IT'S A...

GIRL!!!

Mike and I got a peak at our little one last week before we left for the beach and we are thrilled to be having another sweet baby girl.  People kept asking me if I had a preference and though I told most everyone I didn't, there was a tiny little piece of me that was hoping for more hair bows, tutus, and pink!  

I love her already and can't wait to meet her!  My due date is November 4th but I'm really hoping we'll meet in October...

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint { Duck Egg Blue Chest}

This week I finished my first Annie Sloan Chalk Paint project and I am hooked! I read a little about chalk paint on Pinterest and decided I would give it a shot.  I think when I read no sanding or prep work needed, I was already in love!  The paint was a lot of fun to work with and if you like an older distressed finish, then you may want to check it out for your next furniture facelift!  

Here is a look at the old chest of drawers that I wanted to brighten up for our new nursery.  This is a piece that Mike had in college and has been sitting in our spare bedroom.  

C'est Moi is an adorable little shop in Nashville that carries Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and supplies.  They were very helpful with getting me started and since I have several old pieces that I have been wanting to paint, I decided to go ahead and invest in the wax brush and clear wax which is used for distressing.

We will find out if Baby Harder is a boy or a girl at the end of the week, but either way I fell in love with this Duck Egg Blue color and decided to use it for this dresser! The best part about the paint is that I didn't have to sand it down first, it only took one coat, and it dried in 30 minutes.  My next step was to go over the paint with the soft wax.  The wax deepens the paint color and the bristles actually distress a little on their own.  You can see the top drawers are a little darker here. 

Most of the tutorials I watched mentioned that most of the time people use too much of the wax and that you need to do a good job of rubbing it in with a lent free cloth.  So I put my handsome husband and his muscles to work!

The last step was to distress the dresser and then apply a final coat of wax over those areas.  I used 120 grit sandpaper to rough up the edges and a few spots over the wood.  It was a lot of fun and the best part is that it isn't suppose to look perfect.  I feel like we added a little character to an otherwise old boring dresser!  Here's how it turned out. 

Before and After

Much better now!

Downtown Franklin!

Three years ago, Mike and I bought our first home in Franklin, TN.  Franklin is a special town because it feels really close to being in the " country" yet you have the convenience of great schools, interstate access, and of course...Target! But my favorite thing about living in Franklin, is the quaint downtown area and it's remarkable Southern Charm.  

Folks in Franklin like to gather!  We like to stroll downtown and listen to live music, mingle in coffee shops, and eat from our favorite food trucks.  Since we live five minutes from downtown, we try to take advantage of this as much as possible!

We took Miss Abigail to the Main Street Festival a few weeks back and gave her a small taste of downtown Franklin.  At first, she just hung on to her daddy where it was nice and safe! 

It didn't take long though for her to hear the music and notice all the little people like her sipping lemonade with a smile on their face! 

Yesterday was another beautiful day to get outside and enjoy food, friends, and  great music!  We started our day with a fun little birthday party at The Henpeck Market right down from our house.  Check out this look she is giving me!  She was ready to get down and play...silly me for wanting to take pictures! 

After naps, we decided to head downtown for a little live music on the square!  The band 64 is a Beatles tribute band and they play outside the Mellow Mushroom on the second Saturday of every month.  Here's our little rockstar waiting for the show to start!

I am normally pretty strict about getting Abigail down for her early bedtime, but we made an exception and enjoyed family time a bit longer! Abigail enjoyed the band and would clap after each song... love her!  

Celebrating Five Years! An Anniversary to remember.

Five years ago, I stepped out of my wedding reception and into the beautiful adventure of marriage to Mike Harder.  I was wearing my grandmother's ellegant pillbox hat and a smile that you couldn't steal from my face! From that sweet moment on, I have absolutely loved being married and I am so thankful to have Mike by my side for every adventure along the way. 

I consider myself to be a very sentimental person and I love celebrating every little anniversary and milestone of our relationship.  I love to look back and remember exactly what we wore and what we ate and what our conversations entailed. 

After our first year of marriage, we backpacked through Italy on what will always be the most romantic adventure of my life.  We made memories eating gelato in Cinque Terre and sipping wine on the Rialto Bridge in Venice.  I remember sitting underneath the stars on the porch of our bed and breakfast in Tuscany and dreaming of having children and going on incredible mission trips together.  Anniversaries are really special to me!

Looking toward our five year anniversary, we dreamed of going back to Italy and hiking the Dolomites.  We planned to take a side trip into Switzerland for a few days exploring where Mike's relatives originated.  At the time, I was absolutely sure that I would be able to leave our child for a week to ten days and go on an international trip of a lifetime.  But then my sweet Abigail was born and I began to laugh at my silly ideas of jumping on a plane and leaving my baby!

Our overseas trip quickly turned into a wonderful little weekend getaway at a beautiful home on the Lake of the Ozarks.   Problem solved, until I found out my only brother was graduating that weekend.  Cancel that.  I had the perfect back up plan to celebrate at a quaint bed and breakfast tucked away in the mountains!  The perfect solution, until I realized his graduation was not in the afternoon, but early morning.  Cancel that. 

As the week of our anniversary approached, Abigail came down with a virus and I realized my " all day long" sickness was not quite over.  So....instead of an international trip or a weekend getaway at the lake or a romantic evening at a bed and breakfast, we celebrated our five year anniversary right in our living room.  And it was perfect!

Here's what I want to remember and document for our five year anniversary!  I am four months pregnant and rocking my sweats because my clothes don't fit.  We ordered J.Alexanders and ate in our living room which was sprinkled with baby shoes and random toys.  We ate carrot cake and drank sparkling juice from our wedding champagne flutes.  We watched our wedding dvd and eventually ended up talking about our baby girl and our new blessing that's on the way most of the night! My sweet, thoughtful husband remembered that I mentioned wood was the traditional five year anniversary gift and bought me the most adorable wooden keepsake box from my favorite store! It was a perfect evening!

And honestly, I wouldn't trade our night for any trip in the world or romantic dinner for two at a five star restaurant.  I am so blessed and my life , though messy and slightly out or sorts at the moment, is such a gift and I am grateful! 

16 weeks!

Happy Anniversary to us!!

Mother's Day at Nanna's house

Yesterday, we took a trip down to Columbia to celebrate my sweet Grandmother Shirley and all the amazing moms in my family for Mother's Day.  Nanna is such a great example of a mom and love simply radiates from her through the generations of her family.     

It was a beautiful day to celebrate and all the kids enjoyed playing outside, especially Abigail!

The driveway at Nanna's is about a quarter of a mile long and that seemed like the perfect place for Abigail to take a walk.  She finally started walking at 15 months old and now she can't seem to stop!  I remember dribbling my basketball up and down this driveway as well as riding my bike so it was really fun to see Abigail try to keep up with her big cousins doing the same thing!

She is such a happy little girl and I love watching her explore!  In fact, this little girl is so busy these days that I have to grab her and steal a kiss when I can because she has a lot to do! 

I love you sweet Abigail.  It's so fun to watch you toddle around exploring the world.  You are such a blessing from the Lord and I have learned so much about His great love for me just by being your mom.  I can't wait to tell you all about Jesus and how much he adores you too.  

As we anticipate the arrival of our new bundle of joy later this year, I find myself thinking about how much my heart is about to stretch again.  Mike and I feel so blessed to see our little family growing before our eyes!

{Mother's Day 2013}

My thoughts this Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a day that wasn't always joyful for me, but now is one of the most precious days of the year for me to reflect on!  This morning, my heart was heavy for so many friends that are experiencing pain or heart ache on this day and I feel like the words expressed below truly capture my heart for all of you.  No matter where your heart is this Mother's Day, I hope this blesses you or someone you love dearly.  

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss this year through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility,– we walk with you.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heartache, and distance with your children – we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Spring Break 2013

Mike and I have started a new family tradition of taking a mini-vacation to the beach after Easter Sunday.   A few weeks before our trip this year, we found out we were going to be expecting another sweet baby!  After trying for a year to get pregnant with Abigail, we were both thankful and surprised by our little blessing!  I was 9 weeks pregnant when we finally left for the beach and very, very sick...

Nonetheless, we headed south right after our second service and I prayed for a little " Spring Break" from morning sickness! I am so thankful for my husband because he takes such good care of me when I am feeling bad. 

The Gulf welcomed us with warm sunshine and peaceful views!

I learned something very valuable this year.  When you have a baby, your beach day starts around 7:30 A.M. which is actually pretty perfect because it is the most peaceful part of the day!  I really enjoyed getting down to the beach early and having a few hours of peace and quiet with my little family.  

We took long walks in the mornings with Abigail, happy as could me in the baby ergo.  I spent a lot of time looking at moms running around chasing TWO small children and wondering what crazy beach adventures were headed my way in the future! 

I am so thankful that Abigail is a little beach bum!  She was perfectly content hanging out with us by the ocean.  We set her up each day under the umbrella with our portable swing, a few snacks, and her sippy cup.  She was pretty happy I guess you could say. 

The sand was a different story.  She was not so thrilled about that part. 

She discovered sunglasses however, and that made all the difference!  I thought I would have to make her wear them, but she fell in love with them.  In fact, she enjoys them so much that we wear them inside, outside, to church, out to eat.  We don't leave home without her shades! 

I was so proud of myself for doing my homework and having all my gadgets ready for Abigail at the beach.  I had beach toys, a blow up pool, a little baby tent, and her swing.  But this little one was not interested in getting anywhere near the little pool.  She loves to play in the bath tub, but she was NOT getting in the pool!  She did enjoy sitting on the towel with me and watching people walk by.  She sat so still with me and just watched the kids play along the shore.  I hope I appreciated how chill she was for this trip, because I'm pretty sure she will be running around soon enough! 

The last two days of our trip were pretty miserable for me.  I was very sick and out of it, but I am so thankful for a little break from nausea and a good dose of sunshine!  We will be heading back to Gulf Shores in June and I should be feeling much better by then!  We'll try that little kiddy pool again! 

These last pictures are my favorite because I love the innocence in Abigail's little face.  She is in her daddy's arms, with her baby doll, looking out at the ocean.  She's a happy girl for sure!

{Spring Break 2013 Gulf Shores}