Faith & Family Night with the Norfolk Admirals

Friday night was a great night to be at the Scope for the Norfolk Admirals Game. Not only did we get to enjoy an awesome night of hockey....and even a couple fights (which is my favorite part), but my church, Clearview Church, got the opportunity to host Faith & Family Night. 

Here is a "picture walk" through our fun night with the Admirals:

Here is a picture of me and my hubby during the game! This was only my second game and we had a great time! 

I LOVE the panoramic photo view on my phone. How cool is this picture of the view

 from my seat. 

These are the awesome people I got to sit by! I love my church family....and my family, family.

And more fun pictures of the rink and Hannah. 

The National Anthem. 

During the second period everyone from the stands that bought a "sponge" hockey puck was able to throw it out the ice. There were numbers on all of the pucks and whoever threw theirs closest to the center won a prize! 

But the best part was that the kids got to go out on the ice and pick up all the pucks. They had a blast! 

 Then during the second period our very own worship arts band, Thirty 3:3, performed 

"God Bless America." It was awesome!!! This is them on the big screen! 

Of course the Norfolk Admirals won!!! The final score was 1-0. It was a great game! Then after the game we had an after party! It was so cool! Thirty 3:3 performed and some of the Norfolk Admirals players came too! It was so much fun! 

The sound guys! 

Watching the concert! 

Our awesome youth group watching the concert. 

So my pictures of the players are a bit blurry. But three of the Norfolk Admirals gave their testimonies at Faith & Family Night. It was really neat to hear these player's stories. 

This is Matt Clark, #2, defenseman:

This is John Kurtz, #12, left wing: 

This is Chris Wagner, #21, center: 

There were other Norfolk Admirals that also came out and signed autographs. The other players were Brad Thiessen, #31, goalie, Steven Whitney, #18, forward, Maxime (Max) Sauve, #7, center. It was really awesome of these players to come out to Faith & Family night. They signed autographs and took pictures with the fans. Everyone was so excited to meet them in person! 

Oh, and I just love these girlies! They headed up the whole thing with Pastor Rob (The Norfolk Admirals Chaplin and the Pastor of Clearview Church). They all did an awesome job! Everyone had such a great time! Thanks to the Norfolk Admirals and everyone at Clearview Church for making Faith & Family Night such a wonderful night! 

peace. love. swap. FUN!

Today I attended peace. love. swap. for the second time and had a TOTAL Blast!! My two friends came with me and we had fun visiting all of the vendors and of course taking home awesome things for our kiddos. 

The peace. love. swap. is an event where you bring children's items like clothes, toys, books, anything kid related and "donate them." When you turn in your donations you then register (or you can register ahead of time for a discounted price) and you get a sway bag, that looks like this: 

You are able to take this swag bag into the swap room and fill it with things you need for your children. That explains the "swap" of peace. love. swap. Not only can you fill your bag with free stuff, but you also can take one thing that you can carry out. It's pretty cool! 

While we waited for the swap to begin there was a big room full of vendors that we were able to walk around and meet. 

There were some really great companies there with AWESOME products for families. Here are a few that I got to talk to:

Scentsy

I was so excited to see Scenty at this event! I have a Scentsy warmer but my light bulb blew out, so I needed a new one. Everything is really reasonable- the lightbulb is only $1!!! Wow! And they have really great smelling scents. And if you are looking for a Scentsy consultant to buy from, definitely talk to Grace Policarpio. 

NYR Organic

Kit from NYR Organic was a super nice person to talk to! She sells Organic Beauty products and I came home with a bunch of samples. So far, what I have tried out is great! I love the lotion! And of course, it's all organic. Click here for more information.

Grace Adele 

This is Tonia Devine and she sells Grace Adele purses and bags. These are super cool! You can attach the clutch to the inside of the purse so it is all one, or take the clutch out and just use that. They have a TON of purses and bags to choose from. Here is a picture of another cool purse. How cute is that flower?! 

Grace Adele also sells jewelry and more! Very cool company. Get more information by clicking here! 

Avon

Anyone looking for an AVON consultant? Felicia Smith was great! And her daughter came up with the cutest idea of doing a "Kissing Booth" by trying a sample of their lipstick and kissing paper. Too cute! Get more information about Avon by clicking here. 

Paparazzi Accessories

Paparrazzi Accessories had a huge variety of fun jewelry! Very neat stuff. Get more information by clicking here.

Mommy's Club

 I loved stopping by the Mommy's Club booth. They have really neat products that I have actually tried out in the past and have loved! They have non-toxic products like shampoo, soap, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, and so much more! I have used the shampoo on my daughter before and really liked it! Definitely check them out and get more information on these products by clicking here. 

Herbalife

Debbie and Jeff were there with Herbalife. They are a newer company in Virginia Beach and they offer awesome smoothies, shakes, protein bars, and even FREE workouts! Wow! They are having an open house event next Saturday from 11AM - 2PM. Get more information here.  

Pink Zebra

The sign "Sprinkle Bar" caught my attention and brought me over to Pink Zebra. This was a really neat product I had never seen before. Soy candles that come in "sprinkles" containers. You can make your own candle or order one of their super cute warmers to add your sprinkles to. Very cute idea. Check out the cute "Sprinkles" containers:

You can choose from several scents. I have a sample of the Stone Washed Denim going right now and really like it! My whole house smells like fresh laundry...and I didn't even do any laundry today:) Get more information by clicking here. 

Okay, here is another REALLY cool one:

Damsel in Defense

I met Brittany Biddle at the Damsel in Defense booth and was really blown away by what a unique product she was selling. They were selling all kinds of products such as stun guns, pepper spray, a really cool "step off" product that you put by your door and if someone breaks in and opens it an alarm sounds. Lots of really neat (and pretty) products that can come in handy in times of distress. Check them out by clicking here. 

And the last one I visited was....drumroll, please....

It Works

I had never heard of a wrap, but if you can see on this poster, it shrinks your stomach by pulling out the fat toxins. I couldn't believe the results the people had in just days. It was really neat. And the best part (to me) was the "Greens" Drink Powder that they sold. My hubby never eats vegetables- I know, he's totally weird. So I definitely need to get him on this Drink Powder. 

You just mix some of it with water or juice and it actually did taste quite good. I even think my hubby might drink it. That was really neat. Get more information about these cool wraps and powder drinks by clicking here. 

There were a lot of other vendors there as well, I didn't get to talk to them all, but there were some great things being sold there!

Next came the time for me to "swap til I dropped." 

I was in Group 1 so I got to go first and when I walked in, I was shocked at how much stuff there was!!! There was so much! 

Books and toys and games, oh my. 

Strollers and highchairs and bouncie seats. 

Clothes. 

And more clothes. 

I mean seriously, have you ever seen so many toys?! 

Oh, and don't forget about under the table. There was MORE stuff! Toys, stuffed animals, bikes, and more. Wow! So much to choose from. It was awesome! 

It was really cool! I went home with LOTS of cool things! Maggie's favorite thing was a tea set I brought home for her. She is OBSESSED! We played tea party all day! So cute. I also got some really cute outfits, some books, games, and more. It was a really successful day! 

This is me and my friend afterwards with all of our great stuff:

I seriously love the peace. love. swap. event. It's such a great way to get things you need for you kiddos while donating things you don't need anymore to someone who does. Plus, you get to meet some great people and have fun as well. 

I have to say that Stephanie Councill does an AMAZING job heading this event up. 

She tweaks things if they need to be changed to benefit everyone so everyone has a fair chance to get what they need out of the swap. Her whole family is involved and is helping the entire day. It's really great to see all of their hard work pay off with such an amazing event! I just love peace. love. swap. and hope that you come out next time!

Registering Tips for Your First Baby!

When I registered for Maggie I had NO IDEA what I was in for. In fact, when I got to Babies R' Us I was in awe of how many things a tiny little baby was going to need. I came home and told my husband, "We're going to have to move out just so the baby's things can fit in our house." 

I had no idea how much a baby needed. AND HOW EXPENSIVE! 

That's why registering is so great! So your friends and family can bless you with things you need and you don't have to break the bank too much. It's wonderful! 

So here are some tips that may help you if you are registering for your first child:

1. Bring a friend who has registered before.
My friend, Kerri, came with me and she was a serious lifesaver! She gave me tons of great advice about what I would need and what I wouldn't need. 

2. Stick to things you absolutely know you will need.

You obviously need a place for the baby to sleep and a way for your child to ride in the car. Don't get too side-tracked with the little cutsie things at the end of the isles. You will need a carseat a lot more than a giraffe pillow puppet. 

3. Research, Research, Research! 

I did a TON of research on carseats, strollers, high chairs, baby baths...you name it, I researched it. It's very time consuming, but on the plus side- this is your first child, so you have a little more time to do research since you don't have kiddos running around....yet:) 

4. Space and Sizes. 

As much as I wanted a giant exersaucer, we have a tiny townhouse, so I had to keep that in mind when registering. Some things were super important, while others were just extra bonuses. Don't get extra bonus toys and gadgets for your baby if you don't have the space. You will just end up tripping over it and wanting to take it back. 

Also, keep in mind the space in your car. I did a ton of research on strollers and car seats and as much as I wanted to get the big travel system, I just didn't have space in my little Honda. So we ended up going with the Chicco Snap n' Go and transitioned Maggie into a Chicco Umbrella Stroller when she was a bit older. It definitely worked for us since we don't have a ton of space. 

5. Remember the main thing your baby will be doing- eating! 

When your baby comes, it will be doing a lot of eating, sleeping, and burping. So you're definitely going to want to get things to accommodate that such as burp cloths, bottles, swaddle blankets (LOVE the swaddle blanket) and bibs. And keep in mind that your hubby will be helping with this, so if you are having a girl don't get all pink burp cloths- do some fun green, gender neutral burp cloths so your hubby doesn't feel strange wearing a pink burp cloth on his shoulder. I honestly know this from experience! 

6. Sometimes you will have to switch it up. 

Remember that there are things you are going to get that your baby isn't going to like. You may want "Dr. Brown's Bottles" because of their awesome reviews, but your baby may not like that type of nipple. So you will have to take back the awesome Dr. Brown's and get a different type. And sometimes you won't end up using the things you registered for at all. For example, I got a great type of pacifier, but in the end, Maggie just didn't want a pacifier. So we took packages back. 

7. Don't register for clothes! 

We didn't find out what gender we were having, so we didn't really have an issue with getting too many clothes. But I have heard that if you find out if you are having a boy or a girl that you tend to get a lot of cute clothes. Don't get me wrong, that is wonderful. But what you REALLY need are the essentials: a highchair, changing table, carseat, burp cloths, etc. Plus you can get clothes very inexpensive on sale, at garage sales, and at consignment sales. I hardly ever buy clothes first hand. It's just too expensive, and you can get equally adorable outfits for much cheaper and still in great shape! 

8. Don't wait too long to register. 

You are going to need a car seat to bring the baby home in, so you are going to want to definitely get that on your list ..... and early:) We hooked our car seat in the car almost a month early JUST IN CASE. Plus you will start getting the "nesting" feeling as you get further into your pregnancy, so you will want to organize your baby shower gifts. Don't wait too long to register. 

9. Options. Options. Options.

Don't be afraid to register in multiple stores. Your friends and family like options when finding the perfect gift for your sweet baby. We registered at Babies R' Us and Pottery Barn Kids (which I highly recommend both). I got a lot of our necessities at Babies R' Us and a lot of our bedding and nursery decor at Pottery Barn Kids. At both stores, the associates were wonderful and helped us so much when we were registering. Also remember to register for expensive and inexpensive things. Not everyone has a huge budget, but they still want to get you something. And others do have a big budget and will want to bless you with something more expensive that you need. People like options!

10. Gift Cards and Diapers are more AWESOME than you think!

A lot of your friends and family won't have time to look at your registry. We live in America, for crying out loud- we are busy, busy! So you will get a lot of gift cards and diapers. And you will definitely use them! I didn't know what to do with all the diapers we got and guess what- we used every last one! And when I ran out, I used my gift cards to buy more diapers. It was so wonderful! It really helped our diaper budget! 

I hope this is helpful if you are feeling overwhelmed about registering. It's super fun getting ready for your new addition! Enjoy it!