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!

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.

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.

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.

Shopping with Papa

On Fridays Hayes goes to school.

Libby J stays with Papa Jack and they go to the grocery store.

She likes to shop, especially with Papa.

He lets her pick out TWO things that she can buy for herself and take home.

Naturally she chooses chocolate donuts and cheetos.

Duh.

I mean, that's culinary genius for you.

I predict that this will be on the list of ingredients on the show Chopped one day.

Libby J would rock that show because her meals consist of odd combinations of lovely things.

Like... cheetos (keytohs, as she says) and chocolate donuts.

And an extra sassy dose of that 'look' so she can glare at you while she eats.

Libby's Party

Party day is hectic.
Thankfully our family is more than willing to contribute to the party and help!
Do you know that in my immediate family we have almost 40 people?
Insane.
We are so blessed with all those folks!

Birthdays always start like this.

Heck, who am I kidding?

Every day with this kiddo starts like this.

Fight to death over the paci...

You can see she lost and isn't happy about it!

She quickly recovered though.

We resumed the usual activity of watching Tangled 900 times in a row.

We are on 876 this week.

Kitty & Daniel got us this amazing Minnie doll.

She's bigger than Libby and we love her.

See?

Love.

She cuddled with her all day long!

She even slept with her a few days that week.

They had class together.

But Libby didn't share the cake with Minnie.

However, she did pee on Minnie the next day.

Papa Jack let her wear swim diaper.

Oops.

Happy Birthday Libby James.

We love you to the moon and back a couple of times.

You keep us on our toes and always guessing.

I love your spunk and the sass you give us all.

I know that one day the sass and confidence you have will be helpful!

Annnnnd, that's a wrap.

The wedding involved some climbing...

No groomsmen were harmed during the shooting of this photo.

Sheldon Cooper ladies and gents...

I'm raising Sheldon Cooper.

Lined them up first, then organized by color, then ate his favorites last.

He is my child.

Lord help us all.

Best looking crew out there.

We sat and waited in the rain for what felt like hours....

But I'm pretty sure it was more like 45 minutes-ish.

Kathryn didn't even know her dress would double as a blanket during such a time.

We were trying to keep warm and dry!

Luckily we had a beverage delivery service from the 'mens.'

They were troopers and did a great job that day!

I don't think anyone understands the magnitude of my worry from that day.

I was TERRIFIED that my children would ruin everything.

Throw a fit, run, cry, scream, you know... the works.

Worst thing that happened was that we had to keep them DRY long enough to get them to the wedding.

Also, Elizabeth filled her diaper with a lovely surprise about 2.5 seconds before go time.

She sported the dirty diaper for a stroll down the aisle.

Thankfully no one was close enough to notice!

Papa is the only one with legs long enough for this to be a game.

She tries it with the rest of us and it doesn't end well.

She usually falls backwards or makes me fall over.

We all danced.

Even this chick.

Have bat, will travel.

Oh, you know, typical Saturday picnic at BeBe and PaPa's house.

Lunch on the veranda.

It was a very light lunch of nutella sandwiches and cheetos.

Elizabeth enjoys them a little too much.

She peels the bread apart and eats the nutella off the bread.

Occasionally she actually eats the bread, but not often.

Notice the bat in the background. 

It went with us all weekend.

I'm thinking it will disappear soon...

Yeah, so?

It ain't always sunshine & rainbows...

After I read one of my favorite people's post about her rough morning I had my own version of a rough morning. 

I woke up late, but that's per my usual.  Unless I get up early to exercise you can pretty much assume I'm going to wake up at about 6:45 with intentions to leave at 7:30 and deliver the children.  I also had to bathe, fix my hair, and make a breakfast for myself.

Yay for crappy time management and not wanting to get out of the bed.

So I got up and thankfully the kids were still sleeping.  I turned on the shower to allow time for the hot water to journey from the basement to my shower and went to the kitchen to make morning milk cups for my babies.  I went back up to my shower, washed my hair, shaved my legs, and used the smelly good soap for an extra boost of good vibes today.  I got out of the shower, dried off and wrapped my nintey thousand million hairs up in a towel.  I put lotion on my legs and heard the infamous, 'open the doooooor-uhhhh' from Hayes' room.

I went to get him up and dressed.  He was moving as slow as an injured turtle today.  We finally got him dressed and had a pep talk about going to poop on the potty and NOT in his pants (here's hoping) then I sent him off to drink milk and watch Little Einsteins while I got ready.  Not too long after I got my hair dry did I hear the little girl screech from across the house.  'Mommaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I want up.'  So I answered her screech with a smile and tried to get her dressed.  She didn't like her shoes or her dress or her hairbow or her diaper or anything else.  So we battled.  Thankfully I won and there were minimal tears on both ends.  It only took 20 minutes longer than it should have.  Awesome.

I finished getting myself ready and noticed it was officially 7:30 and I still had about 10 minutes of getting ready before we could leave.  Again, per my usual. 

Ten minutes later I was loading two crying kids in the car.  Elizabeth wanted more milk and didn't want to wear her sandals anymore.  They are too big she keeps repeating, which they are not.  They actually fit her fat feet, which rarely happens ever.  Hayes is crying because he can and he didn't even want to come downstairs.  He didn't want to leave our house at all.  He doesn't want to see Papa or Bebe or Zack or Maggie or Dwayne.  He doens't want to do anything.  Or so he says...

So since he's mad and not strapped into his seat yet he starts to irritate his sister.  She's stuck in her seat and can't fight back.  I ran back into the house to grab my water bottle and next thing I know they are both screeching and screaming in the car and I have no idea why.  Awesome.

So I instruct Hayes to put his bottom in his seat and buckle himself up (I have to help,  but he does most of it himself) and he's crying.  Elizabeth is crying and is begging for silly songs that Hayes is continually protesting.  I roll the windows down and open the sunroof.  So what if we inhale 90 gallons of pollen in the 7 mile ride, I need to distract them.  About 2 minutes into the departure they are both quiet and finally cooperative with each other.  They are searching for their cows and hope to see the baby cows before we get to Bebe's house.  No cows and no more tears until we arrive at Bebe's house.

Elizabeth promptly removed her shoes about 3 minutes into the trip from our house to Bebe's.  I told her she had to wear them at Bebe's and at school.  So we had to battle about those when we got to Bebe's house.  I told her to stop fighting with me about it and she cried.  Parent of the YEAR over here! 

I successfully made everyone cry today before we even had breakfast.  I am such a winner. 

I'd like a do-over please.  And possibly a melt down of my own. 

I'm linking up with one of my fave blogs today!  Go check all the other ladies, and possibly a man? to see what they shared today! 

Stressful Days

Possibly the most exhausting day of my whole entire school year.  Meeting before school, school day, running errands during planning, finish teaching.... Then I ran to get the kids, swung into a drive thru to get them dinner, and dropped them off with Papa.  Back at the school at 5 p.m. and I had NHS induction and then went to visit hubs at wrestling practice for a few before rushing to KRGR to go get a few last minute things for Hayes' feast tomorrow!  Thankfully, Daryk was able to get the babies and I went home to get things ready for tomorrow.  Babies came home and we played for about 20 minutes and then off to bed they went.  Not a peep was heard from them!  They must have been TIRED! 

Seriously a CRAZY hectic day.  At the end, I'm thankful to be DONE with it and have walked away in one piece.  :) 

Travel Pictures

He's a major toy hoarder when we are on road trips.

Got the baby's toy, his blanket & pillow, his pup of juice, and you can see Woody's legs.

Doesn't like to share.  Its not really his thing.

And then he discovered the DVD player.

Thank you Jesus (and Disney) for The Lion King!

This chick is ALL smiles as long as you are giving her EXACTLY what she wants.

But the second she gets bored or tired... she turns into a crazy diva.

Why yes, that IS my child dipping his apple slices in ketchup.

Nasty, but he ate it.

See that grin?

She loves her Papa.

He's a SUCKER for giving into her every little whimper and demand.