Papaw Roy's 85th Birthday

We celebrated Papaw Roy's 85th birthday with a surprise party thrown by Aunt Cherry, Danny, and Jessica. Granny June got him to come by telling him that it was an anniversary party for some friends of theirs. I'm was impressed that they even sent a fake invitation to themselves and that it was actually their friend's anniversary!

He was definitely surprised!


Lots of their friends and family were there to celebrate, including some out of town family.




There was some yummy food.

And a delicious cake!

And a slideshow of some old and new pictures made by Zach.

And of course the youngest guest, who kinda stole the show...




Happy Birthday Papaw Roy!

Our Week in Review

Zach had some vacation time to use and was able to take off this week. It was such a nice treat to have him home every night! We had a few special visitors this week...

Melanie and Charley were here at the beginning of the week and we loved having them! They got to hang out with Cooper while I worked and Charely and Zach worked on changing up our screened in porch a little bit.




My friend Lacey was in town this weekend and she got to come and meet Cooper. I loved our visit so much and wish we could do it more often!



And then on Sunday we had some very special visitors stop by for a few hours. Cooper loved getting to hang out with his Aunt Judith!

Weekend Recap

We spent the weekend at Mimi's house. Papaw was still out of town on his mission trip until late Saturday night, so Cooper got to spend a lot of time with Mimi.

She put us to work Friday night snapping beans. Cooper helped out just a little bit...


Saturday we had a pretty lazy morning even though Cooper and I were up at 6am. We took a couple of little naps during the morning. We also had a little photo shoot with Cooper...







That afternoon, I got to finish my little mini scrapbook that mom and I had bought when we went shopping on Tuesday. I loved our idea of using pics from a collage print in the album. The pics were a perfect size for the book.

Saturday night, Mimi and Cooper had a date night while me and Zach went to Katie's wedding. We got to drive little red and we left a little early and drove around looking at houses. The wedding was so pretty and we had a fun time. We went for dinner at Chik-fil-A before heading back home to our baby.

Sunday, we went to church and got to introduce Cooper to a few more people. Mrs. Laughrie was in the nursery with him so I knew he would be well taken care of. I loved when he met Uncle Matt and he gave Cooper a sweet kiss on the forehead.

We went to lunch and then back to the house to pack up and leave. Right after we got back home, Cooper had a huge blow out. I mean it was awful. Poop everywhere in his carseat, on his nice outfit, and even through the carseat to the floor. It was a huge mess! Thankfully mom and dad were there to help out and while I was cleaning up Cooper they worked on his outfit and the carseat. Mom got every bit of it out of his outfit and Dad got the majority of it out of the carseat. I cannot thank them enough!

Cooper had to have a little time with Papaw before we left and he was all smiles.

First Road Trip Part 2

Tuesday June 8 was the funeral. We had visitation for a couple of hours before and we got there a little early to make sure everything was in place. The flowers from all of us were beautiful. I was so blessed to see flowers from Zach’s family and from my work. It meant so much for them to think of us.

It was strange meeting several people that knew who we were but we had never met before. Grandma Kay was very proud of us and talked about us all the time! Cooper was of course the star and everyone wanted to meet her great-grandson.

Before the visitation started he had another blowout and had ruined his outfit for the day. Zach picked him a little onesie from the Dollar General but it wasn’t the best. They didn’t have a great selection. I was upset, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

In comes Aunt Lisa and Aleasha with Mamaw and Papaw. I was telling them about our little problem and they just happened to have a cute outfit in the car that they had gotten for him. It was perfect! It just made me happy for him to have on something cute.

Aleasha held him for me during the service so that if he got cranky she could easily get up and leave. He slept the whole time, but I was so thankful to not have to worry about that happening.
After the services we went to Dad’s cousin’s house for dinner. It was so kind of them to invite us over and provide dinner for us after such a long day. Zach, Ben and Laura had to leave shortly after they ate because of needing to get back home for work and such.

Cooper did great through all of that and was very much the star of the show once again. He is not lacking for attention! I think one of my favorite moments was of him and my Papaw. I gave him to Papaw and he started to get kind of fussy. I told Papaw to just keep giving him his passy and
to jiggle him a little. Papaw followed my instructions and also was talking to him. Cooper was fussing and Papaw was mocking him. It was so funny to hear them go back and forth. Cooper finally quit and Papaw said “that was fun! let’s do that again”. It was so funny!!





Mom, Dad, me and Coper left on Wednesday around lunch time. We had a lazy morning of getting ready and packing up all of our stuff. We stopped by the cemetery before we left. It was still surreal to think that she was really gone.

We got back home and I got to introduce Cooper to one of my favorite restaurants... the Catfish House. It was so yummy!

Since I hadn’t gotten to meet with the people and do things that I wanted to do while I was home, I decided to stay a few more days. We filled our days with shopping, visiting friends at Bible school and meeting up with my best friends. Papaw took Cooper for a tour of the garden and Mimi introduced him to Goldie. I got to take Cooper to my home church for the first time and show him off. I think Mimi and Papaw were having more fun showing him off than I was! Haha!









Monday morning, Cooper and I packed up and headed home. We were both ready.

Cooper did amazing with all the going that we did over the week. He really didn’t get too terribly fussy and was always able to be calmed down within a few minutes of walking around, jiggling, or eating. He smiled and cooed and was just plain cute. He brought such joy to our family in such a very sad time. How kind of God to give him to us just as He was ready to call Grandma Kay home. I am so very thankful that she got to meet him and hold him and gush over him in a way that only she can do.

I will miss her.

First Road Trip Part 1

I wanted to take advantage of the time I had off to take Cooper to spend a few days in my hometown. I made it through packing for myself and a newborn. He may be little but he sure does take up a lot of space! I got the car loaded up and fed him before hitting the road. It’s about a 3.5 hour drive and I figured I’d just feed him again when we got there.

The trip went pretty well with only a couple of small stretches where he was screaming. It seemed like forever but in reality it wasn’t too bad at all. We made it to Mimi and Papaw’s house just fine. But Cooper was very ready to eat!

We were just hanging out and making some plans for the few days I’d be in town when my mom got a call from my Aunt that my grandmother had passed away. I’m pretty sure there is no way to prepare for a moment like that. It’s pretty surreal. Grandma Kay lived by herself and had not answered the phone that morning when my aunt and uncle called to check on her. My aunt went by her apartment to check on her and found her in her bed. It appeared as though she had laid down to take a nap and never woke up.

I helped mom and dad get their things packed up and went ahead with them to Memphis. It was just easier for me to go ahead with them rather than try and come in a couple of days by myself. I wanted to try and be there for my mom.

Cooper was a champ through all of this craziness and was such a joy in time of sorrow. You can’t look at him and not smile... even when you’re sad. He traveled very well on the way to Memphis and I’m sure he enjoyed having Mommy ride in the backseat with him.

Grandma Kay lived in a very small apartment and we opted to stay in a hotel during the time we were there. They were very kind and gave us a very discounted rate. So, Cooper got to stay in his first hotel. The pack ‘n play was great! It’s what he had been sleeping in at home so he didn’t have any trouble sleeping while we were there. In fact, the night before I left he’d slept for 7 hours straight and has slept at least that much ever since. I enjoyed having him literally right next to me and just having to lean over to get him and feed/change him in the mornings.


Saturday we met my aunt and uncle for late breakfast and then went to the funeral home to make arrangements. I’ve never been a part of that whole process before and was truly amazed at all the decisions a grieving family has to make. Not to mention the cost of everything. Grandma Kay had already planned out her service, and that was very helpful.

Cooper had a minor blowout when we were eating breakfast but after a diaper change in the car and outfit change, he was good to go. He was so very good! No real meltdowns during all of that except for after he’d had the blow out.

After dinner that night, we went over to Grandma Kay’s apartment for the first time. It was harder than I thought to walk in and see it knowing she wasn’t going to be there. I kept thinking she would come out at any time. It was hard seeing how she’d just left everything. Her shoes by her chair. Pictures of Cooper that she’d printed out and cut herself sitting just beside her chair. Her little notepad with her lists of things to do. She already had birthday cards with her poems in them for her friends through September. Receipts from things she had just recently ordered. Meals in the freezer that my mom and dad just left for her when mom was there.

My mom had just been up there the day before to take her to be drained. We were able to video chat with them so Grandma Kay could see me and Cooper. She was just gushing over him and couldn’t take her eyes off him. Normally she tried to give the computer right back to mom, but not that time. She loved her great-grandson! And was in such a good mood... awake and looking around. He even did the YMCA dance for her! How kind of God to give us those moments.

On Sunday we worked on finalizing the funeral arrangements and starting to go through things in her apartment. Cooper was again a little champ and slept, ate, and entertained us all with his cuteness. Zach, Ben and Laura came on that day as well.

Since we were so close to Little Rock, which is where Zach’s grandmother lives, and she had not gotten to meet Cooper yet, we decided to take a day trip over so she could meet him. It was so fun introducing the two of them! Zach’s aunt and uncle and cousins also came over to meet our little guy. I am so thankful they all got to meet him!! Cooper did great traveling again and did pretty well with all the new faces.

October

Dad's birthday is in October but I honestly can't remember what we did to celebrate. I think Zach and I were in Clarksville but I really don't remember. And I have no pics to help jog my memory. Shocker... I know! Oh well, Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!


We went to the Corn Maze/Pumpkin Patch with some family and friends at the end of the month. We had a blast!