My special little girl is getting close to one year old! 10 months has been a fantastic age. Harper is the most active she has ever been. She is constantly crawling around and pulling herself up. She is even flirting with the idea of walking. She loves snuggling her stuffed animals and smooshing her face in them. Its seriously one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Her first word was "dada." She can also kind of say "ball" and "mama." Did I mention she is full of energy? I swear she has more energy than the  Energizer bunny himself. She is running around left and right knocking movies and books off of shelves, throwing toys around, climbing on the couch, trying to attack kitty, getting into drawers, and being all kinds of naughty. I can't help but laugh though. She is too cute. Every day I am wanting time to slow down, especially since I am in school now. It has been amazing, but so hard not being with my girl all day. Taylor and I feel so lucky to have Harper in our lives. She is such a precious angel. Every night when we read scriptures together and say our prayers, I am overwhelmed with how lucky we are. We have been given the best gift of all time. We love you Harper girl.

xo Carly

The other day I decided to pull out an old beginners lens that was just collecting dust. Harper was content playing with Daddy's guitar. She looked so cute, I had to snap some pictures of her. I was messing around with the lighting and settings on my camera and was really digging this yellow vibe. I also found the grain on these images unusually pleasant. I am the kind of photographer who likes a clean crisp look, but I really liked the 70s film vibe I was getting from this lens. The more I look at these pictures the more I realize that Harper isn't a little baby anymore. She is becoming a little girl. She is so smart and curious and I feel so lucky to be her mama. She is full of joy and adventure. I love having her around. The semester is starting soon and I can't wait to get back into on campus classes. I also am going to be jumping head first into the photography scene. If you need any type of pictures done, hit a girl up. More than anything, I just feel really grateful today that I had my two favorite people in my life. They are everything. 

xo, carly

We went to the St Anthony Sand Dunes in between conference sessions. It was SO much fun. I have never really been sledding, so I don't have much to compare it to. But I can imagine that sledding in the sand is way better than sledding in the snow. Mostly because you don't have to deal with snow. We had the sand dunes all to ourselves and took advantage of it. We sled down so many steep hills. Harper even got to slide down a little one with me and Tay. Anyone who knows me well, knows I am terrified of heights. Seriously I am so scared. Like shaking in a high hotel room scared. So going down those high hills were really scary, but I put on my big girl pants and went down all the high ones. I am constantly reminding myself that I can do what I want! Fear shouldn't limit me. I am so grateful for Taylor, Nicole and Kevin for giving me encouragement, Thanks for being our best friends and going on crazy adventures with us. We are going to miss them so much this semester. Hurry back guys!

xo, Carly

In the beginning of parenthood, I used Harper as an excuse way too much. Before long, I really started to feel limited in what I could accomplish. I was surrounding myself with so many unnecessary borders. Motherhood has taught me an innumerable amount of lessons, but one of the biggest is to stop making excuses. If you want to do something, you should be able to do it. Don't stop yourself because you will have to sacrifice a little or go out of your comfort zone. If I don't want to do something, I'm honest with myself. I don't blame my daughter anymore. If I really want to do something, I do it. Lately risk has been my middle name and its SO unlike me. I've thrown myself into the entrepreneur world. It has been the most amazing experience. It is so freeing. I recommend that everyone try something they have always wanted to. I recently started my own photography business. I got rid of all my dumb excuses: I don't have the nicest camera, I'm not as experienced as everyone else, I don't have the time, What if I am not any good? I don't want to look back on my life and think "what if." There is so much out in the world and I want to do it all. Even if it takes a little longer or a little more work because I am a mom, I know it will be worth it. I want to make the most of the life God gave me, and I want my daughter to know that the only limits she has are the ones she sets for herself. You are all unstoppable, powerful, good, and capable of anything you want. Take command of your life & be the you, you want to be. No excuses. 

xo, Carly

For some reason I have been looking forward to this age for a long time. Probably because when I was 9 months I started walking and talking. I thought that Harper would probably follow in my footsteps (no pun intended). It looks like she still has a while until she can talk, but I think the walking thing is going to start any second. She is pulling herself up and walking around the couch constantly. This month, Harper has pretty much gotten the sleeping thing down. She knows what her room is and often plays in her crib by herself. She can keep herself entertained for hours. It is so fun watching her grow and explore. Her crawling skills have really improved. She is cruisin every where. She loves her reflection, playing games, bath time, playing guitar with daddy, petting kitty, taking all the VHS tapes off our entertainment center and snuggling. I seriously love this girl and can't wait for all the fun adventures we are going to have together. I took these pictures at the park & took Harper down the slide with me. She was not amused haha. I thought she would love it, but she didn't care one bit. She just wanted to play with the pinecones on the floor. Go figure. Also I plan to stop breastfeeding at one year, any advice to help the transition? Harper won't take binkies, but is starting to warm up to bottles. 

xo, Carly

Something I was happy to find out when I got married is how much Taylor loves going to book stores. The library was my favorite place to go growing up. I went frequently even throughout college. I love finding new good reads for winter nights or lazy days at the beach. My recreational reading has really taken a step back since becoming a mom. I barely have anytime for myself between school, work, harper, and home duties. Let's just say I am going to cry happy tears the next time I can just curl up and read a romance novel (my favs). I am excited that we will get to share our love for books with Harper and our other kids. Reading was one of my favorite past times growing up. I can't wait to share that. We have already started by taking Harper to the library and tons of other book stores. We had to walk clear across Jackson to find this cool little place. Thank you to the kind man & woman who gave us directions! If anyone is looking for a book store in Jackson it is in Gaslight Alley. My favorite thing was the little tree stump reading nook. Harper and I hung out in there the whole time.

xo, Carly

Taylor and I just finished the show Parenthood. Soooo good. This was like my fourth time watching the finale and Taylor's first time. I won't give anything major away, but in the last episode there is a song that I just love. A part of says "It was always you." I have been thinking a lot about my marriage lately and just how lucky I am to have Taylor in my life. I get so freaked out thinking about the possibility of ever losing him. Some people wait their whole lives to have what we do. Some people never even find it. I feel so privileged to have him. It's no secret that Taylor and I got married super young. An amazing part of that is getting to grow with each other. We get to struggle together and build our lives from the bottom up. We get to continually look back together and think look what we have done. It is an amazing feeling. I think back at the long journey that lead me to Taylor. All the boyfriends and heart ache and drama and wasted tears. All the games and confusion. Taylor was different from the moment I met him. I was comfortable with him. There was never any guessing. He cherished me and kept my heart safe. He made me feel wanted and special. Like I was the only person in the room. He was such a breath of fresh air. He made me believe that everything I had ever dreamed of having in a husband was possible. That fairy tales are real. There is so much to love about Taylor. Everyone who has met him, knows what I am talking about. I am just so happy to be a long for the ride and laugh together for the rest of our lives. Love you to the ends of the earth. It was always you.

xo, Carly