We have taken Waverly strawberry-picking for the last two years, the first year she wasn’t walking yet but last year, she had the best time ever & I immediately knew that we would make it a spring family tradition.  I’m really not sure there is a better activity for toddlers, running through a huge, open field endlessly surrounded by strawberries that your mom actually lets you taste.  Plus, that mom is almost always guaranteed a long nap afterwards, its a total win-win. 🙂

My mom, sister, brother & I took Waverly last week, I wanted to go as soon as possible since we are officially on baby watch these days & I’m all about getting in some quality time with my big girl before life changes for all of us.


Waverly definitely ate more than she picked, but it was too cute to watch her with her little basket walking down the aisles.  I also loved looking back & comparing these pictures to the ones of her there last year, these types of the things are exactly the memories I hope my kids will love to look back on one day.

Waverly’s strawberry romper is BabyGap last season, I’m so glad that we stocked up on a few different styles when they had them so she could be dressed in theme. 🙂  I’m still loving this fruit craze, it’s hard to find as many strawberry prints this season but pineapples & lemons are everywhere (for big and little ones), & are making me equally as happy.  Here are some of my favorites, not listed are this shirt & trunks for your little men, both so adorable!

Toddler Pineapple Bikini, Lemon Dress, Strawberry One-Piece, Patterned Shower Curtain, Strawberry Purse, Pineapple Pins, Pineapple Dress, Pineapple Print Bikini

I know the pineapple shower curtain doesn’t really quality as a fashion, but seriously, I am obsessed.  How fun would that be in a little kids bathroom & also, where was that when I decorated my apartment in college?!  I don’t think my husband would go for it now.

Hope you are all having a great week!
XO

 Even though we are all very ready (& excited!) to move on to our next chapter as a family of four, I can’t help but be so incredibly thankful for the journey that this second pregnancy has been.  I loved being pregnant the first time & this time it has been just as special to share it with Waverly, who has grown up so much in the past few months as she prepares to become a big sister.  I will forever cherish these family photos, & can’t wait to share them with both our girls (& hopefully other little ones!) one day, I hope our children will always know how much we adore them and how much each one of them were wanted.

My mom came with us to the shoot so she could take Waverly early and we could get some pictures of just my husband & I, something we never really do anymore for obvious reasons. 😉  As much as I adore the pictures with Waverly, these are so special to me too, at the end of the day all of this craziness started with just the two of us.  I just couldn’t love him more & can’t wait to watch him become a dad to two girls in the next few weeks. 
Of course, the biggest thank you to Brooke of Brooke Tucker Photography for once again, filling our walls with so many gorgeous images, it was so hard to narrow it down to these favorites for this post.  Brooke is amazing (she seriously got in the water with her jeans on, in the cold, to make these pictures come to life), we can’t say enough about her & look forward to many more pictures with her in the years to come. 🙂

Sources:  Blue Dress, Waverly’s White Maxi Dress, White Dress, & All Jewelry

Happy Friday, friends, I hope you all have had the most wonderful week!  The bigger I get during these last few weeks of pregnancy (& bigger is definitely the word, the term ready to pop is more relevant than ever right now), the more I am looking to keep Waverly entertained in a way that doesn’t require too much physical activity from me.  My sciatica is tons better since starting maternity leave, & I’m usually all about being active as much as possible, but let’s face it, I am currently tired walking up the stairs.  So keeping her happy while keeping me sitting is the name of the game, & I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Thankfully the weather has been warm, or even hot, & we have been able to spend lots of time outdoors. Waverly adores any activity that involves water, she always has, & it will usually keep her busy longer than anything we do inside will.  This past Monday was a wash-out, it rained on & off all day, but it was still warm enough to go outside in between rainstorms to play in the puddles so we took advantage.

Two things, (1) our neighbors think we are crazy, for some reason we were the only people on the street doing this, & (2), if only I could pull off a bathing suit & hunter boots like she can.

We also pulled out the old faithful kid pool from last summer, which I am convinced is the best $10 we have ever spent.  We have used it three times this week alone, between that & the sprinklers that run every morning, we have had hours of endless entertainment.

We have all of our maternity pictures back & once again, my sweet friend Brooke rocked it & I am in love with all of the images she captured of us! 🙂  I am really excited to post some next week, but in the meantime, I thought I would share another sneak peek, this picture was definitely not one I had envisioned in my head or that I pinned before our shoot, but honestly, has been the one I have come back to look at the most. 😉

Photo By:  Brooke Tucker Photography

And the story behind it.  While we were driving to the pictures, Waverly asked me if she was wearing a bodysuit, which was so random & weird, I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about.  After she kept going on about it I finally realized that she was asking if she was wearing a bathing suit because I had told her we were going to the beach, & girlfriend was planning to jump in the water when we got there.  OMG.  It was unseasonably cold that day, almost to the point that I was nervous about us even doing it, so the last thing I wanted was for her to jump in the water (not to mention the fact that we were going for family pictures, not a wet t-shirt contest).  I was luckily relieved when we got there, Waverly was having so much fun running through the sand (& we were able to get tons of pictures of her in it), but it was cold enough that she didn’t have much interest in the water.  Or so I thought.  After a while, we put our toes in & were running through it some, when I looked over & Waverly got just a little too brave, went too far, and got knocked down by a wave.

Seriously, my mama instinct kicked in & I freaked.  I mean, my face.  I don’t even remember Brooke taking that picture but now that we are out of the moment & Waverly is fully recovered (she was laughing before my mom even made her way up the beach to take her back to the car), I admit it, I know we will love having it forever.  I can’t even wait to laugh about it with her one day. 🙂

PS – If you have never searched “family photos gone wrong”, do it.  We did on the way home (since we felt like we have a contender for that now), they are hilarious.

First things first, I hope you all had the absolute best weekend, celebrating the special ladies in your life!  Mamas, I hope you were spoiled rotten, just as you should have been.  And a big congratulations to Allison Skinner, who won our huge giveaway on Instagram, $250 to Nordstrom & a Land of the Nod teepee. 🙂

Our weekend was busy, but so much fun, just the way we like it!  My mother-in-law’s wish for her day was to take all of her grandkids to the living museum, so we headed there early Saturday morning.  Waverly loved it, I somehow walked my pregnant self through the entire thing, & it resulted in a 3 hour nap.
Total win.

Sunday morning, I opened my cards from my husband & both girls, then was so excited to get my new metal flowers that my hubby made me for Mother’s Day!  I asked him a few weeks ago for some new ones, tulips that he spray painted gold, I love them (& him) so much.
I am planning to add them to our mantle (in these vases I just got & adore), but in the meantime, they made the perfect centerpiece for brunch we hosted for my mom, grandmother & other members of my side of the family.  We did a yogurt bar, donuts, an egg casserole, and bacon.  So much bacon! 🙂
Cake Stand
The forecast called for showers all day, but it randomly ended up being nice which was the best surprise.  We spent some time outside at our house before heading down to the beach, we don’t all get to go to the together that often so it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.  On our way home, we picked up dinner & then went for frozen yogurt.  Can it please be mother’s day weekend more than once a year?!
I have to admit that I was sad when I woke up Monday & it was over, it was truly the best.
Waverly’s Dress, My Dress – H&M, In Store

And this story, because all is well that ends well & it was a huge part of our weekend.  On Friday night, we were getting ready to put Waverly to bed when we realized that our yellow lab had gotten out & had been gone for over an hour.  We all freaked out, my husband left to look for him in the fifteen minutes of daylight we had left while I stayed & tried to calm down a distraught Waverly who was crying uncontrollably.  I tried to get her to sleep, which was a total lost cause, she kept saying “but he is my buddy” & before I knew it, we were both laying there crying together.  Fast forward two hours (Waverly was still crying), my husband was at the store making copies for flyers & thankfully, my mom told me about a “next door” app that you can post those sorts of things on.  As soon as I logged on, there was a post about a found lab, our Bogger! 🙂  My dad went & picked him up for us, I wish I could have recorded Waverly’s face when he pulled up, it was priceless & made all of the nightmare of the few hours before it go away.

Thankful isn’t even the word for the sweet couple who got our dog, we would probably be in therapy right now if it wasn’t for them.  Waverly & I are definitely delivering them cookies this week!
XO

I am so excited to share pictures from our baby-que we had over the weekend, it was such a special day celebrating our little lady with family & friends!!  My mom insisted that she host a shower for us a few months back, & to be honest, I was totally against the idea since we are having another girl (and have way too much already).  Yet we settled on the idea of a celebration, & I’m so happy we did, I want this baby girl to know that we are every bit as overjoyed for her arrival and did lots of celebrating for her, too. 🙂

My mom & sister did the most amazing job planning the party, they completely rocked the baby-que theme & picked the cutest color palette to make it come to life!  There was so much delicious food, the centerpiece was a hot dog bar with tons of toppings and then lots of seasonal sides, a corn bread mix, macaroni & cheese, and pasta salad.

There was a table for appetizers that turned into sweets later, & for drinks, we had spring sangria (or the non-preggers people did) and lemonade.  We didn’t do any traditional baby games since it was coed & families, but my mom found the cutest idea to make an “ABC” book for our baby girl (similar here).  Each person filled out one sheet by coloring a word for their letter & signing their name, we had so much fun reading them after the party & I know we will love going through it with her one day, too.  There were also celebrity baby name sheets & ones to guess the weight & date of the baby, along with what she will look like.  Again, so much fun to read & to keep in baby girl’s baby book. 🙂

The favors were my favorite, little barbecue bottles with labels in the colors of the party!

Waverly had way too much fun, she was totally in her element & I am convinced she is a socialite.  I spent half the day trying to find her and then once I did, she was talking someone’s ear off, running around with the biggest smile on her face, or “taking care” of the little ones who were there & who are a little bit younger than her (girl is going to be such a good big sister).

I am so thankful to my mom, sister, mother-in-law, & sister-in-laws for all the time that they put into making this day so special for us.  I will forever be grateful to have the memories to look back on, as our last days as a family of three, waiting for our newest addition, who is already so very loved!  Also, a big thank you to our family & friends who always support us & who share in our excitement!  We feel fortunate that our girls have so many people who adore them just as much as we do.

PS – Thanks for the comments on Waverly’s dress on Instagram, it’s one of my favorite dresses of hers!  My mom got it forever ago for us, on Etsy, but we can’t find the shop.  Lacey Lane has lots of dresses that have fun backs just like this one. 🙂  My dress is maternity from Asos, it’s one of the ones I wore in my maternity pictures & I adore it.  It is one of the few actual maternity pieces that I bought & I am so glad I did, I am definitely planning to hang on to it for any future Brickner babe pregnancies. 😉