Spencer Update

August-December 2017 Spencer update.

My girls.

I can remember when I found out that Elizabeth was a girl.  Honestly, I was a little bit sad she was a girl, at first.  I really wanted a 3rd child and I was afraid that Daryk wouldn't spring for the 3rd if we had 'one of each' already.  Thankfully, he surprised me and let me have that last baby that I really wanted...

I remember being so excited to have a tiny version of me.  She is a lot like me.  And I was thrilled when we learned Spencer was a girl as well.  And I cannot imagine life without either.  I enjoy watching them bond and chat and sing and yell and laugh at each other.  I get so much laughter from each of them each day.  To watch them together is precious.

I know the road ahead is filled with massive piles of not fun sibling interactions.  Fights over clothes, and shoes, and cosmetics, and everything in between those things too.  Fights over friends and boys and toys and food.... but moments like this.... when they can both still fit and sit willingly into a cart at Sams while sharing ice cream is sorta awesome.  I get so excited for them to be the very best of friends because that is who my sisters are.  I pray daily for God to keep them close and guard their relationship.  I pray for joy and a sense of teamwork over all 3 of them daily.

I love this personality.  She brightens up ANY day.

And she's still snuggly and amazing.

Sassy embodied in a photo.

New hairdo with clothes that do not match.

That's my girl.

Showtime!

It was the end of the school year for Hayes and Libby.

Performance time for all!

Songs and dances are always amazing!

Love our preschool.

Love our friends.

I love Libby

I love this one.

She is challenging and difficult.

She makes me question my sanity, daily.

She asks more questions than I would care to answer, EVER.

She likes to change her clothes about 950 times daily.

She prefers to wear dresses.  Ewww.

She likes all the bling, lipstick, and accessories she can find.

She loves with an intensity like nobody I've ever known.

I wish every human being had the manners she did.

So polite for a 4 year old...

For the love....

How can I not enjoy her?

Vibrant, joyful, vivacious, and loyal.

Those are the best adjectives for my favorite middle child.

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.

V town

Clearly, summer isn't my prime time to blog.  I guess I'm too busy from May-August to actually sit and do this.  We are actually living and going and doing.  Sitting down to blog would require quiet time and nobody talking to me or needing me to be the referee or asking me for a snack.  

Not happening.  

So we visited Vidalia in April for The Onion Festival.

A good time was had by all.

Hayes searched for 'the mysterious red deer' while we were on our safari.

Libby enjoyed time with 'the girl cousins and Emma's mom' while we visited.

Spencer climbed stuff she wasn't supposed to and ate chalk.

The best thing about a 4 month delay on publishing these entries is that Spencer has SO much hair now!

Still working on my pirate face.

I'll get it before he turns 6...

Bikes and sleepover.

Forgive me...

I've done a picture purge on my phone, which means I'm documenting the millions of photos that I should have shared about 5 months ago.  

Like this...

Sean got a 'new to him bike' and drove it from Vidalia to D'ville.

He wrecked it less than 4 miles from our house.

Drove for 3 hours before he put it down.

After that, I picked Kendall up from the hospital and let Bethany give Sean the stink eye...

Poor Sean.  Except, not really.

Kendall apparently doesn't ever fall asleep.

Ever.

Everyone was shocked when she managed to pass out with Libby in her bunk bed without any assistance from any adults.  She sure did!  Granted, she took a bit longer than the Cochrans, but she made it asleep and I documented it for proof.  She's a sweet girl.  We were honored to have her and so grateful that Sean was okay.

Mason Creek

I have two sweet girls who are less than afraid of most the things in the world.

We spend more time rescuing them from pending death or injury than we do anything else...

The creek was no exception.

See, Spencer?  You just put your feet in like this and Mommy won't care...

Chin Up

A long time ago in a far away land I met a girl named Brooke.  We shared the same math class in the 7th grade and we both loved our sarcastic teacher.  There was a competition between classes to fundraise or donate something, so our teacher gave us a mission to create a taunting song for the other class.  And we did.  I'll never forget that being the beginning of the friendship that lasted for 20 years.  13 years later and she's still a dear friend.  We were running buddies in the 8th grade and then pen pals in high school when she moved far away to Mechanicsville, VA.  I found those letters this past weekend in my 'high school trunk' in the basement.  She is a huge supporter of my life and my little people.  She is a fantastic lady who served our country in the Air Force and now she delivers jokes for a living.  She is a delightful human being and I'm glad to call her friend.

This is Delilah.  She loves my girl and my girl LOVES her.  They both share a love for messy hair, messy food, and a hatred of excema.  I hope they are friends forever.

Punkin

I have nothing to say about this child.

She is out of control crazy.

She loves the same way; out of control and crazy.

She is the sweetest little girl when she chooses to be.

She's dramatic and exhuasting and bossy.

None of those things are negative, they are just HER.

I'd venture to say that this guy is her all time favorite person, after me of course.

All she has to do is ask and he pretty much gives....

Perfection in a train hat and Christmas pajamas.

There isn't a whole lot else to say about this one.

I want to make sure that I never forget how she puts emphasis on some of the strangest syllables and uses some of the best vocal inflection I've ever heard.  She is the most pleasant child with the best manners ever.  She isn't typically disrespectful, but she has her moments of out right defiance.  She spends more time asking questions than anything else all day long.  She is happy to help and a fantastic sock matcher, folder, and can put clothes up like a champ.  She doesn't like to brush her teeth or hair.  She likes a bath in place of a shower.  She loves lotions, lipsticks, and anything that  might sparkle a little bit.  She is fierce.  I predict she will rule the world, or at the very least, create a great one for us to live in.

Sisters

In August of 2013 we found out we were pregnant with #3.  I remember distinctly being thrilled and scared all at the same time.  We decided to share our news with our family at Libby's 2nd birthday party.  We got the kids t-shirts made and waited for everyone to notice.  Leigh Anne was the first to notice and she ran out to confirm that what she read on Lib's shirt was indeed true.  It was.  

So I began to think about who that child would be.  Would it be a boy?  I wanted the last one to be a boy so bad.  I just wanted one little girl... and she was a handful, trust me.  She's enough little girl for all of the world.  Seriously.  I love her, but man, she's exhausting.  Well, fastforwrd 16 weeks and we found out it was another little girl.  Daryk and I were just glad to find out what 'IT' was... and 'IT' was a SHE!

More PINK, more hairbows, more glitter, more sass!  Can we handle that?  Are we ready for a repeat of Libby J?  Yikes!  The more I thought about it, the more I wanted that little girl.  I mean, what is better than sisters?  After all, I have two of my own and I love them with every fiber of my being.  I cannot imagine this world without them.  They are often the first and last people I communicate with on a daily basis.  

They GET me.  They get the strange things that make me, ME.  They are often the first people to point out things I neglect, things I didn't want to be reminded of, and things I need to work on.  They are the two women who help to raise my babies and love on them like an extra momma.  My sisters are irreplaceable.  They are amazing and I cannot imagine my life without them.  I am beyond thankful that my girls have each other.  They will be there to walk in front of each other at their weddings.  They will stand beside each other on those days as well.  They will share things and fix hair and steal clothes and all of those girly things.  Sisters are girlfriends and best friends and enemies all at the same time.

My sisters are my favorite people and I'm hoping that my girls will grow up with the same love.

Cochran's Dinner Theatre

The scene:  a weeknight at the Cochran's house.

Characters:  A Minnie Mouse and a Bumble Bee (who needs a new costume)

The action is too much for words, but just enough for laughs.

I'm so thankful my parents didn't have the internet for my obnoxious childhood moments.

Just a bunch of pictures in a book or an envelope....

Not that I print photos... so my kids are all stuck in the computer.

She's photogenic, what can I say?

I cannot handle the squishy baby face.  I have to laugh at her multiple chins, her chubby cheeks, and her leg rolls.  She is the perfect example of baby perfection.  Third time is the charm, right?

Baby yawns are enough to make you swoon.

Y'all, the hospital they make these hats with bows.  As in, my nurses made it for her one night while I was asleep.  She rocks that bow like a true lady.  The bigger the bow... the closer to Jesus.  

I just can't even.

I just love her.

I never thought I'd say things like, 'I'm done having children'...

But I do believe I'm done.

For a multitude of reasons, which I'll explain in a later post.

For now, I'm going to soak up some baby snuggles and neck sugars 

...before she turns two and says NO all the time.