Celebrations

Noah Xavier turns ONE

Although a little late, our little boy turned one this past 19th of April. This year has been a year full of all sorts of emotions, adventures, and just plain out blessings. If anyone tells you that their first year with their baby is smooth, I may question that. There has been challenges along the way, but those challenges have taught us so much about ourselves, about each other and just about life. Even though there’s been moments of struggle, fear, exhaustion and much more, this year was one that we will never forget or regret. Our sweet boy has taught us more this year than we thought we could ever teach him. To describe the love we feel and have for him, is indescribable. From all his sweet laughs, smiles and coo’s here and there, we absolutely love each inch of him. As a mom, I can honestly say time is a thief. This year has flown by and although life gets busy, this past year I had to stop and make sure I was taking in each moment I spend with Noah. I think as a parent, you never want to miss a thing… and this is sure our case. For both Xavier and I, making sure to be there for those ‘firsts’ has been a top priority. And even though, unrealistic, we are so grateful and blessed that he’s surrounded by such amazing people who get to share those moments with us. I wish I could keep him a tiny baby just a little longer, to keep that sweet baby smell on him, to breastfeed him a little longer, to just plain out keep him in my arms and not have him running away… He’s ONE and my heart has all sorts of feels!

Oh my sweet sweet boy Noah,

You are the sweetest boy with the most contagious smile ever, there is not one person who does not look at you and just wants to smile along with you. You took forever to finally sleep through the night, 8 months exactly… sigh.. But now you got it down! Mama loves watching you sleep so soundly as your sweet face just melts this mamas heart…

You are active and crawling techniques have never been so fast! Mama and papa love watching you on the go… you keep us busy and on our toes! We agreed that your first word was “Ese” in spanish.. aka “that one” in english! You go around pointing your chunky little finger as you say “Ese, ese” guiding us to what you want to get your hands on next! haha you can thank your dad on that one, as he loves letting you touch and explore everything!

You’re adventurous but cautious all at once, you analyze your every move and decide whether your going to cause any bumps before you make a move…You can walk but refuse to let go of our hands while doing so..(enter cautious side here)… But we know that the time will come when you let go of your little hands from ours and take off on your own.. so for now we will enjoy holding your soft little hand and walk you along the way..

You’re a BIG boy measuring in at 31 inches tall and weighing in at 26 pounds 12.5 ounces to be exact at your one year check up! You’re wearing 18-24 month clothes and shorts never looked so cute on someone.. your curly hair is EVERYTHING and gets attention from the ladies haha. You love bananas and sweet potato and you think sippy cups are chewing toys still.. don’t worry you’ll get that down eventually. You officially have two bottom teeth and your top two teeth are finally making an appearance and you’re handling it like a champ!

Sweet baby boy, keep smiling and showing us those two teeth and brightening up our lives! You are so strong, brave, sweet and such a happy soul.. Mama and Papa pray you will continue to be so! We pray you’re a man of GOD, a man who loves him unconditionally and chooses to follow all his ways… He has given us the greatest gift. YOU. You are our rainbow baby, a bright light to us, our lives, and to those who you surround. Know you are loved by us and soo soo many others.

We thought we knew what love was before you, but YOU have taught your dad and I the true meaning of the greatest most selfless and unconditional love. We love you with all our heart son. Know that mama and papa will always be there for you no matter what, know that we aren’t perfect and we may fail along the way, but we promise to come back stronger and guided by our faith to guide you the best we can. We know God will watch over you in those times where we may fall short and for always.

Noah, your dad and I love you dearly.. You have stolen our hearts.

We love you to the moon and back times infinity and FOREVER!

-Mama and Papa ❤

Here’s some pictures of Noahs celebration at Disney and a failed smash cake attempt with family! lol

*And then there was magic here *

We also celebrated grandpas birthday with these amazing people! =)

“So mom when can we come back to the land of mickey and where dreams come true?”

Love you baby boy, keep flourishing and your gang will be there next to you enjoying every bit of it!

Mothers Day & A Rainbow Baby

To those who aren’t familiar with the term “rainbow baby” this posts title may seem just like an ordinary Mother’s Day post. Truth is, it’s an extra special post… This post will probably be one of the closest to my heart… I’m sharing something so personal, so difficult but now so rewarding and special all at once. For any other mother out there who knows the term “rainbow baby” you may be able to relate. This year, I will be ‘celebrating‘ my first Mother’s Day, and truth is, I couldn’t feel more blessed to be able to say that. This year, I became a mother to an earthly little angel, Noah Xavier Carcache… he arrived on April 19, 2017 at 2:17pm via c-section weighing in at a healthy 10lbs and 1oz and 22 inches long! He came to us as a healthy and perfect little boy! My heart has never felt so full of love, so complete and so overwhelmed by the grace God has shown me and my husband. Truth is this baby boy has come to us after much prayer.

On this Mother’s Day, I wanted to introduce you to our “rainbow baby” a rainbow after the storm… You see what makes this year so special for me and for my family, is that last year during this special day, we thought we’d be sharing beautiful and happy filled news to our family… except ,we were mourning. We were mourning the loss of what we thought would be our first baby… This time last year we were preparing to tell our family, that I too would be celebrating ‘mothers day,’ except God had different plans for us.. and even though in the beginning I couldn’t understand the “why” I had to trust that only he knew the plans he had for me and the plans he had for me as a mom.. that week, we had a miscarriage. The loss was a devastating one… and one that will forever be a part of me, who I am… and a reminder of how gracious God has been in allowing me to be able to now hold this beautiful baby boy in my arms this year.

Our sweet baby boy has been a constant reminder of Gods grace and how grateful, blessed and loved my husband and I are to have him here with us. My husband and I are taking him all in, and opening our arms and heart fully for this little boy. He has changed our lives in so many ways, more than he will ever know and in more good ways than not. Truth is, our lives changed drastically a year ago that moment when we got the news at the doctor’s office, with the words, “I’m sorry but I believe you are experiencing the beginning of a miscarriage” followed by the moment we thought we would first see our first baby via ultrasound. What we really did see was emptiness, and experience the feeling of an empty heart… that’s why this year is so special. Our hearts are as full as they have ever been, our hands are as full as they could be for now, fully full with a healthy baby boy that we could now physically hold, kiss, hug and stare at for hours at a time without blinking an eye and be full of so much love, that I don’t know what to do with myself sometimes.

This Mother’s Day all I need is to hold my baby boy in my arms, because he is my greatest gift. I share this not because I need someone to feel bad for our story… but rather because it’s a story of redemption… a story that so many other women and family’s experience. Today I am beyond grateful, and today I remember my little angel in heaven whose been watching over us. A little angel who has made us realize to be a little more grateful this year because we now have a little blessing to hold. I pray and empathize today with any woman out there whose experienced a miscarriage, a loss or even infertility. It’s a rough road, but one that should push us to lean on to faith a little more, because your little miracle will soon come too. Today, I am the happiest mama out there, today I count my blessings. He’s our rainbow after the storm, but a storm in which we learned so much about us as a couple, as a woman, as a wife and mother. Today I will hold my little Noah, a little closer, kiss and hug him a little more and thank God for every inch of this little boy.

One Year Anniversary PhotoShoot In NYC

0033 For our one year wedding anniversary we knew we wanted to make it special… it really does only come around once! So, we did… We knew we wanted to travel somewhere for that date and had been talking about it for a while before we actually decided where we would go. At first, we thought we would go to a place we hadn’t visited yet and thought of Colorado. But.. shortly after we were thinking of our plans, we got pregnant! haha.. Our plans had to change, especially since we had been planning to do hikes up mountains, possible snow activities were also in the talk, and we surely did know that with a pregnant belly, none of those would be a good idea. So plans got placed on hold, we were now on a budget with baby on the way.. but last minute we found a great deal on flights to our favorite city! New York City! It only made sense, we have wonderful memories in this city and it holds a special place in our hearts. Not only do we love getting a taste of the hustle and bustle of the city, but this was the place we got engaged and one of the most memorable places in our love story. We couldn’t wait to re-live and re-visit some of those places and make more memories while documenting along the way. Hence this awesome photoshoot that I absolutely love and was so excited to share with you all! 0031 I always had this idea in my head that for our one year anniversary we would have a photoshoot and remember our day and what it meant to us, something small, and just personal. Luckily for us, I ran into the sweetest, nicest photographer! I also must mention, very talented and professional. If you’re looking for some great photos in the city at a great price, she’s your girl! She was so awesome and we were so happy with the end result!

I love these photographs, what they mean to us and all the feelings they encompass. Its another chapter in our lives and couldn’t feel more blessed for these memories we are making along the way and all the memories we are about to make together very soon!

All photography by : Tatiana Katkova

tatianakatkova.com

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My favorite smile, My lover and Best Friend.. ❤
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SOFIA TURNS SEVEN

Sofia turned SEVEN last week and I can’t help but look back at my little sisters #7 celebration! It was definitely a family affair full of surprises for our little Sofia! This year her birthday fell on a week day.. and we all know that a weekday birthday for a little one is no fun! lol But thanks to big brothers and sisters, we would take care of that and make sure it was a day full of fun for her! Unlike many little seven-year old girls, my sister is no fan of princesses, pink nor sparkly…(She kinda takes after me on that..woops) What she is a fan of and a HUGE fan of on that note, is horses! The love she has for them is overwhelming… Overwhelming in the sense that it’s this good emotion, that consumes you with love and a smile when you see her eyes light up when she sees one or is riding them in lessons. It fills me up with joy honestly. So what better way than to celebrate with some horses on her special day!

I wanted to surprise Sofia.. So my plan was to set up a little cake table while she was in school so that when she’d get home, it was her birthday surprise! Well, that’s exactly what I did… The night before I had seen a couple of ideas online to incorporate horses and well my first task was a cake. A simple cake, with a silhouette of a horse. Let me start off by telling you this… I’m NO baker.. but I try! lol So a boxed cake would do, lol. Let me humor you all… the first cake?… well it fell apart while I was taking it out of the baking pan… sigh. But thank goodness for my honey! He’s so sweet…because I wasn’t having the greatest day and when I saw the cake fall apart, I almost went into tears. Luckily for me, I have the best fiancé ever… He took me to the grocery store and made me try again! So cake number 2? Success! lol Easiest thing to do was decorate the cake… Some cream cheese frosting and a chocolate sprinkled horse silhouette! A couple of goodies from target and I was ready to decorate the next morning before she came home from school!

I was so excited to share these photos with you all, not only because I was proud of how our sweet little set up turned out but most importantly because of the smile on our sweet little sofas face! It was priceless! I can’t wait to share more birthdays with my little sister! Most of you know that I adore her and she keeps me going and wanting to be a better me for her eyes!

Our celebrations didn’t stop there..Some games for the day, and a horse cake to wrap up the night. After, came some planning for our family trip to Orlando to keep celebrating with our little Sofia for the weekend. Lets just say the fun continued and its safe to say she had a great 7th Birthday!

We all love you Sofia! We all wish you many many more birthdays to come, full of that love, happiness and personality you have. May God continue to bless you!

My brother and Little sister, we miss you joe

excuse our messy look!!

Happy Birthday Little Sister, We all Love you!

ENGAGEMENT & WEDDING PARTY FESTIVITIES!

Engagement & Wedding party festivities took place this past saturday night and it could not have gone any better! As many of my frequent readers know, Xavier and I got engaged in October while we were in New York. If you didn’t know here’s how he Proposed! Its worth reading in my opinion lol. ;P Well, since this past October, we have been in “planning mode.” I can tell you that the so-called ‘planning mode’ comes and goes, because it gets overwhelming at times. So we plan a little, take a breather and pick up again! It’s been working thus far for us lol. It’s an exciting time for us even with the moments of stress! Because if you’ve never planned a wedding before… let me tell you, it can be time-consuming.

Part of our wedding plans also included a special little party that we had thought up. Xavier and I, have only but a couple of mutual friends and most of our friends don’t really know each other. So our plans were to host a small “Engagement Party” for the sole purpose of making it an opportunity for our friends to meet. We had to call it an “engagement party’ for the purpose of keeping it a surprise to our Bridesmaids and Groomsmen. What most of our friends didn’t know was that our plan was to throw a little party for our wedding party, to ask our closest friends to be our groomsmen and bridesmaids. We wanted it to be special and intimate because we wanted our gals and guys to get to meet (most for the first time) so that come wedding day, they would know each other. We knew that throughout the year more opportunities would have come where they would have been able to meet, but.. we wanted the first time to be special. So along came our little “Engagement & Wedding Party Festivities!”

Xavier and I’s, closest friends are very special to us and it means a lot to us, for them to be a part of our special day! A lot of preparation went in to making our engagement party a success. Our purpose was to make them feel special and to let them know how much we appreciate them as friends. Along with how much they mean to us as individuals and as a couple. I went to my handy-dandy “Pinterest” and started gathering my ideas for the party. To try to keep it simple for you all, just know that about 90% of our engagement party was all DIY! We really wanted to make it beautiful and timeless at an affordable price, so most of our decor and food we prepared ourselves and with the help of my family! Because lets face it, for the average joe, a budget is of the essence! We couldn’t be more grateful for all of those who helped us on saturday!

This is how we asked our gals and guys to be our ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘Groomsmen’ and how we celebrated our Engagement!! We hope you enjoy!

This lady and I got to stare at our rings lol!

Be my Bridesmaid gifts!

Be my Groomsmen gifts!

opening their gifts!

This little lady was sooo excited for us! She wouldn't leave my side! — This little lady was sooo excited for us! She wouldn’t leave my side!

Maid of Honor

Matron of Honor

My MINI-maid of Honor!! the love of my life!

The Groomsmen!! =) — The Handsome Groomsmen!! =)

My Beautiful Bridesmaids!! <3 — My Beautiful Bridesmaids!! ❤

We're getting married! — We’re getting married!

Thank you again to all my family who were so gracious to help us this past saturday and to those who couldn’t make it but were in our hearts! We love you all!

Thank You to all our amazing friends that came to share an amazing night with us and for saying YES! to sharing Xavier’s and I’s journey into marriage by being our Bridesmaids and Groomsmen!

Even though we get overwhelmed by all the planning, we are so very excited for the months to come and for our future plans leading up to the BIG DAY and forever! We know that God will guide us through this journey and we will get through it all!

Jen and Xavier

❤

A LITTLE BIRTHDAY SURPRISE!

A Little Birthday Surprise took place 3 days ago in our home! My sweet hubby had a special Birthday to celebrate.. His big quarter of a century birthday. I think anyone who has read my blogs, knows how I feel about the big 25! To me its a special day! Unlike me, birthday’s are not that ‘big of a deal’ to my fiancé! He doesn’t like to make a big deal about them and rather just lay low. Trust me it’s not because he’s getting old.. lol.. I mean… OLDER! lol. He’s just a lay low kinda guy, especially for birthdays.

None the less, I wanted to make it a little special. He made it quite hard for me actually, he had no idea what he wanted or what he even wanted to do. So it was up to me, to make his day a little special. I wanted to do something he would never even think I would do… So I got my crafts out and got to work. A morning surprise was what he woke up to! I also gathered some ideas and began to think of some things we had talked about doing in the future. So with no help from him, and a little stress later, I came up with a simple idea. On his birthday we would paint!! I’m sure everyone has heard of BYOB painting classes, where you bring your own booze and snacks and paint away! Well we kept it classy with some wine, grapes and muffins (lol) and got to work! And no better way to end the night off than by sharing it with family and having dinner with the ones you love on your birthday. Thats exactly what we did! Thank you to everyone who was there to share it with him!

Even though it was a simple day, I know my hubby appreciated it. Like I said, he’d rather lay low. He’s a simple kinda guy and I love that about him. We always talk about keeping the small things in our relationship alive and full of love and I really think this was one of those days. It was small, quaint, relaxing and full of fun and love. And what better day to experience something new than on a birthday?? Plus, we surprised ourselves with our art skills! Which by the way,our art pieces are a little glimpse into our wedding!

All I know is this… I can’t wait to share more Birthday’s with my future husband! Wish you so many more my love. May God bless you with many more full of health, love and happiness. Love you!

Love…

Jen ❤

And Yes! I made the ‘happy birthday’ banner and notes. Did i mention I love washi tape and that i woke up at 7 am to surprise him with this while he was sleeping?!? oh for the love of…LOVE & Birthdays..lol. The Final Product and a glimpse into our wedding next year! And yes, we did paint our wedding venue! Thats a Picasso for you! 😉Such a lovely day! Thank you to Painting with a Twist: Ft. Lauderdale for having us for a day! A special thank you also for allowing us to paint our venue and letting our creativity run wild and helping us every step of the way!