Our Easter Festivities

Growing up, Easter meant a new dress, an egg hunt, church, and lunch with family.  Fond memories, for sure.  There have been years where we've been on the road for the special day, but this year, obviously, (due to me about to pop), we were home.  

Palm Sunday weekend, I found an egg hunt nearby (30 minutes away!) and we decided to go...even though it was a cold day.  There were bounce houses, games, cotton candy, the Easter bunny AND a helicopter dropped the eggs right before the hunt.  Big hit for the kiddos.  

YUM.

He made the first one and we all went wild =)

Gotta give a styrofoam bunny a hug, right?

Bunny success.  Then, after the picture, he looked at the volunteer with the candy and pointed to his basket.  My word, child.  

It was a super fun morning and we had time to grab a bite before getting home for naps.  His look says it all.  Worn out.  

I was hoping to have a baby by Easter, but that didn't happen.   I made sure Oliver woke up to a little basket of goodies that I'd been collecting for weeks.  There was also a book and those cute stuffed animals from Gigi and PawPaw   He was so excited.   

Our neighbors invited us to a lunch with some others from our church and we were so glad to go.  It was nice to fellowship all day and enjoy another hunt!

And he loved the trampoline.  

Blurry bunny ears...

 Our church meets in the evening and it was a wonderful service.  Easter always gets me super emotional.  That plus waiting patiently for a baby girl plus amazing music...well, I had some moments.  

We had a great day.  He is risen!!!

** A Room Fit For A Princess **

Oh what fun it was to put together a room for a little girl.  Sticking to my true self, a lot of this stuff was cheap or free or I already had.  Also, no one can ever accuse me of liking bare walls.  Ha!

The room quickly became a place for special things from the women in my life.  I didn't set out that way, but I love how it turned out...

I knew I wanted mint green and coral because our mint green dresser was being moved upstairs and I didn't want to paint it again.  So, I bought fabric from Walmart for the curtains and dust ruffle and off I went.

I added touches of gold and yellow, too.

 

The flowers are made out of tissue paper!  So cute and easy and cheap.

(I need to lower that top one.  It's bothering me.)

The glider was $10 on Craigslist and the lady threw in the ottoman.  Score.  I painted, sanded, and recovered the cushions with fabric I found for $1/yard!  (Don't look too closely...they're not perfect.)

For the inquiring minds, this is what it looked like before:

I LOVE the embroidery hoops with fabric.  Most of the fabric is from my Nana and some of the hoops are from her, too.  And now it has even more meaning, as Nana went to be with Jesus early Friday morning.  I'm so glad Amelia has some of Nana's belongings as well as another angel watching over her.

Oliver and I added seashells to the jars because I love them.

The Nancy Drew books were my mom's, the table also from Nana, and the vintage tin is from Honey Lue.

Spray painted branches, a thrifted sign (it says, "Be patient.  God's not finished with me yet."  And Oliver got one, too.), the letter A, and a hymnal wreath I made years ago.  I like how the branches tie into the branches on the shelf!

I have had these shutters for 10 years and they were sitting in my parents' storage until I needed them.  They're perfect for Miss Amelia.  The mirror was silver, but a quick coat of spray paint and voila!

 (Also, a cream latter and white table/chair will be added to this wall when my mom comes!)

Busy?  Yes.  But I like it that way...

A little gallery wall:

Chalkboard, her name, the Merton Prayer from GiGi (read below), a picture of us and her in my belly, my sisters' and my silhouette from when we were little, a print I made (see below), heart in an embroidery hoop of Nana's, thrifted funky shelf with an angel from Grandma (my mom's mom - also in heaven), and an owl Oliver picked out.

"What if I fall?  Oh but my darling...what if you fly?"

The Merton Prayer:

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."

Sweet little girl won't be in the room at first, but it was A BLAST getting a nursery together.  With Oliver, we only had a little space to set up for him, so I really wanted to enjoy this part of nesting.

Now, we wait.  We're ready as we'll ever be.  I'm paying close attention to my body and all the different feelings in my tummy area.  Wouldn't an Easter baby be sweet?  

Our last show before baby...

After a successful Christmas tour and a steady January, our February fell apart.  That, unfortunately, is part of what we do. Stressful, sure, but it was nice to be home, nest, and work on OUR HYMNS RECORD!!!  (Coming soon.)

This past Sunday, March 13th, we had our last show before baby girl comes.  And this was the only picture I got, haha!

The show had been booked since before Christmas, with the understanding of us maybe not being there if Amelia made her debut early.  She stayed put (and still is!) and we were glad to get one final event in before we take more time off.

We went to Columbia, TN to New Life Church.  We were there last January, so it had been quite some time.  We were glad to go back!  They're an amazing congregation and they get into the music, which makes it super fun.  PLUS, they introduced us with this video:

Hilarious.  

Oliver had a blast in the nursery, crying when we picked him up like always, we played some new songs and people liked them, and we got home in time for a Sunday nap.  Perfect day!

Now, we wait.  Trent's writing a lot, I'm packing bags and giving our sweet boy lots of attention.

Operation Get This Baby Out has commenced.  

(Prayers are welcomed!)  

Worship and a Winter Storm

January seems like a year ago!  Time is a crazy thing.  We were invited to join Regeneration Church in Georgetown, KY.  It was a cool set-up.  We were to lead worship 3 Sundays and then do a concert on the last Sunday we were there.  

Sunday #1 went great!  It's a short and easy drive and the first one where the boy was facing forward in the car.

The following Tuesday, we went to Birmingham to play a few songs for a Hands and Feet Project event.  Our friend, Danny (he used to road manage for Trent back in the day), came with us to watch Oliver while we played.  He happens to be great at sound as well, and that came in super handy.  

Plus, Mark Stuart (co-founder of H&FP and former lead singer of Audio Adrenaline) was the speaker, so it was great to talk with him and for he and Trent to reconnect.  

Then came the lovely winter blast of 2016.  I. Have. Never.  There was so much snow!!!

Oliver and our neighbor got to play...for about 10 minutes.  ;-)

Snow ice cream.  Also, Oliver was in pjs for 48 hours.  That's living.

The snow meant we couldn't make it back up to Regeneration for our 2nd Sunday.  It was a bummer.  But, also nice to stay in pjs and watch movies.  

The snow and ice melted and we were able to make it for our last Sunday.  The pastor (father of 6...not new to the screen game) let Oliver watch trains on YouTube with some fancy headphones.  All so we could sound check!  Life saver.

It's always nice to be able to leave our stuff set up after a worship set for an evening concert.  It makes for a quick sound check and perfect timing for dinner in a church pew.  Ha!   

We enjoyed our time with the people of Regeneration and look forward to going back!!