PREPARING FOR MATERNITY LEAVE

I'm officially on maternity leave, friends! This pregnancy has flown by and we are so close to meeting baby 2! I cannot wait for the world to know whether this baby is a little boy or girl! I'm bursting at the seams! Chris is being surprised again, but I have known since mid-December! I'll have to write a blog post one of these days on how I kept from slipping up with 2 babies within a year! I've become so used to keeping my mouth shut, but it is quite the feat! 

Today though, I'm talking about how I'm preparing for maternity differently than last time. To sum it up- with Caroline, I didn't really do anything preemptively to get ready. I've posted over on Instagram and in this blog post about this, but I delusionally thought I'd be back on the computer and back at it within days of giving birth. I mean, I'd knew I'd be home so why wouldn't there be lots of time to work, right? Looking back I had no idea what I was thinking and in those weeks after Caroline was here, I felt overwhelmed because nothing was in place and I seemingly fell off the face of the Earth. In a lot of ways that was wonderful, but it was so stressful from a business standpoint. 

So this time...

BRIDES

I'll start with my brides. I have kept open communication with my fall 2018 and 2019 brides. They knew about baby 2 before we announced and I have developed strong relationships with them so they feel comfortable coming to me if they had any concerns. All of them have been so amazing and have celebrated this pregnancy with me along the way and I've loved keeping them in the loop with everything. For my fall brides, I scheduled venue walkthroughs and meetings in the spring and I'm happy to say those weddings are ahead of the curve. So I can head into maternity leave relaxed and confident in my work for those brides. 

PRE-BLOGGING

Those gorgeous spring weddings we just got done, a few of them are lined up and scheduled over the coming weeks for the blog and I can't wait for you to see them! There will be no more content on the blog after this week until September and I'm ok with that (I will, of course, be doing an introduction post on baby 2 though!) 

Will any work be done this Summer?

Yes! I am so so lucky to work for something that I absolutely adore and WANT to work on. There are 3 projects to work on over the summer, but they don't have strict timelines and I will feel ok taking my time on them. These projects will be brought to the light later this year and I'm looking forward to some quiet time this Summer to give them attention. I know going into this new chapter that it is ok to work a little here and there and it's ok to enjoy that work and not feel guilty. 

RUFFLED LANE

Ruffled Lane is still open, though there is only a select inventory available in the shop. Orders will be shipped out once a week instead of twice and if everything sells out it will stay that way until September. This company is time-consuming and requires a lot of love daily and I'm thrilled that it has grown the way it has. We have some exciting things in the works this fall so stay tuned! 

LOW EXPECTATIONS

A year ago I had high expectations. High expectations for jumping back into things super fast, high expectations for getting the hang of breastfeeding, really high expectations for everything that comes along with running home-based businesses and being a new mom. Big mistake. Huge mistake. This year, I have low expectations. I know some weeks I will barely look at my phone or talk to anyone and then others I will find pockets of hours and be strangely productive. I know this now and I feel really good about it. The one thing that is terrifying about having another baby (and so close in age to Caroline) is knowing it will take a while to get back into a groove. I feel like that took forever with Caroline and it will seem like forever until we get back there and that is a daunting feeling. But, I know that at some point in the coming months I will get into that groove again. We will get back on a scheduled as a family that works for us, works for my brides, and works for me. Until then I hope to give myself grace every day and accept that I will be in a mama of 2 under 1 fog for as long as it lasts. 

So the maternity leave vacation email responder is on and I'm feeling really good about where both businesses are and what the next few months will look like! Check back tomorrow for a post on my favorite baby products I've been obssesed with the past year! 

Warmly,

Michelle 

MJ + Corrin | A Big Spring Farm Wedding with Natalie Jane Photography

A gorgeous, just-about-summer-day is where this love story takes place. Corrin and MJ were married at the incomparable Big Spring Farm in Lexington, Virginia and well, let's just say years from now I will still look back on this wedding with all the heart eyes. 

People made this wedding what it was as I was 37 weeks pregnant with Caroline at the time and need to once again shout out to my amazing assistant (also named Caroline) and Madison for overhauling day- of- management and doing it so flawlessly. The ceremony space included dozens and dozens of feet of garland along the aisle and the arbor was draped in delicate chiffon ivory fabric. The reception barn was filled with farm tables adorned with blush, mauve, and burgundy florals and garlands made of bay leaves and ruscus. Guests were treated to a delicious cuisine of different types of tacos and several types of desserts. The real magic though, seeing Corrin and MJ become husband and wife surrounded by those closest to them. Again, I will always always love this stunningly remarkable wedding and cannot thank Corrin enough for allowing me to intimately be involved in all the processes of planning this beautiful day. It was truly a blessing. 

Enjoy these images from Natalie Jayne

Vendors:

Planning, Design, Florals - One Sweet Day in May 

Catering -  Stone House Catering

Videography- Joshua Bryan Cinema

HMUA- Hello Darling Beauty

DJ- DJ Squirrel 

Invitations- ETSY

Calligraphy- Making it Marley 

Rentals- MS Events

Ribbon- Ruffled Lane

Photography - Natalie Jayne Photography

Ceremony and Reception Venue - Big Spring Farm

BEFORE BABY #2 BUCKET LIST

If you don't follow me over on Instagram, then I have a little surprise for you! Schmidt Baby #2 will be here early July! I know, it's the craziest thing. I shared a quick story about this wonderful surprise when I announced a couple of weeks ago, but basically the last thing I was expecting was for two pink lines to show up back in October. It was such a shock and I think I was in a blur for a good few weeks. The plan was most likely fertility treatments again in about a year, but little did I know there was another plan entirely and Chris and I are so so thankful. 

Photo by Amanda Hedgepeth Photography 

Monday will mark 24 weeks pregnant and I've been thinking about creating a small bucket list of things to do with Caroline and to get ready for 2 babies before our next little one is here for a while now. It's a simple list of things. No fancy trip to Thailand or anything like that. But it's a meaningful list of things I'm looking forward to so much while it's just the 3 of us. I also include a couple practical things that are needed to ensure we are fully prepared for little one #2.

So let's get to it! 

1. SWIMMING LESSONS

Hah, so swimming lessons might be a stretch, but Caroline started "Introduction to the water environment" or "mommy and me" classes that run all through March! It's mostly so can dote on her in her cute little Gap swimsuits, but I am excited to start her relationship with water this soon! She wasn't thrilled about her first session, but I'm hoping she likes it a little more each week. 

2. CREATE A BABY ONLY AREA 

This tip I picked up from multiple friends and online articles. We are mostly set up in our family room right now, but I'm thinking we'll transform the living area in our basement to become our little spot during the week. We'll have toys for Caroline, a spot for baby, a pumping station, and changing table. Plus there's a tv and little kitchen down there too so I can be fully self-sufficient while we get into our new groove. 

3. BASEBALL GAME 

The Richmond Squirrels are a thing around here and I can't wait to document Caroline's first official Spring game. I am sure she'll only last a little while, but thanks to $6 tickets, I can handle that. I think this bucket list item is mostly about getting outside and doing something a little different. That, and I know we will be a bit boring and housebound most of the summer so I'm taking full advantage of April and May. 

4.Farmer's market '

This is another one to get us outside (and another one probably solely for my enjoyment, but I would love to take Caroline to a few Richmond farmer's markets where we can buy fresh fruit and veggies and pick out flowers for the kitchen island. 

5. Buy a double stroller 

There is of course a short list of needed items for baby #2, but at the top of that list is a double stroller! We almost bought a stroller that converts to a double before Caroline was born after I read a Lauren Conrad baby registry article that suggested this tip, but in the end I just added a simple single stroller to our registry. Fast forward to right before Caroline was born, a neighbor of ours gave us a used little stroller caddy that matched exactly with our carseat. We didn't buy the adapter for our new stroller so for 8 months I've just been using the caddy because Caroline is still in her infant carrier carseat while the pretty new one sat in a corner-so sad. With baby #2 on the way we now absolutely need a double stat! I'm really wanting the Baby Jogger City Select with a hefty $700 price tag-ugh. So may settle for a cheaper model. We have the Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat so it has to be something compatible or with an adapter. This type of stuff gets overwhelming for me-so many options!

6. A baby doll for caroline

This is another tip I picked up from an online article. Because there will be a new baby, I want Caroline to have a little baby of her own to take care of. I'll probably introduce it to her in late May or early June to get her introduced to "baby." 

7. music classes

We started KIndermusik this week and I really enjoyed it! Most of the time it's just me and Caroline so it was fun to see her be social with other babies her age and learn new things from the teacher. I signed up for an unlimited package so we'll get to enjoy all month long! 

8.weekend beach trip 

This time of year my weekends get really booked up, but I'm going to try and find one in April or May where we can sneak down to Duck NC for the weekend. Again, this will be another summer of no family beach trips or vacations, so I'd really love the three of us to get a weekend in OBX in.

9. POOL DAYS 

Obviously similar to the beach, but we'll have about a month between our neighborhood pool opening and the baby arriving so I'm counting on a few days in there with some quality time at the pool! I'll be huge, but who cares!

10, The sentimental things 

Finishing Caroline's first year baby book, filling her special box, uploading all her photos taken to her special email address, creating her first year book, etc. are all part of this bucket list item. Her first year will always hold a special place in my heart as it will be the only year ever where it's just me and her and I want to make sure it's documented as best it can be.

11. Caroline's birthday party

The last celebration before she is a big sister and I want it to be special. We're holding her party a few weeks early because of weddings and then not getting too close my due date. Mostly just family, but it will be here at home and we're planning on just a simple summer theme.  

I may be adding to this list, but in the meantime you can bet I'll be making the most of the Spring and the last 3 months before we're bringing home another baby!

Warmly,

Michelle