Three years ago on December 28, 2009, I became a mommy. There really is no other feeling like it and I feel so blessed to be someone’s mom. It definitely can be a tough job at times, but one that I’m so proud to have. I remember the moment I met my precious first born. We even have a short video clip of the first few minutes I got to hold her. I cry every time I see it. I can’t believe it’s been three years and I’m now about to have my third baby. Time really does fly.
I love this picture of CB and I. It just captures my heart with the moment.
Three years later, this is the beautiful little girl she has become…
The Party
Two weeks before her birthday we celebrated with her new friends up here in Alabama. She wanted to have a pink Princess party. She LOVES pink and adores Cinderella at the moment. She actually isn’t a big fan of the movie Cinderella (Tangled is her favorite Princess movie by far), but I think she likes Cinderella for her blonde hair and blue eyes, much like our Princess Cori Belle! :) These are the invitations we sent out for her party. Of course, my very talented husband made them!
We invited over 9 other little princess and had a great time together! They each came dressed as a princess, most of them were Cinderella. Upon arrival, they all sat down and decorated their own tiara's. Then I read them a very special Princess story, about being a daughter of the King. Our good friends Lance and Lauren (who drove all the way from Florida just to come to CB’s party!!) got that book for Cori and it was perfect for her party. After story time, we all sat down, sang happy birthday, ate a cupcake and drank lemonade. Then, we opened gifts and everyone went home! It was the most efficient party I think I’ve ever been to or thrown, lasting a total of one hour and 20 minutes! Record time! Ha!
decorating Tiara’s
Reading our story. Even the little kids did GREAT sitting to listen!
Singing “Happy Birthday”! Dave took this picture and she is looking right at me singing next to her. I love the look in her eyes! It’s just precious! You will also notice the outfit change. She was in a bit of a “mood” earlier that day – probably feeling anxious about her party. Even though she talked about wearing her Cinderella costume for MONTHS, she seemed to feel much more comfortable in her Dora dress. Go figure!
Blowing out the candles!
Finley eating some cake! Yum!
All the kids gathered around to watch Cori open gifts. With all of them in a circle around me, I felt very much back in the classroom teaching kindergarten again!
I completely forgot to take a picture of the entire group of Princesses, but it sure was a great time. I snapped one picture of Cori and her friend Maggie before she left. Maggie and Cori met in gymnastics class and she is probably one of Cori’s favorite friends to play with. It’s not the greatest picture, but it’s a sweet memory!
The Birthday – December 28, 2012
Cori started out her big day getting rid of her Nuk (pacifier). For the past year she has just had it to sleep. I tried breaking her of it at age 2, but she quit napping and I just wasn’t ready for that, so at age 3 I thought we would try again! We had been talking it up for about a month – saying that she was going to be a big girl and that new babies needed her Nuk. So, on her birthday, she literally jumped out of bed saying she was ready to give her Nuk away to the new babies, and was actually excited about it! She decided that she wanted to wrap it up like a present, put it in the mailbox, and let it be delivered to the next baby who needed it.
bye, bye Nukie!!
What a big girl!!
After we were finished putting her Nuk in the mailbox, we made some delicious birthday pancakes with blueberries for our little girl. We spent the morning playing and just relaxing as a family. Then, around lunch time, we headed out to our girls favorite place to eat – Chick fil A. This was definitely Cori’s request for her birthday lunch, and of course we traded out the toy for some ice cream!
After lunch we took the girls to their first movie!! We went to see Finding Nemo in 3D and both girls did really great! We did get a bag of popcorn and sprite for the showing. Oh yeah, we did it big! Ha!
After the movie, we headed home for some much needed naps!! Mom and Dad needed a nap too, that was for sure! Upon Cori’s request, we made homemade pizza for dinner and a delicious cookie cake with PINK icing! Unfortunately, all the picture taking seemed to cease after the movie. Told you that was something I needed to get better at!
When it finally came time for bed, we had to address the Nuk issue again. She was just thrilled to give it away that morning, but when it was really gone out of the mailbox and not in her bed for her to sleep with, that was a different story! Just to say it plainly, the poor girl cried from 7:30-11:30, repeating over and over that she “needed her Nukie.” It was one of the more painful things to have to listen to and just broke my heart knowing how attached to her Nuk she had become. Luckily around 11:30 she had worn herself out and finally fallen asleep. She awoke the next morning in a perfectly fine mood and only asked for her Nuk one time the next night before drifting off into dreamland. We have been Nuk free ever since! Wahoo!!
We just had the best day ever with both of our little girls and feel so blessed to be their parents! Happy Birthday Sweet Cori Belle! We absolutely adore you!! Here are some things to remember about you as you turn THREE…
- You love to jump and laugh and play!
- When I put you to bed at night you say multiple times, “Mommy, let me tell you something …” Then you think for a minute and always come up with the funniest things. I know it’s just a ploy to put off bed time, but I love spending those extra few minutes with you! Especially when you say, “Mommy, let me tell you something .. I love you so much.” Thank you for those sweet words!
- You always like to be involved with the cooking in the kitchen and stand on your little green stool watching daddy or I cook.
- You are a HUGE help with Finley. You are always taking care of her and mothering her. I love hearing you tell her that you love her and seeing you genuinely hug and kiss her throughout the day.
- You love to play babies and recently you have been pretending to “check them out” and “fix them up” with band aids. We’ve just started watching Doc McStuffins and you have been going with me to the baby doctor weekly – that could have something to do with it!
- You LOVE the color PINK! You are always telling me that your favorite color is pink and Finley’s is purple. You also make sure to inform me that your favorite princess is Cinderella and Finley’s is Belle.
- You are more of a mommy’s girl then a daddy’s girl. Your sister is the complete opposite!
- You always make angels when you play with Play dough.
- You can brush your teeth by yourself.
- You can wash yourself AND Finley in the tub. Mamma loves that!
- You sometimes go in the fridge to pour your own drink – when this happens, you always chose sweet tea. Maybe I should stop making that!
- You love doing school with me and arts and crafts.
- You really love to bake cookies and cupcakes. I mean, who wouldn’t?!
- You are always talking oh the phone and coming up with the funniest conversations with the “person” on the other line. I often hear you saying, “Hold on okay, I will text you.” .. I guess mama is on the phone too much! Blame it on my job as a jewelry lady! ha!
- When you really like something, your response is, “awwwww, that is so cute!”
