two years of wedded bliss

Two years ago from this very moment, I was waking up with butterflies in my stomach. Those same butterflies that took over my stomach on February 14, 2002 when he asked me to be his girlfriend. It was about 9 1/2 years later that I woke up ready to make him my husband.

The day was magical. The morning was filled with family, friends, laughs, six-hundred mimosas, tons of hair spray, and excitement everywhereee. The people surrounding me was the best part. Not to mention, any time I felt nervous, I just started singing Cupid Shuffle and thinking about the moment I got to do that dance three times at our wedding!

I couldn't even think about walking down the aisle. Whew, that made me insanely nervous/excited, and I actually just got those same feelings in my stomach now thinking about exactly how it felt! So, back to Cupid Shuffle my mind would wander. Thank you, Cupid, for helping me get through my wedding day without a glitch! haha

Everything about June 18, 2011 was wonderful.

Let's just let photos speak for themselves, shall we?!

Recapping the day always excites us. I hope everyone else has the same magical feelings about their wedding day as we do, as we were so blessed to be surrounded by an amazing group of family and friends on the day we committed our lives to each other. I love our memories and I will always cherish them.

Filled with love, happiness, beer in wine glasses to look somewhat classy, family, friends, and the beach, we couldn't be more thankful.

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Last year, our first anniversary was spent in Orlando while J was on a rotation. We were expecting our first baby girl and we're just as thrilled as the year before!

Two years later, we are blessed to celebrate this day with our baby girl and our puppy.

And more importantly than our actual wedding, because after all, what really matters is the love we have for each other and the life we create together -- we are incredibly thankful to have each other and those who are always standing by supporting us. Cheers to many more. Cheers to a lifetime together. 

Cheers to our marriage, our family, and our love!

Happy 2nd Anniversary, my love!

Happy FIRST Father's Day!

I have been in love with my husband since freshman year of high school and it is true that I love almost everything about him! You know, there are the nasty manly ways he goes about certain things a few things here and there that I can't quite always say I LOVE, but putting that aside, he really is great. And marrying him 2 years ago (on June 18, 2011) made me the happiest woman in the world. I truly am lucky I'm in love with my best friend.

And well, with all the incredible feelings of love that come along with your wedding day and marriage, it's hard to believe that that love can be even more intensified than those moments. But seeing my husband with our child -- our sweet baby girl, our little bundle of love -- makes me fall even more in love with him over and over again. If only we could all have Daddy's like him ;)

I still thank God for bringing him to me and for bringing our baby to both of us.

He works his butt off in the process of becoming a doctor to do all he can for his little family. Even if that means being away from us sometimes. Just makes reunions that much better!

He loves his baby girl, and she loves him.

He teaches her all that she needs (and doesn't need) to know.

And brings her to the places she must visit in her lifetime (like Hamburger Construction in OC!)

I could go on and on, but I'm simply going to leave here with expressing how thankful and happy I am to have him as my husband and the father of our child.



Happy First Father's Day, Baby E's Daddy!



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Also wanted to give a very special Happy Father's Day shout out to all the fathers in our lives! To Uncle Tom who took me in, walked me down the aisle, and always treated me the way a father should..Thank you! And to my father-in-law, who is always there to help us, guide us, and show J the ropes of all it takes to be a great father! Thank you to both of you, as well as all the men in both of our families who have helped guide us in one way or another! Happy, Happy Father's Day!

Beer Cake Tutorial {Father's Day Gift Idea}

We have made it to Florida! And had a trip to Ocean City, NJ in between moving here and now. So between unpacking, seeing family, and mucho more, I have been one busy ass bee! Father's Day is this Sunday, and it is my husband's first Father's Day, so it's a special one ;)

So special, that I decided he deserves a beer cake! haha...don't worry, Baby E got him something a little sentimental too!



My hubby is into craft beers (and I looove that he is, because I benefit from that too!) so I went to Whole Foods and grabbed a couple different unique beers to make this.

What you'll need:

• Beer
• Cardboard Rounds 
• Ribbon
• Embellishments of your choice (optional)

I used a dinner plate and a salad plate to trace circles on the cardboard then cut out. You can buy cardboard rounds at the craft store if it's easier! You can also decorate the rounds with paper, but as I said, I'm way too busy lately and went the easy route!

Place the bigger cardboard round on the bottom.

I used 12 cans on the bottom tier. Just place them in a circle and a few in the middle.

Then place the smaller cardboard round on top of the cans.

I used a 6 pack of bottles for the middle tier, and in the middle of the bottle circle, there is 1 canned beer.

For the top, I just stacked one beer on top of the can to raise it.

Wrap with ribbon, and embellish however you'd like!

You can embellish with candy bars, scratch-off tickets, photos, anything your little heart desires!

Set up it for Daddy to see and let him enjoy! :)

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A Florida post is coming soon -- this gal has been a busy bee. But for this special Father's Day weekend, we are headed to the beach to relax and celebrate fatherhood!

Georgia on my mind... {closing another chapter}

It's almost about that time. We have 5 more nights in this home. The house where Baby E first came home to. Where she spent her first night home after leaving the hospital. Where we went from being a 'couple' to a being a 'family.' It's a home we certainly won't forget about.



As we close yet another chapter of our story to begin a new one, I've got a few things on my mind. As much as I've missed Florida at times (or well, family), oh Georgia, you've certainly treated us well. It was my first time living out of state. We moved to Georgia as an engaged couple with a dog ready to take on the medical school life (hubby being the student, me being the tagalong). And what do you know, since moving to Georgia, we've made some incredible memories with some of the most amazing friends we could ask for, we've become a married couple, I had a great job, we found out we were blessed with an amazing gift from God in my belly, and got to welcome that sweet little Georgia Peach into the world here.





Seems weird to think that I moved into this home when I was a little over 6 months pregnant, and now we're moving out while she is a little over 6 months old.

And, of course, we can't forget about the reason for moving here in the first place -- my hubby has learned 3/4 of what it takes to be a physician. And I am so unbelievably proud of him for all that he has accomplished so far, and for how insanely hard he has worked to get to where he is. I may have to hear endless - and yes I mean ENDLESS - medical conversations that only him + his dorky medical school friends (guys, I kid, I kid!) and anyone in their situation can understand that may or may not include talks about Borrelia burgdorferi, Kawasaki's, and a myriad of random diseases.....AND my husband may talk to me in normal conversation mixed with terms he knows I do not understand, i.e. primigravida (meaning first time pregnancy) to which I can't help but question why the heckkk he wouldn't just use 'first time pregnancy' when speaking to me...BUT, it all just reminds me how incredibly far him and all our friends have come since we first met during orientation week in 2010. They have come a LONG way, and from my non-medical wife aspect of all of this, I am so thankful for the friendships that have come along with it all.

We are packing up our belongings, our memories, and pretty much our life in general into bubble wrap, boxes, and bags, and feeling grateful for all that Georgia has brought to us.





Our house has had shizz ev-er-y-where and things are a bit up the air at the moment, but we're getting there. Teamwork, baby! Teamwork :)





I've been blessed to have my momma here helping - and our laundry has never been washed as often or put away as quickly as it has since she's been here, which has been a.maze.ing! Especially when I have these two helpers makin' life look pretty dang good.

Lord knows how stressful moving can be, especially when we have moved almost every year since graduating high school 8 years ago, but that's just a small part of our life in comparison to all we have to be thankful for.

Also, have I mentioned we are moving in with the in-laws? Again, another thing we are thankful to even have the option to do! Let's be honest, though, no matter how well anyone gets along with their in-laws, living together (with anyone!) can be a tough situation as a family. Luckily, we all have a love for good food and beer to keep us together :) So if we all become insane alcoholics, you'll know why! haha, TOTALLY kidding -- we are beyond grateful for the opportunity and super excited to live around such an amazing family in a beautiful atmosphere. Baby girl is ready for Florida -- in her flamingo outfit and all ;)



Oh, and I couldn't leave without bragging explaining how thrilled we are to be living within 15-20 minutes of the beach again, and without showing off where we will be headed on a (little bit late) anniversary trip next month..

The fact that we will be living 1.5 hours from this salty haven in The Keys might possibly help ease our mind about leaving the wonderful life and friends we've made for ourselves in GA. No, but really, no matter where our life takes us in the future, one thing is for sure....

Just an old sweet song will keep Georgia on my mind :)

red, white & baby | summer holiday style

It's hard to believe we are getting ready to kiss Spring 2013 goodbye in a few weeks to welcome a summer full of sunkissed holidays. Time to kick off Memorial Day weekend (by packing up the house..blah) with a few beers, some grilled burgers or so, and an Americana decorated baby.

Hell to the yes I would love to have all sorts of red, white, & blue gear to deck out Baby E in, but hey, I'm not that ridiculous. In fact, I'm the opposite with clothes. I'm blessed to have loads and loads of hand-me-downs from my nieces, and I have a husband in medical school so we're a lil broke I'm a bit too cheap to buy tons of clothes for her to quickly grow out of. However, I hope to have 1 or 2 outfits to last all 3 of the Americana summer drunken holidays -- Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day! Since it's for three holidays, it's easier to justify a purchase, right?

Check out some of my favorites:

chambray romper . gingham one piece . white/blue/red bow romper . star print romper . eyelet dress . striped hi-lo dress . one piece bathing suit . two piece bathing suit . eyelet hat . headband . sunglasses . americana romper . bow thong sandals . espadrille sandals . chambray flats 

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Will you be decking your baby out to celebrate the red, white, and blue?!

6 month photos // natural lifestyle photoshoot

As most of you know by now, I adore my sweet girl and want to soak up every inch of her as a sweet baby, and you might also know that I adore photography. This, in turn, means I adore taking photos of my girl to remember every inch of her - obviously!

The other day I took a few photos of Baby E playing on our bed in between changing from jammies to clothes. Just wanted a natural/organic look for these lifestyle photos so I let her do her thang -- which included playing around, baby push-ups, and me saying "Hiiiii baby girl!" a few times in between to get those mesmerizing eyes to gaze up at me.

In the words of Parachute --- She is love.




This little one certainly knows how to turn it off for the camera. She will smile // laugh // giggle // repeat -- right up until I grab the camera or my cell phone out -- and bam, blank stares! Hence, the thought of a more organic photo shoot.

 

Can't go wrong there! She crawled, laid around, and bashfully smiled as she dug her head into our comfy bed.

I love being able to capture her gestures in a natural setting, encompassing all angles of her soft and squishy baby skin.

Everything about these photos will always remind me just how much I love to scoop her up to tickle and kiss her in exchange for sweet coos and giggles!

 

This little girl -- She is Love. And she is all we need!