Blogging every month about family life and our sweet Judson has become one of my very favorite ways to reflect and bottle up precious memories and photos from such sweet milestones and days!!
“You have filled my heart with greater joy.” // Psalm 4:7
With that being said, today marks 13 months with our sweet Judson,
and it truly does just keep on getting sweeter and sweeter.
He is an absolute joy bomb and constantly keeps us smiling with his precious and fun personality – that is coming out more and more each day!
He truly just LOVES life and has this light and joy about him that is absolutely contagious…
we just can’t get enough of him!!
I am savoring these precious moments with our sweet little boy –
and this age is SUCH a sweet spot!!
He is so curious, silly,
loving, cuddly,
and loves to be outside. His favorite thing right now is riding in his little blue car (he knows the word “car” and points outside every time he is ready to go!),
waving at any and everyone with his “signature Judson wave,”
blow kisses now,
love on his teddy bear,
(click here to watch the sweetest video of Judson with his "Buddy" bear)
Judson is a summer baby through and through – and always wants to go play out in the backyard or be exploring with mommy and daddy out in nature!
This past month, we got to celebrate Judson’s (actual) birthday down at the beach –
our happy place (and we just arrived back at the beach last night for vacation leading up to July 4th- woohoooo!!!) –
and had the best time soaking in the sun and celebrating the very best year of our lives… becoming parents to our angel baby boy!!
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” // James 1:17
I loved getting to reflect on all of the precious memories of Judson – with month-by-month photos,
sweet video memories (click here to watch!!) encapsulating precious moments, and some of my very favorite moments of Judson with his puppy bestie, Red (whose birthday was just 2 days after Judson’s – which is totally fitting because these two are inseparable and the best of friends) - click here to watch!!
When we got back from the beach, we took Judson to the Build-a-Bear Workshop to make his birthday bear (who he is obsessed with now – and it is the most precious thing ever!), attended a beautiful wedding, had Judson’s one-year-old check-up, went to visit my family up in Charlotte, celebrated my birthday both with sweet friends and with a precious family picnic at the park (my sweetest and most favorite birthday yet!), celebrated Father’s Day and the wonderful daddy that Wes is, and have been soaking in all kinds of sweet summer memories and summer nights!!
I could not be more grateful for this simple and sweet life with my boys and feel like the luckiest girl in the world! So excited to start this next month off down here at the beach – our happy place!
…Now onto a little more detail on this past month and some sweet memories we have been soaking in and that I want to bottle up forever!!
First off, we got to celebrate Judson’s (actual) birthday down at the beach
(after having his birthday party early -
the weekend before)!
You are ONE, and it has truly been the absolute best and most abundant year of our lives with you!
I have known you were special since the moment I found out I was pregnant with you,
and I will never ever forget listening to worship music in the hospital room and the lyrics to the songs of both “Jireh” by Maverick City and “The Blessing” by Kari Job speaking so powerfully to our hearts!!!
You truly are our greatest blessing of peace -
a gift straight from the Lord -
and being your parents has been sweeter than we could ever ask, think, or imagine!
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” // Ephesians 3:20-21
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” // Numbers 6:24-26
We are so excited to see the Lord’s plans for your life unfold and know that you will continue to shine such a bright light of love and JOY into this world -
like you have to us already in just one short year!!
You are strong, sweet, happy, gentle, curious, and kind - and we love you more than you will ever know and thank Jesus every single day that we get the privilege of getting to be your mommy and daddy!!
Here’s to one whole year of life, and all the wonderful adventures yet to come!! Since the moment they layed you on my chest, I have loved getting to snuggle, nurse, rock, and love on you every second of every day!! Being your mommy is the greatest thing that ever happened to me and the joy of my life!!
It truly does just keep on getting better and better, and we were so happy to be down at the beach to celebrate your very first birthday!! #babysfirstbirthday
PS. Go and check out Judson’s one-year-old blog post over at https://www.emilymabrycreative.com/post/one-whole-year-of-sweet-baby-judson
where I share all about his birthday month and getting to celebrate our sweet birthday boy!!
And no better place to celebrate our sweet baby boy’s first birthday than at our “happy place” down at the beach (where we are actually back now as we speak)!! The sweetest day full of birthday balloons, barefoot porch time in the rocking chairs, rainy day snuggles, cupcake eating, playing, and a little beach “date night” (thanks to “Nana and Papaw” Carpenter) for mommy and daddy to celebrate one whole year of being parents!! #babysfirstbirthday
It was such a sweet time celebrating both Judson’s first birthday and Memorial Day Weekend down at the beach – our happy place!
Judson is truly the happiest little water baby!
These truly are the DAYS, y’all!!
Beach days are the best days - naps on mommy, watermelon on the beach, ocean time,
sand playing, pool time by the marsh, too, and all the good things in life!!
The sweetest beach memories with the sweetest boy!!
You are the most fun beach baby, sweet J, and we are loving the beach with you at this age!!
And there is truly nothing better than snuggles at sunrise and sunset with our little love!!
It was most definitely a Memorial Day Weekend well spent with our little beach bum -
who was living his very best life napping on our beach walks and covered in sand - happy as a clam!!
And one of my favorite memories was when our sweet beach baby fell asleep in “Dada’s” arms as soon as we started walking on the beach -
and this will forever be one of the sweetest moments of my entire life!!
And then spent the rest of Memorial Day playing his little heart out in the sand and water - his “happy place!” (Click here to see a recap video I put together)!! We have never seen a baby who loves the beach and ocean life as much as sweet Judson!! #beachbaby #waterbaby #happymemorialday
Judson had the very best time making his “birthday bear” best friend named “Buddy”
at the Build-a-Bear workshop after we got back home from the beach!
We got to attend a beautiful wedding for some friends from church
and it was such a sweet night with these handsome forever wedding dates of mine!!
Feeling all kinds of grateful for all the summertime fun with our little summer love!
From water table fun, to getting soaked in summer rainstorms,
to Judson’s very first trip to Build-A-Bear (& he now takes his little bear “Buddy” with him on our walks
to all the walks in his little blue car, we sure are #soakingitup!!
Sweet boy had his one-year-old checkup earlier this month and we couldn’t be prouder of our strong and healthy little Judson -
who was so BRAVE for all of his shots!!
Praising Jesus for another healthy report and all of the blessings and JOY this little life has brought to us this past year!!
Sweet baby boy was worn out from the visit and fell asleep on mommy and daddy as soon as we left the doctor’s office,
and this mama bear was soaking in all the snuggles! We sure do love you, Judson Carpenter Mabry!! #oneyearoldcheckup
We then spent the sweetest little weekend back home in Charlotte visiting my family
with our summer baby -
thankful for some pool time,
a date night to see the new Top Gun Movie (early bday surprise from Wes) thanks to “Nana & Papaw,”
Our neighbors have the yummiest blueberries that they let us pick every summer season -
And it's so fun getting to share this tradition with Judson now, too! He LOVES blueberries!!
Beep beep beep - two little best buddies coming through!!
The morning before my birthday was the SWEETEST little day date with my sweet friend, Kristen -
and even more precious that our two precious boys are becoming the best of friends (sharing their goldfish!!), too!
And “twinning” in their matching blue cars (and outfits lol - unintentionally!!), just like their mamas - we were quite the sight on the trail lol - and we got stopped a million times by people commenting on these two cuties!!
Kristen is such a sweet friend and so thoughtful planning a fun little day date to celebrate my birthday a day early! So thankful the Lord crossed our paths through becoming mommies to our angel baby boys (just 4.5 months apart)!! We love getting to do life with y’all and are so excited for all the precious memories to come!! #babyboybesties #earlybirthdaysurprise
And these sweet friends sure know how to make a girl feel loved on her “birthday eve,” too!! Loved getting to celebrate with a girl’s night for dinner with these three after getting some birthday eve snuggles from sweet Judson before I left!
Here’s to the very best year of my life yet… full of all of the joy and abundance in the gift of being a mommy to our sweet Judson! You’ll be in my heart, always, my sweet angel boy!!
Been working on this little video (click here to watch!!!) for quite a while - of all of the sweetest memories from sweet baby Judson’s very first year of life (since my birthday is just 2.5 weeks after his) - and decided to share it on my birthday… because being this precious boy’s parents has been the greatest birthday gift of all! And not to mention, this song “You’ll Be In My Heart” gives me all the feels - because it’s been “our song” since Judson was first born!! #youllbeinmyheart #babysfirstyear #firstyearofmotherhood
It was the sweetest birthday yet, thanks to the sweetest boys I get to call mine!
From breakfast in bed from the boys in the morning,
lunch at the Flock Shop,
sweet Judson snuggles, a surprise middays facial from Wes at the Spartanburg Salt Cave (heavenly!!)
and ending the day with a picnic in the park
(Judson loved seeing the real-life duckies hehe)
- I couldn’t possibly have dreamed up a sweeter day from start to finish!!
Thank you ALL for the birthday wishes, texts, iced coffees (my love language lol), and more! I am truly so humbled and blessed by the most wonderful family, friends, and community!!
This past year has been the very best one yet getting to be a mommy (my dream come true) to our sweet Judson, and I am just so excited to see what God has in store for the coming year ahead!!
Father’s Day weekend was full of lots of fun memories with my boys!!
Nothing better than making family memories and watching you be the best daddy to our sweet Judson, Wes!!
Happy Father’s Day to the best husband and daddy in the whole wide world!!
Judson is the luckiest baby boy getting to grow up watching and learning from you - the best husband, father, and pastor! (Click here to watch a sweet Father's Day video I put together for Wes!)
You are a godly servant leader in all that you say and do, and we sure are lucky to be loved and cared for by you!
You are the father to our sweet boy that I always dreamed and prayed for!! #happyfathersday
After spending Father's Day afternoon with Wes' parents and family, we had Father's Day dinner in the backyard - steak and potatoes, per request of "the boys," hehe!
And water table play fun after dinner, ofcourse!
And gosh, there is nothing like summer nights, y’all!!
Snowcones in the back of the pickup truck with the boys to ring in the first *official* day of summer, and life has never been sweeter!
Thankful for my “home” in these sweet boys
and all that these precious summer memories mean to me!
Soaking in every moment we get –
and treating them as the gifts from the Lord that they are!!
"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." // Psalm 118:24
And onto a little life update note… It’s been busy busy around here between celebrating Judson’s first birthday, keeping up with lots of super fun EMC graduation/future back-to-school and summertime orders, and finishing up my last internship to complete my master’s in counseling (for those of you who didn’t know!!) - but I wouldn’t trade it for anything!!
I’ve been thanking the Lord for his many blessings and pray that my business & “happy art” continues to be a blessing to many others!!!
"Every physical blessing is designed by God to be a sign that points you to the spiritual blessings that are found only in surrendering your heart to him." - New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp
Like I always say, I am simply a creative inspired by the true Creator. From the very very beginning of EMC, my heart has always been to help others see beauty and joy in creation that points us all back to our true Creator, God.Praying that these words resonate with y’all, too! What a good reminder for us all! All blessings here on earth are meant to draw us ever closer to our Heavenly Father - who wants us to surrender all that we have and all that we are to Him!
So grateful for what the Lord has entrusted me with - as a wife, a mommy, and a small business owner! All glory to God - the one behind, before, and present in and through it all!!
On the morning of my birthday, I couldn't help but reflect on what a sweet gift this EMC business is and has been over the past 3 years - and felt like this story from the day before would encompass a lot of that... Read below:
Over the past year or two, I have developed a very close relationship with the kind worker at the local post office - some of you may remember the story I shared back a couple of months ago when she was having a rough day and Judson’s smile completely made her day and brought her to tears of joy - let’s just say, she and Judson have a very special little friendship!! And just in the past couple of months, she has grown to develop a personal relationship with Jesus - and it has been such a gift getting to talk and walk with her through that and watch her grow in her faith!! A couple of weeks ago, she mentioned to me how much this verse spoke to and encouraged her -
“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘move’ and it will move.” // Matthew 17:20
So, I was able to surprise and bless her yesterday morning with a custom design (the one I shared above) I made for her with this powerful verse - one for her, and one for her coworker that she mentioned she was wanting to share her faith and this verse with, too!! And to say that she was grateful would be an extreme understatement - it truly is so much better to give than to receive - and I can’t even begin to put into words what a special joy it was to surprise her with this gift from the heart!! Anyhoo, I share all of this just to say - my whole heart - from the very very beginning - behind EMC has been to help others see beauty and joy in creation that all points us back closer to our true Creator, God! And this story truly encompasses all of that and brought me so much joy this birthday!
And in case you missed it over on Instagram, I wanted to help “spread the love” as we kicked off the *official* start to summer this past week… and right now I have an amazing EMC Sweet Summertime BOGO Sale that you don’t want to miss out on!
ALL of my popular EMC City/Town/School Place prints are buy one get one FREE – and I have extended the sale through the 4th of July – so get your BOGO Orders in while you still can! I’d LOVE to send some happy, bright, and joyful EMC art your way, too! Lots of sweet customers already stocking up for both back-to-school AND even Christmas ideas, and I think this is such a great idea!!
Like I mentioned earlier on in my post, while we are at the beach for vacation this week ahead, I will still be taking and receiving orders for the BOGO Sale! I am so grateful for y’all and all of the small business love and support – that truly means the WORLD to our family!!
Another special design I got to create was this Upstate Family Resource Center design for a sweet woman at our church! I pray that these designs bring lots of joy to those who receive them!!
If you haven’t already, head on over to @emilymabrycreative over on Instagram to see all the fun things I’ve been up to and my personal page @emilyjoannemabry to keep up with our little family! I’d love to have you following along, too!! And make sure to get your EMC Sweet Summertime BOGO Sale orders in while you still can, too!!
And for those of you who are new around here to the EMC Blog, you can also find me and “shop with me” over on the LIKEtoKNOW.it app. So, if you haven’t already, make sure to download the app and “follow” me there (I put instructions over on my LIKEtoKNOW.it story highlight over on my personal Instagram page @emilyjoannemabry) - where I’m sharing all my favorite lifestyle products, baby items (and cute clothes, of course!), mommy items, and finds!!
You can download the app and follow me here:
I have also added “links” in the captions below (and throughout this blog post!) where you can click and it will take you to be able to “shop” that specific photo & what you see!!
Now onto some more sweet photo memories over this past month with our sweet Judson… precious memories and moments that I hope and pray I will always remember!
Sweetly sleepin' away on his "birthday eve" on our way down to the beach!
Such a treat getting to celebrate Judson's (actual) first birthday at our "happy place!"
Rainy day morning barefoot porch hangin'!
Celebrating our sweet birthday boy on the beach!
So thankful for "Nana" and "Papaw!"
Nothing better than watermelon on the beach...
Beach showers...
And fun in the sun! We sure do have a water baby!!
Cutie little beach bum!
Always wanting to play in the ocean!
Sweet blue-eyed beach baby!
Beach walks with "Auntie MOJO!"
And came home to take a good ol' beach nap!!
Slow beach mornings with these two!
Sandy watermelon on the beach - and happy as a clam!
Sweetest memory when Judson fell asleep on "Dada" as we were walking down the beach!
Always hard to say goodbye, but so happy that we get to be back at the beach again this coming week leading up to the 4th of July! Woohoo!
Someone is excited to get back in the sand to play all day!!
We stopped at "Buc-ees" for the first time on the way home from the beach, and it did not disappoint! They even had dippin' dots - yum!!
These two were so happy to be reunited when we got back from the beach!
Very into using his own spoon these days - soo cute!!
My little sunshine each and every morning!
We definitely have a good little eater on our hands!!
Happiest outside - messy and dirty!! #boymomlife
Enjoying an afternoon summer rain storm on the back porch!
So sweet taking Judson to Build-a-Bear to make his "birthday bear!"
He LOVES his "Buddy" the bear and loves to hug on and love on him!
Summer water table fun!
My handsome wedding dates!!
Had so much fun at our sweet friend Tucker's first birthday party!
Jogging adventures with my little love!
What a cutie pie!
Always loving on his "Buddy" the bear - especially before and after naps!
Sweetest weekend back home visiting family in Charlotte!
And always so special getting to rock Judson in the old rocker at my parents' house - the sweetest memories!
Family walks on my childhood street!
And lots of fun, fun, fun in the pool!
Livin' for these summer pool days!
Having so much fun playing in his ballpit with Red!
So much fun walking with our friends Kristen and little Brewer - and these boys' matching blue cars was the cutest thing ever!
Birthday walk at the rail trail!
The sweetest birthday cards from BOTH of my boys, hehe!
The most wonderful time at our little picnic at at the park to celebrate my birthday!
Received a Sam's Club promo box in the mail - the best surprise!
Story time with "Dada!"
Pool day fun at Wes' parents' house!
Dinner with a view!
Getting to try mommy and daddy's smoothie!
After father's day dinner in the backyard, we had some water table fun!
My favorite morning view!
Can't get enough of you, cutie!
We love to be as messy as possible when we eat, hehe!
Loves to whip his walker alllll around the house - too cute!
Having so much fun waving at everyone on his jog with mama!
Blueberry pickin' with the boys!
Happy mornings with my good little eater!
Snuggles, giggles, and cuddles with my sweet boy!
Had so much fun filling out Judson's baby books - the sweetest memories!
Always wakes up so happy from his naps!
Thank you, Jesus, for blessing us with another month full of such an abundance of laughter, fun, and JOY with our sweet Judson! I am forever grateful for these precious days, moments, and memories – and never taking a single one for granted!
These truly are the days of our lives… and it just keeps on getting sweeter!