🧑🏽🎄Our holiday book stash grew...again! 😅 Of all the books in my stash, my Christmas collection towers over the rest (with Halloween coming in a close second👻). What is your favorite kind of book to shop for? We were gifted a box of Christmas cheer from our friends at @simonkids, including all the titles you see pictured here! Give them a follow to peep their latest titles and adorable booktivities! #bookstagram #kidlit #childrensbooks #simonkids #childrenslit #childrensliterature #kidsbookstagram #kidsbookswelove #kidsbookshelves #christmasbooks #christmasbooksforkids #holidaybooks #iteachtoo 
🤷🏼♀️So, do you want to hang out? No, but for real. After FINALLY getting a chance to reconnect this week, we realized just how much we were missing conversation and connection. 2020 has done such a great job of keeping us apart, so we are totally hanging out virtually this week and we want to invite YOU! Get in your comfies, grab a cup of something yummy, and cozy up for some casual conversation with us! 🤩We’re trying to keep this virtual gathering small, so spaces are limited. Head to the link in our profiles titled “Tell Us More! Sign Up Survey” OR swipe up in our stories to reserve your spot! Eeeeeeh, we can’t wait to meet and talk to YOU about all the things! 😘XXOO, Abby & Cara @justcaracarroll 👉🏽Sign up link: https://forms.gle/9WZ6BJhj8Tk4JEvk9 
😍Holi-bae. #corny Married 14.5 years, together for 20+ (even with a few break-ups in there). If you’re doing the math, yes, we are high school sweethearts.👩❤️👨 He asked me out on my quintessential Sixteenth Birthday, and we’ve been riding out the peaks and valleys together since. There have been seasons with E N D L E S S valleys. Like, I didn’t think we could go through much else. Then, life served us up a big ol’ platter of joblessness, infertility, a failed adoption, a 6 month stay in the NICU, and mental illness in the span of four years...and then we teetered on the edge of divorce for nearly a year. BLEH. That was FuN.👎🏽 If you’ve ever heard me reference “2016” as the terrible, no-good, very bad year - that’s why. There is no magic remedy for our imperfections. Lots of arguments and hurtful words were said. Several stretches of not liking each other very much. And then there was the healing. Marriage counseling and individual therapy and supportive friends and family who wanted to see us succeed. Sometimes that looked like directly praying over us or offering to keep our kids so we could have a date night or attend counseling. Sometimes it was just talking about all the crap. And then talking some more. Plus, apologizing and asking for forgiveness. It was LOTS of work. Relationships are LOTS AND LOTS of work. Constant. It never ends. We still drive each other BaNaNaS on the regular because - plot twist - Hallmark movies don’t show you what happens AFTER the high school sweethearts reconnect and fall madly in love. What even is HaPPily EvEr AfTeR? You really just go on to live evermore. #swiftie 😏 As in, always. No matter what. Forever. 📷: @amandadonahophotography #lovestory #evermore #always #marriage #highschoolsweethearts #marriageishard #worthit #bestfriends #marriagetherapy #marriagecounseling #therapyiscool 
🥲So, remember when we used to be able to go out to eat? Well, back in those days, without fail, I could always pick out the moms and dads out to eat with a child that was no longer a “child.” There would always be an empty seat, and their twenty-something no-longer-living-at-home son or daughter would stroll into the restaurant. Mom and dad would stand, greeting their child with a big hug and handshakes and pats on the back. You could tell it had been awhile since they’d seen each other. The way the parents’ eyes would light up, immediately at ease in their child’s presence, grateful for the moment to enjoy them once again. Well, this is the story I always wrote in my head about these instances anyway. And, in my own seat, across from Brandon - also without fail - I would cry at the sight knowing we’d be those parents someday. One day, Beck won’t live at home and we will be the ones anxiously awaiting his arrival, so we can enjoy his presence and relish whatever time he is able to offer as a young adult. ((SOB)) He has SIX more Christmases before he graduates high school and does whatever he goes on to do after that. Six seems so, so small. So, this is my annual reminder to parents everywhere, that those days are DANG LONG (🙋🏼♀️ I’m living them with you, friends), but the years are extra short the older they get. Promise I snapped this same picture almost a year ago, and it feels like yesterday. He’s probably grown close to five inches. BANANAS. Swipe to see the difference. Then, go hug your babies. #mamatofour #preteenmom #oldestchild #family #thedaysarelongbuttheyearsareshort #loveyourbabies 
❤️My whole heart in one little rectangle❤️ 📷: @amandadonahophotography #christmaspic #familyofsix #fourkids #cincinnatifamily #family #familypics #mywholeheart #familyfirst #cincinnatiinfluencers #kentuckymama #cincinnatimom 
✨Twinkle lights✨, swag, and tiny villages. You are the heroes of my Christmas decor this year. Depending on how 2021 starts, you might just get to stay around.🤷🏼♀️ #christmasdecor #shelfie #builtins #interiorstyling #shelfdecor #shelfiedecor #shelfies #builtinshelves #builtincabinets #christmasdecorating #twinklelights #christmasswag #tinyvillage #christmasvillage