Happy Father's Day. Which means SPORTS!

Fathers.
I hope you all had a happy Father's Day weekend. We celebrated Stevie big time for his first Father's Day, not by doing anything super extravagant, but just doing all the things that make him happy. Which means we did A LOT, and even though I am tired today, it was such a fun weekend!

My husband is a go-go-go kind of person. I've probably become more that way since we've been together, and while he can thoroughly exhaust me with his energizer-bunny routine, it can also be super duper fun! This weekend we biked, swam, played, watched the rain storms roll in, enjoyed lunch out at our favorite Farm, played golf (him, not me!), and even did a bit of car shopping. All good, delicious MAN FUN. It was an absolute joy to celebrate my husband and the gorgeous father-role that he has transitioned into this past year. I believe with absolute certainty that having a present, involved father paints the best kind of future for his family, and I am so glad that Stevie & I are on the same page when it comes to that kind of family involvement. He takes his role as a dad so seriously, and makes it a priority to be around for Everett's bath time, bed time, reading time, feeding time, etc. as much as he possibly can. He never makes me feel like the parenthood experience is just "my thing", and I am so grateful for that. I believe that if me and Stevie are doing well and taking care of our marriage, that same love, appreciation and respect for one another will flow down onto Everett. I may be biased, but he is the best daddy I know!

Fathers All Around.
We also celebrated my dad this weekend, which was the sweetest. I am so lucky and blessed to be surrounded by such strong, sensitive and loving men in my life. Everett has so many wonderful people to look up to for leadership, counsel, and sports guidance. Ha, which Stevie thinks is VERY IMPORTANT.

All the Athletics.
I got a lot of comments on instagram about where you can find this bike seat for a baby. We got ours here here and Everett's helmet here. These items have worked out beautifully for our little family! We love love love biking together.

We have spent a lot of Mother's Day lunches at the Serenbe Farmhouse, but this was our first time as a family celebrating Father's Day there. The fried chicken and southern-infused cocktails are second to none. After lunch we wandered around a bit and even played a pick up game of basketball. Though Stevie and my dad were both champion high school basketballers, I was most impressed with myself, my mom and my sis, because we managed to play in heels. #winning

Fathers and Daughters.
Thanks to my dad, for displaying an overwhelming amount of love and support towards his family all the years of my life. In some ways, I feel like I lean on him more these days, in different ways than I did when I was a kid. I am so grateful that he hasn't checked out, thinking that his job as a dad is done just because his kids are all grown now. He is a continuous source of truth, safety, humor and a most sensitive well of love. Thanks for being both a superhero and a real human. A girl really needs both, and you live both so well.

Many Men.
Many many MANY thanks to my sweetheart, who unfailingly supports our family every day with his time, efforts, prayers, love, concentration, passion and devotion. You are the greatest man I know, and I am proud and humbled by the discipline by which you live and love. You are the greatest dad for our little rascal!

Sorry for the mush fest. Welllllll actually, not sorry. We need awesome dads in the world, so I will continue to praise mine and hopefully raise up more amazing little men! XOX

A Blustery Getaway at Serenbe. Part 2.

A Blustery Getaway at Serenbe. Part 2.
I just had too many great photos from this fun little getaway. See part 1 HERE.

For me, the beginning of the year is such a cleansing season. Everything is sort of bare, torn away, and a little bit unbeautiful. Almost a little too raw, a bit uncomfortably vulnerable. And yet I really love this wintery season. Of course, it's a lot easier to love it in Georgia than in Boston or New York :) Seeing the dirty sleazy snow turn a million shades of sick can really throw your stomach off for a day. But here, the trees are stripped to their skivvies and tenderly hold up their branches in a "raising the white flag" kind of way. Like, here we are, world. Ready to start fresh. Start over. Dream again.

Am I crazy? That's just what February is to me.

I had to include a few more Serenbe photos from last week. I couldn't possibly choose my favorites so I just pretty much chose them all. Seeing my little boy interact with my strapping husband is making me feel alive and happy in a new way. Maybe it's the whole February thing. Maybe it's a new mom thing. Maybe it's a clear-headed thing. Or a "I've finally slept, booya!" thing. But I'm having a small moment in the sun these past few weeks. Life finally doesn't feel so gosh-darn hard. I don't feel so bare bones tired. Or ragged. This little getaway to Serenbe couldn't have come at a better time. It was cold, but so what? I've had colder winters.

// I love setting up Everett's little bed when we travel. I don't know why. //

// I like to tease him that he's my muse. He. HATES. It. //

// 7.5 years. I'm a lucky lady. //

Happy February to you all!

A Blustery Getaway at Serenbe. Part 1.

A Blustery Getaway at Serenbe.
We spent last Sunday evening and Monday at the wondrous Serenbe Farm. We had the privilege of staying in one of the cottages at the Inn, enjoying dinner at The Farmhouse and doing some exhilarating hiking/walking around the farm grounds. If you aren't familiar with Serenbe, it's a wonderfully chic, urban-ish farm community (yes, "commune" is perhaps another word for it), located about 45 minutes outside of Atlanta. We enjoyed spending time there in September, and with each season change we find ourselves itching to get back to the farm to bask in the still quiet. Serenbe is the kind of place where you go to dream again, which is exactly why we decided to steal away for an evening.

We got to really dive into some fun imaginings about our goals for the year and how we would like to grow ourselves. That might seem like a funny term, "grow ourselves", but I've learned that unless you attempt something with all sorts of intention, it probably won't just "happen". Like the watercolor painting that I want to do. I bought the supplies! And yet they are still sitting in their plastic Michaels bag, begging me to be played with. But hey, baby steps, right?

We meant for this little getaway to happen over the Christmas/New Years break, but I got some kind of gross bug and we had to cancel. But alas! Nothing could keep us away for too long. Yes, we brought Everett along for the fun, although my sweet mother offered to drive out and babysit for the evening so we could enjoy a dinner date, just the two of us. These are the crazy good benefits of living near family. Thank you, Mom! You're the best!

Dinner at The Farmhouse is such a wholesome, earthy experience, because most everything is grown on the property itself (or at one of the nearby farms in the area), so all the food is locally grown and most is organic. IT'S SO GOOD. If you go on Sundays, get the fried chicken. GET THE FRIED CHICKEN. And the cobbler. Whatever cobbler they're serving up, you will just kick yourself if you don't eat it all. The food is almost holy.

As for the farm yard experience itself, it was really as good as could be expected in the dead of winter. I'm not going to lie to you - it was pretty cold. And really windy. And sort of misty/foggy/wet. So we didn't do as much outdoor frolicking as we hoped, BUT - the goats had just had babies, like a day before we got there - SCORE! Those little baby goats. Seriously guys, you could just die. They are so stinkin' wobbly and CUTE. A slew of pictures to come (because you know that I can't possible edit this batch down any further :)

// Which came first, the chicken or the goat? //

// He's a total dog whisperer, but somehow all the little animals wanted to come to him. They must talk. //

// Um, YEAH. //

// New mama with her baby! This little guy was scampering around and trying to jump atop the haystack. Ah! //

// I was, um, trying to get in some animal love. Connection. Whatever. I didn't grow up on a farm guys. I don't have the animal-whispery tendencies. //

// I really had nothing to offer. But my hand in marriage. Oh wait. Nope. //

// He's all, give me one good reason to talk cute to you. And all I could do is squat there. Empty of any good reason. DRAT. //

// BAAAHHHH never grow up. Just stay this little. //

// Can you tell I'm a little smother-y with my love? I know I need to cool it a bit. BUT I CAN'T. //

// Probably my favorite photo OF ALL TIME. Somebody is wrapped around somebody's finger. Everett's all, "Mmm Hmm, DADDY, gimme twenty dollas." //

Serenbe is fun and then some more fun. You can see the last time we visited HERE. I have more photos to share, the rest will be up tomorrow!