Folly Beach + video

ummmm, did you see her waving at everybody??? the sweetest.
we had the best time at folly beach last saturday. 

it just happened to be Hazel's 10 month old mark to the day!

we weren't sure how she would react to the waves but she loved everything about the beach and wanted to jump right in and swim around. after we cleaned up we went to a little local spot and had the best fish tacos. ahhhhhh, i love successful day trips with my little crew.  

p.s. don't judge my white WHITE family :) 

Charleston

little lady is 9 months today! last weekend we celebrated ryan's birthday by taking a little trip down to charleston. we had heard so many good things about it there since moving to SC and it definitely was beautiful. the aquarium was our favorite - seeing hazel's reaction to all the little creatures was the best! AND she touched an alligator and thought it was fabulous. pretty sure everyone thought we were crazy parents.
here's to summer fun and adventure!

1st family date

our first outing as a little family!!

hazel and i have been hiding indoors in our pajamas for two and a half weeks but today the weather was just gorgeous so we decided some brunch and a walk in the park was in order.

not pictured: a fussy baby, a grouchy mama, me retreating to the bathroom to nurse because i've yet to master the art of nursing discretely in public. and because i felt judged. even though there were like 2 other people in the whole place. and because i'm a chicken. 

i did, however, nurse her on our walk.

in the middle of a peach orchard. 

with not a soul in sight.

(pictured in black and white)

baby steps :)

p.s. we keep asking hazel if her ears stole her eyebrows, because while her eyebrows are non existent, her ears are still covered in newborn fuzz. we think it's pretty funny :)

virginia beach + the paurus fam

last weekend we took off to virginia beach for a camping extravaganza with the paurus fam.
it was one of those things we talked about doing a while back but never really knew would actually happen. but it did! and it was awesome. despite the fact that i was a goober and got the sunburn of a lifetime on my legs. i was semi crippled. anyone who saw me trying to walk surely thought i was in labor.

lindy and jake are one of our favorite couples.
they are steadfast. full of the spirit and full of truth.
lindy and i became friends our first year of school together after she and my dad had a heated phone conversation over my school account (lindy worked in finances at the time).
i ran into her one day and apologized for my dad yelling. looking back, i'm so glad he did :)

jake and i mentored a group of interns together for a year.
i was pretty excited when i found out we would be leading together because he is a crazy talented artist. it was like having a friend with a superpower. he was also roommates with my not yet husband and taught him some graffiti skills along the way ;)

anyhoo. the boys smoked their pipes and we ladies took our prenatal vitamins.
good times.

p.s. those are dolphins not sharks just in case you were wondering :)

chicago and a wedding

me oh my. we have had an eventful two weeks. 

first virginia beach then back to south carolina then off to chicago a few days later. 

nate and nicola, two of our good friends tied the knot on saturday and it was the most beautiful thing. i wept like a baby, mostly because they cried a lot and crying people make me cry. i didn't even cry at my own wedding. in fact, i laughed down the isle. 

AND on the roadtrip up i turned 24!!

we stayed in a nice hotel to celebrate.

clean crisp hotel beds, bagels with cream cheese and coffee in the morning. it's the simple things :)

downtown chicago was exciting. we've driven by it a million times but never stopped because the traffic is insane. we walked by the WGNR radio building while they were interviewing some olympic swimmer dude. we don't have a clue who it was but by the large crowd forming outside i think he was a big deal.

we were hosted by a lovely family one night while we were there and they blessed us so much.

the wife turned out to be a doula who had all of her babies at home. we stayed up till midnight talking about things like tandem nursing and probiotics. and they had chickens. how perfect, right?

mt. pisgah + asheville

this weekend we took off on a little impromptu camping adventure.

we headed to the mountains of asheville and thankfully found a campground with spots left.

when we checked in we were told to be careful because they just had to close a section due to too much bear activity. fabulous. ryan was thrilled.

i was really hoping there would be somewhere to go swimming or wading or something, but we got beautiful views instead. and ryan saw beavers which was the highlight for him.

the next day we drove into the city and discovered a huge art festival going on downtown.

spontaneous can be pretty successful sometimes :)

p.s. we are at 29 weeks!!