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Tuesday

A Baby Boy Sprinkle

Sunday afternoon, some of my very dear girlfriends gathered together to help welcome our sweet baby boy! My girlfriend Sarah was so kind to host us all at her lovely home -- she did a beautiful job with the food, flowers, and favors. 

three more expectant mamas here -- two of which are expecting their third as well!



Look at these delicious macarons from Amelie's! They were so tasty.



For favors, she had delicious-smelling bars of soap in these beautiful and thick blue drawstring bags. 



It was the sweetest little celebration and I feel so fortunate to have the amazing girlfriends I do!

Thirty three weeks now and counting! Although my amazing doctor (pictured above) said to aim for 39 weeks ... she just has a feeling. :) We shall see!

Friday

Five On Friday!

It's time for another edition of Five on Friday and I do hope you'll join along!

Remember, all you have to do is post about five things on your mind, add our logo (found at the bottom of this post), and join the party using the linky tools below. Easy, and a great way to find new blogs and be found. :)

O N E
What a week it's been -- because of Char's eye surgery, I feel like it just FLEW by ... our whole week was sort of centered around getting care for Camille (thank you to my awesome parents who let her keep going at racecar speed down at their lakehouse while we laid low with recuperating Char) and of course prepping for (and then experiencing) the actual procedure. So to think that today's Friday, whewwww. I am so happy.




T W O
You may have seen photos and videos on Instagram, but we have a new amazing swing in our backyard! Ian bought it from Amazon and we read so many reviews until we were just over it (yet convinced we'd found THE one). The girls absolutely love it, and the first night after it was hung, Ian and I got on it after the girls were asleep!

We did need about 65" of additional rope to hang it from really high up in one of our trees, and we had our tree beautification guru to be the one to hang it for us. It's awesome and will definitely serve us well!



(I always get asked about our swingset. It's from Costco!)

T H R E E
Two girls, totally different hair between my Camille and my Charlotte. Camille's hair is stick-straight and silky. Charlotte's is coming in wispier, fluffy like cotton candy, with some curls in the back! Well, 98% of the time she is walking around with a bedhead-looking mess of hair happening in the back. Like, it constantly looks like she just woke up from a night of fitful sleep. I read some reviews on various detanglers today and plan to pick up THIS one today, unless anyone has any different recommendations? 


F O U R
So many amazing styles on 40% off friends and fam sale at Loft, including so many pieces in that Camellia print that I'm obsessed with! I can't resist a gorgeous floral!



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PLUS so many of the other amazing items like this swimwear!

  

F I V E
Aaaah I have so many exciting things coming up! First of all, my amazing girlfriend (who just HAPPENS to now have "children's book author" listed to her long list of talents ... her book hit bookstores and Amazon this past week -- more on this later!) is hosting a beautiful baby sprinkle for me on Sunday!

Additionally, I am Oklahoma-bound on Thursday for some awesome times with my LipSense crew ... we are going to be descending on Tulsa and having so.much.fun! It's my last hurrah before baby boy makes his debut and I'm so excited for some girlfriend time!

I'll be wearing one of these dresses for the big awards ceremony Friday night and I'm so excited about it!


And in LipSense news, today is my ONE YEAR anniversary of being a distributor! It has changed my life in so many amazing and unexpected ways ... most of all, a way to make some of the most amazing girlfriends. I feel so blessed by this opportunity and truly thankful to each of you who have followed along with this journey!

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That's it for today! Hope you have a lovely weekend -- thanks for linking up with us below!





Thursday

Charlotte is TWO!


Our dear Charlotte is two years old!

I don't know if I can explain in words how incredibly sweet and precious this girl is. It's something you have to experience to believe. She has such a warm and caring heart. Anyone crying? She'll scoot right over, rub the back of her hand over their cheek, and give them pat-pats on the shoulder or leg. She gives "all-in" hugs where she wraps her entire body around you like a finger monkey.

She has that sort of crinkly-eyed sunshine smile that lights up her entire face. You truly feel that smile from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.

Walking is something I felt sure we'd be doing lots of this year, because ya know, kids walk at 12 months, riiiight?! Well, Charlotte has taught me a lot patience and understanding this year, because 12 months came and went, as did 13, 14, 15, and so on. I tend to be a very linear sort of thinker, like "well, I've got her in the RIGHT shoes, I've giving her the RIGHT affirmations, I'm providing her with the RIGHT opportunities and practice ... so it should just happen!" At our 18 month checkup, the idea of physical therapy was discussed even though our pediatrician said she'd seen plenty of forward progress with Charlotte and just to keep encouraging and give her time. Not one to do anything halfway, I enrolled her in 1) weekly at-home physical therapy, 2) preschool two days a week to be surrounded by walking/running peers, and 3) weekly My Gym classes (which, frankly, is about the last thing this uber-pregnant mama sometimes feels like doing ... but we do it). All of this to the tune of over $700 month additional, adding financial stress to that "time's tickin'!!!!!" stress we were already feeling. I mean ... we'd pay that three times over if we needed to (ouch ouch ouch), but I just mention it to sort of paint a realistic picture of what's been going on during this little challenge with our family.

In December, my husband and I noticed some drifting inward of one of her eyes so immediately contacted the pediatrician for advice. She referred us to a great pediatric opthamologist who confirmed it. January, February, and most of March were spent patching Charlotte's stronger eye for 2 hours a day. Not easy for her at first, but she then handled it like a rockstar. Sadly, not enough progress was made to avoid strabismus surgery which occurred yesterday! She had it on both eyeballs. She handled it well and now we're just in that red-eyed recovery period. Who knows, maybe once her eyes are healed we will see some progress with the walking.


Camille and Charlotte have a very normal sister relationship. Sometimes they fight over princesses, books, and mama's attention ... and Camille (2 years older) often pulls out her bossy/sassy/competitive side "Well I'm older than HER" - to which I reply "Yep, you'll be 40 and she'll still be in her 30s, you're exactly right Camille." :) They have had more and more amazing little moments though recently, like starting to really play together, sharing their most prized toys with each other, and being caught holding hands between their little carseats in the car.

Char is so good with her words! Her vocabulary is something we are really proud of. She loves telling us "Good job!" when we do things like clear her plate from the table or change her diaper. It's the funniest thing. She has so many words and her pronunciation is strong. We still sign a little bit too but she always uses her words simultaneously -- mainly just "please" or "all done." Please sounds like "peeeesh" which is just heart melting.

Eating is not a weakness, either. Girlfriend can put down some food! She loves milk, bananas, breakfast foods, fruits and vegetables, tortillas, sandwiches, ethnic foods, she will try it all!

She's 23lbs, 31 inches tall, wears 18-24 month and 24mo/2T clothing, size 4 shoe and size 4 diaper. She counts to 3 and likes pointing at any letters she sees and saying "A!" Books are her favorite and she always wants to sit "on yap!" and read as many as we will read. Her hair is really starting to grow like crazy and some little wispy curls are making their appearance at the back of her hair.


Sleeping is also going great -- she is sleeping 7p-7:30a and also naps 2-4pm. She never cries or screams to be taken out of bed. She wakes up, snuggles her animals and blankets, reads books, and plays with her stuffed animals until we come get her. Dream child.


With the MRI she had last week and the eye surgery this week, we decided just to take it easy on her (and ourselves) this weekend and enjoy a family-centered birthday celebration. No elaborate, over-the-top, exhausting party. And you know what? It was awesome. We took her to Build A Bear where she got to pick out whatever she wanted, and then we went to a family lunch and wrapped that up with a little special frozen yogurt. After naps we played outside as a family in the backyard and did lots of swinging and listening to music. The girls had a picnic outside for dinner. She enjoyed a delicious cupcake with two candles in it and she loved it when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She's been practicing that song as well, and hearing her sing it is seriously the sweetest sound!

Charlotte has a very mothering nature and is really drawn to babies. She wants to talk to them, to help feed a bottle, to be very involved. As we prepare for brother's arrival in less than two months, I'm getting really excited to see her in a big sister role!

She is such a precious, sweet part of our family and we can't wait to see what this next year has in store for her!

Tuesday

Holiday Jammies ... IN APRIL! (Big Big Sale)

Late post today, but my girlfriend just alerted me to some of the cutest toddler holiday pajamas that cost less than than your lunchtime salad.

They're from Kohl's (ONLINE) but I have no idea if these are in store or not!

I just ordered a few matching sets for the girls this winter, and you just can't beat the price.

PLUS each set of jammies comes with a matching doll-sized outfit. I can already see the girls at the tree with their dolls in matching nightgowns! Heart eyes!

Here are the ones I got them, in sizes 2T and 4T:

Toddler Girl Jammies For Your Families Nutcracker Microfleece Nightgown & Doll Gown Pajama Set

Toddler Girl Jammies For Your Families Santa Fairisle Microfleece Nightgown & Doll Gown Pajama Set

They have SO many adorable options, and some non-holiday ones too (but the holiday ones are the least expensive of all). These jammies were marked down to $7.20/ea with an additional 15% off with code HURRY15, making them $6.12/each. 

I mean ... $6.12/each for a toddler and doll set!

To find them, CLICK HERE and then sort the list by "Price: Low to High"

RUN!

Friday

Five On Friday ... The 13th!

It's time for another edition of Five on Friday and I do hope you'll join along!

Remember, all you have to do is post about five things on your mind, add our logo (found at the bottom of this post), and join the party using the linky tools below. Easy, and a great way to find new blogs and be found. :)

O N E
Friday the 13th! Are you superstitious?!

I am. Especially about the following:

1) Exit out of the same door you walked in through, or else bad luck.
2) Don't let anyone sweep under your feet; means you won't get married.
3) Never walk under a ladder.

We like black cats in my family though; no superstition there.

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T W O
Apparently it was National Grilled Cheese Day yesterday? Well, Charlotte and I didn't need to verify that before we decided to partake in it!

My tried, tested and true combo for a good grilled cheese is:
1) Sarah Lee Artesano bread (we're obsessed, it's so soft)
2) Duke's mayo spread on each outer layer of bread (instead of using butter or cooking spray for it)
3) Havarti cheese, two slices, gives the perfect melty stretchy cheesy inside!




T H R E E
My newest nail polish obsession (gel) is I'm Gown For Anything by OPI! It has the faintest lavender tone and is just so lovely. 



F O U R
I received some of the prettiest happy flowers this week. The azaleas are actually from my friend Nina's beautiful yard! And the tulips came from my friend Christine in Texas. Walking into my kitchen and seeing these makes me smile so big!


F I V E
Brave Charlotte had her first anesthesia procedure on Wednesday for an MRI. Luckily, we got the results yesterday and they were perfectly fine! She sure was a trooper and we are just so, so relieved to have that behind us. This coming Wednesday is her rescheduled strabismus (eye) surgery, and I sort of feel like we've got the anesthesia process (mostly?) down pat. We are so ready to move onward and upward! Thank you all for your sweet words, prayers, and virtual hugs!



PS ... I'll let her share all the photos and news, but I HAVE A NEW NEPHEW! My sister Laura had a wonderful delivery yesterday afternoon and we are just so excited to meet him!

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That's it for today! Hope you have a lovely weekend -- linking tools still not working (Linkytools is starting to be on my s___list) so please do place your blog link in the comments below! 





Monday

Masters Sunday, Two Years Apart



Oh, what a difference two years makes!

Twenty-four months back, Ian had just come back from a visit to the beautiful Augusta National grounds and brought me this comfy shirt. We snagged a photo of (nearly) two year old Camille loving on my belly. At that point we didn't even know if we were having a little boy or little girl! Our boy name was Carter and our girl name was either Charlotte or Scarlet, but we weren't sharing any of those names with our friends/family.

And yesterday, I got a photo with both of my sweet daughters as we prepare for Baby Boy's arrival in June! (And no, we aren't using the name Carter this time around!)

Two years, what a diff!

Spoiler alert: in 2020 you will NOT see another remake of this photo! ;) 

Friday

Five On Friday

It's time for another edition of Five on Friday and I do hope you'll join along!

Remember, all you have to do is post about five things on your mind, add our logo (found at the bottom of this post), and join the party using the linky tools below. Easy, and a great way to find new blogs and be found. :)

O N E
It's been a WEEK, y'all, and I'm happy to see Friday. As I mentioned before, Char's eye surgery was postponed for 2 weeks due to her being sick. And the ER doc Tuesday night, who I know was trying to help, brought up some potential reasons for her delayed walking that scared the living daylights out of us (to put it mildly), so we've sort of been scrambling this week to pull strings, see docs, get some answers. I hesitated to share this because it's part of our family's business, but I also know there might be some of you who have walked or are currently walking this path -- and if there's one thing I've learned this week, it's so important to not feel alone. 



T W O
Moving on to happier news ... our new car has been AMAZING. So, so happy with the Honda Odyssey. I love the dark navy color we have, every little feature that it has is just mind-blowing to us. We aren't really "fancy" car people; we are very practical. We try to purchase smartly, take care of our cars with cleaning and maintenance, pay them off and keep them a long time. Until that dashboard is all lit up like Christmas. :)

So, all of the little bells and whistles this time around are spoiling us a little. Plus -- having it delivered to our house last Friday night was the icing on the cake! Ian had the girls up in the tub while the salesman went through the features with me in our driveway. Paperwork signed at the kitchen table. So easy. We used McKinney Salinas for the purchase.




T H R E E
Yesterday I built a cube organizer to add to Charlotte's closet for storage -- but sorry Char, it's already filled with baby boy clothes! We have been given so many amazing clothes and I think I'm just on the hunt now for a special coming-home outfit for baby boy. The girls wore the same pink handmade gown but we need something a little different this time around!

Main Image - Kissy Kissy Club Summer Smocked Pima Cotton Footie (Baby Boys)
One of my favorite brands for babies.
The softest!


F O U R
I just want to shout it from the rooftops that my new nephew is due any day now! First thing I do in the mornings now is check my phone for "on the way!" texts! I'm so excited to see his sweet face, and I think he'll look like his older brother!

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F I V E
Anyone own this top and have feedback on it? When I saw it was on sale and then an additional 50% off today, my interest was piqued. Plus ... machine washable. Torn on whether to order regular or petite size? With some big earrings, definitely my style!



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That's it for today! Hope you have a lovely weekend -- NO LINKUP today due to a technical glitch, so please leave your blog post link in the comments!





Wednesday

Delayed.

I guess it's good we made it nearly 4 years with kids and haven't had an ER trip yet. We did last night, though. Around 9:30 Ian and I heard Charlotte upstairs coughing over and over and over again with no break for breath. I went upstairs, took her from her crib, she continued coughing, gagged a little and vomited. This happened again on Ian when I passed her to him to start cleaning the chair, rug and to start peeling my clothes off. The fact that she wasn't able to catch a breath had us extremely panicked. Urgent Cares were closed or closing, so to the ER we went. She had a nebulizer treatment for breathing and was given a Zofran. She didn't clear for her eye surgery this morning per her anesthesiologist when I woke and called at 6.

The best laid plans.

We'll start again. Thanks for your prayers.

Image result for gods plans calligraphy

Tuesday

Easter Sunday and Charlotte's Eye Surgery

Hey, friends!
So, this Easter looked a little different than I expected it to, but still worth documenting because it was a sweet Easter indeed.

On Saturday morning, Charlotte woke up with a 101-degree fever. A dose of Motrin and she was right as rain, but I'm a pretty hard and fast follower of the 24 hour rule. Because of that, we decided it best for Charlotte (chipper at this point) to sit out on a neighbor's backyard egg hunt. Ian stayed home with her while I took Camille.


The next morning, the girls awoke to filled baskets from the ol' EB himself!

Pretty simple and straightforward this year -- the Pottery Barn hooded towels I blogged about HERE (still can't believe they went down to $8/ea), some personalized Contigo water bottles from a local mom, Reeses Pieces carrots, pink Peeps, Annie's gummy bunnies, a puzzle for Camille and yogurt melts for Charlotte, and window suncatchers to paint.



And don't you know that Charlotte's fever was back on Easter morning.

We had a family brunch planned that included an egg hunt, a train ride, and sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap, but alas, we decided to divide and conquer yet again. I tried to convince Ian to go but he knew that I live for this kind of thing so he volunteered to stay at home again.




He took Char on a wagon ride and later they had a picnic lunch outdoors. Again, the Motrin had her feeling better at this point but we just didn't want to take any chances with exhausting her too much (especially with her eye surgery looming) and infecting other children. 


Once we got home, we got a quick photo together with our overflowing trashcan in the background. Ya win some, ya lose some. 


Remind me next year to take the extra 3 seconds to whip out my Nikon, k?


While the girls were napping, I stuffed 30 eggs with coins and let the girls go on a "money hunt" together so that poor Charrie got some sort of an egg hunt under her belt this year. We opened cards that my mom sent and put their money hunt earnings in their piggybanks.


So, moving on to Charlotte's strabismus surgery. It's tomorrow. I'm not as anxious about it as I once was -- we are just ready to get this done and behind us. I know children have this procedure done every single day, and I trust our doctor. I'm just curious about what's next. How will she handle the anesthesia? How will she handle the eye drops for the next week? Will her eyes heal quickly and as they should? Will only one surgery be necessary? Will this help her to walk confidently ... and run in the backyard with her sister?

Thanks for all of the support and well-wishes you have given and continue to give!