As I've shared here before, our journey to parenthood wasn't easy. One year ago at this time I was preparing for laparoscopic surgery to officially diagnose endometriosis. To say that I was scared is an understatement. I was filled with so much fear and worry that it changed me. It was such a hard season of my life. After the surgery when we found out the severity of my endometriosis I went through another stage of grief and worry. I feared I'd never get to experience the miracle of carrying our child in my body! I allowed myself to experience all that I was feeling, but with support from my sweet Ry and my dear friends and family, I snapped out of it. With their love, along with endless prayer, I was able to turn all those bad emotions into hope and faith. With God's grace, our angels in Heaven, and the help of our amazing doctor, our itty bitty embryo once called Baby Cookie, now known as Sweet Pea, is kicking my belly as I type this post.

When I woke up on the day of our baby shower I realized that my excitement and joy for the day was the complete opposite of how I felt last year at this time. My happiness, compared to the sadness a year ago, was intensified tenfold. I took it all in! I remember, as I was getting ready for the day, how it felt to slip on my maternity tights and to look in the mirror and see my baby girl bump reflecting back at me. I can still feel the fresh air as I hoped into Ry's truck to head to the shower. I remember our arrival and pulling into the parking lot and seeing my beautiful sister unloading her babies and all the goodies she had brought for our shower. The room was full of so much pink, with fresh flowers, and the most adorable sweets. I'll always remember the smell of my perfume and his cologne, along with the scent of fresh lilies and pink roses that decorated each table at the shower. All the friends and family that supported us with love and prayers as we awaited this baby, came together to celebrate her miraculous life, and it was a day that I'll never ever forget. Our baby girl is already loved so very much.

It was more than just a baby shower, it was a reminder of God's love for us. For all the answered prayers we said, asking for a child to love and celebrate, that was the celebratory meaning of our shower. To dream of her first birthday, trips to Disney and pumpkin patches, nighttime bubble baths and bedtime stories, to have a child that will allow us to see life through her innocent eyes is such a blessing. We thank God for her every single day!




My aunt hosted our baby shower and she put so much time and love into making the day all that I dreamed it to be and more. To her I'll be forever grateful. My mom and sisters were a big help and my mother-in-law made the adorable pink cake.






As I was opening all the gifts for our sweet pea I had four adorable little girls helping me. They were so cute and truly a big help.




Each guest brought a book instead of a card. After the shower Ryan and I sat at our dining room table and read each note they had written to her. My dear friend and her littles also gave us handwritten letters that we will save for our baby girl to read someday. They told her how they prayed for her and how they can't wait to meet her. They have already welcomed her into their hearts with so much love and we are just so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

Here are the "bumpies" we snapped before we left for the shower. Follow along on Instagram @wendycorreen That's where I'll be sharing some of her adorable gifts and some new items from my favorite maternity clothing store PinkBlush. Stay tuned for an upcoming giveaway.




My dress is from PinkBlush here.


The baby shower invites are from Design and Donuts on Etsy.

In just a few weeks we are taking our birthing class and I'm really excited about it.

Thank you for following along and for your continued prayers! In just about 14 weeks she'll be earthbound.

Love xo
Wen, Ry, and Sweet Pea

Our baby sweet pea weighs 1 lb 11 oz already. She's almost two pounds and it seems like just yesterday she was a hatched blastocyst the size of poppy seed being transferred inside of me. I'll surely spend all my free moments thanking God today for the miracle of her life. Today's sonogram was a follow-up to the 20 week anomaly scan. There were certain views of her heart that they were unable to see last time. The sonographer was giggling the entire time. We've heard with each sonogram that our sweet pea is an active one, and today was no different. Just as soon as she'd get the views of the heart that she was trying to capture, baby girl would move or put her arms up over it. I could actually feel her kicks and punches in response to the pushing and prodding that was happening to her this morning. It was adorable and entertaining for both of us.  I think she must wiggle and dance around more than other babies because the doctors and sonographers always comment and react to her movements. The doctor said all looked "perfect" and healthy. They also said that she is a happy, healthy, and active little baby that is not camera shy. How could she be camera shy, she's half me after all! 

As I was driving to my doctor's appointment I was thinking that this pregnancy experience may very well be the happiest season of my life. I'm amazed every single day. I love feeling her grow inside of me, and I pray she stays put until full term, but I do daydream of meeting her and kissing her and seeing this adorable little face in flesh. Her big fur sister is becoming more and more curious about her by the day! 

Have a happy week! 

xo Wen

Today is our one year wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe all that has happened since that beautiful October Saturday that I became his Mrs. Smith. I know this sounds cliche, but I truly believe we were made for one another. God brought us together and my life with him is in a constant state of gratitude. Even during the tough times, I'm counting our blessings.  

I picked this photo to share today because of the glowing pink sky that was our backdrop to dinner and the end to our perfect fairytale wedding day. I also love this photo because of the way he is holding me in his arms. Right there, in his arms is where I'm the happiest. I feel safe in his embrace. We've been through some of the most beautiful times of my life and also some of the most testing, and he's always right there to keep me warm and safe and loved. I can't tell you how many times that embrace has turned my fears and worries into faith and trust. 



In this past year we sold his bachelor pad. I had surgery for endometriosis. We bought a house and completely remodeled it. We travelled. We went through a round of IVF. And now on this day, in the house we made a home, I'm almost 24 weeks pregnant with our miracle baby girl. We live each day with meaning, and we dream about our life together. When I met him I joked with my friends and sisters that he is my romantic comedy, but the truth is, with him it does feel like I'm living a romantic comedy. It's not all unicorns and rainbows, we've had some hiccups and fights. We've had hard times too. What I cherish about us is the way we bounce back. I cannot stay mad at him very long, its just impossible. I'm grateful to say we are always focused on our love for one another, even if we are frustrated about something. During it all we respect each other. His heart and feelings are always very important to me, and I know he holds the same tenderness for me. We built a foundation on love, communication, trust, and devotion. And I'm sharing this because I'm grateful, I'm well aware that this is not how relationships always go. It was a long road getting to him and us, but it was worth the wait. 

On Friday he got home from work early. I was painting my fingernails at the kitchen table and when he opened the door from the garage I heard our first dance wedding song playing. I turned around and he was smiling so big with his cell phone in his shirt pocket (playing our song), and he was holding a bright yellow Kendra Scott bag. He never fails to have a romantic surprise up his sleeve. He had gone down to the Country Club Plaza all by himself so he could surprise me with some jewels from one of my favorite stores. I love my new necklaces. 



Saturday was our day to really celebrate and we did, ALL DAY LONG! While we were drinking our morning coffee I surprised him with this video I made with photos from the beginning of our relationship to now. I'm no pro video maker, but it was fun to sit on the sofa and go down memory lane with him before we started our adventures for the day. 



Before we headed out the door I had the top tier of our wedding cake thawing! I can't believe the peony survived the freeze so well. It was missing a few petals, but overall it looked so pretty still. 






We stopped at Starbucks before heading to the plaza. I'm currently obsessed with the salted caramel hot chocolate with almond milk. Our little sweet pea is a fan too. She usually starts dancing after I drink it! I'm sure its the sugar high, but its adorable. We had lunch at Panera (we had to save our appetites for dinner) and then we went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. This was Ryan's first time visiting the museum and it was fun for me to see it through his eyes. He has a great appreciation for the history of it all and I loved being able to experience this with him. 






After the museum we went to look at the "mom car" ideas my Ry has for me. It'll be over a year before I get a new "mom car" but he's already doing the research and dreaming up our options. 

Then we went home to change and head out to dinner. We went to Cafe Provence. My brother used to work there and he always said we should try it, but we never got around to it. This place is very well known in Kansas City and all the "important" people dine here when they are in town. Kate Spade, my very favorite designer, had dinner there one night and my sweet little bro got her autograph for me! Anyway our expectations were high, so high that we could have easily been disappointed. You know when you're told something is so great and so wonderful that you just really expect it to be way better than anything you've ever had or experienced before. Well that is how we went into this restaurant. By the way it is a darling little place. It is very romantic with lace cafe curtains in the windows, twinkling candles on the tables, and french music playing above. It kind of felt like we were out of town, we could have pretended to be in Paris for an hour or so! I ordered salmon with sauerkraut and Ry had the special, sea bass. With the first bite I knew I was tasting the best meal of my life! It was amazing and like nothing I've ever tasted before. Ry felt the same way, his dinner was equally delicious. We both finished our plates and I've never thought about licking my plate before, but it did cross my mind! That was a kind of a joke, but kind of serious too! It was just really really GREAT! We had to have dessert and it was a hard selection, but we decided on the apple tart with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. It was the cherry on top of the night! 

On Sunday afternoon we finally sliced into our wedding cake and it was just as amazing as our wedding night. It took us back to that moment under the twinkling lights one year ago! 



This is a link to all of our wedding photos. My dear friends at Bright Umbrella Photography did such an amazing job capturing our wedding day, and to them we are always grateful. 

I've shared a few of my favorite pieces from Kendra Scott below, and also the two necklaces that Ry got me for our anniversary that I'll cherish forever. 

Cheers to love & happiness!
Wen 

It's Friday. Finally. We have plenty of celebrations to look forward to this weekend.Tonight we are celebrating my step-dad's birthday and then tomorrow we are celebrating our wedding anniversary. We are going to spend the early afternoon at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and then we have dinner reservations at a romantic little French restaurant called Cafe Provence. Ryan surprised me with the sweetest anniversary gift when he got home from work this afternoon. I'll share about it soon. I've got our wedding cake thawing out in the fridge right now, and I'm looking forward to tasting it again as we celebrate this weekend. 

Our sweet pea's wallpaper was installed on Monday and I really don't know how I'm supposed to wait to show it to you. It's beautiful and feminine. Her nursery isn't even finished yet and it's already all that I've dreamed it to be. We have a few more things to do before I can share the big reveal. 







Follow along on Instagram @wendycorreen and on Snapchat @wencorreensmith

I hope you have a beautiful weekend xo 

Wen 

Hello dear! 

Today I'm grateful to be going through totes full of baby clothes for our little sweet pea. She has two adorable older cousins that were born in the winter and my sisters have been kind enough to give me most of their clothes. As I'm washing and drying and hanging all of her new stuff I've got chicken cooking in the crockpot as I'm making a chicken cornbread casserole for dinner. All of our meals this month are fall inspired! We had turkey chili and beef stew over the weekend and enjoyed the leftovers last night. I also made our very favorite pumpkin spice cookies with cream cheese icing! 




October is our wedding anniversary month. Yes, month, I like to celebrate holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries all month long. Why not? We kicked off our anniversary month with a trip to Weston's Apple Fest. The day was perfect and we had so much fun. The weather was cool with dark gray clouds above. The downtown streets smelled of apple dumplings, french fries, hot dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, and pumpkin desserts. The live music was entertaining and the booths were full of handmade crafts. We picked up a handmade bonnet from a vendor that our baby girl may wear home from the hospital. 

This is why the whole town smelled like sugar and apples! 







Look how much our baby is growing. Going to this October event with our baby girl on board was extra special. We talked about her a lot as we strolled the streets. She is loved so very much already! 






On our way out of town we stopped in The Farmer's House. We decided that next year we will stop there first for lunch and then head down to the Apple Fest. Their food and prices looked better. I got our white pumpkins for the fireplace mantle here. We also got a big glass jar of Old Fashioned Apple Cider. 




Our cozy mantle Saturday night. 


The next morning we woke up to a very chilly house. We left all the windows open and I was tempted to turn the heat on before I made the coffee. Falling asleep to the cold breeze is the best! 



This is the cutest lil' pum'kin I know. She wasn't really in the mood for Monday morning when I snapped this. 


Yesterday we had sweet pea's wallpaper installed. It looks BEAUTIFUL!!! It's feminine and bright with the prettiest colors. I want to share it right now, but the other part of me thinks I should wait until it's all put together. This was taken right before it went up! Follow me on snapchat @wencorreensmith I might share some sneak peeks over there before it's all finished. 


Well I better get back to finishing our girl's laundry! I think I've said "thank you" to God about 15 times today. Seeing her room come together and washing the itty-bitty clothes that she'll wear makes it all feel so real. She is our miracle gift from above and I've never been so grateful in my entire life. I'll be 23 weeks tomorrow, and it feels like just yesterday Ryan was holding me in the living room as we cried tears of joy when we found out we were pregnant! My baby shower is the end of this month. It's just amazing, absolutely amazing! We are so very thankful and love each of you for following along on this journey with us. 

With love xo 
Wen, Ry, Mrs. PB, and Baby Sweet Pea