What I love about YOU … week 10 & 11

I LOVE …

• Gazing into your eyes while you coo and smile at me!

• The way your face lights up when our eyes make contact with one another.
• Funny faces like these! You LOVE to stick out your tongue. So did your sister! :) That bottom picture is one of mommy’s FAVOTITES!!!

• That you love looking at books already! You love to talk to the characters on the page!

• That you always sleep on your back with your knees bent.
• That you and your sister take a long nap at the SAME TIME!! 12:30-3 almost everyday! It gives mommy a nice break! A.K.A – time to do chores, blog, work Premier, read, etc!
• Your neck strength! You’re pretty content sitting on your belly, holding your head up, and watching your surroundings for a good 15 minutes. I also LOVE these pictures of you in PINK! I’m such a girl! ha!

 

• How easy going you are! You seem to just roll with it on most days and really only get upset when you are tired or hungry.
• Sweet pictures of you!

• Your leg strength. You do love to stand!
• Seeing this in the morning as mommy gets ready for the day. You and your sister hanging out together!

oh, and this one too…

• How simply BEAUTIFUL you are to us! We LOVE you!!

Apparently mommy took A LOT of pictures the day you were wearing that sweet hot pink “cuddle me” onesie. So many that you tried to warn me when you were getting tired. Unfortunately, mommy didn’t listen and it turned out like this… oops!

I LOVE you!

~Mommy

SURPRISE!

On August 31st, David celebrated his 29th birthday. He worked late, but I made him a yummy dinner and a brownie cake. Little did he know that I was planning a surprise birthday party with all of our friends that  upcoming Friday. David has ALWAYS wanted a surprise party. When I turned 19 (it was the summer we met and we’d only been dating a few weeks) he had all my friends gather at his house while we went to lunch. When we got back to his house and walked in the door, all my friends were there to greet me with a “Surprise!” I had NO idea!! He has been talking about it ever since, proclaiming that I could never get him like he got me. HA! It may have taken me close to 10 years, but I got him!!

Our good friend, Caleb, sent out an email the week of David’s birthday inviting all the guys to come over to his house for a guys night. David got the email and immediately came to as me if he could go. It took everything in me NOT to bust out laughing!! I gave him a little bit of a hard time, “Honey, you’re working so much and you work 24 hours the following day. The kids and I would really like to spend time with you, but I know it’s important for you to hang out with the guys too, so… fine you can go. But, please don’t be out too late!” Worked like a charm!

So on Friday, I prepared and cooked the food, and went over to Emily and Caleb’s house after the girls woke up from their nap to set everything up. David actually ended up getting off work a little early and called to let me know he’d be coming home before guys night so he could see us. UHHHH – “Sorry honey, we are out at a friends house for an afternoon play date. Since you were going to guys night, the girls and I decided to get together.” I HATE lying, but it was for a good cause! :)

Finally, it was time for the surprise. 7 o’clock rolled around and David’s car pulled up. Everyone, except for the guys coming to the guys night, hid behind the island in the kitchen. Caleb opened the door and made some small talk until David walked around the corner and we all jumped out and yelled, “SURPRISE!” His face was priceless. He truly had NO idea!!!

 

It was a “tail-gate” themed party since the Gator’s first game was the following day and Dave was going to have to miss it since he was working a 24 hour shift. Everyone wore their gator attire and the food was tail-gate style… Pulled pork sandwiches, twice baked potatoes, chicken wings, buffalo chicken dip, celery and ranch, chips and salsa, and a few other goodies. It was delicious!!

 

The first thing we did was roast David. It was so much fun!! I told everyone to complete the sentence, “You know you’re David Smith when… “ We had him sit in the front of the room and everyone read him the “roast” they had prepared. He was a little nervous about it, but it turned out really cute!

Some of my favorites were,

• “You might be David Smith if you think it’s ok (or cool) to sleep and drive.” – He pretty much drives to work with his eyes closed. I’m not condoning it. The kid needs to drink coffee!
• “You might be David Smith if the Saturday of your dreams is shopping at Lowes and doing a DIY project at the house.”
• “You might be David Smith if you could be found running barefoot through the Appalachian Mountains.” – He runs in minimalist shoes now and just ran a marathon up in the mountains!
• “You might be David Smith if you’re “Mr. Premier!”” – He is just a hubby who supports his wife in selling jewelry! :)

It really was loads of fun! Then, we all just hung out and celebrated David. Emily made her famous cake balls, I made an Oreo Birthday Cake, and Lacy made rice crispy treats in the shape of a “29.”

 

All the kiddos had fun too! There were only 2 boys amongst all the girls! We did get a picture of all the girls in their Gator Gear. Too cute!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just look at those sweet girls of mine! I could just eat them up!!

Here were all the guys who were supposed to come out for a “guys night!” We thought we’d include the boys in this picture too since there were only 2 of them!!

 

The party was a huge success and I’m so glad I can finally say that I got David. I really am bad about keeping surprises on the DL. My face says it all. I think David’s crazy work schedule helped me contain the news. So glad we got to celebrate my sweet hubby on his 29th birthday!!

Snack Bin

I blogged earlier today about organizing a snack bin in my pantry. It took all of 5 minutes and it’s done! Love me some organization!

 

I did some fridge organization too..

 

I also spent a good deal of time today on Pinterest and have some fabulous ideas for DIY projects around the house! Hopefully my sweet hubby will be excited about them too! hehe! :)

Feeling Inspired!

I have found a new blog that I an in L O V E with!! Partly because it’s colorful, organized, fun, and has TONS of super cute home/organization ideas!! If I lived any where near the girl who writes on this blog, I definitely think we’d be friends! :) Maybe we should move to her home town for fellowship! Too bad I think it’s somewhere SUPER cold!! Anywho, I think you should definitely check it out – It’s called IHeart Organizing.  Those of you who truly know me are smiling and shaking your head just by reading the name of that blog because you know me and you know that I’m obsessed with organization. I’m thinking about you Stephanie Whitehurst because you’ve seen my classroom! HA! :) But wait until you take a look at her blog and see all the COLOR. That’s so me, too!

But, Jen (the girl from IHeart Organizing – yes,we are on a first name basis! HA!), seriously takes the cake when it comes to crafty ideas and organization. My friend Kristy is the one who introduced me to this blog. She knew I would love it and she was SO right! I’ve been reading it daily and catching up on some of her older posts too. What inspired me today was her post about packing lunches and snack organization.

 

Now I don’t have kids lunches to pack, but I could help in the “packing my husbands lunch” department a little. And the snack organization would be so helpful when my daughter wants me to refill her bowl of “boof boof” (gold fish) 20 thousand times a day! Instead I could just hand her a little baggy with her gold fish snack already portioned. Such a grand idea! And, how cute would a little basket look in my pantry with tons or organized snacks! Be still my heart! :)

My second wave of inspiration came when I found a site called Pinterest. You may have heard of it, but it was new news to me!! It’s basically a virtual pin board where you can “'pin” all your grand ideas from pictures you’ve seen floating around online. I don’t know about you, but Dave and I cut pictures out of magazines for inspiration on our dream home we hope to build one day. We actually have a file in our filing cabinet where all these cut outs are stored. Now, I can virtually cut them out and pin them online! Sweet! Why didn’t I think of that?!? My pin board is a little dull at the moment seeing as I just created it yesterday and haven’t really had the time to do some picture inspiration searching, but if you want to feel inspired, just check out Jen’s Pinterest Board. It’s AWESOME!

And finally, Jen from IHeart Organizing, just announced that she will be full time blogging from here on out. Full time blogging?! I don’t know how you get that job, but I want it! Of course I LOVE what I do working for Premier and selling jewelry. But, I’d love to get paid to blog too! Can I do both? Pretty please?! I mean I only have 34 followers (love to all you followers of mine!) but Jen has 4855 followers! Woah! A girl can dream, right?!

Anyway, I hope I’ve inspired you a little bit today. I can’t wait to organize my pantry! There really is something about organizing closets, cabinets, pantry’s, drawers, and all things hidden that make my heart skip a beat. I know, I’m weird! I better hop to it! Happy Organizing!

Birth Announcement

Well, it’s only 10 weeks late! HA! We had Finley’s newborn pictures taken when she was 2 weeks old and never seemed to get the chance to sit down and create her birth announcement. But, here it is!!

 

 

I am in love with it and almost feel like we need to re-do Cori Belle’s, but I’m sure each one will be different with each child. The greatest thing about this announcement is that David made it. He is SO good like that. I find something online that I like and he re-creates it even better than the original! Thank you for taking the time to make this, honey!! It turned out BEAUTIFUL! 

We are only sending them out to our immediate families since they’re getting out so late, but it’s here on the blog for all to see! Hope you like it! Finley is such a sweet, loving, and easy going baby. We are truly BLESSED and so IN LOVE all over again!

A Blessed Sunday

It’s crazy to think that 10 years ago today “9/11” happened. I remember sitting in psychology class on the UNF campus, when someone ran into our lecture hall and said, “A plane just hit the second tower.” Our professor dismissed class and I walked back to my dorm. The campus looked desolate and I remember feeling confused. My roommate had the news on and filled me in on what was happening. It was a surreal moment. The students in my dorm seemed to all be on the phone with their parents, planning their trips home. My roommate and I sat on the couch, with our eyes glued to the TV, in complete silence. It felt in that moment that the world was coming to an end.

Fast forward 10 years later. America is still standing and we are still going about our every day lives. Since then, I’ve graduated college, gotten married, and had 2 children. God is good. I stood in my bathroom this morning getting ready for church, watching Cori play on our bed with Finley, and could do nothing but smile. I feel so blessed to live here in America. A place were I feel safe, a place where God is important, and a place where believers can gather together to worship the Lord with out being persecuted. America certainly isn’t perfect, but it’s where I live, and I’m grateful.

In remembering 9/11 this morning, it made me stop for a minute and soak in my sweet family. The time that I have with them is precious. The families who lost loved ones 10 years ago today, had no clue what was about to happen when they said good-bye for the day. We have no guarantee for tomorrow. We have no guarantee for a few hours from now. We only have the very moment that we are in right now.  Sometimes we need that reminder to cherish it. I don’t know about you, but I feel so blessed, especially today. I have two WONDERFUL girls and one AMAZING hubby!

Big Girl Bed!

Hey there blog friends! I have so many things to tell you; so many posts to write – David’s surprise 29th birthday party, our trips to the splash park this summer, how sweet my precious girls looked on Sunday as they both wore their hot pink dresses to church, my Home Notebook I’ve started to create, how great it felt to be back in the gym today (thank you, Katie!!!) and know that Finley is old enough to go to the nursery so I can work out on a daily basis, what our schedule is like with 2 kids, how Finley is sleeping through the night and what helped me get her there, what I love about Finley at week 10 (which is TODAY!), etc, etc. But, the post that takes the cake today is about Cori Belle, who slept in her big girl bed for the FIRST time last night!!

For the past few days I’ve been asking Cori at every nap and every night if she’d like to try out her big girl bed. Her normal response is to say no and point to or walk towards her crib. That’s been fine with me. She is only 20 months old and I’m in no hurry to rush her into something she isn’t ready for, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. She’ll go when she’s ready.

Well, last night after our normal bedtime routine we were getting ready for her to go to bed. I asked her if she’d like to try out her big girl bed and she walked over to her toddler bed, climbed in, and said, “Night Night Mama.” I got her pillow, snuggle blanket and baby out of her crib (a Nuk too because she still uses those to sleep) and tucked her in with a light blanket. We said our prayers, I turned out the light, and shut the door. Thankfully we now have a video monitor so I could see how she responded to being in a completely different bed in the pitch black dark. She laid completely still and went to sleep!!

To be honest, I felt a little anxious about it. I don’t know if I was worried she would get up, fall out, etc. But I think it was mostly because she is turning a new corner. She is growing up and handled herself very well in that big girl bed of hers!

This morning when Finley got up to nurse around 5, I checked the monitor to see how Cori did throughout the night. She was not in her bed. I used the remote on the monitor to pan the room. She was no where to be found. Then, I heard her make a little noise. I decided not to go into her room to check. I may not have been able to see her on the video monitor, but she was alive and well so I decided to let her sleep (wherever it is that she was – I knew she was at least in her room). … At 8:15 she was still sleeping so I decided to go check it out. I opened the door and walked over to her bed and this is what I saw…

 

She was UNDER her crib!! Her big girl bed is angled out of the corner next to her crib. You can see the foot board of her bed on the bottom left of this picture covered with her comforter. She had somehow managed to get out of her bed in the middle of the night and crawl under her crib. I wish my video monitor took live video so I could see exactly when and HOW this happened!!! She was also SOUND ASLEEP when I walked in at 8:15. Here is her sweet little head under her crib.

 

I gently woke her up. She was a little freaked out and looked a bit confused. Wouldn’t you be if you woke up under your bed and had no clue how you got there?!? HA! She crawled out and the first words out of her mouth were, “Daddy?” as she pointed to the door. That girl is always thinking about her daddy! After she figured out everything was okay, I walked her back to her bed and reminded her that she should sleep in there and not on the floor! Then we took a picture, because we LOVE taking pictures around our house! Can you tell?!?

Here she is practicing how to sleep in her big girl bed!

 

Cheese!!

 

It’s nap time at our house at the moment. Both girls are asleep! I love that they both take naps at the same time. Then, I get some time to blog, check email, clean, prep dinner, etc. Such a peaceful time! … Little Miss is asleep in her big girl bed for her nap and she hasn’t made it under her crib yet. HA! She looks pretty zonked out on the video monitor. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Happy Friday!

What I love about you … week 7, 8 & 9

 

I LOVE…

• That you are SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!! Mission accomplished! You’ve been sleeping from 9pm-6am pretty consistently now for the past week! I downloaded this online seminar called Moms on Call and got some GREAT tips for getting you to sleep through the night. It was pretty much a refresher of what I already knew, but there were some new things in there too. If you are having trouble getting your baby so sleep, I HIGHLY recommend them! :) … OH, and we moved you into the pack and play this week. You have officially outgrown the Moses Basket! We also found a swaddle that you can’t get out of. Wahoo!!

• That you are rolling over!!
• Seeing you stretch when we undo your swaddle.

• How badly you want to talk! You coo and coo and coo at us!! When we talk to you, you move your mouth, stick out your tongue, and try your hardest to talk back to us. I LOVE watching you. I think you’re going to be a talker, for sure!!
• Your BEAUTIFUL smiles!! I can’t take my eyes off of them for even a second to snap a picture!
• How alert you are during your wake time.
• Seeing you and your sister in the bath tub together for the first time last night! The bumbo worked out great!!

• This picture of you in your Bumbo! Too cute!! I LOVE that you are using the Bumbo seat now because you can actually be a part of activities with Cori and I. In this series of pictures, we were outside on the back porch playing with sidewalk chalk! LOVED having you there sweet girl!

• Hanging out with my girl! I can’t tell you just how much I LOVE spending time with you!!!
• That you LOVE to be held. You could be crying your sweet little eyes out and the second I pick you up, you are completely content.
• Those extra snuggles before you go to bed.
• Hearing your sister say, “Hi Baby,” in the most precious voice. She really loves you!!
• That you are finally liking your car seat. You used to cry every time we put you in there, but you don’t mind it much now!

• That your sister loves doing tummy time with you!

• Reminiscing about you and how fast your growing already! This picture was taken when you were almost 7 weeks and just hasn’t made it to the blog yet. I LOVE it. You look so sweet – as you are! :)

 

You went to the doctors last week for your two month check up. You were 23 inches long and 10.1 lbs. You and Cori are growing at about the same speed, but you are a bit taller than she was. We have pretty much packed away all your newborn clothes and have moved into 0-3 months. You are mostly wearing 3 month PJ’s at the moment because of your length.

Oh, sweet Finley, time sure is flying. I can’t believe you are already 9 weeks old. I’m so glad you are part of our family and I can’t imagine life with out you now. I always wondered how moms could love two children as much as you loved one. Now I know. A mother’s heart just expands with each additional child and you love each one more than you can even explain! You are so, so loved and I want to freeze this moment and all these precious memories with you.

Confessions…

I just got out of the shower and there are so many things running through my head that are bothering me about ME at the moment. I’m not blogging about them for sympathy or for anyone to try and make me feel better. I just have to get them off my chest and this blog is one way that lets me do that.

• I threw David a surprise birthday party last night and completely forgot to invite 3 very important people … my sister being one of them!!! Ugh!
• I offended a friend twice in the last week and literally had no clue I did it. She brought it up to me (thankfully) and I waned to crawl under a rock! Open mouth, insert foot!
• I’m SO behind in Premier returns it’s making me SICK!
• One of my customers just sent me a text asking me if I had cashed her check from like 2 WEEKS AGO because it hadn’t cleared yet. Nope, I’m behind in that too! Ugh!
• I took the girls to the pool today and a sweet little 9 year-old girl was playing with us. She asked me if I had a c-section with the newest addition to our family. What would prompt her to ask that question you might ask? Because the stretch marks on my belly are so AWFUL, the little girl thought it was a c-section scar! DISGUSTING!!!
• I keep saying I’m giving up soda because it’s empty calories that are not helping me get back to pre-baby weight and every time I go to Moes, I get a soda!!! WHY!?!

Do ya’ll ever get to thinking about things like this and just have a hard time letting them go? Rhetorical question since I disabled the comments section. I really don’t want anyone to feel like they have to say something to make me feel better about myself. I just needed to vent! I literally want to THROW UP thinking that I forgot to invite my own sister to my husbands birthday party. Who does that?! Thankfully she said she forgave me, but I’m having a hard time forgiving myself. Praying that I can let these things go once I hit the post button and walk away from the computer. I’ll try to be back to my old self the next time I post. Thanks for letting me vent.

Woah-oah-o

That’s what Cori says every time we get in the car. At age 20 months, she is already requesting music. She loves music that has woahs, and oooos, and aaaaahs, and she sings along quite well. She has a favorite song at the moment. A song we pretty much listen to on repeat every time we get in the car. Good thing her momma likes it too! :) It’s Barefoot Blue Jean Night. It’s pretty catchy and Cori sits in the back swaying back and forth, keeping the beat as she taps her thigh, singing “woah-oah-o, woah-oah-o, woah-oah-o” over and over and over again. And when the song ends, she frantically asks for more! HA! .. We do have to make one minor adjustment to the lyrics. The 4th line of the song says, “the girls are always hot and the beer is ice cold.” The thought of my child walking around repeating that is not a pleasant one so, we sing very loudly, “the girls are looking pretty and the milk is ice cold!” HA! :)

 

 

Here is a list of songs Cori requests the most while driving in the car..

• Barefoot Blue Jean Night – Jake Owen
• Just One – Brandon Heath (she LOVES when I put one finger up every time Brandon says the word, “one.”)
• This is the Stuff – Francesca Battistelli (she loves the jingly tune!!)
• Rise – Shawn McDonald (the acoustics are great and she taps and taps and taps her leg)
• American Honey – Lady Antebellum (I think it’s because I put honey in her oatmeal for breakfast! HA!)

She also loves to sing…

• Zacchaeus
• Jesus Loves Me
• Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Patty Cake
• I Love You,  You Love Me (from Barney – even though she has NEVER seen that show!)

A Morning of Worship!

After a long weekend in Tennessee and getting the girls back on their routine, I was able to resume my morning quiet time … after my 8 week old SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT last night, but that’s another post!!! :)

Anyway, I made my coffee and sat down to read a few chapters of Proverbs. I stopped at Proverbs 5:21 which states, “For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths.” My heart just has not been in the right place the last few weeks. I’m not sure what it was, but I would literally stand during worship at church and feel like I was totally out of my element and a bit disconnected. I was easily frustrated and completely discontent – I know I blogged about that a few weeks ago. When I got to Proverbs 5:21 this morning, I just stopped. God sees me even when my heart isn’t in the right place. He examines my heart and he probably knows it better than I do. My mind was immediately flooded with this amazing song they sang at a church we visited with Lance and Lauren a few weeks ago. It’s called, I’ll Stand with Arms High by Hillsong. It’s an AMAZING song! I quickly went to youtube and put the song on repeat. There’s something about music that just stirs my soul. It gives me a refreshing feeling that nothing else really can – especially when it’s worship music. There is no coincidence in that – it’s truly GOD!

I am putting the song here on my blog incase you want to listen. The video looks like it’s from the early 90’s, but the song is SO GOOD!! It you want to be empowered and feel the presence of God, please listen. It is my prayer that He will speak to you in amazing ways! At about 2 minutes and 40 seconds the music picks up for the bridge (the most powerful part of a song in my opinion!). It slows down and picks up again. Close your eyes and let it move your heart. There’s no other feeling like it.

 

 

You stood before creation
Eternity within Your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand

You stood before my failure
Carried the Cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon Your shoulders
My soul now to stand

So what can I say
What can I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You

So I'll walk upon salvation
Your Spirit alive in me
This life to declare Your promise
My soul now to stand

So what can I say
What can I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You

So I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all

So I'll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours!

We’re ROLLING!!!

Yesterday after nursing Finley I put her down on her tummy time mat to play on her TUMMY. She typically spends a few minutes playing there after every feed and she works and works on her neck strength. Well, yesterday, I put her down to play with CB and went to do some dishes. About 5 minutes later I went to check on the girls and found Finley laying on her back. I stopped for a second and thought really hard about whether I left her there laying on her back or her tummy. I knew for sure I laid her on her tummy. So, I asked Cori if she had rolled her sister over, to which she responded that she did not. Hmmm… I thought.

I put Finley back on her tummy and within seconds that little girl rolled over to her back! I couldn’t believe it! I thought it might be a fluke so I put her on her tummy again and broke out the video camera. Low and behold, we now have it on video!! I was so excited, I called to let David know, to which he responded that he’d seen her do that a few days ago. WHAT?!?! Since yesterday was my first time witnessing this, I’m marking the calendar – on August 22, 2011 my sweet girl rolled from front to back at 7 weeks 3 days old!! What a big girl!!

 

Sweet sisters hanging out together on the tummy time mat

 

Finley after rolling over!!! Go girl!