Maternity Photos!!

I went to the docs again today for my weekly checkup with Finley. We got to see her on ultrasound today. She is so big in there that you can only see one body party at a time! No more profile pictures for Miss. Finley. She is doing great though! She is head down and Dr. Duff predicts she is a little over 6 lbs. He guesses that she will be around the same size as Cori was at birth. I’m just hoping she isn’t bigger!!

A few weeks ago my AMAZING college roommate who is an INCREDIBLE photographer made her way down to take maternity photos for us. She did them when we were pregnant with Cori and I was so happy to have her do them again for Finley. She is coming down to do newborn pics of Finley too – something we didn’t do with Cori. (Sorry, Cori Belle!!)

I think the pictures turned out BEAUTIFULLY! I love all of them! I’m having a hard time deciding which ones to print. I have a picture frame with spots for 3 pictures in it. Cori has the same frame with 3 maternity photos of when I was pregnant with her hanging in her room. Now, I have to decide which 3 to put in the new frame for Finley. Any suggestions??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I told you there were a lot!! And that’s not even half of them, just the ones we like best. It was difficult to even narrow it down to this many!! So, let us know which 3 to pick!

To see more of Stephanie’s work, click here to go to her website.

Swim Lessons

We have been going back and forth about whether or not to start Cori in swim lessons. I’m big on asking other people for advice. Some say it’s not worth it and the kids will learn to swim when they are ready to swim. Others say it’s a MUST. It was pretty much a 50/50 split. Then begs the question, what type of swim lesson will you do? A mommy and me lesson, a lesson with a group, a lesson once a week, a lesson everyday, etc. So many choices!  After MUCH prayer and discussion with David, as well as one of my dear friends just telling me to listen to my gut, we decided to sign Cori up for ISR (Infant Swimming Resource). It’s a pretty intense swimming program – the kids are one on one in the pool with the instructor, every day of the week, for approx. 10-12 minutes. I know 10-12 minutes doesn’t seem like much time, but it’s actually A LOT for those little kiddos! Oh, and did I mention that it’s a pretty penny to sign your kid up for ISR! But after only 2 lessons in the pool, I’m SO GLAD we made the decision we did!

CB started her lessons yesterday. She cried the WHOLE time – hysterically screaming mommy and daddy over and over again! I think it had more to do with the fact that I handed her to some lady she’d never met before than anything else. She’s not afraid of the water. … She did SO GOOD though, screaming and all! The instructor is this sweet woman who has the sweetest voice when she speaks to the kids – so encouraging! She worked on teaching Cori to hold her breath under water with her eyes open to look and swim for the wall. They pretty much worked on this the whole lesson, as well as today’s lesson. It’s pretty amazing to watch and Cori is catching on fast!

Here are some pictures from yesterday – bless her heart!

 

Today, after her lesson, I took her to the pool in our neighborhood to have some fun and practice what she has been learning. I could tell a difference the moment we got in the pool. In the past she has been SUPER tense in the water. Not afraid, just unsure of what to do with her little body. Today, she seemed so comfortable! She would put her face in the water on her own, kick her feet with ease, and she absolutely LOVED every minute of it. So funny how she will cry the ENTIRE time during the lesson, but do the same thing with me and truly enjoy it. Before starting lessons, I would let her go under the water and when she came up she would definitely need a minute to recuperate. Today she seemed to hold her breath with ease – after only 2 lessons!!

I’m so excited for my little girl to learn to swim. After 2 lessons she is already swimming to the wall from about 2 feet out. Is she a pro? No, but she is learning so fast! It makes the time and money investment SO worth it! Can’t wait for tomorrow’s lesson! :)

36 Weeks!!

I’m 36 weeks and a few days today. Today is an exciting day though because my SIL Missy is currently in the hospital getting ready to deliver her first child – a sweet little girl named Jona Lily. We just can’t wait to meet her! Pray for her as her progression has been a little slow since her water broke this morning at 3:30 am and last time I spoke to her (around 1pm) she was only 2 cm dilated!! All you prayer warriors out there – pray for her progression to speed up and a quick delivery sometime today!!

As for me, I went to the doctors today. I am currently 1 cm and 50% effaced – which is what I’ve been now for the last 2 1/2 weeks! Doc said that the baby’s head is LOW – like he could feel it in place, ready for departure! Cori was the same way and still 5 days late, so you just never know! I go in again next Tuesday for one final ultrasound to check weight, positioning, etc. It’s getting so close, yet it feels so far away at the same time! We took a new pregnancy pic yesterday – that belly is getting BIG!

 

 

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 36 Weeks

Size of baby: Finley is almost 6 lbs. … Comparable in size to a soccer ball! It actually looks like there is a soccer ball in there too! HA!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 26 lbs – man, that feels like a lot!

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing maternity tanks from Target DAILY :) and maternity shorts. Gotta keep it comfortable in this HOT weather!

Gender: It's a girl!!! Finley Grace Smith

Movement: Still SO MUCH movement!! She moves in such a way that it makes me uncomfortable at times. I am so curious to see what her personality will be like considering the ridiculous amount she moves in there!

Sleep: HA! What sleep?!

What I miss: Being able to dry off my legs and feet with ease after a shower! I almost fall over every time!

Cravings: Right now, I’d like a smoothie! :)

Symptoms: Still heartburn – oh and a HUGE belly!!

Best Moment this week: Still hanging in there with the girls at the gym! Oh, and a super SWEET baby shower thrown by my friends over the weekend. Post to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ya’ll, I am scared! Look at the difference in size!!! Ugh! I actually measured 37 weeks today at my appointment so maybe that means she will be here early! :) Pray for me!

Sweet Girl

I just had to pop on here real quick and share something about my sweet girl.

Last week we received a video monitor in the mail from David’s aunt and cousins for Finley. We never had one with Cori and were ecstatic to finally get one!! We hooked it up right away and have been loving it ever since! A few minutes ago I happened to walk by the video monitor and check on Cori as she is taking a nap. Much to my surprise, I saw her sitting in the corner of her crib, holding her baby. As I watched for a few minutes she would cradle her baby, feed her the a bottle, hug her tight, kiss her head, and repeat the process over and over. It amazes me to see the motherly instinct in her even as a small child. I have never sat down and taught her how to care for a baby. She just knows and that melts my heart. I LOVE my sweet girl!!

Preview picture of our Maternity Pictures to come. I LOVE them!!

Here she is listening for her sister in the womb. I can’t wait to watch them grow up together and become the best of friends!

Love and Marriage!!

One post a week for the last month – what’s gotten into me?!?! :) Our family has been on the go lately, but this past weekend Dave and I were finally able to have some down time – and ALONE time!! :)

(Almost) every year, Dave and I go on our church’s annual Marriage Retreat in St. Augustine over Memorial Day Weekend. We’ve actually been 4 out of our 5 years of marriage!! Every year enriches our marriage in so many ways and it always gives us time to reconnect and rest from the ever so busy day to day lives we live. This year’s speakers, Jeff & Debbie McElroy, spoke on the Armor of God and boy was is GOOD!

¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. ¹⁶ In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. ¹⁷ Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:13-17

 

Marriage is definitely something Satan yearns to destroy. Just look at the divorce rate among us. By putting on the Armor of God each and every day, we can protect ourselves from the thing that Satan wants. God created marriage to last a lifetime, and that is exactly what I want for my marriage, which is exactly why we need HIM in the center of it all.

It was so good to be reminded of that. How often have I put off my quiet time because I’m just “too busy”? My quiet time is the sword of the spirit. If I haven’t spent time in God’s word, how then will I be prepared if battle (or conflict) arise? One thing we definitely took away from the weekend was putting on the shoes of peace. Cori has been transitioning to one nap a day the last few weeks, which means I have LESS time to get things done during the day without her following me around repeating, “mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy!!” (Another reason I haven’t blogged as much!!) Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE hearing those words from my sweet daughter, but it makes getting my “to-do” list done a little bit harder and I end up still running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get things done well into the night, when I should be spending quality time with my husband and family. SO, David and I decided that if when he get’s home, the “to-do” list isn’t done, we simply just need to move it to the following day. That way I can focus on the important things and our household can be a bit more peaceful. So far, it’s going a bit better. We have had to spend this week working on getting Cori’s routine back on track – that’s what a weekend at grandma’s will do to ya! HAHA!! Just kidding, mom!

When we weren’t listening to our wonderful speakers, we had lots of downtime to spend together. Saturday we spent some time at the pool. The pool feels AMAZING when you’re as pregnant as I am!! We also got to go to the movies to see the new Pirates movie in 3D! We haven’t been to a movie since I was pregnant with Cori – we actually saw Avatar the day before I delivered her and I had contractions the ENTIRE movie!! That wasn’t the case this time around. :) After the movie, we went to Saltwater Cowboys for dinner, which was delicious!! Crab stuffed shrimp and some yummy sauce on them – YUM! They also had the BEST house salad I’ve EVER had!! That dressing was to die for! … We had some great conversations, watched the sunset over the water, and even stopped for ice cream on the way home. Now, that’s my kind of date night!! Here are some pictures from our night out…

Can you see those cute little Mason jars we had as water glasses on our table? During dinner, we decided that we don’t like the glasses we have at home so we are going to sell them all and buy various Mason jars to have as glasses instead! HAHA! Very important conversation!! :)

 

 

Sunday we loaded up after our morning session with a few great friends to head to the beach! Actually our WHOLE table from the retreat as well as a couple from another table went to the beach together. It was so much fun!! At one point we were all out in the water getting pummeled by the waves and body surfing. Two pairs of sunglasses were lost! Thankfully, mine and David’s were not one of the two!! Finley must have felt right at home as I bobbed up and down in the water. HA!

Sunday night at the marriage retreat is always a fun night of dancing!! Every year, David and I do some line dancing, which is a fond memory of the summer we met and how our relationship all began!! This year, we were asked to actually teach a few dances to all 75 couples that attended the retreat. We had a blast! David actually put on the microphone headset (yes, like Justin Timberlake – he kind of looked like him too! haha!!) Can you just see David now with a headset on teaching people to dance. What a perfect fit!! Everyone has such a great time! We shut down the party at 11 pm when it was just us and our small group of friends left. I WISH I had pictures!!

After Mondays session, we headed down to Ocala to pick up our sweet little girl, but not before taking a picture with our table from the weekend.

David & I, Jonathan & Lacy, Travis & Shannon, Lance & Lauren

I just realized that David and I are the only couple NOT holding hands in this picture!! I promise we really do love each other!! :) … We had a wonderful time, as always! And, it was so nice to get some time away ALONE together before Finley arrives and we adjust to life as a family of 4. We were so thankful for this time, but can’t wait to see our family grow!!

Dave’s First Marathon!!

A few months ago Dave decided he wanted to run a marathon. He comes from a family of runners! His dad has run multiple marathons including Boston as well as a few other longer races. His younger brother has run 3 marathons in MN. And all the boys in the family have run a 1/2. So, when Dave’s resident schedule calmed down for a few months, he decided it was the perfect time to train for a full marathon. He did some research on which marathon would be the best and found out that Florida doesn’t offer any marathons during the summer months. Go figure! So, after much consideration, he found one in Chattanooga, TN that he thought would be a good one. There were only a few hiccups – it was 2 1/2 months away which meant a shorter training schedule AND it was a trail marathon in the mountains, which you can’t train specifically for here in Florida, but he was up for the challenge!

So, on February 27th, he went out for his first run – an easy 10! Do you know how long it would take me to train for an “easy 10”? HA! Not my hubby – 10 miles is cake for him! Training started well, but 2 weeks in he injured his foot playing soccer. That meant about 5 days off from running, but he was able to bike. … Then, 3 weeks before race day, he injured his ankle pretty badly. He ended up seeing an orthopedic about it who suggested at least a week off of running and physical therapy. The other problem – his bike was stolen from work and he couldn’t even compensate for not running by biking to work. Once his ankle felt a little better, he started running again on the treadmill. He didn’t hit the road running until his last 5 days of training. In the midst of all those hiccups, he stayed focused and excited about race day.

Friday before race day we drove the 7 hours to Chattanooga, TN. Fortunately, Ashley, my best friend from high school, and her husband moved to Chattanooga just 3 weeks prior and we were able to stay with them! It was so nice to see them!! Ashley made a special spaghetti dinner with homemade sauce just for Dave in preparation for his run. It was delicious! Dave’s dad also made the trip up from Tampa to support him and arrived later Friday night. We got everything ready for the next morning and tried to get to bed a little early – which was more like midnight! oops!

Dave and his dad got up early Saturday morning to get to the race well before the start time of 8:00am, which ended up getting pushed back to 8:30. Here he is getting ready to start the Scenic City Trail Marathon!

 

And, he’s off…

 

Into the woods he goes… only he’s not going to grandmother’s house! haha! :)

 

We, on the other hand, slept in a bit and met Dave and his dad about an hour and a half into the race. We arrived just before 10 am and met Dave at the 11 mile aid station. He was looking good – full of energy and feeling great. He said his ankle was bothering him a little, but the brace was helping. He grabbed some water and a quick family pic before heading off again!

 

His next stop was at mile 15 so we decided to take a quick tour of the mountain and see the sights of Chattanooga, TN from above. It was beautiful outside! Here we are at the lookout point.

Cori Belle, me, Ashley, & Lochlan

Cori Belle & Pops

It was SO WONDERFUL to have Dave’s dad come up to support him. He was such an encouragement to Dave and we certainly enjoyed getting to spend time with him too!

 

Then, we headed to the mile 15 aid station to meet Dave again. We had a little extra time and took some pictures of Cori and Lochlan playing in the grass with a stick. Lochlan was wearing a sweet little painters hat, which Cori took from him to try on herself. It was so cute watching them interact!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave made it in, still looking good. It was a much shorter stop than the 11 mile stop and he was off again. Next stop – 20.5 miles. We packed up and drove over to meet him. We got there pretty quickly and had to wait for a bit. Pops decided to run up the trail to meet him and run with him into the aid station. He did that quite a few times and ended up running about 9 miles that morning! Cori was getting hungry at this point and decided she needed a snack. She ate 4 bananas, a few gummy bears, and some Pringles from the aid station. Thankfully the people in charge didn’t mind! :)

 

Dave finally arrived. You could tell his ankle was bothering him, but he was in good spirits to finish. He grabbed a few cold, wet towels to throw on his back, re-hydrated and headed off. Next stop – 23.8 miles – then all the way to the finish. Here he is heading down the mountain after mile 20 …

 

The finish line was an uphill climb out of the mountains and onto a paved road. Couldn’t they have just put the finish on a flat surface!?! The last thing I would want to do if I was finishing a marathon would be to run uphill!!! But the runners did great! Here comes Dave…

 

He finished in 3:58.24 in the top 30. I got the picture from the back and Pop’s got the picture from the front. I thought it was pretty cool that we captured the pictures at the exact same time!! The clock doesn’t lie! :) If you look closely, you can see Cori in the picture above. She was so excited to see her daddy and ran from where you see her in the picture to the finish line. She wanted credit for the marathon too and thought it was a must to cross the finish line! :)

She was a little worried as she watched her daddy sit on the ground while we threw cold towels and water over his head. It was HOT out there, that’s for sure!! After some rest, water, electrolytes, and of course, a mountain dew, he was feeling a little better!

 

We were all so proud of him and so glad we could be there to support him during his first marathon!! It definitely wasn’t an easy first, but he did awesome! Actually, most people there were surprised that he had chosen this marathon to be his first and were very proud of his accomplishment.

 

Congrats, Dave! You are amazing. I love you and am so proud of you!! :)