When Elmo Grows Up

We drove to Spartanburg today so that Coleman could see "When Elmo Grows Up." I think Coleman spouted the words "Melmo" a hundred times today. Elmo is Coleman's favorite character. Our seats turned out to be great because we were on an aisle seat. Count von Count even patted Coleman on the head! Grover also walked up to our seat. Several characters left the stage from time to time in order for the children to get a close look at them.

Coleman and I had to get our picture with Big Bird and Elmo as soon as we arrived

The Pageant

Abby Cadabby, Zoe and Elmo

Surprise David...

I have spent the last month convincing David that we had a baby shower to attend on January 17, at 7:00 p.m at the Ascot Clubhouse. I started the story as soon as we received a "fake" invitation in the mail. I am still unsure as to whose phone number was on the invitation. I then found out that the O'Learys planned a birthday party for Lilly-Margaret on the same day from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. This appeared to be an obstacle at first, but it proved to be a blessing in the end. My parents and Jason helped out with Coleman and getting everything ready during the day while David was at work. I told David that I was going to help out with the shower, due to the fact it was at our neighborhood clubhouse; therefore, I was able to convince David to hurry home from work, so that he could take Coleman to Lilly-Margaret's birthday party.

The guests arrived at 6:30 p.m. I invited a few of David's co-workers, family, and a lot of high school friends. I kept the party fairly small. At 6:45, I continually called David in order to make sure he left the Funzone in plenty of time to arrive around 7:00 p.m. David was completely surprised! After the surprise, we partook of beverages, ate barbeque and ate cake.

Happy 40th birthday David!

David is checking out the koozies that I had made for him

David blows out his cake with Coleman's help. Coleman clapped after he blew out the candle.

Happy Birthday Lilly-Margaret

Saturday was a busy day! I was trying to get ready for David's surprise party, but before David's surprise party, David took Coleman to the Funzone to celebrate Lilly-Margaret's 4th birthday. We did not get any pictures because I had the camera is anticipation of David's arrival to his surprise. Happy Birthday Lilly-Margaret! Coleman really enjoyed your party!

Happy 40th Birthday David!!!

Today was David's 40th birthday. When David came downstairs this morning, Coleman was waiting for him with a Big 4-0 balloon. After work, we met David's parents and brother's family at Yamato for dinner. We ate lots of food, sang and had cake. When we got home, Coleman and I gave David a Nintendo Wii (which was impossible to find in the store!) and a family cruise out of Charleston. Happy Birthday David! You are now "Over the Hill".

Coleman and his Daddy

Coleman waiting for Daddy with the Big 4-0 balloon

EdVenture

We met Conner, his mom, Emily, her mom and her dad at EdVenture this morning. This was our first visit to EdVenture, and we were very impressed. We began the day by sliding down EDDIE, the world's largest child. This was a very neat exhibit because you could see the organs of the body on the trip to the slide. Coleman's favorite part of the museum was the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and the snowball throw in Snowville. We spent the morning visiting the exhibits. After visiting the exhibits, we went downstairs to the virtual McDonald's. All of the children were very tired and ready for a nap, so we left the musuem around 12:30 p.m.

We posed in front of EDDIE

Coleman, Conner and Emily "ringing up" their groceries at Piggly Wiggly

Conner, Coleman and Emily playing with the cupcakes

Happy New Year!

We went to Tracey's and Ivor's house in to ring in 2009. I thought we would leave around 10:00 p.m., but Coleman made it until 12:30 a.m. I was shocked! Thank you for inviting us to such a wonderful party guys!

David, Coleman and I ringing in the New Year

The kids were all playing together

Cooper even rung in the New Year!

Coleman at 14 Months

Coleman celebrated his 14 month birthday by hanging out with Mommy. We started the day by going shopping and finding some really good deals! We met Ashley and Christy for lunch at Miyo's. Coleman loved the fortune cookie. Then Coleman took a long nap. When Daddy got home, we ate dinner, and made a quick run to Target to purchase some balls for Coleman's ball pit and an Elmo video. Coleman loves his "Melmo".

Coleman's First Haircut

We drove to Jelly Beans in Greenville in order to get Coleman's hair cut for the first time. Coleman sat on a four wheeler and pressed lots of buttons while Rebecca was cutting his hair. Coleman was having so much fun, that he did not even notice that his hair was being cut! After the haircut was complete, we received a certificate with Coleman's first lock of hair cut on it.

After the haircut, we went to the mall and bought a couple of items on sale. The mall was really crowded. Then, we met Ava, Carter and their parents at Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner. The kids had a blast playing on all of the toys.

Coleman getting his hair cut

Coleman is actually enjoying this!

Ava, Carter and Coleman on the Chuck E. Cheese car

The Day After Christmas...

We went over to Conner's house to wish them a Merry Christmas! Conner got a play set from Santa, and Coleman and Conner had a blast playing together on it. Coleman especially loved crawling through the tunnel to find Conner. After we left Conner's house, we came home, and we tested out the four-wheeler. Coleman was really good at pressing the button, but the steering was quite challenging.

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!!!

We woke up at around 8:30 a.m. and immediately went downstairs to see what Santa had brought. Santa had brought a lot of different toys including a hand controlled four-wheeler and a Rody. After we opened gifts, we immediately went upstairs in order to get ready to go to my parents' house. We then drove to the upstate, ate lunch, opened gifts, and we drove back to Columbia to David's parents' house. There we opened gifts, ate dinner, and drove back home. We all got into bed around 10:30 p.m. What a day!

With all of the hustle and bustle of the busy holiday, we often forget the true meaning of Christmas. The true meaning is to celebrate the birth of a baby that changed the lives of man many years ago. Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!!!

Coleman is trying out his new ride

Coleman is showing Uncle Justin and Uncle Jason his Rody

Coleman is trying to take Banks' Santa hat from him

Christmas With the Davis Family

We begun the night by eating at Zorba's. After Zorba's, we all met at the Davises' house so that the children could exchange gifts, and the adults could perform a White Elephant Exchange. David ended up with an Arthur Court platter, which I was excited about, and I ended up with a Rosenthel basket, which I brought! Coleman recieved a neat guitar that he really adored from the minute I helped him open it. We had a wonderful time socializing and celebrating Christmas!

Coleman loved his guitar

Coleman and Andrew hung out for a good while!

Lights at the Zoo

David, Coleman and I met Conner and his parents at the zoo in order to watch the 3-D movie, ride the carousel and look at the lights. It is amazing how much both boys enjoyed the lights.

I love all of the pretty lights!

We Will Miss You Mimi!!!

At approximately 5:30 a.m., on Tuesday, December 16, I received the call from my mom that I had been dreading for the past several months. Mimi, my mother's mom, had passed away just a few minutes before the call. I really wanted Coleman to know this lady that I had admired so much as a child and as an adult.

The funeral services took place on Thursday, December 18, but before the services The First Baptist Church (my family's church) served us a wonderful lunch. After the lunch, the family went to the playground to swing. It was a beautiful day, and I know Mimi would have been so happy that we were able to celebrate her new life in the presence of Christ, on such a beautiful day!

We will miss you Mimi, and we all love you very much!!!

Uncle Jonathan was Coleman's Buddy for the day

My Mommy and Daddy should really buy me one of these!

Lights at Saluda Shoals

We went to Saluda Shoals to see the lights tonight. It was very neat because we were able to drive through the park and stay warm. Once we were in the park, we tuned in to a radio station in order to listen to Christmas carols and hear information about the park. We figured Coleman would absolutely love them due to the fact he loved the live Nativity Scene at Union Methodist. He enjoyed the lights, but he did not quite make it to the end!

One of the exhibits...a peacock

Coleman fell asleep during our ride through the park

Trimming the Tree

Before we even began to decorate the tree, I bought unbreakable ornaments to put at the bottom of the tree for Coleman. On Friday night, we went and picked out a tree. We then brought it home and began to decorate it. Coleman really liked playing with the ornaments. He kept saying the word "ball" when he looked at the ornaments. He even threw a couple of ornaments...thank goodness they were unbreakable.

Coleman helping decorate the tree

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We started our day at our house. I cooked for my family...thank goodness I did most of cooking on Wednesday!

Aunt Temple and Uncle Justin watching Coleman walk behind his push toy

Coleman is kicking off his socks while Uncle Justin, Uncle Jonathan and Uncle Jonathan hang out with him

We went over to David's parents house later in the afternoon.

Lauren and Banks playing with Coleman

Carolina vs. Gardner-Webb

Coleman attended his first basketball game tonight. This was a special game to attend because David went to Carolina and I went to Gardner-Webb. When Coleman was in my lap, he cheered for the Bulldogs, and when he was in David's lap, he cheered for the Gamecocks. The best part of the whole game is when Coleman stood on my lap and clapped during "2001". Toward the end of the game we went to where Tracey, Ivor, and Tracey's parents were sitting, so that Coleman could visit everyone, and we could meet Tracey's parents, which are here from Chicago. We all stayed until the end of the game.

Tracey, me, Coleman, David and Ivor

Me, Coleman and David

Coleman's New Coat...

Because the temperatures have been in the 30's the last few mornings, Coleman has been wearing his coat, hat and gloves to school. We bought his coat a bit large, but it is fun to roll up the sleeves! Did I forget to mention that Coleman enjoys brushing his teeth every morning?

Happy 70th Birthday Sara!

We met David's brother's family and his parents at Yamato's in order to celebrate David's mom's 70th birthday. Coleman tried Japanese food for the first time, and he loved it. His favorite part was the ginger salad dressing. Happy Birthday Sara!

Banks (Coleman's Cousin), Grandma & Coleman

The Cousins (Banks, Lauren, Benjamin) & Colemsn

Coleman's First Birthday Party

Coleman celebrated his birthday by having a small party and inviting some of his little friends. The theme of the party was MONKEYS. Coleman had a lot of fun eating his cake. He ate it little by little, but he did do a great job of eating it, and of course making a mess with it! We did not open gifts until after most of the guests had left, but he loves all of his new toys!

This chocolate icing is really yummy!

This is the large version of Coleman's cake above

Coleman with David's parents

Coleman is playing "Patty Cake" with my dad, while Ava and Carter watch

The Fryer Family at Coleman's First Birthday Party