Memorial Day

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! We celebrated by spending the weekend outside. All the pools on post opened this weekend, so Amie and I took the babies and Nicolas on opening day. We had a great time, and my little fish of course had a blast. We were having so much fun, that neither one of us thought to take any pictures.

Later that day we had family pictures made. I can't even put into words how amazing they've turned out! We have a few preview pictures, but I'll do an entire post when we get the whole shoot. 

On Saturday we took a family trip to Callaway Gardens. The closest beach to us is Panama City Beach, FL and unfortunately it's a 3 hour drive. Luckily for us, Callaway Gardens is run by a genius who created a man-made lake complete with sand. It's our own little beach here in landlocked Columbus. It was the baby's first trip to the "beach" and she did great! She was exhausted since she refused to nap all day. When we got home it took awhile for her to crash, but when she finally did, she slept all the way til 5.30! Normally she wakes up at least once between 9 and 5.30, but she was was zonked from the beach.

Sunday we went to church, and the spent the rest of the day at the Herrera's. Joe and Israel became great friends when they worked together (Joe was XO and Israel was a drill sergeant and then 1SGT). They have received orders, so they're moving to New York this week. We're so sad to see them go, but we're really excited about taking a trip to New York to see them in a few months.

Monday was spent at the pool, and then home watching a Band of Brothers marathon. If you haven't watched this series, you should check it out. It's a great tribute to a Battalion in WWII. 

I hope everyone had a fun and enjoyable weekend. I hope you all took a moment to remember the real reason we celebrate Memorial Day.

Kiki La'Rue

I don't known if y'all have heard about this little online boutique, but the blog world and Facebook are buzzing about it. Many of the blogs I follow have done giveaways, but unfortunately I never won one :( But it did make me check this little shop out and oh man am I glad I did! So here's the deal. The girl who runs the shop, I believe her name is Becka (I tried to verify, but FB is being dumb), is fantastic! Not only does she have the lowest prices you'll find on boutique clothing, but if you find a lower price on the same piece she'll match it AND give you an additional 10% off. I mean c'mon! This girl really knows how to treat her clients. 

Here's how my experience went. I ordered the Chasing Waterfalls top in yellow. 

I found it in her sale section, so the only size available was small, which made me nervous. I'm a size small again in my torso and such, but b/c I'm still breastfeeding, I'm a Large or X-Large in the bust. The top was so cute, I ordered it anyway, with the total expectation that I would be disappointed. I definitely was not disappointed!

The top fits perfectly! It's loose fitting, without making me look bulky. It's a one shoulder sleeves top, and the side without the sleeve usually tends to sag on me, but this doesn't. It's got just a little bit of elastic in to help it stay put and keep it's shape. 

Please ignore the nursing bra strap. It obviously won't be there when I wear this for real

The color is also beautiful. I wasn't worried about the yellow in a sense that it would look bad against my skin. Yellow is one of the colors I look best in. I was concerned that maybe it would be too yellow, and not be able to be worn in the fall or winter. When I opened it I was pleasantly surprised. It's more of a mustard with hints of gold. It's gorgeous! 

Also, ignore my dirty bathroom.

And can we talk about the packaging? It's too cute! It arrived in this fabulous hot pink, shimmery envelope. Then the shirt it's self was wrap in pink tissue paper with a cute little sticker.

LOVE the packaging!

I'm a goober, and took the picture upside down. Ooops

After I had ordered the top, I was checking out the shops Facebook page and they had a code for free shipping. I made a comment saying how I wished I had seen that 20 minutes earlier, just trying to make a joke since it was funny. Just my luck that I would find a free shipping code 20 minutes after I order something. You wanna know what Becka did? She gave me a shipping credit on my account after the fact! She didn't have to do that, and it was completely unexpected. This girl really knows what she's doing.

Charlotte was digging the packaging as well

She's a better model than me. Obviously ;)

If you haven't already, I encourage you to check Kiki La'Rue out!

Shop / Facebook

p.s. These opinions are totally my own. I was in no way compensated or rewarded for this post. My love for Kiki L'aRue is legit :)

Wedding Bells

We finally had our wedding! It was beyond amazing, and exceeded any and all expectations I had. My photographer told me I should have pics by this weekend, but I'll post the few I have now. I'll do a big detailed post when I post pictures, but for now this will do :) The majority of these pictures are stolen from other people.

Scott, Brook, Iris, Joe, Me, Mitch,& Mari

Bachelorette Party. Chair ans pole dancing classes :)

Kentucky Derby themed bridesmaids brunch

Rehearsal dinner

Our "Heather" pose haha

On the way to the church :)

Bachelorette party

Bridesmaids minus 2

5 Months

5/17/2012

Charlotte Rose, you are 5 months old! I can't even believe it. I can't put into words how I feel about it. It's a mixture of excitement and sadness. It thrills me that you're growing, but sad that you're doing it so quickly. I ask you all the time where my itty-bitty baby went, and you just give me that big gummy grin. Like I said, exciting and sad.

You can sit up all on your own now! It's amazing! You're still a tad wobbly, but you've got it. You tumble every now and then, but you try hard to get back up. You're not a quitter :)

We've started you on some solids. So far you LOVE sweet potatoes! You're also a fan of applesauce, prunes, peas, and bananas. I let you have tastes of pretty much everything if I'm able. You love pickles like your daddy. You seem to be drawn to sour and tart things like daddy.

You're on a bottle strike. I'm not sure what your problem is, but it's sometimes inconvenient. On the plus side though, I don't have to wash any bottles. So there's that.

You had your first real babysitter this month. Moma and Daddy had to go to Ben and Jesse's wedding in Wilmington, and you weren't invited. We left you with Gabbie for the whole day and you did great! Moma was freaked out the whole time, but you loved it. You got to play with Nora cat, and your uncles, and you didn't see, overly concerned when we got back. You didn't seem to miss us at all :(

You have taken several naps in your crib lately! We're slowly starting sleep training, and so far so good. You're still in bed with us at night. I'm just not ready to kick you out. It's complete selfishness on my part. I'm working on it.

You were the Flower Girl of Honor at Moma and Daddy's wedding this month. We got married before we even knew about you, but after we found out about you, we delayed the actual wedding. You were a doll the whole time, and everyone who hadn't met you yet finally got to.

Moma got put in the hospital for a kidney infection this month, so you spent an entire day with daddy and formula. Since, the two of you have been best friends. You were ok with the formula too, so I'm not as freaked out by it anymore. We only give it to you when I can't nurse you, so it's not often, but you don't seem to mind it.

As of today you are 20.8 pounds. Holy cow chunk-a-chunk! You are also in size 3 diapers. We had a bunch of size 2's left, which you chunked out of, so you kindly donated them to Miss Iris. You are wearing 6-9 month size clothes, with the occasional 3 month outfit. Time to pack up the teeny tiny clothes.

You're getting big baby girl, and smarter by the minute. I love to watch you figure things out. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us this month! We love you bunches and bunches Chickapea!

XoXo, Moma and Daddy