Girls' Weekend

My three very best friends from college came to visit this past weekend, and it was wonderful! It was a short visit, but a good one. We just hung around, played with the kids, ate (of course), and enjoyed catching up. I love that I am still so close to all of my bridesmaids. We still talk on the phone, but it's just not the same as getting together! I hope we're able to continue the tradition of getting together at least once a year for a very long time. I love these girls!

Sara, Rachel w/Abby, Melissa w/Asher, and Lindsey w/Hallie (and baby #2 on the way!)

Houses and haircuts and birthdays--oh, my!

In the interest of getting to bed as soon as possible, here are the high points:

• Our house is officially for sale! We put it on the market this past week, and I am planning to get an apartment here in Searcy when we sell it. Why Searcy? I have a strong church family here and friends to have playdates with for Abby. Plus, I'm SO close to finishing my masters degree at Harding. It will be much easier if I don't have to try to complete it long distance. Why an apartment? Abby and I won't need all this room when Casey is gone, and I don't want to keep up with house/yard maintenance. Pray that we sell it soon!
• Abby and I both had our hair cut this past week! Well, Abby's was more of a trim so it would look healthier (and less like a mullet). I had mine completely chopped off! It has become an annual event for me. :) Abby was such a good girl:

Before the cut...

Reading while Lindsay cut her hair :)

The finished product (aka "trim")

I don't actually have any pictures of my hair yet (too busy taking pics of Abby, I guess), but I'm sure we'll take one eventually.

• We had Abby's family birthday party at Mom and Dad's house this weekend, and I made the cake! It is the first cake I've ever actually decorated. I usually struggle with just icing a cake, so I was scared to death about putting "hair" icing on a teddy bear! Here are a few pics from the weekend:

Aunt Tara made a really cool cardboard house for Abby!

My teddy bear cake! The tummy says "Happy Birthday Abby" (written by Nana), and the eyes and nose are Hershey kisses. :) He's holding a "1" candle.

Enjoying her new recliner (thanks, Nana & Pawpaw!) and teddy bear (thanks, Peter!)

Playing with a new toy (thanks, Smith family!)

Ok, so this was a really long post... but now we're all caught up, and I can go to sleep. :)

"We're in the army..."

Oh my word, here we go. Casey is officially a member of the US Army. WHAT?! Yeah, that's what I keep thinking, too. Basic training is delayed, so he doesn't ship out until November 18... but STILL! That's only 3 1/2 months away! Before everyone gets the wrong impression, let me clarify: I am very excited about this. It is an amazing opportunity for us, and Casey is extremely excited about it. He has wanted to do this ever since I've known him. I think it will be really good for him personally, and let's face it--it'll be nice to have a solid income again! :) It's just also a little... scary? Anxiety-inducing?? Ok, I'm not really sure what the right word is, but you get the picture. The idea of being a single mom for 6 months is completely overwhelming, but I know God will see me through it. The thought of Abby having no idea who her father is after hardly seeing him for 6 months breaks my heart... but I know we'll come through that, too. We have no idea where we might end up being stationed, but I think we can view that as an adventure. My immediate human response is to totally freak out, but I am trying to remind my spastic self that God is in control of everything.

So what will change right now? We're not sure yet. We are thinking about selling the house in the next few months and looking for an apartment in Memphis so I can be closer to my parents while Casey is gone. Nothing is set in stone yet, but it's a possibility. What am I saying? Anything is a possibility right now.

Random side note: I received 2 more coaster orders on my website - from Canada! I have no idea how that woman came across my site, but I thought it was really neat. One set will be sent to Ontario and one to Nova Scotia. I should also be making more for David-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis soon, so that should help get us through the next few months. Hazzah for coasters!

And there you have it. My life is nothing like I thought it would ever be, but I'm learning to love it. :)

Early birthday

So that I don't forget, here are the most recent things Abby is doing:

• Signing "please" instead of throwing a crazy fit when she wants something (now that she's got it down, we just have to teach her that it doesn't mean she automatically gets whatever she's asking for... suggestions?) :)
• Putting stuff in and out of containers... over and over and over...
• Dancing to music
• New favorite song: "If You're Happy and You Know It"--she will stop fussing immediately if you sing this
• NO MORE BOTTLES!! Abby goes to bed without a bottle now. What a big girl!
• This one is hard to explain, but I'm going to try: she has learned the inflection we do when we say, "Look!" Kind of a high-low/double syllable thing to get her attention. She points to stuff and makes the pitches while excitedly saying "Ee-ee!" Now if only we can build up the vocabulary to go along with the sound...
• Shaking her hair around in imitation of me when I blow-dry my hair.
• Reading books... and then getting some more books..... after looking through books
• Quacking when she sees a duck on anything
• Sticking out her tongue when you ask, "What does a giraffe do?"

We are almost a week away from Abby's first birthday, and Casey's parents came down early to celebrate this past week. We only get to see them a couple of times a year, so this was only their second time to see her--ever! Well, Grandma Rhonda came down to see her in February when we were visiting a friend in KY, but Grandpa Terry hadn't seen Abby since Christmas. Abby has changed a little since then. ;) They brought presents, Casey made a cake, and we just had a small party at home. Here are a few pictures from their visit and the party:

Playing with Grandma Rhonda

Checking out a new toy with Grandpa Terry

Opening presents!

Our happy family

Checking out her first piece of cake

I think she likes it! :)

One more week...

Can anyone out there believe that my little baby will be one year old in just 19 days?! I can't. I'm totally unprepared for this. I mean, I know she looks like she is at least 2 years old (see evidence below), but it's just too soon! The year has gone by way too fast.

Ok, so here is the craziness we are currently dealing with at the Cochran household:

1. I have completed one grad class (with an A--yay!), and I'm halfway through the other. Just one more week of summer school! It really hasn't been that bad because I've had a great professor and not too much work. I'm only a few classes away from my Masters degree!!
2. Casey is going through the process to join the army. Yes, you heard me--the ARMY. He has wanted to do this for years, but I've never been too thrilled about the idea. He's been looking for work for a long time, and finally decided that this is really what he wants to do. Since he already has his college degree, he would start out as an officer (which equals better pay!). He has passed the mental and physical tests. Now he just has to gather letters of reference and write an essay for the Officer Boards which are in Oklahoma at the end of this month. If all goes well, he should be signing up after that! So how do I feel about this? Excited/anxious. I know it could be something great for Casey, so I want it to work out for him. I am a little nervous about doing the single mom thing while he's away for 23 weeks in basic training and Officer Candidate School. I'm also anxious about where they might station us when he's done with training. LOTS of unknowns, and we still don't know that he'll definitely get in so we would appreciate your prayers as we go through this process!
3. The director of the nursery where I work cut back on my hours significantly this past month since I was in grad classes, but she assured me I would get my regular shifts back in August. WRONG! I was working 5 days a week before this month, but someone took over those during July so I could be in class. It was supposed to be a temporary switch. When I talked with my boss today about the schedule for August, she informed me that I will be working 9 days that month. Nine days out of the whole month!! Does that sound like things are going back to normal? Is that nearly enough income to buy anything?? Can you tell I'm a little bit upset about this?! Now we are really hoping that Casey's plans will work out and we won't need to depend on that income as much.

There you have it: the good, the bad, and the really cute little girl who is getting way too big for her britches... literally. :)

My Little Bookworm

Mom took this video a couple of weeks ago at her house. Abby loves books! Right now, she would almost always rather sit and read instead of playing with toys. Is that weird?? I guess she really is my kid... oh, and I guess Casey's, too. :) We both inhale all forms of media like it's going out of style, and it looks like we might've passed that on to Abby. She has already learned that she can walk to the bookshelf, pull off a book, bring it to you, sit down, and (naturally) you will read to her. The other day she tried to pull off 3 at once, so I said, "No, just one book. One." So she stopped... looked at me... and just picked one book! I love that she is so smart, but it does make me a little anxious about the years to come. I don't want her to get bored too quickly! We are just one month from her first birthday--how on earth did that happen?!

Whatever Happened to Summer Vacation?!

I have been acting in the role of single working mother for about 3 weeks now, and I must say that I am thankful this is the last night of it! Casey is currently finishing his last night as the Harding Uplift videographer, and I am SO glad. He has been leaving around 8:00 a.m. every morning and getting home around 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. the following morning... on a good day. Last night, I think he managed to get one hour of sleep. He was getting home as I was waking up! This might be the last year he does this... we're getting too old for this. :) I'd say he has put in his time, though--I think this was his 5th year to do it!

Abby has been going to work with me a lot more since Casey has been unavailable, so we've had plenty of time to bond. Plenty. I started a grad class this week, though, so I'm not really working right now. I have a wonderful friend who stays home with her 2 1/2-year-old boy and keeps another friend's child, and she has helped SO much this week keeping Abby while I go to class. Abby loves going to her house, so it hasn't been too bad leaving her every day. It's only about 4 1/2 hours a day, but after being together 24/7 for so long it's a big change! She'll stay at home now since Casey is done with Uplift. We're not sure when or how much he will be working at Hibbett Sports now. They're supposed to work him back into the schedule, so we'll see how that goes.

Casey has been looking at a couple of other job opportunities, so I'll post more on that when we have more info. Just keep praying he finds something stable soon!

I am very tired and have class again at 8:00 a.m., so I'll finish here with an Abby picture (or 2). :) Thanks for those of you who still check this blog--I know I haven't been consistent with keeping it updated. Happy 4th of July to all!

My New Favorite Picture & Current Desktop Background:

Abby's 1st Pool Experience -- She loved it!