The one with the lake...

We went to Lake Hartwell last weekend with a group of friends. It was super fun! And the most shocking part of it all was Cooper LOVED it. The first time he was on a boat he hated it. The past few times we went to the pool, he didn't like being in the water. So I wasn't too sure how this trip would go. For one, he loved being in the water when mommy was in the water. He wore his little life jacket and floated right next to me. The second part was he LOVED being on the boat. I sat in the front with him and he loved just looking over the boats edge at the water. Josh and I were feeling a little rebellious at this point and Josh took Cooper on the jet ski for a few laps around the lake cove. Josh started off super slow, just creeping around and ended up going faster.... maybe 10 mph. Fast for a one year old anyway. The weekend was a succecss. It was relazxing and fun. The best part, Cooper slept amazing for his naps and during the night. Being out in the sun and all those water sports really took a toll on Cooper AND Josh.... Josh may still be sore from wakeboarding!

lil Captain

My boys

LOVE

The one with Fathers Day....

Happy Fathers day to all the Dads out there. I hope you all had a GREAT day and did whatever your heart desired. Josh's heart desire, was what I planned:) Breakfast in bed, (of course, because thats only my favorite thing to cook)- And I think it's my favorite thing to cook because I enjoy waking people up... always, have. Weird I know. So he had breakfast, followed by rushing to get ready for the Braves game. We had shadded seats so the game was great. Minus the Braves losing again. It was still cool to be there and of course enjoy and ball park hot dog!!Oh yea, I did it! Anyway, we definitely enjoyed the game. I know Josh did too. Hopefully it will be a tradition amongst the McCarty boys. Hopefully they will continue to invite me :) So we didnt go out to eat, Josh as you already know, wanted to cook his own dinner on Fathers Day, thats how much he LOVES his green egg. I did make (one) of his favorites Saturday night, Shrimp Fried Rice with egg drop soup. I am not a good Asian Cuisine cook, but he ate it. I need practice.My speciality is Mexican!!! Speaking of, Happy Mexican Monday- I hope you all are enjoying a taco. We are making shrimp ones tonight!!! Woot woot.

2nd Fathers Day, 2nd Braves game! The Tradition begins!!!

Have a great week!!

LOVE

The one with the Brewer family...

Happy Fathers Day weekend to all the dads out there... I wanted to post this earlier this weekend, but I just didn't get to it. We had the pleasure of hosting Aunt Kelly, Uncle Ricky and Uriah last weekend. Whenever we have family in town, we sure eat good! You know Josh showed off his skills on the green egg. We smoked baby backs on Satuday and steaks on Sunday. Anyway, of course I had to show Aunt Kelly a taste of shopping in Atlanta, I took her to Ikea. And while we sped through there, we were still there for an hour and didn't hit it all. I swear I could spend hours in there, and totally have before. When I was pregnant with Cooper I used to wake Josh up on the weekends and demand a trip to Ikea. No, not for shopping for the Mac N Cheese. Yes they have a cafeteria there right when you walk in! Heaven for a pregnant chick!! LOL anyway...

I am totally are carnivore and just HAD to post these!!

We took Cooper to the aquairium on Sunday. His "first" real trip. Last time we took him at 3 months old, he slept the whole time. So this time he was running all around, looking at the "fishies" with his cute little face pressed up against the glass. He LOVED it. And when I saw loved it, he was like a perfect angel, not running to far away from mommy and if he felt like he was too far he would run right back to the stroller. He was slightly intimitated by all the people which waas cool to see. Only because you knew he wasn't going to run away. But seriously, I was so impressed with his behavior. Aunt Kelly said he totally has my personality. Atleast he has something of me, becuase he looks like a mini me of Josh.

The fam stayed through Tuesday, becuase we hit up the Braves vs. Yankees game. And I have to tell you, I was totally nervous about bringing Cooper and how he would act sitting through a game. But again he totally impressed me. He stood in front of us for the 8 innings we were there and was again, an angel. He got him a braves tomahawk and he was totally content. We bought him cotton candy and he did NOT like it!!! What kid does not like cotton candy??? I suppose that it is a good thing. But Cooper really did love the game, he started to clap and "cheer" (aka squeal) when the crowd clapped and cheered. He is going to grow up loving sports. Now we just need to get him to a Florida game this season. Before August, he WILL know the gator chomp. I am already working on it :)

NascarCooper, Granna,Grandpa and GG Butch are PROUD!!

LOVE

The one with lots of pictures...

So I know I have been slightly inactive on this thing. As usual playing mom, wife, daughter, and working professional get in the way of updating everyone on the sweet lil Mohwak Dude. We have had an eventful couple of weeks. Memorial weekend was great. My parents came to visit, so naturally Cooper gets 100% attention on him at all time. He loves it, just like his momma. I would say we just relaxed, but that is a total understatement when you have a toddler running around. We did go to Alabama to see Gramma Herrmann. It was a short and sweet visit, basically had lunch and came back. But Cooper (and myself) haven’t seen her in almost a year, so it was definitely time overdue. The rest of the visit we stayed around the house, too hot to do much outdoors… although we did go to the outlets, you know my mom doesn’t miss a shopping adventure. I guess I don’t either. We all trekked up there, Josh and Dad hung out on the benches in the shade while Mom and I hit up the stores. We had to light up the green egg a few times while they were here. What’s memorial weekend without a cookout?! And to honor all our troops! Thank you David Dees for your service!

So we FINALLY got the motivation to begin staining out deck. We did almost all of it on Saturday. The easy parts are done. It was gorgeous weather, so we cranked up the country music and got to work. Cooper wasn’t feeling so hot that day, so he actually slept most of the day which made it somewhat easier to get the deck done. Like I said before, Cooper has my weak stomach. We had all intentions on making Saturday a family fun day at the pool and while we were getting subs from Publix, Cooper just started throwing up right there in the middle of the isle. Poor guy was so helpless, I felt horrible for him. So anyway, the pool was nixed and Cooper got sick one more time before he slept for several hours. He woke up and ate a little lunch and went back to bed. After his last 3 hour nap, he was back on his game. So were Josh and I. MaryChase and Daivd came over so we could enjoy a MUCH needed date night, a night out on the town. We started out in the Historic Roswell district where we sat outside and enjoyed some amazing sushi and good conversation followed by a delicious steak dinner at Stoney River. WAY more than I could eat, but I tried! I can’t even remember the last time Josh and I went out to dinner without Cooper. It felt nice but the whole time we kept talking about him saying how weird it felt to not have him with us. But we did enjoy the time alone…. That was not the only date night we had that weekend. A coworker of mine gave me 2 tickets to the Brothers of the Sun Tour with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney for Sunday night. It was awesome!! Going to concerts is one of our favorite things to do together. We had so much fun. My voice is a little raspy (more than normal) today from singing at the top of my lungs! We stayed for all of Tim McGraw, he did AMAZING!!!! A left right after Kenny came on. I am more of a fan of Tim McGraw, plus it was already after 9:00 on a Sunday in downtown Atlanta. So we beat the traffic home and don’t feel like a complete zombie today! P.S. you know we are getting “older” when we don’t stay for a full concert!!

So I have several pictures from us at the pool a few weekends back. Although Cooper didn't love the water like I anticipated, we had a great time!

So anway, back on the grind. Happy June to all


LOVE

The one with the Mohawk...

Yes, that's right, we cut our sweet baby boys hair into a MOHAWK. And while he is still as cute as can be, he looks like a 5 year old!!!! No joke. So it all started late last week when I decided to trim Coopers hair like always. I think he looks sweet with a bowl cut, however my significant other convinced me other wise ( so yea, technically you can blame Josh!!!) Anyway Josh must have had this spunky flare in him and came home from work and busted out the razor! Cooper wasn't the biggest fan of all the buzzing but as you can see, we made it. Josh did the buzzing since I had never done it before and it turned out really cute. Cooper looks like such a stud and is already picking up the girls in the neighborhood. Meet his girlfriend Haley.... They kiss and hug, share drinks and feed each other. A real romance! We are going to have to keep an eye on these 2 when hey become teenagers. It really is so sweet and innocent watching them together. Haley is about a month older than Cooper.

Cooper got a new toy delivered to the house this week, a slide that he loves, not to mention all the other kids around too. Our neighbors to the right have a big play ground set that we see Cooper eyeing all the time. The slide, not the e swings so his Granna and Grandpa had a Cooper size slide sent. Speaking of Cooper size, he had his 18 month check up this past Monday. His weight has pretty much maintained right at 25 lbs, his height is average and as we know, he is healthy. He is right on track for development. The doctor said Mommy and Daddy get an A+, keep doing what we are doing and he is going to turn out great. We sure hope, right?? He spend loads of time with him outdoors and let him get plenty of exercise. And while he doesn't eat veggies that's the least of my worries. He eats most everything else that kids eat. I just pick my battles and fighting over food is not one of them.

I am trying to teach Cooper how to jump here...

So as a public service announcement, please write this down.... I mowed the lawn yesterday, for no money or incentive! When I was a teenager my dad used to pay me $20 ( maybe $20 for the front and $20 for the back, I can't remember- but I know I was paid) anyway I was laying out in the back yard and the grass was kind of high and I got the itch (literally) to mow the lawn. I need some practice, it doesn't have the straight pretty lines like when Josh does it, but hey, it's mowed!!! We are looking forward to next weekend, Spencer comes in town for his 21st birthday!! The boys are getting a few hotel rooms and staying in buckhead a few nights. And my parents will be coming in town Friday thru Tuesday. We will have a little more low key weekend than the boys, but just glad it's a 3 day weekend. Hope everyone has a great Sunday!!!

 I couldn't pick just one of these to post. Cooper loves the slide!

LOVE





The one on Mothers Day....

Happy Mothers Day to all the mommas out there!! My mothers day was fantastic.... first of all, Cooper slept until 9:45, only because Josh went and woke him up, he totally would have slept later. 2nd, Josh brought me mimosas and breakfast in bed, not just breakfast- but my favorite, 2 eggs over easy, toast and bacon. It was delicious, did I mention I was watching Friends all morning, yes, Friends!! So you know I was in heaven!!!! Anyway, it was raining all day, so we stayed in doors and watched a few movies. Cooper made me 3 beautiful cards. Josh had him bring them to me all throughout the day, 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and 1 right before dinner, where we went to Bonefish Grill. It's our favorite place and ironically where we had our first date almost 4 years ago... who would have thought then, that we would be having our Mothers Day Dinner there... it was a wonderful day, more than I could ask for. I am a blessed mommy, to have such a smart and handsome baby boy and blessed to have such a loving husband. Cheers to all the mommas out there, specifically my mother, who taught me everything I know who has so much love in her heart, thank you MOM!!!

Can I please have some BangBang Shrimp??????

This is Cooper first time on the rocking horse, it was mine when I was a youngin. He loves it!!!

Have a great week!!!!!

LOVE

The one on Cinco de Mayo...

Happy Independence day to Mexico! Isn't funny how into this holiday we American's get? All the corona and tequila was sold out, all the Mexican restaurants were packed and Tostitos were depleted in the grocery stores. Definitely not going to lie, we celebrate! We busted out our Margaritaville margarita machine, dips and fajitas. We celebrated at Davids house, true Mexican tradition with the tequila shots before dinner. We had dips galore, chicken and steak fajitas and margarona's (a margarita with a corona). Anyway, I am Mexicaned out, I may skip tomorrows weekly fiesta. OLE!

The stache's almost look real,  huh???

very fitting for a baby, don't you think?

 I am headed to New Orleans for the week for a work conference.... that leaves two and a half men at the McCarty Casa. Please feel free to check in on them and send food :) just kidding, I am sure they boys are stoked to get momma out of the house for a few days, they are already planning their meals and golf outings. As much as Josh and Chris play golf, Cooper will be a pro by 5. He already has great hand eye coordination and has no problem swinging the club and making contact with the ball. I think he just likes swinging the golf clubs more than anything. We keep those outside now for that reason!

Have a great week,  I will catch up with you next week!

LOVE