New Built-Ins

We apologize for not posting any pictures of the new house yet, but we have a lot to do still and will post as rooms get completed. Moving into a new home is exciting and exhausting! Especially when you are at the end of a pregnancy and trying to keep up with an active toddler. We absolutely love the new house and all of the space that it has to offer. It is much bigger than we had been living in, so we have a couple of rooms that are unfurnished or only partially furnished for now. We plan to take our time furnishing and decorating to make each room just how we want it. We are also trying to be very organized this time! It sure does feel good to be organized and know where things are... :) 

Our current focus in the house has been on getting Olivia's room ready and the family room. We tackled a big project from the start in the family room, and I am proud to announce it is finally finished! We had custom built-in cabinets made for around our fireplace and had the TV mounted. They look fabulous and we couldn't be happier with the work we had done! 

Before.....

And after!! Aren't they gorgeous? We will post more family room pictures later after we finishing decorating. We have a rug to put down right now but still need artwork, curtains, and to fill those shelves! 

We also spent some time recently working in the nursery. We bought an old dresser and refinished it in a coral ombre. This turned out excellent! We set up the rest of the furniture and started decorating. We still have a shelf to paint and more decor to add. We were very blessed to have Mike's aunt make all of Olivia's bedding and it looks just beautiful in her room! I will give a little sneak peak for now and make another post later when her room is complete. 

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I love all of the colors together :)

We just need to add the hardware...so happy with the outcome! 

Jackson's room is pretty much all done too. That was the first thing I focused on so that life was as normal as possible for him when we moved. I just need to hang his decor back up and it is completely finished! Our room is pretty close too. Other projects include the office/craft room, formal living space, dining room, guest room, and the play room. I have ideas for each space but it is going to take time. Stay tuned for more updates!  

Baby Update: 3rd Trimester

Well I thought now might be a good time to update on my pregnancy because the little lady could arrive at anytime! I am 38 weeks today (that's just two weeks from due date!!!!). I felt like we'd never get to this point and now it is crazy to think we will be meeting our little girl any day. As I said in earlier posts, much of the pregnancy went by rather slowly for me; however, time has really picked up over the past couple of months. We've been so busy with moving and every day life that I can't believe the end of my pregnancy is here!

We hit panic mode a couple of weeks ago. At my 36 week appointment I was 3 cm dilated. Although that doesn't necessarily mean anything, we just realized that she would be here soon and we had nothing baby ready. We got a lot done in the past week or so and feel like we can breathe again. We've made a ton of progress in her room, cleaned the car seat and installed it, washed up all the teeny tiny clothes, prepared hospital bags, and some other miscellaneous baby things. I still need to finish some decor items for her room and paint a bookshelf, but considering we had nothing in there a week and a half ago we are doing pretty good!!

As for me, I've felt a lot better this trimester. Thank God!!!! I am finally off of all nausea medicines which has been nice. I had a couple good weeks of sleep before the aching hips/legs set in and getting up to use he bathroom a hundred times a night! Haha oh the joys of pregnancy.....I do have to take stronger medicine for heartburn/indigestion now but I feel fine as long as I take it. At this point, I think most of my aches and pains are just normal end of pregnancy discomfort. Physically, my body is more than ready for baby Olivia to come out!!

We think Jackson is understanding more now about having a baby. He rubs my belly and says baby sissy and gives her kisses. He is also obsessed with sissy's room and loves going in there. He knows all the random baby items out are for her too. He loves babies so much and is so sweet to them. We really think he is going to be a great big brother! The little guy has gotten a lot more into mommy again lately, so that may be a challenge when I can't devote all my attention to him. He adjusted so well with the move though I just think he will do great with this change too.

That's it for now.  I  will leave you with a couple of pics. Hopefully the next pregnancy/baby update will be after our little lady is here!!

Jackson 18 Months + Maternity Photos

We have been using a photographer from Waxhaw, NC since we moved to Huntersville.  For the first couple of shoots she traveled to us, but this last time we wanted to check out her studio and the town of Waxhaw. It is so adorable! She has this one room studio that is a building from the 1800's - tons of character. The entire downtown has lots of character! We took photos over an old bridge, near train tracks, and around lots of old buildings. We finished up the shoot in an open field near her studio. Lots of photos in this post folks....so keep on scrolling! 

*Photo credits to Nichole Marie Photography

Easter Weekend

We had an exciting and busy Easter weekend! Let's start with Easter Sunday and work backward since that is most important. We got up on Easter and the little man found his Easter basket. He was excited for some new trucks and bubbles (which we had to blow right away). He also got a book, chalk, bunny ears and some snacks and couple treats. We then had a light breakfast of baked carrot cake donuts that I made and some fruit. We had a wonderful service at church celebrating the resurrection of our savior. The praise and worship was great and so was the sermon. Jackson seemed to have a great time in the nursery too! After church we met friends for brunch. While Jackson napped mike and I worked on packing up the kitchen (because we closed on our new house Friday!!!!). We woke the little guy from his nap to go to an egg hunt with friends. He had fun running around, riding a choo choo, and seeing the Easter bunny again. After a little more play time at Emma's house we grabbed some take out and headed to the new house to put up some stuff. Mikey and I then finished the night with a piece of carrot cake!!

This was the first Easter Bunny Jacks saw - it was at Chickfila and he absolutely loved him! He didn't want to get off his lap. Smiled the entire time!! He also wanted to keep giving the bunny a high five since the bunny was waving the whole time. 

A neighbor and I took the kiddos to an Easter park event the weekend before Easter. Most of the activities were geared toward kids a little older than Jackson, but he enjoyed visiting the bunny again and playing in the bubbles. He even climbed in a kiddy pool at one point! ha It was a hot day though and hard for this pregnant mama to chase him around!

Opening the trucks from his basket. He loved them! 

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Our breakfast before church. We met friends out for brunch after church. 

We couldn't get him to stand still to take a picture in his church clothes this day. Best I could get. 

Easter bunny number 3 - He ran straight to him and gave him a big hug! 

Jackson and Emma (in the pink dress) geared up for the egg hunt! 

He found a few with daddy. 

Now back to playing with trucks! A boy's life right there...

Now let's back track a little....we closed on our house on Friday! We are so excited to finally get settled in. The house is only a couple of miles from where we have been living, so the move isn't too bad. Having a toddler does add an extra challenge though! Oh yeah, and being 34 weeks pregnant! We are really good at doing things the hard way. :) it will feel so nice to be settled though. The house is much bigger than we are used to, so it will take some time to be fully decorated and furnished but with all we have going on right now I'm okay with that. Here is a picture of the front of the house. We will post more as we get moved in.

Since closing we've had a couple rooms painted, a couch delivered, and met with a carpenter to go over plans for our new built ins. We've been bringing over stuff as we get it packed to keep the house safe for Jackson. The kitchen is almost settled! Now for the rest of it....we should be fully out of the rental on Saturday. We will miss it here. We love the are and it is pretty much where Jackson has been since birth; however the new neighborhood is very family friendly and we need the extra space!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! God is so good!