Monday, August 20, 2012

A Well Check-up and a Home Cooked Meal

Cori Belle and Finley had their very first check-up at their NEW doctor’s office here in Birmingham. Their new doctor is SO sweet!! Very personable! She came in talking Cori’s language and they really hit it off. Made my heart happy. I absolutely LOVE this picture of my girls as they waited to see the doctor. Cori had already gotten her finger pricked (which was a bit traumatic for her), but a few moments later she was all smiles. … Are they just not the cutest kids you’ve ever seen?! I mean, I may be a bit partial, but…  :) Oh, how I LOVE them!!

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Cori Belle at 2 years 7 months

weighs 27 lbs (25%ile)

measures 35.7 inches (25-50%ile)

 

Finley Grade at 13 months

weighs 19 lbs (10%ile)

measures 28.2 inches (10%ile)

 

Finley got two shots and was a champ. She cried for about a minute and Cori looked extremely sad for her, but then we got a lollypop on he way out and both girls were excited about that! 

 

We got home from the doctors office around 4:30. Finley went back down for a quick nap, and Cori and Dave headed off to Home Depot. I decided that a good home cooked meal was in order. You see, I struggle with the desire to be great at everything – a great wife, mom, cook, homeschooler, jewelry lady, organizer, chore accomplisher, decorator… etc! You name it, I probably want to be great at it! HA! But wanting to be great and actually being great are two different things. I have struggled most with cooking lately. The whole planning out meals for the week/grocery shopping thing has been stressing me out!! Like, I just avoid it because it makes me anxious. Seriously, don’t know why!! But, it’s just the truth.

Recently I have had some great conversations with new friends about cooking and one of them passed on some great recipe blogs. So, this morning when I got up, I sat down, opened up a few of these blogs, and made a dinner menu for the week! AND a grocery list! Wahoo!! On the menu for dinner tonight was Homemade Potato Soup. YUM! I already had half of the ingredients at home and it was super easy to make!!

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Baked Potato Soup

Cori and Dave arrived home from Home Depot to the delicious smell of a home cooked meal. Finley got up from her nap and we all enjoyed a nice family dinner together. Nothing makes my heart happier than all of us sitting down to dinner together. That and the daily expectant dinner table question from my 2-year-old, “How’s your day mommy?” To which I respond, “It’s great Cori; how was your day?” … “It was great!”

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Happy Birthday to ME!

Last Saturday, I celebrated my 29th birthday. Hard to believe that I am entering the last year of my 20’s. I hear though that the 30’s are your best years so I guess I have a lot to look forward to! ha! Crazy to think that time has gone by this fast. I’m sure my mom agrees. I can’t even imagine any of my children turning 29!! Can they just stay little forever?!?Who knew that at 29, I would be living in Alabama, 6 (almost 7) years married, with 2 precious girls, and either another girl or boy on the way?! God has been good to me and I am so thankful for His blessings!

We only took ONE picture on this birthday of mine!!! And, it was on my phone, none the less! Not the greatest of quality, but it works!

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Here we are at the Melting Pot. We went on Friday night. It’s become birthday tradition. I SO look forward to that cheese fondue once a year. It’s my FAVORITE!! I could actually start and end my meal with cheese instead of the normal meal which includes cheese, an entrĂ©e, and chocolate. Dave’s favorite part is the chocolate though, so I guess we will continue to get one cheese for now. But maybe one day I’ll convince him to get cheese for an appetizer AND desert! YUM!!

It was so nice to have a date night though! We have been out twice without the kids since moving to Birmingham. Our sweet friend Val from UF lives here and watched them both times. Unfortunately, she is moving back to Florida TODAY as I write this. The girls love her and are so sad about this! But, I think we have found a new babysitter who is going to be GREAT!

We also went to a BBQ on my birthday and met a great group of people. We were invited through a new friend I met at a Premier party. I will tell you, Premier has been my saving grace since moving here. (Well, Premier and church). I have made some great friends through Premier. It has really challenged me to get out and meet new people on a daily basis. I’m so thankful God brought Premier into my life 2 years ago. He knew exactly what I would need 2 years later as we moved states and left behind all we knew. I love how His provisions are so good and he KNOWS what we need … even years before we realize we need it.

Dave and I finished up my birthday with an early bedtime for the kiddos so we could enjoy some delicious Chinese food, yummy cake balls, and a movie together. It was a wonderful day and I’m planning to enjoy another wonderful year, and God willing, many more!

Friday, August 17, 2012

It’s been a rough week .. for one little girl

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Poor Finley has had a rough week! Now mom, before you read this, I’m just going to preface this with “accidents happen” and they surely do! Don’t freak out! Smile

Earlier this week were were getting ready to head out to the museum as a family. Cori was sitting by the door to the garage putting her shoes on. I was in the kitchen getting some snacks.  David was putting our passes into my purse. And, Finley was just standing next to Cori waiting to go. Well in the midst of all that, Cori must have opened the door to go down the 8 carpeted steps to the garage. As I was turning to walk out of the kitchen, I heard some thumps – quite a few of them. I looked up to see Cori standing next to the opened door with her hand covering her mouth. Then, I heard wailing coming from the bottom of the stairs. Finley was at the bottom of them. Poor, sweet baby. She was and is totally fine!! Just a scrape on her forehead and next to her left eye – as you can see in the picture above. David was down the stairs before I could get there. He held her and she calmed down pretty quickly, and then desperately wanted to climb back up the stairs. Babies are resilient. I do love that about them! SO thankful she was fine. Now we have locks at the top of each door (that we make sure to latch consistently) so Cori can’t open them!! And, we did have a great morning at the museum followed by our FIRST trip to Moes here in Birmingham. We sure missed our normal Moes dates – Jonathan, Lacy, Ella & Audrey. We reminisced about ya’ll as we ate!

Fast forward a few days later … We have been working on a plan for a playground in the backyard. Dave ordered some parts and he will be building one for the kiddos along with some landscaping for the backyard. We are all SO excited about that!! In preparation for the parts coming we went and picked up our slide from Home Depot. There was a run down frame for a swing set in our backyard and we decided to attach the side to it while we wait for the new one to be built. This is what is looks like at the moment. Ghetto, but it works! Smile

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Well, the girls and I were out there the other day playing. Finley was doing such a good job!! I would put her on the platform and she would sit down and scoot her way to the top of the slide. I’d hold her hand and she’s slide down. Seems pretty safe, right? I thought so! Well, as her turn came around, she sat down on the platform and scooted her way to the top of the slide. She was holding onto my hand, but I guess I wasn’t holding hers tight enough. She started going down the slide and all of the sudden was falling over the side of it, head first. I reached over and grabbed her by the ankle. Her face had already brushed the dirt, but at least she didn’t topple down the hill! I mean, let’s look at the bright side, right?! The picture of her at the top of this post was taken after her spill over the slide. She wasn’t too happy about it, but she literally wanted to go right back out to play after getting cleaned up. She is definitely the type to get back on the horse after being thrown off. I love that about her.

Prior to these two accidents, Cori threw a very small picture frame across her room during some “rough play”, which happened to hit her younger sister in the side of the head. This created a little circle shaped scrape with a little bit of blood. I showed it to Cori and told her that her “rough play” put a hole in her sisters head and that she needed to have some self control. She immediately started balling crying because she felt so bad about injuring her sister. What a mess!

Yes, please give me the mother of the year award. Thanks.

We haven’t had any accidents since, thankfully! We’ve just got a 13 month old who thinks she is just as big as her sister and get’s MAD when she can’t do all the things a very athletic 2.5 year old can.

Don’t try to grow up too fast sweet Finley!! Let’s slow it down just a little! And, Cori, do not throw things at your sister!! Moral of the story!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Catching Up – Disney World, May 2012

Back in May, we took our last trip to Disney before moving to Alabama. We went with some of our very best friends, Stephanie & William and their 4 little boys. We had such a blast and spent the ENTIRE day there from opening to close of the park.

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Willie & “Belle Belle” getting ready for their day

Since it was such a long time ago, I am just going to re-cap in pictures…

Pure joy in that sweet girls face!

Even though our kids aren’t looking, I think this is such a sweet picture of our family!

Checking out Dumbo

Truly enjoying her day at Disney!

Precious!

Here, we were measuring Cori for her very first roller coaster ride – it was in Toon Town – totally toddler friendly! Doesn’t it look like she is 35 inches tall? Well, she passed at the start of the line, but as she was about to get on the coaster with her daddy, the line attendant decided to measure her again. This time, they said she wasn’t tall enough! After waiting in line for an HOUR, we just watched Willie ride. Fortunately, we were given free passes to the front of any ride in the park for our inconvenience. Maybe next time, Cori!

We had such a great time and certainly miss the ability to hop in the car to head over to Disney. Don’t worry Mickey – We’ll be back soon!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Cornerstone

Ya’ll know me and a good worship song. Wow, is this one good!! One of my Hostesses in Premier had the new Hillsong CD playing when I arrived to set up earlier this week. I just fell in love with the CD. I already love Hillsong’s music, but this new CD is AMAZING!!! The name of the CD, Cornerstone, is after the song lyrics I put below. It’s such a powerful song and I am so thankful for the Truth in it. Our hope is built on nothing less than JESUS. Amen to that! Praying for all of you who may read this today. May this impact you in a powerful way!

 

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name


Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Savior's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all


When Darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil


Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Savior's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all
He is Lord
Lord of all


Christ alone
Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Savior's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless stand before the throne.

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Cornerstone - Hillsong United

FULL Cornerstone CD Live - Hillsong United

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Sweet Finley Grace

My sweet Finley has been neglected lately on the blog – well, a lot of things have been neglected lately on the blog! I’m trying not to condemn myself over that one, but that’s for another day. Today, it’s all about Finely Grace!

Finley closed smile

My precious girl is 13 months old now. I just don’t know where the time has gone. She has quite the personality and I just LOVE seeing her act like a “big girl”. She started walking about 2 weeks ago and gets faster and better at it day after day. She is practically running after her big sister now and thinking that she is quite grown up. Our church has this amazing indoor playground that we stop to play in every Sunday after service. This past Sunday Finley wanted to be right in that play area with the big kids. She was trying to follow Cori up the steps, into the tunnel tubes, and on through to the side. She was so mad I wouldn’t let her!! She could have cared less about getting trampled on, she just wanted to be BIG!

Finley walking

Now that she is walking, she loves shoes!! She gets to exited when I tell her that we are going to put her shoes on. She grabs her feet and and tries her best to put her shoes on herself. She is also VERY into baby dolls. Her and Cori have each picked out one specific baby doll from their collection of many to have as their special “baby.” I love watching Finley hold her baby, rock her baby, and pat her baby on the back. Kids are so  instinctual.

The girl also LOVES food!! She has pretty much always been this way since we started solids. She is our good eater, while Cori Belle is our pickier eater. We can put pretty much anything in front of Finley and it she seriously can’t shove it down her throat fast enough, especially at dinner time! We have been eating dinner promptly at 5:30 these days. And, what’s funny is right at 5:30, whether dinner is actually ready or not, Finley marches over to her high chair and requests to get in. What an internal clock that girl has!!

We have been gearing up to actually home school pre-school this year so I have created some special book bins for both girls. I often find Finley just sitting on the floor next to her bin, reading books. I truly love that both my kids like to read. She also LOVES to draw!! We have an easel set up in our “Home School Room,” which is just off our kitchen. She will stand there for almost 15 minutes, completely content, drawing on the easel at times. … She also loves puzzles, building blocks, pushing the baby stroller around, and pretty much ANYTHING ELSE her big sister enjoys doing.

Finley looking over shoulder

She is talking A LOT! Not saying much of anything specific at the moment. She can say “mama” and “dada” but she prefers just to pretend she is talking like a big girl. The conversations she carries on with herself, her sister, and her baby dolls are so sweet!

Her laughter is one of the most precious things about her. She loves to be tickled and tossed around (in a loving way obviously!!) and she laughs uncontrollably. She LOVES it when Cori chases after her and she even lets her big sister pick her up and carry her around.

FInley smile

At 13 months, she wakes up promptly at 7am each morning. Still likes her milk warm in her Sippy cup. (But, finally likes milk, praise the Lord! She went through a period where she really disliked milk of all kinds. So glad to be over that!) She eats breakfast with her big sister at their little red table every morning. She normally takes a nap at 9:30 am and again at 2pm. She can skip her morning nap if we go out and do something fun, but if we are home, a morning nap is a must! She requests dinner promptly at 5:30 and prefers to be in bed by 7pm.

I am absolutely in LOVE with my youngest daughter!! And, I can’t wait for her to become a BIG SISTER in January! Smile