Life Group "Friends"

Last night was our last get together for the "Lord, Change My Attitude" class. Since Charlie and I had only been visiting a few weeks at the church, I was a little hesitant in joining one of these groups so early. But I am so glad I did. I believe God puts us where we need to be and I believe God puts people in our lives for a reason. This group has been such a huge blessing to my life. It was such a joy to get to know them and quickly I became very comfortable around them. The encouragement and love they showed to me (and Charlie) during our loss of the baby was so overwhelming. They ministered to me in so many ways and I so thankful for that. So again, I do believe I was in this class for a reason.

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I am still a work-in-progress with this attitude thing. I went into this class thinking that "complaining" was my major issue but my eyes were opened each week with a new topic that there was other changes that need to be made. "An attitude is a pattern of thinking formed over a long period of time." So I realize that it will not change over night and it takes work and discipline to make these changes. And most importantly, only through "GOD" will these changes take place!!!!

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At the end of each lesson there was a prayer that would assist in that topic and I would like to share one of those with you! If you are battling with a Complaining, Covetous, Critical, Doubting or Rebellious attitude, then all it takes is acknowledging it, repenting and start making the change!

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You've said in Your Word, Lord, that these attitudes honor You and bless me. I've experienced them enough to now to know I want these to be my natural response to Life's challenges. I also know I've failed when I've tried to live this way in my own strength. All my good intentions amount to nothing but frustration. But now I have new understanding. I believe that You would never require something that You don't provide the ability to do. In the strength of Your Spirit, Lord, please live Your life in me. Be the focus of my thankful attitude. Be the fulfillment of my contentment. Be the object of my faith and the strong and trustworthy Master of my humbled heart. Fill me with Your power as I surrender myself afresh to Your sovereign, gracious hand today. By faith I say thank You for changing my attitude. Please keep changing me every day of my life until I see You face-to-face. Amen!
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So Thankful, Contentment, Love, Faith and Submission Attitudes, here I come!

Clip Clip No. 2

The time for a haircut sneaked up on me and really fast. I felt like we just took Cohen in for his very first one! But it was time to shape it up and I wouldn't have been anymore prouder of my little man. Once again, he sat in the chair and was very cooperative. He would play with his toy or watch everyone around him. I believe he had his mind on receiving some jelly beans. He has a love for those things. The end result was a pleased mommy and a happy boy with his balloon and jelly beans!!!

The result of giving him a jelly bean on the road!

Bubble Gum Playland!

Almost Done....

...with the "Sprucing up the House" projects, although, I am pretty sure I could look around and probably find some other things that need to be done. But most importantly, the front and back yards are finally getting to where we like them. One thing that I have always wanted to place in the front is landscape lighting (Charlie didn't care too much for this idea). Needless to say, I talked him into it and I believe the lights will grow on him.

This weekend, Charlie and Pops worked hard in putting down the edgers and they did a superb job. Even though Charlie had to install a new electrical outlet, he graciously put in the lights I wanted. We still need to add mulch and some flowers but it is almost complete! I know you are just dying to see a picture (lol) but for now, I will leave you with one of the light fixtures.

I am loving our new curb appeal, if only the grass would turn green sooner......

Bumps, Scratches and Bruises

You name it! This kid has it! It appears that there is not a day that goes by when Cohen has not added a mark to his body. Funny thing, most of the time when he gets these marks, he just keeps going. I can see it now, sitting in the emergency room over and over as he gets older. Although it breaks my heart seeing his cute little legs, arms and face looking like this, I am starting to get use to it and glad that he isn't feeling major pain. I just want to put band-aids all over him!!! But Cohen loves to point out his boo-boos to you. Just Friday night, he was running (while his mommy was telling him to walk), and just like that, he fell and scraped his knees. We asked if he was okay which he replied "tay" and kept going..... He would go on to add a few more over the weekend so I decided to take a few pictures of these boo-boos. It appears we have a tough little boy!

Chalking with the Girl nextdoor....

It has been said that Cohen is a little flirt when it comes to the ladies! Which I am not surprised, he is such a lovable little boy. Our neighbors, the Johnsons, who live across the street have two little girls, Maggie, who is 3 and one year old Gracie. Maggie is a sweet little girl, who loves to tell me all sorts of things and holler in her little voice, "Hey Cohen", every time she sees him. But sometimes, she will become really shy. And that is what happened when they took a small stroll over to our side of the street Saturday night.

Prior to this arrival back, Cohen and I made our way over for him to play and for me to enjoy some mom chat. Not long ago, Maggie introduced Cohen to sidewalk chalk which he loved. So after running around and chasing each other, they settled down to make art on the driveway. Which I might add, it is really fun and I plan to purchase some soon! GG and Pops stopped by so it was time to go but Cohen wasn't ready. Jana, the mom, said that it would be alright if he hung out some more and she would walk him home. Shortly after, we see the family coming with my son in the girls' stroller. Too cute! He was loving it but I believe Maggie reverted to her shy self and was ready for him to get it out. Not too mention, Miss Gracie was fussing seeing this boy in her seat.

You really can't see but Cohen has placed his arm around her and is trying to give her a hug. She is like "hands off boy"..

I was able to get him out without any crying but he appeared to be sad of Miss Maggie leaving. Mr. Johnson offered Cohen two pieces of chalk so GG joined him for some drawing on the driveway.

It is so cute to watch kids interact with each other. And I have a good feeling Cohen and Miss Maggie will be seeing more of each other!

20 Months

Every month that creeps up, I found myself constantly thinking about how fast time is going by since our little man arrived 20 months ago this day! He has turned into such a sweet boy, although there have been signs of the terrible twos. But I know its his learning process and we will just continue working through them together. Its a parent's learning process too.

Cohen is "All Boy" for sure! He loves nothing more than to be outside. I believe he would sleep outside if we allowed it. He also loves rocks. Just last night, while getting undressed for bath time, a small rock fell out. He held and played with it through bath time and kept it in the palm of his hand while reading books before night-night time.

Cohen is all about Da-Da right now! Which is normal and I love it. I have enjoyed watching them interact together and the bonding gets tighter each day. Watching a father and son relationship gives me so much joy and I look forward to seeing it grow as Cohen gets older. They both ultimately adore each other and you can already see that Cohen looks up to his daddy!

Cohen now refers to himself as "ME"! He still loves to cuddle and dreads going to be bed every night. Which is something we are still working on. He has his good nights and his not-so good nights! His love for reading has not stopped and now enjoys listening to us read books that involve more words on a page! The addiction to his pacifier continues to grow so I am giving him four more months and the Pacifier Fairy might be making a visit to the Gibson household! and last, he is officially showing an interest in the potty. Mommy is really looking forward to that and prays it will go as smoothly as it can. Not rushing this one anytime soon, lol!

So this is a little insight into our little man. Our little man who is just four months away from turning "2". Oh my! I shake my head every time I think about that....Last night as we were having family time in the living room floor, Cohen had walked off and I asked Charlie, "Can you imagine him any older, like a teenager?" and his response was what I was thinking, "No"....And that day will be here before we know it and I want to savor every moment with him the best we can!!!

1, 2, 3....Go!!!

Something that Cohen has taking a liking to is racing, whether it is with cars or on foot. Which I am not surprise since his daddy loves it too! It is just a matter of time before he takes up Nascar and I cant wait till the day when we can take him to his first race....

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He is so cute when he wants to race on foot. He will bend his cute little legs as low as he can and say 1, 2, 3...Go!!! Sometimes he takes off before the "go" part. We will have races in the house and sometimes it will help when we ask him to do something, we will say, Let's race! And it usually works....

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So last night when Cohen wanted one of his cars out of the toy box, he handed it to me and said "pay?" (this is the way he pronounces play). Daddy joined in and we began our racing. This would go on for a while and Cohen would get up every time and bring back each car to its owner. What was cute was one of the cars looks more girly than the others so he made sure Mommy had that one.

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These small moments with one another are so special! I look around and there is so much that needs to be done around the house, but I find myself not caring and knowing that it can be done another day. Having this moment with my son is priceless and more worth it!

Seven Ladies and A Gentleman!

(Front:)Amy, Lindsay, Mr. Tritt, Crystal and Me

(Back:) Jennifer, Lisa and Kristen

Last night, us gals got together for our monthly girls' dinner at Atlanta Bread! As always, it was a blast hanging out and chatting away with one another. We were blessed with the presence of Crystal's little man, Mr. Tritt (9 mos), who appeared to be a ladies man and enjoyed all the attention he was receiving. Such a cutie patootie and a great little boy! For the most part, several of us have been regulars to these dinners, however, we had the pleasure of seeing Jennifer for the first time and Lisa, who attended the very first one, joined after just having a baby girl in late March. I am so glad we continue to have these dinners and always looking forward to the next one!

Fence in process

Charlie has been working hard each allowed day to complete this drawn out process. All he has left is the outside and what we thought a 5 gallon bucket would cover, well it has now doubled. So not only has it taken longer then he thought (or wanted), more money had to be spent. However, we know this is something that has to be done. If you don't take care of it, the fence will not last. Not to mention how much better it is going to look!!!

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So while Mommy was away last night enjoying some girl time, Charlie and Cohen made a trip to Lowe's to purchase the other 5 gallon bucket. And from the looks of it when I arrived home last night, my boys had a great night without me. Daddy thought they were busted when he heard the garage door opening. When I walked in, I found a very energetic, happy little boy! It was at the time when Cohen should be getting ready for bed. I got to hear all about their fun night where they spent plenty of time at Lowe's. They looked at just about everything and more importantly, Cohen enjoyed every bit of it. Plus he got to bring home a "Diego" hand shovel since he was a good little boy. Gotta love the daddy and son bonding time!!!

The Fence in Process Pictures!

All Star Baby on the way....

On Saturday, my mom and I hosted an All Star theme baby shower for my cousin-in-love, Michelle, at my house. I truly enjoyed planning it and being a part of this special time with her. With a few close friends and family members, I believe Michelle had a great time and received lots of cute and adorable things for "little dude" (name "tbd").... A baby is such a blessing and we are excited for the Nabors growing family! Can't wait to meet him next month.....

Yummy Cake! By The Purple Kitchen

(if you live in Greenville, I highly recommend Dana)

The Favors....

Chocolate/White Chocolate Sport Balls Suckers...

With the Proud Grandmas!

Just random on this lovely Friday...

Yippee for Friday!!! and it is a beautiful Friday too!!! I have a lot of things to do today and tomorrow. My mom and I are hosting a baby shower tomorrow afternoon for my cuz-in-love, Michelle, who is expecting her second, A Boy!! I love planning things and have really enjoyed getting this together for her. Hopefully everything turns out O.K..... Having said that, my house needs cleaned, I have several errands to run, pick up the cake and balloons and who knows what else. I have made so many lists, re-done those lists and just wondering what I am forgetting.... :) Thanks to GG for taking Cohen in tonight so that I can get what I need done while Charlie is working hard to finish painting the fence before it rains on Sunday...

On another note, I am feeling some major nose pain that my 19 mo old caused with a headbutt last night. I knew the kid had a big head but WOW, I am really surprised it isn't broken. I am just hoping that I will slide by today without sneezing or needing to blow my nose. Very sensitive to the touch!

Speaking of that big head, yes Cohen has a big head and it is the cutest big head I have ever seen. Few weeks ago, I purchased him a ball cap that is 18-24 months size and the thing did not fit. So I had to exchange for the next size which was 3T - 4T. He isn't even 2 yet! The lady at TCP store told me that usually people have to exchange for the next size because their hats run smaller, which made me feel a little bit better, however my darling hubby says she was just saying that to make me feel that way. Anyway, the hat does fit better and I would rather spend $5 on one then to buy a more expensive one that he is just going to grow out of soon. Cohen likes the idea of having a cap like his daddy's.

Just some randoms I thought I would share....

...I wish we could go on a Cruise! I have only been on one (our honeymoon) and I absolutely loved it. I think it would be fun to get a little group together and go. I know it will be a few more years before we can actually plan one, seeing that I want "something" a little more right now, but I can't wait!! Until then, I will have to dream as I lay on my float in the pool and listen to "Is this Love" by Bob Marley.....
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...Can't wait for May 21st! The premier of "So you think you can dance"..... Love this show and look forward to it every summer. It probably has a lot to do with my love for dance. I have never taken dance but I sure wish I did. I have even thought about taking some form of dancing now. I am sure there are girls my age doing it :)!!! Doing something I love plus getting the exercise that I really need. I would love to take Shag, however that would take a lot of talking into with Charlie and I dont see it happening!!!....

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...Also, along with dance, I would love to take piano lessons. Not sure why because I would never have any room to put one in my house. But I love to watch people play it. I took a few lessons when I was young. Not sure why I quit. What a silly girl I was? Oh well, maybe that is something I can take up and find someone that would offer for me to come over and serenade them using their piano, LOL.....

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...Just a little over two months before we take a "Holiday" to see the ocean!!! Although I will have to pull out the tankinis again this year (since I haven't worked too hard on what my child birthing left me with), I am so ready for it to get here. It will be exciting because this year we will have two more little ones joining us! Counting the weeks....

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Ok, so I want bore you anymore because I am pretty sure I could add a lot more thoughts. But I hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoy this lovely sun we are blessed with!!!!

First Egg Hunt!

It went better than I thought. After having a much needed nap, Cohen seemed to be in good spirits and excited about finding the eggs. He didn't care too much about carrying his basket so daddy followed along with it. After finding the first one and hearing our response, he would clap after each egg was found! Good time was had by all!!!!

Easter Sunday!

It was exciting to see Cohen's reaction to his Easter basket! He appeared to like everything especially his first remote control car. The car may be loud but it was priceless to see his excitement. Note to mommy, give Easter basket after breakfast. Cohen was so into his car that he did not want to eat. Mommy even surprised Daddy with his own Easter basket that included a Sudoku touch screen game. Daddy loves Sudoku!

After attending a wonderful Church service, we headed over to my in-loves for a yummy Easter meal. Not only did the Easter bunny make an early appearance while Cohen was visiting his Grandma and Papa, but he would make a few other stops as well. He was blessed with lots of sweet gifts and goodies from his GG and Pops and his Uncle Clint and Aunt Kimberly.

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Though Cohen was excited over all his wonderful Easter gifts, well let's just say we were not seeing the best of Cohen this Easter! He was not in the best of moods and probably had a lot do with not taking a nap the day before. But he was a handsome moody little boy!

Sprucing up the House...

...has begun! Good Friday turned into a soaking wet busy day! I was thrilled to find out on Thursday that the firm was giving us the day off. We normally don't get this holiday so it worked out perfect with all the running around and things I needed to get done before our little man's arrival back home on Saturday. I managed to miss the pour downs from store to store except my final errand, Wal-mart. But lucky for me, it wasn't too bad coming out with the groceries as it was going in.

I wasn't home too long before Charlie arrived. Our plan was to paint the shutters and the front door, so even with the bad weather, we proceeded. This is part of our sprucing up the house plan! Although the door was in great shape and we didn't mind the color (Carolina gamecock garnet), the shutters had lost their newness. We decided to change the color to black and it really looks good. It is amazing of what a fresh coat of paint will do to something. I will post a picture of the front of the house with our new shutters once the front yard has been completed....

The work continued into Saturday! Arriving with biscuits, GG and Pops came to give a hand. While the guys headed out to get a scoop of river rocks, GG and I went to purchase some plants for the flower pots. Charlie did a spectacular job on the rock bed and it looks great! And GG, "our" flowers pots look good too! Thanks to you both for all your help!!!!

We also placed our chase lounge chairs out and I am ready to hang out by the pool! So if you want to come hang out this summer, we'd love to have ya!!!!

We took a break for a little while when our little man arrived home from his "parent vacation".... Boy, was he missed!!! After we had our small reunion, Charlie decided to start painting the fence. Which was something that needed to be done really bad. We decided to go with a brownish color instead of a natural stain and once again, it is amazing how a fresh coat of paint will do!!!

It is exciting to see all the changes taking place on our cute little home and all we have left is giving it some curb appeal!!!