Have A Little Faith

Monday, May 21, 2012

Byron Nelson

This past Thursday, Blake and I went to the HP Byron Nelson Classic golf tournament. The tickets we had could be used for any day, Monday-Sunday, but we decided that Thursday would be best for us since it wouldn’t be too crowded and we could get up close to watch the players.

Golf has always been the one sport that was consistently followed in our house growing up. I learned that watching golf was real nice for lulling me into a nap. Once I married Blake, he’s been working on and off on his golf game and getting better and better. The man has talent! I like to play golf, but I’m not particularly good. Blake's convinced he can make me better - I might have to take him up on it!

We left the house early Thursday morning and took Stella to “school” so that Blake and I could spend the day together.

{My golf attire}

Once we got to the course, one of the first teams we watched was Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, and Ernie Els – this was the one team that I really was interested in seeing so it was nice that they were coming up to the 18^th hole right when we got there. We followed them on the 18^th hole and then went to sit near the 17^th green to watch a few more teams.

{He brings out the goofy in me}

By 10:45am, this momma was HUNGRY! So, we ate an early lunch and then walked to the driving range.

There was a strict no camera rule, so I was lucky to sneak these two pictures while we watched the players warm up on the driving range. I saw so many people getting “in trouble” for trying to take pictures of the players, etc, so being the boring rule follower that I am, I didn’t take any pics on the course. L

{Watching the players warm up}

{Jason Day}

Now, let me get on my soap box for just a second. I can’t understand why I saw so many girls in stilettos and wedges – um, hello, you’re on a golf course not a runway. Granted, I wanted to look cute, but not at the sacrifice of my comfort. Plus, Blake told me I better wear comfortable shoes because we would be walking a lot and he didn’t want to hear it if my feet hurt, ha. My little Charlotte Russe flip flops weren’t much for support, but they did match my t-shirt AND they were much better than HEELS!

The homes on the course were gorgeous {I wish I would have thought to snap some pictures of them, but I was seriously too afraid to even pull my phone out in fear of it getting confiscated}. We walked to the back of the course and by 2pm, I was ready to leave J. I had seen and had all the golf fun I wanted for the day.

Blake, on the other hand, was ready to leave because he wanted to go to the driving range and hit balls himself. All this watching other golfers had made him itch to do his own golfing.

We had such a great day and I was so excited to get to spend some “alone” time with Blake! We definitely try and have “date nights” and make spending time together a priority, but it really is tough with schedules and other plans that get in the way.

Thursday night we had a Ladies Bunco Night at our church. It was my first time to play and I am HOOKED! It was such a thoughtless and zero-strategy game, which made it all the more appealing to me. I like it so much that I’m thinking of hosting one this summer as just a fun girls’ night! Here’s a pic of me and my mom that night!

{Bunco!}

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Stella's First Birthday Party

I know I keep saying it – but I cannot believe it was already time to celebrate Stella’s first birthday! It really does seem like such a short time ago that I was pregnant and delivering her, bringing her home for the first time, stressing over nursing, dealing with reflux issues {still dealing with those}, watching her take her first baby food bites, getting excited when she crawled with her belly off the floor and now watching her take her first steps…it really does put perspective on how fast they grow and change. I love her so much more than I ever could have imagined and she’s changed my life so greatly.

I have to admit though, the next few birthday parties will probably be a lot more low-key until she can start remembering them and wanting to have her friends join in!

I pretty much had most everything (cake table, food table, present table, favor table) all set up on Friday night and had moved our dining room chairs to the living room for more seating and put some fold out chairs on our back porch.

Also, for the older kiddos at the party, I ordered a bounce house that arrived about an hour before the party started. That was such a hassle-free thing. The guy showed up, set up the bounce house, and came back and took it down when we were done. Easy peasy! Stella screamed with absolute terror when she first got in it. It took her a little bit to get warmed up to it, but I think she ended up liking it!

Everyone mingled around and snacked for a while, then I decided it was time to sing “Happy Birthday” and let Stella dig in to her cake.

My little sweetie definitely has a sweet tooth! She LOVED her cake and would have eaten the entire thing, but a several minutes into her shoveling cake in her mouth she was looking really full, so I decided she probably had had enough. Please excuse the massive amount of cake-eating pictures – but she was so funny. She first put her hands lightly on the cake and then you could see her starting to squeeze and try and lift the whole thing up to her mouth, and then it just crumbled in her hands. After Daddy gave a taste of some icing she quickly realized this was going to be a yummy experience!

Present opening was a TASK! Stella was definitely more interested in the tissue and wrapping paper than in the actual gifts. Stella made out REALLY well with all her new toys and clothes!

She’s going to be set for a while with all the new outfits she got!

I’m so appreciative of everyone for coming and celebrating with us! I feel very blessed to have a healthy almost-one-year-old and wonderful friends and family to share these joys!

Here are a few more pics from the day!