Bryon & Chantelle Maternity {Littleton, CO}

Bryon and Chantelle were some of our first friends when we moved out to Colorado over a year ago! Just this past January, they told us the exciting news that they were expecting. We have so enjoyed seeing them go through the journey of preparing for little Juliet...who is joining their family TODAY! Yay! 

I had the privileged of taking their maternity pictures a few weeks ago. We had so much fun and plenty of time to get some great shots! I just love Colorado in the Fall! There was so much gorgeous color and lighting, which made my job pretty easy. Plus, these two were up for anything! 

Thanks for letting me capture a precious season in your lives! Hope you enjoy my many favorites from our session!

 

Entry & Dining Room - Fall Edition

This has been our second Fall in CO and we are enjoying it so much! All the leaves have changed colors and the weather is PERFECT. The trees are orange, yellow, red, purple (yes purple!), and HOT PINK! I had never seen a hot pink bush or tree until we moved here.  You haven't really experienced Fall until you see it in CO! :) 

Here is our last post for the Fall Edition of our home!

I change out our summer wreath with a Fall one, which we used last year and I still love it!I'm definitely a believer in seasonal wreaths and love the mix of colored berries and twig look of this one.

While we don't have our own porch, I still think it is fun to decorate what little we can!

 

 I pulled out our Fall "Welcome" mat and simply paired it with a large pumpkin...soon it will have a partner after we carve pumpkins this year.

Once inside, I continued the Fall feel by grouping a mini white pumpkin and pine cone with our "C" on the shelf.

 Next, I added a basket (My friend, Brianna got me in Africa) and two pumpkins to spice up the foyer bench. I think I may keep the basket on the bench throughout the winter and store our gloves and hats in it for easy access! :)

 Moving upstairs...This is the half wall between the staircase and the dining space! Here I reused a chalkboard, basket, pine cones, and candle holder. The only thing new this year are the fresh mini pumpkins to add some color. The Autumn sign and fall scented candle finish off the look.

 On our self in the dining space, I kept it super simple by adding an autumn candle (Bath & Body Works) and another mini pumpkin.

 On the dining table, I had to get a little more creative. I made this table runner for our new table and LOVE the pattern! Then I grabbed some mason jars that were in our freezer (Matt liked to drink out of them and not use ice) and added some dried fall flowers. 

Then I tied some natural string around the jars and placed them on wood coasters. To tie them all together, I sprinkled some pine cones and pumpkins across the table! 

 

Oh, and the table runner is reversible because I LOVED this fabric too! I will be making a Christmas runner this year as well and might do another reversible one since it is super easy and fun.

Hope you all are enjoying the start of the Holiday season as much as we are. I'd love to hear how you save money and decorate for the holidays!

Rick & Kirsten Maternity {Littleton, CO}

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of taking some lovely maternity pictures of Rick and Kirsten. I know Rick from Denver Seminary and knew this session would be full of fun and personality! His wife Kirsten is super sweet and I know they both will make amazing parents very soon! This session was short, but we were able to get some really great shots with the GORGEOUS fall background...can't beat colorful Colorado! 

A special thanks to wonderful help of our second shooter, Schuyler Paxton!

Without further ado, here are my favorites from our session!

 

Bittersweet Beginnings

Today marks a month since Olive has been gone. We are still continuing our search for her and are praying God brings her back every day!

During this bitter time, we have felt a hole in our daily lives. We have missed having a dog excited to see us when we come home and to make us laugh when she is silly. Since we adopted Olive only a month after moving here, it has felt empty living here without her. While we hope each day will finally be the day that we find her, the reality is that it could take months or even years. We have heard tons of eventual reunion stories of pets with the microchip that Olive has. While that brings hope, it also means we will never have closure.

With all of that in mind, we have decided to adopt another dog this past week. We aren't trying to replace Olive and still miss her and cry over her. Matt and I have always wanted 2 dogs, but planned on waiting until we had a house. However, since our circumstances have changed, we decided to change our "plans." We decided that when Olive comes home, we will be happy to have 2 dogs now instead of later! 

Introducing the newest addition of our family: Mara

Mara is a 1 yr old Blue Heeler, Australian Shepherd. She was found as a stray and was begging to be pet when we passed by her kennel at the shelter. We couldn't resist her cry for love and attention. We played with her and asked tons of questions. We found out that she is very very smart and dog friendly. This was the most important thing since we picked her out with Olive in mind. We were able to watch her play with other dogs at the shelter and she was very sweet. 

We named her Mara, which means bitter. This name seemed fitting given season we are in and which brought her to us. Although, she is already making it bittersweet and has been nicknamed "love bug" since she LOVES to be cuddled and give kisses.

Sometimes having Mara is difficult as well. She does things that remind us of Olive and makes us miss her even more. We also have often slipped up and called her Olive, which is hard too. Regardless of those times, we know this was the right decision for us as she adds some joy to our lives with her own little personality!

We miss you, Olive and we have a new friend for you to play with when you finally come home! - Don't worry, we haven't let her sleep in your recliner! :) 

Kitchen & Bathroom - Fall Edition

Well Denver had it's first snow this past week! That means Fall is officially here. Still getting used to life in CO, but I am actually looking forward to the snow season. Crazy huh? 

So...Continuing our fall edition of the home tour, here is a look at our kitchen and bathroom! 

 This is our kitchen bar all decked out for fall! The runner was actually our table runner from last year...since our table was so tiny, the runner fit perfectly on the bar! Plus, it would have been way too small for our new dining table. :) The fruit basket was also a purchase from last year (Dollar Tree), which now replaced our silver fruit bowl for a touch of fall. 

 On the end of the bar, we have a simple white pitcher (Goodwill) with dried berries and pine cones from last year. I dressed it up a bit with some more scrap fabric from the new table runner. 

 To the right of our bar is my favorite fall edition! On our coffee bar, I made an Apple Cider bar! I used another one of our leaf place mats from last year with two "fall-looking" mugs. I also re-used a chalkboard we already had for the sign. The only thing new was the basket holding the mix, which I found in the dollar bins at Target. - I am currently looking for a homemade recipe for cider, but for now the quick stuff will do! -Let me know if you have a good recipe to share!

 I finished off the kitchen with a fall wreath on our coat closet (to the left of the bar). This was a new addition this year, so I stayed simple with the little "Happy Harvest" sign that I found on sale at Micheal's! Maybe I'll spice it up more next year. :)

 In the bathroom, I added some brown ribbon to the vase and mixed in more berries with the normal dried flowers. A few pine cones complete the look easily!

 I continued the decor on the other side of the counter with more berries and another "Autumn Day" candle that I love! (Bath & Body works).

So as you can see, we have been adding to our decorating stash and trying to enjoy the season frugally! I would love for you to share your ideas on how you re-purpose old decorations or decorate for holidays on a budget...I'm still figuring this out!

Also, please keep Olive in your prayers as this weather is getting pretty cold out there. Thanks!