Gracie's new favorite hobby...

Park time with Granddaddy

1st tub bath with jets.

Morning at Gulf Shores

Learning to lick an ice cream cone.

Gracie playing with Noah's hand.

Gracie being "gentle" with Noah.

Gracie, Daddy and Cousin Noah.

Mommy and Cousin Noah.

Gracie helping Uncle Ryan out with yard work.

And she was very proud of herself.

Big Girl Gracie!

Last week we drove out to Texas to visit with Julie, Ryan and sweet baby Noah. Noah is a bundle of joy and a big bundle at that! Julie and Ryan are doing great and Noah is adjusting to life like a champ. He's gaining weight and growing like a weed. We got to see their new house for the first time and we fell in love with it. I think their closet is bigger than our kitchen =) We had a great time in Texas and even enjoyed our drive as well. Gracie did great in the car and has adjusted well being back at home. Bill has come to Mobile the past couple of weekends to spend time with Gracie. The park pictures are from this past weekend with Bill. We discovered that going to the park on Sunday afternoon was not the best idea. It was very crowded and there were a lot of big kids running around and throwing bark. Gracie still had a great time and loved having her Granddaddy all to herself.

The week before we went to Texas we were involved in Marketplace at church. Marketplace is like VBS, but very different too at the same time. Everyone was dressed in first century Jerusalem clothes and the activities center at church was totally remade to look like a market in Jerusalem. We got to experience the last days of Jesus, including the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the Passover meal with the disciples, and the arrest of Jesus in the garden. The last night of Marketplace Jesus came into the market and spoke with the children and showed them the marks on his hands. It was all such a wonderful experience and we all really felt like we were in a market in Jerusalem. I hope that everyone can experience Marketplace one day.

Going backwards in our schedule…we drove over to Gulf Shores a couple of weeks ago and had a great time again with Gracie. She really is getting better with the sand and didn’t even try to eat it once (although we still have a problem with leaves). She played with her shovel a bit too and did well walking around in the sand. The water was still cold so we didn’t get more than a toe in. It’ll be really exciting once the water warms up and she can play in it some.

Feb. update

What a busy month we’ve had! Jason started out the month with a Middle School retreat. They stayed in town and did service projects in downtown Mobile. Bill and Suzanne were also here that weekend. I went to a women’s luncheon at church that Sunday with guest speaker Rosalie Hunt. She is a very inspirational speaker and has such a passion for spreading the Word of God. That night we went to a Super Bowl party at church. Thankfully Bill and Suzanne stayed at home with Gracie! Gracie went to the doctor the first of the month and had two ear infections. We ended up going back after the first antibiotic didn’t work and Gracie was put on a second one. She was such a trooper through it all. I took her back to the doctor early this week because she was still rubbing her ear a little, but the doctor said her ears looked great. Maybe its just teething =)

We were in Birmingham and Reform for about a week during the middle of the month. My Paw Paw went to the hospital on 2-8 and passed away on 2-11. I was so thankful Jason and I were able to get to Birmingham and then Pickens Co. Hospital to see him before he died. He was a wonderful man and lived a long great life. We are thankful he now has a new body, is pain free, and is with our Heavenly Father.

We celebrated my birthday a couple of days early and got to have dinner (just the two of us!!) at a tasty Mexican restaurant in B’ham. Bill and Suzanne were generous enough to give up their reservations for dinner to keep Gracie while we went out. After dinner we were unsuccessful in finding a TCBY close to the Cooks house, so we went to the grocery store and I bought a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and ate straight from the container! I figured it was my birthday, so surely calories didn’t count!!

The weather really warmed up this week in Mobile. Thursday the high was in the 80s! It’s been beautiful. Jason and I both started running this week. I’m really excited about running. I told myself if I could do it for a few weeks and be consistent with it then I could get a jogging stroller. I’m very excited about that! So, we’ll see in a couple of weeks how things are going. Yesterday we drove down to Dauphin Island for a few hours. It was a little chilly, but we still had a great time. Gracie still loves to eat the sand. She would scoop up a handful and eat it, cry for a second, and then do it all over again. She had a fun time chasing after birds and walking all over the beach. We drove the best route on the way home and found that it only takes about 30 minutes to get there! I didn’t realize how close we were to the coast! There aren’t many restaurants, so it’s best to pack a lunch if you plan to stay for the day. I think we’ll be making many more trips to Dauphin Island!

Gracie has really blossomed so much over the last month. She has new expressions all the time and is still laughing a lot too. She loves to be outside and is really enjoying all of her outside toys. She really enjoys just walking around outside and checking out the squirrels, cats, dogs, leaves and rocks.

Next weekend Jason and I are going to Destin for a marriage retreat. My parents are coming down to stay with Gracie. We’ll stop on the way in Pensacola for Jason to play golf with his youth minister from Dawson (Don Minton) and hopefully I’ll visit the spa once we get there. I know the retreat will be a great time for us and hopefully a great time to learn.

The last pictures are of Gracie’s new rug!! I’ve been looking forever for her room and finally found this one a month or so ago. I’m so excited to finally have something on her floor other than her foam alphabet puzzle pieces. She’s playing peek-a-boo in the last two pictures =)

Well, that’s our life right now. Thanks for keeping up with our family!

Christmas Pictures










The Birthday Party!!!

Gracie wasn't so sure about the hat at first!


Gracie tested out the icing for a bit before she got to the cake.
Gracie was kind enough to share with Mommy and Daddy!


Gracie had a blast with the cake!
Gracie has learned how to climb over and into things.
Oh, the life of a Youth Minister!









We had a wonderful Christmas in Birmingham. We got to spend time with most of our family (Julie and Ryan were in TX) and got to see a lot of friends too. Gracie has really enjoyed her wagon that she got for Christmas and loves her Little Mermaid riding toy.

Gracie is now a big one year old toddler! At her 12 month check up she weighed in at 19 lbs, 11 oz. and 29 ¾ in. tall. She still doesn’t have any teeth, but gums just about anything you give her. She loves to eat whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating. Her favorite foods right now are fresh strawberries and cheese! We are in the process of weaning her off the bottle, she’s down to one at night before bed. She’s off of formula (yippee!!!) and in the past couple of days she has started drinking milk in the morning too. She wouldn’t touch it for about two weeks, but now loves it. We recently turned her carseat around and she loves facing forward. She seems to really enjoy looking out the window! We had a wonderful birthday party for Gracie. We are so grateful for all of our family who came to Mobile to help celebrate with us. Gracie LOVED her cake and even shared with Mommy and Daddy! She enjoyed opening her presents more on her birthday than she did at Christmas and that was fun for us to watch. Gracie has started walking a lot by herself over the past few days. She gets very excited when she reaches her goal. She’s clapping all the time now and looks at us to clap with her. She hasn’t gotten the “roll em up” part in patty cake yet, but loves to play. Gracie loves to be outside and loves walking around the yard chasing squirrels.

Jason has had a very busy start to the new year. We concluded Family Ties (Disciple Now) this past Sunday and it was a big hit! The kids had a great time and learned a lot. Jason got a great speaker and band (Chris Brooks and David Walker) and the kids really seemed to enjoy them. We’ve heard only positive feedback from church members. Saturday night our house was rolled by some Sophomores and Juniors. It was really kind of pretty in the middle of the night and looked like a snow storm had come through Mobile! One of the students thought it would be funny to bang on our front door and ring the door bell over and over again. I’m just thankful Gracie didn’t wake up. We’re glad to be initiated into the group =) It was a great weekend.

Again, too much time has passed since my last post. Our lives have only gotten busier since the beginning of November it seems. We had a wonderful visit with my parents Iron Bowl Weekend. My parents had a dress up photo shoot with Gracie Saturday before the game (See picture above). Gracie got that beautiful coat and hat from her Fairy Godmother, Betty, but sadly I'm not sure she'll ever get to wear it in Mobile. Maybe one day it'll really get cold here. We had a great vacation in Birmingham the week of Thanksgiving. We got to spend time with all of the family, Julie and Ryan were there from TX, and Marland and Betsy were around as well. Gracie enjoyed her Thanksgiving lunch like the rest of us. She actually started smacking her lips as we walked through the kitchen one time before lunch. The first picture is of Gracie at Thanksgiving lunch with her beautiful silver spoon that matches Gran's pattern.

We all went to Charlotte, NC the week after Thanksgiving for the National Youth Workers Convention. We were able to drive up to Chapel Hill and attend Christmas at the Corner at UBC and loved it. It was very special seeing everyone, and we even got to see some friends who were also back in Chapel Hill for a visit. We stayed with RG and Carlita the night we were there and Gracie LOVED playing with Aspen, who is deaf and pretty much blind. We discovered that weekend in NC that Gracie could crawl up stairs. She did it like she had been doing it her whole life (all 11 months =)). Jason got to go hear some great speakers in Charlotte and also got some great cd's and books dealing with different aspects of Youth Ministry. We broke the trip up to NC by stopping of in SC to visit the Voelkert's. Gracie had a lot of fun watching and playing with Eric and Emma. On the way home she even got to jump on their trampoline and loved it.

Our Christmas tree did get put up, but not many ornaments or lights on the bottom. Gracie has done really well with the tree. She does like to pull at the branches a little and likes to try to put the lights in her mouth, but she gets bored with it fairly quickly. She's opened a few Christmas gifts that she's gotten from church members and really likes to eat the paper. With all of the Christmas hub bub we were out every night last week except one and Gracie was a champ through it all. Last Tuesday we were at the church for our Sunday School party and Gracie stayed awake until after 9 and was having a blast. She thrives off of being around other people. I think sometimes she gets bored when it's just us =) We got some funny gifts from the dirty santa games and some generic old wedding gifts as well. We ended our parties tonight with the college kids that have come home for break. We left early because Gracie was ready for bed. We're leaving Mobile tomorrow afternoon to head to Birmingham for Christmas. Jason was able to get Sunday off so we will be able to spend more time with family. It'll be a busy weekend for sure.

Every once in a while when Gracie wakes up she's got really bad hair...that was the case in the picture above. She was actually in a good mood, but when I clicked the camera she was kind of making a silly =) face. Nobody likes bad hair days. She's doing great. She's discovered how much more fun it is to eat food that she can feed herself than eating mushy baby food and that's been a little frustrating at times when she won't eat anything but Goldfish. She's still growing like a little weed, so I'm not worried. She's speed crawling and crusing all over the place. She's discovered over the past couple of days that she can cruise along a wall and even turn corners. She is standing on her own really well and has taken a step or two by herself. She really likes to walk around holding one of our hands. She is babbling all the time and is still discovering the range she has. She's still sleeping well and getting much better at naps. Still no teeth...maybe for her birthday she'll get all of them =) Gracie will be 1 on Jan. 11 and we are very excited. I can't believe it's almost been a year! Time flies when you're having fun. Merry Christmas and lots of love!

Sarah