The Month of November

Has it really been over a month since I’ve posted here on this ‘ole blog?! I’ve actually thought about posting many times, but felt like I had been so behind I just couldn’t bare to try and catch up. When my 2012 Blog Book gets printed it will be so small in comparison to the two previous years! Blame it on two kids, moving states, and restarting a business in a new place. All of those things combined have definitely kept this mama busy and sometimes, just trying to keep my head above water!

November was a whirlwind of events! And in the midst of it all, we lost our little camera. I am seriously saddened by that! I have a few here and there, but nothing like we had taken! So, my memory will have to just have to remember all the fun we had!

We took two trips down to Florida in November. The first weekend of the month was Jewel School for Premier. It was such a sweet time of fellowship with my amazing friends in Premier. A lot of the husbands were there too! Woot!

While we were visiting for Jewel School, my Gainesville friends got together and threw me a shower for Tucker. It was so sweet and I really enjoyed spending time with them all. It was actually supposed to be a surprise shower, but a few weeks before we went down I cried to David one afternoon about how we lived in a new state and no one was going to throw me a baby shower and my friends in Gainesville were moving on with life with out me, blah, blah, blah. I blame it on the baby messing with my hormones! :) Anyway, he called my besties in Gainesville and told them of my mess so they told me about the shower they were planning. Oh, how I love them! I miss them terribly and it was SO good to just sit around drinking coffee in my best friend’s house like the old days.

My very BEST buds from Gainesville – Stephanie, me, Lacy, and Kristy. All of whom do Premier with me. I just LOVE that!!

Dave and I have been really good at weekly date nights since we’ve moved to Birmingham. We had bible study every Tuesday this semester and left an hour early to grab dinner together before hand. I don’t think the trend will continue once Tucker comes, but it’s been so nice! We won a gift card to Ruth’s Chris last May and were finally able to use it last month. It was DELICIOUS!! Even with a $100 gift card, we still had to pay $40, but it was so worth it!!! The steak literally melted in my mouth! The Lobster Bisque was to die for. And, the creamed spinach left me without words! I do hope we get to go back one day! YUM! We did take a picture before we headed out for dinner that night. One that didn’t get lost. Yay!!

 

We took family/maternity photos the week before Thanksgiving. Finley wasn’t the most corporative, but we snuck in a few sweet pictures! It was also pretty cold the day we took pictures and my poor children were purple by the end of the shoot, but it was fun! Here are a few of my favorites!

 

Thanksgiving came and we spent almost a full week in Florida. Driving to Florida twice in one month was about all I could handle! I was actually relieved that we didn’t have to do it again for Christmas. We drove through the night both times so the kids would sleep, but we were exhausted! I think the final drive back to Birmingham on trip #2 was the worst. We hit Tallahassee and I thought I wouldn’t make it the 4 more hours to Birmingham. But, we did. Not sure when that will happen again. People can just come visit us for the next little bit! I mean with THREE kids and a dog – we will be staying home for a while!

We had a great Thanksgiving with family though! It was the traditional 3 o’clock dinner with my side of the family at my aunt’s house and then 6 o’clock dinner with Dave’s side of the family at his parent’s house. We are always stuffed, but feel so blessed that we can see both sides of the family in the same day! Again, no pictures of that sweet day or our entire trip to Tampa! I did run in a 5K on Thanksgiving Day and was pretty proud of that considering I was 32 weeks pregnant then!

 

I did 7 Jewelry Shows in the month of November and Dave worked a horrific schedule of days on anesthesia/ultrasound and nights in the ER. His poor girls barely saw him, but at least it was just for one month! We can handle anything for a short while! Between the two of us, we had ONE night together – the one where we went to Ruth’s Chris. The rest of the nights we traded off taking care of the kids while he was at the hospital or I was at a jewelry party. Needless to say, it was a busy month! December has been good to us and we have enjoyed a lot of time together as a family. More posts on that coming soon!!!

31 weeks, 4 days

On Monday we were able to do one last ultrasound of our sweet baby boy and as the ultrasound tech was finishing up, she switched over to 3D. We never had 3D ultrasounds with the girls and were not expecting it with Tucker either, but it was such a sweet surprise. I even teared up a little bit seeing him on the screen. Just precious! I think he looks like Finley, but we will see when he makes his real life appearance! And, they checked – still a BOY!

I’m measuring a little ahead of schedule, but not by much – like a day or so. Cori was 5 days late, Finley right on time, and we will see what Tucker decides to do. So crazy to think we will have three kiddos running around!!! I’m excited and scared at the same time!

Here is what my belly is looking like these days..

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 31 weeks, 4 days

Gender: It's a BOY!!! Tucker David Smith

Size of baby: He is a little over 3 lbs according to his ultrasound

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 17 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I FINALLY went shopping for some last weekend!! This really is the first time I’ve gone maternity shopping and got a ton of great tops at the outlet mall. I’m seriously LOVING having some clothes that fit me! Haha!!

Movement: Still a whole lot! This kid is a mover and a shaker! Could it be because I still drink a cup of coffee every morning?!

Sleep: Can’t complain! Sleeping comfortably snuggled next to my hubby!

What I miss: Hmm.. this may sound strange, but I miss being able to do burpees without having to spread my knees apart so my belly can fit when I jump my feet in. Katie Wade – are you reading this?!

Cravings: nothing particular this week

Symptoms: A few Braxton Hicks and a BIG belly!

Best Moment this week: Seeing sweet baby Tucker on Monday in 3D!! Loved that!

October Wrap Up

I can’t believe it is already November; mid November at that! We’ve been here in Birmingham for just over 4 months and it’s really been a great adventure thus far! Since I’m such a blog SLACKER, I thought I’d just wrap up the last month in one super long post! Ha! Enjoy!

We ended September and headed into October with Premier! The last weekend in September I got to go on a Designer trip in Hilton Head with some of my sweet Premier (and life long) friends. I just LOVE that Premier has allowed me to stay so close to my already close friends. It’s just one more reason to chat on the phone and one more excuse to see each other more frequently.

Lacy, me and Stephanie

 

Then, the following week Lacy and Jonathan came to visit us for Jonathan’s 30th birthday. We had such a great time together and so did our girls. Ella and Audrey came up as well. Cori and her BFF’s had a slumber party in her room for 2 nights. It was just precious to hear the giggles of a 2, 3, and 5 year old. I don’t think they got much sleep while they were here!

 

Dave finished the playground in our backyard. When we moved in the backyard looked like this…

It was basically sliding gravel rock and super dangerous. It really just had that old wooden structure in it and we bought and put the slide there temporarily until we could get the new swing set built. Dave built the new swing set all by himself. He bought the parts and the wood and went to work for a few days back there. He also laid sod down so it would be safer for the girls. Check out our backyard now… I am SO proud of my handy hubby! We have gotten SO MUCH use out of having a swing set in the backyard. The kids LOVE it!!

 

We’ve had some cold days up here and Cori had her first experience with hot chocolate. She was SO excited!!

 

We started a tradition of homemade pizza night about every other week. We call it “Family Night” and the kids really look forward to it! I do too! It’s so much fun and I can’t wait until all the kids can really take part in it, making their own individual pizzas!

 

Cori took her first trip to the dentist last month. We really talked it up to her as being super fun. Dave and I also made dentist appointments for ourselves the same day so we could ALL go to the dentist as a family. She was actually excited about going to get her teeth brushed, until we got there! Ha! Isn’t that always the case?! The office was sweet and kid friendly. They actually took her picture and did her hand print to put up on the wall and ceiling. She liked that, especially that she got to use pink paint to do her hand print.

 

We sat down in the chair and met our hygienist, who was so sweet. She told Cori all about her special tooth brush. Cori wasn’t too sure about it, but she was a good sport. She wouldn’t lay down, but sitting up worked great!

All done, but still looking a little traumatized! The real traumatizing part was meeting the dentist! She sure did cry then. Thankfully it was quick! She got some great stickers, a bouncy ball, new tooth brush & tooth paste, and we took her for popsicles afterwards! Ha! It was a great 1st trip to the dentist!

We did some fun fall related activities during “school” hours. Cori had a blast!

 

Being that it was October last month, we took part in MANY fall related activities. We went to two different fall festivals at two different churches. We dressed up and went trick-or-treating at Whole Foods. Did arts and crafts at the zoo in our costumes. Went to a Halloween parade. And, our girls had their very first real experience trick-or-treating on Halloween from house to house. All of which was so much fun! The girls were bumble bees at some events and princesses at others. Here are some sweet pictures from our fall events! (the cute dresses that the girls are wearing in a few pics were made  by my mother-in-law. Aren’t they adorable? Thanks Yaya!)

Fall Festival

Whole Foods

The Zoo

Halloween Night

One of my very favorite pictures!!

Some sweet sisterly love after a LONG night of trick-or-treating. Finley was SO ready for bed!!

We have really been enjoying the fall here at our home. Excited for Thanksgiving next week and then the beautiful season of Christmas. I do have to admit, I’ve already been playing some Christmas music in our house. Just don’t tell Dave – he is pretty adamant about no Christmas music until the day AFTER Thanksgiving!! I always seem to start a little earlier than that! Ha!

Until next time .. hopefully you won’t have to wait too long! :)

God is able

Lifted up, He defeated the grave

Raised to Life, our God is able

In his Name, we overcome

For the Lord, our God, is able!

I know you’ve heard me say it before, but we go an to absolutely AMAZING church here in Birmingham. God is just doing incredible things there. He is present and moving. I just can’t even begin to explain it, other than to say, WOW! It has nothing to do with the church walls themselves, but the presence and blessing of God within it. It is such my prayer that every single one of our family members will visit us over the course of our 3 years here and attend church with us. It’s just life changing!

Pastor Chris started an unbelievable 4 week message series yesterday called Legacy – doing exactly what GOD created you to do here on this earth so that when you go, people will remember the name of the Lord.

If you’ve got 40 minutes to sit down, I’d strongly recommend watching the message from this past Sunday, and maybe tuning in for the next 3 Sundays! Legacy – part 1

Psalm 112:6 – A righteous (headed in the right direction because of a right God living within you) man will be remembered FOREVER.

Ephesians 4:1 – I URGE you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Leaving a legacy is really about living beyond ourselves because we just can’t do it on our own. We ALL have a call of God on our lives, whether we’ve accepted Him as our Lord and Savior or not. The realty is, He created each one of us and put a calling on our life. You can’t truly find out what that calling is without Him because He is the only one who knows us and knows what it is!

You see, Acts 17:26-28 says that God determined the times set for us and the exact places we should live. God did this so that we would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him. For in Him, we live and move and have our being. … God placed us here in Birmingham, right now, for a purpose. He put you right where you are too for that very same reason. Do you believe that?

Pastor Chris also talked about being a generation that finishes well so that the next generation can continue to lead in such a way. Truly leaving a legacy. Before we can leave that legacy, we’ve got to be aligned with the life God has set before us to live. You see, it’s more than just being a “good person”. Yes, God calls us to do good works, not out of duty or obligation, but because of our faith and love for Him. A profound statement from yesterday’s sermon was that we must “ALWAYS connect the good deeds with the good news!” If we feed the hungry, but don’t tell them about Jesus, their tummy’s will be full but they will still be lost. Hungry people and full people both end up in the same place if they don’t know Jesus.

John 6:27 says, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.” So, let’s do good for the name of Jesus! Amen!

All this to say that David and I were extremely moved yesterday to be intentional in figuring out what kind of legacy we would like to leave. We feel so called to Birmingham at the moment and are just so excited about what God has in store here for us. Now, our focus is on being intentional, taking no credit, and giving all the glory to God.

For when (insert your name) has served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. Acts 13:36. Let’s be a generation that finishes well!

So, do you believe that your God is able to give you such purpose in your life? One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 3:20 – God is able to to immeasurably more than all we could ever ask or imagine! Praying that for you today!

Happy Monday!

Fall Fun!

This past week we have participated in a few fall events. On Tuesday we ventured to Aldridge Gardens to play with a few new friends, dress up in our Halloween costumes, and do a pumpkin hunt! It was a good practice run in our Halloween costumes to see what we may need to add before the big dress up day! Both girls are bumble bees this year. I thought about my friends, Annie and Carrie, and their annual Pumpkin Party for the kids back home. I am sure gonna miss that this year! In fact we already did because it was last night. Looked like so much fun!

Cori and her new friends from gymnastics class

 

On Friday, Dave and I took the girls to the pumpkin patch. It’s interesting here in Alabama because they don’t have a lot of these church pumpkin patches that Gainesville has. Alabama does the “REAL THANG” where you head out to where the pumpkins actually grow. Unfortunately, these patches are about an hour away from Birmingham on both sides so we decided to try out a a second annual pumpkin patch at a church near by. Let me just say that it’s not like the one at Trinity back in Gainesville, but they did have pumpkins so that was a plus! ha! And, we got to snap some pictures of the girls in their sweet pumpkin dresses, which was the main thing I wanted anyway! I’m thinking next year, the “REAL THANG” will be a must on the fall list of things to do!

We are headed to a fall festival tomorrow, a Halloween play date at the Zoo next week, and trying to solidify our Halloween plans. Fall here has been much like fall in Florida, except for the changing leaves. Those are just beautiful! We’ve had some cool days, which we’ve enjoyed very much. Everyone has mum mum’s on their front porch, and I just love that!

Hope ya’ll are enjoying fall as much as we are! Until next time…

26 Weeks!

Good gracious! How have 26 weeks flown by and I haven’t once posted a picture of my growing belly?! It’s so different with each pregnancy. I was just talking with someone about this the other day. With Cori Belle, we took a pregnancy picture EVERY week! With Finley, we didn’t start until week 17 and took one every other week. And, this sweet little guy didn’t get a picture of his growing mama’s belly until week 23 – and that didn’t even make it on the blog!

So, here we are at 26 weeks, FINALY getting a picture up! HA!

 

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 26 Weeks

Gender: It's a BOY!!! Tucker David Smith

Size of baby: He is 2.2 lbs. according to the pregnancy tracker on my phone. The size of a cucumber!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 15 lbs – man, that feels like a lot!

Maternity Clothes: I need some!!! This is the first pregnancy I haven’t had all my friends maternity clothes to borrow! I have ONE pair of regular jeans I can wear with a hair tie. I’d MUCH rather wear maternity pants. And, I literally have NO maternity shirts. This girl needs to do some maternity shopping!

Movement: LOTS of movement when I’m sitting down. He also likes to roll to the front of my belly quite often. I love getting to feel his little body hang out there.

Sleep: Things are going pretty well in the sleep department, but I have NOT been wanting to get up early. Definitely feel like I’m requiring more sleep!

What I miss: My abs! But, it’s worth it to not have any at the moment!

Cravings: Pregnancy started out with me craving smoothies ALL THE TIME, but these days, I’d like some cookie dough, ice cream, and milk shakes. Guess I better head to the gym! HA!

Symptoms: A few Braxton Hicks and a BIG belly!

Best Moment this week: Just knowing there is a sweet boy growing in there!

 

Now, let’s take a look at some comparisons… These are all picture of me at 26 weeks. Cori on the left, Finley on the right. Tucker on the bottom. Is it just me, or does it get bigger EVERY time?!