Our latest project

a little less than 2 weeks from now will be my last day as a nanny of 5. 

i have very mixed emotions, as i have been with this family for almost 6 years, 

and 3 of the childrens' entire lives.

but i am VERY excited to have more time to devote to my little cookie business, 

The Cookie Kiln

and to have a little extra time to work on some of the many projects 

that have been on my list for months.

but I am most excited about preparing for what is definitely my favorite thing that i have ever had part in creating. ;)

my husband and I cannot wait for our newest family member to arrive in february!

we had my friend jennifer wakefield from J. Catherine Photography take some family photos for us to make our announcement this week. she is SO incredibly talented and was so patient with the dogs.

if you ever need a family, child or pet photographer, i would highly recommend her!

here are a few of my favorites~

so excited to add another member to our little family!

{i loved that she was able to get this shot with no cars in it}

this was at the beginning of the photo session when the dogs were still somewhat behaved.

this one just makes me smile. 

love these 2!

'we're going to have a baby!' 

{unfortunately i think that they probably thought that i was saying something about treats}

i absolutely LOVED this one. 

the sky was gorgeous that evening.

amos loves to stand up like a real boy, paisley is usually pretty hesitant.

me and my baby girl, paisley jaye

topher and his boy, amos hawke

paisley and amos, soon-to-be big brother and sister!!!

{they have NO idea what is about to happen to their little worlds}

we let the balloons go off the top of the parking garage.

sending them up to heaven to the baby that we lost in december. 

we are so thankful and feel so blessed that God has given us this precious gift! 

praying for and looking forward to meeting our healthy baby in 7 months.

i put together this little announcement for on my facebook profile:

i used a picture from a few months after we started dating,

a picture of our cake toppers from our wedding day, 

and then i asked my dad to knit me a tiny hat and 'sweater' for our little peg baby.

i made the little stroller with some wire, leftover bridesmaid dress fabric, tires off of a toy dump truck, and nail polish for the handles and the wheels. 

my dad is amazing! 

i thought that it turned out perfectly. 

favorite things (thank you hormones)~

it has been kind of ridiculous the things that i have been craving since being pregnant.

the first few weeks literally all that i wanted to eat was sour patch kids and diet root beer.

now sour things don't really sound good to me at all.

sweets however are still sounding really good.

here are a few of my most-craved/favorite things since pregnancy hormones 

have taken over my body:

i eat an embarrassing amount of skittles each week!

i am loving fruit! peaches are my favorite, 

but i have been devouring lots of cherries, blueberries and grapes too.

i cannot start my day without a yogurt, or 2.

so very thankful that i am still allowed a little caffeine.

my 1/2-caf, nonfat white mochas are definitely a splurge that our budget would appreciate me quitting.

so glad that they make caffeine-free diet dr. pepper!

and then there's the salty.

if i don't develop gestational diabetes by the end of my first trimester,

 i will likely swell up like a balloon from my sodium intake.

i have to admit, at least 1/2 the stereotypical 'pickles and ice cream' pregnancy cravings 

has proven true for me,

 i have gone through an insane number of pickles in the past 2 months!

i discovered these chips which taste almost exactly like the ones that they serve at Chili's!

they are so thin that they practically melt in your mouth. 

caution, they're addictive! 

but in all honesty, i only use the chips as a vessel to get the salsa into my mouth. 

salsa is by far my most craved food for the past 8 weeks. 

i decided to just make a huge batch of my favorite salsa {recipe here} to save my poor husband from my daily requests to go out for mexican.

(i do not lie, we had mexican for 8 meals last week!)

i love going on walks with these 2!

(or 3)

and i figure that it is good for all of us to get some exercise to work off all of the above cravings.

and i just thought that i would add a few pictures of my babybump so far.

this was last weekend at 10 weeks. 

i kept thinking that it was just 'bloat', 

but i was very excited when the doctor told me tuesday

 that it was definitely my baby making that little bump. :)

and this is saturday's weekly picture. 

it is pretty exciting to watch this little miracle happen.

we are SO thrilled about this new addition to our family.

the latest around our house

i realized a few weeks ago that it's been months since i posted pictures of our 'kids.'

can you tell amos has grown? :)

they have been LOVING the warmer weather and all of the extra outdoor time that they have been getting. 

and i will admit, i probably enjoy our walks as much as they do. 

paisley has adjusted very well to having a 'little' brother... and she also doesn't seem to have noticed that he is no longer little. 

it has been ridiculous watching amos grow. we often have to remind ourselves that he is still a puppy.

he is 7 months old and 100 lbs of sweetness. he is so incredibly affectionate. 

i never thought that he would be so BIG this soon, but he really has no idea that he is big. 

he still tries to sit on my lap 

and he doesn't seem to notice that he towers over his sister.

paisley is so sweet and patient though. she has actually become a little more snuggly, probably because she has competition for attention... and is rather jealous after being the only child.

she definitely fits the 'needy' characteristic of the weimeraner breed. 

but she is clearly happy to have a playmate.

i will admit, that i never imagined that SO much of my time would be consumed by dogs, especially after growing up without ever having a dog. 

i did manage to find a little time to do other things this month though.

about a month ago a did a little work on the front porch.

i will admit that i have never had good luck keeping plants alive. pets and children are so much easier... or maybe not.

but every year i do manage to keep my hanging plants alive. 

this year i planted them really early. i ususally just plant sweet potato vine (both purple and bright green), but since spring (high 80's and 90's) started in february this year, i couldn't find those yet. so, i planted 2 kinds of ivy and impatiens...

but i was REALLY excited to find ranunculus(es)!!!

{my VERY favorite flower}

they didn't last very long, but they made me smile every time that i saw them

aren't they so fun? they were in the middle of my hanging baskets, 

but didn't make it till i remembered to get pictures

i was also really excited to get our porch lanterns. 

i love world market!

we spend at least part of every summer evening out on the front porch, so it is so fun to have our 'nightlights'

we LOVE our little downtown porch

i think that new house numbers might be an upcoming project. ;)

this cute little guy showed up to watch over our garden

i have wanted a gnome for years and my husband got me this little guy on our anniversary trip. 

isn't he cute?

this weekend my parents and i went to the local farmers market to get some produce and some tomato plants. i was so appreciative to have my dad's gardening expertise.

i actually ended up getting 4 times as many plants as i had planned to get.

i planted a whole salsa garden-

4 kinds of tomatoes, 3 kinds of peppers, tomatillos

& cucumbers and okra

[both of which were starts from my dad]

don't you love the gaping hole in the masonry? 

the joys of old homes... and renting. (sigh)

and an exciting little happening on our front porch this week was the appearance of a nest in one of the hanging lanterns from our rehearsal dinner.

my mother-in-law got these lanterns to decorate the tables at the rehearsal dinner

and this weekend i noticed that there was a little nest inside one of them 

here is the mama bird sitting on her nest. :)

she is rather anxious when we bring the dogs out on the porch, but we are enjoying getting to watch the whole process.