Lions and Tigers and...Choo Choos?

Since the arrival of Edee 9 weeks ago, Mary Ellen has been orphaned. No, she is still 100 percent ours, it just feels that with all the feedings, the burpings, the rockings and diaper changings, poor Mary Ellen hasn't had enough Mommy and Daddy time. Slap a gruelling Southern Nuclear outage on top of that for Brannon (he was gone from 5:00 - 7:00 everyday) and Mommy and Mary Ellen were ready to head to the looney bin. I'm being dramatic, of course. We had plenty of help from his parents (THANK YOU)!!!!! But with all the newness and excitement of Edee Ann, Brannon and I knew we needed to spend some special time with big sister.

This past weekend we went to visit my mother in Eatonton, Ga., and took the whole gang with us. Travelling with two youngins' is um.....fun. But we made it safely and with all of our hair in tact, so life is good. We had a really great time. Brannon and I took Mary Ellen to Zoo Atlanta while Mommom kept baby Edee for the day. Mary Ellen had a great day with Mommy and Daddy. We got to see all the animals, except for the elephants - they just wouldn't come outside. Too hot I guess. We ate lunch at the zoo, which for Mary Ellen consisted of french fries and a bag of potatoe chips. But hey, it was her day so who cares! Plus, I couldn't talk. I ate french fries and deep fried chicken fingers.

Mary Ellen's favorites were the giraffes and the choo choo train ride at the zoo. You could hear the whistle of the train when parking your car at the admission gates. Mary Ellen didn't let us forget about that train the WHOLE day. lol. I never met a little girl more into trains than she. Trains and "Giddy-Up-Horses." And Princess curls. That's what she calls her hair when I curl it on Sunday mornings for church. She also thinks every women with curls in her hair is a princess. :)

"Boppy," (she can't pronounce her M's, so she calls me Boppy), "Pwincess curls in hair, Boppy, okay, okay."

Things have finally been settling down at our house with the arrival of Edee, who is just precious, so I know we will have plenty of more moments with Mary Ellen. Besides being more vocal with her temper tantrums, Mary Ellen is finally adjusting to life with a little sister. We still have many jealousy fits, but they have gone down considerably.

Until next time, we love you and go to the nearest zoo. It still just as fun as when you were a kid.

The Best Life

I love it when God's word smacks me upside the head during church - or any time for that matter. Bro. Van Sunday built his message on Colossians 3:1: "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set you hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God."

When we are "raised" up with Christ, we put on a new self and do away with our earthly desires. How can we say Christ lives within us, yet continue to live as if He is just our neighbor, checking in on us every once in awhile? We can't. At least not if we want Him to shape us into what we should be, what He calls us to be. When we are raised up in Christ, we not only accept Him as our Savior, but we accept Him as our Lord. This means we must submit to His lordship. This means we must live in a way that is pleasing to Him - in a way that allows us to be the best we can be. This means we live this way all the time, not just sometimes. As Bro. Van said Sunday, God is not an insurance salesman. It's not His intention for you to just call on Him when you're in desperate need. He's not just there to put out your fires, to deal with your not-so-good moments. No. He wants ALL of your moments.

This message hit home because I all too often catch myself spending just a little more time in His word and in prayer when I'm in need. Don't hear me wrong. He is there and always will be. But where is my desire and obedience when I am thankful? When life is good? When life is complacent, calm? It's like saying, "Yea, I know you're there Lord, but I'm good right now. I kinda don't need ya at the moment becasue I got it all under wraps. I'll check in with ya later when the road gets a little bumpy. Okay?"

How would you feel if your child responded to you like that? Your spouse? Your best friend? I sure wouldn't like it, so why should He? And I get it! He just wants me to be the best me I can be, and He knows I can't do that without Him. There is no "best" without Him. That word doesn't exist in my life if He doesn't exist in my life.

I share this reflection with you because why keep an "aha" moment to myself? I sure wouldn't aprreciate it if our pastor kept all his "aha" moments to hiself. Do you call on God only when you need Him - when you think you only need Him? Do you live one way on Sunday, and ignore His Lordship on Monday? If so, He doesn't want that for you. He wants the best for you.

His best.

Bad, Bad Baby

What constitutes a good baby? Is it a baby that sleeps all the time? One that rarely cries? One that knows not to mess up that diaper you just slapped on 30 seconds ago?  What do people mean when they say "good" baby? I get asked that question all the time about Edee since her birth four weeks ago.

"Is she a good baby for ya?" people ask. Sometimes I feel like throwing a curveball out there just to see if they are really paying attention to their own question:

"Well, the other day she actually cried out for my attention. And T-H-E-N she had the nerve to mess up her newly washed bib. I mean, I don't know how to get through to this kid. I guess she's a bad, bad baby."

There is no such thing as a "bad" baby. There are babies who cry more than others. Some who cry louder than others. There are babies who fuss more, spit up more and have a little trouble soothing themselves to sleep more so than others. There are babies that prefer to be held - at ALL times. There are babies that don't like strollers, or car seats or cribs even. They are all so different, but not one of them is bad.

They are all good babies.

Those asking if Edee is a good baby know that she is good - just as all babies are. They are asking to be kind and show interest in my family (so if you were one of those people who asked, I'm just having a little fun picking on you :/ ). This is just one of those questions people ask. Another popular one is, "Does she sleep good?" The answer to that is always, "Yes, but I don't."

Edee truly has been a blessing to our family. In some ways, taking care of her while she is an infant reminds me of when we took care of Mary Ellen as a newborn, especially that sleepless part. (Circles under the eyes are just that - circles under the eyes. All babies cause this and those dark spots all look the same). There are differences, however. Edee is already proven to be her own person with her own set of characteristics and temperamant. She is great at soothing herself to sleep after a little bout of fussing, whereas Mary Ellen wanted to be rocked, and rocked....and rocked. Edee is also a very s -l-o-w eater, much different from Mary Ellen who could chug down a bottle faster than an over-excited frat boy on a Friday night. Edee also LOVES to be held, and with her head up over your choulder so she can see what's going on. She can't stand the swing or the bouncy vibrating chair thingy for too long. Laying her down on a blanket to play is out of the question and about those activity mats - forget it. She rather you pick her up and fling her over your shoulder. This is not so great when you have a two-year-old also wanting to be flung over your shoulder. Yea. Fun times.

In all, Brannon and I are loving our new baby. And for those who just have to know - yes, she is a very, very good baby!

:)

Kittens and Cars

We found these newborn baby kittens curled up on a utility shelf in our garage last week and couldn't resist trying to care for them. Momma kitty is a stray cat that feeds off of our cat food. We do have one outdoor cat named Storm who was left abandoned by the neighbors when they moved, so we started feeding him and taking care of him and now he calls our garage his home. Anyway, I moved the baby kitties off of the utility shelf and placed them on a cat bed in our garage. I though they would be much safer there because they were beginning to wiggle around and fall off the shelf. Well Momma kitty didn't like me touching them one bit so she took all five kitties and moved them one at a time out of our garage. We were sad but also happy that she was caring for the litter. Well, about a week later we were getting out of the car after church and heard the kitties crying. We looked and we looked but could not see them anywhere. We finally figured out that the kitties were stuck up in a tight space underneath our car!!!!! Momma kitty brought them back and thought she could hide them in our car.

We quickly pulled the kitties out from the car, fearing that they were burned or dying. They seeemd fine, but were definitely hot so we placed them on the cold kitchen tile to cool them and examine them better. At this time, we only thought there were two kittens up there. Brannon back tracked and found another kitten on his parents driveway! He fell out while we parked there to eat lunch. Then he found the other kitty on the side of the road. So sad! He must of fell out while we were driving. That left only one kitty unaccounted for. Later that night, Brannon swore he could hear one more kitten. I couldn't hear a thing, but sure enough, he found the last little kitten stuck in the car - Alive! The four kittens are alive and healthy and Momma Kitty decided to take them one by one again. We have no idea where they are, but fear the whole family will show up when hungry.

If that's the case, anyone want a kitten?

Mary Ellen Gets a Sister

We're having a girl!!!!!!!!!

Okay OKay, I'll Blog Already

I know, I know. I have not blogged in weeks, okay months, but I have had a good excuse. You all know that I am pregnant with our second baby and just like my first pregnancy I have been a tad under the weather. Pregnancy and I do not mix well in the first 20 weeks. But I am feeling MUCH better and am looking forward to updating my blog - routinely.

Many weeks have passed that I don't even know what to blog about, so I'll give some brief updates and be a little more entertaining the next go around. Here's what has been happening in the Cook household these past several weeks (okay months):

1. Mary Ellen has adjusted to school fairly well, but rarely makes it a full week without catching a cold or a fever or whatever else is floating around.
2. I have so far survived school and even completed a full course during the whole 10 weeks of my sickness. I don't remember the course, but I apparently I passed!
3. I have not yet caught the swine flu and I work with many, many young snot-nosed munchkins - who I love, as long as they don't give me the swine flu.
4. My little sister, Molly, was married recently and we survived the road trip to Georgia with plenty of Barbie and Thomas the Choo Choo Train movies and snacks.
5. Brannon has taken over as our Sunday school teacher and I couldn't be more proud of him for stepping up to the plate. Love you babe.
6. I'm finally able to sing in choir again and didn't realize how much I missed it these passed 10 weeks.
7. I am getting fat much faster than I did with my first pregnancy. Fabulous!
8. I want to sleep ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!

Take care all. I am feeling better and promise to update regularly now. Hugs and Kisses!

Off To School We Go

My baby will be starting a mother's morning out program this fall. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I am so proud that she is now a big girl and will be around other children to learn some much needed social skills. On the other hand, I'm nervous about the little things, like mean toddlers who bite or rip toys out of Mary Ellen's hands. Even worse, it could be MY child who bites and steals from other cute, innocent babies! Oh I haven't even thought of that before! I don't even want to think about all those nasty germs. Mary Ellen has been sick very few times and I credit most of that to the fact that she was cared for by her grandmother. I always hear that your child stays sick for the first 6 months of daycare. My poor baby.

I know she will be fine. I really like the place where we are sending her. In fact, I used to work there and know the staff and the inner workings of the place. Being in the "know" smooths things over for me. lol. NO really, my nervousness is just my unwillingness to let go of the ropes a little - to let someone else have some control. Come to think of it, this may be harder for me than for Mary Ellen. And I know she will be getting a good start to her education (she will follow a curriculum and go to chapel twice a week, tee-hee).

Keep a lookout for a future posting of our first day, which is August 10th. There will be plenty of pictures taken on that day! Although those pictures may be of me and her crying.