Sarah's First Haircut

I took Sarah for her first haircut today.  You can tell by her expression that she was totally excited about the entire experience.  Sarah hates to have her hair touched by anyone.  She hates washing her hair in bath time, she will not let me get close to her with a barrette or rubber band and she cringes when T gets near her head.  Needless to say, we waited until she was 21 months to attempt the first haircut and I went alone.

She surprised me beyond belief.  She climbed into the car and sat there the entire time with the above expression. She never cried or screamed in fact she didn't utter one single sound.  There were a couple moments of intense eye rolling but that was the only reaction.  I think the pure terror of a stranger touching her head with scissors was enough to keep her quiet and focused on finishing the haircut as quickly as humanly possible.  This experience just confirms that Sarah will always surprise us.  Here are the after pictures, cute as a button!

Happy Birthday, Cooey!

Tonight we celebrated my nephew, Corey's, 16th birthday.  I always like to reflect back on the previous year and years when someone's birthday rolls around and this one was no different.  Chad and I started dating when Corey was just 2 years old.  Considering that Chad was an only child, Corey became more of a little brother to Chad than a "nephew".  They have had a special bond since they met and it continues to this day.

We have so many great memories of Corey and things that we have done with him over the years. From trampling through the creek to sleepovers when we were in college to visiting elementary schools for lunch to attending band concerts to vacations in Florida and Disney to making the trek to Camp Rainey Mountain for an hour dinner to tutoring, tutoring, tutoring our way through high school to playing with T and Sarah to shopping to just chilling out and for all in all just being a great kid to spend time with. We treat Corey as if he is one of our own and for the most part always have a laugh or two along the way.  He has helped us with T and Sarah over the last couple years and has been a big part of our family this year as he spent a few nights a week at our house for tutoring.  There are definitely two little kids that look up to him and miss him terribly when he's not here. We have all learned a lot this year and have grown in our maturity (Chad and I included).  Some days were smoother than others and some days we were just tired but I would not change a thing if I had to do it again.

We are so proud of the young man that Corey has become and is on track to become in the next few years.  He is inspiring to many young scouts which was recently reconfirmed as he served as a counselor at Cub Scout camp.  He is a leader in his troop and is submitting the final paperwork for his Eagle Scout this summer.  We are immensely proud of this accomplishment for Corey and Nana, too.  All things considered, Corey, you are a wonderful teenager so amazingly tender hearted, genuine, thoughtful, resilient, intelligent, humorous and fun!  We love you, Cooey and are honored to be a part of your life.

Swim Lessons

We had our first swimming lessons this morning at Swim Atlanta. Chad and I have really, really talked up the swimming lessons so T and Sarah would be excited.  As a child, I only had one lesson where I proceeded to cry so hard that I vomited in the pool and my Mom made the decision that I probably wasn't going to be the best swimmer.  Chad, on the other hand, wore goggles as glasses when he was a kid and has always loved swimming. It was not until I was required to swim in college (it was a graduation requirement to be a survival swimmer) that I developed a love of water, in a pool that is.   Here we are getting ready for the lesson:

No, we did not go to the lesson bearing arms we left our guns in the car.

The whole way to the pool, T informed us that he already knew how to swim.  He could do it all and really did not need the lesson.  Remember, Mom, we went swimming at Tom & Ashlee's pool last summer?  The one and only time the child has been swimming.  We proceeded to the lesson and let's 

just say that Sarah takes after me (minus the vomit) and T takes after Chad (minus the goggles).  Here's to summer!

Turtle Day

We took a trip to the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center to see the turtle exhibit. We were able to see turtles of all sizes and some other marine life as well.  This is the biggest of all the turtles that we saw:

More than the turtles, we really enjoyed the water exhibit.

They have an interactive area where you can learn about the cycles

of water from rain to plumbing to treatment plants. Tyler had a great

time.

We even had the chance to play with our cousins, Dayton and Dalton.  They definitely showed us the ropes on how to do everything. I love these boys.  They remind me that, yes, things do get easier when you don't have to deal with diapers anymore. And, more than anything, they are just great boys that love their "lady" aka me :)

Seven Years, Seven Amazing Years

7 years, 2,556 days, 61,361 hours, 3,681,641 minutes.  Seven years ago I was a young lady with butterflies in my stomach, intense excitement about the future and the unknown and had an amazing best friend that would soon be my husband.  Seven years ago I had no idea what it really meant to stand side-by-side with someone through the ups and downs of life.  Seven years ago I was unsure what it was to be a wife, to own a house, to have a pet that I actually had to take care of, to hold a "real" job, to have mail in the mailbox with my name on it and then to have to pay that 'mail' in the box, to cook dinner nightly, to have children, to raise children and to balance.  Seven years ago I was very naive, so young, so ambitious and so eager to get on with life.

So, in seven years what has happened?  I did marry my best friend who is still my best friend, confidant, safe place and best thing that I have going.  We have had some ups and downs.  There were times that we were unsure that all of our 'mail' would be paid at the end of the month and just how in the heck we were going to do it.  We have gone through career changes and times of uncertainty with work.  I think that I am growing and understanding more each day what it means to be a wife and I strive to be the best wife that I can be - supportive, loving, enduring, resilient, encouraging and always there.  We own a house, yep, we own it and it is all ours.  We actually have 4 pets now, 2 cats and 2 dogs.  A few fish here and there that now take up residence either in the sewer or heaven.  I have been at Google for seven years and I could write a book about what a 'real' job has come to mean.  We have enough mail weekly to grow a forest.  I try to cook dinner nightly, sometimes dinner is toast, but it is something in your belly.  And, we have multiplied we have two little cherubs that are amazing, simply amazing.  So, in seven years so much has happened, but most of all, in the last seven years I have learned what is truly important.  Family, immediate and extended is the most important thing to me and is what drives me daily.  My husband, kiddos, parents and in-laws are amazing.

Chad, you are amazing and have made these last seven years possible.  Thank you so much for the last seven years of patience, love, support, encouragement and just for being you.  For growing with me, for loving me and for being there day in and day out.  There is no way that I would make it through this crazy world without you by my side.  You are irreplaceable and I am forever grateful for all that you have brought to my life.  I love you and look forward to many, many more years in the future!

Bubbles Galore

We love bathtime in the Lackey house - it is about 20 minutes that my kids are contained and cannot get out. An absolute mandatory time for the kiddos! Sometimes we pitch a fit, sometimes we throw water balloons, sometimes we tinkle in the water but we never ever have a boring time. Here is a picture of a recent bathtime that we had - bubbles and bubbles and more bubbles. One HUGE mess to clean up but one elated little boy made it worth all of the 'bubble trouble'.

Sarah Bug is One

We made it to a year. As a mother I feel a sense of accomplishment when we reach one year - we obviously did something right over the last year to make it this far. Sarah has been crying less, laughing more and growing into her personality a little more each day. She puts up a good fight with her brother and has a really strong will. We had our one year appointment at the pediatrician today and she checked out very well. She is a little over 20 pounds and 30 inches long, for those of you that know percentages - she is 41% for weight and 74% for height....maybe she will be a slim, tall one when she grows up! We have been having "episodes" with Sarah lately. Apparently, she is just a dramatic little girl but here is her latest trick. When she gets mad she has decided to hold her breath. Not just for a second, she plays out the full episode by turning blue, falling over, going limp, gives Chad and I a heart attack and after about 30-45 seconds finally takes a breath and starts audibly crying again. She has done this twice and each time is a little more dramatic. The doctor said that she is perfect, just has an attitude when she gets mad but hopefully by age 3 or so she will grow out of it. If this lasts for 3 years, I will look 60 by the time that I am 32. I love her to pieces but I really wish that she would be dramatic in another way....we will see how this develops!