Another Baby Shower!

In my circle of friends it seems when one friend has a baby, another one gets pregnant, and the cycle continues…

One of my very best friends, Kristy, is due with her 3rd precious little one in a few weeks – Elin Faith. I already know she is going to be beautiful! God has woven her together. He hand picked her for the Sutton Family. He already loves her and has a perfect plan for her life. We serve such an amazing God.

Last Sunday we had a shower in honor of Kristy and Elin and it turned out perfect! Emily and I were in charge of hosting. Here we are, with that sweet baby continuing to grow in Kristy’s precious belly!

 

I am always telling my friends that I want to get better at decorating for and hosting parties. My friend, Stephanie, and I talk about that ALL the time! I just didn’t grow up watching many people throw and host parties. I think it’s a southern thing. I know I’m from the south, but I don’t consider Tampa “southern” if you know what I mean.  I consider places like Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and a few places in Florida, southern. But, I’m learning and I think this party turned out pretty well!

I made these super cute tissue paper balls to hang as center piece décor for the table, as well as some crafty “e”’s for Elin. We had cupcakes, cucumber sandwiches (my FAV!!), puppy chow, and lemon squares to eat, as well as pink lemonade and yummy sherbet punch to drink. The table turned out fabulous!

 

We had everyone write a scripture and/or a special note to baby Elin. People had such precious words to share. We hung them on the windows to add some extra décor. Just the perfect touch!

 

 

 

Then, it was onto the games! We had Kristy answer a series of questions about herself and had the guests answer them as well to see, “Who Knows Kristy Best?” Her mom officially won, but forfeited because she didn’t think it was fair! :) Our friend, Jess, was close behind!

Here is Kristy filling out her questionnaire!

 

Elin got some fabulous gifts from all our dear friends! Here are just a few…

 

One of our friends from Mom’s Group actually painted this herself! Everyone oooed and ahhed! :)

 

Emily made this sweet pillow case dress for Elin. Just precious!!

 

Finally, we took a group picture and said our goodbyes. It was a success and so much fun! Thanks ladies for coming! :)

 

Hmmm.. I wonder who will be next?!?! I’m looking forward to hosting my sis-in-law’s baby shower next month! This time, we are celebrating a BOY!

Hello Kitty!

One of Cori Belle’s friends, Evie Kate, turned 4 last week and celebrated her 4th birthday party last Saturday with a “Hello Kitty'” themed party! All the girls got their faces painted as kitties and the boys got their faces painted as puppies. Here is Cori Belle with Emma (left) and birthday girl, Evie Kate (right). They looked so cute!

 

Cori got her faced painted too. Oh, and no party is complete with out a tattoo! It only took the entire week to scrub that thing off! :)

 

Cori ate at the big kid table and thought she was hot stuff! She did such a good job sitting there by herself. She only fell under the table a few times (oops!) but held on tight to the top of the table until someone came to rescue her! She even fed herself her own lunch! I made her a plate of macaroni and bread from the ‘pigs in a blanket’ and she went to town. She even held her own cup (with nothing in it!!) but she held onto that cup the ENTIRE time she ate. She so wanted to be like the “big kids!” :)

 

 

Later on, she went on a wagon ride with Madelyn and Ryleigh.

 

And her daddy let her try a lollypop for the very first time! She was in heaven!!

 

Thanks for inviting us, Evie! It was so much fun!! Happy Birthday, big girl!

Thankful Thursday

As I was reading my bible yesterday, I stumbled upon a few verses in Colossians that reminded me to be thankful.

Col 2:7 – Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Col 3:15 – And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Col 4:2 – Devote yourself to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

As I was vacuuming this afternoon with my little one following close behind as she always does when I vacuum, my mind was flooded with those verses from yesterday. I have so much to be thankful for. It’s so easy to get caught up in discontentment. At least for me anyway. I may always want a bigger house to live in, a nicer couch, a yard for my child and dog to play in, a new bed since ours is from my husbands high school days, etc, etc, etc… But, why waste my time feeling discontent over those things? I have a wonderful, Godly husband; a beautiful, healthy little girl; an amazing, merciful God who loves me; a roof over my head; food to eat; a car to drive: a job to help with the monthly income, wonderful friends, etc, etc, etc… I am so thankful!!

 

What are you thankful for today?

What I love about you … week 42 & 43

week 42 & 43

Weeks seem to be flying by faster than ever these days! I am so enjoying my time with my little one though!

I LOVE…

• Your outgoing personality! You will talk (scream in your loudest high pitch voice) to anyone and everyone who walks by.
• How delirious you get when you are extremely tired yet refuse to nap!
• Your sweet, loud, contagious laughter!

• Hanging out with our play group! You all are such wonderful babies!

Claire, Aaron, Brandon, Cori Belle

• How you LOVE to swing high and fast!

• Practicing sign language with you.
• Watching you walk with your new shopping cart!
• When you try to give daddy or I something and then pull it back real fast and laugh! The other day you were pretending to feed daddy a banana, but would snatch it back just before he could eat it! You do this with the biggest grin on your face!
• Pictures of me and you!

• That Publix gives you a balloon every time we shop. You LOVE holding onto the weight at the bottom of the string while watching the balloon move around in the air above you.

• Singing songs with you and reading with you. You are a big fan of The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Head Shoulder Knees and Toes, The Hokey Pokey, and any other song I make up using your name and a familiar rhythm. You are a fan of just about any book we read, especially if it’s a feely book and you can feel different textures on the page!
• Your open mouth kisses that you give! Only a momma can say that – oh, and daddy too! :)

Dearest Cori Belle,

As you turn 10 months old tomorrow, I want you to know just how much I love you. Every day with you is a blessing and I am SO grateful for you. I love you more and more every day. I love watching you grow and learn new things. I love the quality time I get to spend with you being a stay-at-home mom. I love you in the morning and in the afternoon. I love you in the evening and underneath the moon! (Another familiar song!) I love you!!

Tiny Tot School

~CB is currently (almost) 10 months old~

 

~Learning Toys~

As promised, here is CB reading her pumpkin book. An all time favorite at our house! We even did some text-self/world interactions as we studied a real pumpkin while reading! Doesn't our pumpkin look just like the one in the book?!? :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We played some with these rubber blocks from Target – my favorite blocks! I think Cori would agree too! We had so much fun stacking them up and tearing them down! She was quite particular in how she knocked the blocks down though. She would always take the top block off individually, and then pull the rest of them towards her, making sure to keep them together. Only then, would she begin to mess them up! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CB got a new learning toy this week – her own shopping cart to help her walk on her own! She LOVES to practice walking, but only if she is holding your hand. Now, she can practice on her own and she is SO excited about it!! She pushes that cart everywhere. Now, if I could just teach her how to turn it around on her own! She pushes it into the wall/furniture and isn’t sure what to do so she just crawls away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, no week would be complete without some more BOOKS! This girl is a book fanatic! I love it! This is what I found when I went to check on her in her room the other day… She pulled almost EVERY book off her book shelf!

 

Here she is spending some time reading with her daddy. He was reading her one of her new favorite books, Shake a Leg. It’s a Sesame Street book. Each page has a new move to practice.. shake a leg, wiggle your fingers, waggle your toes, etc… In the picture to the right she was making a muscle! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Life (FUN) School~

We have a drum in our living room and CB has recently discovered it. When she first realized that it made sounds when she hit it, she was mesmerized! Now, she plays it ALL the time!! :)

 

She also learned to sign, “thank you.” Oh, how we LOVE our baby sign language.

~Mom’s Favorite~

CB doing yoga with her dad…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, my sweet bath girl!!

I won!!

A couple weeks ago the Joy FM was having their bi-annual Share-a-thon. We have been listening to the Joy FM for a few years and every time Share-a-thon comes along I always think about giving back to the radio station I listen to daily. For one reason or another, I talk myself out of it, or Share-a-thon ends and I say I’ll give the next time around. So, when Share-a-thon started up again this time, I thought this was the year to give. Well, the week went on and I never did call. Almost every day I would tell myself, “I need to call today,” but somehow the day slipped by. Finally, on Friday of Share-a-thon I was driving to Tampa and listening to the Joy FM. Carmen (one of the talk show hosts of the Morning Cruz) was doing a promotion for Share-a-thon that afternoon and said for every person that called to become a MMMP (more than music mission partner), during a 10 minute span, she would put a ticket for the Brandon Heath/Jars of Clay concert in a stack. At the end of 10 minutes, she would count up the tickets (one for every person that called) and raffle them off.

I quickly called David. Here’s how our conversation went…

“Honey, ya know how we always talk about giving to the Joy FM every year?”

“Yes.”

“Well, Carmen is giving away tickets to the Brandon Heath/Jars of Clay concert during this Share-a-thon promotion in the next 10 minutes. So if I call and give now, we might win. And, I’ve already checked your schedule.  Your off that night!”

“Are you sure I’m off?

”YES! But, if it’s okay, I have to hang up RIGHT NOW and call or I might miss the 10 minute promotion. Is it okay???”

“Sounds great, honey.”

“Wahoo! Love you! Bye!!”

And with that, I called. Cori WAS sleeping in the back seat of the car but half way through my call she woke up and began screaming! I was able to give the caller my debit card number and information to become a MMMP, but had to quickly hang up to handle my screaming child. As Carmen was thanking everyone who called on the air, I had to pull off the interstate to calm CB down. I pulled into the McDonalds parking lot to nurse when Carmen announced there were 12 tickets to be given away to ONE of the lucky callers during that 10 minute span. Just as Carmen was about to announce the lucky winner, Cori began screaming even louder than before and I couldn’t hear who won over the curdling cry of my child. “Oh well,” I thought. “I never win anything anyway.” I calmed Cori Belle, put her back in her car seat, and finished my drive to Tampa.

The following week I got a call on my cell phone from a random number. I usually NEVER pick up the phone if it’s a number I don’t know. I let them leave a message and I call back. But on this day, I decided I would pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Danielle? Hi. This is Carmen from the Joy Fm.”

“Oh, HI!!”

“Remember last week when I was giving away Brandon Heath/ Jars of Clay tickets during Share-a-thon?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you WON!! You won 12 tickets to the Ocala show on Thursday, Oct 21st. Are you going to be able to go?”

… and the rest of the conversation is a blur, but I was BEYONE EXTATIC!

I quickly called and texted 10 of my most precious friends and invited them to come. They were all just as excited as I was!!

 

When Thursday rolled around, we met at Moes for dinner (our favorite restaurant!! :), ate some delicious food, and loaded up in the church van to head to Ocala. Yes, we sported the Family Church’s van and it was a blast! There is no better way to travel with 12 people, than in an old school, church van! Oh, what memories that brings back from my youth group days!! Haha!

Here we are … well, most of us anyway. Some were hiding from the camera!!

 

Upon arrival, we headed to our seats and took a few pictures before the concert began. Here’s the group…

 

The boys…

Chauncey, Lance, William, Dave, Jason, & Joey

And, the girls…

Jen, Emily, me, Stephanie, Lauren, & Lucy

Don’t you think it’s interesting how the boys and girls pose so differently for pictures?!? I think it definitely says something about our gender differences! Just a side note! :)

 

Brandon Heath took the stage first. He is an absolutely AMAZING singer/song writer. If you’ve never heard any of his songs, go buy his CD NOW! He speaks so much truth in his music and I just can’t get enough of it! I bought his new CD at the concert (it doesn’t officially come out until January!!) and there is this song called Leaving Eden – So POWERFUL! I’ll probably post about that song a little later. Just know it is an INCREDIBLE song with SO MUCH TRUTH to it!!

After Brandon performed, Jars of Clay hit the stage. They played their entire first CD that was released 15 years ago. It is one of the best Christian CD’s I have EVER heard and brings back so many memories. It’s the CD that reminds me of my days in youth group. It’s also the CD that reminds me of the time I re-dedicated my life to Christ and my darling husband gave his life to Christ for the very first time. It was junior year of college. It was Thursday nights at Campus Crusade. It was a life transformed for the better. I am forever changed.

 

I am so blessed to be surrounded by such outstanding believers who live life with me everyday; who encourage me in my faith; who set an example for my precious baby girl. God is so good and I am so thankful! Thanks, friends, for coming with us to the concert. It was such a FUN time!! :)

Tiny Tot School

~CB is currently 9.5 months old~

~Learning Toys~

Hey ya’ll! It’s time for another Tiny Tot School post – only a day late! This week we did LOTS of reading about fall – although this bad momma took NO pictures of her daughter reading! I’ll be sure so get some up on our next Tiny Tot School post! We read Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin, which is a GREAT book! And, 10 Fat Turkey's. CB’s favorite was Duck & Goose. As the week went on and we spent more time reading it, I would say, “Cori, where is that pumpkin book?” and she would instantly crawl over to get it! I know, my child is a genius! HA! :) We even played with a real pumpkin after reading the book one day. She LOVED seeing the pumpkin in person!

CB also played with her star stacker a bunch. Her and her daddy were playing together while I ran to the store one day and when I came home he said she had put the star ON the stacker all by herself! Wahoo!!

 

Putting it on… and taking it off! Go girl!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Life (FUN) School~

CB learned 2 NEW SIGNS this week! She can sign “please” and “all done.” It is so stinkin’ cute!! To sign “please” you are supposed to rub your chest with one hand. She rubs her boobies with 2 hands. HA! Works for me! :)

Oh, and while eating lunch at Moes the other day, CB played her first game of "Peek-a-boo” with us, where she covered herself up and then popped out behind my nursing cover. She thought it was hilarious and was so proud of herself!!

Where’s Cori???

Peek-a-boo!!

 

~Mom’s Favorite~

Cori Belle, those eyes AMAZE me! You are so beautiful!!

P.S. – CB got her FIRST tooth!! I felt it for the first time on Sunday! It’s not fully in yet, but it’s budding and you can see a little bit of white. And, you can certainly feel it! I can attest to that! :)