WAITING ON BABY BIRD

we've been keeping a little secret for a few weeks now- probably the hardest few weeks of my life. (okay, that might be a little over dramatic). we're expecting our third baby! oh my goodness, we're so excited! we let our family and closest friends know as soon as we found out (i'm awful at keeping secrets, obviously) but decided to keep it off social media until our first appointment. i've waited for this for a few years now and i'm just over the moon that our time has come. you might remember when i included having a baby in my GOALS FOR 2016  post. then, the timing was never quite right for us, but we don't get to choose, and the timing really couldn't have been more perfect when it did happen. I've prayed so much for this baby. he/she is so loved already and is our little gem.i love my little family, and cannot wait to see how emery and grayson react to their new baby brother/sister. my heart is overflowing. 

A PLAY KITCHEN UPDATE: LEATHER HANDLES

      before

after

i randomly decided to change out the plastic handles on emery's play kitchen for something a little more modern and settled for leather pulls with brass hardware. 

i thrifted a leather belt for $2 and used brass washers, bolts, and nuts from lowe's for the hardware. this diy was super simple and added a touch of sophistication to our once basic play kitchen. we love it! 

i'm hoping to continue making small updates in the kids' rooms over the next few months- linen bedding, paint, and new light fixtures. we're getting so close to being ready for tours of both emery and grayson's bedrooms!!

EMERY TURNS FIVE

wrapping my head around the title of this post is proving to be difficult for me still, two weeks later. i long for time to stand still. just for a minute? please? i can't believe our girl is five. FIVE!! On her birthday, she woke up and we had a normal day with school, etc until later in the afternoon when she got "birthday spankings" during taekwon-do when everyone in the building sang her happy birthday, and then later opened a couple of gifts at home. 

over the weekend, we had our family and friends over turning our backyard into a party zone complete with cake, pizza, florals, the bubble machine and gifts. i was mostly extremely busy during her party but i loved watching the kiddos flock to the bubble machine when i got the chance. them jumping all over the place trying to pop the bubbles without a worry in the world was so sweet. emery thoroughly enjoyed herself and the joy on her face the whole time was just priceless. seeing her sweet face lit up all day was totally worth it.

 that confetti popping sequence cracks me up.

and because i never want to forget this day. the way you let your cousins and friends help you unwrap your gifts. how you generously offered your brand new toys to the little ones. how you played in the bubbles as they floated through the air. how you only wanted to drink out of your disco ball tumbler. how you gave hugs to every single person and told them thank you. how you didn't want the day to end and wanted everyone to stay. and at the end of a fun filled and eventful day, how you immediately fell asleep afterwards. i wish to remember these details all of my days. i love you, sweet girl.

we started the tradition of birthday baskets last year and so far they seem to be a huge hit with the kiddos. this year i filled a much smaller basket for emery with things like the trolls movie , bows , pocky, scented donut erasers, mini bubbles, small notepads, paper straws, bubble bath , alexander dolls (from mcdonalds, surprisingly!), a little wee gallery book , and burt's bees chapstick.

also, the florals were just so pretty i had to snap a picture of them sitting so gracefully on our dining room table. emery and i would smell them every time we walked by. cheers to another year of you, little miss emery. i love you. i love you. 

florals and disco ball tumbler : clarksville florist 

dress: next direct 

shoes: old navy 

wrapping paper: rifle paper co 

cake: kneading hands bakery

floral paper straws: ebay

napkins: amazon

wooden plates: amazon

wooden cutlery: amazon

Belvoir rose lemonade: lucky vitamin

pink plates: tj maxx

GRAYSON TURNS THREE

my gosh, the title to this post makes it all seem so surreal! i've been finding myself wishing time would just slow down a lot lately! our boy turns three today. THREE! how is that even possible?

happy birthday, bub! I'm so excited to celebrate you today!

*disclaimer: gray does smile and laugh. a ton. i just think  his little moments are hilarious and tend to capture them. :) 

FIRST SNOW

we woke the kiddos up to a winter wonderland a couple of weeks ago and it also happened to be gray's first time to play in the snow ever! we had gotten a little bit of snow a couple of years ago but he was still so little (and sick that day) that we decided to keep him warm indoors. the twenty minutes it took to get these two bundled up was totally worth the excitement and pure joy they felt and the pure joy i felt too as i watched the kiddos play with justin and snapped a few photos. gray absolutely loved the snow until his pants and gloves became wet from the mini snowball fight him and emery had against their daddy. i think gray's face says it all in these pictures! emery just wanted to stay outside forever and as soon as we went inside to warm up, all she wanted to do was go back outside. i think all the running and playing she did wore her out because she curled up in mommy and daddy's bed while waiting for hot cocoa and fell asleep. i've always loved the snow, but playing in the snow with my little family... well, that's the icing on the cake. hands down. 

2017 GOALS

it doesn't feel like it's time to be writing another goals list for a new year again! 2016, where did it go?! this year was pretty steady for us again this time around and I am so thankful. 2016,  like every year, was about growth and setting terrifying yet satisfying life goals. because that's how we roll.

anyhow, here are some of my goals for 2017:

1. GET BACK ON A FUNCTIONING SLEEP ROUTINE: i don't think i had a great night's sleep once this past year. two year olds. enough said.


2.READ MORE BOOKS- i love reading mom/wife/homemaking books and would love to take the time to read more often!


3. CONTINUE MAKING OUR HOUSE A HOME- my ideas and goal of furnishing our entire home in a single year was a bit lofty. good things take time.


4. BABY TIME- i know, i know. this was on my goals list for last year too... the timing just wasn't quite right for baby. justin and i decided to put baby #3 on hold in hopes of better health insurance options, so we shall see! i have my eye on everything baby related these days!! eek!


5. SEND SNAIL MAIL- In my meghan trainor voice "we're bringing snail mail baaaack!"... i've always thought it would be so neat to receive snail mail from close friends and family. why not send it too?! my Mother-in-Law sends emery and gray cards for birthdays and valentine's day sometimes, even though she lives in the same state as us, and i don't think i've ever told her that i secretly really love it when she does that! i plan on keeping those sweet cards forever. sending someone a handwritten letter just to let them know you're thinking of them is so special!


6. DIY OUR OWN SHAMPOO, CONDITIONER, ETC.- with grayson and his hypersensitive skin, finding hypoallergenic/natural products that he and emery both can use is no easy feat. i would really enjoy making our own products i think knowing the kiddos aren't being lathered in toxic chemicals.- or if you have any recommendations of more natural products, they'd be greatly appreciated. 


7. CONTINUE LEARNING TO SEW- i've enjoyed learning the basics of sewing recently and even made a few pillowcases and duvet covers! i hope to make clothing for the kiddos at some point.

what are some of your resolutions for 2017? I'd love to hear them! Happy New Year, friends!