One of the first calls I made when we found out we were expecting was to my good friend, Persida, from North Carolina. She immediately dove into everything I need to do, read, buy, plan and right there? I reached through the phone and squeezed her tightly. She told me all about a gender reveal party, which I had never even heard of, and urged me to immediately proceed to her Pinterest and find out all about it. Internet, everyone needs a Persida in their life and unfortunately, I do not do well with sharing (I’m an only child, remember?) so please, find one asap. Of course, in the midst of finding out the gender, I also had Adi’s golden birthday to plan, friends from out of town visiting, and a busy design project going, on top of the usual stuff. We actually had our appointment with the ultrasound tech and asked her to place the gender in a sealed envelope, and then proceeded to keep it there for 3 days without so much as a glance. Everyone asked how we did it, but it was simple. Deep in our hearts, we already knew.

In fact, I was so sure, that I had already purchased a few outfits for our little…

sweet, adorable…

drumroll please…

I felt strangely connected to him from the very beginning, and despite all the dreams Adi and I both had that he was actually a she, we knew we were having a little boy. One night, I even woke up with a girl name resonating so loudly in my mind, that I actually began thinking I was losing it. Still, we confidently took the envelope to our Whole Foods bakery and asked our lovely baker to fill the icing inside with the color of the gender. After celebrating Adi’s birthday one Saturday with friends, we gathered our nearest family members around my cousin’s house and placed our gender votes with cupcakes. That’s right… pink cupcake for a girl and blue for a boy. Looking back, it was such a fun way to find out and it meant the world to have those we love most surrounding us when we officially found out. As soon as we saw the blue icing, Adi embraced me as I cried happy tears for this little miracle that we could now call our son. I am so completely, utterly, and wholeheartedly in love with the idea of having a miniature Adi around, that I’ve literally felt my heart grow. We love just about everything about this journey (except for my heartburn) and we have felt God’s abundant blessings and goodness surround us more than ever. Baby, your mama and daddy already love you so very much and we couldn’t be more excited to finally meet what our hearts always knew to be true… you… our firstborn little boy.

A huge thanks to Persida, our family for hosting, and my lovely Andreea for baking our cupcakes with such love and care. Baby boy loves you all!

FYI: I forgot my flash, of course, and so these were taken in ridiculous low light, which is why I had to edit them differently than normal. 

And baby boy takes the cake! Pun totally intended… 

From the end of January to the beginning of March is typically busy, busy in the Lupu household. It seems as though we celebrate birthday’s and anniversary’s nearly every weekend and we love it. Thankfully though, our little baby will be a summer birthday, giving us a slight break to re-group and collect our energy. This morning, we’re celebrating the wonderful years God has blessed me with by indulging in cappuccino’s (I’m guilty of a few sips), raspberry tarts, and quality time together. We’ll be putting away our cell phones, closing our computers, and enjoying this amazing weather together. My heart and soul literally spills over with gratitude for all of the gifts in my life that I can’t think of a single thing I’d want… except for maybe an extra serving of birthday cake. You know, for the baby. ;)

Really though, I want nothing more than to give thanks, relish the most beautiful season I’ve ever experienced in life, and embrace the final year of my 20′s.  It’s been such a beautiful journey filled with joys, accomplishments, failures, discoveries, growth, learning, and best of all, love. Lots and lots of love. And for all of that, I’m happier than I’ve ever been and ready to embrace all that is to come. Happy Wednesday!

“We made it,” Adi whispered as I began to open my eyes Saturday morning. Moving wisps of hair off my face, I mustered up an mmmhmmm… sure did with a smile so cheesy, we both burst out in laughter. This past weekend, we celebrated our five year anniversary and though we both worked and couldn’t fully celebrate as we would have liked to, we made sure to set aside a little time for just the two of us. Because March is smack in the middle of busy wedding season, we decided to postpone a little getaway we had planned for later and instead reminisced on how truly wonderful the last 5 years have been. I must admit, I’m crazier about my husband today than I’ve ever been and this weekend, he reminded me of something that brought a smile to my heart.

When we were dating and I lived on campus, Adi would often make the drive out to come visit me. One night, he surprised me with a visit and called to let me know he was outside. I remember running to the bathroom and making whatever I could out of my extremely bad case of bed-head, put on a little lip gloss, and darted downstairs where tons of college students always gathered around in sweat pants and pj’s. I walked through the heavy doors and there he was, in the middle of the crowd, hands clasped behind his back, smiling sheepishly at me. Feeling the butterflies, I walked towards him as he pulled out a rose wrapped in plastic that he had picked up on the way. I noticed that it wasn’t a “real” flower but before I could thank him, he explained to me that he never wanted to give me something that wouldn’t last forever. As my knees grew weak, we were suddenly the only two people in the world. It was in that moment that I knew I could trust him with my heart forever. Right then and there, I knew that he was the man I wanted to marry and I knew he would take care of me forever.

To this day, it’s a favorite moment of ours that literally swept me off my feet. In honor of our 5th year together, he handed me a beautifully crafted paper flower in our condo before dinner and told me we would last forever. As my knees grew weak once more and my eyes welled up with tears (darn pregnancy hormones), I was reminded that I married my dream come true. With a simple gesture, he reminded me how safe my heart was with him. Over the past 5 years, he’s shown me he will take care of me forever. He’s faithfully supported me and believed in me when no one else has. He’s loved me through my very worst and brought out my very best. To this day, he continues to sweep me off my feet reminding me that the best is yet to come.

My darling… my love…, happy 5 years. I love you more than life.