I can not believe that I have posted 100 times on my blog!! I am absolutely in love with bloggy land and I am so, so thankful that I have this to look back on as we grow and change. This is my way of documenting our lives and it just so happens that a few others share in our memories with us! :)
Therefore, I want to celebrate!!! I am soooo excited to do my first giveaway! To celebrate my 100th post, I'm giving away a beautiful monogram necklace from Tabetha.
All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment on this post and I will enter your name in the drawing. You should be able to comment even if you don't have a blog, but if, for some reason, you can't leave a comment, just send me an email and I'll put your name in with the others. Also, if you post about my giveaway on your blog, let me know, and I'll enter your name twice! It's that easy....and these necklaces are gorgeous! (I may just get one for myself when I get yours!) I'll let Harper draw the winning name next Friday, and then I'll hit you up to see what monogram you would like! Doesn't that sound like fun??? I'm soooooo excited! I hope lots of you enter! :)
Now for the questions....only one person asked questions on the blog. So, I'll answer those along with others that I get asked constantly....so here goes!
1. What was the best part of your pregnancy? All of it! Seriously...I had the best pregnancy ever! If you didn't know, I'm a type 1 diabetic. So getting pregnant itself was a little bit of a risk and super scary. However, I just tried to stay positive as we decided to begin trying for a child. Luckily, we didn't have any trouble. Then, I was terrified that something would go wrong or that I would be on bed rest the whole time....nothing happened. NOTHING! It was fabulous! I did have to go to the doctor a lot.....A LOT! But, in the end, it was well worth it. But, if I had to choose, the absolute best part of our pregnancy was hearing Harper's heartbeat everytime and having ultrasounds...which I had many! I just loved seeing her little face and how much she was growing. It seemed like everytime we had an ultrasound, I would say, "That's just so weird that she's inside of me!" Anyone who doesn't believe in God is just crazy! Childbirth is truly amazing!
2. What was the scariest part of your pregnancy? I would have to say the scariest part was the anticipation and not knowing what to expect. When we would go to hear the heartbeat, I was fine once we heard it. And, once I was able to feel her move, that subsided a little bit! If she was moving, I knew she was okay! Then, childbirth was probably the scariest. I thought I was going to be sick as we pulled into the parking lot on Sunday night to be induced! I just didn't know what to expect! However, it wasn't too bad once we got inside. Everything kind of moved quickly after that and they kept us occupied for the most part! I was just terrified of the epidural....but I quickly learned that that thing could be your best friend! ha:)
3. Where do you buy Harper's clothes? Everywhere! I have found stuff for Harper many different places and a lot of her stuff has been given to us at our showers. However, some of my favorite places to shop are local boutiques. Ready, Set, Grow has beautiful baby things for boys and girls and is a great place to find smocked dresses and cutesy little things. Probably the place where I spend the most money (and time other than at home) is Sew Sweet. It is a little embroidery shop in our hometown, but they have some of the cutest little outfits and dresses. And, if I find anything that needs just a little something, I take it up there for a little monogram to spice it up! If you're around here, you should definitely stop by! (I just bought Harper a few little outfits for fall/winter, some cute stuff on clearance for next year, and the absolute cutest Halloween bucket you've ever seen there.....pics to come later!) Basically, anywhere that has cute stuff for a good deal, I'm up for shopping there....I'm definitely a bargain hunter!
4. Where did you come up with the name Harper? This has probably been the MOST asked question since we decided on her name. NO, we did NOT name her after Kelly on Kelly's Korner....NO we did not name her after anyone in our family....and NO it's NOT a boy's name!!!! Honestly, about three years ago, a lady that I went to church with and taught with was pregnant. She had twin boys whose names started with an "H" and she was trying to come up with a girl's name just in case it was a girl. After church one Wednesday night, I was sitting at home watching MTV and a commercial came on and one of the guys said, "I mean look at her man. Her name is Harper...how hot is that?" And I was like, "Oooh...I LOVE that name!" But, at the time, I was no where near ready to have kids. I picked up the phone and called my friend and told her...she loved it too. But after she thought about it for a while and put it with her last name, it totally did not work! So, jokingly, I told her it sounded fabulous with our last name! lol I truly intended to name our little girl Kenadie. BUT, as we started looking for names when the time came, it seemed that everytime I looked in our local paper, there was a least one little girl in there with the same name and I didn't like that! I like names that are different that no one else has. Also, we had our little boy name picked out a long time ago, so we had to find something that sounded good with his. So, we went back to Harper and it's the only name that Brandon had really liked and I loved it...so we decided to go with it! Not long after that, Kelly had her baby and that's why I started reading her blog...because she had a little girl with the same name as mine! Now, it seems like there are tons of Harpers out there....oh well! Mine is still special! :) AND, just in case you're wondering.....our little man's name (whenever and if we have one) will be Knox William. Knox after a cousin of mine and William after Brandon's family. And, now that I have one baby....I am wanting tons more! ha:) So, I've already been looking at baby names again because it truly is addicting. Our other boy names are (and in this order):Mattox (B's middle name is Matthew), Kipton, and Kellan. Some girl names that I love (but no one else in my family really cares for! ha!): Harlow, Stella, Finley, and Piper...but I'm still looking for girls names! If you have any weird/funky names that you love and you're finished having kiddos....tell me what they are! lol
Well, I hope that answers some of your questions! I am loving this post!!!
Now, enter a comment for your chance to win an awesome necklace! I can't wait to see who wins!
Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo, Kara C:
And, as you can see, we are doing a pretty good job! :) Speaking of sleep.....GUESS WHO SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT LAST NIGHT????
You're right....this beautiful little baby girl! When I woke up this morning and it was light outside, I was so, so excited! But, then I got a little sad too...that means she's getting older...and I want her to get older...just not so quickly! ha:)
She has been such a good baby lately. She rarely fusses unless she's hungry and she just looks around and at you like she really knows what you're saying. She is a huge fan of her play mat and her changing pad too...
If there's ever a small thing you need to get done quickly, you can lay her either place and she'll just lay there and look around and coo! It really is the sweetest thing I've ever heard! My heart just melts to see her so happy and content.
Harper just was not into the show that much! ha:) But, she did let me watch it Monday and Tuesday. I was rooting for Ed...so I'm very pleased with how it turned out! However, I feel so sorry for Reid! I didn't care for him too much on the show, but he seemed genuinely hurt on the after show! Oh well, guess that's part of it! Who were you all rooting for?
I just loved planning our wedding and looking for the perfect gown! I kinda knew what style I wanted and I knew that I wanted to blow Brandon's breath away....so the hunt was on! The weekend we got engaged, I bought a bridal magazine and the first dress in the book was the one that I had to have. I searched far and wide and finally found out that a little boutique in Franklin had one! We went the next day to see it....unfortunately....it was not as beautiful in person as it was in the magazine. It had all these huge pleats going around it and anyone w/ a fuller behind knows that those do NOTHING for your figure! ha:) So, I left there devastated and crying! lol I had just known that was it and it wasn't....oh well! So, after hours of looking and trying on countless dresses, I loaded up one Saturday with my bestie and my mom and headed to our tenth shop! I tried on and tried on and had it narrowed down to two dresses. We decided to go eat lunch while I made my decision. During lunch I kept looking at pics we had made and I made a decision...I didn't like either one of them that well! So, my best friend, Angela, said, "We are going back to that shop and we are going to find YOUR dress." Well, we walked in and this time, we got to work w/ another consultant. She asked what exactly I wanted and I told her...."sweetheart neckline, halter, heavy beading on the bodice, A-line, long train, corset back, and beading on bottom"...I was very specific. ha:) She said to give her a minute and then she goes over to the rack that I had gone through numerous times and she pulled "the gown"!!! I was like, "Where did that come from?" She said it was part of the trunk show and they had just put it out on the floor and hadn't even had time to steam it. I said, "Well that's it!" She said, "Do you not want to try it on first?" lol Of course I did, and even though it was the wrong color and about 6 inches too short, I came out of the dressing room jumping up and down saying, "This is the one! This is the one!" We ordered it right then and I've never regretted my decision!
Some people just buy the first gown they see, and I wish I could've been so lucky! But, I knew what I wanted and I knew that I would know it when I found "the one," just like I knew it when I found Brandon! I needed the perfect gown to marry the perfect man!
Here's a picture of the back so you can see the gorgeous train and corset! The train was pretty long already. BUT, I had imagined having this huge train that flowed behind me as I walked down the long aisle....so I added 3 feet to the length of my train when they custom ordered it. It was just p-e-r-f-e-c-t!!! 
And here you can see the detailing better on the bodice. It was silver and crystal beading with silver thread. Our colors were a pretty sage and silver with all colors of pink and green flowers! 
This day is still one of my favorite days in my life...with childbirth being close up there! ha:) Next week is wedding party and flowers...so I'll be hunting for those pictures next!
We were gone all day on Thursday and Harper was pooped yesterday.
I was sitting around working on paperwork and on the computer and I just couldn't quit staring at her wishing I slept this well. Since Harper has arrived, I hear every peep she makes and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Who couldn't be happy with this adorable baby by their side? 
I love this pic of the guys....so modern!
See....I told you our flowers were gorgeous...or at least I think so! ha:)
This was one of my fave pics of myself from that day...
I love the effect of the lighting in this photo....LOVE it!
Yes...I tripped on my dress walking back down the aisle. Oh well...all was good by then and he was stuck with clumsy old me! lol
Loved the rose petal exit!
My cute little daddy...
My beautiful mama....I picked out her dress and it was less than $50! ha:) However, her jewelry cost more than her clothes. lol Oh well...
If you know me at all, you know I'm an organizational control freak....I believe they would title me OCD! lol Anyway, I was terrified that Brandon's friends were going to do something during the ceremony or forget something....WELL when it came time to make pics of me w/ the guys they walked in and they all had on these CRAZY ties....some were horribly ugly and others had cartoon characters on them....it totally cracked me up.....
but I was oh so glad that was all they decided to pull! You never know with that group of guys! :)
Dear Brandon,
We are so thankful and blessed to have this angel in our lives; BUT has it really been a month already?!? I can already tell that time is going to go by waaayyyy too quickly....WAY too quickly! But, on the other hand, we are so, so fortunate to have such a beautiful, healthy baby girl on our hands. She is really beginning to fill out and stay awake more so that's a lot of fun.
However, that also means that I've had to get creative. She has to go where I go....SO she hangs out in her swing while I shower and get ready, and for the first time.....
she hung out in her bouncy seat while I cooked dinner. I don't know if she was super crazy about it but she did really well. We are finally getting in a little routine and getting the hang of things and it is such a nice feeling. :)
OH, I JUST LOVE THESE!!! Andi did a fabulous job! She is the greatest....if you are looking for an affordable photographer with lots of talent and great taste....you have to go see 
Daddy time....
Oh , how I LOVE this face....
