Book It!

I'll admit that growing up I was motivated to read by "Book It." Yes, all it took was an oversized button and a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut to get this girl's nose into a book.... My love for reading went in waves - from Judy Blume to Goosebumps to Twilight (yep I just admitted that) to now books on parenting and prayer life; I have always enjoyed getting lost in a book.

Being that now I am a Mom and reading is fundamental for Charlotte's development, I want to be sure to foster an early love of reading. I want her to get excited for our weekly trips to the library for story time. I want her to be like my best friend, Emily, who would read in her walk-in closet with a flash light after her mom tucked her in at night.  :)  Yes, I want my Charlotte to be a book worm. I know in our face paced world with everything becoming digital and online the ability to "unplug" and immerse herself with a good book in the future will be challenging but hey I'm always up for a challenge!

Pulling all the books off the shelf and then selecting the perfect one.

*This photo wasn't staged, I pinky promise

Because I knew the value of reading was something I wanted before Charlotte even arrived the hostesses of my baby shower had everyone bring a book as part of their gift.  Translation - instant, well stocked library. It was / is awesome because everyone brought their favorites and I don't think I got duplicates of anything! And as you may recall my college roommates also supplied Charlotte with books and videos of themselves reading the books which I blogged about here. From Dr. Seuss to the Velveteen Rabbit to Everyone Poops (thanks, Kel) - we started with a solid foundation which now we have enjoyed adding to. Speaking of adding,  this week we found two books that I was wanting for our home library at Goodwill for 50 cents each; you can't beat that and I highly recommend checking your Goodwill for books too!

One of many books we received at my Hoptown shower

But what's even better than a bargain book is a FREE book once a month for five years. Let me share! Back to my best friend, Emily - it will come as no surprise that she was the one who introduced me to a book program called, "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library." I laughed when she said Dolly Parton because she isn't the first person who comes to mind when I think about reading, the guy from the show Reading Rainbow is. However, Dolly Parton created a foundation which provides FREE,  you read that right, FREE books once a month to your child from birth to 5-years-old.  Almost too good to be true!  So here's the rub - it isn't offered everywhere but thankfully it is offered in our town.  Another minor rub - for our county you can't register online and had print off a form and mail it in yourself. Easy peasy for FREE books in my opinion. After I mailed it in I was a little skeptical and after a month plus of no book in our mailbox I emailed the lady in charge to check on our book status. Then TA-DA our first book arrived last week and is "The Little Engine that Could" in hardback. To learn more about this awesome program visit here: https://imaginationlibrary.com/

Thanks Dolly! 

But let me be honest folks, reading with a 13 month old a couple times a day can be challenging. Girlfriend is easily distracted and rarely wants to sit still but we keep at it every.single.day. Because it is the moments when she excitedly crawls to her bookcase and hands me a book to read or when she points to the right animal when I ask "where is the dog / cat / bunny?" or giggles when she turns the page all by herself of her favorite pop-up book that lets me know that it is happening.  Beginning to love reading is happening and what I've learned is that it takes intentionality, patience and having books in every room, car and purse to do so.

So what's your favorite children's book?  Please share, I want to be sure we have it in stock.

xoxo,
A wanna be book worm

Let's reunite.

Remember me?  I hope so! When we last "spoke" I was 36 weeks pregnant, made promises to keep you guys up to speed on our new life but in my defense I didn't anticipate the three week early arrival of Charlotte Clark Sass on February 26, 2012. Yep, a mere 13 days after arriving in Arkansas my water broke in the middle of the night and the rest is history. Very sweet history I must say but then life got a little nuts for us. Being a parent is no joke folks. Totally awesome but very time consuming. To a lot of you this isn't new news but to me it was definitely a reality check. Anywhooo - I am thankful for my iPhone and my daily pictures to help jog by memory of what the heck I've / we've been up to for the last YEAR!

So let's just jump in where we left off, ok? Basically I will be your DVR and allow you to fast forward through the commercials and see the good stuff! Enjoy our Charlotte highlights reel: 

First picture as a family of 3!

Savoring moments like these kept me from blogging 

Picture on Charlotte's birth announcement

Oh heyyyyy!

Everyone says things start to get "more fun" at 3 months and I totally agree

The only worded onesie I've ever let her wear

I feel like she is saying "Par-tay in my crib!"

Pretty sure this was the last month I was able to take these monthly photos without Nick's help

Best outtake photo of the year.  8 months later and this still cracks me up.

 First time eating cereal. Didn't really like it - at all.

1/2 a year! Whoa partner! 

It was a HOT summer but we survived, C! 

You flew A LOT. 13 times before you turned 1-year-old.

 Just sweet. *However at this point CC hated tummy time.

Life with Dorsey Dog

Eight is great! 

Nick / Dada's 30th Birthday Party

CC's first hair cut by "Uncle" Terry Lacy. Just a trim because CC had a rat tail ; ) 

Cutest duck on the block

A Fall favorite

Family photo for our Christmas card

Baptized on November 25, 2012 at First United Methodist Church

Our Child of God

Such a little lady

Three Turkeys

Tis the season

Highlight of our Holiday Season

On Christmas Day you crawled across the room for the first time 

On the move

Eeeeee! Eleven is Heaven! 

Our little Valentine 

Birthday Girl

To the face!

This is what ONE looks like! 

There you have it folks...

So this is just a dozen or so of the 1,000s of pictures I have taken over the last year. I would share them all but then you guys would never visit my blog again, ever. 

Now let's discuss the future... My goal is to blog at least once a week. Did I just type that? Yep, that's a big goal but everyone needs goals and I really do love this so it's worth a try.  

I have no idea what I will blog about - could be Charlotte, could be a DIY project, could be my ramblings about life in Arkansas but we'll see.  Hopefully it will be interesting enough to keep y'all coming back. 

Missed y'all. Anyone still reading? Bueller? Bueller? 

Kelly or Miss Betty - you two better text me and tell me you read this! ; )  You asked for it! 

Week 35

Greetings from Arkansas! It was an adventure but we made it here and are very slowly getting settled into our new home and our new "normal." I know you understand my lack of posting during this crazy time.

Week 35 was our last week as residents of beautiful San Clemente and it was both stressful & special.

*Warning this post is a day-by-day recap so get cozy or just scroll & look at the pictures to get the gist*

On Tuesday night,  I got a WONDERFUL surprise.  My girlfriend Rebecca (who use to live in CA but now lives in FL) & her adorable 6-month old Hudson showed up at my door.  I had just taken a shower and had on ONLY my Uggs slippers & an over-sized t-shirt when I saw her standing at my glass door. I started screaming  hysterically which triggered Nick to think I had gone into labor or we were getting robbed. Bahaha. I wish we had the moment on camera!  I just couldn't believe they flew all the way across the country to be a part of our going away party / shower & other final day activities.

This precious face came all the way from FL!

Future boyfriend of our little girl, no doubt!

On Wednesday the packers arrived and in the blink of an eye they wrapped & boxed our entire house. It happened almost too fast... Here is a little before & after.

Morning of...

By afternoon... 

(note: those red curtains underneath were w/ the house & we had previously removed)

On Thursday the movers arrived. It was a crew of 4 good ol' boys from Wisconsin and our 70 degree weather was like a vacation for them, not a work day. They were so happy to be loading up our house and not a 3rd floor apartment in Green Bay. :)  It was a complete miracle that they go their HUGE truck down our street and that there was enough parking open. 

Big Rig

On Friday I had my final doctor's appointment.  I got choked up during our last visit.  Dr. J is a wonderful doctor and I am super sad she won't be delivering our little girl. However, two of my fellow preggo girlfriends are also patients of Dr. J so they will be able to share pics at their appointments. The good news was that she checked me and baby is head down & I wasn't dilated (the ideal report!) so she gave me the green light to fly.  

The rest of Friday was pure chaos as a whole but I was so thankful that I got the chance to meet up with some of my faves for a walk on the beach trail. 

<3 this crew

Saturday was more last minute errands and then last trips to our house & the Pier before our farewell dinner / shower with our Small Group (separate post for that coming this week!)

We LOVED this house, our neighbors & SC

Yes, this is real. Yes, I took this picture.

Week 35

Soon-to-be parents

Dear Daughter, you are such a tiny All-Star! Your mommy is so happy that you are head down, healthy heart beat, moving lots and happy with staying put for the time being! Keep it up girlfriend, ok?!  

Lots more posts to come, I promise!  xoxo

Week 34

Hiiiieeee -
I must attempt to make this post quite snappy because we are t-minus 36 hours until the movers arrive! Oh brother...lots to do!  To recap Week 34 - Nick started his new gig in Arkansas and I worked my last week in Cali. I was nervous about him being so far away but, me & Dorsey Dog survived. Nick seems to really like his new role / team / office which of course makes me happy. My final week in the office flew by and when Thursday (my last official day) arrived, I still had 100 things I wanted to do for St. A's. I am praying that God will bring them someone absolutely wonderful and who will love it as much as I did if not more!

Yesterday the church where I work had a farewell reception for us after both worship services.  Cake & coffee in the Fellowship Hall and a chance for last hugs / good-byes.  The members of St. A's have become my family over the past 18+ months and I feel like I am robbing them of this baby.  The thought that I am leaving behind 100 eager "aunts & grandmas" to love & care for Baby Sass is hard... very hard. I will miss them all but we will be back in July so that helped keep me strong. Here are a few pics from the day.

Marian & Amy organized the reception - both are truly wonderful!

How cute?!

After the reception, we headed home and got ready for the Super Bowl.  Despite the fact that we probably should have been doing a 1,000 other move related things, we decided what the heck and had our small group friends over.  I am SO glad we did too!  Great food & even better company. ; )  

Here we are Week 34!

Dear Little One, you weigh over 5 pounds and are approximately 19 1/2 inches.  Supposedly from this point on you will gain 1/2 a pound a week until the end.  Who knows though - you could weigh / gain more or less - we are just praying that you are healthy. We go see Dr. J one last time this week and next week we will meet the new doctor who will deliver you. Hopefully we'll like her as much as Dr. J but that's a tough act to follow. 

Our final week in CA will filled with lots of mixed emotions but I know this part of such a BIG and wonderful plan for our family. 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~Jeremiah 29:11

Alright dear readers, any prayers and good thoughts that you'd like to send our way would be greatly appreciated. I'll try my best to keep up with the posting this week and next!  xoxo