Mommy Monday - A Promise For My Daughter

Have you read "A Promise For My Daughter"? I noticed that it has been posted on a few people's facebook pages recently. I knew it would probably make me tear up so therefore I tried to avoid reading it. However, here I am sharing it with you now which can only mean one thing. I read it....and cried. Beautiful! It really is one of those pieces that encompasses all the thoughts you have in your head as a mama but can never really put into your own words. However, she did. She put it into words.

While I may not have typed the words myself, they are straight from my soul.

Sophie Olivia Easterday, I will always come!
 

Click Here to read "A Promise For My Daughter"




 

Fabulous Friday - Birthdays and Guilt

TGIF!!!!

Happy Happy Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother in law - Mary!! I am very lucky to have been blessed with a mother in law who I love so dearly and truly enjoy spending time with!! You are an even more amazing Nana which is one of the many reasons why Sophie thinks you hung the moon!

We love you Nana!

It is Fabulous Friday so at the risk of getting too deep, I have something I just had to share. I am a working mama and as I have said before, the guilt is overwhelming. While I know I am on the path that God has destined for me, the guilt and heartbreak is at times all consuming. Sunday evenings whisper of the pending daily goodbyes for the coming week and are too much.

 A friend posted a link on her facebook page today to this great article - "Grace For the Working Mother and Her Guilt". It just really spoke to me and I especially needed to hear it today so I thought I would share. 

Have a great weekend!!

xoxo 

Random Thursday - TWINS!!!

1) I am FINALLY allowed to spill the beans....MY BABY SISTER IS PREGNANT WITH TWINS!!!!! Yeah, so our family might just be a little excited, can you tell?! The fact that my sister and brother are twins, makes this an even more amazing blessing from God!

Megan is such an awesome May May is going to make an even more amazing Mommy!!! Sophie is ready for more cousins and I am ready to be the best Aunt ever by spoiling them rotten and then sending them home to mommy and daddy!

May May and Bubba back in the day! Can't wait for more twins!!

2) Jeff and I have decided to cut soda out of our diet. For years, we have read all of the negative information about what they do to your body. The time has come to make it happen. Given that I do not drink coffee and this is my only source of caffine, I am sure it will be a super smooth detox (insert sarcasam here).

3) Meet Sophie and her baby "Sissy". Sissy has been through alot, as I am sure you can tell (just take a look at that hair). As for her crooked head, yes...that has been placed back on her body so many times I have lost count. Needless to say, she has litterly been through the ringer a few times and back again. No matter how hard we try to put Sissy in the back of the closet, under the bed, or "accidently" hide her, she seems to always find her way right back to us. It's actually kinda scary. Like maybe I will open my eyes in the middle of the night to find Sissy standing over me holding a knife as the pale moonlight reflects her shadow. Hmm, maybe I should be nicer to Sissy!

4) As I have previously mentioned, we have finally started the much overdo task of putting up our fence. And by we, I mean Jeff, some of his friends, and my brother and dad. They are all the "do it yourself" type of men so we thought why hire someone to do it when they can just take a weekend and install it themselves. Well, between the rain and work schedules, the wood pile is now going on it's third week.

Last Friday evening they finally got started on it and then after only a few hours, the drill bit (whatever that is although I do feel like it is fairly important with the fence installation process) broke. I have always heard to be careful what you ask for when praying for patience because you just might get it...yeah, I think I may have a better appreciation of that phrase now.
 

They worked hard but this is as far as they got.

Let's just hope I will have a different picture for you next week!  

Wifey Wednesday - Couples Who Play In the Mud Together, Stay Together

We participated in the mud run (benefiting Habitat for Humanity) this past weekend and it was so much fun. It is so incredibly funny how our perspectives changed from pre-race to post-race.

Pre-Race Thoughts -

My brother - I have a bad elbow and have not worked out in forever.

Jeff - I have not worked out in 3 months!

Me - Come on guys! We are all in good shape and it wasn't that hard last year, we can do this!

By the second obstacle (with the start line still in sight), I kid you not, I thought - oh shoot....umm this course is a bit more difficult then last year!

This picture pretty much sums up the entire race, us looking at my brothers back. I do believe I caught him stepping on some people to get through the mud at one point.

I opted for what I like to think of as a more thoughtful approach at tackling the muddy river. I swam with the current. It was actually alot easier then trying to walk through it like last year. 

Yes, another picture that sums up the race!

At the end of the race, we had to climb over this wall. Let me tell you something, as I look at this picture, I realize that the wall does not look but looks can be deceiving - it was a mamma jamma of a wall! The tricky part was not necessarily getting yourself to the top but once you got to the top, how did you get yourself over without losing your balance and falling back down??? It took me two good tries and I have some nasty scrapes and bruises to prove it! Once I got to the top on the second try, I litterly did not know how to get over without falling again. So, I did what any person would do at that moment while hanging from a wall, in the middle of a race, with a ton of muddy people standing behind me waiting their turn, I prayed. I remember reading somewhere that there is no such thing as an unimportant prayer. I decided to test that theory and close my eyes to pray. In what can only be described as an answered prayer - I made it over teh wall! That is certainly the only way it could have happened because my brother was laughing at me too hard to help and Jeff had given up his battle and just walked around the wall. I stood on top and did a victory punch in the air before climbing down. In my mind it was a scene straight out of a movie. In reality I am sure it was a different story but I am choosing to go with the better version!

  

Jeff must have had dust in his eyes from where I smoked him on the wall!

The End!

Post-Race Thoughts -

My brother - Dude, I smoked that thing and ya'll.

Jeff - I have got to get back in the gym.

Me - You guys may want to step back, I think I'm going to throw up (luckily I didn't)!

Great day and great event!

Can't wait for next year!

Tummy Tuesday - Mac and Cheese Please

Another new and successful pinterest recipe - we are on a roll!!

Bacon, Ranch, and Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

Bacon, Ranch, and Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

My sister in law recently shared this AMAZING and DELICIOUS Mountain Dew Peach Cobbler recipe with us. It was seriously beyond amazing and I am sure super healthy. Anything with the words Mountain Dew in the title just has to be healthy right?!

Enjoy!

 

Mommy Monday - The First Day of the Last Year

Sophie started her first day of school last week which also happens to be her last year of preschool. Her classroom is at the very end of the hallway which means there is no where else for her to go. No other classroom to move to next year because it will be time for big school. Deep, deep, deep breath. One day at a time for this mama as I do my very best to soak it all in.

I have found memories of back to school shopping with my mom so this year I decided to start the tradition with Sophie. The weekend prior to school starting we had a mommy/daughter back to school day of fun!

Our first stop was a local boutique to pick out her first day of school outfit. As much as my girl loves shopping, she just could not resist playing mommy with the bassinet and kitchen.

Princess Sophie wanted Mac N Cheese and chocolate milk for lunch and being her humble servant, I delivered. Wouldn't it be nice if we could still eat that way without a care in the world?

Next on the list, we visited "Pigtails and Crewcuts" for a mani pedi. If you have never taken your child - I highly recommend it!! This place is wonderful and strickly for children which means chairs and tables and all sorts of goodies just for them. Soo stinking cute!

So very proud of her matching mani/pedi!

This diva is ready for her premier!

My girl is growing up so fast!

 It really does happen in a blink of any eye so please pardon all of my proud mommy pictures below!

Thank you heavenly Father for sharing this precious face and sweet girl with us!

This is as far as she would let me take pictures. She told me on the way to school that I took all of my pictures at home and could not take any of her at school. Geez, already getting embarrassed by me? I thought I still had another year or two before that started to happen!

Thumbs up for a successful first day of school! 

Fabulous Friday - A Weekend of Firsts

TGIF!

We are gearing up for a busy weekend after an already crazy busy week! Tomorrow, we will be participating in the annual Mud Run which I feel fairly certain will produce some outstanding pictures! I participated for the first time last year and it was so much fun!! This year, I was able to convince Jeff and my brother to join our team so it should be epic! 

Our fence is FINALLY going up! This thing has been years in the making because and would always get pushed aside to make room for other "things". You better believe I have a Pinterest board full of ideas for our new backyard. As you can imagine, Jeff can hardly contain his excitement at the prospect of all my new projects!

God has been laying it on my heart for awhile now to start a super casual bible study group where we can have an outlet for us mommies to grow, learn, and share together. However, I must admit I have been hesitant. Would anyone even want to do it and if so, who? Would I know what we need to do? I finally realized that if this was something that God was laying it on my heart, then he would provide the way. A few weeks ago I pushed my fears aside, took the plunge, and am excited to share that we have a group of girls. I feel very blessed to have many different groups of friends from all sorts of chapters and my life and it is so amazing and such a blessing to see all of us coming together! We have our first meeting on Sunday afternoon and I can't wait to see the awesome things that God has in store for us.

Have a great weekend!!

xoxo

Mommy Monday - Ballgame

Ballgame! It's a wrap on Sophie's softball career. Wait, I know what you are thinking. How is that even possible because I just read on your blog last week that Sophie was getting ready to start softball and was so excited about it. Yes, you would be correct. However, as things have a tendency to do, it did not quite happen like we thought it would.

Instead, it went a little something like this - Sophie was so excited for softball practice on Sunday that she wanted to practice in the driveway that morning before church. The whole way to church she kept asking, are we there yet?! Then the whole way from church to the ballfield - are we there yet?! We finally arrived at practice and once she hopped out of that car, it was as though everything within her completely changed and she was pretty much like - yeah, thanks but no thanks. Not happening....not today. Her death grip alternated between mine and Jeff's legs. She would not even turn her head to look at the coach. So, after about an hour of this drama (in heat that would make the devil himself seek shelter), we called it a wrap. We know our child and this was not happening.  

It was most certainly one of those parenting moments that you know you will one day share with your child when they are older. Remember that time at your first softball practice when you would not remove your death grip from my leg and then we all had to do the "walk of shame" back to our car in the middle of your practice? Of course only after I removed your cleats (leaving you barefoot as you walked to the car) in the hope that I would be able to give them a good scrub and return back to the store so we can get some of our money back?! Good times!

I hate those parenting moments where all you want to do is the right thing by your child but you are just not sure what that is. Do we make her play it out because we don't want her to think it is ok to quit, or we do we just chalk it up to lesson learned and that she is just may not be quite ready for it yet?? We obviously decided on the second option, afterall, she is only 4. There will be plenty of time in the future to teach her about honoring our committments but at her age we just did not feel it was the the right decision for this moment.

Being a parent is so scary and it does not help matters that I of course over analyze everything. For those who know me, I am fully aware that this is not shocking information to you. As parents, in those moments, we worry - Are we doing the right thing? Will she be able to overcome her shyness? Will her shyness hold her back from excelling with a talent that God may have blessed her with (whatever that may be)? Will she miss something or be left behind because of it? Luckily, after a long conversation with my mama (and maybe a few shed tears) she reminded me, she is only 4, there will be time for all of it but just not today and that is ok. She still has plenty of time so don't get all caught up in rushing things along because that is the "thing to do". Afterall, look how much she has overcome her shyness in the past year! She will be ready when she is ready and then as Jeff said, when that day comes, it will just be as if a switch has flipped. 

While it sadly did not come to me right away, after much prayer God reminded me that at the end of the day it is not important. What is important is her knowing that she is a child of God and growing in his glory every day. Learning to live her life for him and his plan for her, whatever and wherever that may be. And as parents, living by example for her as we guide and teach her along the way. Sometimes it is just too easy getting caught up in the "grown up" world.  

Sophie is still loving softball and played all around the house last night. In fact, this morning I woke up to this sight at 6:30 a.m. -

However, for now, I think we will be sticking our team of three - Sophie, Mommy, and Daddy. Maybe it was just a bit much to throw her into all at once. Maybe we will give it another shot in the spring. Who knows?! Only time will tell but I do think the person who may have learned the most from this whole whirlwind experience was Mommy!

   

Fabulous Friday - Play Ball

TGIF!!!

Sophie is ready to start playing ball. Or at least try it out. We are lucky enough to have her on a team with quite a few people we know as well as some of her best friends from school. This is the perfect opportunity to get her feet wet and she is BEYOND excited!!  

I must admit that Jeff and I both are a mixture of emotions with her starting to play ball. On one hand, it seems as though she is still our baby and is just way to young to be beginning this new chapter. On the other hand, we know the importance of her becoming involved with activities and having a creative outlet. Selfishly, we would of course LOVE it if softball ended up being her "thing". Growing up, the ballfield was like a second home to the both of our families. The ballfield is where we learned so many important lessons and made life long friends.  While I decided to not play past highschool, baseball is how Jeff paid for college. Needless to say, it is a shared love! 

Our first priority is for Sophie to be happy, active, and involved. We want her to find something she loves, regardless of what it is. However....why not start here?! 

We stocked up on our softball supplies and you just know we had to get everything in pink. She especially loved the pink helmet and wore it all around the store! The only thing that was missing was her pink cleats which we finally found after a mad hunt all over town.

We got a little side tracked but just she just loves her some Justin Beaver. Yes, she calls him Beaver and it is just so cute, I can't stand to correct her.

Super proud of her bat bag with all of her goodies.  



Sadly, her very first practice was cancelled due to rain. She broke down into tears when we told her and kept asking if she could please go tomorrow. Bless her little heart! Let's just hope she feels the same way after her first practice! Let the journey begin.....

Have a great weekend!

xoxo

   

Wifey Wednesday - Un-Committed

We had a wonderful sermon this past Sunday about being Un-Committed in your marriage. I was very touched by it and it appeared that many within the congregation were as well. Of course I can only speak for my own marriage but I would be willing to bet that we all needed to hear it!

Our pastor spoke of how marriage is God's idea and design. Our marriage's are shadows of God's great design and glory. I don't know about you but that makes me a bit nervous because I know there are certainly times when our marriage is not reflecting God's design or glory.

He spoke of how we all live in a fallen world and are sinners by nature. We do not have God's thoughts in our head because we have sin. Due to this and our fallen world, our concept of marriage has been corrupted. This was not God's original plan for us.

That sin that lives inside of us leads to all sorts of problems in our marriage. Most Christians get divorced because of money, communication issues, lifestyle or intellectual differences, all of which are trivial reasons. This is because our foundation is not rooted in Christ and we become to much of a reflection of the world around us.   

Jesus saves marriages and can restore homes but we must first seek him together. We cannot make less of what God makes much of. We must model our marriage for the next generation and our children. One day we want to be able to tell our child's future spouse and in-laws that we have done everything we can do to show them how to love their spouse and being a Godly husband/wife. In turn, wouldn't that be a wonderful blessing to hear from someone hoping to spend the rest of their life with your child? 

Please know that these are just my notes that I wanted to share. If you would like to hear the much better version of my choppy cliff notes, Click Here to hear the sermon or Click Here to watch the sermon.

  

Tummy Tuesday - Rotisserie Chicken Casserole

We had a great new meal last night and it was fairly simple - Rotisserie Chicken Casserole (says the person who got home late and did not put it all together)!

Jeff said he even wanted to officially move it into the regular dinner meal rotation at our house which is a big deal for him.  

Rotisserie Chicken Casserole

After quite a few new meal bombs last week, it was nice to find something yummy again!

Enjoy!

Mommy Monday - Happy Birthday Mama!

Saturday evening we celebrated my mama's birthday! I am not even kidding when I tell you that this woman only looks younger with age. If I told you her age (don't worry Mom, I won't), you would most certainly agree with me!

 Let's hope it is in the genes!!

Sophie and the birthday girl!

We had a wonderful birthday dinner which involved some of my favorite things (even though it wasn't my special day) - family, Italian food, and cookie cake. My hips my say otherwise, but I don't think it gets any better!

After dinner, we headed to the park to hang out and listen to some music.

How beautiful right?! It was one of "those" nights. The kind where the sunset is brilliant shades of pink, crickets are chirping, and there is just a hint of a cool breeze. When all you want to do is lean your head back, close your eyes, and take it all in. It certainly does not hurt that we also happen to live in a beautiful city with an amazing waterfront!

Overall, a birthday success! For all those years I never understood why my mom would say that all she wanted for her birthday was all of us to be together. I always thought that she must just say that because she is a mom and that is what you are supposed to say. However, now having a child of my own, I totally get it. Add it to the list of 997,643 other things that I now understand better because I am a mama.

Thank you for special nights such as these heavenly Father and thank you for our Mom!

Happy Birthday Mama and Gigi!
We all love you so very much!!

Fabulous Friday - Jail Break

OH MY GOODNESS - it is Friday and I seriously could not be happier!!

Is it bad I am already thinking about what yummy meal to have for dinner tonight?!

Did you read the article sharing about how Prince William is taking paternity leave? Click here to check it out. I just loved hearing that news! I am a firm believer in paternity leave - we need help!

Did you know that women in England are eligible for up to 52 weeks of maternity leave? Yes, you read that right and no, I did not type the wrong number. They can also share a portion of that time with their husband if they would like too. Consider this our notice - we will be moving to jolly 'ole England this weekend because they know how to do it!

Aren't they just so cute? I totally think Jeff and I could be GREAT friends with them!!!

We are ready for FOOTBALL SEASON in our house!!! The count down is on for SEC madness and football Saturdays and we cannot wait for this new era in Tennessee Football!!! GO BIG ORANGE!

Preach on!

The quiet time after Sophie's bedtime and before ours is priceless. I am not above crawling out of her room on all four's to avoid her waking up and catching me walk out. It really is like a jail break! 

TGIF!

Have a great weekend!!

xoxo

Random Thursday - What's Been Going On At Our House

1) I have shared before how Sophie is such a little mommy. Recently, she cannot go to bed until all of her dolls are also covered up and in bed. Let me just tell you - that is ALOT of dolls. The other morning as I stepped into the shower, this is what I saw -  

Apparently she even thought to cover up her Little Mermaid bath toy. Ariel is laying on a washcloth as her bed with the the top part of the castle serving as her covers. Oh my sweet Sophie girl!

2) I was honored to have been asked to facilitate the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chattanooga board retreat a few weekends ago. It was a wonderful experience with a group of people who are passionate about their work and providing for the Chattanooga community. 

3) Sophie loves watching "So You Think You Can Dance". We call it our special girlfriend time when we watch it together while cuddling on the couch. 

4) This week I attend my first dotMOM committee meeting and it was awesome! I am so excited to get to work with such an amazing group of ladies and mommies! I can't wait to do more with this very special event that is coming to the Chattanooga area in September. If you are not already familiar with the dotMOM conference, you can read more about it by Clicking Here and checking out my recent blog post or you can go directly to the dotMOM Chattanooga website by Clicking Here. 

Have a great day!