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’t believe 2021 is almost a quarter of the way over and that Easter is almost here! If you caught my LIKEtoKNOW.it post you know that todays Easter Brunch blog post is going to be three parts! When I asked what would be helpful for you all this Easter season a few of your mentioned an Easter menu! So let’s do it!

When I think about brunch it can go a few ways, sweet or savory being the main two options, but also formal, fun or relaxed so that is what we are going to look at today!

FORMAL

I love a good formal Easter brunch! This is for the host who has beautiful white china and is looking for a few extra fun holiday touches and a great menu, for a refined palette. I love these rabbit napkins, chargers and precious stoneware egg plates for salad. For the menu, let’s take a look.

FIRST COURSE
Shrimp Cobb Salad
with Bacon Dressing
Salmon Smoked Crostini
Fruit Salad
with Vanilla Dressing

MAIN COURSE
Chipotle Pineapple Jerk Glazed Ham
served with Oven Roasted Carrots
Baked Potato Casserole
and Fruited Rice Pilaf

DESSERT
Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed Custard Cake

This salad is an all time favorite of mine and I love it served on these adorable plates. The main course is full of flavor and such a beautiful presentation and desert – how could anyone ever forget dessert! This custard cake is the perfect note to end your time at the table to head out to the big egg hunt!

FUN

Next up is cute, fun and kid friendly! How amazing are these bowls and I love the melamine plates. Great pieces for little hands! I love the versatility of this menu. It has all of your brunch staples, but friendly for the youngest guest.

FIRST COURSE
Caesar Salad Wonton Cups
Prosciutto Asparagus Puff Pastry Bundles
Hot Cross Buns

MAIN COURSE
Eggs Benedict Bake
Skillet Baked Eggs and Ham
Upside Down Waffle and Egg Cups

DESSERT
Strawberry Coconut Carrot Cake
with Mascarpone Buttercream
served with Vanilla Ice Cream

These bowls are perfect for this fun dessert and allow kiddos to enjoy their treats, or adults to take their dessert outside to supervise play time! Who doesn’t love cake and ice cream?

RELAXED

For a busy day filled with hustle and bustle I love the food to feel effortless and fun. These paper plates and napkins are the perfect addition to the buffet and allow your guests to serve themselves and enjoy their Easter brunch on their time. To keep things easy I love the idea of a combination of grazing boards.

FIRST COURSE
Waldorf Salad Platter
English Cheese Board
Sharp Cheddar Scones

MAIN COURSE
Build Your Own Bagel Brunch Board
Build Your Own Waffle Brunch Board
Build Your Own Avocado Toast Board

DESSERT
Easter Cupcakes
Easter Candy Board

I love these cupcakes for the sheer fact that they look just like an Easter garden should! They’re easy, festive and free of refined sugar, dairy and gluten! Perfect for any allergies and the pickiest eater won’t even know! Of course, you can also go 100% relaxed with this amazing Easter Candy Board!

What kind of Easter brunch host are you? I am a mix of formal and relaxed for sure! What menu do you prefer? I would love to hear below!

Today let’s chat kiddos! It’s safe to say the amount of blog posts, Easter basket guides and information floating around for children’s baskets can be overwhelming. Without giving you a massive list of all of the things you could buy I am simply going to share what I did buy.

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My formula for an Easter basket is simple. Are you ready?
LITERATURE:
A book, or two is perfect. I place more Spring and Easter books on his bookshelf in his room

BASKET FILLERS:
Easter themed gadgets are always fun. Think bunny ears, bunny glasses, a bunny silly straw cup, window clings and confetti eggs. These can be crazy and entertaining!

ACTIVITIES:
What kid doesn’t love to be active? I love this plastic bat and ball set with foam base set from the Target dollar spot. Plus, I added this giant slinky for the stairs and this super fun cone + ring set!

SWIMSUIT:
It’s that time of the year! If you kiddos swim it’s likely the swimsuit from last year doesn’t fit anymore. This is the perfect time to gift a necessity in a fun way!

JAMMIES:
Generally I gift bunny PJ’s the week before (and I have another pair I will do that with), but my little guy is obsessed with Peter Rabbit. The hope was Patter Rabbit 2 would land in theaters in time for Easter, but it turns out it doesn’t release in the US until July. These jammies were to pair with his dry first movie theater movie… but instead he will get them now and a movie later. He might as well wear them before he grows out of them!

SWEETS:
Right now I have some M&M’s in his basket, but next week I will pick up his custom Easter cookies from The Sugar Cookie Studio that he loves! We all love them so much this bunny may have ordered some for everyones Easter basket!

BASKET:
Don’t forget the basket! If you have been following along this week you know that any vessel goes as a way to hold goodies from the bunny. but for our Easter morning treats I love nothing more than a coordinated family basket scene. I ordered our basket from this small business and love them each year!

You can shop the linkable items in your favorite place. LiketoKnow.it or Amazon shop one, or both!

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I’d love to know, do you have a formula for baskets? I love that I am able to gift fun, educational, themed items but also tuck in necessities that I am going to have to purchase anyway and gift in a fun way!

To see our other themed baskets visit these blog posts below:
NEWLY ENGAGED EASTER BASKET
WINE + WHISKEY EASTER BASKETS
BEAUTY THEMED EASTER BASKETS

How fun is this! It’s Wedding Wednesday and it only seems fitting to curate an Easter “basket” for the newly engaged! How adorable are these ice buckets as the basket! There are so many adorable options it’s hard to choose just one. The celebratory bunny, summer lemons or perfect monogram – you choose your base! Add coordinating linen napkins and stir sticks for all of the wedding planning meetings you’re about to toast at! I love the addition of gift tags (hello hostess gifts) and stationery for those first thank you notes.

TIP: It’s not customary for a bride to use her new three-letter-monogram until
after the ceremony. If you are gifting stationery for wedding thank you notes, the brides
maiden name and/or maiden monogram would be proper etiquette.

I love this adorable ring tray and don’t forget the best ring cleaner! Of course every bride needs a beautiful planner and this one is a Team CLE favorite! We love the coordinating pen and that this planner was just named one of Vogue’s top 11!

Finish off your basket with a few sweet treats and this newly engaged Easter basket is set to go! We’d love to know, are you newly engaged this Easter? Tell us below!

Sources: Ice Bucket, Candy, Pen, Wedding Planner, Cocktail Napkins, Stationery,
Gift Tags, Ring Cleaner, Stir Sticks, Candy, Ring Tray