2024: My Year in Review

 

2024 was one of the sweetest years that I can remember. It was filled with precious moments and memories created with family and friends, unforgettable places visited, and days I would love to relive over and over again. 

All things dollhouse...

 We are a little dollhouse obsessed over here! It has been so much fun recently designing an interior for my DIY dollhouse (that the Maileg mice and mice furniture fit perfectly in!). Coco loves anything tiny and I totally get that obsession. :) I have been a huge fan of Maileg ever since we had Coco and it's been so much fun collecting their sweet pieces over the years. They create the most adorable teddies, rabbits, bunnies, mice, and furniture for their own dollhouse. FYI, If you are wanting to collect the Maileg animals and furniture, I have found that the Maileg dollhouse works the best for those pieces! 

Designing a Dollhouse for Coco's 4th Birthday

 I knew that I wanted to gift Colette a really special dollhouse one day and I thought, "Why not for her 4th birthday?!" I was able to partner with Bohemian Mama for this gorgeous Dollhouse and I had the idea to DIY the interior by designing and decorating the rooms for the sweetest little mouse family. 

2019: A Year in Review

2019 was all about navigating parenthood. Life with a newborn is quite the adjustment but it was so wonderful to finally experience motherhood. There were so many surreal moments and I still can't believe every morning when I wake up that I have the amazing privilege to be a mama to my precious Colette.

Colette's First Birthday

I can't believe that our darling Colette is one! This past year has flown by but at the same time, we can hardly remember our lives before our sweet girl! 

Colette's First Easter & Turning Five Months

This Easter was the sweetest one I have ever remembered. It was a very slow and relaxing day, celebrating what Christ has done for us and His power over death. We enjoyed a quiet family afternoon after church, grabbing take-out and going home to put the baby down for a nap. After Josh and I were able to spend some sweet time together (quality time as a couple is far less frequent with our little addition ;), we watched Colette discover her first Easter basket. 

It was so much fun putting some sweet things together for my precious girl. We snapped some photos of the occasion and afterwards I began cooking a casserole for our family Easter dinner. We spent the rest of the day at my parents' house where my sister captured this precious photo of our little family.

Baby's First Easter Basket

I have had too much fun creating Colette her first Easter basket because, let's be honest, this basket is more for Mama than for baby at this stage. Even still, filling it with things she will enjoy and use has been such an enjoyable little project.

"For This Child I Have Prayed..."

We have waited a long time for this little one. We have spent countless hours praying for our tiny bundle of joy. We feel so immeasurably blessed to be Colette's parents. To think that God had her planned for us from the beginning of time gives me chills and leaves me humbled. How faithful our Father is to us. Our cup runneth over...

2018: A Year of Valleys and Mountaintops

2018 was definitely one for the books. There were so many highs and lows and my faith has never been shaken or strengthened more. It's funny how when I look back on different years, a particular word or words come to mind. This year will always be the year of the baby. Our precious girl.

In January I was featured in the Wall Street Journal because of my very controversial bookshelf. It's humorous to me how something so simple but precious to me in our home has become my most liked photo on social media but has also made some book-lovers show disdain for my decor choices. Apparently displaying your books non other than the very traditional way is the only right way. I still get a kick out of people's very strong but petty opinions.

Introducing our daughter...

Colette (Coco) Arya Briggs 

We have our little girl. God is so kind to give her to us. Looking back, we clearly see why God had us walk down the path we did, to be scammed out of our adoption savings, to cry more tears than I have ever cried, and to go through more heartbreak than we have ever experienced. It was all for this little bundle.

A Family Worth Fighting For

As many of you may know by now, we heard the heartbreaking news last week that our adoption match was a scam. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the email informing us of the FBI investigation, telling us to reach out to some lawyers that we had never spoken with, to receive more information. We had to find the hard facts out for ourselves and determine if this birth mom we had spoken with on the phone was a figment of our imagination.

The Little Baby Rocker

On the morning that we were to transfer our two little embabies (our two embryos from our IVF cycle) we received the phone call that broke the news to us that they didn't make it. Over the past week following my egg retrieval, we had grown quite attached to those two little ones. We heard the words that "they are little warriors" and "they look great" and how the Dr. felt confident that at least one would take. We began dreaming of what it would look like to have twins. It's so hard to prepare your hearts and go into every situation with little or zero expectations.

Adoption Update Pt. 1

Well, we are in the thick of our home study! We met with our social worker last week for coffee and for our first meeting. She is a very nice lady who has been practicing for longer than Josh and I have been alive! We were asked a lot of questions and Kathie took notes as we talked to be able to compile a file on us and all of our information. It was definitely intimidating at times!

We Have Some News...

Dating your spouse

One thing that Josh and I have always strived to practice in our marriage over the last 6+ years is to never stop dating each other. We try to make it a point to go on a date every week. This does not always look fancy or planned but it is very important to us to reserve some time alone to talk, focus on each other, and laugh together. 

When Life Isn't What You Expected it to Be

This post has been a long time coming, but I thought it was time to share my heart with you...

At times I wonder, "Who cares about what's going on in my day-to-day life and the life of my husband, Josh?", but part of the reason I began this blog was as a means to record our journey and the places God takes us. Our life is pretty simple and mundane, but I know one day I will want to look back at old posts and see how far we have come and also I know that I have some family and friends who like to be kept in the loop so here I go...

Happy 30th, my love

Franklin, a Family Affair

For our four year anniversary this year we decided to go to one of our favorite places: Franklin, Tennessee. Franklin is a quaint cozy town on the outskirts of Nashville. It is made up of several little boutiques and adorable storefronts, coffee shops, cafes and restaurants, antiques shops, and an old movie theatre. The theatre plays old Christmas movies during the holidays. Franklin really is the perfect little spot to get away and just enjoy being together.