Charles is baptized!

Almost two weeks ago, Charles was finally baptized.  He was so big he could have eaten the other two young babies.  He was "chatting" during the prayer, was happy during the actual sprinkling and then was screaming in the arms of the minister by the time he reached the end of the very long aisle at our church.  He cried the entire way back down that aisle until he reached my arms.  Sweet little guy! It was Thanksgiving Sunday, but we hosted a few close family and friends (ones that were in town) at our house for a casual southern lunch following the church service.

My sisters took some illegal pictures in church.  Oops...they didn't know.

 The sweet baby afterwards

And this is reality.  The majority of my pictures look more like this...

The kid is all boy

Lunch

These Etsy cake toppers were so festive and Courtney was nice enough to expedite over Thanksgiving weekend since I procrastinated on this entire lunch.

I tried to keep it really easy and used paper plates with gold chargers.  Luckily it was a gorgeous 60+ degree day, so we could seat people outside on the screen porch and patio.

I asked my dad to read the same blessing that my grandfather (Charles' namesake) read at my baptism.  So special to me.

Maternal Grandparents

Paternal Grandparents

Olivia has officially lost her mind...

Somehow I didn't get a picture of my sister and brother-in-law, so here's one of them from Thanksgiving.  Thanks for coming!

One more of our little ham

Charles, I hope God blesses you and that you use the talents He's blessed you with for the good of others.  I pray God blesses your father and I to always be the best and most Christian parents we can possibly be and to guide you to be a Godly man.  We love you so much and are so proud of you today and always.

XO,

Whit

A tale of a pair of pineapples

My mother-in-law bought these pineapples at the Furbish sale last October (same time I bought Charles' changing table) and they'd been stored in our garage (hiding from my father-in-law?) ever since.  I convinced Jean to give them to Josh for a birthday present this year.  He actually really likes them! I finally decided to paint them the same gray as our shutters (Benjamin Moore Timber Wolf) back in October and we are enjoying them in the front.  Not that I didn't like the pink, but doesn't exactly go with my monochromatic, traditional vibe out front.  

Pics from Charles' baptism and a few other projects to come soon!

XO,
Whit

Quintessential Fall Ladies Luncheon (Carrie's Bridal Lunch)

I have to hand it to my mom, her friends ("the bank girls") and Caroline's dear friend Courtney for hosting one of the loveliest bridal luncheons I've ever attended.  Courtney's home is something out of House Beautiful and was the perfect setting to kick off the festivities for the sweet bride.

Aren't those two gray built in china cabinets to die for?

The white pumpkins were hollowed out and then planted with a variety of flowers, herbs and other greenery.  They raffled them off at the end (I was a lucky winner!).  The perfect centerpiece for a fall gathering.  I loved how they added some height by placing them on mercury glass pedestals.

Caramel Apple Sangria ~ such a nice festive change from the standard ladies luncheon libations (working to get the recipe)

The bride & her matron-of-honor.  Sister, sister

Some of the Myers Park High School ladies

Such a dear and beautiful friend of mine!  Our moms have known each other since high school and Caroline is truly a lifelong friend.  Isn't she adorable?

Pumpkin Soup & Sour Cream Muffins

Orange Cashew Salad, Cranberry Pork Tenderloin and Company Potatoes.  I'll try to snag some of the other recipes.  This lunch was so incredibly delicious - could be a great meal to serve during the holidays.

Caramel Apple Mousse Cake

This sideboard and lamps were so stunning!  

Whit & Britt

The lady of the house & the bride

The hostesses, MOB & bride

MOB & MOG

Love you, mom!  Y'all really outdid yourselves.  We joked my mom would be depressed now that all her party planning for the year has come to a close - Bailey's wedding, Choddee's 90th and Caroline's luncheon have had her busy.  She now officially has enough supplies to have a small party planning / catering business. :)  I need to enlist her to help me with Charles' baptism lunch as her next project.

More to come from Caroline & Heath's wonderful weekend...  

XO,

Whit

Crazy for Cabbage

Hello fall!

I am completely obsessed with the decorative / flowering cabbage mixed with pansies for the fall.  Here's to hoping I can keep it all alive! Locals - I got my cabbage plants from Atlantic Avenue and my pansies from Home Depot.

Speaking of obsessed.  I can't get enough of this happy little guy!  I'm trying to enjoy and soak up every single minute.  

What a gorgeous weekend!

XO,
Whit

Little driveway-side sprucing

Anyone who has ever done a renovation with a budget knows that you really can't do it all.  Not even close.  Projects must be prioritized.  We'd tried to be smart about our list (i.e. wait on getting light fixtures and keep originals so we could spend on things like countertops - something you can't easily change).  One thing that we ended up cutting out was putting shutters on the driveway side of the house -- certainly not a necessity and something that could easily be added later.  That side of the house has always looked unfinished and messy to me.  #1 - Josh insisted upon keeping the scraggly azaleas ("Whit, I think we can make the side look like Augusta with the pine trees and azaleas!" he's said enthusiastically a number of times) #2 - I wish we'd spent a little bit of extra $ and done the entire side stucco instead of having the addition portion siding and the original stucco.  Oh well, it's probably not something many people even notice. Right?

2 years after living here, Josh and I decided to save up and add shutters to 4 of the windows on the side. 

BEFORE:

I headed to my favorite Sherwin-Williams store and gathered my supplies. 

For 8 long hours over a few weekends I primed both sides of all 8 shutters.  Some of the time I had a little helper

I underestimated how much work it would be to paint louvered shutters.  Especially with a 3 month old baby.  (That's not a typo, we started this at the beginning of July) Painting all those little slats is not for the impatient. I finally called Gephart Hill (our favorite builders) and begged them to help me paint and install them. Finally, a few months later they are up. 

AFTER: We both think it's really helped that side look much more cohesive and dressed it up a bit.

BEFORE:

AFTER: Now it's making me want to add shutters to windows in the back too. . .

What do you think?  Does it help that side?

XO,

Whit