My brother and his beautiful bride became husband and wife last month on a hot, gorgeous, unforgettable July day! And oh what fun it was to be a part of these nuptials! Our whole family was involved with the preparations...and it was really all-hands-on-deck since Stephen and Elinor had planned for their reception to be in my parent's backyard.

There were so many gorgeous details in this wedding! Elinor's beautiful touches were everywhere. It was downright dreamy...straight out of a fairytale!

I felt such excitement leading up to this wedding and could barely contain my joy the day of. I wrote a little caption on Instagram about how honored I felt to be a part of Steve and Elinor's wedding day. And I still feel that way! Of course it's a blast to join in the lead-up to the wedding day...the showers and parties and planning. And it is downright fun to get ready with the bride the morning of...the hair...make-up...dress reveal. But I felt deep soul-satisfying joy to stand there alongside Elinor at the front of the Naval Academy Chapel as she looked into my brother's eyes and made these simple, weighty vows to him. And I felt quite overcome as I watched my brother's steady gaze into his bride's eyes (he never looked away!) and heard him repeat these same vows. What a sacred and incredibly beautiful moment to witness. And what an honor to be invited to love and support this couple in all of the years to come.

Andrew and I both feel such great joy at the wonderful season they are entering into...not without its challenges, of course! ;) But marriage is such a great and good gift. And Stephen and Elinor had waited so many long months to begin that journey together. We were, and are, simply filled with happiness for them.

Here is a little photo dump of so many beautiful moments from the weekend. Hard to recap it all...Annapolis, Pastor Lon's wonderful words to the couple, celebrating with the Swedes, boating on the Severn River, running across the Yard to make it to the chapel on time!...I think the sweetest thing about a family wedding is that you can recount those memories for years and years to come.

Congratulations to these head-over-heels newlyweds...my brother and my darling new sister-in-law!

the reception tent on Friday morning 

practicing their first dance

sisters! the bride & her beautiful maid of honor

If there was a wedding VIP award it would go to Abby Smith! Babysitter...chalkboard designer...purse wrangler...and all-around woman extraordinaire! *insert praise hands*

"Welcome to the Navy! Look at those smiles! :D 

pc: Elinor's wonderful Mom, Carina...she took so many gorgeous candids throughout the whole weekend!

so dreammmmyyy! sending them off with fireworks and sparklers

pc: Peter Kroon

walking down the aisle with my handsome groom!

pc: Brother!

pc: Peter Kroon

A Letter To My Mom For Mother's Day

Dearest Mom,

I really didn't get it...this mothering thing. 

I didn't understand how heart-wrenching and heart-widening and heart-breaking it could be.

Tomorrow I'll celebrate my first Mother's Day...and you will celebrate your 31st Mother's Day! What a lifetime of memories must fill those 31 years of mothering. And I only have this one year to look back on...one life-changing, life-giving sum of 12 months. 

I can barely think straight these days with the sleep deprivation and the pull of family and friends and church commitments and relationships with our neighbors and the house maintenance and the dog and future plans. There have been times I've thought I'd crumble under the weight of it all.

All I know is that in this last year you've helped me fly. You've helped my find my footing. You've buoyed me and stabilized me. You've been an anchor in a swirling sea of baby madness.

Aside from Andrew you have been my biggest help, supporter, and cheerleader in this first year of motherhood.

A few months ago I started recording all the things you helped me with. No one else, with the exception of Andrew, was doing the things you did for me! Everyone wanted to come hold George, but no one wanted to take my trash out. Everyone offered to babysit, but no one said they'd mop my kitchen floor. Folks said they'd play with George, but no one wanted to unload the dishwasher. You offered and insisted on doing those things. So thank you, Mom, for:

Scrubbing rust out of my kitchen sink
Walking Admiral Byrd
Mopping our floors
Taking out the trash
Folding our laundry
Bringing us dinner
Picking up Starbucks
Delivering takeout lunch
Reading to George
Polishing our silver candlesticks
Lending me your WD-40 for our squeaky doors
Picking up Sunday lunch at Panera
Loving my husband
Watering my front porch pansies
Pulling our dead mums out of our planters
Vacuuming our dining room

Loving my in-laws
Wiping down George's car seat
Dusting my furniture
Helping me rearrange the living room
Sweeping up a mound of pine needles from our Christmas tree
Feeding George baby food
Bathing George
Walking Byrd multiple times in one day
Mopping our kitchen floor
Loading and unloading the dishwasher
Emptying our trash cans
Taking our trash to the road
Offering to watch George on the monitor so Andrew and I could get out to get a bite to eat
Beating a rug outside with me
Bringing over toys for a 2.5 year-old visitor
Helping me and a neighbor when Andrew's cousin's daughter stayed with us for a day
Getting under the crib to mop up dust bunnies
Remaking our guest room bed
Fixing me scrambled eggs and toast when Andrew and I had the stomach flu

Thank you for the practical help you gave me. Thank you for giving me the sacrificial gifts of your time and energy. Thank you for helping me live out all the other areas of my life--wife, daughter, sister, friend, cousin, niece, neighbor, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law--while learning how to become someones mom.

You helped me thrive this last year. And no words--and no amount of thank yous--could ever repay you for the hands-on help you've given me. 

You have six kids and 31 years of experience as a mother. It would have been so easy for you to offer advice, but you didn't. You offered support instead. A suggestion now and then...but you always told me, "Whatever you decide, I'll support you!" You gave--and still give--me grace to discover the kind of mother God had called me to be...not the one you thought I should be. 

Moms don't live for compliments, but when someone says, "You're doing an amazing job!" it lifts the spirits! You remember that person and those words. You said those words to me on so many occasions--and each time, every time, it was just what I needed to hear.

Thank you for all that you have given me in these 31 years, but especially--most of all--in this last year. I am so grateful you are my Mom. I thank God for you. It is a joy to be your daughter!

I love you!

Emily

P.S. Thank you for the belly laughs, too. Those were oh-so-good for my soul!

Life Lately.

March has sped by! I took a little break from social media for Lent. It's been so refreshing. I've missed Insta, but not so much Facebook. I aways feel so back and forth with social media. I love it for keeping up with friends/family members, but hate how mindlessly I can start to scroll through feeds.

This little corner of our kitchen makes me so happy. Especially that morning light. Give me all the morning light!!

Andrew picked up Duck Donuts the other Saturday morning and I am embarrassed to admit he and I single-handedly polished off most of the box. #SHEERHEAVEN

George is into pulling every book off his bookshelf these days. Anything to help him become a reader! I love that he's curious about books. I love him period! He is such a joy...even with sick days and sleepless nights and teething fussiness... it is all so worth it. I love being his mom.

Is it just me or are Trader Joe's flowers the best mood lifter?

My friend, Emily, texted me this quote and I'm still laughing about it. Starbucks for the win!

My friend, Lindsay Ann, recommend The Nightingale to me, promising it would be a fantastic read, and IT.WAS. I read it in three days and still can't stop thinking about it!

My Mom and Sis and I traveled to Annapolis a few weekends ago for a girl's weekend. George got to tag along, too. :) It was so special to be back in Annapolis. We have so many memories as a family from time spent together there. I never get tired of visiting. My brother and his fiancée are getting married in Annapolis later this summer, and I cannot wait to celebrate there with them! 

Highlights from our Annapolis weekend:

T-Court selfies. The USNA Chapel. Crepes at Sofi's. Snuggling in front of the fireplace. Baby on the move! Conversation and the Kardashians. Sink baths. Lullabies with Aunt Courtney and Nani at midnight. McGarvey's and reminiscing about John Vorndick. Brunch from the Iron Rooster. Walks on the Yard. Shopping at the Mid store. Starbucks, Starbucks, Starbucks. Kilwins fudge. The Devil Wears Prada. Coffee break down Ego Alley. Sailboats. St. Patrick's Day parade two weeks early? The sun setting over the Yard. The Severn at dusk.

This week before Easter is always one of my favorite weeks of the whole year. I love every moment between Palm Sunday and the joy-filled celebrations of Easter morning. The older I get the more certain I become that Spring is my favorite season and Easter is my favorite holiday. I hope you're enjoying a beautiful week, too!

Christmas & NYE 2015

Happy New Year! I love the quietness of January after the holiday season, don't you? It feels like we were just gearing up for Thanksgiving...and we didn't slow down until those NYE horns were blowing! George's first Christmas was a full one! We started with a Christmas Eve brunch my family hosts every year (what fun to finallyyy introduce George to my cousins!). After brunch we went to our church's 3pm family service for Christmas Eve. I remember thinking, "We're at the family service! This feels so surreal! I still can't believe we have a baby!" :) It was such a sweet service--so calming and sacred to have a few moments of (relative) quiet sitting with Andrew and George in the back of the auditorium...being reminded of the story of God sending His Son. I think I set a record for crying happy tears almost every single Sunday at church, but that Christmas Eve service just about did me in. I am so grateful to God for the gifts He has given me--and the greatest gift of all, His Son Jesus!

We spent Christmas Eve dinner with my in-laws and returned on Christmas morning to open gifts with them. After the gift opening with Andrew's family we were off to see my family. A busy, but joy-filled day! 

A few days after Christmas we went away with my family to Hot Springs, Virginia. It gets trickier to get all of us together with job commitments and limited vacation time and naval deployments. But, the majority of us were able to make it away for a few days of a family vacation. My brother's darling fiancé, Elinor, joined us, too! We missed my brother, Isaac, who is currently serving his second deployment overseas with the Navy. 

We had such a relaxing few days in Hot Springs. My Mom was so thoughtful to track down a hotel-recommended babysitter for George on NYE. Mom and Sis and I talked with Miss Peggy, who must have been in her mid to late 70s, the day before during an informal little interview. She was a Hot Springs local and has been babysitting kids at the hotel for over 50 years...amazing! Just a salt of the earth, old-fashioned, good-hearted woman. I still crack up when I recall asking Miss Peggy, "Do you have a cell number in case I need to get ahold of you while we're downstairs?" Her response, in a deep southern Virginia drawl, was "Well, now, I have a land line you could call." Haha! Things worked out wonderfully even without the cell phone--my brother Nate opted to stay back from the NYE festivities and he and Miss Peggy watched George together in the hotel room. Nate called us twice to let us know George was a tad inconsolable. ;) Even with the interruptions we were still able to ring in 2016 with my parents, my Sis, my youngest brother, and the soon-to-be-newlyweds! It was such a fun evening, and a really wonderful time away.