These last few months as I’ve gotten bigger my motivation has slowly waned, but these last few weeks I have realized that if I actually put a little effort in I will feel much better. I never really ‘feel’ like waking up in the morning, or going for a walk, or even getting dressed and putting on make-up but if I push through it and actually follow through and do those things my day goes much better and I feel better about myself.

I’ve also been trying to get as many things prepared for baby as possible. Freezing meals, folding tiny little onesies, and blowing the birth pool up in our living room…all signs point to baby!

//tank top – target//check shirt – gordmans//neon belt + sandals – forever 21//jeans – gap maternity//rings – oozles//

[I would really appreciate if you would click to vote for us]

1. Epiphanie Stella Bag // 2. Ona ‘The Brooklyn’ Bag // 3. Dre Hartman “The Liza Satchel” // 4. Cheeky Lime “Livy Bag” // 5. Ephiphanie Lola Bag // 6. Ketti “Chevron” Handbag // 7. Theit “The Bossi” Bag // 8. Kelly Moore “Mimi” Bag

Let me know your thoughts in the comments – I’d appreciate any input, especially if you’ve had experience with any of these bags!

I would really appreciate if you would click to vote for us:

darby lowe

You love to make people laugh and as soon as you notice someone getting a kick out of you, you do whatever it is over and over again. Like making fish faces, you discovered that this face entertains people so now you do it all the time.

Your hair is beginning to get long enough to tickle the back of your neck. Usually during dinner time you notice this and shake your head back and forth, giggling the whole time!

You are adding an “ee-oo” sound to the end of your favorite words. “blankie-oo” “sippee-oo” “milkee-oo” “juicee-oo” it is so funny!

Your favorite song is the alphabet song although you are singing “A, B, C” over and over again the whole time!

You love to eat bananas but will only eat them like a monkey…if I take the skin off you refuse to eat it so I just hand them to you in the skin, I think it’s because you don’t like getting your hands dirty very much.

gracen

You love to dress up and still wear your Iron Man (see above) and Ninja costumes from last year.

You ask me almost everyday what my dream was last night and if I tell you I didn’t have one you sigh like your sad that I missed out. Your dreams usually involve you saving the world!

Magnets – you are obsessed and can be entertained for hours with them – it seems like you have an engineering mind.

eating lunch one day you said to me (pointing back and forth at your lunch) “fish fries, fish fries – you said fish and chips and you were wrong, these are fries mum, not chips!”

on a walk one day I said “if a car comes we’ll be toast!” you replied – “I’ll be like a toast?! Is the car really hot?!”

I would really appreciate if you would click to vote for us:

You may remember them from their engagement session earlier last year (yikes!) and I just knew that their wedding was going to be epic. One of my favorite things about this wedding is that a lot of the details you will see were made by Dawson and Laurel, or their family members. It was a true DIY wedding but because these two are both creative geniuses it was all pulled together perfectly…from the backdrop that Laurel made out of receipt paper all the way to riding off on their tandem yellow bike!

Dawson and Laurel thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your day – it was so much fun that it didn’t feel like ‘work’. We are so blessed to share your special day with you guys!

One of the most special things about this day was that Dawson surprised Laurel at their ‘first look’ with a song that he wrote for her! Doing the first look was so special and we wouldn’t have all these wonderful images of them together if we’d waited for after the ceremony when it was dark – yet another reason I highly recommend doing a first look!

Another super fun part of the wedding was the ‘potato dance’…I’ve never seen this before but apparently it’s a Slovak tradition (where Dawson grew up) and has become a Jones family tradition. Basically everyone grabs a partner and you have to dance holding a potato between your heads, no hands allowed! These wedding guests were doing so great that they has to raise the stakes a little by getting people to dance on one foot and ‘dip’ their partner…it was hilarious!

Ceremony + Reception: Hendrix College
Laurel’s Dress: J Crew
Invitations and logo design: Wedding Sheets // weddingsheets@gmail.com
Wooden Chairs: Eventures Little Rock
Ceremony Music: Hudson Jones, Cory Nelson, Dustin Raney
Reception Band: Kris Wilson trio (featuring Barb Raney)

I have decided that the ‘theme’ of my project 52 is going to be “family is…” and each week my image will reflect a different aspect of our family. I have updated my week one here

family is…a unit

I tried to search for a different word to describe this week but no other word fully conveyed what I was feeling this week…

We are waiting for daddy to get back today

He has been out of town this whole week and we have just been off. I’ve been cranky and easily frustrated, the kids have been whiny…I’m not really sure which comes first (chicken or egg anyone?!) But needless to say as hard as I’ve worked to make this week ‘normal’ we miss our papa and it won’t be the same until he’s home.

“We are us, because we are together”

These next few months will involve a lot of traveling for Gabriel, he is working SO hard for the business he started (and for us) and it’s just not the same without him. And so, we are a unit “one of a number of identical or similar parts within a whole”* and this week we’ve been missing a part of us.

It’s crazy how in an instant you go from being a couple to being a family. And in that instant, everything changes. Instantly we cannot be apart without feeling it deep inside. Instantly no one can make you more happy, or more mad! Instantly you are willing to give up everything you ever thought you needed or wanted. And instantly your heart opens up more wide than you ever knew possible. I’m excited for this new year and for our heart to be opened up even wider for our new little arrival.

*dictionary.com definition