Going back to work=Too busy to blog

Ok...for the three of you who read this...I'm so very sorry that I've been gone for so long. I went back to teaching. New teacher orientation started the middle of July and the first day of school was (happy birthday to me) August 4. I'm so overwhelmed with planning and grading and spending every spare second I have with the boys that I just had to give something up...Unfortunately that was the blog. I've wanted to do it so badly, but I fall into bed every night saying "I'll do it this weekend." Well, I'm staying home with Sawyer tomorrow. He's got a bit of a cold, just one of the many fun things about having kids in daycare, or "school" as we call it for Eli. So since I'm staying home, I get to sleep a little later and thought that now would be as good a time as any to catch everyone up on what's been going on in the Cook family.


Let's see, let's see...



July 17--Eli turned 3. I just can't imagine where the last three years have gone. I'm just amazed at this little boy that has replaced my little baby. Here he is the day he was born. One sick little boy, thanks to my terrible blood pressure, born about 6 weeks early. After three weeks in the NICU, he got to come home.








And here is the little man on his third birthday...you'd never know that the picture above is him. He had this cake at home on the day of his birthday and then we went to Grandmomma's and Grandaddy's house for a "party" there with a Spidey cake.











The day before Eli's birthday, Grandma Mary Ann came to visit from Missouri. She spent almost a week with us and we had the best time. The weekend we went to my parent's house, we took her to see the Laser Show at Stone Mountain. She wanted to hear The American Trilogy, by Elvis and see all of the rednecks stand and holler "The South Will Rise Again!" when Lee sheds a tear for the Confederacy. Sadly, they changed the ending of the Laser Show this year...they still had the Trilogy in there, but it wasn't the finale. I hope she wasn't too disappointed! Even sadder...my son was one of the ones who stood up and cheered during the song. I would have given someone a lot of money to have had my video camera there. The child had his first "Hallelujah," hands in the air moment during the Elvis song at the Laser Show...all he needed was a mullet, a Nascar shirt and a hat with the Stars and Bars on it. Here's a couple of pictures from that evening...when my son became a Jeff Foxworthy joke...






















So...what else has been happening? Well, like I said I started back to work, which means the boys have started into "school." After a month, Eli has finally started to calm down and stop crying for me all day. He started in the older two class because, well, I thought he wasn't completely potty trained (see previous post about poop). But he was doing really well with that, so the ladies at the daycare moved him up to the three year old room and I'm so glad they did. They do themes every week and in September, they're going to start learning the letters of the alphabet (actually recognizing them and knowing what they "say"). They have Bible story time and do the neatest little crafts everyday. We are so very blessed to have found this daycare...I don't think we could've found a better one!




Sawyer is a champ in daycare. All of the women at the place love him...I mean how can you blame them...he's one of the two cutest boys God ever did make (three if you count Jason). The ladies all call him their "Gerber baby." Some of them even call him "juicy," thanks to those chubby legs. Sawyer, seriously though, is the sweetest baby. Everyone always tells us that. He's so laid back and...well...he's just easy. Unless the child is hungry or sleepy, you never hear a peep out of him. He's content to just sit and play and just "be," if you know what I mean. He's been crawling for a couple of weeks now on all fours, he did the army scoot before that. Now he's...gulp...pulling up. We're kind of guessing that he'll be walking by about 11 months. He's just got to try to keep up with big brother. Here are some of the most recent pictures I have of Sawyer...I've got to get some of him pulling up...maybe while we're at home tomorrow. I may edit this if I get some good ones...so check back!



















Couldn't those eyes just make you melt!? I just want to take a bite out of him!


I'm pretty happy at the school I'm teaching in so far. I've got great classes...AP Language and Honors American Lit. The only problem with teaching the super smart kids is that they tend to be lazy. They think they can get by on their "smarts." And while that may be true in some classes, it is not the case in mine...they will have to be "cured" of that mentality.



I think that may be it from us. Y'all just keep Sawyer in your prayers. He's just got a little bit of the crud and we're just praying that it doesn't turn into an ear infection. I guess he's just going to have to build up his immunity...poor baby needs to feel better though. I need my happy boy back. Anywhoo...everyone take care. I'll post again as soon as I can.

I wanna grow old with you...

Happy Anniversary to Jason and me!!! July 10, 2004 was my wedding day, and it was, without a doubt, one of the three happiest days of my life (the other two would be the births of my babies). I can't believe that four years have come and gone. I can't imagine what life would be like without Jason. I don't want to. I love him more now than I ever thought I could. When I see him with our boys, it makes me fall in love with him all over again. There is not a thing about our life together that I would change. He is God's answer to my prayers, and I'm the most blessed woman in the world to have a man as good as Jason to love me. Sorry ladies...I think I snagged the best (if I may say so myself)!

Here's to four wonderful years, baby! I love you with everything in me. You amaze me with your love.

Some new pictures...finally

Warning...part of this post discusses the toilet habits...or lack there of...of my three year old son. If bodily functions make you squeemish, skip to the end of the post.


Ok...I'm just going to say it...POTTY TRAINING STINKS!! In every possible sense of the word. There are days that I simply want to flush the child down the toilet! I know he's not going to be walking down the aisle in a diaper or pull-up or, heaven forbid, soiled underpants, but sometimes I wonder if he'll ever get it. Elijah came to me one morning, after months of trying to bribe him with a Thomas DVD, saying he finally wanted the DVD and was ready to pee-pee in the potty. There's been no looking back. He hasn't been in a diaper since that day. That was sometime very shortly after Mother's Day. Since then, he's pee-peed in the potty like a champ. He has pooped on the potty...only thrice. Every other time has consisted of me trotting out to the water hose to powerwash those skid marks away. To entice him to do it the first time, I bribed the child with a birthday cake. He pooped in the potty one night right before bed and promptly made me drive to Food Lion and buy him the cake of his choosing...
















Ha Ha Ha...right...get it...#2...not 2 years old! I thought I was being so clever. I also thought this was the beginning of something grand...not having to wipe his poopie bottom anymore. I know the latter was not the case...I'm not so sure the first was either.


So weeks went by. He'd go hide in some corner of the house and do his business. My bloodhound nose would smell it from three rooms away. "Eli, did you go poop in your pants?" "No," he'd say. I'd feel his bottom (although I don't know why I felt compelled to do so...I already knew the answer by the stench), and think to myself, "well if it's not poop, he's laid a rotten egg."



So yesterday I actually catch him about to do that stinky business in those "Lightning McQueen" undies he begged me to buy. I rushed him to the bathroom and he actually did it! I was so excited. I had been promising him a trip to Monkey Joes (it's a place that has all of those giant, inflatable bouncy/slide thingies) if he'd poop in the potty. So when Jason got home from work yesterday, off we went. And do you know what the child did while he was bouncing? He crapped in his pants! While he was enjoying his reward for crapping in the toilet, he crapped his pants. And he did it again this morning.



So I'm trying a new bribe...this morning, we went to Target. I let him pick out the coolest toy he could find. He chose a Spiderman mask and web slinger combo. I bought him some new, cool Spidey stickers. I made a new potty chart, and I told him that he can have his mask and web slinger when he poops in the potty seven times and gets seven stickers on his chart. I've put the toy somewhere he can see it, but can't reach it. He walks by and looks longingly at it and says "I need to poop in the potty to get my Spidey mask." Maybe this will finally work...I don't know.


So we spent some time in the backyard today. Jason and I mowed the grass this morning before it go too hot. Then after supper we went and played on the boys' new swingset. We got this at the wrong time of year, because it's too hot to spend much time out there. That and the fact that I'm afraid the mosquitoes might actually carry one of the boys off, that's how big they are. Those jokers are scary. I've never seen anything like them in my life, and I grew up in Georgia.


Here's Eli pretending to be Spiderman...he sure will have a good time if he ever gets that mask!







Sawyer enjoying his swing. Look how big he's getting!












My first tomatoes. I can't wait until they're ripe!







Hi, Grandma! Can't wait for your visit!

It happens to guys too!

You know how, if you're a woman, and you go to get any kind of service done on your car, you feel like the guys there are trying to rip you off? Well if you don't, I certainly feel that way most of the time. I mean why exactly do I need to have all of my belts replaced every time I go for an oil change? Maybe it's just me being paranoid, but somehow I doubt it. Anyway, I think it happened to Jason today...only the opposite I suppose.

We had some ladies come to clean our house today. "But Megan," you ask, "aren't you a stay at home mom? Why don't you clean the house?" My answer to that lies somewhere within keeping a three year old from bouncing his 6 month old brother so high in the "Jumperoo" that he touches the ceiling. And who wants to be inside cleaning on the weekends when you can be outside with mosquitoes that could pass for birds! Seriously...I'd so much rather be outside doing ANYTHING on the weekends than inside cleaning. And with me going back to work in July, you better believe that I'm not spending my precious time mopping the floors. I have two very cute reasons to let someone else do that.

Anyway, back to the story. Some ladies came to clean today. Well, the first thing that went wrong was that they showed up an hour and a half late. Supposed to be here at 1...showed up around 2:30. I was going to leave and take the boys out for a drive while they were here cleaning, but they were so late that Jason was going to be home pretty soon. He got home around 3:30. So the boys and I just stayed outside and out of their way. About the time Jason got home, one of the ladies had finished with the bonus room upstairs, so we all went up there so we'd be out of their ways downstairs. Well, I had a hair appointment at 4:30, so I left Jason with the boys not thinking anything of it.

So the cleaning ladies did their "cleaning." The thing is they asked Jason to pay before they were even done. So when they "finished," they just packed up and left. Jason was supposed to do a walk-through inspection to make sure they did everything right. I came home to rugs that had not been shaken out, a dining room floor that still has spots under the table where Elijah sits, a floor that wasn't properly swept and mopped, and a list of all sorts of other things that were neglected. They got here so late that they rushed through the work and didn't do it worth a flip. I was so mad when I got home. But the more I thought about it, it came to me. I bet they wouldn't have done that to me. I would have made dang sure that all of that stuff had gotten done. But I bet that because they were left here with a "man" they thought they'd get away with a half-way kind of job. I mean, did they think I wasn't coming home? That I wouldn't call their supervisor and complian...Ooooh no... Porsha and Shantell, my husband may have man eyes, but I have the eyes of a hawk.

I'll Sing Thy Power to Save

We sang this song at church this morning. It is one of my favorite old hymns. You know, I love the new worship songs that people like Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman do nowadays, but sometimes, our praises can't be put in any better way than the way some of the old-timey hymns say it...

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its powerTill all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

When this poor lisping, stammering tounge lies silent in the grave, Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing Thy power to save! I'll sing Thy power to save! I'll sing Thy power to save! Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing Thy power to save!

I've been reading Romans lately...really trying to pick it apart. Many people believe it to be the great manifesto...if you will...of the Christian faith. Romans 3 speaks of Jesus as our propitiation...meaning he took our place up there on that cross. When it should have been me dying beside that thief, Christ died for me. While I was yet a sinner, Jesus paid it all (see, there's another good hymn)! The very thought of that should make me fall at his feet and worship him for who he really is...my Redeemer. He bought and paid for me when the price was mine to pay. It should make me want to tell the world what he's done for me, yet all to often, I'm afraid, the words go unspoken.

It is truly my prayer that God would forgive me of my apathy as a Christian. That He would forgive my double-mindedness (wanting Him to save me for the sweet by and by, but not letting Him be Lord right now in my daily life). I want God to use me. I want Him to use me in the lives of my husband and children. I want him to use me in the Body that he has made me a part of. I want him to use me in the lost, hell-bound world that I live in everyday. Realizing what price He paid for us should make us all say "Yes, Lord, because you gave so much for me, I will give You everything I am."

Photoshop

I've been messing around with photoshop quite a bit lately...here are the results. I think they turned out pretty good! I gave Sawyer a chunk of watermelon to suck on, and it made the cutest picture...no one yell at me for giving him that, please. I just couldn't help myself and he loved it!





























Aren't they sweet?! I don't really like what photoshop did to the color of this one though. I'm going to work on it some more...I'll repost it when I get it fixed.














This cute little picture is my nephew, Jackson...he just learned how to wink with one eye and was showing it off for the camera. Check out those eyelashes!














The only thing new that I can think to tell is that Eli is in the midst of POTTY TRAINING!! Pray for me! Seriously though, he's doing really well...he's all about doing #1 in the potty...now we just have to get him doing #2. But he is completely out of diapers. He only wears a pull up for nap and bedtime. Holy cow...I can't believe he's old enough to be using the toilet.

Happy Mother's Day

First off, I want to say Happy Mother's Day to the (counting in my head) five of you that read this! I hope it was a beautifully blessed and peaceful day for you all! We had a great day here in the Cook house! I guess my big day was on Friday. That was the day that Jason took off a half day from work, came to pick the boys and me up, and then surprised me by dropping me off at a day spa and taking the boys off my hands for the afternoon! I love you, babe...you're the best! I had a sea salt scrub, massage, and a facial! AMAZING! Then on Sunday, we got ready, Grandmomma and Grandaddy came down, and we all went to church together because it was Sawyer's baby dedication. What a great thing to do on Mother's Day.

Here are the boys before church...don't you just love Eli's messy blonde hair?



























Here we were at the dedication. That little one to our right (your left) was only two weeks old...he just made it here for this one!














Eli was in this picture, too...he really wanted to get on stage and do some tricks, so you can see me gripping, very tightly I might add, his hand to hold him in place.

After church, we all went back to the house, I cooked some lunch (Mary Ann's spaghetti), and after Momma and Daddy left, we all crashed (I failed to mention that all day Saturday, Jason worked on building a swing set and I cleaned the house. Combine those jobs with taking care of the boys and you bet your...well whatever you bet...we were tired!).

So it was a wonderful Mother's Day. Today we were back at it. Jason at work...me home with the boys. It was a pretty day, even if it was windy. We had fun playing with the neighbors' little boy...he's 4 and Eli loves him. Sad to say they're military and will be moving next weekend. We've been trying to prepare Eli by telling him that Hunter won't be living next door anymore, but of course he doesn't understand. He's going to be absolutely brokenhearted when he doesn't have his friend to play with anymore.

Sawyer is learning to sit up. He's actually getting really good at it. Here he is in the bathtub tonight. I swear I could post everyone of these pictures they are all so cute, but here are my faves.

Man-ziere, anyone?











































I want to praise God for trusting me with these two precious boys. There are times, when I rock Sawyer to sleep or lie down with Eli at night and sing to him, that I just can't believe that God chose me to be mother to the two most amazing little boys. It's really quite humbling. Being a parent has really taught me all about God's love. Being a mommy now, I really just can't wrap my mind around the Sacrifice God made when He gave His Son to die for a rotten sinner like me. I don't think...check that...I know I wouldn't let my babies die in anyone's place. But isn't that what makes His grace so amazing? So indescribable? That's what makes His love so immeasurable. That He would give His Son, the Beloved, to take my place on that cross. Now I am His beloved...His child!

He has given me the opportunity to grow in my life the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfullness, Gentleness, and Self-control. Anyone else out there trying to or remember trying to potty train one going through the terrible twos? God gives you extra helpings of these Fruit to get you through this time in motherhood!

All in all, I just want to say Thank You, Father, for making me a mother. You have given me an awesome responsibility. May I never take it for granted. May these boys see You in my life and Your love in my love for them. Amen.