In this whirlwind we call life....

...we realize more and more each day how blessed we really are.  Even though I hate going to work everyday, I am thankful to have a job to return to and that gives me the hours and opportunities I have to spend with my baby girl!  

I feel so overwhelmed at the moment...between school, church, other activities and trying to be the best wife, mother, daughter, friend, and teacher that I can be....I feel like I'm falling short!  I am such a perfectionist, and it's just taking a little longer than I'd hoped to get into a routine that I'm comfortable with.  On that note, I love, love, love blogging and reading other people's blogs...but I feel like I'm doing a terrible job at keeping up w/ that too!  However, I do love knowing that I can go back through all of my posts and look at how things have changed!  So, with that being said, please forgive me for neglecting my blog this week! :(  I've had great asperations of blogging, but I'm just now getting around to it!   

Now....onto the fun stuff....what we've been up to?  Well, we are one busy, busy little family.  There's always somewhere to go or something to be done...and I love it!  I am not complaining!  But, when Harper goes to bed around 7:30 every night....it keeps us on our toes and then we can unwind! ha:)  Well, we have box seats the the National Walking Horse Celebration in Shelbyville and we love to go every year.  It's so much fun to just sit around with family and the friends that sit around us every year and just enjoy the beautiful horses and all the festivities.  They have great food...especially sweets (lol)...and I'm just loving the weather this year.  Usually, we are sitting there wiping sweat from our foreheads, but this year we get to wear our jackets and be comfy!  I LOVE the fall!!!!  Does anyone else feel me on that? :)And Harper has been so, so good.  I joked with my family saying that I should just bring her in her pj's because it doesn't start until 7 and she usually eats around 7-7:30 and then goes straight to sleep.  So, whenever she begins to wiggle around 9 or 10, I take her and change her diaper and put her jammies on, then she's back to sleep.  Who could ask for a better baby than that?  Again...I am so, so blessed!  

Maddie is so cute with Harper....as soon as she sees her, she smiles from ear to ear and says, "Baby Bopper!"  It's the cutest thing you've ever seen!  But, have you ever tried to get a decent picture of a 2 1/2 month old and a 19 month old???  Not an easy task...On another note, we bought Miss Harper her first horsey this year at the Celebration, and she really loves it.  She just rubs on it and pulls it up near her face...so sweet!  She's really beginning to figure things out....like sucking her thumb.  I'm afraid it won't be long before her su-su (pacifier) is a thing of the past!  Oh well.......anyway.....meet Lolly...While Brandon was holding her the other day, I decided to snap a few shots of her just on a lazy Saturday!  She is soooooo stinkin' cute!!Other than that, we've had to adjust our eating as well.  Last week, Harper began the week by crying most of the day on Monday and Tuesday.  She would be fine when I left her in the mornings, grinning from ear to ear, but then they'd say she cried all day and just wasn't content.  I didn't know what was wrong with her, but of course I kind of panicked. lol  But, after a call to the dr., I figured out that maybe she was just hungry.  So, I had to up her formula to 6 oz. in each bottle and sure enough...that did the trick!  I felt so bad.....but at least she's all better now.  As a matter of fact,  after she ate one night, I began to give her a bath, and she fell asleep....(lol)....bless it!But, overall, we are still doing 'fabulous'!  We constantly ask ourselves what we did before she came into this world?  We thought we were busy then....lol  But, we wouldn't trade our lives now for anything in the world.  We both agreed that God meant for us to be parents.  I told my mama on the way to the horse show one night that for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm doing exactly what God meant for me to do at this exact moment in my life.  I couldn't be happier....

With that, I want to leave you with this poem that was on the front of our church bulletin yesterday!  I thought, "Wow!  That's exactly how I feel and I want to share it!"  So, enjoy...

Happiness is something we create in our mind,

It's not something we search for and so seldom find.

It's just waking up and beginning the day

By counting blessings and kneeling to pray.

It's giving up thoughts that create discontent

And accepting what comes as "heaven sent".

It's giving up wishing for things we have not

And making the best of whatever we've got.

It's knowing that the future is secure for us, 

And pursuing our tasks without fret or fuss.

For it's by completing what God gives us to do,

That we find contentment and happiness, too.

Have a great, blessed week!

xoxo, Kara C:

p.s. I'll try not to wait a week before updating ever again! lol :)