Our second little boy is almost two months old, and this week I’ve been reflecting on the day that we met him for the first time! His birth wasn’t exactly how I expected it to be but it was beautiful and we are grateful to have a healthy, happy little boy.

Since Caleb arrived a few days before the 38 week mark, I was secretly hoping that Jackson would do the same. I’d had a lot of the same pre-labor signs I had with Caleb and was already dilated to a 2-3 and 80% effaced at 36 weeks, so I really thought Jackson might be early too.  But then the 38 week mark passed with no signs of anything and the days kept ticking by closer to my due date.  I was trying to soak in the time with Caleb and Jordan but at the same time was so uncomfortable that I was more than ready to get this show on the road.

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It’s been a crazy last few weeks and this is the first chance I’ve had to write an update post in a while.  Here are some stories and pictures from our last few weeks!

1) A “Weekend” Away

One of Jordan’s closest friends got married in Des Moines, Iowa a few weekends back and Jordan got to be a groomsmen! He headed up on Thursday night to be there for the rehearsal dinner and other festivities and I drove up on my own on Saturday.  The wedding was so much fun and we loved getting to celebrate these two sweet friends.  The dance floor was ROCKIN’ and even though we stayed up much later than we normally do (total boring grownups over here!) it was so fun to stay in a hotel, sleep in, and enjoy a brunch just the two of us before heading back to KC Sunday morning.  I’m a big fan of forever brunch/wedding date and hope we get a full weekend or trip together just the two of us soon!

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Oh man, these four weeks might be my favorite of the whole year.  The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is so sweet and I love all the yummy treats, pretty lights, coziness, celebrations, and just overall joy that happen in this season.  Since I didn’t share any updates last week, here are some updates about our Thanksgiving and this past week!

1) Turkey Trot

For the first time, the whole English family participated in a Thanksgiving morning turkey trot! It was pretty cold so we bundled up the kiddos and headed to south KC to rock our 5K.  My brother/sister in law and their kiddos walked with me and strollers while Jordan and his sister did the 10K.  I’ll spare you all the details, but let’s just say Jordan took a wrong turn 0.2 miles before the finish line and managed to get himself DQ’d.  Woops! He still rocked it and ran super fast though (like sub 6 minute miles, people) and it was fun to bring Caleb to his first race with Dad (even though he did sleep through most if it).  I hope this becomes an annual tradition!

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Even though this week had a few rough spots, it was full of beautiful sunny days, cozy thunderstorms that made me want to snuggle up with my little man all day, and growing excitement for the summer months ahead when hubby will be home and we have nothing to do but enjoy some sweet time with our little family! Here are a few updates from this past week in the English house.

1) Sick Babies And Little Sleep

Caleb picked up some sort of bug and was coughing and super congested all week.  For a few nights in a row he woke himself up frequently throughout the night with his coughing and rough breathing.  We finally brought him to the pediatrician on Monday night and after listening to his chest and checking him out, they said he had bronchitis and early signs of pneumonia.  Thankfully we caught it early and he responded really well to the medicine within a day or two.  It was so, so pitiful to see him coughing, even though he was still sweet and smiley as ever (and even doing tummy time like a champ!).  I wish I could protect him from every sickness ever, but I suppose I’ll just take some snuggles and know the sleepless nights will pass.

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One year ago this week, I officially launched this blog.  A part of me feels like I’ve had this blog forever and the process of writing, creating, and sharing in community with you all has become a normal part of my life that I love and enjoy.  Another part of me can’t believe it’s been a year and feels like I’m still so new to this whole blogging world with lots of things to learn.

Over this past year, I’ve seen this blog grow in so many ways.  First off, it looks 100% different.  I spent 4-6 weeks before launching this blog playing around with the design and coding of it all.  I Googled a million things, asked questions in blogging Facebook groups, and learned so much about web design and the blogging world.  If you’ve been around since the beginning, you might remember my old design that looked like this picture below!  Madison of Grace and Vine Studios helped me redesign the blog to better fit my new goals for it and I love how it looks now!

This blog has also grown a ton in both viewership and its social media community.  It’s mind blowing to me that it’s getting 15,000-20,000 views a month, a number that just keeps growing as all you wonderful folks share my posts on Facebook, Pinterest, and any other platforms.  I’ve been so encouraged by the community of people who follow this blog on Facebook, especially as I’ve shared about our journey into parenthood.  This post below is a great example – I kept going back to read all the encouraging comments from people! If you’re not already a part of this blog’s Facebook community, I hope you’ll consider joining it!

Another thing I’ve loved about the process of writing this blog is how much more confident I’ve grown in my own creative abilities.  I remember sharing in this post about how scary it was sometimes to say I’m creative and trust my instincts when it comes to everything from writing to house projects.  I’ve had so much fun documenting the changes we’ve made to our house and sharing different crafts, projects, and ideas.  One great example is our front room.  The makeover we did in this room was so much fun to do and has since gotten thousands of shares on Pinterest (a fun affirmation that I’m not the only one who think it’s pretty darn cute!).

I love taking steps to write posts, design rooms, complete projects, and cook delicious food that uses my creativity in new ways.  Running this blog reminds me over and over that I have ideas worth expressing, experiences worth sharing, and creative visions worth putting into action.

As I enter into this new season of motherhood where my days look quite different, I know that this blog will continue to be an outlet, a place where I can share my heart and connect with other women in beautiful ways.  I am hoping to share a post soon with some of my reflections from these past months of being on a blogging maternity leave of sorts, so stay tuned for that.  No matter what this blog looks like moving forward, I can’t wait to see how it will continue to grow in the next year and the years to come and I can’t wait to keep getting to know all of you wonderful readers!

So long rambling blog post short…thanks to all you folks who keep coming around, who keep reading and sharing my posts, commenting on social media, and reminding me of the quote in this picture below that inspires me over and over.  I can’t wait to see what else God has in store for us.

This weekend marks one month since little Caleb made his appearance into the world (you can read the story of his birth HERE).  Like I had shared about in this post, I had all sorts of fears about what these first few weeks with him would look like.  Even though I have some experience with little ones, caring for the 24 hour needs of a new baby is a new world for anyone! And you know what? It hasn’t been as crazy as we thought!

I’m excited to occasionally use this space to document how life with our little man is going, so I’ll break this post down into a few sections covering the highlights (and challenges) of learning to be his mama.

Falling In Love

Like I shared about in his birth story, Caleb made his appearance into the world pretty quickly.  The moments of pushing were relatively calm and peaceful, and when they finally lay him on my chest it felt completely surreal.  I’ll be honest – I didn’t burst into tears or feel this overwhelming sense of love wash over me.  More than that, I just felt a sense of peace and relief.  I have felt myself starting to fall in love with him more and more each day since then, but in that first moment I felt a sense of peace and a quiet, sweet knowledge that this little life was now mine (and ours) to protect, hold, and take care of.

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Hallelujah we made it through this WEEK! Happy dances all around! It was a week I’ve been anxious about for a while and I am so glad to have made it through with nothing but some swollen ankles to show for it.  I’m sharing below a few reasons why this week was so long, as well as our plans for the nice long weekend that follows this crazy week.  Happy Friday, friends!

1) Weekly Brunch Dates

As of this weekend we are officially in the final four weeks of pregnancy, and we’re trying to soak in as much time together and baby-free as we can.  I’ve been a brunch lover my entire life and decided the best way to do this was weekly brunch dates where I can eat as much sugar and carbs as my little heart desires! I’m hoping to do this up until little man comes.  I’m so grateful for mornings with this guy and the easy, natural companionship we share.  There’s no one I’d rather spend time with and I can’t wait to add another little person into our family.

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Wahoooo! We made it to the weekend! We had a busy week this week with church small group, doctor’s appointments, and some classes.  I am so ready for this weekend of resting and fun times with friends!

1) To-Do Lists

I have two running to-do lists on a (digital) sticky note on my laptop these days: one for blogging and one for real life.  I try to add to them each day and set some goals for what I’ll accomplish that day.  For the most part, I’ve been knocking things off the list pretty well, but with just five weeks until Caleb arrives I am starting to feel the crunch a bit.  I’m trying to remind myself that Target will still exist after he arrives and that friends and family will be happy to help if we desperately need something. I know it will all work out, but I’m still doing my best to work through the list one by one.

On this weekend’s agenda? Wash some of the baby clothes, sheets, Boppy covers, etc we’ve gotten these last few months so we’ll at least have a few outfits read to go when little man gets here.  And don’t all those little clothes look so cute hanging in this closet? (Make sure to check out the full nursery reveal HERE if you haven’t already!)

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