Monday, May 31, 2010

Maternity Pictures

First off, I want to say that I had an amazing “get away” weekend in AR visiting my family.   We visited with a lot of family and just had a blast.  But this post is not about our weekend.  It is to show you all my maternity pictures that my sister in law, Kristen, took of me on Sunday (while we were supposed to be at a family reunion, but that is a different story).  So here are my top favorites:

16 1 2 3 4 5

6

 7

 8

 9

10 11 12 13

14

 15

I haven’t decided which one to blow up to put above Isabella’s bed yet.  Can you help me and tell me which one YOU like best?

I am absolutely in love with all of the pictures! :)

*I will post all about our wonderful weekend in my next post(s). 

Friday, May 28, 2010

Dr. Appt 30 weeks!

Yesterday (5/27) I had an OB check up. Just a routine check. Everything was great!

Stats on Me and baby Isabella:

Gained 22 lbs so far
Bella weighs approximately 3 lbs 1 oz.
Her heartbeat was 156.
My blood pressure was perfect

I have been having a lot of swelling & water retention lately but my doctor said that since my blood pressure is perfect that he is not worried about it. I am now on every 3 week visits instead of 4. Starting my next appointment I will be on every 2 week visits. I can't believe it is getting so close to time to meet my precious little girl!

I have a few more things to check off my to do list:

Finally bought a breast pump
Bought a crib mattress
Found an inhome daycare provider for Isabella.

I feel like there is still so much to do though. I think I am really getting into the nesting stage. I hope to be able to put her crib together soon :)

On a different note:
We are taking my last trip to AR this weekend to see my family before Bella makes her arrival. My doctor doesn't want me traveling after 34-35 weeks so sadly this will be my last trip :( Oh well they will just have to come see me! ha.

I can't wait for all the family fun this weekend!! I am sure I will have lots of fun things and pictures to post!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. Don't forget to it is Memorial Day...Honor your veterans and active military!

God Bless :)

Monday, May 24, 2010

Its Finally Here!!

Summertime!! yay! We are so excited that summer has finally hit the South!  I love the summertime because it is hot (hate the humidity though!) and there is so much more to do outdoors than indoors!!

We had a great weekend!  On Saturday, we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese to play for a few hours.  That was Elijah’s graduation present.  He had several places to pick from and he chose there. 

elijah gun

Elijah played this game almost the whole time.  He loves guns and shooting things!

kirsten dancing

Love her hair in pigtails :) She played this jumping/dancing game for a while!

On Sunday, we finally opened our pool and spent some time outdoors by the pool.  The kids swam but it was way to cold for me!  ha!

elijah jumping

kirsten swim

I got the kids some really cute hooded towels from Pottery Barn Kids.  Kirsten’s has a pink octopus and Elijah’s has a shark.  They each are embroidered with their names.  They like having their own things! :)

elijah towel

Kirsten towel

And just in case you were wondering what I looked like in my bathing suit at 29 weeks pregnant:

cori swimsuit

There ya go! ha ha!

Our weekend was wonderful and I hated to see it end but I am looking forward to this coming Memorial Day weekend because we will be in AR with my family all weekend!  I am very excited to see everyone :)

I hope you all had a great weekend too!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Who Wants to Guess?

Ok so I totally stole this idea from Danielle over at Letting Go and Letting God. But I thought it was so cute and fun and wanted to play too!

So just go here and guess when you think Isabella will be born, how much she will weigh, etc! I think it will be fun to see everyone's guesses!!

Thanks :)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A sense of accomplishment...

I have a sense of accomplishment today while looking at my to-do list for before Isabella is born. I have almost everything done. I honestly can't believe it.

Here is what I have done so far:

Pre-registered for hospital (all I have to do now is go into labor)
Booked/Found Isabella's Pediatrician
Bed/bedding
Changing table
Coming home gown
Newborn essentials (clothes, diapers, wipes, etc)
Gotten all necessary forms from insurance company to add her to insurance

In the next month or so, I will do the following:

pack bags for hospital
rewash of all of her clothes

That is all :)

I can't wait! I also have a hard time believing that so much is done, and that I only have 10-11 weeks left!! yay!



*the only BIG thing I have yet to do, is actually put Isabella's room together, that is only because we do not know if we will be moving before or after she gets here. If we still dont know by the beginning of next month I will be putting her room together at the house we live in now :)*

Am I forgetting anything?!

Elijah Graduates Kindergarten

Our 5 year old, Elijah, graduated Kindergarten yesterday. They didn't have an actual "graduation ceremony" but they did have a short little musical. There were so many people there and it was hard to get a good picture of him and the stage.

Here are the ones I did get:









Their musical was about nursery rhymes. It was really cute. Elijah played one of Little Bo Peep's sheep! :) He had a furry little tail and everything...I think he was the best sheep up there..but I may be partial! ha!

It is truly bittersweet. I feel like just yesterday I was blogging about Elijah's First Day of Kindergarten. We are so excited for him because he is so proud of himself.

Our baby is growing up!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Tamara Lowe at Christ Fellowship

My mom sent me this video in an email...I thought it was amazing and wanted to share it with all of you! I hope you enjoy!


Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures from our weekend. We didn't do much..just hung out at home mostly. Sunday we did go eat at the Collierville Square and let the kids play on the trains there.

















The kids really enjoy playing on the trains and seeing all the neat stuff in the square. We go there pretty often..it is also the place that I had my bridal portraits done. It is also where we took pictures with my family last July 4th! So the square is somewhere we truly love to go and be!

Hope you enjoy the pictures :)

The Start of Something New...

My 3rd trimester!!! I can't believe it! I am only (approximately of course) 11 weeks away from meeting my precious daughter!! This experience has been so surreal to me. I still can't believe sometimes that I am having a baby. But of course there are the other times when she has a foot in my ribcage or an elbow in my bladder that I realize that yes, in fact, I am having a baby! ha! I am now 28 weeks and 2 days pregnant!

See?



Wowswers, Look at that belly!! :) I am so excited..can you tell?

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Isabella’s Quilt

I just wanted to show you all Isabella’s quilt that her GG, my paternal grandpa’s wife (not my grandma though…kind of odd I know) made her! I absolutely love it! In fact, I love it so much that I asked GG to make the bumper pads and crib skirt for Bella’s crib too!  I was ecstatic when she said she would.  Not only does it save us money but it is something Bella can hold on to for forever and have it as a family heirloom.  I love handmade with love things.  So here it is :)

quilt 1

Here are some close ups of the different squares:

quilt 2

quilt 3

quilt 4

quilt 5

quilt 6

quilt 7

quilt 8

Isn’t it precious? I love all the details.  The crib skirt and bumper pad will just be one solid pattern and will really work nicely with all the details in the quilt!! I could not be more excited about Bella’s nursery now. 

Thanks GG for all your hard work and the love you put into this quilt (and accessories)! Isabella is so blessed to have you as her GG :)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mother's Day 2010

Mother's Day this year was my first "official" Mother's Day. I would say it was a great day. Nothing special really, we went to church, had a sermon on women and their roles in marriages and in life, came home, had lunch, and RESTED! We were really lazy most of the day. It was really nice because the kids played well and I got to spend some nice time with my husband just relaxing.

I got several cards and also a Willow Tree figurine. I love it. They are such cute figurines. We didn't take any pictures (not sure why) but we had a great day.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Show Us Your Life-Kid's Names

Show Us Your Life with Kelly's Korner

Today over at Kelly's Korner it is Show us Your Life-Kid's Names. I thought I would join in since I love naming babies :)

As you know (if you read my blog) our daughter's name is Isabella Grace. I originally had picked out the name Lilyann Eve. But after having several friends naming their baby girls some variation of Lily I decided against it. Isabella is not a family name, neither is Grace. I was not really "for" the name at first because I figured everyone would associate it with "Twilight" but after deciding against Lilyann, I decided it wasn't a big deal if people thought we named her after Bella on Twilight. I just like the name Grace so I put them together and they sounded beautiful :)

If we had been pregnant with a boy, his name was going to be Samuel Bradley. Samuel is a strong biblical name and that is what we wanted for our son/future son. Bradley is my maiden name and I have always wanted my son's middle name to be Bradley, to honor my father and his part of my family.

I did not name (of course) my step-children but I do love the uniqueness of their names.

Elijah Nathaniel

and

Kirsten Margaret

Thursday, May 6, 2010

My Mother(s)

In light of Mother’s Day on Sunday.  I thought I would write a post about the mothers in my life.  They have all added something so very special to my life and life would not be the same without them.  I am so thankful for all of them and wanted to pay this small tribute to each one. 

My Mother (Mommy) Brenda

I introduced you to my mom briefly here.  But I thought I would tell you a little more about her.  Please don’t think I am telling you a secret when I talk about my mom.  She is completely an open book about her past and does not care at all if people know.  That is one thing that I absolutely love about her.  She is so open, she does not try to hide her imperfections, she will tell you she has made and daily makes mistakes.  She does not put on a “front” to try and be something she isn’t.  She is truly her…She is Brenda.  You know the saying “What you see is what you get”? Well that sums up my mom in 7 little words.  I wouldn't change/trade her for the world

My mom had an addiction to drugs, mainly crystal meth, for many years.  She was in and out of jail many times for various things.  I was naive to most of this growing up until my teen years.  In 2006, my mom was arrested and sentenced to prison time.  I don’t recall exactly how much time she spent in county jail and then in prison but it was about the equivalent of  10-11 months.  I went to see my mom every time she had visitation, which was every other weekend just about.  This was no small feat, the prison she was in, was about 4 hours from my home.  She was released on January 25, 2007, which also happens to be my niece’s (her granddaughter’s) 1st Birthday.  She was thrilled to be coming home on such a special day and getting to spend that 1st birthday with her 1st grandbaby.  I picked her up from prison that day.  It was a special moment for my mom and I.   I felt like I had my “real” mom back.  No drugs, no lies, no nothing..just Mom :)

My mom now is saved and is a great Christian woman.  She is always there for us no matter what and I am so excited to be giving her another granddaughter.  I could not ask for a better mom and I would not change her past for anything because I believe that is how she came to Christ and no way is the “wrong” way to be led to HIM!

I have been told my entire life that I am my mom’s twin…I don’t see it..Do you?

mom 4

 

 

My Step-Mom Dana

I also introduced you to Dana briefly in this post.  Like I stated in that post, my dad married Dana when I was 5-ish?  I think.  Don’t quote me on that one.  It has been a long time..lets just put it that way.  Dana and I didn’t always get along, as with a lot of step-mothers and step-daughters.  But as I got older and more mature we really got to know each other more and finally became friends.  I respect Dana a whole lot.  She raised her own 2 kids and helped raise my brother and I. 

In 2003 (I think, again don’t quote me) Dana was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer.  We were all so shocked and just could not believe it.  We all had to go to a meeting with the doctor when she started chemotherapy and he told us what would happen.  We had no idea what to expect.  Dana got very sick, lost her hair, but NEVER, EVER gave up.  She was one tough cookie.  After chemotherapy didn’t work, Dana had a mastectomy.   She is now cancer-free and we are so happy that God brought her and our family through that rough part of life.  I honestly believe that without HIM we would have been complete basketcases.  HE is the one that healed her and for that we are forever grateful!

There is a song that reminds of me Dana by Craig Morgan, here are the lyrics:

We sat there five years ago
The doctors let us know, the test showed
She’d have to fight to live, I broke down and cried
She held me and said it’s gonna be alright
She wore that wig to church
Pink ribbon pinned there on her shirt
No room for fear, full of faith
Hands held high singing Amazing Grace
Never once complained, refusing to give up
And I thought I was tough


Chorus
She’s strong, pushes on, can’t slow her down
She can take anything life dishes out
There was a time
Back before she was mine
When I thought I was tough


She’s a gentle word, the sweetest kiss
A velvet touch against my skin
I’ve seen her cry, I’ve seen her break
But in my eyes, she’ll always be strong

Dana is so strong.  That is what I admire about her the most.  I love having her as a step-mom, and as far as step-moms go…I have the best!

cori and dana

 

My Mother-in-Law Teresa

Noah and I started dating in September 2008.  It was not long (maybe a week) after we started dating that I met his parents.  I remember thinking “Wow she’s pretty” when Noah’s mom stepped out of her bedroom.  Teresa is one of the sweetest, most sincere, most graceful women I know.  She is a “girly girl” and has somehow transformed me into one (sort of) ha! But I love it! 

Teresa and I get along great and I could not ask for a better (non-nosey) mother-in-law.  She is not a mother-in-law that gets in your business and tells you how to do things “right” for her son.  Nope, she is not that at all! We live with her (and Noah’s dad Leroy) and I get the same question all the time “Don’t living with your mother-in-law drive you crazy?”  My answer is always the same…”actually..NO!” I love living there and am so thankful that they are letting us live there while we get our feet on the ground and our finances straight to buy our own house.  I see it as a great benefit and by no means a downfall or awful situation. 

Teresa spoils us (me AND Noah) rotten!! We love it (of course, who wouldn’t?) I love being able to say that I truly LOVE my mother-in-law! She is a great person and I could not ask for better in-laws!

me and teresa

 

So there you go.  My 3 mothers.  Each one unique, individual and I would not trade any of them for the world! 

Happy Mother’s Day to the 3 Mothers in my life!! I love you all!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Christian Party of TN

My husband has been led to try and start a new political party. He, of course, has to start locally so right now it is called the Christian Party of TN. You can view his website here. We are both really excited about this and really hope that it comes to fruition for him. If you are in TN and would like to join, please feel free to contact him through his website. Or if you are out of state and feel led to start a Christian Party in your state, contact him!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Baby Shower

Saturday, May 1st, I had my first baby shower! I was so worried on Friday night that things weren't going to go right because of all the nasty weather we were having here in the South :)

We drove down to my parents house in AR on Saturday morning, in some really nasty rain and storms for half of the way. We arrived RIGHT when it was supposed to start and when guests were arriving so I had no time to freshen up after my 3 hour car ride..ugh!

Here are some pictures from the shower:




















The outfit I am holding in picture #3 is Isabella's coming home outfit! I just adore it!

It was a great turnout and Isabella really was spoiled. I am so thankful for all the great friends and family that came out to show their love for me and Isabella!

Just wanted to say an extra special THANKS to my sister, Ashley, step-mom Dana, and mom, Brenda for hosting and throwing this beautiful shower! I feel so loved!

Ms. Isabella is pretty set now and we will have little to buy when she gets here!

God is so mighty and we are so blessed!