Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Freshly Picked Giveaway!!

You all know how much I love Freshly Picked and today I'm teaming up with them to give away a pair of their moccasins!!! Yep! You read that right. And the coolest part is Freshly Picked is going to let you pick the size and color of your choice!! How awesome is that? To enter the giveaway, head over to my Instagram account @kara2lou
The winner will be chosen at random and the giveaway closes on Friday. Good luck!!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Black Friday Goodies

Did anyone participate in any of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales? I did a little more this year than I typically do. I usually always participate in a few of the sales, mostly for my boys, but this year Scott and I got a few items for us as well! I'm not the person who waits in the long lines in the wee hours of the morning. I usually just do some online shopping and call it good. I was able to score some good deals this year and I'm excited about them!
Of course I got Freshly Picked Moccs and Kickee Pants. Duh. My favs. I wasn't about to miss out on those sales! Scott and I treated ourselves to Apple Watches. We're saving them for Christmas so I haven't started using it yet. I've been wanting a Fitbit for a while to track my steps and distance when I run. Scott has one and he is one of those obsessive people who won't take a step without his Fitbit on. Ha! However, his started to fall apart so he needs a new one but he thought it would be fun to get an Apple Watch instead. So that's what we got! I can't wait to start using it.
I also let my husband treat me to a new Tory Burch tote. They are my favorite bags and pretty much all I use. They hold all of the millions of items I carry around with me so nicely. I'm excited about my new bag but I have been instructed that I cannot have it until Christmas so all of my fun new items will have to wait to be put to use.
I also ordered our Christmas cards over the weekend. I typically order them a little sooner so they'll go out later than usual but that's okay because I paid less for them than I have in years! My husband was pretty excited about it. Ha!!
What about you? Did you participate in any good Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals?

Monday, November 28, 2016

Freshly Picked Cyber Monday Sale

I've mentioned on here many, many times before how much I absolutely love Freshly Picked Moccs. I discovered them right when Campbell was born and I remember telling all of my friends about them. They were a fairly new brand at the time so not a ton of people had heard of their moccasins but it didn't take long for the entire world to take notice!!
The first pair I bought for Campbell was Weathered Brown. I loved them instantly and thus the obsession began! We have quite the collection now and my boys closets are full of all sizes and colors of Freshly Picked Moccs! They are our go-to shoe. I love how easy they are to slip on and they pull the boys outfits together perfectly. I get so many compliments on their moccs whenever we're out and about.
The color the boys are wearing in these photos is Greatest Snow On Earth. It's one of my favorite colors for my boys. It's a very light blue shade and they go with pretty much anything!
The quality of these shoes are wonderful. Bennett will be able to wear all of Campbell's old moccs because they look good as new! With the exception of the tiny little footprints on the soles, you would never know they had been worn. And oh how I love those footprints!!!
Freshly Picked is having an awesome Cyber Monday sale today! Two pairs of moccs for less than the price of one!!! Can't beat that! It's such a fun sale too. What they're going to do is have you pick the gender (girl or neutral) and the size. Freshly Picked will fill your bag with two pairs of moccasins and send it to you. So what you get will be a surprise, which I think is so much fun!! This special is only $55 so you better hop off here and log on to www.freshlypicked.com to place an order. They're also offering 25% off on select seasonal styles. It's basically impossible to pass up these deals!! When you get your moccs in, come back here, leave me a comment and tell me what colors they sent you!

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Thanksgiving 2016

Hey all! I took a little blogging break over the Thanksgiving holiday but I'm back and ready to dish! I thought I'd share a few photos from our Thanksgiving weekend!!
We had a great time with my family in Little Rock. We drove down early Wednesday so we could have plenty of quality time with everyone. On Thursday morning my Mom, Dad and I participated in our annual Thanksgiving 5k, the Turkey Trot. We do the Turkey Trot together every Thanksgiving that I'm in Little Rock (they still run it without me when I'm not there!) and it's such a great way to start out the day. You don't feel so terrible about yourself for all of the bad stuff you eat when you run a 5k earlier that morning!! I shared some photos of our run on my Instagram stories (@kara2lou).
Once we got home I showered then helped cook a few dishes for our 2:00 Thanksgiving lunch/dinner. Our meal was excellent--it always is. My Mom and Grammy know their way around the kitchen, and we always have so much food, but every last item is delicious! My picky toddler ate more food than I've seen him eat in a long time and baby Bennett had his first taste of sweet potatoes. He was unimpressed.
Later in the evening, we went for a Thanksgiving swim! My parents have a pool and the day before Thanksgiving my Dad started heating it. The temperature reached 95 degrees and it was glorious!!! It was such a fun and unconventional way to end the holiday. Campbell loved swimming and I did too. So much so that I ended up hanging out in the pool until way past my bedtime.
Overall, a great Thanksgiving holiday! Bennett wore the "My 1st Thanksgiving" bib which has been worn in my family by three different babies over the last three years! I think Bennett enjoyed his very first Thanksgiving and I enjoyed it as well. We spent a lot of time enjoying family company, and Scott and I were able to sneak out quite a bit for date nights or even just an hour here and there throughout days to get out and do something fun. It was nice! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday as well!
Come back tomorrow for some fun stuff!!

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

What I'm Thankful For

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I thought I'd talk about ten things that I'm thankful for. Some are big, some are small, some are silly, but it's all things I'm happy are a part of my life! In no particular order....

10.) I'm thankful to be heading down to Little Rock today to spend time with my family. I'm also looking forward to hitting up some of my favorite shops and restaurants while I'm there!

9.) I'm so very thankful for cappuccinos and iced tea (half sweet/half unsweet). Life would not be the same without my two favorite beverages.

8.) I'm thankful for Mothers Day Out. It's wonderful for me but even more wonderful for my kids. The women who work there and just the program in general seriously couldn't be better. I'm so grateful to be a part of something so special.

7.) I don't know what I would do without Target. Where would I go for entertainment if there wasn't a Target? It really is the best, isn't it? #Thankful

6.) I'm thankful for these gorgeous trees in my yard. The yellow trees are in the front and the red ones are in the back. I absolutely love looking out of my windows and seeing them. They're so beautiful and they make me happy!!
5.) I have 213 ounces of milk (and counting!!) saved up in my freezer. I'm thankful for it. I don't know if I'll ever use it all (and if I don't I'll donate it) but it makes me feel good to know it's there!

4.) I'm thankful for this new hand lotion I've found (at Target, nonetheless). I always have such dry, cracked hands during the winter and it's so terribly uncomfortable and sometimes painful! Vaseline intensive care healing serum (advanced relief) is the answer to the nearly decade long search for help during the cold winter months!! Hopefully I haven't spoken too soon but so far, it's been a miracle worker!!

3.) I'm thankful for the gif keyboard that came along with my new iPhone/update. It makes texting so much more fun.

2.) I love our church. I've fallen even more in love with it since we've had kids. Being there makes me happy and it's a wonderful place to go and worship. I'm thankful to live in a country that allows me to freely worship my Lord and I'm thankful for such a wonderful church home where I can grow and learn more about Him and my kids can do the same.

1.) Last but not least, I'm thankful for my people. Everyone in this photo is my world. My girls and my boys are the best part of my life and I don't know what I would do without them!!

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Precious Moments

My Thanksgiving week is off to a great start! Although it seems as if I have an endless amount of laundry in my house. How can two such tiny people create so much laundry?
We are going to Little Rock for Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to getting away for a little bit. I've already booked my babysitters (aka the grands) to watch the kiddos so Scott and I can have a date on Friday! We want to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. Has anyone seen it? I mean, it's a Harry Potter spin off so how could it not be amazing?
You know how you take videos of your kids and some of them are so special to you that you just watch them over and over? Well, I took a video of Scott and I getting Campbell tucked into bed one evening and it is the sweetest, most precious video. It's so typical of how our nights with Campbell end and I'm so glad that I thought to record it. Campbell gives Scott a hug and says "see you tomorrow!!" and keeps saying "night Mom, night Dad" and something about it is just so sweet to me. He gets covered with his blankets, sticks those fingers in his mouth, turns on his side and then the lights go out and my little peanut is ready for sleep. Campbell's bedtime is one of my favorite parts of my day because Scott, Campbell and I all spend about 30 minutes in his room playing or doing puzzles. Then we tuck Campbell in bed, read some books, say our prayers and give our kisses goodnight. It's just such a sweet time so I'm glad I got some of it on video. I know I will treasure it forever!!
Our Thanksgiving holiday kicks off tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!! Until next time....

Monday, November 21, 2016

House Tour

I had to take some photos of my home last week. I figured since I had the photos I may as well share them with you all! I've shared photos of my boys bedrooms so if you haven't seen them before and want to you can check out Campbell's nursery HERE turned toddler room HERE and Bennett's nursery HERE.
Here's just a few photos of the place I call home.
Almost all of our furniture is from Bassett. We've developed a really great relationship with the head designer there and I've basically relinquished all decorating control to her. "I'm thinking these colors, do what you want with it" is basically how I roll with her. While I love decorating and think I have a pretty good eye for it, I figure she's the professional so I may as well let her do her thing.
I really love the way my home has come together. A few questions people ask me when they come over is "do you make your bed every day?" "Yes." and  also "where are the toys? "In the playroom."
This is the room I spend the most time in because this is where all of our toys are! To be honest, it's my least favorite room in our house. I would love to take everything out and re-do. I sit on this sofa and pin playroom after playroom. Haha! I would like a smaller sofa so the kids could have more room to play (we got the sectional pre-kids when this was just our "movie room"). I would love some built-ins full of baskets of toys and a cute rug to give the floor some life. But it is what it is and even though I don't love it, I am so thankful I have it.
So there's a mini tour. Home Sweet Home.

Friday, November 18, 2016

File These Under Special

I had a little extra time yesterday morning before I had to take the boys to school. A rarity. I'm usually running around my house like a crazy person in an attempt to get there on time. Since I had some spare time, and Bennett was looking sweet as usual, I decided to grab the camera and snap some photos. I take a lot of pictures of my kids. Some are more special to me than others and these can be filed under the super special folder. I absolutely adore these photos of Bennett. The lighting, the sweetness.....I just love them.
Our Friday has been pretty typical. We had Chick Fil A for lunch and pizza for dinner so I probably need to eat salad for the next 5 days. I've had a little cold all week long and haven't felt 100% so I haven't been able to go for my morning runs all week. I've missed them and I'm hoping I feel good enough to go tomorrow. In a way it was kind of a nice little break. I haven't taken more than a day off a week (and sometimes I don't even do that) since Bennett was 6 weeks old. Sometimes it's good to stop so you don't get burned out but I'm definitely itching to get back out there. I'm running the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving so I need to get back to it so I'm able to keep my pace.
The kids are in bed so Scott and I are about to watch Finding Dory. Ha!! We took Campbell to see it this summer. It was his very first movie we ever took him to and it was so much fun! However, we only made it halfway through before he started getting antsy. What we did see was so cute and we've always wondered how it ended. So we're going to spend our quiet, adult time watching a cartoon!
Until next time!

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Fall Break

As I was driving the boys to Mothers Day Out this morning, it dawned on me that Thanksgiving is one week from today. What? Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. Or at least a very close second to Christmas. I love watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. I've watched it every year since I was a little girl. I enjoy helping prep food for a big meal and eating so much there's absolutely no option but to put on some sweatpants and take an afternoon nap.
While the boys were at Mothers Day Out today, I did something I almost never, ever do. I just stayed home. Normally I'm running errands all over town but I didn't have much to do today so I just enjoyed my quiet house. It was so lovely! I did some things I never do like organized my attic because why not? I also read some of my new book. I've always had a girl crush on Megyn Kelly (I've watched her for years and years) so I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday and picked up her memoir, Settle For More. I love it so far. Memoir's may be my favorite kind of books to read. Hers is great and I'd definitely recommend it!!
Campbell is going to be sad to miss out on "school" next week. He had two Thanksgiving parties at Mothers Day Out this week and apparently his favorite part about it was the cupcake which is not at all a surprise. This kid LOVES sweets. I know he's going to have so much fun getting to play with his cousin next week though so maybe he won't be too sad about his little fall break.
Tomorrow is Friday--also known in this house as Chick Fil A Friday. The tradition is pretty strong. I'm craving it already.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Tranquility

Has anyone ever had the peach tranquility tea from Starbucks? It's heaven. I got started on it around this time last year when I was pregnant with Bennett. I wanted a warm, yummy beverage but I do my best to avoid caffeine that first trimester. I somehow stumbled upon this tea and I drink it all the time. I'm not really a hot tea kind of girl but this is special. I suggest you try it the next time you're at Starbucks!
We have this place in Northwest Arkansas called Crystal Bridges. You've probably heard of it. We go there a lot and last weekend Scott and I were there taking photos for some friends of ours. This wall art thing (I'm very refined when it comes to art) is outside by the trails and I've always thought it would make such a pretty photo backdrop. Before the family got there I suggested Scott snap a photo of me in front of it to see how it would turn out. He took one picture and this is what we got! I mean, who doesn't love a floral backdrop?
That's all I've got. Exciting stuff. Until tomorrow....

Monday, November 14, 2016

Sisters & Brothers

Today was a good Monday. Like, a super good Monday. I can't share why just yet but hopefully I'll get to soon!! And no I'm not pregnant in case you're wondering if that's what it is.
I've got to get these two sisters out in some fall leaves and take their picture. I say I'm going to every year but I never seem to get around to it. And I know the perfect spot! I just need to make it happen. Does anyone follow @kelly_bove on Instagram? Her feed is full of her two pups who are insanely adorable and they actually pose for the camera. Her pretty fall photos are giving me serious inspiration. Stay tuned. It's on my to-do list this week.
I love these little brothers. Campbell can make Bennett laugh harder than anyone else can and I adore it. Campbell doesn't even realize he's making Bennett laugh but Bennett just giggles and giggles at him. It's the sweetest thing!!! I know their little relationship is just going to continue to get sweeter and give me all the heart eyes and I love it.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Go Hogs Go

Friday, November 11, 2016

Bundle Up

I don't do it very often but I really enjoy talking fashion on my blog so today I thought I'd share one of my favorite outfits this season.
Shirt--Gap // Vest--H&M-similar HERE // Bag--Tory Burch York Buckle Tote
I bought this blanket scarf such a long time ago that I honestly can't remember where I got it but it is a staple to my fall wardrobe. I have a lot of different blanket scarfs in a wide range of colors but this one is probably my favorite. It's so fall don't you think?! I like the option of wearing scarfs now since Bennett likes to eat my necklaces.
I never carry a diaper bag anymore. I have a cute Tory Burch diaper bag that I carried for over a year when Campbell was a baby and I think I got burned out on it. I almost bought a new diaper bag before Bennett was born but decided against it. I have a couple of different Tory Burch totes and they are nice and big and hold everything I need. I have a few different travel sized bags within my big bag that hold the essentials (diapers, wipes, burp cloths, snacks, etc) and it has worked out perfectly.
This outfit is super easy to put together and it goes perfectly with those pretty leaves and cooler temperatures. It's effortless and comfy which is pretty much a necessity for me always!