He's 3! Cohen's Shark Birthday Party

We celebrated Cohen turning THREE with a shark-themed pool party at our house.  Despite our unfinished basement by the pool, I think the party set up was pretty cute. Cohen loved it.

 

We even dyed the pool RED for a shark attack. It was SO fun to see all of the kids' (and parents) reactions.

There were loads of kids enjoying the party. :)
I painted a shark (idea courtesy of pinterest) photo op that turned out super cute... even cuter if daddy would have zoomed in while taking mine and Cohen's picture to hide the unfinished basement mess. ;)

Overall Cohen had an awesome birthday. He didn't care to eat the cake that I baked and decorated for him but he LOVED the chocolate lollipops and cake decorations that I made.

He was such a sweet boy while we sang Happy Birthday to him.

So far though, his favorite part about being THREE is finally being able to play soccer on a team. Gosh he's waited for SO long.
Little man got a ton of awesome BOY presents...but his favorite had to be his real BB gun from his Pops. He squealed (in a very manly boy voice) with delight "A REAL GUN! FOR ME?!!!" Pure joy for this little boy.

 

I cannot believe that my sweet little man is already three years old. He has definitely grown up far too fast for my liking, but boy he is SO much fun these days. He has the best sense of humor and still LOVES to cuddle and snuggle with his mama. He's also mighty tough and all boy. I don't know what I would do without my little Cohen. Happy Birthday Little Man. Mommy loves you more than words can express.

Sleepovers are Overrated

This summer has brought a new fun for Chyenne. She is now "old enough" to spend the night OFF without mommy. She is now on her THIRD sleepover EVER. I'm slightly freaking out. First, she got to stay with her MeMe and Pops when I had to take SIL to the hospital in the middle of the night when she went into labor with my newest niece Cassidy. She loved it! I was a nervous wreck the entire time, but I knew she was in good hands.
Then about 2 weeks ago, she got to spend the night with her cousins which she thoroughly enjoyed, even though she called me at nearly midnight saying "i'm okay mommy, you don't need to come get me"... she was anxious and missing me but she "wanted to be a big girl and stay all night" so she stayed up until 2:30AM with her "Aunt Gay".

Now, she is spending a lovely evening with her MeMe and Pops again, along with her Aunt Savannah (12), Aunt Taylor (14), and Uncle Chantz (11). They went out to dinner and a movie. She's enjoying being spoiled. Cohen is enjoying spending one-on-one time with mommy. I LOVE it too, even though I miss my little sassy pants.

Cohen and I went to Chickfila for dinner and he played on the play structure while I chatted with my old 1st grade teacher (who remembered me BY NAME)... so it was nice. We're about to cuddle up for a late movie and popcorn before bed.

I still think sleepovers are overrated and I probably won't sleep tonight without my girl. Especially since daddy is still out of town with the Army. 

Almost 3

The Countdown is on. My sweet guy is almost THREE. He woke up this morning saying, "just 8 days until I am free (3), right mama?!" Oh goodness. I absolutely love the way he holds his fingers for his number 3.

Summer's Almost Gone

Whew! It's tough to believe the summer break is almost over. Even harder to believe that our sweet son will be THREE in just 10 days. Harder still to believe our daughter will be starting "BIG SCHOOL" in less than a month.

We haven't done much this summer. It's been quite low-key and probably exactly what we have needed after a busy year. Daddy has started a "yard sale store" where he is buying/selling/trading tons of crap, even more than before. I try to stay as far away as I can. It makes me nervous to see him taking chances with money. Ha. He has also been away a lot with different Army schools.

Our summer has consisted of swimming in our pool, VBS, Cheer Camp for Chy, random projects, homeschool work, trips to the park, reading, playing with cousins, playdates, general playing, and not much of anything else.

At {10 days shy of} 3 years old, Cohen is simply amazing. He is hilarious with the best sense of humor. He his extremely bright and inquisitive. He knows his alphabet (and can identify all of the letters of the alphabet), knows his numbers (can identify 1-10), can count to 20 or more, can spell his first name and is doing very well writing it, he signs songs and has a very vivid imagination. His favorite things are super heroes (you know, Iron Man, Spiderman, The Hulk, Captain America, Green Lantern, etc), pirates, sharks, dinosaurs, trucks, bikes and motorcycles, animals, blocks, and arts and crafts. He speaks as if he's a grown man (meaning with a deep voice and loads of enthusiasm and confidence). He has been insistent for months that he is not two, he is "about to be free (3)". Adorable. He's very excited about his upcoming SHARK THEMED BIRTHDAY to celebrate him finally turning three. I'm excited for him too. He's such fun and I cannot wait to see him have a great time. He now also rides his bike (with training wheels or his tricycles) without assistence besides a "big push to get started". He's independent yet still cuddly and loving. Slow down growing up sweet boy.

I think we will welcome being "back on schedule" when Chy starts school. Chyenne has mixed feelings about starting school. She's anxious, nervous, and excited to say the least. The only problem is that she is a planner. She is so apprehensive about school because she meets her teacher (open house) the day before school starts. She doesn't know what the school looks like inside, what her class looks like, what her teacher looks like, where the bathroom is, etc. She wants to know everything about "big school". We're a bit worried about her going to PRESCHOOL because she far surpasses Georgia Pre-K standards (well she also far surpasses kindergarten standards). She is just too bright and we do not want her to get bored. IF she does get bored and they're not willing to teach up, we'll take her out and follow through with MY plan of homeschooling. (Daddy insisted that we sign her up for big school for her to be around her friends and to give mommy and Cohen quality time together). We'll see. Her school has a great gifted program, we'll have to make sure they test her for gifted in pre-k, despite the "kindergarten rule". SIGH.

I mentioned that our summer has been filled with READING. Chy's reading! HOORAY! She is doing excellent. She gets discouraged at times when she tries for big words but she's really reading! YAY! She is still working on comprehension since she's sounding most words out still. 

My sister and I threw our daddy a surprise 50th Birthday Party. LOVE HIM!

I also have a new niece (born July 2nd) who has been keeping us quite busy too since they live in our attached apartment. :)

Well, I hope to update more often... we'll see how much life gets in the way.

Preschool Graduation

Last month we finished our preschool year with a great graduation. I was quite impressed that Cohen received all of the awards the 3 year old class gets (even though he graduated from the 2 year old class) and Chyenne receieved awards that even some of the 4 year olds didn't receieve! I'm so proud of my smart babies!

I made special treats for the kids to pass out to their school mates. (It is a private christian preschool, so the classes are very small and they all know each other).

Me with my 4 year old class. <3 them! (we had several more students that didn't finish the year out with us)

My crazies. :)

Preschool Graduation

Photo Op

Cool Cohen

First Trip to Six Flags Over Georgia

Last month, we had the opportunity to take the kids to Six Flags Over Georgia for free! YAY! They had SO much fun and they both did so well. Chyenne walked the entire time and Cohen walked most of the time and rode on Daddy's shoulders for the rest. The both LOVED all of the rides in the kid part and Chyenne rode quite a few large roller coasters with me. Such fun!

When Life Gets in the Way

We have been extremely busy lately. Summer is here and we're taking a {much-needed} break from preschool. We're still doing homeschooling activities but only with MY kids which is so much less stressful. We're enjoying swimming, play dates, yard sales (well we have started a yard sale store, my hubby and I), and everything else GA summer has to offer.

Chyenne has been having health issues... issues that mimic many of the symptoms/signs of leukemia... so we were quite freaked out to say the least. After numerous blood panels and scans, we now know that our sweet girl has a vitamin/mineral deficiency & that her body has a difficult time absorbing vitamin D/calcium, potassium and iron despite how well she eats. Her doctors were stumped for a while because she has always had a great appetite, great weight, and seemingly healthy. Her dentist is the one who mentioned deficiencies first. OH BOY! She has been going to the dentist since she was a year old. She has never had any issues until recently. She currently has EIGHT cavities even though just FOUR months ago she was completely cavity-free. We're hoping with the EXTRA vitamins she is now taking that we can get her headaches, fatigue, weakness, bruising, and fevers under control (plus gain some strength in her teeth that we have always brushed/mouth washed at least twice a day and flossed every night). I pray it will be a battle that we win easily and quickly.

"Daddy" is also having medical issues and we hopefully will find out by this coming Monday what is going on with him. His doctor is testing him for everything from deficiencies, liver disease, LUPUS, arthritis to cancers. It's quite scary but we're keeping our faith in God.

Good news is that COHEN is completely healthy. He is such a great boy. So loving and friendly. He cleans up after himself very well (much better than his older sister). He is always happy and thoughtful. He's still a thinker who loves to analyze everything and state his opinion on all he sees. He is writing his name really well and he loves to count. I adore everything about my sweet boy. It's crazy hard to believe that he will be THREE years old on August 4th. It's a good thing he is still insistent on being "mommy's baby" forever. I'm perfectly content with that. :)

I have a new niece coming SOON! She's due on July 7th. Hooray! I'll finally get to hold & spoil an itty baby again! :) Also, my sister and one of my best friends are both expecting & both due in December.

I hope to keep this blog updated. :) Until next time....