We celebrated Scout on Sunday with a unicorn themed party in my parent’s backyard. If you know Scout, you know that Unicorns are life right now. We had pizza, sweets, and water inflatables! The kids had a ball and us parents did too.
There was also a unicorn appearance! Our friends brought their mini pony with them for rides. My friend Jenilee is always so creative and made him so cute for us.
It was a good day and we are blessed with the best family and friends who love our girls so much.
I try my best to get the girls photos of just them each birthday. I don’t always accomplish this but we were able to have my friend come over last weekend to snap some of Scout. I cannot believe our baby is six years old already. Time flies with the second one and they grow up so much faster. She wanted some with her cowpony, Tonto and best pals, Chief and Smokey. I think Hannah captured her personality perfectly.
She can make us belly laugh to tears. She loves big, has the most contagious laugh, and her personality is unique and fun! I’m so grateful I get to be your momma, Scout! We love you “one hundred million more” baby girl.
We celebrated Scout’s first birthday party on a Sunday afternoon in June. As tradition, we had the party in my grandparent’s back yard. The rain held off long enough for us to celebrate, despite being a little muddy. The party was a dream and one of my favorites to date. We had sub sandwiches, fresh fruits and veggies, plenty of sweets, and iced tea. My Nana helped me bake my first homemade pie, the cake, and I pulled most of the decor from my store and house. It was special to make those memories with her and I enjoy decorating a party out of things I already have and items that have special family stories behind them.I wanted the theme to be laid back, simple, and sweet. Obviously, we love us some Farmer’s Market. I thought it would be a really fun party to plan and do-and it was! I got to be really creative and think outside of the box. We had most of the adult’s food and drinks on the back patio but the kids stuff was all sectioned together outside.
I wrapped one of the trees with Polaroids of Scout over her first year of life. It was fun to see what all we had done over the last year and how much she had changed. One of our deserts was mason jar strawberry shortcake that was super easy to make ahead of time and store. Below it on the shelf was homemade grape jelly for the adult guests to take home. I loved being able to incorporate something that I enjoy doing into the party. And who wants to turn down homemade jelly? Our little “sandwich wagon” had the meal and fixin’s for guests to come grab as well as our mini mason jar sippers for the kids to drink. They got to take those home with them as well. I used my Nana’s farm table for the kids to sit at. It also served as the “sweets and snacks” area. I had coloring sheets for the kids as well as wooden berry baskets to use as their plate.We had homemade Italian cream cake (Nana’s special) with apple and cherry pies. The cake stand that the pie is on was my Nana’s grandmothers. I LOVE family heirloom pieces. I used a lot of burlap and mason jars that I had laying around my house to decorate with. I have an abundance of jars and probably need an intervention with my collection. Chelsea always makes my sweets for parties. She is one of the most talented people on Earth. She has a gift with baking + again, knocked the cake, cookies, + macaroons out of the park. The kid’s table was fun and they really enjoyed the coloring sheets.I bought this high chair junking with my mom one afternoon for around $15. It was a really ugly green color but I gave it knew life with a little bit of Junk Gypsy Paint. I LOVE how it turned out.I love this picture of Scout and Nana. I have a similar one from my first birthday. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with the cake but enjoyed the cookies.The Farmer’s Market vision I had in my head came to life exactly like I wanted it to and I absolutely love how it turned out. I wanted the kids to experience their own “Farmer’s Market” and it was a hit! I bought cheap canvas totes and bushel baskets off of amazon. My dear friend, Cheryl, made all of the felt food for me. The kids also had little “market lists” to shop off of. The girls love playing kitchen at home and I knew most of their friends would as well. I love favors that you can take home and the kids will actually play with and use. The stand is a display in my store that we use to sell lemonade/hot chocolate throughout the year during main street events. My talented cousin made it for me.After all of the shopping excitement we had apple bobbing and the kids absolutely enjoyed it! It was so fun watching them (and a couple of adults) bob.My grandparents have an old teeter totter that we also had in the yard for play. So fun!Finally, we ended the day with mechanical pony rides and gifts on the back patio.
I can’t believe our sweet baby girl is O N E. I sound like every other parent on the planet but time really does fly, especially with a second babe. Our little Scout is such a doll and brings so much joy to us. I can’t wait to have more fun with her over the next year and years to come. She is loved!
You can see Scout’s Farmer’s market themed one year photo session here and her birthday letter here.
It’s finally here! I was so excited to get my hands on this book. Scout turns 4 weeks old today so naturally I had to get her picture with it. I’ve had so many people ask where we got her name and yes, it is from To Kill a Mockingbird-my all time favorite novel. Paisley was almost named Scout and this pregnancy we decided before we knew what we were having that if baby was a girl-she would be our Scout. The day we had our gender reveal and name announcement was when they revealed that Go Set a Watchman would be published. God has funny timing. We will be carrying these in Farm Girl when our copies arrive in a couple of days-will also have a little launch party if you’d love to come by for treats. The book is fabulous and I love how Harper tied everything together. 😊 So in love with our little own Jean Louise.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been three weeks tomorrow since Sawyer Scout joined our family. Time has been so precious and we have been soaking up all of our moments as a tribe of four. I am excited to finally share her birth story. It was such a hard but beautiful day that I will forever have embedded into my memory. I love that I have this space to record these sweet moments for us to look back on. Pregnancy and childbirth is truly a miracle. I am constantly in awe of how amazing our God is. What a privilege it is for us to be able to give life.We had our 39 week appointment and I was at a 3 and contracting. I really wanted to go into labor on my own because I was induced with Paisley and it was a long 26 hour labor. However, we went ahead and chose a date just in case she didn’t want to come on her own. It just so happens I’m a champ at carrying children that would love to be in the womb forever-so June 16th came-the night before our induction and my nerves were going crazy. I kept thinking about our last night as a family of three, how nervous I was to do this again, and how much our life was about to change. We got everything ready to go for the next morning and of course I couldn’t get any rest because I was so excited to meet her. We left our house at 5 AM so we could get there for our 6 AM induction, dropped Paisley off with my parents, shed a few tears as I kissed her bye, and went on our way.When we arrived the staff checked us into a room, I changed into a gown, and the nurses started to hook me up to the fetal monitor. Once they took my blood work and got the IV going, the RN started me on pitocin at 6:00 AM. Labor had begun. My midwife came in to break my water about an hour later and the contractions began to get more intense.My mom brought Paisley to the hospital around 9:00 and we had a “big sister Bag” waiting for her when she walked into the room. She was so excited to meet her sister but worried about mommy’s “owies.” You can see the post about her bag here. She was such a good girl while she was with us. She kept saying that she need her “listening heart” (stethoscope) so she could check mommy out and make sure I was ok.Around noon, the contractions were really strong and started to make me anxious. I was at a 5 but felt like I had a long way to go. I got an epidural with Paisley but it didn’t help when I needed it. I was going to try to go through labor this round without it but the pain was getting a little unbearable. The nurse came in and gave me some pain medication through IV and that was some of the craziest stuff ever. I felt like the room was spinning and it made me really drousy but helped take the edge off of the contractions a little bit. I decided that I would go ahead and try the epidural but wanted to wait until I progressed a little more.I can’t imagine going through childbirth without my husband. He was so kind and encouraging and never left my side. He prayed over me constantly and I know that prayers and going to the Lord is what got me through this labor. I am so blessed to have him.I got the epidural around 2:00 when I was at a 7 and it was more painful than I remember. I was hoping that it would take away the excruciating pain but it didn’t much at all. I don’t react to medication well and honestly believe I got it too late because after it was in we progressed fast. I could still roll over, move my legs, and everything. It wasn’t until after I delivered that I started going numb.Before I knew it I was at a 10 and it was time to push. I don’t remember how long I pushed but it seemed like an eternity. I tried to focus more on the count down than the pain but it started to be too much. I literally felt like my pelvis was breaking and then both Scout and I’s oxygen started to drop. They put my mask on and I just remember feeling like I was going into shock. I saw Zack’s face come over me and hearing him say that we were so close-just two more pushes and we could meet her. I will always remember the feeling of that last push. The instantaneous relief and adrenaline of meeting your child makes the pain literally cease. Tears started to flow as I heard her first cry and Zack whisper that I had done it-our baby girl was with us.June 17th, 2015 at 5:02 in the afternoon, our lives changed forever. God blessed us with another daughter-a beautiful 9 pound 20 inch baby girl with a head full of hair. After 39 weeks and 3 days of pregnancy, Sawyer Scout Ashcraft had finally arrived. And, she was so worth the wait.Immediately after delivery, we had an hour of skin to skin before the family came in. I loved this time of just us getting to know our sweet girl. Her daddy is pretty smitten by his girls.I am so glad that other than us and our parents, we didn’t let anyone come in until Paisley got to meet Scout and have her special time. I will never forget the look on her face when she walked into the room and Zack placed Scout on her lap. The face of pure joy and love for her sister brought me to tears. One of the sweetest moments I’ve experienced.Then after a long 11 hour day of patiently waiting, we opened the flood gates and let the family come in. Paisley had us all laughing with her “shooshing” everyone for them to be quite. She was all about making sure baby sis stayed asleep.I am so thankful for this little miracle. Zack and I are still in shock that we have two girls. She has been the best baby and we couldn’t ask for better. Thank you to all of our friends and family that were praying for us. We are loving life as a family of four and are so excited to watch her grow alongside her sister. God is good.
I wanted the theme to be laid back, simple, and sweet. Obviously, we love us some Farmer’s Market. I thought it would be a really fun party to plan and do-and it was! I got to be really creative and think outside of the box. We had most of the adult’s food and drinks on the back patio but the kids stuff was all sectioned together outside.
One of our deserts was mason jar strawberry shortcake that was super easy to make ahead of time and store. Below it on the shelf was homemade grape jelly for the adult guests to take home. I loved being able to incorporate something that I enjoy doing into the party. And who wants to turn down homemade jelly? 
Our little “sandwich wagon” had the meal and fixin’s for guests to come grab as well as our mini mason jar sippers for the kids to drink. They got to take those home with them as well.
We had homemade Italian cream cake (Nana’s special) with apple and cherry pies. The cake stand that the pie is on was my Nana’s grandmothers. I LOVE family heirloom pieces. I used a lot of burlap and mason jars that I had laying around my house to decorate with. I have an abundance of jars and probably need an intervention with my collection.
The kid’s table was fun and they really enjoyed the coloring sheets.
After all of the shopping excitement we had apple bobbing and the kids absolutely enjoyed it! It was so fun watching them (and a couple of adults) bob.
My grandparents have an old teeter totter that we also had in the yard for play. So fun!
It’s finally here! I was so excited to get my hands on this book. Scout turns 4 weeks old today so naturally I had to get her picture with it. I’ve had so many people ask where we got her name and yes, it is from To Kill a Mockingbird-my all time favorite novel. Paisley was almost named Scout and this pregnancy we decided before we knew what we were having that if baby was a girl-she would be our Scout. The day we had our 
My mom brought Paisley to the hospital around 9:00 and we had a “big sister Bag” waiting for her when she walked into the room. She was so excited to meet her sister but worried about mommy’s “owies.” You can see the post about her bag 
Around noon, the contractions were really strong and started to make me anxious. I was at a 5 but felt like I had a long way to go. I got an epidural with Paisley but it didn’t help when I needed it. I was going to try to go through labor this round without it but the pain was getting a little unbearable. The nurse came in and gave me some pain medication through IV and that was some of the craziest stuff ever. I felt like the room was spinning and it made me really drousy but helped take the edge off of the contractions a little bit. I decided that I would go ahead and try the epidural but wanted to wait until I progressed a little more.
I can’t imagine going through childbirth without my husband. He was so kind and encouraging and never left my side. He prayed over me constantly and I know that prayers and going to the Lord is what got me through this labor. I am so blessed to have him.
I got the epidural around 2:00 when I was at a 7 and it was more painful than I remember. I was hoping that it would take away the excruciating pain but it didn’t much at all. I don’t react to medication well and honestly believe I got it too late because after it was in we progressed fast. I could still roll over, move my legs, and everything. It wasn’t until after I delivered that I started going numb.
Before I knew it I was at a 10 and it was time to push. I don’t remember how long I pushed but it seemed like an eternity. I tried to focus more on the count down than the pain but it started to be too much. I literally felt like my pelvis was breaking and then both Scout and I’s oxygen started to drop. They put my mask on and I just remember feeling like I was going into shock. I saw Zack’s face come over me and hearing him say that we were so close-just two more pushes and we could meet her. 
I will always remember the feeling of that last push. The instantaneous relief and adrenaline of meeting your child makes the pain literally cease. Tears started to flow as I heard her first cry and Zack whisper that I had done it-our baby girl was with us.
June 17th, 2015 at 5:02 in the afternoon, our lives changed forever. God blessed us with another daughter-a beautiful 9 pound 20 inch baby girl with a head full of hair. 
After 39 weeks and 3 days of pregnancy, Sawyer Scout Ashcraft had finally arrived. And, she was so worth the wait.
Immediately after delivery, we had an hour of skin to skin before the family came in. I loved this time of just us getting to know our sweet girl. 
Her daddy is pretty smitten by his girls.
I am so glad that other than us and our parents, we didn’t let anyone come in until Paisley got to meet Scout and have her special time. I will never forget the look on her face when she walked into the room and Zack placed Scout on her lap. The face of pure joy and love for her sister brought me to tears. One of the sweetest moments I’ve experienced.
Then after a long 11 hour day of patiently waiting, we opened the flood gates and let the family come in. Paisley had us all laughing with her “shooshing” everyone for them to be quite. She was all about making sure baby sis stayed asleep.
