Stars and Stripes

I just wanted to write a quick little post before I head out of town for the weekend and share an easy little outfit that would be great for any 4th of July BBQ parties you may be attending.

This navy and white striped shirt is one of my go-to's. I love the fit and length. Navy and white is always perfect for the summer and this is a great top if you feel like being patriotic this weekend. These jean shorts are great too because they aren't too short. I always feel like it's such a challenge to find shorts that aren't too short but also aren't too long. These have a 5 inch inseam which is perfect for me. I have them in several washes and I wear them all the time. It's the first pair of jean shorts I've found in years that I actually like and feel comfortable wearing.

So there you go. Not much to it but I do think it is a perfect outfit to wear this weekend. This entire look is just $35! We have a full, long weekend ahead of us and we're really looking forward to it! Lots of celebrating America is in our future. I hope y'all have a safe and fun weekend!!!

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Shirt // Shorts

Asthma & Allergies

We took Bennett to an asthma and allergy doctor yesterday. He came highly recommended by several people and we thought it would be a good step to take to see if the reason Bennett is getting sick so frequently is due to allergies. He ruled out food allergies without even doing a test since Bennett has never had an immediate, bad reaction to food (hives, closed throat, etc). After asking us several questions about Bennett, he did an environmental allergy test where he scraped his skin. Poor baby. Bennett didn't care for that. But the good news is it all came back negative which means Bennett doesn't have any allergies.

He does, however, feel that Bennett has asthma which is why he struggles to breath whenever he gets sick. Our ped has said the same thing but it's always good for another doctor to have the same thoughts and opinions. Both the asthma & allergy doctor and our ped said that they believe Bennett will grow out of it and it's nothing to be too terribly concerned with. He prescribed Bennett an inhaler (which we were planning on doing anyway) and wants us to use it on him every morning and night for several months....years even. He said we won't notice a difference in Bennett instantly, but over time it will help and hopefully prevent him from getting really sick, like he does now, in the future.

As far as why he's getting SO sick, so frequently, he thinks Bennett is just one of those kids who has a hard time dealing with being sick. He said his body over reacts and his lungs become inflamed. He called it chronic bronchitis. A person with chronic bronchitis often takes longer than usual to recover from common colds and viruses and people who have repeated bouts of bronchitis usually have asthma. If you google chronic bronchitis, it's usually caused by smoking or being exposed to second hand smoke so I just want to throw it out there that we do not smoke ever and aren't ever around anyone who does! So don't think we're smokers please!!

I feel better about everything now. I just wanted to get some answers and I feel pretty good about what all we were told. Both this doctor and our pediatricians have all said the exact same things which I think is great. I do have one more thing I would like to do for Bennett and that is to take him to the chiropractor. He went frequently when he was little bitty and it was so great. I believe in chiropractic care, and the girl we see is wonderful, so I just want to see if maybe she could help us. We're friends on facebook so she has seen my posts about Bennett being sick and I think she may have some ideas for us. We're going tomorrow so I'm looking forward to hearing her thoughts!

So that's where we are. Hopefully the inhaler helps Bennett and as he gets older he will be able to tolerate his sickness better. He is so pitiful when he gets sick and it's just so crazy how often he gets sick. Campbell has been sick a total of 3 times in his entire 3 years of life. I'm already dreading fall and winter but I'm crossing my fingers that these few things we're going to do for Bennett will help him stay healthy and that we won't struggle like we do now.

Wordless Wednesday

New Home Sweet Home

If you've been following my Instagram stories, you know that Scott and I are in the beginning stages of building a house!! This has been a looooong time coming. We thought we would be living in it by now. There were so many setbacks with the development of the neighborhood but now it's time and we are really excited. It's a brand new neighborhood here in Northwest Arkansas and it's finally all developed and ready for builders to start building. A few homes have already started going up and we will start framing ours in just a few short weeks. We started clearing the land last week which officially starts the process so we will get to be in our new home sometime next spring! I plan to share our building process with you all over the next 8 or 9 months. There is a lot to do and honestly, I'm handing the keys to my husband on a lot of it and letting him handle it. This is what he does for a living and sometimes you just need to leave it up to the professionals. But I still have my hand in the majority of it (mostly the fun stuff!) so my life is full of showers and cabinets and backsplash and hardware and floors and all that good stuff right now. Needless to say, I'm on Pinterest a lot. And I have a lot of "meetings" and it's all just a lot of fun and really exciting. I'm SO looking forward to moving but I won't even pretend like I won't bawl my eyes out when we move from our current home because I love it here so much. There are so many memories made here and we absolutely love our neighborhood/neighbors. I'm excited about the new memories we'll make in our future home though and looking forward to sharing the process of getting there with you guys over the next few months!

Peaches

Other than our scary night with Bennett, we actually ended up having a nice weekend. My parents drove up on Thursday night (the night we went to the hospital) and got to our house around 12:30 am. My Mom said she just needed to see Bennett with her own eyes and she watched him sleep all night long. She also wanted me to have some help because it's hard to take care of a sick baby. Add a toddler on top of it and that can get exhausting. I was so very appreciative of her help over the weekend. Bennett woke up on Saturday seeming a lot better so we took the opportunity to get out of the house and go to the Farmers Market.

I love going to the Farmers Market but we actually haven't been to very many this summer. I was really hoping they would have peaches because that is my favorite thing to get at the Farmers Market. Thankfully they did have some so I got a bunch of peaches and also tomatoes, my second favorite thing to get at the Farmers Market. Neither were a disappointment at all. So yummy!

After getting our fruits and veggies we had lunch, got ice cream, then popped in my favorite children's boutique and got Bennett a new Jellycat book. Bennett loves Jellycat books--they are his favorites! Campbell still enjoys them too actually but he prefers Little Golden Books the most these days which take a really long time to read when you're used to reading the short little board books!!

Bennett is feeling much better now. He is still wheezing pretty badly. Over the weekend we ended up getting him a Nebulizer so we can do albuterol treatments at home whenever we see the need. He hates it. Poor guy. And Campbell gets so upset watching Bennett get so upset. It's just all around no fun but they do help him so we're pushing through. I managed to get an appointment with an allergy and asthma clinic. It was recommended to me by several people and when I initially called they said they didn't have an opening until mid August. However, they found a spot to squeeze us in this week and I am so thankful. This will be our first step and then we'll just take it from there. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing and I don't even know where to start but this seems like a good way to go. Hopefully we get some answers for our sweet boy soon.

My Sweet Baby Bennett

I just thought I'd share a tiny bit about Bennett because I've been getting so many questions about him. I so appreciate everyone's concerns and reaching out to say they've been praying for him and thinking about us. It means the world to me.

Bennett has basically been sick this entire year. It started at the end of January and he's probably had RSV-like symptoms (but always tests negative for RSV) about a dozen times. He also vomits a lot which caused him to lose so much weight in the winter. It was really sad and scary. Thankfully he's been a lot better the last few months but he's still gotten sick for 24 hours here and there, the last time being on his birthday. Isn't that so mean to be sick and vomit on your first birthday? Poor guy. Even when Bennett wasn't sick, I would catch him wheezing for a minute but then it would go away. I never really knew what to make of it. Our peds always asked us if anyone in our family has asthma but nobody does.
On Thursday around lunch Bennett started getting sick. He didn't seem too bad at first but by about 4:00, I had him in a steam shower and he was crying uncontrollably--very unlike him. I picked up my phone and called my pediatricians office to see if they would PLEASE see us before they closed and they did. Our ped didn't like the way Bennett's stomach was retracting and prescribed us a steroid (Bennett's second steroid.....I've never even had one in my entire 32 years of life but my 13 month old has had two!!) and told us to watch him closely. We got home and a few hours later Bennett started vomiting profusely and it scared me so bad. It's not like we haven't dealt with this exact same situation way too many times before but this time felt different. I was crying and scared and my mommy gut just told me to take him to the ER. So I did.
They tested him for RSV (negative) and did xrays for pneumonia (negative) and after a breathing treatment (can't even count how many of those we've had to do at this point) and a little monitoring we were sent on our way.
My brainstorming went into overdrive yesterday and I feel really stupid that it's taken me so long to figure it out but I'm fairly certain Bennett has some bad allergies. Whether it's food or environmental, I have no idea. My ped said yesterday that she would like to start Bennett on an asthma preventative treatment. Just an inhaler once or twice a day for now to see if things improve and I agree that this is a good idea. I also want to test him for allergies though so I'm planning on taking him in next week to run some tests. It's so scary to see your baby struggling to breath and being unlucky with getting the stomach bug so many times no longer makes sense. Although the fact that I have gotten sick right along with Bennett most times does throw me a little bit. Very confusing.
I've had so many people send me messages with similar stories of things that have happened to their child. They've all started with saying "I don't want to over step but....here's our story" and seriously, I don't feel anyone is over stepping at all. The more brainstorming, similar situations, or thoughts from others the better in my opinion. It takes a village and I'm just hoping we can get this figured out for our sweet Bennett very soon. I will keep you all updated as we hopefully find some answers. Thank you again for your prayers. It means so much to us.

Lou & Grey

If you follow me on Instagram then you know Bennett was in the ER last night because of trouble breathing and a lot of vomiting. After several tests and some monitoring, thankfully we were able to go home last night. He's a tiny bit better, and I'll share more later, but today let's just talk about something fun instead.

This Lou and Grey dress is one of my favorites hanging in my closet. It's so soft and cozy. It's like curling up in your favorite sweatshirt....except you won't get hot wearing it in this summer heat! I love a dress with big pockets and sleeves. This dress will transition perfectly into fall and will look so cute with booties once the weather gets cooler. For now I'm pairing it with my favorite Target sandals that I can't stop wearing. My fun necklace is from Versona. I'm not linking it because their website isn't that great and they don't have very many of their products available for sale on their site. This necklace is great though and I always get asked where it's from when I wear it.

This Tory Burch bag is one of my favorite prints. I searched and searched for it online and it's all sold out everywhere. However, Tory Burch is having a semi-annual sale right now and their straw tote version of this bag is available on their site. It's already on sale + an extra 30% off!

 

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Dress // Shoes // Bag (similar)

Easy Meals Part Two

Y'all loved my post about quick and easy dinners I wrote a few weeks ago so I thought I would write another one just to give you a few more ideas. Like the previous post, these meals are super simple to make and some of our favorites here in the Johnson house. Simply click the links under the photos for the recipes.

MONDAY

Slow Cooker Parmesan Herb and Chicken Orzo

 

Anything in a slow cooker automatically makes dinner easy. This dish is fantastic. It has so much flavor and everyone in my family enjoys it. The recipe says to brown your chicken on the stove for a few minutes but I skip that step. I just put it directly in the crock pot and cook it a little longer than the recipe calls for. Like I said, I'm all about easy and don't want to do the extra step of cooking it on the stove then having an extra dish to clean. But if you don't mind doing that part then go for it!

 

TUESDAY

Ranch Pork Chops Sheet Pan Dinner

 

I said last time that I love sheet pan dinners and this one is yummy because I also really love ranch. A frozen bag of broccoli that you can throw in the microwave is the perfect veggie to add on the side of this meal. Campbell will actually eat broccoli as long as we tell him they're mini trees. Whatever works!

 

WEDNESDAY

Euna Maes 30 Minute Spinach Artichoke Chicken Pasta

 

This meal is heaven. I said last time how much I love Euna Maes (do y'all follow her on IG?). She is my pastors wife and is coming out with a cookbook soon. There isn't one meal of hers I've made that wasn't absolutely delicious. This pasta is so yummy and super easy to make but it makes a ton of food so you would have plenty for leftovers the next night if you wanted.

 

THURSDAY

Zatarain's Red Beans And Rice

 

This meal really doesn't get easier. I didn't add a link because all you need to do is go to the store and grab a box of Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice. I cook it in chicken broth to give it more flavor. If I'm feeling really ambitious I'll slice then cook andouille sausage to add in with it but I normally just get a rotisserie chicken and throw in some chicken with the red beans and rice. Top with a little Tony Cachere's seasoning and you have a supper yummy, super easy dinner! We love this meal.

 

FRIDAY

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

 

I love BBQ and this recipe is so easy. I usually just grab some cole slaw from the store and open up a can of BBQ beans to go on the side. The easy trick to making canned BBQ beans taste good is to drain them completely, put them on a pot on the stove then mix in your favorite BBQ sauce. Sprinkle in about two tablespoons of brown sugar and you've got some yummy beans. I usually do a side of mac and cheese for the boys whenever we do BBQ. Not exactly the healthiest meal but it's Friday so who cares?



MTA

Hey all! I had a fun weekend. I decided to go to Little Rock and see my family. Scott is working a lot right now so I thought it would be a good opportunity to let him focus on that but mostly I wanted to go down because Miss Arkansas and Miss Teen Arkansas was this past weekend and I wanted to go! I haven't been since Campbell was born. It's just hard to get to Hot Springs but they moved the pageant to Little Rock this year which is way more convenient for me!! Miss Teen Arkansas was on Friday night so Dad watched the boys for me so my Mom and I could go. I'm so glad I got to attend and I hope they keep it in Little Rock so I can go every year.

Other than MTA, we spent our time lounging by the pool. The boys always have so much fun and go so hard that by Sunday they are a fussy, worn out mess!! I was nervous driving by myself with my boys and my girls but thankfully the drive went great both ways. I'm glad I was able to spend some time with my Dad on Fathers Day and we got back home in time to spend the rest of the day with Scott! I thought I was doing him a solid by giving him the gift of a relaxing, quiet, empty house for the weekend but he said he didn't like it and was lonely and bored. Aw. We're glad he loves us and missed the crazy.

We got back into the swing of things with MDO today. We had a fun weekend getaway but it feels good to get back into our routine again.

MDO Summer Session

The boys went back to Mothers Day Out this week and it totally took my by surprise! I didn't think they started until next week. I was at the pool with some friends last week, whose kids also attend MDO, and they said something about it starting in a few days. I'm so glad they mentioned it otherwise I would have missed out on a whole week! I had the right date in my calendar but for some reason in my mind it was a different date. I think they call that mom brain. Anywho, the boys were so happy to be back and I'm not even going to pretend that I wasn't happy for them to be back too. I just love when our weeks have a routine to them. I have felt so lazy the last few weeks and we have all been bored. Plus let's be honest it's nice to have some alone time. I spent my free day by doing my morning run then I went to the pool and hung out for a little bit. It was so relaxing. I need to get a book to read because I plan on going to the pool every time they boys are at MDO (they go twice a week) and a good book would just make that time perfection. So here's the part where you recommend good books to me.

That's basically all that has been going on in our world. Nothing too exciting. Bennett is SO busy and into everything and Campbell seems more grown up every week. The girls are enjoying this beautiful weather and the fact that we spent a lot of time outdoors right now. Scott is working a lot and I'm just over here being a servant to everyone that lives in my house. Same ol' stuff!

LipSense

I'm putting Wordless Wednesday on hold this week so I can talk about something really fun instead. I recently tried LipSense lipstick and wanted to let you guys know how awesome it is! If you haven't heard of it before, LipSense is the original longest lasting lip color. It's unlike any lipstick or stain you have ever used. It's waterproof and does not kiss off, smear off or rub off. The first time I used it, I put it on before church one Sunday and my lips still looked just as good as they did when I first applied it, even after I had lunch. It comes in a variety of colors and you can even mix them to make your own personal color.

I tend to gravitate towards pink lips and the color I have on here is Aussie Rose. It's a best seller and I can see why. It's the perfect shade of pink if you ask me! I always feel so much more put together when I have my lipstick on and the fact that LipSense doesn't disappear from my lips shortly after applying it is such a win!! You can kiss your babies all you want while still maintaining beautiful, glossy lips and you don't have to worry about getting anything on their sweet cheeks! Or when they climb all over you, you don't have to worry about getting lipstick on their clothes which has happened to my boys way more times than I care to admit. This really is such a great product. It seriously amazes me that I can wear lipstick and kiss my kids and it doesn't come off. Like, not even a little bit!!

Okay so how can you get your hands on this amazing stuff? Well, let me tell you! All you have to do is click HERE or Follow @corlescolorpop on Instagram and Heather can tell you everything you need to know! Also, if you tell her I sent you, you can get 15% off your order!! You won't regret getting your hands on this beautiful, long lasting lipstick.

Gap Inc. Fashion Show

I was asked a few months ago if the boys and I would be willing to participate in a fashion show our local Gap was putting on to raise money for the Northwest Arkansas Women's Shelter. I said yes right away because I knew it would be a fun event and for such a great cause. The show was at 7:00 so I told them Bennett would be out because there was no way he would be able to make it through it since that's basically his bedtime. I knew Campbell would be game though so we put it on our calendars and looked forward to the big event.

The fashion show was this past Friday night. Campbell and I had to be there a little early so we would know what all we needed to do. It was so fun to catch up with other local bloggers and influencers and I was able to meet a girl who was also walking in the show that I've gotten to know through Instagram but have never actually met before.
We got a babysitter for Bennett so Scott could come and watch us. Once Campbell and I changed into our special clothes, we took a few photos on the red carpet then were able to mingle with everyone and participate in the silent auction before we had to take our place for the fashion show.

Once our turn came, Campbell did great! He happily walked down the runway and even wore the sunglasses I put on him. We had a slight hiccup when Campbell saw Scott at the end of the runway. He wanted his daddy. But I scooped him up and carried him the rest of the way and he was fine.

The show ended up raising over $10,000 for the shelter and the event had an awesome turnout! They're already talking about plans for next years event!! We were so honored to have been able to participate. We had such a fun evening!

Farmers Market Shift

Hey all! Happy Monday. I have a lot of blog catching up to do since I slacked so much last week. It's mostly due to Scott taking over the computer because he's working a lot right now. So I'm basically saying it's his fault. Ha! However, he just got a new work computer and I'm able to have our old one all to myself now which is awesome and will help make blogging and photo editing a lot easier for me now. We had a fun weekend. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw on Friday night that Campbell and I were in a fundraiser fashion show for Gap. I'll blog about it tomorrow but today, in keeping with the Gap theme, I wanted to share this lace shift dress I recently found there.

I love wearing a classic white dress in the summer but it can be tricky because so many white dresses are see-through. This one has a nice, thick lining underneath it though so no worries about feeling exposed (although I do wear nude undergarments because it's still a white dress). I wore this to the Farmers Market a few weeks ago and it felt so perfect and summery. There's so much detailing with the eyelet lace and high neckline that I didn't feel the need to pair it with a necklace which I love because babies + necklaces aren't the best combo. This dress also has pockets which makes it a real winner in my book.

I paired it with my go-to sandal and carried my fun straw tote bag (which is perfect for all of those fresh vegetables and flowers we snagged) both from my favorite store --Target! 

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Dress // Shoes

My tote is a few years old but these three bags are the same brand and similar. I may need to get the second bag. I've seen it in the store and it's SO cute. Check them out HERE | HERE | HERE

Wordless Wednesday

I took these photos of Bennett on the morning of his first birthday. I grabbed the camera and snapped a few photos of him hanging out in his room before his first nap and I love how so many of them turned out. I just realized I haven't shared any of them on here so I wanted to do that today.

Catching Up

Hey all! How about a little life update post? I feel like I haven't done one of those in a while. Maybe because there isn't much to update. Ha! The boys are off from Mothers Day Out for another two weeks (not that I'm counting or anything) and we are just trying to keep ourselves entertained at home until we get back into our normal routine. We've been to our neighborhood pool a few times which is fun. The water is cold though so Campbell doesn't get in which makes him a little bored. The other day he crawled under one of the umbrella tables and watched Paw Patrol on my phone. Amazingly, Bennett just sits there playing with toys so I'm able to actually lay in a chair and chill. It's wonderful and every time I go I keep wondering when he's going to start crawling all over the place and make my leisurely pool experience non existent.

Today I was driving home with the boys after picking the girls up from their grooming appointment. Campbell suddenly started freaking out telling me he had to go pee pee. This is one of those moments where you weigh all of the options quickly in your mind. There wasn't a restroom close plus I had the dogs and it's too hot to leave them in the car. Should you tell him to just go in his car seat? No....bad idea. Ask him to hold it? He can't. So what do you do? Pull into the nearest parking lot and pray nobody can see or tell what you're doing. Today I'm thankful for antibacterial wet wipes.

On a completely different note, last night I did some mock interviews for some girls competing in Miss Arkansas and Miss Teen Arkansas this summer. I always enjoy mock interviews and judging pageants and I think it's a lot of fun but what was really nice was that I got to just get out of the house and be Kara for a little bit instead of mom. I had a moment yesterday where I realized I really don't do that often enough and I probably should so I don't go crazy. When I got home, my husband felt the need to tell me how challenging it was to get the boys fed, bathed and in bed by himself. It was really interesting and informative since I've never had to do that before. #PreachinToTheChoir