SB 2017

We had a busy week planned for Spring Break 2017!

Monday was a great lunch courtesy of my mother in law at Mary Macs in Atlanta.

They have some of the best food ever!

I had the chicken friend chicken and the sweet rolls!

So yum!

We also had fun dodging the RAIN and the tornadoes!

Yikes!

Tuesday the tiny people went to play with BeBe and Papa for the day.

We cleaned out the garage AND sold some things online!

It was miraculous.

I was so excited to get that task done.

I love being able to trash things and donate them to people  who will actually USE them!

Wednesday was filled with more crazy weather.

We braved the rain and some more tornado warnings for playtime!

It was Hayes' bday celebration with his BFF Luke.

I'll post those pictures and that story later!

Thursday we went to have lunch with Pawpaw and tour the Delta Museum in Atlanta.

SO COOL!

There is an actual 747 we got to walk around in AND there are several airplanes on display.

We got to spend some time learning about the history of Delta.

Spencer is wild.

Hayes loves to learn.

And Elizabeth is a professional picture poser.

Friday  was our last day of break and I'm pretty sure we just laid low and worked in the yard!

I love this life.

My girls.

All of them.

4 Generations.

Crazy.

Forgiving.

Encouraging.

Supportive.

Precious.

My best friends.

Weddings

Y'all.

I love weddings.

I also love that I live in Georgia and can say that 'Y'all' is a complete sentence.

Because, it is.

I so enjoy spending time with people at weddings.

I like dressing up and dancing.

I like that people are mostly happy at weddings.

The smiles and tears shared are always full of joy.

I seriously had a blast at this wedding.

We enjoyed spending time with Flat Leigh Anne and Flat Buddy.

The bride and groom are awesome people and I love them both dearly.

Not to mention, they look fabulous together and I seriously love them both.

Probably the best night of the summer.

Hands down.

Bebe turns 37, again.

Mom turned 37 again this year.  Not sure how that works, since I'm 32... but whatever.  We had all these grand plans for her birthday weekend.  We were planning to take her to lunch and then go get our toes done together.  The 4 girls.  We made plans and forgot to tell mom.  

Oops.  

Thankfully it all worked out and she didn't have major plans anyway.  We managed a fancy lunch and some yummy dessert along with fancy toes.  I'm pretty sure we all had a blast.

I would complain about the fact that I'm the only one without glasses on my face.  But you wouldn't be able to see their eyes anyway, because I think they're all sorta Asian....

Adventures

She needs assistance with her nails.  

Pretty sure she demands that Kitty helps...

No pants?  No problem.  

Libby watches TV with no pants on a regular basis...

Oh, hello mini BeBe.

I didn't even know you could learn how to do that at age 2...

Or this?  

WHO TAUGHT HER THIS!?

5 Days to SB

5 days.  I have 5 days left to be a parent of just two children.  Though, technically I've been a parent to 3 children since early August 2013.... the government will recognize this life within my belly in 5 days.  Hopefully, not sooner.  I am just NOT prepared for her to come early.  I have literally arranged every detail I can imagine to have her on Monday and if she shows up early it will rock my world.  MUCH more so than she is rocking my belly...

She is a blessing.  Spencer Brynne Cochran is my final 'planned' blessing.  I have to laugh at all the people who tell me to just have another baby and make it an 'accident'...  Y'all, I can't do that.  I cannot lie well and I know that would be a terrible idea.  Seriously, I'd make the worst poker partner ever.  It would be a useless experiment.  So IF you hear that I'm pregnant again, you'll know it was literally an accident, as in... we didn't plan it on purpose.  We would both be shocked and terrified and delirious.

Today I go to the doctor's office for my last pregnancy visit with SB.  I have 5 days left to her arrival date and I'm anxious!  I'm ready to meet our newest Cochran and see her face.  I want to smell baby smell and I'm excited to change diapers.  I cannot wait to see how she impacts our family and our lives.  I am overwhelmed to see my babies all together and for Hayes and Libby to meet Spencer, finally.  I am still debating the kids coming to visit Spencer in the hospital... not sure if that's a wise move or not?

The plan, as of now, is to deliver via c-section on Monday, EARLY.  Caroline is coming to stay with the kids Sunday night and Aunt Patsy will come early Monday morning to help get them to and from school.  MawMaw is coming to stay with kids Monday evening/overnight until Wednesday evening.  Papa and BeBe will be here with the kids until we get home from the hospital Thursday (I hope that's when we get released)... I am fairly certain that BeBe will be the one bringing us home from the hospital.  Daryk has a track meet and he needs to be there Thursday.  Realize that the 'trip home from the hospital' is not important to me.  Save me the comments and lecture about how he shouldn't be coaching because he should be with us... I get to decide what's best for my family and the drive from N'side to Winston isn't important to me.     

I'll be home with the kids, the husband, and the newborn on Friday all day!  Here is hoping that the weather remains beautiful and that the temperatures are friendly to some outside time for me and SB.  I am thrilled for this new chapter in our lives.

Santa procrastination 2013

We typically go see Santa at Lenox Mall and ride The Pink Pig between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  For some reason this year we just let time slip away and got busy, oh yeah... and we got sick!  We love going to the mall to see Santa and the Santa we see is awesome.  I'll post those pics another day.  We try to make a point to go on a Sunday afternoon as well.  Early church service, lunch, straight to the mall for Santa and The Pig.  We didn't make it on Sunday this year.  Oops.

The only days we had to choose from this year was December 23 and 24.  The day before Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve.  Which day would you choose?!  I figured it was going to be chaos no matter the day, so we just showed up the Monday before Christmas and hoped for the best.  The Santa line was about 1 hour and 20 mins ish long.  Not too shabby considering we weren't the only last minute folks in line....

Usually we reserve their 'phones' for extreme measures, today was that day.  The phones were our lifesavers!  Did I mention that all this time Libby has been potty training (at this point it was for 3 days) and she didn't have ANY accidents at all while we were out in public?  Granted, I'm pretty neurotic for that part of parenting and set a timer to make sure that she goes every 45 minutes or so.... Not to mention that I had to take a pregnancy potty break every 45 mins or so as well.  Baby bladder dancing...

Clearly she was stressed about it too...

They were troopers and stood in line, had snacks, and ultimately saw Santa.  Libby was not impressed and Hayes had a GREAT time!  Again, I'll post those pics soon!  We made friends with those in line around us and took turns taking potty breaks, pushing strollers, and the like.  I was in awe of those years that my mother took us, all 3 of us, by herself to see Santa.  Kudos mom.  You are my hero, once again.  I would never, ever, in a million years attempt this by myself...

Ever.

And then all was right in the world because they put Santa right beside the Great American Cookie Co.

Brilliant planning Lenox Mall.  Brilliant planning.

Party Animals

Occasionally, the kiddos have parties at their school.  The ELC has done a wonderful job this year of trimming back the excessive parties for the kids!  They have celebrated minimally this year (with only major holidays) and I'm quite thankful for it!  I wasn't able to make the Christmas party with Hayes' class, so I sent BeBe in my place.  She sent me the following pictures.  

I know you would never be able to tell this from the photos, but Hayes has party anxiety.  He hates having a crowd of grown ups around him or in his space.  At school they have 12-14 kids per class and 1-2 adults per kid at the parties.  For poor Hayes that's a lot of grown folks in a room where there are normally just 2 grown ups and his friends in class.  

Hayes is also the world's pickiest eater.  EVER.  His class ordered a Chick fil A nugget tray for the party and I forgot to tell mom so she could bring him yellow sauce, that's what he calls Chick fil A sauce.  It is his most favorite thing ever.  But he shocked us ALL at his party and ate his nuggets with Polynesian sauce!  I was delirious with laughter because I knew it was a huge deal for my Sheldon Hayes.

We might need to work on the silly faces with BeBe and Hayes.  They both look hilarious here.  Hayes typically prefers to make silly faces.  He would rather skip the serious photos and have fun!  I know he had a blast at this party and I got a SUPER cute calendar for 2014 that he made in class as my Christmas gift.  I love it!  

I'm so thankful that my mom (who my kids call BeBe) is part of the village raising my littles and helping me with parties and other miscellaneous parenting duties.  She is truly a blessing for my family and my siblings!  

Gators

The week before Thanksgiving Papa was really sick.

BeBe was in charge for a few days.

Hayes got to do new artwork while BeBe was in charge!

Gators are coloring.

Deep concentration is required

See, the strategically placed tongue?

He loves to color and draw and write.

Especially if his sister is busily doing something else and he's not guarding his paper.

If he's guarding and creating artwork he gets angry.

As long as it is just Hayes, he's a happy little artist.

New face of Maybeline?

Guess who got into Grandma's lipstick?

And its not just any kind of lipstick...

Its the color stay kind.

When they say COLOR STAY, they mean... 

forever.

After a bath and lots of scrubbing.

After a whole day of eating and several hours of sweating....

She still looked like this!

Thankfully BeBe had some lip stain remover and that helped!

I was glad to get that mess off her face.

I was afraid that we would have a skin reaction to the lip stain...

I was right.

Here is the final product with the allergic reaction!

Clean, thankfully!

And still smiling!

Taste of Douglasville

Last weekend we spent Saturday morning wondering if Elizabeth was ever going to wake up.

She slept until almost 11!

Hayes and I built sky scrapers and towers with his blocks and his trains.

He has plenty of legos... I promise, but he chose the wooden blocks for this project.

Elizabeth finally yelled for us at almost 11 and we started the laundry for the day.

She got up, helped me start the laundry and then went to lay back down again!

Rotten.  Girl. 

After lunch we headed to see BeBe at the Taste of Douglasville outdoor festival downtown.

We had ice cream, pizza, and got animal balloons.

Elizabeth had on a new pair of shoes and then she lost one shoe.

It was the VERY FIRST TIME she had worn them and I was NOT happy!

After about 30 minutes of backtracking and some help from my student Haley, we found it!

Finally!

After our snacks and the lost shoe we pranced through THIS puddle lake.

She looks so pleased.

Synchronized swimming/diving etc...

I love them.