i n • p u r s u i t

For the past few years, I've been putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. This year, I decided to dedicate November to doing 30 days of thankfulness and so, Christmas was saved for December. As today is December 1st, we pulled all the decorations out of the attic. We pushed some furniture aside to put the tree in front of the front window. I think a window is the perfect place to put a tree, don't you? It makes the front of the house look so happy! Joseph was happy to explore all the boxes and various plastic ornaments. He went down for his nap before the Christmas tree was done. When he woke up, I sat him down in front of the tree. He didn't know quite what to think of it! He reached out to touch a branch a few times, and then quickly drew his hand back. It didn't take him too long to warm up to the tree though! I love having the Christmas tree up! It put me in such a great mood today and I'm really looking forward to Jojo...

For Mother's Day, Mike suggested we have a little picnic in the park. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the day! On a blanket in the shade watching my two favorite guys have fun together. Afterwards, my parents and brother joined us at our house for some vanilla ice cream and homemade caramels. Yummy! :) That evening was Joseph's baby dedication! What a sweet way to end Mother's Day. His dedication was made even more special because Alan was the one doing the baby dedications on Sunday evening. Backstory for those who don't know: Alan and his wife are very dear friends to us. Also, they let us take over their home and get married in the backyard, with Alan officiating our wedding. So, you know, it was only right that he did Joseph's baby dedication. 

This post is so picture heavy, ya'll. It's not really my fault. I'm a new mom and it is really hard to cull photos of my baby. But, don't worry, all these photos are super cute. :) Mary came down on Saturday and we went to O-CHA Tea Bar. (Jojo was tagged as  O-CHA's beauTEAful customer of the day !) What was special about this visit is that the Easter Bunny was there for pictures! It was fun to get Joseph's first character photo. Isn't my little man the cutest? I really adore his little Easter romper. And the silly faces he makes while getting his photo taken. Scary Auntie Mary loves her some Jojo snuggles! She might not like babies, but she sure likes this one! And Joseph loves the adorable "wild about auntie" onsie she got him. Look at us taking a family photo on Easter Sunday. I love love loved my new outfit. Mostly because the top hides all kinds of undesirable postpartum lumps and the pixie pants have awesome stretc...

My life is overflowing with blessing. God has been so abundant in his gifts to us this year. Here are just a few things that I'm grateful for: Mike, my wonderful husband. These past few days, we've been sleeping in together. We haven't done it in a while because of early morning Crossfit and his new job (not complaining, I'm grateful for both!). But it has been such sweet together time, just snuggling in bed and chatting as we slowly wake up.  This child that God has so graciously blessed us with. Mike and I are excited to be parents and cannot wait to meet our son. We prayed so long for this and he's almost here! And oh my gosh, I just love to feel him move. I am always touching my belly, and that's because I love to feel him from the inside and out. :) God's impecable timing. I'm grateful for the time that Mike and I have had together before baby. We've been married for a little over four years and this past year has really been the best....

[ source ] On my photography blog, I posted my second annual "favorite kisses" post ! These are all my favorite kissy pictures since last v-day. You should check it out!

I recently realized that I didn't really post any pictures of what Christmas looked like around the Kuechenmeister Haus this year. :( Yesterday, as I was packing things away, I found myself in a picture taking mood and, thus, decided to do a post-Christmas post. I'll just share all our holiday pretties as they get stowed away. :) I only put out one of our Nativity sets this year (we have two) and the one I chose was our teeny tiny little set from Mexico. I should have taken a picture with one of the little guys in my hand so you could see their size! I think the largest piece might be an inch high? So adorable! Also, I keep a lot of my ornaments just tossed into grocery bags. I'm fancy like that. Why yes, that is a bright blue and pink carousel horse! Doesn't go with the decor, but it goes on the tree each year. (It's a gift from  +Mary Heuser .) Bella is sad to see Christmas going. Just kidding. She's thrilled to be getting her ch...

You GUYS. Look at what my brother gave me for Christmas! My own Japanese Juniper Bonsai!!! I've been kind of wanting one since we went to the Bonsai exhibit at the Asheville Arboretum. I just freaked out when I saw this and immediate went home to do more bonsai research. Turns out, there is a bonsai nursery just a few minutes from where I live where a bonsai club meets monthly. Very providential and I hope to visit and get some advice from experts. I am so excited about this little guy! I named him Ryo which, according to www.baby-names.com, is Japanese for exceed, survive, excel. I'm hoping my Ryo lives up to his name!

I've had a wonderful past few days. I went to MI for Christmas and it started snowing somewhere around Kentucky. It never got higher than 35º our entire trip and there was a snowstorm on the day after Christmas! On Christmas Eve, we visited Frankenmuth. I specifically wanted to visit Bronner's for a 2012 Christmas ornament. I ended up getting a flamboyant chicken ornament for our yearly one and a little camera ornament just because. :) We also stopped by Rau's Country Store and tried on silly hats. Christmas morning was a lazy one. I got some really fabulous presents, my favorite was my birthday/Christmas present from Mike: this Kate Spade Mrs. necklace! I got him a kit from The Art of Shaving to go along with the straight razor that Kevin got him. We were watching TV where they said the key to the best present-opening reactions is getting people exactly what the asked for. Turns out that's right because we were both very excited about our g...

Most original costume idea ever. Asian (well, half-asian) girl dresses as Hello Kitty for Halloween. ^_^ Hello Bella is less than thrilled. Oh, and just for the record, the above photo is my face AFTER some serious dancing! What? My first time using Revlon ColorStay and I think I'm in love. Other face makeup: ELF Mineral Infused Primer, ELF HD powder, ELF Mist & Set. What can I say? I really wanted my makeup to stay put! This is my face before dancing. Looks about the same except my whiskers aren't smudged. My face wasn't that white. It's just the flash reflecting off the makeup. My costume consisted of: Hello Kitty headband from Hot Topic ($9.50 but I got it half off) Taylor Swift for L.E.I. dress. (A gift from Mary who found it at Goodwill.) White longsleeve GAP favorite tee (These really are my favorite tees. I have six in different styles.) White patterned tights Ked lookalikes from Target. (These are my dancing shoes.) ...

[source: http://benkling.tumblr.com/tagged/dictator+valentines]