happy birthday emmers! | cake and presents

cake is definitely the highlight of any birthday. at least any birthday i've been a part of!

we chose pink velvet for her baby bundt cakes. 

selfishly, i wanted to try and avoid a giant mess with a bunch of icing [we already messed with that during her smash cake shoot...] but let's be real. it's not a real birthday cake if you don't have icing on top! 

home girl also has quite the love for her crackers.  i would never think twice about having to choose between cake or crackers, but she just couldn't leave her first love behind! :)

emma grace had so much fun opening her gifts!  she loved crawling and climbing on all the bags and pulling the paper out. but she also loved the goodies.  maybe next year will be our "cardboard box" birthday celebration.

from the very beginning, bub-hub and i decided we wanted emma grace's birthday celebration to be a giant thank you party for our friends and family.  we are so beyond blessed with love and support, and i can't even begin to imagine how different our first year as parents would have been without them.

was it a little unncecssary. sure. but it was fun, and we got to share the day with our friends and family, so in my book, that makes it all more than worth it!

nursing in style // caramel and denim

my mom calls me the cardigan queen. cool right? #youknowyouwanttobemyfriend

recently, i've been trying to break out of cardigan comfort zone and branch out...to longer sweaters. i know. look out world.

i found this caramel colored open faced sweater at target.  it's super cozy and neutral which means it can be worn with practically anything. i layered it with a tank here, but it would also look great with button down, or even a t-shirts or v-neck. 

as far as tanks go, i'm obsessed with the gilligan & o'malley nursing tanks. 5 days post-partem, my mother-in-law asked if i needed anything from target, and i said, "yes! a few more nursing tanks please!" because i had a baby with acid reflux and laundry wasn't exactly at the top of my priority list.  the gilligan & o'malley nursing tanks are my favorite because they look normal, they fit well, and they, let's be real...they wash well. :)   

also, let's be honest, i'm barely out of my maternity jeans.  after wearing stretchy yoga-maternity-jeans for 7 months, it's pretty ridiculous to expect anyone to squeeze into anything that buttons.

jewelry is always hit or miss.  luckily EG usually ignores my kendra's, so i'll always make the attempt.

why this works // nursing tanks are always a winning choice, but i think the sweater and fun shoes make it look like any other cami.  i think shoes are the best way to add something fun to your outfit, and the baby can't take that away from you! :)

sweater, shoes and tank // target
earrings // kendra scott
jeans // jcrew factory

so mamas, what do you think?

spring break fakin'

spring is in the air y'all, and by spring, i mean summer. because let's be real. spring doesn't exist in dfw. well that's a little bit of a lie. it exists for 27 minutes. 

EG and i had a lot of fun parading around town during spring break.  i mean, our lives are pretty busy, so we needed to get away from the daily grind.  #gimmiethebbq

we took a trip to the farmers market, ate a ginormous sandwich at pecan lodge, threw a fun gender reveal party for our bestie, played in the backyard, and ordered chocolate chip pancakes at the local diner.   #allonatuesday 

we also hit some pretty major milestones this week. EG posed for her first passport photo #cheeseplease and fed herself puffs.  she's gotten pretty good at swatting them off the highchair, but now we've moved on to bigger and better things. aka: stuffing her whole fist in her mouth, sometimes resulting in puff-eating success.  raider is pretty bummed about it. he's not blinded by her sweet baby girl grin. #gimmiethepuffs
we also got to hang out with uncle grayson this week!

yay for spring break. it's pretty much awesome all around. even if you're fakin' it.

nursing in style // casual chambray and black

time for some honesty.

throughout my pregnancy, the "will you won't you breastfeed" question was kinda overwhelming to me.  and this is pretty selfish, but after 7ish month of maternity clothes and stretchy striped everything, thought of not being able to wear anything cute or feel like myself for another extended period of time wasn't exactly encouraging.  i remember sitting on the couch, browsing the fantastic selection of nursing tanks and wrap shirts and thinking about how adorable my sweet friends were were going to be in their cute summer outfits. ehhhh no thank you. but baby trumps fashion and selfishness.  

eight months in, i wouldn't necessarily consider myself an expert, but i do feel like i've gained a bit of confidence and am learning to branch out a little.   i've enjoyed getting to wear and shop for normal clothes again, even if i have to think things through a little bit differently.  and let's be real, feeling cute makes a big impact when trying to fend off the baby blues. gotta love those post-partem hormones. 

and thus, nursing in style was born. :)  this is my attempt to encourage nursing newbies through the tough times and help build a little of that confidence.  nursing is hard enough as it is...there's no need to feel frumpy on top of that! 

this outfit is fun because it's super simple, and easy to change up with different sandals or jewelry.  EG finds this neckless pretty entertaining, so that's good and bad...sometimes it ends up in my purse. 

and these shorts...so comfy.  i'm going to get all the colors. and even better, they seem like they'd be maternity friendly!

why this works // button downs are a staple for nursing mamas and stretchy shorts are forgiving when you're learning how to dress the new you. this pair is also flowy which looks great when you're standing, or sitting on the floor with your babe. :)

shorts // target

shirt // j-crew factory

shoes // carlos via dsw

necklace // target, similar 

so mamas...what do you think?

emma grace // eight month update

dear sweet baby girl,

you're getting sillier by the day.  i don't know where you get all your smiles, but they are the most pure form of joy.  i'm so in love with your sweet hugs and kisses. you're such a little snuggle bug and i hope that never changes.

you're trying new foods...so far we love sweet potatoes, bananas, potatoes, blueberries, and you love your puffs! i think you'll be ready for fro-yo any day now!

this month, you took your first trip sitting up in the shopping cart and loved every minute.  you're little miss independent and love looking around and reaching for everything. your favorite grocery store toy is the bag of chocolate chips...someday i promise i'll let you try the real thing!

i think crawling is right around the corner, but let's be real, you're really ready to start running!  we've created a little machine in that walker, and i think it's going to be impossible to keep you down for long!  you're moving from room to room like a pro, following us around and showing off your skills.

my heart is growing more and more every day for you little one. i love you more than you'll ever know. 

love,

your mama

our valentines day decorations

love is in the air! and on the mantle and the entry way table and all over the house. :)

when i set out looking for valentines decorations, i fully intended on just picking up some paper and cutting out hearts on my own.  and then i got to the store, and went a little crazy.

first, i stumbled upon these fun corrugated hearts from hobby lobby!  instead of cutting out all the hearts on my own, i just taped the die cut hearts onto some twine, pinned it to the mantle, and voila! a $5 valentines mantle in ten minutes! :)

i've had my eye on the teeny tiny mail boxes in the target dollar spot for a while, and i finally took the plunge!   initially, i was excited to use them as "love bug special delivery" boxes, but after getting them home, i realized they are too tiny for any of the cards or gifts i (i mean the love bug...) wanted to share, but they are the perfect size for my mantle, so i consider it $3 well spent. :)

i had decided to try something different for the entry way, and then i found these larger paper mache mailboxes. can you say "meant to be"?!  they are the perfect size for cards and little bags of candy....which i may or may not have already sampled. #sorryimnotsorry i even grabbed a few extras to stash in the closet for any future littles! :)

i can't wait for EG to be big enough to be excited about these silly little things.  for now, i'm just going to pretend that's she's into it. :)

paper mache mailbox // hobby lobby
corrugated hearts // hobby lobby (similar here)
scrap book paper // michael's (available at any craft store)
sweetheart printable // studio calico
pink frame // target (similar here)
mini mail boxes, burlap runner // target dollar spot
gold frames // goodwill

emma grace // seven month update

dear sweet baby girl,

oh how i love you so! your daddy and i are just head over heels for you.  we can't get enough of this little adventure that we are on with you.  you're so interactive and your little, and by little i mean HUGE, personality is shining through.

you're a reaching and chewing machine! your toys, my hair, anything on the table (uhh....the table), and sometimes even sweet potatoes.  oh, and now your stickers! :)  i think you're starting to teethe, so anything that can fit in your mouth is fair game for chewing!

we're finally getting to wear some of your 6m clothes.  it's been so fun to see you grow, and i can't get enough of your arm and thigh rolls!

you've discovered your voice and are giggling and squealing up a storm. you LOVE your walker and are becoming a pro at moving from room to room.  you've started rolling from your back to your tummy, and sometimes even back again.  we haven't quite started crawling, but we are pretty good at wiggling around in a circle! you're also becoming quite the expert at sitting and reaching. you know what you want, and you go for it!

you have the biggest and best smiles. i can't get enough. thank you for bringing the sunshine. :)

love,

your mama

a little life update

this week, we enjoyed warm sunny days in our jorts, and cold rainy days in our jammies. i'm really not complaining about this roller coaster though.  i'm getting extra wears out of her baby jorts and her reindeer christmas footie pajamas.   

each day is becoming more fun than the day before.  baby girl's personality is definitely starting to shine and it's quite entertaining.  

this week, eg helped her daddy win a few rounds of bananagrams, entertained us on her piano, and helped her juju sew up some new pillows for our couch.  #busybee

oh, and we're seven months old now. is this real life??

 

our happy place // adventures with eg

ingredients for a perfect day: me with a book and giant chai latte, baby girl with her best buddy george the giraffe, just hanging in the sunshine. 

since day one, sweet baby girl has loved the sunshine. nothing calms her down quite like being outside. it's quite the magic trick. maybe i watched frozen one too many times when i was pregnant. when the sky is awake, this baby girl is awake. then again...she's pretty much always awake.

lucky for us, we've had a bit of a warm winter, and with that comes many happy days. as much as i love cold snuggly sweater weather, i'm thankful for these few 60 degree sunny january days.


hopefully our neighbors don't mind the veggie tale sing along songs playing on the speakers.

gotta get that Jesus music.

instagram // etsy // pinterest // twitter

emma grace: five months

sweet baby girl,
we are so thankful for you.
i love watching your curiosity and just love watching your little brain discover new things.
your sweet smile lights up a room and you charm everyone you meet.
and even though you're still not a huge fan of naps or bed time, i really don't mind. more snuggle time for me! :)

Emma Grace: Two Months

sweet baby girl is two months old. 

i'm completely addicted to her little coos, snorts and almost-giggles.

her smiles and snarles melt my heart, even at 3:30 am. #soworthit

she never stops squirming, even in her sleep.

morning stretches are serious business and require at least 30 different facial expressions. 

she's stubborn and strong and i love every single tiny inch of her. 

month 1

baby girl's birth story

bub-hub and I consider ourselves very blessed to have had such a healthy and low key pregnancy. I didn't really suffer from morning sickness, I slept pretty well throughout and didn't have to give up any of my favorite munchies. when we checked in to the hospital, we were so beyond eager to meet our baby girl, but so anxious and nervous at the same time.  even though we knew our lives were about to change dramatically, it was still so beyond our comprehension. we had no idea what our new normal was going to really be like. 

we checked in, the nurses set me up and the waiting game, the real waiting game, began. a few times throughout the day, baby girls heart rate dropped but after a short time, would come back up. bub-hub kept me updated on what all the monitors were saying, what the beeps were indicating, and tried his best to keep me calm. 

after 7.5 hours of labor, her heart rate wasn't coming back up. the nurses rushed in to prep my for a csection. everything happened in less than 10 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. all I could do was lay there, completely helpless, squeezing bub-hub's hand, praying that the doctors could save my baby girl.  

there are moments in time where you realize your faith has to be real. I've always know that The Lord was faithful to provide and sovereign in his plans, but my pregnancy really put the reality of my beliefs to a test. there are so many unknows and so many situations that are completely out of your control, no matter how diligently you take your prenatal vitamins or how faithfully you follow the doctor's recommendations. 

thankfully, the Lord was sovereign and gracious to provide us with a 5lb 14oz, 17.5in, healthy, wiggly, beautiful baby girl. she just wanted to make sure her entrance into the world was a memorable one. :)  

and that is the story of how our perfect Emma Grace joined our family. 

baby girl's nursery

when i started thinking about decorating emma grace's nursery, i realized that honestly, her nursery is really for me. other than looking through photos, she would have no recollection of the adorable crib skirt and bedding i picked out for her.  i started thinking of the things that were important to me (especially during 3 am feedings...) and i decided i wanted it to be calm, happy, and comfortable.  

bub-hub gave me a camera strap last christmas that had the most beautiful floral pattern on it and i just became obsessed. after searching the internet and calling hundreds of fabric stores, i found the amy butler fabric and started buying up as much as i could find.  i loved the bright colors and i thought the balance of pinks and blues and bright greens were just perfect. 

we painted the walls the calmest shade of pink we could find, and filled the room with white furniture and accents to keep the focus on the fun colors in her bedding. 

i also tried really hard to stick to our budget.  pinterest and etsy are fabulous dangerous places, but after many pro/con/do i really need the crystal chandelier conversations with myself (and bub-hub...), i chose the things that were most important to me.  i knew i wanted to do a hoop wall collage, and have a few elements for her name.  but i also knew that I would probably want to add things later on as she grew up and we started making family memories together. 

i'm pretty sure baby girl loves her room...at least, she loves having her diaper changed on her changing table! :)  

crib - pottery barn kids
lamp, night stand, dresser/changing table - ikea
quilt and crib sheet - shelly akerly
crib skirt - caden lane, etsy

photos by sarah carpenter photography

baby bump and baby beats

emma grace and i are officially in the home stretch. don't get me wrong, i love having a little buddy with me all day every day, dancing and wiggling around like a fool. pretty positive she's got some baby beats on and is practicing for her audition for step up 6...

i'm just ready to see her little face!

now that the end is in sight, everything is becoming so much more real. for the longest time, her arrival felt forever away. but now that we've crossed into the less than one month mark, we feel a definite sense of expectation and excitement. it's been so much fun getting her room ready, putting together her furniture (well fun for me to watch bub-hub at least...) and hanging up all of her tiny little clothes.

i've really been loving our family time and have been enjoying this season of stillness and calm. i'm so guilty of being a busy-bee and a multi-tasker, but lately, i've been trying so hard to sit still and soak in every minute we have left as a family of two.  i really think my level of exhaustion is a real blessing from the Lord to teach me to step back and let go.  i'm just tired enough to need to sit and do nothing, but not too tired to spend time hanging out with bub-hub and raider.

now the real test will be to see if i'm still feeling calm and relaxed a week from now. :)

life lately: homeownership

since apparently the whole becoming parents thing wasn't a big enough life change for us, we decided to add home-ownership to our list of responsibilities.  after months of searching and making offers and searching some more, we finally found our perfect little house. God is so good and provided the perfect place at the absolute perfect time.  we are in the process of packing (again...) and painting and planning projects, and I just can't even wait to move in!

lately

bub hub
has discovered his secret painting talent. #edgingexpert
is a master at unloading the washing machine now that the prego-belly is getting in the way.
won the best husband award for bringing home frozen and letting it be our packing party background music.

raider
has been a perfect walking companion, even now that mama's had to slow her roll a little more than usual.
is mastering the doggy door at the new house. #professionalpup
shows his love and excitement for emma grace by pouncing on mama's belly every time she's on the couch.

sarah grace
is still pregnant with only 8 (insert long or short here depending on the hour...) weeks to go!
is a terribly painting assistant and not so great with keeping paint off the floors.
is taking naps and sleeping in every chance

emma grace
is growing bigger every day and wiggling up a storm.
finally has a nursery...at least a room that will be decorated sometime in the near-ish future...
is already loved more deeply than a mama could ever hope and dream.

life lately

life just seems to be speeding by, which is good and a little bit not so good. good because tax busy season is over and we have bub-hub back (notice how he's missing from every single photo...oops...) and a little bit not so good because i'm realizing how unprepared we are for baby girl's arrival. that's what prayer and family are for right?



lately

bub-hub
has a love/hate relationship with the mavericks.
somehow talked sg to watch sherlock, and now they are both hooked
has officially dominated tax season and life has returned to normal-ish once again.

raider
won't stop drinking water out of the toilet.
has designated the closet as the most comfy location for a nap.
has completely forgotten his leash-walking-manners. #rebelliousphase

sarah grace
is getting used to her ever growing baby bump and puffy cheeks.
loves using sweet baby girl as an excuse for chipotle and fro-yo.
can't quite cope with season three of scandal being over already.

emma grace
is 28 weeks old and the size of an eggplant.
has a growing collection of the most adorable wardrobe, ruffles included.
is completely worth every backache she's giving her mama.

life lately

lately

bub hub
has been inching his way closer and closer to the tax deadline.
is love march madness.
is an expert curtain rod and picture frame hanger-upper.

raider
has spring fever.
is glad all his toys made it to the new apartment safely during the move.
loves his recently rediscovered rope toy.

sarah grace
is obsessed with her pre-natal barre workout dvds.
loves getting to wear comfy cozy clothes all the time, even to work.
has been rocking her grocery budget goals, but not so much her fun, shopping ones.

baby emma
is already 25 weeks old.
is swimming around and kicking up a storm, especially when we were at the mavs game!
can't get enough frozen yogurt, topped with almonds and m&ms and blueberries.

twenty five and i'm feeling good!

last week, i turned twenty-five. ahhhhhhhh!
i spent the day being spoiled by my sweet bub-hub, and the rest of the week/weekend being spoiled by friends and family.
twenty-five is a pretty big life stage.

bub-hub's family has this fantastic birthday tradition that involves the birthday-ee choosing all of the meals for the day. when we got married, i made sure to inherit this tradition.

we splurged on donuts for breakfast, chick fil a for lunch, and chipotle for dinner with fro-yo for dessert. the next day, we had a yummy family birthday dinner at sfuzzi's! and of course, lots and lots of red velvet birthday cake!

i think twenty-five is definitely my favorite age so far, and i have a feeling it's going to be my best year yet!

what birthday is your favorite?

instagram // etsy // pinterest // twitter

pregostyle // feeling stripey

i'm definitely not a fashion blogger, and i definitely wouldn't consider myself a fashionista, but i do appreciate fun clothes! and if i'm being completely honestly, i've been struggling with learning how to dress this sweet little baby bump of mine. so when i feel like i hit a win, i'm going to celebrate it by getting out of my comfort zone and snapping some selfies.

darcy swing tunic from anthropologie // love the structure of this shirt. it's fitted on top and flowy where it needs to be. i love that it's long enough to be worn with leggings or jeans, and that it can easily transition from a casual to cute. also, since this isn't a maternity top, i'll be able to wear it after baby arrives. yay for multipurpose-pieces!

black skinny maternity jeans from gap // i love leggings as much as the next girl, but some days, i just need a little bit more structure. these are really comfortable and have just enough structure to make me feel productive. plus i found them on final clearance. #forthewin

nude patent flats from target // let's be real. i own these in about half a dozen shades.

hampton necklace from crave jewels // i won this little beauty in a giveaway a few months back. she probably thought i was a stalker because i entered EVERY giveaway she was doing, but it paid off and i eventually won! :) a little miracle worker to help perk up an outfit.

p.s. let's be instafriends please and thank you! :) @mrschastain_gmd

instagram // etsy // pinterest // twitter

if baby chastain is a girl...

we are only a few days away from baby chastain's gender reveal. i can't wait to share the news with our family and friends. it's been so fun sharing the secret with bub-hub over the last few weeks, but i think if we have to wait any longer, we might just burst!

if baby chastain is a girl...

i would fill her room with lovely watercolors.

the wheat field // etsy

i would find her fun toys to plan her first tea party,

birdtoast // etsy

and stick her in all sorts of adorable tutus.

Shabby Chic Creationz //  Emilyz Embellishments

i can't wait until we get to share with my friends and family! :)