March Madness

This last weekend was our annual March Madness on BHI.

For the past 3 years we have made a trip to Bald Head Island with our great friends The Kinlaws for March Madness. The boys enjoy a round of golf and some basketball and the ladies enjoy a little shopping and relaxing beach time.  

I brought my big, fancy camera but didn't use it once. Instead I took a bazillion pictures on my trusty iphone! Here are some of my favorite pictures and a couple videos of our weekend. 

the night before we were leaving for BHI, Van was so excited to see Haley & Grey at the beach!

getting in our very packed car

this is how we entertain ourselves on the drive

"tickle my bum mommy!" 

waiting for the ferry to arrive

leaving the mainland

BEACH!!!!! Van was so excited to play in the sand. 

Doesn't this look similar to the picture below? Only thing missing is a juice box!

taken last summer 

Mommy loves Van

Van loves Rory

this is about the time in our walk along the beach that Van wanted me to carry him - that was not fun for mommy!

After our walk on the beach, Van & I decided to take a golf cart ride to the store for milk while the boys were playing golf.  Then our cart ran out of battery not even halfway to the store so we entertained ourselves by taking silly pictures until daddy came to get us. 

our morning ride to get breakfast

Van is definitely missing the beach and his Haley & Grey. He keeps asking if he can go to Haley's house next week.  ; )

A name for little bean

“A name can't begin to encompass the sum of all her parts. But that's the magic of names, isn't it? That the complex, contradictory individuals we are can be called up complete and whole in another mind through the simple sorcery of a name.”
― Charles de Lint, Dreams Underfoot


We are excited to announce that we have a name picked out for our sweet little bean:

Aurora "Rory" Blair

Aurora is my beautiful mom's middle name and my grandmother's middle name. My mom didn't pass it down to me because she was made fun of in middle school. I wish now that I would have changed it when I got married and changed my last name! I have wanted to use it as my daughter's name for as long as I can remember and when I first found out I was pregnant I always imagined I was carrying baby Rory!

We just love the name Blair and thought it flowed well with Aurora. It is also the name of Derek's best friend so we made sure to ask him when we were pregnant the first time if he would mind if we used his name. 


I am right at 22 weeks with Miss Rory and all is well. I go in on Thursday for my next well visit and I can't wait to hear her heartbeat again. 

sweet little face

it's a girl!!!!!

21 weeks

 Van has been super sweet with his baby sister. We've bought her a few things and he loves to lift up my shirt to show his "baby gurl" her new toy. He does this by putting said toy right up to my belly button! Then he kisses my belly and says love you. I hope there is that much love and more when she arrives! My mom said I was sweet to Candace until about a week or two in when I asked mom to send her back to the hospital ; )

"Me see my baby"

I have tried my best to continue all my weekly workouts getting in at least 2-3 cardio sessions, 1 weight-lifting training session and a yoga class (still my fave).

Rory loves:
salads
anything salty
raw veggies like carrots and cucumbers dipped in hummus
chocolate milk
mini cadbury eggs
mike & ike jelly beans

oranges

apples

coffee

Rory could give up:

most meats
anything fried
this sounds weird but dry foods - like pretzels (eck)


I sold our Baby Jogger on Craigslist and I am now searching for a tandem double stroller. I am leaning towards a Phil & Ted's or a Britax Be Ready. I hope to find one soon because the weather as been so beautiful here and I'd really like to get out and walk the booty loop! Anyone have any likes/dislikes on either stroller?

We're still trying to figure out Rory's space in our room. A friend made a good point when she said I should probably get a portable crib or a regular crib instead of a bassinet since babies usually outgrow a bassinet in 2-3 months. So that changes some things. And I've been looking on craigslist for dressers and I am definitely leaning towards an antique looking dresser to modernize.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with these two big projects even though I have 3 months.

On a brighter note, Candace, mom and a few close friends want to throw Rory a Sprinkle in June so I am really excited about getting all my friends together for food and drink to celebrate her impending arrival!

Nursery Inspiration

I'm in sort of a pickle. We have the smallest house which started off as three bedrooms but when we moved back in this last time we took out the third, tiny room and opened the floorplan to include a dining room.

So, that leaves the question: where will Miss Bean sleep? And the lovely answer: in our bedroom!

I only have two wall spaces available to do anything with SO I have been scouring Pinterest and here is what I am hoping to accomplish.

In an area close to my side of the bed I'd like to place a bassinet. How lovely is this bassinet from Restoration Hardware?

With this type of bedding (pale grey/pale pink) and a pale pink monogram above her bassinet.

I really like this monogram from Southern Nest.

Then for the second wall/niche I'd like to find a cute vintage or modern dresser (can't decide which) on craigslist and paint it in greyish-white chalk paint. Replacing old hardware with pink knobs.

Over the dresser I want to hang two picture frames sprayed with high gloss white and backed in burlap to pin her coming home outfit on and maybe her baptism gown (yet to made out of my wedding dress!) Too many plans.............

And there you have it, little Miss Rory's nursery. Now the search is on!!

My daddy MY best friend

We've fallen into a morning ritual that I absolutely LOVE. Van gets up in the morning and immediately hops into bed with us. And it's still dark so we can usually squeeze another 45 minutes to an hour of sleep into the morning! Then when little man wakes up for the second time he is always in the best mood and very snuggly.

One morning last week as he was lying in between us he turns to Derek and says, "my daddy my best friend!" then wraps his arms fiercely around Derek's neck and gives him the biggest hug! It was the sweetest. I love seeing my two boys and the close relationship they have.

Another morning Van was sitting in my lap watching his "tartoons" and he sneezed a couple times. Before I even got the chance to say Bless You; Van goes, "Bless you, Me."

love.love.love

A wedding weekend in Wilmington

This last weekend we drove to Wilmington to visit our very best friends The Kinlaws and to attend the wedding of my sweet friend Amber.

It was a lovely weekend full of friends, fish, love and a few tears.

I have MAJOR pregnancy brain right now and would honestly forget my head if it wasn't attached to my body so I of course forgot my camera. Luckily my iphone takes pretty great pictures so I was able to catch a few sweet moments.

Saturday we took Van to the Aquarium at Fort Fisher. I think we were all excited to see all the animals and it was so fun to see Van face light up as he ran from exhibit to exhibit. Haley told me that the aquarium is available for rent for events. Wouldn't that be a cool place to have your wedding reception?

"Heeeeeyyyy Ish!"

The alligators were getting a little friendly. It's freaky to see these animals so close. And they didn't move at all.

Right after this picture Van ran up to me and gave me a big kiss. Guess he was feeling amorous too! ; )

After an obligatory lunch at Dockside Haley and I headed off to a consignment sale to look for clothes for little bean. It was REALLY hard for me to shop for a girl. Even Haley said it was a bit overwhelming. I'm not fond of pink and there aren't many options out there for little girls that don't look like a bottle of Pepto just exploded all over their outfit. We did manage to find some sweet pieces but I can't wait to go shopping again. We have a lot of consignment sales coming up in Charlotte.

A few of my favorite finds and the muslin blanket Haley bought for bean.

Saturday night Haley & Grey were so kind to babysit Van while Derek and I went to Amber's wedding.

Happy as clam. He loves his Aunt Haley & Uncle Grey and apparently, Roxie is his best friend! Hales, I am going to need that video!

The wedding was so full of love, laughter and tears of joy. It was the perfect mix of intimate and elegant and I expected nothing less from Amber. Derek and I had a wonderful time! I LOVE how great weddings leave you with a feeling of renewed love and appreciation for your spouse. I left that evening praising God for all the blessing in my life. Congratulations again Amber and Chris. I wish a world of happiness for you both.

the stunning bride and groom

me and my hubs

WHOOOOOOOOOOO do you think?

PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night, we had both our families over for a taco bar and the delicious cake pictured above made by my dear friend Nicole of Nicole Buchanan Fine Cakes. There was an air of anticipation as the cake sat on the table just beckoning for us to cut into it!

My best friend Erin was about to board a plane and she wanted to FaceTime in so we decided to cut the cake before we served dinner. My cousin in California also Skyped in so it was great to share this special moment with loved ones near and far!

Most everyone came in wearing both pink and blue to not hurt little bean's feelings. I think most secretly hoped for pink since the boys are way outnumbering the girls in both families!!

Here we are cutting open the cake. Notice Derek in white (he was Switzerland last night!) And I apologize for my squeaky, excited voice - you might want to turn down the volume! ; )

Maternity Clothes Shopping

is hard. I've been searching for a few spring essentials and it looks like I need to make another trip to Destination Maternity. I did however find a couple cute things at Old Navy.

I saw this shirt posted on a couple of different blogs and thought I'd see how it looks. It's not maternity so I ordered a size larger. I think it will look so cute with some white capri's and gold sandals!

And I am super excited about these sandals. Years ago I bought a very similar pair at Target for $7 and always wished I had purchased more in different colors. They discontinued them and so then I bought a pair at JCrew for $50 and honestly I liked my Tar-Jay version more. Anywhoo, I found these cuties at Old Navy and ordered two pair in gold and white. SCORE!

Colored denim has been in style for a while now and they're even making them in maternity jeans so now all I need to do is figure out what color I want. I was thinking red or aqua........but that is not the kind of thing I can order online. I need to try them on in person. So my search is on.

Van-isms

We were at the gym on Friday and while I was working out with my trainer I guess I let out a really loud laugh because Van heard me in the Kidzone and Crystal said, he stopped what he was doing, let out a big, fake laugh and said, "Mommy funny."

I love how every day he is saying more and his personality is really shining through. He is so funny and so sweet.

Earlier that morning I was doing laundry and Van walks up to me in my comfy, paisley printed pj's, pokes my leg and says, "Pretty."

LOVE.HIM.

And SOOOOOO excited for tomorrow's big reveal!

How we spend our mornings. Relaxing, drinking our milk (or coffee) and catching up on cartoons.