a grateful heart: telling our village

they say it takes a village

to educate, build character, avoid dangers, develop morals 

to raise a child. 

baby boy monaco~

you have one incredible village.

here are some photos from may 2015

showing how we told our special loved ones! 

i created a basket for my sister and bought these beautiful flowers at whole foods 

mr. monaco’s family: 

we found out on may 5 – five days before mother’s day 

his parents/sister’s family live in charlotte

we were hosting that day and decided to tell everyone– on such a special day

may 10, 2015- mother’s day 

i met melody at the sip & shop at 7th street market on thursday, april 30

she was so friendly and sweet

i loved the idea behind her beautiful nest necklaces at melody joy designs

{representing a mother’s love}

and thought, when we are expecting, i want to get our moms one of these! 

you can add eggs at any point – so fun, right?

five eggs for my mother-in-law and one for my mom

less than a week later… we were expecting!!! 

i contacted her right away and although mother’s day is her most busy time of the year…  she was aMaZinG and ended up driving to charlotte from south carolina to deliver our special gift! 

i can’t thank get enough.  

her work is beautiful and her personality extraordinary 

here is her facebook page for updates and more info: melody joy designs

we put the necklace in a beach bag (she loves the beach) with some fresh tulips

this box was her mom’s/mr. monaco’s nana’s 

she gave it to me on my 30th birthday with one of her mom’s beautiful bracelets

i love it so much- and decided to wrap the necklace in that box 

her reaction was absolutely priceless! 

she saw the mug first 

and got teary-eyed and said, ‘are you serious…’ in the sweetest way 

before going crazy

absolutely loved her excitement… it lasted for hours, days, months. haha 

the back of the mug says, ‘jess’ in cursive

i bought the wine labels, mug, and egg on etsy

the rest is from world market!

my sister and i loved watching them make/almost always bought salt water taffy at the beach

 so i added some blue/pink! 

i put these little mint converse shoes, a knitted hat {for winter} and this little note in the above box

this was my most favorite reaction 

they both cried, hugged each other and then hugged us

i gave my mom the necklace with a single pearl in the nest

and my dad got cuff links that said

dad 1983 {i am their first born} & grandpa 2016 

uncle al also got a mug! 

he surprised us and rang the door bell about 5 minutes after my sister and bassey showed up

{i thought i was going to have to tell him over FaceTime the next weekend when i told my parents}

so him showing up was SO special!!! 

i got to tell my sister and brother together. 

a moment that i will certainly never forget. 

close friends: 

we gave our friends a bottle of wine with this label {from etsy}

 i hated that i couldn’t tell my close friends from home in person

but shared our announcement photos with them 

and their reactions were AWESOME. {love them- so much}

blocks are from anthroplogie 

…

thank you all already for all of the love! 

…hope you enjoyed our announcements…

in case you missed: how i told mr. monaco