Beautifully Busy Weekend {part 4}

'Maternity Session'

All the photographs of Jonathan and I were taken by my sister, Emily.

 I'm so grateful she took time to do this for us. I treasure these images with all my heart. 

Some of my very favorites of us ever. 

I've looked over these pictures again and again over the past week. Every time I do it touches my heart in a most tender place. I dearly love this man and I know how much he cherishes me. It literally bleeds through in these images. The way he holds me, the way my eyes light up when he gives me 'that look'. I try not to gush too often, because I know how annoying it can be to others, but y'all….we're head over heels in love. As in, we still can't get enough of one another. As in, we spend as much time as we possibly can together. As in, we've seen the ugly sides of each other and we still choose to love. Every day. 

But you know the most beautiful part? It's all Jesus. I know that love like this doesn't come from ourselves. We're sinful, fleshly creatures. But because we've been redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ, Jonathan and I can experience a small taste of what life was like before the Fall. We are known by one another, in all the beautiful, imperfect and sometimes difficult ways, and unashamed. In this, we have become one. 

Oh, Praise to our Father! 

And there, as we embrace one another, I see the way my middle curves outward. How even now, our son is enveloped inside me, waiting to be delivered into our arms. This child made from love to be loved has already been welcomed into our circle. Our Creator is indeed wondrous, for only He could ordain beauty like this. To be loved and chosen by Him to be part of the whole that makes up our little family. We are overwhelmed by it all and humbled to be gifted with such glory as this. 

"And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace."

John 1:16

Beautifully Busy Weekend {part 3}

'Baby Rodgers 1st Shower'

The next event on the docket for that weekend was the baby shower! My family worked so hard to make this sweet day for us all under the direction of my sister Melissa. She consulted with my other sister, Beth (who is the master at party planning) and they, together with all my family, made this incredibly special day happen.  I mean, just look at how pretty everything was! I absolutely loved all of it. Especially that cake. Ohmygoodness, it was SO good. But the crab baguettes, white cream-cheese chili and iced coffee sure made for a spectacular menu all together. If you ever need to throw a killer party, just hire my siblings. Seriously.

All the pictures from this post were either taken by Jonathan or our very servant-hearted friend, Sarah.

 And, of course, we had to get some sister/mom-daughter pictures. These women are most precious to me in so many ways. And every one of them are uniquely beautiful, inside and out. What a privilege to call them family. 

We were honored by so many friends and family attending. You showed your support just by being there and blessed us in abundance with your gifts. Thank you again and again! Sarah captured some moments of us opening all of Pickle's sweet presents and Gracie made sure she was on hand to help us unwrap everything ;)

 I finally got the chance to sort through everything from the shower at home yesterday. The books, the adorable bath time paraphernalia, the gifts cards, the cute onesies and blankets…all of it…makes me excited for little Boy Rodgers to get here. He's so loved already. I can see that, not only in the gifts everyone gave, but in the support and encouragement we've received all along the way. We can't say it enough, and it doesn't seem adequate, but thank you to everyone (family + friends, all of you!) who have been and I know will continue to help us prepare for the arrival of our baby. 

We are humbled and grateful. 

Beautifully Busy Weekend {part 2}

'Sweet 16th Celebration'

The first big event of the weekend was celebrating my sister Emily's 16th birthday party. Her few simple requests were that the guests bring hammocks + instruments and that all of her eight siblings attend. Requests granted! 

A rare sighting, all eight Bailey siblings together! We try to make this happen as often as possible but with work schedules, and babies and school it sure is difficult. I guess it just makes it that much more precious whenever ever it's able to happen. Here we are, lined up in birth order (right to left). If you've interacted with us at all, you know how vastly different we can be. In these eight individuals there are planners & dreamers, debaters & peace-makers, spotlight stealers & reserved thinkers. As you can imagine, all that mixed together can make for some terrific conflict (I'm just being honest here). But we do love each other despite the differences. And I know we wouldn't trade each other for the world. 

Plus….we take amazing goofy shots as a group ;)

The party went long into the mild Spring evening. We conversed while  'filling up the corners' at the food table.  We let the grass cool our bare feet. We snuggled the babies and caught up with friends and sang 'Happy Birthday' to our little sister. All the while the sun sank slowly and deliberately, as if it wanted to linger on and observe all the beautiful interactions and happy faces.

We laughed a lot. Swung on hammocks. Played volley ball & corn hole. We fellowshipped around the campfire and celebrated, not only Emily's life, but the whole of life that God has given us. We are a blessed people indeed. 

Beautifully Busy Weekend {part 1}

'An Overview'

The mornings at my parents house that weekend were usually slow. Everyone got up a different times, ate breakfast in shifts and drank copious amounts of coffee. And of course, every activity was joyously interrupted by any and everything that the grandbabes did. We seriously can't get enough of them. 

We spent as much time as we could outside. Messy buns, pajama pants and sister back massages are not only accepted but basically required as the norm. There was usually a cat roaming in between our legs and a puppy trying to crawl in our lap. But, then again, that's just part of the beautiful chaos we often find in Tennessee. 

It was a busy weekend. We had a birthday party for my sister Emily, our first baby shower and engagement photo shoot all packed within a couple days. To say we were exhausted is a bit of an understatement. And after all the events had concluded we had one slow day left. We happily spent it sleeping in, hanging out at the local coffee shop and playing volleyball in my parents' yard. It might have been my favorite day of all. When you love people this much, even doing absolutely nothing together can be joyous.

That's all I'll share for this evening but be watching this blog over the next few days as I'll be sharing more posts featuring the activities we did over that weekend. There's just too many pictures, thoughts and words for one post ;)

 Thanks for reading!