A day in the life…

Our dear friend Willie turned one yesterday!! His momma, Stephanie, and I met a few years ago when we taught 1st grade together. I remember when Stephanie told me she was pregnant with Willie. It was such an exciting time for her! We would eat lunch together every day at school and talk about the joys of pregnancy. 4 months after Stephanie found out she was pregnant, I found out I was pregnant! Our lunch talks got even more exciting after that! :) Since having our babies we have both stepped out of the classroom to stay home with them – allowing us to get together on a Wednesday afternoon to hang out and celebrate things such as Willie’s 1st birthday!! Oh, the joys of mommy hood!

Willie wanted to play with everything Cori was playing with so when Cori got on the dragon Willie wanted it too! We showed Willie how to push Cori and they both LOVED it! Here is Willie pushing her forwards…

 

 

 

 

 

 

And backwards…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, we went outside to race!! They had so much fun!! Cori got to drive Willie’s old car and Willie rode around in his NEW CAR that he got for his birthday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our car races, we decided to take a tour of the Whitehurst property on the golf cart. It sure is beautiful out there! I can definitely see the perks to living on some land for sure! Maybe one day we will move out of this 2 bdrm condo! Ha!

Willie so badly wanted to drive, so… we let him show us around! :)

 

The dogs had a grand ole’ time as well! I brought Mav over to have a play date with Izzy. Mav was literally in dog heaven! You can barely even see him in this picture below! They followed us all around the fields and even chased a few cows here and there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of cows… There were MANY! At one point they all started walking TOWARDS the golf cart! Just as they would get close, Izzy would bark and chase after them. Thanks for saving our life, Izzy! Haha! It truly was a beautiful ride!

Once we got back, poor Maverick looked like he was on his death bed. He laid down on the porch and refused to move. Soon the clouds started rolling in and the rain started, light at first.. then the downpour began! He laid there for 20 minutes before we could get him in the trunk of the car – sopping wet and all! Stephanie and I literally thought he might die right then and there! Old geezer is only 7 years old! Luckily he survived, but I don’t know how much more pasture grazing and cow chasing will be in his future!

It sure was a fun trip! Thanks for having us over Willie! Happy Birthday!!

A New Season…

I was reading my friend, Annie’s blog a few weeks ago when she talked about there being 3 seasons where we live… Beach Season, Football Season, and Christmas. She sure is right about that and this beautiful town of ours has entered into its second season of the year… GATOR FOOTBALL SEASON!

David and I are always a bit sad going into football season (well just for the last 2 years anyway). We have had season tickets for 8 out of the past 10 years!! After he graduated medical school our season tickets were stripped from our possession because we were no longer students!! :( Fortunately, we have these amazing friends (Mr. and Mrs. William Whitehurst) who are able to get us tickets every now and then. This past week happen to be one of those times and we were so grateful to be able to go to the game!

Saturday morning we packed up our Gator gear and headed out to Williston to drive to the game together. Steph couldn’t make it to the game with us due to Willie’s 1st birthday bash being the following day so she volunteered to keep the kiddos while everyone else cheered on the Gators. So, we dropped Cori off and off we went. **Only it wasn’t as easy as I just made it sound. Dropping off my daughter and being apart from her for an ENTIRE day was a bit sad for me. I could only imagine if I had to do that everyday as I headed off to work. I just might cry EVERYDAY!!**

Here she is with all her GATOR GEAR for the day! Thanks Laura for the SWEET Gator dress! We LOVE it!! Cori is supporting the Gators for you all the way from Salt Lake City!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick family photo before heading off to the game! Go Orange and Blue!!

We stopped at Publix on our way and let me tell you, this is how you know you live in Gator Country … EVERYONE in Publix was wearing orange and blue. I kid you not – every person in the entire store! Another reason I LOVE living in Gainesville! And, it was like a tailgate in the parking lot as everyone packed up their coolers to head over to campus.

Here we are tailgating outside the stadium before the game. Steph, we missed you!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out these shoes.. Only William would wear these! HA!

The game, I must admit, was a bit of a disappointment. Although it was a Gator victory, they didn’t play their best. Hopefully we step it up before our next game next week against USF. I know someone in our family will switch to the dark side and actually root against the Gators next week! I know what you’re thinking ..  who would do that?!?! :)

Even Lance and Lauren got to come with us!

Even in the midst of bad plays, we had a blast! It was so much fun being able to root the Gators on from the stands. And the best news is, we just got season tickets for all the home games (except LSU!!)  from a Med Student who is too busy studying to cheer on the Gators. Thank you Medical School!

Until next time…

GOOOOOOO GATORS!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Hi friends! It’s time for another post from you know who! :) … Last Tuesday my Dad celebrated his 28th birthday. Man, are my parents getting old or what?!?! Shhh, don’t tell them I said that! Haha!

Dad’s birthday celebration really began last Sunday when we took a day trip down to Tampa. My Dad and my Aunt Jamie were born just a few days apart – 4 to be exact. Every year they celebrate their birthdays together and this year they promised to stay true to tradition! It sure was a fun day of swimming, boating, and hanging out with family. I even tried “real” food for the first time – mac and cheese! It was delicious! Too bad Mom didn’t get a picture! Sorry, Mom!

Dad and Aunt Jamie are 2 peas in a pod! They come from a family of 4 brothers and sisters. Dad is the second born son and Aunt Jamie is the youngest (and the only girl !!). These 2 are crazy when they get together. I know this picture below looks sweet and cute, but just scroll down a little more to see their true personalities!

Mom wonders if I’ll end up being a crazy Smith or if I’ll be a little more like her?? I guess we’ll have to wait and see! :)

We celebrated Dad’s actual birthday with dinner and a cookie cake at home. Of course Aunt Lauren and Uncle Lance joined in on the fun! All along Dad had been saying that he had never had a big birthday party just for him in a while so Mom invited a few friends over and we celebrated again on Friday night. Mom worked so hard getting everything ready. She decorated the house, bought all the food, made homemade macaroni and cheese, cupcakes (mini and regular size!!), and dad’s favorite – Oreo Balls! Dad and Uncle Lance made their special bacon burgers on the grill. I just looked cute in my little dress and entertained all the children that came over to play! It was a grand old time! Unfortunately, Mom was working so hard, that she forgot to take any pictures!! :( Didn’t she know I would be posting about this and NEED pictures for the blog?!? Oh, Mom! Luckily, Ms. Emily was there and took some pictures of us as a family!!

Dad – I sure enjoyed celebrating with you this year! I just have to tell you how wonderful you are and how lucky I am to have you for a Dad. You always know how to make me laugh and you are setting such a great, Godly example for me as I grow up. I want to marry a guy just like you one day!! I love you!

Love,

Cori Belle

Tiny Tot School

~CB is currently 8 months & 1 week old~

CB is LOVING Tot School and I have to admit, I am too! Since stepping out of the classroom there are definitely times when I miss teaching. I LOVE that I get to take the skills I have learned from my career and use them to benefit my child at home. Not to mention the quality time CB and I share together during Tot School. It’s such great fun!!

This week we started out with our Fisher Price Shape Sorter. CB loves to take off the lid and pull each shape block out individually. She is all about individualizing these days (except when she eats Puffs – those she feels the need to eat HANDFULLS at a time!!)

“Blocks – WOW!!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She always inspects and tastes each one! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was very interested in the yellow top, wondering why there were all those holes in it. I have a feeling we will be playing with this for a LONG time!

Then, we moved into some reaching. CB LOVES books. I wonder where she gets that from?!?! She has SO MANY books in her room, but I tend to try and steer her towards the cardboard and soft cotton books at the moment – well, for eating purposes anyway!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading upside down :)

Reading a “good fit” book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hmmm… these look better mommy!”

She worked a little more with her Playschool Poppin’ Pals (which, I bought at Target in case anyone was wondering) from last week. She now goes down the row from left to right closing all the animals one at a time. She is getting faster at it as well and isn’t getting her little fingers stuck anymore! She has figured out that in order to close them more efficiently, she needs to place all her fingers on the backside of the lid. It’s so fun to watch the changes in just one week!

 

She has also figured out that if she grabs the handle and flips it over, she can close all the lids at once! :) Then, she proceeds to push it around like a vacuum cleaner!

It’s also a GREAT step stool! :)

 

Mom’s Favorite

(Carisa on 1+1+1=1 has this little addition to her Tot School posts and I decided to add it on too!)

SO CUTE exploring in her Uggs! I know it’s summer, but these shoes aren’t going to fit much longer so we needed to get our use in! I promise I didn’t make her wear them outside in the Florida heat!!

Just look at that darling little face! I can’t get enough of it!!

 

I hope you had fun in Tot School this week. Be sure to check out 1+1+1=1 to see what other moms are doing in Tot School at their homes! See ya next week!