March recap

March picked up steam for our family. We had several projects going on that require entire blog posts to themselves.

Justin cut out Wyatt’s AWANA derby car but we let him spray paint it himself. Of course the booger had to have his favorite color, orange. He did a great job with the race. His car got second for both speed and appearance. The kids really enjoy watching the races at church.

  

I snagged this beautiful leaded glass lamp at our local thrift store. It is amazing in my humble opinion and even better is the fact that I got it for $15! It is sold in stores for $100.

 

Justin, Wyatt, and I rode the four-wheeler over to Aunt Faye and Uncle Glynn’s pond. Wyatt was the only one to catch a fish before I gave up and the mosquitos carried me away.

  

I love that Wyatt finds similar interests as Justin and I do. I got this message from Justin about Wyatt’s love for all things Chip and Jo from HGTV’s Fixer Upper.

 

Easter was a rush. We didn’t manage to snap many pictures but how about these “golden” eggs I made? I hard boiled eggs and bought a kit to wipe on gold shimmer. The colors of the eggs are the natural colors from our hens laying them!

 

Also, on March 24, 2001 Justin Cook and I started dating. We celebrated 15 years together and I can’t be happier. I am glad he took a chance on this crazy young girl that didn’t seem to have anything in common with him!

February recap

February was a slow month in the Cook family. By far the saddest event was my Uncle Louie passing away. It was so unexpected and sudden that we were all stunned. Fortunately, weddings and funerals are the quickest way to gather up entire families that are spread out all across the country. Seeing my Mastrario cousins was a blessing in disguise.

 

After all the sadness, it was a blessing for the earth to start waking up again. Seeing the flowers bloom in the yard and having the opportunity to start planting in the garden was a nice shift.

      

Also, I stepped out of my comfort zone and went to the Donald Trump presidential rally in Valdosta with Justin. I am very liberal especially on social issues so ol’ Donald isn’t up my alley. It wasn’t terrible. Regardless of political stance on issues, I don’t think I am a political rally kind of person. There is no politician I want to stand up and cheer for an hour for, wear their shirts, etc. I just don’t get that excited. I do take time to make a conscious decision when I vote and try to vote for the person that most aligns with my values though. I wish everyone would do that instead of strictly voting along party lines or for the most popular person. It was definitely an experience I am glad I had.

  

January Miscellany

Mama and I tried out a cool little lunch spot in Tifton the other day. It is an old service station. They had awesome food and I love the style of the building: gray, orange, and filled with rusty stuff.

We celebrated Daddy’s birthday. Y’all, these Oreo cakes from Publix are amazing!

Sadly, our little Walmart Neighborhood Market was going out of business after just barely a year. Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity for a sale, Justin and I stocked up on diapers for Georgia while they were 25% off. We went back later when we realized almost no one had bought formula and snagged it at 50-75% off. My theory is that if we end up not needing the formula or if she takes a different kind, we can always donate it to those in need. This was an amazing deal. We saved hundreds of dollars on things we are going to need and it makes me feel good knowing we have a stockpile of the essentials for when she arrives.

 

Speaking of deals, I got this amazing black pea coat at my favorite local thrift store for $20. I have been looking for a professional style coat that I can dress up or down but am gun-shy about spending a lot of money since I hopefully won’t be this pregnant lady size forever. I took it home and realized it still had the store tag on it for $130! Talk about a steal!

Publix had forcing vases with hyacinth bulbs in them for $4 each a few weeks ago. I have been looking for a forcing vase when I am in junk stores but I have only managed to find the expensive vintage ones for $30-40 each. Too rich for my blood! This was perfect for me and my SIL went back and got me a third one the next day.

Wyatt is a sucker for stuffed animals and I snagged this one up for him. You would have thought I had bought him a car. He was so excited to have it. I like that he is appreciative of the little things, for now at least.

 

We pulled up some of the turnips that the bugs had destroyed for the chickens. There were several that were as big as Wyatt’s head! Doc Bunny and the chickens devoured the fresh veggies and were decidedly more happy for the rest of the day!

  

I bought Justin a Yeti cup for Christmas. It was a lot for a CUP. I didn’t see the value in it until he forgot it at home a few days. I filled my cup with ice and a drink and by lunch time the ice was still there. Heck, by supper time it was still there! Even still I would never spend that kind of money on myself for a CUP.  I saw a local farm store selling image wrapped cups and sent a screenshot to Justin. There were camouflage ones and I told him I should have waited to get him one of those. He saw the seafoam paisley one and knew I wouldn’t buy one for myself. He and Wyatt stopped by my office with a gift bag in hand saying “just because they love me!” What a sweet man I have. I even noticed it matches my notebook I use for work perfectly! With my hands on this beauty I still didn’t want to spring for the $20 handle that is sold in some stores. I really needed one because this is one heck of a cup and I have small hands. With some googling, I found a tutorial from a man who used a Tervis Tumbler handle (only $6!) and boiled it to make it slightly pliable to stretch the top band for a snug fit. It worked! I am so excited about this. Probably more than I should be for a CUP with a HANDLE. It’s the little things, I say!

It’s a girl! And she has a name!

When Justin, Wyatt, and I went to my appointment to find out the gender of baby Cook #2, he mentioned that he wanted to be the only one who knew because he wanted to surprise me. I agreed knowing that he wanted to be in on the fun and he really liked the idea of torturing our sisters by knowing what we were having and not telling them. I patiently waited and didn’t bug him too much about when he was going to reveal the big news. He said “when” was part of the surprise. I was at home getting things ready for supper one day when Justin arrived home from picking Wyatt up from school. Wyatt and Justin each had gift bags. When I opened the one from Wyatt there was a red and black tutu gift set. I couldn’t believe it! Crying, I asked Justin if that meant what I thought it did and he said that yes, we were definitely having a girl. It was so incredibly sweet for him to shop for girl clothes and make it a surprise for me. I think it turned out even better than I could have hoped for.

What we had definite trouble with was her name. I was stressing so much because I felt like we needed to have that one checked off the list. The only problem was that there were so many names and none of my choices were overlapping with Justin’s. From before the time I even knew I was having a girl, Georgia stuck out at me. I loved Jorja Fox’s name (Sara Sidle from CSI) without the funky spelling. It is so classic and feminine and yet it could be a B.A. take-no-prisoners tough gal’s name too. Justin had his heart set on Loretta but I just couldn’t bring myself to compromise. I didn’t feel the name at all and never warmed to it. One day when I was particularly stressed Justin told me to close my eyes and tell him what I really wanted her name to be. Georgia came right out with little hesitation. He had been on board with the name but pressure from our sisters was weighing him down. I agreed that we could compromise and name her Georgia Loretta although my heart wasn’t in it 100%. I guess that’s why this man has my heart; he knows me through and through. He said he didn’t want to do that and asked what I thought about Lou. I saw this as an opportunity to meet him in the middle. It’s an old-fashioned name, which is what we liked, and it seemed to flow well with Georgia. I could see it working.

We tried out several other name combinations and we kept coming back to Georgia Lou. We decided that was it. Just like that our baby girl had a name!

Of course, Justin wouldn’t leave it at just that. He had to draw it out a little longer for our sisters. They play right into his hand. The first night Justin texted them and my mama and his mama were in bed already. He waited until the next day and when he knew he had the whole group’s attention, he let the cat out of the bag. I love to see their reactions and being able to capture it as a whole conservation was worth the text!

Now that she officially has her name, I have found myself saying it as much as possible to get used to it. It is weird saying “Georgia” instead of “her” or “the baby” but now that it has had a week to sink in, I couldn’t imagine her having any other name!

Yes, the jokes have already started rolling in but I don’t care. No she isn’t going to be called “Georgia Grown.” No, Brother-In-Law, you cannot call her Bulldogs and get away with it. I know it’s all in good fun. Wait until she grows up to be a sassy little thing like her mama. She will set them straight!