Pumpkins for Baby Sam

After a fun day yesterday playing with our friend Drew, Cooper and Kendall slept until 9AM!!! That is unheard of (by Cooper anyway!) so we were really excited. We definitely couldn't make it to Sunday School, so we skipped church and enjoyed a lazy, fun morning playing cars, eating pancakes and watching cartoons. We have been talking about getting some pumpkins since Friday, so before lunch we headed to find some pumpkins. A*'s market in M*ville was the only place that was open and out in the fresh air (I have trouble buying pumpkins with my kids out of a cardboard box from the grocery store!). It wasn't a pumpkin patch, but fun nonetheless. Cooper was very excited to buy some little bitty pumpkins for his new cousin, Baby Sam. Coop tried hard to help Daddy load the pumpkins into the truck!
Little Miss Priss just had to go shopping in her shades!

After nap, we headed over the Uncle Dave and Aunt Emily's house to celebrate Dave's birthday. We brought a fun cookie cake that I think ended up being more for our kids than Uncle Dave! We just love looking at Baby Sam, rocking him in the cradle, and holding his teeny-tiny hands.

The first stop was Sam's cradle where he was (WAS) sleeping soundly.

Cooper had so much fun taking pictures of Baby Sam with one of Aunt Emily's "pretend" cameras! I have no idea where he gets that!

Peaceful Sam (this must have been before the kids tried to rock him "gently!"

Sam gets a kiss from Daddy as a thank you for his birthday card. He's such a smart kid...writing already!

YUM! That was some good cookie cake! Too bad Dave and Emily's couch is probably ruined forever b/c of how yummy the cookie was!

Weekend Addition of "Cooper's Quotes"... I'll set the scene: Dave and Em have some toys for the kids at their house. One is, of course, a car. Cooper has enticed many folks over the weekend to play with him and at some point someone, I think David, "fixed the gas tank." Tonight, apparently the gas tank broke again. Cooper was trying very hard to find someone to "fix" the tank but no one was jumping at the chance. Cooper says "Daddy, Daddy, can you fix the gas thank? You're a man...you can fix it." Ok, I mean, seriously? We can't make this stuff up.

Happy Birthday Dave, Lost Bets & Other Weekend News

A big Happy Birthday to the new Dad in the family, David W., tomorrow! I won't mention exactly which one it is in case he's having trouble with it. I will say, though, that I had my 30th birthday about a year and a half ago and that just happens to be how much younger Dave is than I am. Here is a couple of pictures of our visit with Baby Sam last night. Hopefully he was nice to his Mommy and Daddy and had a good first night at home.

As promised, I wore my "Gators" shirt to tennis this morning. Luckily for me, there were no rules for the t-shirt I had to wear. I think the words were that I had to wear a "Gators shirt." Therefore, I had a friend monogram a shirt for me that simple said "Gators" at the top and then in bright VOL-orange, it said "I Lost A Bet!" Lenny didn't say too much about it and everyone got a good laugh. Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to bet on the UT/Auburn game. Pretty soon I will have the entire UT schedule on the front of my shirt (I'm using the same shirt and a Sharpie may be involved!). Yes, in case you are wondering, I indeed HAVE learned my lesson and will no longer be choosing UT in any games this season. In my heart, I believe we can beat Northern Illinois next week, but I'm keeping my mouth shut.

The "rule" was that a picture had to be involved. I followed thru, but didn't feel the need to tell Lenny you couldn't really read my shirt very well!

Speaking of UT football, we had a few friends over to watch the Vols play very badly against Auburn. The Painters came and got a good idea of what a house full of happily sugared-up kids looks like! Kendall's fiance Drew was here with his parents as well and Cooper, Kendall and Drew kept themselves easily occupied with marbles. We had our eyes on them most of the time to make sure no one swallowed them, but we didnt' do a good job of making sure Cooper didn't throw them! Drew allowed his Smokey Dog to do his kissing for him a couple of weeks ago, but not this week! We thought this might make a good picture in their wedding slideshow!

Cooper didn't like it however. He quickly took notice of the smooch and dove in for the tackle. What a good big brother!

New Kid On The Block

Well, well...here we are...talking about my new NEPHEW! I can't believe it. Chip and I were just positive it was a girl. Cooper, on the other hand, has hardly ever waivered in his opinion that it was ALWAYS baby Samuel from the very beginning.

It's true, Samuel was born today at 1:59PM weighing 6lbs 7.8ounces and was 17 1/2 inches long. Emily looks and seems to feel pretty good and they hope to go home sometime Friday afternoon.

Which leads me to today's addition of "Cooper's Quotes." I told Cooper this morning that Emily's baby was going to be out of her belly soon. He seems to have become a little bit bored with all this talk of "Emily's Baby" for the past 8 months or so, but we continued to discuss it anyway. He said to me "is the baby at Emily and David's house?" No. "When will the baby be in my bed?" For those that don't know, Cooper's sweet crib was passed down from Kori to Kali to Cooper and now to Baby Samuel. Cooper was pretty distraught for a while when he saw Daddy take his baby bed apart and store it against the garage wall. Later this morning (before Sam was born) while riding in the car, Cooper, out of the blue, asked from the backseat "mommy, do you think Baby Sam is out of Emily's belly yet?"

I guess Cooper will be picking our lottery numbers from now on! I kept dreaming that the newest Baby Webb was of the female variety, but alas, I should have had more faith in my smarty-pants son. Every time I ever asked Kendall about Emily's baby, she would just repeat the word "baby" over and over again. I think she's just excited to have a baby to snuggle and cover in blankets!

David is very excited to be a new dad!

The Webb clan, sans Cooper and Kendall who were snug in their beds, oblivious to the Webb Party at the hospital! They are invited to the next party tomorrow!

The proud Aunt and Uncle (and parents of BIG babies) say..."How do we hold a 6 pound baby?"

That makes me sick!

We've seen better Wednesdays around the Webb house. Cooper was a tad under the weather today, if you consider "tad" to be throwing up and sleeping on the floor. Coop just wasn't up to school today so he and I headed home and hunkered down in the basement where he proceeded to throw up all over his blanket (very traumatic for one still attached to a blanket). After that was over he decided, for whatever reason, that the floor was more comfortable than the couch so he snuggled up between the couch and the ottoman and slept for over two hours!! I might need to try that the next time I can't get to sleep. Kendall arrived home around 4 and Cooper was better by then.

Great news, well, I guess...my dad is in the hospital with some kind of mean bug that has him horribly dehydrated (that's not the "great" part by the way!!!) which means he's now sharing the hospital with Emily (my sis-in-law) who is hoping to have a baby sometime on Thursday. I imagine my dad will be ready to leave as soon as possible but Em will be willing to stay for a good week or so while the nurses take fantastic care of her and my new niece (ok, or nephew, but I'm sticking with niece. I've been pretty good at being an aunt to little girls...I think). You're always ready to have the comfort of your bed, etc. when you've been gone...except after you've had a baby...you hardly get to feel the comfort of your own bed except for about an hour at a time and there aren't paid nurses there to help you care for your newborn! There weren't for me, anyway! Luckily we got to go out to eat last night with Uncle Dave and Aunt Emily for the last time without three kids running around...only two. Cooper had collected pine cones at my grandparents earlier in the day and insisted on bringing them in the restaurant. He marched up and down the aisle, telling all about his pine cones. Fun for him, only slightly embarrassing for the rest of us.

I hope to start a new section of my blog...Cooper's Quotes. There are usually plenty, as is normal with a 3 yr old, so it shouldn't be a problem. Today, after we came upstairs from the "sick basement" Cooper told me he needed "new water" because "I don't want my hurting water." I asked, "why is it 'hurting water' and he said "my belly was hurting. that's my hurting water."

Below is a video from happier days. Last week we enjoyed a long afternoon outside where Cooper and Kendall had fun playing and laughing on the porch swing.

All Vols Go To Heaven

It's true. I have to believe it. Life is kinda tough in East Tennessee still today. I lost a very bad (on my part) bet while at tennis Saturday before the hard-to-mention Florida game. Coach Lenny is what I call an Anti-Vol. Not sure why, I just know he loves to rub it in when the Vols lose. I wasn't going to be stupid, wasn't going to give in to any of his threats and requests for bets, but it got a little heated (it's a mainly men's clinic and they love a good fight) and the next thing I know, I'm agreeing to wear a GATORS shirt at tennis this coming Saturday. Well, since I have that painful experience yet to come, the kids and I dressed in our best ALL VOL tennis attire on Monday for a trip to Centre Court.It's important that we rub it in that we are true TN fans and love them no matter what. When we got home, I have to admit, I was quick to change my clothes, but the kids love their orange! Daddy was playing in a golf tournament yesterday so we played outside all afternoon with all the fun neighborhood kids while enjoying the weather. Then we headed to out to eat pizza with our neighbors Ms. Sherry, Nathan and Stephanie.

You can almost hear "good ole rocky top" in this photo of the 2 playing catch w/ the little yellow ball.
And in this one I hear "climb every mountain..." Kendall loves to climb up the hill and then slowly, carefully shuffle her way back down, to do it all over again.
Cooper enjoys practicing his gymnastics moves. He's got the forward somersault down pat!
Here Cooper is playing a game I had never heard of where he yells words I can't understand and then falls, rolls, and puts his feet up to the sky. He had to be quite itchy when this long game in the grass was over.
You can't beat these smiles! What a PERFECT afternoon in our neighborhood!

Florida Weekend

It deserves it's own title in my blog, it really does. I can't remember the last time it was ever so hard to be a Tennessee fan as it is today. I also can not remember ever leaving a game early while with Terry Webb, but we did on Saturday. It was borderline embarrassing and for it to be Florida was just salt on the wound. For those of you not following SEC football, we got killed on Saturday and they might have been being nice.

We had a great weekend for the most part. We gave Miss April enough money for this month's car payment b/c she came both Friday night and Saturday night. We made plans for Friday long before vacation and we weren't thinking about the two long days we would be gone. Luckily, the kids ADORE "Miss Apple" and are totally fine with us leaving. With April, we usually get pushed out the door by the kids. We enjoyed a very relaxing evening out on the lake on Friday and then dinner at Emma's restaurant at Choto Marina (hint, we're not raving).

Sunday was almost TOO relaxing. When we got home from church the kids were begging to play outside even though Chip and I were starving. The weather was pretty much perfect in my opinion. Cooper got to "rest" on the couch before going to a 2:00 birthday party for his friend Abram at a new indoor putt-putt place in M*ville. I stayed home to let Sleeping Beauty get her rest. Then we stayed outside the entire afternoon. I think I came close to falling asleep a couple of times sitting in my chair...it was that great outside!

I brought my camera to the UT/FL game, but for whatever reason I didn't feel compelled to take any pictures. Here's a picture from the previous week...a WIN against UAB.

After the UAB game, we picked the kids up and had dinner out with Grandad. Kendall celebrated the Vols only win so far this season with a big plate of pasta, which, as you can tell, she thoroughly enjoyed!

I see potential here! Cooper had a blast at Abram's golfing party!

The Park with the "In Laws"

No, not the Webb's. We decided to go to the park and feed the ducks today with the bread we left at home when we left for the beach. In addition, we thought we'd add some fun by getting ice cream for everyone. They enjoyed it, but boy was it messy! I packed the car with my camera and the bread before work today, so I was prepared! I called my great friend Joy who is the mommy of my future son-in-law. The important thing to know is that Kendall has her pick of many boys in the M*ville area. I am pretty sure ALL of my friends have boys except for a select few, maybe even just 1 or 2!!! Alas, Drew and Kendall started school together, where their love blossomed quickly. Drew made a good first impression and Kendall made her choice obvious. Her current favorite bedtime "story" is her photo album from school. She points and says everyone's name in a sweet voice, until we get to Drew...it is a high-pitched squeal of delight..."DEW"!!! We had so much fun today...the boys did boy things while Kendall cried about getting her hands sticky from the melted ice cream. We walked, fed the ducks, "beep-beeped" in the tunnel and put on an impromptu talent show on the outdoor stage (the judges decided it was a 3-way tie!). We love our time with good friends and seeing the kids enjoy themselves wholeheartedly! What puts a smile on your face more easily than seeing your kids in situations of pure, true joy? Running in an open field after eating ice cream certainly falls under the category of "pure joy" as a child (and an adult, right?!).

Drew is a pure gentleman...he knows we don't allow kissing yet, so he's getting Smokey to do his dirty work!

We're in the tunnel here, saying "beep-beep" instead of cheese. It got their attention better than "cheese." With some pretty active toddlers, you have to get creative!

The boys enjoy working together, doing "man work" like moving brush. The City of M*ville would be proud to have citizens that help with park clean-up!

Broadway ain't go nothin' on M*ville

This pretty much sums up the afternoon... sticky face, chocolate-covered shirts and loads of silly smiles!

Cousins

Beach Bums

Sometimes we don't always want to be with our cousins! Poor Cooper. Girls everywhere!

Kendall, Kenzie, Kaitrin and Cooper. Whew. That's a mouthful! Where's Kara, Kori and Kali? Katy? Kayley?


"Cousins" seem to be on the mind today. As I told stories of our vacation to the girls at work, I discussed my sweet cousin Alyssa who just gave birth. When talking about Lyssa, I had to talk about Susie. When talking about Susie, we have to talk about cousins Marnie and Katy, too. When trying to bribe Cooper to use the potty, I reminded him that Aunt Kara and cousins Kori and Kali really wanted to get another call from him telling them he had gotten another prize for going potty so much. When looking through vacation photos for the hundredth time, we realize how much we wish we could live anywhere near the KPKK clan. And finally, I received pictures from Aunt Emily tonight of her 3-D ultrasound. She's due to give birth to Baby Girl (we don't know, but that's what I think!) in the next couple of weeks and we are SO excited that Aunt Emily will no longer have a baby in her belly! Thinking about these particular cousins has us thinking about all the others, too...the ones far away, the ones close but that we don't see...we have lots of cousins! We are so lucky! We love them all. So, cousins, cousins, cousins. We miss them, we love them, we pray for them. These are a few photos of our favorite cousins (here's a secret...they are ALL our favorites!).

Did you see it coming?

Well, after I emailed a lot of you last week almost everyday of our vacation, some of you might not be surprised to learn I've decided to blog. Many of my friends do it and love it. I might not do it everyday...Probably more like every week, but I hope it helps those of you who don't live close and even those that do. I know we have lots of family that lives far away, but we also have lots of friends and family that live very close but we still don't get to see everyone as much as we would like to. Maybe this will keep us "in touch" a little more...or at least help you to see the more day-to-day lives of our crazy kids! You can save our website to your Favorites. I don't think I will email my posts each time, but maybe to start out I will (who knows!)...we'll see...More to come...