What I Love about YOU … week 15-17

week 15-17

I LOVE …

• Seeing you and that sweet sister of yours together! She loves playing with you and helping me take care of you! Yesterday we were in the post office and you were N O T happy. Cori held your paci in your mouth and put her face up against your face to help calm you down. Talk about melting a mama’s heart!

• That you are more and more interested in your toys! You love playing with this butterfly (as did your sister!) and you enjoy a good laugh at that monkey that hangs on your tummy time mat.

• This picture of you talking to the singing bear. You thought he was SO cool! :) Mommy thought it was so cute!

• Seeing you practice standing up! Look how strong you are!

• That you choose to sleep on your side. You are still swaddled (we are using the woombie now and I really like it!), but you can get your hands up enough to suck on them without escaping. So, you sleep on your left side sucking on those hands. Daddy thinks you’re ready to stop being swaddled, but I’m not so sure!
• Those sweet hands of yours! Apparently you love them too! HA!

• Sweet family pictures with you in them!

• Your squeals of laughter! You love when people talk to you and you love talking back to them.
• Putting BIG bows on your head!! I normally make them, but this bow came in a pack of two at Wal-Mart for only $2.50. Can’t beat that!

• How truly B E A U T I F U L you are!! And, sweet sister L O V E!

I opened my email last week to see a message from Gerber about my 16 WEEK OLD baby! Well, sweet one, you are 17 weeks old today. I know I say it every week, but seriously, where does the time go?! You will officially be 4 months old this upcoming Tuesday. Oh, how I  L O V E you!

Every time I do a “What I Love about YOU” post, I always go back to see what Cori Belle was doing around this time. She was already rolling from back to front and had stopped being swaddled. You are almost there, sweet one. She was also sleeping in her crib by now, but you, my dear, still get to sleep in our room. That’s because mommy isn’t quite ready to put you in your sisters room over night yet. We are still working on napping together! And, Miss Cori has shown us that she can now climb into your crib! I’m a little afraid of waking up to TWO girls in the SAME bed! No, thank you! … Cori also got to taste ice cream for the first time around this age. Next time we go to Chick-fil-a, I promise to let you try! :)

On a side note, the day before I posted about Cori’s 14-17 week post, I saw that I posted about a fabulous praise and worship song called, “Our God Saves.” That makes me smile because that’s the same song I’ve been singing around our house for the past few days. Oh, how I love the way God works. I’m so blessed to know Him and I pray that you know Him too. Until next time…

Dwell

One thing I ask from the LORD,

this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the LORD

and to seek Him in His temple.

Psalm 27:4

 

I was just talking about dwelling in the Lord yesterday as I posted about our trip to the Pumpkin Patch so I thought I’d share a little more about that. A few weeks ago our church had it’s annual Fall Mini Retreat for the women’s ministry. This year, it was Kristy, Emily, and I’s to plan. We decided on a theme of Dwell – what it looks like to daily dwell in the Lord, delight as we dwell in the Lord, and our desire to dwell. Boy, was it G O O D! Since I was on the planning committee I didn’t get to sit in on all the speakers we had for the day. The one I did sit in on was about daily dwelling in the Lord and what that looks like for each one of us. I was so encouraged by the other ladies in the room as we each went around sharing how that looks in our home.

Oh how I  L O V E these girls!!

 

Having a little F U N!

 

During this season of my life, I’m working on my need to “let go” and trust in the Lord. I have shared about interview season on the blog before and I know there is an “end date” in sight where we will finally know where our family will re-locate, but the whole waiting thing is T O U G H! I’m completely at peace about moving. I know God has big plans for our family and even though I’m sad about leaving friends and family behind, I am confident God’s got it under control. What I’m not at peace about is W H E R E. We have to sit down and look at all 11 programs and decide which is first. What if we choose wrong?! Deep down I know God is in control and will place us exactly where he wants us, but my flesh feels very anxious about creating that rank list! There are so many different cities to consider with pro’s and con’s in each one. I just don’t know how to decide!!!

This mornings bible study had me reflecting on Psalm 130:5 – “I  W A I T for the Lord, my soul waits; and in His Word, I put my H O P E.” Praying that I can dwell on that verse until we submit our rank list on Nov 15, and then again until Nov 30 when we hear the big news.

Praying for you all today. And, asking that you would be praying for me too!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Before I get into the blog post I had planned for today, I just want to take a minute to share a little bit about my day to day. I have been trying to get up every morning between 5 and 5:30. It’s early, I know, and I don’t even have a real job to get ready for. Last week I managed to get up at 5am three days in a row. Then there were a few days when sleep deprivation got the best of me. Today was another early morning. I share this with you because on those early mornings that I do get up, I sit down with my cup of coffee and the Word of God. I can’t even begin to tell you how G O O D it feels to have that special time with the Lord. You see, I may not have a real job to get ready for in the mornings anymore, but I have a different kind of “job” that’s SO much more I M P O R T A N T – raising my children. That time with the Lord renews my mind and spirit with patience for the day. My attitude changes and my heart longs to please the Lord so deeply. Those are things I C A N N O T do on my own. God clothes me with his strength, his peace, his patience, his love, his gentleness … I don’t know any other way to prepare for the day that is better than a little time with the Lord. So, I encourage you. Dwell on the Lord first thing in the morning. I guarantee you will see a difference in your day. God bless you!

………

 

It’s beginning to feel very much like F A L L around our neck of the woods! The temperatures are dropping and jackets are needed. My air has been off for over a week and the door to the back porch has been open to feel the cool breeze. I’m loving it! With the fall comes a trip to the pumpkin patch. We have been to the patch for a little pumpkin fun for the past two weekends now and my girl has been loving it. She has now added “hay ride”, “pumpkin”, and “scarecrow” to her repertoire of words (which grows of about 5 new words/phrases DAILY!!)

Our first trip to the patch was with our playgroup. Last year the kids were so small. We could just sit them all on a pumpkin (where they would stay) and take photos of them. Cori was crawling then. This year was SO different as they R A N around the patch. It was a bit more of a difficult task to corral them for pictures!

Here they are L A S T year.

 

And, here they are T H I S year.

 

Can you believe the difference?! Oh, they grow SO fast!!  I remember that we all went back to Jen’s house after the patch last year and that’s when I told the playgroup that I was pregnant with Finley. W O W! Speaking of sweet Finley, here is a picture of my T W O girls, who I just completely adore!!

 

Cori had a spent a great deal of time playing in the play house with her friends while Finley took a snooze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following weekend we headed back to the Pumpkin Patch for a little family fun! I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love my family of F O U R!! They are so precious to me! Here are some pictures of our day!

 

Aren’t they just the two most A D O R A B L E girls you’ve ever seen?!?! I’m only a bit partial! :) It was such a fun day together as a family. After the patch, we enjoyed a nice family lunch at no place other than, Moes! I swear they know us by name there! HA!

Until next time.

Happy Fall!

A New Hair-do!

CB’s hair is now long enough to actually put it up! I’ve been trying for the last few days to put it up with a rubber band and until now have been unsuccessful! Yesterday, however, I showed her this butterfly bow and asked her if she wanted to wear it. She said YES! I told her that it was too small to fit on her big head band so she would have to let me put her hair up. Success!! Doesn’t she just look so stinkin’ cute?!? She let me do her hair again today!! I’m loving it!

Interview Season Continues

It’s hard to believe that David is on the tail-end of his interviews for fellowship. 8 are done and he has 3 to go. The day after we got home from our trip to Virginia, he loaded himself up in a rental car and started another full week of interviews! He drove from Tampa to Charlotte, Charlotte to Birmingham, Birmingham to Atlanta where he hopped on a plane to Kansas City, then continued on from Kansas City to DC, DC to Orlando, where I finally picked him up after a grueling week of 5 interviews in 5 days! It really wasn’t that grueling, but it was definitely a FULL week! Luckily my momma came to stay with me while David was gone so I didn’t have to endure a week alone with the kiddos. THANK YOU mom!! It was so nice to have the company!

Each night after David’s interview, we would talk on the phone and I would add each program to our spread sheet we‘ve got going on to help with the ranking process. It’s a lot of info and it’s going to be a tough decision!

The Sunday after David returned, we both hopped on a plane (with Finley in tow – CB got to go to Sea World with her grandparents! Lucky girl!) to fly to Louisville, KY. I will say that I stepped off the plane there and had a feeling that we were “home.” I’m doing lots of praying about what that might mean. There is also a program that Dave has extremely good feelings about. We are praying about that too. But there are 3 more to go and we will just have to wait and see. I know God already has the place picked out.

 

 

It was nice to have another “mini vacation” with David and Finley in Louisville. It was a GREAT city! The same guy that designed Central Park in NY, designed 6 parks in Louisville. We spent a good deal of time driving around and it was the neatest thing to see so many people outside with their families walking and jogging on a random Monday evening. It seems like a very healthy, family friendly town.

The city is built along the river that separates Kentucky from Indiana. Our first night there we walked along the river at one of the parks. It was beautiful!! The bridge you see in the pictures below is actually a pedestrian bridge. So cool! And, the land you see across the river .. is Indiana!

 

Here is another beautiful picture as the sun was setting…

 

Finley and I spent some time hanging out in the hotel room while David interviewed all day. I have to admit, it was so peaceful and relaxing!! I needed that!

 

I’m glad to be home and getting back into our normal life routine. I feel like we been going and going for some time now! The kids and I are done with our interview travels, but David has 3 more to go … Dallas, Charlotte, and Phoenix. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as we make a decision about where God wants us to go for Fellowship. And, if you have any insight into any of the cities we are considering, please share!! I’ll be updating on the final 3 shortly!!

Until next time…

A Little Perspective

I tried to do too many things this morning. It really didn’t even seem like too much, but with 2 kids, sometimes things that don’t seem like a lot of work become HUGE tasks … like simply going to the gym, showering, getting gas, stopping at Target and the post office. I wanted to be home by 12:30 so Cori could eat and go down for a nap at a reasonable time. At 1:00 I was still standing in Target (in the little girls section debating on a pea coat for Cori, which I didn’t get, but wish I had!) and hadn’t even gone to the post office yet. David called to check in on our day and in that moment, Finley started fidgeting in the K’tan and Cori started crying in the cart. I started crying too. I literally felt like leaving my cart of goodies right there in the kids section and be-lining it out to my car. The only reason I didn’t was because I needed those garbage bags in my cart. We have been out of garbage bags at the house for 2 days now!

Sometimes I can be pretty easy going, but other times, I tend to let the little things in life get to me WAY to easily! After I hung up with David and took a few breaths, I made my way to the check out line and then headed for home. Forget the post office. That’s for another day! … A few minutes down the road, Francescia Battestelli’s song, “This is the Stuff” came on the radio. I’ve blogged about this song before, but in that moment, I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m so thankful that my God knows me so well. I SO needed to hear that…

This is the stuff that DRIVES ME CRAZY!

This is the stuff that’s GETTING TO ME lately!

In the middle of my LITTLE MESS I forget how BIG I’M BLESSED!

 

Every once in a while, I need a little perspective. It’s okay if things don’t go my way. It’s okay I can’t get it all done (even though I so desperately want to!) I can’t and never will be super mom. I really should stop trying. And, getting so upset about it that I’m standing in Target crying about it is absolutely absurd! Thank you, Lord for the reminder! Praying that each of you reading this is having a BLESSED day! Love to you all!

Dinner Time!

Just had to post this fun picture of my girl at the dinner table! David’s aunt got Cori this plate at one of Finley’s baby showers. It’s so much fun! And, I know I’m a bit partial, but doesn’t she just look adorable! :)

Sweet CB – you are LOVED!

What I love about YOU … 12-14 weeks

Finley,

You turned 3 months old on the first of the month. I’m loving this age with you. I’m a little sad to see the newborn stage go, but am excited to see you grow. I’m also loving the sleep I get now too! I can honestly say that I fall more in love with you everyday. I don’t know how my heart can grow in love for you and Cori so much, but it just does. You melt my heart and I just can’t get enough of you. Oh, how I love you!

Mommy

I LOVE …

• That you are more alert and awake each day.
• Having you sit with us at the dinner table in your Bumbo.
• That after being awake literally ALL day at the Neptune Festival in VA Beach, you finally passed out in my arms as I rocked you in a white rocking chair by the beach. Your daddy had gone to get the car and it was just the 2 of us. It was certainly a beautiful moment.
• Seeing you and your cousin Jona together. You girls are just 3 weeks apart and I can’t wait when you can sit and play together for real!

Ya’ll were holding hands here. So sweet!

• That when you’re really tired and pass out in my arms, you put one hand over your face like a damsel in distress. Your sister did the same thing.
• How much you love bath time and how sweet you look in those PJ’s afterwards!

• Your BIG, wide mouth grins!! You truly have a beautiful smile!
• How you rub your eyes when you wake up and nestle your little face into my shoulder.
• That you were snuggling with this bunny the other night. We bought this bunny at Ikea when your sister was a few months old. She never really attached to it. Maybe you will. :)

• How you LOVE being in the K’tan.
• How infatuated you are with your hands!
• Watching you watch your sister. You are always wondering what that girl is up to! In this picture, she decided to lay her baby doll right next to you and cover you both up!

100 More Years

My friend, Emily, who I got to visit last week in Virginia, just had a sweet little baby girl named Lily. She posted just the other day about the transition from pregnancy to parenting and how when that baby arrives, he/she just captures your heart. It’s so true. I am blessed to be a mommy and I couldn’t imagine life with out my little girls!

She posted this song that I fell in LOVE with the moment I heard it and I just had to post it to share with you! And, to have here on my blog for memory sake. It’s a BEAUTIFUL song!

 

Francesca Battistelli's "Hundred More Years"

A diamond ring and twelve red roses
Everything she ever wanted
All those dreams and now they're finally here
She's so young and he's so perfect
They waited for love and it was worth it
She wants to feel like this for a hundred years

All this life still yet to live and they can hardly wait
They can laugh
They can cry
The future looks so beautiful and bright
They can dance under the moonlight
'Cause God is smilin' down on them tonight
And she wants to stay right here
Make it last for a hundred more years

She's got blue eyes just like her mother
Three years old, he's crazy for her
He wants to freeze this day before it disappears
She's spinnin' like a little princess
Makin' sure he's gonna notice
He could watch her twirl for a hundred years

She'll grow up and she'll leave home but until that day
They can laugh
They can cry
The future looks so beautiful and bright
They can dance under the moonlight
'Cause God is smilin' down on them tonight
And he wants to stay right here
Make it last for a hundred more years

And its only time
But it flies right by
And today is sweeter than we know

And so they dance under the moonlight
While God is smilin' down on them tonight
And they want to stay right here
For a hundred more years

……………

 

The verse about the little blue eyed girl brings tears to my eyes. All I can think of is my sweet Cori Belle with those big blue eyes. She spins all the time like a little princess and she is always making sure her daddy is watching her. Oh, how I love it. Oh, how I love her and Finley too. My life is one that is truly blessed. Not perfect. Just blessed in every way possible. And, I hope it lasts for a 100 more years!

Pediatric EM Fellowship .. the beginning of a new season

Dave is finishing up his third year as a Pediatric Resident. He is almost half way through his final year and I could not be more excited for him. He has worked so hard for SO long!! At the end of last year, he decided that he wanted to specialize even further by becoming a certified Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician, which means MORE TRAINING!!! That’s right, med-school and residency apparently weren’t enough, so fellowship, here we come!! The Emergency Medicine (EM) Fellowship is another 3 years of training. It also means that we have to move. Even with the new Pediatric ER opening at Shands, a fellowship program won’t be underway for another few years. It’s a bit surreal to think of moving at the moment. We’ve been in Gainesville since college. It certainly feels like home to us, but we are trusting in the Lord to lead us in the right direction to a new home for the next 3 years.

In July, Dave applied to 20 EM Fellowships. Last month the interviews started rolling in. Dave would literally call me everyday at lunch and say, “Got another interview.” He has 11 on the calendar. EM is a pretty competitive fellowship and Dave wasn’t sure how many programs he would hear back from. I on the other hand knew those programs would love him! We definitely feel blessed to have that many interviews on the calendar and can’t wait to hear the news on November 30th just where exactly we will spend the next 3 years of our lives.

Just like residency, fellowship is a match program. That means that after all the interviews are said and done, we will rank the programs he interviewed from 1-11 (best to least) and the programs will rank their applicants. All rankings get submitted into a computer system that matches the numbers. Hopefully we will get one of our top 3 programs, but it’s really up to God at that point and we are just praying that he is already preparing and paving our way!

Last Monday Dave set out for Jacksonville for his first interview. He is pretty familiar with Jax since as a Med-Student he spent a few months doing rotations there. It’s affiliated with Shands and UF here in Gainesville. He would spend 70% of his time working in the ER at Shands Jax and 30% of his time working in the children’s ER at Wolfson. Our best friends in the whole world live in Jacksonville, which are a HUGE perk to the program there.

I got to travel with Dave to his second interview in Norfolk, Virginia. I was impressed with this program before we even left for his interview – mainly because they said a suit was unnecessary and asked him to wear Khaki's and a polo. Now, that’s my (and Dave’s) kind of program! The town seemed nice and my good friend, Emily, from college lives there so that’s a nice perk as well.

We had a nice mini-vacation while in Norfolk. Finley traveled with us and Cori stayed with the grandparents. It was nice to spend some time with just Finley, but of course, we missed Cori like crazy! We stayed at a super cute Bed and Breakfast called the Page House Inn.

Virginia Beach is only 20 minutes from Norfolk. How crazy is it that we would actually live closer to the beach in Virginia than we do here in Florida! Friday we spent the day walking along the boardwalk in VA Beach at the Neptune Art Festival. It was tons of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were having a sand castle building contest and it was insane!! Professional sand castle builders --- who knew there was such a profession?! It definitely takes some skill! Each “builder” was given 24 hours (8 hrs a day for 3 days) to compete their castle. They had 2 hours left on their 3rd day when we were there. Check out these pictures!!

 

On the plane ride home Dave and I made an excel spreadsheet listing each program he will be interviewing with. We wrote down the things that are important to us about each program (well, only the two he has interviewed with so far) and we will be filling in the rest of the programs as he visits them. We are also putting them in the order in which we like them as we go.. that way when interviews are said and done, we should already have our rank list complete and just can double check our criteria and PRAY. There will be LOTS of prayer accompanying this decision. We could NOT do it with out the help of God because His plans are greater than ours and we want to make sure our will aligns with His.

Dave will be interviewing the entire month of October and I’ll update as we go. It’s definitely an exciting time, but scary too. Praying for God’s will ALL OVER this season of life!