Memory Lane

Each time I bring Cookie to visit with her Great Grandparents it is like entering a time warp. There is not a wall or photo album that doesn't contain at least one piece of my past. It is a house filled with 29 years (and counting) worth of memories that I can one day share with Cookie.



During each visit Grandma and I always get so much pleasure looking back at old photos. This week I spent some time on one particular photo that has been sitting on the same bookshelf for over 10 years now. Each visit I always glance at it and remember the event as if it were yesterday. When we took this photo we had now idea what the future held, much less if there was even going to be a so called "us" the morning after.



Now 10 years have come and gone since this photo was taken and The Hubby and I get a good laugh each time we talk about it and remember how...


Those were the days, when I thought that I could really pluck my own eyebrows, 20 minutes in the tanning bed would actually make me a sun goddess and that Rave hairspray (#4 of course) kept every little hair just in the right place. As for The Mr. Future Hubby he was just as cute as he can be even back then. Maybe his hair was a little thicker than normal and he believed that Whataburger (three meals a day) was actually good for the body.

Curiosity getting the best of you in what we looked like...no need here it is, 10 years and counting.

If you look closely at the photo there is a poster board that says...Don't forget to kiss your frog that midnight and he will become your prince. Well, I kissed mine and guess what he dumped me! Oh well, a couple of years later and a great single time in college our lilly pads crossed again and I kissed that said frog once again. This time he turned into a Prince and we have been kissing ever since! It is amazing how things turn out.

Once again I would like to Thank my In-Laws for that extra year and a half they supported The Hubby in college, if they hadn't I would have never met my prince and we would have never had this little Cookie...

Happy Thursday!

***UPDATE***In addition to Thanking My In-Laws for their patience during The Hubby's extended stay at school, I also need to give a big SHOUT OUT of Thanks to the Ultimate Matchmaker...Mrs. Suzanne Rogers. If it wasn't for you The Hubby would have never been able to track down my phone number at the sorority house. Much Love to ya!!

Peace, Love and Sunday

With Love "Dad"

What a wonderful Valentines Day we had. This year was again filled with laughter and amusement throughout the Cook household.

The afternoon began with a trip to pick up Cookie from school. She and her little classmates were oh so festive in their little Valentines onesies and filled with cheer. As we drove home we reviewed her my day and once again she received a Happy report. Oh, so proud! I then went through her little Valentines from her little classmates to find this precious card...

With the tears begining to form at the sight of her precious little feet, the Hubby reminded me of our family slogan for 2008...The Cooks are Greeeeat and in 08, and in 09 we multiply! We shared a laugh and then rocked out to a little Guns and Roses, Sweet Child of Mine as we cruzed in the minivan.

When we arrived home we walked into our kitchen to the sight of how wonderful it is that this year our cards have doubled with the addition of Cookie.



After a romantic dinner of Chinese Food delivery we sat and watched Cookie jump away in her jump a roo and talked about how thankful we are to have our little family, so healthy and happy.

After dinner we took turns opening the sweet Valentines day cards we picked out for one another. The hubby read Cookie's card from me and then it was my turn to read the sweet card her Daddy picked out for her. Here is what it said...



As I opened the card, I continued to read the sweet message inside to find the following...



I Love You, K.C. "Dad"

[Just in case Cookie wasn't sure who her Daddy was!?!?!]

Oh that Hubby, you are now officially a Rookie Dad!

Happy Valentines Day

Wishing you all a safe and happy Valentines Day with your favorite love ones.

This Valentines day is so exciting due to the fact that I will be sharing it with the Hubby and Baby Cookie and I can officially say I cannot expect any item that is related to the Hubby's boat.

Why am I so confident that this Valentine's day gift will not be another depth finder, ladder or any other misc. materials for the boat you ask....

Because the Hubby just got a new GPS for Christmas!!

Though I kid you about your Valentines gift giving ideas, your thought goes a long way and I will always adore your sense of humor. Much Love to ya Hubby on this Valentines Day and I look forward sharing many more with you and Baby Cookie in the future.

Life Is Simple Eat, Sleep & Fish

It's official...someone is Daddy's Little Girl!

Oh So Organized...The Cookie Kit

In an effort to become a little more organized this year (and to mark at least one new years resolution off the list), I created a Cookie Kit. What is a Cookie Kit you might ask?

For me it is a way to save myself from forgetting the most important things for Cookie when we are out and about. Like the Diapers!

Also, it is a way to save my Mother Law from having to promise other parents that she will buy them any thing in the mall in exchange for a diaper. Yes, this is a true story, but we will save that story for another blogging day. Love ya GG!

The Cookie Kit is going to be my saving grace on those days when I have I have left my Memory Marbles at home and the diapers (among other things) sitting next to them. Every mommy mobile should have one. It was also, a great way to finally get my shinny new (yet, to be used) running shoes out of the box!

Happy Friday Everyone!

A Father's Love

I will Take a Mommy Mobile in White Please

The Hubby and I had the luxury (strike that and insert NEED) to shop for a new vehicle for this Rookie Mom. When Cookie first arrived we thought the Camry would still be the most practical car, that is until we put the stroller in and had zip zilch zero room left to haul the other necessities such as groceries, impulse shopping trips to the mall and of course the one million extra things you need when getting away for the weekend with a newborn. Other than that it was a fabulous car, and I just loved it!

Thanks to the use of www.Craigslist.org I sold our car in less than a month and got top dollar for it. Now for a nice little marketing plug...If you have never used Craigslist, I would highly recommend it. You can sell just about anything on the site. It is FREE of charge and covers the entire US. Much to the Hubby's suprised he thought it would be on there for a while, thus decreasing his fear of having to spend All Day at a Car dealership with a wife who loves to haggle and of course our little peanut.

So it goes, last Friday we said goodbye to our little Camry and spent the rest of the evening discussing which cars to look at. Since we had gone and looked at one particular kind of vehicle a couple of Saturday's ago, we decided that we would not go back to that particular place. Due to the fact that the Manager sat with us and kept reiterating that we looked like intelligent people and then the typical line followed, Don't worry folks we will do everything to get you into a vehicle today. I thought WOW, what a great Salesperson....NOT. Without being able to contain myself, I just had to ask the Hubby so "what do intelligent people look like?" He simply replied, "No comment." I thought it would be best to end the 20 question game at that point.

The following day we went to another said dealership and much to our surprise it was open on a Sunday. Now in my opinion Sundays are for resting., not haggling for cars We were curious about this one particular car so we decided to brave the shark infested waters aka car dealership yet again. This time the salesperson said to us, "why this particular timeframe, you know I can give you much better deal today than I can in three months." This time no containment, I just busted out like a smartbutt (That is what we say in TX when we choose to be a lady not to use that nice little three little AS* word, though I can slip on it from time to time) and said, "Get out of here you have got to be kidding me!" The Hubby simply said with a laugh, "Thank you for your time, and we will be leaving now!"

This leads us up to this past Saturday when we loaded up Baby Cookie, grabbed a Starbucks (shocker, Kari having a Starbucks) and headed out to brave the waters for what would be the last couple of places we visited. Now with all this rambling I am sure that you are quit curious to what it is we are shopping for....

[wait for it, wait for it, are you on pins and needles in anticipation]

A Mini Vaaannnnnn

Yep, that's right the Cook's will be sporting a nice Toyota Minivan within the week. Yes, the Hubby looks quit sexy driving it and it was the most practical thing we could agree on due to my garage hitting record. For those who aren't aware, our garage door has a tendency to jump out in front of me and the walls of the garage have squeezed my car before. Who would have ever thunk-it, garages can jump and squeeze...well my can and that is the story I will be sticking to, Thank You very much. So the thought of any kind of LARGE SUV was just out of the question.

That lead us to option number two...the pimped out Mini Van. Yes, it will even have a spoiler and sunroof for those mini van enthusiasts that like to live on the edge.

Now I know a few of you are probably thinking about the vow I made as a teenager (when of course I knew everything), "I Kari, vow to NEVER drive a mini van when I have kids." I guess when I sign the papers on Thursday I will just have to eat a shoe for that I NEVER, but that is okay on Friday I will be sportin' the minivan to Day care!

In conclusion, we did meet some interesting characters on this journey and I picked up a few new tricks. The first one being, always ask what the invoice price is and use that as your negotiating tool and ask for it in writing. The second tip is, always bring a baby along that way you can use the line...okay can we speed this up, my little one has a full diddy and it is time for another feeding.

Now for the Disclaimer: These are the Cook's car shopping adventures. The opinions set forth are of ours and we do not think that all car salesman/saleswoman are idiots, just a few say the darnest things.

Stay turn...pics to follow!

What A Cute Little Frog

We had a fabulous time on our mini getaway. Despite the traffic jam on I-10 the rest of the trip was a blast. Aunt Jamie was a great host and we had a wonderful time visiting with my grandparents. Baby Cookie was such a great little traveler!

While enjoying a great lunch on the riverwalk at the Rainforest Cafe, I just couldn't help but turn Baby Cookie into a cute little Frog....

What to Do If You are In A Traffic Jam

Stuck in a traffic jam for atleast an hour, you have just about memorized all the license plates around you, blown through your address book on your cell phone and the little one isn't rocking out to the nursery rhymes anymore....



I find that it is the perfect moment to document your sanity....