his life.  This is all positive change but at the same time, he doesn't need me as much and it breaks my heart a little.  However, I'm going to work harder to embrace the change/growth.  I'm going to take interest in what he loves.  I'm going to put down my phone in the evenings and spend more time with him.  I want to build him up and let him know I'm truly interested in his world.      

 Kallahan is also growing and changing at a lightning speed.  Over the holiday break this little guy and I were sick about the same time.  He really needed me.  He wanted to cuddle and be held.  He never wanted me out of his sight.  Granted I felt terrible but having this little guy near made a bad situation kind of special.  Now were all back feeling better (thankfully) but for some reason I feel a deeper bond with him.  I didn't even think that was possible.  Perhaps it's because I've been around him more and can decipher his toddler talk.  I tell him I love him in a whisper and he whispers some mumbo-jumbo back to me.  Sometimes he just comes up and whispers.  #meltsmyheart  

It's evident that they grow up too fast.  I want to soak in every moment.  

I'm going to borrow this quote that Andrea shared because it really spoke to me... 

Life is short.  I'm going to relish and embrace.

Now onto my shallow resolution; shopping or lack thereof.  One of my biggest downfalls is impulse buying.  Too often I don't think twice about treating myself.  I love, love, love to shop, particularly for clothes.  I asked Tyler if he thought I could go an entire year without buying myself any clothes.  He quickly laughed and said, "there's no way."  I want to prove him wrong and I'm kind of excited to see how well I can mix and match my closet to create "new to me" outfits.  Lofty resolution, yes but I'm going to take baby steps and try it for a month.  January = eeeeek, no new clothes month.

I was going to avoid fashion blogs, Pinterest and online shopping until I came up with an idea.  It's genius folks, I am going to make a wishlist {via Pinterest, of course}.  Anything I find that I typically would put in a shopping cart and purchase will in turn get pinned on this wishlist.  I shared this idea with a friend, he said, "good for you, this is what normal people do Kelley."  Who knew? ;) 

Happy New Year.  Let's embrace it!