- LOVE LIST -

August 30, 2015 • MOTHERHOOD

1) Cooler weather so we can do this...

This...

And this...

Everly lo-o-o-oves being outside. She loves being able to run free and explore. And the summer heat typically prevents us from staying out for too long. But the weather was absolutely perfect last week and we took full advantage of it. A visit to the park and a walk in the new wagon Everly received for her birthday was on the agenda after the work day. (Ignore our post-daycare outfit. I promise she doesn't always look like she rolled around in ravioli.)

2) Football season so I can dress the baby up like this...

And this...

We are huge football fans over here, specifically Florida State football. But we also like to support our alma maters- Western Kentucky University and Kentucky Wesleyan College. Football season in general is such a fun time of the year- tailgating, food, music, beer, celebrations. It's the perfect atmosphere to hang with friends and be part of something exciting. And there are few things more exciting than watching a good rivalry. Plus it's the perfect excuse to dress yourself and the babes in festive outfits.

3) Fall fashion- bring on the leggings, oversized sweaters, and boots. One of my favorite things to do is match outfits with Everly so I had to get her a pair of fall boots and this sweater. Everly has just about outgrown her 12 month summer clothes so we are hoping cooler weather is right around the corner. Plus Gap and Old Navy are having a 40% off sale so it was the perfect opportunity to build her fall wardrobe.

4) Halloween pajamas. Two piece toddler pajamas are one of my weaknesses. They are the cutest. But holiday pajamas? I can't control myself. I absolutely love the holiday season. We fully participate in all the holiday festivities and decorating. So as soon as Halloween hit the shelves at the store my heart fluttered. There is something especially cute about Halloween in infant and toddler sizes. Everly is actually rocking her new Halloween pajamas tonight...

5) Which leads me to my next favorite... Our typical bedtime routine includes her pulling approximately 14 books off her shelves, bringing them to me one by one, turning around and sitting in my lap, letting me read exactly one page of it only to get up, grab a different one, and repeat. I love it. I'm going to have to get her some Halloween books so we can make her room and our bedtime routine a little more festive. Is it close enough to Halloween for it to be appropriate to start decorating?

6) Fall food. Soup, chili, cobbler, roast, pumpkin everything. I pinned this recipe and cannot wait to try it. Before baby I used to make an honest effort to try a new Pinterest recipe every weekend. I have been terrible about it recently but have full intentions of picking back up with it now that Everly is completely off bottles and eats everything we eat.

7) And finally, quiet little getaways with just me and the husband. We celebrated our anniversary a few weeks late with a quick weekend trip to St. Louis.

We made sure to experience all the tourist attractions- the arch, Village at the Ballpark, the city museum. My favorite part of the trip was the rooftop bar/eatery atop our hotel- Three Sixty. The weather was perfect so we got to enjoy the view of the city and Cardinals Stadium for hours. It was nice to have a night to ourselves enjoying each other's company without trying to keep up with a toddler. But of course every few minutes we pulled up a video of Everly or looked at pictures of her and couldn't wait to get back home. Speaking of which, thank you to my sister and her husband and my mother for watching the babe for the weekend. We especially loved getting picture updates like this...

And just like that another week has come and gone. Fingers crossed for beautiful weather again this week so we can do it all over again. Hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

August 24, 2015 • MOTHERHOOD

I'm happy to finally share pictures of our baby girl's 1st birthday party. We had so much fun celebrating with our friends and family. It was a morning full of fun, food, and lots of laughs.

The tables were decorated with arrangements gathered in mason jars. I spray painted cardboard numbers with gold glitter. Each table had different framed pictures of Everly's first year. And the star confetti we sprinkled around the arrangements isn't pictured below but was such a sweet touch to tie in the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star theme.

My sister made all the kids star shaped rice crispy treats. She dipped them in pink chocolate and drizzled pink icing on them. They were so good!

We had a table set up just for the kids where they had the chance to color and decorate their own party hats. It turned out to be a huge hit.

I had so much fun working with Alisha from Dalisha's Desserts designing Everly's cake. It turned out perfectly!

We served brunch for the guests- sausage balls, fruit, cinnamon rolls, yogurt, bagels, muffins, quiche, and all the kids got to carry around snack cups filled with gold fish and cheerios.

Everly absolutely loved visiting with all the kids! She was having so much fun running around the room with everyone. It was a fight to get her to slow down to open presents and eat her cake.

After everyone ate and visited with the birthday girl we let her dig in to her first birthday cake. She poked around on it for a while squishing the icing in between her fingers. But she eventually picked up the slices and started chowing down.

All in all I would say after seeing this smile on baby girl's face, I think the party was a success. This right here is what it's all about.

We had so much fun and were blessed with all the wonderful company of our friends and family. The most important thing to me was to surround Everly with lots of love and laughs on her special day and that was definitely accomplished. Thank you all so much! And thank you to my sister-in-law, Ally, with A Love for Photography for taking these pictures for us!

Sources: happy birthday banner, twinkle twinkle little star banner, tassel garland, letter balloons, high chair banner, Everly's outfit

August 18, 2015 • MOTHERHOOD

...but the years go by fast. We celebrated our one year old over the weekend. I cannot believe a year has already come and gone. And what an incredible year it was.

It is so fun to look back at these pictures and see how fast she changed. You can see her little personality coming to life as each month went by. This little girl has brought so much joy and happiness to our lives. So in honor of the best thing that's ever happened to us, we partied till we dropped this weekend. Her daycare had a party for her on Friday with balloons and cupcakes. Seeing little naked babies all lined up in a row covered in icing was probably the cutest thing ever. It was so sweet.

Saturday was the party we threw for her along with about 50 of our closest friends and family members. I will do a recap of her party as soon as I get pictures uploaded. Sunday we ate left over cake and dove into the piles of new gifts she received over the weekend. She was loving life. I swore she was going to sleep in the next day. But of course, Everly was up at the crack of dawn ready to party again.

Cheers to the fastest most wonderful year of my life.

August 6, 2015 • HOLIDAYS, MOTHERHOOD

I cannot believe we are one week away from Everly's 1st birthday. We are knee deep in party supplies and decor over here. Planning/throwing parties and get-togethers is one of my favorite things to do. I have been planning Everly's party in my head for several months now. I may or may not have even starting pinning ideas on Pinterest before she was born.

Image sources can be found here.

I knew I wanted something sweet and girly for her party theme. I came across a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star theme on Pinterest and fell in love with the idea. The blues, pinks and golds even match her nursery so I was naturally drawn to the colors. I am having way too much fun with this party. I know Everly won't remember it. But she will be able to look back at pictures and see the love and thought that went in to making sure she had great party and lots of fun. She's the most incredible blessing we could have ever imagined, of course I'm going to do it big when it comes to the celebration of her birth!

I purchased her invitations from a shop on Etsy here.

I had to plan her party time around her nap schedule. So we will be serving brunch- donuts, cinnamon rolls, sausage balls, and of course dessert! I cannot wait. Cheers to the best, fastest and most wonderful year of my life.

August 5, 2015 • MOTHERHOOD

These pictures were taken by the wonderful Paige Logan Photography in Bowling Green back in May. We had such a fun time taking these pictures. Paige is always great to work with and knows exactly how to get lots of smiles out of my sweet Everly. We've been working with Paige for Everly's entire first year and every single session has been a great experience. All the pictures she has captured of Everly are beautiful and priceless. If you are in the Bowling Green area I highly recommend Paige.