skip to main |
skip to sidebar
We had a FUN weekend! We went to Kansas City to see our fun friends, Jared and Mandy, and their PRECIOUS girls, London (4), Cadence (3), and Rilo (1). They are too much fun!! It's always nice to be around friends that you can just be so silly and laugh until your belly hurts. We have some FUNNY stories from the weekend, for sure! Love you guys!
We finally bought something for our little sweetie pie this weekend! Is it sad that the first thing we bought it has to do with discipline? This little white patent leather chair will serve as our "Time-Out" chair. It is TOOOO cute! You can't really tell how little it is here, but it stands about 36" tall. If our little one loves this chair as much as I do, we may have to re-think the "time-out" plan. 
Now THIS is a big deal! I guess this is considered our second baby purchase. If you saw my first "Heart Day" post, you know that I want an old vintage pram stroller so badly! However, they are SUPER expensive, so I knew I wouldn't be able to have one. Not to mention how unpractical they are! They are MASSIVE and you can't really fold them up and put them in the back of your car to go to the park. BUT, they are gorgeous, so dream I did. Until my dream came true on Saturday! My sister-in-law found this original Marmet pram, made in England, at a garage sale in Nashville! These prams range from $600 to $1000 on EBay right now! It was owned by an Olympic swimmer from England, and made its way to the states, and now into my arms! I can't WAIT to push our little one around in this! Our baby is ALREADY stylin'!!!!
And last, but certainly not least, the tummy pic. Oh boy, this sucker is growing at a RAPID rate! My doctor DID tell me a couple weeks ago to expect to double in size over the next few weeks, and I am WELL on my way! It's fun though! I love pregnant bellies, and mine is no exception. Last Thursday we got to go have another ultrasound because we have a friend who is an ultrasound tech at the hospital. We watched our sweetie for 45 minutes! It was moving all around, sitting Indian style, sucking its little thumb. At one point it even took its thumb out of its mouth and gave us a thumbs up! : ) I was measuring about a week ahead, so I fully expect my due date to change at our official doctor's appointment on the 29th. I am now feeling movement quite often. It is THE neatest feeling in the world! Every time I feel it, it still makes me sit straight up with my eyes wide open. I hope I never get used to it. We are in love with you, baby Maciuk! You are already the apple of our eyes! 
Not gonna lie...today was a rough one. The pregnancy emotions combined with the usual stress of my Tuesday schedule got the best of me. But, I designed this diaper bag tonight at my fave, 1154 Lill Studio in Kansas City, and it's making me feel MUCH better! 
Oh, and I also designed this wedding invitation for my dear friends Matt and Maggie tonight! They loved it, so SCORE! I think it's pretty cute too...just like them! They are getting married on my birthday, and that's THE best present anyone could give me! WEDDING CAKE ON MY BIRTHDAY! Hope you all had a MUCHO FAB Tuesday!
Sometimes you meet someone in your lifetime who you know is a treasure from that first moment. That's how I felt when I was introduced to Tommy Van Zandt in 2004. I was to be the Account Executive assigned to his commercial real estate business at the agency I was with at the time. Tommy and I hit it off QUICKLY! You see, I'm a daddy's girl somethin' fierce, and I learned quickly that Tommy's great love was being a husband (to one of the most beautiful women I know) and, a father. My heart tends to seek out those types...the "Dad" away from my Dad, if you will. Although no one will EVER, EVER, EVER top my daddy in my heart, a girl can never have too many "dad-figures" to admire when she doesn't get to see hers every day. I found that in my friendship with Tommy Van Zandt. Over the next few years, my career path took me in a few different directions. No matter the direction, Tommy would always check in...like a "dad" would. When I would see him at the gym, at the coffee shop, or out on the town, I always got a "dad" style hug, and that big TVZ smile. One day I saw him in Panera Bread, and he introduced me to one of my future bosses, David Roth, President of WorkMatters, an incredible faith in the workplace ministry, that I later worked for for a little over a year before moving to Oklahoma City. Whoever was a friend of Tommy's was a friend of mine!
About a year and a half ago, I did a rebranding project for Sage Partners, Tommy's commercial real estate company in Fayetteville. Our friendship really, really blossomed during that time when I would office with them about 15 hours a week. We would laugh (he thinks I'm crazy), I would share about my relationship with Dan and how it was progressing, and he would share about his family and kids. He would ask advice on raising teenagers since Dan was a youth pastor and I was fully involved in his ministry. Sweet, sweet times. In fact, similar to what a young man would do with a girl's father, Dan went to Tommy before he proposed to me to let him know what he was planning to do, and ask permission to take me away for a few days. I still have the email Tommy wrote in response to Dan. It was the sweetest thing.
Last February, Tommy was injured cutting limbs in his backyard after the ice storm. He fell from a 10-foot ladder and immediately knew he had broken his neck and was paralyzed from the neck down. Our hearts were completely BROKEN for Tommy and his family. I remember laying in bed the night I found out and just bursting into tears of compassion and hurt for them. I called my husband just bawling. How could something like this happen to such a good, precious, LOVED man? A man who was so active! I used to see Tommy at the gym five mornings a week running before work...an avid outdoorsman...the father of two teenage boys? After a stay at the hospital in Fayetteville, Tommy was moved to Denver to a rehab hospital where he would stay for months. In the meantime, Dan and I moved to Oklahoma City. The last conversation I had on the phone with Tommy was telling him that we were thinking about taking the job in Oklahoma City.
Fast forward to this morning. I had the PRIVILEGE of going back to hear Tommy speak about his experience and his influence at the WorkMatters Eight-to-Five Unplugged event. I also got to see all of my old co-workers from WorkMatters! No one knew I was coming, which was really fun, including Tommy. I snuck in the back door because I was running a few minutes behind the 6:30am start time. Right when I walked in, Tommy and I locked eyes for the first time in over a year, and he winked at me to acknowledge he knew I was there. That was the beginning of the water works for me. 
This is an amazing man. The room was PACKED...standing room only...with people who love and admire him for who he was before the accident, and who he has become after. He spoke about how he felt the Holy Spirit on him and in him while he was laying on the ground waiting for someone to find him that day. He spoke about how God is using this situation to influence others in his life on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute basis. He talked about how prayer really works. He talked about how life can truly change in the time it takes to fall from a 10-foot ladder in your own backyard. Then after, people got to stand up and tell how Tommy has influenced THEIR life.
I didn't say anything in front of the crowd, but wanted to. I would have told Tommy that he is a precious friend and has poured so much into my life. He has been such an example of how a husband should love a wife. I remember him telling me on more than one occasion that he "married WAY out of his league." We would laugh about that and assure him that he, in fact, HAD married out of his league! : ) However, what he doesn't know is that one of the moments I knew I was going to marry Dan was when he told someone I was "out of his league." And that was all because of Tommy. I admire and love him as a business man, a husband, a father, a friend, and most of all, as my brother in Christ. I would have told him that I don't understand why this is God's plan for his life, but I know he must be considered worthy to carry such a ministry position.
People's lives were changed today, and I have no doubt that they are changed every day because of Tommy. I have tears welling up in my eyes right now just thinking of him and how brave and humble and courageous he is. He has embraced this situation with such grace and beauty, and my heart needed to see that after a year. I got to speak with Tommy today and joke around with him like we always did. I "tried" to ask about Robyn (his wife) and the boys, but all he wanted to know about was me...my pregnancy, our house, my job, our church, etc. That's Tommy for ya...typical Tommy. I love that man. I absolutely adore him. And I treasured our time together today. Thanks for who you are, Tommy. You are a precious, precious man.
I ADORE this crib!!
But will probably be just as happy with this one since it's LOTS cheaper!
This onesie is a MUST HAVE around our house! What a great way to explain to your baby EXACTLY where they came from! ; )
This DELICIOUS blue chair with silver nail heads and upholstery that feels better than velvet!
And last, but certainly not least, the tummy pic. Oh boy, this sucker is growing at a RAPID rate! My doctor DID tell me a couple weeks ago to expect to double in size over the next few weeks, and I am WELL on my way! It's fun though! I love pregnant bellies, and mine is no exception. Last Thursday we got to go have another ultrasound because we have a friend who is an ultrasound tech at the hospital. We watched our sweetie for 45 minutes! It was moving all around, sitting Indian style, sucking its little thumb. At one point it even took its thumb out of its mouth and gave us a thumbs up! : ) I was measuring about a week ahead, so I fully expect my due date to change at our official doctor's appointment on the 29th. I am now feeling movement quite often. It is THE neatest feeling in the world! Every time I feel it, it still makes me sit straight up with my eyes wide open. I hope I never get used to it. We are in love with you, baby Maciuk! You are already the apple of our eyes! 
Oh, and I also designed this wedding invitation for my dear friends Matt and Maggie tonight! They loved it, so SCORE! I think it's pretty cute too...just like them! They are getting married on my birthday, and that's THE best present anyone could give me! WEDDING CAKE ON MY BIRTHDAY! Hope you all had a MUCHO FAB Tuesday!
This is an amazing man. The room was PACKED...standing room only...with people who love and admire him for who he was before the accident, and who he has become after. He spoke about how he felt the Holy Spirit on him and in him while he was laying on the ground waiting for someone to find him that day. He spoke about how God is using this situation to influence others in his life on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute basis. He talked about how prayer really works. He talked about how life can truly change in the time it takes to fall from a 10-foot ladder in your own backyard. Then after, people got to stand up and tell how Tommy has influenced THEIR life. 
