Chalkboard Plate

So, I can take NO credit for this idea. I saw it in Pottery Barn (2 platters for over $100) and thought that I could make that. It is not a new idea. I have seen chalkboard paint added to all sorts of serving dishes to make cute decor for your kitchen or walls.

Here is my finished product

This is all it took: A serving piece you like (I have also seen this done with a silver platter and it was so cute) , chalkboard paint, and a paint brush. I did not finish mine out with anything, so I will be interested to see how it holds up if I write on it a lot. The paint is not completely smooth because of the brush strokes, but it still looks really cute. If anyone has any tips I would love to hear them.

Speaking of Super Bowl Sunday, I never posted any pictures. We had our Sunday School class over to "watch" the game. Although, there was little watching. We had 25 adults and almost 15 kiddos (and more on the way!) It was lots of fun!

Ironically, our Sunday school leaders are moving to Little Rock in the near future to work for the Family Life Ministry. They are so sad about leaving Waco and their Baylor Bears behind, which we totally understand. But, we keep telling them how much fun they will have being in the SEC and in a state that LOVES and supports their Razorbacks! On one of my trips to Arkansas, I brought some Hog gear back for them! This is Brandon, the Barber's youngest. He lit up when we gave him his Razorback gifts! I think he is a little more excited about the Razorbacks than the rest of the family.

***These pictures are not very good. Flint forgot to turn the flash on.

Some of the ladies...

and some of the men...

and the some of the kids!

My Funny Valentine

I know Valentine's Day is long gone but I think this picture is really cute of Cilla in her heart. jammies! She likes to clap (especially for herself). It is one of her best and most consistent skills.

We have been MIA for a few days because the stomach bug plagued our house. Poor Cilla had it the worst and then she lovingly passed it on to her momma! I have never felt as helpless as I did while my poor baby girl had the bug! I am glad we are over it and so is our washing machine!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Cilla wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day.

Some of you have already gotten this, but we wanted to send our wishes to our Bloggy friends , too! Hope you have a great day and we hope you get to share it with one's you love!

Busy Bees

We have had such a busy week.

We went to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex for "Aunt" Laura's birthday and to see our Pappy, who has been in the hospital.

Here we are at Nordies with Laura and Braysen.

Do you think she has seen her mommy put these sunglasses on a time or two?!?!?

Hanging out at Nordies while Baby Braysen eats.

Laura and Braysen

Oh, how I already love that little guy!

Cilla loved Braysen and loved helping his mommy with him. She would bounce him in the bouncy seat and try to give him toys to play with! Poor guy was probably ready to see her go!

We also had lunch with some of our friends here in Waco. They are also the Harris family!

This is just one of Cilla's many boyfriends here in Waco. It seems like all of her friends are boys here! We are going to have to move out of town in about 13 years!

This is Sheldon. How cute is he?!?!

We couldn't make a trip to McAllister's without having some sweet tea. Cilla loves to drink out of her mommy's glass. Thank goodness for the lid. I promise, I was not letting her have any! Do you think her pediatrician would think it was alright for her to be drinking sweet tea?!?!

We ended the week with Jack's birthday party.

Here are Cilla and Jack playing together.

The birthday boy and his cutie pie momma!

Jack wasn't too sure about his cake or all of the attention that goes along with a birthday party.

Pretty sure our girl will be digging into her cake when her turn rolls around!!!

This picture was from a couple of weeks ago, but I just had to post it. Cilla and I ran down to Austin for a day to see our friends Amber, Austin, and Kaylee and to run a couple of errands. Amber is one of my precious friends from college and she is SUPERMOM!!! I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I need to take some lessons from her! Here are our kiddos eating lunch all together. Cilla looks like such a big girl in this picture. She is sitting at the table with the big kids and is eating pizza. YES, you read this correctly, I gave her pizza AND she loved it!

Thanks for letting us come to visit, friends! We love hanging out with you guys!

Here is our girl. So tired from her fun week! How tired does one have to be to sleep like this?!?!

cilla grace

Just a little oldie, but goodie!  My sweet little Cilla Grace!

Happy Birthday, Laura!

Today is a special someone's birthday. My bestie, Laura! I will not tell her age, I will let her do that. But, I will tell you it is a BIG birthday!

Cilla and I are headed to Dallas today to celebrate with her!

I love you so much, Laura! You are such loyal and true friend. God knew just what I needed when He brought you into my life. I have loved loved loved living closer to you the last couple of years! We have so much fun with you and Brad. I am thankful for all the memories we have and I look forward to making more. I can't wait to watch our kiddos grow up together! I hope your birthday is as special as you are! Hugs!

11 Months (Sniff. Sniff.)

Wow. Can it be possible that my baby will ONE year old exactly one month from today?!?! I know I say this every month (or everyday for that matter) but I can't believe how fast time flies by! It really needs to slow down. Time, could you do that, please? I can't believe that one month from today, my baby will officially cross the line (according to the books) from being a baby to being a toddler! Now I know what my mom always meant when she said that I would always be her baby!

I love this age so much. Cilla is so active and is constantly on the go. She is learning new things every day! As you can see, she does not sit still for any length of time. So, this was our best attempt at an 11 month picture!

I would much rather drag out all my toys than have my picture taken!!!

Cilla is a very curious little girl. She doesn't miss a beat. If the phone rings or if we get a text message, she stops what she is doing and tries to scout out our phones. She has decided she doesn't want to nap at Mother's Day Out because she does not want to miss out on ANYTHING! Same with the church nursery. What are some of the things she is has been up to the past month?

* She switched over to her "big girl" car seat and started facing forward! Which, I know many people frown on, but it has made life so much more pleasant for everyone. AND... Cilla just so happens to be past the recommended weight for forward facing babies. When we visited the doctor (twice) this past month for an ear infection she weighed in at 22lbs 7 oz.

*She loves the bubblegum flavored medicine that she was prescribed.

* She eats great (still). She still eats some baby food, but she eats lots of table foods, too. She loves turkey, chicken (especially fried), carrots, black beans, corn, peas, pears, mango, peaches, bananas....the list goes on and on.

* She actually tried chicken noodle soup for the first time last night and loved it! We do, however, think that she might have an allergy to artificial cheese. She gets a rash on her face every time she eats mac and cheese. This makes me a little sad!

* She is down to 3 bottles each day.

* She has been sleeping like a champ. Finally, since we got home from Christmas, she has gotten into a great routine. She sleeps about 12 hours at night (finally...straight!). She takes about and 1 1/2 - 2 hour morning nap and takes about a 1 1/2 - 2 hour afternoon nap! Can we get a HALLELUJAH!!!!!

*She is saying her "momma" and "dadda" sounds along with an occasional "baba". She can't fully distinguish momma and dadda verbally, but if you ask her, she points to who is who. She also knows the doggies and can point each of them out.

* She LOVES to look at pictures, especially pictures of her family. We say she is vain because she lights up when she sees pictures of herself!

* As for the walking, we are getting very close. She crawls so well, though, she does not have to walk. She pulls up on everything and walks around furniture. She can even stand for a few seconds on her own, but no walking yet. I am completely okay with this!

* She has started "dancing" when music comes on! It is so stink'in cute. It is basically a bounce but it makes this mommy proud!

* She plays peek-a-boo, too! She pulls blankets over her face and waits for us to say "Where is Cilla?" Then she shows her face and starts laughing hysterically! She also likes to play peek-a-boo with Sophie. Sophie would prefer not to play!

* She loves cell phones. She holds them up to her ear when we say "hello". It is cute! She can spot a cell phone or keys from across a room!

* She loves to read "Snuggle Puppy" and "Barnyard Dance". Two of the cutest books ever written!

* She gets into everything. I MEAN EVERYTHING. The dog bowl (which has been relocated to the laundry room), the kitchen cabinets, drawers, Tupperware, laundry baskets, dog food, the DVD's, the pantry, wipes (she loves to pull the wet wipes out of the box one by one), toilet paper (she thinks it is funny to unroll toilet paper), yes...and even the toilets! I am learning to keep the lids down. I am just a slow learner!

Cilla,

As busy as you are and as tired as I am at the end of everyday, I would not trade anything for our time together! I love you so much- more and more with each passing day! You really do light up my life and bring so much laughter to our home! I am so proud you are mine and not a day goes by that I do not thank the Lord for you! I am so humbled that He has put me where I am today and that He has given your daddy and I the opportunity to raise you and point you toward HIMSELF!

I LOVE You, My little Pumpkin, My Sunshine, Our Roo!

Love, your mommy

Valentine Crafts

I have never really been into Valentine's Day....until this year! Flint and I never really made a big deal about it. But, everything is more fun with a little one. I look forward to making all the crafts as Cilla gets older- all of the fun things that I remember doing as a kid. In some ways it makes me sad to think about how fast Cilla is growing up, but I also look forward to all of the fun we will have together as she gets older. I look forward to making Valentine treats with her and helping with the Valentine parties at her school. Do you remember making these hearts out of shaved crayons and wax paper? I just love these. Next year maybe we will make these together and hang them in our windows! Go here to see the directions for this fun craft!

Birthdays

Well, Flint turned the big 3-0 this week. February 2nd to be exact. It was a fun-filled day. It was nothing extravagant, but hopefully it was special to him! Thanks to everyone who helped make it special and thanks to all of his friends who sent birthday wishes! Flint really doesn't get into surprise parties or birthday parties at all (oh, but don't worry...Cilla WILL be having a birthday bash!) and since most of his dearest friends are no closer than Dallas, we opted out of the party. Instead, I had lots of friends write emails, send cards, tell funny stories, share favorite memories... you know, all the things you like to do when you enter a new decade of life! I took all of the birthday messages and put them into a scrapbook for Flint. I think it was a big hit! At least, I hope it was! Here are a few pictures of Flint's day.

Cilla playing before she went to breakfast with daddy and then off to school.

Our attempt at sending daddy birthday wishes. Sitting still is a hard task for us these days!

The Birthday Boy!

My friend, Emmalie, owns Crop.Paper.Sissiors and she made this banner for me. I love how it turned out and it will be used lots in the future!

Just for the record, we went to breakfast together at one of our favorite places- Cafe Cappuccino. I took his favorite cupcakes up to work (thanks Hillary! We still LOVE the decadent chocolate filled chocolate cupcakes!) We went to dinner with our friends, The Campbells. Then we had a little family time- opened gifts, watched a video I made of Flint's first 30 years, we read through the birthday book, and we ate cookie cake!!!

Flint, I hope your day was wonderful. We love you so much.

Speaking of Birthdays.....

I heard a rumor.......

We have two really special people in our lives that have recently had birthdays and we do not want them to go unnoticed!!!

"Uncle" Peter also turned 30!!!!!

Peter is Flint's best friend. Their friendship goes back to their childhood days as kampers at Kanakuk. Although they have never lived in the same town, they are great to visit each other or, even better, to meet at a fun location!

These are pictures from Flint and Peter's days at Kanakuk!

Peter and Flint in Lake Tahoe

We love you bunches, Uncle Peter!!! You exemplify what it looks like to be TRUE friend. We love living near you and we love all the trips you make to Waco to visit us! We can't wait to see you soon.

XOXO- The Harris Clan

AND

Our precious friend, Kelli, also had a birthday!!!

Most of my pics with Kelli were before the digital age, but I managed to find a few. Lots of you may have never met Kelli, but you have heard lots about her. It is funny because when I first met Kelli, I was friends with her older sister, Paige, who was one of my sorority sisters. Apparently God had bigger plans for our friendship. She was in a bible study that I led when she was a freshman in college and I was senior in college. We instantly took a liking to each other and before we knew it, Kelli was with us all the time. Kelli came to our house to hang out and to study, she would dog sit when we were out of town (by the way, I am still mad at you for graduating), we went to dinner together, she even went to Atlanta to the SEC Championship Football game with us and five more of our closest friends! I say us because Flint and I had just gotten married. She was like a little sister to us...both of us. In fact, I give her a hard time because she calls Flint and I her big brother and sister. I tell her that I am glad we finally crossed the line of being friends and not just mentors! She credits Flint and I for a lot of where she is today. I am so thankful for that. Not because it glorifies me, but it shows what the Lord was able to do through me. I, on my own, had nothing to offer Kelli. The Lord used both Flint and I as a vessel. I am so thankful for the ladies who have played the same role in my life...

Laurie, Kelly, Katie Miller, and Brooke Robinson! Thank you all for being obedient to God's calling and for taking the time to pour into this girl! It did not go unnoticed and you all hold a special place in my heart!

So....back to the Birthday Girl

Okay, so I just LOVE this picture of Kelli! Is she not the most beautiful bride?!?!

More wedding pics!

Kelli and her sweet honey, Josh, made the trip from Branson to Waco just weeks after Cilla was born. We love ya'll and treasure your friendship! I wish we got to see you guys more often. But, our time together is always sweet!