3 year old pictures

Our favorite photographer Carly came to take pictures a couple weekends ago. I have to say that this year's pictures are my absolute favorites and the best ones yet! There were so many good ones that it is really hard to narrow down my favorites, but here are a few.

Carly is doing our Christmas card this year too and I can't wait to send them out!

It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

When thinking about a theme for Cooper's 3rd birthday, I immediately thought about her favorite TV show...the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Cooper still isn't really into watching movies or TV shows (although she now loves Monsters, Inc.) but the one show she will watch and loves is Mickey Mouse.

Cooper's party was at the Cahaba Lilly Park in Helena. We invited family and a few close friends. I scaled the party decor way down this year. Just a few balloons and table decorations. 

 Instead of a cake, we had cookies from Sugar City Sweets. Not only were they super cute, they were delicious too! And, super easy to serve to the kids.

Each of the picnic tables had a Mickey head.

Bebe made this cookie cake for the adults.

This was the first year that Cooper actually realized the party was for her and she loved it! She was so excited that all her family and friends were coming to see HER and she felt so special. The park ended up being a perfect location for the party. Cooper and the other kids ran all over the playground!

Here are a couple pictures from snack time and opening gifts.

And a few family pictures...

And the besties!

Monster Mash

Happy Halloween! I have to say that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because I love to dress up and challenge myself to get creative! We had a fun Halloween this year that started a little early. Courtney had us over to her house for a Halloween party. We let the kiddies decorate cupcakes and then dress up in their costumes. Cooper liked decorating the cupcakes, but liked eating the icing better!

Ha, ha...I love this picture!!

Our cupcake masterpieces. Can you tell which ones the kids decorated?

Cooper was a mermaid, Addy was a fairy, Tucker was Captain America and Talon was a sweet pea. These have to be the absolute cutest kids in the world.

We had a neighborhood Halloween party this year, hosted by the Adams Family! Wes & I dressed up as Brandon & Andy from the Goonies!! It was fun to see everyone in their costumes.

Sunday night we went to the church Trunk or Treat. Cooper thought she was such a big girl because she got to get her face painted!

Halloween was on Monday night, so our neighborhood did trick or treating that night. Bebe and Papa John came up to go with us! Cooper loved knocking on doors and having people answer with candy. After walking around the neighborhood, we came back home to hand out our candy. Cooper seemed to like handing out candy the best! She kept making  Bebe and Papa John go outside and ring the door bell so she could answer and give them candy!

The days following Halloween Cooper asked for candy all the time. The first thing she would say when she woke up in the morning was, "Can I have some candy?". Thankfully that only lasted a few days and then she forgot all about it.

August & September in Photos

This summer was so much fun and we hated to see it come to an end (we are looking forward to the cooler weather though)!

Cooper's favorite thing to do this summer was go to the swimming pool. We will miss the pool until next year! Real swimming lessons are in our future.

Loving on blankie after a day at the pool.

We went to Santa Rosa Beach over Labor Day weekend for Tiffany & Jason's wedding. Tropical Storm Lee decided to join us. Although we didn't get to enjoy the beach, we had a great time with the family & friends.

Cousins at Summer's birthday party in August. I think Summer & Cooper look so much alike in this picture...could it be the hair?!

Bebe & I took Cooper to the zoo in September. Ever since Nanna & Aunt Barbara took her in the Spring, she hasn't stoped talking about the zoo. Mostly the gorilla...for some reason she thougth the gorilla looked sad. Cooper wanted to give him a kiss to make him happy!

Roll Tide...football season has started!

During the first week in August, Wes & I went on vacation to Boston & the coast of Maine. Cooper stayed with Nanna & Papa Jack this time. We were trying to stuff her in our suitcase so she could come too!

The coast of Maine was beautiful! One of my all time favorite trips!

Sending a message from the coast of Maine back home to Cooper! We love you!!

Unity Grove Camp Meeting

Another marathon blogging session tonight...it's been a while. Today was Cooper's third birthday party, so I am finally downloading all the photos from our camera and updating the blog for the last 3 months!

In July we went to visit Nanny & Papa at campground. Unity Grove Camp Meeting is held in Palmetto, Alabama and is one of the oldest camp meetings in the state. The campground tradition and church services date all the way back to 1847. There are 3 church services a day that are held in an open air tabernacle type building.

As a child, I went to campground with Nanny & Papa every year starting at 5 years old. I have so many memories of my time there...homemade ice cream night, ghost stories in the graveyard at night, bath houses, and best of all being spoiled by my grandparents. Nanny & Papa own one of the 14 tents that circle the tabernacle.

You can't really see details in this picture, but Nanny & Papa have the best decorated tent on the grounds. There are curtains in the "windows", rugs on the wooden bedroom floors, pictures hanging in the bedrooms, live plants and the "Smith" sign that identifies their home for the week. I am so glad Cooper has had the chance to experience campground and hope there are several more years ahead for Nanny & Papa to be able to go. They both love it and now love the chance to show off their great grandchildren.

It was SO HOT this year. Of course, there is no air conditioning and it was almost 100 degrees. We wet Cooper's hair to cool her off!

BIG girl room

I've been working on Cooper's BIG girl room for longer than I am willing to admit now. It is so close to being finished but just lacks the detail to pull everything together. Here is a little preview...hopefully I can reveal the completed project soon!

It all started with the bed. This was my inspiration...

 And this is what I found! After weeks and weeks of searching on Craig's List, I finally found this bed! We had it painted green and it turned out better than I was expecting.

This is Cooper's bedding and I love, love, love it! Thanks Michelle S. for helping find it.

My first post tax season project was repainting this dresser. It was one of the very first pieces of furniture my grandparent's, Nanny & Papaw, bought when they got married. I think that it is so neat that they kept it and that now Cooper gets to use it in her room. There is also a matching vanity that Wes is working on restoring. I am hoping to get it painted and into the room too!

Here are the fabulous curtains. I bought white panels at Target and then had our neighbor, Angel, sew the rosettes on the bottom. They also turned out way better than I was imagining! Notice that it coordinates with the ruffles on the bedding!

Our latest project was the crown molding. Wes put it up all on his own (I was so proud of him and very pleased with how it turned out) and it adds so much to the room.

All I need to do now is decide on artwork, paint the night stand & vanity and find a light fixture and the room will be complete!

4th of July Part II

On Sunday, we went down to Courtney's dad's house on the river. They had a fantastic party as always! Most everyone was in the water when we got there. I thought Cooper would jump right in because it was water and well, she LOVES water! But, she was a little unsure of the river. After sitting on the side and watching us float around for a while, she finally got in.

We had a delicious dinner and then sat around and just enjoyed being together while the kids played!

On Monday, which was the 4th, we stayed around the house and had a relaxing day. We went to the pool in the morning, napped and then got ready to go down to Tuscaloosa. We went with Bebe & Papa John to the Pradat's house for dinner and then went out to watch the fireworks show.