Snowlady, hot chocolate, and puppies

So this winter Tennessee has had a ton of snow!! Usually around here we are lucky if we get snow that sticks once a year. This year we have had snow, ice, more snow, and lots of kids jumping up and down when they hear "school is closed due to inclement weather." The first few times it snowed I was sick with the flu so Adam and Nana took Tori out.  I ventured out once to take a few pictures, than ran back to my warm bed. So, today when I looked outside and realized that there was enough snow to play in I said, "Ok Tori let's go!!" She played a little while, I took a few pictures, and then I thought... "Tori has never made a snowman!" I don't think she's ever even seen a real snowman. So, off we went to the front yard and made our first ever snowlady!! Tori LOOOVVEDD it! She got to help me roll the snow into balls, then we went to her dress-up basket and picked out some clothes for "Ms. Snow." It turned out to be the cutest snowlady I have ever seen!!! I can't believe we've never done this before!

She had such a blast!!!

Then after playing in the snow, we came in for hot chocolate/coffee, and I captured a few sweet moments with my little girl.

Last, but not least!! The puppies are officially "crate training" wish me luck!! The first day is going wonderfully!! After 10 minutes of whining, all 5 of them slept quietly for 2 hours in the crate! WOOHOO!!

"SHH!! Mommy the puppies seeping!!" 

Haiti Earthquake Relief

For those of you who didn't get to see the Olympic's Opening ceremony you have to watch this video!! For the second time the song "We Are the World" has been re-made. This time is was re-made for Haiti and to encourage the Haitian people during their time of need. It's been 25 years since the first re-make and it is so amazing to see all of these amazing artists recording together!! If you didn't see it WATCH IT!!!

We Are the World

Haiti Earthquake Relief

Tori making her Valentines

Our Lullaby Legacy

You know when I was little I assumed everyone's mommy sang them the same lullabies that mine sang. When I had my own child I realized that there are lullabies out there, that I have never heard. A couple months ago Tori asked me to sing the "Moon song" I was like what?? So i broke into "Heavenly" by Harry Connick Jr. She liked that well enough, but it was obviously not the song she was talking about. I then figured out that Adam's mom, Anita (Nana), sang her a song about the moon that I had never heard before. Since then I have learned "I see the Moon" and it's one of her favorites. I also have a beautiful lullaby my mama used to sing to me called, "You Will Wear Velvet." And my grandmother sang it to Tori the first time she saw her. I then found out that Adam had never heard it! So now we have one special lullaby from my family and one from Adam's that will be so sweet to pass down. Here are the lyrics to our lullaby legacy:

You Will Wear Velvet

You will wear velvet little girl

When you grow up, you'll brighten the world

You will bring laughter everywhere

Slippers of silver, will carry you there

All your life, waits for you

And somewhere, love waits too

Smiling and sleepy, close your eyes

Carry your dreams to paradise

I See The Moon

I see the moon, and the moon sees me

The moon sees the somebody I wanna see

God bless the moon, and God bless me

God bless the somebody I wanna see

It seems to me, that God above

Created you for me to love

He picked you out from all the rest

Because he knew I'd love you best

And I think, that I will add to one more song to our legacy. I absolutely love the song "Baby Mine" from the Disney movie Dumbo. If you've never heard it click here Baby Mine. This is a disney redo with all the disney mothers in it (If you watch to long it will start singing it in Spanish haha). I am a crazy Disney fan, so I love it :). Here's the lyrics

Baby Mine

Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine

Little one when you play
Don't you mind what you say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine
 

From your head down to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine

O and by the way Happy Valentines Day!!!

books, books, books...

Growing up I LOVED books! Even before I could read I loved books and being read to. It's so much fun to instill the love for books in my own sweet girl. I read books to her, that were read to me when I was little, and it's so fun to read the stories as an adult and remember hearing them when you were little. To me books are little treasures. I cannot wait until we have a huge bookshelf filled with books of all kinds. Tori loves to be read to. There are days I will find her sitting in her room with piles of books around her, and one open in her lap. I love to see which book she will pick out each night, and I especially love walking down memory lane with sweet little Tori and being happy to oblige each time she says "Again Mommy!!"

We also get books each month from the Imagination Library! You can sign your child up for free and receive free books based on their age. Today we got Corduroy in the mail today! One of my childhood favorites! Tori and I have read it 4 times already.

If you want to sign-up for imagination library click the link below and click "first time visitors."

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

My Valentine

I just want the world to know how much I love my husband!! Adam and I will have been married 3 years this June and at the end of this month (Feb. 24) we will have been together for 4 years (WOAH!) haha this may not seem huge to those of you who have been married for 10+ years, but it's so amazing to see where we have come from and where we are now. Back in October Adam and I had our very first weekend away from Tori. My parents sweetly offered to send us on a marriage retreat call "A Weekend to Remember" in Memphis, and to watch Tori while we were there. It was one of the most amazing weekends of my life. We had projects to do together, a date night, and we were asked to write love letters to eachother, and to make the most of our time together. This was a life changing weekend for us. We learned so much, how to communicate better, how to understand one another, and man has it been amazing to see how our marriage has grown!!! I just want to touch a little on what we learned with a few of my favorite quotes from the speakers:
1. Make Your marriage Fireproof! 
"Fireproof does not mean fire will not come. It means you can get through it WHEN it does."
2. "Unconditional Love...Adam is my gift from God, and I receive him because of this and no other reason."
3. Our goal is to acheive oneness:
"True oneness in marriage is not possible without God."
"Differences are God's tools to teach us to trust Him and His goodness."
4.  Resolving Conflict:
"We don't want victory, we want unity."
5. Me as the wife:
"My God given role is to be my husbands helper and completer in our marriage. He is to be the leader."
"Respecting my husband is a choice that I make that no matter how he messes up or what happens I will always be here. My decision to respect him will empower him to become the man God created him to be."
"Hold my tongue, and trust God with everything including my role as Adam's wife."
6. "God has designed His word to cost more to give out, than to receive."
7. The 3 essential ingrediants for oneness in marriage:
     1. The habit of Extravagant Love- This leads to genuine intimacy
     2. The habit of Generous Forgiveness- This leads to true security
     3. The habit of Enthusiastic Encouragement- This leads to authentic unity
8. "Fill your home with contagious joy."

Marriage isn't easy, and people tell you love is a feeling all the time, but love is not a feeling!! Love is a choice you make. My last quote from this weekend is this definition for love: "The commitment of my will to your needs and best interests, regardless of the cost." Every day, that I choose to love my husband the more I "feel" the warm fuzzy feeling in my heart that we like to call love. Love cannot be defined simply as an emotion, love is more than that, it is a commitment, a sacrifice, a lifestyle, and a choice. And I choose to love my husband this valentines day, and for the rest of my life!!