The Cotney Family

This is just a little update on all of the happenings over the past few months...

Alan: Just found out that he not only passed his written exam that he took a few weeks ago, but he passed his oral exam that he took today! This is HUGE! All he has now is to finish writing his dissertation and he will officially be Dr. Alan Cotney! He has had a crazy few months. He has been working full-time at Rocky Cross Baptist Church, full-time at Prosource Fitness, part-time at SEBTS as a fellow/grader and studying to take these exams. He is such an amazing husband and father!

Will: Will has had a great year at preschool. As you saw in the video, he graduated from preschool on May 27th. He has been accepted at North Raleigh Christian Academy and his first day of kindergarten is on August 16th. He will be 5 years old on Thursday (June 10th). Wow! These past 5 years have flown by. Will loves life and loves meeting new people. He is so excited about starting school. He takes great pride in what he does. He just finished up his first season of T-ball, and he did great! He loves playing outside, and he is definitely "all boy!"

Emma: Emma is just growing up like crazy! She has been completely potty trained for about a month and 1/2. She is the boss, and if you don't believe me, just ask her! She is supposed to be her Daddy's princess, but she has decided that she is Will's princess instead. Alan will tell her..."Emma, you look so pretty." She will respond..."I know." =) She loves to pray. She wants to pray for every meal, but typically forgets to thank God for the food. She also loves to pray each night. Those prayers usually consist of praying for "No bad dreams and No bad pears." (She means no bad dreams and no nightmares, but for some reason "bad pears" is what she says.) She also prays that Will's friends will be sweet to her. She also fell in love with a pink hoola hoop when we went to the kids museum. So, she kept asking for a pink "hoop a loop" until the next time we went to Wal-Mart! She is soooo funny!

Drew: Mr. Drew is now 13 months old. He is the meanest one so far! He was supposed to be our sweet child, but he decided against that title. He throws everything, and has surprising strength and accuracy! Will and Emma are not very thrilled with that skill though! :) He now walks EVERYWHERE! He says some words. He knows "NO" but rarely pays attention when someone says it to him. He usually just grins and continues doing what he was doing. He also says "Bad Dog" when referring to Jake. He weighed 19lbs and 9.6 oz at his 1 year appt. I actually had to take him to the Dr. today. He has an ear infection, but we got medicine to make this sweet little man better!

Jake: Jake is still around. He is now 8 years old and continues to be tortured! He is such a good dog to put up with ALL that happens at this house!

Me: And then there is me. There is not much new to report. I still love life and LOVE being at home with my babies. I am so blessed! God's mercy continues to become more and more real to me. I am currently planning our VBS which kicks off on the 13th and runs through the 18th. I also have projects going on around here. I am now a quilter, and I LOVE IT! I got a sewing machine for Christmas and I have started making Emma a quilt. The ladies at our church have a quilting group and I am learning soooo much. I have been learning applique lately. Alan loves for me to do it because it keeps me awake at night, so I can make it through something we recorded on the DVR! Anyway, I will have to post pics of my progress soon.

Overall, life is good!

Emma loves the story of Jonah and the whale. This is her favorite book to read in Sunday School with Mrs. Brenda and Mrs. Rhonda.

Will graduated from preschool on Thursday, May 27th. This is a very long video, but it was too cute so I couldn't cut any of it out! Will will begin Kindergarten on August 16th at North Raleigh Christian Academy. He is so excited!!! It is hard to believe that our little boy is almost 5. He is so smart and loves to meet new friends.

Yes, it has been a year since I last posted, and MANY things have changed, but hopefully I will be able to keep you updated a little bit better with the daily happenings of our lives. I am learning how to upload videos, so just hang on...here they come. This one is from last week of some of Drew's first steps. He had taken a few a couple of weeks ago, but now he thinks he is a pro! It is funny to watch this, because it is only a week later and he is so much better at walking even now. Hope you enjoy. Videos of Emma and Will will come soon!

I know...you want to know about the new baby, but I'm going to post some pics from March just to catch up.



We took a trip to Orlando for Alan to attend a conference. It just so happens that my dearest friend, Chris, and her amazing family live there. So, while the guys were at the conference Chris, the kids and I played around Orlando. As you will see from the pictures our families are quite similar. Will is the oldest, then Chris' son Gabe (7 months younger than Will), then Charis (her daughter who is 3 months older than Emma), and Emma is the youngest of the four. When we were there Chris was 34 weeks pregnant with Mercy and I was 30 weeks with Drew.

Ok, I know it has been 2 months now since our last post, but you know...sometimes life just gets that way. We have been very busy and loving life. Everyone is doing great. The babies are just growing, therefore, I am too! Will and Emma continue to surprise me and we are getting closer to the arrival of Andrew. I am 36 weeks as of yesterday, so not much farther to go.

I will start this update with a little overview of February. For Valentine's Day day we decided to go to the circus. We were all VERY excited, especially me! Like most of you moms I was so excited about having pictures of my kiddos. Well...we got to the door and we were told that if our camera had a detatchable lens (which mine does) that it was not allowed inside. We had been to the RBC Center before and NEVER had we heard this. Talk about one upset pregnant woman! Alan took it back to the car and of course knowing my disappointment was on a mission to find me some type of camera. He did, and here are a few of the pics that we did get.





The circus was great but once we got home I just really wanted to take pics with my camera. I know, crazy, but these were the ones that I took that night.

We truly are blessed. God has allowed us to be a part of the lives of 2 of the greatest little creatures that He has ever created. What an honor it is to us be their Mommy and Daddy. Don't get me wrong, they are wild and crazy and often times we just want to hang them up by their their little toes, but we spend the majority of the time laughing at what these 2 can come up with. Alan and I have decided that we do not have a "quiet child" yet. Who knows...maybe our third will be, but even if not we wouldn't change them for the world! Here are some of their most recent photos.

I took Emma to the Dr. this morning for her 18 month appointment. She hated being there, but got a great report. Here are her stats:

Height: 32.5 inches
Weight: 20 lbs 10 ozs

She is small, but eats like a horse! Honestly, she eats twice as much as Will does! Anyway, she is healthy and that is what we wanted to hear. We don't go back until she turns 2!