The Stead Family

CNN video of Adam's last flight

2013-04-02T18:18:00.002-05:00

July 4th

2012-09-09T07:52:00.001-05:00

We spent the week of July 4th in GA at my parents and were able to see a lot of family and friends which was great! Cohen loved swimming in the pool everyday and going on the lake on "Pops' boat".

With our friends the Muschara's going to see Coldplay!

Cohen loved the lake this year! Climbing down the ladder from Pops' boat.

Getting ready to swim in the lake

Buddies: Cohen, Marley and Colt

July 4th watching fireworks on the lake with some of our favorite people

Cohen and Colt loved the fireworks, but Marley slept through the entire show

Our friend, Silas, is a firefighter and let Cohen come to the firehouse to visit and check out all the cool firefighter equipment. Cohen just loved it!!

Wearing firefighter pants

And the coat

Spraying the water hose!

Loves his Pops!

House Completed....back in June

2012-09-09T07:18:00.000-05:00

I have fallen so far behind on my blogging, life just gets in the way! I think I even forgot to mention that our house addition was completed back in June. I still have not really taken any pictures of the new addition except from the outside but we love our new laundry room and master suite! We went ahead and had a new patio put in which has been great this summer for Cohen to ride his tricycle and scooter, and to eat outside when it's not too hot and humid! We had a fire pit built as well and are really excited about using it as the weather gets cooler. There is still so much yard work to do but that will come with time.

Trip to D.C. with Army Friends

2012-06-26T20:49:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of June we took a trip to visit some of our good friends from Ft Campbell, the Folk's. Chuck was in Adam's unit and they were deployed together and Bree and I became quick friends once we met and spent almost everyday together when the guys were deployed. Army friends quickly become family, especially during deployments, and that bond seems to last. Bree and I helped each other get through the first 9 months of the guys deployment and the day we found out Adam was hurt she was there at my house as soon as I called and took care of everything, along with my parents, from that point on until after I left to go to D.C. to see Adam. Needless to say, she is a great friend and I was so excited to see them and their two boys, Daenen who is 4 years old and Ethan who is 9 months old.

The Folks are now stationed in Alaska but were in the "lower 48" for a couple of weeks visiting family and friends so we decided to meet them in D.C. for a long weekend since it's not too far from Charlotte. We stayed in Arlington, just outside of D.C., and took the Metro most places which was really fun for Cohen and Daenen. We spent most of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday sight-seeing around Arlington and in D.C. The highlights for the kiddos were the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum and the Dulles Air and Space Museum where they were able to see all the airplanes, helicopters and the space shuttle. Chuck and Adam also took the older boys to the Monster Truck show in Baltimore which is a little boy's dream! We did not take many pictures at all but here are a few from our trip.

Family Birthday

2012-06-16T06:58:00.000-05:00

My Grandmother, Cohen and I all share the same birthday...how fun!! It is such an amazing coincidence and fun celebration for all of us. The weekend after our birthday we went to GA for a long weekend to celebrate.

On Friday mom, Adam, Cohen and I went to a place called Noah's Ark which is local animal rescue and rehabilitation center and children's home. We had a great time there and saw all kinds of animals. Saturday we had party with our friends at the Moore's house. There were 7 couples and 13 kiddos. We all had a blast!! I only took about 3 pictures...Maggie has become the official photographer for our events ;) and now sends them out to everyone. Then on Sunday we had a family birthday party at my parents house. Here are a few pictures from the weekend...

Opening a present at Mimi and Pops' house on his birthday

Getting Pops to help him open his new dinosaur

At the animal rescue

Ostrich at the rescue

Enormous water slide the Moore's got for the party!

Cohen and Marley...they just love each other!

At Mimi and Pops' pool

Cohen's dinosaur birthday cake...obsessed with dinosaurs right now!

Three generations of birthdays

Marley loves icing!

Cohen loves icing!

Opening gifts with his buddy Colt

Uncle Ben teaching him how to squirt water :)

House Part 2 and another visit to GA :)

2012-04-20T22:17:00.000-05:00

Here are some recent pictures of the house addition taken about two weeks ago. Not much has been done since then; we are waiting on the tile to be done in the bathroom and laundry room. The guy who is doing that has been really busy apparently so we are in a holding pattern right now. The pictures are not too exciting to look at since it is just walls and windows but we super excited about the progress!!

I took the picture from the new hallway which was part of Cohen's old room. This hallway now extends into the new part of the house. The picture is looking into the remaining part of Cohen's old room which will now be the office.

New hallway and new doorway to outside

Looking into the laundry room (the washer and dryer is currently in a very large cabinet in the middle of our kitchen--it will be so nice to have a laundry room!)

New master bedroom

Another angle of the master bedroom

New master bathroom

Cohen and I took another trip to GA this past weekend, even though we were just there for Easter the weekend before. Adam did not go with us because he had appointments at the VA on Friday and Monday and also wanted to get some things done around the house and in the yard...much easier to do without an almost 3-year-old running around (as those of you with children well know!). We went to GA for the birthday party of our friend's, the Muschara's, son Colt. He turned 5 and we just could not miss the party! Cohen, Marley and Colt had such a great time playing together and I know Colt had a blast at his birthday party. Of course, I forgot my camera like I usually do when we go out of town and the only pictures I took were with my phone. I did "catch" Cohen and Marley playing "doctor"...probably the cutest thing I have EVER seen. They were lying on the floor taking turns being the patient and the doctor. Here are a few shots from my phone...not the best quality.

And a couple of pictures of the two and them jumping on Marley's new "big girl" bed in their undies. It is very hard to keep the two of them clothed!! They are two peas in a pod!

Easter

2012-04-20T13:48:00.000-05:00

We went to GA for Easter weekend (what a surprise!) and celebrated with my family. There was an Easter egg hunt, picnic and kite flying at my parent's church on Saturday, then we went down to Macon to stay with my cousin, Lorra, and her husband, Ben, on Saturday night. Lorra and I decided to cook Easter lunch for the family at her house on Sunday. This was the first time we have cooked a holiday meal for everyone--about time since we are both in our 30's! My mom, aunt and grandmother brought a couple of dishes each but Lorra and I cooked the ham and a lot of the food. It took us all morning but we had a great time cooking and being together. Lorra and Ben had another family over for Easter lunch as well so there was a house full of people. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Of course, no family picture was taken :(

Before Easter egg hunt #1

Getting ready to start!

Finding eggs!

Counting eggs with daddy

Picnic time

Loving the Easter bunny

Aunt "La" dressed up as the Easter bunny

Egg hunt #2

Watching the egg hunt :)

Visist with family and friends

2012-03-18T08:20:00.006-05:00

We took a trip to Atlanta a few weeks ago, like we do every 3-4 weeks ;), but this time we got to see two of Adam's Army buddies that are down at Ft Rucker, Alabama. It was a holiday weekend so the guys came up to Atlanta for a visit. One of them brought their 5 year old son, so we took the kiddos to the Georgia Aquarium. I had never been before (even though I use to live about 10 miles from there?!?) so I thought that was a great idea! Except for the fact that it was a rainy holiday weekend and everyone else in Atlanta thought it would be a great idea to go to the Aquarium as well! You could hardly even move without bumping into someone, but we all had a good time anyway. The only pictures we have are some from my mom's phone which are not the best so I did not bother to put them on here.

Adam and his friend Dave.

We also got together with our friends, the Muschara's, that weekend and the kiddos played outside in the "jumpy house" they got for Christmas.

Colt, Marley and Cohen:

Then we celebrated my Aunt's birthday at my parent's house. Cohen always has such a great time with our family (and we do too!).

Charlotte Bridge Home--Southern Spring Show Gala

2012-03-18T07:37:00.001-05:00

Most of you who know us have heard us talk about "Charlotte Bridge Home" (http://www.charlottebridgehome.org/). This is a non-profit organization Adam and I were introduced to a little over a year ago. We visited Charlotte multiple times when we were still living in Clarksville before Adam retired from the Army, learned more and more about Charlotte Bridge Home and then became "recipients" of their organization. They help veterans and their families successfully transition from the military into the civilian world (which can be much harder than you would think, especially with a wounded solider/marine/airman, etc.) and help provide resources to connect them to the local community. The organization was started by just a few people, very wonderful people who are near and dear to our hearts now and are like family to us! These people realized that there was a need to help veterans and now the organization has taken off and has many people who volunteer their time and services to help run the organization. When it started it was a local venture but now has "national" attention and is being "studied" by the department of defense in hopes of using the program in cities across the country. Anyway, it is a wonderful organization and one of the main reasons Adam and I chose to move to Charlotte.

Every year in Charlotte there is a "Southern Spring Home and Garden Show" that runs for about 5 days where thousands of people come to look at all the great new ideas for their home and garden for the upcoming year. On opening night there is a Gala to raise money for a non-profit organization and this year Charlotte Bridge Home was the beneficiary organization. I have no idea how much money was raised but the turn out was amazing, around 600-700 people attended the Gala! We had a great time and were able to meet some wonderful people in the military community as well as local community here in Charlotte that want to help with the organization. My parents came up for the week to visit us and to attend the event and we all had a great time. We only took a couple of pictures before we left for the evening and were so busy at the event we did not take any pictures. Adam barely even made it past the front door and spent most of his evening meeting different people in the community.

Charlotte and House Addition

2012-02-26T06:07:00.002-06:00

It has been so long since I updated the blog...so sorry. We absolutely love Charlotte so far! What a great city to live in! It is big enough to have everything you need; restaurants, shopping, arts/culture, museums, professional sports, etc., but not so big where you have to drive an hour, and in traffic, to get there! We really like our neighborhood and have met some great people here. We knew a few people before we moved through the non-profit organization we became involved with, Charlotte Bridge Home, which has been really nice. Cohen is in preschool three days a week at a local church and he loves it!! He always tells us how much he loves "Ms. Dana" and "Ms. Ashwee" (Cohen is not saying his "l's" very well yet!). I am working 3 days a week for a home health pediatric company where I make my own schedule which is awesome because I am still able to work but also able to spend time with Cohen.

Adam is keeping Cohen on the days that I am working, going to some VA appointments, staying on top our house addition and still trying to figure out what he wants to do next in life. He is not doing anymore therapy with the VA but is going for some specialty appointments such as a vision specialist, audiologist and PM&R physician (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) for his vision and hearing issues and some on-going neck/shoulder pain and headaches. He also sees a case manager and social worker at two different VA's in North Carolina. The VA system in North Carolina has done a fantastic job so far with Adam's medical care. Because Adam's injury was so severe and he was at the Tampa VA Polytrauma Center he is now a part of the Polytrauma team in the VA system and is seen at the Polytrauma clinic at the VA. The VA sees Veterans on a "tier system", so people highest on the tier get priority medical care which is where Adam has been placed, probably part of the reason his care has been so good thus far.

Onto the house...When we bought our house in Charlotte we planned on doing an addition at some point in time. We bought in a great location where renovations and additions are very common and people often add on entire stories to the older homes built in the 30's, 40's, 50's. Adam wanted to do to the addition right away, which is typical of Adam and his personality, and would have done it before we moved in if possible. Me on the other hand wanted to wait, live in the house for a little while (a few months, year) then add on, which is typical of my personality! However, after we got moved in and semi-unpacked I decided I was ready to get started with our addition, so of course Adam was on board. So now we are in the beginning stages of adding on a master suite and a laundry room, about 650 square feet, and are so excited about our new space!! It is definitely going to be a process and we will be living in chaos for a while but will definitely be worth it in the end. The entire process is suppose to take 4-5 months depending on weather.

The first step of the addition was to clear out our backyard. We love having trees in the yard (which is one of the things Charlotte is known for); however, the people who lived here before apparently never did any yard work so the back yard was like a forest. Cohen and Cooper absolutely love the yard but we had to have a lot of trees cut down in order to clear out enough space for the new part of the house. It took them two full days to cut down all the trees and Cohen was completely amazed and pretty much stared out the window, watching the men climb up the trees and cut them down for two days. Great entertainment! Here are a couple of before and after pictures of the yard.

Before, with the trees:

After the trees are gone:

Starting to dig the crawl space:

Now that the "working men," as Cohen calls them, are here everyday he is not as interested in watching them, so not as entertaining as it was with cutting down the trees. They are doing work almost everyday right outside of Cohen's room during his nap time and he goes to sleep and sleeps right through it for 2-3 hours!

Framing completed:

Christmas 2011

2012-01-12T19:39:00.002-06:00

We had a great Christmas this year! I did not do too much decorating at our new house seeing as I barely had boxes unpacked, but I managed to get a few things up. Here is Cohen with our stockings...

And our newly decorated Christmas tree...

And then the tree a couple of days later after Cohen pulled it over, broke most of the ornaments and a few of the branches! Luckily the tree did not fall on him but it did leave a huge mess to clean up. I think it scared him more them anything. We did not try to salvage the tree since we were going to Georgia for Christmas anyway.

Cohen was very "into" Santa this year and was not scared of him at all! He actually talked to Santa and told him he wanted "presents" for Christmas.

A big tradition in Atlanta is to ride the "Pink Pig" around Christmas time so we took Cohen for the first time this year and he had a great time. It's not quite as exciting as it was when I was growing up when the Pink Pig was downtown Atlanta on top of the Rich's building overlooking the city and you could see the Rich's tree. Now it's on top of the Lenox Mall parking deck (??), but it's still exciting for the kiddos!

We went to parents house in Atlanta for Christmas and stayed for about 6 days. It was great to spend some time with family! On Christmas morning Cohen came in our room and said "Merry Christmas Mommy and Daddy" (so sweet) then went downstairs and looked to make sure Santa ate his milk and cookies! Luckily my mom remembered to eat them and left a note from Santa to Cohen.

Christmas morning...

New jumpy house (thanks Maggie for the idea). Cohen loves it and it gets rid of so much energy!!

Christmas at my Grandparents house...

Cohen the astronaut...

Christmas, round 3, with my mom's side of the family...

ADORABLE truck my Aunt Gayle and Uncle Jerry gave Cohen for Christmas...

Standing on his big new truck....

Thanksgiving

2011-12-09T09:34:00.001-06:00

These past few weeks have been a little crazy and busy, and so was our Thanksgiving, but we are finally moved and somewhat settled in our new house :) We closed on the house in Clarksville on Tuesday the 15th of November, drove to GA to parents house late that night and spent about 5 days with them. Then Adam and I drove to Charlotte (we left Cohen and Cooper with my parents) on Sunday the 20th and closed on the new house on Monday. Our goods were delivered on Tuesday and the movers were at our house until 1:30 AM! We did very minimal unpacking then left to go to Atlanta on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. Adam's mother flew into Atlanta from Colorado Springs to join us for Thanksgiving at my parent's house and we all had a great time! This was the first year my mother cooked Thanksgiving dinner instead of my Grandmother since my Grandmother had broken her hip twice last year and is not able to cook a large meal anymore. My mom did a great job and we all ate way too much!! We stayed in Atlanta until Saturday then Adam, Cohen, Cooper, Adam's mom and I drove to Charlotte. Adam's mom then flew back home home out of Charlotte on Sunday and Adam and I started the unpacking process. So NOT fun! Especially because the new is about 500 square feet smaller than the old house and does not have a garage (only a carport with a small shed). The "new" house is actually an older house built in the 1950's but we like it so much because of it's character, great school district and location close to the city.

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving:

Adam, his mom and Olsen

Benjamin and Cohen

My mom and Granddaddy

The Jones family and Cohen

The Stead family--Cohen never looks at the camera!

Nana and Cohen

While we were in Atlanta we also visited our friends, the Muschara's, who had a get-together for several families including the Cox's, Moore's and Basham's. We all had a great time, especially the kiddos! Here are a few pictures from the day.

Not sure what he is trying to do??

Marley and Cohen obviously mesmerized by something!

The kiddos making turkey cookies--Maggie's creative idea!

Marley enjoying her turkey cookie!

Collin and Cohen

Sam and Colt with their cookies

House SOLD!!!

2011-11-05T20:23:00.002-05:00

We have had quite a lot going on lately and will be even busier in the weeks to come. For starters our house in Clarksville finally SOLD!! It has been a few weeks now since we got a contract on the house. We were so excited that we did not have to end up renting out the house, which we were about to do because we had already put a contract on a house in Charlotte, NC and were planning on moving there regardless. We were just at a point where it was time to move on with our lives. Since Adam is retired now and has absolutely nothing to do, he was getting bored out of his mind. He is not the kind of guy to sit around and play video games all day--thankfully! Because Clarksville is a military town and is so transient, a lot of our friends have long since moved on. We were just ready for the next phase and tired of our lives being on hold. So, the plan is to move in about a week and a half; we close on the house in Clarksville on a Friday and then the house in Charlotte the following Monday.

So now, in the midst of all of this moving, Adam is in Israel for 10 days! He is on a trip with the Wounded Warrior Project on what they call a "Soldier Ride". The WWP does soldier rides in cities all across the country. It is an adaptive cycling event for warriors and the community and is typically a 3-4 day event. Adam is now in Israel on his first Soldier Ride with about 10-15 other wounded warriors for a 10 day trip. They are riding their bikes about 6 of the 10 days and are doing a lot of sight-seeing. I am so excited for him and cannot wait to hear about his trip! We have been communicating by email but no phone calls.

Right before Adam left for his Israel trip, we returned from a trip to Tampa. Went traveled down to Atlanta to leave Cohen and Cooper with my parents and then flew out of Atlanta to go to Tampa for a conference. It was a mentor conference so Adam and I can become mentors for other wounded warriors and their families. We have been getting involved with this over the past few months and are at a place in our lives now where we are ready to give back and help others who will be going through similar circumstances and life changing events. Not that we are experts by any means, but maybe we can at least offer an open ear or some words of encouragement. We were in Tampa for 5 days and had a great time! The conference was a 2 full days and was very informative and interesting. We also got to visit the VA hospital where Adam was an inpatient for so many months. We saw a few of his therapists, nurses, his physician and also got to spend some time with great friends! Everyone was thrilled to see us, especially Adam, and to see how well he was doing and how much he had recovered since leaving Tampa in April of 2009. Of course, they were all bummed that we did not have Cohen with us; I think he was the highlight of everyone's day when we were down there ;) After the conference we flew back to Atlanta then drove to Charlotte that same day because I had two job interviews the next day. Both jobs were great opportunities and I now have a new part-time job in Charlotte! Everything seems to be falling into place just at the right time :)

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T08:55:00.000-05:00

Cohen had a blast this Halloween! Adam is out of town right now so my mom came to visit for a week and got to do all the Halloween activities with us. Over the weekend went to a pumpkin patch with some friends and had a great time. The kids rode a barrel train, played in the corn, fed the animals and we all went on a hay ride. We carved a pumpkin over the weekend and Cohen loves his "punkin". On Halloween, Cohen got to dress up for preschool then we went to the place I previously worked to visit and get some yummy treats. I was not sure how well he would get the concept of trick-or-treating last night but it did not take long at all for him to catch on. After we left every house he said, "I want some more trick-or-treating"! He did great walking from house to house, knocked on the doors and usually said "trick-or-treat" and then "thank you" at the end. Although the "thank you" part is still a little hard and has to be prompted ;) Here are a few pictures from our Halloween weekend.

Go DAWGS! Cohen's first football game

2011-10-16T09:54:00.000-05:00

We took Cohen to his first Georgia football game this weekend! Our great friends, Wes and Maggie, came in town for the game with their children, Colt and Marley. At first we were not going to take Cohen since he's only 2, but we decided to take him and are so glad we did! He had a blast with Colt and Marley and the kids were so good at the game! Cohen was very intrigued by the whole football scene; he loved the marching band, Hairy Dawg, watching the football players and snacking on popcorn, pretzels and lemonade. We made it to halftime then Maggie and I left and went back to the hotel with the kids. Wes and Maggie stayed at a hotel so close to the stadium that you could watch the game from the hotel rooms. It was a perfect location so we could take the kids back, give them a bath and put their pj's on while the guys stayed to watch the rest of the game.

The guys watching the Georgia football players come off the bus

Maggie and Marley

Colt, Marley and Cohen

The Muschara's

The Stead's

Cohen and Colt very entertained at the game

Nashville Zoo

2011-10-16T08:03:00.000-05:00

Adam and I took Cohen to the Nashville Zoo last week. The last Cohen had been to the zoo was in Tampa when he was an infant. Cohen had blast seeing all the animals, playing on the jungle gym and riding the "choo choo". When we left he fell asleep in the car before we even made it out of the parking lot!

We forgot to take our stroller so we had to rent one there.

Climbing on the jungle gym

Riding the "Choo Choo"

Brushing the animals at the petting zoo

Passed out in the car after we left the zoo!

Adam's Retirement Party

2011-10-13T21:30:00.001-05:00

My parents and I had a retirement party for Adam last weekend in Atlanta at my parent's house. I felt a little strange every time I said "retirement party" since Adam is so young and likely has many years of work ahead, but he definitely deserves the recognition and celebration! I was going to try and make it a surprise but I did not think I could get Adam to Atlanta and pull it off without telling him, so I did end up telling him about the party. We invited close friends and family and had a great time visiting with everyone! Here are some pictures from the night. I started taking a few pictures at the beginning of the night but didn't get very far...hopefully my mom took more pictures than I did :o

Adam's friends from college, from left to right: Leah and Spencer, Erin (her husband was at home with a sick baby :( ), Cristin and Bryan, Carrie and Adam, Kelli and Jason, Kelly and Great, Maggie and Wes

Left to right: Bryan, Spencer, Adam, Jason, Wes and Great

I ordered the cake from a local bakery. It turned out pretty good! Adam was in the Cavalry when he was aviation in the Army so I thought the stetson would make a cute cake.

Ryan, Cohen and Eleanor. Ryan and Eleanor are my friend's, Sharon and Jenn, children. Cohen had a blast playing with them! The rest of our friends decided to leave their kids at home and make it an "adult" evening.

Me and my cousin, Lorra

My Grandmother and Aunt Jan

Aunt Jan and Jerry

Jenn and Eleanor

Family friends, Bruce and Charles, and my Uncle Jerry

Sharon, Maggie and Erin

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-02T11:50:00.000-05:00

We went to a farm last weekend with our friends, Scott and Debbie Johnson, and their one-year old son, Caleb, for some fall festivities. The Johnson's are the family that kept Cooper for us last year while we were gone and have become great friends of ours. Cohen had a blast at the farm and is still talking about the "punkin patch". This farm had all kinds of great activities for children to enjoy. Cohen went down a big slide that tunneled through the ground, played on a big tractor, climbed on hay, played in a sandbox of corn kernels, went through a corn maze, got to see all the farm animals, and we all went on a hay ride. He even got chased by a goose that almost got a hold of his shirt! I don't have a picture of that but I wish I did. Everyone around was laughing hysterically and poor Cohen was screaming and running from the goose. It was definitely a sight! Here are some pictures from the day...somehow I didn't get any photos of the Johnson's?! We both had our cameras and were concentrating on taking pictures of our children, I guess??

Alive Day!

2011-09-09T21:48:00.005-05:00

So much has happened over the past 2 years! In some ways it seems like I received that horrible phone call only yesterday but in others it seems like so long since Adam's accident. It's really hard to explain but it almost seems like those first few months were someone else's life, like I was watching a movie or reading a book. Of course, Adam has no memories of the accident and has no real memories until around Christmas time that year and after his cranioplasty that next January. We are both just so thankful to be where we are now and for Adam's amazing recovery!

We all had a great day yesterday on Adam's second "Alive Day". His previous squadron commander arranged for him to have a final flight--the first time Adam has flown since his accident. Adam was so excited to be able to go up in a Kiowa again, especially on the second anniversary of his accident. The flight turned in to much more of a production than was anticipated, but since Adam's story has such a happy ending I think a lot of people, including the local media, wanted to be there and capture the moment. Adam flew with a guy he worked with previously and they had a great time flying! Cohen had a blast seeing all the "helicocers" and even got to sit in one and "play" around a little. He was very entertained on the flight line by all of the Army vehicles and helicopters while Adam was up on his flight. After the flight, Adam was hosed down with water, as is tradition after an aviator's last flight. Then they presented Adam and me with some things from the squadron which was very special. That night we went to dinner with a few friends to celebrate and the guys had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came out for this awesome day for Adam!!


Adam and Terry before they took off


Adam and Terry about to land

Adam about to get sprayed down with water!

Us with the COL Bontrager (who made all of this happen) and his wife Kelly

Dinner with Spencer, Bobby, Mike, James and Dave

Braves Game

2011-09-04T08:22:00.001-05:00

Adam, my mom and dad and I went to the Braves game on Friday to see them play the Dodgers. Not a great weekend for our Georgia sports since the Braves and our Bulldogs lost :( but what can you do? Anyway, one of my dad's good friends works for the Braves now that he is retired and set up a great afternoon/evening for us at the stadium. Thank you Loye!! We arrived 3 hours before the game to go to batting practice then went on a tour with one of the Braves ambassadors. The guy that showed us around was great and the tour was so fun! We went all around the stadium and to the museum but also got to go down to the service level and see all of the "behind the scenes" happenings of major league baseball. It was amazing and a completely different world! Dad's friend, Loye, also had Adam recognized on the LED message board at the game which was really fun!


At batting practice


Batting practice


Cohen is obsessed with the Chick-Fil-A cow and "Chick A playground"


On the field before the game started


My parents

Charlotte

2011-09-03T08:44:00.000-05:00

Adam and I were introduced to a wonderful family in Charlotte, NC back in January and have since visited the city multiple times. This family is amazing and very generous and have hosted Adam, Cohen and me in their home every time we have visited. I will explain later in another post more details about Charlotte and our future there :o. On our last visit to Charlotte we were given the opportunity to go to the Tim McGraw concert through Operation Homefront. Operation Homefront is an organization that provides assistance to service members/families and wounded warriors. They provided us with tickets to the concert and the "pre-show" party. We had a great time at the concert but only took a couple of pictures, and the pictures I did take were with my phone, so not great quality!

Friends to Visit

2011-08-21T08:23:00.001-05:00

Some of our best friends, the Muschara's, came to visit a couple of weeks ago and we had a great time with them! We did not do anything terribly exciting as it rained part of the weekend, but they are the kind of friends you don't have to entertain and we have a blast anyway! The kids played outside as much as they could and had fun in the sprinkler. Adam and Wes took Cohen and Colt on post to see the "Army trucks" and helicopters and the little boys had a great time doing that while Maggie, Marley and I went shopping.

Cohen and Marley

Cohen and Colt

The guys having a race in the backyard--obviously Cohen did not quite know what was going on?!

Wes teaching Cohen and Colt how to play leap frog!

First Day of Preschool

2011-08-15T13:23:00.000-05:00

Today was Cohen's first day of preschool and he was soooo excited!! He woke up this morning saying, "Cohen go to new school today, Cohen play with new friends today, I have fun today". All morning he kept telling me "Mommy I ready to go bye bye and go to school". Once we got to school he walked right in the classroom, gave his bag to the teacher and said "bye bye mommy". When I picked him up he told me, "I was so nice to friends today" and "I had a good time"!?! He is such a social child and loves the interaction with other children! Here a couple of pictures right before we left the house this morning.

Big boy bed

2011-07-23T09:21:00.000-05:00

We decided to move Cohen to his "big boy bed" this week. Even though he just turned 2 in May, he's been in a toddler bed for about 5 months now because he started climbing out of his crib around 21 months. We were going to move him to a big bed when we move (whenever that may be?!) so I wanted to go ahead and do it before we move so there is not so much change all at once with a new house, new room and a new bed. He has done great in his big bed this week and seems to be sleeping a little better and longer in the morning! He is starting to wake up in the the 6:00 hour instead of the 5:00 hour!!

Summer fun!

2011-07-17T22:05:00.002-05:00

Here are a few of the things we have been doing this summer....

Back in May, some of our of friends (Adam's college friends) hosted a little reunion at their house. They rented an inflatable water slide for the kids, we grilled out and just had a great time hanging out and watching the kids play. These are some of our closest friends and we always love getting together with them. (Thanks Maggie for the pictures !)

Marley and Cohen

Cohen and Colt (and I think Sam's back?)

Adam and Sam

Cohen, Campbell and Marley

The girls and some of the kiddos!

Cohen got a new "Little Tikes" table for his birthday from his Mimi and Pops and he loves it! He wants to eat breakfast every morning outside (at 5:45 am?!).

One of his favorite things to do is "call" Mimi and Pops and talk to them on the phone.

He finally started drinking out of a "big boy cup" without spilling his drink which was a big accomplishment :)

And he learned how to ride his tricycle this summer. At first he just did the "Fred Flinstone" method with his feet, but quickly learned to pedal and can now almost make it around the block. I just usually end up carrying the tricycle back to the house ;)

We went to my parent's house for the 4th of July to visit with family and out of town friends. Cohen didn't want to swim the first day and only wanted to play on the stairs of the pool. By the second day he was jumping off the diving board and swimming from one end of the pool to the other with his swimmies on, thanks to his Aunt Lorra and Uncle Ben!

Cohen and Uncle Ben


Cohen, Marley and Colt

Cohen loves playing with his friends Regan and Jack and always asks about them!

Cohen, Regan and Jack

Adam decided it would be fun if we started camping with Cohen so he bought a tent and all the required camping gear he didn't already have. So for a trial run Adam and Cohen camped out in the backyard one night. Cohen thought it was the best idea ever and had a great time. He slept all night with no problem! Now the next time they go camping I will be included and it will be at a campground. For those of you who don't know me well, that's a pretty big deal since I have never slept in a tent outside of someone's backyard and probably never made it through the entire night without going inside. I'm definitely up for the while camping experience, especially if I get to do it with my boys!!

Cohen LOVES the playground and we go almost everyday. He is such a climber and loves to slide. The child has no fear and climbs on equipment made for children much older than him. I don't want him to be scared, but being a PT I do get a little nervous watching him sometimes!

There is a small water park locally that we go to sometimes and Cohen absolutely loves it! It has a big splash area for smaller child to climb, run and play and he has a blast!