Fun with the Finger's: August 2014

Thursday, August 28, 2014

My Georgia Girls!

Its almost that time of year...FOOTBALL SEASON!! This house of Bulldawgs is very excited! Each year I like to be sure I get a picture of the girls in their Georgia outfits (one of the many) and we take the pictures in Athens on campus. Even though this past weekend was nice and hot, I decided to go ahead and take the pictures on Saturday while we were already planning to be in Athens. The girls were great and very cooperative. It really doesn't take long since I know when I get a good picture of them and being as pregnant as I am, I didn't feel like hiking all over campus myself. Cohen had even dressed her American Girl doll in her red and black and GA bow for a picture. I look back at pictures from the previous years and it is crazy to see how much the girls have grown and changed. Sad mama moment for me. I love having these though and hope it just goes right along with the other GA seeds we plant in them! Their favorite thing is to ring the chapel bell and unfortunately there was a ceremony of some kind taking place inside so they couldn't ring the bell. I do hope that bell is being rung on this Saturday though, after a victory against Clemson! GO DAWGS!!

Friday, August 15, 2014

Cohen's 1st Day of First Grade

Wednesday was the big day!! School started back and Cohen started first grade. It doesn't seem real that summer is over and we are gearing up for busy life again! I love the feeling of fall in the air but I am also a summer lover and I hate to see it end. Cohen was so excited though! She was up before I could wake her up. She was all smiles for her picture and was ready to hop in the car and go. When we got to school she was speeding down the hall to get to her class. In no time she had found where to hang her lunchbox and book bag and was at her chair. She opened her arms to me and I gave her a big hug and she was ready to get started. I love that she was so eager to get started. Since she was more than fine I gave her one more kiss and headed out. I had a few tears in the car but I just knew she would have a great day and I was right! When I picked her up the first words out of her mouth were, "can I go back?" She was meaning right then and I had to inform her that she would come back only it would be tomorrow! She said first grade was "awesome" and that there was no way there was any other teacher that was sweeter than Mrs. Crooms. She told me that she saw all her friends and had the best time playing with them. I hope this is the start to a fun filled year. Now it is Friday and while she is no longer waking up herself, she is still excited when I pick her up each afternoon.

After dropping Cohen off at school, I had to head to my doctor's appointment. I am now going to the doctor every 2 weeks so I know the end is in sight...thank goodness. I have reached the uncomfortable stage and while I still want to enjoy these last few weeks with just my 2 girls, I am also getting ready to not be pregnant and have back pain :) I have not been good to blog about the appointments but at each one I have taken a picture with Kate because she has been to EVERY one! I love it! I enjoy this time with her so much! My mama was with us too and I snapped one of her and Kate. Everything is looking good still and today we had a faster heartbeat...154! The baby was pretty active as well. That is the norm. The movements are so strong each day. It can almost take my breath!
After leaving the doctor we ran a few errands and Kate got some good picture time in with every mannequin she could find...what else is new?! We then headed back home to pick up Coco.

Kate's week with mannequins...

Monday, August 11, 2014

First Grade Open House

Today was open house at Lavonia Elementary. Cohen is so excited to be starting back to school. Mama...well I'm sad to see summer ending! I am excited that she is so ready though and today I became even more excited after meeting Cohen's teacher. Cohen will have Mrs. Crooms and we are beyond thrilled! I know she is going to love first grade and couldn't have asked for a better teacher. She was pumped to know several of her classmates too. I think any uneasiness she had quickly went away. With this being a year of change for us, I really wanted Cohen to be happy at school and I know she will be! She told Kelly tonight she wished school started tomorrow :) We will now enjoy one last day of summer vacation before all the fun begins!

I never blogged about our back to school shopping trip that we took a couple of weeks ago. Dawn and I took our kids again together this year to get all the supplies on the list. Cohen loves getting to pick out her items. The kiddos also had a lot of fun at Old Navy! I had actually gone into a dressing room and when I came out they were all "disguised" to see if I could find them. They crack me up! Their disguises were hats and shirts they had found.

This is where they were hiding to see if I would notice them. Love em!

One Last Summer Getaway!

Our summer is quickly winding down with school starting on Wednesday. We actually got to spend our last full week of summer at the beach in Amelia Island. I can't think of a better way to end our summer before getting back into a routine. Amelia Island is also one of our favorite places to go so it was a very fun and relaxing trip. It also was fun because we had our family to spend it with. We stayed with my Mama, sister, Devin & Brock. Suzy, Denny, and Jessica were there as well so we had a lot of fun together throughout the week. The girls loved trips to the beach and pool each day and with me being 7 months pregnant, I loved some relaxation time as well. It was so bittersweet to think this was our last trip as a family of 4. Big changes make me very emotional, happy and sad, and I wanted to really soak up this time with the girls. I know babies are good changes but it is still emotional. Just call me crazy! Cohen enjoyed learning to dive and do front rolls into the water while Kate loved to float on her back. She was so funny to watch. She would just lay back and close her eyes and float away! Kate also is fearless and would be in the water so fast without a floatie if you weren't careful! We actually had a gentleman tell us that he and his wife had enjoyed watching our fearless child! Kate also became a big fan of boogie boarding on this trip. When Kelly had her out in the water one day just floating on the boogie board, I got up to take a picture and he decided to give her a little push for the camera. Well that push was a great one because she ended up riding this wave all the way in to the shore and loved it! I wish I had caught that particular ride on video! I did snap away with my phone though. She is just hilarious and I would absolutely freeze her if I could. Cohen met a friend on the beach one day and she too boogie boarded with her. She also got up the nerve to try surfing! It ended with water getting up her nose but I was totally shocked that she even wanted to try. She usually can take the ocean in small increments but that day she was all about it. She also loved for Kelly to dig her out a "pool" in the sand so she and Kate could sit in it and let the ocean water run in. It was truly amazing how they could sit for hours in that little "pool". We would spend our evenings going out to eat, doing some night swimming, and for us grown ups-playing cards. We also found this little ice cream place that served pineapple Dole Whips!! My favorite! Dole Whips became my favorite last year when we went to Disney World. They are wonderful and I made sure we made several trips to get those! On our last night there we ate downtown and walked down to the harbor. While we were down there a dolphin swam in close and the girls got to see it come up very close to us. They really enjoyed that for sure! At our condo we usually got to see turtles each day and a bunny rabbit or lizards, so seeing the dolphin just capped off the week for these animal lovers! I hope all these memories will stay so clear and fresh for us. I know next year we will be making new memories as a family of 5! What a change that will be. I'm just so thankful for the opportunity to spend this week at the beach with all the people I love! We definitely had a blast! Here are some pictures from our week...

Scuba Cohen!

Got to love the little grocery carts at the grocery store!

We had one rainy morning...We were trying to wait it out under the tent for a while before we gave up.

Waiting on the water to fill the "pool"

Cohen got to hold the turtle!

You know Kate would find a mannequin on our shopping trip

Kelly decided to try some fishing from the beach. One night this is the fish he caught...or actually I could claim it since I reeled it in :) Kate, as you can guess, was very fascinated by it!