Holy Week

Today marks the first day of Holy Week. It’s the week that Jesus was betrayed with a kiss, found in the garden, taken captive, brought before the people who couldn’t stand him for no real reason, beaten, made to walk miles and miles carrying his own cross, hung on that cross, died, and buried. But it’s also the week where he rose from the dead. The greatest thing that could have ever happened. As sad as this week could be in thinking about the death of Jesus, I find such happiness in thinking about his resurrection. For in his resurrection, he completed the very plans laid forth by God.

As I prepare for Easter I want my mind to be on the things listed above. Easter is about Jesus. Period.

I read a blog today by Jen Hatmaker that just rocked my boat a little bit. She always does that. Her blog about Christmas was even more convicting. God truly uses her to speak to the masses! I strongly encourage you to read her latest post on Easter! For fun, I’m pasting her words from the first paragraph of her post below.

“Between ages 0-32, I celebrated Easter the fun way: with bunnies, baskets, and expensive clothes. What better way to say “Jesus reigns” than dressing my preschooler in a $45 dress to show her off in the church lobby? (You’re welcome, Jesus. Be blessed.)”

That resonated with me more than ever considering I just bought CB TWO new smock dresses – one for Mother’s Day and one for the summer. I didn’t buy one for Easter, although I so desperately wanted to. For what reason? Certainly not for Jesus.

So, as you prepare for Holy Week, Passover, and “Easter,” I pray for just a little conviction to creep into your spirit. I pray that we can remember that this season is about Jesus, alone.

“It was just before the Passover Feast.
Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.
Having loved his own who were in the world,
he now showed them the full extent of his love.”
~John 13:1

Getting ready for Easter!

Last weekend we went to the second annual Alachua Egg Drop! It’s so much fun for kids! A local church in Alachua puts it on every year on the property they are currently saving money to build a church on. It’s a HUGE piece of land and such a great place for an egg hunt! Cori participated last year in the 3 and under hunt. I remember her being a little shy and not quite sure about this whole hunting for eggs thing. But, this year was so different! She was one of the best egg hunters out there – not that those eggs were hidden all too well! :)

There were 3 fields roped off for 3 different hunts. Ages 0-3, 3-7, 7-11. It’s literally just how it sounds – a field with eggs scattered everywhere! It’s basically a free for all! Cori needed no help filling her basket FULL of eggs! To the left she was getting ready for the hunt! SO EXCITED! And to the right, she was filling that basket FULL!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the hunt, we sat down to count some eggs… Finley counted too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, Cori helped her of course!

Daddy had to work, but the girls and I had such a great time together! I hope they have something like this in Birmingham next year!

 

As I think and prepare for Easter, my heart has been thinking a lot about how we will teach our girls about this beautiful holiday. In teaching them the beauty, we also have to teach them about the suffering Christ went through. I’m so glad though, that this holiday is so much more than eggs and candy! It’s about a Savior who loved us enough to die for us, and then was resurrected to live with God in heaven so he could come before God and petition for us in our lives down here on this little earth. Wow. I’m so thankful for that!

At 27 months, I think Cori is old enough to really start learning about the story of Easter. I know I’m her mama and partial to her, but the girl is so stinkin’ smart! So, this year, we are going to do a 6 day version of Resurrection Eggs. Resurrection Eggs tell the story of Easter in an unconventional way. In each egg there is a symbol that goes along with the story of Easter. There is a verse with a short explanation of each egg. Normally there are 12 eggs, but we are only going to do 6, and I think we will do one each day leading up to Easter. To find the 6 day version I am using, click here! I can’t wait go get started! What traditions do you do with your little one to teach them about Christ during the Easter season?

We have a CRAWLER!!!

Finley is officially crawling!! She has been up on all fours, rocking back and forth, and making small movements for sometime now. Last week those small movements turned into full on crawling!!! Finally, at 8 and a half months old, little miss is crawling. I am SO proud of her and SO excited to see her on the move! She is pretty excited about it herself! Cori Belle, on the other hand, is not so excited. Crawling means the knocking down of castles, the stealing of toys, and the intrusion on a certain toddler’s personal space! haha! Oh, the joys of siblings!!

I tried to take some pictures of Finley sitting on our bed the other day, and she kept crawling away! I’d place her near the pillows and walk to the end of our bed to snap some photos and she’s be almost to the edge of the bed! I LOVE my little crawler!! And, her gorgeous smile too!!

6 Years and Counting…

Over the weekend, my sweet hubby and I celebrated 6 years of marriage together. 6 years. Wow! We have now been together for a decade since we dated for 4 years before we got married. I thought, we’d take a short trip down memory lane…

We started dating in July of 2002. We were both summer camp counselors at the YMCA in Tampa. I, in gymnastics camp. He, in sports camp. It was a summer romance like no other. Sparks were flying and we seemed to spend every waking moment together. I’ll never forget when he came into work one day – at lunch with all the kids around – with a faux engagement ring made of black electrical tape with an aluminum foil diamond in the center. You see, I turned him down initially when he asked me out. So, he turned on the charm and eventually won me over! :)

Summer 2002 – wow, we were YOUNG!!

After that summer, we spent a year apart with me going to UNF in Jacksonville and him at UF here in Gainesville. We had pretty much talked about the long term and even eventually getting married after only a few months of dating. So, after that year apart, I transferred to UF, into their elementary education program.

The summer after graduation, I went home to Tampa to work as a youth intern for the church I grew up attending and Dave went to South Carolina to work as summer camp director for Camp Thunderbird, a YMCA affiliated summer camp. Two weeks in to him being gone, I went over to his parents house to have breakfast with them. Upon arriving, there was a note on the front door from Dave (who was supposed to be in South Carolina!). It said to enter and follow the rose petals. I followed them around the house – stopping to read a few notes he had left along the way. The petals finally led me upstairs to a beautiful picture of “I love you” written in sand, along with another very sweet note. At the end of the note, he told me to go back downstairs. As I started the stair decline, Dave was standing at the bottom of the stairs, guitar in hand, singing “Grow Old with You.” It’s pretty much the theme song to the movie, The Wedding Singer, in case you haven’t heard it before.

I wanna make you smile whenever you're sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
Oh all I wanna do is grow old with you
I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you
I'll miss you
Kiss you
Give you my coat when you are cold
Need you
Feed you
Even let ya hold the remote control
So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink
I could be the man who grows old with you
I wanna grow old with you

It was one of the sweetest moments. He sang as I descended the stairs and when I finally got to the bottom, he pulled a ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said YES! I’ll never forget what a beautiful engagement that was.

After that summer, Dave started his first year in Medical School and I started my Masters degree in Elementary Education. In January of my Masters year, I got hired on as a full time teacher at P.K. Yonge and on March 11, 2006 we got married.

 

We bought a small two bedroom condo (which we still live in today) and started out our married life. I worked as a teacher for 4 years to support us as Dave finished Medical School. The spring before he began his Residency in Pediatrics, we found out we were pregnant. We decided that I’d finish out the school year, then stay home with our new little bundle since Dave would be starting a paid Residency.

In December of 2009, Cori Belle was born. She brought more love into our family than we ever had imagined possible. I still get teary eyed just thinking about that moment. What joy that day brought to both of us!

 

Life as a family of three was beautiful. Dave continued on in his Residency and I was at home with our little girl. When Cori turned 6 months, I decided to take a new venture and became a Jewelry Lady with Premier Designs Jewelry. It gave me something fun to do and helped tremendously with our finances. I am still a Jewelry Lady today and I LOVE my job!

When Cori turned 9 months, we got pregnant again. 9 months later, on July 1, 2011, Finley Grace was born. I never thought I could love another baby like I did Cori Belle, but I sure did. It’s a love that surpasses all understanding!

 

We became a family of 4 and I am so in love with all three members of my sweet family!

 

Cori Belle is now 27 months old and Finley Grace is 8 months old. Dave is finishing his Residency in June, and our family moves to Birmingham so he can start a Pediatric ER Fellowship in July. There is so much in store for our sweet little family. I cannot thank God enough for his provisions and blessings in our life. It’s been an amazing 6 years together.

Dave,

I am more in love with you today than ever before. It’s amazing how love can grow like that. I am so thankful for you. Your love for the Lord encourages me like no other and I am proud to call you my husband and the father of our two beautiful girls. I LOVE you!

Dani

Where has a week gone?!

It’s Wednesday and I am up early. I’ve gotten up with Dave the past 2 days – 5:30am yesterday and 5:00am today. It’s been good to rise early. I’ve gotten some quiet time in and some chores done all before the kids wake up. I’ve also gotten some time to catch up on reading my favorite blogs and realized that it’s been a week since I’ve posted – where has a week gone?!

Life with 2 kids comes at you fast to say the least. We’ve been enjoying time together – staying busy for sure. Finley has been working on her mobility and Cori has been potty training. Monday we went to Target and picked out some “big girl undies” as Cori calls them. She picked out 10 pairs of Princess undies. That girl loves her some princesses! She’s been reading a new potty book that she got from her Aunt Nen over the weekend. It’s about a little girl named Hannah who learns to use the potty. Cori reads it every time she sits on the potty. She can actually tell you what the pages say by reading the pictures – something I used to teach my kindergartners and 1st graders to do. Yesterday she woke up with a dry diaper and we sat on the potty right away. After a few minutes she went peepee and was SO EXCITED for herself! It was the sweetest thing. As soon as she’d gone potty, she asked to call her daddy to tell him. We hung up with daddy and she asked to call Mimi. Then Yaya. Then Poppop. Then Granddad. In the Potty book, Hannah calls her grandma right away after she goes in the potty the first time. Cori wanted to do the same thing. Her grandparents enjoyed the phone calls and Cori felt so proud of herself. She wore big girl undies the rest of the day (other than our trip to the park – I’m not ready to take this public yet!) and did great! She had 2 little accidents at home and used the potty twice. Can’t wait to see how today goes! Here she is, so proud of herself yesterday …

 

Finley continues to work on her mobility each day. She is so DIFFERENT from Cori. She is more reserved and enjoys people watching. Cori wanted to be right where the action was – and is still that way. It’s funny how different each kid can be. Of course no two children are the same, but as a mommy it just amazes you to see your own two children growing up and notice all the differences about them. It’s such a precious thing and I love getting to know my kids more and more as they grow each day. Finley also has the most beautiful smile and seems to have such a pure heart. I love that about her.

 

I am such a blessed mama to be home with my girls. The days may seem to go by fast, and I may turn around and not know where a week has gone. But, I love looking back and seeing the time I got to spend with my precious angels. Thank you Lord for these children. I am so blessed by them!

Until next time…

What I LOVE about YOU .. week 34 & 35

My sweet baby girl turned 8 months old last Friday. I just can’t believe it! I am SO in love with her!! We took some 8 month pictures out on the field behind our house. That girl is just so stinkin’ cute!! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE…

• The beautiful squeals of laughter when you and your sister play.
• Listening to you talk to yourself in your crib in the morning before I come in to get you.
• That BEAUTIFUL smile of yours when I come in to get you every morning!!
• That you love to snuggle with blankets and stuffed animals – especially at bed time. I know I say this often, but you really are such a snuggle bug! I LOVE that about you!!
• That you have been attempting to stand up in the bath tub! Not anywhere else in the house, but in the tub. Maybe not the best place to practice, but it’s okay! :)
• That you and your sister were both doing “downward dog” the other day. You guys actually do that a lot. You laugh at one another and you do your best to imitate your big sister. It’s quite cute!

• Taking you and your sister grocery shopping with both of you sitting in the “kid cart” as Cori calls it. It has a seat for two kids with steering wheels. You LOVE to practice driving!!
• Your ferocious desire for real people food. You really don’t want ANYTHING to do with baby food. You want what we have!!
• Your SWEET face!!

Oh, sweet Finley, I LOVE you!! I love having TWO girls and I love that precious personality of yours!!! You are a true gift from the Lord and I’m so thankful for YOU!!

Disney Princess Half Marathon!

“Never Again.” Those are the words I muttered upon crossing the finish line on Sunday morning shortly after 8:00am when I finished the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I was in more physical pain than I have ever been in. I think it was worse than child birth – mainly because I had an epidural during child birth, and there is no such thing as an epidural for marathon runners. HA! Will I ever do it again? I really can’t be sure. It was a great experience. Definitely a painful one. But looking back on it now, when the pain has passed, there is a slight chance I may do it again. Slight! :)

What was great about the Half Marathon was that it allowed my three sister-in-laws and I to spend some girl time together. Something that we never get to do since we don’t all live near one another. We spent Friday night together having dinner out in Tampa. Then Saturday afternoon we drove over to Orlando together. We had quick potty stop at Target on the way, which turned into a 30 minute, fun shopping adventure. We finally made it to our hotel, only to find out that our hotel didn’t provide transportation to the race on Sunday morning. SO, they transferred us to the Saratoga Springs Resort for free because it was their mistake. For the inconvenience of having to transfer hotels, Saratoga Springs then gave us over $100 on a gift card so we could have a nice pre-race dinner on them. NICE! Our dinner was DELICIOUS!!! One of the best pasta meals I have ever had – with shrimp and salmon. My kind of meal! After dinner we headed back to our hotel and we were in bed shortly after 10pm so we could wake up at 3:15am (which ended up being more like 3:37am to be exact) to get dressed and on the bus by 3:50am to make it over to Epcot for the start of the race. It was an EARLY morning for sure!!

We got dropped off around 4:40am. The traffic was horrific! And then it was another 30 minute walk to our corrals for the start of the race. Rebecca in corral B, Missy in corral H, and I was in corral D. When I entered my corral, I weaved my way to the very front. It was a great feeling to actually be standing on the start line when the fireworks went off for my corral to start. My corral started at 6:03 on the dot. Right on time. My first mile was awesome. I felt great – running an 8.49 pace. I was wearing a wrist band pacer to finish in 2 hours flat. I was ahead of schedule and was so excited about that! About a mile and a half in, I had caught up to the corral ahead of me. There were TONS of walkers already on the road. Mile, 2, 3, and 4 I spent a lot of time weaving around people. I ran on the grass quite a bit during those miles just trying not to get stuck behind slower runners. By the time I hit mile 5, the road opened up a bit, the sun was now shining (behind a few rain clouds), and I was still feeling great. I was about a minute behind schedule for my two hour finish time. Shortly after mile 6 we entered Magic Kingdom. This was probably my favorite part of the race. We spent a full mile running through Magic Kingdom and even ran through the castle. There were lots of spectators cheering us on and that felt great!

When I hit the half way point, I could feel my body getting tired. I started slowing and my watch told me that. As I looked at my two hour pacer next to my watch, I started noticing that I’d be a minute and 30 seconds too slow, then it was two minutes too slow, then three, then four. By mile 9 I was about five minutes slower than my pacer said. How in the world I lost five minutes was beyond me. But my body was hurting!! There was a water station right after the 9 mile marker and I walked through it. I had to give myself a little pep talk and make my legs run again. When I got to mile 10, there was another water station. I walked through that one too, plus another 50 feet. I SO wanted to be done. My knees hurt, my feet hurt, my lower back hurt. I just HURT! I remember thinking that it was only 3 more miles. Just a 5K. Piece of cake. HA! When I hit mile 11, I was a full mile behind schedule according to my two hour pacer. I was at 1.49. The exact time I should have been at mile 12. oops! Two miles left. Just two miles, I told myself. Then, a hill came. I walked it. Ya’ll, I limped it. EVERYTHING hurt. Shortly after mile 12, we entered Epcot. We were almost finished. There were people everywhere cheering us on. I picked up the pace. It actually felt better to run faster than slower. Imagine that?! As I was rounding the final corner before the finish line, a choir was getting into place. The kind of choir from the movie, Sister Act. As I was approaching them, they started signing with full force, “Joyful, joyful, Lord we adore thee. God of Glory. Lord of love…” I smiled with joy in my heart and thanked the Lord for that bit of encouragement. I needed that. I picked up the pace even more and finally crossed that finish line at 2 hours, 10 minutes. It mentally felt good to be done, but I was in so much physical pain, I can’t even describe it. I could barely walk, seriously. My right groin hurt so bad that if you were watching me walk, it looked like I had a peg leg. HA! I hobbled over to get my medal, some water, powerade, and my picture taken. I wonder what that picture looks like. I probably look like death!

I finally made it over to where I checked my bag before the race and called my SIL, Jamie, who was a spectator. She came to meet me to wait for the rest of our SIL’s to finish. I texted Dave to let him know I was done. It even hurt to talk. .. As we waited, it got colder and colder. And my body hurt more and more. Rebecca and Missy finished and we snapped a few pictures before we boarded the bus back to our hotel.

Missy was pretending that she was dying. HAHA!

 

Rebecca, me, Missy

 

 

13.1 and DONE!!!

 

And, here is one of us with Jamie – our personal cheerleader!

 

It felt incredible to SIT DOWN in the warm bus. What felt even better was the hot tub at our hotel!! We spent about 40 minutes sitting in there. I was so thankful for that. And, I spent the entire rest of the day limping everywhere I went. Whew! Is this what Half Marathons always feel like?! I felt great after my 15K a few weeks ago. What happens between mile 9.3 and mile 13.1? The answer to that question could probably be training. I trained pretty decently up to 9 miles. I only ran a 10 mille run once before the race. And, I pretty much took 5 days off from running before the big day. Not intentionally, but it’s just how it happened. That could have something to do with it. Either way, I can now check “Run a Half Marathon” off the bucket list. I can GUARANTEE you that I will NEVER run a full marathon. EVER!!! I think for now, I’ll stick with 15K races as my max. That is until next year, when I’ve forgotten about all the pain, and I get suckered into this race again. HA! My excellent runner of a hubby will just have to run with me next time (in his tutu) to push me through those tough moments!!

Happy running, to all you runners out there! :) You are my inspiration!

Cheese!

 

When did my baby girl get so BIG?! This is Cori Belle last week at a Valentines Day party with her friends. She was saying “cheeeese” as I took this picture and I love how her little teeth are stacked right on top of one another for her sweet smile. She was such a big girl as she sat there coloring her Valentines bag. I could seriously just eat her up!

She has become such a grown up these days in the way she acts and talks. Hard to believe that she once was a little, itty, bitty baby. Cori Belle – I LOVE YOU!!

Happy Friday, everyone!

What I LOVE about YOU! … week 31-33

Before I had two children, I always wondered how you could love another child as much as you love your first child. It’s a love that surpasses ALL understanding. I sure do LOVE my girls!!!

week 31-33

I LOVE…

• What a snuggle bug you are! You are much more snuggly than your big sister. When you get tired you like to curl up in my arms, with your chest against my chest, and your arms and legs tucked underneath you. I love it!
• That you have officially moved into your sisters room! We moved you in there a few days after my last “what I love about you” post and it’s been going GREAT! You LOVE sleeping in your crib!! So much better than sleeping in a pack and play!

• Seeing you play. You LOVE just hanging out on the floor playing! No “official” crawling yet, but if you want something bad enough, you can certainly get there. It just takes a little more effort .. like small, short, army crawls!

Those pots and pans are by far your FAVORITE toy right now!!

• That sweet smile you give to your sister when she talks to you. You love her so much! I love that.
• What a big girl you are becoming. I was watching you play on the floor the other day and you seemed so big!! Can’t believe you are almost 8 months!
• That when your daddy walks into the room, your face lights up! No joke!
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner time! You are eating solids at all three meals now. The funny thing is that you’d SO much rather be eating real people food. You get so mad when we are eating something you want, but can’t have b/c  you have no teeth!! Soon enough, sweet one, soon enough! Until then, you can have all the puffs you want!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Your sweet, silly laugh!
• That you made me a mommy of TWO!!

 

I LOVE YOU! And every little thing about you. Your sweet personality is really starting to take shape. I can already tell that you have such a tender heart.

Early Risers

Cori has always been a kid that slept from 8pm-8am, sometimes even 8:30am. It was glorious! I always had a morning routine of quiet time and time to blog or work on Premier related things. My friends would tell me that they wish their kids slept that late – they’d have to get up at 4:30 to accomplish anything before their kids would be up. Well friends, this post is for you!

Shortly after Christmas, Cori decided she’d become one of those early risers – waking up at 6am sometimes. I’d walk her back to bed. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn’t. We eventually got to the point that I could pretty much rely on her getting up at 6:15 EVERY morning. It was making me crazy!! And, she was getting SO tired by 10:30, it was messing up the way she felt all day. I tried telling her to wait until the sunshine came through her window, but that didn’t work either.

So, I emailed my friend Amanda who had told me about this Moon/Sun clock while we were visiting our family in Tampa over Christmas. I distinctly remember our conversation over the holidays thinking, “My child sleeps ‘til 8! I’ll never need that!” HA! Oh, boy did I need it now! Amanda responded to my email within minutes and I was on the website ordering it! It’s called the Good Nite Lite. And it works like a charm!!

So, it’s a night light with a digital clock in the back. You set the clock for the “moon” to come on when it’s bed time and the “sun” to shine when it’s time to wake up. Cori is very into the moon these days, so she was super excited to have a “moon” in her room at night. We explained to her that she could not get up in the morning until the sun was shining. It worked from moment one! That very next morning, promptly at 7 am, which is the time we had set for the sun to start shining, she was at her door knocking. When I opened the door, she announced, “Mommy, look! I wake up when sunshine wake up!” It was amazing!

So, for all you parents out there who have early risers, I HIGHLY recommend the Good Nite Lite. Cori has been getting more sleep and I have been getting time to myself with a cup of coffee and my bible. It’s been glorious! Have I said that yet?! :) And, this morning, I even had time to write this post for ya’ll. We’re off to a GREAT Friday!!

You can learn more about the Good Nite Lite here.

Happy Valentines Day!

There are three things that will endure -- faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

On Valentine's Day, my focus is to love more and to encourage more. It is loving that we feel loved; it is in encouraging that we are encouraged.
How can I show more love to the people in my life?

It Matters!

For the past couple of weeks I have been attending a bible study at church on the book of Revelation. It’s a Beth Moore study called, Here and Now – There and Then. If you’ve read this blog at all or know just a little bit about me, then you know I love Beth Moore. She is an amazing bible teacher and a woman who loves God with more of her being than any other person I have ever met. Do I know her personally? No. But her character, her attitude, her actions, her person, exudes Christ.

“By their fruit you will recognize them” – Matthew 7:16. Meaning by a persons character, attitude, actions, etc, you will know they are a follower of Christ. Wow. That’s a BIG example to live up to and I know I fall short every day. But, it also brings me to the title of my post today – It Matters!

It does indeed matter how we live our lives. We are called to be righteous and holy people, and God will surely judge our unrighteousness. The whole chapter of Psalm 119 reminds us that it matters how we live. Point blank. It matters!

Today, our lesson was on Revelation chapter 6. If you want the living daylights scared out of you, just read Revelation chapter 6. It’s on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and it basically describes end-time events and how it’s all going to go down. Scary with a capital S! Thankfully, I believe in the one true God. I know how it all ends and I know I will be standing in heaven when all is said and done. But, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still frightening when I think about these events in the context of our present culture and environment.

So what does Revelation chapter 6 have to do with how we live our lives today? It’s a reminder that Christ called us to live a certain way – for Him alone. If we choose to live any other way .. well, I just don’t even want to go there. We live in a world filled with sin. Even believers sin on a regular basis. There is just no way around it. But Christ knows our hearts and He is merciful to those who are earnestly seeking him with their entire being. For we all will be judged, but thank heavens for James 2:13 which states, “because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Time and time again, God give us the opportunity to choose Him. To choose Him over telling a lie. To choose Him over lashing out at our kids. To choose him over disrespecting our husbands. To choose Him over sex before marriage. To choose Him over a night of binge drinking. To choose Him over road rage. To choose Him over laziness. .. the list could go on forever. What it boils down to is choosing HIM, time and time again. 

Now, in the past, have I always chosen Him first? The honest answer to that question is no. That’s why I’m so thankful for James 2:13. Mercy triumphs over judgment. So, if you’ve fallen short of His glory (like we all have), you can choose Him today. Make a change today. Repent and choose Him, above all else. Choose to live your life, every waking moment, for Him and His glory. Not because of any rule book. But, because it matters. It matters how I live. It matters how you live. How we live now, chooses how we will live for eternity. That’s heavy.

The time has come
To stand for all we believe in
So I for one am gonna
Give my praise to You

Today today it's all or nothing
All they way
The praise goes out to You
Yeah all the praise goes out to You
Today today I live for one thing
To give You praise
In everything I do
Yeah all the praise goes out to You

All we are is Yours
And all we're living for
Is all You are
Is all that You are Lord

 

Hillsong couldn’t have said it better. “Today, today, I live for one thing. To give You praise in everything I do. The praise goes out to You.” It matters.

Cori Belle says…

 

Cori is a wealth of words and information these days. Always saying something funny or profound. At least her parents seem to think so! :) A few of my friends have started jotting down what their kids say and then blogging about it once a month. I think I might give it a try. It will be SO much fun to read later on. Here goes…

“I go pay-gound (playground). Wee (swing), and slide!” I hear this request ALL day, probably over 100 times a day. I should keep track one day.

 

“Moon? Moon? Where’d it go? .. Oh, der it is! Hiding behind trees. Silly Moon.” haha!

 

“I wub you, mommy.”

 

As we were leaving the mall the other day, there was a ramp we had to walk up (since I had the stroller with Finley). But there were also stairs to the right and left of the ramp. Cori started veering to the right, heading over to the stairs and said… “Up stairs, mommy. Meet you, K!”

 

We were listening to “Forever Reign” in the car the other day. Cori calls it the Jesus song. It was getting to the part where they sing “Jesus” over and over again. All the sudden Cori turns to Finley and says, “Baby, you hear it? Jesus!”

 

“Baby Gace” .. meaning, Finley Grace.

 

Her response after every picture I take … “Aww, cute!”

 

We were walking out the the parking lot after gym class one day. She ran ahead of me into the street. I ran after her and grabbed her shirt to stop her. I explained the rules about running ahead of me into the street and told her that I wasn’t ready for her to see Jesus yet. She responded, “Oh, I see Jesus.”

 

Cori requests to read the story of Jesus calming the storm pretty much every night before bed. Throughout the whole story she repeats, “Jesus, wake up!”

 

Cori – “Oh, yuk!”

Me – “What?”

Cori – “I eat carpet.”

 

Upon getting her PJ’s on after a bath, she stood up and announced, “I pretty now!”

 

Me – “Cori, do you know where Jesus lives?”

Cori -  “In my heart, mommy” as she pointed to her heart.

Just some rambling…

It really has been a great past few days!! I have to admit, this past month has been hard. Dave has been on the Wards at the hospital, meaning he works 13 hour days and only gets 4 days off the entire month. That makes for a lot of single parenting, long days, over tiredness, and frustration. Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel … 3 more days of Wards!!

I also feel like I’m never home. I’m completely at fault for that. We are always on the go doing fun things, but sometimes those fun things leave me stressed. Mainly because I’ve pushed my children to their limit and then I pay for it by their overtiredness, whininess, and ornery behavior. I recently had a conversation with a good friend about all of this. She reminded me that sometimes we just have to say “no” to some things. I can’t make every play date, attend every gym class, run every errand, attend every bible study, etc. Sometimes I just need to stay home. So, that’s what I’ve been trying to do around here and it feels SO GOOD! I’m blessed that I have the ability to stay home with my kids. I don’t have to rush them around to daycare so I can work. I have the opportunity to work from home and when I want to. I should embrace that by actually spending some time at home, right?! :)

It really has been magnificent. Cori and I have actually been able do some school stuff. Finley has actually been able to nap in her crib in the mornings. Imagine that?! I certainly am a girl who thrives on a schedule. It’s just so hard to decide what is and isn’t an important thing to do. But the more I think about it, the more I realize how important this very moment is with my children. They are two and 7 months. And they will only be this age ONCE. It’s time to stop trying to do “everything” and start slowing down to do what’s important – spending quality time with my girls, who are the absolute LOVES of my life!

Anyway, I took the time to write this down for memories sake. I think it will be fun to look back in 5 years, 10 years from now and remember what life was like. What I was struggling with and excelling at. Just to remember the moments that pass by all too quickly. The moments I just wish I could hold into forever. … All this to say, that it really has been a great few days! And, I know that Christ is the one to thank for all of this. He has always had it all under control. Why did I ever think I could keep it together on my own? All glory to Him for this beautiful life!

Cori Belle matching colors. She LOVES doing “school” related activities!!

 

My absolutely beautiful 7 month old!

 

Hope you are enjoying this life as much as you possibly can – Cherishing moments with the ones you hold dear and focusing on the things that matter for eternity.

Until next time…

What I LOVE about YOU!! .. week 29 & 30

Today Finley Grace turns 7 months old. Time is flying around here and I just can’t believe that my babies are 2 years and 7 months. I LOVE this age with Finley. She is so much fun and working so hard to start crawling. She will sit on all fours, rocking back and forth, and Cori will lay down next to her and say, “Crawl baby, crawl!!” Watching my two girls interact melts my heart on a daily basis. They are already the best of friends.

Miss Finley – 7 months

 

Week 29 & 30

I LOVE …

• Seeing your attempts to crawl. You so badly want to chase that sister of yours!!

• Bath time! You LOVE taking baths! At Christmas you took your very first bath without the baby seat. You love sitting in the tub with your sister!!

• Swinging at the park. This has pretty much become an afternoon routine. We get up from naps and head to the park or out to the field to play. The weather has just been beautiful lately!!

• Reading books with you.

• The WONDERFUL sleep schedule we’ve been on for a month straight!! 7pm-7:30/8 am!! I think it’s almost time to move you into your sisters room so mommy and daddy can have their closet back!
• All the babbling that’s been going on lately. You’ve really started chatting it up in the last 2 weeks. So far, it’s only, “da, da, da, da…” but it’s SO sweet!
• Taking you to your first Gator Gymnastics meet!

• How unbelievably beautiful you are!!! I just can’t get over it!

 

Wow, Finley, I love you more than words can even say. You and your sister both. You girls (and your daddy of course) are my true loves. You three are the most precious gifts God could have ever given me. Happy 7 months sweet girl!

Love, your mama :)