We transferred him to his “big boy” toddler bed last week. He’s done really well with it so far. When he first saw it, he said “Uh oh, broke, Daddy fix it!” He stays in it all night long and for naps. I’m so proud of him!

We’ve recently taken him to Dollywood and the Tellus Museum. He had so much fun riding all the little rides at Dollywood and hasn’t stopped talking about them yet. This really excites me to take him to Disney World in October! He enjoyed all the of the Dinosaurs at the Tellus Museum with his beloved “Lulu” (Carli).

Today, he locked me out of the house while he was still inside! LOL! It really wasn’t funny when it hapenned, but I can laugh now! I was on the back porch scrubbing his booster seat and he was inside watching me through the door. He locked it, too- little booger! I had to run to a neighbor’s house and call my mom to come and unlock. Whew, you just NEVER, EVER know what to expect when you have a two year old!

And what an amazing Papaw he was. I know he dealt with a lot of junk in his days, but he never brought his troubles through the threshold of his home. He always came in smilin’ and whistlin’…he was solid as an oak. As a matter of fact, his casket was made of oak. We chose it because….well….it was the one Mamaw liked the most!! The oak, though, was very fitting the way he lived his life as he stood firm through whatever life dealt him.

Papaw loved to help people. I may never know the extent of all of the people he has impacted over the years. I caught a glimpse of them at the funeral home, but I am certain there are so many more that Papaw has helped at some point in their lives whether he gave them something, did something for them, pulled a favor, etc. He would do anything for anyone.

Papaw often reminded me of a quote I once heard by famous UCLA basketball coach John Wooden who said, “You can’t live a perfect day until you do something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” Well, Papaw lived many perfect days….and many people didn’t repay him. But ya know…that never stopped him from continuing to give…and help….and pull favors.

He lived to help others.

He gave until his heart literally couldn’t give any more.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might…”

Papaw exemplified that verse as he would do everything he could for anyone he could. He loved all of us.

We’ve been blessed to have had Jim Reagan as a part of our lives.

And I’m extremely honored to have known him as “Papaw.”

For those of you that couldn’t join us, the theme this year was “trains”, which could be found on his cake, cupcakes, balloons, tv, pinata, sandwiches, etc. He even had train presents! He was on cloud nine!

He clapped for everyone that sang him happy birthday just as he did on his first birthday and proceeded to blow out his candle on his cupcake.

We had a blast and sincerely appreciate all of those that could make it. We’re very blessed to have such great friends and family!

Just as I did with the first year, I made a short slideshow that includes some of Harper Cole’s moments throughout his 2nd year. You can see the video below:

Harper Cole Turns 2! from Shane Eubanks on Vimeo.

She has always been there for everyone with love and support that cannot be measured. She always puts others before herself…in everything. Even when she makes her amazing Belgian waffles. She’s always the last one to fix her plate…and usually takes the slightly burnt ones and insists “that’s how she likes them”. While that may be true, I’ve always had my doubts. I cannot think of one single time in my entire life when she has told anyone that she couldn’t be there, couldn’t take them somewhere, or couldn’t help them in any way due to something else she had going on. I’ve watched her drop many things, many times to help whoever may be in need….of anything. As hard as I try, I cannot match the love and support she shows others. She simply lives for others.

She never forgets a special occasion and always remembers to write, call, etc. She always has a way of making people feel special and taking the time to sit and write letters. I’m not talking about a card bought at hallmark with her name signed in it. I’m talking about a personal letter penned on every single flap of the card…and if there wasn’t enough room to write what she wanted to say, she’ll add in a couple sheets of stationery (that is designed in something the recipient would like I might add) that is also filled in front-to-back with barely a speck of paper un-inked. I love those letters. In a time where most people receive emails (which are fine), the personal touch and knowing she takes the time to sit and write is something I treasure.

As I sit here struggling to find the words that completely explain how much Mamaw Reagan means to me…the more I realize words can’t describe it. But I’ll say this…

I wouldn’t be where I am today without her love.

She has given me so much support over the years and exemplifies everything that is right with the world. God knew I’d need someone special on earth to get me through numerous bumps in life, and boy did He ever deliver. I honestly have never met anyone quite like my Mamaw Reagan that shows the unconditional love that she freely gives. Her compassion and the lengths that she goes to in order to help those in need are things that admire so incredibly much about her. She absolutely makes me want to be a better person. The example that she has shown me over the years is something that continues to amaze me and I honestly don’t know how she shoulders the responsibilities that she has taken upon herself.

But I know this…

I pray for her every single day that God continues to give her strength to keep being the amazing & loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend she is to so many people. I thank God every single day for that incredible woman. So many people have been blessed be her presence….and today is her day. January 19 is the day that God blessed so many people with “Betty Jo”. I thank God for her….I thank God for today…and last but not least…

Mamaw Reagan….Happy Birthday. I love you.

Your Grandson,
Shane

He loves his Little People Nativity, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem Book, and anything else that has a picture of a nativity scene on it. He identifies “Jeesis….Baby” in a heartbeat! So much that the other night we had a musical at church that I sang with the choir in. Little HC was in the audience and when the children did a depiction of the nativity scene, he yelled out “Jeesis…baby!”. He also yelled out “Mamen!” (to which Carli from a few pews over yelled “Amen, Harper!” LOL! He also decided to randomly count “1!, 2! 3!” in the middle of the service too! Haha, he decided there needed to be a few additions to the program!

He calls Santa Claus “S-sant C-caw” and then immediately in his lowest little voice and his little mouth in a tiny 0-shape says, “Ho, ho, ho…”

He adores the Polar Express Movie and is constantly asking for “Po Spress”…he’s getting to the point where he remembers part of the movie and repeats what’s being said.

One of my new favorite things he’s saying is “Ko-Kay” (ok), and he says it just like Eeyore…very low and slow. He uses the word in the correct context if I ask him a question, but he also uses it when he’s trying to “make a deal” with me! He’ll say something like “Mama, trains, ko-kay….” or “Eat, fruit, ko-kay…” Haha!

He’s finally counting from zero to ten by himself, only sometimes skipping a number here and there. For the longest, he just absolutely would not say seven…he’s getting the hang of it now, though!

He loves to sing. Jingle Bells is just “B-Bells, B-bells” and he fills in words that he knows are coming up in the song like “way” and “sleigh” and “bright” and “night”…it’s funny to hear!

He just learned the shape of the circle. He can identify it as “s-circ” and always says “roun and roun, roun and roun”. He can also draw it! Hooray!

He really likes the song, “The Wheels on the Bus”. He knows the wheels go “roun and roun, roun and roun”, the horn goes “beep beep beep, beep beep beep”, the babies go “ah, ah,ah, ah, ah,ah”, the mommies go “shh, shh, shh, shh, shh,shh”. He also does little motions, it’s really cute!

I could go on and on as he’s always saying something new or funny, but I’d be here all day! He’s such a gift from God and I adore being his mommy!

The Lighting of the Christmas Tree at Atlantic Station: This was our first holiday event. We went and saw the enormous tree in Atlantic Station lit. It was huge and Harper seemed to enjoy it, but not quite as much as the little Christmas train that he got to ride around in. He was thrilled when he saw that! We’ve been showing him the Polar Express so therefore he was calling the little train “spress”! He loves watching that movie!

Decorating the House: He loves all the lights and decorations inside the house! He “helped” daddy put the tree together and “helped” me with a few ornaments. We have a special choochoo going around the tree just for him and he thinks it’s just great. The only problem is that he wants it to run non-stop…haha! When it isn’t running, he says “train broke!”. He’s also enjoying all the small decorations and also enjoying moving them around for me. He has a special Little People nativity in his bedroom. He points to the “kings”, “Bebe Jeesis”, and “Mama” (Mary) and “Daddy” (Joseph) along with some of the animals.

Stone Mountain Christmas: We went back this year with the Godfrey’s…just like last year. The place was absolutely MAGICAL for the little ones this year! They loved the parade, the thousands of lights, the snow angel, the Christmas TRAIN (they even tell the story of Jesus’ birth!), the Polar Express 4D, Hilda the Goat, and more! It was a great time had by all! Harper Cole and Carli wore precious little matching outfits…again! Haha!

Cartersville Christmas Parade: He loooved seeing all the floats and decorations! It was cold, but worth it!

Santa Pictures: I was a little anticipatory of Harper Cole being upset when we sat him on Santa’s lap, but he did GREAT! He had on a precious little outfit that resembled an elf and he looked precious in his picture! The mall train went by at just the right time, so we got a good picture of our sweet little guy seeing “Ho, ho, ho…CanCaws”

Breakfast in Bethlehem at Church:Such a precious morning spent at our church with good friends. We started off by having breakfast (HC asked for green beans…haha!), then we listened to the Christmas story read from Luke, then we did a sticker nativity crafts and painted an ornament, and finally we went outside to pet the animals. Harper Cole was ALL about the petting zoo! He hopped right in there and pet the goats and bunnies. He cried “goat, goat” when we had to leave. It was a sweet time with our little family and friends!

…more to come…

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]]> http://www.crystalandshane.com/harper/burts-pumpkin-farm-and-ellijay-apple-festival-2009/feed/ 1 http://www.crystalandshane.com/harper/baboo-cole-janks/ http://www.crystalandshane.com/harper/baboo-cole-janks/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:41:09 +0000 Crystal http://www.crystalandshane.com/?p=273 If you are wondering what in the world that means, just ask the little guy. “Baboo Cole Janks” is what he calls himself! It absolutely cracks me up every time I hear him say it, so therefore I just HAD to share that with everyone! We’ve been busy playing, going to story time, playing with friends, going to Kindermusik, and just enjoying the fall weather. We took a trip up to Pigeon Forge last weekend so Mommy and Daddy could go to the TN game. Baboo stayed with his Granna Tana, Mamaw, Papaw, and Great Aunt Lori (aka “oach”). They had fun with him and he enjoys it! Harper Cole also got to spend some time with Mammy’s side of the family a couple of days again. His Aunt Maureen (aka “Reen”), Uncle Tony, Aunt Amber, and cousins Monica and Bryce all came over to Mammy’s for dinner. He had a good time hanging out with everyone. Aunt Reen went with us to Kindermusik and bought a couple of treats for HC….fun times! Will update after this weekend (Carlton Farm on Friday, then Burts Pumpkin Farm on Saturday–spending the weekend in Ellijay with family and friends!)

He’s growing like a weed, looking more like a two-year old than a 19 month old baby. He’s skinny as a rail though, so that makes life very interesting when it comes to getting a good fit with clothing! His hair is very blonde and he’s already had 3 haircuts in the back because it grows slowly on top and quickly in the back which = mullet. Ha! He’s very active…he loves to run, chase, swing, slide, ride toys, and just wiggle all around!

He’s into Thomas the Train, trains in general, Elmo, Backyardigans, Veggie Tales, Blue’s Clues, and so on….He LOVES books! (Hooray!!!) We read between 5 and 10 books a day and he relates what he learns to everyday life! For example, we’ve been reading a book to him that has a big clock in it and every time he sees a clock (on watches, walls, and even downtown), he says “clock”. His favorite books are: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?”, “Go Dogs Go”, “Good Morning Trains”, “Where’s Spot?”, “Goodnight Moon”, and “What Does Baby Say?”. He knows most of his letter sounds and is starting to identify the letters. For example, he saw an “A” on Shane’s shirt the other day, pointed to it, and said the a sound. Counting isn’t going as quickly…he still just says the numbers 2, 6, 9, and 10. I’m sure the others will come with time!

He’s enjoying football season being here already! He says “go vols” (vuvols), “sack-em” (sacks), “football” (fuball), “Tennesse” (Tinsee), and “touchdown”. His playground and play area are finished in the backyard, so he loves to go “awside” and “pay” and have “fun”. We go to Kindermusik once a week and we go to storytime at the library once a week. We usually have at least one playdate a week with a friend. We’ve been really blessed to be surrounded by other awesome mommies and babies! I try to do crafty or hands-on activities with him each day. He loves to build with blocks, put together simple puzzles, color, paint (whew, that’s messy!), and just try to figure things out in general.

He has a pretty good memory when it comes to driving around town…he knows where ALL the train tracks are (imagine that!), where the turn-off is to go to the library (he says “books”), he says “bump” when we hit a bump, he says “clock” when we pass the big ones around town, he says “church” when we get close, and he says “out” when I park in a parking lot…haha! Funny guy!

He’s a very good baby, but he is entering that age where he’s trying us. “No” is a big part of the vocabulary, he does tense up and stomp his feet every once in awhile, he’s even tried to hit a time or two. I’m sure these are all a part of growing up, learning what he can and CAN’T get away with, and figuring things out. We try to discipline him in a Godly way, making each “episode” a learning experience. Whew!

We are so incredibly blessed to spend every moment with our sweet angel! He is SO much fun right now, this is an awesome age, and I thank God every single day for my sweet boy!

Mamaw Cole was full of love, laughs, hugs, kisses, smacks pats on the cheek, candy, and all of the stuff that makes grandmothers “great”…but most of all she was full of faith. She loved the Lord and wanted to share Jesus with everyone she knew. More than anything she wanted to make sure her children, grandchildren, relatives and friends were saved. You see…she wanted to be more than a mother, grandmother, relative or friend. She wanted to be a sister in Christ. She wanted to join everyone she knew in the glory of Heaven one day. That was her dying desire…she literally wept at the thought of “lost” family members and friends…because for those unsaved, all that Kate Cole would be is a mother, grandmother, relative, or friend.

Mamaw wanted to give the gift of salvation to everyone she knew…but unfortunately she couldn’t simply “give” it as easily as a piece of Bazooka bubble gum, Double Bubble, or a Blow Pop. The gift of salvation comes as a personal decision…it takes all of the heart, but it’s a decision that can be made in a heartbeat. Mamaw planted the seed of faith in an untold number of people and she was blessed to see many of those people accept Christ during their life and know that she’d one day see them again…the blessed assurance.

Mamaw Cole’s funeral service was a beautiful celebration of her life and a magnificent testimony to God. Hundreds of people showed up to pay their respects, share stories, and witness God’s work through this wonderful little lady. I heard numerous people say, “When I go, this is exactly how I’d like to be remembered.” For those that were there…you know what I mean. For those that weren’t, I simply can’t describe the feelings and emotions during that funeral service, but I can say it was the most powerful and God-inspired service I have ever experienced. The impact she had on people’s lives was simply breathtaking.

And yes…when I go, “that’s exactly how I want to be remembered”.

For 3 years, Mamaw’s children cared & provided for her in order to keep her out of a nursing home. They endured more than I could ever imagine with unconditional love and I simply cannot thank them enough for what they did. Through their efforts, Mamaw got to see her great-great grandson be born…experience his first laughs…witness his dedication in the church…see his First Christmas…be there (over 200 miles away) for his first birthday…and so much more. God blessed her with loving children that helped keep her with us and creating many wonderful memories I’ll never forget.

So…as I wipe away the tears, manage a slight smile in the corner of my mouth, and thank God for the love…the memories…and the faith that was Mamaw Cole….I remember what she’d always say when I would tell her “I love you”. She’d reply with “I love you more.” Well, Mamaw…I love you most.

Finally…I want to share this video of her making Harper Cole laugh when he was 4 months old. It was one of the first times that he laughed out loud…and it was all for his sweet, great-great-grandmother. She’d always hold him and say, “Mamaw loves somebody.”

Mamaw…these somebodies will always love you, too….

Woops…I must go, he’s standing on the couch!

Maybe I’ll just let his mommy stick to buying the shoes…

Harper Cole turned 18 months old at the beach! Hard to believe it’s already been a year since he turned 6 months old at the beach! Time flies by with a little one, doesn’t it? He also finally started cutting another tooth! He now has one complete tooth on the bottom, one half of another one next to that, and now a little slit on the top! Maybe some different food in in store for him soon! He’s at such an awesome age right now, though. I enjoy every single minute. He’s repeating so much, he’s so curious about so many things, and he’s just all boy! He’s a loving little boy giving hugs and kisses out left and right. He’s got some spunk too, buddy! He also likes to test us to see what he can get away with. He’s such a joy, such a blessing, and I thank God for him every day!!

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