You've Got Mail!

I am absolutely speechless tonight. I was checkin' my inbox for coupon alerts and small group updates when I spotten this "Heavens to Betsy-oh my-oh my" email :)

From: danielle@ellaruephotography.com
Subject: Great news! :)
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:48:45 -0500
To: ali.davis@hotmail.com

Hi Ali!
Congratulations! Your name was entered by Courtney Stephenson in a photo contest that I recently had. Nominations flowed in describing families that deserved a FREE photo shoot. I fell in love with your family through the words that Courtney wrote to portray your love for your husband Chris and son Cooper. It is my honor to take photographs of your family, free of charge, and give you a DVD with edited images, and an online password protect gallery. I couldn't think of a family more deserving. I look forward to meeting you and your sweet family. PS: I know cancer all too well. We'll have lots to chat about.
J Danielle Millwood
www.ellaruephotography.com

Seriously. My heart is overflowing with gratitude. Just today I was thanking, no PRAISING, God for bringing us through the storms of last year and now, just look, what a blessing!!

Our sweet friend Kristin Benton showered us with a gift just the same, when Coop turned 6 months old. We were speechless then and we are speechless now. We stare at those precious photos at least 10 times a day as we marvel at God's mercy and goodness. They hang by the front door. They sit pinned to my bulletin board at work. They sit proudly on Chris' desk at work. They tuck themselves away in the visors of our cars. They represent our love for each other and capture a moment in time, frozen for eternity. (That last bit was oober doober cheesy. I know it. Insert half naked man with a spritz of Calvin Klein fragrance of your choice).

I was just sorting through piles of medical bills (that now represent a fight well fought so I often ponder framing them and embossing them in gold) thinking how badly I wished we could do it up big for Coop's first birthday pictures and just like that, God answered my prayer.

Courtney, your thoughtfulness and kindness brings tears to my eyes. Thank you so so so much for thinking of our family now and always. Ella Rue Photography, what an honor! We can't wait to meet you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! We are forever grateful!

Sips and Sweets and Willow House Treats!

What an absolutely fabulous day! Got to spend it with some of my most favorite girls in all the world as we perused the latest in Willow House treats. I just might have fell in love with, oh approximately 193 little beauties. I also drank 14 glasses of Milo's sweet tea as I oogled and oogled over the catalog. Tomorrow marks D-day. Just kidding. Just wanted to see what that felt like to type out.

*Aside: Speaking of my insan-o sweet tea addiction...tonight at dinner (hello Little Tokyo in Buford!), we were minding our own sweet little business, eating our fried rice and yummy yummy sauce, when Coop not-so-quietly suggested that we give him some sweet tea. He is, afterall, his mama's boy.

His new favorite trick is to slurp drinks from the straw and then clamp down on the straw in the corner of his mouth as if it's a corn pipe. Two ladies sitting at a nearby booth leaned over and said "TELL ME YOU DON'T GIVE YOUR CHILD SWEET TEA!?". We do, I said proudly. Well, only when we aren't drinking gin and tonics.

She gawked at us and caught 3 flies in her big old gaping wide mouth. I reminded her that life is short and Chris reminded her that Coop's only got one tooth and it will eventually fall out anyway. We asked for to-go teas and left those tootie pooties in our dust.

Ok, back to Sips and Sweets and all that's neat...

Meet my sweet friend (and Willow House rep), Heidi.

How I justified my order to Hubs:

1. Entertaining Bucket: "Perfect for housing cold beverages during your favorite game when you have the guys over!"

2. Wall Sconce. "What's this, you ask? A sure fire way to lower the power bill. Better take 2, please".

3. Cookbook Stand: "Perfect for holding the page as I whip up your most favorite supper! Could also double as a Sports Illustrated magazine rack in the powder room?"

It sure was a lot of fun! Thanks for stoppin' by, y'all!

Brooks and Cooper want to know how they got stuck with the ladies today. They demand a daddy Home Depot trip first thing in the morning to make up for this nonsense!

Day O' Love

we fell in love this year. head over heels. whoopsie daisies, upside down. hugs and kisses, love and wishes to you and yours!

this and that

runny noses. wheezy sneezies. hugs and kisses. bedtime prayers. grammies and poppies. grits and dips. scuba steves and floral cardies. sips and bubbles. cuddles and snuggles. snoozes and snores. big hugs and welcome homesies.

the. perfect. weekend.

thanks for loving on super coop, grammie and poppy tots! our weekend "get away" was absolutely divine.

Craft Buggy

Been sewing. And nail gunning. And batting. And ribboning. And hanging.

Here's what we've come up with so far:

Question: So after pushing my miniature craft buggy around Hobby Lobby listening to Coop shriek along to piano hymns, I decided to go with a tie up shade in the breakfast nook and a cornice board over the window above the sink. Does it look crazy to have 2 different styles of window coverings in the same room? Is this a no-no?

Where's the teal ribbon, you ask? Totally had to scratch that idea. Ended up looking more like a 13 year-old teenie bopper's bedroom (sans enormous Justin Bieber poster) than a kitchen.

I went hauling booty down the stairs in my sock feet when I heard the FedEx man ring the bell, bringing these two 11x14 prints a la the ever fabulous Kristin Benton. The one of the 3 of us was taken about a week before Chris was diagnosed. It captured an absolutely precious moment for our family and I love seeing it as we go out the front door.

Only hiccup: wall color. Having commitment problems in the paint department. Do we stick with a neutral khaki or spruce things up? What are your experiences? Ideas??

Showering Baby Hayden with Lots o' Love!

I was very blessed to share in this special little mama's day today. Meet sweet Meghan! She is just the cutest, sweetest thing in all the world. And the best part of all, she's gonna be a Mama come early March!She and her hubby Justin couldn't be any more precious. They are humbly embarking upon their journey into parenthood and we are tickled to stand along side them as they dive into bottles, booties, boogies, and boo boos.

Quite the little soccer mom :)

It's no secret. I'm no fan of baby shower games. It has absolutely nothing to do with melted candy bars or toilet paper squares or jars of unmarked baby food. I think these games are absolutely fabulous but I have this perpetual fear of hurting the mommy-to-be's feelings. Nothing says, congratulations on gaining 30 pounds like an over-estimated-string-around-the-belly game.

So for Meghan's shower, Mel, Sarah, and I decided we wanted to take things in a different direction. Enter: Babazing Race. A trio of obstacles each attendee gets to muddle through, all while toting a ridiculous baby doll and pretending to multi-task while on the phone.

Everyone came out happy and unharmed :) LOVE this group of girls (and the other 4 who are missing from the pic). Truly, none like them in all the world.

A Day in the Life

A Saturday in the life of Super Coop goes something like this...Crawl. Crawl. Pull up. Open. Close. Open. Close. Bang. Bang. Open. Close.

Go to Gymbo class with Mama and Dada. Roll eyes at Mama. Sigh and say "Please stop embarrassing me!"Drool on Dada. Appear innocent while gazing at top of climbing castle. Crawl. Climb. Check to see if Mama and Dada are still admiring my every move.
Fly, fly, fly my plane. Fly my plane so high! Bye Bye Gymbo friends.
Hi Cousin Ludi Mae! Can you come play? Please please, pretty please?
Sticky lil boogers.
We love you to pieces sweet girl!