"pretty soon" finally happened

For the last month we've been putting Sarah off about Halloween with those two words: pretty soon. She wakes up most mornings and says these exact words in her sing-song little two-year-old-mimicking-mommy voice: "Not Halloween yet. Not Trick or Treat yet. Pretty soon." Needless to say she was pretty stoked that "pretty soon" finally happened!

A few shots of her this afternoon before the madness...

In case you can't tell without the hood, she was a bee. She wasn't really into the furry hood.

And then, the real fun...

Happy Halloween friends!

oh dear.

I'm afraid there's no stopping me. I'm going to have to eat her up.

My sweet niece, Charlotte.



Photographed with her trusty monkey. What is it about Cowan offspring and their loveys? (asks the young lady who has slept with her blankie every night for 27 years.)

a few more birthday shots...and tidbits

Nothing fancy here, photographically speaking, but I thought I'd share a few more images from Sarah's party. We had a FANTASTIC weekend and were reminded once again why we're glad to be living back close to family. I have to say that being away for the first 6 years of our marriage was really, really good for us but now that we have kiddos in the picture it's so awesome to be back! Sarah was in hog-heaven with all of her grandparents there (except Grandad who was on a trip). She also had all of her cousins there - Charlotte, Lily, and Brody!

I just love this one...

All the details of the day really came together and I loved how it turned out - so simple but so fun. For those of you planning parties like this in the near future here are a couple of things to note...

- At the Dollar Tree I found some awesome repositionable letter stickers made to be used on the walls. The colors were bright and perfect and I used them on the floor around the table (sorry, didn't get a picture). Sarah loved stomping on all her favorite letters! Be careful though when you're peeling them up because we did take the finish off of the floor in one spot (oops!)

- The Dollar Tree also had great plates and cups and things. They happened to have Sesame Street plates with letters all around the perimeter...perfect! Sarah was thrilled to see Elmo on her plate (what two-year old wouldn't be?!)

- The cake was super-simple. I iced a chocolate cake with white icing (make your own icing...the canned kind won't work as well for this), let it sit for about 10 minutes, and then pressed a Brawny paper towel gently on the top and sides. You can't really tell in the photos but it gave it a neat textured look with circles and dots. Then I just pressed m and m's in each of the circles. It was seriously the easiest cake I've ever decorated! It helped that Mandy let me borrow the super-cute cake plate!

- I cut the S's out of fun colored cardstock and hung them from the light with ribbon and then used the scrap paper to punch out colored circles to sprinkle on the table. I also sprinkled a bunch of foam letters out that Sarah likes to play with.

- I used Joey's awesome idea of making a coloring book with the letters in Sarah's name for the treat bags. There are tons of pictures for each letter here. I also found a super-easy tutorial for making your photographs into coloring pages using photoshop. Find that here. I used a photo of Sarah for the cover of the book but I'm thinking I'll make some more just to have some fun coloring projects for Sarah to work on. How cool is that?

- I made homemade crayons out of our old junky ones to toss in the treat bags with the coloring books. Check that out here.

It ended up being an awesome day for all of us and, most importantly, Sarah had a blast. I still have more photos to go through so I may post more later. And Brent promises a video!

just two

Just two shots from yesterday to pacify Sam until I have time to edit more. We're headed to bed right now for a cozy nap after a big day yesterday.

the BIG girl in her big girl room

Two days more days until two. Man.

The finishing touches were put on Sarah's big girl room last night so I grabbed my camera while we were playing this morning. I'm in love with how it turned out (toot! toot!)...it's even better than the vision I had in my head. I kind of wish it was my room! Check out the photos and then I'll get to the details...(because a lot of you have already asked)














Okay, for those of you who only know the internet-bloggin' me, here's something you may not know: I'm cheap. And I mean cheap as in I don't own a single article of clothing that wasn't purchased on sale (and we're talking back of the store, clearance rack sale!). And not only am I cheap but I don't mind advertising my cheapness. When someone compliments something in my home I have a hard time simply saying, "thank you". Instead I usually blurt out something like, "Thank you. Ten bucks at Big Lots!". I always wish I'd just keep my mouth shut and let them think it's a priceless work of art but for some reason that would just steal the fun for me. I like everyone to know when a bargain has been found. So allow me a little fun, wouldya?

blue and pink quilt (my favorite part of the room): made by Brent's maternal grandmother years and years ago = free

sleigh bed: hand-me down from our Colorado neighbors and then painted white = free

two matching bookshelves: purchased used 7 years ago when we got married and then painted white = free (okay, they were probably $200 dollars in 2000 but for this purpose I consider them free!)

play kitchen complete with refrigerator, sink, and stove/oven: Craig's List, $30.00

pink step stool: Pier One Kids, clearance

pink lamp: Home Depot, clearance

Okay, I'll stop. I could seriously go on and on about the bargains. It just makes me love all the pieces and parts that much more. I'm totally my mother's daughter. For the record there are a few "splurges" in the room. Like the Land of Nod Chair. And the Pottery Barn Kids rug (ebay special). And technically the dresser and the nightstand are new but they're from the unfinished furniture store so they still saved us some $$$. If you have anymore questions, just ask! I know the photos don't show a ton of the room but now that it's finished I won't be so shy about taking photos in there so you'll be sure to see more if you're a regular reader.

Baby boy's room is finished too but I'll save that for another day (there are even more freebies in that room!).

And as a bonus for getting through my soapbox, here's one more photo...

Sarah showing me where "Kiki" is on her shirt. For those who don't know, Kiki is Caroline. The same Caroline who's coming to visit us in 11 DAYS!!!

I know, I know, I'm a terrible blogger

I've been neglecting you and I'm sorry! We've been spending every free second this week getting the house ready for Sarah's big birthday bash this weekend. It's been kind of nice to use this as our deadline for decorating, cleaning, landscaping, and all other things house-related since that then gives us about a month of house-readiness before the little guy shows up. All of our family within a 500 mile vicinity will be heading to Huntsville this weekend and we are SO excited to see everyone and for Sarah to celebrate her special day with them. I know I've promised house pictures in the past but the perfectionist in me (she's buried deep, deep down inside and sometimes rears her ugly head) won't let me take any photos until it's just so. The kids' rooms are almost there and that makes me giddy!

So far I've spent very little time actually planning Sarah's party. Samantha, I know you're hyperventilating at the mere idea of being just days away from an event with no details nailed down! I do know that the general theme is going to revolve around the letter "S". Sarah has been so incredibly interested in letters lately, pointing out every letter she knows everywhere we go. It all goes a little something like this: "S! Sarah's letter! A! Ansley's letter! M! Mommy's letter! D! Daddy's letter! T! Tory's letter" and on and on. I think she'll love having letters all around her birthday party. She's kind of growing into a little toddler nerd...that's ALL her daddy! Anyway, if anyone has any cute ideas or sites for her party pass them along!

Oh, and I think today is the last day to enter the babyGAP casting call. If you haven't done it yet head over there and enter. You just never know!

And before I forget...our family got some exciting news yesterday. Brent's grandfather (long deceased) is going to be inducted into the Alabama Racing Pioneer's Hall of Fame at the Motor Sports Hall of Fame in Talladega, AL. How cool is that?! Brent's dad worked really hard to get him recognized since he was one of the first dirt track racers on the circuit that we now know as NASCAR. Cool, huh!? Here are a couple of pictures I scanned in yesterday and cleaned up a bit. We plan to put at least one of them in our baby boy's nursery.

Calvin Cobb, number 11. (this first shot isn't actually his car...second one is though)

feeling a little brave...

Okay guys, I'm putting myself out there! Not sure why though since I just had my 34 week appointment and I've already gained as much as I did when I delivered Sarah at 42 weeks...YIKES!!!

Anyway, I had a fellow photographer (and buddy!) come over and do a session last week to document the growth of this big 'ol boy and our family as we wait for his arrival. She did a great job and graciously offered to create a link with just my favorite shots...check it out. If you want to see more of her work you can see her site here.

Okay, I'm hitting "publish" before I change my mind... =)

family day

Around here Saturday is family day. Now that we're feeling a little more settled into our house we've really been able to get out and about and take advantage of all that this area has to offer. This past weekend at Colleen's suggestion and another friend's invitation we ended up at Tate Farms. One word: WOW. Not only did they offer the typical hayride/pumpkin patch combo but they had some amazing attractions for the kids (and grown-ups...can you say chocolate-dipped Belgian waffle on a stick?!). Sarah and a friend from her preschool frolicked around in pits of corn kernels, waded through a huge cage of cotton, rode the coolest horse swings made out of old tires, and just enjoyed stomping around the great outdoors. There was more than enough to do for several hours and even with the massive crowd gathered there it still didn't feel cramped. Saying it was an awesome morning would be an understatement. It's definitely being added to our list of fall traditions.

You know we couldn't pass this up...



Oh yeah...me lookin' cool...







On the way out to the patch we asked Sarah what kind of pumpkin she wanted. Her response? Yiyul (little) orange pumpkin.













Fun stuff.

for Grama...

I know my mom will be checking for pics of our 24 hours together so I couldn't keep her waiting! Here was Sarah's favorite part - "paint da belly, Mama!" Oh yeah, she was a mess. And then mom conveniently got a phone call when it was time to clean her up. Nice. =)

I'm so glad we live closer to all of Sarah's grandparents now. She's a lucky girl with 3 complete sets of them and they all spoil her rotten (and that's not even counting her four great grandparents!). I mean, for real, who else will let you paint all over your belly and then take a bath in the middle of the day? Certainly not me!

fall makes me itch

Did I grab your attention with that title? What I mean is that fall makes me itch to take pictures. I love the colors, the clothes, the cool air, the late morning light - it's the perfect season for photos in my opinion! I could hardly wait to finish our walk around the block this morning to get back and get some shots of Sarah in her first official fall-ish outfit of the season. This is our first cool snap and I'm taking advantage of it!

and finally, her royal craziness...

Sarah and I are on our way out of town to hang out with my mom for the night. Be back tomorrow!