Happy Easter!

My wonderfully talented friend Rob put together this amazing Easter video for Watermark Church in Dallas.  

May we not lose sight of the real reason behind Easter. 

"He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay." - Matthew 28:6

Happy Easter Everyone!!! We are having a big lunch, opening Easter baskets, eating chocolate, dressing up (even though we do church via satellite), and spending time with family. Will post pictures of our cutie all dolled up later this week!  

A Day in Bordeaux

Yesterday was a long day but it was so refreshing.  We turned lemons into lemonade and made our annoying 2nd trip to the Bordeaux consulate (to replace my stolen passport) a day trip and fun afternoon! 


Our appointment was at 11:15 and afterwards we met up with Jennifer (who I got to meet last fall at our blogger lunch in Montpellier) and her two girls for a little lunch and shopping at H&M.  Her girls are adorable and I am so sad they don't live closer because they would be pretty amazing babysitters :)  At H&M I picked up a few adorable things for Stella's Easter basket and we said our goodbyes to our lovely American friends in France. 


We then hit the road and drove to Saint Emilion - a beautiful Medieval town nestled in the Bordeaux wine country.  We forgot how steep the hills were coupled with the very uneven original cobblestone streets... not ideal for a stroller and the French made sure to let us know by giving us lots of judgmental stares.  We bumped the stroller around the town and then parked it on a lovely outdoor patio in the sun and had a wine tasting with some charcuterie.  





















The sun was about start setting when we gave Stella an improvised backseat diaper change much to the dismay of the French! (more judgmental stares) Then we were on our way!  I am so proud of Logan and I for trying these day trips with a baby... it does take some planning, but our goal has always been to integrate the kids into our lifestyle instead of us stopping doing "fun things" because we are now parents. Stella has been a champ so far and travels really well... lets hope that rings true for us in a few weeks when we have a 10 hour flight and some serious time change/ jet lag in the works... haha! 

PS My Dad thought we were changing Stella on a piece of cardboard... We weren't that hillbilly. (but almost)  For the record: That is actually the changing mat that came with the diaper bag thank you very much :) Haha 

Move Update: The Deets

Well everyone... we are on the 1 month countdown!!! 

Our OFFICIAL move back date is April 23rd. 

Our Progress:

• I already have my first client for Abby Leigh Media and we haven't even officially launched yet!
• Abby Leigh Media's website is almost complete.. should be launching in a few weeks or less! 
• I joined Rodan + Fields Dermatologists and already have a Preferred Customer signed up and I haven't even had my business launches yet!  Thanks to Katie Schulze for being the best business partner and encouraging me to take this leap of faith. 
• Logan has a handful of really strong leads and his resume looks great and is currently circulating around the DFW area. 
• We sent back a TON of Stella's and Logan's stuff with Kent and Nicki... so we are hopeful that most of our belongings will fit in the 6 suitcases we moved over here with! (Luckily most of Stella's BIG stuff is on loan from my sister-in-law so things like the bouncy seat, bassinet, and swing all stay here!)
• Stella's passport and social security card should be arriving any day now! 
• The Cochrans are going to loan us their second car to drive until we can get some cash flow in to purchase one of our own- Praise God for good friends.  
• My Mom and Chris are letting us live in their home rent and bill-free until Logan finds a job.  This takes a lot of pressure off of us and Gigi has already painted Katy's old room a pretty blue so that Stella can still have her own nursery :) 

Our To Do's: 

• Last week my PURSE WAS STOLEN. This meant my debit cards, credit cards, passport, social security card, checks, and ALL OF MY MAKEUP.  (Is it sad that the makeup is my biggest bummer? It was in my cute Tory Burch case and now all I have is some makeshift samples - not worth it to buy new makeup at this point so I am just making it work until we get back to Dallas. I hope the thief was at least a girl who has an appreciation for Chanel lipgloss and NARS blush.)
• Because of this tomorrow we go back to Bordeaux to apply for a new passport/ social security card for ME.  Lets cross our fingers that it makes it back to me by April 23rd! The fun thing is that I have talked Logan into dropping by Saint Emillion for a few drinks on our way back... why not? It will be our last time in Bordeaux for awhile... 
• Logan has to get a ROOT CANAL on Friday.  He had an awful toothache a few weeks ago and when they got it checked out he found out that a root canal was necessary.  We figured we need to get that taken care of while its is still "free" for us in France instead of spending thousands of $$ once we get back to the US! 
• I am throwing my friend Anais a baby shower here in a few weeks... we found out yesterday its a little GIRL!!! The French all think this is SO strange to celebrate a baby before its born- they think its bad "juju" or something.  Anywhoo- I am her AMERICAN friend and we won't be here after the baby is born so they can just play along with it :) The invitations went out last week! (Logan helped me translate them into French) 
• Easter is this Sunday!!! I totally dropped the ball on this... it snuck up on me and now its too late to order Stella a smocked Easter dress. I found an affordable one for $35 but the shipping to France was going to be $50... are you kidding me?!?!? So we will be using something we already have this year but this week I am on the hunt for cute items to put in her very first Easter basket! 

That about sums up where we are at in this whole process and what our next month looks like... We are trying to balance "task mode" with enjoying the French countryside while we still can.  

Here are a few updated pictures of our girl... she is growing SO MUCH and becoming more and more FUN with each passing day!  The newborn clothes still fit her but she is starting to fit into some of her 0-3 month clothes so we have a few cute new outfits she's been modeling this week :) I just love dressing her up! 

Spring Break with the Cochrans!

We had SO much fun last week with Kent and Nicki!  It was just what we needed to get us through the last month of our time here in France.  We got out of the house, the weather was cold but nice, we LAUGHED, we stayed up late, we marveled at our tiny new addition, swapped pregnancy stories and shared the very limited parenting tricks we have learned in 2 months!  Aunt Nicki and Uncle Kent are BOTH naturals and to be honest, I LOVED having the extra hands around to help :) 

Baby C is due in June and Stella can't wait to meet him/ her!  

Here are some of my favorite pictures from their trip.  






















It was perfect...a breath of fresh air and gave us all renewed energy for the home stretch! 

THANK YOU COCHRANS FOR COMING TO SEE US IN FRANCE!!!! It is a trip we will never forget!  (And thank you for taking so much of our STUFF back with you! This saved us big time $$ on shipping! Moving Phase 1: Completed! )