Double Ugh.... (and some cute pics too!)

It's Baby Mozart! The little nightgow she is wearing

I used to wear as a little baby! My parents kept a lot

of my clothes so Kara has been able to wear some of them

and it's so darn neat!! She LOVES this mini piano which is a family

heirloom! My mom used to play with it, I played with it and now my

little Karakins gets to play with it!

It's SUMMER time in good ol' Florida!

Loving the pool!

Kara has officially learned how to dig through Mommy's purse!

Here she is trying to dig with Kasey and Mr. Cody eyeing her ;)

So Kara got sick last week and she decided she wanted to be so loveable as to share it with Mommy. Yep, we are both sick. :( Daddy hasn't gotten it (yet) but it's been an awful weekend and last couple of days. I have come to realize that babies and kids are little germ magnets and love to share with the rest of the familt! LOL Anyways, I feel better than I did, but still not 100% by far. I have a lunch meeting for work tomorrow and my voice is still horrid. I sound like that Judge Maria on tv... you know who I am talking about? Gosh, it makes me wonder how she got the gig on tv! Her voice is so low and sounds like she smokes a lot... it's gruff. Well, that's how my voice sounds and it's so embarrassing. I just want to feel better!

Oh, but guess what?! I have been busy blending the fall and holiday oils and WOWSERS! There are so dang good ones! I will probably be announcing them the first week of Sept. Behind the scenes on my website I'm adding a nice listing of holiday and fall blends (not viewable on the site yet) so it will be easier to shop for fall/holiday scents :) I am trying to do more blends of oils so they are unique and different. I'm always one for trying to be different! LOL

Anywho, that's the update here at Kara's Royal Castle ;) I'll add a few more recent photos of her below. She recently went to a pool party for one of the children she used to go to daycare with.... she turned one. Kara had a blast in this pool type thingie that sprayed water. It is so darn neat that I am on the hunt to get one. Apparently toys r us has them but living in this rural area we don't have toys r us so I have to order online. GAH! Anyways, enjoy the pics!

Winner Takes All

Well, it's been awhile since I have written! I looked at the date and couldn't believe it had been July 30 since my last post! So much has happened in the last few weeks! Business is great! I am working on some awesome blends for fall!! I have about four right now if I recall correctly while typing this blog. I plan on introducing them in September and am also working on the fall holiday scent description page so all holiday themed scents will be listed on one page for easier reference :)

So, what's new.... well, Kara came in second place in a local baby contest. It was for Carpet One called the Carpet One Cutie contest! We saw an ad in the local paper and decided to give it a shot. We got an email the other day saying she was in the semi-finals and then one a few days later saying she is a runner up (aka second place) for the 0-1 age group!!! We were able to see the professional photographers photo of Kara and WOW!!! She is BEAUTIFUL!!! Her eyes are just gorgeous in this photo! I wish I could post it on my blog but they don't allow it. We will get a free 8x10 framed photo of her so I can't wait to show everyone!! Carpet One is going to use the babies selected in their print advertisements! We get to go to an awards get together party where the photographer will be taking pictures of the babies, etc. We are looking forward to it! We had so much fun.

And this weekend Kara gets to go to her first birthday party! One of the little girls she used to go to daycare with is turning 1 and on Sunday is a little party. I'm looking forward to going because Kara is so darn cute to watch while she interacts with other babies. Maybe I'll get some pics I can post on here for you :)

Okay, gotta clean house and take care of things that I often neglect during the week. Who wants to do chores on their day off anyways?! LOL

Peace out....

Who else is ready for Fall and Holiday Scents?

Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, I am already preparing and brainstorming for my fall and holiday scent selections. This year I am not going over the top in ordering a load of oils.... I am ordering some really fab ones (of course I can't tell anyone just yet what they are...) but I will be doing some blends as well. My goal is to offer oils you can't find anywhere else. Who else is tired of the same old same old....candy corn, pumpkin, pine, BORING! So, I am intending on offering some more unique oils that no other companies will have. I am also planning on doing some gift totes and offering all of these early.... like starting around September maybe? People seem to be doing more holiday shopping earlier. The last few years I just felt I didn't have the time to put together gift totes, but I am really going to work on it this year. And I am starting early! YAHOO! I am working on a lotion... I know those folks who adored the three types of lotions I had before I closed with Kara's birth will be super excited! I am also working on another secret product that I know will be exciting---- it's still in the planning phases. To add a new product takes a lot of time and extra money, so I have to be careful with my choices :)

Anyways, I was so excited about some of the oils I purchased tonight and working on recipes for new scents that I had to post! I am tired of the hot nasty humid weather here in Florida so I am just waiting for the days to pull out my sweaters and fell the crisp, cool wind on my face.

Vacations are never long enough...

So we are back from vacation and had our first full week back to work. Our vacation to North Carolina was a blast and Kara was so good! The worst part? Well, that would be the super long drive back from NC to Florida.... and since we live in the lower middle part of the state that meant a super long drive even as we got to the GA./FL. border. You think you're almost there and come to find out you have another four to five hours of driving through your own state! But, with that all done we made it home safely and Kara was so good riding in the car for close to 15 hours. Normally the ride only takes about 12 hours from NC to our home, but with baby this year we had to stop almost every hour or so to stretch and change diapers. I am going to stick in a few pics of our trip at the end of this entry. We got to do quite a bit in such a short amount of time. We visited Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, GA. Kara LOVED looking at all the original, handcrafted CPK kids! She just wanted to touch all of them and got all excited! She even got to see a CPK kid born from the cabbage patch (not that she'll remember it but I was excited for her!) LOL She even picked out her own CPK kid... no, not a handmade one as those start at 100.00 and I just can't see spending that just yet... maybe when she is a bit older and can pick out one and know that it's a very precious, expensive item, but she got to pick out a cheaper plastic one and she really did!!! I've got so many pics, but can't put them all on here but I have a few that she is crawling around on the floor and touching the boxes and started banging on one that she wanted, so I got it for her. She LOVES the darn thing! She does this thing with her nose and makes this sound and it's so cute whenever she sees her CPK. We also visited Helen, GA. and then drove up to see some friends in NC. We had a blast! Anyways, here are a few photos:

This is us on top of Wayah Bald, NC. It's so beautiful up there and it was close to 60 degrees (maybe colder!) up there!!!


Kara at the exit of CPK land... I thought this shot was so cute!


Kara and me on top of Wayah Bald. Can you believe she is already 7 months old in this picture?! She has three of her top teeth now and the two bottoms... my little girl is getting so big!!! So fast!!!!

Sick.....

Well, it has been a long time... I mean LONG time since I have been super sick. Well, last night it must have been years in the making because both Adrian and I have been sick as dogs. It started last night when we went to Ruby Tuesdays when we both didn't feel right. It wasn't anything we had eaten because I had started to feel funky earlier in the day. It hit me around 10 pm last night... and boy.... you won't be interested in the description, but I haven't felt like this in ages. And with Adrian and I both being sick it was hard to take care of Kara so thankfully Nanna came over and got her and is watching her for the day. I am feeling a tad better now, but still not the normal Kelly :-) I am going to bed now, but hopefully tomorrow will be a fresh, new day with me feeling much better!!

Look At These Beautiful Photos!

I took these today..... it was her first time playing in the grass!

Frustration at Companies....

Well, why is it that some companies profit off of shipping expenses??? I just received a fragrance oil order for my business and the package weighed ONE pound and I was charged almost 4.00 more than it actually cost to ship the package!! I visited the USPS site to get an actual cost to ship the package and there it was as plain as day 4.60!!! And I was charged 8.20. Sure, add a few packing peanuts in there and that might constitute an additional 1.00, but this is ridiculous. This company is notrious for overcharging and it is so frustrating. I have contacted them and complained, but not sure how much good that will do. I have phased out a lot of my oils because it's so difficult to carry from multiple suppliers who want to charge an arm and a leg for shipping. I only charge my customers exact shipping costs because I know how frustrating it is to pay for extra shipping on top of product costs. GAH!

Now that I have gotten that off my chest because it's been bugging me for quite some time.... Kara's last day at her previous day care provider was Friday. We were all sad.... her daycare provider is going to start teaching at the local school so we had to scramble to find a GOOD daycare that provided adequate care and met our needs. We found one but it just makes me so nervous to change... I hate change sometimes and when it comes to your kids you only want the best for them... never thought I would hear myself saying that, but it's true. And you worry about them being around other kids who's parents might not care as much and you don't want bad attitudes rubbing off on your child. So she starts Monday.....

I am busy this weekend packing orders and getting things done around the house. Kara is in her playpen just playing away. Amazing how they can occupy themselves for hours!!

Grandpa Came To Visit

Grandpa came by and visited Kara tonight. She was quite handful earlier! She is at the stage where she gets that anxiety if you exit the room. When I am doing house chores and other things I try to position her in her exersaucer so she can see me but boy does she get upset if I disappear out of her site range! Apparently this is "normal" and she is learning cause and reaction. I love it when she gets all excited when I walk back into the room.... her smiles are so darn cute with her two bottom teeth. She is so fun! Tomorrow is terrific tuesday as I call it. She will go to Sunny's daycare. Only this week and she switches day care. I am a little upset about that because Sunny is so good with her, but I recognize the fact that you gotta do what you gotta do. See, Sunny got a job as a teacher, so little Ms. Kara has to go to a new provider. I do hope this new provider works out :-) Well, it's bed time for me!

Poo and More Poo

I am just testing this first post out but I must say that there are positive points of having to take Kara to daycare while I go to work.... means that I don't have to clean many of her poo filled diapers! This morning I woke up to a nasty aroma wafting from her nursery (we keep the door closed during the nights) and I could smell it from OUTSIDE of her door! It was a NICE early morning surprise needless to say. Not something I can handle before my first cup of coffee! LOL

She had a good day today!