Happy Birthday Aunt Sue!

We tried to be cool like you, Sue. We tried to show you how much we miss you and love you by having our kids do something cute and special for you, here is what is left of that attempt:

This is the documentation of our attempt to get the kids to hold these signs:

Coop wanted to run, not sit.

Then he wanted to crumble and eat the paper, not hold them up for his picture to be taken.

We tried to get Bailey to say 'happy birthday' on tape but all we got was "Red, Bye Daddy".

So then we went on to different measures, that were equally as futile.

So then we tried the old 'how quick can you hand them an object and snap their picture' routine.

Not fast enough.

So we tried a little backdrop pose. Do you like our backdrop? Aunt Sue made it for us several years ago for Christmas.

So we couldn't get the message across exactly as we had it planned but it is still the same,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE! WE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WISH WE COULD SPEND YOUR BIRTHDAY WITH YOU! WE LOVE YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU AND YOU AND YOU AND YOU AND YOU!!!!

So we are terrible, or at least I am terrible. I meant to get these birthday greetings posted so much sooner but we have had a busy weekend so with the same amount of love but with a little added guilt, happy birthday to the following:

Heather, whose birthday was Sunday.

And Wesley, who turned 16. Sorry our gift was unwrapped and cardless, but we still hope you had a great birthday, all four of us.

My Dad, who turned 70 yesterday.

And our Todd whose birthday is today!

So happy birthday everyone, we love you and miss those of you too far away to see on your birthdays!!!

Kids Love Mashed Potatoes...Moms Not So Much

The Past 19 Months, Brought to You By Alltel

My cellular telephone had been falling apart for some time when last week it stopped charging. It would lie to me and tell me it was charging, but I knew better and then it would die. At first there was a battery removal drill we would do, but by Thursday of last week that wasn't even working. So last Thursday afternoon, in the pouring rain, I went out to get a new phone.

My old cell was purchased on April 2, 2007 and was a Razor or something to that effect. I took pictures all the time when I was out with it, but the quality was never any good and I could never get them off of my phone. My new cell phone also has a camera in it, I was a little sad that I would be losing all of those photos that I had taken over the past 19 months, especially the ones taken April 18th, 2007. The lady at the cell phone store sold me a nifty card for my camera and we were able to transfer some, not all, of my old photos and then I came home and was able to put them on my computer. Here they are, in no order what so ever.



This is Cooper the first time he ever sat in a high chair. We had gone out to take pictures in Altavista and stopped in to have a bite to eat (Did you know Altavista now has a Wally World, Scott? We didn't eat there, but it was close to where we ate.). Coop is such a nut. We used to use those cart covers all the time, now I NEVER use them, what a waste or resources, don't you think? Or maybe you don't think so, but I still do.

Same day, same kid.

Same day, different kid. This is Bailey who was also having her first high chair experience in a restaurant. She doesn't even look nervous.

This is Xavier Brandt Colbert, my nephew, born April 17th, 2007. These were taken the day he was born, or really the day after, because he was born so late, but in his first 24 hours.

Same kid, different day. This is my nephew on October 17, 2007. Exactly six months old. His Daddy had a dentist appt. and I went over to watch him and he was all smiles and all I had was my cell phone.

Bailey and Cooper last spring in a Lowe's Shopping cart. They were sooooo small.

This is Coop at Target (can't you tell?) He LOVED that hat!


This is the first and only picture on my new phone. That is our daughter Bailey driving the Escalade even though she looks like a boy. We got "Those boys are so cute" like eighteen times that day. It is Cooper's sweatshirt and my hat but her sweatshirt was dirty and we had to go to Toys 'R Us. Bailey was screaming and laughing, she loved this thing. Cooper seemed really nervous and kept looking behind him. I couldn't catch them both looking at me.

Babyhood Graduation

Coop is changing and growing so fast, Bailey is too, but Coop looks so much older than Bailey. More and more people ask us what the age difference is and not if they are twins.



Coop, like Bailey, has big news for you. On Friday night Coop took his first steps. The moment was Precious Moments designed and seemed to come right out of a Hallmark store. Todd and I were encouraging him to walk from him to me and vice versa. He didn't walk to me the first time but on his way back to Daddy, he took three steps. I thought (hoped perhaps?) it was a fluke, but he was doing the same occasionally over the weekend. The thing is, you can't make him, he has to want to do it all on his own. I haven't been able to get it on tape, but this is him a few minutes after his first steps on Friday.


That is how he walks with the car, not from the back but from the side, oh the noise it makes.

On Saturday, we took Cooper to get his first haircut. As you can tell in the picture immediately above and below, he sort of needed it. He was getting a little curl in the back that was sitting on his neck so we decided to take him to a barber shop. On Saturday morning we went in search of one. I turned down the first few because they weren't authentic enough but finally I found just what I was looking for. A genuine barbershop complete with church pew seating as you waited. I asked the lady at the front if they did children, she said yes. Then I asked her if I could take pictures, she said yes, so I went to the car to get the rest of the family.

Doesn't it just look so authentic and nice...and cheap.

This is Coop, before the ceremonies began.

This is Bailey, looking on while her brother gets his haircut. At the rate she is going, she won't be getting a haircut before she graduates from college.

This is the chair. In the background is this old vacuum they use to vacuum your hair, everyone in my family enjoyed watching that get used on other people. They didn't use it on Coop.

And then he was up.

He did really, really good. I was a little worried but it went really well. He was curious what was going on behind him, so it may not be the straightest cut.

He even smiled for pictures.

The lady who cut his hair put some aside for me to keep. I had brought along a sandwhich bag. Really.

The complete look.

He got this certificate, which in my opinion, was an added bonus for me. It says "This is to certify that Cooper Thomas has bravely met the requirements of receiving their first haircut and has graduated from babyhood on the 8th day of November in the year of 2008." If I'd known this was the graduation into toddlerhood, I may have waited a few weeks.

This is Coop and his sister on Sunday. Don't get me wrong, I like the dissheveled look, but I also like the 'I'm old enough to have had a haircut' look.

If only his bangs were straighter.

Bailey's Big News

This is Bailey, as most of you should already know. She has some big news to share with you, but since she can't type or talk yet she asked that I show you by way of pictures.

So that's it folks, she isn't quite walking yet, but she's definitely on the move. She can stand like this and clap and do her 'little dance' for about a minute before she gets tired and sits back down.

Coop has some bigs news to share with as well, I will try and post it soon.