When the Rain Won't Go Away....

Cooper and Mommy go out to play!! We had the BEST time splashing in puddles yesterday! Cooper wanted these boots Friday night when we were at Target...even had to wear them out of Target! Guess he knew he'd need them!

CELEBRATE!!!

On September 6th, my family had A LOT to celebrate. On August 18th of last year, my poppa was diagnosed with Stage 4 aggressive colon cancer, which had also spread to other parts of his body. We learned that surgery was not an option, and were not given very much hope. My poppa has bravely been taking chemotherapy for over a year now. The tumors have shrunk to about half of their original size, but that shrinking seems to stalled now. September 6th was his birthday, one we were not sure we would celebrate with him.

September 6th is also precious Maddie Kate's birthday. Maddie Kate is my cousin Jessica's little girl, and my poppa's third great grandchild. She was born last year on September 6th...she wasn't supposed to be born until mid November. She had to fight for a LONG time in the NICU, but she is healhty, happy, and beautiful now. That day was very hard for her mommy because Jessica fully remembers what a battle they all have fought over the last year.

So, this year on September 6th my family learned what it truly means to celebrate life and rejoice in every day that God blesses us with. It has been a difficult year, and one that was very sad at times~but today we were able to forget about all of that and just be together as a family and be thankful for THIS day that the Lord has made!

A BIG Choo-Choo

Cooper has become obsessed with trains! I love it because for some strange reason I always pictured myself having a little boy who loved trains. Maybe it's because I have always thought they were so fascinating and have always wanted to take a trip on a train! Anyway, he LOVES trains. He loves watching Thomas the Train movies, even though they are quite boring to me. He sleeps with Thomas every night. And he plays with his train table we got him for his birthday constantly. He also has the book "The Little Red Caboose" memorized and we tell that story on the way to school every morning! It's amazing...without the book, he can tell me that the little red caboose always came last. Then, I say..."First, came the big black engine". Cooper replies "then boxcars, the oil cars, the coal cars, and flat cars"!! That's exactly the order of them in the story! He loves going across railroad tracks, and says everytime "red caboose come?" It's precious! A couple of weeks ago, we took him to ride a real train in Calera. We went on this ride last spring to go on an Easter egg hunt...but Cooper wasn't into trains then. It was an hour long train ride through the woods...and he loved every second of it! We sat out on an open car, and he was absolutely amazed! I'm not so sure that an hour was long enough for him! They also have old trains out that you can climb on and look at! Cooper loved doing that too! His favorite part was seeing where the coal goes. He will tell us that the choo-choo eats coal! Anyway, it was a great little Saturday morning perfectly spent!

The Beach

I'm not really sure how I get so behind on blogging. I do want to do better and capture our memories. We did take a trip to the beach this summer! We stayed at Splash in Panama City! Cooper LOVED the "water park" that Splash has...the beach...not so much! He was not all about the sand and said it was "guck"! He had lots of fun jumping in the pool and playing in the play area! Jared and I took turns going down to the beach to relax while Cooper was napping! Our beach trips are no longer about just relaxing...but entertaining a toddler, forgetting about things at home, and just enjoying family time! Most of the time, we just stayed at the condo, the beach, or the pool. We went to eat at the Back Porch which was delicious! We also went to Pier Park twice because Cooper loved riding the train, and we loved all the neat things to do there! Before heading home, we visited Gulf World, which was a lot of fun. We saw a loat of water animals, and even watched a dolphin show!! That was the best part! We loved it, and can't wait to go back...in October we hope!

Happy 2nd Birthday Cooper!!!

On Saturday...our little boy turned 2!!! I can't believe it! We celebrated with family and friends at the zoo...one of Cooper's places! We got to pet a turtle, a snake, and a ferret! We had cake and ice cream and then went to ride the choo-choo!!! Cooper was SO excited!!! After the train ride, Cooper walked(actually ran) around the zoo with his friends Christian and John Patrick! We walked around and looked at all the animals, stopped to pick up rocks, and finally ended up at the splash pad where we played in the water and rode the carousel with Nathan! It was such a FUN party! We came home, had a LONG nap, and then...present time!!! Cooper LOVED his train table...we weren't sure he was going to open anything else! He finally did leave the table long enough to open his presents! He got a lot of great toys! He even got the bike he had been asking Mammy and PawPaw for! We pushed him all around the house! Last, we took him outside to see his new swing set! He loved it!! He played with his new toys...mostly his train table until 10:00!!! He's never been up that late...but it was his birthday!!! I look forward to many more birthdays with this precious boy!

A Day with Friends

Best buds digging in the dirt
Sweet Baby Emory

Christian, Cooper, and John Patrick taking a snack break!

Christain and Cooper feeding a snack to the fish!

Earlier in the summer we me these sweet friends, Christian, Emory, John Patrick, and our friend Angela Blocker for a playdate in the park! We swang, fed the fish, had a snack, and played in the dirt! It was a fun day, and a HOT one too!
These sweet friends held hands like this all the way from the playground to the lake where we fed the fish! Christian has ALWAYS been such a sweet friend to Cooper, and he LOVES her! I know he will miss being with her at Mrs. Barbara's next year! We'll just have to be sure that we continue getting them together to play!