A little of our week {in photos}

This is perhaps the best kind of post.. one with lots of pictures.

I got a little emotional when a friend at work mentioned going to a funeral for a young person who had young children. And I thought about what a gut-wrenching fear that is for me. I pray, pray that my boys won't have to be without either me or Hector while they're little. I want them to remember us, and remember the good times we had, and the love we had/have for one another. I'm getting nauseous just typing these words. BLECHHH. Ok.

Anyways, I also thought, I need to get in more pictures with my kids! How 'not fun' would it be to get older and look back at photos and only see pics of you by yourself?? No. I want them to see Mom and Dad in pictures with them. As Emily Anderson (of The Anderson Crew) calls it, "Embracing the Camera", getting in pictures with your kiddos. It really is special. Do it.

On to the happy!

This baby boy.. getting increasingly uneasy in his jumper.. he'd rather be roaming the house, getting into trouble! Look at those sweet teeth! Two on the bottom.

He crawls up to me EVERY chance he gets. He's kinda smitten with me.. and I kinda thrive on that! 

Pulled him into a "selfie"... But hey! We're together!

Coco and Daddy... lookalikes much?? 

Daddy with Liam! Blurry, but together. :)

Granna and Pop dropped in last night for dinner! Love when they're here!

She is so fantastic, and he is her BIGGEST fan. 

Switched the 'ol camera into manual mode for these next shots. You're welcome. 

My sweaty boy on our walk today. 

Baby bro at least had some stroller shade... Rosy cheeks :)

Those feet...... I just can't. I kiss them everyday. Because, why not?

Nature boy, he wanted me to eat that, I think.

I refused and his 16 year old attitude came out.

His face kills me. So big.

Wonder when they'll both look at the camera? At one time, I mean? 

Liam totally ripped that page right outta the magazine Hector was looking at. Baby gets what baby wants. 

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week... nursing a 9 month old! I don't mind showing this photo, because you know what? It's not inappropriate at all. Nothing is seen that 'shouldn't' be. 

Anyways, I'm proud to still be breastfeeding, and I want to remember this forever (as if I could forget). And it's just a few more pictures that I get to be in with my sweet baby. Thanks, Hector, for the pictures. While taking them he said, "Just a beautiful mama feeding her baby." I really appreciated that.. and not the compliment.. but the observation. 

After he removed my glasses, as he does during most feeds nowadays.. because that's super fun for him. :) Love the eye contact. 

Then I snatched up this guy! How is he so big?? Coco starts 3K in few weeks. He's ready, I'm so nottttt. :(

Well, I'm super impressed if you made it all the way to the end of that long post! Hope you enjoyed! 

Bubbles, Lovey and Grandparents

I'm still trying to figure out the 'ol DSLR camera.. it's getting a tiny bit easier. It's still tempting to put it on "Auto" when I'm in a hurry, so I try to practice in situations that are not urgent. :) But this is also difficult, because, this kid doesn't stop moving. I'm secretly super excited to be taking pictures of my sleeping newborn in a month. :) Maybe I'll get really good then!

Last night I pulled the camera out for bath time. And I took pictures until Cohen got in too much trouble (i.e. splashing Mommy repeatedly, then finally, pouring water outside of the tub, via his bath drum).

Either this whole pic is blurry (highly-likely) or his left eye is super blurry. I'll chalk it up to him barely sitting still for a pic.

Drumming away!!

Oh my handsome. What am I going to do with him?

Just a playin' with letters!

Loves to swim in the tub now. Losing his fears of water. 

Then, at breakfast today, I took a couple. 

I love this one! Sleepy, puffy eyes and all. This is 'mouth full of cereal'. 

And our beloved Lovey. 

And finally, my parents were over here this afternoon because dad had business near here. They always try to squeeze in a visit when they are so close. I love it. We all went out to the PGA store together, then to the mall to visit Daddy at PBK. Then back home for a bit more playtime before they had to head home. 

Cohen's beautiful Granna, my mom. She is literally his most favorite person in the world.

My dad, Cohen's Pop! It's really hard to get pictures of him smiling, but around Coco, there's so much laughing going on, I caught a few. Blurry belly from bucking Coco!

Joyful!

More smiles! They are best buddies. It's wonderful!

So, like I said.. I'm feeling more comfortable with the camera.. but I'm so ready for my still subject to get here! (5 weeks and counting! Look for Liam post on Thursday!)

First trip to the library!

I have been meaning to take Cohen to the library for so long. We're home most mornings, and there is a library like 5 minutes from our apartment.

So today, after our breakfast, a baby powder fight (Cohen found out if he shakes the powder, it will fly out and go everywhere) and showers for both of us, we loaded up and went to the library. It was only 98 degrees outside.. so.. yea. We were sweating by the time we got there. Yuck. Did I mention I'm ready for this outrageous heat to ease up?

Now, Cohen is a pretty loud kid. He's happy and excited and he shows it with his voice. :) So he had a pretty rough transition into library world. But then he kinda "got" it and started whispering. And he would mouth words at me and think I understood them. It was cute, but none of it made sense. Haha.

I love this sweet picture of Coco. I tried to get a picture of him just looking at books, but as soon as he saw me pull out the camera, he came up and started cheesin'.

It's still pretty fun (not to mention easy, since I'm 8 months preggo!) to get away from Mama, so, he liked to stay about one row over from me. And he would tell me, "I jus' lookin' mama! I only lookin'!"

Lots and lots of children's books. We came home with about 8!

Then he discovered the kids' computers. He didn't know exactly how to play any of the games, but thought he was real big, sitting there with the headphones on, pressing all the keys. :) Gosh, he's cute!

As I was checking out our books, he ran back over to the children's section and came back with a Cars book. I had seen him looking at it earlier, but he put it back. So cute that he remembered where it was and grabbed it for me to check out. It's a book that introduces and talks about all the characters in "Cars". That's my boy! :)

So, a successful first trip to the library!

Our first few days in Paris

This is the week I've been looking forward to for months. And only because it is 9 uninterrupted days off from work. *Picture me smiling like the Cheshire cat*

It is the week Hector is off at YoungLife camp in Colorado. Now, that part, we're not loving. We miss daddy something fierce. But we know he's doing a good work there, and that he is having a wonderful time.

I had originally created these grand plans for Cohen and I to fly to Denver to stay with a dear friend who just had a baby, and to even go to Hector's camp one night to visit. But, alas, I chickened out. I had this recurring vision of me, 20 weeks pregnant, carrying a purse, carry-on bag and huge toddler car seat through a busy airport, chasing my 2.5 year old who likes to see just how far away from Mama he can get. I got cold sweats just thinking about it. So, I nixed the idea and called my parents and informed them we'd be coming for the week. :) They, of course, were thrilled. They bought the kid a pool, people. They booked a trip for the end of our stay. They hauled his Thomas the Train bed out of the barn and up to our room. They were ready.

We got here late Sunday morning. We even went to the church service with them. It was so nice to see a lot of people I hadn't seen in years. I never get a chance to visit on a Sunday. As soon as we got home and had lunch, Coco was ready to swim. Pop was the first lucky swim mate.

Cohen was super unsure of his hat, so Pop pulled out a similar one, just so he'd have hat company. :)

Coco and his Granna!

Then, can I just say, that as tired as this little boy was, he took a horrid nap, then stayed awake until 10:30, then woke at 7 am, after tossing and turning all night. O_o

Monday, we went to town to ship Daddy's care package to Colorado, praying it gets there Wednesday, but assuming Thursday. :(

We got home and Coco took a 45 or 50 minute nap, again, I thought he'd take a 2-2.5 hour nap. Not the case. So, we went swimming. No pics this time, because I was enjoying the water, as well! 

Great grandmother Ivy showed up during our swim, and ended up staying for dinner (baked potatoes - my request!). She just loves coming down while we're here. 

After dinner, we (read: Cohen) rode tricycles:

With boots on, down a gravel driveway, with a trunk full of rocks. :)

We fed the catfish:

Man, I love this face...

And to top off a great evening.. we had Popsicles on the patio. 

He kept saying, "it's so cold!!" Still learning...

Shorts: immediately in the wash, no stains!

That sweet, chipped-tooth grin of his... gets me every time.

We are having a low-key day today, Granna and Pop both had to work for a while. And this guy, did NOT sleep good last night. He's staying in my room, in his toddler bed. And he tossed and turned all night, again. Every time he moved, I popped up, thinking he was awake. Then at about 1am, he was awake and was awake for about an hour. And at 6, he woke for good. I put him him in my bed and convinced him that even Granna and Pop weren't up yet. (He wanted to go make coffee.) So, he laid down with me for like 30 minutes, then Granna came and got him, so I could sleep a little longer. What is it about this place that has him waking at the crack of dawn and getting poor sleep??? He's been asleep for a morning nap from 11-1, still sleeping. We'll see how long it lasts. Then I bet he and I will go swimming. :) It's been a great trip so far. 

some pics of late

Yea, we stay in our pj's some days. As long as there are cars, we are happy, happy, happy. 

My salt-n-peppa hubby. :) Love him.

Ok.. that's a KID on that trike, not a baby anymore. :(

Daddy was playing with settings on the new camera, and had only blue hues in this pic. But whilst doing it, he caught Coco giving his caterpillar a sweet squeeze. :) Man, he's just precious. That face!

Our little family. With Mama a little blurry. But, still, I love this one.

Me and my boy. Look at those puppy dog eyes. I just can't get enough of him. He's a mama's boy, through and through. I love that little chin.