Ruth & Frankie, a Great Pair!

It was our 3rd anniversary this week so we celebrated by going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. If you have never been, I highlyrecommend it! The food is unbelievable, the service fantastic and the atmosphere calming (even with a 1 year old). It's definitely not your everday place to dine, but it's a real treat once a year.

To continue with the festivities, we went to Frankie's Funpark (this time without Cooper) and enjoyed miniature golf, go-karts (fun enough to go twice), batting cages, and video games. It was super fun and I so enjoyed spending some alone time with my handsome hubby! He is so much fun and he works so dang hard during the summers!

Happy Anniversary to us!

The Reading of Elmo

Isn't he cute?

Dexter's Dinosaur

Broc and Julie came to watch Mindy's kids. Since we had an artist in town, we took advantage of the cheap labor and put him to work in Dexter's room. Oooh. Scary!

Broc just threw this on the wall in pencil. My contribution was to erase a few pencil lines with a baby wipe. Talent runs through this family!

Oh, to be 1 again

To be this excited,


you might think we did something funny,



or maybe amazing,



or maybe spectacular,

but all we did was roll a ball down the slide.
Oh, to be so easily amused!

Swimming, a whole 'nother adventure

Yes, he does jump in and go underwater.


He'd prefer if we didnt' hold him while he swims but we all know what would come of that.

The step is his place to do his own thing.

He couldn't be happier to be at the pool.

Happy Granpda Day!

Here's a little song that the girls put together for Father's day. We love you Grandpa!

Water Bottle

Coop loves water bottles...who needs toys ;-)

Thank you Grandma!

Just a couple shots of Coop in his new outfits from Grandma. Thanks Grandma!

If you don't recognize this shirt Mom, it's because he already had 4 pairs of blue shorts so we returned the ones you got him and got this shirt (and the red flip-flops above) so really, you got him this shirt too ;-) You have great taste! Thanks again!

The Towel

Coop loves to carry this dish towel around wherever he goes.

And his newest thing with the towel is to put it on his head while still trying to walk. Even with running into the table 3 times now, he still has not learned that it's probably not the brightest idea.

Strawberry Patch

So many to choose from!

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You can tell this is one of the first strawberries he ate because he is so clean. ;-)

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Notice the half-eaten strawberry in his hand when he gets distracted by another one.

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Could their mouths get any more full?

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This is Emma, Coop's new found friend. She loves to feed him strawberries (and leaves, and twigs, and dirt, anything really ;-)

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I have no idea how many are in there.

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Don't mind me, I'm still eating.

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Who knew a Strawberry Patch could be so fun?

Fun Pictures

I take alot of pictures, and sometimes, they just really turn out! Thought I'd share a few.

This is Emma, Coop's new friend here in NC. What a cutie!

Hi Grandpa

Ethan and his walker

Bonk

We normally don't encourage hitting but this was just to dang funny to stop him.

Can I Help You?

So, we finished our Saturday morning meeting, and Khol, one of the reps in the office, asked if we could stop by my bank to help him cash his check. Our driver, Josh, didn't have a problem doing so, so he drove toward Wachovia Bank in his Pontiac Sunfire. As we pulled into the parking lot, Josh was about to park in the stall directly in front of the bank only to find that the stalls were handicapped parking. Kohl and I went inside, and as we were at the counter, I saw a Pontiac Sunfire pull into the non-handicap space in front of the bank, thinking that Josh had pulled around to get the closer spot. As Khol and I were walking out of the bank, we were talking about how he needed to open a bank account, and continued to do so as I opened the car door and sat in the front seat. As I did so, I heard a not-young voice ask, "Can I help you?" Out of the corner of my eye, I see gray hair and glasses, neither of which Josh has, and immediately start laughing hysterically. As I climb out of this stranger's car, the man's wife was laughing at me, the ATM line was laughing at me, and Khol, who saw the whole act transpire without wanting to ruin the moment by correcting my actions, was laughing at me. I'm glad that we were all able to laugh at what had happened, and I didn't get maced by the old man.

How would you feel with teeth like this?

(4 all at once)

You'd probably be chewing on this...

...and making this face...

...but would you still be this happy?

We have such a trooper!

Graduate!

Here is just one of the many pictures we took at Caleb's graduation. Please check

http://the-pope-fam.blogspot.com for the whole wonderful event!

Look who's walking now!

Of course, he chooses when he wants to practice walking and when he doesn't. (Try to ignore the no-shirt thing, it was still in the dryer ;-)

What do you do before bed?

I don't know what your bedtime routine is but it can't be more fun than this!

New Style

You seasoned mothers may have figured this out already, but for us first-time-moms, some things you just have to figure out for yourself. Not too long into the first 2 1/2 hour flight, I saw Coop making "the face". Immediately I took him out of his car seat and went to the back of the plane to change him. He had already messed in his onsie earlier (poor kid had diarhea) so he was only in his zip up pjs. In taking off his pj's I see that they are covered in poop. The kid's a year old and hasn't blown out for months so of course I did not have any extra clothes (bad preperation on my part!) Luickily we had brought a carryon of Caleb's clothes and came up with this. Sportin the Northstar shirt and still lookin super cute. Needles to say, we will now be carrying extra clothes no matter what the age!

A Birthday Bash

So it couldn't be called the perfect day, but it was pretty darn close. Coop woke up with a temperature the day of his birthday bash and therefore was a little on the whiney side throughout the whole thing. Nevertheless, I think he'd say the family, the food, and the presents really made the party great!
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Homemade, lemon-filled cupcakes...mmmmm!
(It took many hours to make them, but I loved every minute!)

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Look closely in the first 3 pics. Turns out Coop is a big fan of fire and when I finally blew out his candle, he was not a happy camper! He was however, much happier when he found out he could eat it! And boy did he eat it! He downed that puppy in seconds!

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Presents, presents, and more presents! Question, which did he love more, ripping the paper or the actual present?

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Grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles; it wouldn't have been a party without family!
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Happy Birthday Coop! 1 whole year old! WOW!

The Emma Saga

Who would have thought that such a precious, sweet, adorable girl could cause so much trouble. The story goes something like this. Last night, after the kids were in bed, Josh and I decided to have a little date doing yardwork. We put the kids to bed a little early because we'd had a pretty full day, but we kept the front door open so we could hear them...or so we thought. At around 8:45, Ashlyn comes running out the door in a panic saying that Emma has gotten into Mommy's make-up. (Mommy's make-up is located in the top right shelf of the medicine cabinet in Mommy's bathroom.) I tell Josh that he could handle this one, and I would finish up the yardwork. One minute later, Josh yells from out our window that I need to come up. This is the precious face that I came up to. Thankfully, the make-up was limited to Emma's face and hands, and not my bathroom or bedroom. A hearty scrub in the tub was able to rememdy this situation. Just another chapter in the never-ending Emma Saga.:)

Thank you, Grandma!!!!

"These are soooooo cute!" (direct quote from Emma) Thanks so much, Grandma! After many hours of loving service, we just want to thank you for the adorable quilts! You are so talented, and we are so lucky to have such a wonderful Grandma!!! We love you!