Favorites from our maternity shoot

I was about 32 weeks pregnant when we did our maternity shoot a few weeks ago, which was perfect timing to do photos for our Christmas cards! I found a wonderful new-to-town photographer in Columbia who was able to squeeze us in at the last minute.

It was a chilly day in Cola but a gorgeous one with pretty light. I love how they turned out and I'm so glad we did them to document this special season of life!

Merry Christmas, baby!

Wishing you joy on this Christmas day and everyday! 

Love, 

The Hamiltons 

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. - Luke 2:11

Five on Friday: Chistmas-y things

How in the world it's already December 18, I have no idea. This Christmas season has just absolutely flown and I feel like we haven't really done the Christmas-y things we usually do! (Other than watch Love Actually: that is a must. Anyway.) We've been so busy with work, making progress in the nursery, and a smattering of Christmas events that I would love to have a weekend to just relax in our own home, sit by the tree sipping hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies but I don't think it's in the cards this year. Maybe next year when we have a 10 month old?? (HA!)

ONE. 
Being in my third trimester, I didn't have the energy to put up alllll the Christmas decor I normally do. Notably absent: our second Christmas tree, aka the "fun" tree with all our random ornaments from over the years. Truly, it was more the thought of me taking everything down at 36 weeks pregnant that sealed the deal for fewer decorations than normal! But here's our tree and stockings: THREE little stockings this year! So exciting.

TWO. 
Christmas Cards are my FAVORITE! I hope this tradition never, ever goes away. Or goes to an all-eCard format. Oh, the horror! Our cards are en route from Shutterfly as we speak and I plan to bust them out over the weekend.

Our cards and Advent calendar/tree

THREE. 
Parties, parties everywhere. Between company parties, cookie swaps, book clubs and family stuff, 'Tis The SEASON for sweets and overeating. Gotta say: living gluten free definitely removes a lot of the temptation!

FOUR. 
The nursery is really taking shape! I can't wait to get it all done, but for now I'm happy with the progress we've made in such a short amount of time (about 5 weeks). All the furniture has arrived, it's painted, I've found a rug I don't hate and the decor is starting to come together. When it's done, I know it will be my favorite room in the house.

FIVE. 
Here's a sneak peek at our maternity photos (that doubled as our Christmas card shoot). It was fun to document this sweet season with a pregnant belly and I know we will cherish these photos forever! Will share the rest soon :)

ENJOY the last week before Christmas and remember the reason for the season!
xo
KH

Linking up with

 April, Christina, Natasha and Darci! 

The best St. Pat's ever

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I'm doing a little Take Me Back Tuesday (is that a thing?). I'm taking it way back to 2007. Let me set the stage: I'd just graduated from undergrad at UF in December '06 and moved to Chicago in the middle of a blizzard in February like a crazy person.

Penny and I were living in the most adorable studio apartment in The Loop. I didn't have my car there - it was left behind at my mom's in Florida - and I walked or took the train everywhere. I was living the big city, professional life from the movies and even though I could basically only pay my rent and nothing else on my paid internship hourly rate, I loved everything about living there. I was only in Chi Town for a few months before returning to sunny Florida for grad school.

The view from my apartment. LOVE.

Penny and I have been through it all together! Ah, to be 22 again (and for Penny to be 2 again)

Just a few weeks after moving to Chicago was St. Patrick's Day. Everyone at work kept saying how amazing St. Pat's in Chicago was. I heard stories of a green river, green beer, green everything as far as one could see. I was pretty excited, and even more so that my mom and her friend Tom were coming to visit that weekend to see what the fuss was all about. 

Mom and I got into the festivities

amid the masses

Up to that point, every single St. Pat's of my life had been spent in Florida where it was warm enough to swim. We lucked out that March 17 fell on a Saturday that year but didn't get so lucky with the weather: snow. It actually wasn't all that cold (relatively speaking) and only snowed for a little bit but it was still a shock to this Floridian girl's system. 

The dying in progress

We got up early that morning and hit Michigan Ave with about a hundred thousand other people and headed for the river. I couldn't wrap my mind around how they were going to dye the Chicago River green but wanted to see them do it. The secret? Leprechauns in boats. Naturally. (Ok, maybe not leprechauns - who am I to assume?)

Me, Mom and Tom

Chicagoans get into St. Pat's like no one else I've ever seen. It wasn't difficult to find a green beer at 9am to accompany my coffee. There was actually an Irish pub on the street level of my apartment building and another just down the street, so that was convenient. I actually wasn't much of a beer drinker at the time so it was more about the people watching for me. And the people did not disappoint.

There were girls dressed up in tiny skirts and and homemade shirts that read "Erin Go Braless" among other more, er, scandalous things. How they weren't freezing their you-know-whats off, I'm not sure. There were men who'd been drinking all day a-la bachelor party style, ogling the minimally-dressed girls. Then there were a lot of people like us just trying not to step in the questionable puddle on the street (is that beer or...?) and get to the front of the next beer line. The closest thing I've seen to this city-wide party is a Saturday night on Bourbon Street in NOLA.

Anyway, suffice it to say: it was a ton of fun. I haven't had a St. Pat's that entertaining since, and I'd love to go back to Chicago for another round! (Would make a super fun girl's weekend or Bachelorette party!) In the meantime, I'll continue to wear my green every March 17 and reminisce about my days in the Windy City.

xo
KH

Five on Friday: National Lampoon's Texas Adventure

A few days after Christmas, the hubs and I trekked to Texas with my entire family on my Mom's side.  Our family business in Florida purchased a ranch there a few years ago; we have beef cattle on it, but also host hunters who come for paid deer hunts. I'd never been to the property before - which is about an hour and a half into the middle of nowhere from Abilene - so I was excited to see our investment and spend time with the family (20 people staying in 2 houses on the ranch).

Let me begin by saying that this trip was planned to celebrate my Papa's 85th birthday, and that we did do. However, there were a lot of things that made this family vacay memorable...thus why I've dubbed it "National Lampoon's Texas Vacation."

One. The numbers:

4: number of generations
20: number of family members

85: oldest

7: youngest 

8: number of toilets (thankfully) 

3: nights we planned to stay

5: nights we actually stayed 

1: number of winter storms that came through while we were there 

8+: honestly I lost count, but at least 8 deer were killed

16: number of coyotes killed

Two. When you've got four generations under one roof, what's a better way to pass the time than cards and pool? Seeing my 85-year-old Papa play with his great-grandchildren was a great memory.

Three. Shooting predators (ahem, coyotes) from a helicopter. Yep. You read that correctly. I didn't do any shooting other than with my camera, but the ride and views were ahhh-mazing.

Four. I like big bucks and I cannot lie. The deer on our property are HUGE. I'm not a hunter myself but I love to watch these guys in their element. Though plenty of family members left with trophies, if you catch my drift.

Five. Nothing like a good, old-fashioned winter storm - named Frona, which I swear should have been a character in Frozen - to mess up your plans! We were supposed to fly home on the 31st and ring in the new year in Florida. But we ended up getting stuck in TX until the 2nd. And during those two extra times, a few critical things happened: we ran out of bottled water. Then we ran out of well water. No showers for a day until the well could replenish itself. (Twenty people with no showers trapped in a house...dangerous). Then we ran out of vodka (help!!). The closest grocery store was 40 MILES away and we couldn't get there because the roads were so bad. Luckily, the resident taxidermist (doesn't everyone have one of those??) brought us the essentials - bottled water, eggs, bread and vodka - when we stopped by. Gotta love that Texas hospitality!

It's truly amazing that no one killed anyone, we didn't run out of food, the kids never got super bored and we all managed to generally have a good time despite being stuck inside for a few days! We finally got home late on the 2nd (to Florida) and drove back home to South Carolina on the 4th. Even with the delays and bad weather, it was a family trip I'll treasure forever. I know time with my grandparents is fleeting, and to have four generations all together for six days? Priceless.

xo
KH

Linking up with

 April, Christina, Natasha and Darci! 

Christmas Tour of Our Home

2014 is the second Christmas in our home in Columbia. This year, I had it down: I knew what I wanted to put where. It's hard to think that we only had 2 Christmases in our first home before we move: will this house beat the first one and host 3+ Christmastimes? Or will we be in another city next year? I don't know and I can't think about it right now! All I know is that I love this home and I love decorating it for Christmas!

Here's a quick Christmas tour of our home, 2014.

The big tree in the family room

Is there anything better than soaking up the glow of the Christmas tree?

Advent calendar: an ornament is added each day to the tiny Advent tree (below)

Family portrait!

I just love this little pillow...scored for $2.50 after Christmas last year at TJ Maxx!

Dining room

Even the bar in the dining room got some Christmas flair. 

I keep things pretty simple in the kitchen...too much other stuff is going on in there!

Front living room. Finally have furniture in there this year!

Our smaller tree in the sunroom. The best thing about it is you can see it from the street!

The girls are clearly thrilled with the decor!

Merry, merry Christmas!

xo

KH