The Birthday Boy

I can't figure it out, but for some reason, I find that someone, somewhere, is trying to convince me that my sweet, sweet baby boy is turning into an official Big Boy this week. Could it be the John Deere birthday party? The preschool graduation? The Kindergarten testing? The 5 year well-visit? Goodness. All of the above is happening in the first part of this week and I don't know whether to laugh, cry or run away. It's amazing how quickly 5 years will pass. Several people have attempted to convince me of this fact over the years, but I quickly dismissed every single one of them in hopes that "easier" days would come soon. As all parents out there know, there is no such thing. I don't exactly regret ever wishing the younger years to pass, but I certainly appreciate every moment I get to hug and kiss his sweet little cheeks. Before he realizes he should be embarrassed of it in public! I will miss the younger days with Cooper, for sure, but I am so excited for what is to come. He's growing into a well-behaved, courteous, intelligent little BOY who will enter kindergarten in less than 3 months (Ouch. That hurt.). I shed several tears watching him in his cap and gown tonight at graduation, but I'm so excited about learning what he can still become!

Here's my favorite type of blog...a trip down memory lane (but in no particular order!) with some of my all-time favorite pictures...

The cousins (long before there was a Baby Sam!). Cooper was just a month past 2 years on this vacation to visit the Wilbourns! Kendall was 7 months! WOW!
Happy Birthday to two! Cooper got to celebrate his first year with his Great-Grandma Odie, who celebrates a birthday a day before him!

Funny story about this picture. It was taken just after we moved into our house, when Cooper was 11 months old. See those shorts? Our chubby little baby boy was wearing 18-24 months at that point. And just YESTERDAY, our picky little eater wore the very SAME shorts. Go ahead, laugh out loud!

Cooper at 4 months. I can't even begin to count how many times we've returned to this very same spot to skip rocks and set out on adventures in the woods!

Cooper at 3. In the mountains again and, obviously hating every minute of it! =)

I just love this picture. I love the kid, too, and the fact that he looks completely comfortable on the tennis court. But, I really, really love the picture! He's so cool!

Daddy gets a turn to convince Cooper to take up his sport.

This is one of my top 10 photos, ever. Once again, we're in Daphne. The kid loves the water, what can we say?!

Cooper-Dooper...You are the absolute LOVE of our life (a title you, quite obviously, share with your sister) and every single day you make us laugh hysterically, you fill our hearts with amazing joy and you make us realize what pure happiness is all about. I tell you everyday and I will tell you everyday until you beg me to stop...You are my very, very favorite little boy in the whole entire world!! Happy 5th Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's Up, ButterCup?

It's not too often I drive by a house and say to myself, "gee, I am so, so glad they haven't mowed their yard." But, every spring since we've lived in this house, I say it when I pass Mimi's parents' house across from our neighborhood. The sweet little buttercups grow about 100 times faster than any regular grass and it couldn't look more beautiful on a warm sunny day.

Naturally, I see those millions of little yellow flowers and immediately think "Photo Op." So last weekend when Chip forced himself to mow our yard, I packed the the camera up and bribed my kids with whatever it took to try to convince them to take some pictures. The pictures, they refused, but the ride there, they did not.

Mamaw and Papaw's ButterCups. I can't possibly be the only one that looks at these and remembers being in 3rd grade, rubbing one on your friend's chin on the playground to see if they like butter??
The Ride. Somehow Chip rigged it so the wagon, aka "Kendall's Chariot," was hitched to Cooper's Jeep. Obviously, she was enjoying the ride.

Kendall finds a ladybug. Excuse me, TinkerBell finds a ladybug. Remember, "choose your battles." TinkerBell, woods, fields...buttercups. It all goes together just fine.

I got one picture of each of them. One. As you can see, Cooper's sidewalk wounds have healed nicely and today there is no evidence of the accident whatsoever.

We were there for all of 10 minutes. After 2 minutes of hiking thru the flowers, Kendall waved the white flag. She missed her chariot.

United States of the Merica

It's been a rough weekend around the Webb house and, while I probably have plenty of things to blog about, I don't have the energy, time, or extended periods by myself to do so. The past few weeks has been pretty crazy in itself. Chip and I have started a new workout program that seems to both suck the life out of us AND eat up every spare minute we always thought we didn't have. You would think I would have a million pictures to post after starting photography class, but since I'm now second guessing everything I do with my camera, that is just not so.

The weekend started with yet another trip for me to the emergency room at Blount Memorial with what I believe to be my 5th kidney stone. I don't think I screamed as loud or for nearly as long when you combine the labor of my two children. However, this was a relatively easy trip to the ER. I was brought right back and was back home after about 3 hours. Chip wasn't able to make it until after the morphine started (my poor mother had to endure both the ride to the ER and the time it took for the meds to kick in) so he simply played games on his phone while I dozed in and out waiting for the official diganosis.

The weekend is ending with Cooper on the couch with what seems to be a stomach bug. Hopefully we can get him outside so that the fresh, beautiful, warm air can make him feel better quickly! The rest of us plan to take turns enjoying the outdoors!

Until I have a better batch of photos and/or funny stories to tell you about, here's a couple of videos from a week or so ago.

Easter Pictures...And not much else.

Easter seems so long ago that I feel like the best thing to do is just post pictures. If I took the time to remember every great detail, all the funny things that were said and the meaningful time we spent with family...you might get a new blog by Mother's Day!

The sun is just too much for Cooper, so he borrow's Mommy's sunglasses.
This cracks me up. Sam couldn't care less that he has a bucket on his head, he just wants to put that egg back together!

My sad attempt at an Easter picture.

Kendall and Auntie Em.

My Easter Chick.

The "other" Webb Family

The little rascal wouldn't look forward, just off to the side with that sly little look that says "he-he. I'm not gonna cooperate!"

Kendall waits patiently (pretty much) to go outside for our Saturday Family Egg Hunt. As a nice touch, we found a beautifully painted egg in our house later. TWO weeks later. And yes, not surprisingly, it was the smell that tipped us off.

Cooper WAS wearing a really cute outfit. However, he only wore it to church and took half the outfit off in the car after church.

Who's on First???

The day finally came. Saturday was a big day for the Wild Webb Family. It was, arguably, The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives. Or better, The Day Our Lives Changed Forever. It's true. Why, you ask? What could possibly be so life-changing that you haven't already heard about it?
We attended our first Baseball Jamboree. We had our first of millions of sunny, warm afternoons at the ballpark.
Drew's Mommy said it best in a text that morning..."See you at the ballpark." That was a statement I had not used or heard since 1992 when I myself was spending most of my weekends at Maryville Little League (GO Nuggets and GO Rebels!). And until this week, I hadn't really realized we were "there" yet. It may not always be Alcoa Youth Baseball fields, of course. We might be referring to the tennis court, the soccer field or the golf course. Heaven forbid we ever be speaking of the football field! Alas, our lives have changed. We are Baseball Dads and Soccer Moms, officially.

Kendall had a great hit. Notice, this is not plural. This is tee-ball, folks, so she clearly had the opportunity to make as many hits as she had at-bats. She hit a great ball that went between the 3rd baseman and the 4 kids playing short-stop. She ran to first and beat the defender easily. The crowd was so proud. All the Braves Parents were cheering wildly. Her teammate hit an equally great shot, wherein everyone started yelling "Go to second Kendall!!!!" Let the drama begin. She stopped dead in her tracks, brought her chin to her chest and starting crying big ole real tears. I think the Braves coaches learned a valuable lesson yesterday: Do not raise your voice at Kendall, good or bad. She chose not to bat again.
Cooper's at-bat's were uneventful. I was just proud of him for even being up there since he had possibly dislocated his finger during gymnastics! He only cried a little bit and the swelling was apparently not keeping him from holding the bat or ball. Here's a shout-out to our good friend, Dr. Wight for doing an impromptu exam on Cooper on his coveted day off. Cooper got on base each time he batted and unfortunately was tagged out running home in the last inning. As a new baseball-parent, it was mildy heartbreaking to see your child get tagged out. Luckily, they don't care and run grinning back to the dugout ready for whatever is next!

Drew, Cooper and Kendall had already spent the morning together at gymnastics. They apparently could feel the excitement in the air at the ballfields, even though they really had no idea why this was any different from a regular practice!

A classic dugout photo. I feel very American when I look at this photo and the excitement and joy on their faces as they get ready to embark on one of America's favorite pasttimes!

GOOOOOOOOO Braves!

It was a perfect day, and even though they are four year olds, I won't lie when I say it kinda felt good to beat the Cubs 11-0!

Swimming Pictures

I know most of my "swimming updates" are videos and I apologize for not having one here. However, rest assured the kids continue to improve weekly in their lessons. Each are now treading water and floating by themselves in addition to continuing to improve their true swimming strokes. I finally brought my "big" camera to the lesson a few weeks ago. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself.

This is actually the end of the lesson. If they started with jumping and diving, they'd never get her doing anything else!

Such form!

Happy little kicker!
The story is this: Miss Anna has been trying to teach Kendall to swim and come up for a breath. She does everything she's told to do. Except actually take a breath. She swims, comes up for air, but never actually takes a breath. But by-golly she sure does open her mouth! There will be some major celebration when she finally masters this skill!

Kendall continues to surprise me with her improvement...both in stroke and in attitude. Swimming lessons are officially now one of her favorite activities. She loves every stroke, every jump and dive. Goggles are very, very optional.

Kendall laughs at Miss Anna. Probably because Anna asked her something really hilarious, like "Come on, Kendall, swim to me now please!"

This was Cooper's warm-up. He came up from each of his 'bobs' with a gigantic smile on his face.

I don't really even think he knows he has goggles on. He wears them the entire lesson and then asks for them back on in the bathtub at home.

Last Day of Winter

This year, I wanted to have a going away party for winter. I wanted streamers, noisemakers and cupcakes to celebrate the end of this dreadful season. Instead, Chip and I headed to the mountains with the kids on a gorgeous, perfect 70+ degree day. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect way to celebrate the impending hibernation of my least favorite season.

We struggle sometimes when planning a "hike" with the kids. In the warmer months, it is a little easier, as we can plan to do a little walking mixed in with a whole lot of swimming and skipping rocks. Chip and I have to continually remind each other that the kids can't do even a "moderate" hike. Although the Sugarlands Nature Trail wouldn't have even made our list of Top 100 hikes 5 years ago, it was perfect for what we need right now!

The bouncy tree was a source of great enjoyment for the kids. My feet started hurting while we stood for what seemed like an hour while they played on this fallen piece of nature.

Kendall refused to stand up, even though there were people waiting to get their own pictures. She kept saying she was "laying in the sun." We all know she doesn't get that from me!

Be on the lookout for our 2010 Christmas card. We may be revisiting Cataract Falls in late summer to try to duplicate this photo, but with more "updated" children! This is one of my favorite family photos to date!

After a picnic, our hike and a relaxing drive through the mountains, we headed back home in time to let Sam come over for a bit to play. Cooper is such a good Big Cousin and helped Sam find his way across our yard.

Afterwards, I actually had time to cook a homemade dinner and the kids were in bed before 7:30. Chip asked me if I was going to read "A Good Day" to the kids that night at bedtime. I was overjoyed with the perfection of our day!

Happy, Happy Spring, Ya'll!