Preview of "me and my honey" pics

Next month, it will be 10 yrs since Cotton and I met. And instantly became "us."
To celebrate, we decided to have our first set of pics together!


Little one watched most of the shoot from the stroller, but he really wanted to play along a little bit.
Since Kandi loves him, she took a couple of shots of of our baby...
More to come! I can't wait!

Football!

While I will mention football quite often here, I won't go into much detail.
I save my detail and my effort for the Coyote Football blog!

So if Jacob and his second year of football interest you, that would be the place to get all of the important details! Just a a little FYI. ;-)

Hand, Foot, and Mouth

Although it's mostly just *foot* right now.
He's had a very weird diaper rash for too long, and he doesn't get diaper rash to begin with. It wouldn't go away despite my best efforts. It spread out of the diaper area and down his legs a bit.
This morning as I was changing him, he stuck his feet up and I saw these nasty blisters. And I knew, although I've never seen it before. I knew.


I know... "How the hell? He stays home...." yea, I'm baffled too. Could'a been a shopping cart. A kid at football practice. The church nursery (during the 3.5 seconds he probably spent on the floor, teehee). McDonald's. Who knows? Who cares?
I just hope he stays relatively comfortable (so far so good), and it doesn't become serious.
And that no one else gets sick.
Thes epictures were this afternoon. His feet have gotten WAY worse. His hands have some dots on them, not a lot, but some. His mouth seems fine, and he is eating. So we'll see!

"Sister!"

We were looking through Sam's picture book at bedtime, and he pointed to a picture of Lucy and declared very confidently "Sissa!"

I welled up, grabbed him and the book, and ran to her room for a repeat performance. Which, of course, he declined to do. Little stinker.

After months and months of Mama, Dada, Bubba, and even Emma- it's about time he acknowledges Lucy with a name!
It wasn't for a lack of love. "Lucy" and "Sister" are just a bit harder to pronounce.

YAY!!!!

sweet Emmitt

I got some good shots of my fur-baby in the backyard the other day, so I gotta share them!
Isn't he pretty?

Dat's a good boy! Yes you are! Yes you are!

15 months old

and heart-stealing as ever. Swoon.




A few new words since last count:
"Wa-wa" (water),
"Bah-bah" (when he wants to nurse)(I think he's trying for "booby"- whoops!),
did I list "Emmitt" before? Because he says that.
"Look!" with a pointing finger, of course
"Nuh-nana" (take a wild guess... banana)
"Hat" he loooves hats now, and amyone wearing a hat (and willing to share)

He can climb into a high chair all by himself. Both at home and at restaurants (where we first discovered the talent).
He can climb on top of the coffee table, and lord help me, the KITCHEN table!
As well as Lucy's bed and into her toy box.
He can also get himself out of bed and come find me in the mornings!
He can feed himself with a spoon pretty neatly!
He can throw and catch a football, and kick (kind of dribble) a soccer ball. :-)

He is trying really hard to climb up a slide... (well, he CAN do it, just not when I'm taking pictures, of course)


"maybe if I try this side..."

Pat the doggy! Awwww...
No, no! Don't KISS the doggy! Blech!

Driving his car is fun!

"Bye bye!"



He picked up this hat, saud "Hat, hat, HAT!!!" forty times, and then put it on and wore it for hours and hours. Had *I* put it on his head, he would have ripped it off in disgust. Little stinker.
As for the Batman garb, well, you do know who his brother is, right?


"CHEESE!" or maybe it's rainbow twizzler.... What?
Sleeping like a little angel, before the several night wakings that keep me and Folgers together each morning


and finally, a (pre haircut) picture with his "pow-pow"

I swear this kid is going to be a boxer. He is OBSESSED! If the garage door opens, he sprints to the weight room, throws on a glove, and starts hitting the bag. Every time.

His mommy-love seems to have reached an all time high. He is more attached to me, it seems, than even when he was a newborn.
I cannot leave a room without him getting upset. He follows me around, saying "Mama, mama" all day long.
But I love it! I do! He gives me sweet hugs and kisses, and smiles, and talks to me, and holds my hand while we walk. He sat with one hand on my leg tonight for the entire time we were eating.
We cannot be apart, my little peanut and me. I left him in the "big kids room" at church last week. The one for toddlers that has tons of cool toys. My theory was, he is bored in the nursery. He's a big kid!
I had to go back and rescue him. He was sobbing so hard, snot running down his face... he saw me come around the corner and startd screaming my name. The mnursery worker couldn't wait to thrust him out the door. (sorry bout that, I really thought he'd do better)
And do I care if my sweet baby, my teeny little LAST baby, thinks that we can not be more than 3 feet from one another? What do you think?
It's exhausting, but it's love. And it is now a 2 way love, which is enough to pull me through when I REALLY need a breather.
If Daddy is around, Sam is content to be with him. To GO with him, especially. I ams till supposed to be available, but he wants DADDY to chase him, tickle him, and get him cookies.

He's really changing so fast now. Our little baby-man is turning into a kiddo so quickly. And it is FUN, but also really kind of sad. He's the last baby we'll have... and as I held my friend's 3 month old and stared into that ittle-biity gummy-grinned face... I could have cried. Just a little. Not for wanting another one, not AT ALL, but because it just goes so damned fast. All we can do is hold on and try to soak it in as much as possible... and I do.

Welcome SUMMER!!!

To kick it off, I present you with....
Jacob's new summer do!
Okay, so we had to convince him a little... but the kid is 7! He's never allowed us to even spike his hair up before, so when he was intrigued by a MOHAWK, you'd better believe we were all over it! He needs to learn to loosen up a bit! Ha.




I actually paid him $3 to let me cut it right away instead of "next week" like he was planing.

There are actually several mohawks on his football team, so he is loving it and feeling really confident with it now! He's even asking about dying it purple... to which I have agreed, as soon as I find purple dye that I feel safe putting on his tender little head!

My oldest baby told me a few weeks ago that "On the FIRST day of summer" he wanted to go jump in Nana's pool with no floaties.
So Friday that is just what he did!













I wasn't in the mood to swim, so little bit didn't get to get in the pool

but he managed to get soaked anyway, and ended up touring Nana and Papa's backyard in just a pair of Robeez and a smile. ;-)
...check out those bowed legs! Anyone who's been around a while will remember another bow-legged little toddler we once knew...

a little catch up...

I've been hard at work, and have added some things that I initially skipped due to oh, you know.... having a lot of kids and being really busy and all of that.

Easter Eggs part 4, Easter Sunday
Turner Falls... again.
Carnival Rides!
The End of First Grade
and Sweet Floppy Sunhat

for your reading and photo viewing pleasure. Enjoy. :-)

Painful, but necessary

My wee little baby had his first haircut.
As much as I (and every person who ever met him) adored those crazy curls, they were getting out of hand. I had to wet his hair and comb it to the side several times a day.
He was grinding hair into his eyes whenever he rubbed them. He was being called a girl almost daily. And, no, I didn't care- neither did Cotton, but still. Even Lucy asked me "Why does Sam have girl hair if he's a boy?" Heehee.
But it wasn't about his looks, it was about his comfort. Hair in the eyes was bugging him and me!


I took these right before we cut it. He was hot and sleepy, but this is the general state of his hair after a day of playing.




So we begin...
Look how long it was!


Here are his pretty little golden ringlets, seperated from his pretty little head. I am seriously tearing up again!
I kept every one of them in a baggie!

And after...
he looks SO big. Like a different baby.
This is right after the trim, with his curls "styled."



Today I haven't touched his hair, and it's barely curly at all. I need to wet it and scrunch it to reassure myself. I also need a hug. :-( It'll grow back, right?