Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015--A Year In Pictures

 January
 February
 March
 April
 May
June
 July
 August
 September
 October
 November
December

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

2015 Instagram Feed

2015 has been a great year! It truly has. I've enjoyed life with my little toddler so very much. He keeps things fun and entertaining!! For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you know how much I love to share photos of my sweet peanut. It's kind of like my own personal photo album. I post things I don't want to forget and I find myself scrolling back on my own feed to reminisce or help me remember something. These were my top 9 photos on Instagram this year and I thought I'd share them on here as well. Looking forward to seeing what my 2016 IG feed brings!!
 

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A Few Christmas Memories

We are back home and finally settled in after our long holiday week! We had a great Christmas. It started out a little rough. Campbell was so sick at the beginning of last week. We are lucky that he's hardly ever been sick but this time was a doozy. I decided to take him to the doctor on Tuesday for his severe cough. I wanted to get him on some meds and zap it as quickly as I could since Christmas was fast approaching. They gave him a shot of antibiotics and said if he wasn't better by lunch the next day we needed to call. Well, he wasn't better so they had us come in again. The doctor wanted to check him for pneumonia so we had to do a chest xray and draw some blood. It was traumatizing for all of us!! Bless Campbell's poor little heart. Thankfully everything came back negative and we gave some oral antibiotics a try. By Christmas morning Campbell was feeling like his normal self again. I hated that my baby boy felt so miserable but I sure did love that all he wanted to do was snuggle with me.
One of my favorite Christmas memories this year was Christmas Eve. After we put Campbell to bed, Scott built a few toys and Mom, Dad and I set out all of Santa's presents for the kids to see in the morning. That was one of my favorite memories from last year too. It just looks and feels so magical to see those toys ready and waiting for tiny little eyes to spot them! Christmas is so much more fun when you have lots of little ones!
Also, I just wanted to share this one photo because it was so sweet to me. We were all hanging out on Christmas Eve and I looked over to see Campbell sitting in his big cousin, Landon's, lap and watching some cartoons together. Landon is so, so sweet to the babies and it was no surprise to see this but it warmed my heart up so much!!!

Saturday, December 26, 2015

18 Weeks

Size of Baby: 7 ounces and 5.5 inches long, about the size of a bell pepper.

How I'm Feeling: I feel pretty good. I'm still getting these headaches but I haven't had quite as many this week so fingers crossed that they're starting to go away. The only thing that helps is if I drink caffeine and I feel like I've had SO much caffeine these last few weeks. I'm sure it's fine but it worries me a little. I hardly had any caffeine when I was pregnant with Campbell.

Cravings: Still craving fruit!!

Clothes: No changes in the clothing department. I'm still able to wear whatever I want.

Movement: Still not a ton of movement. I was feeling Campbell constantly moving at this point so I'm a little disappointed (and somewhat nervous) that I only feel a small little something about once or twice a day.

Changes in Me: My belly has seen, what feels like, some serious growth this week. I love it! I love the bump.

Baby Purchases: No purchases this week. However, my Mom got Campbell and baby #2 some matching Kickee Pants pajamas for Christmas. They're both coveralls in the natural color. Size 2T for Campbell and preemie for new baby! It will make for a super sweet photo, I'm sure of it.

Favorite Moment This Week: Christmas was so fun and special yesterday. I absolutely love everything about how the day went. I thought a lot about Christmas next year and how different it will be having two sweet babies to share the day with.

Looking Forward To: Nesting!! Scott and I are planning on spending some time over the rest of the holidays to do some cleaning up and reorganizing in our house. I'd like to completely clear out the closet that's in the new baby's nursery. We're using it right now to store extra clothes and a bunch of random items and all of those things need to be donated or find a new spot in our house somewhere. It's going to feel so good to begin the process of getting that room ready for a new baby to come and live in it!!

Friday, December 25, 2015

Christmas 2015

We've had a wonderful Christmas Day! We spent the day in Little Rock with my family. We drove down yesterday afternoon and got here in time for dinner with everyone. We celebrated my nieces actual 1st birthday then put our little peanut down for bed (late! 9:30, whoops!!) and started building presents and getting set up for the kiddos to see what Santa brought them.
Campbell slept until 9:00 since he went to bed so late. It was kind of nice! Scott and I lounged in bed then decided we would go ahead and get dressed since our peanut was still asleep. By the time I finished getting dressed, Campbell had just woken up and was ready to go downstairs to see what Santa got him.
I wish I had on film the look on Campbell's face when he saw all of the toys that were sitting out. His eyes got so big and he just turned around and looked at us with this sweet, happy look on his face like "do you guys see this?!!!" I hope I never forget that sweet look.
It was all a bit overwhelming for Campbell. There was so much going on and I think it stressed him a little. He wanted to just open a toy and play with it and got frustrated if we tried to make him move on to unwrapping the next gift. Eventually I decided to just stop with the presents and let him be so he could enjoy himself. Needless to say, it took us quite a few hours before we finally tore into all of the presents which honestly, made the day pretty fun.

Campbell has so many new toys to play with! Santa was so good to him. Scott and I don't know where to put everything. It's hard to say what his favorite is so far. He's really enjoyed this stacking toy (of course) that he got to open on Christmas Eve. He also likes to scoot around on his new Radio Flyer and stick his snacks in the little basket in the front. He got a doctor kit and he knew exactly what to do with the stethoscope which really tickled us!!
We had a big breakfast after our presents and Mom made a delicious cheese ball for us to snack on all day until dinner later in the evening. I took a quick cat nap while Campbell took a long nap. A few family photos and dinner later and it's time to call it a night.
Today was so great. My little boy has so many fun new toys to play with!! My girls have some fun new toys too! Campbell had an exciting day and I feel blessed to be able to spend this day with my family. Merry Christmas everyone!

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! It's so exciting that Christmas is tomorrow! Although I think I get just as excited about Christmas Eve as I do Christmas Day. We are busy, busy with family these next few days. If it's anything like it always is, I know it's going to be a wonderful Christmas. I wanted to share our Christmas card with you all. I share it on here every year and this year is no exception!! I love how our card turned out!! It's something I've planned on doing for a few years now. I figured now was the best and only year to do it since Campbell will have a sibling(s) in the coming years.
You can check out my Instagram (@kara2lou) for a pic of the back of the card!!
We also send out a card of the three girls. It's fun for Mom and I to do together. We can't leave our babies out of the Christmas card festivities!! I love how the girls card turned out too. It's my favorite we've done so far :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Merry Christmas!!!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Colorful Christmas

We took these photos of my sweet littles after Thanksgiving but I've never had a chance to share them. I love these pictures. My Mom's flocked tree is so pretty and colorful and always makes the best backdrop for Christmas photos.
People ask me all the time if I have two dogs or three. Technically, I just have two. Madison and Ivy belong to us and Grace is my parents. Madison and Ivy are twins :) and Gracie is from a different breeder. However, Grace is only 8 days older than Madison and Ivy. My parents travel a lot so Grace always stays with us when they're gone. We call them all sisters even if they technically aren't. They think they are and so do we! And they're the three best friends that anyone could have. People ask me if I have a favorite and the honest answer is absolutely no. I love them all equally so very much. They have their own unique personalities but are also so similar at the same time. I love my girls.
This red stool was my Mom's when she was a little girl and Campbell loves it. He sits on it all the time when he's at his Pops and Gammas house. His Christmas pj's have a Daddy Snowman, a Momma Snowman, and a Baby Snowman traveling in a car with a bunch of presents and it says "are we there yet?" I had to get them because it's just like my own little family traveling for the holidays :)
 Ivy
Madison
Grace
This photo of Campbell cracks me and Scott up! I just had to share it.
My pretty little ladies! I think this is my new favorite photos of Madison and Ivy. They're pretty easy to take photos of especially when we're used to a wild toddler who doesn't know how to sit still. Taking pics of the girls is a piece of cake!
My sweet little boy. Christmas time is so much more magical and fun when little ones are around. I'm soaking this Christmas week up!! 




Monday, December 21, 2015

Avery's 1st Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated my sweet niece, Avery Claire. Avery is a Christmas Eve baby and she will be one year old in just a few short days. Her birthday party was yesterday and we had so much fun getting to be there with her on her special day.
My SIL did such a great job on her birthday party! It was a wintery/snowy theme and everything was decorated with soft pinks and whites. All of the food/treats were white and there was a hot chocolate bar with all sorts of fun toppings.
The party was at my parents house and Avery had so many friends and family show up! She is one loved little girl. Avery had fun opening up all of her presents and she racked up with some pretty awesome new toys!!
After presents, Avery got to dive into her little smash cake. She wasn't real sure what to do with it at first but once she got a taste of it she decided that was some pretty good stuff! She hardly made a mess of it even though she helped herself to a pretty large serving!! She's such a little lady.
We had a great time at her birthday party! Campbell's favorite part was playing with her balloons. I can't believe she's been in our life for (almost) a whole year now! What a joy and blessing she is to our family. We love you Avery!!!!!!

Friday, December 18, 2015

17 Weeks

Size of Baby: 5 ounces and 5 inches long, about the size of a turnip.

How I'm Feeling: I have been suffering from the most terrible headaches. I wake up with one every morning and some days it goes away and some days it doesn't and lasts the whole day!!! I had a few headaches with Campbell but it was nothing like this. These pounding headaches are awful.

Cravings: Nothing in particular. I still feel thirsty all the time and baby must be having a growth spurt because I've been hungry a lot (and eaten a lot, whoops!) this week.

Clothes: Everything still fits!

Movement: Still not feeling a lot. Just a little pop or two every day. Although they are getting just a tiny bit stronger!!

Changes in Me: It's actually kind of crazy (or maybe it's not?) how my body is doing pretty much the exact same things at the exact same time as my last pregnancy. I haven't really noticed any major changes this week. I weighed this morning and I'm still under my pre-pregnancy weight which surprises me because I feel like I've eaten so much this week.
Baby Purchases: I haven't purchased anything but I have been looking at nursery furniture/bedding/decor, etc. and dreaming up what I may do this time around. I've also been spending a lot of time on Pinterest getting nursery ideas. I've always known I would go with Restoration Hardware Baby & Child again because I just love, love everything about their baby look. I can't wait to get started on everything from the crib to the little plush animals. I'm kind of bummed about losing one of my guest bedrooms because we have guests a lot, but I also can't wait to decorate another nursery!! When I imagine two precious little nursery's in my home, it gives me the warm fuzzies.

Favorite Moment This Week: I love to imagine what this baby's newborn photos will look like. We loved who took Campbell's newborn photos and I've already talked to her about doing these as well. She has this beautiful white bed in her studio that she takes photos on, and I can't wait to see photos of Campbell holding and kissing the baby while laying on this bed. I already have an idea of what coordinating outfits I want them to wear. It makes me excited to think about it and I've done that a lot this week!!

Looking Forward To: Christmas!!! I can't believe it's one week from today. Last year was such a special Christmas since it was Campbell's first. I think I'll really treasure this Christmas since it's our last one with just Campbell. Christmas has just been extra delightful these last few years! I'm really hoping that this baby will be moving so much a week from now. Watching Campbell get all giddy about opening his presents while feeling this baby moving around inside of me would make for such a perfect Christmas day.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Stacking and Puppy Presents

Campbell had his last day of MDO today and I spent the day all to myself. I went to Fayetteville and popped in Toys R Us to grab something for my Mom. I had lunch at Panera while I was down there and enjoyed my quiet lunch break to myself. I went to TJ Maxx, Homegoods and the mall then before I knew it, it was time to grab my little peanut. We came home and chillaxed for the rest of the day.
Campbell has always loved stacking blocks and now he's finding a new way to make it more exciting. He's been using his play table as a base for his stacking and he does this over and over for an hour or more every night. Scott and I just watch in amazement. We also chuckle because it's so fun and funny to watch him do it. Campbell has loved stacking blocks since before he turned one. I've noticed just this week that he's starting to sort his blocks into categories. My neighbor gave me tons of different wooden blocks that her kids no longer played with anymore. There's all different types, colors, etc and I have them all in a basket in the playroom. Now Campbell is putting them into different piles and sorting the matching ones and I'm honestly really impressed with it! It always amazes me when he starts doing something that I've never taught him. Like, how did you learn that or figure that out? A perfect example is that he grabbed all of the same blocks in the photo above and is using only those to stack with. Toddlers are fascinating and entertaining little people!! :)
I finally got around to purchasing and wrapping the girls Christmas presents because we, of course, can't leave them out!! Madison knows which presents belong to her and she absolutely cannot resist opening them. She doesn't even give the other presents so much as a sniff but the second one of her toys appears under the tree, she knows it. And wants it. Madison and Ivy unwrapped all of their Christmas presents last night. Normally I torture them and make them wait but I decided to go ahead and let them enjoy. They've been playing with them ever since!