Henry is 9 months old. NINE MONTHS. That can’t be possible. But it is. I didn’t get around to taking 9 month pictures, so instead I’ll just throw up one from a particularly wonderful day recently of mother-son clothing matching.

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

James is so ashamed. And Henry probably would be too if he had any idea what was happening.

Some things from lately…

I’ve decided that it is time to submit to the mom sneakers. You know the ones, the ubiquitous Nike’s or New Balances that all the moms wear to chase kids at the park. I am kind of intrigued by these instead of the usual versions.

Ok. I usually think it is kind of stupid when people freak out about someone “using” their baby name. No one is original. If you try, you end up with really awful names, and being original at the cost of dooming your child to a crap name forever – not worth it. We knew when we named Henry that his has never, and will never, be a unique name. Don’t care. Not only is it a family name (which I know everyone uses as their excuse, but it really is! And not just in the abstract second cousin twice removed had it as a middle name deal), but it is just a solid name. BUT. When we named him Henry Wilberforce, we were excited to use a name of important historical significance. And then the Duggar girl went and used it and I am a little displeased about being associated with her. So let the record show – we had it first.

After I mentioned making biscuits a while ago, someone shared this recipe and I can’t wait to try it.

Love the looks of this sweater.

I am like Sisyphus, cleaning up at least 8 times a day, only to have the mess begin again. Loved these thoughts on mess and a cleaning playlist.

People love to talk about living in small spaces, but what constitutes a small space is drastically different for everyone. I think of our under 1000 square foot (and no additional storage beyond a massive Tupperware bin in the crawl space with our camping gear) as small, but it was fun to look at these different apartments.

Love these suggestions too, for some simpler days.

And finally, a friend threw this quote up as her Facebook status the other day, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it:

“What’s prayer? It’s shooting shafts into the dark. What mark they strike, if any, who’s to say? It’s reaching for a hand you cannot touch. The silence is so fathomless that prayers like plummets vanish in the sea. You beg. You whimper. You load God down with empty praise. You tell him sins that he already knows full well. You seek to change his changeless will. Yet Godric prays the way he breathes, for else his heart would wither in his breast. Prayer is the wind that fills his sail. Else waves would dash him on the rocks, or he would drift with witless tides. And sometimes, by God’s grace, a prayer is heard.” –Godric, Frederick Buechner