Farewell, 2013!

Happy New Year's Eve!! What an amazing year 2013 has been! It has been so much fun looking back on all of our memories & seeing how Harper has grown over the last year, so I thought it would be fun to do a little 2013 in review! Links to some specific posts are included, but this is mostly just a collection of my favorite pictures over the last twelve months!

We kicked off the year with Harper taking her first steps, what an accomplishment! ;) We celebrated Valentine's Day & Harper's Birthday feeling so blessed with lots of friends & family in town.

It wasn't long before Harper was running circles around the house, eating all sorts of new foods & learning new words.  St. Patrick's Day & Easter were so close together this year, but we still had so much fun celebrating them both back to back! Harper may not remember all of the fun we had, but that didn't stop me from going totally overboard with a oversized stack of green pancakes at the time. I live for this stuff! ;)

We also completed our backyard masterpiece, the Hammock Farm, where we spent lots of Spring & Summer nights drinking & listening to music under the string lights. And we celebrated my 27th birthday with a Cinco De Mayo themed fiesta & beergaritas!

  This summer, we took our first family vacation to Florida, where Harper got to see the beach for the first time & the most epic hotel room incident took place. Harper's personality really started to develop, she loved to swing outside & play with her golf clubs in the yard. And of course, she loved eating lots of messy summer foods like fruit & popsicles. We had family visit for the rainiest 4th of July ever & celebrated Brandon's 28th Birthday!

  In early Fall, we found out that we were expecting baby #2! We couldn't be more excited for Harper to become a big sister! :) We spent lots of time outside enjoying the beautiful weather, Harper had her "first day of school" when she started her mother's morning out program at our church two days a week, & had a fun Halloween party & did lots of Trick-or-Treating!

 And most recently, we hosted a huge Thanksgiving at our house, did lots of crafting & baking, and had the most amazing Christmas ever!

      And last but certainly not least, we had so much fun sharing our lives with all of you through the blog! I will never be able to express my gratitude for each and every one of your sweet comments & support. Blogging has truly been an adventure & I look forward to another year filled with lots of exciting things. 

I love you all & wish you the HAPPIEST New Year!!!! 

Cheers! XO

Soaking Up 2013

I had a total Christmas Vacation "Mele-Kalikimaka" moment the other morning at breakfast. Staring out the window, I pictured a sunny summer day, Brandon grilling while Harper plays with her water table. And me, with a death grip on a glass of wine, wearing jean shorts & a new baby snuggled into my chest. And for the record, I also had a tan.

Then I flashed back to the present, pregnant, wearing five layers of clothes & eating bacon for breakfast while it is 40 degrees outside. Woof. I know, you totally saw this coming. Christmas is over, which means I am already looking forward to Spring. But this year, one of my New Year's resolutions is to take it easy this year & not wish away any of this precious time. To not rush around so much trying to get things done or make things happen. To make time to do more things on Harper's list than my own, more time to let her play & explore rather than just trying to squeeze it in between getting groceries & other obligations.

Black & White Heart Scarf \\ Leggings \\ Gold Moccasins c/o Freshly Picked \\ Zigzag Stripe Scarf 

As a compulsive planner & list maker, I love New Years resolution time. I'm going to write mine, but this year, I'm going to make a point to wait until 2013 is over. We are going to soak up the last little bit of this amazing year, which most certainly includes finishing all the rest of the Christmas cookies. And we are going to track pine needles right into the New Year with us, because I'm sure as hell not taking that pretty tree down quite yet.
Don't get me wrong, I am ready for change. A fresh start, a new planner & some party horn blowers! But for now, before we all decide that it's time to eat healthy, exercise more & get organized, I'm going to call it a day. Or a year, for that matter. ;)
Happy New Year's Eve Eve!!

22 Weeks

Under the mistletoe!! :)

How far along: 22 Weeks

Gender: Girl!

Weight gain: 15 lbs.

Maternity clothes: I put on my red one piece footie pajamas on Christmas Eve & I immediately had the body of the Grinch. Totally not a good look for a pregnant gal, so I'll stick with my regular maternity clothes from here on out! ;)

Stretch marks: No

Belly button in or out: Out! It never popped with Harper but I am sporting an outie this time for sure.

Sleep: Good

Best moment this week: Christmas of course!

Worst moment this week: Other than just being exhausted after all of the holiday festivities, it has been a pretty great week.

Miss anything: I really wanted to indulge in a Christmas cocktail, already looking forward to something spiked in my moose mug next year!

Movement: Lots of movement & I still love each and every little kick.

Cravings: Chocolate & fruit. I am ashamed of the number of candy bars I have eaten during this pregnancy.

Queasy or sick: Feeling good!

Looking forward to: Ummm, my due date? :) Part of me feels like now that the New Year is approaching, that also means it's almost baby time. And then reality slaps me in the face & reminds me that I have four long months to go.

Green Pocket Cord Dress \\ Obsessed with Harper's red glitter bow from Bub & Bug Studio! :)

Making 2014 Count

Thank you all for the sweet comments on our Christmas pictures, we truly had the most amazing holiday & are rounding out this year feeling extremely blessed. You all have been a huge part of that & hope you know how grateful I am!

Today, I am teaming up with some amazing women to share our goals & aspirations for the New Year. Such a fun way to inspire one another, I hope that you'll join us!

The Hostesses:

Casey Wiegand

In Honor of Design

Kelly Murray

Little Baby Garvin

Oh Dear Drea

Small Fry Blog

Summer Saldana

Here's how it works:

First, you can head to each of the hostess' sites beginning next Friday, January 3rd to check out their posts. Then, share your answers to one (or all) of the following prompts on your own blog.

1. What is something you want to change, or a goal you want to set for the New Year & what is your plan for making it happen?

2. Many people chose a word to reflect on, live by or aspire to for the New Year. Let us know your word, how you decided upon it & how you plan to incorporate it into 2014.

3. I will make 2014 count by...

You can then link up on any one of the hostess' sites. Our links will be interlinked which means that your post will be displayed on all of our sites.

And if you want to share on Instagram, use hashtag #making2014count.

I hope you all are enjoying the last few days of the 2013! Just remember, the best is yet to come! :) XO

A Very Merry Christmas

Oh my goodness, what a crazy last few days! So hard to believe that Christmas has come & gone, so much anticipation feels like it is gone in the blink of an eye. So happy to have videos & pictures that captured it all!

On Christmas Eve, we spent most of the day wrapping presents & baking. Harper was a hot mess in Church, squealing, chattering & putting goldfish in the woman's coat hood in front of us, so we ended up ducking out just before the candlelight portion at the end. Saving ourselves from disaster. We went on a frantic last minute grocery run for a few things after that (which also didn't end well) so we were happy to finally get home & put Harper to bed. It was so much fun getting to play Santa, setting out all of the presents under the tree is officially my favorite part of Christmas Eve!! ;)
By that point, we were entirely too excited to sleep!!

I will never forget the look on Harper's face when she got to see all of her gifts under the tree in the  morning. She was mesmerized & oh-so-happy!

Harper loved her play table & wanted to "rock, rock, rock" on her pig rocker all day! We have also been watching Monsters, Inc. lately so I couldn't help but get her a little Boo stuffed doll that I found last minute at Target. She went nuts when she opened it & started hugging it like crazy. It was the cutest!
The stackable crayons were also such a huge hit, she loved coloring with them on her new table but also was obsessed with stacking them & putting them on her fingers. It was all fun & games until her Boo doll (and the cat) wouldn't color with her.

We spent most of the day in our pajamas, shuffling through piles of wrapping paper that I wanted to leave on the floor forever & watching the Christmas Story marathon. We had my brothers over for brunch around eleven & exchanged gifts with them. And if you read my last post, you'll know why we were so so so excited to give one of my brothers a gift that we have been scouring ebay for, for months, a Michael Jordan cardboard standup!! ;)
The Home Alone fan in me desperately wanted to strap it to a train set & jam out to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree before my brother took it home.

We colored and colored and colored some more, then played cards until way past our bedtime. We missed being with our parents & seeing snow on Christmas but loved getting to start new traditions that Harper will get to look forward to every year at our house. Every year, I cry when Christmas is over, and this year was no exception. It was the most fun, relaxing, magical Christmas ever.

I hope you all had the MOST amazing Christmas with the ones you love!! Cheers to the last week of 2013!!! :)