Very Special Giveaway!! :) :) :)

Hi everyone!! :)
I have a special giveaway to share, Jeremy Larson's *BEAUTIFUL* CD! Jeremy sent me an extra copy of his first album to giveaway, it is magical. :)
If you aren't familiar with his music, you will be hooked. :)
I have it playing in my car non-stop! And I'm not going to lie, the first time I heard "Make Believe" (the first video) I cried. :) I met him through my friend Elsie and he is a very cool guy, besides being very talented. ;)
You can check out his online store by clicking here... his second album is just as beautiful as the first (Kevin loves it even more, actually), and Elsie and Jeremy designed some very fun and quirky merchandise that's also for sale! :)
I will be choosing a winner next Monday the 5th, so feel free to leave your name in the comments section for a chance to win. :) If you don't have a blogger account you can still enter by selecting "anonymous" and signing your name there.
Happy Monday!
Charin

Merry Christmas!!!!!
I hope you all have a very Merry one. :)
I'm off to my in-laws to spend Chrismas Eve with them...I'll be back soon with a very special giveaway on my blog! :)
Charin

Eight years ago...

Eight years=
2 1/2 years of dating
a dream come true wedding
buying our first home
changing jobs
changing cars
a few disasters here and there ;)
having our absolute dream come true, becoming parents to our beautiful baby Katie Shae
a lot of growing up
a lot of happiness
a lot of memories
and here we are after 8 years together, with our second little miracle on the way :)
Life is a journey, and even with living through ups and downs life is still beautiful :)

Happy "being us" anniversary Kevin! ♥

Update ;)

I got a call from my Dr's nurse this morning and she said that he is not overly concerned about the protein levels at this time. They were high, but I guess not high enough to warrant anything new being done.
They're still going to monitor everything closely and I'm going back in Monday....I'm really glad that I'm not being put on bed rest! :)
The only thing is that I still *know* that something is going on because of the way I've been feeling, I was hoping that it would be something that had a quick fix. ;)
But baby's fine and I can make it so that's the important thing! :)
Have a happy weekend!
Charin

:)

I wanted to share something a little happier than my past two posts have been. :)
This made me smile a lot tonight...
Mama: "Katie, where's Colin?"
Katie: (Patting Mama's belly) "Here!"
Aww :) A minute went by and Katie said "Hi Colin!" and patted my belly again.
She's going to be the best big sister :)

Further testing is needed...

Don't you just *love* hearing those words? ;)
I went back to see my Dr. today, and I had more protein showing up which means that I may be developing preeclampsia. I am going to be doing a 24 hour test tomorrow that should let us know something for sure.
I'm 28 weeks pregnant today, I just want Colin to stay healthy and we'll deal with whatever comes between now and delivery.
I'm going to go back to resting now. ;)
Charin

Hi :)
I just wanted to do a quick post to explain my lack of blogging (I stillllll need to post Thanksgiving pictures!)
I haven't been feeling the best lately, still trying to get over this yucky cold. I'm going on five weeks of having that, yuck.

And last week we had a scare with Katie, she had climbed onto a kitchen chair and fell off before I could get to her...her gums were bleeding and she had a cut and knot on her head. :( I was so scared, we had been very fortunate in the past and she had never really even gotten a bruise before. We rushed her to the ER for them to check on her, and she is ok now...but that was miserable. :( My poor baby. The only thing she has left from that is a *huge* canker sore that she keeps accidentally hitting with her sippy cup. We'll be really glad when that heals! I'm just thankful that my baby girl is ok.

And then yesterday I called my Dr's office because I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions off and on all day at work. I just wanted them to mark it on my chart, I wasn't all that concerned about it. Anyway, they said that I needed to go to the hospital to have a non-stress test ran on the baby, so that of course made me nervous. :(
I was admitted to a room where they strapped me up to a fetal monitor and they poked my belly around making sure that Colin was being responsive. All of that looks good, his heart rate is good and he was moving around once I laid down.
But the not so great news is that I may be developing preeclampsia. I'm really hoping that I'm not because it is definitely way too soon for him to be born, and from what I hear if you do get it they put you on complete bed rest.
I'm going back to my Dr. this coming week for a follow up and I'm hoping for good news. :)
I'm just a little worried because I do have several of the symptoms, like dizziness and spotty vision off and on and severe back pain and really bad nausea (even when I'm taking my chemo anti-nausea medicine).
So anyway, just trying to take it easy and hoping for the best. ;)
If you read through all of that I'm impressed! :)
Charin

For my local friends...

My friend Gena is a new Stampin' Up demonstrator, which is really good news for me because Stampin' Up is the only place that I know of to get my *dream* scrapbooking pen, the uniball signo!! :) :)
When I was teaching at Scrapbook Addiction I know that some of the ladies that took my classes asked about them...because I use this pen on nearly every page I make! haha

So anyway, if you are interested in ordering 1 (or 5 like I normally do!) send me an e-mail at charinkellie@yahoo.com and I'll get you hooked up with Gena! :)
Happy weekend :)
Charin

Posting in reverse ;)

I need to update from the week of Thanksgiving, but I have tonnnsss of pictures to edit and my computer is being very slow. So I'm going to share these pictures first. :) Katie's so excited about her Christmas tree this year! :) I love it...she keeps grabbing my hand and leading me back to her room to sit next to her "hemas" (Christmas tree)

Can you believe how close it is to Christmas? Unbelievable! We are actually thinking about skipping on putting up our big tree...is that horrible?

Katie and I are on our 3rd week of being sick with a bad cold/sinus infection, and Kevin's got it too now. :( He doesn't have it as bad and I'm really glad.

We had a wonderful time seeing everyone at Thanksgiving, but I wish we had been feeling better. Katie is cutting four teeth and was really, REALLY grouchy! I felt so bad, everyone was trying to snuggle her and she was having none of it! Poor baby, she just felt really bad. She wasn't sleeping hardly at all either, which made things interesting. ;)

We miss everyone and wish they could come back for another week. :)
Aww, and my family threw me a surprise baby shower for Colin! So sweet...we got lots of cute things for him. :) He's moving around a lot more lately, I love it...if he comes almost two weeks early like Katie did he'll be here in 2 1/2 months! It's going to be time before we know it. :)

Have a great week everyone, I am going to try to update from Thanksgiving soon! :)
Charin

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! :)
Enjoy your turkey and the much needed nap that should follow ;)
I'll be back later with lots of fun pictures and stories from this week filled with family fun! ;) (There are close to 30 family members crowding into my Mom and Dad's all week, I love it!)
Charin

Awww! :)

I just found out that my blog has been ranked one of the most popular for readers in the my area, thank you!! :) I feel pretty honored that so many of you actually want to read what I have to say. :)
Happy Monday!

Hi :)

I need to update!! :)
I have some very random pictures to share, one of my beautiful baby girl :) She is getting so big!
I think Kevin took this picture, but I'm not sure and neither is he! haha

I spent this cold and dreary afternoon wrapping presents :) I'm very proud of myself for actually getting a head start on my Christmas shopping, usually I wait until the very last minute which I've learned is more stressful and more expensive! It's really helping me that Brandi and I decided that we were going to swap gifts between our families at Thanksgiving, nothing like a deadline to give you a little motivation! ;) It will save shipping too, and I don't love the post office so that makes me happy. :) I went ahead and wrapped the presents we've been storing for Katie too, because she found my super secret hiding spot. (my closet) She saw a Dora plate and cup set and wound up getting that one early because she was so happy. :)

And I noticed yesterday that absolutely everything I buy to decorate with has a black and white theme as of late. ;) I found the gorgeous Eiffel tower canvas at Wal*Mart for $10! I love it, sooo pretty. I have a lot of European inspired pieces in our house, they make me happy. :)

Overnight our trees decided to look more Winter than Fall...our yard is covered with leaves! It doesn't seem like we've had much of a Fall, it's gone straight from hot to really cold.

But that just means that it's closer to the holiday season, which I love!! :)

P.S. I'm 23 weeks along now, yay! :) Lots of back aches and pelvic pain, and I still have to take my medicine religiously to avoid being sick to my stomach every day.

I got Colin's baby book today :) It seems so far away and so close at the same time...can't wait for him to get here! :) Once Thanksgiving is over we're going to be really focusing on his room, right now we're just getting stuff ready for my family to come up! :) I love Thanksgiving, it's my favorite.

Love love! Have a happy week. :)
Charin

Today is an important day...

I'm anxiously awaiting the outcome of this election...the older I get the more important it becomes to me, especially as a Mama.

I should be in bed....

But instead I'm updating my blog ;)
I wanted to share a few new cards, I love making quick and simple cards...the second one is using a new chipboard piece from the lovely Angie Delarie ;) (Link in my sidebar)

The chipboard is really thick and durable, perfect for painting! Sorry about the poor image quality, I just took a picture of it...inside at 11:30 at night ;)

And on the other card I discovered my new addiction for using googly eyes on stamped images! I think I got that idea from Jennifer McGuire, I think it just adds a little sumpin sumpin :)

And here's some new pictures of my sweetie! :) This morning after she had gotten up (because she did that at around midnight last night, and didn't want to go back to sleep at *allll* but finally did in bed with me) she wanted me to put her in her crib and toss some of her teddy bears in with her...she was so cute! She was being so sweet and motherly to the bear in the pictures, patting his face and saying "nite nite" Then she pretended to be nite nite herself and try to cover a giggle underneat her blanket :)

She was looking at me taking all of the pictures of her and she said "pictures!", when I was done shooting she stood up and made me show her all of them...you know, just checking to make sure that I'd gotten her good side and all of that ;) (as if she has a bad one!)

Want to hear some other Katie stories from her proud Mama?? :)

She has been saying "Please" and "Thank you" all day, and she even said it at the appropriate times...so cute!
She said "I love you" for the first time this week...only once, but I'm so glad that she said it to me, it made my heart melt. I even announced it at a staff meeting at the bank Wednesday! haha!
And the craziest, smartest thing...she was watching Dora the Explorer, and there's this scene in every episode where the talking map (you Mama's know what I'm talking about!) says three places that they have to go to get to their destination. He had popped up on the screen, but hadn't said a *word* yet, and Katie pointed at the tv and said "Bridge, Door, Mountain!" That was exactly right! I couldn't believe it, we've never even heard her say mountain before. I thought that was so smart. :)
My baby girl's growing up way too fast! I can't believe she'll be two years old in a few months.

Well, I think that's it for now, I'm going to bed. ;)
Have a great day!
Charin

It's 1000000000000000000000% definite that it's a boy!! :)

We are *definitely* definitely having a boy! :) I am so excited... it makes it so much more real now knowing that we can for sure that it's little Colin moving around and growing in my belly. ;)

I think it will be so much fun having a boy and a girl...and Katie will be the big sister bossing her little brother around! haha! ;)

So do you see how completely covered my fridge is with his ultrasounds? Aww, I love it! And if you look reallllly close, you can see Katie's marker "artwork" on our wall! haha! The super weird thing is that she always writes what looks like a K..who knows, maybe she's just leaving her signature. ;)

So I'm almost 21 weeks now, Colin has been moving around a lot more lately. He keeps kicking the same spot in my belly every night over and over until it tickles, so cute :)

I just registered at Wal*Mart today, at the insistence of my Mom :) Nearly every time I would talk to her she would say "So, have you registered yet??" haha :) I forgot how much fun that is though! I wish I could do my real shopping like that, just scan it and be done!

We haven't made much progress on his room yet, and it's definitely time to get serious about that! And now that we know that we're having a boy we can start painting and all of that, so exciting! :) I can't wait for him to get here.

I also wanted to share some new scrap pages, I've been scrapping more lately since I've been feeling some better and that makes me really happy! :) I finally ordered some 6x12 page protectors from American Crafts and I can't wait for those to get in...6x12 is my new favorite way to scrap. ;)

I was also tagged by Brandi to list ten things I love but may never say outloud, and by Joy to list seven random things, so I'm gonna combine these two! :)
Here goes...

1. I love love love drinking hot cocoa and cappuccino..in fact, I just got done drinking some mint hot cocoa, yumm!
2. I like the *idea* of hot tea, but in actuality I don't like it at all.

3. I love watching old movies, like Doris Day movies or the Sound of Music :) I love that they leave you with a good feeling instead of being scared, depressed etc.

4. I am constantly writing to do-lists on Microsoft Word, and I love being able to delete those! :) p.s. We started using Microsoft Word to make those notes instead of paper...just a little way of going green I guess. ;)
5. I love being in the middle of a good book. The middle's the best part ;)

6. I love opening my e-mail inbox to see an e-mail from a friend :) Really love it!

7. I love having a good stock of the following-chapstick, ink pens, scrapbook glue and toothpaste ;) Haha! How's that for random?
8. I love rocking Katie to sleep....I probably shouldn't still do that, but I love it. She won't always be this little!
9. I love sorting through mail and being able to throw away all of the junk

10. I love it when I don't have to fill up the gas tank...hint, hint Kevin! :)

Well, I think that's it for now! I am going to try to get to bed soon since it's almost 11.

Oh! And I do plan on getting some belly shots soon, I've had a few people asking about that...I just have to find a day where Kevin can take some for me :)
Have a great week everyone!
Charin

Halfway there!! :)

I am officially halfway through this pregnancy, 20 weeks today! :)
I'm soooo ready to meet this little one, I can't wait.
But I'm also starting to get major nesting/panicky feelings because the babies nursery isn't anywhere *near* ready, in fact it still needs to be cleaned out before we can even start painting it and all of that good stuff.
I'm trying to work on that as much as I can in between work, spending time with my sweet baby girl and life. :)

Yay for the halfway mark! I'm finally over (for the most part, as long as I remember to take my medicine!) all of the icky being sick to my stomach 24-7.
I've started to feel this little one kick a lot more, mostly at night when I'm laying down and not distracted by a million other things...and I love it. That is one of the greatest feelings in the world!
I'm also about to have to move into maternity clothes, my jeans are starting to get uncomfortable in the belly section. ;) It seems like half of my maternity clothes from when I had Katie are mysteriously missing, so I'm going to have to find the time for a lil' road trip to Branson soon to pick up a few necessities. Normally you would think that a girl would be really excited about shopping, but I'm actually kind of dreading it! Oh well. ;)

This Friday is my ultrasound to say "for sure" if we're having a boy! I'm really excited about that...we may still get a surprise. My sister-in-law Brandi was told that they were having a boy up until about this point and they have a very pretty little girl Zoe. :)
I will be happy either way, I can't wait to find out!

Happy Monday that feels like it should be a Friday!
Charin

Complete cuteness :) :)

This company has *the* cutest accesories for the little girls in your life! :) And they're very affordable, I've been spending much more on bows for Katie at our local boutiques.
I'm having an online book party starting Monday, you're invited! ;) They have free shipping, too!
Thanks!
Charin

You're Invited!!
What: Oopsie Dazie Hair Accessories Virtual Party

Oopsie Dazie is a Stay-at-Home-Mom run company that specializes in creating unique and affordable hair accessories.
Hostess: Charin Reed
When: Monday-Friday, October 13-17
How: Place your order through the website (http://www.oopsiedazie.com//), and pay through PayPal. **In the comments section of PayPal enter: Charin Reed's Party** Orders will be shipped directly to you.
**If you should encounter any problems with the online ordering process, please email your orders directly to: http://us.mc554.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=oopsiedazie@mac.com
Thank you so much for participating, and we hope you enjoy your beautifully unique hair accessories!

Fall afternoons...

I love afternoons like this one :)
I got off work at 2, made a pot full of Taco Soup (my friend Candace gave me the recipe, she's an awesome cook!) and while it was simmering we took Katie outside to play "throw the ball" ;)

I also made this super simple card using Angie's tags. :) I have moved my scrap stuff into the dining room, to get the spare bedroom ready for little Colin :) And it's driving me nuts! I need to get it organized *badly*!

Anyway! ;) I wanted to share the recipe for the yummy taco soup, you should give it a try!

• 1 - 1 1/2 lbs. of hamburger meat
• 1/2 onion
• 1 can of rotel or spiced tomatoes
• 1 can of pinto beans
• 1 can of kidney beans
• 1 can of hominey
• 1 can of corn
• 1 packet of dry chili or taco mix
• 1 packet of dry ranch dressing mix

Cook hamburger meat and onion, salt to taste. Combine with all other ingredients in crock pot. Add desired amount of water to make more soup-like.

I hope the rest of your week is great! :)
Charin

Oooh!! I scrapbooked! :)

I am a little amazed! This is the first page that I've made in MONTHS! I've really missed scrapbooking, I just haven't felt like it since I've been so sick.

I photographed the page a little crooked, but you get the idea ;) I used some precious Love, Elsie goodies that I've been stashing and some new Sassafras Lass, love their products!

Goodby and Hello

I'm a little sad today, because we gave away our sweet dog Emma :( She was the sweetest dog in the world, and Katie loved her lots...but we could *not* get her house broken. She's almost 5 and we've had her for a few months now, so I'm afraid that she's just too old to be training.

Anyway, a toddler and a newborn on the way don't mix with a non-house broken dog!

We had a chance encounter with a lady at our local pharmacy, and we started talking dogs...she asked us to please call her if we ever decided to get rid of Emma. We had been talking about it quite a bit lately, even though it made us sad to do it.
But she's going to be better off now, her new "parents" are retired and will have lots more time to play with her, and she'll have a new dog friend.

But I'm not going to lie, I cried a little bit on my way back home from taking her to meet her new Mama. :( Katie hasn't noticed her absence yet, so I'm hoping she'll do ok. That would be the hardest thing, if she gets upset about her being gone!

In happier news, I finally met the super sweet Rachel! last night :) I met her online through Elsie, and we found out that her husbands grandparents live about 30 mins. from here :) I'm always amazed what a small world it is! They were down for quick weekend trip and we met up at the local fall festival...and being the dork that I am, I forgot to take any pictures of us together even though I was carrying my camera around on my shoulder!

But she is super super sweet and Sebastian is even cuter in person :)

Katie was dressed up as a pirate for the festival, I'll definitely have to get some more pictures of her in her costume to post on here. ;) She had a really good time...even when she nearly fell all the way into a duck pond game! Oh my! :)

I am going to try to get some stuff done around the house before Katie wakes up...she has been having the WORST sleep schedule lately! She's been waking up anywhere from 1-3 and not wanting to back to bed at all. I guess she's just getting me ready to have a newborn in the house again ;)
Charin

Two posts in one day, can you believe it?? :) I just got done uploading these pictures from the Fair, Katie's first one ;) This first picture was her 1st reaction when we walked in the gate, she was amazed! :) :) She stole Mama's strawberry daiquiri (NON-alcoholic, of course!!!!!)

Spotted Dorah at one of the booths and had to have her, especially after she saw that she was wearing "backpack" :) Dorah's her new favorite show. Went on the merry go round with Mama and Daddy...Mama was trying *very* hard not to get sick! I'm glad we went to the fair for Katie's sake, but pheww I got sick! I had to lay down in the middle of everyone, feeling like I was going to pass out. I guess being sick and pregnant doesn't mix well with fighting the crowds and heat!

And she went on this big slide with her Daddy! I was so proud of her, she loved it and wasn't afraid at all :) I don't know if you'll be able to tell in the 2nd picture, but she had a huge smile on her face from the very top to the bottom :) The only sad thing was when she and Kevin climbed to the top to ride down I waved at her, and I could hear her shouting "Mama!! Mama!!" and getting sad :( She was happy once they started riding down though!


And just a few pictures with some crazy editing, just for fun ;)

Pictures, sooo many pictures! ;)

I have been slacking on getting pictures uploaded lately! :) These are from the first part of this month, my brother Joel and his wife Brandi came up to get away from the storm in Louisiana for a few days...it was so good to see them! :) :) These pictures aren't the best, the lighting isn't very picture friendly over at my Mom and Dad's house, but these are still special to me. :)
My Dad taking the boys for a ride in his mower ;) (my nephews Jathan, Jared and Gabriel) He was going to take Katie and Zoe too, but they thought that was too rough for little girls ;)

Almost all of the little cousins together on the couch, eating animal crackers and watching tv. I wish Hunter could have been with us!
My cutie nephew Gabriel! Him and his sister Zoe have the most amazing eyes!
Pretty little Zoe Belle :)
Katie and Zoe became fast friends! :) They are just about 3 weeks apart in age, it's so much fun to see them together.
Zoe was so sweet, she kept feeding Katie :)

And I love these next pictures! Katie, Zoe and Gabriel all piled onto Grandma and Papa's bed and had a little pillow fight with Grandma and snuggled under the covers :)

That's it for now, I am going to be trying to get caught up on posting pictures over the next little bit, so there'll be more coming! :)
Happy Monday
Charin