Coover Family

I apologize . . .

for not updating the blog sooner.  Things have been really busy and it's tough trying to do anything with the computer when - someone who shall remain nameless (Brogan - LOL) - is always wanting to watch Dora the Explorer on Mommy's computer.  ROFL!!

So, after quite a few people told me today that "ur blog needs to be updated" I decided it was time to stay up after Brogan went to bed and do what needed to be done.

Summer has flown by and we had lots of things go on during those few months.  Lots of birthday parties, trips to the beach house and just hanging out with the cousins (CJ, William, Andrew & Darla). First up is CJ's birthday party from July 26th at West Nantmeal Park.  Brogan had a blast with everyone, especially CJ since he took Brogan for a run around the baseball bases.

    Yes, the picture was taken on an angle on purpose.

 Doesn't he look so adorable in the baseball hat!!  (Yes, Mommy says he's going to be a catcher for the Boston Red Sox so she can have season tickets - LOL!!).

 FIRST BASE . . .

  SECOND BASE . . .

 THIRD BASE . . .

 AND HE'S RUNNING FOR . . .

 HOME PLATE!!!  YEAH!!!

Here is my second favorite picture from the day (CJ and Brogan):

 

And this was my favorite picture from the day:

Update . . . finally (LOL!!)

I know it's been quite a while since I last updated, but as you can imagine, things have been crazy lately.  Yes, Brogan is now walking and giving everyone a "run for their money" - to say the least.  He is all over the place and LOVES to be outside!!  (Right CJ - he definitely learned his lesson - LOL!!).

His favorite two words right now are "NO" and "MINE".  He also loves to throw temper tantrums and scratch the heck out of his own face (no, I didn't take pictures because it was so bad).  Mommy cut his nails very short to hopefully persuade him NOT to do it again (yeah, right HAHA!).

He has received his first "shiner", which I did take pictures of.  We were at the beach house in the gazebo, he dropped something on the floor and went to pick up up but his cheek/eye area decided to collide with the picnic table instead.  Yeah, not a pretty sight.  

But, all in all, he is one happy little boy.  He loves to give hugs and kisses to anyone that will take them.  Mommy, she takes them all because even on her worst day all she has to do is look at his little face with the great big smile and it just melts her heart. 

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

I am simply . . .

BLESSED with some awesome girlfriends!!!!  Kim, Theresa, Kelly, Carla, Lisa, Peggie Sue & Laurie AKA - The Chatty Divas.  I cannot believe what I received in the mail the other day and yes, I definitely cried.  I never expected to find such amazing gifts, most of them homemade, from these wonderful ladies.  Their scrapbooking talent is simply amazing, but the most important part is the close friendship I have with all of them.  Out of all of these fab-tab-ulous ladies, I have only met one in person since they all live in other states.  I have traveled to Ohio, by myself, to meet Kim (her beautiful daughter Becca and hubby Jim) and we had an awesome weekend scrapbooking and hanging out with each other.

Here are some pictures of the wonderful gifts Brogan received from these AWESOME ladies:

This is a picture of all the great things they sent Brogan.  Most of the items are for his adoption scrapbook that I hope to work on soon, he also received some gift cards to Babies-R-Us (to get some fun toys to play with), but what amazed me the most was the album these ladies put together for him.  I think I cried for over an hour after I looked at all the fabulous layouts they put together.

They scrapbooked an entire album of nursery rhymes, along with other layouts to put pictures in it.  On the front of the album it reads:  With anxious hearts and open arms, we sought you everywhere.  You, dear child, are a gift from God, the answer to our prayer.  No matter whether birth or choice, a home is blessed from above.  When caring parents claim their child, a family is formed by love.

The nursery rhymes included are:  What are little boys made of, Hey Diddle Diddle, Little Boy Blue, Jack & Jill, Moon,Moon,Moon, Five LIttle Monkeys, Sleep Baby Sleep, Mary had a Little Lamb, Winnie the Pooh, Good Night Moon, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Tiny Tim and Humpty Dumpty.

Here are some pictures pictures of the album: 

This picture is the inside fo the card: 

THANK YOU SO MUCH LADIES!!!  Brogan LOVES is "Aunties"!!!

Rubber Ducky . . .

You're the One. (here is a link to Ernie - Sesame Street - singing the song:  http://www.northern-pine.com/songs/sounds/ducky.ra ) I just LOVE that song and this picture of Brogan in the tub with his rubber ducky.

Here are some more "tub time" pictures:

Happy Mommy's Day . . .

was simply fabulous!!!  I was in tears yesterday morning when I opened my cards - 1 from Brogan and 1 from Phil.  I received a $100 gift card to Fashion Bug - WOO HOO!!  I couldn't believe it - I finally got to celebrate Mother's Day with my child - My Son!!  I have been so blessed to be able to adopt such a wonderful little boy and know that from this year on I will be celebrating Mother's Day with him (and Phil, too)  :)

Brogan and Phil took me out to lunch (with Phil's mom too) where we had the best crabcakes!!  Then it was off to do some shopping at Fashion Bug where I got some great items for work and I still have some money to spend.  YIPPEE!!!  We then went to my mom's to spend some time with her for Mom's Day.  All in all, it was a great day and I hope everyone had a fabulous day just like I did.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME . . .

Happy Birthday To Me

Happy Birthday To Me

Happy Birthday To Me

I know, but, I just had to sing to me today as no one (yet) has done so today.  My BF Kim, who lives in Ohio, called me first thing this morning to wish me a Happy B-day.  Thanks chickie!!  Luv & Miss Ya!!!

Next was my SIL Lynette (Luv Ya Sis!!) and then my Grandmother (Luv You More!!).

Once Phil gets home from mowing grass today, Phil and Brogan are taking Mommy out to dinner for YUMMY Crabcakes!!!  I can't wait!!!!

My birthday gift from them is my classes at CKC-VF (Creating Keepsakes Convention in Valley Forge).  For those that don't know, I am a SCRAPBOOK ADDICT and this is the yearly scrapbooking convention that my BF Amy Kate and I attend.  This will be our 4th year attending.  We had a BLAST last year and were the hit of the convention with our "DIVA" outfits. Here is a picture of us from last year:

Brogan and I also went scrapbook shopping today at the Flower & Craft Warehouse.  I haven't been there in quite a while and found LOTS of new items for Brogan's scrapbook.  Hopefully I can start working on it once my scrap room is finally organized - LOL!!!

I hope everyone has a GREAT day today, because I know I am definitely having one!!!

Luv Ya!

GOTCHA DAY . . .

Brogan's will always be Sunday, April 6, 2008 at approx. 1:30 p.m. 

Sorry it's taken me such a long while to post, but things have been crazy around here - LOL!!!  Anyhoo, here is the latest and greatest:

Our flights to Almaty, Kazakhstan were "interesting".  On the flight to Germany, there was a medical emergency on the flight and then on our flight to Almaty a guy was so drunk he was falling over some of the passengers and arguing with one of the male flight attendants.  He was so drunk he couldn't even buckle his own seat belt.  Ridiculous!!!  So, we finally arrived in Almaty around 11:30 p.m. and while standing in the passport control line a Mennonite couple that was on our flight started talking to us about adoption.  Seems that they overheard one of our conversations and are also there to adopt a little girl, but they are just starting the process and were heading to Uralsk (city in Kaz) to adopt.  Good Luck Guys!!!! 

It was definitely hard to sleep since we knew that Brogan would arrive sometime Sunday afternoon.  We had breakfast Sunday morning with the couple we met the night before, then decided to go for a walk.  On our walk, we found the most beautiful Russian Orthodox Church I have ever seen.

We met the Baby Home Head Nurse at the airport on Sunday where she gave both Phil and I a huge hug then handed Brogan to me.  I was so excited to finally have him in my arms, knowing that I would NEVER have to leave him again!!!  We then went to the van, where we changed him and then dropped the nurse off at the train station.  I couldn't believe it - she was only in the van for about 10 minutes and then she was gone after a quick kiss to both Brogan and I. 

After we were back at the hotel, we decided to take Brogan for his first walk with his Mommy & Daddy.  He didn't like the stroller at first, but then once we started moving he thoroughly enjoyed himself, so much that he fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.  Once back at the hotel, Daddy decided he needed a nap too (LOL!!):

Monday, Brogan had his medical done and we found out he has double ear infection.  GREAT - just what I needed to hear when we have two flights coming up.  So they gave us some drops to help with the pain, but that wasn't the worst of it.  Watching them take blood out of his finger was heart-wrenching!!  They had to fill two tiny vials, so they were constantly squeezing his little finger so he was screaming at the top of his lungs and I didn't blame him!!  I would have been too if it had been me.  Thank goodness Phil didn't go in the room with us or I think he would have pass out - he HATES needles!! 

Instead of two days at the U.S. Embassy, we were there only Tuesday afternoon for 1 hour.  After signing the papers, Brogan was officially ours to take home.  WOO HOO!!!  So, it was back to the hotel for another day before we had to leave Wednesday night at 11:30 p.m. for our Thursday 1:30 a.m. flight to Germany.

Here are some pictures of Brogan playing with Daddy (LOVE the belly raspberries):

Once we finally arrived home, it was play time with Aunt Kendra:

Our next door neighbor, Donna, brought us a beautiful cake to welcome Brogan home:

Maternity Leave . . .

Those two little words I have always wanted to use and never could, until now.  I am simply amazed that at the end of today (4:30 p.m. to be exact), I will officially be on maternity leave from work and will not be returning until May 27th.  I am going through so many emotions right now and since I am at work today, I have to try & contain my tears.  Tears of JOY, EXCITEMENT, NERVOUSNESS, pretty much every emotion anyone can experience is what I am going through right now.

To be finally blessed with a child after all these years of empty arms is the most AWESOME feeling in the world.  I have to say that INFERTILITY SUCKS, but now I'm glad we went through all 9 years of it because we have the most beautiful, handsome, SMILEY son in the entire world (yes, I'm just a little bias :-) ).  I cannot wait to hold him in my arms again and know that he is finally coming home!!!  Although I'm not too sure the dogs will enjoy a little one chasing them around the house - LOL!!!

I hope everyone has a great day today!! 

Luv to you all . . .  until tomorrow  :-)

2 days and . . .

we will finally be on our way to bring Brogan home!!!!!!!!!!!  I am simply amazed that by Sunday afternoon (April 6th), I will finally have my son in my arms and will never have to leave him again!!!!!!  I just want to give him LOTS of hugs & kisses, then do it all over again  :-)  One thing we did teach Brogan on the 2nd trip in February was how to give Eskimo kisses, but I don't think he will remember so we will just have to show him again because he looks so cute :-)

Yesterday, I went out with two co-workers for a "celebration to Brogan" dinner at Ryan's Pub in West Chester.  We had a great time and had some really great food (I had buffalo shrimp, crab cake & 3-layer chocolate cake - YUMMY!!)  They gave me some wonderful gifts too:  a wall hanging that says "Home is where your story begins", a gift card to have professional pictures done when Brogan comes home and the most beautiful Willow Tree "Our Gift" figurine.  Here is a picture:

Oh, and just a reminder for everyone as to where we began and where we are headed:

this picture is the first day (Jan. 6th) with Brogan, 

this picture is from our second trip in February.

I can't wait to see how much he has changed in the last six weeks!!! 

I hope everyone has a great "April Fool's Day" without any foolishness - LOL!!

8 days . . .

but whose counting - ME  :-)

Phil and I will be having a HUGE yard sale this Saturday (March 29th).  I told him if it hasn't seen the light of day in the last 3 months, isn't a family heirloom or Christmas related it is GOING!!!!  I don't need clutter when I will have a new little one (and all of his "clutter" - LOL!) in the house, so nothing will be spared!!  So, if you live within driving distance of our home feel free to stop by and check it out (or just to say Hello).

The daily countdown has begun  :-)