Introducing...

…Olivia Grace Stafford

Olivia was born February 6th, at 8:30pm. She is our 6lbs 10oz, bundle of joy and we are just smitten. More updates to come, but for now we are just taking the time to enjoy this sweet blessing. 

Snow Day

So, you've probably heard by now that Atlanta had some snow fall on Tuesday. Thankfully, Paul and I both avoided the traffic nightmare, but we have friends who spent 11+ hrs in the car as well as many other stories of people who left their cars and walked home or were even stranded overnight! The positives, however, are that we got a few snow days out of it. 

Eloise LOVED it! It was ice-ey and slippery in some areas, so we tried to keep her in the "safe areas", and she wasn't having it. She wanted to walk everywhere and explore and kick and was more-than-upset when we had to go back inside. 

{silly girl!}

The second day, all the neighborhood kids were out of school. There's a fantastic hill at the front of our neighborhood, so all the families were able to get out the sleds they've had stored away since our last snow storm, and we had an absolute blast. Eloise is a bit too little, and I'm a little too pregnant to sled down, but Eloise decided she'd try it on her belly like some of the other big kids. It was hysterical! 

So glad our little Connecticut baby likes snow days, because we do too!

*Eloise's red bonnet is from The Beaufort Bonnet Company. We did not receive any incentive, just love them so much! 

Five on Friday: New Year Updates

I haven't posted in a month because life has taken over, so today's Five on Friday is full of Stafford updates. 

One. This little girl has been doing great. She had a wonderful Christmas and was spoiled rotten by her grandparents. She is growing up to be such a funny little girl. Her personality is really starting to show and she is learning so many new things I can barely keep up. I'll do a catch up post just on her later. She still has no idea that her life is about to change in a month. 

Two. Speaking of…we are one month away from New Baby! I can't even believe it. We essentially put off getting ready until after the holidays, and so now we are in kind of a scramble to get everything prepared in time. This past week we started on the nursery and I shared a few sneak peeks on Instagram (@stafforddiaries). Eloise's room is fun and colorful, so I wanted something more calm and neutral for number two - which is perfect since we don't know the gender anyway. It is essentially white with four different shades of beige and khaki, but I think it's going to turn out so well, and I can't wait to share it with you. 

Three & Four. OK, now for some Briar Rose news. I will be taking my final Briar Rose orders by the end of next week before I take my maternity leave (This includes Easter shirts). Then Briar Rose will be going through some changes. I have recently taken a position as the Creative Director of White House Monogramming and in doing so, we are combining the two brands for a one stop monogramming shop. We wanted to make it easy for our customers to purchase adorable items for their kids and great personalized things for themselves. 

And as Creative Director, I've enlisted the help of branding specialist Megan Martin to help revamp our site and get you guys excited about all the great changes coming! I am so excited about whats to come, and I just know you will be too. 

{Monogrammed shirt/bloomer set}

{the envelope clutch}

Five. The biggest update is probably the scariest. I am taking a major leap of faith coming this Fall and I will be teaching a women's bible study! Oh, i'm so nervous. The fear is getting to me, not only of putting myself out there, but also of the skepticism. "I have so many issues, am I really qualified to lead other women?" But thankfully, I am not doing this alone. God will be with me every step of the way, and I hope not only to lead but learn as well from these other women. My prayer is that we can all grow together and see what wonderful things God is doing in all of our lives. Thankfully, our church has a four month training before we begin that I am very much looking forward to, which will begin, yes, right at the same time I am having a baby. I know I am crazy. but with God all things are possible.