It's no secret that I love Halloween.  It's my favorite time of year (and my birthday), and it will be Natalie's first Halloween.  The costumes are picked and there's a pumpkin in every room of the house.  There's even a touch of Halloween in the girls' rooms.













I'm so excited for Natalie's first Halloween!  I don't know who's more excited, me or Katherine.  That girl loves Halloween.  That pumpkin didn't roll too far off the vine. 

After a looooooong break, I'm back. 

I'm also excited to announce that our Natalie Lauren was born on August 3, 2017, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and measuring 18 3/4 inches long. 
Her big sister Katherine is absolutely in love with her, constantly showering her with love, hugs, and kisses.  Our family is finally complete and we couldn't be happier.
The past two months have been a blur, but have been filled with love and happiness.  One week after Natalie was born, Katherine started preschool, so that was an adjustment.  Thankfully Jason was able to take some time off from work, so we had three weeks of family time before he headed back to work. 
Katherine is such a great big sister.  She loves helping with Natalie and I can tell she's anxious for the day they can play together.  It's the most precious thing. 

So there's a brief update on our lives.  If you follow me on Instagram, you know we haven't really been up to much.  We've been spending some quality family time together. 

Until next time....

We had a surprisingly busy summer, despite my best efforts to make it "not busy," but I guess when  you're trying to pack in as much fun as possible before a new baby arrives, it tends to get busy.

It was a little sad that this was Katherine's last summer as an only child, but she's soooo excited about being a big sister soon that the sadness fades into excitement for her.  She's ready to spend the rest of her summers with her little sister.  It's the sweetest thing. 

We celebrated the beginning of summer at the library, played t-ball for the first time, had our first dance recital, ate homegrown strawberries, survived swim lessons (barely), played outside, had lots of sno cones, went to a Cardinals game, played outside some more, went to the Muny, survived another 4th of July in the "country," went to the pool too many times to count, went to splash day at church, and watched way too much TV. 


















Overall, an action packed summer.  I know summer isn't officially over just yet, but for us our greatest summer adventure is right around the corner....leading straight into the first school year for Katherine.  So in a way, summer is coming to an end for us.   

Bring on fall and the "busy" time of year.  #alreadyexhausted

**Also the Etsy shop will be closed while we welcome our baby girl.  I'll have the shop back open as soon as I'm back up and running again!**

Baby #2's nursery has been a work in progress for a loooooong time.  Honestly, I had a boy nursery all picked out and ready to go, even though deep, deep down, I knew this one was a girl.

The room was originally painted blue and had green stripes on one wall.  I decided to go unconventional and keep the room blue and add pink highlights.  We did, however remove the green stripes. 

{Lamp, piggy bank, and dresser: IKEA}

{Animal wall décor: Hobby Lobby; changing table: hand-me-down from Katherine's nursery}

{Organizing bins:  IKEA}

{A Build-a-Bear puppy dog made for baby by her loving big sister}

{Rocker: Katherine's nursery, side table, pillow, flower light: IKEA}

{Crib bedding and mobile: Buy Buy Baby}

{Dog wall art: Hobby Lobby (picked out by big sister)}

I used free printables (found here) for the wall art. 

See Katherine's nursery here.  I forgot how small of a room Katherine had when she was born.  Thankfully the new nursery is much bigger. 

Here's what this room looked like before:



Designing a nursery is one of my favorite things to do before the baby arrives.  I'm so glad it's finally done (and right on schedule too!).