Happy Birthday Cori Belle!!

Yesterday, December 28th, we celebrated Cori Belle’s FIRST birthday. She was born at 2:48 am one year ago, and yesterday, she decided it would be so nice to wake up at 2:15am to celebrate her birthday and return to bed at 3am. Silly girl. :) We had a great day together as a family, even though we spent most of it packing and traveling back to Gainesville after being away for the holiday. She did wear her “Birthday Girl” shirt and watched a sweet Birthday video from her Aunt Jamie, which we will cherish forever!

Here is my sweet girl, one year ago… I forgot how much they sleep as newborns!!

 

 

And, here she is on her birthday – so beautiful and BIG!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because we were traveling all day, these are just about the only pictures we took on her actual birthday.

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed. I remember sitting in the delivery room waiting for her to arrive. I remember the moment she entered the world and I held her for the first time. It was the moment I became a mommy and I’m so blessed to be her mommy. No words can describe how much I love my little girl.

In keeping true to form, we will wrap up this amazing year with a few things about Cori Belle at ONE and all the things I LOVE about her!

Week 51 & 52

Happy Birthday to YOU!

I LOVE…

• The love you have for your baby dolls. The way you treat those baby dolls shows what a sweet and loving personality you have. You are constantly kissing and hugging them.

• The way you snuggle with your baby at bed time.
• Celebrating Christmas with you for the first time!

• Seeing you with your NEW big girl Sippy cup. It lets you drink from a straw and you LOVE that!

• That you point to things around you constantly as you inquire what new things are. We travel all around the house learning the words for each thing you point to. You are always wanting to learn more!
• The way you watch your new Praise Baby DVD’s. You are SO into those DVD’s and you talk to the screen and clap as you watch.
• Your obsession with waving! You wave to everyone and everything! You even wave to me at the end of every car trip as I am unbuckling you from your car seat. Here you are waving to the camera! You are so friendly!!

• Watching you take more and more steps each day.
• That you will consistently roll a ball back and forth with me! :) Dad got a new soccer ball for Christmas and you LOVE it!

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• That you can pretty much eat anything now… cheese-its, animal crackers, teddy grahams, cookies at Publix when we go shopping, pasta, pizza, cheerios, etc! Yay for having 4 teeth!
• Doing Tot School with you! It’s been so much fun and I know this year of Tot School will be a blast of learning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The big eater you are in the morning. Your typical breakfast consists of either a scrambled egg and a bowl of oatmeal OR a banana and a bowl of oatmeal. YUM! PS – you are obsessed with bananas! You might turn into a monkey one day if you don’t slow down on those things! haha! :)
• Your beautiful smile and contagious laughter!! You are one of the happiest little girls we know!

• Our bedtime routine! I make you a 6 oz. bottle of 2% milk (hot, or you won’t drink it!), we go into your room and sit by the bookshelf where you decide to read your storybook Bible (every night!), you crawl into my lap, and listen to me read while YOU turn the pages. When the story is over, we pray together. Then, you wave night night to the book, your lamp as we turn it off, and the door as if to tell anyone outside the door, goodnight. We rock together while you drink your bottle, then you rest your head on my shoulder awhile before I put you in your crib. Those are the moments. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• That you can say hi, dada, mama, maverick, doggy, and baby. Most of these words resemble the sound of “dada,” but I can tell they mean different things. You also say a lot of other jibber jabber that only you and other babies can understand, but you LOVE to talk!!
• Watching you push your own stroller around! So CUTE!

• That when daddy or I ask for kisses, sometimes you will kiss us and sometimes you will put your forehead to our lips. :)
• When we ask you how old you are, you will hold up one finger in the air and smile!

• That you made us into a family of 3. We LOVE you!!

Cori, this year with you has been the best year of my life, so far. You bring magic into our lives and melt our hearts with that sweet smile. Your daddy and I LOVE you more than words can say and we hope you know that each and every day. I heard a song the other day and it reminded me of you. Below you will find the first verse and chorus. I hope one day you will appreciate this song as much as I do. I love you sweet one! Happy Birthday!

Never Grow Up- Taylor Swift

Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in and turn on your favorite nightlight
To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have honey
If you could stay like that

Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
I won't let nobody hurt you
Wont let no one break your heart
No one will desert you
Just try to never grow up
Never grow up

Merry Christmas!

Praying you all have a wonderful day with family.

Merry Christmas!!

Dave finally let us go to Picture People after about a year of me complaining that we never get to go when all my friends do. We got this great picture of Cori for Christmas as well as some other cute ones for her birthday. Dave's reason for not wanting to go to Picture People is because he says he can take the same pictures at our house for FREE! He is probably right, but how cute did this turn out? Thanks for coming with us to Picture People, babe. We LOVE you!!

Another Girl??

 

Well, we had another ultrasound yesterday and the tech predicts that we will be having another girl! :) I am only 13 weeks so she didn’t want to say that she is 100% sure, but she is pretty sure! So, we will see! We don’t have another ultrasound scheduled until February 1st, so we will update then!

Other than that, she is super healthy and moving around just as much as Cori did. I love how all my babies act like Olympic gymnasts in the womb! So cute!! We are in love with her already! :)

Please pray everything stays healthy and we meet our baby girl sometime at the end of June or early July!

Much love to you all!

A few things Christmas…

December started out with a few Christmas events that I have yet to blog about. First was Annie and Carrie’s Cookie Exchange. It was so much fun! Everyone was required to bake home made cookies. No, not home made like the box kind, but instead, real, home made cookies … this was a first for me! :) (I need to bake more!! ha!) I had so much fun finding a recipe. After narrowing down a few choices, I ended up making Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies and they were delicious! Unfortunately, they did not win best cookie, but I believe they won best cookie in my hubby’s mind! :)

Here they are in the mixing bowl…

 

and here they are on the cooling rack!

Upon arriving at Carrie’s house, we all placed our cookies on the cookie table. Just look at all those yummy treats!

 

After a bit of mingling and taste testing all the cookies, as well as some salty snacks too, it was time to vote. We voted on best cookie, prettiest cookie, and most unique cookie. Here are Annie and Carrie announcing the winners.

 

Lauren won best cookie and two other girls I had just met that night won prettiest and most unique cookie. They each took a prize home. Oh, it was such a fun night! Check out the cookies that won “prettiest” cookie. They were just beautiful!

They are the Smore cookies to the left with that cute marshmallow tree poking out. I’ve got to think of something grand for next year! :)

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Next up was the Ladies Christmas Brunch at church. This was the first annual Christmas brunch and it was so much fun! There were 30 tables of women in the church sanctuary and the 8 sitting at each table were responsible for decorating their own table. We had to bring everything … centerpieces, stemware, china, silverware, cups and saucers, napkins, you name it. The church provided the catered food, which was delicious! And, we listened to Joni Tauber sing and speak. It was a wonderful event!

Emily, Lucy, Lauren, and me

This is just 4 of us from our table of 8. We arrived early to set up. The table decorations are a combination of Emily and Lucy’s. As this event approached I realized that I have NOTHING nice when it comes to table settings. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t register for china when you get married. Oh well…

Here are some more pictures of our table -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here were a few other tables around the church -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more of our table members, and one of my very best friends, Kristy, arrived early with her new little one, Elin Faith. She is just precious and we just had to get a picture!

Lauren, Kristy, Emily, me, and Lucy

Emily is holding little miss Elin :)

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Then, we had a Birthday Party for Jesus. I attend Mom’s Group at our church every Thursday morning. It is a time I look forward to every week and LOVE the friends I have made through that group! Two of the moms, Stephanie and Laura, hosted their second annual Birthday Party for Jesus this year and the kids had such a good time! We made Christmas Tree Ornaments with the kids and then watched the story of baby Jesus unfold before celebrating with cupcakes and caprisuns.

Cori and I making a Snowman ornament.

Watching the kids act out the story of Jesus was absolutely adorable. We had Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the Shepherd, and the 3 Kings. Oh, it was precious!

Mary (Evie) and Joseph (Jackson) with their sweet baby, Jesus

 

The Shepherd (JJ) came to tell everyone the good news

 

Then, the 3 Kings (Owen, Beckett, and Dylan) came bearing gifts

 

Once the scene was over and all the kids went to grab their cupcakes, Cori decided she needed a closer look at baby Jesus…

 

After watching that short play, she has wanted to read her storybook Bible every night before bed and lingers on the page with baby Jesus in the manger. I don’t know how much one-year-olds remember, but she sure remembers baby Jesus and it’s the sweetest thing!

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And earlier this week week we had our annual Family Group Christmas Party! Dave made chili (mmmm), I made hot apple cider, and the rest of the group brought snacks to share. It’s always a fun time! We have a white elephant gift exchange every year, but no one is supposed to buy anything for it. You are supposed to find something in your house that you don’t want anymore, wrap it up nicely, and put it under the tree. People end up with the most random gifts, but it’s so fun!! Here is a picture from this years get-together.

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It’s hard to believe that Christmas eve is tomorrow. I pray that each of you finds the time to thank the Lord for all He has given us. Jesus is the true reason for the season … not Sana or gifts or reindeer or Frosty. While all of those things are fun, they are not the reason we celebrate.

“I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all the people.”

Luke 2:10

Merry Christmas!!

A 1st Birthday Party to Remember!

 

We celebrated Cori’s first birthday on Sunday. Her real birthday is the 28th, but being that it is 3 days after Christmas, I thought it would be best to have her birthday party with her friends a little early. :) Unfortunately, this cold weather has gotten most of our friends sick so we were missing a few important guests, but still had a grand time together!

The theme was pink and orange with lots of flowers since that’s how her room is decorated – with some greens as well. Cori LOVES flowers which is also why we decided to decorate that way. It turned out just beautiful and is a day I will remember forever!!

My amazing husband did her invitation. Let me just pause for a second and brag on my hubby. I wanted to order these invitations on Etsy. David took one look at them and said, “I can do that!” So, he did. And they turned out even better than I could have imagined! He is so good like that – crafty and artsy .. oh, and was such a big help cleaning and preparing the house for the party too! Thank you, honey!! :) I love you!

He also made Cori a birthday video with pictures and videos of her first year of life. It was precious and made me cry. It starts off with a video of me holding her literally seconds after delivery. She was so tiny. I’m tearing up just thinking about it. I can’t believe she will be a year old next week!

Cori’s birthday festivities began at 2 on Sunday. I spent a lot of time leading up to the big day decorating and preparing our home. Because her birthday is during the holiday season, I made sure to take down a lot of our Christmas decorations for her special day. It turned out beautifully! Here are some pictures of the decorations! …

Please come in!

 

Upon entering the front door

 

This special birthday banner that I made hung on the window in our dining room

 

The food table … yum!

We had peanut butter & jelly sandwiches cut out in flower shapes, a fruit tray, pigs in a blanket with Dave’s yummy sauce, buffalo chicken cheese dip with chips, and critter mix (animal crackers, chex, teddy grahams, fruit snacks, cheese its, & raisins).

 

I made cupcakes for all the kids…

 

and a giant sized cupcake for Cori as her smash cake!

 

We had pink lemonade and orange soda to drink to go along with our pink and orange theme. Oh, and some Caprisun’s too! :)

 

We also had 24 balloons thanks to Cori’s daddy. I sent him out the morning of the party to get a few and he came home with 2 dozen, stating that his daughter was more special than a “few balloons.” Ha! They did look great and made the house so festive! Too bad I didn’t take a picture of the bundle before they got disbursed around the house. Cori LOVES balloons and was so excited to see them all. Even after they fell on Monday morning, I kept a few for her to play with on the floor.

The kids had a grand time playing with one another!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Willie trying to give her a hug… too cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a few snacks and play time, it was time for presents!

 

Reading a Tinker Bell card from Mia (my mom)

 

 

This vacuum from my mom may have been the hit of the party. It was the first present she opened and she LOVED it! We had to eventually take it away so she could pay attention to her other presents. Ha!

 

What’s in here mommy?

 

 

In both pictures above she is holding a pair of shoes. This girl loves shoes. She is such a girl already! :) I love it!!

 

 

She also got a Cabbage Patch Doll from Dave’s grandparents and she is completely in LOVE with that doll. It might have even taken precedence over the vacuum. She even had to bring it with her for our family photo! And, it has not left her sight since her party! Ha!

 

 

Now, the much awaited … CAKE!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The picture on the left was her initial reaction to everyone singing, “Happy Birthday.” :) But within a few moments, she was soaking it in!

 

Before “she” blew out her candle…

 

and after

 

She started out so prim and proper eating her cake. She would only eat little pieces of frosting and was very particular about NOT getting messy!

 

Someone showed her how to pick up her cake and stick her whole face in it. After a little coaxing, she gave it a try and ended up SUPER messy! :) Oh, and with a Mohawk thanks to her Auntie Amber!

 

Before hitting up the tub, she had a quick photo session with some important family members!

Here she is with her Aunt Lauren and Uncle Lance. They are her God Parents and our very best friends!!

 

Here she is with Mia, Granddaddy, and Aunt Amber.

 

Then it was bath time before our final goodbyes…

 

Look at that water! Yuck!

 

All the kids took home their goodie bags with a special note from Cori.

 

 

Thank you to everyone who made Cori’s 1st birthday party so special. It was a memorable day! She is loved by so many people; near and far. We missed those of you who couldn’t make it, but know she has a special place in your heart.