"Won't You Be My Neighbor?"

For the last 20 minutes I've tried to figure out how to start this post but I can't seem to get the words out without rambling & not making much sense. I have such love & appreciation for Steve & Penny Rogers that I can't seem to get the words out right.

Cooper meeting Mr. Steve

Ms Penny & Mr Steve loving on Cooper

My second Momma

We were neighbors from the beginning of my memories until Jr High. Their son, Michael, & I grew up being the best of friends. I spent numerous days running through their house & yard, eating all their food, drinking their fresca, & starting all kinds of ruckus with Michael. They were the BEST neighbors I could have ever imagined having. They were more than neighbors. They were friends. Family. 

I cried a lot when they moved but I was too much of a tom boy to let anyone know. I wished & prayed that some of my closest friends would move instead of them. No such luck.

Fortunately over the years Michael & I kept in touch. Now Steve & Penny are back in in the 'neighborhood' & we are able to visit. I love them dearly & I am happy for them. They are such good people & deserve the very best. It's such a blessing to know that my children will grow up knowing this wonderful family too.

This song makes me think of the Rogers & all of my fun childhood memories with them. :)

10 Inches

For the past 2 plus years I've been growing my hair out. First it started as laziness/lack of money to keep up with coloring & cutting it then it turned into a goal. I wanted to grow my hair out so I could donate it to Locks of Love. So that's exactly what I did.

My hair had reached the longest it's ever been (unless you count when I was in first grade). My looooong hair had survived ponytail after ponytail of 2 HOT southern summers. It also became lush pregnancy hair that some how hung on during post pregnancy hair loss & being pulled out by baby hands (good thing my hair is crazy thick). I was heading into summer number 3 when I finally said enough is enough. My hair had reached the length & it was now time to fulfill my goal.

Becky & Me. Look at those long braids!

 This past weekend Tiffany, my SIL, did the deed. She put my long hair in a ponytail & after a few snips of her scissors it was gone. GONE. I can't lie-it was bittersweet. All the hair I had been through so much with was gone. 

Time to CHOP!

Tiff working through that THICK hair.

Feeling a million times lighter!

I'm enjoying my shorter hair more & more each day. It's funny because the majority of my life I have had shorter hair so it wasn't much of a shock to see it that way again. I feel like I look so different though. It's a fun change. I'm sure I will let it grow out again. I haven't set another goal of donating it but only time will tell. I'm grateful to be able to do this little bit of sacrifice & service to help someone in need. I hope my hair finds a happy home. :)

Special thanks to Tiffany for cutting my hair & to Kyle for putting up with my long hair for what seemed like forever. (He's partial to shorter hair but informed me a few days before the big CHOP that he had grown fond of my long hair-go figure)

Mother's Day 2012

Let me start off by saying this Mother's Day itself was majorly less stressful & painful as my last MD but I will say that MD 2011 will go down in history as the sweetest. Cooper was born on May 8, 2011 which was Mother's Day. :) Yep, I received the best gift of all! I felt like MD was Cooper's Birthday more than it was a special day for me even though we'd already celebrated his birthday.

Mother's Day weekend started off GREAT! I was able to meet up with a family friends from Charleston. They definitely hold a special place in my heart. I was able to see their oldest son be sealed to his lovely wife. It was such a sweet experience & I'm so glad I was able to join in on it.

Dave & Lindsey! Woo hoo!

Leslie, Mikey, & Dr. G. Love you guys! 

MD morning Kyle got up with Cooper & let me 'sleep' in for a little bit. :) While feeding Coop, Kyle made me choc chip pancakes. YUM! I ate & ate & ate while I opened my gifts: A bag of Sour Patch Kids (one of my fave candies), a MD card from Kyle, Coop, & Moose, & a bouquet of cash flowers. (Kyle figured I'd rather have money than flowers-I like both) I was one happy Momma! 

Yep that's a BIG cup of syrup to pour on my
yummy pancakes. Thanks babe!

Kyle made a great dinner: BBQ Chicken, corn on the cob, & mashed potatoes. It was delish! We had Banana Pudding for dessert. It was Coop's first time eating it. Needless to say-it was amazingly good!

the messier the better!

Thanks to Kyle for making my weekend so special & for making me a mother to our beautiful baby boy. I also received so many sweet cards from family & friends. I'm one blessed Momma!

A Party for Cooper

A few Sundays ago we invited some friends over for a little party to celebrate Coop turning 1. We enjoyed the beautiful weather, wonderful company, & delicious food. Kyle cooked up some Lowcountry Boil. It was so yummy! He did a great job & we can't wait to have it again! Then we sang to Cooper & watched him dive into his first cupcake. He LOVED the cupcake but didn't enjoy his party hat. Once Cooper was cleaned up we opened all the great gifts his friends gave him-he's one lucky kid! We didn't want the night to end! Thanks everyone for coming, eating, laughing, giving gifts, & cleaning up. :) We are so blessed to have such great friends here in Atlanta.

Lowcountry Boil!

Cooper loving his party so far!

Luke & Finn (BFFs) having fun smashing the ice.

Cupcakes, banana bars, & ice cream

I made the cupcakes-pretty proud of myself!

Happy Birthday Coop!

"why is everyone singing & what's this on my plate?"

:)

Can't get it in his mouth fast enough!

Our little family!

Luke enjoying his cupcake.

Sarah! Soon enough you'll have a cupcake of your own! :)

Finn!

everyone enjoying cake & ice cream

Happy boy after cupcake number 2! Life couldn't be better!

Argh! Not the HAT!

Gift time!

He's already in love with his new books!

This one is for Mandy & Olivia-Coop loves the straw too!

Love these ladies!

1 Year Old

My baby is no longer a baby but a TODDLER. That's right, a toddler. How crazy is that?! I'm in denial & will be until he's at least 18 years old. :)

Dear Cooper,

You are now one year old. You are an amazing eater and you love bananas & Cheerios. You spend your days laying on your back kicking, eating, crawling after Moose, cruising along the couch & walls, knocking on everything, jabbering, smiling, & melting your Momma's heart. You love to walk when someone holds your hands & ride in the stroller as we take Moose on walks. Moose is your best friend even if she begs to differ. You laugh & giggle & loved to be tickled. There's a constant stream of drool falling from your mouth, to your belly, & then to the floor. You have two big bottom teeth with a new front tooth on top. Cooper, you love to snuggle & sleep in your crib. You love to hear Momma sing especially when Daddy comes home. Not only do you enjoy 'reading' books but you also find so much joy in putting your toys in their basket & then back out again.

Cooper, you rocked our world when you decided to join us 3 weeks early but we wouldn't have it any other way. We can't imagine life without you. We love you more than you'll ever know.

The first time you saw your Momma.

First family photo

Your Blessing Day

'We are family!'

Just laughing with your best friend.

Your Birthday Party!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little man!

What a year it's been!

Zoo Outing

Yesterday morning Coop & I headed to the Zoo to hang out with our friends the Malans & see the fun animals.  Cooper fell asleep on the way & was totally zonked so I just kept him in his car seat & clicked him into the stroller. (Gotta love the travel system!)

Cooper was a bit confused when he woke up
& had to ride in his car seat. He was just
living up his last day as a baby. :)

I wanted to document this visit to the Zoo because it was the first time that Coop had any kind of reaction to one of the animals. We saw the Lions, Monkeys, Warthogs, etc. but he didn't seem to notice. We made our way to the Panda exhibit. I took Coop out of the stroller to walk closer to the glass so he could see. Once he saw the Momma & baby Panda he got really excited!! He started reaching out for them & immediately started jabbering. It was the cutest! We stood there & watched the Pandas eat for just a minute or two. It started to get crowded so we said goodbye to the Pandas & started walking out. Coop was not ready to leave the Pandas. He started reaching over my shoulder to try & get back to them!

the Pandas that Cooper loved!

I know this isn't much to most people by as a first time Mom who's baby is starting to become a little boy-this was huge. It's so neat to see his personality come out more & to see his opinions/likes/dislikes. He's becoming a real little guy! I know it won't always be so cute & awesome but for now-it is! :)

Can't wait to see what Coop likes at the Zoo next time! Special thanks to Erin, Finn, & Liv! :)

On the Move

Cooper is crawling! Hooray! He's been working on it for a while but he couldn't figure out how to move forward, he'd just push his bum in the air. Finally over the weekend of April 13th he taught himself to army crawl. :) It's been so fun watching him move around the condo. He loves to go after Moose. :) It's so cute that Coop loves her so. I have to watch closely when Cooper get near Moose because she's still trying to figure out how this little human is moving around. Moose is learning that she's gotta watch her back or go hide.

Here's some video of Coop. It's from April 17th. (Excuse his 'arm warmers' they keep him from sucking his arms raw & also my annoying baby voice)

Cooper's coming for ya!

Cooper is still doing the 'army crawl' but he gets around much faster than in the video! His poor feet/big toes are getting little calluses from pushing off on the inside of them so much. Also his little white onesies are all stained. He drools down them then crawls around. I guess I should figure out how to attach a mop/duster to him so he can clean the floors while he slides around. :)

Cooper giggles at Moose all day long.

Cooper is also cruising really well along the couch. I have a feeling that the day he figures out how to crawl on his knees he'll also just decide to get up & walk. Maybe it's just a wish of mine. :) 

cruising over to Momma

We can't believe how fast he's growing up! He loves to eat, read books, 'play' with Moose (chase her), stack & unstack his nesting cups, go for walks, & more. Cooper is so much fun! He will be ONE in one week!