Harper's First Thanksgiving, in Pictures

Harper's first Thanksgiving was really fun! We took her up to my in-law's house and spent time in the backyard enjoying the sunny but cool weather. It was perfect! We decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and take some family photos...

I am in love with these shots of Kevin and Harper. He is just so proud of her and loves her intensely. The two of them make me smile...there is no bond like a father and his daughter...

 ...and these shots of Harper, her grammy and Kevin are too sweet as well...

One with grampy too...

 Here is Harper just playing on the floor before we had our Thanksgiving dinner...

and finally, my heart pretty much exploded when I took these photos...

I hope your Thanksgiving was as great as ours!  We love spending time with family and Thanksgiving is always special because Candice joins us each year! She is also Canadian so she sees her family in Canada for their Thanksgiving and spends the American Thanksgiving with us!

Quick & Easy Holiday DIY Projects

Well, it's November and I'm already breaking out the holiday decor,which you've already seen if you follow me on instagram. I probably won't put my tree up until after Thanksgiving, but I'm enjoying infusing a little holiday cheer into our home early.

During Harper's naptime today, I got out some trusty crafting supplies and got to work. I used some Spritz gift wrap that I purchased on sale at Target several weeks ago to create some gift tags and to wrap a gift:

I based all of my crafts around this paper because I thought the neutral color and polka dots would be fun to "dress up" for the holidays. I got this entire roll of gift wrap for $1! (and I totally bought two rolls, just for good measure).

The first thing I did was wrap a gift with the paper and then add glitter ribbon. I used a glue gun to create the little bow on top of the gift box and to affix the ribbon to the box itself (I was inspired by this pin).

Next. I cut the gift wrap into the shape of a gift tag and used a second floral-print paper (also from an invitation set I got at Target forever ago) to create little gift tags. I added twine and used a Sharpie to write messages of holiday cheer on the tags.

Finally, I cut out the letter "H" for Harper's name and affixed it with a hot glue gun to a square piece of felt. Then, I used some glitter tulle that I got from an event I attended (it was wrapped around the dinner napkins and I thought I could use it for a craft and took it home- they were throwing them away anyway!) Finally, I used some glitter ribbon to secure the middle of the bow and added thick twine to affix it to a gift (or you could also use it as an ornament!)

This year will be the first year my H and I will host Christmas dinner so I'm also looking at items that will prettify my dining table.  Right now I'm really loving these mercury glass accessories and these ombre glasses (both from Target). I think they add an element of glam to a dinner table, which is exactly the look I'm going for. I'll be sure to update y'all on what my Christmas dinner and table decor plans are!

Do you have any fun DIY projects planned for this holiday? Let me know in the comments below or tag me on Instagram (my IG is @veronabrit). Use the hashtag #MyKindOfHoliday!

This post is in partnership with Target. All opinions are my own.

Thankful.

This Thanksgiving is particularly special to me. Last year, I made it my resolution to be more thankful. Instead of asking God for things to happen in my life or constantly focusing on my problems (and asking God to solve them), I made a conscious effort to instead focus my energy on thanking God for all of the amazing things in my life that I was appreciative for- that I have a loving husband, we both have jobs, loving family members and friends, a home we both love, cars to get from point a to point b and just the little things in life---like being able to have a nice brunch with friends or having a really great day at work.


A funny thing happened when I started thanking God for what I had instead of asking for what I wanted or asking Him to solve all of my problems. The more I thanked Him, the more and more I saw His favor light up my entire life. There was a radical, noticeable positive shift in nearly every aspect of my life.


I got an amazing new job that I love and that fulfills me every day. My anxiety seemed to melt away completely. I became re-committed to my workout routine. I felt better than ever, especially mentally and emotionally.


Now, what is this post really getting to? I suspect many of you have figured it out by now. I know I haven't been myself lately at all. I've really neglected my blog and I haven't been my normal, energetic, motivated self. I haven't been as responsive to emails and haven't written a lot of content...but I think you will understand why when you read the rest of this post.


My husband and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first child in May! I have always wanted to be a mother and I feel so incredibly blessed. We are so excited to become parents and grow together as a family. Some days, it still doesn't feel real.

I am going to write separate posts about how we found out, ultrasound updates, skincare routine updates, cravings, etc, but I wanted to share this news on a special day, Thanksgiving, because we are truly more thankful than anything for this incredible blessing.



I am 13 weeks and 1 day along now and have had a lot of symptoms that have kept me from being my normal self, which is truthfully why I have not been blogging. It was difficult for me to just let everything go and offer no explanation to my incredible readers...but I had to listen to my body and I also did not feel comfortable making the announcement earlier into my pregnancy. I hope you all understand.


I have had the opposite of morning sickness, which basically means that I am nauseous every day from about 3 or 4 p.m. until I fall asleep (and it worsens by the hour and there is never relief because I never actually throw up). I also have zero energy. I can make it through the workday (barely, some days) and then I usually sit on the couch for a couple of hours to wind down and I go up to bed at 8:30 most nights and am asleep by 9:30 or so. I had to hire a cleaning service recently because I didn't even have the energy to clean our home (and I usually LOVE cleaning). Last weekend was the first time I was able to clean the house (with H's help) since I found out I was pregnant (I will do an updated posted about cleaning products too since I switched to natural ones for the pregnancy.)


I am not complaining at all about my symptoms---they come with pregnancy and as long as our baby is healthy and happy and growing, I really don't care much about how I feel---but I wanted to clarify why I haven't been around lately. It's been tough because I love blogging and I love interacting with my readers and getting excited about putting together outfits each morning. 

During my first trimester, I feel I've been focused completely on this pregnancy and really listening to what I needed, and it was rest. Since I am on the computer all day at work and write a lot as part of my job, it felt really draining to me to come home and whip out the laptop again (which, before I was pregnant was my normal routine and I absolutely loved coming home to work on a blog post). As I get further along in my pregnancy, I notice days where I have more energy than others and I am hoping that my energy levels continue to increase as time goes on.


Thank you to everyone sending their well wishes and for all of those who checked in with me during my blogging break to make sure I was okay. It really means a lot to me and I thank everyone for their patience as I've been taking a break for these past few months.


More than anything, I am so excited to share this journey with you all---and I am so glad I can learn so much from my readers who are mothers and have lots of great advice and wisdom to share.

(from our NT scan at 11 weeks)

Thank you so much for reading and for your support, thoughts and prayers---and happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!