THE FUN & EXCITING THINGS THAT FILLED MY WEEK

Ugh. It’s embarrassing how much I’ve fallen behind on keeping up with this fun little series where I share more about the day-to-day happenings around the Carney household. But what can I say, this summer was full a lot of crazy, fun adventures and big changes and it was at times almost impossible at times to keep up with those, let alone creating a blog post about it! I’m back in the groove of things though and you can expect to see a lot more updates in the future! So prop your feet up and settle in friends, this one is going to be a doozy as I catch up with all the fun we’ve had this summer!!

If you’re new to Life with the Carneys, click HERE to read the first one before you get started! If you’ve already been wonderful enough to follow along for the Life with the Carneys series fun, welcome back!

Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to the last couple of weeks:

Maybe it’s the mom brain, but it simply can’t compute that we celebrated Jackson’s fifth birthday in June. Like, where did my chubby baby go and who dropped off this big boy?? I certainly miss the baby snuggles (what I wouldn’t give to be able to sniff baby Jackson goodness again…other parents know exactly what I’m talking about!), but boy is this kid smart. I love having conversations with him and more of his imagination is peeking through. He’s my little sweetheart and still asks to cuddle with me before bed every night. I thank God every day that I get to be his mama!!

We took Jackson and Harper to see Toy Story 4 not long after it came out in theaters. Let’s be real though, it was really for Jon and I!! They love Buzz and Woody and I know they enjoyed it, but I was the one counting down the days until it was released!!

Each summer my sister Kristen and her hubby Chad come from Texas to spend a week at their family cabin on Lake Shafer. This is usually in August, but this year it was bumped up to June and I can’t say we hated the change! Jon gets the month of June off, so all four of us were able to go up and enjoy time with my family. And I know Jon loved it for all the golf he was able to play! Kristen and Chad also celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary back in April, so we snuck in time for an anniversary session, which you can find here!

Jon and I splurged and got the kiddos brand new bikes, they’ve died and gone to heaven! There have been a couple of wipe-outs (a Harper fat lip comes to mind…), but for the most part they’re handling them like pros!

Pool fun – With me working from home, Jon and I vowed we were going to take the summer and really focus on scheduling time we all get to spend together. So many days we’re all tired and just want to relax so we end up just staying in our pjs watching tv. We took advantage of the pass we purchased years ago and finally spent time hanging out down at the pool. The kiddos loved it and I am determined to get them both into swim lessons soon!

We celebrated our niece Raelyn’s birthday in July, with it being the first birthday party both Jackson and Harper have been to at a fun zone. They absolutely loved all the bouncing, slides, and were bummed when it was time for us to go. We loved getting to see Skye and Nathan’s new house for the first time too. We’re excited to see all the work they’re going to do on it to make it their own!!

Yay, for fair season!! We were able to make it work this year and head to Crown Point for the annual trip to the Lake County fair with my parents. The kiddos are always so obsessed with the rides and this year were big and brave enough to ride some rides by themselves. We bribed my mom onto the ferris wheel with us for a ride and I think I had 3 people in the basket with me who were nervous when they stopped us at the top! 😂

So what’s kept me hopping and had me slacking on this series this summer? Why, the weddings for these amazing Courtney Carney couples!! If you’ve been living under a rock and missed out, you can check each of them out here!:

TAYLOR + CHRIS | HAWTHORNS GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB

CAITLYN + TYLER | VALLE VISTA COUNTRY CLUB

JULIE + MITCH | THE SYCAMORE WINERY

CRYSTAL + RICK | VALPARAISO ELOPEMENT

LEANDRA + BILL | HAWTHORNS GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB

The end of July had us seeing Jackson off to kindergarten and WHOA it was (still is?) hard for me. How did he get this big?!?! Already ready for the hustle and bustle of drop-off/pick-up and homework. As we cuddle before bed every night (which I have to remind myself to not rush and be present for because it is fleeting. Some day will be the last time he demands bedtime cuddles and I can’t even 😭) I still remember the feeling of humming this sweet baby boy to sleep at night and he’s already ready to go out there and conquer the world. Jackson has always been so interested in learning, he was excited to meet his new friends, teachers, and see what he’d be learning with them. It hasn’t been a cake walk and it took the first week or so for him to get adjusted, but he’s truly loving it and genuinely excited to go every day!

The end of July also brought about an exciting house update with new windows being installed. Jon and I have been talking about this update for years. YEARS! Probably 60% of our windows (I’m sure Jon will correct me on the actual percentage) were original to our house when it was built back in 1992. They were old, scratched up, outdated and so drafty. In the winter you had to wear a sweater if you sat in front of them due to the draft and in the summer you could feel the cold seeping out around the windows if you stood close enough. Window Nation did an amazing job and I still just want to sit around staring at how pretty they are!

So. much. happened. in. July. at. the. same. time! Jon accepted the Director of Bands position at New Palestine High School and I just couldn’t be more proud of him!! The community has welcomed him with open arms and he’s already doing some amazing things there!! There’s obviously a learning curve that comes with any job, but he’s handling it like a BOSS. Jackson and Harper have also been down to meet the kids and some of the parents and, of course, they won everyone over with their cuteness!!!

Each year Jon’s uncle gifts us a set of tickets to see the Cardinals play down in St. Louis and this year my parents came with us. Jackson and Harper were ecstatic to spend the long weekend with Grammy and Grandpa! I love that my parents’ car is big enough for us to all pile into and enjoy the ride together. It reminds me of that time we road-tripped together to Texas to see Kristen and Chad! We spent Saturday afternoon before the game at the zoo because we can’t go to a new city that has a zoo and not visit it! The kiddos were spoiled with new stuffed animals before going to the game that evening to be stuffed full of popcorn and ice cream. My parents enjoyed the game too and were good sports about going to sit through a rival teams game, as they’re Cubs fans (I am too, but I love Jon and have to give him this gift once a year 😂 ). It was a great weekend and I hope we all get to go together again next year!

I love nothing more than having photography besties that live right here in Indy with me. We’ve been talking about it for months (in certain cases, over a year!) about planning time to spend with each other each month. August kicked off our first meeting, where we ate amazing cake from The Cake Bake Shop, swapped head shots, and enjoyed hours of conversation over dinner. It was a perfect evening and I look forward to getting together with them again this weekend!!

Much love friends,