Erin Akin Carroll

After many weeks of deciding and confirming our baby boy’s name, then many more months of secrecy, we have decided to share our name. We have already told our families, and with just a little more than four more weeks of pregnancy, thought it was as good a time as any to announce our sweet little boy’s name to the world!

I have always loved the name Hayes and it works wonderfully that it is an “H” name– since we have so many boy outfits with the letter “H” on them! I like unusual, but not off the wall names that mean something to me.

Claxton, the middle name, is after TC’s mother’s maiden name and we thought it would be a great middle name for our newest addition. Unlike Hudson, he will go by his first name.

We can’t wait to meet sweet baby Hayes. Hudson, TC, and I have been talking about him for months and saying his name to each other when we’re at home. So it will be fun to be able to say his name to other people and not remember to keep saying “the baby.”

I can’t believe Hayes will be here so soon! And I can’t wait to show you all of the fun personalized things that we’ve had made just for him.

Hey, remember when I tried to start a series called “what’s in my…?” Then I did one post about what was in my DVR and never did another. That mostly happened because soon after that I found out I was pregnant and all regular posting went by the wayside in favor of lots of mommy posts and baby posts and pregnancy posts.

But today I’m going to show you what’s in my makeup bag, bathroom cabinets, and shower when it comes to beauty products.

What’s in my makeup bag? I have a really fun Stephanie Johnson makeup bag. This is my second set of her bags. The first set I had lasted about 6 years and I absolutely loved it. But you know how dirty makeup bags can get, so I decided to get a new set. And then I found an adorable Stephanie Johnson set on One Kings Lane! Cute and cheap!

Inside my bag, there are 4 compartments, and the following contents fill up those compartments. I wear makeup about three or four times a week. And each time I apply, I don’t always apply everything. I love my tinted moisturizer because of the coverage and the SPF. I can’t leave the house without mascara because my eyelashes are white. But this is why my makeup lasts me so long– I just don’t wear it that often.

My every day makeup essentials. (There is a large case of various makeup products that I’ve purchased for special occasions or weddings, but that case stays under the sink.)

I use Bobbi Brown’s Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15 as my foundation every day. I also use her amazing, amazing, amazing concealer. I use it on my lids and under my eyes. I also love Bobbi Brown’s Pale Pink blush. For a base coat of eye shadow, I use Clinique Sugar Sugar. I love Dior makeup, too. Especially the mascara and mascara base. I recently purchased the Dior eyeliner instead of my usual Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner. After 6 loyal years, I decided the gel was taking too long to apply in the morning.

The Dior eyeshadows are so wonderful. They stay on all day and I think the colors are beautiful. I have three different palattes and none of them have ever run out on me.

I use a Bobbi Brown eyeshadow color called “blonde” on my eyebrows to give me a little help. And all of these lovely brushes each have a different purpose!

As far as skin care goes, I am pretty low maintenance. I wash my face in the morning and at night and moisturize in the morning and at night. In the morning, I use Bliss’s Fabulous Foaming Face Wash and Bliss’s Clog Dissolving Cleansing Milk. At night I just use the Fabulous Foaming Face Wash. I moisturize at night with the Clinique Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer.

I love Bliss’s Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask. I use that about once a week in the shower. It’s super fast and feels amazing! I love the Neutrogena Dry-Touch Sunblock in SPF 55 for days when I’m outside for a long time. It doesn’t mess up my makeup at all. And Bliss’s The Youth As We Know It moisturizer is great, but I only use it about once a week because it’s pretty heavy.

Every night, I moisturize with Clinique’s Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer. I love Aveda’s Hand Relief and Foot Relief. And those little Bobbi Brown exfoliating scrubber things are amazing. Every other week or so, I will add those to my face wash and really get to work exfoliating. They are wonderful. So is the Bobbi Brown toner, which I use once a day- usually in the evening.

When it comes to soap, I am a Dove or Dial body wash kind of girl. And when it comes to hair care, I am all about Aveda and Phyto products. I go to an Aveda salon and love the smell of the products, but also love what they do for my hair. I rarely have to purchase shampoo and conditioner because, like my makeup habits, I don’t use the products that often. I actually wash my hair less often than I wear makeup. It’s the blessing that comes with the curse of having close to unmanageably thick hair!

I’m currently using Avenda’s Blue Malva shampoo and conditioner. It is for highlighted hair and helps my hair not become too brassy or gold. After I shower, I spray some Aveda Brilliant on my hair to work through the tangles and to protect my hair from the heat. When I wear my hair wavy, I use Aveda Phomollient before blowing it dry to give it some texture. For volume, I spray Phytovolume Actif Volumizer Spray on my roots and massage it in.

So those are my favorite beauty products. What do you love that you can’t live without?

1.  I thought I’d do an update on my reading goals for 2011. Rachel and I are still hosting the book club at Book Beginnings and Bookends and we have completed two books with our fun club.

The list I posted back in January for my reading goals is just my personal list. I have all of these books at my house and I want to complete them all before the end of 2011. I would also like to try to avoid buying any new books before I finish these. But that’s just hard! I was at Barnes and Noble the other day and saw so many books I wanted to pick up and read right then!

So far in 2011, I have read:

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Ape House by Sara Gruen (with Book Beginnings and Bookends)

Crazy Love by Francis Chan (with my girls Bible study through church)

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels (with Book Beginnings and Bookends– I finished last night!)

Currently reading: Radical by David Platt (with my girls Bible study through church)

I deviated from my “schedule” that I posted on my goals list back in January, but I am still working to get all of those books read. I have also reread Baby Wise about five times in the last three months.

If you are my friend on Goodreads, you can see the ratings I gave each of these books. I love Goodreads so much!

2. My good friend had her baby on Friday afternoon and we went over to visit them and bring some food yesterday. I was instantly smitten and I am just so thrilled for our sweet friends. And it makes me so excited to hold our sweet baby very very soon.

3. Speaking of very very soon, we have scheduled a birthday! Now, just pray with me that I can stay off my feet enough and really start taking it easy. I need him to stay put for at least 5 more weeks.

4. My dear friend, Lyndsey and her cutie pie ALM are coming to visit today and I could not be more excited. The last time she was here, this is what our babies looked like! I’m pretty sure things will be a little more wild this time.

5. I accompanied TC to Greenville on Friday. He had a meeting that was going to last most of the afternoon and Hudson and I decided to ride up there with him. We love Greenville and I really wanted to see Megan, Anne, and their kiddos. We had a great time hanging out at the park and playing with our kids. It was really such a great day! I love both of these girls and they both have the sweetest kids. Thankfully, Greenville is not far away and is also a great place to visit– for lots of reasons!

Did you have a good weekend? Do anything fun?