Our week

We had a fun week in the Cook household. Nothing exciting, just our normal day to day with a few extras thrown in.

Jason is teaching a five week class at church on Wednesday nights. This past week was the second class and it went really well. He's teaching about world religions (a different one each week). This week was Mormonism and it was very interesting. I did not know anything about Mormons, but feel like I learned a good deal on Wednesday. Not that I want to go head to head with the two that might one day knock on my door, but I am confident that we serve a different God and that there are differences in what we believe. Their idea of a Christian is different from ours...I think word definition is key in talking with a Mormon. Jason is doing a great job and is enjoying teaching.

Suzanne kept Gracie on Thursday so I could get some much needed stuff done. I had not had a tooth cleaning since before we got married (I know, I know) and thought it was about time to get that done. I was able to schedule one for Thursday and got a great report! I also scheduled a hair cut after that. If only I could have thrown in a pedicure or massage...

On Friday Gracie and I made cupcakes for playgroup to celebrate Candice's birthday. Gracie enjoyed "helping" and licking the beaters afterwards. Gracie had her first dentist visit Friday morning before playgroup. I was a little nervous about going, only becuase sometimes Gracie will shut her mouth tight when I try to look at her teeth. We went to Pediatric and Adolescent Dentistry and saw Dr. Clark Thomas. He did a great job with Gracie. He was able to do everything he needed to do. He counted and cleaned her teeth, painted the "princess" flouride treatment on and even got one x-ray. The x-ray showed that Gracie does not have her upper lateral incisors. He said we could do another x-ray when she's older to see if the permanent teeth are up there. So, we'll see how that all plays out. Other than that (which isn't a concern at all right now) he said her teeth look great! I was so glad to have a good report. Gracie was so patient and polite (I was pleasantly surprised by my 2-year old) while we were there. After Dr. Thomas was done he helped Gracie paint her hand and then make a handprint on a ceiling tile. I had hoped to take a picture of Gracie while she was having her teeth cleaned, but she wanted to sit in my lap instead.

After the dentist visit we went to playgroup. We had a good time playing and visiting with our friends. Candice was preparing for a garage sale and let us have the early bird advantage. We came home with a new puzzle, a beautiful necklace from China and a couple of other small things. I had fun shopping while Gracie played =)

I took this picture while we were in the waiting room. This was a small room off of the main waiting room. The cars were nailed down (a very good thing) and there was a flat screen tv on the wall with a movie playing. Gracie sat in every car at least two times (we were the only ones there) and also played with the play food on the table behind her. The movie that was playing was also playing in the back room where Gracie had her teeth cleaned. The tv's were in the ceiling above the chairs so you could watch the movie while you were having your teeth cleaned. I wish my dentist office would have had a movie playing while I was there.

When I let a lot of time pass between my entries it’s hard to get excited about writing again. I have so many pictures to share, but feel a little unmotivated to write, so hopefully this won’t be too long =) or it may become a novel and you’ll just have to excuse my ramblings.

March came and went just like the rest I feel like. It’s hard to believe how quickly time flies and I know that it will continue to be this way. I am still blown away that we have a two year old. When people ask how old she is I still have to stop and think. We’re out of the “month” stage and just saying “she’s 2” now. She is such a big girl and acts the part so well. She loves wearing tights and her purple high heeled dress up shoes. She calls them her “heels” and wants to wear them all the time. She’s the same way with her tights. I am constantly telling her that it is too warm outside to wear her tights, but she attempts to put them on anyway. It’s not anything worth fighting over, so I just let her play in them. And I’m sure it’s some kind of good fine motor skill to be able to put on tights, right?

She has a mouth full of teeth and tonight I noticed her first 2-year molar is coming in. For those of you who don’t know, Gracie didn’t get her first tooth until she was 15 months old, so I was thinking these molars might be late as well, but it seems she’s doing just fine. The new tooth doesn’t seem to be bothering her and we are thankful for that. Gracie is talking and singing all the time. She is speaking more clearly now and I am pretty good at understanding most of what she says. She loves to sing and is getting pretty good at singing “Jesus Loves Me” and will sing “A, B, C” of the “ABC” song. She’s a funny girl. She laughs all the time and it is a very contagious laugh. She is also very social and likes to talk about her friends often. When I tell her we are going somewhere, like the park, she’ll tell me that she’s going to see her friends. We are still enjoying our Friday playgroup. A lot of the pictures below are from our playgroup.

We had a really good Easter week. Julie and Noah were here all week and then Ryan came to AL on Saturday in time for the Egg Hunt at church. We had a great time hanging out with them. Gracie has become a bit of a bossy older cousin and had a blast ordering Noah around. Gracie did really well playing with Noah (much better than she did when we were out in TX for his birthday) and was very gentle with him. My Mom came to the Egg Hunt with us and it was nice to have her with the whole Cook/Bratcher group. Jason’s Grandmom was also in town and came to the Egg Hunt. I only have a couple of pictures from the Egg Hunt, but I’ll try to get Suzanne’s card this week to get the rest of the pictures. Suzanne also has great pictures from Easter Sunday that I need to post.

This Easter was very different for me. Easter has always been special remembering the sacrifice that Christ made, but I feel like that’s all it’s been, just something to remember. During the weeks before Easter I felt so much conviction about the cross and the hope that it brings. The hope that I have is now a reality for my Dad. I am so thankful that God sent his only Son to die for my sins. I am so comforted in knowing that my Dad is in that perfect place with Christ. I don’t know that I will ever know or understand why my Dad died, but I do know that Christ was and is glorified in his death. Christ died so that we could be saved and have life in Him. We get to experience part of that new life here on earth, but my Dad is experiencing it to the fullest I am sure in Heaven.

I have been reading a Beth Moore devotional journal, "Believing God" and one entry I read at the beginning of this year has really stood out in my mind and heart. The scripture is 1 Peter 1:6-7 You greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Moore writes “We may as well accept faith challenges as a fact of life and not be shocked or feel picked on when they come. God brings them to build our faith, prove us genuine, and afford Himself endless excuses to reward us. He delights in nothing more than our choice to believe Him over what we see and feel. Our ultimate purpose for existence is to please God; therefore, if we don’t exercise faith, we will never fulfill our reason for being.” Please don’t get me wrong, I have been angry with God and wrestled with God over the idea that I no longer have a Father here on Earth, but I come back to the same thing every time-God is good and He is in control. This doesn’t make the pain go away, but it makes me very thankful that God is in control and that God is bigger than me and bigger than what my mind can hold. I have learned that it’s wasted energy on my part to play the “what if” game. At the end I do find comfort in knowing that God is in control and God is with us every step of the way. I have faith in God and know that he will be with us and take care of us. I have to have faith in knowing that God knows what He’s doing, and even if I don’t understand, that’s ok. God has proven Himself faithful so many times in the past and I don’t doubt for one second that He will remain faithful now. In my life I want to remain faithful to God. I want to honor Him and glorify Him in all that I say and do. My prayer continues to be that I would honor God in this situation. This is by far the most difficult thing I have ever been through, but I know that God is at work in me and I am so thankful that He is not done with me yet. Ok, one more verse I want to share that I really feel just sums up what I am thinking. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

I’m sure there is more to update about, but it’s going to have to wait. I’ll try to do better about not letting so much time go by before my next post. I have a lot of pictures and I’ll try to write a little blurb about what’s going on with them. Thanks again for keeping up with us and reading my long ramblings…maybe I should get Jason to write the blogs from now on =)

Spring is here! I love our backyard. We have beautiful blooming dogwoods everywhere!

Gracie really likes stickers. This day she decided to put them all over herself...and me =)

3-22-08

Gracie LOVES being outside and loves being at the park. This trip was with Kim and Claire Ellen. We went the Monday of Spring Break to the park in front of Spain Park High School *great park!!* 3-17-08Beth and the kids spent the night with us at the beginning of their visit to B'ham. We had a great time and Gracie loved playing with Anna Kate, Lee and Paige. We've planned our trip to NC and are looking forward to staying with the Peterson's while we're there! These two pictures were taken at Moe's. 3-18-08

Gracie showing us her eggs from the egg hunt at Dawson. 3-22-08

Gracie hunting for eggs. She did a great job!

We went to Aldridge Gardens on Friday with our playgroup. Gracie, Logan and Claire Ellen had fun with the one duck that was brave enough to waddle up to them. They also really seemed to enjoy the pretty flowers and all the water. I promise Gracie had a good time...she just doesn't like to stop for anything! 4-4-08

My Mom and I hosted a Baby Shower for Hannah yesterday here at my house. We had a great time and Hannah and Kai (and Michael, of course) got some great baby stuff! 4-5-08

I took this today after Gracie woke up from her nap. I think "Brown Bear" is her new favorite book. She loves to read and has started reading out loud...very cute.
4-6-08

I painted Gracie's toenails a few days ago. I was so impressed that she sat in my lap and then sat there to let them dry. I think she thought she was so big having her nails painted like Mommy's!
Gracie reading a scratch and sniff Dora book Aunt Julie bought her.
Gracie sniffing the Dora book =)

Gracie reading "Brown Bear". She says "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? A Yellow Duck" I think she was looking for the yellow duck, but the pages are just so hard to turn =)

It's snowing in Texas!

We're out in Texas and having a blast! It started snowing yesterday on our drive out here. The snow has stopped, but it's still on the ground. We had lots of fun playing in the snow. Ryan and I built a snow creature and Gracie liked checking her out. Today is Noah's birthday and the celebration has begun. Gracie is learning to sing and sang a little bit of "Happy Birthday" to Noah. They are having a lot of fun together. We'll be celebrating all weekend. Check back for more pictures early next week.

Is it Spring already??

We had a great afternoon playing outside with Gracie. She played with all of her toys (front and back yard) and even shot a few hoops...she did much better than Mommy. The weather was wonderful and I will hate to see it go, but it gave us a nice glimpse of how we'll be spending our time in a month or so.

Thanks Bruster's! and other news

I'm going to start with today and then work backwards...sort of.

Jason spent the day in Northport with his parents (and other Howell family members) moving furniture and other things out of his Grandparent’s house onto a U-Haul to bring to Birmingham. Gracie and I spent the day at my parent’s house helping my mom sort through things and pack a few things up. I guess this is where I should throw in a quick update…My mom’s house is on the market. She’s planning on moving towards our part of town. We’re praying her place sells quickly. Jason’s Grandmother has moved into a retirement community and her house was not even officially on the market, but by word of mouth, got an interested buyer and her house now has a contract on it. Jason is getting to do the work for her house, so we’re extra thrilled about that. Ok, back to today. We were both pretty tired tonight, especially Jason after a long day of heavy lifting. My friend Kim called and reminded me about the free ice cream at Bruster’s if you showed up in your pj’s (today only) and asked if we wanted to join them. I couldn’t think of a better way to end an exhausting day! So, after Jason finally got home he cleaned up and we all got ready for bed and then headed to Bruster’s for free ice cream. And it wasn’t just a little scoop in a bowl, it was a huge serving in a waffle cone! I was very excited =) We had a great time with Kim, Ian and Claire Ellen. Claire Ellen and Gracie ran in circles for close to 45 minutes, eating only a little ice cream. They should both sleep really well tonight. Jason was the Real American Hero and guarded post close to the edge of the safe running zone! We did get a few silly looks for being in our pj’s, but I think most people were just wishing they had known about the deal. I don’t think there was much publicity around here. We found out about it from a couple of great websites that we frequent: http://www.babycheapskate.blogspot.com/ and http://www.imommies.com/.

Gracie made her magazine debut in the newest Victoria. She has two pictures where she is showing off very cute raincoats and galoshes. A big thanks to a friend from high school who asked for Gracie to be in the photo shoot.

On Thursday we’re heading out to TX for Noah’s first birthday party! I am so excited and even looking forward to our little (well, not so little) road trip! Be sure to check back after next weekend for new pictures!

On a different note…I have another prayer request. One of my mom’s brothers was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer earlier this week. He still has more tests that will be performed next week, so we will know more soon. Please pray for his family and for the doctors that will be working with him.

Well, I guess that’s all for now. Thanks again for your prayers and for keeping up with us.

The group at Bruster's.

Kim keeping the girls warm.

Jason watching guard.

Getting ready for Bruster's (Gracie has my pj's over her own).Claire Ellen enjoying the free ice cream!

Gracie checking to see if she can get more free ice cream!

Gracie at the zoo

Gracie singing into her ice cream microphone

Gracie may not think this is funny later in life, but we got a big kick out of it!

Just laughing and "talking" her strange language again.

She already has an interest in nail polish

February has been a good month so far. I’ve really enjoyed celebrating my birthday over the past few days. Jason and I went to Ruth’s Chris Steak House Thursday night for dinner and ate very good food (steaks and sweet potato casserole, yummy). Last night our Sunday School class had a care group social. We met for dinner with our care group and then the whole class met back at the church for games and fellowship. One of our Sunday School teachers owns the video game where you can play the guitar, drums and also sing (like Guitar Hero, but better?). Jason may have to come in and edit this post =). Ok, it was Rock Band on PS3 (Jason just walked in). Anyway. Everyone who participated seemed to really enjoy themselves. Jason played some and had fun rockin out! I wish I had had my camera with me. My mom stayed with Gracie both nights so we could go out. This morning I continued the birthday fun and had coffee with two of my good friends, Janelle and Kim. We left the kids with the husbands and took off! They took the kids to the McWane Center and then we all met up for lunch together at the mall. It was nice going out kid free this morning. Tonight we concluded the birthday fun by going out to dinner with my mom, Bill, Suzanne, Marland and Betsy. We went to Stix and enjoyed more good food and entertainment. The waiter brought our check before we could order dessert so we decided to drive across the street for dessert at Edgar’s Bakery. Marland took a few pictures at dinner so I’ll post those once he sends them to me. Big thanks to my sweet friend Holly for staying with Gracie tonight so we could go out kid free (again).

Thanks to all my friends for all the birthday wishes.

The fun we have

This past weekend we were a host home for Dawson's D-Now (known as Disciple Now when we were youngsters =)). We had 6 7th grade girls and 2 college students stay Friday and Saturday night at our house. Gracie had a blast with her new friends and loved having company all weekend. Jason and I really enjoyed being a host home and look forward to doing it again next year. It was a new experience being on this side of D-Now. Jason noted that he's been on every side of it now-participant, student leader, organizer/youth minister and now host home. I noted that the only thing left was for us to send Gracie off when she's in 7th grade (sniff, sniff).


Monday evening we played a fun game of "catch the cereal" and Gracie had a grand time. Her new favorite cereal is Kix and she eats it every day, breakfast and/or snack. We were all snacking on it that afternoon and Jason tried to get Gracie to catch a Kix in her mouth from across the room. She understood the game quickly and even tried to throw me pieces as I was taping it all. There is also a video of Gracie doing her "forward roll". She learned this from her cousin, Cindy, after Thanksgiving and is getting very good at it =) Sometimes I think we have too much fun together.

On Tuesday we went to the McWane center with some friends from church. We got a membership for Christmas and this is the first time we've been since then. The group I went with talked about going every week and I'm really looking forward to that. There is so much to do there. Gracie had so much fun playing with the water table in the "Just Mice Size" area and looking at all the fish downstairs in the aquarium section. She got to touch some prickly little ocean creature and also touched a horseshoe crab (I think that's what it was).

Tomorrow Jason and I are driving over to Atlanta for the night to visit with our friends from University Baptist Church. RG, Mitch and Betty are there this week for a conference, so we'll get to hang out with them Friday night and Saturday morning. We're so excited to see them (and so very sad that Carlita won't be there). We hope to get up to NC soon, but don't have definite plans yet.

Gracie and the D-Now girls. They made group t-shirts and their group name was Gracie's Angels.

Gracie looking at the big eel.

Gracie and Aiden

Gracie and Logan
Logan being brave!

Gracie pondering Jonah in the belly of a big fish.

Another big fish.

Catching Kix (watch closely) and please excuse my LOUD laughing!

Forward roll!