Weekending in the Mountains!

I don't normally post weekend recaps but the fact that Caroline is on the mend from her awful 3 day stomach bug and we were still able to break away for a little getaway to the mountains, I'd say it's worth the post!

The original weekend plans were to leave early on Friday to meet Matt's parents at their new mountain home in Tryon, NC. We were really looking forward to it but since Caroline still felt a bit crummy we decided to postpone the trip until Saturday. So early the next morning we hit the road and made it to the mountains early enough to enjoy a full day of lounging around, snacking and taking a little trip into town for lunch and shopping. Saturday night Matt and I snuck out for a low key pizza date night. It was perfect. And on Sunday we headed back home after breakfast to laundry, errands, grocery shopping and Cowfish bento boxes.

 Family selfie compliments of our selfie stick (find it here)!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Five on Friday: BRB & Thermometers

Sorry y'all. Life is extremely hectic this week between work and the mini battling a terrible stomach bug. Be back next week! In the meantime, go link up with my friends Darci, April and Natasha! 

**Side note: If you have an awesome baby thermometer recommendation, please leave it in the comments! Matt pretty much chases Caroline around with a thermometer daily (yes, he's a lunatic) and has tried 5 different types the past few months ranging from $4 to $40. We need a mommy (or daddy) tested and approved recommendation! Thanks in advance!

Five on Friday!

Happy 1st day of Spring! It looks like it's going to be a beautiful weekend ahead and I am so excited to get out in the yard and replace our dead mums with Spring flowers, take some long walks and grill out.

Also, to make up for my absence this week I've got 6 things today.

- ONE - Work has been insanely busy and I am so thankful to have ended several days this week with a family picnic and playtime on a blanket with Caroline since it's been warm!

- TWO -  Last weekend I baked a triple batch of lactation cookies to drop off to 3 mommies! Here is the recipe that I love to use. When Caroline was born I went through many, many failed cookie recipes before finally perfecting an adapted recipe. If you're looking for a small "thinking of you" gift to drop off on the porch of your breastfeeding friend, this is it!

- TWO - Last weekend Matt and I had the most fun date night at The Melting Pot. I hadn't been there in years (and Matt had never been - what?!). It was a pregnant woman's DREAM -- loads of cheese fondue to start, followed by a meat and pasta course and topped off with a variety of desserts dipped into a pot of creamy peanut butter chocolate. Take me back!

- FOUR - I sent out Caroline's birthday party invitation this week...and then cried. I am in total denial that the Muffin is turning one in less than seven weeks. However, I am really excited about the distraction of her little party. We're keeping it simple and doing a Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star theme.

- FIVE - I don't know why it is nearly impossible to find a yummy flavored DECAF coffee. I think I've been searching for two years now and finally found this delicious Cinnamon Vanilla Nut light roast from...Target!

- SIX - Saved the BEST for last! For those of you who have been thinking about and praying for my family, I want to thank you AGAIN! Back in December my dad was diagnosed with stage 3 lung, brain, spine and adrenal gland cancer (full story). The news hit us hard and we were prepared for the worst but prayerfully hoped for the best. That's where you all came in. For months I've received emails, texts, comments and more from you all who continue to check in and remind me that you are alongside our family in this journey. Your prayers have been so powerful and God has continued to heal dad in the past few months, bit by bit. We still have a long way to go but last week we received another miracle...Dad received the results from his brain scan - cancer free! Just like that, the Lord healed his brain! And a few weeks early we learned that the tumor in his lungs has shrunk from 6.4 to 2.4!

Please don't stop praying! There is still progress to be made and a long journey ahead but we are confident that the Lord is going to continue to heal dad! And I'm pretty sure that dad's doctors are the most prayed for doctors ever! Seriously, thank you, thank you, thank you! Our entire family is so blessed by you all!

Dad's Cancer Journey: 1/16/15 Progress Report and 3/6/15 Progress Report.

Wanna join Darci, April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...

1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).

2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 

3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!

Five on Friday!

Busy, busy week! So y'all get a little recap today!

- ONE - Last Saturday Matt's firm sponsored the 4th Annual Casino Night benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte. It was so fun dressing up for the fancy occassion. Speaking of fancy, we had to buy Matt a tux for the event. Less than 20 minutes before the event Matt pulled out his tuxedo pants to find the security tag still attached!!! Soooo, other than an emergency trip to Belk to have the tag removed it was a fun night of Black Jack. 

- TWO - My sister stayed with us a few days this week while she was in town for a work trip! It was so nice having her here.

- THREE - On Wednesday Caroline's school had "Donuts with Dad", which is quite possibly the cutest thing ever. It was Caroline's first donut experience and (no surprise here) she ate TWO Krispy Kreme donuts.

- FOUR - Last night we had Supper Club! Since this month was open for hosting we decided to go OUT! We had the best time at RuRu's Tacos & Tequila! We were also down two girls this month because both of them had their babies this week (two weeks early)!!!!!! There was extra tequila enjoyed to celebrate our new moms!

- FIVE - And last but not least...a little surprise for ya! Today I am teaming up with SuZeeBee Littles for a bibble giveaway! Wait, what's a bibble?! A bibble is a trendy scarf bib designed to protect your baby's neck while also keeping their clothes dry. We recently received several items from this adorable shop (including a few scarves for Caroline that many of you have asked about) and are obsessed!

Anyway, SuZeeBee Littles is offering a bibble (of your choice) to one lucky reader! Just use the rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway! To win, you must be a follower of Carolina Charm. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wanna join Darci, April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...

1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).

2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 

3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!

Southwestern Chopped Salad with Avocado Dressing

It's so pretty. So, so, so pretty.

There are many versions of the Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro Dressing all over Pinterest but this one is my favorite! It's actually a combination of several salads I found on Pinterest with a few extra tweaks. I love to make this huge salad on a Monday night for dinner and eat leftovers for lunch the next few days. I can't get enough!

So here's the deal...

Southwestern Chopped Salad with Avocado Dressing

Adapted from The Garden Grazer

Salad Ingredients

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups corn

1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
5 green onions

2 cups Mexican cheese, shredded
1 avocado, diced

Dressing Ingredients
1 cup loosely packed cilantro, stems removed

1/2 avocado
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
Juice of 1 lime

1-2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions
To make the cilantro lime dressing, blend all ingredients until smooth, adjusting seasonings if necessary. To assemble the salad, place romaine lettuce in a large bowl; top with tomatoes, corn, black beans, onions, cheese and avocado. Pour the dressing on top of the salad and gently toss to combine.

Caroline Grace {10 Months}

Caroline Grace,

You are officially out of control these days and I am having such a hard time keeping up with you (especially at 5 months pregnant). If I take my eyes off of you for 3 seconds you are happily unloading the Tupperware drawer in the kitchen, terrorizing Charlie, throwing your paci in the bathroom toilet bowl then laughing uncontrollably, pulling every tampon and hair product out of my bathroom drawer, slapping the water out of Charlie's water bowl, climbing up the blinds or unrolling the toilet paper onto the floor. Thank goodness you're still a great napper and love your sleep because that is the only time your mama and daddy get to rest these days. You dropped your cuddle time in the mornings with me and now are more interested in racing towards the edge of the bed over and over again until I ultimately give up chasing after you and get up with you for the day.

In addition to your mobility you are eating us out of house and home. You are quickly ditching your purees (and bottles) and are happiest when feeding yourself table food. You eat more food during some meals than I do. For breakfast you love English muffins/toast/bagels with peanut butter, whole bananas (your favorite!!!), yogurt, scrambled eggs, diced fruit, pancakes/waffles and anything else we put in front of you really. You eat the school lunch (and steal pieces of your classmates lunches once you've finished yours). Your teachers say there isn't a food you've disliked yet and comment daily on your hearty appetite. And for dinner we usually give you avocado, macaroni and cheese, fruit, veggies, string cheese (another favorite!!!) more yogurt and pieces of whatever we are eating. Speaking of eating, it is getting much harder to eat out with you these days. You are not a fan of the high chair at restaurants and would much prefer to crawl all over the nasty floor eating random pieces of food. Lucky for you, we don't let you do that so instead you just throw temper tantrums at the table with us unless we share half our plate with you. No other moms warned me that our easy days of eating out together were numbered!

You are ridiculously fun and outgoing. You keep us laughing constantly at the things you do and we just adore your personality. You favor your daddy more and more each day which is totally unfair because I let you embrace adventure and explore the house while he is always one step behind you bracing for a fall, taking away the fun non-baby objects, scheduling doctors appointments every time you sneeze and worrying about you every single moment of the day. You will never fully understand the love he has for you. We both love you so dang much and constantly say to each other "Can you believe we get to keep this baby forever? We are so lucky she's ours and that she is awesome."

Love,

Mommy

  10 Month Highlights:

• Stats: 16.7 pounds (15%), 26.25 inches tall (3%!!!), 43.3 cm head circumference (25%) 6-9 month clothing and pajamas, size 3 diapers, 6 teeth (four on top, two on the bottom).
• Nicknames: Muffin (shortened from Love-Muffin), Fuzzy (you still only have a bit of fuzz on your head), Pooky (or Pooks), Lovey and Monster (when you're being mean).
• Tricks: waving, clapping, lip smacking/popping, 5 second temper tantrums, crawling at 35 mph, pulling up, dancing (which is more like power squats), walking assisted with the walker and saying a few words (dadda, mama, baba).
• Favorite toys: Tupperware, cups, a fresh roll of toilet paper, remotes, phones, daddy's glasses, Charlie's tail and your walker. 
• Boycotting 4 six ounce bottles of Earth's Best Organic Formula a day and consistently leaving anywhere from 3-4 ounces in each bottle but eating tons of table food so the doc says it's okay.

10 Month Favorites {Items We Couldn't Live Without}:

Vtech Sit to Stand Learning Walker // Play Kitchen // Disposable Place Mats {for eating at restaurants} // Baby Locks {for drawers & cabinets} // Outlet Plugs // Anti-Slip Baby Socks // Nuby Sippy Cup // Baby's 1st Blocks & Rock Stack Bundle // Activity Balls // Triple Paste

 

For the 2% of you who think Caroline looks like me, please see side-by-side pictures below of Caroline and her daddy wearing his bear sweater.

And a video of this crazy little muffin. I promise you won't be able to not smile while watching this.