Hank's Dedication

Last Sunday we got together with the Cochran's and the Stanley's to celebrate Hank's dedication.  It was such a beautiful day, and an exciting time to see Hank be dedicated to the Lord.

 Baby Hank being dedicated

 Mama Zo and Pops with their grandsons.

 The whole Cochran family!

 George and Pops

Such a fun day!

Sweet Moments

The weather has been absolutely incredible, and after reading a friend's blog, I was really encouraged to take advantage of the downtime with Clay and George.  The other night after dinner, we went on a walk and then played in the front yard together.  Harper was just beside herself with excitement!

There are few things sweeter to me right now than watching the joy in Clay's face mirrored in George's face.  I realized lately that I tend to share the exciting occasions, trips, and family get-togethers.  While these events are so special to us, it's the in-between, non-exciting moments that make me feel like a family.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God."  Colossians 3:17

Seaside for Spring Break

If you live in the Birmingham area and have kids in school, you were probably in Seaside, or somewhere close, for Spring Break.  On Tuesday, we headed down to Seaside for the week.

Here are a few things that happened every day while we were there:

 George loved to be on the porch swing, and Saty loved to swing him out there.  It usually took about 30 seconds for Rogers to shimmy his way up into the one-seater swing, but Saty always made room for her boys!

George loved this little walker, and Rogers would push him around everytime he got in it.

Every morning when Rogers would get up, the whole way down the stairs you could hear, "Saty affles! Saty affles!"  Needless to say, Saty and Rogers made waffles every morning.

George loved time in the pool.

 ...until he got too tired.

 Rogers would eat gelato.

 George liked swinging by himself...

 and swinging with us too.

 He loved going down the slide with Dad.

And then would collapse in our arms from exhaustion.

Day 2:

 More waffles.

 Then the boys opened their Easter baskets from Saty and the big hit were their sunglasses!

Does this picture even need a caption?

 More of this...

More of that.

More swimming in the pool.

Friday night Saty kept the boys and let us go out to dinner!

 The last night we got to see this beautiful sunset over Seaside.

...and then it was time to go home.

George was absolutely pitiful on the car ride home.  This face makes me completely powerless, and I worry that one day he will use this to his advantage.  We would stop to try to change/feed/see what was wrong with him.  As soon as we would pick him up he would start laughing and smiling.

I think he was just sad to leave Seaside.

It has been such a great week with family.

Happy Spring Break!

Six Months

One-half of a year has passed since George came into our lives, and started our family of three.  

When I look back at this little nugget:

It's hard to believe that he has changed into this boy:

Judge as you will, but we tried a Baby Einstein DVD today.  Let's just say...it was amazing.  George usually gets a little fussy around 5-5:30, which is when I am typically getting dinner ready.  Today I popped in one of those DVDs, and this was all George could do:

As a disclaimer, we rarely let George watch TV of any kind.  But I am totally okay with this.

There is so much to say about the past six months, but there would never be enough time to say it all.  

George, the Lord has used you to shape and mold your dad and me into closer followers of Him.  We have learned truly what it means to die to self through the love we have for you.  To say we are thankful for you would be the ultimate understatement, but we are.  We have a love for you that runs deeper than ourselves, and we pray that our love points you to the Lord one day.

Happy Six Months, George!

Spring Break: Part 1

I have been back to work for two weeks now.  It has been a wild two weeks around here, so I am super excited that we are on Spring Break this week!  After Clay and I finally got over the stomach bug, we seemed to wake up and it was Friday.  We went to Atlanta on Saturday to see Billy Elliot at the Fox Theatre, and spent the night in Buckhead.  The play was great, and it was fun to get away just the two of us.

 Clay and I got in town just in time to grab lunch before the show.

 Outside the Fox Theatre

 We were so glad we got to spend some time with Martha and Ron before dinner!

Such a fun dinner in Virginia Highlands!

Since we didn't have our alarm clock with us (George) we slept in late on Sunday morning.  We got to meet up with my friend from college, Wyatt, and his wife, Erin, for brunch before heading back home.  It was such a fun weekend for the two of us, and to get to see such dear friends.

Mama Zo and Pops were so sweet to keep George while we were out of town.  I'm not sure who had more fun between George and his awesome grandparents!

Thank you, Mama Zo and Pops for taking such great care of George!

We went out to dinner last night, and George is officially in a high chair now.  I know this isn't a big deal, but he looks so cute sitting with us at the table, and everyone is much happier for it.  These were taken with my phone, but I thought they were pretty cute.

 He also became obsessed with Clay's straw.  Don't worry- it was only water.  

Wouldn't you want this sweet face at your dinner table?!

Lastly...I am getting so excited for The Hunger Games movie to come out this weekend.  I know I am late on this bandwagon, but I read the first book in the last few days of my maternity leave.  I'm hoping to finish the second book over Spring Break.  I should have plenty of time to read with a 6 month-old at the beach, right?

Happy Monday, y'all!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

 Such a fitting quote for the past few weeks around our house.  

The Howell's got together a few weeks ago to find out if we are going to have a niece or nephew in July.  

 Saty cutting the cake to reveal the gender...

Rogers enjoying the aftermath of his PINK cake!  We are so excited for our niece, Frannie, to get here in July!

The next day, George started a pitiful little cough, that quickly turned into a more scary wheezing cough and difficulty breathing.  We took him to the doctor Saturday morning, and were relieved to find out it was only an upper respiratory infection.  This was his constant face of delirium on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (Mom and Dad both had the same face of exhaustion):

 Since he was running a fever, he pretty much stayed in only his diaper.  He was so happy to not have to wear any clothes.  Should I be worried?!

After a long first week back at work, I really cherished my time home with George and Clay.  We took George to get his first haircut on Saturday, and as much as it pained me, he looks sort of adorable with his 'big boy' haircut.  

Here are a few 'before' pictures...

George seemed to be a little worried...

In the end- he turned out pretty handsome!

When it was all said and done, this was the pile under George's chair:

Just kidding.  But they cut a lot of baby hair off George.

After a rough week, I have found that there is nothing that a laughing baby can't cure.  I am thankful for sweet moments with Clay and George- videos to come.

Hope everyone has a great week!