Thanksgiving with the Hawkes...

Our big Thanksgiving event has come and gone. It was a busy, fun and eventful weekend. The family arrived on Wednesday the 21st and stayed until the following Monday at 1:00pm. It was so much fun. We had lots of food, fun, conversation, kiddy crafts, and horse races. It was exactly as I pictured it would be. My best memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas always begin with a full house and lots of food.

Here I am slaving away in the Kitchen. Pregnant and barefoot--as they say!!

Here is a photo of the kiddy crafts

Marshall's beautiful sisters--and fabulous sister-in-laws.

A photo of Marshall's Parents

Cohen's Cousins

During their stay, we attempted to get a family photos.

This photo was taken just once, there were not second chances. Marshall was so sick he had to rush to the restroom and puke after the photo was snapped!! Plus, it was really cold outside and we all were freezing.

What a fun year of Thanksgiving memories. I can't wait for our turn to host it again.

Two and up Two no good...

Since Cohen has turned two years, it has been a humbling experience. Marshall and I used to brag about having the most perfect child. Don't get me wrong. He is still a great kid--and very close to perfect, but has been WAY more rowdy that ever.

Cohen was always a pretty mellow kid. We could ususally make through and entire sacrament meeting without having to take him outside. Last week, he spent a total of 3 minutes in the meeting--and that was 3 minutes too many!!

Here are some photos of him getting caught in the act of being "naughty!"

Cohen took the "Family Size" bag of Cheetos and dumped them on the table.

Cohen got a hold of my ink pad and went to town on his face!

He makes it is so hard for us to get mad at him. As soon as Marshall or I start using our stern voices, Cohen turns up the charm. He will ask for hugs and kisses and give us the sweetest most innocent smile. He does all this in hopes that we will forget why we are mad. The worst part--is that it WORKS!!! Oh, the terrible twos!

Halloween Trunk or Treat

On Friday, October 26th we went to the annual Louisville 6th Ward Trunk or Treat. This year they also combined this activity with a Chili Cookoff. It was a lot of fun. Cohen was not sure about his costume until we got to the church and he saw the other kiddos in their costumes.

Cohen met up with his good pal Livvy Mortensen in the gym, and they would not stop running. All of the other kids had left the gym and were outside in the parking lot "trick or treating." Not Cohen and Livvy. They stayed inside to keep running and screaming. Finally Wayne Mortensen and I had to grap the kids and drag them outside.


Once outside, Cohen was quick to get a hang of it. After 2 or 3 tries, Cohen had the "treat" and "thank you" down pat. It was so cute.

Deb and Little Dame come to Louisville...

Our friends Deb Dame and her daughter McCall Dame came to Louisville to visit for the first time. We had a fun few days going to the Gap Clearance Center, Cheesecake Factory, St. Matthews Mall, and Six Flags.

Cohen and McCall got along--most of the time. After a couple of days with the Hawkes family, McCall quickly learned how to say, "No pushing Cohen!!" Sometime she would just see him and shout, "No pushing!"

We ate so much good food. Deb is a fantastic cook, and made us lots of yummy caramel! Here are the kids eating a Ritz-Butterfinger Carmel Sandwich (it sounds weird--but was SO tasty). She also cooked Beef Stroganoff for Sunday dinner. I didn't have to do a thing! I sat and sipped a Diet Dr. Pepper while she cooked. It was great.

Here are photos of the kids getting their faces painted at the Haunt Fest in Six Flags. We met the Mortensen's there at the Park and trick or treated with Livvy!

You just can't bet Fall weather, Halloween, good friends, good food and good fun! See you in Dallas Dames!!

Cohen's 2 Year photo shoot...

A couple days before Cohen's birthday, I decided to take him into "Walmart's Picture People" to get professional photos taken. He usually takes great photos--with no problems. This time was different.

He would not hold still, he did not want to smile, and all he wanted was to run around the studio. He started being very difficult and crying. The photo attendant kept asking me if I wanted to reschedule. This only made me even more flustered. No, I don't want to reschedule!! We are here now, lets just take the dang picture. For all the trouble we had, I think the photo turned out OK.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short...

This cute little phrase seems to best describe my existence these days. I really don't have too much going on, but seem to always be a step behind!

Most especially I have lost my "blog-a-rhythm." When I first started blogging, I was good about updating posts and posting on others blogs. I even accused my sister of being a lazy blogger for not updating her blog for 3 weeks!! My, how the tables have turned! All I can do is repent and move one. I have a couple of new posts ready. So, stay tuned...

Its Another Hawkes...BOY!!!!

I looked back on my blog and realized that I have not yet published our good news. Around Fathers Day this year, Marshall and I found out that I was pregnant. I took two "Dollar Tree" pregnancy tests, which came out negative.

I knew something was "off", because "things" were still MIA. I spent the money on some more expensive tests, and they both came back positive.

(Sorry, I know these are pee sticks. I have no shame!!!)

It seems that while we were in Lake Lure, Marshall and I had a Cinco De Mayo Party! It must have been all those margaritas!!

PREGNANCY

It was hard at first, because of the nausea and restless nights, but is going really great now. I feel better and am sleeping better. I finish my 19th week on Tuesday. Almost half-way!!! On Friday September 7th I had my ultrasound. Going into the appointment, Marshall and I were convinced that this baby was a girl.


Only a few short moments after the technician started the ultrasound we found out that we were going to have another baby BOY!! We are so happy. Cohen will have a little brother to be crazy with. All things are good with the baby's size and growth. There has been no change to the due date--Feb. 6th.

Anniversa--Vegasry!!!

On August 15, just days after our company left, we took off to Vegas! Marshall had a "Orgil" trade show to work, and I just wanted to go to Vegas. We met our friends and Marshall's Co-worker, Ryan, Debbie, and McCall Dame there.

(Photo of Miss McCall Dame. AKA--Cohen's betrothed!)

It was so much fun. We took a limo ride from the airport to our deluxe condo in the "Panoramic Towers." The condo was well named, because the view from our place was fantastic! First things first, we baby proofed the condo, and went grocery shopping.

We had such a fun time. The men had to work during the day, so the ladies and babies toured the city and shopped! We spent hours in Sephora, which is now my new favorite place to be. In the evenings, we went to see shows and ate at great restaurants. We had a few nights away from the babies, so Marshall and I decided to count this as our Anniversary dinner and date. There is so much good food in Vegas.

This is a photo of the Treasure Island Babes enchanting the seas with their body and song!

This is a photo of Marsh and Cohen watching the Treasure Island Babes--completely enthralled!! Notice that thier mouths are hanging open in awe...

McCall couldn't watch!!

Vegas is so bright and colorful. One of the most scenic places was the Paris Casino and Hotel. We had to stop and take some photos while we were there.

Strike a pose, there is nothing' to it...VOGUE!!!!

We told the kids to "smile with their teeth!" CHEESE!!

The Burgi Family and Super Karen come to visit...

We have had an exciting and busy month of August. It all started with visitors from Utah! My Older sister Kristen, her daughter Halle, her twin boys, and my Mom all came to visit me in "My Old Kentucky Home." They said the first two weeks of August--the hottest time of the year in KY. They were not used to the extremely HEAT and HUMIDITY!

Avoiding the heat did take some planning, but we had some good times at Six Flags, Slugger Museum, Target, Wal-Mart, Waterfront Park, and the Little Spring Farm Pool. Here are some of the photo ops. we took:

This is my "contraband" photo inside the museum. Shh...This photo could give everything away!!

We had a great time at Waterfront Park. We watched the kids go crazy, and the barges go by. After we had enough water, we ate dinner at the "Tumbleweed" restaurant nearby. The spiders in the rafters kept us on our toes the entire meal. :0)

Cohen, Marshall and Halle had a wrestling match on the bed. (It also looks like Cohen is multi-tasking and digging for a treasure!!)We had a great visit with everyone. The house has seems so quiet since they left and we miss them soooo much.

A New Post!!!!

Well, as you can see I put Cohen in charge of the blog for a month, and posts just didn't get done! He has been properly punished!!

Almost two...

Cohen is 21 months!!! I cannot believe that he has gotten so big. He is my baby! What happened?

Cohen is so much fun. He was such a bright smile and is really playful. He has been doing some really funny things lately. Below is a list of some of the things he is into right now.

1) LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Cottage Cheese
2) Wrestling with dad

3) Sneaking over to the neighbors for candy

4) drinking out of a real glass

5) Saying "No"

6) Swimming

7) Cheez itz!!

8) Reading books

9) Wearing dad's helmet around the house

10) Running

At the end of the day, Marshall and I talk about how much fun he was that day and how much smarter he is getting. He is starting to use a few words, and can better understand the things we say to him. We love our little "diddy!"

Feeling Yucky...

This week Cohen had Strep Throat for the first time. He started acting sick on Monday, and we took him to the Dr. on Tuesday. At the Dr. office, they showed me the back of his throat. It was covered with white blisters. It hurt him so bad to swallow. He would hollow out his throat and let his spit pool in his mouth. When it was totally full, he would open his mouth and let it dribble down the front of his shirt. Marshall and I had such a hard time getting him to swallow his medicine, his anti-biotic and even water. This photo above is of him holding a drink of water in his mouth. At the time of the photo it had been there for over 5 minutes. He was so miserable, that it actually seemed he was getting worse as the days went on. I called the Dr. several times, and they assured me that he would eventually get better. It was a LONG 72 hours, but on Friday he started drinking and even eating again. I can only hope that this never happens again. We are sorry buddy...We love you.

My New Do...

Wednesday morning, I got the itch to do something different with my hair. It had been far too long since I did anything creative with it. So, I called Sherstine to see if she had an available appointment--and she did.

When she answered the phone I said, "I want to chop my hair and go blond!!" She paused for a moment, and said, "OK, how short and how blond?" After talking me off the ledge, we decided on a medium length cut, and some caramel and blond streaks. It turned out just like I had hoped. She is good!! I love my new hair!!

It's About BLEEPIN' Time!!!

I am the laziest blogger EVER!! I hate that it has almost been a month since I posted. The worst part is that I don't really have a good excuse.

Many things have happened in the month of May. First, Marshall's brother came to live with us.

And moved out two weeks later! Cohen is really going to miss his Uncle Cody!!

Second, I have also spent a lot of my time at the gym. I go almost every weekday, in hopes to shed those last few pounds of baby weight. :)

Also, we had a great a fun filled Memorial day! It started out with a "Backyard Breakfast" with our neighbors. It was so fun and some great food.

Next, we went to the "Kart Kountry" in Shepherdsville, KY.

It was so much fun. The track was really long and the carts were really fast. Marshall and I took turns riding with Cohen. He loved and hated it all at once.

After the cart rides, we came home and had a pool party with the Watson's and the Maxfield's.

Finally to top off the day, we had a BBQ at the Maxfield's House!! It was great food and some seriously good Brownies and Birthday Cake. MMMMMmmmm...

Cohen had fun playing with Liv on the Maxfield's stairs!

Lake Lure...

Lake Lure, NC May 2007

On Thursday we left for our weekend in North Carolina. We went to a small resort town just outside of Ashville, NC. It was a resort community on Lake Lure. We had a great time, but I wish that we had seen the sun a little bit more. It started raining on Thursday and we did not see the sun until Sunday afternoon when we checked out.

We stayed in a cute 2 bedroom condo with the Fowler Family. It was right on the golf course, and not too far away from the swimming pool. While we were there, we met up with some other families from Louisville. We played games and ate meals with the Combs, the Taylors, the Fairbanks, and the Stohls.

The Folwer babes had fun throwing rocks and sand back into the lake and Cohen had fun watching them. We all had a good time and are happy that we could squeeze in this last memory with the Fowlers.

Talk "Derby" to me...

This year, Marshall and I were invited by our fabulous neighbors to attend Churchill Downs on the Wednesday before Derby. We left Cohen with a baby-sitter and had a GREAT time at the horse races. The best part of the day was checking out every body's derby HATS! The boys felt a little left out, so both Marshall and Don tried on Paula's feather hat. Don't they look pretty?

We sat and ate a delicious lunch and learned about how to bet on the races. We learned what a tri-fecta, an exacta, a place and a show are. As they sounded the trumpets we were all so excited. The first race began and the horses ran hard and fast. Marshall had beginners luck and won on his first bet. The second race, I joined in and bet a tri-fecta for 2,7,1--and won!! However, that was the end of our winning streak. We lost on almost every other race we bet. It was still such a blast. What a fun time to be in Kentucky.

GoOd mAil..

This "Good Mail" post has been inspired by Jamie. I too have been lucky to recieve some great gifts from family, friends, and neighbors. Here are the sweet gifts from some of the wonderful people in my life.

These great items are from Jamie. Check out this AWESOME homemade card and CUTE heart braclet. The card is so great and shows just how creative she is. However, the braclet is my favorite part. I had been admiring her heart braclet for a couple of weeks when she surprised me with this gift. Now we can be twins--twice!!

These sassy flamingo sandals are from my Mother Karen. She is always so generous with her gift giving. She went to some extra effort to call J. Crew and have them search for these flip flops in all of their stores. She paid extra to have them shipped from California to me in Louisville! Thank you, Thank you!

This delicious cake was a gift from my neighbors Don and Paula Clark. Don and Paula just returned from a cruise and brought Marshall and I some Coconut Rum Cake. We devoured our cake the same day they gave it to us. It was gone so quickly that I couldn't get a photo of our actual cake!! We heated it and put some ice cream on top. It was to die for. Thanks guys!