This past month sure has been a BIG one for our little family!! Started out the month celebrating sweet little Judson’s second birthday… and ended the month officially closing on our FARM!
We are truly in awe of the Lord’s goodness, kindness, and faithfulness to our family… and will never stop praising Him for His marvelous wonders and ways of leading us to our farm sweet farm!
Wes and I have dreamed of having our very own land and farm since before we got married… and it has been so beautiful to see the Lord so perfectly guide and order our steps to exactly where He wanted us to be!
He truly is the great Provider… and we know that this land is straight from Him – truly a gift from God (like the country song)!
We are excited and expectant for all that lies in store ahead!!
Every single month since Judson was born, it has been such a joy getting to share and blog about all of our adventures and sweet memories along the way!!
Technically, Judson is 25 months old today (haha!) –
but I’m planning to continue blogging once a month as a way to keep lots of our photos and keepsake words in one place… so here we go!!
We started out this month celebrating Judson’s birthday down at the beach
for Memorial Day Weekend,
we built flower beds
and planted a vegetable garden,
Wes built a chicken coop for our “chick chicks,”
Judson had a wonderful 2-year-old doctor’s visit,
we took another short weekend trip to the beach
(a little early birthday celebration for mama!),
was sooo celebrated by my sweet boys and friends
for my 29th birthday,
took Judson to the Riverbanks Zoo,
celebrated Wes (best “Dada” ever!) on Father’s Day,
and rounded out the month getting to finally share our super exciting news…
We officially CLOSED on our dream 15 acre rolling pastures farm!! We have been praying and looking for our perfect piece of land for years now, and after selling our beloved fixer upper home (that we truly poured our heart and soul into over the years!) and moving up here (by faith!) to my great grandparents’ old farmhouse for this season…
God truly swung open the door and guided us right to these 15 acres in the Chesnee/Inman area. He is just so good… and this whole story has been such a beautiful picture of HIS perfect timing, faithfulness, and keeping of His promises… like He always does!! Our “farm” is truly everything we prayed for and more… and we could not be more humbled, grateful, or excited for what Jesus has in store for our family on this land in the years upon years to come!! All glory to Him!
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” // Ephesians 3:20-21
…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 and remember forever!!
We started out this past month celebrating our sweet baby Judson’s 2nd birthday!!!
Goodness gracious, we love you, sweet Judson!! Happy happy second birthday!! Nothing cuter than waking up at the beach to balloons and a birthday banner hehe!! #birthdaytraditions
We ventured out onto the beach while there was a break in the rain!
It was such a relaxing little weekend and our beach baby loves the sand and sea more than anything in the world- pure JOY with our forever beach baby!!
And the cozy cuddly weather called for introducing Judson to “Finding Nemo” in honor of his birthday down at the beach - and he was a big fan!!
2 years ago, at 4:19 PM, I met you, my sweet baby boy!! And ever since that moment, you have always been the snuggliest little angel baby - and you still are to this day! I was soaking in allllll the nap time snuggles with you on your birthday, my cuddle bug!!!!
Another little tradition of ours is going on a date to celebrate another year of being parents! I love raising our baby boy with you, Wes!! #2yearsofparenthood
And fun fact: we came to this exact same restaurant on the marsh last year on Judson’s birthday… so I guess it’s a new tradition too haha! Oh and the live music was a blast - we were lovinggggg it!!!
And when we got back to the beach house after our “date night,” it was bathtime for Judson and Papaw had a special birthday gift for him - the famous “Sailor Dog” (golden books) story - a classic in the Carpenter family! it was really sweet how engaged he was with the story!! He sure does love his “Nana & Papaw!”
What a special special second birthday indeed!!! You are so loved, sweet baby boy!!! #sweetestbirthdayboyever #birthdayatthebeach
You truly are the sunshine of our lives, sweet Judson!!
And so much fun and so easy to celebrate!!!
Happy happy second birthday -
Oh, how Mama & Dada love you and your joyful self so!!! #birthdaytraditions #birthdayatthebeach #happysecondbirthday
You are pure JOY, my sweet beach baby!! Happy Memorial Day Weekend from our forever beach baby in his happy place!! #happymemorialweekend
As my mom said, I have truly NEVER seen a baby who LOVES the ocean as much as Judson - literally fearless and could play in the waves all day long!!!
Our water baby is in his most favorite place - bring on summerrrrr!!!! We are beach people around here!!
This sweet water baby is pure JOY - and these are the moments I never ever ever want to forget!!! You love water and sure do love LIFE, sweet sweet birthday boy!!
And that afternoon, Wes and I went on a second day date in 2 days… who are we, Wes?!? I used to always run this bridge and pray for my future husband, and man, what a full circle moment getting to bring him back here!
God is just so so good!!!! And boy oh boy, are we excited for ALL that Jesus has ahead back home!! Love love love chasing dreams with you, baby!
Then had such a fun time this afternoon at Aunt Linda & Uncle Rusty’s (dear longtime family friends of ours) beach house celebrating the two birthday boys -
Judson just turning TWO, and Quint turning THREE in a couple of days!! Birthday cake, icecream, and all the best things in life!!
Beach days are the very best days - rain or shine -
and this little beach baby lovessss building sandcastles with “Dada”!! #memorialdayweekend #memorialdayweekendbeachtrip
American made and bornnnn in the USA - sooo very fitting that our sweet all-American, baseball ⚾️, tractors 🚜, and outdoors loving baby boy was born on Memorial Day Weekend!! Such a sweet and special weekend celebrating both my baby boy’s second birthday and the freedom of life we get to live today & everyday because of our country’s heroes!! Land of the free because of the brave!! And we love that we get to celebrate Judson’s birthday down at the beach every year - because it truly is his happiest place of all (rain or shine!!)… in the sand and sea!!
Click here to watch the sweetest little recap video I put together of our Memorial Day Weekend!!
And that weekend also marked our sweet Red’s 4th birthday, and man,
it feels like just yesterday that we picked him up at the sweetest little farm and took him home with us!! He truly is the BEST BOY and our pride and joy - our “fur”-st born, hehe!! Red, you are the most perfect puppy dog in the whole wide world and have brought us so much JOY from day one,
when you somehow ended up sleeping in the bed with us as a puppy… and have ever since lol!!
My angel pup!!
Not to mention, it is only fitting that we brought your baby brother Judson home from the hospital on your second birthday (just 2 days after his!),
and that y’all have been thick as thieves ever since!!! You have taken your “big brother” role very seriously, and you take such good care of your little Judson!!
Happy happy birthday, Red man!! Oh how we love you SO!! #judsonandred #fouryearoldpuppy #bestbuddies #twoyearstwodaysapart #happybirthdaypup #almostbirthdaytwins #birthdaybuddies #bestfriends #bestbuds #puppybabylove #youvegotafriendinme
Click here to watch an adorable little video I put together of some of my favorite #judsonandred memories over the last 2 years!!
And some adorable Red puppy pictures, too!
“You ain’t got a thing on me, cuz I got friends with tractorsssss” - cue Rodney Atkins hehe -
Happy JUNE and Happy Summertime, y’all!! #happyfirstdayofjune
Every single day, we water the flowers outside (Judson’s favorite part of the day) and he is always mesmerized watching all of the tractors go by… well yesterday…
the kind tractor workers asked Judson if he wanted to go sit in the tractor… and his whole day was MADE y’all!!
My tractor loving boy - sitting on the biggest tractor yet! His dream come true!!! It’s good to have “friends with tractors” for this tractor-obsessed baby boy!! #corememory #tractorlove
But really, May was such a fun month - celebrating Judson’s second birthday down at the beach (#goodtimes !!)
and coming back home to round out the month of May
with lots of cooking,
country mountain air strolls,
and exploring outside!!
This sweet sweeeeeet little town holds some of my dearest memories growing up with my Mamaw & Papaw living right downtown… and now (for this season) I get to walk and get coffee with my OWN baby boy and stroll these exact same streets and views almost every day! God is just too good and I love when He brings things full circle - because that’s just who He IS!!
Also, June just so happens to be my birthday month and this sunshine girlie sure is happy happy happy for the sunshine and good weather!!!
So happy JUNE from my little outdoor (ALWAYS) loving country boy - here’s how we will be spending our summertime hehe - outside watering flowers, watching tractors, and soaking in alllll the summer sunshine and fun!!
Here’s to summertime y’all - the best time of year!!! #happyjune #happysummertime
One last #birthdaytradition to celebrate our sweet blue-eyed birthday baby bear!! Judson had the sweetest time making his 2-year-old “birthday bear” bestie up in Asheville at the Build-a-Bear workshop -
and these are the most precious moments I don’t ever want to forget!!
#thesearethedays #birthdaybear #buildabearworkshop #fridayfunday #fridayfamday #thesearethemoments #whatdreamsaremadeof #purejoy #teddybearsweetness
Click here to watch a sweet little video clip of our Build-A-Bear trip!
“Buy dirt….”
“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” // Colossians2:7
One of our #saturdayprojects was building a planter and planting our own little backyard vegetable garden here at the old family farmhouse -
and boy oh boy, did we have fun (& get super dirty hehe)!!
Little Judson sure did have a ball helping Mama and Dada prep the soil and water the new plants!!
What a sweet lil’ day and memory for our fam, especially as we were looking forward to some happy happy things God had in store ahead for our family in closing on our land soon!! #buydirt #saturdaygardening #backyardgarden #vegetablegarden #vegetablegardening
Click here to see a little video reel I put together or us planting our vegetable garden – so much fun!!
“Hallelujah, Amen… Heaven blessed this life I live!”
One of the very first things Wes and I said we wanted to do when we moved out here to my great grandparents’ old farmhouse (for this season!!) was get chickens… and boy oh boy, it has brought us so much JOY already!! Judson has loved getting to take care of his “chick chicks” and we have had so much fun watching them grow!! #raisingchickens #countryliving
The chicken coop is all finished (Wes even found some rustic barn scrap metal on FB marketplace for the roof that we went and got up at a farm in Tryon) - and these are some happy happy chickens!!!! Oh how we love these little ladies so!!! #chickencoop
Sweet Wes built this chicken coop by hand y’all… who is this man of all trades (literally) and how in the world did I deserve to marry him?! - JESUS #loveyouboo #handmadechickencoop
And someone sure was happy to see his “chick chicks” in their new home when he got up from his Sunday nap!!
Click here to see our chicken coop that Wes built by hand,
and some sweet memories of making it all happen!!
Thank you, Lord, for your continued blessings upon blessings to our little family - and for this one beautiful life you have given us to steward and live to to the fullest!! Here’s to abundant country living with my sweet sweet boys - my whole world!! I sure do love this little life we are building together!!
Judson had a perfect 2-year old check-up this month, and we truly couldn’t be more thankful for our happy and healthy baby boy!!!
We adore our pediatrician (he truly feels like family) and how much he loves and cares for our little Judson (He even prayed with our family while we were there… I mean, what a gift)!! #twoyearoldcheckup
Our wonderful doctor said that Judson is extremely healthy, strong, and right on track in growth and development! And said his speech was excellent too!! Go Judson go! We are so proud of our healthy and strong boy and the blessing of light, love, laughter, fun, and joy he is to us and so many!! Oh how we love you, sweet baby boy - our pride and joy!!! We love watching you grow big and strong and pray we can raise you up mighty in the Lord!! #blessingsonblessings
After his check-up, Judson and I ran some Emily Mabry Creative errands,
got an iced latte at Little River while on that side of town, and then came home to check on our vegetable garden and “chick chicks” and had some nap time snuggles -
these truly are the days and I am so thankful for this life with our sweet boy!! Thank you, Lord!! #lovethislife #thankyoulord
Sweettttttttt summertime!!!
Goodness gracious I love this sweet simple little country #lifelately with my boys -
living the life I always dreamed of!!
Beach days are the very best days!!
Feeling blessed and thankful beyond words for the sweetest little *early* birthday weekend getaway down at the beach with my best boys!!! #birthdaybeachtrip #blessedwiththebest #birthdayweekendgetaway #beachmemories
Sand, salt, and sea = our happy place!!
Forever making sweet memories with our forever beach baby -
soaking up the sunshine,
building sand castles,
chasing the waves, eating sandwiches on the beach,
swimming in the pool, and those post-beach day snuggles -
truly nothing better!! #beachdaysarethebestdays #ourforeverbeachbaby
Fully convinced there is nothing more heavenly than a sleepy, snuggly baby boy on your chest and your toes in the sand!! #lifeisgood #vitaminsea #heavenonearth #godsgreatestgifts #beachsnuggles #beachsnugglesarethebest
Click here to see a sweet memory of my favorite beach snuggles!!
Truly blessed beyond measure with these sweet gifts of mine!! #summerlovin #mygreatestgifts
Oh, how we love the beach life!!
We played on the beach alllll afternoon until supper - and someone was happy as a clam -
and even found his very first shark tooth (with “Dada’s” help hehe)!!
And then we got dressed up to go take some evening pics on the beach and out to dinner at our favorite local spot – Snooky’s Waterfront!
And then our next beach day was filled with beach sandwiches,
beach naps,
and snuggles,
making new friends on the beach (Judson played allllll day long with this precious little girl - who kept calling him “her baby” and it was the most adorable little friendship),
and then an icecream stop before getting on the road -
summer time is officially HERE
and life is goodddddd -
everything in life is truly just better on the beach y’all!!
Thank you, Lord for joy-filled and precious beach days full of beautiful weather and sweet sweet times with my boys!!
I am so grateful for this sweet little beach weekend getaway to celebrate my birthday coming up the week ahead - thanks for planning such a sweet trip for us, Wes - love you!!
“There’s no place that
I’d rather be
Two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn’t trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise”
Thanking and praising Jesus for His GOODNESS in allowing us to have such a sweet little restful weekend getaway to celebrate my birthday coming up this week!! Nothing more I could ask for than the gift of being loved by my sweet boys, chasing the dream Jesus has laid on our hearts (celebrating and looking forward to lots of exciting things ahead for our little family hehe), and soaking in God’s beautiful Creation with the sunshine by the sea - been my “happy place” since I was a little girl, and now is Judson’s too hehe - our little forever beach baby!! Sweet sweet memories to start off the summertime, and we can’t wait to keep making them all summer long!!
Click here to watch a little recap video from my #birthdayweekendgetaway down at the beach!
What a day !!! My sweet bestie, Kristen, and her sweet little Brewer came and visited us in our neck of the woods on my “birthday eve” morning to celebrate my birthday the next day - full of a park play date,
a splash pad visit,
and then we ended our little play date with a trip to Smith’s Drugs in downtown forest city -
and even treated the baby boys to some icecream -
they were some happy happy campers!!
Thank you for the the thoughtful gifts, sweet Kristen,
and for coming up to visit and just being such a great friend!! I love you!!! #birthdayeve #birthdayevefun
Life lately truly has been full of so many sweet little country moments around here!!
One day, the kind tractor worker next door came over and gave us some hay to spread out on our garden!
Small town living at it’s finest - and we are thankful for all of these sweet people we’re meeting while we live here for this season as we prepare for some exciting things ahead for our fam!! God is so good and I am truly so thankful for his many blessings - in my sweet family, wonderful friendships, and slow and simple country living these days!! #birthdayeveblessings #gratefulheart
Just wait…. It only gets better!!! #birthdayeve #babyssecondyear
Been working on this sweet little video compilation (click here to watch it!!) for Judson’s second year of life, and I find it so very fitting that it finally came together on my own #birthdayeve - as my sweet baby Judson will forever my greatest birthday gift of all!! He was born just 2 short weeks before my own birthday, so we really get to share in all the celebrations!! I was 26 when I had him, and now he has just turned 2… so gosh, it is such a gift getting to grow up together, hehe!! I love being his mommy more than anything in the world… and truly feel like it is what God put me on this earth to do!! #giftsfromgod #mommylife
From getting to nurse you these past 2 years, to watching you learn to walk and then run (!!), to experiencing your very first trip to Disney world, seeing your love for animals continue to grow as you take care of Red and your “chick chicks” (and love any farm animal you see), your love for tractors and all things farm life, seeing your immense love and joy for the beach, your love for baseball and being outside 24/7, and so much more… it truly does somehow just keep getting better and better!!
Oh, what JOY and laughter you have brought to our lives, sweet baby boy, and we are savoring and cherishing these precious memories that will last a lifetime!! You are such a light and full of all things good, strong, and kind - and boy oh boy, such a mama’s boy (forever cuddle bug) and sweet as sugar!! We are SO excited for all of the dreams and adventures Jesus has in store ahead for our family and pray that you will forever know how loved you are by “Mama & Dada,” but most importantly, by your Heavenly Father!! #youareloved #whatayear #itonlygetsbetter
And click here to watch another birthday video reel I put together of some of my very favorite memories from year 28 – happy memories indeed!!
Truly blessed beyond measure with this beautiful life and dream we are building together with our baby boy, Wes!! Here’s to another wonderful year with my sweet boys!! #blessedbeyondmeasure #birthdayblessings
This past year of 28 has been full of so much JOY and so many adventures with my boys -
and I can only begin to imagine what the Lord has in store for year 29 ahead!!
My sweet little Judson’s birthday is just 2 weeks before mine, so it is such a gift getting to celebrate together this time of year!! #mygreatestgift #hello29
This year, we saw our baby boy learn how to walk and run,
I graduated with my master’s degree,
we sold our first little fixer upper home (that we poured our heart and soul into),
and moved to the sweetest little old family farmhouse for this season as we prepared for some super exciting things God has ahead!! #birthdayreflections
God has continued to be so abundantly faithful to our family - and I just feel so blessed - on my birthday, and every single day of the year!! Thank you, Lord, for your blessings upon blessings and your goodness!!
I love being “Mama” more than anything in the whole world, and thank God every single day for this indescribable gift and dream come true!!
“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.” // Psalms 9:1-2
“But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love. I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people.” // Psalms 52:8-9
“I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.” // Psalms 13:6
Thanking Jesus for the gift of being loved by my sweet sweet country boys, and for the absolute most special birthday yet!!
Started off the day with baby boy sleeping in (best birthday gift ever!),
my sweet hubby had birthday cards (from both of my boys), flowers, a sweet gift of perfume (I’ve been eyeing forever!), & my favorite Chick-fil-A breakfast for me when I woke up -
and a sunrise to watch
while I ate breakfast out on the back steps with Wes!
Then went on a little walk overlooking the mountains - this sweet little town is full of so much beauty and we are soaking it in for this season!!
My kind of country heaven up here!!
What a gift this life is!!
But the sweetest gift of ALL is that my sweet little Judson kept telling me “I love you” all day long - best birthday present EVER!
And goodness gracious, this little snuggle bug sure does give the best birthday nap time snuggles - nothing better in the whole wide world!!
Being a mommy will forever be my favorite gift!
And my sweet and handsome hubby got dressed in a suit and took me out for a fancy birthday dinner
at The Piedmont Club !!
What a treat and gosh, what a yummy steak dinner and icecream sundae for dessert!!
And little Judson was having him some FUN over at Papa Jack & RaRa’s farm while mommy and daddy had a date night!!
And ended the most perfect day with a gorgeous sunset on our drive back to our sweet little town!!
Truly the sweetest birthday yet -
here’s to another year of loving my boys and thanking Jesus every single day for His GOODNESS to us! #birthdayblessings #sweetestbirthdayyet
And click here to watch a fun recap video of my birthday – the sweetest one yet!!
My birthday was filled with all of my favorite things - flowers upon flowers, bubbles (little J hehe), ice cream, sweet cards, a gorgeous mountain view sunrise and sunset, lots of time outside in this beautiful summer weather, a fancy dinner with my honey,
sweet Judson snuggles and “i love yous,” beautiful country walks,
slow front porch reading time, and so much more - and my cup truly overflows!
Life is a GIFT and the Giver is good!! #themostperfectbirthday #sweetestbirthdayyet #birthdaymemories #dayslikethese #birthdayjoy #birthdayrecap #birthdayblessings #hello29
Zoo-La-La!! we could not have had a more ZOO-tactic time at the Riverbanksn Zoo the other weekend!!! Truly, had the time of our lives! #zoodayfunday
Judson was gifted zoo tickets by our dear friend Alexandra (sooo thoughtful and sweet!) for his birthday,
