Emma's 4th Birthday Party!

Emma got a scooter from her mom and dad!

Em and her brother.

Our piglet devoured his cake.

Trish Miller performed for the kids.

Coey and GrandBob.

Ready for Wheels

We bought Cohen a seat that attaches to my bike. And, of course we got him a bicycle helmet. We've had it for a while, but Dave didn't have time to install it until last night. We took him for his first ride last night. He's such as adventurer, just like his dad. He certainly didn't get that from me. He loves it! He's not crazy about the helmet, but once he gets going he seems to forget its even there. He giggles and squeals and chatters while he rides, especially going down hill. He likes to lean forward and grab our back while we ride. This morning, we skipped our walk for a bike ride. My legs were already sore from walking. As I mentioned, we have lots of hills. My calf muscles should be nice and buff. Notice I said should be. I'm sure tomorrow the soreness will be much worse. Instead of a 60 minute walk, we took a 20 minute bike ride, but trust me, it was a very intense 20 minute workout. This little boy is so much fun!

A Day in the life

I never expected to find myself as a stay-at-home mom. But, it's sometimes those unexpected things that turn out to be the greatest blessings in life. I truly believe I am living "the blessed life" and I keep expecting to wake up from the too good to be true lifestyle that I'm living. Don't get me wrong, it's hard work. I fully believe I work harder now than when I worked full time. But, I'm not complaining. It's a labor of love and it's certainly more rewarding than any position I've ever fulfilled. It's also the position I take more seriously than any I've ever had.

You might be wondering what I do all day that makes this job so challenging. Let me describe a typical day. I usually get up around 7:30 a.m. (Sometimes earlier, rarely later.) I get Cohen up when he awakes (usually around the same time as me) and get him a cup of milk to start his day. Once he has milk, it's time for me to have coffee. I pour my coffee and go the fridge for some creamer. By the time I find it, and get it out, I have to remove Cohen from the bottom drawer of the fridge where he has discovered an avocado that he doesn't want to let go of. I pry him lose and safely shut the door to the fridge only to remind myself that I still have to pour the creamer into my coffee and open the door again to put it back. I try to distract Cohen so that I can return the creamer without having to pry him loose again.

After coffee, I try to take a quick bathroom break. Cohen is glad to see me in the john and quickly joins me as he throws all his clean towels from the shelving near the bathtub. Once they're all in the floor, it's time to move to the bathroom cabinets which must be slammed shut about a dozen times in order to make the proper morning musical arrangement. After music, it's time to read. Mommy gets to read her "Parenting" magazine for about 30 seconds while Cohen moves down the hallway to his room and returns with his favorite picture book. Then, it's on mommy's lap to read it, nevermind the fact that I'm still on the toilet.

Once potty break is over, it's time for breakfast. While I'm preparing food, Cohen goes in the cabinet to get out a bag of black eyed peas that he enjoys dragging around. Then, it's into his drawer to throw all his sippy cups and their lids in the floor. If breakfast isn't ready yet, it's on to the pantry which he climbs in and retrieves his favorite tangerine. Since he ate it right through the tough peel yesterday, I threw it away and tomorrow he will likely only be left with a potatoe to leave in the floor. Finally, breakfast is ready and it's time to wash hands. As I attempt to wet, wash and rinse Cohen's hands, he attempts to grab every object in the sink or within arms length of it. I strap him in his chair to eat so that I can then clean up all the messes he made while I was preparing breakfast. Once he's done, I clean him up and all the messes he made while he was eating the breakfast I just prepared. Then, I put him down and attempt to pour a second cup of coffee.

Cohen will need a nap soon so I begin getting ready for our morning walk. I usually walk for 60 minutes every day, pushing Cohen in the stroller. He usually naps for a good 30 to 45 minutes during this time. I use the quiet time to pray. As I attempt to get ready, Cohen either joins me in closet for a romp in the pile of dirty laundry and a spell with mommy and daddy's shoes or he heads into the bathroom with Weasel. The latter is when I know I'm in trouble. In the bathroom, he and Weasel both head for the catfood as if they were both cats. Cohen has sampled cat food many, many times, but seems to forget from day to day that he doesn't care for it and spits it out. He stradles Weasel's feeder and puts his foot in her bowl to stir her food with his toes. Then, he goes for a dip in the toilet. I usually catch up with him about now. He's always startled to see me and yells, "No" and then slams the toilet lid down, as if he's completely innocent of any wrongdoing. Before I'm completely ready, he's at my feet with his dog blanket doing his sleepy whine. Now, it's time to get him ready. I have to change his diaper and get him out of his pajamas and into some clothes appropriate for the a.m. temperature. Getting him out of his clothes is a cinch. It's recapturing him to slap on a diaper and pull on some clothes that takes skill. After all, he loves to play chase.

Eventually, mommy wins and we head outside to walk. Whew.....I'm already tired. I'll have to pick up where I left off tomorrow!

Photo Gallery

Here, a daffodil for you.

Cohen and I spent the afternoon

in a field of daffodils.

Cohen wasn't quite awake during

our daffodil adventure.

I wanted to post all 60 of the pictures I took of him in the flowers.

My sister said I had to pick just five.

I couldn't narrow it down that far.

Photo Gallery

Dear God,
Please let every day bring as much fun, as much sun, and
just as much happiness as today.

Amen.

Photo Gallery

Strong man!

Future soccer star: At one-year-old, he loves

to kick the soccer ball. It's probably his favorite

toy. It's interesting that he already kicks it and

doesn't have to pick it up.

I think we'll see this look again once

he learns to use the potty.

Mom and Cohen both got new sandals.

Can you believe it? Cohen and Daisy just days

before the dog bite.

I win!

Photo Gallery

Watching grass grow is so funny.

ROAR!!

This a picture of Cohen's dog bite. The spots on the

right are teeth prints. The left side is scratched and the center is

bruised.

Another angle.

This one was after eating dirt.

Indian name: Dances with leaves.

I love stairs so much I take one

everywhere I go!

Cohen's first trip to the ER

DISASTER
Our dog, Daisy, bit Cohen in the face on Sunday night and we had to take Coey to the ER. I'm not exactly sure how it happened because I did not actually witness the bite. I did see Cohen getting close to Daisy and David was sitting on the couch right beside him, but neither of us actually had our eyes on them when it happened. We both heard the commotion. I rushed in to get Cohen and although he was crying, I did not initially believe he was hurt. I thought Daisy snapped at him and he was crying because it scared him. He kept swatting at his left cheek and when I turned him around to examine him, I saw the bite. There were holes in his face from her teeth and he was bleeding. His face looks bruised and scratched, but praise God it wasn't any more serious! It doesn't look any worse than a skinned up knee. I'll try to post a picture of his face tomorrow.

THE ER
We called the ER to ask if he should be seen. We thought they said he should be seen if we were not sure if the dog's vaccines were up-to-date, but now we wonder if they were asking if Cohen's vaccines were up-to-date. We had a horrible experience in the ER and their service was absolutely unacceptable. The bite occurred around Cohen's bedtime (7:30). After calling, we got out the door pretty quickly. I just got home at 12:30 a.m. We waited in the lobby for about an hour and a half. We thought we'd be out pretty quickly once we got a room. Wrong! The doctor came in and said he was going to clean up Cohen's face, put some ointment on it and prescribe an antibiotic. Then, a second doctor came in and said the same thing. Then, another lady came in to see us. Then, the first doctor came back. Each visit was about an hour apart from the last. If I weren't so tired, I would go into more detail. But, I can't figure out why it took so many hours for two doctors to squirt on some saline solution and write a prescription? And, I had to put the ointment on his face myself. Did I mention they wouldn't take our insurance information? That's another story. One for when I'm not so tired and can actually type well and make better sense. Just trust me when I say it was HORRIBLE.

DAISY
So, now you're probably wondering what's to come of Daisy? Well, the truth is we don't know yet. We're considering our options. The one thing we do know is that she can no longer stay here. We can't jeopardize our son's safety. Daisy is deaf and startles easily and that may have contributed to this incident. But, sadly, that doesn't matter. Home is the one place Cohen should feel absolutely safe and secure and I'm devastated to think we did not provide him that safety. I'm sure Cohen is over it and has long forgotten that Daisy even bit him; but, everytime I look at his face, I'm reminded of it and it breaks my heart.

Cohen is supposed to return to the doctor in two days for a follow-up. Please pray for his complete healing. I'll fill you in on the rest when I'm not so tired....

Movin' on up

I found the stairs! Oh, mommy, I knew you would find me a set of stairs for my new house.

And, now I found the bottom of the stairs. (Just kidding! This picture was taken out in the yard.)

Our Home

Although I think our house in Clayton was nicer, this one feels more like home!

.....Front

Fenced-in backyard........

What's behind the fence? Yep, you guessed it--a cemetery. Spooky, huh?

Hide and Seek

Hide and seek--Where's Cohen? You would think he would find a new hiding spot after three times in the same place.

Birthday Cake

I didn't post a picture of Cohen's cake earlier, but I thought it turned out really well!

This was done by Lowe's Foods. We lifted off the circular cake on top for Cohen to eat. Although he had some help, he did a pretty good job on it himself.