How I "Said Yes to the Dress"

After watching a few episodes of Say Yes to the Dress, it got me reminiscing on my own experience as a bride.  
And because my dear friend from Centennial always says, "Kelly has the best stories!" I decided to share it here.

Chad and I got engaged after 5 years of on-and-off dating on December 24, 2005. I had just graduated from college a couple of weeks before. He had graduated in December 2003.
This is the beautiful ring he gave me. He picked it out on his own and I was totally shocked and impressed.....and in love.

I went out and bought a bridal magazine the next day, Christmas, and began planning my wedding. I wouldn't consider myself a girly-girl, but I do wear heels often, and fix my hair most days. But, I had really never thought about my wedding. What I would wear, where it would be, nor any other details of my "big day." Chad and I quickly decided we would get married in August, because that's when his apartment lease ran out :) Naturally.

I am very anal about a lot of things in my life. Even before I had children, I have always been extremely organized and extremely clean. So I even surprised myself at how little time I actually put into planning my one and only wedding. I think the main reason why I didn't put much time or energy into planning it was because I knew my parents were not able to help out much financially, and I certainly did not have any money for a wedding as a new college grad with an almost-equally-as-poor fiance'.  And I knew that as long as I had fabulous pictures, that's all I really needed. I wanted my wedding to be about Chad and I, and our simple (well, Chad's simple) personalities.

I saw a dress in the first wedding magazine that I bought. I didn't know where I could get it, but I knew I was going to have it. I knew simply from looking at an ad in a magazine that that was the dress! Crazy, huh?!

So I got on the phone on December 26 and began calling bridal shops to locate this dress. I found it at The Bride Room in Coolsprings (where it was at the time). I went with my best friend Meghan to try it on and was reaffirmed in my decision to "Say Yes to the Dress!"

I looked at the price and realized it was more than half of the wedding budget my parents had given me. Ouch! I had to figure this one out fast.

I had a friend who ordered her gown from a lady in NYC who specialized in making custom wedding gowns. A few emails and a week later, this lady agreed to make an exact replica of my dream wedding gown for a little more than half the price. I sent her my measurements, and 3 months later she sent me a muslin of my wedding dress. It was a total disaster!! It was way off in the style and fit. I even tried it on for Chad because I knew it looked nothing like it should. I called the dress maker in a panic and told her how awful it was. She gave me strict instructions on how to take pictures of myself in the gown and email them to her. I went to my friend Jodi's house and had her take pictures and we got them emailed back to the dress maker within 2 days.

I remained in contact with the dress maker for the next few months. I really don't recall being very nervous about this whole dress fiasco. I remember telling a friend, "Well, I could always just go buy a cheap dress of a rack somewhere."

In the meantime, I picked the venue, music, flowers, invites, and guest list...all within 6 weeks of getting engaged. I picked the first flowers and venue that I saw and loved.

I picked my photographer as soon as I picked the venue. We got married at Riverwood Mansion. It is such a beautiful, historic home and I wanted a photographer who was very comfortable shooting at that location.  We used Wharton Photography for our wedding.

Riverwood Mansion

I finally received my wedding dress 5 weeks before my wedding. I tried it on, and it fit perfectly! I couldn't believe it. I was pretty doubtful that I would be pleased with it considering how awful the muslin dress fit. But it couldn't have been more perfect. This dress maker was some kinda wonderful!

Here is the dress.

The front was a very subtle sweetheart neckline with a small amount of ruching at the waist. Very elegant and beautiful.
And Paul Wharton did an absolute, amazing job on my bridal portraits and our wedding pictures. For several years my bridal portrait hung inside War Memorial in Nashville and was on their ink pens and in their advertising fliers. That builds your confidence!
My wedding pictures are in storage or I would have uploaded some here. I may borrow my mother-in-laws pics and add them.

Our wedding went off without a hitch. I cried so much I could barely see at times. Chad cried a bit too. But don't tell him I told you;) It was perfect.

Our honeymoon, however, was a total disaster. That'll be my next blog topic.

How did you "Say Yes to the Dress"?
Kelly

Savoring these days..

As I've said before....I try to savor each, single moment with my family of four. I hope everyone else does the same. Because, after all, this day will never come again

-I study my boys faces, their little hands and feet, and try to record their little voices and laughs in my mind as if I am studying for the nursing boards.
-I aim to be completely present. Even when I would rather not be..
-I do not want to look back with regret on these formative years of raising God's children and feel guilt over working too much, yelling too much, cleaning too much, being engaged in my phone, computer, etc. too much.
-I decided when I was a new mom, that I would let go of my obsession of having a spotless house. I don't want my children to hear me constantly nagging them about keeping the house clean. I want them to play with abandon. Then clean up at the end of the day:)
-I always get down on their level, literally, when disciplining them. I don't want to discipline by physical intimidation. But rather with redirection and consequences.
-I aim to praise them to the point of looking nuts! I love the look on Cohen's face when I act like a total goofball, and dance, and jump up and down over his accomplishments.
-I carry both of them at the same time at least once a day (when I am home). I won't be able to do this forever.
-I get Cohen out of bed in the middle of the night sometimes and I put him in bed with me to cuddle. Sutton's almost big enough for this.
-I have recently started rocking and reading to each of my boys separately. I want to know both of them, I want them to each know that I am madly in love with them, that I have alone time for each of them. That each of them have their very own, special place in their Mommy's heart.

Oh how much I love that time. Cohen and I sing songs and rock after we read the book he picks out. Cohen loves to sing. Right now his favorites are "Jesus Loves Me," "The Rainbow Song" (it's really two songs..Blue Skies and Rainbows, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow), the Barney song, Lord's Army, and Happy Birthday.
He is such a tender-hearted soul. He gives hugs and kisses freely. When he hits, pushes, or steals a toy from Sutton, he tells on himself. When he gets in trouble and cries, he says, "uh-oh Mommy!" and points to his tears. I kiss them off his little face, then he smiles and goes off to play again. 

I often times struggle with Mommy Guilt over working so much and not being as present as I would like to be.  I see mommies and their little toddlers and babies in the airport and, often times,  I fight back tears because I am longing to be with my boys.  When I get too overwhelmed with guilt and missing my boys, I just pray.. alot.
I pray that I am being the best I can be, and that I am right where God means for me to be.

I hope you are savoring these days too!

Kelly

Sutton is ONE!!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, Dear Sutton. Happy Birthday to you!"
That song has been sung around our house for several weeks now. Cohen loves singing and we've been talking about Sutton's upcoming birthday for awhile.  We had such a great time at his big birthday bash!
I wanted to do something different for his party for a couple of reasons..
1) we have no extra space at our "house" right now.
2) Thank goodness our children want for nothing.

So we asked that guests bring school supplies and/or giftcards for supplies to give to a certain local elementary school that is very poor and has limited resources. Miss Jan, our family friend teaches there and has opened our eyes to the children's huge need. Miss Jan told her principle about our party and they were so excited!
We received two clothes baskets full of supplies, money, and giftcards for the school!!
Hopefully everyones' generosity was able to make a dent in the needs of the school.

I decided on the Very Hungry Caterpillar theme for the party. I love to throw parties and cannot wait to have our own home again to entertain guests. Nana, Aunt Lora, Chad and I spent a lot of time cleaning Friday night. Chad helped me hang balloons, the latern caterpillar and the happy birthday sign, while Nana and Aunt Lora prepared the food.
I made the decorations, shirt, and party hat, and put together the party favors the day before the party.
I ordered the "caterpillar body" cupcakes from Cupcake Collection in strawberry, carrot cake, wedding cake, and sweet potato flavors. The were delicious. And their cupcakes are only $1.50 each. Can't beat that price!
The party turned out just as great as i envisioned! I have my awesome, photographer, sister in law who took great pictures of the fun.... all while being 6.5 months pregnant.....with another boy:)
We sang Happy Birthday and Sutton had 1 candle in his little smash cake. Towards the end of the song, Cohen blew Sutton's candle out:) He couldn't wait! So cute.
Sutton was not scared of his cake at all. He instantly just pushed his hand into it, grabbed a bite, then another, and another, until he ate over 1/2 of the cake! He would have ate more if I didn't pull him out of the chair away from it and straight to the bathtub for a quick scrub.

Ill add official birthday pics when I have time. These are just pics from my phone.

The next day was my nephew Cale's 3rd birthday party, then it was our cousin Megan's birthday, then it was Nana's birthday, then it was our cousin Braden's birthday.
So five birthdays in 6 days for the Cochrane family! This led Cohen to ask, "When's Cohen's birthday?" Little guy was feeling so confused and left out on the birthday celebrations. So, now he can tell you his birthday is in February.....only what he says barely sounds like "February."

Kissin' on my boys,
Kelly

What's New for 12 Months?

To my big 1 year old,
You are SO big! This year has flown by so fast. I have tried my best to savor every minute, every sleepless night, every shirt that smelled of throw up, and every moment of cuddle time. You are such a amazing, happy, loving boy. You still love your Mommy so much. You still have to be with me if you see me or you have a mini-meltdown.
You now:
-Have 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth...with a third peeking through.
-Say "mama, dada, cat, book, truck, Nana" and almost anything else that Cohen says     regularly.
-Have had 2 ear infections your first year..
-And the worst diaper rash Ive ever seen
-You climb on everything, fall often, but rarely cry.
-You still love your bear and take him everywhere
-Chase the cat around, giggling
-Talk to Cohen every night in your crib before you fall asleep
-Have refused to nurse the past week...This makes me really sad. I hope you change your mind. I'm not ready to loose that precious time with you.
-Still suck your right thumb, with your pointer finger resting on your nose, very often. You suck your thumb when you're tired, and bored. Or just because you can. It is very cute! Right now:)
-You take your afternoon nap while i am holding you sometimes. I love this. I started doing it out of necessity to keep you boys separated at nap time so you won't wake each other up. Yet, I rock you to sleep during naptime and hold you while I read whenever I can.
-You love to slide and swing. You throw yourself down the slide if I let you.
-I have had to tell you "No" for the first time lately.  When I told Cohen "no" at your age, he would pout and get his feelings hurt. You just smile that precious, dimpled smile.
-Cohen is by far your best buddy already....besides me. You have to do whatever he does. He is pretty sweet to you though.
-You eat anything we give you. Massive amounts of food! Your favorite foods now are broccoli, and any kind of fruit.

You are such a loving, happy child. So far you and Cohen have both been very easy children. Which makes me more eager to have another baby. I hope to convince Chad to have 2 more kids. We'll see....

My Father, Who Art in Heaven...

As I sit in my hotel room in Cleveland, OH this is what is on my mind.....

I am so thankful for technology. I am able to Facetime my husband and my sweet boys when I am out of town. This is so amazing. Cohen thinks it is the funniest thing that he can see me. He kisses the phone. Sutton just smiles that big dimpled smile and laughs when he sees me on the phone. It makes the nights away feel a little closer.

I have struggled at times with the travel that this job requires. It is a very easy, non-stressful job. I am gone 2-3 days per week but when I am home, I am not working at all which is great. But I do miss my family so much. 
The past few weeks though, I have changed my way of thinking and the days away are less lonely.... I have realized I am not at all alone. My Father is always with me. I often times fall asleep praying at night before I even get out one thought. But when I am alone driving, flying, or sitting in my hotel room I am able to feel His presence. I know I am not alone. I talk out loud to Him as if he were physically next to me. This has been such an amazing feeling!
I really prayed a lot about this huge job change because I was very happy in my previous job. Everything fell into place for this job to happen. The first several weeks I was miserable with the travel and I couldn't figure out why I felt God had lead me to this job.....Now I think I know:)

Blessings!
Kelly

I can feel it:)

It is almost that time of the year....I can feel it now as I sit on the back porch in the dark night.  I hear the leaves rustling and feel the cool breeze.  I look forward to this around July 5 every summer.
I LOVE FALL! I could live with no summer if it meant a longer fall.


This reminds me of growing up in Fairview on Forest Glen Road. So beautiful!



I sure hope there is autumn in heaven....and pumpkins too!

Can't wait to "fall" in love with this season and my three handsome boys!



Why does this make national news?......

This morning I was watching Good Morning America, as I do most mornings.  There was a story about a mommy-blogger who caused a firestorm because she took a vacation and left her 10 week old baby at home. There were 2 people on GMA to discuss this issue and then GMA also polled people on the street to ask what they thought about a mom leaving her baby to go on a vacation.
Seriously? This is news-worthy?
People said rude comments and even said that if you want to take a vacation and leave your baby at home then you weren't ready to be a parent to start with.

Why am I blogging about this you may wonder?

Because I took a 4 day vacation with my best girlfriends and left Cohen when he was 8 weeks old. I had decided before he was born that I was going to do everything I could to make this girls' trip. It was a bachelorette getaway for one of my 8 best friends from college. So, very quickly after Co was born I began "power-pumping" to save enough breast milk for him to have in my absence. This was extremely time-consuming. I even set my alarm to wake up and pump in the middle of the night once he dropped the 2am feeding. I was also taking my 26 herbal supplement pills per day to increase my supply.
I was a bit nervous about leaving him with my mom and Chad and thought about not going on the trip a few times. Yet, at the last minute I knew I had to go.
I had to go for a few reasons.
1) The first weeks of being a mommy are exhausting. This trip would provide some rest.
2) I knew I would be a better mommy for taking a few days to let loose.
3) My husband realized how difficult it is to care for a baby, and he appreciated all my hard mommy work even more.
4) Cohen would never miss me.

I pumped the entire trip, and had a wonderful time with my besties.  Cohen did fine without me. Chad did great flying solo for the first time as a daddy.
I honestly do not understand why there was such anger over a mother taking a vacation and leaving her child behind. Who cares?
I highly recommend getting away any time you can. Your child and your mind will thank you:)

Oh yeah, Chad and I both went on a week vacation to the Bahamas when Cohen was 5 months old and left him with our parents. And yes, Co did fine. And I also pumped the entire trip and Chad carried over 200 ounces of frozen breast milk in a backpack for me through security as his carry-on on the way home! That's a great husband:)

Sutton is 10 Months!

Our little "Henner" (my nickname for Sutton) is 10 months!  I took the monthly picture in the baby leather chair with a sign, but I have packed up my camera cable so I cannot download those pics to the blog. I'll add them in a few months when we unpack. Until then, Ill just use pictures from my phone.

Sutton is walking!  I have been traveling so much lately I was so worried I would miss this special moment. But he is such a Mommy's boy that he literally started walking about 2 minutes after I got home from Minnesota last Friday!  He waited for me to see it!! He walked from one side of our living room, to the other, all while holding a lunchbox full of cars.
Cohen said, "Yay, Sut-ton walking!"

He has three top teeth and two bottom ones.
He is now in the "bucket" class at church. Those babies are so cute sitting in those buckets around the table.
Sutton eats 100% table food. No more baby food unless I get lazy and don't cook a nutritious meal, then I give him some baby food to push in nutrients. I loathe giving my kids baby food. He is a huge eater. Everyday my boys eat the same thing for breakfast. This is because Cohen always wants "yogurt and oatmeal" and so I feed Henner the same thing. And then they both get a fresh fruit. Usually berries of some sort. Sutton literally eats the same amount of food that Co does. And Cohen is a big eater!

He still carries his lovie around. He cannot sleep without it. Literally! If he wakes up screaming at night, it is almost always because he dropped it from his crib. As soon as I give it to him, he wraps it in his left hand, and sucks his right thumb then falls right to sleep.

He moved to a big boy carseat yesterday. I took out their carseats to clean my car then decided I would go ahead and put the big boy carseat in for Sutton. He's still rear-facing of course, but loves sitting up at a better angle. He and Cohen were holding hands in the car yesterday:)

Still nursing...and hoping to continue.
He's such a happy, laid-back boy!  I am ready for another baby....Chad is not. So it will be awhile.

Nana brought Co a kangaroo and a shirt from Australia. He tried to put the shirt on while in the car..then fell asleep:)



Cohen at our neighborhood "Redneck Olympics"




Sutton's first Sunday in the bucket class




Swinging at the park. Our favorite thing to do on a beautiful day!

 Loving the life God gave me!

Counting down the days.

We are counting down the days until we move out of our house into Nana and Pop's house for a few months while our house is being built.
This is so bittersweet. This townhome is full of so many precious memories. Chad and I bought this house a few months before we married and moved into it 6 months after we married. Cohen and Sutton began their precious lives here, and we have made 5 1/2 years of memories here.
We have ah-mazing neighbors that we will miss dearly. But we will be sure to stay in touch and invite them all over to our neighborhood pool next summer!

Remembering what actually makes a home....

Kelly 

Worthy of note...Letters to my boys

Sweet, Sutton Henry,

You are an absolute joy to parent! You are 10 months this week and are such a happy boy. You are always smiling with that big, dimpled smile.  You have 2 bottom teeth, 1 top tooth, and you are getting two more top teeth right now.  That means you have had a slight fever and been waking up at night for a week now.  Even though I am exhausted the next day, I LOVE those middle of the night feedings to soothe you.  I secretly hope you nurse for a few more months. 
You are crawling everywhere, and taking 3-5 steps a few times per day.  I don't want you to walk.  It seems that you are growing so much faster than your brother did. 
You are still very much your Mommy's boy in so many ways. You look like me and always want to be with me.  It is so sweet. You have started to stare at your brother and just watch him with amazement.  You play great by yourself if Cohen isn't around. You eat everything. A typical breakfast for you at 10 months is: a banana, oatmeal, and a yogurt!  You also still nurse 4-5 times per day.
I am traveling a lot with this new job which means I am a warrior pumper:)  I take my pump with me on the road and on the plane.  I am so in love with you. You say "Da-da, Ma-ma, bye-bye." You also fake cough when we cough, and mock any sound that Cohen does. You are such a silly baby.  You make me heart smile all the time with your sweet personality and that wonderful smile.  You can't be without your bear. You have the bear in your teeth or in your hand whenever I go to get you out of your crib. If you wake up crying, I go to get you and you have your bear in  your hand. You hold it all the time. I love it. I made sure we have 4 of them so you will never be without one. You still suck your thumb when you are bored or tired. I always know when you are either of the above because you put your right thumb in your mouth. If I am feeding you and taking too long between bites, you put your thumb in your mouth then move it when the spoon gets to your lips.
I look forward to seeing your personality grow and bloom as you get older.
I pray daily for you. I pray for your health and for you to love God with all your heart.
I love you to the heavens and back!!
Mommy

Worthy of note... letters to my boys.

Dear Precious Cohen Michael, You are an unbelievable joy! I love your infectious laughter, the way you always wake up happy, the way you always say, "Yay, Cone!" when you do something you're proud of. You are growing so big and strong. I am amazed at you everyday. You are two and a half this month, and getting smarter by the minute. You know how to count to ten, all your colors and shapes, and can recognize most letters. You are so loving and sweet most of the time. You do have your meltdowns, but what two year old doesn't? You say, "go away, Mommy!" It breaks my heart, yet makes me laugh at the same time. I have no idea where you learned that. Sometimes you tell Sutton, "you go take a nap!" when you don't want to share your Mommy anymore. You are using the potty all the time for Lola, but only half the time at home. I made you a cape to wear. It is red on one side, green on the other, and ties with a yellow ribbon. It had a "C" on it, but you tore it off. You put your cape on "the red side" and run around the living room with it on. Daddy and I say it makes you run super fast! Tonight, you and Mommy ran circles around the living room and laughed and laughed. You always ran faster than me because you were wearing your cape! I started letting you sleep in our bed sometimes at night because I know it won't last forever. One day, when you are 12 and too cool for me, I will want to hold you and rock you to sleep but you won't let me. So I do it as often as Daddy will let me. So now, almost every night you say, "I take a nap with Mommy" and run to our bed. We put you to sleep in your bed, but I sometimes go get you after your asleep and put you in bed with me. We cuddle and hold hands. I started a new job last month which makes me travel overnight 2-3 days a week. I miss you three SO much while I am gone. You ask Lola about me all the time. Daddy said you had a bad dream last week and asked for your Mommy. I won't be traveling for too much longer, hopefully. I pray daily for you. My main prayer is for you and Sutton to be men of God. If you love God with all your heart then everything else will fall into place. I love you to the heavens and back!

Sutton is 9 months!

Sweet Sutton Henry is 9 months! 
He continues to be such a happy, content child.  He is ALWAYS smiling with those sweet dimples.  He loves his brother, and will follow him around the room wherever he goes. He is still a huge Mommy's boy. He must be next to me if I am close by.  No one else can hold him for long when I am in the room.  He makes my heart melt daily.  Whenever I go to pick them up at Miss Lily's, he crawls so fast to my feet and pulls up for me to pick him up!
Sutton has two bottom teeth, and one of his top front teeth has just broken thru.  He can stand up for a few seconds without falling, and pulls up and cruises on everything.
Just recently, he has really gotten attached to his bear lovey.  It is magical to him. He can be extremely fussy and mad, but give him his bear and he is immediately ready for bed.  We now have four of these magical bears!  He is still a thumb-sucker and he takes his bear and wraps it around his fingers while he goes to sleep.
He also will put the bear lovey in his mouth and crawl around the floor with it.  It beyond sweet:)

Cohen and Sutton will just laugh out loud at each other while we are in the car.  Co will do something, Sutton will copy him, and then they will just cackle.

Now, for some pictures of these perfect boys!

Co said "cheese" when he got in this box. I took his picture, then he said,
"I want more cheese in the box!"

There is the magical bear lovey.  Just not so magical in this picture:)

These boys are so, so much fun!  Chad and I think we have the funniest family. We laugh at the crazy things Cohen says everyday.  He is such a funny, sweet, boy!  He is always watching out for Sutton.  He will see Sutton crawling towards the cat food, and grab the bowl and put the cat food on the table, and say, "No cat food, Sutton!"

Much Love,
Kelly

Wild, Crazy Summer!

I haven't updated the blog in awhile, and apologies for this post not having any pictures.  My camera is in Cohen's room and I dare not wake him to get it.
This summer has been the busiest, craziest couple of months in my adult life.  But God has held my hand and eased my anxiety throughout this time.


I'll start in April....I got a phone call from a recruiter asking if I was interested in taking a job as a clinical specialist.  I was not looking for a job at all, however I decided I would interview for the position and see where God led me.  I was very, very prayerful that God would lead me whichever way He knew was best for me and my family.  Well, the first week of June I received an official job offer letter, and.......we got a contract on our townhome!  The day before we got the contract, the townhomes across the street burned and 3 families lost everything. So sad, but everyone was unharmed. Praise God!




My new employer!

A month after we got the contract on our townhome we bought another house!  Well, it is being built and will be finished in February.  We are very excited to be building our home where our family will stay for a long time, God willing.  I have already envisioned the home very full of so much love and laughter with our boys running up and down the stairs and playing ball with their Daddy in the back yard!  It is just a few miles away from us now, off of Concord Road.  We have had to go speak with the builder a few times and when we drive through the neighborhood Cohen says, "Big house. Cool house. Mommy, Daddy, Cohen, Sutton get a new house?!" His best bud Woodson also lives the next street over. This leads him to say, "Woosson's house! I want to see Woosson!" Then he screams when we pass Woodson's street.

I also got a new work phone, which means my primary phone number will change. This is a bummer because I have had the same cell phone number since 1997! 

Lovin' this crazy life!

Vacation with the Cochranes

We went to FL with Chad's family last week for 7 days. Chad's parents, siblings, sister-in-law, and nephew all went. We had such a great time. Every morning we had a home-cooked breakfast by Pop then went out the the great kid pool. The big boys played at the pool, while Sutton napped. This kid pool was the best! It was only 1 foot deep but had a slide, jungle gym thing, and water spouts. The boys had a blast.

Cohen and Cale are only 5 months apart so they were a handful! Make that 5-6 handfuls. Everyone took their turn parenting those two. It definitely takes a village to raise two 2-year olds. Lol! They were cackling and having a blast one minute, then pushing and crying the next minute. It was so much fun to watch them play. Neither of them liked the beach, but Sutton LOVED it!

Showing their muscles!

Happy as always

We also went to the Alligator Farm and the fort Castillo De San Marcus in St. Augustine.  The boys loved all the alligators and crocodiles.



Chad is acting crazy, as always. The boys look perplexed:)





The boys checking out the Komodo Dragon



Cale being brave looking into the cannon at the fort!



The Cochrane boys

 We had such a wonderful time! We are so blessed to have such a great family. My sister-in-law is pregnant so next summer will be even more exciting!

Life is sweet!!



Birthday Party Fun!

Cohen's friend Ethan turned 3 on Saturday and we were invited to his fabulous birthday party.  We met all the other friends at the Fire Station.  The firemen gave each boy a fireman's hat. Then the boys were free to explore the fire trucks and climb into the driver's seat.  Ethan evan rang the bell on the firetruck! It was such a great party.

Cohen is such a handsome boy!

He was totally mesmerized by the trucks.

He even let Sutton help him drive.

It was impossible to get all the kids to look at the camera.

Happy Birthday, Ethan! What a great party!!

After the fire station, we went to Ethan's house and the boys played on a bounce house, ate hot dogs and cupcakes.  Sutton even grabbed my cupcake out of my hand and took a big bite.  We had a great time.  However, it would have been MUCH better if Chad were there because I had to carry a screaming, fighting Cohen out of the party under my arm because he did NOT want to leave.  Along with Sutton.  I felt like I was wrestling a 35 pound alligator!  Chad had an excuse though...his great friend's wedding reception was at the same time as the party.
I felt a little less embarrassed about my tantrum-throwing toddler when Ethan's mommy told me that a few other kids had to be carried out of the party screaming too:)
Thanks, Andersons, for giving us such great memories! We love you!

Kelly