{Merry Christmas 2014}

Merry Christmas Dear Friends! 

Sorry for the absence...my goal is to get back into my normal two to three times a week rhythm after New Years! 

Now that Wendel has finished his masters {woo hoo} it's time to finish house projects before the little man makes his appearance this spring! 

So I'll have lots of house updates, pregnancy updates, and a few more personal posts I've been working on about infertility and how that season changed and molded us into who we are today! 

In the mean time, we're soaking up the holiday spirit, and enjoying every second of this magical time! 

Merry Christmas...and a Happy New Year! 

{It's A Boy!}

Hey Friends! 

So sorry I'm late on posting this!

Most of you probably know but...

We're having a boy! 

We're still pretty in shock! 

We were 100% positive Little Bit was a girl, so we're having to re-envision our little lives now. 

I'm preparing my heart for lots of sports, wrestling, super heros, and legos! 

We're excited to raise a respectful and joyful little boy who will turn into a man of  honor. 

Austen Bradley...you've already surprised and shocked us. 

We're excited to see your face and watch you transform us into the people He meant for us to be...

Parents! 

I'm working on a little video from the gender reveal party, so be looking for that this week! 

{Reflecting On The Holiday Season}

I shared a little bit on Instagram about how I was feeling this time last year, and I thought I'd elaborate a bit on the blog.

Wendel and I were really hoping to get pregnant last year at the end of August, which would mean that we could announce our pregnancy at Thanksgiving. 

His family has a huge Thanksgiving at his parents' house, and before dinner, they always count how many people are in the room. I had always dreamed of going around the room counting everyone there, and when it got to me saying "14, 15...14 and baby makes 15!" 

Now use your imagination...I have no clue what number we'd actually be...work with me people :) 

That obviously didn't happen.

The week of Thanksgiving hit me like a ton of bricks. 

The realization that my dream was not going to happen, and that life was going on. 

I couldn't just curl up in bed and pretend that it wasn't happening. 

I needed to suck it up, move on, and be thankful for our crazy amounts of blessings. 

I think I did pretty decent. 

I made the most out of the holidays and enjoyed all of my favorite traditions. 

Going to Florida after Christmas helped get me through the season. 

But I remember so vividly praying...

"Lord, please make next year different."

I didn't know what that meant. 

But I knew I wanted it to be different. 

And boy did He follow through. 

And while I'm so thankful for our Little Bit, my heart literally breaks in two for those who are still struggling. 

I get weekly e-mails from people who have found this little blog {hello to any new readers} discussing their struggles with infertility. 

And my heart aches for them. 

I know this season will be hard for them. 

And this may be the second or third holiday season that has been hard. 

I truly hope everyone knows that we do not take this gift for granted! 

Not for a second have we felt like we deserved or were entitled to this miracle. 

But we are so incredible thankful. 

I'm excited for all of our holiday traditions! 

I literally cannot wait to finish decorating! 

And I'm thankful to walk along this journey with Wendel by my side! 

Oh and side note...a week from today we have our gender reveal ultrasound! 

We're having a party next Sunday and I cannot wait to find out! 

Eeeeeee!

Happy Thanksgiving!

{Reasons I've Cried Today}

Pregnancy hormones are flippin' insane! 

Seriously!

I thought my hormones were out of control before I got pregnant...that was a joke! 

So I thought it would be funny to document some of the ridiculous reasons I've busted into tears lately...enjoy! 

Fortunate enough for you...Wendel captured pictures of a few of these...oh brother...this is real life ya'll...so I'm sharing it all. Don't make fun too much! 

The Matching Straw Situation

I asked Wendel to grab me a straw for my cup and it just happened to be the same color as my cup...yup...you just can't make it up people! I promise I was crying more in this picture...Wendel must have caught me at a good moment! 

A Lawn Mower...You Don't Cry Over Lawn Mowers?

We were driving home and I saw a man mowing his lawn with his son trailing behind him with his own toy lawn mower...oh boy tears! 

Even the mascara was running...it was a serious one ya'll! 

Pretzel, Pretzel Who Wants A Pretzel?

This is probably everyone's favorite one so far...it's a long story: so I went to the mall to do a little shopping and was going to meet Wendel for a late lunch. I was already getting hungry, so I decided to get a little snack. I immediately thought 'AUNTIE ANNES!' So I super fast walked over to that direction, and when I got there, right next to Auntie Anne's was Great American Cookie Company. Ya'll...I looooooove cookie cake! So the obvious reaction was to BUST into full on, crazy person, can't stop, won't stop, 'what the heck is wrong with that chick' tears. The lady at Auntie Anne's walks over and asked if I was okay. I responded through my tears "I'm pregnant and I can't decide if I want a cookie or a pretzel" and being a wise sales woman she said "aw, sweet thing, get yourself a pretzel." And I did...and it was delicious. But I'll be honest...I was ticked I didn't get a cookie...next time...I'll shove both in my face at the same time. 

Victoria Secret Sleep Masks...Duh! 

I am seriously obsessed with Victoria Secret's flannel PJ sets! I order one every year for Christmas, and this year was no different. I got it in the mail, and I knew that I had gotten a free pair of matching slippers with the set. I was so excited to get it in the mail, and noticed that something was wrapped around the PJ's...once I looked closer...it was a matching sleeping mask. I don't even use a sleeping mask. But it was a perfectly precious matching sleeping mask wrapped around my perfectly amazing PJ set. And the tears FLOWED! Ya'll...I seriously cannot make this stuff up! 

So yeah...the dumbest things ever make me well up in tears!

The funny thing...haven't cried at a single Dr's appointment, ultrasound, hearing the babies heart beat, announcing we were pregnant. You know the normal things pregnant people cry over...nope...not here. Just matching Victoria Secret sleep masks and matching straws for my cup...yup...that's me! 

I hope I provided a little bit of entertainment for you on this hump day!

On a side note, if you didn't see on Instagram, I tried on one of the fake bumps at Destination Maternity and it 100% freaked me out! Like for real...what the heck?

{First Trimester}

Sweet Aileen at Sparkly & Sweet did an amazing first trimester breakdown recently, and thought it was an amazing idea! So here we go...a week by week break down of the first trimester! 

Five Weeks

We found out and I didn't feel pregnant in the least bit. Not a single ounce of anything, so I really thought I was making it up. I'd take pregnancy tests randomly just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Made my appointment with the doctors for 9 weeks which felt like an eternity! 

Six Weeks 

Still wasn't feeling any symptoms, but we had an appointment already set up with our infertility doctor, so we went ahead and met with him and got to announce that we were pregnant! I went to Grandparent's Day with my mom for my niece, Elizabeth that week...it's literally the only picture I took that week :)

Seven Weeks

I started to feel really bloated at night and the evening sickness rolled in. Thank God it was evening and not all day sickness! I also didn't really have any appetite for dinner AT ALL so would eat Cheerios and bananas a lot. We went to Zoofari with some of Wendel's family...it was fun to get dressed up but hard to eat anything that evening.

Eight Weeks

We took my nephew Charlie to Kings Island, which was so much fun, but I couldn't ride many of the rides so Wendel was his riding buddy. We only went for like four hours but we were ALL exhausted!

Nine Weeks

I helped to host a shower for Wendel's cousin and I was NERVOUS people were going to catch on. I was definitely bloated, and Alex's one cousin is pregnant and kept asking all kinds of questions. I almost spilled the beans, but kept it in! We also got to go and cheer on my niece in her last soccer game of the year.

Ten Weeks

We hosted a huge "Fall-O-Ween" party at our house, and I think I overdid it a bit because I had a tiny bit of bleeding. Some rest and lots of water helped a ton! This is when the evening sickness started and cheerios and bananas were my dinner of choice! 

No Picture this week...big time fail! 

Eleven Weeks

We got to go to Irons Fruit Farm and really enjoy the fall weather! It was so much fun and exactly what I needed! Wendel had been swamped with work, so to have him alone for a bit was wonderful! Evening sickness was really in full effect so dinner was kind of a no-go for a while.

Twelve Weeks

Halloween happened, we had another Dr.'s appointment where we got a spur of the moment ultrasound because they couldn't find the heartbeat {everything fine...no worries} and we had our last big hurdle to get through before telling everyone...a family wedding. We were technically "in the clear" but we really didn't want to take anything away from the bride and groom, so we decided to keep it a secret a little while longer. I was feeling so very bloated the night of the wedding and was terrified someone would catch on, but thankfully no one did! It was a super fun wedding and so wonderful to see family! We also told Wendel's grandparents {the first great-grandchild for the Wendel side} and that was super exciting! 

Thirteen Weeks 

This was my birth week and Wendel did an amazing job fitting in fun things in between work/class/assignments. We also told the world the day before my birthday {I just couldn't wait the extra day until my birthday!} It was so wonderful to tell everyone and hear all of the excitement and encouragement. Wendel and I went to The Melting Pot for dinner {which unfortunately I was pretty queezy and couldn't eat a lot...good news for Wendel} but it was so much fun getting texts throughout the night! 

I can't believe I'm weeks into my second trimester! It's nuts! We find out if Little Bit is a Little He or a Little She in a few weeks and I can't wait!

{How We Found Out}

Wendel and I had been trying for a year and a half, and in August, it would mark a year from when we were actually hoping to get pregnant. 

Wendel came home one day and said "It was so crazy, all day today, I was hearing 'your wife is pregnant, your wife is pregnant, your wife is pregnant'" 

I immediately said "hey now, don't even go there."

In the back of my mind, I had a little inkling that I was, in fact, pregnant.

I had been taking my temperature every evening, and a book that I was reading said that your temperature would peek when you were ovulating and then if you conceived it would stay high. 

Well my temperature stayed high, and I was a few days late, so I figured in the morning I'll take a test just in case. 

I had taken SO many pregnancy tests, and just couldn't comprehend the idea that you could actually get a positive pregnancy test. 

I woke up at 7:00 in the morning, took one, and right away it turned positive...what the what? 

So what does any level headed person do? 

Go to Kroger and buy them out of pregnancy tests...not really...but I bought one of all they had. 

Got home, took four or five more...and sure enough...all of them were positive! 

OH.MY.WORD.

Yes...it was a little overkill...I'll admit it! 

Shock doesn't even describe it. 

It was more of a complete freak out. No tears. No screaming. Just an overwhelming "what the heck" feeling!

Imagine me pacing around the house shaking my hands a lot with the look of pure "WHAT?" on my face!

Wendel was super busy that day at work, so I knew I couldn't get him to come home during the day to tell him...so I had to wait...until 3:30 when he gets off. 

I went to the gym, went to lunch with my mom {and didn't spill the beans}, and came home to wait...freaking out the entire time. 

I did stop at a local store and got a bunch of pink and blue balloons and a bottle of Wendel's favorite bourbon.

See Wendel gave up drinking until we got pregnant. My husband is no where near a big drinker, but he enjoys a bourbon or beer at night. So it was a really big deal when he randomly mentioned that. 

So I KNEW I had to reward him with his favorite. 

I was so paranoid I was going to see someone I knew. I was prepared for the whole "our friend just had twins so we're going to visit them tonight" lie. But alas...didn't see anyone I knew.

At 3:30, I got a call from Wendel saying he would be late because he was finishing something up...WHAT? 

More waiting! 

AH! 

But the time finally came...Wendel pulled up, I got the camera ready...and his reaction as PERFECT!

{There's a little video in a minute with his and our parents' reactions...but for my memories...I wanted to type them up too!}

Wendel immediately dropped his keys and said "NO!"

Then he ran upstairs and kept saying "are you serious? Oh my gosh!"

It was a pretty awesome reaction.

We couldn't keep the secret...like at all!

So we called my mom and told her, and then went to Wendel's parent's house!

My mom was totally clueless at first...but she eventually caught on!

His parent's were a little more difficult!

We headed over with some balloons and we were going to bring them in and just wait until they figured it out. Well they saw us coming up the hill and came outside!

Luckily Wendel was already filming so we still got some footage of their surprise. 

My favorite part is that Wendel's dad said "NO SHIT!"

The next day I was telling that story to my mom and my niece was sitting on my lap and immediately started saying "NO SHIT, NO SHIT"...oops!

We TRIED to get film telling my family. When we did prayer before family dinner, I said prayer and said "and thank you for my baby that's inside of my belly"...but I was so nervous that I fumbled with my phone and didn't get anything! So sad!

I have to say...they didn't give a good reaction though :) I think they felt it coming so they weren't that shocked. It was still cute though to see the kids confused/excited!

We then called Wendel's sister and told her, and called our two best friends from college.

And then that was it.

We wanted our closest people to know so they could be praying and loving on us.

But then we kept it from EVERYONE until 14 weeks.

It actually went MUCH faster than I thought it would. I was shocked!

I'll have a full first trimester rundown very soon!

And here's the moment you've been waiting for...here's a little video!

Enjoy!

{Little Bit...Coming May 2015}

We are completely elated to announce that WE ARE PREGNANT! 

It's still completely surreal to type, but we are overjoyed, in shock, and so thankful for this gift!

If you are struggling with infertility, my heart literally aches for you! Like I'm 100% weeping for you right now...hormones. Please know that I understand the sinking pain you are feeling right now, and wish with all of  my heart I could take it away from you! You are loved, you are cherished, and there is a perfect story in the making for you. 

Thank you to everyone who prayed for our little bit...this little one is so incredibly blessed! 

Many more details to come!  

{Sorry Friends...I'm A Slacker...Again}

Hey Friends! 

So sorry I'm slacking! 

This new school year is ticking my toochie! 

On top of that Wendel is in his last semester of his masters, so we're not really getting many projects completed...womp womp.

I've actually had some super cute outfits recently, but we've been slacking with that camera. 

Honestly...I haven't even picked it up in a while.

And actually, I don't really have many pictures on my phone either!

It's kind of been a break from social media kind of time...and I'm pretty okay with it. 

Ya'll truly, this is a great thing for me! 

I used to stress about getting three posts a week ready, so the fact that I'm showing myself some grace is a huge step for me! 

I'm such a perfectionist...so letting myself take naps and relax is a wonderful thing! 

So pretty much I'm here to say...go me! 

Keep up the slacking?

Nope...I'll get back into the rhythm...don't worry friends!  

In the mean time...here are a few pictures from a few weeks ago.

Wendel and I were invited to go to the Cincinnati Zoo's big black tie gala called Zoo Fari

It's a fun excuse to get all dressed up and have a night out on the town!

I'm pretty sure that forever I'll look like an old lady and Wendel will always looks like he did in high school...why do women always looks so much older than their husbands? Oh well...rant over :) 

I wore the same dress I wore to my friend Terra's wedding, but it was coldddddd that night, so I just added a blazer! I'm super cold blooded...like it's actually ridiculous! 

Anyone seen Rio? "Pretty bird, pretty bird, I'm a pretty bird"...anyone?

Talk to you soon friends...well hopefully soon! 

{Choosing Joy}

Hey Long Lost Friends!

I didn't really mean to take a little hiatus...it just happened.

See I got kicked out of the Southern Blog Society...

Yup...you read that correctly...

Their excuse was because I didn't post enough.

Hey...I do't blame them.

I didn't meet their criteria...so I got cut.

It still felt like I was rejected by my middle school crush.

But it made me think...I don't make money doing this...blogging is just for fun.

Why would I post randomness just to make sure that I'm posting 3x a week.

So I just decided....heck...I'll post when I have something to say/share.

So I'm here to share something that's been on my heart the past few weeks!

Enjoy!

The other day, I was pulling out of Chick Fil A, and had a mom in a mini van straight up flip me off with most aggression than I've ever seen someone flip. 

I don't recall doing anything to deserve it, and if I did...I'm truly sorry. 

But that mom was TICKED off! 

And I couldn't help shake the feeling on the way home...

"Did that really help?" 

Was being angry and aggressive really helping to make you feel better? 

Are you happy when your aggressive? 

I know whenever I've been irrational...I feel pretty upset with myself after. 

Now I think we can all agree that one of our goals in life is to be happy. 

I want to be happy, I want Wendel to be happy, I want our family to be happy, I want the kids that I teach to be happy, I want the people I work with to be happy, I want everyone to be happy. 

It sounds awfully hippy of me, but it's true. 

So I have a question for you...

Are you choosing joy?

Are you choosing happiness?

Or are you letting the world get into your brain, making you feel depressed, anxious, sad, overwhelmed, not good enough etc? 

It's been something that I've been thinking about a lot the past few days. 

Am I choosing joy? 

My mom is. 

 Every. Single. Day. 

She has every right to choose anger. My dad was not a loving husband. He was a lousy "dad". And she could have been depressed every single day of her life. 

But if you ask anyone who knows her, you will hear that Emma Shipp is a joyful person. 

She chooses joy. 

My husband chooses joy. 

Now he isn't a joyful person like skipping through the hall kind of thing. 

He's a low key, quiet guy. 

But he always chooses joy. 

When I'm down about something, or overwhelmed, he always picks me up. 

When he sees someone who was mean or rude to him in the past, he always says a friendly hello. 

When he sees people taking advantage of him, he tries to see their point of view, forgive, and forget. 

He chooses joy. 

I kept thinking to myself:

Do people think of me as joyful? 

I can't answer that question. 

But I'm on a mission to always choose joy. 

Will it be easy...HECK NO!

Coming from a person who always chooses anger and frustration and anxiety and depression. 

I am going to try to choose joy. 

When I think about the empty feeling I have without a little bit growing inside of me, I will choose joy and remember that God has a plan and it is so good. 

When I get overwhelmed feeling like I'm not getting through to a child at school, I will choose joy and know that sometimes children just need a hug and some laughter...not always repetition and rewards. 

When I get "perfectionistic" about our home and feel like it will never be "done" I will choose joy and remind myself that this is not my home...it's His and we have been so blessed by it already. 

I'm going to choose joy. 

I don't want to be the mom who is so overwhelmed with life and kids and house and husband that I flip off an innocent person and still feel terrible after. 

I want to be the person showing grace to the person who just stole my parking spot. 

I want to be the person showing love to the mom who's child is throwing a temper tantrum in front of me. 

I want to be the person showing compassion to parent whose child is really having a hard time in PreK and may just need someone to talk to. 

I want to be the person who is a breath of fresh air...the person you want to be around. 

I want to be the person who chooses joy. 

Will you choose joy with me?

Happy Friday Friends! 

{2014 Summer House Tour: Video}

Happy Labor Day Friends! 

I hope you're spending a day off with some people you love! 

Wendel and I will be sleeping in, making brunch, doing stuff around the house, and maybe catching a movie...who knows! 

Today, I have a special video home tour for ya'll! 

This was my first time doing this, so it's a bit shaky and I literally tell you even detail of our house...sorry! 

Anyhoo...

Welcome to our home! 

Here are the things I promised to link up! 

Master Bed: Amazon

Lack=Pax Ikea Built Ins: A la Jenna Sue

"Things That Are Awesome" Art Work: Etsy

Let me know if you're curious about anything else!!

Have a wonderful day!

{Neon Tie-Dye}

Happy Friday Friends! 

I haven't done a fashion post since I was frolicking in the sunflowers, so I thought I'd share an outfit I wore for a fun dinner to celebrate my nieces 17th birthday...yes...I have a niece who is 17! 

Interesting Lelia fact: my sister was 17 years old when I was born...I think you'd consider me an "oops"...

Dress / Chambray / Clutch / Necklace / Nail Polish/ Shoes

I bought this dress for Mexico and it is seriously the most special and comfortable dress of all time! 

I kind of feel like a fairy in it...and could twirl all day long...strange?

And I don't think pictures do it justice...just sayin'...

It's a halter top and has a super low back which means I'm not totally comfortable wearing that out and about normally {Mexico...beach...totally fine!}

But when in doubt...chambray it up! Am I right? 

Also, I think this outfit would be precious with a baby bump...just sayin'! 

I may or may not have poked that belly out to show Wendel...I'm embarrassed by how amazingly realistic I can make a pregnant belly...sans an actual pregnant belly. Too many soft serve cones anyone?

And because...GIF's are the flippin' best! 

Side note: I'd love your feedback about fashion posts! 

When I do outfit posts, do you prefer if I just link the items up like I did today, or put in more detail like this?

I feel like it can all get a little messy looking...but whatever ya'll like is what I'll do! 

Get excited because Monday I have a video house tour ready to go! 

I hope everyone has a fabulous, and safe, long weekend! 

{Make An Entrance}

Ya'll I'm so excited to share with you one of the quickest, easiest, cheapest makeovers ever!

It took us four days and we spent under $20 for this project...yup...you read that right!

Isn't it so very pretty and inviting? 

Now before we get to the juicy details, let's check out what we started with. 

It's a small area, and super tight space, so pictures were hard to snap! 

Plain and boring! We wanted to make this area "pop" in some way...and I knew exactly what I wanted to do! 

Super subtle stripes and a gallery wall! 

Why? Well I had a TON of random frames that I could use, and had the paint on hand...so we were ready to go! 

The walls were pretty scuffed up because we use this entrance multiple times a day, so I wanted to be sure to take care of that!

Nothing a little magic eraser can't fix...also...please ignore my chipped nails! 

Then it was time to measure my stripes! 

I used this small level to measure the width {I just used it up/down instead of across}

Then I used a ruler and the level to make sure the stripes were perfectly straight! 

It took some time and patience, but I made it work! 

I made a few mistakes...but again...magic eraser to the rescue!

{Side note: this is not a sponsored post...they have no clue who I am...I just love them dearly}

Then I simply followed the lines with some Frog tape {I prefer this to the normal blue tape} and I was ready for paint! 

Now this was such an inexpensive project, because I used paint I had on hand.  

The revere pewter {best neutral ever} is what most of our house is painted. 

Shale is the color of our bedroom {sorry for the terrible picture} 

They're so close that in the bucket we were sure they were both revere pewter. 

But sure enough...shale is just a little darker. 

I'm a bad blogger and got too excited to peel off the tape, so I didn't get to snap a photo before, but here's what we had after we pulled off all the tape! 

You can see that I did the same thing to the wall leading down into the basement as well! 

Now it was time to work on the frames! 

I spray painted them all a white gloss, and then started laying them out! 

Our poor neighbors probably thought I was crazy...and our driveway may have spray paint all over it...oops! But what can I say...if anything sits long enough...it.gets.sprayed!

I tried to roughly lay them out how I wanted them to look on the wall, but it wasn't until I cut pieces of paper the same size of all the frames, and taped them up that I knew how it was going to look! 

Ya'll...tracing and cutting took SO long, but I was accompanied by Friday Nights Light...and she's great company! 

Then I just taped them up, and we started hanging! 

It took a few nights to hang them because Wendel had class, but we got it done! 

Here we are with most of them up! 

And this is what we have after! 

I love a good pop of color...and it's typically yellow...cause that's how I do :) 

Here are some of my favorite little sections...it's kind of a freaky shrine to Alex and Lelia...we need some little bits to fill these walls! 

Ya'll...the INCREDIBLE Tabitha with Burning Chair Studios completely blows me away! I adored them on the computer, but then I had these printed out and fell in love all over again! 

This was a caricature done at our prom in 2006...crazy! 

Some of my favorite wedding photos via Sunny Studios

We put some pictures with the little ones down low so they could see them when they walked up the stairs! 

These two {ignore the one of Wendel and I in Ireland} are by another awesome local photographer Andrea Seibert Jefferes! 

This octopus, and that cheesy face makes this one of my favorite spots on the entire wall! 

We had a caricature artist at our wedding...he wasn't the most realistic artist...but it's still pretty...I guess

#whowashelookingat

I made this for Wendel for our first Christmas. It's pictures of our first dance with the words to the song written around it. FYI...our first dance song was Everything by Michael Buble. 

That picture of us in the woods with my grandmas quilt is EVERYTHING! I typically don't like kissing pictures...but I don't even care! 

The other side of the room got a makeover too...again...BAD blogger...didn't get many pictures! 

But all three of those pieces used to be black...again...you sit too long and you get sprayed!

Here's a little 2010-2014 comparison! 

Now the only things I had to purchase for this makeover was the rug {TJ Maxx: $14 and some pictures I printed off at Target: $5} 

If you didn't have a bunch of frames laying around, Ikea sells them for super inexpensive and you'd only need a quart of paint, so realistically, this makeover would still be well  under $100!   

And there you have it! I actually filmed a house tour video yesterday so look for that on Friday!

Happy Hump Day!