SMOKY MOUNTAINS CAMPING VLOG + TOO MANY PHOTOS!

Okay, first things first... the vlog from our trip is finally live! After 57 hours. Can we all just take a moment to acknowledge how ridiculous that is?!? In case you missed the first link, here it is again. After all the time committed to getting that thing up and running, I need a little payoff in the form of views leading me to believe someone actually cares ;)

Next, I have somewhere around 3 times as many photos to share as is probably reasonable, but I did whittle them down from 19 must-shares to 17 must-shares, and that was whittled down from well over 100. So trust me, it could've been much, much worse! So, since I will be hogging up so much time on photo and video viewing :), I'll stop with the rambling here and get on with it:

   

         ^^ That's just all Adelaide right there ^^

^^ And so's that ;) ^^

   

^^ My find at the Antique Tobacco Barn in Asheville, because what I really need is another G to squeeze in on the G wall that I just reconfigured. ^^

   

 There's that Ade-tude ^^ (Get it? Adelaide + Attitude? ;)

 ^^ This might've been my favorite sight of the whole trip! ^^

And that is all. Highly recommend Eastern Tennessee for fall foliage... all of the Appalachians probably. Highly recommend making camping reservations if you head to Eastern Tennessee in the fall (you'll have to watch the video for that back story). And very highly recommend Roan Mountain State Park.

Don't forget to check out our Camping in the Smoky Mountains vlog on my YouTube channel! Thumbs up and subscribe too *wink wink*

Oh, and Happy Halloween!

RETURN FROM THE GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS

We made it home from our week-long trip to Eastern Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. Adelaide is basically a pro at this point and we couldn't be more proud of what a great trooper she is on these trips, or happier with how much fun she seems to have! Amazingly I have sorted through all of the video clips and condensed them down into less than 30 minutes. I am currently waiting for it to upload to YouTube, so it should be up by Saturday. You probably think that's a joke. "Two days from now? Hahahaha!" Oh, how I wish it were. Remember the pregnancy vlog I did? Yeah, it took about 36 hours to upload. Please oh please fiber optic line people, get a move on! At this point it's at 6% and it's been going for at least an hour and half... it's almost 30 minutes long... can anybody do that math? Assuming it keeps up its current pace, which I'm not banking on... I hope Jordan doesn't come home needed to use the internet with any efficiency. He won't be happy with his experience!

Moving on.

While the video is basically ready to go, I haven't even begun sorting through the photos.... One thing a time, that's what I keep telling myself. Point is, I do have stuff coming your way, and wait until you see the gorgeous foliage we found! I'm going to get it up ASAP, so check back!

DIY GHOST COSTUME

I think this might be the last year of the really cute and creative costumes :( After Adelaide had already picked out this ghost costume and it had already been made (luckily), she started talking about wanting to dress up like a butterfly for trick-or-treating, and Elsa may have been mentioned too... Not knocking butterflies or anything, but for me there's just no way that can compare to a ghost. Especially this ghost! Plus, Adelaide runs around the house in one of her three Elsa dresses 75% of the time anyway, so how special would that be for Halloween? Her brain just does not think like mine... <sigh> I did manage to strike a deal with her that had something to do with me finding her a dress up butterfly costume for play... so the ghost has won out for the trick-or-treating gig! Win-win!

So, if you're on the search for a super easy, cheap and crazy cute costume, I may just have the one for you! I did a video with an overview on how to put this together, as well as a few photos to go with it just to clarify (though I'm pretty sure they're unnecessary, because it really is super easy and basic). But if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my very best to answer!

Check out my DIY Ghost Costume Video for a full overview of how I made the costume, and below are a few photos of the supplies needed, and close-ups of how to make the knots. Happy Halloween!

    

    

16 WEEK PHOTO COMPARISON

   

If you haven't already seen it, I did a First Trimester Recap video on my YouTube channel. It's fascinating. Okay maybe that's a little bit of a lie. Honestly, you should probably go in prepared-- it is really long and possibly boring. But hey, I did manage to cut it down to like 19 minutes from 28 minutes. What can I say? I like a babbling on and on to an empty room. Camera or no camera. Come to think of it, that's probably why I enjoy doing these videos so much... It's actually totally natural for me to sit around talking to no one. Like, no joke... dead serious. Just ask Jordan, I'm pretty sure he's caught me a couple of times over the years. #embarassing 

So anyway, to go with the video I thought I would share comparison photos as well. I have a bit more belly going on this time around at 16 weeks. I've always heard that you start showing earlier with subsequent pregnancies, so I assume that's what's going on. I also started out about 10 pounds heavier this time around <grimace face>....

If you're interested in hearing more about this pregnancy or other comparisons, check out the video! Oh, and there's also a clip from the gender reveal in there too! 

36 CUPCAKES AND A STOMACH BUG

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for Adelaide's birthday party. The weather was cooperating, the shopping was done, the cupcakes were baked, the cake pops were on their way to completion and a full pan of rice crispie treats were just begging to be sliced and served up. Yep, it was going to be a fantastic Halloween birthday over here today. That is, until Adelaide puked. What the hell kind of luck is that?! Poor kid spent her birthday party day laid up on the couch watching TV with a revolving wardrobe and blanket. Puking sucks. Watching your kid puking is the worst :(

We I decided to reschedule her party (Jordan was telling me to just forget it, it's not the first time something like this has happened and it won't be the last. Men. <Insert eye roll here>). I'll admit that there is a tiny bit of a selfish element in my desperate desire to reschedule. I mean this was the party of my dreams. A Halloween party. I tried to schedule Adelaide's birth around the ability to throw her a Halloween birthday party every year. (I found out my math was a teeny bit off when I was given a September 26th due date. Before you get pregnant you don't realize you have to count those 2 weeks before you're actually pregnant when determining the due date <insert angry face here>). But more importantly, I wanted this party for her. She has been so looking forward to having her friends and cousins over. I want to see her as everyone sings Happy Birthday to her. She needs to blow out her candles! So anyway, reschedule I did. She'll only have to wait a few extra days, although we'll be short a few friends unfortunately. I think as long as there are fresh cupcakes, it'll work out okay in the end. 

And in the meantime, here are a few bunch of birthday photos I snapped of her a couple of days ago, before this stomach bug got the best of her. Hopefully she'll be back to her smiling self tomorrow. Happy not-birthday party day sweet girl. We'll try again in a couple of days, xoxo.

   

      

Was that too many? I'm not a decision-maker. I'm just not.