braxton michael | three months.

I'm really not sure how another month has come + gone, but it has. These past thirty-one days have been full of new things! You attended your first service at Capstone Church + went to your first golf tournament + celebrated my twenty-sixth birthday + got dolled up for your first Easter + mixed our daily treks up while daddy was on spring break by hiking at Paris Mountain and walking part of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, and every "baby's first" that we had was truly a celebration. We have had days of go-go-go, but we've also had days when neither of us get out of our pajamas. You are continuing to get bigger + squishier, and you've nearly outgrown most of your three month clothes. We don't go back to the doctor until next month, but I'm already itching to know how much you've officially grown - although, unofficially, you've grown a whole lot. You slept through the night for the first time the night before you turned two months old, and you've kept it up since. There have been a few times when you wake up an hour or so early, but the paci usually puts you right back to sleep. You're still a fast eater, and you're now drinking about five ounces of milk at five different three-hour feedings during the day. It is so much fun watching you learn about the things around you, little guy! You are so observant, and your bright eyes are constantly moving around to see all that surrounds you. And that smile. Wow. I can't get enough of it! You still smile the majority of the time that you're awake, and you especially love to lay on your play mat + smile at yourself in the mirror. It. Is. Precious. At only three months old, you're already the most handsome charmer I've ever known (besides your daddy, of course), and you ought to have indentations all over your squishy little body from where I endlessly smooch you because of it! You have learned to kick your feet, and boy do you kick them. You've started picking them both up at the same time + slamming them into the ground, and then laughing. I'm telling ya, you're a hoot! You started cooing + squealing + making consonant sounds this past month, too, and I'm convinced that you've already said your first word: when you really get to crying, you shout out "Maaaaa...Maaaaa," and although daddy assures himself that you're simply asking me to get him for you, I think you + I know the real truth. Hehe! Speaking of daddy, he and I have been on two dates this past month, and I'm thankful that we've got a list of babysitters that goes on forever since we've established an every-other-week date night where we go out just the two of us. You don't know the magnitude of love that so many people have for you, sweet baby boy. You're still meeting new people, and I am still overwhelmed at the amount of prayers + generosity that we are still receiving. We serve a God who is both good + great, and I look forward to the day when you'll learn that for yourself.

We love you, B! And we're excited to see how much you continue to grow over these next thirty days.

trailin'.

Last Friday, five of us jumped onto the Swamp Rabbit Trail at Greenville's YMCA and walked to downtown Greenville. We ventured through Cleveland Park in our travels + stopped at Carolina Ale House on Main Street for burgers before heading back towards Becca. We walked around four miles total, and it was wonderful to walk through this city we get to call home with blue skies above us + God's beautiful creation all around us. I'm ashamed to admit that this was only my second time on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, but I have a feeling that we'll be spending a lot more time on this paved path in the months + years to come.

There are so many ways to experience the great outdoors in the Upstate, and I am so thankful that we live in a city where opportunities for exploration are all around us. Where have you adventured lately? It's never too late to start a new tradition!

these two.

This baby loves his daddy, reading, and smiling. Ironically, those are three of my favorite things, as well. Mmm, I love how sweet our days have been at the bungalow since January. This little guy even has Teesh reading for fun, and that's a big deal, people!

paris mountain crew.

The Bargerons teamed up with the Nalleys for our first hike with Braxton, and we had the best time of fun + fellowship. Clint and Kelly have been mentors + friends to us since the very beginning of our relationship, and we have loved sharing so many sweet memories with them over the years. They were excited to adventure through Paris Mountain with us, and Sara + Will were leaders of the pack all morning. We even spotted some (ninja) turtles in the pond, which made for extra excitement! I am incredibly thankful that we first met them when we were just fifteen years old, and we have had the privilege to encourage each other along in every season from high school to babies to teaching at the same school. I'm even more thankful for the beautiful picture of Christ and the Church that they have displayed for us since that first time we met on a random Wednesday night during youth group. We had no idea in that moment just how much they would mean to us, and we are so excited for B to learn to love them as much as we do!

Here's to the next family adventure we go on together!

baby's first easter.

This is just a glimpse into how preciously adorable our Easter Sunday was. The littlest Mr. Bargeron was dressed to impress, and he got lots of smooches + snuggles from lots of family + friends. We began our morning reading the story of what this day in history really stands for, praying over all the people we would see later on, thanking Jesus that He was + is the perfect promise-maker + promise-keeper, and slipping into our Sunday best. We field-tripped to Fountain Inn to worship with our family at Capstone Church, and then we ate lunch at Pitty Pat's house and hunted for eggs at Pop + Gigi's house before turning into the bungalow for the night. All the busyness of the day made us extra thankful for those quiet moments that began + ended this first Easter as a family of three, but being busy with the ones you love most isn't so bad. Many memories were made, and I loved watching everyone get googly-eyed every time B coo'd or smiled at them.

Ladies + gentlemen, it's my pleasure to show off the cutest baby boy in the whole wide world. Eat your hearts out!

Goodness gracious, I sure do love my boys! Jesus has poured out blessings over my life in abundance during these past three months, and my only response is to simply fall at His feet + worship Him. May the days that stand between this Easter + the next be filled with His praise more than any other sound I hear + song I sing because of how rich His love is.

it is finished.

"Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."

-‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬

This is my Jesus. This is what He endured on this day two thousand years ago. This may not sound like a love story to you, but it is the most beautiful love story there is. I am loved by the Creator of the world, and it's because of His act of mercy that I now stand in freedom instead of condemnation. Oh, how He loves me. He loves you, too. But more than you and me, He loves the Father. That's why He came: to glorify God + to save us. He is what makes this day "good," for He was sent by the Father who is good. This is my Jesus. My Savior. The One who took my guilt + bore my shame + called me to life in Him, for He is life.

It is finished, and come Sunday, the stone will be rolled away. Hallelujah!

plus one.

The beginning of January looked a lot different than the beginning of April does, and it made this mommy's heart overflow with joy to go back to the same, close-to-home trail that we walked when I was only ten days away from meeting my baby boy for the first time and hike it with our now eleven (and a half) week old. So much has changed in three months, and all three of us are excited that Spring has officially sprung so we can continue this beloved family tradition with blue skies + warm weather accompanying us. It's been nearly three years since we committed ourselves to regularly exploring creation together, and we are so excited to have a little one in tow with us to add some extra smiles + motivation to our adventures.