Summer Family Adventure

Last Thursday Jason and I took the kids to both the Big South Fork River Scenic Railway and the Cumberland Falls State Park.

Jason has really become a pro at planning outings for our family.  He finds places nearby for us to go that are fun, active, usually educational, and often outdoors.  Before having Connor, I never imagined that lugging two children around in the hot sun all day would be enjoyable, but really it was a great day.  There were hardly any meltdowns, and London, as usual, smiled nearly the entire time.

Connor loves trains, and this was no exception.  The lull of the train even put him to sleep around naptime, but he was ready to go once we got off to explore the coal mining town.  We had a picnic in the grass, walked across a bridge, London napped in the shade, and Connor and Jason explored the paths.

After lunch at an adorable little diner where I had the best Oreo ice cream dessert, we headed to Cumberland Falls.  Connor was in awe (see the videos at the bottom for proof). Connor asked so many questions, and although I do not always know the answers, I love that he is inquisitive and curious about the world around him. I also love that he loves the outdoors.

I'm hoping we have many more fun summer days like this one ahead!

 

Four Months

London had her four month checkup today, and she is perfectly on track.  She is still the best eater and sleeper, and except for a few fussy minutes each day, she is a genuinely happy girl.  We get sweet smiles all day long.

She has changed so much.  She started rolling over (from back to belly) the day she turned four months old, and she has done it several times since.  Her favorite place to be during the day is anywhere she can be sitting up: in the Bumbo, in the jumperoo, or in someone's arms.  She is on a great schedule, eating 5 bottles a day, and usually sleeping from 8:30-6:00-6:30 in the morning.

Just tonight she tried cereal for the first time, and even though, of course, she pushed her tongue out most of the time, she got several bites down, and seemed to enjoy it.

She is such a big girl, in the 90th percentile for her height and weight, weighing in at 15 pounds, 8 1/2 ounces, and 25 1/2 inches long.  At Connor's four month checkup he was 13 pounds, 5 ounces, and 24 1/2 inches long.  She quite a bit chunkier than her big brother was.  Here are their comparisons for four months:

We are so blessed to have this sweet girl as a part of our family.

London's Dedication

As mentioned a few posts back, toward the end of the school year, heading back from maternity leave and adjusting to life as a family of four got the best of me, and I didn't write for about a month.

One of the most important things I failed to post about was London's dedication at our church.  However, since I pray that our faith is the defining factor of our lives, how we raise our children, how we love others, I couldn't skip over this event.

However, it seems as though I cannot express in words how I felt about this day.  It was the same with Connor's dedication.  There is something so sacred, and also something I can only describe as terrifying, about standing in front of our family, church family, and friends, and pledging publicly to raise our children in a faith-filled home.

Parenting is a huge responsibility, and I know that I fail miserably multiple times per day.  I am not always the best example of how to correct, love, forgive, and everything else I should do to ensure the character development of these little lives in my care.

However, as we stood there, I also felt as though I wasn't alone.  I have Jason, my family, his family, our church family, especially our pastor whom we love (and who was one of the first people to meet London at the hospital and prayed with us all in her first hours of life), and our friends.

Connor and London have the examples of many people to look up to, even when I fall short.  Looking back at the photos from that day brings tears to my eyes; there is something so special about both London's and Connor's dedications, moments that I will never forget.

*Big thank you to Macey for taking these photos for us!

Ten Years

On June 14, 2003, at 2 p.m., just a month shy of my 20th birthday, I married this handsome man:

It is hard to believe that we are ten years of marriage and almost 13 years of dating later.

I have been blessed these last ten years to have the head of our family to be Godly, romantic, kind, sensitive, intelligent, hilarious, and often unpredictable.  He is often the opposite of my sometimes too-serious, too-stressed self, and I need to remember to let him balance me out more often.

The past ten years have been filled with many things: joy, travel, building a home (and building on top of that home), losing loved ones, lots of growing up, and becoming parents to two precious, joyful children.

Seeing Jason become a father (as it is so close to Father's Day) made me love him even more, and I hope to have many, many more years to do life together.

*Because it will always be on my heart, although June 14th will always represent one of the happiest days of my life, last year it also became one of the worst.  One year ago today one of my best friends lost her sister, and it is never far from my mind, especially as today approached.  They have handled their loss in a way that is more poignant and full of faith than I could have imagined people could possess.  You can see their story here.  I suppose that the mixture of joy and sorrow I feel about today is much like life, full of all kinds of emotions, but throughout it all, God has been with us, and I am so grateful.


With that said, thank you, Jason, for ten full and joyful years!  I wouldn't want to be sharing this journey with anyone else (except maybe Leonardo DiCaprio...kidding).


These next photos were taken last night. We cooked dinner, then took it to a local elementary school to have a picnic and let Connor play. Connor had a blast, didn't whine when we left, London was happy the entire time, and the food was delicious. It was the perfect way to end our ninth year of marriage.

Please ignore my awful hair and the general terribleness of this photo, but it was the only one snapped of me with the kids and I had to document it.  :)

London's Nursery

Three months after London's birth, I am finally getting around to posting about her nursery.  Both London and Connor's rooms are easily my favorite rooms in the whole house.  They are inviting, friendly, and happy, and I love spending time in each of their spaces.

With London's room we wanted a vintage carnival-type feeling, and with the help of both of our parents, generous friends, and bargain-hunting, I think we achieved the look we were going for.  

I will try to list where I got as many things as I can remember from her room. We are so thankful that many of these were gifts or hand-me- downs.

Here is our sweet London Elise's room:

 

Hairbow holder from Etsy (The Popular Peacock was the name of the shop, but I do not think she is in business any longer.)

These frames were given to us by my Gran (one of her bargain finds) and I replaced the original prints with these two adorable prints from Casey Wiegand (I love her blog and her art.  You can see more of her prints here .  I love the Mint Love print, too.)

This dresser used to be Connor's and was a hand-me-down from Aunt Mary Beth and Uncie.  The basket with London's lotions, diapers, etc... was a gift from a colleague, Molly Mounce, the lamps were a hand-me-down from a friend, Marin, but I believe they were originally in one of my former student's nursery.  :)

These frames came from Amazon, and Mom just found these letter prints online and printed them off for us, so they were basically free.

This shadowbox came from Hobby Lobby, and its contents were put together by Jason.  He surprised me with it one morning, and I cried.  It is one of the sweetest things he's ever done for our family.  It has the shirt and hat London wore when she was first born, her stats card from her bassinet at the hospital, her hospital bracelet, the brush they used to wash her hair in the hospital, and a picture that Candice Robertson took for us.  The letter "L" above the shadowbox was a gift from my cousin Allison (and Travis).

This carousel horse is one of my favorite pieces in the room.  My friend Wendy found it, told my mom about it (without us knowing), and Mom bought it and had it refinished to match London's nursery.

The crib is a Jenny Lind that was given to us by Gran (We just painted it white.), and the bedding I actually found on a blog, emailed the blogger, and she was wanting to sell the bedding, so it worked out perfectly. (You can see the blog post here. ) The rug came from The Land of Nod

 

The monogram for London's wall came from Etsy.

The poufs were from the sprinkle that Mom and Linds threw for me.  The quilt is part of the bedding set. The rocking chair was given to us by Jason's parents (from his Papa Jack's home), and the chair pads are from Ikea.

This adorable bag was a gift (filled with lots of goodies) from my cousin Hope in Cincinnati.  Love it!

The letter (Yes, we know we need a couple of bulbs.) is from Etsy, but was refinished/painted by Designer Depot, which is also where the pink dresser is from.  These two items are two of my favorite in the room.

The glass canister came from Walmart, the carousel horses were a gift from Kelly Coots, the poufs were also given to me by Mom from the sprinkle, the pink Bible in the background was from our church, amd the pink and brown frame with London's name was a gift from one of our forner students, Cassandra. 

This dresser we had when London's room was just a guest room and not a nursery, nut we knew as soon as we were having a girl that we wanted it to stay in her room.  It is also from Designer Depot.

The teapot is Fiestaware and is from Designer Depot, the candle from Candlelite, and the plate was made for us by another former student, Lauren.

The typewriter was also Jason's before we had London, but we thought it fit with the decor of her room.  It was a gift from our friends Bobby and Lacey.  The photo and frame were a gift from my dear friend Lindsay, who also took the photo, one of my favorites of us.

The green mirror and pink elephant were gifts from my friend Marisa, the polka dot frame was from my friend Elizabeth, and the lantern is from Designer Depot.

This chiffarobe came from Jason's Papa Jack's house, and Jason's parents graciously gave it to us and let us repaint it.  It was originally owned by his great-grandmother and was a natural wood finish, but Designer Depot painted it for us, and I love how it turned out.  There is even a surprise on the inside in another photo.

The snowglobes were gifts from Jason from years ago, while we were dating; the chair is from Designer Depot, and my favorite piece of small decor in the room is this Ferris wheel that we found at my favorite store in Franklin, Tennessee, Philanthropy (You can see their Facebook page here.)

As I mentioned previously, Designer Depot did a fantastic job refinishing this piece, and they even added chalkboard paint to the inside of the doors for London to use when she's older.  :)

This bed was also an antique owned by Jason's great grandmother that his parents gave us from Papa Jack's house.  When we got it, it was white and a bit rusty, but we had it sanded down and repainted, and I adore how it turned out.

This precious, personalized blanket was from Annie,  who has also let us borrow so many clothes for London.

The chevron pillowcases I got at a great price from Groopdealz a while back, the elephant Jason picked up for London at ToysRUs, the penguin was a gift from Jason's parents, and the other animals were Connor's when he was a baby.

This gorgeous print was a gift from my friend Carrie-Nell and we got the frame for it at Hobby Lobby.

These curtains are another of my favorite special touches in the room, and they came from The Land of Nod (on sale).

Lastly, I had to share London's closet, only because it has one of the prettiest windows in the whole house, and because her closet is better than mine.

One thing I failed to mention was paint -- the color of her room is called Robin's Nest by Sherwin Williams, and I love it so much that I want to repaint our room this color when we get the chance.

One of my favorite things about London's room is that it is cheerful, light and airy with the pops of bright yellow, and now that she is here, it truly fits her and her bubbly little personality.  She is our always happy girl, and her room makes me feel that way...happy.