baby williamson

Nic and I are over the moon!!! 

There was something so special about the two of us being the only people in the whole world to know for a little while. It also hardly even felt real when the only signs that I actually was pregnant were two little pink lines on a stick and a little nausea. haha What made it all the more real were two events in the last week... 

On Tuesday, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. Nic and I stared at each other from across the room as we waited anxiously for what we were told would be a very fast sound compared to my own heartbeat. Silence, silence, silence.... and there it was... 146 beats per minute. Through tears in my eyes, I giggled and smiled at Nic and he was grinning from ear to ear. It was amazing! 

This weekend we finally shared the news with our family and friends and it was SO much fun telling everyone. Each person's reaction to the news was the best! We always wanted everyone to be surprised when we finally told them so no one knew we were trying. There were shouts of joy, tears, and just an outpouring of love for this new little one to come. 

I am currently 13 weeks and just started my second trimester. I was nauseous for about 6 weeks in the later part of my first trimester and pretty tired all the time but the second I hit 12 weeks I have felt great! I am becoming the master of eating mini meals throughout the day. For some reason it seemed to take me a while to figure out that, that's what the baby was needing from me. It must be that I am a first timer. ;) I am due around November 1st so we will be welcoming this baby into the world right before the holidays! We can hardly wait!!!!  

happy list

"Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily." - Roman Philosopher, Horace

This past Sunday, a sweet neighbor of ours got up in church and spoke about finding joy in our present circumstances and staying positive a midst the trials that come in our lives. So many of the things she shared really stuck with me and have been on my mind ever since. These past few days I have found myself refocusing my attention on the little things that make me happy in my every day life. Some are big and some are small. Some remain constant each day while others change. But they all make my day brighter and so that is what I'm choosing to focus on. The happy in my life because there is SO much of it!

That is also where this little idea of a happy list came from. Just a list of things I want to share with you that are making me happy in hopes that I will always do my best to remain positive and focus on the abundant blessings in my life every day. 

Here are just a few things on my happy list right now...

1. Snow! We've seen very little this Winter and it was surprisingly fun shoveling a snow covered driveway for the first time at our new home a couple weeks ago. It also gave me a chance to finally wear my new Sorrel snow boots that I got from Nic for Christmas. Win, win!

2. This navy and white herringbone patterned shower curtain! I've had my eye on it for some time now and finally purchased it right after Christmas on a sale for our new master bathroom. I absolutely adore it, it makes me smile every time I walk in our bathroom. :) I am almost done putting the finishing touches on the space and then I will share pictures.

3. Record day at school tomorrow and the time I am given to refocus my attention on the things I am behind on. I LOVE teaching but there is this endless list of other things that I didn't really consider that take up so much time and are easy to get behind on (i.e. grading, organizing, and the endless paperwork that comes with the job). So it is nice that I am given a day every 6 weeks to catch up on those things. My OCD heart feels happier when everything is organized. haha

4. This song by John Legend called "All of Me"! I heard it on the radio for the first time last week which seemed so fitting since it was Valentine's week and love was on the mind! The lyrics are really sweet.

5. The new Waterlogue app. Have you tried it yet?! I am seriously obsessed. It transforms your pictures into beautiful water color paintings. I really want to have one printed on a canvas for our new home.

valentine's weekend

I love Valentine's Day. I always have. Even before I had a romantic someone to celebrate it with. Growing up, my mom used to give us treats and a new movie on Valentine's morning. It has always felt like a special day out of the year to think about the people I love in my life.

If I'm being honest, I like to stretch out holidays as looonnnnngggggg as possible so we made a whole holiday weekend of it. ;) What made it even better, was that it was a 3 day weekend together and those are few and far between with Nic's busy work schedule.

I spent Valentine's day with my 25 little Valentines at school. We played bingo and I laughed as they made disgusted faces with every lovey dovey clue they were given. haha I had SO much fun deciding on the Valentines that I made for them and putting them together. Kool Aide for my "Kool" kids! I brought a big bag of sugar and we had a grand old time trying not to make a huge mess all over my classroom sink and counter tops. No they did not get stained bright red!! ;) I live for this stuff!

The love of my life had the most beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered to my classroom. He sure knows how to make a girl feel something special. He will probably kill me for sharing this but he bought the vase and put the arrangement together himself. Amazing right?! He is always surprising me and I love that about him. I told him that apparently we needed to open a floral shop together. ;) Maybe a retirement endeavor someday!

Later that evening, we had a romantic night in complete with a home cooked dinner by candle light, one of my favorite chick flick movies{Safe Haven}, and the perfect excuse to use our fondue pot to have chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast in bed {cinnamon rolls}. We also saw the movie, Delivery Man, that evening. So funny! I hope you had a special day, or weekend if you like to carry on the celebrating for as long as humanely possible like us, with the ones you love.

xoxo

first birthday

How cute is that little tongue?! 

H | A | P | P | Y     F | I | R | S | T     B | I | R | T | H | D | A | Y     R | U | E!!!

On Thursday our little Rue Loo turned one year old! So naturally, there were apples {her favorite treat}, cuddles, and lots of celebrating. She can be a serious handful sometimes, can't let that little escape artist out of your sight for a second or there goes your wood cabinet but she is so so sweet.

We hope you had the happiest of birthdays. We know your dripping chin loved every second of those apple bites. We're so glad you are a part of our family, we love you!

Happy 2014!

January has been a quite a month for us so far which I'm loving. It was so nice to have two weeks off for Christmas but come Monday morning I was ready to go back to work. I know it is easy to complain about being busy all the time but there is something to be said for having a great job and being productive with your day. I was starting to go a little stir crazy there at the end, especially when I was home alone all day. I can't even imagine how this summer will go but it will be filled with taking little ones to the park and dirty diapers before I know it so I'm enjoying this phase of my life right now. I'm hoping to have a lot of house project to keep me busy!

Nic and I spent New Years Eve just the two of us at home. We fancied it up with a little pasta which is something I rarely make and chocolate covered strawberries. Besides that, it was Vampire Diaries and a kiss to seal the deal when the clock struck midnight. Such party animals I know! ;) A week later I figured what better way to ring in the new year than chopping off 6 inches of hair! That seems to be my thing. I go about 8 months or so without getting it cut and then chop it off. I'm sure any hair dresser reading this right now is eye rolling at me but I just have the hardest time justifying spending a bunch of money on myself for something like that. Silly I know. Nic thinks I'm crazy. Then again he has no room to talk because he gets a buzz cut in our kitchen once a month! ha

While January has typically felt like a slow month to me in the past and I am always drudging through it and dying for the sight of Spring, we have had a really mild Winter this year so I am loving it. I can hardly wait for Valentine's Day though. Call me a hopeless romantic but I love that holiday!

I'm so excited that it is 2014! We will be going to a Gavin Degraw concert in April, celebrating our 3rd anniversary hopefully on a little getaway, and putting in our yard together just to name a few! Hope you are having a Happy New Year. Cheers!

Cheers 2013!

The best year I've ever had, and I won't be the same. 

Merry Christmas! + the month of december :: in instagram pictures

Oh Christmas morning, you are so magical! I still get the same giddy feeling I did as a child. My family on Christmas morning... 

We were spoiled...

And Rue wanted to eat all of the pine cones and needles off of the Christmas tree... haha

We couldn't help ourselves and had to bring the classic Griswold family Christmas into our home in the form of a Williamson family Christmas drum roll.... ;)

December has FLOWN by! Up until this year, we had a 3.5 ft tree that we would decorate in our apartment. All of our special childhood ornaments and the few we have got from family since filled our little tree to the brim. This year however, we bought a new 7.5 ft tree to use year after year in our new home. Those 15 ornaments looked rather sparse on our new tree, but still special all the same. We scored some Christmas balls to add to our tree next year and I can't wait to use them! I love having the Christmas tree up all of the December and have a really hard time taking it down at the end of the season. It is just so pretty! We ended up having to put a gate around our tree. A certain someone would have had every branch around the bottom eaten to smithereens if we didn't! ;)  

We sent out our first Christmas cards this year and I loved how they turned out! A new version of The Sound of Music came out this month with Carrie Underwood playing Fraulein Maria. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that movie!

My brother found out he made it into special warfare services and participated in the tradition of shaving his entire head and eyebrows off. Needless to say, he looked a little creepy, a lot like an alien actually for a few days. haha

We hung our first print in out master bedroom. It is the one room in our house that I have the total vision of how I want the entire room to look when it is finished. I can't wait to continue adding pieces to it throughout the new year.

We spent the week of Christmas in Meridian with my mom and brother. My mom and Rue bonded. :)
We had a wonderful Christmas and are sad to see it go but are excited for what the new year will bring!
Hope you had a Merry Christmas!!