Liam's Room (a work in progress)

Hello friends!

I hope this Leap Day is treating you wonderfully! :)

Now that we know our little bundle of joy is a baby boy, and we are well into the 2nd half of this pregnancy (yay!), I've had lots of questions from friends and family regarding what we're planning for the baby's room. We've been brainstorming and dreaming of this room for months and months now, but now it's fun to start the process of actually bringing it all together and making it a reality.

People ask me if we have a specific "theme" for the room, and when I've tried to explain our vision, I'm afraid it comes across as more confusing than anything. haha! So, to help in this dilemma, I've decided to put together a few inspiration boards to show you how we are planning on decorating Liam's room. Now, we may not get all of things...but this is what we're dreaming of! :)

If I had to assign a theme for this room, it would have to be: simple mid-century modern (including some 1960s and 1970s design elements).

There's going to be lots of white in the room to keep things clean and simple (white walls, white furniture, white curtains), but we'll be incorporating lots of fun, bright, accent colors too!

Here are the accent colors we've come up with:

Orange, kelly green, bright blue, yellow, and red! We love color and are not afraid to use it! :)

Now, as for furniture, this is what we're looking at...

EXPEDIT shelf from IKEA - to fill with bins/baskets and use as toy storage.

GULLIVER crib from IKEA - I love how sleek and simple it is. It also converts into a toddler bed!

Eames-inspired rocking chair - Eames was big in mid-century design, so I am really loving this chair.

Knitted Pouf from CB2 - I've been wanting an excuse to get one of these poufs! It makes a great extra seat and a footrest for the rocking chair. Double purpose!

Zigzag printed rug from Urban Outfitters - I think this chevron rug would be perfect for his room!

MALM dresser from IKEA (not pictured) - Instead of using a changing table, we're planning on getting this dresser from IKEA and placing a changing pad on top of it.

Since the room and furniture are going to be white, most of the color will come from the decor we place in the room.

Green Stacked Lamp from Target - We got this on sale the other night, and I about freaked out in the store. It was perfect for what we were wanting, and the price was right! We got a simple, white, drum lampshade to go with it.

Solid Orange Crib Sheets from Carousel Designs - For bedding, we're going with simple, solid, orange, fitted crib sheets. No bumper, no comforter, just the sheet. I understand this is a little out of the ordinary, but it's the look that we like best for us. Jonathan's mom is making Liam a quilt in our accent colors, and my sister is also knitting (or crocheting?) him an amazing blanket in his colors. So we will have those to add to his bed later on when needed. I love that they'll be one-of-a-kind and special to him.

Red Wall Clock from Urban Outfitters - Again, I love how this resembles clocks from mid-century modern design :)

Yellow Pillow - We got one similar to this from Target the other day, but couldn't find it online to link to.

You Make Me Happy print from Etsy - Love this!

Elephant Bank from Urban Outfitters - This is too cute.

Now, for toys! :) I think toys can help bring together the design in a room. My favorites are wooden toys and vintage inspired toys. Some of these can double as both play things and decorations.

FisherPrice Retro Camera

Wooden Abacus by Melissa & Doug

Shape Sorting Cube by Melissa & Doug

Geometric Stacker Toy 

LEKA wooden baby gym by IKEA

Another element that we're wanting to include in his room is a book wall (or partial wall, really).

(source 1 + 2)

We LOVE books, and really want to instill that love for books and reading into our Liam at a young age. I've loved the idea of having a book wall for quite some time. Now all we need to do is add to our children's book collection! :)

There are other fun handcrafted and design elements that we'll be including...but I'll share those later as the room begins to come together.

So, there you have it! That's our vision of how we want Liam's room to turn out. Jonathan and I have both had fun brainstorming and dreaming all of this up. We're very blessed in the fact that we both have the same taste in design...so it makes agreeing on things so easy! 

I think this will be a fun, inspiring environment for our little guy to grow up in! :)

Love and blessings,

Tiffany 

Happy Birthday, Husband!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the most incredible man in the world!

Jonathan,

I am so very blessed to have you in my life. I absolutely love this day...your birthday...because it means I get to celebrate your existence. And for that, I am extremely thankful.

Even though you've been in my life for over 6 years now, I still sit in amazement at how perfect you are for me. You are incredibly strong in so many ways, and are everything I ever dreamed of (and more) in a man. God really knew what he was doing when he made you! I am so thankful that our paths crossed, and we now get to spend the rest of our lives together! How cool is that?! :)

You are my best friend. I could spend every moment of every day together and never tire of being with you. You make even the most mundane activities fun and exciting. You make me laugh so hard and are the source of  many of my smiles. You are such a joy in my life!

You are the love of my life. 6 years ago, I started to fall in love with you...and you continue to sweep me off my feet every day. But the wonderful thing is, is that I know our love for each other goes deeper than any of the feelings that we have. We are wholeheartedly committed to each other, to our marriage, and to the covenant we made with God. This kind of love is such a treasure and brings such security. I will cherish it and love you always!

You are a mighty man of God. One of the first things that attracted me to you was your love and dedication to God. I had never met a guy like you before. You continue to lead and encourage me in my own faith, and for that I am so thankful. I love your heart for ministry, for the things of God, and for our students who we get to pastor. God is using you in big ways, and I know this is only the beginning. I find it a joy and honor to have the opportunity to stand beside you to work together and support you as your wife. It's the best job in the world!

You are already an amazing father. As we enter this new chapter in our lives, I couldn't be more excited to get to experience parenting with you. This will be our greatest adventure yet! I already know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you're going to be an incredible father. This is evident in so many ways. You have always loved and taken care of me so wonderfully, but during this pregnancy you've taken it all to the next level. To see your care and concern for our baby before he's even in this world, really melts my heart. Liam is going to love his daddy! I am so thankful that he has you as his role model in life. I couldn't ask for a better one.

Thank you for being all of these things, and more! I love and appreciate you more than I could ever accurately express with words.

I'M SO GLAD YOU WERE  BORN! :)

Love always,

Tiffany

Liam Isaac: 20 Weeks!

20 weeks down, only 20 more to go!

It's hard to believe that we're already halfway through this pregnancy! The first half flew by incredibly fast! I've now entered what many call the "nesting" phase. I have a hard time thinking about anything else other than getting ready for this baby to come. I want to organize everything...even if it's not directly baby related. Our pantry, the laundry room, cleaning supplies, my schedule, my meal planning methods, etc. The list goes on...

I'm trying to remind myself that we still have plenty of time to get everything done, so there's no need to get overwhelmed. :) I must say, getting ready for baby is quite fun though!

The past two weeks have been quite eventful and exciting for us! We found out that our little one is a BOY (Liam Isaac), one of our closest friends (Lauren) came and visited us for a few days, and our dear friends the Crevistons came to visit! It's been fun getting to see so many people that we love and have missed over the past couple of years. They all came bearing gifts for the little man as well...I'll have to take pictures of some of the cute stuff he's been given already.

Liam has been growing and getting stronger and stronger each day. He is very active at times (mostly at night, much like his Daddy). The other day I was laying on the couch resting and Max was right up against my tummy...all of a sudden, Liam startles Max by kicking him hard in the side. Max jumped and just stared at my belly for a few seconds. Haha! It was so funny. That pup has no clue what's coming. :)

Jonathan was a little jealous that Max felt Liam kick before he has had the chance to. Every time Liam's been very active, I place Jonathan's hand where he is...but then the little man gets super still...like a ninja. We'll catch him one of these days!

Here's an update of the baby bump:

I've had moments the past week or so where I think to myself "Surely, my belly cannot stretch any further than it has already." Oh, but I know that I am only halfway there...there's still quite a bit of growing left to be done. It's amazing how God made our bodies to adjust to have a baby!

Hope you all are doing wonderfully! :)

Love and blessings,

-Tiffany

How He Loves Us!

Last night, a group of our Real Life students led their peers in worship at Franklin High School’s Open Mic Night. They led “How He Loves”, and by the end of it, the entire auditorium was standing with many lifting their hands in worship!

It was incredible to see these students take a stand for Christ and be unashamed to praise His name in their public school! God is doing a powerful work in and through this generation, and revival is taking place right now.

This is only a taste of what God has in store!

Here is the video from last night. I encourage you to watch the entire thing, but especially from 6:40 on. 

Let this be an inspiration and encouragement to all of us to step outside of our comfort zone and expect God to do big things through us! It’s time for us to stop living in our little bubbles, and to reach out to the people around us!

God is so good!

"See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!" - 1 John 3:1

Baby Zajas is a...

BOY!

Ahhhhhh! We are so excited to announce that Baby Zajas is a precious little boy. Our ultrasound yesterday was probably one of my favorite moments of life ever. Getting to stare at our beautiful baby for about 40 minutes while holding my husband's hand was heavenly.

The poll that we took the other day showed that it was pretty half and half with guesses as to if baby was going to be a boy or girl.

Jonathan and I were 99% sure that our baby was a boy. We were convinced of it from the very beginning, and would have been very surprised (although equally thrilled) if baby ended up being a girl. We didn't even have a girl name picked out yet! Now it is so amazing to have it confirmed so we can start calling him by his name and start planning his nursery and all that fun stuff! :)

Speaking of names, we're naming him...

Liam Isaac Zajas

Liam is an Irish name that means "strong warrior"
Isaac is a Hebrew name that means "laughter" and "child of the promise"

I absolutely love this picture. Can't wait to have those little hands wrapped around my finger, get to kiss those little cheeks, and smell that little head (is it just me, or don't baby's heads smell amazing?)!

We were going to do something super creative to reveal the gender of the baby online...but we just don't have the time right now, and I couldn't hold in this information any longer! I wanted to let you guys know as soon as possible! :)

Thanks to all of our friends and family for the shared excitement about our baby boy. It means so much to us.

Love you all!

Tiffany + Jonathan + LIAM! :)

Baby Zajas: 18 Weeks

Hello friends!

Well, here we are at 18 weeks and I can hardly believe it! Each week seems to go by faster and faster. I had a dream the other night that I was holding our little one in my arms, and it won't be long until that is a reality. Only (approximately) 22 weeks to go! :)

This week is an exciting milestone for us. On Wednesday we go in for our big ultrasound to discover if Baby Zajas is a boy or a girl! I can hardly wait! We are going to be so thrilled no matter which way it goes, but it'll be so nice to finally know and be able to call our baby by his/her name.

Do you have a guess as to what we're having? Submit your guesses below. (As a prize, the winners will receive affirmation in their guessing abilities!)

Do you think Baby Zajas is a boy or girl?
Boy Girl
	Results

I feel like I've really popped these past two weeks. I may say this every week though, so I'm not sure how accurate it is...haha! But I really do feel like my tummy looks more like a baby bump now rather than just a thick stomach. And...I'm kinda loving it!

Baby has been moving a lot lately, and at times the movements have been feeling stronger. At first, it just felt like little flutters, but now there's a feeling of a slight tapping. I absolutely love it! 

Hope you all are having a blessed week!

-Tiffany

What will our baby look like?

So often lately I find myself daydreaming about what our baby is going to look like. We're counting down the days until we get to meet our little one in person. It's going to be so surreal and amazing!

I keep wondering what features of our kiddo will be like Jonathan and what will be like me and what will be uniquely his/her own. I can't wait to see what God comes up with! :)

We go for our next appointment a week from today to have our big ultrasound! We are so looking forward to finding out if we're having a boy or girl. Can't wait to start calling baby by his or her name. I feel like this will make everything seem just a little bit more real to us. Exciting!

P.S. Isn't that picture of Jonathan the cutest thing ever? Seriously, I think that's my favorite picture I have ever seen. Apparently he posed like that without anyone telling him to...I love it! haha!