Cooper's 2! (and has been for two months)

Cooper, our "BIG" boy turned 2 at the end of June! Barely squeaking by at 20 pounds at 2 years, this mini-man is such a joy in our life! He surprises many people, when they see how cute and little he is, that he's even walking.... then he busts out a complete, grammatically proper sentence or two in the cutest little helium voice you've ever heard. The only consistent phrase he says that's incorrect is when he wants to be lifted up. "Mom, can I carry you?" I won't ever try to correct that one. :)
It's really fun to have such a vocal little guy who seems ready to soak up any and all knowledge he can get. He loves to cuddle and gives great monkey hugs. Having him stay so small gives us a chance to still have a 'baby'...who can fully communicate. It's great! We love this kid!
His current 'petite frame' doesn't carry over to his BIIIG smile!

Cooper is all about "I do it all by myself, Mom." Which includes handling fire hazards,
not letting a girl show him up (he totally scaled this thing right after she did),
swinging on the big kid swings,
nope, this isn't a 'big kid' shot, just a really cute one of him getting caught playing in a strewn mess of diapers

running to keep up with Tucker (or at least a solid attempt on short little legs),


eating twice as much as his older brother (which he really does + poops every bit of it back out = the same sized kid and 5-6 massive poopy diapers a day!)


and inviting older, cooler kids to his bday party. :)

We celebrated his birthday while we were in the rental interim house between moving from Richmond and closing on our new home in Goode. This is us celebrating Cooper's bday with our new friends, the Scotts (more stories and info to come on them and their cute fam :)

So, little man, although at age two you may be small in stature, your smile, intellect, courage, and heart are HUGE! We love you, bud!

You know you live in a small rural town when...

I've decided the longer time that spans between blog posts, the harder it is to just jump back into it and start blogging again. For that reason, I'm not going to give the 27 page blog post with 211 pictures that I should to 'catch back up' but I will attempt to do it in little, random, non-sequential bits. The first of this random bits will just merely be to say HI! We're alive, we're happy, life is good. We're in our new home and spending a lot of time trying to fill it (coming from 1000 square feet didn't leave us with much furniture to put in our new place). And I, being the 'artsy' person I am, am trying to think of creative ways to decorate, paint, and furnish instead of just putting things where they should be and calling it good (I'm sure go the more left-brained route soon for mere sanity purposes).

Rudy is loving his new job. He's become the 'Sedation Dentist' in the area and is getting good business from that. Seriously, who wouldn't want to be drugged to the point of utter relaxation, have all dental work taken care of, then not remember ANY of it the next day? The people he works with are great-- he even has patients that bring him cookies, apples, and thank you notes! Who ever thanks their DENTIST? :)

The people in Bedford (Rudy's office), Goode (where we live) and Forest (where most of the stores and social life is) are extremely kind and very friendly! I've decided, for the most part, I really enjoy living in a small town.
In fact, I've made a list!


"You Know You Live In A Small Rural Town When..."

...the well water you use for your home makes toilet water rusty and gets strange blue spots in the bowl-- but is surprisingly tasty.

...you drop off mail at the post office for the first time and the postal worker that you've never met says, "hey, aren't you the wife of the new dentist that just moved from Richmond? I think the neighborhood you guys moved into is beautiful!"

...you have to look for 'septic friendly' toilet paper at the closest grocery store that's 9 miles away.

...the talk of the town and new date night location is the brand new Kroger!

....you make the front page of the newspaper just after moving in...because you're a dentist...and you joined a dental practice....you pick what house you're going to buy by the fact that it actually get cell phone reception in it!

...you buy "half a cow" from the nice lady in the branch at church (and that's exactly what you get!)

...the 1.3 ACRES of land you own is one of the 'small properties' in the area.

...EVERY new person you meet asks 3 questions: 1. Where'd ya'll come from? 2. What broughcha here? 3. Have ya'll found a church yet?

...ticks, snakes, and deer are a constant worry.

...you are told (or find out for yourself) about the japanese beetle, stinkbug and ladybug INFESTATIONS that occur throughout the year.

...the closest Costco is over 2 hours away.

...no one has trash service-- everyone has a truck and they dump their trash at the local free dump site.

...you go to a DRIVE-IN THEATER to watch a movie.

...your neighbor stops by and tells you, "we're driving into town today, is there anything you need us to pick up for you?"

...you tell multiple people (including those that don't live in your neighborhood)
which house you just moved into and they tell you the history of all the other families that lived there before you.

...cows and roosters are the loudest neighbors you have.



This list will continue to grow, I'm sure, as I learn more about this fun area in which we now live. It's a great adventure and we're really enjoying it so far!

Pictures and more updates will come...hopefully soon! :)

The Overlooked Six

So a few little things have happened since I last blogged...

We sold our home

Tucker turned 4

Rudy signed a contract to work in Bedford, VA

Mom and Dad Wolf came out

Rudy graduated

We moved (pretty much)

Melissa, Tucker, and Cooper went to Utah

Dr. Wolf started work

(just some of the main highlights)

Although these somewhat gargantuan events will all get their appropriate post with pictures (coming soon), I wanted to actually post something ON TIME to wish my incredible, amazing, caring, loving, thoughtful, hard-working, fun-loving, AWESOME husband-- whom I love more than I thought possible-- a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

I do feel it unfair that the 5, 10, 15, and subsequent intervals of 5 years get so much of the hype! We worked hard for this 6th year and all of it's amazing changes that it's going to bring in our life! So happy 6 YEARS babe! I'm so proud of who you are, what you believe, and how you make it all happen! I know the Lord helped our paths cross and knew, even more than we did, how right we are for each other! I'm so grateful for all that you are as a husband, father, provider, protector, partner, and best friend.

You inspire me. You make me laugh. You follow your heart and your tinglies. You eat with a passion. You cook. You care. You let me beat you in tennis ;) You encourage me to do things I didn't think I could. You lead. You lift others up. You always look for ways to give. You tell a great story. You enjoy life. You are a hottie! :)

As I sit here in Utah and you in Virginia to bring in our 6th year, I just want you to know that I'm thinking about you and can't wait to be with you again!

I couldn't ask for a better eternal partner! You're awesome.

I LOVE YOU!

Love, Me

ayM...I mean...May.

So unfortunately, with the craziness of this past month and the ensuing craziness to come in the next month and the fact that this is my only chance to get a quick update of the events of the last little while and the fact that I don't have my computer with my photos in Utah so I had to just dump them all in the post before I left...WELCOME TO MAY (in no particular order!)

The first unbelievably long run-on sentence should give you a feel for how organized this post, and our life, is right now!

We start off the journey at the end of May-- Rudy's graduation!!

The day before graduation was the senior gala. We had one last big party with some of our close friends. Us and the Davidsons all dressed up.

Me and Drea, my running buddy, playdate partner, and a good part of the reason I'm still sain after these four years! :) Love ya and miss ya already!Us with the Ruckers-- we sure are going to miss you guys and your amazing friendship these last 6 great years!! Congrats on Ortho! Meet up with ya in Tennessee! ;) We love you guys!

Mom and Dad Wolf came with such great love and support, thanks guys!
Dr. Daddy and his proud boys!
Rudy getting hooded! Wahoo!
Signing his life away to some dental thing ;)
President Rudy giving his great graduation speech. The dean got up after Rudy was finished and asked him to stand and told him, along with the entire congregation, that "I've done this for a lot of years and that was the best graduation speech I've heard, and I've heard a lot of graduation speeches!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WIK5qG4yAs

If you're interested in seeing the actual speech you can go to the above link.

Rudy presenting the class of 2010 check to the dean of the school.

The boys keeping themselves 'entertained' while I packed boxes.


Dr. Wolf with Dr. Bailey, the dentist he's working for. Dr. Bailey has been absolutely wonderful to work with and so kind. Rudy's actually staying at his house while he starts work and we're in Utah. We're really excited about our new adventure in Bedford, VA!

Now we move to Tucker's 4th Birthday on May 10th.

It's been so much fun to watch Tucker change from a little kid to a 'boy' this year. He's loving jumping and shooting and building and trucks and sports. He loves playing with his buddies and he's going to really miss his friends he's made in Richmond. He still loves Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Train. He continues to keep us laughing with his great sense of humor and amazing facial expressions. We're excited to move to a place with over an acre of land so he can RUN! He's the type of boys that runs when he's supposed to walk and jumps when he's supposed to stand. We love him and all of his energy. He's a great big brother and knows how to have FUN! We love you so much Tuck and we're SO glad you're a part of our family! Happy (belated) Birthday! :)

Thanks Nana and Papa for the fun build-your-own trains!!

Tuck and Coop showing their more artistic side painting the newly built trains
Tuck's 4th bday party (pictures starting at the end of the party when the energy needed to be squelched with a movie! ;)
Tuck getting fun presents from some of his favorite buddies
LOVE that smile! That's the 'I-just-got-another-Cars-toy' smile! Yeeeeeaay!
Say CHEEEEESE! (Thanks, Dad, for the bunny ears!)
Robot birthday party with a robot cake and, of course, a Robot pinata...both VERY homemade!

My boys showing off their good form

Cleaning up the 'robot parts' after the dismantling of the robot

Moving on to a great graduation dinner that the wonderful Tettertons gave us. A great all-you-can-eat seafood buffet!! (Rudy's dream come true! :) We sure are going to miss having the Tettertons close, but glad we'll still be close enough to visit!

Rudy enjoying this a little too much??
Rudy's second day of graduation (May 23rd...like I said, no semblance of order with the photos). This was all of the VCU graduates. Dental is front/center.
The 11/14 Proof of all of Rudy's hard work! Way to go Doc!

The boys playing with Oma and Opa while we got to enjoy a little time on our own with the senior gala and other graduation events. Tucker sporting his new Cars helmet for his first bike! Thanks Oma and Opa!

Cooper sporting...well...his 'monster' attire.
Boys being boys.

Finding all the spiders for mommy... YUUUCK!

Hiding in their fort...
and Playing ball with Oma. Nice amidst all the craziness, there's still time to play!
What a MONTH!

The pictures are scattered, as well as my brain. The month was so full, I know I'm missing events and not fully describing the ones that I did mention, but that's as good as it's gonna get right now! :) We're finalizing an offer on a home and will be closing on ours on the 23rd of June. We're starting a whole new phase of our life that we're a little apprehensive (but mostly really excited) about.
Look out Bedford, here we come!!

There's something magic about spring...

...And easter with small kids...



...and time outside together as a family -- yay for General Conference weekend! (although, extended family was greatly missed, as they always are!)




...And there's something magic about a handsome man taking time out of his busy schedule to volunteer at the local elementary schools to share his 'performance talent' with young, eager listeners! :) Love you, Babe!


Life is really good...and there's something about warm sunshine, birds chirping, and flowers blooming that just makes it GREAT! I love Spring!!!