A Note for Papa (My Daddy)

On Friday night, the Memorial Gardens (where my daddy is buried), held a special luminary memorial service.  It was a very beautiful sight to see.  Luminaries were placed on every grave and lit and it was truly a beautiful sight.  Even just driving by from the road you couldn't help but slow down and take that sight in.  

I miss my Daddy so much and holidays seem to hurt a little more.  I am real big on wanting my girls to know my Daddy even if it is only through pictures and videos.  I want them to hear stories about him and know what a great man he was and how he could make everyone smile and laugh.  I want them to know how he would have loved being around them and playing with them.  Cohen really enjoys looking at my picture albums and me telling her who all is in the pictures and how they are related.  She sees all the pictures of my Daddy and she knows that is my Daddy and that he now lives in heaven with Jesus.  She has asked me questions like, "when is he coming back?" and I think she has started to know that living with Jesus in heaven means you won't come back.  She now has started asking the cute questions about heaven which she asked Kelly like, "do they have Starburst in heaven?", "what do they eat in heaven?", and making comments like "I don't want to go to heaven unless they have pink, purple, and yellow starburst".  My child loves candy!   

On Friday I was looking forward to going to see the luminaries and I told Cohen we would be going to light a candle where my Daddy was buried.  When we got there they had a Christmas tree outside the office where you could write notes in memory of your loved one and hang that on the tree.  Cohen decided to draw an angel on hers.  It was all in black Sharpie so you may not be able to tell what it was :) As she was finishing I told her I would write his name on the card and then she could hang it on the tree.  She said here is my note, (and I quoted her on her message)

"Dear Papa,

I drawed you this picture.  I hope you eat lots of food in heaven."

Cohen (she signed her own name backwards)

I had to laugh and cry all at the same time.  She is too funny sometimes.  I know she doesn't really understand and I hate more than anything that she never met him, but I know he would have gotten a big kick out of that little note and he was definitely smiling down on that!

Hanging her picture (and note)

Cohen's Preschool Christmas Play

I'm doing a little catch up on the blog.  We have had a crazy week.  Our house has passed around the stomach bug, luckily it is only a 24 hour bug.  It happened early in the week too so at least we got it over with, or at least I hope for a while!
Wednesday was Cohen's preschool Christmas program.  Her class was dressed like angels and the 4 year old class was the nativity scene.  All the kids did a great job.  Cohen sang so good!  She knew all her songs and sang great.  Since I'm also the teacher I managed to snap a few pictures while helping the kids out.  I was very proud of her.  Cohen loves to sing so this is right up her alley.  We have several Christmas cd's in the car that I'm constantly changing in and out so she can hear and sing her favorite ones.

My sweet angel

As for Kate, she is really into her feet right now.  Every time I lay her down she finds her foot and in goes a toe in her mouth!  If she has socks on, she loves to take those off!  I have to try to keep shoes on as well so her feet will stay warm.  She is so precious and I love watching her lay with both feet up to her mouth.  I took these pictures while changing her the other day. 

My Big Surprise for Hubby's 30th Birthday

This  was Kelly's face on Thursday when I surprised him with the news that we would be spending his 30th birthday weekend in Las Vegas.  He had no clue and that was my goal!  Yay!  If you know me you know there is nothing I like better than a good 'ole surprise, and the bigger the better.  I started planning what I could do for Kelly's birthday months ago and I decided that turning 30 was a big deal so what better way to celebrate than to go to Vegas.  It has been a roller coaster surprise and kinks were thrown into the plan for me but it all worked out the best it could and we had a BALL!  

On Thursday, Kelly thought we would be going to Atlanta to meet our friends Jarrett & Hazel at Fogo de Chao for a nice birthday dinner.  I had told him we had reservations at 5:00 (our plane was leaving at 7:40).  We stopped in Buford to do some shopping on our way.  We went to Toys'R'Us and shopped and when we got back to our car I told Kelly I had a little gift for him that he might need on our trip.  I had told him we were spending the night away from home for 2 nights but he thought we would be staying in Atlanta then on to somewhere else.  His guess was Nashville :)  He first pulled out a deck of cards, then a pair of dice, so he started thinking maybe we were going to Mississippi or Biloxi.  He then pulled out the paper I had printed out of his boarding pass and he saw that we were headed to Vegas!!  He was so surprised and excited too.  I have to thank Jarrett & Hazel for helping me pull this one off.  The hardest part by far though was leaving my girls even if it was just a few days.  I had not left Kate for that long so that was tough.  Cohen was excited to be having spend the night parties at Suzy's house then at Sug's house.  I knew they were in good hands so that helped a lot!

We arrived in Vegas later on Thursday night.  We were staying at the Aria hotel which was very nice and we loved it.  We spent the next 2 days taking in all the sights of Vegas (and we all know there are plenty!), shopping, seeing shows, and just enjoying some time to ourselves.  Kelly had never been to Vegas so he got to see all the craziness that is Vegas.  This was my 4th time but it never lacks for things to see and do.  We saw 2 shows, Zumanity at the New York, New York and The Blue Man Group at the Venetian.  Both were very entertaining.  Sunday we headed back home.  This was Kelly's actual birthday so we had a party with his family later that night.  Cohen sang in a Christmas musical at church Sunday night and while we tried as hard as we could to make it back, we got to the church right when the children finished the last song.  I had already stressed so much about missing the play but I'm so glad we can get a DVD of the performance and watch it.  I was so glad to see my girls!!  We had such a fun time but it is always nice to come home.  Happy Birthday to the best hubby!  I hope it was one to always remember:)

I didn't lug the camera around much at all so I have a few pictures, some with my phone

Item #1 to open-playing cards

Shopping at Caesar's

Watching the water show at the Bellagio

The big 3-0

A view out our hotel window 

The New York New York hotel where we saw Zumanity

The Venetian, where we saw the Blue Man Group

On a side note, as Cohen was thinking of what she could "pack" she loaded her Hello Kitty bag down with crayons.  Suzy told her she had crayons at her house but Cohen insisted she wanted to use "her" crayons.  This is a picture of her bag ready to go...

Kate-6 months

I can't believe I'm actually typing this post!  Where has the time gone?!  Its hard to think that half a year has gone by and my sweet baby girl is already 6 months old.  We went today for Kate's check-up and Dr. Setia said she was "perfect".  Of course I knew that :)
This is one of my favorite stages.  She is absolutely precious right now and she still remains just the best baby to us.  I'm looking forward to starting her on some baby foods and seeing how she likes those.  She has just started to really eat cereal good.  At her appointment today her measurements were:
Weight-15lbs 12oz (50-75 percentile)
Height-26 1/4 inches (50-75 percentile)

At 6 months Kate:

• Rolls  everywhere!
• Can sit with support
• Reaches for everything that is put in front of her and puts it straight to her mouth
• Wears size 3-6 months or just 6 months; size 2 diapers
• Has started cooing more and more
• Is definitely teething but nothing has broke through
• Has a smile for almost everyone!  
• LOVES HER MAMA and this makes me the happiest :)  I love to see her look for her mama and recognize me.  She even will "reach" for me if I clap my hands for her to come to me.  She also loves to give me the biggest, wet kisses.  I could just eat her up!
• Has the cutest little chunky thighs
• Has sat with Santa twice and doesn't mind him a bit.  She just lounged right back on him and took it all in.  She is definitely a laid back baby.

A cute story...I was in the kitchen washing up Kate's bottles and I had her on the counter in her Bumbo seat.  The seat has a tray on it so she can play with a few toys while sitting in it.  She was so quiet which didn't surprise me since she had toys to chew on but when I finished and turned around I found her looking right at me with a big poinsettia limb in her mouth.  Lesson learned...don't sit her near anything she can get her hands on.  Picture moment for sure.  I LOVE HER!

Holding her piece of poinsettia...notice she still has drool on her mouth 

I love that smile!

A Tree for Sug and Pop

Last Saturday we had planned a big family outing to go with Sug and Pop to get their Christmas tree.  They go to Scaly Mountain in N.C. to a tree farm there and they had requested that Cohen and Savannah go along so we decided we would all go and make a family trip :)  So much for plans...Saturday morning around 5 am Kate woke us up with a nice croup cough so we had to quickly rearrange our day.  We took Cohen to meet Pop & Sug but we headed to Athens to see the Dr.  Since we are very familiar with croup in this house we took it in stride and decided we would leave Athens and meet everyone in the mountains.  So after our little detour we met the rest of the family at a cabin that belonged to Kelly's great uncle.  I know his family has spent many trips staying at the cabin and I have been on a day trip while they were there one time.  When we got there we got to hear all about picking out a tree.  I don't know that it was the most fun for everyone because Cohen and Savannah were not in a walking mood but we had a fun time and it is very peaceful in the mountains.  We even saw a little snow on the ground!  Cohen told me her favorite part was "Eating Sug's cookies at the cabin".  Anything that involves sweets:)

Cohen & Savannah at the cabin

My sweet mess:)

The girls with Uncle Davis, I love Kate's salute :)

A Ride on the Pink Pig!

Tuesday Kelly and I took the girls to Lenox Mall to ride the Pink Pig.  I love all the fun things that come along with the holidays!  Cohen is into Christmas so much this year and it is so fun to see all the excitement through her eyes.  I am big on starting traditions we can do together each year so we decided to start with the Pink Pig.  Since the Pink Pig itself is a big tradition I thought it would be fun for us and it was!  Even Miss Kate enjoyed watching everything.  She was too cute sitting in that little seat beside us.  Our first ride I rode with Cohen and Kate with Kelly then on the second ride Cohen wanted to sit by herself while I rode with Kate and Kelly snapped a few pictures...pink ones as it appears :)
After our ride we shopped and then headed off to find Santa.  Last year Cohen was terrified of Santa so I wasn't sure how it would go but I knew I could at least have Kate sit with him.  We did tell Cohen she would get a cookie if she sat with him.  She held my hand and surprising us all went right to Santa and climbed up in his lap.  Kate sat on the other side and both did great!  Cohen informed him that she wanted Barbie Princess Charm School and Kate would need a rattle.  Her only question to me was "where is his Santa hat?"  We were so proud of her for being so brave and she got her cookie!
To finish off a great trip we met my friend Betsie and had a fun dinner with her.  I loved catching up with her and Cohen is now waiting for Betsie to come to our house:)

Cohen with her tongue out and Kate kept a grasp on the buckle

Our picture with Priscilla 

One last picture...this was me changing Kate into her pj's when we got home.  The shirt was stuck on her head and I thought she looked just like a Pillsbury Dough Girl!  She got a kick out of it too and just laughed and laughed at me.

Glory Glory to Georgia!

This little Cohen funny happened about a month ago, but I failed to blog about it at the time.  Its one I want to always remember though so I'm blogging about it now and what better time than right here at Georgia's big SEC championship game.  All of our family and friends know that in our house we bleed red & black.  We LOVE our Georgia Bulldawgs!  This year got off to a rough start but we couldn't be more proud to see our Bulldawgs in the SEC Championship game this weekend.  With that being said, we start early teaching our girls all about the Dawgs and #1 on the list is the Georgia fight song.  So a few weeks ago we are riding down the road (not sure where we were going) and Cohen asks to hear the Georgia song.  She and her friend Josie listen to these songs a lot on the way to gymnastics.  So she is singing at the top of her lungs and this is what we hear:
"Glory Glory to ole Georgia"
"Glory Glory to ole Georgia"
"Glory Glory to ole Georgia"
"L-T-B-E-Y"

Kelly and I died laughing at her spelling of Georgia.  Not that she cared at all, she was way too proud of herself for knowing the whole song, and we were too!  Each time after that it has been different letters but now she will always get a G and an A in there :)  GOOOO DAWGS!!

Our little Bulldawgs!