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!

the last few months...

Well, once again, its been awhile! Cohen is growing and changing daily! He is SO busy these days, walking around the house while holding momma's fingers...eating solid food and some adult food (veggies mashed up and stuff like that) like a champ. This morning for the second morning in row I woke up to his loud hollaring voice, not mad or sad, just ready to get UP!!! When I went around the corner to his room, he was standing in his crib holding the rails!!! Now he has been pulling up for a while, but never has he done it in his bed and yelled for me to come get him....he's getting too big!!! Cohen LOVES his cousins, Aubrynne and Houston. He loves to play with them so much. He has all kinds of new sounds and noises that are so fun. Anyway, at almost 8.5 months old... he is doing wonderfully as are his proud parents.

Some exciting events coming up next week: we are publically dedicating him to the Lord this Sunday at church! I have always been so excited about this day. It just seems so special and so appropriate to have this ceremony type event to publically say to our church family that we want them to join us in praying and raising Cohen. I love that. THEN, on Monday we'll be having his court hearing to finalize his adoption!!!! I can't believe he is 8 months old and I am just so thankful that he is being made legally our son. This will be such a special day for all of us.

I knew I couldn't come without some newer pictures! so here they are. He was a penguin for halloween. He has two teeth still but the first top tooth is trying to come in causing some swollen gums! He is tolerating it great though. Enjoy!

Spirit of Adoption

Mandy and I have dealt with many different reactions about our story of adoption. Honestly, most of these reactions have been extremely positive but we have run into some that have been negative. As of late, it seems I am being questioned even more about our decision to adopt a child of a different race. I find myself really struggling with how to respond to these people in a loving non frustrating way.

I can understand its only natural to want to have children through birth. Giving birth is natural and was designed by God to come out of a loving relationship with your spouse. I am assuming thats why people struggle with the idea of "adoption" so much. We all yearn for things to work the way we supposed they were designed to work from the beginning. However, we live in a broken world. God has commanded us to be fruitful and multiply and has told us that procreation and adoption are equally God-ordained ways of fulfilling this command. Adoption is just as natural as procreation, if we expose ourselves to orphans. In the same way that God makes a place for us in his family through adoption, God wants orphans to experience the permanence of being placed into a family and having their deepest desires fulfilled as well

To me parenting is much more than blood lines. A biological child is not guaranteed a secure realtionship with his/her parents. I see this everyday in education. When you consider it from a relational perspective, parenting is really about trust, time, and committment, which amounts to love. These aspects of parenting are beyond blood. Adoption is God's perfect plan for transforming orphans into sons and daughters, regardless of skin color, who are set in families to His divine purpose in a broken world.

Cohen is the greatest thing that has ever happened to Mandy and I. The adoption of Cohen was definitely Gods Perfect Plan for Mandy and I. We are certain of that!

Eric