Nursery Progress

I was so excited to learn the gender of our baby so we could start planning the nursery. I love a good home project and planning her room was such a creative process for me, especially with Rich gone.  I did not anticipate how daunting it would be to do it however!  There are so many cute themes and colors out there, I never knew how I would decide what to settle on.

In the end, I kept with the same colors from our wedding, peach and grey with touches of goal and coral.   I wanted to bring some personal elements to her room and of course stay with in a budget, after all we don't know how long we will be living in this house #militarylifeproblemz

Here are a few things I found or assembled for her room over the weeks:

 My mother in law made this wreath for the baby shower she threw.  We decided to hang it on the front of our girls nursery to give a little floral welcome to anyone who entered her room.  

 I found this peach stocking at Michaels when I was searching for Christmas decor.  It was the perfect addition to her room for Christmas time.  Even though she isn't here with us for this Christmas, it's been fun to have her little stocking hanging.  I hope I can incorporate some fun tradition with her in the years to come with this stocking hung on her bed.  We ordered one that matched ours for the mantel, but this one was just extra special. 

 I wanted to make a floral mobile for above her crib.  My nieces wore flower crowns at our wedding so this was sort of a nod to that from our wedding and a way to really give her something visually appealing when she transitions to her crib.  I covered a form wreath in ribbon, added a bunch of silk flowers with pins, and hung it above the crib with the same ribbon!

November Happenings

November was another month spent without Rich but it brought lots of activity and excitement. We were lucky enough to have a few showers back when we were in North Carolina and it was wonderful to see all my friends and celebrate our new girl!

 My four best gal friends hosted an adorable and creative shower at my mom's house.  They thought of everything and of course the food was amazing. 

 How cute is this activity? All the guests got to paint blocks for our gal so she'd have her first set of baby blocks! 

 After the shower I was able to head to the Wake Forest football game with Kristen, just like old times! 

 I also managed to turn 32 in November the following weekend.  It was a little sad to be alone on my birthday, but I did treat myself to a birthday massage and mani-pedi!  My toe color is called "It's a girl!" ironically.  

November was a really challenging month for me personally.  I learned a lot about being alone during a weird and new season of my life.  I also discovered so many hidden blessings that come in suffering and sadness and felt the support of so many people loving our family near and far.  

Our Crazy October

After our babymoon Rich and I were prepared to spend the fall enjoying some time together, fixing up our house, and relishing in the last moments of our family of two before baby girl came.  But of course, the military had other plans and we learned Rich would be heading to a training  in Florida for 6 weeks unexpectedly.  This would mean he would miss my birthday, Thanksgiving, three baby showers, and all the plans we had together for the fall!  As excited as I was for him and his career, I was pretty bummed to be spending a good portion of this part of my pregnancy without him near by.  Things were really starting to get more difficult in terms of getting comfortable and doing housework, so it was daunting to think of doing it by myself.  

Here is a little taste of October:

One blustery fall Saturday morning I thought it a good idea to take Ellie for a walk around the block.  As would be my luck, I somehow managed to get taken down by her (she is 89 lbs after all...) and ended up having a really bad fall.  I bloodied my knees, hands, and elbows and because I wasn't exactly sure how I fell (it happened so quickly) the doctors wanted me to come into labor and delivery for some monitoring.  It was incredibly scary but I am grateful that the nurses were very kind to me.  It was very surreal being there that day and I had no idea what to expect.  Baby girl was find after about 5-6 hours of monitoring and now I know all I really need when we actually go in for delivery! 

That same day I was able to attend my co-workers wedding in Williamsburg, despite my little hospital visit.  I was bummed to not have my date with me, but it was a great night watching her get hitched!

Baby Moon

It's been quite awhile since I was able to post a good update.  Life has been busy of late-in both good and bad ways.  But with my job wrapping up before  the holidays, I finally have some time to document all we've been doing over these last few months.  

Rich and I planned a last hoorah baby moon before we welcome little girl.  My first choice was naturally the Caribbean but unfortunately Zika was a huge threat to pregnancies in 2016.  I was really disappointed we couldn't go on a cruise as we so enjoyed for our honeymoon.  Naturally we turned to another place we've come to love: The North Carolina mountains.  Last year we took a great friends trip to the mountains, and we love celebrating our totally made up holiday of "fall fest", so it was the perfect occasion to escape coastal Virginia life and head to the NC mountains.

We looked into a few options for our trip in terms of lodging. While we loved the B and B's in the mountains, we wanted a way to bring our first daughters with us on our trip, a place that was private, and a way we could do our own cooking.  We got lucky by finding a cabin through VRBO that fit all our needs and was comparable to the hotels and B and B's we had looked into.  It had a ton of space but still was worth the price for what we could get with it.  We are located between Boone and Blowing Rock, and found the drive between those two cities to be perfect.  Located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway it was easy to navigate. 

 Sophie and Ellie both LOVED the mountains.  We were so glad we decided to bring them.  It was very clear they enjoyed the mountain crisp air. 

 The house had an amazing porch.  We spent most nights and some mornings out here taking in the sights and smells.  Sophie and Ellie always joined us of course. 

 We spent time visiting the actual Blowing Rock, as well as Grandmother Mountain Winery (Rich got to drink and I had to watch!)

It was a great trip with only one incident of trouble-we did manage to lock ourselves out of the house (the dogs were with us) and had to call a locksmith.  We got lucky to reach someone before they closed up shop!

NC Outer Banks Day Trip

I can't believe it is already the middle to end of August.  In so many ways I am excited for summer to be over, anticipating fall and all the great weather, football, and fun holidays.  At the same time, for so many years (31 prior in fact) my favorite season of the year has been summer.  This year, I just have not been a summer girl.  

It may be due to mosquito-zika season, or the incredibly hot summer it has felt like in VA, or my general displeasure with VA area beaches, but fall in calling my name loud and clear!

We didn't want summer to escape us without some sort of day trip to the Outer Banks. It's been nearly 15 years since I was there and Rich had never been. 

 We woke up one Sunday morning and map quested how close the main attractions we were interested in were from our house.  Surprisingly we could get there in less than two hours.  We packed up the car (left the dogs at home) and hit the road:

 I was really pleased with how pretty the outer banks beaches were.  On this day, the water was almost tropical blue (though its hard to tell in this photo).  There were shells EVERYWHERE!  It was a hot day so we didn't walk too far and we didn't take our bathing suits because this was more of an exploratory trip.

 You can't be married to an Air Force man without visiting the birthplace of aviation!  I had been to the Wright Brothers Museum and memorial in 7th grade, but coming back this time so many years later I had a greater appreciation of what those two brothers went through to give us the gift of flight!

 From atop the monument you can see where they flew their test glider.  I cannot believe they were able to carry it up this hill on hot days.  I could barely walk up just myself-and I had to take a break!

After Kitty Hawk we ventured down to Rodanthe where we stumbled upon the house from Nights in Rodanthe.  It is now an INN and you can spend a week here!  They've mostly restored it to how the movie depicts it and it is under new ownership.  It was moved off the beach within the last few years to protect it.  It really stood out amongst the other places there and was so easy to find. 

Wrightsville Weekend with Friends

At the end of July our bestest friends invited us down to the beach for a weekend of celebrating Kristen's 30th birthday!  Kristen always provides a great time and this weekend was no different!  We had so much fun and I even managed to stay up past 10 pm for nights in a row (of course I paid for it on night three...) but it was so worth it!

I'll never take for granted that we have close friends within a 4 hours drive!  There really is not many other feelings I enjoy more than spending time with my college friends. 

 To celebrate the big birthday we had dinner at the Pilot House and sang Karaoke at our favorite lil hole in the wall in Wilmington, the same place we sang for my bachelorette.  I loved the view from the Pilot House and the food was awesome too! Highly recommend for anyone headed to the Wilmington area. 

 This photo is proof that I was awake past sunset, a rare event for this lady.

The last day we were able to take our friend's family's new boat out for a spin and a boat day.  It was a perfect day!  Rich even got the drive the boat back to the marina since he just got his boating license.   We had such an awesome time with these fabulous friends for the weekend, so glad they all live so close to us that we can make weekend trips like this even possible!

Family News!

 Family News!  I've been a little MIA around here as we've been so happily revealing in our family news!  We will become a family of five in January (dogs are family too, folks!).  We are so excited and enjoying this time as a family of four for the time being.

 Ellie sums up my experience in the first trimseter.....lots of napping, fatigue...and general exhaustion.

Second trimester has brought a lot more of this: getting ready!

First Anniversary Recap

Hooray!  It's June and the official start of summer! We've had a busy (and wonderful) June so far.  We've really enjoyed watching the flowers in our garden take off!  The hydrangeas have been my favorite so far and have so nicely complimented many rooms of our house with fresh cut blooms.  I look forward to a small flower budget for June as long as we live at this house!

June also brought with it our first wedding anniversary!  Due to Leap Year we weren't lucky enough to have our anniversary fall on a Monday, but I took a half day and Rich and I treated ourselves to some spa pampering before we left for the beach with family.  That night we ate Chick-fil-a (yum) and enjoyed year old wedding cake that tasted JUST as delicious as the night we had it!

 

 
To celebrate our wedding we took a dinner cruise in Norfolk.  We got lucky with the most beautiful night on the water and it was really special seeing this place from the river.  Sunset was gorgeous, the food was to die for, and the memory is special to us.

 

 

 

My most precious first year anniversary memory was the sweetest gift I have ever received.  I came home from a long and tough day at work to find a brand new farm table in our dinning room!  My immediate thought was where on earth did Rich buy this?!  I learned shortly that he had MADE it for us secretly over the last month at a co-workers house. It is my most special gift and one of the best things I will ever own.

Alice and Wonderland Tea Party

This past weekend I hosted a ladies tea party with a  little Alice and Wonderland Theme.  I have met so many great women friends here that I thought it was time to have them all over to my house for a Sunday afternoon.  It was a great excuse to wear a summer dress and eat delicious food.  The party set up was so easy thanks to Target's Dollar Spot and The Dollar Store, and given I had so many baking ladies, I didn't even have to do that much baking for 16! 

I made little yogurt parfairs with granola and fruit in these tiny cups I found at the Dollar Store. I used ribbon and tiny tiny plastic spoons (also found at Dollar Store) to tie them together for a cute little cup. 

Thank you again Target for the cute tags that I was able to write on and attach to all the drinks.  The fun party straws behind are also found in the Target Dollar Spot. 

I had a little drink bar area with tea, sweet tea, lemonade and water for the guests.  We ate off of a mix of our fine china and my Pottery Barn Bunny Plates.  People were a bit nervous to eat off our china but the point of having nice things is to get use out of them! 

 

If this photo could only say how much of a pain it was to blow that Cheers balloon up!  It was one of my favorite decorations in the house (and it still is up today!)  !

 This was the spread at the end of the party.  So much delicious food!

 

 

 

 

It was such a great afternoon with wonderful friends we've found here.  I am already scheming my next shin-dig when I get the approval from Rich that I can have more people over ;)

Five on Friday

 Bringing another Five on Friday this week with a few things on my mind as we roll into the weekend.  The biggest thing I am excited about is my mom coming for a few days! 

One:  Girls Tea Party

This weekend I am hosting a ladies tea party at my house.   I am thrilled to have so many ladies who can make it.  It is a little daunting having so many NEW friends in my house for the first time but it's my goal to be extra social so this is a huge step for me.  I've had the best time planning a colorful tea party for the girls.  Knowing pastel loving me, this is a huge step!


Two: Fruit Infused Water

I've been majorly thirsty of late, and have fallen in love with fruit infused water.  I recently got a great new water bottle that has a space for fruit to fit right in the middle.  If you are like me, it is so hard to get my 64 ounces of water in a day.  Here are some great recipes for fruit in your water:
 

Three:White Everywhere

I love all the spring and summer styles of white dresses. I've already snagged two for the summer and can't wait to wear them.   I am envious of all the brides who are buying wedding shower dresses because there are so many great options out there now!

Four: Our New Curtains

 I can't believe how wonderful our cozy kitchen space is now thanks to the new handmade curtains from my mother-in-law.  The space is really starting to blossom with the light and the curtains and I have big plans for that blank wall space you see there.  Stay tuned!

Five:  Excitement for Charleston!

With an approaching vacation in South Carolina   I cannot wait to have a week back in our "first home" and then back with our family for so many days.  It has my dreaming about our visit last year and scheming for all we want to get done this trip.   Charleston is the BEST city in the world.  I can't wait to be there for a week and see all we've missed in these 6 Virginia months away from "home."