Ten Years

Here's to 10 years of marriage to the greatest man, husband, father, and friend a girl could ever hope to spend a lifetime with. Thank you, Jeremy, for choosing me. I love you.

A Good Word from a Great Dad

Today, Jeremy sent me a link to Thom Rainer's (the President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, where Jeremy works) blog. It literally brought tears to my eyes. Thank you, God, for gracious moms and dads like Thom and Nellie Jo Rainer who can love on their kids in such a special, understanding, and selfless way. I pray that I can have a heart like his when it comes time for me to "let go" of my Cooper. You can read it here.

This Just Breaks My Heart

Nothing breaks my heart more than folks who profess to be followers of Christ watering down the Gospel so much that it becomes nothing more than a personal preference. It might as well be a flavor at Baskin Robbins. If you stop liking it, or you get tired of it, you just move on to the next flavor. And you should never suggest that someone else's flavor is not as good as yours. Because that would be intolerant. May I ask, since when was Jesus moderate and mainstream? To follow him means to die to self. And to teach anything else in the church is nothing short of "false." Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matthew 7:15 God, please help the thousands of children growing up in churches all over the world hearing this watered-down message. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110326/NEWS06/103260337/Christians-open-minded-alternative?odyssey=modnewswelltextNewss

Sweet Valley High...sigh....

I loved to read when I was a little girl. And my favorite series was Sweet Valley Twins. My mom and dad used to take me to Bookworld, a bookstore in Harding Mall (wow, that's a blast from the past), and I would pick out every new Sweet Valley Twins book that came out. When the main characters, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield (twin sisters who lived in Southern California), got out of middle school, the series of books outlining their high school years was called Sweet Valley High. I just read this on Time.com today, and it made my heart skip a beat. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2061324_2061327_2061295,00.html

Is It Really 2011?

Well, I haven't posted in awhile. A LONG while. So, here I am. For those of you who see me often, you know why I haven't posted. Life has been NUTS!! Three days before we left for Disney (last summer - see previous post), we put our house on the market. Our first house. The one Jeremy and I bought together. And the one that Cooper came home to from the hospital. Seven weeks after we listed it, we sold it. We were so happy to be moving closer to downtown (and, thus, closer to work), but very sentimental about leaving Inglenook Drive. I hope Jorge is enjoying that house as much as we did. We trick or treated in our old neighborhood and he appeared to be taking good care of the place.

We didn't find a house nearly as quickly as ours sold. Fortunately, our great friends, the Hoods (see previous post again) let us move in with them. And their two kiddos. That's right, 7 of us in one house! It was awesome. I cried when we moved out. That's right. I cried. Ridiculous. But that's how much fun it was. So thankful for their friendship and that they love us enough to let us live with them. And they are even still our friends!

Fast forward to October 22nd - the day we closed on our new house. The neighborhood is better than I could have ever imagined. I have lots of things that I've always wanted in a house. It is a 1960s ranch, with lots of trees and a huge yard. It has a fully finished basement that includes a bedroom, a full bath, and a rec room. We have great neighbors, with kids around Cooper's age, and we couldn't be happier about our 12 minute commute to work and 15 minute ride to church.

We gutted the "vintage" kitchen with Derrick's help, and we are making it our own from top to bottom. All we (I'm using the term "we" loosely; I really mean, Derrick) have left to do is doors and drawers for the cabinets. That's right...he built those from scratch. He lets us move in his house for 3 months. And he builds us cabinets. Now you know what I mean about good friends.

Needless to say, we have been busy the last several months. We still have quite a bit of work to do on the house, with finishing the kitchen and new front yard landscaping being the most immediate things on the to-do list. Here's a few pics of our goings on the last few months. I will post more "after" pics soon, but here are a few to get us started.

Cooper saying goodbye













Hello new house!!








Kitchen before. Ouch.










Kitchen during demo.










Kitchen today, minus cabinet fronts.











Christmas in our new house.











My favorite room in the new house. We call it our reading room. Tiny peek at the awesome desk that Jeremy's dad built for us.

The Happiest Place on Earth

There might not be an experience more exciting as a young parent than seeing your child experience Disneyworld for the first time. Jeremy and I recently had the pleasure of taking Cooper to Disney with our good friends, Derrick and Heather Hood, and their oldest child, Hannah. The trip was exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time, but to say that we didn't want to come home after 8 days would be an understatement. Most nights, we shut down the parks, and Cooper was a trooper for most of the week. We discovered pretty early in the week that the heat was his biggest weakness, so we headed back to the room most days after lunch so he could nap during the hottest part of the day. Then, we'd head back around 4 or 5, have dinner, and close down the parks. Cooper and Hannah loved Magic Kingdom the best, so we spent 3 different nights there. We managed to squeeze in a few big rollercoasters here and there by kid-swapping and with the help of the FastPass system at Disney. And we are so happy that the Hoods went with us. They were fun and flexible, and just all-around great traveling companions, and great friends.

We enjoyed a really great dinner at Ohana restaurant, thanks to the recommendation of my good friend Ashley. We also did the princess lunch at Cinderella's castle, which was a blast. (And the food was pretty good, despite what some had told us. I highly recommend the Shepherd's Pie!) Cooper loved seeing Buzz and Woody (picture below) the most, and the new Toy Story Mania ride at Hollywood Studios was one of his favorites. But coming in at the top spot for Coop was the classic Peter Pan ride at Magic Kingdom (I just don't see the attraction....). Too bad he slept right through it on our last night there after we had Fastpassed it around 6 and got a 10:30 timeslot (that's right, Cooper is not the only 3-year-old who thinks Peter Pan is the greatest ride on earth).

We look forward to taking him back in 3-5 years, when he is old enough to ride the big stuff too. We were so grateful to be able to take this trip, and it will probably go down in the Bussell book as one of our best family vacations ever!

On the flight to Disney. Can't wait to get there!

Yes, I am about to cry at the Beauty and the Beast live show.

Snow White, Coop, and Hannah, at the princess lunch.

A big hug from Cinderella.

Cooper's first trip to the castle.

Belle's kiss left a mark.

And his favorite, Aurora.

Waited a long time for Pluto, but it was worth it.

The Monsters Inc. guys' hands were too big to sign autographs.

I'm 3 (that's him holding up his fingers following Rosetta's question).

Cooper's second favorite movie.

Highlight of the trip. Cooper, meet Buzz Lightyear and Woody!

The Bussells meet the Mouse Family.

Coop, loving him some Tinkerbell.

Friends forever!

Dad, Son, and Buzz Lightyear.....priceless.

Cooper and Hannah loved the pool at our resort, Caribbean Beach.

The Hood Family (minus sweet Hunter, who was staying with NeeNee this week).

Right before the meltdown when we realized that Coop left his stuffed Bullseye (Woody's horse from Toy Story) on the Dino ride. Yep, someone stole it.

The Hoods at Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney.

Hannah let Coop borrow her light-up Mickey ears.

Waiting in line for Ariel show.

Nemo exhibit at Epcot.

Jeremy skips the "spinny" rides.

Fireworks over the castle. Yes, sitting on trashcans.

Fell asleep on Small World; right before the Peter Pan Fastpass time.

Last night at the park; couldn't end it a better way.

The Happiest Place on Earth

There might not be a exciting experience as the parent of a young child than seeing your child's face the first time they see Cinderella's castle. Jeremy and I recently had the pleasure of taking Cooper to Disneyworld with our good friends Derrick and Heather Hood and their oldest child Hannah. The trip was exhausting, which we expected, but to say that we didn't want to leave would be an understatement. We spent 8 days and 7 nights on the resort, with five of those days in parks. Most nights, we shut the park down, and Cooper was quite the trooper. We discovered pretty early in the trip that the heat was his biggest weakness, so we headed back to our room most days right after lunch, so he could nap through the hottest part of the day. Then, we'd head back to the parks and stay till they closed. Cooper and Hannah loved the Magic Kingdom the best, so we spent 3 nights there including our last one. We managed to squeeze in a few big rollercoasters with the use the of the Disney Fastpass system. And we were so happy that the Hoods went with us. They were fun and flexible, and just all-around great traveling companions. We enjoyed a REALLY great dinner at Ohana restaurant, thanks to the recommendation of my sweet friend Ashley. We also had lunch one day at Cinderella's castle, which might have been my favorite part of the whole trip. Cooper loved seeing Buzz and Woody the best, and the new Toy Story Mania ride at Hollywood Studios was one of his favorites. But the classic Peter Pan ride at Magic Kingdom was his all-around favorite. Too bad he slept through it on the last night. He just couldn't take any more. We look forward to taking Cooper back to Disney in 3-5 years, when he'll (hopefully ;) be tall enough to ride everything. We were very blessed to be able to take this trip, and it will probably go in the Bussell books as one of our best family vacations ever.




The flight to Disneyworld. Can hardly contain the excitement!








Coop's first visit to the castle!











Stood in line a while for Pluto, but it was worth it!










Coop loves him some Tinkerbell!


















We caught the fairies just before their bedtime at Magic Kingdom - this is Rosetta.








The highlight of Coop's trip!


















The Bussells meet the Mouse Family



















Jeremy skipped the "spinny" rides





























The Hood Family
(minus sweet Hunter who was staying with his NeeNee)

































The Nemo exhibit at Epcot














Waiting in line for the Ariel show


















Hannah let Coop borrow her light-up Mickey ears

The Hoods at Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney

Fireworks after the parade; yes, they are sitting on trash cans.

DinoLand! Coop accidentally left Bullseye (his Toy Story 2 stuffed horse) on this ride - meltdown followed after we returned and it was already gone. Tough life lesson.

Cooper and Hannah loved the pool at our resort, Caribbean Beach.

Dad, Son, and Buzz Lightyear . . . priceless.

Beauty and the Beast show

Friends forever!

Snow White at the princess lunch

A hug from Cinderella

Belle's kiss left a mark

Aurora is his favorite

On the way out on the last night; no better way to end a great week!