Gorgeous HinJew Wedding

Now please don't get offended by the title that is how my wonderful friends Shwetha and Jeff refer to themselves so I promise its okay.  Anyway this was a much anticipated event and it definitely did not disappoint.  Shwetha did a great job arranging and planning everything for not one but two ceremonies and basically a weekend of events that luckily were all held at the wonderful Ritz Carlton in downtown Atlanta.  Even with all the moving pieces the event could not have gone more smoothly.  It was so wonderful to see the support for such and wonderful and feel the love literally pouring out around them.

Boogie and I were lucky enough to be in the ceremonies with Shwetha, both of us in the morning Hindu ceremony and me in the evening Jewish ceremony.  What a great cultural learning experience for her, and me as well.  So our weekend started off with a Henna party for everyone interested in either family and the wedding parties.  Boogie was so excited and so was I, I love henna.  Of course now that I look for them I see that the henna pictures have yet to be uploaded oops.  Anyway the artist was fantastic, and fast, super fast and the patterns looked amazing.  Boogie was a bit heart broken because you have to wait for the henna to dry before you touch it or else it will smear. This is a hard task for anyone but especially a 4 year old, and despite her best efforts hers smeared a bit.  It wasn't horrible, but it took a while to calm her down and promise her it would be okay. So with our Henna done, we headed back to the house to swap Boogie for Jon and head out to the Rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  The rehearsal was quick and straight to the point and then it was time for the real fun to begin.

The ballroom was gorgeous and there were little stations of every kind of food you can imagine scattered around the edge of the room.  It was very hedonistic.  LOL!!

There was lots and lots of singing.

Some dancing and......

Lots of smiling happy people....

Including our gorgeous couple.

The next morning the real fun began.....at the crack of dawn.  Boogie and I were dressed with hair done and in the car heading back downtown by 7:30am.  PHEW!

We looked pretty good in our gorgeous outfits, hand made in India.

Boogie defiantly knew that she looked good. :D

The groom in all of his finery...

All of the adorable flower girls...and apparently the hand out pose is Boogie's signature pose.  LOL!!

The beautiful bride and her mom...

The party outside before the ceremony...

Then we went in to wait for a little while...

Which was great we all got to talk for a while, and Shwetha presided over us. :D

Then it was time for the ceremony...the girls did great and before you knew it, it was all over...

My other two favorite people did make it and the little one looked cute if I do say so myself....

After a good lunch it was time to get my hair and make up done really quickly while Jon got the girls ready to go for a sleepover, and then run home and pick him up and head back down for the evening Jewish ceremony.  *Phew* I was really really tired by the end of this weekend, but it was so worth it.

The second ceremony was gorgeous too, but with the lighting being so low and Jon sitting really near the back there were only two photos...this one, and

This one, oh and notice I am the only one that could not keep my pashmina on my shoulders, stupid linebacker shoulders.  LOL!!

There was a nice cocktail hour before hand, I couldn't drink but the food was delish, and Jon and I got a couple of nice shots together.  It doesn't happen to often.  Oh and this dress was just to the point of not fitting, so thank goodness their wedding wasn't a week later.

Kim and Linda did a great job on hair and makeup and thank goodness this was before little trifecta started making my face break out like a 13 year old boy.

Again the tables were gorgeous and the food was good.  The band was fantastic and a good time was had by all.  Enjoy the rest of the photos, it was night I will never forget.  Congratulations Shwetha and Jeff.

Definitely a wedding to remember.  We left for SeaWorld and Disney two days after the wedding, which might explain Boogie's melt down on the second day of Disney.  The rest of that story is coming soon.  Promise!!

Thank you from a grateful American!!

Thank you one and all for fighting, for sacrificing for making America a place were I can speak my mind, chose my religion and raise my children to honor and prize the liberty that you all have fought for.

Thank you from a grateful American

Whale of a Tale!!

I posted a long, long, long time ago that we were going to take Boogie to Disney for her 4th birthday.  Jon was less then excited, but seeing how thrilled Boogie was, agreed to go.  I planned and planned and planned and booked us into the Contemporary, but well that didn't work out. Instead we booked a Cabin at Fort Wilderness and it turned out to be perfect.  If you have a family and you want to spread out and have some room I highly recommend staying at the cabins.  There is plenty of "Disney" there but it is also quiet and removed, a perfect blend.  Anyway I am getting way ahead of myself.

We were very, very busy leading up to our trip.  With everything going on, working and being pregnant, by the time Tuesday rolled around we were all pretty exhausted.  Murphy's law stepped in to ensure that we didn't leave Atlanta at our planned 2pm time, but instead we hit the road smack in the middle of rush hour at 5:30pm.  YAY!!!! We arrived in Florida at my lovely parents house a little bedraggled and exhausted at 12:30am. This of course meant that we did not get up early the next morning and start our adventure with the sun, this meant that we left picturesque Crystal River, Florida at 11am.  Oh well, we were off and the car was loaded down with stuff not to mention a very excited almost 4 year old.

Our first stop.....to see this guy.........

Boogie is kneeling on the ground by the trainer.

We walked through the gates at Sea World and all Boogie wanted to do was play in the kids water area and ride rides.  This was her trip so we were off....



She rode her first ride with Jon of course but she and I got to ride the roller coaster together for the first time.  She rode it three more times with Jon, and I have to say its not a slouchy little coaster.  To anyone that says but you can't ride a roller coaster your pregnant, I say well I went White Water rafting down the Ocoee pregnant with PJ and I am sure this roller coaster was safer then class 4 rapids. :D

Next was the Flying Fiddler, this was definitely a favorite and since there was hardly anyone in the park we rode this ride about 10 times.  Seriously if no one walked up to get on, the attendant just told us to stay on for another ride.  It was definitely a favorite of the day.

PJ of course is to small for any of these rides, but we made sure to make her stroller trip a little interesting.  Oh and if your wondering I did not mean to color coordinate the stroller, diaper bag and our outfits, it just worked out that way. PJ did get a ride on the carousel and she did great.  Held on like a trooper, and I have pictures to prove it but of course they are not down loaded yet.

Anyway once we finally got Boogie out of the play area I tried to get a nice family picture by the cute pumpkin fish....

Ummmmmmmmm

Yeah you can see how well that worked....*Sigh* well there was still Disney right?

Since we got a late start it was getting late in the day and we had reservations for 5:30 at T-Rex in Downtown Disney.  Definitely a must do if you have a kid that loves dinosaurs, although be for warned it is a bit loud and there is a giant meteor crash about every 15 minutes.  Still if you have a chance I say it is a unique experience.

Mom was worried that we were going to get stuck in Orlando rush hour and miss our reservation so we headed back towards the entrance.  We saw no animals, we saw no shows, nothing that is essentially Sea World.  This was Boogies trip so we just rode rides and let Boogie play in the water, that's all she wanted to do.  However on our way out we were in for a treat.

I never realized that there was a viewing tank at the back of Shamu stadium where you can watch the Orca's, but there is, and it is really cool.  I wanted to swing by because one of the whales was in the tank and noticed that a trainer was in front of us carrying a pail.  Well of course I assumed it was fish and that we might get to see him feed the whale or something, but it turned out to just be water.  However he had a plan and Boogie got involved and it was the coolest thing ever....

The trainer had Boogie help him wet the paper and stick it to the glass on the tank.  A couple of other kids came in and he ask them to join him too.

He explained that this was a free tank for the Orca's and that they could be engaged to interact with the people behind the glass if they wanted too.  He encouraged us to try to get the whales attention while he and the kids finished putting the paper on the glass.

Once that was finished he called the Orca with his whistle and the kids got to play peek a boo around the paper with a 12,000lb male Orca.  It was amazing and so much fun to watch the kids get so excited.

Whenever anyone would peek through the hole that the trainer made he would stick his tongue out at them.  Charlotte particularly liked this little trick and would stick her tongue back out at him.

PJ however was not so sure about playing with a 12,000lb whale and just watched skeptically from her stroller.

All to soon, the fun was over, and although the whale stuck around for a while we had to head out.

It was the absolute perfect ending to our day at Sea World and one that I know I will never forget.  However our day was far from over, we still had to beat horrible rush hour traffic and make it all the way over to Downtown Disney in time for our reservation.  I hope we could get there in the hour and a half that we had till dinner!!!!

Let me just preface the next post which will finish up day one and say mom should never be in charge of how long it takes to get from one place to another.

I'll try to post again tomorrow and finish up our first day for everyone, but suffice to say we were definitely off to a great start.

Halloween brings out all the crazy people....

That's why I'm back. :D

I thought since I had been MIA for so long I would start out with some cute pictures so that you all would forgive me and hang in there for what I promise will be interesting and more frequent updates.  I mean we just had Boogie's birthday trip to Disney to tell you guys about, and it was so action packed I need multiple posts for that.  Then there is little Trifecta who is hanging in there and growing strong.  I got to hear his/her heartbeat for the first time Monday and boy was that reassuring.  If you hang in with me I should have pictures of the little booger for you next Thursday.  We also have Jon's 33rd birthday coming up and festivities are planned, although I might not be able to show you pictures of that.  Not to mention the holidays, which will definitely generate stories and photos.  So I am begging you please come back and hang out with me, I promise my dedication will be better.

As a peace offering let me pacify you with adorable pictures from Halloween. :D

So we had a theme this year, kinda fun to have more then one kid because then you can have a theme.  The theme was suppose to be A barrel of monkey's and both the girls were going to be monkey's but we had a hard time finding a costume for Boogie that didn't cost $50.  So a great alternative came to light....

A Zoo Keeper...go me!!

Of course finding a cutie Monkey out fit for the Jellybean was easier then easy, but in my quest for Boogie's monkey costume I also found a great costume for Jon as well.....

Yep, I actually got him to dress up like a 6ft tall banana.  This man would do anything for his girls.  They loved it.

Addy despite looking less then thrilled loved her Monkey costume, and it kept her nice and warm as we walked.  At one point though we did have a slight wardrobe malfunction...

The costume tried to eat her, but

We were able to rescue her. :D

Boogie did good with her stash despite having to give up all the chocolate.  One piece of chocolate to Boogie is like 3 shots of espresso, so no chocolate.

Mommy and Daddy were more then happy to take care of that for her. :D  Don't worry she gets a tiny piece here and there so we are not totally heartless.

With all the fun and excitement it wasn't long before my little monkey was out for the night.

Although I don't have a picture her big sister wasn't far behind her, leaving Jon and I plenty of time to end our Halloween night with Tim Burton's Sleepy Hallow.  All in all a great Halloween.

Sometimes thing just don't go like you plan....

You know as I stated  in the title sometimes things just don't go like you plan.  Jon and I had a pretty good plan for the coming years with our girls.  Most of it included paying off debt and moving to a new house in say three or 4 years and then maybe when I turned 40 adopting another child.  Boy, girl didn't matter whom ever fit the best with our girls.  That was a good plan, one we could definately work out and be pretty happy with.  Our house is small but it fits our little family for the time being so we make do with the space.

Wellllll folks let me just tell you that someone else had a totally different plan for our future and we are still realing a bit.  Not really sure on how to work all of this out yet, but it is what it is and somehow we have to  fit another little Cooper kid in our little 2 bedroom, 1 bath house come May.  Yep you read that right, Addy will be 8 months old on the 10 and I will be 2 months pregnant on the 9th.  HOLY COW!!!!

Not what we planned at all, to be honest we were really really shaken up about it.  Not that we don't think another child will be a great addition to our family, but right now it is a bit of a struggle.  I'm personally still shell shocked, I have been training hard for my 1st 1/2 marathon, which coincidentially was why I thought my monthly visit from Aunt Flo was late.  Well now that little trip will have to wait another year, although I am going to keep doing my disntance for as long as I can durning the pregnancy.

Where are we going to put this one was another question, please notice that we have a 2 bedroom 1 bath house, that we own.  Can't move the market is to crappy, so we have to come up with a solution.  Luckily it is a solution that Boogie is very excited about, her room is going to be in the attic.  LOL!! Our attic is about 6ft at the peak so for a small child the space is perfect.  We are lucky in that we will jsut lose our linen closet and can put stairs up through that area into the attic for her.  Her room will take up about 1/2 the length of the house, although it will be narrow becuase we still need some storage space up there.  It is the only inexpensive fix that we can come up with, and it has totally delighted our daughter.  So its a win win. 

Anyway we are slowly getting over the shock of adding to our family so soon.  I am slowly excepting that I will be pregnant again, this is big for me.  We are slowly getting excited about a new cute little Cooper, and my May 20th or there abouts when they make thier appearance we will be over the moon for our new little person, just like we were for Boogie and Jellybean.

So while your plans may not work out the way you expect, there is someone that knows whats best for your life.

This will be fast....

Now I really don't have much time here, but I wanted to update you all on the running part of my life.  This weekend Belle and I entered our first 5K of our training together.  It was the 2nd Annual DI Dash benefiting Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.  It started in Marietta square, one of my favorite places and ran through some of the pretty neighborhoods in the area ending up back in the square.  Everything that I read said this was a nice even course, with only one major hill on the backside of the course.  To those people I have to say, "Where do you train the Alps?"  It was a beautiful course and well organized and secured, but this course was not flat, not to mention you finished the race on an uphill, an uphill!!  Does every race in the world end on an uphill.  The only hills in the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon are in the last 3 miles of the race.  Seriously!

Anyway,  Belle and I got there nice and early and picked up our swag, drank some water, stretched and waited for the start.  They were timely and the running began right at 7:30 am.  We had two goals; Run the first mile no matter what and finish the race in no more then 40 minutes.  Well I am happy to say that we got one out of two goals accomplished.  I sabotaged the 1 mile goal by having a night out with my husband the evening before.  We had just a bit to much fun, but in my defense the band was so good we just didn't want to leave.   So at about 3/4's of a mile I had to stop and walk a bit, to control my breathing.  despite walking we still finished our 1st mile in 11 minutes and 22 seconds our best time ever for the first mile.  The second mile was 13 minutes and we finished the race, on and uphill mind you, in, drum roll please......38 minutes flat!

I am so proud of Belle and I we really ran our hearts out.  I have a couple of photos but well their a little less then attractive, of me anyway.  I doubt you'll be seeing them here, but there will be photos in the future.  Our plan now is to run at least on 5K a month and 1 10K by December.  Our next 5K is scheduled for September 16th, though downtown Atlanta, and folks that is far from a flat course.  We are shooting to shave 3 minutes off of our previous time.  That's the goal, cross your fingers for us.

Ta ta for now!!

Uhhhh hello, anyone still out there??

I just realized that its been almost a month since I posted anything.  Where has time gone?

So I will start this out slow with a few pictures.

We have been very busy here in hot and muggy north Georgia.  This month  we had three big events and some first for Addison.

First up was our Nephews christening in the middle of the month.  It was so nice to watch this and to get to see family all together.  The girls just loved seeing their cousins and spending some time with them.

Baby S did very good during the whole thing, his big brother was quite tired.

These two cuties are cousin BBug and Buddie Roe, we don't get to see them to often so it is so nice when we are able to get together. BBug and Boogie are only 6 months apart.

These are two very silly little girls, and they have a blast together.

Buddy Roe is quite the charmer.

Here is my favorite picture of my two girls.  Boogie just loves her baby sissy.

After our great family weekend it was time for Jellybean's first Braves game.  If have to to give one thing to Atlanta it does have lots and lots of opportunities to do interesting things with your kids.

So we got to our "great" seats for a $1, yep I said a $1 and settled in.

Despite the height we had a great view of everything.  Planes only buzzed us a couple of times, and the ants on the field we're to hard to see.

Jelly bean was just soaking in the atmosphere and looking at everyone.  Boogie was looking for the Cotton Candy man.

This girl loves her daddy that is for sure. (Oh and look how empty the upper seats are just past Jon, this will be important later)

Boogie loves the games, but also has to do something to keep herself entertained.

Please notice what is behind me in this picture....RAIN!  Lots and lots and lots of it.  However, our GREAT seats, really turned out to be great because they were covered, and we didn't even get sprinkled on.  WooHoo!!

Please definitely notice the gorgeous blue eyes in this picture, because I just love them so much, but also look behind Jon now.  LOL!!  Everyone moved up into the cheap seats.  Booyah we only paid a $1 for our seats!!

As the evening wore on tiredness set in, and it was time to pack up and go.  Mind you when we were there the Braves were losing, as soon as we left the stadium they turned it around and won.  Go figure.

We did have to get a picture with this guy before we left though...

See you in October Mickey!!

Our last outing this month was to our great Georgia Aquarium, recently put in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest aquarium in the world.  Go us!!

The best day to visit the Aquarium is on Sunday morning, the crowds are so small that you can really enjoy the tanks and walk around at your leisure till about noon with no problems.

I however thought that the aquarium opened at 9am so I set the alarm and rushed the girls up and dressed so that we could make it there early.  Boy was I glad they were sluggish, because actually it doesn't open until 10 and we were ushered into a small waiting area with at least 100 other people and kept there.

For quiet a while...

Jellybean was not really impressed by the Yellow Fin Jacks which were in the tanks surrounding our holding pin.

This was our last photo in the holding cell and we were finally let in.  The good thing about being the first ones in is that you might get lucky, and be the first and only persons in an exhibit and we were.  We were the only ones to walk into the Tropical Diver, and the divers were in the tanks so they got to wave and interact with Boogie.  It was a lot of fun.  The fish and coral are of course beautiful as well.

The girls just didn't know what to look at first, but I think they are both looking at a different diver at the top of the tank.

Boogie also liked the interactive touch screens, you could pick out your favorite fish while you were looking at them and then learn all about them.  A very cool feature.

These are the tropical fish and of course Boogie had to pose.  She did this all by herself I promise.  I think we might be in trouble in a few years.  LOL!!

We walked around all of the exhibits and saw the new Penguin exhibit and the Beluga's and even the Sea Otter's but Boogies favorite part.....the gift shop. *Sigh*

Jellybean was kinda over it pretty fast, so after about an hour and a half, we packed it up, got through the gift shop with minor monetary damage and headed home.  On the way we did make a pit stop for Steak n Shake because who can resist Steak n Shake.  Jellybean was great for a while and played with her toys, but once the food arrived she decided she was hungry too, so she ate, Boogie ate and I got a to-go box.  Ahhhh the joys of being a mom.

So that has been our month thus far, kinda busy, especially if you put in working full time a trip for Jellybean to the ER another to run some tests and all my running that I have been doing.  We're definitely full up here.

Speaking of running I will have an update on that coming up soon, but Belle and I are doing great, and participating in our 1st 5K together on Saturday.  More to come soon.....Tata for now!!