A Sip & See for Eleanor

This past Saturday myself and four other lovely lady friends hosted a Sip & See for our friend Taylor and her brand new baby girl, Eleanor. We decided to do a brunch, which I think was the best decision ever! We had mini pancakes, french toast sticks, mini quiches, a yogurt bar, and the most amazing thing I have ever tasted, a frappuccino punch. 

I found the most adorable free printables from Onto Baby, one of my most favorite blogs. They are completely customizable, FREE, and beautifully designed. 

As we were setting up everything was turning out insanely cute. I kept kicking myself because I had forgotten my camera at home, but then I realized I had taken my husband's car so he would have mine with the carseat for Violet. He had left his camera in the backseat from the previous workday! 

We had so much fun oooohing and ahhhing over sweet baby E, it was such a lovely morning with friends.

Paint by Number Wall Art

I pinned this project from this lovely blog pretty much as soon as they posted it. Elsie and Emma never cease to amaze me with their  constant output of DIYs. I'm so glad I set aside the time to do this. I love the way it turned out. 

4th of July

The 4th is quickly becoming a favorite holiday of mine. What is better than cooking out, family, swimming, wagons, cupcakes, popsicles, and fireworks? Not a whole lot. Our day was full of all of those wonderfully American things. We had a cook out next door with Robby's family for lunch and then headed out to my parent's house for the evening with more food and fireworks. It was so much fun chasing the kids, loading them up with sugary treats, and staying up way too late to watch fireworks.  There is something magical about watching kids enjoy summertime traditions. Our drive home was dreamy. We held hands and watched the fireworks explode all around us while our little girl slept in the backseat. In that moment I couldn't help but be thankful for everything in my life and grateful that I get to freely live that life.  

Summer Love

Summer is here and it's time for picnic lunches on the back porch and evening swims with dada. 

entering this one in this challenge 

I had a little fun and put a video together of Violet and Robby's swim. The song in the video always takes me straight to my summer in Nashville driving in the car, windows down with the warm breeze flying through my hair. 

note to self: turn phone hortizontal

Adventures in film

Lately I have been feeling very uninspired to document our little family and our everyday life. The digital format has just felt lack luster when it comes to capturing the small, but magical moments of our days, like going to the park or eating strawberries on the porch. We are so spoiled by the instant gratification and ability to take as many shots as we want with our DSLRs. I made this a challenge for myself to be purposeful behind the camera. So, we got Robby's old 35mm cannon that has traveled the world with he and his family off the shelf and used it over the course of a week. There was a roll of film still in it, and we also got that developed to see what was on it. There were pictures from one of Robby's visits to Spain to see his family and his trip to Greece with his mom. It hadn't been used in quite some time. Some shots, especially with a toddler who doesn't like to sit still, turned out not so great. Below are some that I really enjoyed taking and ones that turned out better than expected. We have a roll of black and white film ready to be loaded and used this week.

A Favorite

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of my two loves. I'm entering it in this week's Paper Mama photo challenge. It's my first time to link up on a blog or enter any kind of blog challenge. It's fun to look at all of the links and photos of others. Yahhoo!

Mothers Day Weekend

I pretty much had the best Mothers Day ever (even though it's only my second). My Mothers Day weekend started out with a surprise delivery of beautiful tulips from Robby and Violet on Friday afternoon. Saturday we all slept in until 10:00 am! Whoa...What? Whoever gave Violet the memo that she should sleep in, you rule. You rule hard. We spent the morning watching Winnie The Pooh and snuggling on the couch. We also had a lovely visit from Lindsey and Lauren, some of my most favorite friends ever, who live in NYC now. It was so great to catch up with them. Perfect Saturday in my book.

Mothers Day was spent out at my Mema and Pa's house cooking out and playing outside. It was the most beautiful day. The weather could not have been more perfect and spending time with my family was even better. After Sunday evening church, Robby said we had one more stop to make before heading home. He knew I had been wanting some succulents for the house, so we headed over to Lowe's and I got to pick out which ones I wanted. When I came out of Violet's room from rocking her to sleep, Robby had laid out cardboard, and had everything setup for me to pot my new plants. He did so well at making me feel special and appreciated all weekend. I also kept getting the sweetest texts, tweets, and calls from friends and family all day. So, thank you to everyone who thought of me today, you really know how to make this mama feel special. All day I just kept thinking, "Mothers Day is better than my birthday." It was that good.