When I shared this post way back in February, I had no idea what the months after our son’s arrival would hold.  I’ve written a lot about my fears about motherhood or the ways that pregnancy and motherhood have challenged my perfectionist self, but I really had no idea what to expect when we brought home our squishy, tiny new baby.

Would I find time during naps to sit down and write? Would I still be passionate about writing posts on relationships, marriage, faith, creativity, and other house projects when my days were consumed with taking care of our little one? Would my heart for my corner of the internet grow as I stayed home or wane as I entered into this new season?

I entered into my blogging maternity leave with a lot of questions, and now that we’re a little over two months in to our parenthood journey, I’ve learned a few things about myself and where I want to take this blog moving forward.

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Happy weekend, y’all! Even though this week had a few rough nights (see below), it also had some sweet moments and lots to celebrate.  And with only two more full weeks of school left until summer break starts and hubby is home with us for 2.5 months, there’s a lot of happy dancing going on in our house! For now, enjoy some fun pictures and updates from our last two weeks!

1) Caleb’s First Wedding

Some friends of ours got married in a beautiful outdoor wedding two weekends ago and it was the first time we dressed up and packed up little man for a big outing like that! He looked oh so handsome and his dad looked pretty sharp too.  Is there anything more attractive than a well-dressed man feeding an adorable baby? I think not, people.

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It’s been quite a while since I’ve done one of these Friday posts and I’m glad to be back in the game! I’ll be sharing an update on how this blogging maternity leave has been next week, but now that little man is napping more I’m finding a bit more time to sit down and write.  I am excited to get back into the swing of things and start writing more posts and updates soon.  For now, here’s an update on the last week or two in the English house!

1) Best Friend Visits

This past weekend my best friend Haley came to visit to meet Caleb and catch up.  It was so, so good to have her here! I loved getting to catch up on life, eat yummy donuts at KC’s new Donut Lounge, and snuggle our sweet little man.  Haley was a baby whisperer and Caleb fell asleep so quickly in her arms! It was crazy to think back to when we were freshmen in college wearing silly outfits and staying up for late night dorm adventures.  Now we’re swapping travel stories and snuggling our babies! It’s crazy how the time flies and I am so grateful for this girl who’s been with me through it all.

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When I read my friend Annie’s post about her reverse bucket list a while back, I fell in love with the idea.  It’s so easy to dream about all the adventures we will enjoy one day and forget about all the amazing things we’ve already been able to do.  Today, I’m rounding up some silly old pictures and sharing some stories about some of my favorite things I’ve crossed off my bucket list and done so far.  Have you done any of these things?

My Reverse Bucket List

1) Grew up somewhere that people make TV shows about

True life…I grew up in Orange County, CA.  I was in high school when The OC and Laguna Beach got super popular and it was always so funny to meet people from out of state who couldn’t believe I lived where those shows took place.  I will say that my life wasn’t quite like those TV shows, even though we did practically live at the beach in the summer time!

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I started the Womanly Wednesday series pretty soon after I started this blog, and it has been one of my favorite parts of blogging.  I’ve had weekly guest posts for almost eight months, and these posts are consistently some of my highest viewed and most shared posts.  It truly has been an honor to host the stories and hearts of so many women on my blog and I love how it brings new readers to my corner of the internet and the blogs of the women who share.

Over these last eight months, I’ve learned quite a bit about how to run a guest post series that continually draws in new posters and readers.  If you’re interested in hosting guest posters on your blog, I hope these tips will help you to create a series that you love and that stays true to the heart of your blog!

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Happy Friday, my sweet friends! I’ll start this off by saying we still haven’t met our sweet little man, but we sure are loving our last few weeks as a family of two.  Here are a few updates from this past week and weekend!

1) Dinosaur Birthday Parties

My nephew turned six this past weekend and it was so fun to celebrate him with a cute dinosaur-themed party (inspired by his latest obsession).  My sister-in-law did a great job coming up with all sorts of dino-themed snacks and it was so fun to see him pumped about his gifts and running around to give hugs to everyone.  I can’t believe I’ve known this kid and watched him grow from the time he was a baby and it reminds me what a blessing it is to grow up surrounded by family.  I’m so glad Caleb will grow up with lots of older (and close-in-age) cousins and aunts and uncles to learn from!

2) Holy Carpet

Every Tuesday we host our church small group, and this Tuesday as the girls sat upstairs (the boys get banished to the basement) talking about life and identity and where we find our worth, my eyes were drawn to our front door.  There was a huge pile of shoes everyone had kicked off when they came through the door, and I couldn’t stop thinking about when Moses encounters God in the burning bush.  God tells him to take off his sandals because the ground on which he stands is holy. It is a huge blessing to host these people in our home and share life with them and I know that that time is holy and beautiful.  It may be stained and worn-in, but I’m grateful for our carpet and the fact that in those hours, it is holy ground where we encounter God in new and beautiful ways.

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As the weeks pass by and Caleb’s due date gets closer and closer, these final weeks of teaching are dragging on a bit.  For some reasons I describe below, it was a tough week of teaching and being on my feet.  Beyond our small group (which was wonderful), our week nights have been slow and sweet and involved lots of resting and just soaking in some time together (plus a wild Duke game or two).  Even still, I am so glad to be at the start of another weekend!

1) Valentine’s Day Dates

Although we did go out to a fun brunch on our Friday off last week, we decided to do a mostly low-key Valentine’s Day since I was feeling pretty tired.  Two friends spoiled us to a yummy lunch with some delicious chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert, and then Sunday night I cooked us a delicious maple-glazed salmon recipe  from Lexi’s Clean Kitchen.  We finished off the night with some microwave blueberry crisps and a fun movie on the couch! Not the craziest Valentine’s Day off our lives, but I loved getting to spend that time with my guy and soak in our last weeks as a party of two.

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