// Oh, Hello

I feel like I usually start these posts by saying how busy we've been. So busy! Doing all the things! No rest! Go Go Go! Well, I really haven't been all that busy lately. And it's been awesome. I've been lucky enough to stay consistently booked with doula work (mostly postpartum overnights), and it's allowed me so much extra time with the boys, and just by myself - which might sound a little contradictory. I haven't wanted to really write anything, so instead I just did, well, anything else. If you follow me on Instagram then you basically follow me on Snapchat because I pretty much only repost Snaps these days haha! I'm not very good at taking my own outfit photos so now I affectionately refer to my mirror as my #InstagramHusband. I also just don't get all dressed up that often it seems. I've been spending more time outside, and at the gym, so I'm usually in a hoodie, tshirt, and shorts/yoga pants. I'm comfortable at least! I've been hustling away at all of my (doula) certification packets, and I'll have all three of them finished before the new year (!!!). I've also had an above average number of design clients over the past couple months, so that has been something that has kept me somewhat entertained. I'm starting to really feel that shift in myself/my blog where I just kind of want to be behind the scenes. But that's another conversation entirely and far too many feels for me to be having this early in the morning. I'm still working it all out in the ol' noggin.

I can't promise I'll be the most consistent blogger (as evidenced by recent activity - or lack thereof), but at least I can say there are a couple neat things coming up soon. One of them is the Michaels Dream Tree Challenge (it's my third year participating!) Pop back over soon, okay?

xo KB

And because I'm declaring it #TreatYoSelfTuesday, here are a few things I wish I could treat myself with: this NOPE phone case to match my iron on patch // the pink stripe pom pom + cat pillows // this ivory lace dress // this cute "air mail" wallet // any and all of the other cookbooks i don't own yet LOL // every. single. bag. from leo studio design (!!!) // this goldenrod lace dress is perfectly autumn + 70s // keep america awesome tee // the petty booties in literally every color and texture // this rose gold sequin jacket // ALL of these if I could wear them!

// Life Lately

Happy Tuesday! Thanks for the kindness surrounding my most recent post from last week. Maybe I just avoid the places that trigger anxiety, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the support and sincerity I've received since sharing the last part of our news. All of the love surrounding Toby's adoption just has my heart overflowing though. Any fear or sadness I may have had about ending one chapter and starting a new one is quickly drowned out by the kindness and support we've received. 

Now that school is out for Toby, we've been spending so much time outside! I have a pretty hard and fast rule about tv/video games during the Summer: If it's a pretty day, you have to be outside by 9am. Whether he's helping me in the garden, playing with the neighbor kids, or drawing on the road with chalk - he has to be outside. I operate under a similar rule for myself. If I'm not doing work or cleaning the house, I have to be outside. Sometimes it looks like that above: laying in a hammock. It's kind of nice, I won't lie! The rest of the time I'm usually chasing Linden around the backyard. 

We're hoping my parents' pool will be ready to go by this weekend. It's open and crystal clear, but oof it's COLD! My Summer tan is coming along though. I'm seriously covered in freckles from head to toe. I'll need to change my makeup for the season - otherwise my face might be glowing ha! 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Okay - So I know y'alls help with two things! 1) Help me find an awesome bathing suit! I still have my black crochet top that I wore last year (I think...) - I need a new set of bottoms though! These hot pink ones were from GabiFresh's Swimsuits For All line years ago. It's my all time favorite fit, but I can't find one quite like it. I'm game for all types though - high waisted two pieces or one pieces. Gimme your best links!

2) I need some new tunes for my Summer playlist! Whitney and I have fallen into the habit of playing the same things over and over and over. We need some new tunes that make us want to dance and whatever. If you have an awesome playlist, share the link!

Until next time!

xo KB

PS; Add me on Snapchat! 'kaelahbee'

// #ErgobabyEveryday in Nashville

Last week I spent the entire week working on the latest Ergobaby campaign here in Nashville. I love working with Ergo and it was such a treat to be so involved behind the scenes. I signed on to do some consulting with them for the campaign since they were planning from California. I organized a "Community Day" for local babywearing families at a local coffee shop, Atmalogy, on Monday. We had SO many moms and babies (and even a dad!) join us for mingling, treats and raffles. I'm not incredibly active in the Nashville-based babywearing groups since I'm farther out in the country (and am instead involved in our own local group), so it was great to be able to put faces to names that I've grown a bit familiar with online. Danielle was one of my go-tos for the campaign and it was so awesome to finally meet her in person after being online friends for 6+ years. She came for the Community Day and the first campaign shoot at Imogene + Willie. After the Community Day we decided to go out for some delicious BBQ at Peg Leg Porker. Y'all... those BBQ nachos! They might have been the best thing I ate all week.

After an early dinner (late lunch?) with Danielle, I headed over to Target to enjoy some kid-free time with a red cup in hand. It's such a stereotype but I don't even care. Y'all, that was the most peaceful hour of my life! haha And I really needed it since I was about to gear up for 4 very long (but fun!) days! My friend Maya texted me after getting off work so I headed downtown a bit later to do a second dinner (ha!). We went to Old Spaghetti Factory and Maya had the most ridiculous drink ever: a cherry (?!) limeade with a freakin' cotton candy cloud, y'all! WHAT! 1) That has nothing to do with Italian food and 2) I'm sure it is marketed for 7 year olds, but she ordered it and we both enjoyed the cotton candy goodness so whatever. YUM. (Seriously, look how excited she is. Such a doofus. I love her.)

After that I settled into my hotel for the evening and got some much needed rest. I worked as a production assistant on the Ergo shoots for the rest of the week, and that meant running here, there, and everywhere around town. But I also got to see so many fun places that I (as a long-time local) have yet to explore. I love Cheekwood but it had been quite some time since I went. We also shot at the Farmers Market, Butchertown Hall, Imogene + Willie, Bartaco, etc. I even had a chance to bowl a few frames with Casey (the other green/blue haired PA!) at Pinewood Social. And y'all, their fried broccoli! SNAP! Order it. You'll love it, I promise.

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens

Slow Hand Coffee Co.

Imogene + Willie

Bartaco

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream

Barista Parlor Golden Sound

Nashville Famer's Market


Pinewood Social

Butchertown Hall (Is this place not stunning?!)

I can't even begin to tell you how crazy exhausting last week was. I even had to cancel plans with my friend Erin because one night I didn't get done working until close to 8pm and I could barely stand up by then! It was all well worth it, but it was certainly hard work. I did manage to make it out to IHOP (ha!) with Maya and Courtney on one evening though. I was craving breakfast for dinner and we were all downtown anyway, so to IHOP we went! That strawberry and banana French toast hit the spot, so whatever! After that Maya and I had the great idea to go get BFF tattoos. I mean, it was a long time coming, but it was certainly decided on a whim! We swung by our favorite shop, Music City Tattoo, but no one was there. Then we hopped across the river to Electric Hand and Kenny did a little number on each of us. We have matching cactus tattoos now! They're super cute. By the time we were done getting tattooed I needed to go crash to prepare for the next day. Everything went well with the shoots, and after I wrapped up the last bit of work on Friday afternoon, Maya and I decided Friday the 13th tattoos should probably happen, too. We were able to get in with Mike at Music City (his wife Laura has been my artist for the past 5+ years!) I think so highly of Mike - He's so fun and kind. I was excited to finally have a piece by him. Maya got a fun black outline Friday the 13th "Viking" axe tattoo and I got a booty heart. Ridiculous, but adorable. I love it.

I did manage to swing home Friday night and enjoy seeing my little family for a couple of hours. I passed out pretty quickly though because I needed to be up and on my way back to Nashville the next morning for a training. I took my Placenta Encapsulation training on Saturday and Sunday with (most) of the other women in our agency. I thoroughly enjoyed everything that I learned, and I'm eager to be able to provide that service to our clients. (If you're local and are looking for an encapsulation specialist, give your girl a shout!) Mike didn't have to work Saturday so he opted to drive up and spend the day at the skate park. This is totally the skate park where we started "talking" almost 10 years ago! I rushed up to watch him skate for a little bit after day one of the training. We crashed at Maya's place since she was working downtown super later. It was nice to get some time to ourselves. We went out to eat and then picked up a Redbox movie and just enjoyed spending time together. He headed home Sunday morning after I left for my second day of training. I was so excited to get home (for good!) after Sunday's workshop. Y'all, my bed has never felt so good!

It was a super crazy week and I fell behind on my emails like WHOA! But I always appreciate y'alls patience. It was a super fun week and I'm so glad I was able to take part. Now I just need a vacation ha! 

xo KB

// Life Lately

A quick little game of "catch up" - because I'm trying to be more timely in my posts haha! Let's see how long I can actually keep that up, shall we? The past few weeks have been go, go, go! In many ways, it's been awesome. There's been so much happening and such a drastic "shift" in our day to day. But at the same time it's been draining and long. You know what I mean? When you've got big projects on the horizon and you just want to see them come to life... but then you realize you have to do all of the little things that take loads of time to get there. That's where we are right now in many facets of life. The good and the bad. More like the good and the impatient. Anyway, here's what we've been up to lately!

A couple of weeks ago Music City Doulas had an agency photoshoot downtown. We haven't gotten the photos back yet, but I'm excited to see how they turned out. Our group of five is so fun and unique. Every woman brings something new and exciting to the table. I've already learned a lot from these gals, and I'm excited to make our mark on Nashville (and Middle Tennessee) as time goes on.

We had a lot of fun on Halloween! The plan was for my friend Whitney to come over with her 2 kids and then we'd all go Trick or Treating together. It was rainy and gloomy, as usual, but we made the most of it! The rain let up just as the sun set and we headed out the door with the kiddos. It was me, Whitney, Mike, Whitney's brother Damien, and our 4 collective children! What a hoot! We did a handful of blocks around my parents' neighborhood and the kids had overflowing buckets by the end of it (also because Pawpaw dumped up his candy bowl in the kids' buckets ha!) After a few hours of all that, Toby headed over to spend the night with CJ and that tiny little astronaut up above slept like a rock! Toby and CJ looked so cute in their matching Mario Bros. costumes. Bennett (CJ's little brother) was Buzz Lightyear. Seriously, kids in costumes are so dang cute!

We've been spending loads of time with Whitney and her crew lately as they are working on renovating a house pretty close to ours. We're so excited to have some of our very favorite people even closer to us. Since Mike's work schedule has been so crazy and weird lately, we've been trying to make the most of what little time we get together. Lately we've been making it a priority to get Linden over to the playground while Toby is at school, so he can enjoy a bit of the outdoors before it gets too yucky. Linden loves the slide, as I'm sure you can totally tell! 

Toby will be the big SEVEN next month! SEVEN! Heaven help us all! He's decided that instead of a big birthday shindig, he'd rather take a few of his friends to play laser tag and eat pizza. So I'm pretty pumped about that. (You probably don't know this about me, but I'm really really good at laser tag!) I've been trying to talk Mike into going and playing with me so you can bet we'll take full advantage of the birthday bonanza to do so! It's nice to look forward to a birthday party rather than sort of cower in fear/anxiety/frustration, you know? 

I'm currently staying in a hotel in downtown Nashville for the week as I'm working on a 2016 campaign with Ergo. It's fun to see things from the other side! I'll definitely share more of that fun stuff later though! It's kind of hard to be so close to home yet so far away. This week is sort of nuts with my work schedule and Mike's, but thank goodness we have my parents and our neighbor Amy lending a hand with the boys! I never thought our lives would change so drastically just by getting new jobs, but I guess that's exactly what happens! Linden starts part-time childcare next week and I'm both excited and terrified. It'll be so good for all of us, I just know it. But it's also so bittersweet because that just means those are days I won't see him as much. I just need y'all to tell me that it'll all be okay! Okay?! 

xo KB

// Bits + Pieces - v.1

Hey friends! I thought I'd take a little time to just "catch up" with all of you. I realize there's so much going on in my life off of the internet and I haven't really shared much of that over here! I've been keeping busy with so many projects lately. 

One thing I've been pretty involved in since the start of the year is my local babywearing group. I know I've maybe mentioned the group here or there, or maybe some of you have seen it referenced on my Facebook if we're friends. Back in January/February, I took a little workshop to become a babywearing educator and leader in my local group. Ever since then I've spent the last Tuesday of each month helping families get the feel for babywearing and to find the perfect carrier. I've certainly made my love of babywearing known, but I really enjoy the fact I get to help others love it, too. Through our local group I've met some of the most amazing women. Incredible mothers and wonderful people. They've been a support group for not only me, but other local moms and caregivers. I know I'm surrounded by good people in that group, and I'm proud to call them friends. Some meetings are spent helping dozens of new families while other meetings are low-key and we just sit around and chat about life for 2 hours. I love how laid back and casual everything is. It has really helped me realize how much I enjoy being a support person for people. I certainly don't expect everyone to be as excited about it as I am, or even "get it", but it is something I truly enjoy.

Another offline thing I've become pretty involved in is my local doula network. By supporting families in the babywearing group, I noticed how much fulfillment I get from being able to help. Through many channels and networks, I've come to befriend so many incredible women who help their communities at large, and I'm aspiring to do the same here. I never really imagined I would become so passionate about something like birth and postpartum work, but I'm eager to pursue this side venture for a bit. I'll save most of the details for another post, but I'm excited to take my postpartum workshop here in Nashville on Sunday. I've learned so much about myself since having Linden, and I'm continuing to discover myself, too.

Mike is six weeks into his new job and we're really starting to hit our stride at home. I've been responsible for so much more now that he's out of the house 40-50 hours a week, but I'm learning a lot, too. I've been cooking... like an adult! I've said it a hundred times before, but cooking is not my forte. It's not something I ever really enjoyed before, but now that I'm starting to get better at it, I'm finding joy in creating a meal from start to finish. And I'm not talking about things from the microwave! (Another perk to training for postpartum work! Cooking skills!) I'm always on the hunt for new, simple(ish) recipes that the kids will eat, so if you have any favorites, I'm all ears!

The Summer season seemed so short to me, but maybe I'm just feeling a little guilty for not taking more advantage of it. I had a lot of ups and downs this Summer, too but I'm hoping the new season will bring a sense of calm and freshness. I've been working with the windows and doors wide open the past week and it's incredible what it has done for my mood! I know Winter will soon follow though, and I'll have to deal with the shift of energy yet again. Any tips for how to battle those gloomy months?!

This certainly isn't everything I wanted to put out there, but I guess it's a good start! I promise to check in more frequently and chat about life and all its happenings. How about you though? What have you been up to? Let's chat!

xo KB