I can’t believe we are here. Truth be told after having our first little guy I was dead set that the Lord had it written in my story that I was set to be a boy mom. We had boy names, knew what we were going to do and then I heard my doctor, “it’s a girl.” I was shocked and overwhelmed, but had no clue how hard it would be to name a precious baby girl.

If you read this post you know that we like to add meaning to our kiddos names. Blair and I like strong names rooted in family. With Barrett we knew his middle name before his first, so why not start that way again.

Truth be told there are two women in my life that I wouldn’t be who I am today without. Two women who shaped me to my core.
My mom, Wendy Eileene, who taught me that I could be anything I wanted to be, to fight for your individuality and to push through no matter the circumstances. She taught me that it’s not always about the crown, but the journey – and that God’s plan is always worth the storm.
My moms mom and my Grammy, Eileene Marguerite, was the second leading lady in my life. I spent summers in her south Houston home. She taught be how to waltz around her library table, taught me that proper vocabulary (thank you to my nightly hooked on phonics lesson and Wheel of Fortune with bowl of ice cream) was something you had to work for. She taught me how to paint and cherish classics like Anne of Green Gables that we checked out from the library. The biggest lesson of all was that you were always better off volunteering for causes close to your heart, and getting involved in your community and church.

Two women, one name. Eileene it was. The perfect middle name for a precious baby girl.

Next up was a first name. We wanted a name that was timeless, and would fit with her middle name. Blair and Barrett are both B names so Blair had the suggestion to go with a C name so she would have a tie to me. In addition to the C we landed on a 9-letter name (like the 9-letters in Christina) and finished with the perfect sibling pairing; the double-t that you find in Barrett.

Welcome to the world Charlotte Eileene Frederick. You have captured our hearts already and we can’t wait to see how you make your mark on this big, big world. We hope you grow up with a servants heart, a peace to stand firm in who you are and a love for your family – because we sure love you.

Can I tell you all a secret? I wish I would have had a videographer at this photoshoot because my sweet little boy was all kinds of a toddler that night! Courtney, Blair and I were rolling at my crazy little boy going from stoic to full on crazy in 2 second flat, but because of just that these pictures hold so many memories behind them, more than I ever would have thought!

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When we asked Barrett for the first time if he wanted a baby his reply was, “Come on mama,
get your shoes. Let’s go!” In his Beaufort Bonnet Company birthday jammies he was headed for the door.

I have always prayed over Barrett to be kind and gentle, to have a heart for the Lord and to love others. Honestly, qualities that will carry my (not so) little boy through life. Attributes that his teacher shares that he has, but also mannerisms for inside the walls of our home. I have no doubt he will love his sibling more than words and be the best role model and hand holder as they do life together.

Blair and I have always prayed (God willing) for a happy, healthy family. Honestly, this pregnancy surprised us. If you know our story to Barrett it was a long road with quite a few speed bumps. I won’t lie, that left me terrified to “begin trying” – what does that even mean – for baby no. 2. If you would have asked Blair he would have had Barrett day one of being married and baby 2 on day 2. I love him for it, and he truly is the most amazing father.

This time, though, things have been the complete opposite. Blair challenged me to take a test because he knew I was pregnant (looking back I did too, but in the moment was in denial). That day we went in for confirmation blood work, and I saw my doctor a few weeks later and there was baby, with a heartbeat, and she confirmed the pregnancy. I asked her if this is what “normal people” experience, for lack of a better term. No years of tracking my cycle, drugs and trying, no miscarriages and no stress. Literally a successful pregnancy already at 8 weeks without all of that. It took a little bit for me to wrap my head around it. Due to my age I am considered “high risk” so we did have additional testing and bloodwork, that lead to more testing and monthly visits with a specialist. That also afforded us the ability to find out the gender of our sweet little one (in quite the crazy conversation with my OB – we’ll save that for another day) very early on.

Truth be told, just like my motherly instincts wanted to “protect” Barrett as long as I could and not share him with anyone, the same thing happened this time. Blair and I held on to our secret and have been praying very specifically over this little one for 12 weeks now. A secret that we didn’t share with friends and family until I was 30 weeks with Barrett, but a secret we are joyful to share today.

Baby Frederick is a girl!

That’s right! Barrett will be the best big brother to his baby sister, and coming from a two girl household I can’t wait to see the relationship that these two will create. When you ask him what his baby is he loves to tell you it’s a girl and he is going to have a little sister.

This picture holds so many emotions for me, mainly one of intense laughter. Barrett was running in and out of the frame, the doodles were scared of the balloons (do you see Landry’s bow) and my sweet, sweet husband was Mr. cool and calm. Mind you this was taken right after we got the balloons organized and Barrett tripped over the “L” putting a hole it in. I’m telling you, we needed this captured on video.

With all of the shenanigans of this night, I am so excited to welcome baby girl Frederick into the family this summer! We would love your continued prayers for my pregnancy, our sweet baby and for our little boy as he steps into the shoes of big brother.

Thank you once again, but I always feel like “thank you” is never enough to Courtney with Courtney Leigh Photography for capturing our circus and Britt of Butter Artistry for making me feel beautiful. You girls are the best!

I can not believe I am finally typing this post! You read that right, our family is growing by 10 little fingers and 10 little toes! It is safe to say that Barrett is elated to be a big brother and Blair and I are so excited to welcome baby #2 this summer! I also think it is safe to say the doodles are riding along on this journey called life!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17

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Yes, I said this summer – I am half way thru my pregnancy! I credit the pandemic and not seeing anyone with the ability to conceal this growing bump. It also turns out that being 35 and in the “high-risk” category comes with its own set of tests, challenges and appointments. We are so thankful to have a precious baby on its way, and are continuing to cover this sweet little one in prayers!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:13

Praise of a perfect little one is exactly where our hearts are! Now that the secret is out I can’t wait to share more with you soon. There is no doubt I will be back to posting on social media now that my morning sickness is more under control. 🙂

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Can I just say how excited I am to watch Barrett become a big brother! He has the most amazing, independent (if you can’t tell from these amazing photos) personality and I have no doubt he will be the biggest help, best example and make welcoming baby #2 even more exciting!

Last, I can not hit “post” without giving two women a huge shout out! Brittany with Butter Artistry deserves a huge, virtual hug for making this mama feel her best! Even my sweet husband asked how we could get my eyelashes to look this good every day!
Courtney with Courtney Leigh Photography is the soul reason we have these amazing memories frozen in time! Chances are if you have been poking around the site you have noticed Courtneys name in quite a few places. She truly is so gifted and the number one person I trust to capture my crazy family. Y’all should have seen what was going on behind the scenes… bless her for even capturing any images at all! I told you my toddler is very independent!

I hope you are ready to go on this ride with me. I am honored you are here and that I get to share not only my work, but my heart and the reason behind what I do – my family. Thank you for being here!

xo Christina

Oh my goodness! How in the world has it been one month since our sweet little guy entered the world? I feel like there are so many blog posts I wanted to have up and posted by now, but let’s be honest life happens. Between little man barely sleeping and us figuring out this new normal I haven’t had the brain power to write or publish any blogs, until today!

So, what’s in a name you ask?

It turns out the pressure of naming a child is pretty crazy. When we found out we were having a boy we knew that we wanted a strong name, but also wanted it to be special. We wanted it to have meaning.

We knew we had a middle name, so we started there. Blair’s father passed his middle name, Allen, to his eldest son, Blair’s middle brother passed his middle name, Jade, to his eldest son so it only seemed appropriate for Blair to pass his middle name to our first born son. Michael it was.

Of course we knew the last name so then it was a matter of finding the perfect first name, that didn’t create a ridiculous monogram, to fit the rest of his name. The more we thought about it we decided to go with a B name so that our little man and his daddy could share initials too.

Do you know how tricky it is to find a good B name that has character, but isn’t trendy. A name that can stand alone, but isn’t boring (for lack of a better word). After a lot of thought and research we ended up with three names that we kept tossing around, but when it came to Barrett it fit. It just felt right.

What sealed the deal is the fact that Blair is my Blair Bear so the sound of Barrett lending itself to bear was another nod to my sweet husband. A nickname that carries with it the heart of a gentle giant that truly gives the best hugs. Since Blair was getting his mini-me my monogram loving, family picture coordinating heart was falling in love even before we met our little bear. 🙂

We hope that our little BMF will grow up to have so many of the wonderful qualities and characteristics of Mr. BMF. Most importantly we hope that he finds his place in this big crazy world. A place of comfort and grace that is at the same time courageous and brave. We hope that he always remembers his roots, but spreads his wings. Blair and I pray for a heart that serves the Lord and a tongue that speaks kindness. Above all we pray that we fill his little soul with a love that is greater than we are.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. …And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love. But the greatest of these is Love.
– 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, 13

Barrett Michael Frederick we love you so very much.

Talk about the most amazing weekend! It was such a joy to be surrounded by friends, family and the most talented creatives I know to shower sweet baby Frederick. While I have so much to say, and so many to thank, for our Houston shower that is coming in a later post.

Today, I wanted to share an update for everyone not in Houston on little (or not so little) baby Frederick!

It’s hard to believe I will be 30 weeks tomorrow! Our sweet baby remains in the top 95% of the height and weight scales and because I have had a little extra amniotic fluid we have been blessed with more ultrasounds than usual to see our sweet babe! Each time everything looks perfect! My favorite line from our ultrasound technician may have been, “baby is definitely big, not huge, but definitely big.” He’s been checking up on babies for over 35 years and is the sweetest man and always so kind to try and snap a picture of a sweet little face… no such luck. Baby likes to have it’s hand on it’s face or turn and leave us nothing but a shoulder and back image.

I’ll have to be honest that it’s been fun keeping sweet baby to Blair and myself. We didn’t tell the world about our precious miracle until a little after 17 weeks and the honest truth is we have known the gender of sweet baby since week 10. You may remember our announcement photos by Courtney Brown of Courtney Leigh Photography, but what you may not have known that the same day we actually took gender reveal photos. 🙂 It’s funny to look back on my almost non-existant bump!

In a world of social media and so many things assumed as public knowledge, it’s been sweet to hold our sweet baby so close to our hearts as our little secret going in to this thing called parenting, but Blair and I both know there is a time and a place for everything. So here you go…

Baby Frederick is a boy!

Do you all have any idea how hard it is to hold big, letter balloons still and forward facing? Our sweet baby will most definitely not have “ONE” letter balloons at his first birthday… or maybe any birthday after the laughs we got out of taking these photos on film!

This weekend we knew that we would have all of the closest people to our hearts in the same place and it was such a joy to share our precious secret with them face to face!

For months I have had nearly everyone guess that baby is a girl, with only a handful of guesses as a boy. Now that I am “all baby” as Blair says everyone is switching their vote to align with the fact that I am all belly and carrying “more like a boy.” I’m not sure if there is any truth to all of those myths and old wives tales, but I will tell you the myth that you’re only really sick when carrying a girls is most definitely not true!

The one truth that I will hold to is that the CL Mascots still don’t know what is coming and are growing ever so suspicious about the increased time Blair and I are spending in the nursery and why they can’t play with the new toys.

Thank you to all of you who have spoiled sweet baby, loved on Blair and I and have sent prayers of love and wisdom to cover our next chapter as parents. We are living proof that it takes a village and your prayers and gifts from a far mean more than you know!

xo Christina

Before I share all of the goodness below, I have to say how truly blessed I am to have amazing women in my life to shower sweet baby Frederick. I mean look at these ladies, each of which I am eternally grateful for.

These ladies pulled out all of the stops, starting with these adorable invitations and paper goods from Nine Zero Nine Creative. Ryann is truly talented and I was so grateful for her to pull my love for only blueberry pancakes into a shower theme!

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In addition to the perfect paper details can we talk about the food! If I craved anything (truly, I really didn’t eat much other than a daily protein shake with baby F) it was blueberry crunch pancakes from First Watch. Needless to say I wanted one of everything from Buttercup at my shower. She took my love for brunch and satisfied it, ten fold!

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I couldn’t have had a sweeter shower (pun intended) if I had planned it myself. Thank you to the sweet friends, family and loved ones for celebrating our little one.

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I know baby Frederick will be so loved by his Gigi, Cici and all of his Aunts!

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The boys were golfing while we were brunching, but it was such a treat for my Mr. to swing by after all of the festivities to share the gender of our little one with our family! We will share with you all soon, but in the mean time here is my handsome husband instead.

Thank you to the amazing creatives, that I am lucky to call friends who contributed to such a special day!
Floral – Bramble and Bee
Catering – Buttercup
Stationery – NineZeroNine Creative
Images – Butter

Let’s just say I have written and rewritten this post more times that I would like to admit, so here it goes.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not
to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11

The truth is that I knew when I created this website that this blog would eventually be used for more than just glimpses of my work, my heart for the organizations I volunteer for or things I advocate for. I knew it would eventually be to share more of my family; I just didn’t know how long that journey would take (which is a big reason to why this website has been in the works for a few years).

If you know me you know that I have two fur babies (the CL Mascots as we call the goldendoodles) and am married to the most amazing man! I know that every wife says that about her husband, but I truly mean it. When we got married 1,971 days ago I thought I loved him with all of my heart. Fast forward to our third year of marriage we both knew our love had grown as we started really visiting the idea of babies and a family outside of our four-legged children. Fast forward, yet again, to today and I truly understand that love knows no bounds and is bigger than I have yet to experience.

Courtney Leigh Photography

However, the one thing we didn’t know when we began that conversation was just how long God had our journey planned for. With more bumps in the road than I like to admit after more than 1,050 days something was different. Although we had been to this place before it wasn’t until December 6, 2017 that it became more of a reality than the times before.

With us taking things a little slower than others may have I am beyond blessed and incredibly humbled to share that Blair and I will welcome the biggest blessing we could ever comprehend this July. The amazing Courtney Brown of Courtney Leigh Photography captured all of these amazing images that Blair and I will be forever grateful for! Including a tiny baby bump we have been praying over for 17 weeks!

The honest truth is that while we are beyond ecstatic to share our news my heart also goes out to those in the midst of this journey. While we don’t know what your individual story might be, we do know what its like to love something so much and never meet. We know what its like to be asked when were going to jump on the baby train (to which my husband will tell you we may have very easily been the conductor – his ability to make me laugh may be one of my most favorite things about him) and what it’s like to see baby announcement after baby announcement, or what it seems.

Please know that if you’re in the middle of a journey, confused or discouraged that God is with you. If you need someone to talk to, or someone to pray for you I am more than happy to, and I’m happy to share more of our story.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,
for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9

To each of you who have shared in our journey, who have prayed over this precious baby or have loved on us and our marriage – we are so grateful for you and can’t thank you enough! We would love for continued prayers as we begin an entirely new chapter and welcome baby Frederick this summer.

For this child I have prayed and the Lord has granted me the desires of my heart.
1 Samuel 1:27

With Love, Christina and Blair Frederick