W-A-K-E

Since it's that crazy basketball time of year again...

and since our beloved Tarheels, well, um, they're not playing in the tournament this year...

our loyalties have shifted to...

our very own hometown team...

Go Wake!

Apparently, old loyalties die hard though - check out the Tarheel shirt Cooper is wearing. And contrary to the look on his face, he was incredibly overjoyed to meet the Deamon Deacon with lots of hugs and high-fives at an egg hunt just today. Of course he was also overjoyed to meet the Chic-fil-a cow... and the easter bunny.... so I can't rightly say if has anything to do with the actual team (wink, wink). There's always next year Tarheels!

The Catch-up Post

What have we been up to lately? Lots! Besides Valentine's Day where Sean and I got dinner AND a movie out and Cooper got some candy and a stuffed lion, we've been having great fun...

Courtesy of Triad Smarty Pants, I won 4 circus tickets for the Ringling Bros. Circus last week. Since we had an extra ticket, Addison got to come and spend 2 nights with us and go to the circus! She and Cooper had lots of fun playing with his toys and did pretty well at the circus! We did have to make several walking laps around the arena but Cooper's favorite part was the elephants and Addison's was the trapeze (or swinging and flying, as she called it). I think it was a success and we loved having her here and all to ourselves for a few days.

We've had a few sick days....

Made a few messes...

We went back to the doctor and Cooper has gained 4 pounds. He's back into the 9th percentile and his doctor, Lia, was happy with his progress. Hooray for beefing him up! I swear he eats well - anything and everything - but he's um.... ACTIVE! and we've just got to make sure he gets a lot of good healthy fats - peanut butter, ranch dressing on veggies, his absolute full dose of milk every day, etc. are what we've been doing to help him gain back to his healthy weight.

We've had a few snow days. Luckily, Daddy got to actually be home for some of them.

We also got to visit the Art Quest in Greensboro with our Trips for Tots group. The kids got to paint (check Cooper looking cute in his smock!), work with clay, cut, paste, glue, rubber stamp, create with blocks, puppets, and their velcro wall of shapes to design their own art. We had so much fun and Cooper's favorite by far was the painting station. We went back to it time and time again.

And of course, what's life with a toddler without many more messes?

Happy February everyone!

Jonah's EB Auction

Hi! Just wanted to draw your attention to something pretty cool. We don't actually know these people personally but they are friends of friends and we live in the same town. We have all sorts of crazy connections and have not yet met but I feel like I know them anyway. Their story always brings a tear to my eye.

Their son Jonah has a condition called EB and for his first birthday (a miracle!) they are celebrating by raising funds for the organization that is looking for a cure for his disease. If you want to know more about Jonah, his brother Gabe, and his parents, Matt and Patrice, you can check out their blog here. AND... Go check out Jonah's EB Auction here!

Late

So, it's been a while since I have blogged. It's just been crazy around here! We have put our house on the market, have had a chrysalis flight, and of course the Holidays. These past couple of months have been just nonstop.



The house has been a long time in the making. We've been sort of planning to do this for a couple of years now but all of the last minute details have really added up. I'm also being really picky about a new place. You know, good neighborhood, good schools, room to grow - all the things that come with having a family and in our price range too. We would appreciate prayers for our little house to sell and for a new one to be found. I already am just very anxious about this entire process. I'm not really good with change and have been in knots about doing all of this. We have a smaller home but it's cozy and I'm attached to it and our neighbors. We have absolutely no room to grow in this house and are just craving more space. It's amazing how much stuff one little person (ahem, Cooper) can accumulate! The unknown is just scary. I'm comforted to know though that God knows where we are going to live before we even see it. He's got this in His hands and it's really out of my control. It's a conscious effort that I'm making to remember this - and repeat it to myself often.

I'm attatching our Christmas pictures just so I can have them for this digital "scrapbook." I know, I know. It's February. Hence why the title of this post is, "Late."

Snow Day!

For the record, Cooper is not a fan of all the snow. I haven't actually measured but I am estimating that we got 6 inches or so. That's awesome for us. We spent maybe 30 minutes outside and Cooper whined through most of it. Hard to walk in, cold, just was not a fan at all. We didn't even manage to make a snowman and currently do not own a sled - must get one - I have a feeling that the sled would be a definite winner in Cooper's book. He loves anything that moves with him on it. Sort of a redemption for all of the cold and hard to walk in white stuff.

On the other hand, the dogs loved it. Parker (the white dog in the above pictures) is always a fan of snow and has repeatedly pawed on the door to go outside today. In fact, he has - by choice - stayed outside most of the day. We're dog sitting for our friends Ross and Allie this weekend and their dog, Carmen, could take it or leave it. She and Parker had fun wrestling in the snow for a while but she is currently snug on her pillow while Parker romps outside.

Evolution of a Christmas Card Photo

It is SNOWING here and snowing hard. The weather channel just said that we could get 1-3 inches today, 10-15 tonight!? and 1 more tomorrow. No, that is not a misprint my friends, we could possibly get 19 inches of snow!! Unfortunately, Sean is working this weekend so that's kinda disappointing for a couple of reasons 1) He will have to travel in the snow to and from work each day or spend the night at the hospital - both are not great options and 2) He won't get to play in the snow with us. Not that we will be playing in the snow a ton because if we get all 19 inches, it will be almost as tall as our 27 inch son - not much fun to play in when you have snow up to your chest. And - Cooper has a yucky cold.

On a side note, I remember when I was 14 in 1993 and we had what we refer to as "the blizzard." We tried playing in the over 2 feet of snow and our sleds just sank down in the snow with no hope of moving. It was also exhausting trying to walk with snow up to your knees. Imagine really high, knees up to your chin, stepping. An adventure for sure.

Anyway, the actual point of this post is to show the evolution of our Christmas card photo this year. It is sort of comical at how many crazy shots we got before we finally got 1 good shot.

December

Cooper's second Christmas has proven to be more entertaining than the first. He LOVES the tree. And when I say LOVES, I mean he goes around and around and touches all of the ornaments and lights again and again throughout the day. We've only had one casualty (a stocking pulled from the mantle broke the stocking holder). We know our child well enough to put only the unbreakable ornaments at the bottom of the tree and thought that the stockings were high enough that they were out of his reach. Not so much. He hasn't even gone near the stockings after that catastrophe though. We're truly enjoying this season with him and it is so fun to watch him soak it all in. He seems mostly mesmerized by all of the hubbub, new activities, lights, and decorations - always with a thinking look on his face as if he is just memorizing everything. Here are a few pictures from our recent adventures this December. Merry Christmas!

Picking out our tree

All bundled up for the Christmas parade