Howdy and happy Friday, friends! January was a really fun month for me on Em for Marvelous. We got to talk a lot about some of my favorite things, like goals, marriage, financial freedom, June, and our family’s adventures. Y’all seemed to enjoy these topics, too!

I truly believe that the guiding light for my posts should be what I find most marvelous, because if I’m not passionate about something, then why bother sharing it? That being said, I sincerely treasure every single person who stops by, reads, and joins the conversation, and I love checking in every so often to gather feedback. I have lots of posts planned for the year ahead, but I’d also love to know: What would you like to read about? What would you like to discuss?

If you have a moment, please consider taking the short survey below… I’m so curious, and would love to hear from you! Then, leave a comment below to be entered to win a $50 Airbnb gift card OR a $50 Amazon gift card – your choice. I’ll draw and email a winner next Friday, February 10!

Update! Taryn D. is our lovely winner and has been emailed! Thank you all SO much for sharing feedback with me!

Create your own user feedback survey

Thank you in advance, friends! xo

It might just become your new favorite, too.

I’m not sure what made me think of Elvis one day, because I can’t say I’ve historically been a connoisseur of his music. But I did… and it was an instant hit with Miss June. To be fair, she gets very excited whenever we put on music, but she does seem to love Elvis even more than our Disney playlist, the Beach Boys, big band favorites, Cozy Fall, our cooking playlist, and Christian Folk, which comprise the other standard options at our house.

Click here to listen, if you like – I chose some of his most upbeat options for this highly-curated collection. And I challenge you to not have your own kitchen dance party when you do! :)

Happy weekend, friends!

I’m so happy to share the first part of our family photo session with Nancy Ray today! You may recall that Nancy gifted me the session of my choice at my baby shower. I thought long and hard about how to use it, and eventually decided to save it until June was a little bit older. I am SO glad I did, because these photos, with all of June’s grandparents, could not be more precious. (They were visiting for her baptism!)

I’ve broken the session into three posts; today, I’m sharing a few favorites from the ones we took at home, day-in-the-life style. (This was our inspiration.) Enjoy!!

A favorite!!!

Please enjoy that John is wearing his crocs in almost every photo… he considers them the equivalent of slippers :)

And now let’s mix in some grandparents! I mean, how much are we all going to treasure these for the next 50 years???

June’s main goal in life is to get the cats to let her pet them, so this was a very exciting moment that Nancy captured.

This particular photo is very special to me… reading with my Dad is pretty much my number one memory from childhood, so seeing him do the same with June almost makes my heart explode. I am SO, so, so grateful our baby gets to have all four of these wonderful people in her life, as I know not all kiddos are so lucky.

Best Dada I know :)

I hope you love these photos as much as we do! I know I’m biased, but I think Nancy’s work here is just magical. Next up: more family photos outside!

P.S. In case you are wondering, my sweater and June’s dress are from Old Navy (I ordered it in a size large so it would be oversized!), and her headband is from Simple June. I did my own makeup (what?) and conveniently scheduled my regular hair appointment for the morning of our shoot so it looked better than usual :)

This last year has felt slow, in the most wonderful way. From 4:15 to 8 every week day (and more on weekends, of course!), I was just with her. We were together. Sometimes we cooked, sometimes we folded laundry, sometimes I just sat on the floor and watched her explore. For the most part, I didn’t try to direct her activities. I didn’t share our moments on Snapchat or a Story. We smiled at each other and made each other laugh (and of course, sometimes there were tears!). We read books and stacked blocks. We hinged and unhinged the guitar case a million times. We listened to music and sang. We rolled around. We took lots of walks. We sat on the porch, quiet, and watched the tree in our front yard wave in the breeze. We tried to pet the cats. We took baths and ate dinner. Later, we climbed the stairs a million times, played with puzzles, danced, shook the tambourine.

Photo by Nancy Ray

Since my most important job was to be present, it was easy to succeed and to feel accomplished. I am her mama, and in that role I felt like exactly enough. I had everything I needed to give her exactly what she needed. I didn’t feel guilty, distracted, or frenzied. I left my phone in the kitchen, so I wasn’t tempted to look at it. I didn’t do everything right, but I felt purposeful and content BECAUSE I very specifically narrowed my focus to only this one thing while I was with her.

Did that mean I took and shared fewer pictures?
Did that mean I had to stay up later some nights to finish Etsy orders?
Did that mean I wrote fewer blog posts?
Did that mean I read fewer books?
Did that mean our house was often messy, and, let’s be real, a little bit dirty?
Did that mean it took weeks for me to get back to some emails?

Yes.

Was it worth it?

Yes.

Throughout this year, I constantly heard my grandmother in my head: “I just tried to enjoy them.” Well, I enjoyed every – and I do mean every – moment with my little Junebug. It was the best year of what has been a beautiful life, and I know John would say the same.

I didn’t spend too much time mourning how fast she was growing, and I firmly stopped myself from thinking too much about the future. I just sat in the present, with her, with John, and it was good. I am doing the same now.

Whenever I feel a wave of sadness about how she’s no longer a little baby, I remember something else a wise woman in my life recently told me: we are not called to keep our babies little, but to raise them well and help them grow. Yes, yes, yes, amen!

So to our sweet, cheerful, funny, smart, patient one-year-old June Chen Thomas: We love you. We are so grateful you are ours. And we are so excited to see what your next year holds!

xoxoxoxoxo

P.S. Thank YOU for your encouragement, enthusiasm, ideas, and wisdom this past year! You made my first year as a mama even sweeter. Very thankful for this community and the ability to share! So much love to you all!!