Beginning summer!

Eric is now home full time during the summer and I am working a little more... which is good in some ways, but I definitely miss Cohen so much when I am working more! We have been super busy, as usual! Found this great place near our house that is a free water park thing as you can see in the picture... only been once but the boys (cohen and cousin houston) loved it! We took our first family trip together to Gatlinburg and it was so much fun. Cohen was not too crazy about the rides we tried except for the carousel at Dollywood, but the place we stayed had an indoor waterpark which was really cool! It was nice to get away and relax and just be together. OH and the bears in the picture! We saw real live "wild" bears that just came right up to our cabin... kinda scary actually, but really cool. We had a new addition to the family, with A.K.'s second baby boy Sloan! I will get a picture on here sometime, hopefully! Another playmate for Cohen! YAY!!! Cohen also is loving playing with Aubrynne when we get to see Amy and Bryan (my brother and sister in law and their daughter) and they are expecting another girl in October! We are blessed with cousins around here.
He is growing like a weed and we are loving life with him. I will say again how in love with him we are and what a blessing he is to us. Hope you all are having a great summer!

lifebook

Today I went out into the garage to find a box sitting right in the middle of the floor. It was addressed to Eric, but I opened it anyway:) Inside the box I found a book called "Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the adopted child." I was soooo excited and realized Eric had surprised me! He said he knew how much I wanted to get started on Cohen's lifebook but had no idea where to start. It takes you through and shows you how to create a lifebook for Cohen, with ideas about how to explain certain situations that are specific to adoption to children and stuff like that. I LOVE it. Traditional baby books really are awful for us adoptive parents. It asks a lot of questions that are not adoption friendly :) So, this will be awesome to make him his very own book that tells his story from birth and then we can add to it as he grows! I am so excited to make this for him to have as a link between his history and his life now, and I just think it will be key in helping us familiarize him with so many ideas and to help him embrace his story!!!! I love so much that my sweet husband did this thoughtful thing for me but probably more for Cohen! I'll let you know how it goes!

First Birthday Party

Cohen's first birthday celebration was perfect. It was a great day. As you can see in the picture, we had many people present to celebrate is first year of life with us(there were many more behind them) and it was just perfect. not much more to say. He was sick a few days before which was sad for him, but he is feeling much better now. The first picture is of Cohen opening his gifts from "E". He opened them on his actual birthday and that was a very special time for us...the highlight being a card from "E" to Cohen. Very special words from her are cherished by us and will one day be cherished by Cohen. I am thankful to the Great God for Cohen Bennet and for the year we have spent loving him and look forward to many years ahead of us. He is such a joy every single day.

My first haircut

Around noon today, Cohen got in the bath tub, his hair well washed and conditioned, combed out and ready for our big day at the barber. We were ready. When we got there, he sat up straight in the chair, like he'd done it a hundred times before. He loved touching the clippers and feeling the vibration on his skin. He didn't budge while Jonte (the barber) began. We did have to resort to some goldfish when we were near the end, but overall he did great and sat almost perfectly still. Unbelievable that this busy little boy could sit that still!!! As the hair came off, I really began to realize that this was going to make me sad. Hadn't thought much about it before right at that moment, but as his appearance began to change, my heart grew very sentimental.... all I could think was that 'my baby is gone!' He is growing up so so fast. I can't stand it. Karen-I almost cried... when we left and I was in the car and looked back at him...but I managed to hold it together. I guess I need to start bringing that tobagon along when we leave the house now!! As he was working Jonte said that Cohen now needed a barber name. So, he gave him the name "cheeks" for when he is there seeing him and getting his hair cut. Isn't that awesome? He has a barber shop name! Anyways, as you can see below we did some before and after. Which do you like best???

a tribute to the afro

After 11 months of much enjoyment of Cohen's hair, the time has come to say goodbye. We are sad at our house tonight, but I must admit a little excited at the thought of much less time spent with the afro pic and detanglers of many kinds. Tomorrow will be our first trip to the barber which I will post pics of for sure. Just for added sentiment, I wanted to share with you all some memories of our little man's hair growing experience.

wikepedia definition of afro: An afro, sometimes called a "natural" or shortened to "fro", is a hairstyle in which the hair extends out from the head like a halo, cloud or ball. This may or may not include wearing such afros long, to several times the diameter of the head. An afro requires very curly hair.


I'll never forget that first day in the hospital as we admired him through the nursery glass and the nurse pulled his cap off....WHOA! Look at that hair!!!!


newborn- one week old




at 2 months old

at 3 months old




at 5 months old

at 9 months old

tonight at 11 months old

the lopsided afro-which is frequent at our house

and...the very good reason to rid our son of his afro..... his cousin loves to grab and PULL!

We will miss you, little afro although some how I feel we have not seen the end of you yet!

Okay, if anyone still checks in on this blog, despite the fact that it has literally been months sense I last posted anything... I need help! How on earth do you make your blog designs??? I want to do something different with the template or whatever, but I am not computer or internet savvy and am wondering what to do. Anybody got any suggestions?

So, our first Christmas as a family of 3 was fantastic! Not much to say other than just that it was great to spend time with family and celebrate Jesus's birth. Cohen is 11 months in about 2 days from now!!! He started WALKING 5 days after he was 10 months, and seriously, he just took off, like he'd been walking for years! He is getting pretty good at it now, almost able to run at times...closely followed by a crash. I am pleased to report NO ILLNESS for the little guy! No runny noses, no cough, just great health wise. I was beginning to wonder if he was gonna have a permenant running nose. yuck. but no nose sucker, no raw upper lip from tissue wiping, no coughing in the night and we are just so thankful for our health over the past few months!

Hmmm.... what else... I think he said "dog" today and we think he is calling my inlaws dog "jack" (which is his name) although it is not completely clear. I am finding it totally amazing how much a child changes daily. I just will look around and find him doing things that I didn't know he could do. Its a beautiful, wonderful thing to watch and be a part of! We went to our first hockey game last week. He sat mesmerized by the noise, lights and players. He absolutely LOVED it and looked too cute in his preds sweatshirt.

Here are some new and not so new loves of Cohen's:

1. HIS DADDY- attached at the hip, literally. He is so obsessed with Eric that today he was hugging, kissing and smelling Eric's coat that was hanging on the back of the kitchen chair. Man he LOVES his daddy.






2. FOOD!!!- any food. period. baby food, big people food, dog food (no, just kidding), but really he loves to eat and gets really excited and kicks he legs and dances when he eats...which leads me to....






3. dancing- One day in pier 1, I was holding him and kinda dancing to the music (its kinda loud in there) and he was dancing (bouncing up and down) in my arms. I guess I started kinda bobbing my head sideways and so since then that is his new move that he loves to show off. sideways head bobbing. Its too cute.






4. books- he has just started really liking to turn pages in books and really loves it these days.






5. outside- today (beautiful day) we went outside to eat lunch and see Riley (our boxer) and after like an hour of being out there, we come in and he sits at the door and cries because he wants to go back out. Oh my goodness, he is only 11 months old and ALL BOY!!! (and our dog riley leads me to.....)






6. dogs- as I said earlier he is saying "dog" and calling the inlaws dog by his name and he has a book with different dogs in it and he kisses each dog as we read. He yells at dogs when he sees them.






7. Kids- He also "yells" in his own sweet way at other kids. When he sees his cousins Houston or Aubrynne he gets so excited and starts kinda hollaring at them and kisses them. He plays so well with kids and it is so awesome to watch him interact with other children his age, so so awesome.

Okay, enough of the list. He is just such a joy to Eric and I and we are so in love with him! Sorry it's been a while. Will definitely try and do better for anyone who still reads.

Adoption birthday!

Cohen Bennett is now officially a Moore!!! Yesterday was a wonderful day. We legally finalized Cohen's adoption into our family. The judge was so kind, having us introduce all the people that were there to support and witness this day. He then allowed us all to take pictures with him! It couldn't have gone better. Although it was an important day we will never forget and tell Cohen about for years, it didn't feel like any weight off our shoulders or like something huge had been accomplished. Excited to be reminded of the gift we've been given, we enjoyed it, but the feeling of the day to me felt like a formality and not truly a "finalizing" of his place in our family. I am glad it felt that way. I am glad I didn't feel like, "whew, we made it" as if I was fearing a different outcome. He is ours, always has been and we are so in love with him. Last night I was watching tv and on the show a little girl was sick and needing surgery. While the parents stood there looking at their little girl, unsure of what would happen with her health, I began to think of Cohen and not morbidly like, 'what if something happens to him' but something just got my mind off on a thought of how deeply connected I feel to him and how that he has just rocked me to the core in terms of love. I guess that's just the feeling of being a mom. I went into his room with tears just streaming down my face and prayed for him and for Eric and I and for every person that teaches or has influence on him. I am so glad that I can feel this kind of love. It is different than a romantic love or a friendship love. It is amazing and I am just so so thankful for Cohen and to God for doing what is quite obviously His workmanship.

On sunday, we dedicated Cohen at church and the picture with the green overall type outfit is from that day. My talented mother made that outfit for him and she made his brown pants he is wearing in the other pictures. Isn't she great???

As I said in the last post, Cohen is all over the place now. He does an army crawl, but just in the last 2 days he has really gotten good and crawling on his hands and knees! He is saying all kinds of new sounds and loves to echo our sounds. I frequently find him standing in his bed hollaring for me to come and get him after a nap... not mad, just like he is saying" HEY!!! MOM!!! I AM AWAKE!!! Too cute. I love this stage he is in!