New Blog!

A redirect should (hopefully) be set up soon, but I wanted to redirect you all to my NEW BLOG!! I am so excited about this and I had help from some awesome people! Mommy B Knows Best answered my questions and helped me out in getting my new blog going, check her out at mommyknowsbest.com! Leah Outten also was a huge help in answering any questions I have! Her Blog is great too, so check that out at omommawrites.com! And a BIG THANK YOU to Jenn (Mommy B Knows Best's) husband, Joel! He helped me with the whole process of making the "big switch" from Blogspot to Wordpress! Check out his Blog at thecoastercritic.com!

I will hopefully have a Google Friend Follower on there sometime soon so you can follow me like here, but for now, you can Subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Now, follow me to my newest venture at foreverslikeadream.com!... See you there!

Thanks for reading!

The Baby Book!

So today I finally started filling out LC's Baby Book of "firsts!" It's been sitting in a closet probably since before he was even born in a box and I looked at it maybe one time since I bought it. After going through his closet and de-cluttering the pile of a disaster thrown in there (I still had 6 month clothes he was never going to fit into hanging up!), I decided to start filling out his baby book. Thank you to my Blog and endless amounts of photos saved in folders arranged by his age to help me answer all of these questions!

I think being a mom has made me procrastinate even more, because I want to spent all of my time WITH him! I thought I would have more time being able to stay at home with LC everyday, but sadly, that is not the case!

So today, I sit starting this baby book with intentions of doing more and maybe one day even actually doing his scrapbook (which would mean I should finish the one of me and Kyle that was supposed to be out at our wedding too, huh?) I accomplished a lot today, what if I could do this everyday? LC would have a baby book/scrapbook for every month of his life!... Okay, now I'm getting carried away.

So here it is... the baby book! Now in 20 years, he will know he smothered poop all over his bedroom when he was 13 months old and laughed for the first time on our family vacation in FL! I must admit, I'm kind of glad I waited so long to do this, because it's been fun reminiscing on his firsts and the first, most precious moments of his life!

With Love,

Dress your kids in style!

So I am a BIG fan of custom made outfits for LC! I love getting his name embroidered on outfits or cute little applique's! We have ordered a few outfits from this AWESOME children's clothing company localled here in the Charlotte area called Daffodils & Daisies, and we LOVE them!!

She makes absolutely adorable dresses (I had one made for a friend for her new baby girl, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!) and adorable outfits for little boys too! (Which admittedly, is hard to find!) Stores always have tons of stuff for girls, but never enough for boys!

Anyway, check out some of the absolutely adorable stuff by Daffodils & Daisies!
I can't wait to have a daughter to buy her this dress, I am a HUGE advocate for helping out charities (especially those related to cancer), and Daffodils & Daisies makes this one of a kind dress to benefit a little girl who is battling cancer :

And look at this adorable Jon-Jon! Landyn has more than one in different fabrics! There are many choices!

Are you totally IN LOVE with these adorable children's fashions?? Go to Daffodils & Daisies Facebook page to see more! You can order on the Facebook page if you see something you like (FREE SHIPPING!) Be sure to post on their wall that I (Kelley Crowe) sent you! She is doing an AWESOME contest where whoever gives the most referrals to Facebook, will get a $50 gift certificate!! I can go on a little shopping spree for some adorable outfits for LC! "Like" them on Facebook here :http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Daffodils-and-Daisies-Childrens-Clothing/147008105316370

And you can also check out their website and Blog at http://www.daffodils-and-daisies.com/.

I will leave you with a picture of my cutie pie in one of Daffodils and Daisies adorable Jon Jon's (monogrammed of course!)

With Love,

Footprints

This is my favorite poem of all time. It's no secret I've been through some tough times in my life. I have lost some very important inspirational people who I loved very much. Each time I had to say goodbye, I looked to this poem for guidance. At my mother's funeral. I quoted this poem. Looking back at my experience, I realize I have made my own footprints and learned from others who have left a mark in my path.

Writing is an outlet for me. Writing is something I love to do, and I have been inspired from the beautiful words of my mother and my grandmother. I remember being a little girl, and me meme taking me into work with her and teaching me how to type on a typewriter. I remember getting letters from my mom often, and I used to wonder why she would do this? Why is she writing me these letters and giving them to me when she is right here? Now, I couldn't be more blessed to have those letters to inspire me. I have gotten my gift of writing from two important and inspirational people in my life who I was blessed to be able to be loved by.

Now, I want to mark footprints for Landyn. I want to pave a path of greatness for him so he can look back and remember the first time I took him to do something that inspired something in his life. I want to write for him and give him beautiful words of inspiration and encouragement that I was given. He is my inspiration, and I want to be his.

My favorite quote in this poem is this

"The times when you have seen only one set footprints, is when I carried you."

I can pinpoint the exact times in my life when I needed to be carried. Then I can look back and appreciate all of the times when my mother carried me. When she was my strength and she formed me into the mother I am now. I look back and I am not only inspired by Landyn and what he is doing for me now, but I am also inspired by the amazing women who were in my life and the amounts of love and goodness they put into my heart. I am thankful for the strong women who were a part of my life and I am inspired to be that same kind of a woman now.

I have footprints, experiences in my past that I can look back on and be proud of. I had amazing people pave the way for me and create marks for who I would become, and I had to be carried through them at times to prove how strong I am and how much people love me. The footprints I am laying down now are the most important and most precious ones of my life; the footprints of motherhood. I will walk beside Landyn and pave the way for him just like it was paved for me, and I will forever be grateful and blessed for what I have been given.

Here are mine and Landyn's footprints in the sand....

Blessings,

The inspiration of MY inspiration!

Everyone always tells me how much they love Landyn's name (Landyn Carter.) Only a few people have asked me if I got it from where it came from.

I thought it would be more obvious that Landyn Carter came from "Landon Carter" in "A Walk to Remember." Nicholas Sparks has always been my favorite author. I knew I wanted strong names for my children, and I have dreamt about what name it would end up being ever since I was a little girl. I used to name my dolls and I would think for days "What is the best name?" Well, of course more thought is going to go into the real thing, right?

Landon was a name Kyle and I were instantly attracted to. But, I wanted to be different, so we went with Landyn with a "y." Done. No questions asked. His name would be "Landyn with a y" and I hoped that this would set him apart from the rest. We thought we had decided on a middle name. It's important for me for my kid's name to mean something; to come from somewhere. So we threw out some family names and for a long time his name was Landyn Lawrence. It flows, it sounds cute, but it wasn't right. I loved the idea of naming him after Kyle's dad and grandfather, but the fact that we kept reading baby books told me it wasn't the one.

One day in the car, I threw out Carter. This was a name I had considered for a long time and I loved, but I never thought Kyle would go  for it, because it came from a Nicholas Sparks book. To my surprise, he loved it! Landyn Carter Crowe. Perfect right? Landyn Carter coming from the character in Nicholas Sparks' "A Walk to Remember" and I couldn't be more excited about it!

No, it's not after a family member, or someone who changed the world, but it's after an author that has inspired me in more ways than one. Nicholas Sparks was my inspiration for the little person that has become MY inspiration.

When Landyn was just five months old, we had the opportunity to meet Nicholas Sparks a a book signing for "The Last Song!" I was so excited! I couldn't wait to meet this person who has inspired me and I admired so much. I couldn't wait to tell him Landyn's name and share this with him!

There we went, walking up to him and I was holding Landyn and I looked at Nicholas and said "And this is Landyn Carter with a Y." He looked up at me and smiled, then looked at Landyn and smiled, and held his hand. It was such a fun moment for me!

Now I can tell Landyn when he grows up he got to meet my inspiration for what has become the biggest inspiration in my life : Landyn Carter.

Check out "A Walk to Remember" here:
A Walk to Remember

My favorite Mommy Products #1

I decided to start blogging about my favorite mom products. As a new mom, I was always looking around for the most convenient thing. The cutest outfits to cover my post baby body, the easier slings to wear my new bundle of joy around the house, the best creams, face wash to help with my pregnancy acne and post pregnancy changin skin, and more!

So, today I am going to share my "post pregnancy glow secret!" I am always looking for something to put on my face and my skin to feel soft for my baby. One day, I came across Garnier Cleansing Towlettes and they are AMAZING!.. Seriously!!

This is the FIRST thing I have used to clean my face that easily wipes off my makeup (even mascara!) and doesn't leave my face feeling dry and full of acne!

So Mom's (and everyone!) TRY THEM!!... You won't be disappointed! Buy them here :

A year of my sweet baby boy...

I realized I never Blogged this video I put together when LC turned 1. He's now 16 months old, and I wanted to share his first year with you all. There truly has never been a better year of my life!



With Love,