BUSY day!

After 15 or so tries...I officially GIVE UP.  This is the only picture your gonna get today.  I don't know what's up with it.  BUMMER.  It keeps giving me FAIL.  FAIL.  FAIL.

Today was a great day!  Naynee & Karleigh came to down, and of course we went to Cross Creek Sandwich Shop downtown for some yummy lunch!  We had a great visit and I found a little treasure I have been looking for!  I have wanted a little wooden chair for Ryder to paint or stamp "time out" on the back.  I FOUND ONE!  YEAAAAHHH!  For 13 dollars now less!  SCORE!  I can't wait to fix it up, and put it out in our new house!  Even if I don't use it for "time out" it'll still be cute!  I screamed, & almost started crying when I found it!--& the price was even better!

Tonight, the family went out to eat in LR to celebrate my birthday a few days early since we're all gonna be gone the next few nights.  I decided on Chi's.  Mom and I go there often, but dad and G had never been.  They loved it...or acted like they did!  Ha!  It was a lot of fun, and Ryder even tried some egg drop soup & rice!

Since we were in LR, Garrett & I decided to head to the mall for a few things, and mom & dad were oh so nice to take Ryder home for me!  Me and G had a good time together!  It's never just the two of us any more!

I had some cute pics of Karleigh and Punkin' from lunch, and me and Punkin' & KeeKee from dinner...but I guess they'll have to wait.  Sad day!

TOMORROW'S FRIDAY!

Playin' in the MUD!

"I'll let Ryder play outside before his nap" turned into..."I guess he can play in the mud, now that he's already dirty".  I never thought I would be the mom that would let my child do this.  BUT, he is a BOY, and I need to let him be a BOY!  He loved it...and we'd still be out there if I had let him!

In the middle of him running around, I was trying to fill up his kiddy pool so I could rinse him off before taking him inside...I tried to unscrew the sprayer WHILE the water was running.  BIG MISTAKE.  Got my clothes all wet, and then I was just like...What THE HECK!  Ha!

I'm glad I let him play in the mud...he would go to a puddle and splash it all in his face!  He did not even care!  I'm sure there will be many other blog posts about my lil man playing in the mud!

I don't know if he knew what to think.  "Here I am, making a mess, and mom's not even stopping me!--SWEET!"  He started to chew on the sprinkler head that I had unscrewed from the water hose...that's why his mouth is all messy! 

I threw that naked boy in the pool to get all of mother nature off of him!  Then we went inside for a nice, warm, bubbly bath--& then my Punkin' was SOO ready for a nap!  I love random  unplanned events like these with my lil man.  I love making memories with him!

Pools, Parties, and Premier Seating...

I found this pool @ Target for $4.99.  Who could refuse that kind of deal?  I knew there was no use in spending a lot on a pool that was probably going to get popped anyways...and have to buy a new one for next summer!  I busted it out for Punkin' Friday night...and HE.LOVED.IT!

I pulled out some bath toys for him to play with.  I thought maybe we could get in the pool together...WRONG!  HA!  It was just the perfect size for lil man!

Saturday, Punkin' went to his first "kid birthday" party!  A little boy from our old neighborhood, Braxton, was turning one!  Him and Ryder are 6 weeks apart.  Braxton's mom and I's due dates were 4 weeks apart, but Braxton came early, and Ryder came late!

They had lots of new toys...that we don't have that Punkin' LOOOOOVED!  Always loves something new!

And finally...we got Punkin' a big boy carseat!  So far so good!  It's still rear facing...which I'm ready for him to be able to see, and me see him!  I wanted this carseat, but everyone was sold out of it for weeks, so I finally just ordered it from WM.com and got free shipping...TO THE HOUSE!  Even better!

Here he is in it for the first time!  I love how he reaches out to me like that...he wants me when he does that!  

Random Ramblings...

-Punkin' and I have been real low key today.  But I can say that he is officially a WALKER now.  He is walking more than he is crawling, he moves SO much faster now, and is into SO much more stuff!!

-No one tells you about "when they start walking stage...".  You only hear about the sleepless nights of the "newborn" stage.  This is BY FAR...WAY more work!  I am seriously worn out by the end of the day!  HA!  When they are newborns, you can lay them on the floor for tummy time, or put them in their swing to unload the dishwasher real fast before they want to be picked up again, or the bouncy seat, or even there for a while you could put them in the exersaucer!  But NOT now!  Every day is an adventure, and I am NOT complaining...but it's definitely a WHOLE new ball game!  Mom's that have babies that aren't mobile yet...do NOT complain just yet!  ENJOY IT!  They will get there one day!

-I officially started working on some crafts/projects for lil man's birthday party!  I know that once I move and start school I will not have much time to do so...so starting early won't hurt anything!  I finished a banner to hang above the fireplace and am about done with his cupcake toppers.  I would show pictures...but I don't want to ruin anything for the party guests!  :P

-I have been dying to get outside and spray paint this metal baker's rake that I bought at Hobby Lobby last week for 60 dollars...(was 179!) but the rain has kept me from doing so.  I did run to HL today thought to get some of my favorite spray paint (Rust oleum American Accents) in Canyon Black.  HL is the only place in town that has it, and it's on sale this week for 30% off!

-I am loving Jenna's blog hop right now!  I have found some great new blogs that I can't wait to become followers of!  There are some inspiring stories out there, and some great "mommy" ideas!

-We are still loving some Fro Yo.  Just can't seem to get enough of it.  We might have to go tomorrow since we haven't been since we haven't been since....Saturday!  Ha!

-I am also getting stuff ready for Rhea Lana's children consignment sale that is coming up in August.  I have never consigned before, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.  I have gone as a shopper once before, but didn't know what I was having yet, so it wasn't that much fun.  

Check it out...

My newest follower...Bonnie from House of Grace is doing an AWESOME giveaway of some AH-MAH-ZING cleaning supplies (that I hope I win)!  She has great decorating ideas as well as great cleaning supplies!  She sounds like a thrift store & garage sale treasure finder...that I hope to be one day!  Check her out and enter the giveaway yourself!

funny stuff!

Few random funny things Punkin has been doing the last few days!--& some ramblings!

-The UPS man rang the doorbell yesterday morning, which made the dog bark, and Ryder crawled UNDER my bed and just sat there.

-I had a laundry basket full of clothes on the floor, right by an ottoman at the end of my bed.  He climbed on top of the clothes in the basket, then crawl/climbed on top of the ottoman, and then proceeded to climb on TOP of my bed.  OMG.  If this is happening at 10 months...what is there in the future?!

-His little farm barn has fallen over on top of another toy, he climbed on top of them both to bang on the TV.

-The other day he grabbed a piece of my mom's carmel popcorn, (& knew he wasn't supposed to have it) was on his way to put it in his mouth, and my mom said "No No" and he stopped and then put it in my mom's mouth!

-He has started to hand me things when he knows he's not supposed to have them!  Smart boy!

-He is walking EVERYWHERE!  I think it finally hit me last night when we were at a friends house and he was just walking all.over.the.place!  I'm used to having to try and make him walk, and he was doing it on his own!  We laugh and say he look drunk wibble-wabblin' all over!

-Ryder officially has four teeth now!  I was brushing the three I thought were there...and made the third lil gum bleed!  POOR BABY!  Two on top, two on bottom!

-I bought Punkin' a lil swimming pool, more like wading pool at Target yesterday...we're gonna try it out later!

-I have started designing his birthday invitations!  WAHOO!  So scary though!

-He has started to "throw them in the pan" lately...when saying Patty Cake, he'll throw both of his hands in the air!  TOO cute!  KeeKee teaches him all those fun things!

-When he whines for someone to pick him up, we've been telling him to say "Up" and he'll make a sound close to it!  Too precious!

-We're supposed to go to another Travelor's game tonight...but we'll see!

-That's all I can think of for now...sorry for the lack of posts!

My "lil man"...

These might be my new favorite pictures of Ryder.  I LOVE getting him all dressed up on Sundays...even though it usually only consists of khakis and a button down.  I just think he looks so sharp & grown up!  

He is walking like crazy now!  Even on his own sometimes, not just when we tell him to!  I am so proud of him!  Each day he has to realize over again that he can walk!  HA!

And I can't believe my child is BLONDE!  I got these shoes for him a while back for the fall, but they fit now...nothing else fits because of his biggo feet!  He loves to play Patty Cake, especially right after he's gotten in trouble!  I wish we would get to play outside more, but it has just been TOO.DANG.HOTT here!

I started getting some of Ryder's clothes together for Rhea Lana's.  I'm not getting rid of much, because hopefully I'll have another little boy one day!-or maybe not!  and I'll sell them then!  But it feels so good to go through, clean up and clean OUT!  and...hopefully make some money while doing it!

Miss Arkansas update...

THE TOP TEN:

*Simone Mullinax
*Morgan Holt
*Kristen Glover
*Belinda Bube
Somer Allen
*Amy Crain
Bethany Briscoe
*Kailey Penson
*Jessica Herring
*Alyse Eady

*Indicates ones that I guess right!

My results predictions:

Miss Arkansas-Simone Mullinax
1st Runner Up-Amy Crain
2nd Runner Up-Belinda Bube
3rd Runner Up-Morgan Holt
4th Runner Up-Alyse Eady

Miss Arkansas and 1st Runner Up were NOT hard at all for me to predict...but the rest were!  So...we will see!

MISS ARKANSAS!

I have been so consumed with watching Miss Arkansas every night since Wednesday.  I have been able to go all week the last couple of years, and it's a little bit more difficult to so do now with a little one!  But lucky for me, they started streaming it live this year on the internet!  How fun & convenient!

Every night I've made sure I had dinner and have gotten Ryder some distractions and get the computer charged and ready to watch by 7 o'clock!

There are six girls in the pageant this year who are from Ouachita!  How awesome is that?  A small little Baptist school of 1500 students with SIX competing for the title of Miss Arkansas...AND on top of that 4 of them are EEE's!

Fellow pledge sister Bethany Whitfield won swimsuit Thursday night, EEE sister Alyse Eady tied for talent on Wednesday night and last night a friend of mine from Freshmen year  Kristen Glover tapped her way to winning talent!  I was so SO SO HAPPY for all of them and wished I could have been there to help them celebrate!  As well as Conway girl, Morgan Holt for winning swimsuit Wednesday and evening gown Thursday.

I hope that one day, when all my girlfriends have kids this can be our one week a year to "get away" and have fun and enjoy each other's company on Lake Hamilton, and then go to Miss Arkansas each night!  HOW FUN!  That's something I look forward to so much one day!

Tonight will be THE night.  They will announce the top 10 at the beginning and then each of those girls will compete in swimsuit, talent and evening wear again...if I remember correctly!

I have my top ten..DO YOU!?

TOP TEN-in no particular order

Simone Mullinax-Lakes of the Northwest
Amy Crain-NWA
Bethany Whitfield-Spirit of Arkansas
Belinda Bube-Batesville
Alyse Eady-South Central Arkansas
Kailey Pinson-Northeast Arkansas
Hollyann Crum-White River
Morgan Holt-Petit Jean Valley
Jessica Herring-North Pulaski
Kristen Glover-Cotton Belle
Kim Smith-UofA

okay...there's 11.  I couldn't decide!  Give or take one!  :P

Rainin' on Sunday...

It poured & poured & POURED here on Sunday.  I have never seen the sky go from BLACK to beautiful so fast & so many different times in one day!  Our driveway and yard and street flood pretty bad every time it rains cause the rest of the neighborhood is going downhill and then it's flat at our house.  Boo.  But not for Punkin' to play in the water!  Of course Uncle G took him out there to play!

He just LOOVED it!

Sunday night was baby dedication and I got Punkin' all dressed up for the occasion!  He did so good on stage and I was so proud of him!  The poor shoes that went with this outfit of course no longer fit!  So...I had to come up with something at the last minute!  These worked for the time being...

I love him so much!  & I think he feels the same about me!  (Not from the looks of this picture though!)

Monday morning, which was my first day all summer not to have to get up and go to class, I thought I would take Punkin' to our local donut shop and see how he liked donuts!  I'm not a huge "donut" fan, I usually just get a glazed blueberry cake.  I only got one, and should have gotten two for the both of us!  I gave him lil pieces of and of course the stinker wanted the BIG piece!  

He would give a mean face to the worker, and then  GRRRIIIN so big!  Yes, that is blueberry on his lip.  It adds character.  And yes, he's still in his PJs, this is real life!  But he loved the blueberry cake and I can't wait to take him back!

10 months! OH MY!

Punkin turned 10 months old on Friday.  I am a little behind.  I planned on taking our normal "crib" pictures, but that is highly unlikely any more for my crazy, mobile and never still lil Punkin!

My dad always tries and "makes" Ryder lay on his chest like this, so when he does it without my dad expecting it, it's even more special!  He loves his Pops! 

We had lunch with some special girls on Friday.  KeeKee, Ms. Vicki and Ms. Robin (who turned one year older on Friday)!  We went to one of our favorite places Cross Creek Sandwich shop and of course indulged in some strawberry chiller soup & a chicken salad sandwich!   YUMMMY!

And I haven't mentioned it yet...but guess who is WALKING?!  Up to 10 steps at a time!  I cannot believe it!  The first time he did it was while we were getting Fro Yo with Kelly last Thursday night and we were outside in the grass and he just WALKED!  5 steps!  I just screamed, and of course I didn't have my camera!  He didn't do it any more that night, but he did the next day for KeeKee, Pops & Uncle G!  I was SOO proud of my lil man!

What has lil one been up to this month??

-Talking, talking TALKING! LOVE it!

-Will give people a "mean face" and then smile real cute at them!

-Total flirt when we go shopping or out to eat!

-WALKING!  up to 10 steps!

-LOVES wooden spoons!

-Eating meat, cheese...fruit anything you'll give him!

-Loves our nightly walks around the neighborhood

-Size 3 diapers

-12-18 month clothes

-His feet are too fat to fit in most shoes.

-Loves the church nursery!  They say he makes lots of different faces for them!

-He got his first haircut from Ms. Jennifer!

-Always so sweet, will come up to me and just lay his head down!  Makes a mama smile!

-Has got a top tooth sometime last week...and the other ones trying to come in.

-He will start to clap when you say "Patty Cake Patty Cake"

-Sometimes he claps right after he gets in trouble!  HA!

-When we try to make him walk he usually plops down to crawl...cause it's faster!

-After our walks he pushes the stroller, up and down the driveway until I make him come in!

-Loves refried beans from Mexican restaurants

Haircuts & House!

I am now officially done with Summer School!  WAHOO!  Six more hours under my belt to graduating!  

Auntie Allie came to stay with us Monday & Tuesday night and we didn't do much, shopping, Fro Yo, and RYDER'S FIRST HAIR CUT!  =)  I was glad Allie got to go with us so she could take some pictures!  I just took him where I get my hair cut and it took all of 2 minutes!  He did great!  They were all so impressed!  I thought I wanted to let it grow out, but it was getting TOO shaggy and he's getting dedicated this Sunday so I wanted him to look extra handsome!  =)

The finished product!  Can you tell he loves it!?  He is such a HAPPY baby I swear!  Well...most of the time!  Jennifer's hair is so cute, I wish I could pull something off like that!  She always has it different and it always looks good!  Maybe I should become a hair dresser so my hair would always look good!

And this my loves is me and Ryder's new HOME!  Not till August though...but I am beyond THRILLED!  It kinda all happend on accident though, but I am beyond in LOVE and can't wait to get in there and unpack all my stuff that's been in storage for 7 months!  It's close to 50 years old, but the inside is JUST adorable and up to date.  It even has original hardwood floors that are SO neat!  And I LOVE my kitchen probably more than anything, and look forward to spending alot of time in there with my Punkin' cooking and just making memories!

ryder's first 4th of july!

Saturday night Tonya, Anna and I all went to the Rave in LR to see Eclipse.  They had both read the books, were I have not, and the movie was GOOD, but I wouldn't say that it was better than New Moon.  They both liked it, but you cuold just tell they were thinking the book was SOOOOO much better & their probably right!  If I didn't have a lil munchin' running around and school to read for, I'd probably read them!

This picture is too funny to me...I had to post both of them!  I love how Ryder's cheesin' in the first one and I'm cheesin' in the second!  I guess I thought if I smiled big he would too!  We got up & went to church Sunday morning, and it was so enjoyable and I teared up a few times just thinking about this great country that we live in!

I just can't get enough of this picture!  He was standing up just waving his arms around in circles so proud of himself!  I love how he opens his mouth so wide when he is SO happy!  I didn't even go shopping for a 4th of July outfit, I just found stuff we already had!

He's been doing this a lot lately, and I think it's because he has a top tooth that has just broken through!

Punkin' had never been in a swing before!  We went to the neighbors back yard last night to let him try it out!  I even took him down the slide with me!  Not sure what he thought about it though!

Pops and Uncle G bought Ryder man some of his first fireworks!  We shot them off last night...just some smoke balls, lil colored spinners and some fountains!  Ryder did pretty well, I was proud of him!  He didn't stay up late enough for the Country Clubs' shows, and didn't even wake up!  I was so proud!

missing title.

all i have ever wanted to be growing up was a wife and mommy.

i became those two things a little out of order considering i believe you become a mommy at conception, NOT birth.  i became a mommy, then a bride.  never how i actually planned on it.

i had become the two things i had always dreamed about as a little girl.  my life was full.  i was happy!

six months ago i gave up the title of wife.  as hard as it was giving up what i had always dreamed of becoming, i kept telling myself that i can have that title again one day.  i still have to tell myself that every day to help me know i made the right decision.

it wasn't easy giving up that title.  i officially gave it up on monday.  the day after my papa john died, and the day lil sterling grayce was born.  i thought that day would bring closure, and it did, and it didn't.

things are better now the way i see it.  me and the ex are getting along so much better than we have in the past 6 months.  we enjoy talking about our perfect little son and all the crazy things hes is up to these days.

ryder was with him all day today and i think he pulled out all of his tricks for his daddy...including:  grinding his teeth (or his jaw, we aren't sure what?), clapping his hands (patty cake), walking like a wild child w. ones help, laying on his back and raring his legs up in the air and down real hard, and even his famous whining (that has totally gotten out of control the past week)

i am glad to be where i am at now, because it's better now than it has been in a long time.

i am a mommy.  i am a single mommy.  i never dreamed i would say those words.  i think this time in my life is going to teach me a lot.  and hopefully one day when i have more kids, i'll wonder how i ever did it alone.

i pray that one day ill have that title once again.  wife.  to someone who loves me, wants to care for me, pamper me, grow old with me, spoil me, travel with me, spend time with ryder with me, cook with me, walk around the neighborhood with me, shop with me, fix the flower beds with me, be santa clause with me...ALL those things!  i want that.  i need that.  ryder needs that.

i am at a sad time, but i am also at a happy time.

im not one to "air my dirty laundry" as ones have said the recent weeks, and i don't.  but this is me.  and i feel so much better after posting this.

worn out...

Things have been very lazy around here the last 2 days.  We are thankful for that.  Our schedules had been jammed packed since Monday morning, and we are finally getting a break.  As much as I would like to be out at the pool or lake celebrating the 4th, we need some time at home to get things back to normal before the next week starts up again!  Which brings me to...MY LAST WEEK OF SUMMER SCHOOL...probably...EVER!  Ha!

Punkin' is such a good sleeper, and I have finally started to realize that instead of him staying up till 9 or 10 fighting his own tiredness, I should take him for a walk (which is good for me as well) after dinner & some playtime while we clean up, let him play outside in the driveway until the bugs are eating us alive, come inside for bath & a bottle, and that boy is READY for bed!  That's when I can sit down and catch up on DVR'd shows, or do homework if I need to.  He wore me out there for a while fighting sleep when I knew he was so tired!

The other night when I went to check on him, I found his paci just chillin' right on top of his leg.  How this happened I don't know!  H!

He's almost sweeter asleep than he is awake!  :P

Ryder always looks out the window just playing in our room, and today dad was mowing the yard...and I made him stop so Ryder could see him better!  Ryder did NOT know what to think about that!  HAHA!

I think Tonya & I are going to go see Eclipse tonight...we both want to see it and she's headed home in the morning and we haven't gotten to do fun things like we used to when she always visited.  I guess it's cause we're grown up now...  :/  :P

One more thing...any mama's out there?  Ryder has been making the noise like the is grinding his teeth.  The problem is, he only has two bottom teeth, so how would this be possible?  I don't know if he is crunching his jaw together so tight to make this noise or what, and I try to tell him "No no" but poor thing doesn't realize that's what I'm talking about!  ECCCKK...it hurts my ears, and can't be good for him!  HELPPP!!

day of blog silence for sweet baby cohen