Thursday, April 30, 2015

Bargain Buys

My closet has been in need of a little summer update. I didn't buy any new pieces last year. I'd just had a baby, my body was all weird and I was staying inside most of the time anyway. There just wasn't any point. So this year I've really been craving some new items to place in my closet. My clothing budget isn't quite what it used to be and I'm not complaining one bit about that! I have a little boy to dress and truth be told, I'd much rather spend money on his clothes than my own! However, I'm a girl that loves fashion and I want to feel cute (on the days that I actually get dressed) too! My sidekick can't be the only one!! One day last week I decided to hit up Forever 21 to see what I could find. I stayed in there for about an hour and a half digging through all of their racks and ended up leaving with a sack full of new things for a super awesome price. I'm pretty excited about my new dresses that are not only cute but insanely comfortable as well (a must). These are two of my favorites that I walked away with. Take a look at the one on the left HERE and the one on the right HERE.
I also decided to pop in Old Navy to see what I could find. I tried on a lot of things but only fell in love with one dress. However, I loved it so much that I bought it in three different colors! Does anyone else do that when they love something so much or just me? And my Mom. This dress is seriously so awesome. I like that it has sleeves since most summer dresses don't. It's gathered at the waist which I feel like can sometimes be tricky but this hits at just the right spot to make it really flattering for any body type. I've dressed them up with heels for church and worn them with flip flops for every day. This dress is definitely my summer go-to. You can find it HERE.
And just for fun, I thought I'd tell you gals about the most comfortable shoe I've found in a long, long time. I snatched these up while I was on my shopping spree and I'm in lurve. They have an insanely cushy bottom and I could go hours wearing them without my feet hurting. If you want a fun new pump then these are the way to go! You can find them HERE

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Campbell--Thirteen Months Later

I thought I'd share a little Campbell update with you guys. Mostly so I wont forget!! I don't know what I would do if I didn't have this blog to look back and help me remember things.
Campbell turned 13 months old on Sunday. This stage with him is so wonderful. We hang out in our bonus room for the majority of the day. It's where all of Campbell's toys are and he loves playing with his toys. Sometimes I pop out of the room for a quick minute to take care of something around the house. Campbell never even notices that I've left. One day a couple of weeks ago, I left the room and when I came back there was a stack of blocks in the middle of the room. It really tickled me! He had never stacked his blocks before and I just thought it was so cute to walk into the room to that! Now he stacks his blocks all the time. My neighbor gave me these blocks because her kids are too big for them now and I'm so glad she did. Campbell loves his blocks!
Campbell is cruising furniture like crazy now. Yesterday he stood up all by himself for a super long time. It's the first time he's really stood alone like that. I still think it will be a while before he decides he's ready to walk. I'm guessing maybe sometime in June. I barley hold onto his little hands while he walks but he's just unsure about it to try it for himself. Once he's ready to let go I think he'll just take off.
Campbell talks all. the. time. He loves to hear himself talk. Strangers will come up to us in a store and comment about how much he's talking! He isn't saying any real words yet but I know that's coming soon. If you ask him to say something, he focuses really hard then nods his head and says it back to you in his own babbling way. It's super cute!! :)
He's getting slightly more particular about his food. I used to be able to throw anything on his tray and he would eat it. Now I can't get him to eat watermelon, avocados or broccoli. He also hates milk and I probably haven't given him a sip of it in weeks. Oops! I just don't know if I'll ever be able to get him to drink it because he despises it so much. I try to compensate by giving him a lot of eggs, yogurt and cheese. Also, Campbell has become obsessed with carbs. Who can blame him?
Campbell isn't loud or rambunctious or rough. I love that he's so sweet and calm and gentle. I absolutely knew that's what his personality would be like when I was pregnant with him. I hope he's always this way. Scott and I were in a class at church and they asked us to pray for actual adjectives that we hope our child possess. Not just that we pray they're always healthy and happy but what we hope them to be. I pray that Campbell will be kind, joyful and sweet, to name a few. So far we're off to a good start.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Easy Like Sunday Morning

We had a fun Saturday. We kicked it off by going to the Bentonville Farmers Market. I'm so excited that it's back! We enjoyed strolling around downtown and settled upon lunch at The Station Café again. We wanted to eat at one of the food trucks but they only have picnic tables for seating and I wasn't sure how we would do that with Campbell. I need to get a snack tray to attach to Campbell's stroller so we can try those out next time. The Station Café has high chairs (and I was seriously craving a burger) so the good ol' classic it was. After our outdoor lunch we walked around looking at all of the Farmers Market stands. We didn't get anything this time but I plan on loading up on a lot of vegetables once they become available.
We came home so Campbell could take a nap and once he woke up we played on our backyard patio and stayed there until it was time for Campbell to go to bed. Campbell got a water table for his birthday and he loves playing with it so it provides hours of outdoor entertainment for him.
Of course the girls were in heaven getting to be outside for so long. They were pretty thrilled with our decision to have an outdoor day.
On Sunday we went to the 9:30 service at our church so Scott and I could attend this class that we were wanting to do. We always go to the 11:00 service since Campbell naps at 9:00 every morning. I was a little worried about how that would work out with Campbell being in the nursery during his nap time. He goes to MDO at 9:00 but they know his routine and how to get him to nap so it isn't a big deal. I handed him off and told them the situation and that I would love it if he could get his nap but it was totally no big deal if he wouldn't nap for them. They told me they would try their best and when we handed Campbell off he didn't even cry. That makes 3 Sunday's in a row now! At MDO he actually reaches for his teachers when I drop him off! That does my Momma heart so much good. We went to our class and when we came back Campbell was sound asleep. They said he fell asleep almost immediately. We left him there to keep snoozing while Scott and I sat in the lobby of the church and had some coffee. Haha!
It's just so crazy how easy Campbell is these days. In the past he would have cried his little head off and there's no way the sweet people in the nursery could have gotten him to take a nap. Life with Campbell had to be so, so structured and we had to work so hard to keep him happy. Life is still pretty structured (we love our routine!!!) but if we get off on our schedule it doesn't really matter. Campbell just goes with the flow. It's so nice since he's never been a go with the flow kind of baby. It only took one year....well, probably more like ten months. :)

Friday, April 24, 2015

This Little Piggy Went To Market

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to the weekend more than I usually do. The Bentonville Farmers Market opens tomorrow and I can't wait to go! Other than that, we really don't have much else planned....which I love. Perfect, low key weekend.
I've been working on stepping up my photography game. Scott is the photo taker around here about 95% of the time but I'm wanting to learn and get better at it myself. I took the photos of Campbell that I posted yesterday and thought I'd share these that I took of him a few days ago. We went to Fresh Market and I had the camera with me so I thought an impromptu photo shoot at the grocery store seemed like a good idea. Campbell loves to eat so it's actually quite fitting. Y'all enjoy your weekend!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Wordless Wednesday

Monday, April 20, 2015

Words

I had a fun weekend! My parents came up from Little Rock for a wedding that we all attended. The wedding was wonderful and it was fun getting away with my parents while my MIL watched Campbell.
We got back from the wedding then went to the mall. Our mall is an outdoor mall and it's so nice to just go and walk around. It's kind of my go-to place when I don't have anything to do but need to get out of the house.
We all went to church together yesterday and the sermon was SO good. It was all about the Bible. How it came to be hundreds and hundreds of years later and that it has all of life's answers in it. Our pastor encouraged us to spend just 1% of our day, every day, reading The Word. That's only 15 minutes. He told us that when his kids were little and he drove them to school, they used that time to memorize scripture. I love that idea and told Scott that I want us to do that with our kids. It would be great for us also!! The words spoken yesterday were just exactly what I needed to hear. Every single one of them. Don't you love it when you go to church and feel like The Lord delivered that message just for you? They opened with Psalm 19:14 and I love this verse. Again, it was perfect timing for me to be reminded of this.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer --- Psalm 19:14

Friday, April 17, 2015

Bridges and Tulips

Last Saturday when we had our "Family Fun Day" outing, we brought the camera along so we could get some spring photos of our babies. I'm so glad we did because the flowers were just absolutely beautiful and made for an awesome backdrop! I love some of the shots that Scott got--they're some of my favorites to date. These were taken around the Bentonville Square and Crystal Bridges. Both are some of our favorite places to take pictures. The bridge shots in particular are what I'll call 'Scott's Signature Shot'. He loves to take pictures at this bridge and I must admit, I love the way they always turn out.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Entryway Decor

I mentioned a few weeks back that I've been doing a little redecorating in my house and today I wanted to show you my new entry! If you follow me on Instagram (@kara2lou) you've already gotten a little peek at it but I wanted to post on here anyway.
I've always wanted a mirrored table in my entry and this piece fit just right! We ordered the table through Bassett. I flipped through a bunch of catalogue's and decided on this one. I was a little nervous since I wasn't able to see it in person but it turned out even better than I was hoping!
I've noticed on Pinterest that a lot of people put benches under their entry tables. I think it's such a neat idea and a great way to fill in an empty space. I found these benches at IO Metro. They coordinate well with our living room furniture so if we ever need more seating for guests we can just pull these out.
Without a doubt my favorite part about my new entry decor is the canvas that one of my best and closest friends painted of my girls. She did an amazing job and I'm just in awe of my special, new art! I will treasure and keep it forever.
We also hung new lighting and I'm pretty obsessed with this crystal pendant. I couldn't get it to photograph very well but you can get a better look at it HERE.
So there's my entry! It feels good to finally get something in that space that I love. It only took me three years....

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Wordless Wednesday