Our 2017 Camera Roll

In 2017…

We celebrated big.

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We added to our family by eight hooves and four paws

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 We learned the simple moments are often the best, and leave our heart the most fulfilled.

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We slowed down and caught a lot of amazing sunsets.

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We learned our greatest gift is the time spent with each other.

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We celebrated five  wonderful years of marriage, and learned some days its not about the fairytale you imagined, but more about showing up and never giving up.

We learned the value of old friends, the importance of our parents, neighbors that turn into family, the value of picking up the phone to chat, and the significance of surrounding yourself with positive, loving, inspiring people.

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We learned to not take each other for granted and after the biggest storms come the most beautiful sunrises.

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We received the answer to our prayers.

2017 tested our strength, taught us lessons in patience, humility, grace, thankfulness, self care,  fulfillment and love. 2017 you were a year of growth and for that we couldn’t be more thankful. Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy New Year, cheers!

 

Christmas 2017

Hi, it’s been awhile forever since I posted, last Christmas to be exact. I’ll get into that later, but for now I wanted to pop on here and share our Christmas. Anyone that knows me knows Christmas is my jam. There was actually a line in our wedding vows written about it–it’s that serious. Haha. This year really took the cake (I say that every year, but seriously this one was SO good). Avery was into every single detail of celebrating the holidays, so my heart was definitely doing a little happy dance.

We kicked off our long holiday weekend with camping out under the tree and watching as many holiday movies as we could before we drifted to sleep. This has to be one of my most favorite memories from Christmas this year– watching Avery’s excitement is something I will never forget.

Every year on Christmas Eve Eve we have a margaritas, Mexican and a movie night. This has been a fun tradition to start. We are fully anticipating the traditional holiday dinners to follow in the next few days, so this is a nice way to mix it up, and it makes wrapping those last minute packages a little more fun!

On Christmas Eve morning I woke up and started sprucing up our fresh pine garlands in preparation for the big guy’s arrival ;). As I was finishing the table garland Avery squeezed my legs and said, “Thank you mama for making our house so beautiful.” I think my heart burst into a million pieces in that moment. My parents made the holidays so magical for me growing up, and I hope that my children will look back and feel the same.

We always travel to my mom’s house for a small Christmas Eve party then it’s back home to play Santa. 

We came home to high winds and snow pouring down so you can imagine Doug’s excitement when he had to go on a 2am battery run to the one store open on Christmas Eve. We couldn’t have any sad children on Christmas morning, ya know ;). Next year I’ll check allll the toys, whoops!

Christmas morning left my heart feeling so incredibly full. Avery’s excitement, snow coming down, a fire burning, while one of my favorite movies, A Christmas Story, played in the background–these are the good old days, y’all.

 Hope each and every one of you had a very Merry Christmas!

 kidspajamas//velvetrecordplayer//microphone// Jackson’sactivitychair//myvelvetskirt//mycardigan// pillowsandthrows

Christmas 2016

The days between Christmas and New Year’s always seem so bittersweet. Its hard to believe another Christmas has came and went so quickly, but I’m looking forward to a fresh start in the New Year. This Christmas has definitely been one for the books. This is the first year that Avery has been totally entranced in the holiday season. There is no better feeling then watching the magic unfold through her eyes. I can honestly say Christmas as a kid is exciting, but Christmas as a parent takes the cake;).

 Traditions are such a huge part of the Christmas season for us, our parents started many we continue to do with our family, and we have created a few of our own. On Christmas Eve Eve we have our annual Mexican food night complete with burritos, guac, and some type of festive margarita. This year I made these Cranberry Orange Margarita’s. They we’re SO yummy despite picking up the wrong cranberry juice in my third fourth mad dash through the insanely crowded grocery store that day.

  On Christmas Eve we always go to my parent’s house for a little Christmas Eve party with my family, and then the best part–we get to come home and play Santa.

Avery’s reaction coming into the family room Christmas morning did not disappoint. Her face lit up as she came down the hallway,  and she said “Oh my gosh,” at least a thousands times–which was pretty much the cutest thing ever. Although we didn’t have too many wrapped gifts, it took her at least three hours to open the few wrapped packages. It was the slowest process ever, and we ended up having to make her open the rest for the sake of leaving the house that day.;)

Santa even remembered the fourth and fifth members of our family Bear, our Golden Retriever, and Doc, our miniature pony.

 

After the gifts were finally opened and thoroughly played with, we had an amazing overnight blueberry french toast casserole. I tweaked the recipe slightly using a different type of bread and regular syrup rather than maple because I had it on hand. It was a huge hit and I can definitely say I’ll be making it again. I also saw this overnight eggnog French toast recipe as I was browsing Pinterest and would love to try it next year for Christmas morning!


We had a full, busy, and a some points crazy afternoon that lasted into late evening. Although the hustle and bustle of the weekend was a bit exhausting at times, it was the most perfect Christmas weekend. We are so blessed that our lives are filled with laughter, love, and most importantly friends and family. We’re so thankful for each one of you that have enriched our lives this year. We are better people for knowing you. Merriest Christmas from the Fox’s.

my shoes//my dress//Avery’s shoes//Avery’s bow//Avery’s stripped shirt//doll bed//knit reindeer dolls//pottery barn kitchen//velvet bowling bag//doll bed knit blanket//most of the princess dresses

Holiday Home Tour

As we’re winding down to the finale of the holiday season I wanted to share a little bit of our home. Building and moving into our home has been anything but easy, and one giant lesson in patience, but that’s more for another day ;).  We are no strangers to renovation and DIY projects and my mind is filled with whats next, much to Doug’s dismay—haha! We finally feel like all our “we’ll finish it ourselves” projects for the sake of moving in are coming together. After many months,  a lot of hard work, and a few tears it’s feeling like home just in time for the holiday’s.

We knew one of the first areas of the house we wanted to make “us” was the family room. Avery is at the perfect age where everything is so magical to her.  I wanted our home to feel bright, airy, whimsy, and most importantly cozy to not only her but to everyone that visits.

When we moved in we brought no furniture with us. We have always lived in a pretty small apartment or house, and all of our furniture were hand-me-downs from our parents. We took an anniversary trip to Pittsburgh and were browsing a few furniture stores when we both fell in love with this couch. It was our first “big kid” purchase after eight years together, and we couldn’t be happier with it. I’m forever changing out the pillows, but I love the coziness a full couch adds to the room especially at Christmas time.

One of my absolute favorite spaces in our house is the under the stair nook we have for Avery. I was pretty weary about having kid’s toys in the entry way, and originally decided against it, but my grandpa made Avery a doll house last Christmas and I couldn’t imagine a more special thing to see when I walk in the door. She also has a playroom upstairs where the majority of the toys go—aka the disaster zone. Don’t mind that I still haven’t finished the inside of the house a year later, its on the to do list. 😉

 

The kitchen is a room we spend so much time in. I often find whenever we have guests, everyone is standing around the island. When we were building I knew I wanted a huge island just for this reason. We also spend many Saturday’s together making breakfast as Avery sits on the island helping—thats just what I had envisioned for this space. Doug made the floating shelves from old lumber his dad had, and I love how it adds a rustic element. We hope to do a few more things in here, but like I said that’s for another day. 😉

 

Every change of season or occasion I like to do something fun on our bar cart. Since we still haven’t got our dining room table, I live vicariously through the tiny bar cart in our dining room and imagine all the fun tablescapes for the future!

 

The most fun area to decorate is always Avery’s room. I wish I could say it was used, but lets be honest I’m a pushover:). We plan to make a real effort to get Avery sleeping in her room after the holiday’s so any tips are welcomed and very much appreciated! I won a gift card  to Chasing Paper NYC/Paper Raven Co. during a Free Babes collaboration giveaway shortly after we moved in. I knew exactly what paper I had to have. I still have few finishing touches to complete in her room, but I plan to make a post specifically for that later. 🙂

I hope you have enjoyed the tiny glimpse into our home. Wishing you the happiest holidays filled with magic and memories, and a few cranberry margarita’s–or maybe thats just me. 😉

Family Room: wool ball garlands//knit throw on couch//lumbar pillow//Rug//table runner

Avery’s room: knit throw//wallpaper//mermaid//jenny lind bed

Avery’s nook: faux fur pelt//area rug//doll house animals and furniture

Christmas Pictures

It’s hard to believe this weekend is Christmas–hopefully you aren’t as behind as me;). The month of December always seems to fly by for us between Avery’s birthday and all the Christmas activities. Secretly I love staying busy, but I can honestly say this year I’m ready for the slow down January has to offer. Among the craziness this year we slipped off to meet with some of the most talented and sweetest people ever—Joseph and Andrea of Connection Photography. We’ve been with them since we were engaged, and they have captured our last five years as a newlywed couple to a growing family beautifully. If you want to see a whole lot of gorgeous photos, head on over to their site! Meanwhile, enjoy!:)

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Avery’s shoes//Avery’s bow//Avery’s hat//velvet dress//pink coat//

Avery Turns Three

Hi all! Its been awhile forever since I’ve posted here. I don’t know how often I will, or even if it will be regularly, but there is definitely a few things in our life lately that I wanted to share with all my lovely friends, and I thought there was no better way than posting here:).

Over the weekend we hosted Avery’s third birthday– a carnival party. When I asked her what type of party she wanted, I was pleasantly surprised it  wasn’t a character party, which I had pretty much banked on (insert eye roll–haha!). This fall we had taken her to our town’s Forest Festival, which was complete with all the carnival rides her little heart desired. She actually thought we were at Disney World, so we’ll just let her go with that for a little while longer ;).

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When she requested the carnival party, I’m 90% sure she thought we would be renting carnival rides. Although we didn’t quite pull through in that department, we tried to fulfill her second request–“Balloons, lots of balloons”.  I didn’t do much decor besides the balloon garland because it made such a huge impact, but I did do a couple floral arrangements–my former flower shop owner heart can’t help itself! haha! Sorry Doug!

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I tried to make it as authentic of being at the carnival, so our menu was complete with with all that yummy fried goodness;). We enjoyed soft pretzels, popcorn, homemade corndogs, pulled pork sliders, baskets of fries, candy apples, mini bundt cakes, pies, and SO much cake! I also did pre-poured lemonade in disposable cups which was so nice for the kiddos.

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The day was perfect, surrounded by family and friends that mean so very much to us all! Avery’s laugh and excitement was absolutely contagious–I call that a win in my book. This is the first year she’s really been into the idea of a birthday party, and it was so magical to watch!

  I couldn’t have pulled it together without the help of my parents, husband, and some wonderful truly amazing friends. Another year has passed watching our girl grow, and we’re feeling more blessed than ever. Happiest Birthday my sweet girl, I hope your year is filled with magic, adventures, and as many kitchen dance parties as possible. We love you!! xo.

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