July marks our first, full month in our new home and we love it more and more each day. We’ve also been having a record hot summer and I am doubly grateful we ended up in a house with central air. What a relief! Priscilla loves all the walks we’ve been taking, the library, and playing in her new yard.
At the beginning of the month we hosted our first party, a Fourth of July celebration, just days after we moved in. So crazy and yet so “us.” I was exhausted, but I’d do it again. It was incredibly fun to have family and friends over to our new home. Simon was the real MVP for bringing a bounce house that all our small guests loved.
I positively adore having a window in P’s bedroom, it just lights the space up. I can’t wait to paint and get a new set of curtains. The green has to go! We met with a wonderful painter and have decided on doing white in Cilla’s room with a colored ceiling. I’m also anxious to get my new studio space set up, that room will be white, too. When it doubt, just paint everything white.
I’d say our big bathroom on the second floor is my favorite one; Priscilla loves it, too. I had hoped to do a milk bath session before P’s birthday but it just didn’t happen. We’ve been so busy between hosting people, my bridal shower, and preparing for Priscilla’s birthday party.
Speaking of bridal showers, Leah, Courtney, and Mara threw me a lovely one at Art House North. It was a great event, and I felt so honored. Truly I didn’t think we needed or deserved a shower: our life is pretty much set up, we’re not a super young couple starting out, and already have all we need. I felt celebrated and aside from one bloop it was a great day. Most of all, I was excited to have some out of town guests: many of Seth’s aunts drove out for the morning, his cousin, his parents, and my dear friend Lindsay (who flew from Vegas) came. So, so special.
Miracle of miracles, Priscilla slept through the booming fireworks by the city of Stillwater and Hudson— and the ones our neighbors let off. We took her outside on July 5th before bed to enjoy some sparklers. She’s a fan:
Astro seems to really love our new house. He’s a big into taking naps on the cool tile floors of our master bathroom, inside the master shower, and occasionally on the stone floors of our original (and perfectly creepy) basement. He loves the yard and we’ve started to look into fencing it so we can really let him go free.
I’m learning to love and shoot in the unique light of this house. Things are pretty dark here because of the green, but we have many windows and that makes me so happy. I’ve been switching some things up for my business this year, and I’m excited to share those changes. In the meantime, I’m booking fall sessions already and that feels both exciting and bittersweet. There’s nothing like a Minnesota summer and I will be sad to see her go…
Priscilla is at such a fun age: expressive, mostly joyful, and so curious. She’s been pulling herself up onto her knees and is now an expect scooter— managing to go across a room. I cannot wait to see her personality develop more and more.
We don’t have a kiddy pool, so one afternoon I turned our hose bucket into one. She loved playing in here with her Lovevery toys (they’re THE BEST).
Seth and I have had a few date nights here in town so that is fun. We checked out a new wine bar last weekend and had a great time. I don’t talk much about him on this blog or social media, but he’s the best. One afternoon this past week he came home with a surprise bouquet of one of my favorite flowers: sunflowers. I love him and cannot wait for our wedding:
July brought quite a bit of rain which meant less watering for us (yay!). We love watching the storms roll in from our witch’s tower. I love what raindrops do on our original window glass, just stunning:
We checked out baby storytime at our local library a few weeks ago and I met a new friend there! Grace and her family live close by and our kids are just a few months apart. We finally went to Teddy Bear Park and despite zero shade I really like it. I think Priscilla will get more out of it as she gets older.
We loved July and cannot believe Summer is 2/3 over already. I cannot wait for Priscilla’s first birthday party and am excited to share about our celebration. We are grateful and happy for our new life in Stillwater and are looking forward to a great August.
