WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE BIRTHDAY

And just like that, it’s 2018.

For the first time in a long time I’m feeling excited and pumped for the year ahead, instead of feeling like where-oh-where-did-Christmas-go. There are a lot of changes on the way—both in our household and for The Noble Paperie. And where I am typically a worry-wart at heart, one of my {many} goals this year is to practice contentment, regardless of our situation.

It won’t be easy, and it hasn't been so far. Change stresses me out. Like seriously sends me into orbit with a never-ending internal dialogue of "what-ifs" and "how-will-we-ever-accomplish-this". And this year, I want to change that thinking and that behavior. I want to live inside these seasons of change, to not just accept them, but embrace them as a major part of this crazy life we get to live.

And my attempt at this way of living starts with simplicity. That’s right. I jumped on the bandwagon and picked a word for 2018.

Simplify our home. Simplify our life. And simplify my own mindset.

It all sounds a bit nebulous at the moment, but there is a plan here. I’ve already kicked off 2018 with simplifying our home. I’m in the process of going through every room, every drawer, every cupboard, and getting rid of all the STUFF. I’m being ruthless. If I don’t love it, and it doesn’t bring joy to our household, it’s gotta go. The sweatshirt I haven’t worn in six years? Gone. The toys Sebastian never plays with? Donated. The six tubes of toothpaste we will never use but are still randomly in our bathroom cabinet? Adios. I want us to have less clutter, less stuff, and to just live our lives with LESS.

I plan on simplifying our life. Like sometimes saying ‘No’, because doing ALL THE THINGS makes me feel like I’m going to explode. It might mean catching our weekly church service via podcast instead of actually going, because that time would be better spent with Sebastian instead of trying to wrangle him through a sermon. This one also comes with the added bonus of choosing to not feel judged for making this decision for our family (uh, hello social media). It’s more routines, like weekly homemade pizza night, and less stressing about everything else that’s making life feel more frantic and frenzied.

And with these changes, I’m hoping it will trickle down to how we choose to live on a daily basis. To focus less on comparison, less on how we aren't measuring up, and more on what we can do to be content with what we have. To make space to live simpler. I’m hoping it will end up changing our mindset, making room for what truly matters.

How is this mindset going to change our life right now? In this very moment, it means choosing to say no to a big, ornate birthday party for Sebastian, which for me, was not an easy decision to come by.

I had so much fun last year coming up with his Where The Wild Things Are themed party and all the things that came along with it: baking him a cake, creating party-favors, designing all of the decorations, and even sending out printed invitations... It truly made my heart SO happy to do it all. But it took months of planning and making and doing. And it was anything but simple.

For this January post, I’m sharing some of the details from his amazing birthday last year. It also gives me an excuse to post even more photos of our babe when he was SO little. And this year for Sebastian’s second birthday (oh be still my heart, how is he already TWO?!), we will figure out a simple way to celebrate. One that is full of people we love and cake that still tastes delicious, even if it’s not homemade. And without further ado, here are some of my favorite details: