Last Week

Last week started with a special play date! Julia, a friend I cheered with at Alabama, was in town and joined Ashley, Shannon, & I, and our kiddos, for a play date at Ashley's. Julia & her family live in Dallas, and I haven't seen her in 5 years!! I looked up to Julia so much in college and it was so fun to get to visit with her and meet her precious daughter Annie. All of these friends are so special to me!

The rest of the week was spent at Mama & Me, swimming at the Byroms, playing in the yard, and ended with a trip to Tuscaloosa to celebrate Katie's Birthday. Maggie experienced her first three hour dinner with two of my oldest friends...Katie & Ashley Booth. She was such a trooper & slept the last hour. She is now officially one of the girls!

Also, we are officially potty trained!! I have been in more public bathrooms in the past 2 weeks then I care to admit, but I am so proud of how well Coop has done! Now, if we can just get rid of that stinkin paci we will have a real Big Boy...I'm psyching myself up for that one in a few weeks! Here are some pics:

Julia, Ashley, Shannon, & Me

Hannah Grace, Annie, Coop, Parker

Of course, Cooper messes up the cute pic!


Cooper & Annie's Dance Party 2010


Annie & Parker checking each other out.


Maggie, just hanging out.


Ash & Mags: How sweet is this pic???


Potty Prize: Woody!


Washing the wagon. His tan is better than mine!


The little diva watching Cooper play from inside.

Girl's Night at Depalmas...I forgot my camera &

Kate won't send me the pic of she & Ashley!

Perfection

I've never been a type A/perfectionist kinda girl. I'm not lazy or anything, it's just been my personality to go with the flow and get things done during crunch time. Now that I am responsible for the people my children become (so scary), I want to be perfect. I really stress out about being a perfect mom. A lot of days Cooper is polite, minds, plays well with others, gives me random kisses and "I lub yous" throughout the day and I feel really good about the job I'm doing as a mom. Then there are days when he is the exact opposite...like today. It seems like he woke up ill this morning, and even after a long nap, he just couldn't get out of his funk. Days like today make me re-think the job I'm doing as a mom and I tend to over analyze if I was too easy on him...or maybe too hard...is it my fault he acted out all day?

I know that he is a typical two-year old, but I still want him to be kind and obedient all the time (all moms and former moms of toddlers can laugh now), but I do. All I know is that now, more than ever, I need to do the very best I know how, and trust that the Lord will pick up where I fall short, because as hard as I try, I will NEVER be a perfect parent with perfect kids.

When I was pregnant with Maggie, and just a huge ball of stress, my friend Katie made Mags and I a girl power CD to rock out to in the car. I listened to the CD over and over again and fell in love with a song called Perfect People by Natalie Grant. It talks about how we all try to seem perfect on the outside and cover up our flaws and insecurities, but how God longs for us to come to Him with all of our imperfections and allow Him to change us as only He can. Here are my favorite lyrics in the song:


There's no such thing as perfect people
There's no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scarred
Lift up your heart and be amazed
And be changed by a perfect God


Who lived and died to give new life
To heal our imperfections
So look up and see love
And let grace be enough


Thank God for his perfect Grace, cause I need it!

Check out these buns....

Yup, that's big boy underwear on Coop's buns! We started potty training this week! We've been hanging out in the house most of the week, drinking lots of liquids, and using the Elmo potty. The first few days I let him run around the house in his birthday suit and he did awesome, often running to the potty without being reminded. But, when we added the underwear, we've had some accidents. I think I make him sit on that potty 100 times a day! This might jinx us, but the only poo accident he's had was at our church playgroup, and he had a pull up on, thank goodness. I really hope he's doing good in public by the time he starts MDO the first week of September. I'll keep you updated. And, can I just add that I'm OVER all the clean up that goes along with the kiddy potty...yuck!

Mags is quite impressed by brother's skills!

New Pictures

Cousin Harrison recently had a photoshoot with The Blink Lady in the Bailey Christening gown. My two kiddos were invited to tag along for a few cousin shots in the Easter outfits MuMu had made for them. Getting two six month olds and a two year old to all look at the camera and smile at the same time was impossible, but I think they turned out pretty cute!

Harrison in the gown...Cooper wore it when he was baptised

and Mags will wear it at the end of the month for her baptism.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The boys went to Coop's first Baron's game Wednesday night. They met Hudson & his Dad Chris, our friends from church. I'm not sure how much game they actually watched, but they had a great time and came home nice and sweaty. While Hudson loved the mascot, Babe Ruff, Cooper was terrified and made Christopher take him up to the top of the stadium when he came around to visit. The past few days he keeps saying, "I see doggie!" so maybe he will give him a hug next time...doubt it! Here are a few pics Christopher took with his camera phone.

The boys walking to the stadium...Cooper LOVES Hu-sen!

Eating Ice Cream

Future Player???

Poor Abby

This morning Cooper found Abby's "lish" in the hall closet and decided to take her for a walk around the house. I normally would have said no, but since Abby woke Mags up this morning barking at random people walking by our house, I she decided she needed a little punishment. This is how it all went down:

She went along with it at first....



Then he put her in time out...wonder where he got that from...



Then Abby realized that a two-year-old was bossing her around and decided the walk was over...



Don't call PETA on me!

Boy's Day

Saturday morning Christopher took Cooper out to the Mt. Laurel community to visit his former co-worker. The boys fell in love with Mt. Laurel! It is a small community off of Highway 280 in Birmingham with a "Mayberry" feel; complete with a lake, small shops & restaurants, and a school. Coop had a blast fishing, swimming, playing on the playground, & even driving a golf cart. He took a long nap that afternoon...always a sign of a fun morning! He loves spending Guy Time with his Daddy!