Monkey See, Monkey Do - Luke & Bowen are turning TWO!

On this day two years ago I was pumped full of magnesium sulfate and didn't know that I would be delivering two precious little boys the next day! So glad to be in 2010 and not 2008!

Today was our family birthday party - but the boys' actual birthday is tomorrow, Feb 7th - and they don't know how special it is to fall on the very first SuperBowl for the Saints (WHO DAT!?). . . .and hopefully the first one the Saints win! . . . . And appropriate, as I went into labor on SuperBowl Sunday 2 years ago. (So will the NFL charge me for writing the words "Superbowl" and "Saints" and "Who dat"??? They need to chill . . . )

So stinkin' proud of the cake! It was banana flavored, and did not take as long to make as it looks like it may have. And the monkey is actually "holding" two helium balloons.

Uncle Shane (it's rare to get a picture of him with his face) made his fabulous famous brisket for the party.

Me & Aunt Beth.

Great Grandmamma Porter (left) and Great-Pop & Great Grammie Cathcart.

Great Grandmamma Porter, who adores her very first grandson Chris.

Papa & Nana Bowen with their four grandsons - Abel, Bowen, Brayden, Luke.

Luke was lovin' some banana punch - which was a huge hit and gone before lunch.

Daddy helps Bowen get his hat on. Bowen loves hats and thought these were pretty cool.
Even George got into the festivities!

How adorable are these shirts that my mom (Nana) made for the boys! As you can see, Bowen poured (not spilt - intentionally poured) punch down his shirt and pants. He's crazy.

Honey & Papaw Cathcart hold the boys up while we sing Happy Birthday and let them blow out their #2 candles.

The resemblance between the boys & the monkey cake is scary - I think my little boys are actually monkies! . . . And it was shortly after this photo that Luke stepped on the cake. I was asking for that by staging this photo op.

Brayden holds up Bowen's new underwear - Bowen has had one dry day at Aunt Beth's house, so we are about to hit potty training pretty hard. He would probably already be trained if I weren't so lazy! (Yes, I'm one of those moms who buys her kid underwear as a gift:)

Luke plays with his new car - he crawled all over the house with his new prize. . . .

The most decent of the family shots - it's practically impossible to get a good picture with all of us any more!

Happy Halloween. . . the many faces of Brett Favre (BF)

We have a NY Jet (George-dog, BF 2008), a Minnesota Viking (Bowen, current BF), and a Green Bay Packer (Luke, 2007 & prior BF). And yes, for all the football buffs, I am aware that there was also an Atlanta Falcons BF, but Chris wouldn't wear the costume I made him :) . . . These costumes originally had helmets, but paper mache works best when created with enough advance to dry thoroughly (oops!). Okay, I'll do a better job next year. . . .

Bowen steals a leaf (a real find!) from Luke.

but then he kisses & makes up (so sweet!)

sadly, about the best picture we could get with all 3 Favres

We may be only 20 months old, but we know what chocolate is!

Neither boy was too excited to hold an orange bucket (Bowen handed it right back to me "Here you go, momma.") But they warmed up quickly when people started putting candy in them. . . .

1st hair cut - at 20+ months old

Now they're little boys (sigh....)

Long-haired babies

Who's never had a haircut???
Luke (above & below here)

Bowen (above and below here)

Luke below
Bowen below

Professional Family Photos

We finally got our first professional family photos taken. If you are looking for a great, reasonably priced photographer in the Shreveport area, Sheree is your gal. Check out our great photos at:

http://www.shereebabersphotography.com

Click on "Enter Site"

Then click on "Clients"

the password is Cathcart

Then enjoy!

As of today, not all the photos are up yet. She is still working on our full family pics and a few of the two boys together and the two boys with me. But about 45-50 of them are up, and they are precious. . . Of course, she had some excellent baby models. . . .

Good bye, Beau dog

June 16, 2000 to July 16, 2009
Wow the tears that follow this dog into the after life . . . Our original baby, brought home after we'd been married only 9 months, who went to every trip "home" for Christmas to my parents, on many outings, who had a crazy intuition (even predicting the boys' early arrival - long story).  Despite his quirks, we loved him with all our hearts.  We'll miss you, you crazy dog . . . . 

HOLY COW! Passed my exam!!!

Okay, no baby updates here (sorry) . . . 

So FINALLY I got my big white envelope in the mail today, for which I drove home when I had a 1-hour opening due to a patient cancellation JUST to stop at the mailbox and keep driving right back to work.  (I was tipped off by friends on the east coast who had gotten their letters the day before that I would likely get mine today.)  I ripped open that envelope standing in the middle of the street, my car running and driver's side door wide open, and when I saw "Dear Ms. Cathcart, Congratulations!"  I started doing a little dance in the street.  

So now I'm a WCS, which means Women's Health Certified Specialist through our national physical therapy organization.  Which yes (as I've been asked multiple times) does add letters to my name:  Darla Cathcart, MPT, WCS, CLT.  I don't know how many people passed, but we will be the very first group of Women's Health specialists (there are other certs in existence) to walk the stage at the recognition ceremony at one of our big annual conferences in San Diego next year.  It will be sweet!  And all my Duke buds (another 6 folks) and my professional organization buds (3 others) all passed too.  So we'll have a grand reunion.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and for asking me every now and then "Have you heard anything yet?"  I appreciate your thoughts.  Okay, as my co-worker Tina says, Praise the Lord!