November 7th is the last time I posted on this blog. In all honesty, parenting has been everything and nothing I expected. Its been amazing/incredible/rewarding and all of the wonderful cliches people tell you your whole life pre parenthood, but its also been challenging, exhausting, and honestly, hard. I've been working on a post for mothers day, one where I am hoping to share my heart on my experience with motherhood in the last 6 months -- but today I wanted to share a fun post of a just plain good Sunday afternoon.
When we viewed this house for the first time in October 2015, it was incredible. (And by incredible I mean a total disaster, look back as past posts if you want to see just how much) but I literally had my breath taken away. I knew I wanted to buy the property before we even got inside the house. The view of the fall foliage from the street, the long gravel drive, a deck big enough to host all our friends and family (a horribly neglected koi pond that smelled like death, a chainlink fence broken in more places than I can count, landscaping that hadn't been touched in years) it's still crazy to me how I saw past all of that. I saw a lifestyle, a dream coming true. This is so much more than a home to us, its our life. A true labor of love, a place we put down our roots and grew our family. A perfect blend of my husband and I, cabin style exterior, all white everything inside. It's easy on the day to day to accidentally take for granted what we have. But its days like this where I can really stop and soak in the beauty that is our home, our hard work, and our life. Working every weekend for two years, totally worth it. I truly can't imagine us anywhere else.
Nick (my husband) turned 28 last week and we hosted a little dinner (lunch) party to celebrate another year around the sun. Lunch because we all have young kids, and if yours doesn't melt by 7pm tell me your secrets. So lunch, post nap time seemed like the safest bet. Now, if only we could get weather above 55 degrees in Ohio. Overall, total success. You never know how babies and glassware will mix, but I'd call it a win. We had homemade veggie burgers, meat burgers for my carnivore himself, potatoes, sweet & russet, strawberry spinach salads, veggies, guac, cheese, cake and cookies. It was YUM.
I decided last year when I was 38 weeks pregnant with Porter that I NEEDED a long outdoor table for all our friends and family to gather. That's a little bit how our projects go, I wake up on a Saturday that we have nothing planned (rare) and BAM I need a 16 foot outdoor table. And of course I could barely help because I had a human being in the shape of a watermelon under my shirt, but, like he always does, Nick delivered. It very comfortably sat 8 adults and 4 high chairs, and swelled my heart to capacity.
I have a huge love for decorating, designing, baking, hosting, renovating, photographing, party planning... the list is endless. I am so multi passionate sometimes I feel like my ideas are literally pinging back and forth inside my brain on a daily basis. I am always dreaming up the next thing, working on my photography business, working on expanding my brand, working on making a happy home, all while raising a tiny human. One goal I had this year was to have my camera out more. For awhile, I would try to leave it behind in an effort to be more present in my moments, but turns out having these images are actually a return ticket to all of these precious moments. A jog of the memory to something otherwise possibly forgotten. And as much as I force my husband to humor me, I know he too loves to look back on these photos.
These are the days. The best days. The days where we are exhausted to the point of tears, challenged every single day, but somehow the happiest and most fulfilled we have ever been in our lives. I don't want to forget a single thing. The drool constantly covering Porter's shirt, his gummy smiles, the way he interacts with our friends and their babies, its all pure magic. I love these weekend days spent outside with the best of company.
When this blog first began, it was a place for me to pour out my heart and soul and all our struggles in building our family. I connected with so many amazing women that got me through the hardest time in my life. I will FOREVER be grateful.
I have endless ideas for where my photography business will go, where my brand will go, where our life will go, where this blog will go, but for now I've decided to just share what I want! What feels good to me at the time. And today, that's this.
Maybe you follow me to see cute photos of Porter, maybe you are a mama struggling with fertility issues, maybe you are a wedding photographer, maybe you love home decor, or maybe you're my mom or best friend and feel obligated to support my cause ;) -- whatever your reason being, thank you! I have hopes for a clearer vision for my brand in the coming months, but until then I hope you enjoy the many avenues this blog has taken. It is absolutely a reflection of who I am - a girl who lays awake at night with way to many brain tabs open.