North Carolina or Bust

My brother Kyle married the beautiful Caren Anne this past Friday. The older kids had school so Layla was the only one who got to join us in our cross country drive. You may think we're crazy for choosing to drive to North Carolina from Texas but you have to remember that with babies come a LOT of stuff. Flying just wasn't feasible once we factored in the need for a car seat, pack n play, stroller, toys, travel high chair, etc. We left at 5am on Saturday morning and the little one was NOT in the mood. She literally looked me in the eyes and said "NOOOOOO"

Chance and I were ready to rock and roll, though!

Layla got it together once we hit Arkansas and I bribed her with the iPad

After about 12 hours of driving we stopped in Knoxville, TN and spent the night. Layla had an Ali moment and ate pizza in the bed. We know how to party.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, starting at 5 am, but once we reached the house Kyle and Caren rented for the week, all stress was forgotten!

The best part? I FINALLY got to get my hands on my sweet neice Riley Anne and all was right with the world. Isn't she beautiful?

Until the wedding post, Adios!

P.S....my hair? Anything BUT phenomenal all week. How do people live in that climate? I was a ruckus all week.

"All that crap will NEVER fit..."

....Famous last words from Chance.

Every time we take a trip I pride myself in my ability to pack for our small army in as few bags as possible. I'll admit, for our trip to North Carolina I didn't exactly embrace my practical "less is more" packing style. I have multiple excuses prepared; including, but not limited to: the unpredictability of the weather, the unknown events of the week, and how much lounging was allowed.

Here's the only bag I took. I didn't have time to document the packing, but snapped some pics during the unpacking process once we got to the house in North Carolina.

.....and the contents:

That one medium sized suitcase enclosed:

*7 sweaters
*1 sweatshirt
*8 tops
*3 pairs of jeggings
*5 pairs of leggings/yoga pants
*a pair of shorts
*3 scarves and countless underthings
*a pair of over the knee boots (plus a pair of riders I wore in)
*2 pairs of ankle boots
*2 pairs of heels
*2 pairs of flats

I had two dresses hung up so I wont claim them butttt....TOLD YA SO, Chance!! Had I known we would all be so lucky as to live in leggings and oversized shirts for the entire week, I could've crammed everything into my hand bag!

Oh did I mention that chance brought TWO bags and 4 pairs of shoes?

Packing up to head home after a full day of wedding prep and a FANTASTIC celebration didn't quite as smoothly but whatever...(Notice all the hanging clothes still in the closet.)

Fashion Police; arrest me, because this buy was a STEAL

I am an eBay junkie. There, I admit it. I love to buy next to new items at slashed prices, and sell a lot of things I "couldn't live without" that I never got around to wearing more than once on there, too! I was looking around for some black ankle booties and stumbled upon this "like new" pair and wound up winning the auction at a cool 99 cents and paid about $8 for shipping! I'm not too familiar with the brand but found it at DSW with boots running about $80. When they arrived at my door I was FLOORED to find them in the original packaging!

If you havent browsed around eBay in a while, now's the time to give them a shot!

A Good Man

I often wonder how I got so lucky to land Chance. This morning was one of those moments. We've spent the last week in North Carolina with old and new family as my brother changed Caren's last name and when I drug ass into work this morning I panicked at the realization of not having any creamer for my coffee. After alerting Chance to my distress he showed up at my office door with this.

Lucky, indeed. Happy Monday morning coming down, friends! Keep an eye out for the wedding post! I'm anxious to show you allllllllll the pics!

Game Day Dresses

Now y'all know how we Texans like our football; Loud, Spirited, and Fashionable? YES, fashionable. Gone are the days of One Size Fits All XXL jerseys. I've had my eye on the cute game day dresses I've seen in the Dallas Cowboys stores and online elsewhere but can't justify spending over $100 on one.

Luckily, a Longhorn friend of mine sought me out to make a couple for her and her friend, I jumped at the opportunity and they turned out great, if I do say so myself!

Shoot me an email at LaurenRaper@hotmail.com if you'd like one to don while rooting for your team, or check them out in my Etsy shoppe after October 21st, 2013! www.Etsy.com/shop/LittlesByLo

Fall in Texas

Hello, Friends! Fall weather finally hit us here in Texas this weekend, but it brought heavy wind and rain with it, neither of which I was terribly pleased about. Mayson and Caycee had a football game early Saturday morning so we loaded up and headed west, happy to be in our boots!

....but after toughing it out until halftime so we could see Caycee's cheer squad do their dance, we retired to the dry warmth of the car for the duration of the game.

Cold rain spectating is not in my job description