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!

Our Elf has Arrived

Today our little elf showed up at our house :)  This is our first year having an "elf on the shelf".  I thought this would be something good for Cohen since this elf will tell Santa each day if you are naughty or nice.  The first thing we did was name our elf which Cohen chose the name "Emma".  She said this was a girl elf and pointed out that the elf had on lipstick.  We read the book that came with it which she loves stories.  Then throughout the night she would make comments about not liking the elf.  She told me quite a few times, "I don't like that Eff", or "Mommy that eff isn't real its just pretend but you think its real".  The elf was sitting on our mantle right beside Cohen's stocking, and she told me "why doesn't Kate have one of those coming out of her stocking", and "I wish it would go sit near Kate's stocking not mine."  I told Cohen the elf would be in a different place each day (we hope) so it would not be near her stocking tomorrow.  This should be fun and I am hoping to have quite a few cute quotes on this!  

Showing off her book

On another note, Miss Kate has been doing so much better eating her cereal.  The past 2 days she has actually opened her mouth for her bites and today she ate a whole bowl for me!  This is really big for us because I haven't been able to get her to eat it for the past month.  I think she was not sure of the spoon or the texture of something new in her mouth.  I love watching her sit in her little seat!  I finally found a tray for it on black Friday.  I had checked Target & Wal-Mart over the past few weeks and both were out.  I really do not want to pull out the big high chair yet.  Baby stuff takes up a lot of room!  She loves have a tray to hold her toys and it helps keep her upright.

Focused in on her toy

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we spent the day with all of our wonderful families!  We ate WAY too much but loved every minute of it.  I have to say that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days.  The food is by far the best, and the desserts are wonderful too.  I have to say that our cousin Emily makes the best desserts and this year was no different!  I think I need the recipe:)
We started our fun day by eating lunch with my family at my Nanny's house here in Lavonia.  Since this is Kate's first Thanksgiving we had to do a few photos.  We always take pictures at my Nanny's and though I didn't take near as many this year, I have to get a few in.  We enjoyed our time there so much.  After leaving there and taking a quick stop at home for a short nap, we packed up and headed to Athens to Nana's house.  More yummy food there and the best desserts!  We were also given some great news!!  Emily and Brandon are expecting and we are super excited for them and to welcome a new cousin to the family.  I love baby news!
You can't beat a day spent with family and being reminded how blessed you are.  That is exactly how I felt today.  I am SO thankful for my wonderful husband, 2 beautiful, healthy daughters, family and friends!  GOD IS GOOD!

My little turkey!

First Thanksgiving

My 2 blessings for which I'm so very thankful!

Kate & Nanny

Cohen & Daddy (I have no clue why those lines are in this picture)

Cohen & Taylor

I can't believe I didn't take the first picture at Nana's.  I guess I was too busy eating!

On another note, my little Kate has turned into a roly poly just over the last 2 days.  She is rolling all over the place.  I knew it would happen soon but I can't say that I'm excited.  It was so nice to be able to lay her down and know she wouldn't go anywhere or not far anyways.  She could scoot around great on her back but now she just rolls over and over.  Sometimes she gets stuck on her belly which really makes her frustrated.  Another reason I'm not fond of rolling :)  I have to stay right on her to roll her back over or just keep an extra close eye on her.  I was working at my desk on pictures with her right beside me on her mat and the next thing I knew, I look down and she is behind me (off her mat) in the middle of the room.  Brock then informs me he saw her roll there and its been over since.  She is just like Cohen, when she learns something she catches on quick and there is no turning back.  Another reminder my sweet baby is growing too fast!  She is so proud of herself though, as you can see from the pictures below :)  LOVE!

First Friends Thanksgiving Feast

Two posts in one day, I'm playing catch up!
Today was Cohen's Thanksgiving feast at school.  Our 3 and 4 years olds dress up as the pilgrims (4 year olds) and Indians (3 year olds) and sing for their families.   We have been making the pieces to our costumes for the past week and they have all been practicing these songs for weeks.  It was very cute!  I know I was both a proud teacher and proud mama!  After they sing we all eat Thanksgiving lunch.  It was delicious and I ate way too much!  I love Thanksgiving but I will need to put in some extra work out time!

Cohen in her Indian costume

After the feast we came home and Cohen and I pulled out her Christmas tree for her room.  It is early but I love Christmas and decorating for it.  I started this week putting out a few things and I plan to get more out this weekend.  I have a good many things and I want plenty of time to enjoy them.  Cohen had fun decorating her tree too.   Kate watched and took it all in.  She was just thankful to be rescued from her crib where I was trying to get her to sleep.  After this blog update we will try again :)

Sweet girls

Cohen's tree!  A few more things may be added but pretty cute so far.

Kate Daniels-5 months

This post is a little over due but what else is new :)  It just hit me a couple of days ago that I never posted anything when she turned 5 months, so I took some pictures of Kate doing some of the things she loves right now.  I think Halloween kept me busy and I let it slip by.  Kate is doing great.  She has problems with allergies sometimes or at least that's what I think it is.  She doesn't let it slow her down much.  Her nickname should be "Smiley" because that's what she loves to do.  And I love seeing that smile so much.  She wakes up smiling and I love to look in her crib first thing in the morning and see her big grin.  I also love watching her face light up when she sees me.  That's the best feeling in the world.
Our one bump in the road has been with formula.  I have had to supplement some and in trying that the Dr. thinks she has a protein allergy to cow's milk.  We are on our 3rd type of formula which is Alimentum.  So far its going well.  I don't have to give her formula very much so it takes a while to figure this out sometimes.  Luckily too, I'm not away from her very much.  She doesn't like cereal very much at all!  I am trying to keep pushing it a little more each day because I know its all about her getting used to the spoon, the new texture of the cereal and the taste.  You forget these little things from baby to baby.  I just remember Cohen loving baby food and having a hard time getting her to ever eat table food.  Here are a few more things about Kate right now :

• She has found her feet and LOVES playing with them every time I lay her down
• Still loves playing with her hands, and loves putting anything in her mouth
• She coos and squeals which is so precious
• Recently started playing in her walker and seems to like it pretty well
• Just slept in her big baby bed for the first time.  This is because I have not wanted her out of my room and I'm still having a hard time with it.  
• Is definitely a morning baby.  She is happy all day most days but morning is her happiest time.
• Has starting fighting sleep more but gives up pretty easy when I hold and rock her.  She even takes her paci sometimes.
• I think she is definitely teething but nothing has cut through yet.
• Wears a size 3-6 mos. or just 6 mos. in certain brands

She loves her big sister.  (this was 2 days after she was officially 5 months)

Kate's new ride-her walker

Her feet don't quite reach the floor

Bathing beauty

Getting those feet

The fun of having 2 kids!

This picture will tell you a little bit about how are week has been!  The fun of changing seasons, allergies and whatever else falls into the category of colds and sickness.  On Tuesday night Kate threw up and this was the start of what I thought was a stomach bug.  I now believe it was more mucus making her sick.  She has been stuffed up and there is just nothing you can give to a baby other than drowning her with saline drops.  This poor baby has had what appears to be allergies off and on.  Through most of it she keeps her big sweet smile but this time she has just not been herself.  I hate this!  I think I handle most parenting things well but I do NOT handle sickness.  I mean I get anxious, I call the Dr. for everything, especially throw up.  There is something about it that makes me panic like someone is dying :)  I want a miracle cure and I want it fast.  Colds, allergies and those sicknesses bother me because there is no fast cure.  We also are having a VERY hard time with Kate's eating.  She nurses great and takes any breastmilk great, but formula is a NO!  We have already tried switching her to soy and now we are onto the next option.  Dr. Setia has given us 2 special kinds of formula to try so we are going to try that and see how it goes.  Say a prayer!  I only use formula once a day if that but I know I am going to be needing it more and more so we NEED to get this worked out.  Kate also HATES rice cereal.  I can tell she is going to give me fits with eating.  She is such a great baby so I knew there had to be a small issue some where :)  I love her so, (as she smiles at me so big right this second).  Here is a picture of her riding in Cohen's Barbie car.  She enjoyed her ride and then was more interested in her socks and feet.

Socks are so interesting!

Cohen on the other hand is going full steam ahead!  She does have a small runny nose but I think I get used to that since it seems kids keep one off & on in preschool.  This week has been low key for us.  I have been catching up on editing pictures.  I have a few funny/cute pictures to share.  Yesterday Cohen was very quiet so I went looking for her and I found her surrounded by books in her room.  This makes me smile so much because I have done this her whole life.  She has always loved books and I love that.  As a baby she would sit for long periods of time and just flip the pages.  Seeing her still do this reminds me that even though she's growing fast she's still so little and precious.
She is very into toy catalogs that we are getting in the mail.  Santa will have no trouble finding Cohen something.  She wants everything!!!
Today she also cracked me up when she came up to me wearing these fake teeth that were in a package of costume things.  When Kelly was deciding what to dress up as, one idea was this "pimp" looking costume and included were these awful teeth (bucked and gold tooth included).  You can imagine how hard I laughed seeing her with these.  Once she saw me laughing she was glad to play the part and go along with me taking her picture!  I love my silly girl!

My little bookworm

So many wonderful toys!

This gave me a good laugh, and add in her best Madea impression, it made me cry laughing so hard!

The Halloween Fun Continues...

Halloween is becoming as busy as Christmas for us!  I tell ya, we had a busy weekend and finished up our Halloween celebration on Monday with a day full!  Sunday evening we went to our church fall festival at a neighborhood here in Lavonia.  There was plenty of games to play, food to eat, and candy for the kids. I think my favorite was watching Cohen try to eat the donut without using her hands.  We even caught Pop playing this game.  He LOVES donuts!  We had a fun time and then headed back to Sug & Pop's house to roast hot dogs, eat chili, and make S'mores.  It was fun to cuddle up outside around the fire. 

3 Pretty Peacocks, Cohen, Helena, & Avery

Catching ducks

Catching a donut.  See how she keeps her hands so she won't use them, Precious!

Daddy & Kate (aka Tinkerbell)

Sugie with Cohen & Savannah

Mommy & her sweet girls

Cohen & Savannah

Kate with Aunt Sara

Pop's turn for a donut!

Scary Kate at Sug and Pop's house!

On Monday, Cohen had her Halloween party at school.  This is a busy, wild day for us at First Friends!  We started everything off with our class pumpkin hunt.  These were the pumpkins that the kids picked out from Mize Pumpkin Farm.  They were all excited to get to find "their" pumpkin.  We then came back inside and each child decorated his/her pumpkin.   I had some creative pumpkins in my room :)  Cohen is still showing hers off to everyone that comes to our house!  After the decorating it was time to trick-or-treat and do the trunk-or-treat with all the parents who decorated their cars.  I think all the kids got so much candy!  I had quickly decorated my trunk Sunday night and in the center of my trunk was Kate in her witch costume.  She was so cute sitting up there in her Bumbo chair.   After all the candy was given out Suzy took her back home for a long nap!  We finished our school day with a party and all the kids went home to get ready for more trick-or-treating I'm sure.  We went to trick-or-treat in town that afternoon and then finished our Halloween with a few stops at family houses.  I think my girls loved their Halloween, especially my little peacock Cohen.  She now has more candy than she will ever eat or that I will let her eat!  I am using it all to get the playroom cleaned up, room cleaned, and eating good at dinner! :)

Finding a pumpkin

My sweet 3 year old class

Cohen & Madison with their decorated pumpkins

My darling witch!

Passing out candy to the big boys & girls

Another class picture

Cohen & Mama at school

First Halloween!!

She loves her feet now that she has discovered them!