Superhero Party: Happy 4th Birthday Cohen!

Last weekend, we celebrated Cohen's fourth birthday.

Superhero Style!

 

I can hardly believe that my sweet, 8 lb 13 oz newborn baby boy is now 43.5 lbs and four years old! He is really into superheroes lately. In fact, the day after his Shark party last year, he said "mama when I four, I gonna have a superhero party!". So we stuck with it.

 

AWWW. Look how precious he was and is! Newborn, 1st birthday, 2nd birthday, 3rd birthday and almost 4th birthday! He has grown up way too fast but I am so proud of the little boy is!

As usual, I made his cake. He doesn't even eat cake, but he requested a "blue superhero cake with four sides because I'm gonna be four!" So, that's what my boy got.

Saturday morning was fun! He woke up while I was at the bi-annual soccer meeting and daddy told him he heard a bull frog outside. Cohen ventured out to find him, still in his pajamas. He adores frogs and lizards so I was not surprised when I returned to find him toting a frog around.

I was a little surprised when I looked over to see him with the frog IN the house... he said his frog was hungry and there was a fly on the window trim, so of course, he had to bring the frog in.
He also put the frog on his head, asked me (with a shovel in hand) if frogs eat worms, and asked if we had any frog-sized clothes for the little guy. It was the sweetest thing.

 

As a young girl, I had always dreamt about having kids of my own... a girl who loved crafting and playing with babies and a boy who was the ultimate, rough and tough, frog-catching, mess-making son! And that's exactly what God blessed me with. Cohen is everything I have ever dreamt of and I am so thankful God saw me fit to be his mommy.

We didn't get the basement ready in time like we had planned... one word: RAIN! We had the rainiest summer here in GA ever!!!
But on to the party, I still managed to set up a little so my little superhero could have a cool party.

Cupcakes

 

Some outdoor decorations. The weather was ehhhh not the best, but we still had a decent turn out. A lot of girls. poor guy. ;)

Cohen was thrilled to be surrounded by superheroes and his friends.

Happy Birthday handsome boy!

He smiled so nicely for pictures before we sang happy birthday.

He then made a big wish, "I wish I was a real knight in shining armor!" (the same wish he makes on every single dandelion he blows) and successfully blew out all four candles!

I cannot believe that my boy had FOUR candles on his birthday cake this year! Four is SO old!

The little stinker just wanted vanilla ice cream and white cheddar popcorn while all of his friends munched on cake, cupcakes, ice cream, and oreo pops!

A super cute Hulk pose!

He was so precious sitting atop the table eating his treats. Gosh I love him SO much!

He is at THE BEST age for opening presents. His face lit up with each and every one. He mostly got superhero toys, legos, and puzzles.

Me and my birthday boy!

Wonder Woman, Superhero Cohen, and Iron Man! Family! :) (Chy was still swimming at this point)

BALLOONS! (That he punched so hard they floated into space after he knocked them off of their ribbons).

Trying out his new Hulk Mask with his Hulk Hands. Sweet boy! (In the background, girls are still working on their superhero masks, rings, and bracelets).

Superhero Fight.... Cohen with his closest cousin and best friend, Cayden (5 months younger than Cohen).

He had a great birthday party. He was thankful for everything and everyone. I am so proud of my boy!

The next morning, Sunday, was his actual birthday. He woke up early (no surprise there, as he was born at 5:48 am!) and asked "Mama, is I four now?". Yes sweet boy with horrible grammar, you are four years old. Happy Birthday, son. Thank you for being the boy of my dreams.

We played with his new toys and games and then he was ready for breakfast. Bullseyes per his request. I am so glad I was able to celebrate my beautiful boy.

Cohen, I hope you know how loved you are. I hope you know how happy you make us. I love you more than words can even attempt to express. You are the boy of my dreams who just so happened to complete our little family. I cannot imagine life without you. You are spunky, smart, creative, imaginative, thoughtful, kind, loving, fierce, strong, beautiful, hilarious, sincere, and simply amazing! Happy birthday baby boy. 

New tricks

Cohen starts pre-k just a few days after he turns four. He has been working all year on buckling and unbuckling himself in his car seat in preparation for school. I know this sounds like some easy task, but I have never wanted my kids to buckle or unbuckle themselves. I wanted them to be as safe as possible. They understand that they must be properly buckled at all times in the vehicle. Well, when Chyenne turned four, I started working with her on buckling and unbuckling, so by the time she started pre-k (which was four months later), she could buckle and unbuckle, making for smoother drop-offs and pick-ups.

Cohen has been trying his hardest. He can buckle his top buckle always. He can rarely buckle his bottom buckles. He could NOT unbuckle.

Until Friday! Woohoo! Way to go buddy! He tried so hard.


He got the top pretty easily.

The bottom? it was tough. He pushed and pulled and grunted.

And POP! One buckle came loose.

He was sooooo excited and soooo proud of himself. Look at that sweet face! He did not think he could do it. He tried and tried and he did it!

I told him to try again to get the second bottom buckle loose. He looked at me like I was crazy.

But he got it! For his troubles and success, he earned one dollar!

I am so proud of you buddy. Always remember that even though things are difficult or may seem impossible, always try your best. If you fail, try harder. You will do great things, little man. Mommy is sure of it!

A Great Visit With Grandpa

For as long as I can remember, my grandpa was the strongest man I knew. He's an Air Force Veteran. He, at almost 75 years old, still does push ups daily. He rides a motorcycle everywhere he goes. He has tattoos. He is smart, really smart. He never sits down. Well, my daddy told me that my grandpa was having some medical issues (he has COPD) and that he was frequenting the V.A. Clinic a lot more. So, we made a surprise trip to visit him. It's a good, long drive from our house, but he is ALWAYS the one who commutes to us. He moved to Lake Hartwell about 9 years ago and this is the first time I have been to his place. He comes for every birthday, every holiday, and anything else that is important to us. I'm going to make a habit of going to see him more.



I talked the hubby into driving. ;)

 

Chyenne slept some of the way, then was a giggly girl before we got there.

 

Check out this view. I'm a country girl at heart. Oh I love this.

 

Cohen also slept much of the way, but he was all smiles when he woke up too.

Both of my parents drove up there too. That was nice. Here is Cohen with my dad, his papa.

 

And grandpa. Who has lost a lot of weight and a lot of muscle tone. It really broke my heart. Never, in all of my life, has he ever, looked old to me. He did this day. We pulled up, he stood up from his garden picking and grinned ear from ear. I have never seen a smile so big on his face. Even when he held Cohen for the first time, and boy was he proud of that!

 

The kids loved pretending to sail on Grandpa's (their great-grandpa's) sail boat. I hope he can take it out on the lake soon.

 

We decided to all drive up to the lake for a picnic. It was such a nice day. Cloudy, breezy, fun.

 

Below is my grandpa and my dad. Making funny faces while chatting. My grandpa has never looked so small next to him.

 

My girl. She's the sweetest. She loved walking in the lake. Btw, Lake Hartwell is clean. Really clean. I loved it.

 

 

She is brave too. Very brave. She is also getting better at balancing.

 

Cohen loved the water too. He spent so much time making his area muddy.

 

It was so serene.

 

The kids wanted Grandpa to help them climb trees. He did. But I could tell he wasn't really up for the task. My kids are both a little over 40 lbs. The Grandpa I grew up loving would not have a problem with that, but the same Grandpa we visited today did.

 

Cohen is the cutest. He knows it too. He did end up falling into the water, soaking his undies and shorts. Sweet boy.

 

Cohen, making muscles with Grandpa.

 

Grandpa kept commenting on how strong Cohen is. Cohen ate it up. He loves being told he is big and strong. The Grandpa I grew up with would laugh when I would call myself strong and then he would proceed to put me on his back while he did one-handed push ups.

 

Grandpa has such a great love for my babies. He adores Chyenne. He comments on how smart she is and how pretty she is. He is so proud of her. He kept asking her random math equations. She got them right every time. He even asked her what 120-90-30+20 was and she answered correctly. He was blown away at her smarts.

 

A picture of 4 Generations of the Warner family. My daddy, me, my Grandpa and my babies. I'm not a Warner anymore and neither are my kids, but it's nice to remember where you came from.

Before we left, they smothered Grandpa in hugs and kisses.

 

Great Grandpa and his smart girl.

 

 Overall, it was a wonderful trip. A trip that was much needed on my part and one that was well-deserved on Grandpa's part. I never want to forget the memories we made. I hope he's around for much, much longer. He turns 75 the day before Cohen turns four. He is planning on coming down for Cohen's party and I am planning on surprising him with a special treat for his birthday. We love you grandpa.