Princess Diaries

Cooper Right Now (At 18-19 Months)

2011-11-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

- Sleeping 12-13 hours at night and just recently being all big and not needing Mommy to rock him to sleep. He points to his bed when he's ready and snuggles with his mehmo and Leo and goes to sleep. So sweet, though I'm still hoping he'll let me rock him to sleep every once in a while. We made the mistake of leaving Elmo and Leo in the car and he had a very hard time going to sleep one night. We did not make the mistake again!

- Drinks 3/8oz bottles of whole milk a day. He drinks fine from a sippy cup, but we just haven't made the transition for all of his milk. He doesn't really ask for something to drink unless he sees it, but he will ask for "wa-wa" if he sees his sippy cup. He's also gotten pretty good about drinking from a straw if we're out and I hold it for him so he doesn't stab himself in the roof of the mouth.

- Still being kind of picky about what he eats, but is getting a little better about at least putting new stuff in his mouth which is huge! He still eats a few baby food veggies (squash, sweet potatoes, and green beans are something he always eats. Anything else baby food wise depends on his mood. He does not like the meats and I can't blame him! He will eat chicken sometimes and so far has not turned away chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A. We offer him just about everything we eat and sometimes he tries it, most of the time he doesn't. But it is getting a little better. He loves bread, any kind of fruit, somehow just knows when I have something sweet and will love that too. Just this last weekend he had peanut butter on some ritz crackers and really seemed to like it! He seems to like cheese quesadillas, sometimes. He loved the french fries + ketchup from Five Guys, but not other places. He always likes cheese, yogurt, and oatmeal. I tried grits with him one morning when we were in Clarksville, but he was not a fan.

- He is talking more and more all the time. Lots of times it is only something that he can understand, but he's getting better. He asks for people by name all the time especially Dada, Papaw, and Mamaw. He can say Mimi if he wants to and he can now say "Papa" for Papa Chas and he tries to say Grandmommy and Pappy, but still can't quite get it out. He learns some things super fast like "moon" and "gogo" for Goldie and others we can say over and over and he just looks at you, like "thank you". He knows some animal sounds - "moo", "mmhmmh" for woof woof, "a" for neigh (but he does make the inflections!), and "roar" for leo the lion.

- He understands just about everything you tell him now. He knows his major body parts, who people/animals are, and where things in the house are. He goes to his high chair when you say it's time to eat, he goes to the stairs when you say it's time for bed, he goes toward the garage when you say go get in the car. He picks up his toys (with encouragement) when asked to. He picks out a particular toy if you ask for it like blocks, cars, books, etc.

- He is stacking his blocks up 3-4 (sometimes more) at a time but still prefers to knock down a tower. He stacks his rings the correct way and is starting to learn the colors of the rings. He loves balls and cars. He doesn't throw cars anymore, but will put it down and push it like he is supposed to. He loves trying to put things where they aren't supposed to go like toys in my tupperware and bottles in the trash. He loves figuring things out unless it takes longer than 5 seconds and he's reaching for my help. His airplane is still a big hit, though he prefers pushing it around to riding it and loves the buttons, music and seat that holds some of his toys.

- He was Elmo for his 2nd Halloween. It took a couple time of practicing with putting the costume on/off before he got used to it. But on Halloween we had no major meltdowns because of the costume. He didn't really care to have the head part on top of his head, but he did wear it all day.

- Being outside is probably his most favorite place to be. He loves it! Especially in Pappy and Mamaw's backyard where he is free to run around and play with the leaves, balls, golf club, and of course rocks and sticks.

- He is pushing his limits now. He is getting more and more independent. You tell him "no" and he pushes just a little more to see if he can get away with it. He likes to take something off the shelf that he knows he's not supposed to and then bring it to you like he's doing something right. One day he had my phone and I told him "no" and to give it back to Mommy. He held it up to his ear and said "hey" like he was talking to someone. I held my ground, but it was so stinking cute! He is not going to make disciplining easy, because he just looks up at me and flashes his huge grin and my heart melts into a little puddle.

- He has had a couple of major meltdowns in public. The first was at WM while we were waiting 2 hours for an oil change and I was about to have a meltdown too! The second was at the Riverwalk where he had to hold my hand while we were walking and he did NOT want to hold my hand. He pitched a fit for a good 20 minutes including screaming, crying, pulling at my necklace, throwing himself on the ground, and even trying to crawl away. I held my ground and since he would NOT hold my hand, I carried him straight to the car.

- He absolutely adores his Daddy and asks about him all the time. When he sees him, he gets so excited and jumps all over while they are playing. The joy on both of their faces is sometimes more than this momma can take.

- His memory is amazing me!

- He now has his 4 top front teeth and two upper molars and three teeth on the bottom. We brush his teeth most every morning and night and I'm grateful for toothpaste that is safe to be swallowed!

- He is doing so good about not having to have his pacy unless he sees it and then when he's super tired and at nap/bed time. I'm proud of him and our goal is to be pacy free by the time he's two.

- He had his 18 month check-up a couple of weeks ago. I will NEVER take for granted each time we get to leave after hearing he is a healthy, growing, little guy. He had one shot and was so brave. He said "ow" when she stuck is leg and then screamed for a few minutes but was better very quickly.
Height: 34 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 30lbs 3oz (90th percentile)

- He's wearing size 5 diapers, size 2T or 24 months pants/shirts, and size 7 shoes. The pants are a little long, so we have to roll them up but I didn't want to get 18 month fall stuff since I knew he wouldn't be in them long.

- Love watching him learn new things each and everyday! Such a joy and privilege to be this little guy's Mommy!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 45

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday November 6
The two of us went to church this morning and then to Zaxby's for lunch. He wouldn't eat any chicken, but he loved the toast and fried white cheddar bites! He had some veggies too.

Monday November 7
I got these two pictures as texts from Janice today. I love getting picture texts of my baby! He has been spending lots of time outside enjoying this fall weather. They put him to work raking up some leaves today.

Tuesday November 8
I hate this pic is blurry, but I love it to much to not include it. He can tell when I pick up my phone to take a picture and usually runs to see what I'm doing instead of letting me take the picture. I caught this face and it is so him right now. He's just so happy right now! And I'm loving it!

Wednesday November 9
After Cooper went to bed, I talked with Jess for a while and it was so good to catch up! I was recording the CMAs and actually preferred to watch them this way so I good watch what I wanted and fast forward through the rest.

Thursday November 10
Another picture text from Janice. He ate a whole kiwi today! Can't believe that was the only picture I had from the day. We played. Went to the store where he lost a shoe and despite my retracing our steps three times, asking every employee I could, and asked all the "desks" the shoe was definitely gone forever. So sad. Went to Hobby Lobby and then met Janice at Chick-fil-A where mister man ate 6 chicken nuggets and his fruit!

Friday November 11
This is the coolest number day! 11-11-11 So cool! Even more exciting was Melanie and Charley coming to visit and Zach coming in for the weekend. Cooper and I were both so thrilled to see him!! We all had Mexican for dinner and Cooper ate 1/2 his quesidilla! So proud of him for just putting it in his mouth!

Saturday November 12
Such a wonderful day with my husband and family. Cooper got to ride the train at the mall with Grandmommy, Papa Chas and Drew. Zach and I did a little shopping. I got to take a nap since Cooper took a 2 hour nap. Yummy dinner right in my own kitchen. And Cooper getting to have Grandmommy put him to bed two nights in a row!

Eleven Lists for 11-11-11

2011-11-11T23:11:00.001-05:00

I saw this idea on twitter and decided to make some lists of my own...

To Do This Weekend:
1. Adjust the thermostat
2. Change light bulb in living room
3. Get Jere food
4. Buy some mints
5. Laundry
6. Go to the bank
7. Buy some foundation make-up
8. Change Cooper's sheet
9. Send stuff from pantry with Zach
10. Check the remote
11. Take a nap

TV Shows Watched/Watching this Year:
1. Friday Night Lights
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Private Practice
4. Bones
5. The Lying Game
6. Parenthood
7. Anything Elmo
8. Law & Order SVU
9. The Sing Off
10. The Good Wife
11. The Big Bang Theory

Favorite Blogs Right Now:
1. Becky Higgins
2. Cherish the Everyday
3. The Mom Creative
4. My Life in Transition
5. Ali Edwards
6. Ministry So Fabulous
7. The Pleated Poppy
8. Annie Blogs
9. Ali's African Adventure
10. Living Proof Ministries
11. Lots of Scotts

Things I Like to Eat:
1. Chocolate Chip/Peanut Butter Chip granola bars
2. Mexican food
3. Fruit/Yogurt/Granola parfaits
4. Chocolate Chip ice cream
5. Mac & Cheese
6. Garlic Cheese Bread
7. Chicken Minis from Chick-fil-A
8. Subway Melt on Italian, Herbs, & Cheese Bread with ranch, tomato, cucumber, parmesean, & oregano
9. Creamy Italian Chicken and Rice
10. Loaded Potato Soup from O'Charley's
11. Chicken and Dumplings

My Favorite Cooper Things Right Now:
1. Smiles
2. Belly Laughs
3. Hugs
4. Kisses
5. Excitement when we get to Mamaw's house each morning
6. Reading a Bible story each night
7. Elmo and Leo ("mehmo" and "oleo")
8. Brushing his teeth
9. Bath time
10. Snuggles
11. Walking around like a little toddler

Things Cooper loves right now:
1. Mehmo & Leo
2. Daddy & Mommy
3. Mamaw & Pappy
4. Papaw
5. Jere
6. Bananas
7. Blueberries
8. Balls
9. Sticks and Rocks
10. Fruit Snacks
11. Watching Elmo

Current Projects or Projects I Really Want to Finish:
1. Week in the Life 2011
2. Project Life 2011
3. 2010 Photobook
4. Cooper's First Year Album
5. Cooper's Handprint Album
6. Birthday Album
7. Christmas Cards
8. December Daily 2011
9. Photobook for Ben's Wedding
10. Update Cooper's Babybook
11. 2011 Photobook

11 Cool Places I've Visited:
1. Jackson Hole, Wyoming
2. Times Square in NYC
3. Great Wall of China
4. St. Louis Arch
5. Niagra Falls
6. Washington Monument
7. Pacific Ocean
8. Georgia Acquarium
9. Open Air Market in Hong Kong
10. Disneyland
11. Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

Some of My Favorite Things Right Now:
1. Iphone 4S
2. Freshly made bed with clean sheets
3. Belly Laughs from my baby
4. Fridays
5. DVR
6. Photobooks
7. Project Life
8. Sweet Tea
9. Thirty-One products
10. New Pens
11. Hot Chocolate

Songs I Love Right Now:
1. "Move" by MercyMe
2. "Love Story" by Taylor Swift
3. "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland
4. "Good Morning" by Mandisa
5. "This is the Stuff" by Francesca Battistelli
6. "Rise Up" by Second Baptist Church
7. "Hold Me" by Jamie Grace
8. "Sparks Fly" by Taylor Swift
9. "Never Gonna Steal My Joy" by Mandisa
10. "Unpredictable" by Francesca Battistelli
11. "This Everyday Love" by Rascal Flatts

Favorite Apps Right Now:
1. Instagram
2. PicFrame (collage app)
3. Facebook
4. Twitter
5. PaperLess Lists
6. Word Warp
7. Byline
8. Reminders
9. iMovie
10. ICD9 Consult
11. Gratitude Rock

Project Life Tuesday | Week 42-44

2011-10-19T21:09:00.018-04:00

Sunday October 16
Jessica and Sean got engaged!! Yay!! Could not be more excited for the two of them!!

Monday October 17
Pappy made a tee out of the top of a coke bottle and a tile for Cooper to practice his golf swing. They hit the tee so hard it knocked off and Cooper was putting the tee back on and then putting the ball on. Loved seeing him figure it out!

Tuesday October 18
Our phones were delivered just before I got home, so I had to wait and go to the Fedex building and pick them up. It's really sad that I just get to open the box and make sure there are 2 phones in there, so I stopped at Sonic for an M&M blast to cheer me up! :)

Zach went to an event at one of the high schools where the governor was touring. Love seeing him in action!

Wednesday October 19
It was cold today! I curled up in our chair in the living room with Zach's sweatshirt, my cup of hot chocolate, Bible, and journal. I'm studying 1 John this fall. A few girls and I are emailing to help hold each other accountable and I'm loving it.

Thursday October 20
We found Cooper this cute little Elmo costume and he loved it in the store. On the hanger. When I put it on him, he was obviously not a fan. Hopefully he'll get a little more used to it and can tolerate it! Poor little guy! I only tortured him long enough to snap the picture and then took it off.

Friday October 21
This little guy is super excited that today is Friday and he gets to see his Daddy in the morning (I get to see him tonight!!). I wanted a look at our changing table and necessities this week. Size 5 diapers, diaper creme, baby powder, hand sanitizer, and some Febreeze. He had a bad rash earlier this week which I'm sure is directly related to the molar I feel about to poke through on the top left.

Saturday October 22
Oh my goodness, this was a super busy day. Chick-fil-A. Bank. Honda for oil change and fix a nail in a tire which took 2.5 hours (crazy) and we entertained ourselves with the toys in the waiting room, new cars on the lot, airplanes, big trucks, and our new phones. Took Cooper to Neyland Stadium for the 1st time. Sports Seasons. Hard Knox with Jessica & Sean. Verizon. Target. Danny & Janice's for cake and ice cream to celebrate Janice's bday. Home. Football. Dinner. Hanging out with Jess & Sean. Crazy busy day, but I loved it!

Sunday October 23
Cooper found Zach's guitar in our closet and has been checking it out. Zach got it out before he left and was showing Cooper how to play a little bit. I hope Cooper loves music as much as his Daddy does!

Monday October 24
It was a gorgeous sunset tonight. I decided to go home the back way from Danny's and stopped to take a picture of the little chapel where Jessica and Sean are getting married next year. So pretty!!

Tuesday October 25
It was a nice afternoon, so Cooper and I spent a little bit of time out on the patio. I introduced him to candy corn and he was immediately hooked. I caught him trying to sneak a piece!

Wednesday October 26
This is where I always find Jere in the mornings. I get up and get ready while Jere snuggles in my spot for a little more sleep.

Thursday October 27
He loves his Mehmo jammies. He's started grabbing his bottle before we read books, so our new routine is to drink his bottle while I am reading him a story from "The Jesus Storybook Bible". I love it!

Friday October 28
After a half day at work, Cooper and I hit the road for Mimi & Papaw's. We were both super excited to see Daddy, Mimi & Papaw and loved the beautiful sunset right outside in the backyard.

Saturday October 29
Pumpkin patch. Chick fil A. Hair Cuts for me and Cooper. Jersey Mikes. Drive to the 'boro with a cranky Cooper. Visit with Laura at her 1st jewelry booth. Sean's house. Cooper taking Jere for a walk. Dinner at Pie in the Sky for some yummy pizza. Another cranky Cooper on the drive home.

Sunday October 30
After a good morning at church, we had a lazy afternoon. Cooper took a great nap which meant Mommy got a great nap. When we got up (and Zach got home from recording) the three of us went outside and played. I loved it! Zach caught this pic of Cooper giving me a big hug. Love it.

Monday October 31
Cooper wore his Mehmo costume all day! No meltdowns because of the costume. We visited Papaw at work, Daddy at work, and the riverwalk (where we did have a major meltdown because of not wanting to hold my hand). The 3 of us went to Chick-fil-A for dinner and then to the church's Fall Festival. Cooper didn't really know what to think with all the people and even the hot air balloon, but I had fun showing him off!

Tuesday November 1
Lunch at the Mexican restaurant with Daddy before we headed home. Our 3.5 hour drive turned into a 5.5 hour drive when we sat on the interstate parking lot for 2 hours due to an accident.

Wednesday November 2
Super foggy morning this morning. It was still foggy when I got to work and even as I was walking in. I took this just as I had parked.

Thursday November 3
Someone had his 18 month checkup today. Despite an extra long wait (where I was so thankful for Elmo on my ihpone), Cooper did great! So thankful for my healthy baby boy.

Friday November 4
Love seeing little man in his jammies, wet hair, and "brushing" his little teethies. I'm very thankful the toothpaste is safe to swallow because I'm pretty sure I've never gotten him to spit anything out!

Saturday November 5
After a day of laundry and cleaning, Cooper and I had a little date to Hobby Lobby and Five Guys. He did great at Five Guys and absolutely loved the fries. I showed him how to dip them in ketchup and he was a fan. This resulted in a bit of a mess, but that's ok. He switched from dipping the fries to just using his fingers at one point. We stopped with the ketchup after that!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 41

2011-10-19T20:49:00.004-04:00

Sunday October 9
Got to spend the evening at Buffy's with Grandmommy and Papa Chas. He had fun playing with the kids and he ate really well. He had some baked beans (which he always loves) and ate 3/4 of a hot dog. First time for that!

Monday October 10
My happy fridge with all the leftovers from the weekend. Love that!

Tuesday October 11
Mom, Dad, Mamaw and Papaw stopped by on their way home from Gaitlinburg. I took the day off so I didn't have to rush home to meet them and I loved it! Cooper had an absolute blast hanging out with his Papaw! He only lasted a couple of minutes with Papaw Shaw reading to him from the "Jesus Storybook Bible" had literally just been delivered.

Wednesday October 12
Got my extra Project Life binder today. Had to order another one since the first one is already too full to close. And got my 31 order at work today. I love both of these products so much!!

Thursday October 13
The view of our neighborhood from one of the upstairs windows. It was gorgeous this morning and raining this afternoon. The sunset was so pretty. Not nearly able to capture it in this picture.

Friday October 14
Cooper likes to help carry something to the car. Usually it's my lunchbox. I was trying to get him walking down the hall, but he turned around just as I took the picture. I loved it! He's so cute!!

Saturday October 15
I went to an aphasia course at my old job for some CEUs all day today. I loved getting to see all of my old coworkers. I miss them!! Cooper got to hang out with Daddy and went and visited Granny June & Papaw, Mamaw and Pappy, and then to some friends to watch the game.

pic is from my phone

Project Life Tuesday | Week 40

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sunday October 2
Daddy helping Cooper get his shoes on before we leave Pappy's. We hung out over there for the afternoon (including nap time!) while we were having an open house.

Monday October 3
I've been letting him help push the buttons for the microwave and open/close the door. He just grins so big after he pushes start and it starts working, but then he wants to open the door right away. We're having to learn to wait for the beeeeep.

Tuesday October 4
Had to get my oil changed after Cooper's nap this afternoon since we'll be driving a lot this weekend. After a long wait for Cooper and Mommy we went to McAlister's for a dinner date. I ordered him some mac & cheese, but he was too busy grinning at the cute girls next to us to eat anything.

Wednesday October 5
Little was looking pretty cute in his evening attire of shirt+diaper+socks+shoes and no pants. It was cracking me up!

Thursday October 6
Jere has been a little stressed out with our change of routine lately. He's finally found a place in the car where he calms down. Now that he knows he CANNOT jump in the carseat with Cooper, he's content to just sit/lay down beside him. The people at the drive-thru at Chick-fil-A all had to come peek at how cute the two of them were!

Friday October 7
We are enjoying the beautiful weather and decided to go for a little walk. I carried him on the street, but let him walk on the walking trail and he loved it! We found a dandylion and I showed him to blow the petals off, but when I gave it to him to try he tried to put it in his mouth. Not quite bud, but you'll get there!

Saturday October 8
This little guy adores his Papaw. We met up with them in town and we all preordered new iphones and then headed up to Gaitlinburg. They are staying a few days, but we just hung out for the evening.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 39

2011-10-04T08:00:00.001-04:00

Sunday September 25
He was shaking his head at me like he was done with the sweet potatoes so I handed him the spoon. He ended up eating most of the rest of them on his own! It wasn't pretty and when I tried to text his new fun, he dumped the jar upside down, but it was a start. And he was so proud of himself!

Monday September 26
We were sitting outside on the porch for a few minutes and I saw a mosquito on his head. I swatted his head and then he started hitting his own head. Silly Boy! It was quite funny to me!

Tuesday September 27
We were playing on the floor and mister man tripped over his pants, fell onto me, and before I realized had slapped his head into the coffee table. He screamed like crazy and after I saw the bump on his head, I didn't blame him. Poor guy.

Wednesday September 28
Mamaw and Pappy took Cooper to the zoo today. They had a great time and said that he was almost strutting around at times, he was so happy to be walking around like a big boy!

Thursday September 29
Uncle Johnny and Laura were in town today so we went to Aunt Cherry's for dinner of yummy roast, potatoes and carrots, mac & cheese, and green beans. Cooper's favorite place to hang out was on the porch with Laura.

Friday September 30
This little guy will imitate ANYTHING now. Oh my goodness. I was putting on deodorant and then brushing my hair before we went out and before I realized, he had grabbed my deo out of the drawer and was pulling his shirt up, trying to put some on (lid still on!). Amazing.

Saturday October 1
Love my Saturdays with my guys. We did a little shopping, got some lunch at Salsaritas, went home and picked up for our first house showing, then to Pappy's for dinner after the game. I promised Cooper some outside time even though it was cool... we didn't stay long but he loves it so much!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 36-38

2011-09-27T08:00:00.015-04:00

I realize this is probably the longest post ever, but I am deeming this week "Project Life Update Week" and I will get all my pics/journaling cards into the album, including the extra stuff I've been setting aside! Here are the last 3 weeks of pics/journaling.

Sunday September 4
We took Zaxby's over to Pappy after church and somebody couldn't even stay awake through lunch. (I also plan on including the FB status/comments from the pic). The other pic is of me and my baby snuggling after our naps. I'm sorry it's upside down, but when I print it I can turn it around!

Monday September 5
Pappy and Cooper matched today and I had to get a pic of the two of them! They looked so cute!! Cooper adores his Pappy!!

Tuesday September 6
Please notice Jere in the background. I have no idea what he is trying to get, but I'm absolutely sure it's something he's not supposed to have. Cooper Booper was multi-tasking. Playing with his plane and carrying his book to read. (That book is "Pouch" and Cooper brings it to us all the time to read. And it is NOT one of my favorites! I've said "POUCH!" way too many times!)

Wednesday September 7
No picture.

Thursday September 8
After a half day of work, I picked up Cooper and we went to the store, I dusted, folded clothes, and researched jobs. I made myself unload the dishwasher before going to bed, because I would not leave dirty dishes in the sink... just in case someone wanted to look at our house.

Friday September 9
We had a Zaxby's date after I picked him up from Pappy's. We were celebrating that Daddy was coming home!! Yipee!! He even tried some of the fries!

Saturday September 10
Gameday! We met Aunt Jess and Sean at Pappy's before we all headed to the game together. It was a beautiful day for football and it's always better when your team wins!! There were 94,207 other fans enjoying the game with us!!

Sunday September 11
We had a little early birthday party at Pappy's house for Zach. Several of the band members/wives were able to come and it was fun just hanging out for lunch. Huge thanks to Pappy and Mamaw for hosting and serving amazing food! Cooper and Daddy especially enjoyed the homemade Banana pudding... a must have for Daddy's birthday celebration.

Monday September 12
A certain little boy could not stay awake for the 10 minute drive from my friend's house (where we had a 31 party) to our house. He'd had a little to much party for the night! It was so good to see some old co-workers and Cooper had fun charming the ladies and chowing down on some fruit and banana bread.

Tuesday September 13
He was insistent on going behind the chair. In the couple of minutes I was turned away, packing his suitcase, he had taken some books back there and was looking at the books. Cute, but we're trying to learn obedience here.

Wednesday September 14
Zach sent me this pic today and I immediately had my POTD. I love seeing him in action! And he is so hot all dressed up for work!! He wore the tie because it was a special breakfast for school system people and local businesses supporting the 100% graduation initiative.

Thursday September 15
Daddy was showing Cooper his newest video about Lady Liberty visiting one of the elementary schools. Cooper did great in the office and was of a course a little charmer to the ladies at the front desk. He came away with a sticker and a little school bus.

Friday September 16
Cooper spent the day with Mimi while I went on a couple of interviews. We had a little early birthday celebration for Zach. Ben & Laura and Jessica & Sean came to Mom's. We had Z5 and cake by Ms. Rhea Anne. Yummy!! Cooper ate a little of the cake and loved it!

Saturday September 17
Zach and I had an early morning date. We got bfast at Chick-fil-A and went house/neighborhood hunting. Right now we're leaning toward the neighborhood I grew up in! We came home and watched football the rest of the day. Unfortunately our teams were 0-3 (Ole Miss, TN, and KY), but we enjoyed some burgers by Dad for lunch and deer poppers with fresh veggies and cornbread for dinner!! Cooper was a bit cranky off and on all day and we know it's because of all the teeth that are on the verge of popping through. He did venture into the grass when we were playing outside like it was no big deal!

Sunday September 18
Church with Zach and Cooper. Lunch at Pizza Hut. A little more neighborhood hunting. Packed/loaded up the car and drove home. No fun leaving Zach. He did a little shopping for some long sleeve shirts and I thought he did a great job!

Monday September 19
Happy Birthday to Zach!! It was no fun having to be apart on his birthday, but he did get to have his traditional beans & cornbread thanks to mom. Cooper was sporting his new "mehmo" jammies tonight and it is just adorable to see him on his tiptoes getting in his suitcase.

Tuesday September 20
I had not had a good afternoon of playtime with little man in what seemed like forever, so we just played today. Books, balls, cars, blocks, shapes, rings, tupperware, coke bottles. Whatever he could get into!

Wednesday September 21
It was raining this morning and Cooper was looking out the door at the rain before I left for work. After I left, he ventured out in the sprinkles but didn't last long!

Thursday September 22
Pappy told me how much Cooper loved playing on the bed, so while I was folding some clothes I put him up on the bed. He immediately went throwing himself on the pillows and cackling. He loved it, but about gave me a heart attack. I was so afraid he was going to roll off!

Friday September 23
Cooper and I got home Friday evening and I had a surprise bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table waiting on me. They are gorgeous! And smell amazing!! Thanks to my love for surprising me and thanks to Pappy & Mamaw for delivering them while I was at work!

Saturday September 24
Zach and I took Cooper shopping this morning. The boy had only shorts/tshirts/sandals and the weather is definitely changing. We got him stocked up with some pants, jeans, shoes, long sleeve shirts, and a jacket hoodie. We brought him over to Mamaw's to show off some of his new jeans.

Cooper Right Now (At 17 Months)

2011-09-24T21:35:00.006-04:00

My dear sweet baby boy,

You are definitely growing up. At 17 months you are showing your personality. You are sweet, loving, opinionated, stubborn, and so smart. You love your family like crazy! I love it when I say "Cooper give Mommy a kiss" and you grin and give me one of your wide open mouth kisses. You give the best hugs ever. When I drop you off at Mamaw and Pappy's in the morning I always ask for a hug and after a second of playing with me and just standing where you were, you come running to me with your arms open and squeeze my neck. And every morning, I hate having to get in my car and leave you. (But I am thankful for my job and for your grandparents who adore you and take such wonderful care of you.)

I have a few names that I call you... "Sunshine" "Cooper Booper" "Cooper D. Booper" "Lovebug" "Little Man" "Little Guy" "Mister Man" and there's always "COOPER ALAN".

You are understanding so much of what is going on. I tell you to go get my phone by the couch and you go straight for it. We ask you to take something to someone and you take it to the right person. I tell you to go get a book and you get a book. I ask for a ball and you get a ball. I say it's time to eat and you say "ee" and point/walk to toward the kitchen/your high chair. I say "Let's go to bed" and you go to the stairs. I say "let's put on your shoes" and you find your shoes. You are picking out pictures in books. You know what a cow is and can say "mmmoo" when I ask what it sounds like. Just tonight you pointed out the armadillo in "Goodnight Gorilla". You picked out the ball in the same book and always say "bawl" and point to it. You know what close the door, drawer, cabinet means, though don't always do this when we tell you too. You point to the right people in our family and you point to yourself when we say "where's Cooper?". You love to point out the "big trucks" whenever you are in the car. As Mimi says, you have some preliteracy skills because you take a book and turn the pages yourself, granted the book is upside down sometimes, but that's ok. The other night you picked out one of your "baby" toys (a rattle) that was mixed in with your books and took it to the drawer where we keep those toys without me saying a word to you about it. And yet not minutes later went right behind the chair in your room after I said not too. You know what you're doing.

You love to see and talk to Daddy on the computer when he is away. I'll say "come see Daddy" and you come running to the computer and say "hi dada" and grin so big. This week I said blow Daddy and kiss and you pulled your pacy out of your mouth (sorry Grandmommy, but it was bedtime I promise!!) and put your hand over your wide open mouth to blow him kisses.

You love Jere and he tolerates you. Every once in a while he'll play with you and you just cackle and cackle. You try to get him to play by bringing him a toy and holding it to his face and waiting for him to go after it. Most of the time he just lays there or tries to get away. If he's laying somewhere you can reach him, you'll give him a big hug and he let's you. It's so cute! You are not a fan of any other dogs, though, unless they are little and white like Jere. You run from them and try to hide behind us or reach for us to pick you up. If you're really not a fan then you start fussing/crying. You met Uncle Ben's new puppy, Meiko, last weekend and you finally started warming up to her when they were getting ready to leave.

Your speech is growing quickly! You are so southern when you say "Ma-maw" and you absolutely made your Papaw's day when you said "Pap-aw". You totally surprised me when we were at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago and you pointed at some "elmo" pajamas and said "mehmo". I was so proud!! And we of course came home with the "mehmo" pjs. Now every time you wear them you point to your shirt and say "mehmo" and then your shorts (that have lots of elmo's) and point to them and say "mehmo, mehmo, mehmo, mehmo" and then grin super big. You say "wow, wo, mo (more), bye-bye, hi, ee (eat), baba (bottle), moo, boobawl (football)". Daddy and I were talking today that it is a little strange that you don't say "no" yet, but we are not pushing that one! All day today you were pointing at the tv and saying "boobawl"! We love it!!

You love your bath time. You now splash regularly which is cute and annoying when I don't really want to take a bath too. The other night you threw a cup of water out of the tub and it landed on me. I was dripping wet and sternly said "Cooper Alan" and you turned around and sweetly said "Ma-maw". I couldn't help but laugh because of course you wanted your Mamaw when Mommy was getting on to you.

You are growing so fast! You have three teeth. You got your 3rd tooth right before you turned 16 moths and we all know you are about to be getting some more. We can see 3 more just ready to pop through at any time on the top and are pretty sure there are more on the bottom. You are wearing size 5 diapers, 18 month shorts/shirts, and size 6 shoes. We finally went and bought you some long pants and long sleeve shirts today and we got all 24 month or 2T stuff. The pants are a little long, but it won't be long before you grow into them. You wore your new jeans tonight and I could not believe how not-like-a-baby you look.

You are starting to be over the baby food. We were mixing fruits/veggies for a while and you were cool with that, but now you won't hardly even do that. I'm glad of this, but also slightly frustrated because there's not a whole lot of things you are willing to try. We offer you just about everything, but the majority of the time you just shake your head no and turn away. I battle between forcing you to try it and just waiting it out. Things you have tried recently include sweet potato fries, french fries, fried white cheddar bites (from Zaxby's), banana pudding, grilled chicken, mac & cheese, barbeque chips, baked beans, potato salad, bread, cake. Please know that when I say try, I mean you may have taken 4-5 bites of these things if we were lucky. You love sweets and fruit. Somehow you just know when something will be sweet and you readily take a bite of that! You turn your head at pasta, meats, and veggies.

You wave and grin at just about everyone, but when someone new or you haven't been around them in a while, you get all bashful and go to me, Daddy, or Mamaw. You also get shy around people and don't show off your cool tricks like saying your words or your "touchdown" with your arms up and "Tennessee" where you hold your fingers up to say "1". You are a fan of country music and last week when we were coming back from Clarksville you finally calmed down when I turned it on a country station. You are an adorable dancer and kick/shuffle your feet, bop your head, bend your knees, and spin around. I love dancing with you.

We are trying hard to teach you "no". You know what this means, but you do not always listen. We want you to be obedient and it is not fun for Mommy to try and be consistent with this, but it's part of my job and I plan on taking it seriously. We pray every morning on the way to Pappy's for you to listen and to be obedient.

As much as I love the day time with you and being around you while you're so active, my favorite part of the day is still bed time. You pick out some books for us to read, crawl up in my lap, and I read to you. I say "Cooper are you ready for your bottle?" and you take out your pacy and reach for the bottle. I put the pacy on the table, you take your bottle and snuggle right up next to me. You drink your bottle and I catch up on Facebook, Twitter, and some blogs on my phone while you relax and enjoy your milk. Sometimes you are so tired you fall asleep mid-bottle. Sometimes you finish it and I switch the bottle for your pacy. Sometimes you just look up at me and drift off to sleep. Sometimes you reach your tiny hand to my neck and face. But every night you drift off to sleep in my arms. And every night I rock you just a couple extra minutes because I can. And every night it is in those quite minutes that I am rocking my baby, it seems all is right with the world. No matter what has happened that day and no matter what is on my heart/mind, in those minutes the world is just as it should be. Mommy rocking her baby boy to sleep. It is a feeling that words cannot explain. Some nights (like tonight) I get so overwhelmed with love for you, I can't help but shed a few tears.

I love you, little guy. Forever and Always.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 35

2011-09-06T21:32:00.006-04:00

Sunday August 28
Cooper was supervising Daddy packing up his clothes. Mostly I was keeping him out of the way, but it's cute to see them in the pic together.

Monday August 29
Our condo is officially on the market.
POTD will be of our sign in the yard... not posting that here.

Tuesday August 30
It totally cracked me up that Cooper was moving his chair around the living room/kitchen. He'd put it down, sit in it for a couple of seconds, and then move it again. I called him my little "Sheldon".

Wednesday August 31
Sweet Pickles has to go. We just can't take her with us when we move and we really want a good home for her. Took this pic to post on FB to see if anyone had any suggestions. (On Friday night of this week, Zach got a text from a friend who was looking for a cat. Truly a God thing! We took her over the next day. Sad, but blessed.)

Thursday September 1
Opening day of college football. One of my favorite days of the year!! We love college football in this house! I was trying to show him how to hike the ball.

Friday September 2
Cannot believe how big my little guy has gotten. I put him up in the chair with Jere to show off Jere's new doo from today, but cannot get over how much that scene has changed.

Saturday September 3
The three of us ran some errands this morning (including taking Pickles to her new home) and got home in time for us to leave for the UT game. Mamaw came over and watched Cooper for us and we had fun tailgating/walking around campus before the game. The band had just got on the field for pre-game and it started storming.

This and That

2011-09-01T21:29:00.000-04:00

The last couple of days his favorite thing to do has been to pick up his little white chair, move it, sit in it for 2.9 seconds, and repeat. I call him my little "Sheldon" from the "Big Ban Theory", trying to find the absolute perfect spot to sit!

Tonight we were playing and I was trying to catch a few pics of him. It's hard to get anything since he is constantly on the move, especially right before bed time!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 34

2011-08-30T17:00:00.000-04:00

Sunday August 21
So thankful to have Grandmommy and Papa Chas in town this weekend! They got to help us celebrate Zach's good news!! And it was exactly 7 weeks since they were here the last time, when we got the not-so-great news. God is good.

Monday August 22
This fellow is so stinking adorable. His smile will melt your heart in 1.3 seconds. He was trying out his spoon after some yummy (only to Cooper) supper.

Tuesday August 23
Vet day for our animals. I think the last time Pickles left the house was about a year ago when we made the trip to the vet. She makes the craziest noises in that carrier! Jere was checking in on her while we were waiting for the Vet to come in. So thankful they are super quick at our office. We were in and out in less than 20 minutes and that was even giving them time to copy our records for us.

Wednesday August 24
(will post pic when I get it from Zach's phone) The things I want to remember most about today are the early morning phone call from my parents leaving me a "Happy Birthday" song on my voicemail, the best hugs and kisses ever from my Cooper Booper, totally understanding why my Mom thanked me for making her a Mom 29 years ago, text messages and facebook messages throughout the day from family and friends reminding me how loved and blessed I am, hearing my grandparents sing me Happy Birthday for the 29th time and amazed at how good Papaw sounded, missing hearing GK's sweet voice singing to me today, steak dinner by my amazing in-laws, sweetest birthday cards ever from my husband and little boy (which he helped to sign), and facetime with my baby brother and his bride showing off their new puppy.

Thursday August 25
(No pic. Will use some stuff (menus, reciepts, and maybe a cell phone pic for the day)
Afternoon date with my love. We had lunch at Lenny's followed by some shopping for clothes for his new job and a planner for me (I must be organized with all these changes coming up!). We were so proud of ourselves and our 30% off coupon from Old Navy and our huge savings on some pants and shirts for him. (Again amazed by God's perfect timing, since I literally got the coupon this morning.) And the day topped off with dinner with family.

Friday August 26
Cooper got to go to Morristown with Mamaw and Pappy and Daddy today. Pappy and Daddy played golf and Cooper got to hang out with Mamaw and one of her friends. He had a blast and they said he was so good!

Saturday August 27
Ended our Saturday together with Five Guys on our newly cleaned off patio. It was such a beautiful evening and I loved getting to hang out with my guys. Cooper wouldn't try a piece of burger or a fry, but he did eat one of the onions from off my burger. Crazy kid!

Waving at the Neighbors

2011-08-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

Our neighbors across the street are a retired couple who sit outside in front of their garage almost every day that it is not too hot or too cold. They sit out there for a few hours at a time and even have a lawn chair set up for the little dog (or a neighbor that stops by to visit). It used to bother us, but we've gotten used to it and now appreciate the added security they provide us! They really are a sweet couple.

We've been leaving the door open in the afternoons and they get a big kick out of seeing Cooper looking at the door. Cooper being his social self, will wave at them ever single time he goes over there. And they wave back at him, every single time. Zach said one time Cooper would sit there and wave at them for like 2 minutes straight and they waved back the whole time! So funny!

Daddy's Shoes

2011-08-24T21:14:00.000-04:00

Little man has been a fan of shoes for a while, but he's just been picking them up and carrying them. He'd pick them up and bring them to us... not sure if he thought we should put them on or if we needed to do better about leaving them in the middle of the floor!

He has just now started trying to put them on himself. I think it is so cute to see my little boy wearing his Daddy's shoes. He even managed to walk in them a few steps before falling down!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 33

2011-08-23T21:42:00.008-04:00

Sunday August 14
Since we missed out on the acquarium on Saturday we decided to give it a try on Sunday morning when it opened. I'm so glad that we did! It was so fun and totally worth it! We saw all kinds of cool animals. And we kept saying how much Cooper would enjoy it... can't wait to take him!

Monday August 15
Baby Ben turned 27 today!! Happy Birthday!! Everyone (including Zach) got to take him out to eat in the 'Boro and then had cake at his house. They were so kind to include me with a little face time. It was the next best thing to being there and celebrating with him!

Tuesday August 16
Worked this morning since Zach was out of town and after nap time this afternoon, Cooper and I took a trip to the park. We stopped by Sonic and got a 1/2 price strawberry slushie and then went and walked around the park. After he figured out I wasn't going to pick him up, he started getting brave and would stop and pick up sticks (as many as he could) to carry along with us. Oh my goodness I love this little guy so much.

Wednesday August 17
Because of our weekend away, we missed our normal Sunday laundry day. Zach and Cooper were getting us all caught up today. Cooper was practicing using his arm and throwing the clothes in the dryer.

Thursday August 18
More practicing throwing any and every ball we own. Daddy sits on the floor and bounces the ball off the loveseat. If he misses or they don't catch it, Cooper goes and gets the ball for them. So precious! Can't decide if we have a pitcher or a quarterback on our hands! :)

Friday August 19
We were all a bundle of nerves this morning as we anxiously awaited a phone call. Zach got some very good news and he and Cooper were so excited!!! So proud of my man!!

Saturday August 20
I'm not sure I could have asked for a more perfect Saturday. Run. Cool off with some water & FB on the porch. Cooper got some Grandmommy time and then some Aunt Jess and Sean time. I went to the store alone. Lunch and nap time for Cooper while I did some 31 shopping for my bday. Surprise-to-me girls afternoon with Melanie and Jessica including pedicures and jewelry making to celebrate my bday. Dinner with the in-and-out of town family. Seriously perfect! I am one blessed girl.

Afternoon At the Park

2011-08-17T22:22:00.004-04:00

I've been looking forward to a chance to take Cooper back to the park for a little while, but it's been so hot that I just didn't feel like getting us out in the weather. Yesterday, I was able to work my half day in the morning and decided the afternoon was perfect to take little man to the park.

I could hardly wait for him to wake up from his nap and as soon as he was up and changed we hit the road. He was in such a good mood! We stopped by Sonic and just barely made happy hour and got an $.81 strawberry slushie. So good! We got to the park and it was a little warm, but the sun stayed behind the clouds most of the time we were there so it wasn't too warm.

We went for a walk around the trail and we both walked. He was so funny at first and would walk a little ways and then stop and put his hands out in front of him like he wanted me to pick him up. I told him we were both walking and he'd keep going. It wasn't long before he noticed the little sticks and long pieces of grass and stopped to investigate and carry them with him. He tried to fit as many in his hands as he could. So funny!

There was a little plane that came overhead while we were walking and he stopped to watch it go by. It wasn't long before he was getting brave and trying to go the opposite direction, so we had a battle of wills and Mommy won by picking him up and carrying him a ways until he was ready to walk with me again.

We ended up at the little playground and played on the swings and slide for a few minutes, but Cooper wasn't really interested in that. The whole playground area was mulch which in Cooper's eyes = tons and tons of little sticks to pick up. At that point, I decided it was time to go and we headed back home.

Such a fun little outing with my little man. I adore watching him explore the world and hearing his "commentary" on everything.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 32

2011-08-16T20:51:00.000-04:00

Sunday August 7
Got up for an early run this morning and came home to my boys snuggled in the bed. So peaceful. Oh and I never thought I would say that I "got up for an early run", but I love it!

Monday August 8
We've been having problems with ants on the high chair, but couldn't figure out where they were coming from. I clean the chair like a crazy person after each meal, but they still came back. I came home tonight to a trail of ants attacking the trashcan in the kitchen. I followed them around the rug and to the wall they were coming from, sprayed the ant stuff like crazy all along the trail, vacuumed, sprayed again, put a trap out, then went outside and sprayed along the outside of the house. The ants had to go!

Tuesday August 9
Every time he hears Blake Shelton's "Honeybee" come on, he stops what he's doing and starts dancing. It is hilarious! Today at the end of the song he held out "ee" of "honeybee" and it was so cute. It makes it even funnier that Zach is not a fan of this song. At. All.

Wednesday August 10
Little man has figured out how to open all the drawers/cabinets in our house. It's funny that the last ones he figured out he could open were his own! Now comes the fun part of keeping him from pulling all of his clothes out of the drawers!

Thursday August 11
Bath time fun with little man. Sometimes he stays in the tub for a while and sometimes he loves to turn into a fishie. When he starts chunking toys out of the tub then bath time is over!

Friday August 12
Worked my half-day today, packed up, dropped off Cooper and Jere, and then Zach and I hit the road to Atlanta. Tonight was Cubs vs. Braves and they retired Bobby Cox's number tonight. They had a big ceremony before the game started.

Saturday August 13
Fun weekend away with Ben & Laura!

2 Miles

2011-08-10T21:22:00.003-04:00

Right before I started my new job, I had the random thought of trying one of the Couch to 5K running programs. I mentioned it to Mom and she decided to do it with me. I downloaded the app for my phone and on my first day of my new job back on April 25 I started Week 1 Day 1 of the program.

I am not a runner. I have never been a runner. In fact I made fun of my best friend for running cross country in high school. But, I decided I needed to do something. Going to a gym really isn't an option for me right now and I just can't commit myself to doing videos. But this was good for me. I could do it right outside my door, go early in the mornings, I had a specific goal of running on the beach, and I was doing it for me.

Mom helped keep me accountable, because seriously... if you're Mom is doing it, then surely you can do it too. But ultimately it was up to me to get my clothes ready the night before, set my alarm early, and then actually get out of bed.

I have never once regretted getting up and completing my run for the day.

I have pushed myself and done something I never thought I would do. Something anyone who knows me probably never thought I would do! When I told Lynz, I asked her to please not run off the road over what I was about to tell her because I knew she would be shocked!

It has not been easy. The program is for 9 weeks and by the end you should be able to run 30 minutes. It's taken me longer than that. It took me a while to get past needing to walk at about 15 minutes and in fact, just yesterday I was ready to walk after about 10 minutes. But I pushed on, knowing that I could do it.

I was getting a little down on my self yesterday for wanting walk after just 10 minutes and for some reason I started thinking about my Grandma Kay telling my brother to use Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." when he was out on the pitcher's mound and he started doubting himself. I imagined her telling me the same thing about my running. Oh how I needed that little reminder. I even got cold chills despite my sweating like crazy. I needed the reminder not just for my running, but in all areas of my life right now. Life is not always easy, but I can do it with Christ.

Yesterday, I ran for 30 minutes and 2 miles.

Now, I still have a little ways to go to get up to the 5k which is 3.1 miles, but I'll get there. We haven't picked a race yet, but there are a couple in October that I think we're going to try and run.

I still have to make the choice to get up and do my run. But I never regret that choice.

Cooper at 15.5ish Months

2011-08-09T22:32:00.008-04:00

I haven't been very good at keeping up with the monthly posts. I think I'm going to just update when I can and go with what he's doing right now and what he's been up to since the last update.

- Eating is still a little frustrating for us. Mostly me, but still. For the most part he won't touch anything new. We offer just about everything to him and he won't touch it. He turns his head and waves his hands at us or if we put it on the tray, he picks it up and hands it back to us like we lost something.

- He does eat his baby food pretty well, though he has been picky about that as well. If he sees a bowl of fruit waiting for him, he pitches a fit. He wants it now. I've been having him eat the veggie first and sometimes having to mix a little veggie+puree fruit to get him to eat it. We've been trying a few of the stage 3+fruit as well and he's eating that some as well.

I know his eating will come and he will be fine. He won't starve! But, I want him to be healthy and not afraid to try new things. I have to say this has been one of the first things to come up with him that I just don't know what the best thing to do is. We're just taking things one day at a time and I'm trying my best to be patient and not get frustrated with him.

- His new love is fruit snacks. I don't give them to him often, because I don't want him used to all the sugar, but he knows when I get a pack out. We usually share the pack. He's so cute stuffing his little mouth and holding his hand out for more!

- He loves to feed Jere! In fact that's something we're working on... do NOT feed Jere your food. If you don't want it then give it back to Mommy. He's actually doing a little better with this!

- He still sleeps like a champ at night. I am so very thankful for this! He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 and sleeps until 8:00 or 8:30 and sometimes even 9:00 if we don’t have to go anywhere. I can probably count on 2 hands the number of times I’ve had to get up for him crying and even then it’s before I go to bed at night.

- Nap time is another story. He usually sleeps about 1-1.5 hours during the day. Sometimes all together and sometimes it’s in 30 minute increments. I kind of blame the nap thing on us. He doesn’t always nap at the same time or in the same place and I blame our daily changing schedule on this. Again... I’m very thankful he sleeps so good at night and we’ll deal with the nap time issue as it comes.

- He still only has the two bottom teeth, but we are constantly thinking that he is teething. He really does have lots of bumpy gums and I’m hoping we see something pop through soon.

- We have a walking machine. He no longer crawls unless it’s under the table or behind the end tables. He is now able to go over the door step with only holding on to the door and not one of us. He also will climb the stairs if we let him. I usually let him before bed time.

- He’s imitating us more and more. He has a few words that he can say pretty clearly, but doesn’t always use them to make requests. He says “mama” “dada” “bawl” “bye bye” and “hi”. He’s learning how to ask for things and we are trying to get him to use his words rather than a point and grunt.

- We have locked up the cabinets with chemicals, but the rest are fair game at this point. He particularly enjoys the tupperware and his bottles/sippy cups. Sometimes those things can entertain him for a while and other times he just pulls them out for the fun of it and leaves the mess!

- He definitely understands so much! He’ll take things to people when asked, he’ll put things away when asked (and he’s in the mood), he’ll go get things we ask him to (such as a book or ball or his golf club), and he also does the complete opposite of what we ask him to on purpose. He knows what “no” means and “come here Cooper” and yet he often does it anyway or just tries to run the opposite direction. Little stinker.

- He loves to play ball with his Daddy. He can put some of the rings on the ring stacker the correct way and he’s getting so much better at actually putting shapes in the shape sorter. I’ll show him how to put the shape in and then he’ll try. If he can’t get it right away, he usually tried to hand the shape back to me for me to do, but I just help him do it himself. Sometimes he stacks blocks but most of the time he loves to just knock down the tower that I make. He seriously gets the biggest kick out of it! He especially likes it when I try and stack things on my head... he’ll sometimes try to stack something on his head too.

- He had his 15 month check up the other day. We had a new NP and I was very impressed with her. She asked lots of very detailed questions and I appreciated it. She checked him over and said everything seemed right on track. I had her check his ears because he had been pulling at them and it was the start of an infection. She gave me a prescription to fill if I thought we needed to. I ended up going ahead and filling it a couple days later because he was still pulling at his ears and I just didn’t want it getting worse. I mentioned my concerns about his eating and she said that there was a study that said kids really don’t not like something until they’ve been presented it at least 10 times. That made me feel a little better!

Little man was brave for 3 shots. Oh it was horrible, but we both survived and he calmed down pretty quickly.

Here are his stats:
Height: 33.5 inches, 97th%ile
Weight: 27lbs 5oz, 85th%ile
Head: 18 3/4 in, 63rd%ile

- We are in a new stage of parenting and it seems a little more challenging. There are just so many little decisions and I want to do the right thing. I want to stand firm on some things and yet remember he’s only 15.5 months. I tell Cooper that he’s learning to be a 15 month old and I’m learning to be the Mommy of a 15 month old. It’s a learning process for us both. One thing I do know... I love him to the moon and back and wouldn’t trade this time for anything in the world.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 30-31

2011-08-09T20:33:00.006-04:00

Sunday July 24
Love Mister Man laying around taking his bottle.

Monday July 25
Love book time with my little guy at night. He's winding down and always a little extra snuggly. I usually let him pick the books we read and he loves to pick his "Family" book. The photo book with all of his family in it. He still likes to wave at the people in the pics. So cute.

Tuesday July 26
He got in a little snuggle time with Daddy before going up to bed tonight. I absolutely adore seeing my two guys together.

Wednesday July 27
Left the camera with Mamaw and Pappy today to get some pics of his day. Love this pic of Pappy and Cooper. They are so good with him and he loves to hang out with them.

Thursday July 28
Today was also Cooper's 15 month check up. He passed with flying colors and was so brave during his three shots. I love being this little guy's Mommy! The house felt a little warm at lunch when I left to go to work and turns out our AC was out. So thankful for Danny and Janice letting us stay with them! Cooper enjoyed the little sleepover!

Friday July 29
Oh my goodness today was so busy. Got up for a quick doctor's appointment. Went to work. Super busy day. Got home in time to change clothes, give Cooper a bath, and leave again. Danny and Janice came over and put Cooper to bed while Zach and I went to a friend's engagement party.

Saturday July 30
Today was "clean the house" day. Zach and Danny worked outside on our porch and I worked inside. I didn't get terrible far with little man under foot and Janice offered to come over and help out in the afternoon so I could get a little more done. So thankful for them!

Sunday July 31
Guess who's found the new hiding place for his bottles/cups?? I put them under the cabinet to try and keep counters clear and he found them and pulled them out. He's so entertained by putting the pieces together and talking into the cups. So funny.

Monday August 1
He goes sneaking in cabinets and drawers and pulling out things he knows he's not supposed to get. He likes to pull something out and then hold it up to us like "see what I got" and "here... I'm being so helpful by giving this to you".

Tuesday August 2
Sent out this pic to some family today. He smile is so contagious!
Went for a run this morning and came home to a little blood on my sock. Apparently I need to cut my toenails. Yuck!

Wednesday August 3
Zach's been taking Cooper to Danny's this week. I get him ready and bring him downstairs. Then they sit together while Zach puts his shoes on before they leave.

Thursday August 4
Sneaky boy in his closet. He goes in and just starts playing with the toys or rather just pulling them all out and making a mess. No biggie. Messes can be cleaned. Or in the case of in his closet... just left there for another day. :)

Friday August 5
He's been sitting in his little chair a lot more this week. He'll go over and sit down. Put something (cup, ball, block, etc.) in the cup holder, sit there a second, stand up and get the thing out of the cup holder. He repeats this 2-3x before moving on to something else.

Saturday August 6
Ran some errands with my boys this morning and then Zach went for a bike ride this afternoon. He rode downtown and today's ride was 14 miles.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 29

2011-07-26T21:11:00.004-04:00

Sunday July 17
Maybe he's a future runner?? We went over to Jess's so Danny & Zach could mow and Cooper was checking out the back yard and all the super cool rocks.

Monday July 18
He's starting Cooper early. Teaching him how to swing the club correctly. Too bad there is no carryover yet. He does great while Zach is helping him. Otherwise he drags the club around and tries to hit things with a one handed swing. I'm trying to teach him not to hit me!

Tuesday July 19
Little man loves animal crackers. It's so funny to see him stuff the whole thing in his mouth and wait for it to dissolve enough so he can chew and swallow. He knows I get them out of the pantry and when I go to the door he'll just look up at me very expectantly.

Wednesday July 20
THSFT played on a local radio station tonight and we listened to it as we were getting ready for bed. It was so cute to see him stop and start dancing some when he heard the music. I remember him kicking me in the belly when we went to the radio station to hear them play while I was pregnant.

Thursday July 21
Life is not always smiles and laughs in Cooper world. He gets mad and can pitch a little fit with the best of them. I hate to see the tears, but sometimes it's just funny to see him so upset over something so simple.

Friday July 22
Didn't get a pic today so I'll try and fill it in with something generic. This morning I ran the longest I have ever run in my entire life. I made it 25 minutes without stopping. This was huge!! And I am so proud of myself.

Saturday July 23
We went to the mall to visit the Apple store so we could play with the new operating system ("Lion"). We also wanted to get Cooper a rubber duck for the rubber duck race coming up in August. For $10 we get 2 ducks in the race with our number and a chance to win some money! The proceeds support the Boys and Girls Club and I just think it's fun!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 28

2011-07-19T21:41:00.006-04:00

Sunday July 10
So happy that we got a little time with the grandparents. It took Cooper a while to warm up to them, but he was starting to give them high 5s by the time we left. He did show off all his cool tricks and I'm so glad they got to spend some time together.

Monday July 11
Random picture taken after I got home tonight. I try to squeeze as much time in with him as possible between work and bedtime. I love to see him walking toward me and then fall on top of me smiling and giving me big hugs.

Tuesday July 12
This was the scene today as I was trying to fix a quick lunch before going to work today. He wanted my full attention and since I was not giving it to him he pitched a little fit. Typical lunch here lately is a grilled cheese and chips w/ cheese melted on top dipped in sour cream. Not healthy, but definitely yummy.

Wednesday July 13
Little man won't eat "real" veggies but he sure loves his fruit. I didn't have a pic from today (this was taken last week) but it is typical for now. It totally cracks me up to see him separating the blueberries and strawberries. He eats the blueberries first and then then strawberries. So cute!

Thursday July 14
Finally took mom's suggestion and gave him his own bowl/spoon to play with while I was in the kitchen. It entertained him for like 30 minutes! I had time to unload the dishwasher, fix dinner (creamy Italian chicken in the crockpot, rice, green beans) and a cookie/brownie desert. Oh it smelled so good in my kitchen! Unfortunately we couldn't enjoy it all together since Zach was at practice and then we went to the hospital to visit his grandmother.

Friday July 15
Not the best picture, but treasure the memory. His little hand on top of mine as I'm reading his favorite "Best Friends" book before bottle and bed time.

Saturday July 16
We were all so glad that Pappy made it home from his Ireland golf trip and we had to go visit with them a while today. We had lunch over there and Cooper tried cucumber for the first time. He may have swallowed a bite and spit out the rest. I couldn't get a pic of the cucumber, but did find a perfect green tomato. Nothing like fresh tomatoes from the garden.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 27

2011-07-12T21:10:00.003-04:00

Sunday July 3
Cooper got a new toy last night when we went shopping with Grandmommy and Papa Chas. He has not put the golf club down. He just keeps dragging it around with him. He's so proud!

Monday July 4
Daddy and Cooper walking down the street to Aunt Cherry's house. I still can't get over seeing little man walk! Melt this Momma's heart to see her boys walking together. We had a fun time hanging out with family. Cooper slept right through all the fireworks being shot off literally right outside our door!

Tuesday July 5
I always love picture texts of my baby while I'm at work. Zach sent to me this afternoon. He said he went to see what Cooper was up to and this is what he found. No clue where he learned this from.

Wednesday July 6
I've still been frustrated with Cooper's lack of enthusiasm for trying foods. I can't figure out his thinking. I made myself an egg sandwich tonight and offered Cooper a bite (as I try to do with most everything we eat) and instead of turning away he took a bite. He didn't spit it out and actually wanted more! I ended up making him a half an egg sandwich and he ate the whole thing!

Thursday July 7
I enter giveaways often and was super excited when I finally won one at scrapbookcircle.com. I won a gift certificate for a camera strap, but the company didn't follow through and the people at Scrapbook Circle were kind enough to offer me one of their scrapbook kits instead. I was super excited and actually preferred this over the strap!! Imagine my surprise when a few days later I got another kit in the mail. I emailed them and offered to send it back. She said it was their mistake and to enjoy the extra kit! Wow!

Friday July 8
We got to take Cooper swimming in a big pool tonight, thanks to some friends. Cooper loved the water and actually seemed to prefer being out of the floatie and in our arms. This made me super nervous!!

Saturday July 9
I've been putting off the first haircut until when could make it back home for the weekend. I really wanted Cortney to be the first one to cut my baby's hair. She did an amazing job and Cooper was so good! He looks so grown up now!!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 26

2011-07-05T22:13:00.004-04:00

Sunday June 26
Love coming in to our room with a bed full of my clean laundry after a week at the beach. Have I mentioned how much I love that Zach does our laundry??

Monday June 27
We've got a house guest this week. Baxter is spending the week with us and here are the two boys just chilling. It usually takes a little time, but by the end of the week they are big buds and fight/play all the time!

Tuesday June 28
Zach has about perfected the "Z5". His own recreation of a Mexican dish (P5) we were introduced to at the restaurant in MS by Aleasha. It is one of my favorite things now!!

Wednesday June 29
I ordered diapers online for the first time in efforts to get a "deal". I'm not too sure I got a great deal, but I didn't have to pay shipping and they were delivered straight to our door. I did like that! We got them just in time too... we had just run out! Cooper was checking out the box after his bath tonight and I couldn't help but get the pic!
(not posting for my little guy's privacy)

Thursday June 30
The 2 of us have been walking a lot this week. Just about every night this week we took a little walk through the neighborhood after dinner and just before bedtime. It helps give us a little fresh air and entertainment to fill those last few cranky moments before bedtime.

Friday July 1
Totally not a day that either of us ever expected to have.
We are so thankful for supportive family that loves us and encourages us all the time... through good and bad. Cooper was absolutely precious at Big Ed's tonight. He kept looking up at grandmommy and reaching over to give her a hug. So sweet!

Saturday July 2
Zach's been showing him how to snap his fingers. It's soooo cute to see him imitating this! He doesn't make noise, but he's so proud of himself for moving his fingers like his Daddy does.

Shutterfly Photobooks

2011-07-02T22:52:00.003-04:00

I heard about an offer through Shutterfly where if you post about a project you've made through them and email them a link of the post, you can receive a $10 credit.

I love Shutterfly. The website is pretty easy to navigate and the prints/books I've ordered through them are always such good quality. I've received so many compliments on them and I love to have my pictures to look back on.

I always watch for coupons or sales and never pay full price for anything!

Here are a couple of recent projects...

"Our Honeymoon" album

Click here to view this photo book larger

and the "Cooper is One" book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Next project on my list is the Beach Vacation!!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 25

2011-06-28T21:56:00.003-04:00

Sunday June 19
Happy 2nd Father's Day to my love. We attempted to take family pictures on the beach tonight with everyone one dressed in their shades of blue, but the wind was a little much and they didn't turn out that fabulous. Surprisingly, this one of us waiting for dinner that night was one of my favorites. Lesson learned: unplanned photo ops often turn out the best!

Monday June 20
Dad, Ben, Johnny, and Patton went deep fishing today and we met them at the dock to admire their loot. Dad caught a barracuda and Ben caught a shark! Cooper was brave and touched the shark!

Tuesday June 21
Evening time was my favorite time to take Cooper to the beach since it was sooo much cooler and less crowded. We went for a little walk on the beach and got some cute pics/video of little man in the sand and waves.

Wednesday June 22
I wanted the photo op on the treasure chest. Zach got a kick out of the "hands off me booty" sign behind us! This was also so the day that I burned my right leg pretty badly while laying out and apparently just forgetting sunscreen on that leg.

Thursday June 23
No daytime beach for us today. I really needed a break... just couldn't have my leg in the sun very much more. We went to Destin for a little shopping and came back to Pineapple Willy's for dinner. We waited 1.5 hours, but got to enjoy the beach a little bit while we were waiting and then got the best seat in the house at the end of the pier. Totally worth the wait for a view like this.

Friday June 24
Happy 5th Anniversary to my love and me. We celebrated with a little beach time in the morning, family lunch at our favorite Schlotzky's, nap time, dinner out alone while Cooper stayed with Mimi and Papaw, milkshakes, and a walk on the beach.

Saturday June 25
Waiting on the elevators to get down to the garage with our last load of stuff. Sad to go, but ready to go home at the same time.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 24

2011-06-21T21:36:00.001-04:00

Sunday June 12

My baby came home today!! Surprisingly I didn’t actually get a picture of his homecoming... I was to busy loving on him and eating him up to stop and take a pic. We did enjoy some Mexican food for lunch and a trip to the store before little man made it home. We also got the idea to make our own fruit parfait from the wedding yesterday and got some stuff at the store. The only thing we couldn’t find was actual granola. No idea where it is in the store!

Monday June 13

It totally stunk having to go to work this morning with little man being back home, but Mimi brought him and we all had a lunch date. When we got back to work and I brought him inside for a few minutes to show him off. The residents’ faces just light up when they see a baby... so precious.

Tuesday June 14

Zach kept Cooper this afternoon while Mom and I did a little shopping for the beach. I needed a post-Cooper swimsuit and some shorts very desperately!! We bought Cooper some size 5 shoes, but they were too small... so we took them back after supper (Z5) and got a blast for a fun treat. Mimi did Cooper’s bedtime tonight, since she has to go home tomorrow.

Wednesday June 15

Oh my goodness... little man is a walking machine now. He toddles back and forth with his arms out in front or to the side for his “zombie walk”. I CANNOT believe the my little baby is walking around like a regular little person. Melt my heart when he comes walking to me with arms out and then big hug around the neck.

Thursday June 16

Such a cutie pie in his little tunnel. We had such a fun morning together... It’s been a while since it was just me and my little guy and we loved it! We played blocks, read books (the “Best Friends” book over and over), and he took a nap in his crib (with a little bit of protesting). That night I worked on our lists for the beach!!

Friday June 17

Best Patient Quote Ever:
While playing a card game...
Me: "How did you get so quick at counting."(He was faster and more accurate than me).
Pt: "From selling dope."
Me: Shocked look on face. "Ok then. I guess you would have to be good at counting for that."

Saturday June 18
Dropped off the Jere. Picked up some snacks. Got some chicken minis. Filled up with gas. Hit the ricky road...

Cooper at 13-14 Months

2011-06-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

I guess after he turned a year, I kind of dropped the ball on doing a post at 13 months. I'll try and summarize the highlights of months 13 and 14.

- Three days after his birthday his first tooth popped through! A few days later his 2nd tooth popped through. They are the middle bottom two and oh my goodness I love that little toothie grin!

- Transitioned from formula to whole milk and went very well. We basically just finished off the formula we had and haven't bought anymore since then! We like just having to buy the milk and not formula. We figured it up and it was $1/ounce for formula compared to $.05/ounce for milk. Happy day!! We've transitioned to about 3 bottles/day with sometimes a little afternoon snack of some milk.

- Still working on trying new table foods but he is pretty much against all real veggies. He eats baby food like crazy, but put the real thing in his mouth and he starts gagging. He does eat most real fruits, breads, oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, and some meats. I try not to get frustrated, but it's not easy. I am thankful that he likes/eats something!

- Started standing in place without holding onto something. At first he did it on accident. He'd have something in his hands and let go of what he was holding onto and then realize that he was just standing there and then plop down on the ground. So funny.

- He quickly moved to being a furniture surfing pro, held onto our fingers and walked, and then would just hold onto a finger for balance. He took his first steps without holding onto anything going from Zach (on the couch) to me (sitting in the chair). It was totally a surprise as we weren't coaxing him as we had been doing a lot of and he did it two or three times.

- He started actually putting his blocks together and not just taking them apart after we put them together. He learned cause/effect. He figured out that if he pushes the button then music plays and then we heard the music over and over and over and over... He loves his airplane and his talking books.

- His receptive language is taking off! He really understands us and will do what we ask at times. He looks at things when we point to them. The first time I really noticed this was when we were playing upstairs and I said "Cooper go get your book". He went and got a book (the Bubble book) and then brought it to me, climbed in my lap and sat there waiting me to read it. He then wanted me to read it several times. He also pointed out his hair with the line "bubbles bubbles in my hair"! So proud of my little guy!!! Of course that very same morning I was changing his diaper on the floor and he escaped before I got the clean diaper on and I looked up and he was on all fours peeing on the floor. So much for my little genius. Ha!

- We set up gates at the bottom of the stairs because he suddenly became very interested in them. And we got a long gate at the top of the landing that blocks the stairs and the landing. I'm very pleased with it and so glad to have something to keep him safe upstairs.

- He cried for the first time when I dropped him off in the nursery on Mother's day. It was horrible! They said he only cried a minute or so and then was fine, but still it was hard to leave him when he was upset and he hasn't ever done that before.

- He's imitating all kinds of sounds... ma, ba, oh, lala, clicking his tongue, ah, aaa, mo

- Had a weekend visit to Mimi and Papaw's and Papaw babysat while Mom and I went to the Taylor Swift concert. The first full week in June Cooper spent a week with Mimi and Papaw. He went to Bible School with Mimi and had a blast hanging out with them. He had started walking just before he left and by the time he got back he was perfecting his "Zombie" walk and taking several steps across the floor. He was figuring out that it was faster to walk than crawl.

- The end of May, Grandmommy spent a week with us and got to spend lots of time with Cooper. We always love to have her here!

- Memorial Day we set up Cooper's pool at Danny's and Cooper got to go swimming for the first time.

- Had his first episode of strep throat. We caught it pretty early I think, but he was still pitiful and I hated to see him sick. Zach had to take him to the doctor since I was at work and really didn't need to take off (even though I really really wanted to) and they survived the strep throat test together. Poor guys.

- Still sleeping like a champ at night. Very consistent with his 11-13 hours at night. Nap times/lengths still vary depending on what's going on that day. He's really pretty laid back and go with the flow. I'm thankful for that.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 23

2011-06-14T21:22:00.001-04:00

Sunday June 5

Slept til 11. No idea how long it’s been since I’ve done that! Rode around in “Little Red” with Zach and the Jere for a little while. Napped in the afternoon. Cleaned the house in the evening. Missed my Cooper like crazy!

Monday June 6

Pretty flowers growing right outside. This pic is also know as the “what do I take a picture of with no Cooper at home?” pic.

Tuesday June 7

The view looking straight up from “Little Red” with the top down while driving around Norris for a while this afternoon. We went on a little date to the bank, Chick-fil-A, Hobby Lobby to plan for some upcoming framing we want to do and then for a drive around Norris. Loved the afternoon with my husband!

Wednesday June 8

Oh my goodness it has been soooo very hot this week. This was the temp when I got in my car after work today.

Thursday June 9

We took “Little Red” for a spin around Cades Cove this afternoon. It was a little cloudy (as it’s been every time I’ve been there) but it was still pretty and something about the top being down makes it a little more exciting. We saw a bear but didn’t get a pic because someone wouldn’t stop the car. We did notice it clouding up more and a sprinkle or two so we pulled off and put the top up... just in time before a huge downpour!

Friday June 10

Happy Birthday Granny June!! We actually celebrated on Saturday night, but I thought I’d include the pics on her actual birthday. There is a story behind the candles... but I can’t remember what it is.

Saturday June 11

We went to another wedding this afternoon. It was so pretty! I always enjoy weddings and loved the company with Zach and Jessica and Sean!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 22

2011-06-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sunday May 29
This is a pretty common scene in our living room. Toys scattered everywhere. Mister man goes from one thing to a next in about a split second! Sometimes we pick them up. Sometimes we don't. I'm ok with this. This won't be here forever.

Monday May 30
First pool party ever! We set up his little pool at Danny's house and since the water was super cold, it took him a while to actually get in the pool. I think he's going to love the water!

Tuesday May 31
I asked him to go get one of his books and he did. He crawled over to his books and picked up the "Bubble" book and held it out for me. I then read the book to him several times because I would read it once and he'd grunt and pick it up again. A line in the book says "Bubbles, bubbles, in my hair" and I always rub his hair. Today he rubbed his hair too. I about fell over. This is huge in language development!! Such a proud mommy!! But the pride in my genius child was short lived. I was changing his diaper on the floor and he wiggled away from me. In the time it took me to get over to him, he was on all fours peeing on my carpet.

Wednesday June 1
Little man woke up with a little fever and by lunch time it was up to 103. I called and was able to get him in that afternoon, but Zach had to take him. He's never taken him by himself, especially when he was sick. They both did fine though. I just knew it was going to be his ears, but they were clear. Turns out he's got strep, but I think we caught it early. After one dose of antibiotic this afternoon, he was feeling much better. I'm so thankful for our doctor's office... they saw him even though I didn't have my new insurance cards which went into effect today. So thankful.

Thursday June 2
Spent the morning snuggling with little man as much as he'd let me! He was a little whiney still (I'm sure he was wondering why it hurts to swallow!) but no fever since yesterday. I rocked him while he napped this morning, which we haven't done in a while, and was amazed at how long he's getting.

Friday June 3
Love him looking up at us. So cute! He's been a little more attached the pacy since he hasn't been feeling good. We all went to the store after I got home from work to get some supplies to send with him on his little adventure next week. I may or may not have had tears while rocking him to sleep tonight.

Saturday June 4
We got little man packed up and ready to go. We met Dad at Cheddar's about half way and had lunch before we had to say bye to little man for the week. Since the most I've been away from him is about 20 hours, this was not an easy thing for me. We both made it just fine and I know he's going to have a blast with his grandparent's this week!

Cooper's Pool Party

2011-06-02T20:39:00.000-04:00

What a fun way to celebrate Memorial Day by setting up Cooper's pool at Danny's house! Zach went over a little before we did and helped blow up the pool and then filled it with water. The water was super cold and he ended up having to go get some warmer water to add to it before Cooper would even come close to getting in the pool without fussing. Who could blame the kid, though, when Zach couldn't even sit in it at first!

The wrinkly foot is proof... he got in and loved it! We can't wait to take him to the beach in a few weeks!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 21

2011-05-31T22:27:00.001-04:00

Sunday May 22
We had a fun visit this morning with Mimi before we headed back home. It was so nice getting home a little earlier and we got home just before some storms blew through.

Monday May 23
Little man is always so happy to be back home, even when we're only gone a couple of days. He loves playing with his toys (or just tossing them around, but whatever) and today he got to hang out with Grandmommy. Happy day for the Cooper Booper.

Tuesday May 24
Got to work my half day in the morning today, since Grandmommy was here. I loved having the afternoon at home! I also loved that Zach and Melanie went to the store for us!

Wednesday May 25
This little man got to hang out all day with his Grandmommy and they had a great day together! He played good. Ate good. And napped good.

Thursday May 26
He's such a cutie pie! This face cracks me up! We turned on the music for his dinosaur and now he's loving pushing the buttons. Over. And. Over. And. Over. I think we know why we kept the music turned off!

Friday May 27
These two have had a blast this week! We have loved having her here to help out with Cooper. It's so nice to have an extra pair of hand and eyes around! She and Charley stayed with Cooper tonight so we could go out to dinner with some friends. So nice!

Saturday May 28
Went over to Buffy's tonight and grilled out. Cooper had so much fun playing in their backyard. He got to try out Drew's car and it was so hilarious seeing him work the car on his own.

Backyard Fun

2011-05-30T20:20:00.001-04:00

We headed over to Buffy's house on Saturday night for a cookout. The kids played in their backyard for a while and I adored seeing Cooper out there!

He was doing so good walking around holding on to just one finger, even on the uneven ground. He tried out the baseball bat.

And even took Drew's car for a little spin. It was hilarious watching him push the button to make it move and seeing his reaction to the results of him pushing the buttons (the horn and the one that made it move).

They blew a few bubbles and Daddy and Cooper tried to catch them.

We had an excellent supervisor of the evening...

Such a fun summer evening! We loved it!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 20

2011-05-24T21:29:00.000-04:00

Sunday May 15
Little man was in a cranky mood most of the day. He cried when I left him in the nursery (but not for long according to the workers) and was fussy when we were hanging out at Pappy's house. I hate that, but I guess we all have days when we're more cranky.

Monday May 16
I had forgotten that we still had some vanilla ice cream and was excited to find something sweet! I love ice cream with sprinkles!!

Tuesday May 17
Had to get my oil changed before we went out of town this weekend and Cooper and I had to wait forever at the dealership. I did my best entertaining him and we spent quite a bit of time watching the big balloons on the cars and that were decorating the show room.

Wednesday May 18
Sweet baby boy. Love this mister man more than words could ever say.

Thursday May 19
Such a treat to have breakfast for dinner at Pappy's house tonight. We didn't have to plan or cook anything and we got to hang out with them for a while. We tried to get Cooper to eat some of the biscuit but he would have nothing to do with it!

Friday May 20
This is one of those pictures that will be in Cooper's slide show when he graduates high school one day. Zach had taken my car to get tires put on it... Happy Anniversary to us :( ... and they gave him a loaner car. He took it over to Pappy's and let Cooper try it out. Love it!

Saturday May 21
A girl from work had some extra tickets to the Taylor Swift benefit concert in Nashville for tonight and I totally splurged and bought them from her. They were a flat rate and all proceeds went to Tornado Relief. I ended up talking Mom into going with me and we had a blast!

Papaw Roy's 85th Birthday

2011-05-19T08:26:00.008-04:00

We celebrated Papaw Roy's 85th birthday with a surprise party thrown by Aunt Cherry, Danny, and Jessica. Granny June got him to come by telling him that it was an anniversary party for some friends of theirs. I'm was impressed that they even sent a fake invitation to themselves and that it was actually their friend's anniversary!

He was definitely surprised!

Lots of their friends and family were there to celebrate, including some out of town family.

There was some yummy food.

And a delicious cake!

And a slideshow of some old and new pictures made by Zach.

And of course the youngest guest, who kinda stole the show...

Happy Birthday Papaw Roy!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 19

2011-05-17T21:10:00.001-04:00

Sunday May 8
I still cannot believe that I am a Mom. I am so thankful God chose me to be this little guy's Mommy. He has brought me a kind of joy and love I have never experienced before.

Monday May 9
He is so expressive. We never have to guess how he really feels about his food. We tried some toddler chicken noodle soup tonight and he was not a fan.

Tuesday May 10
I got these pancakes for him a while ago and forgot about them in the freezer. Found them this morning and they were a big hit. I couldn't believe how tiny they were! The box said "mini pancakes" but seriously, these aren't much bigger than a half dollar.

Wednesday May 11
He's been gnawing on his fingers a lot more. I'm hoping he's getting some teethies but what do I know. So far, I have not had the best track record on thinking he was teething. I mean I was thinking it since he was 6 months old and nothing until just after a year.

Thursday May 12
I got a sweet present this morning from this adorable little face... sleeping in until 8:30. It was so nice to leisurely wake up and get ready before he woke up. (I never would have dreamed myself saying "sleeping in" was 8:30am... joys of kids.)

Friday May 13
This is my front seat each morning on the way to work. KLove on the radio. Water glass in the cupholder. Diaper bag. Lunch Bag. Work Bag. Name tag and wallet.

Saturday May 14
Surprise party for Papaw Roy for his 85th birthday! He was definitely surprised and the party was a big success. I'm a little biased, but Cooper was a close 2nd in receiving attention at the party!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 18

2011-05-10T09:45:00.000-04:00

Sunday May 1
Mimi and Papaw had to make an unexpected trip to East TN for visitation of a friend's father and of course they made a stop to visit us. They say they came to see all of us, but come on. We know that the little guy is the real magnet.

Monday May 2
He got the little animals in his Easter bucket from Mimi and Papaw and his shirt from Uncle Ben and Laura when they were on their honeymoon. He almost always has something in each of his little hands that he can shake around.

Tuesday May 3
This guy woke up in such a good mood. No fussing on the monitor. Just lots of chattering. I went to get him and he was laying down on his side just chattering away. He looked up and saw me and flashed the biggest grin! Love how he loves me so much!!

Wednesday May 4
I came home from work and Zach showed two of Cooper's newest tricks. He held a tissue up to his nose and Cooper blew his nose. This does not happen very consistently, but still it was so funny to see! And Cooper can flip a light switch. He thinks it is so cool when he does this! I'm just glad he can't reach the switch without us holding him!

Thursday May 5
Neither of us felt good today. We had to raid our stash of tissues to restock since we were going through them like crazy today. Thankfully, no fevers for either of us. Cooper's nose is just runny and I'm just stopped up.

Friday May 6
Zach caught this pic as he was in the act. He knows he is not supposed to be up on the tv stand/speaker or near the cords. He is learning "no" and is doing better, but it is definitely a daily process.

Saturday May 7
We had such a wonderful Saturday. Cooper and I were feeling lots better! We played and napped and tried new foods. I decided to fix myself a grilled cheese sandwhich and made a 1/2 one for him. He was a huge fan! He tried to stuff as much in his mouth as he could at one time. I finally had to take it away from him til he swallowed what was in his mouth!

Mother's Day #2

2011-05-09T22:59:00.008-04:00

This was my first full year of being a Mom. Cooper and I both have changed so much in the last year. He more than I of course, but I have grown and changed and want to record some thoughts. I thought it would be fun to list some of the things I've learned as a Mom this year and each year around Mother's Day. How cool to look back in 10 years and see where I was and how things will have changed.

1. Pre-Mommy me loved to sleep in. I could sleep til 10 or 11 easily any chance I got! This past year I have learned to appreciate the rare occasions I get to sleep until 8 or 8:30.

2. I totally understand the saying where your child is like a little piece of your heart running around outside your body.

3. Routines are always changing around here. What worked at 1 month did not work at 3 months and this has changed several times throughout the year. For example, I went from taking my shower in the morning while he napped in the rocker to me showering at night after I put him to bed. I'm having to adjust how I "used" to do things all the time!

4. Teaching him to obey "no" is very important to us. But this is not easy. He does the same thing over and over again. Like pulling up on the tv stand and playing with the cords. He acts like we hurt his feelings, but then wants to snuggle with us. We are persistent though, and are starting to see results.

5. Nothing puts a smile on my face faster than someone asking if I have children and getting to talk about my little boy. My son.

6. Leaving the house is no longer a quick and easy thing to do. We have to plan out where we're going, how long we'll be gone, if he'll need a nap, a bottle, food, etc. and remember to pack things needed. And then make sure I have everything I would need... money, license, keys, checkbook, insurance cards, whatever.

7. Family try to lay claim to my baby, but we all know the truth. He's mine. And a Zach's of course.

8. I look at almost every opportunity as a photo op. I want to remember the little things of him being small.

9. I'm amazed at what a little magnet he is. People talk to him and even acknowledge me more than ever. He's been good for this typically shy momma.

10. I remember life without him, but I now simply cannot imagine my life without him.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 17

2011-05-03T08:00:00.005-04:00

Sunday April 24
Cooper's first Easter! We had a good morning at church and then in the afternoon we went to Aunt Cherry's for dinner. Cooper didn't know what was going on, but he did get his Easter basket with a few things including eggs filled with goldfish/animal crackers/and a peep.

Monday April 25
Oh my goodness the trouble we went through to get a shot of those pearly whites. He now has 2 teeth on the bottom and we tried very hard to get a pic of those teeth. He kept putting his tongue in front so we couldn't see them. Zach finally got the pic as I was changing his diaper and he was screaming.

Tuesday April 26
Love the shot of my little guy playing with his bucket. He looks so grown up! Mom said he looked older than 1 and Zach said he is. He's 1 year and 11 days. Haha.

Wednesday April 27
This pic does not even begin to capture the storms that came through tonight. It was wave after wave of storms. Cooper and I ended up in the closet (he was completely sacked out) for a while as they were announcing "take cover" for our area. The worst of it missed us and we didn't have any damage at the house. Zach was at work and his car got lots of hail damage, though.

Thursday April 28
My little shopper was so cute at the Wally World this morning. We had to go pick up some more milk since someone has graduated from formula! We are so glad!! We figured it up and the formula was an average of $1 per ounce, while the milk is $.05 per ounce. Yay for Cooper!!

Friday April 29
He got lots of really cool toys for his birthday, and the one thing that he always goes for is the balloon! This is the 2nd one, since the 1st one popped, but he loves that thing! Oh and the Royal Wedding was today. :)

Saturday April 30
A lazy Saturday (that I would have had to work at my old job) spent with my guys. We played and napped and Zach shopped for a new sound system. We went out in the evening to get some pacy clips and went to Lenny's for dinner. Love this face!!

Easter

2011-04-27T22:59:00.000-04:00

This was Cooper's first Easter and he is already one! My mom figured it out a while ago that he would not celebrate an Easter during his first year of life. He was born the week after Easter last year and Easter was later this year... a week after his birthday. Crazy!

I totally realize that having an Easter basket for Cooper was more for me than it was for him, but I always love (my Mom still gets us something for Easter) my Easter baskets and I couldn't wait to do this for him. We waited until we got home from church to let him dig in and he really wasn't too sure what to think of it.

He was confused by the grass... we quickly got rid of that stuff!

He was amazed by the ducky bubbles I blew for him.

He proved that he is definitely his Momma's boy... he took his first bite of a peep and LOVED it!

He was a fan of the eggs that he could shake. I put animal crackers and goldfish in the eggs!

We spent a little family time at Aunt Cherry's Easter gathering in the afternoon.

My mom got Cooper the resurrection eggs to go in his basket and I had fun showing Cooper the different pieces and telling him the Easter story. I look forward to years of sharing the amazing story with my little guy.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 16

2011-04-26T21:29:00.004-04:00

Sunday April 17
Major let down today. My brother is married. My baby is one. And everyone is gone. After getting Cooper into bed tonight, I snuggled up and watched Candace Cameron's new tv movie and enjoyed some leftover birthday cake. Loved it!

Monday April 18
This is my last week at my current job. I gave my notice a couple of weeks ago because another job opportunity came available that will fit a little better with getting to spend time with my guys. It wasn't an easy decision, since I love this job. I love my coworkers and my patients, but I do not love the weekend/holiday schedule and I had to weigh what was best for us right now. And right now, I want to spend as much time as possible with my two favorite guys.
(I'm not posting the pic for today)

Tuesday April 19
Took Cooper for his 12 month check up today and it went so well! Healthy baby boy! I took Cooper to the park for a little walk and swing time afterwards. I love that the weather is getting so pretty!

Wednesday April 20
We got the ok to try regular milk with Cooper today, so I stopped by the store after work and got some whole milk. He did great with it! The first couple sips, he took the bottle out and looked at it like "what is this stuff" and then finished the bottle! He was worn out after all that work and took a little nap.

Thursday April 21
I'm in love with this little guy and his open mouth kisses. He laughs and I laugh and my heart melts a little more.

Friday April 22
Last official day. It was a super easy and uneventful day and I got to leave a little early. We went and picked up a baby gate for our on-the-go baby and then dinner with some friends.
(I'm not posting the pic for today)

Saturday April 23
I got to spend a little time shopping by myself this afternoon for some new work clothes/shoes. This evening the little charmer was chilling on the little bench at Granny June's house. We went over for some dinner while Uncle Johnny was in town.

Top 12 Baby Items From Our First Year

2011-04-22T21:29:00.000-04:00

Here's a few of the things that we used the most during this first year of our little guy's life...

Swing - We used this all. the. time during the first few months. It was a sad day when he grew out of it, because it was so helpful to have a place to put him down. He loved it and would take naps in there all the time. I remember when we first brought him home and I was going to eat dinner and I was holding him. It hit me that I didn't know where to put him. Someone reminded me that's what the swing was for!

Fisher Price Infant to Toddler Rocker - This little seat has probably been our very favorite thing. It's very portable and perfect to move to the bathroom or upstairs or kitchen or even on the road. He also takes naps very well in this.

Swaddle blanket - This was wonderful for my little guy! At first we wrapped him up in a little receiving blanket. He was so tiny!! I found these swaddle blankets that wrap him up and use velcro to hold it tight (couldn't find a picture of him in one of those... i'm sure I didn't want to take a picture of him at night because I didn't want to wake the sleeping baby!) and I used them until he was about 7 months. By that point he was coming out of them every night.

Toy bar for car seat - Despite the fact this is my sleeping baby with the toy bar, he loved that thing. We almost always had it on his seat from the beginning and it was so fun to see him transition from ignoring it to looking at it to reaching for it to playing with it.

Jumper - We used this thing almost everyday from the time he was about 4 months. As he grew into it and was able to touch the bottom, he loved it even more. Even now we use it to contain him for a couple of minutes and give him a few cheerios to eat off one of the little trays.

Blankets - We used these all the time! We use them to wrap him up of course, but also on the floor. Until he could move around, it was great to lay the blanket down for a little extra padding and cleanness. Once he started moving around, there was no point to the blanket on the floor, but it was great while it lasted. We of course still use them to cover him up!

Changing Table - We opted for a dresser and put a changing pad on top of it. This has worked out perfect and the dresser will work for him for a long time! Don't let the cutie smile fool you, most of the time he is a wiggly worm and fussy while having his diaper changed/clothes put on.

Squirt Bath Toys - We got these as a gift and he has loved them! He has no idea how to actually squirt with them and at first when I'd squirt him, the faces he made were absolutely hilarious (scrunching up his face with a slight gasp). He does love to chew on them and especially the turtle because his head fits perfectly in his mouth. It's so funny to see him playing in the tub with the turtle sticking out of his mouth!

Balls - Any kind of ball has been a success with him. He's been holding them for a while and will toss them now. So cute!

Pacy - Another favorite of ours! He's had several different ones and liked some more than others, but he always has taken one. I'm so thankful! They have really helped to soothe him. Now comes the trick of trying to get him off the pacy. I'm starting to take it away during the day and give it to him when he's tired/napping or bedtime. If it came down to pacy vs. thumb sucking, I'm so thankful he took the pacy!

Stroller - We got the snap 'n go stroller that was a little smaller than the one that came with the Chico car seat, and have really enjoyed it. It's super light and easy to fold up and his car seat fits right down in it.

Car Seat - Last but not least, his Chico car seat. We have loved this thing. We each have a base for our cars and the seat just fits right down in it. The base is a little difficult for me to get in and out, but I've only had to do that a couple of times and Zach has no trouble with it. Cooper has done great in this seat! He rarely fusses in the car and sleeps great!

The Pirate Party

2011-04-21T21:29:00.010-04:00

Theme: After using cute, happy pirates in Cooper's room, it really seemed on natural that we use the same theme for his 1st birthday party. I searched the internet and found some super cute invitations on etsy from Sweet Birdie's Nest and got them to make some party circles for me to use with the decorations.

Decorations: I wanted to have some decorations, and decided the easiest thing to do was make them. I got ideas off the internet and made some little pennant banners and used the party circles in the middle of each pennant and put them throughout our living room/kitchen. I also made a Happy Birthday banner for the front door. I found some red/white and black/white polka dot balloons and used those in the room as well. One of my favorite memories of the day was when my dad was using the helium tank to blow up the balloons and he sucked in some of the helium from one of the balloons. Oh. My. Goodness. It totally cracked me up! In my family we always put up a Happy Birthday banner and Zach thought it would be good for us to start doing that too, so I picked one up and we put it on the fireplace. I had a few extra Cooper pictures sitting around and some photo books/scrapbook/baby book that I've done over the last year and that was it for the decorations.

Food: We had BBQ that Danny made for us, potato salad and slaw from the general store near Mom and Dad's, baked beans that Mom made Saturday morning, mini hot dogs in crescent rolls, and chips for lunch. I thought about trying to be all creative and think of piratey foods to go with the theme, but decided to go easy and go with something that Cooper would actually try since it was his birthday. It was so wonderful!

I wanted to find a pirate cake that was cute pirates - not pirates of the Caribbean pirates. With a little bit of help, we were able to find one at Publix. We don't have one anywhere near us, but there is one in the 'Boro and Jessica offered to order it and pick it up for us. It turned out so cute!!

The cake that Cooper ate came from Ms. Rhea Ann, who sent the cake with Mom and Dad. She has made our cakes for every major event in our families (graduations, weddings, etc.) and she so sweetly made this for my little guy's first birthday. It was delicious of course and Cooper loved it! He wasn't to sure about it at first and just kinda picked at it, but after Zach pushed his whole hand in the cake Cooper figured out it wasn't so bad. He still didn't just grab handfuls of cake, but he did enjoy every bit that he could!

The day went so smoothly and it was wonderful to celebrate with our families that have supported us so much through Cooper's first year of life. Because we had lots of people coming from out of town, we had people coming in starting in the morning and stayed around until that evening. We ate lunch, opened presents, ate some cake, and watched the Cooper slideshow. It was wonderful! Cooper did great again... he got a good nap in the morning, but then didn't rest again until it was time for bed. He started getting a little fussy, but for the most part he just was soaking up all the attention he was getting!

We also worked it out (thanks to Andrea) so that we could video chat with Zach's grandmother that lives in AR and wasn't able to be there. It was a surprise to her and it was so cool that she got to see Cooper a little bit at his party.

It was such a wonderful day loving on and celebrating the little guy that has won the hearts of each and every one of his family members.

Cooper's First Birthday

2011-04-20T21:28:00.000-04:00

So I was looking through all the pictures I took on his birthday and flagged the ones I thought I'd share. Turns out there, were 39! I'm not posting 39 pictures. I'm sure I'll make a photo book and include lots of pictures in our scrapbooks, but for now, I just want to document the day (with a sample of some of the pics).

7:30 I got up and got ready because I wanted to be nice and awake for the birthday boy! I heard him on the monitor about 7:45, but he wasn't crazy fussy, so I finished getting ready.

8:00 I greeted the birthday boy with a song and huge smiles and hugs.

8:30 We played upstairs for a while and got birthday boy ready for the day.

9:00 Bottle and birthday breakfast of yogurt, a little bit of pancakes, and of course some cheerios!

10:00 More play time, a little bit of cleaning and picking up in preparation for all of our visitors.

10:45 I can tell when he's ready for his nap... he gets clingy and fussy and those little eyes get puffy. I put him in his little rocker and rocked him for a few minutes and he was out.

11:30 Wake-Up! Most of the time he just wakes up and looks around, like he's trying to figure out what he missed. Sometimes, he wakes up crying. I hate when he does that! Today was wake-up crying. :(

12:00 Daddy's up and ready and we headed for the zoo before the storms rolled in. Cooper ate a bottle on the way!

12:30 I seriously thought we'd be the only people at the zoo today, so imagine our surprise when the parking lots were full! I couldn't believe it. I guess I just thought we were the only ones who had the idea of going to the zoo on a Friday afternoon. Once we got inside, it really wasn't too bad crowded and the weather was perfect. It was overcast and warm with a nice breeze. We never broke a sweat! We walked around the whole zoo and saw all kinds of fun animals. It was so much fun showing Cooper all the animals and even more fun when we knew he could really see them. The meercats and otters were the best for him to see because we could get right up next to the glass and they were really moving around. He was smiling and waving at them! I was sad that the turtles weren't out yet, they said the ground was still to cold for them. But we all did get to sit on the statue of the turtle! Zach took Cooper into see the reptiles, while I waited patiently outside. I have no intention of ever going in that house.

2:30 We left and headed to get us something to eat! We decided on Hard Knox Pizza in honor of Zach's having pizza last year at around this same time. We shared a salami pizza and it was delicious! Cooper snacked on cheerios... can't wait for him to get enjoy one of our favorites too!

2:57 COOPER IS 1

3:15 We went to the Cupcakery and got us each a cupcake to celebrate Cooper's Birthday. Cooper got vanilla, I got rasberry, Zach got red velvet.

4:00 Cooper got to enjoy his very first cupcake!! I had to test out his to make sure it was ok to give to him ;) and it was delicious. Oh my goodness! We even put a candle in it and sang to him. I didn't want to use his candle for the party and we didn't have another "1" so Zach broke of part of a "7" we had to make it look like a "1" and it worked fine. He seemed to like the icing more and he really didn't take a bite and then eat it, he'd smear it on his hands and then lick/eat his hands.

4:50 Play time with Daddy while Mommy started decorating some for the party.

5:30 Grandmommy and Papa Chas arrived! We got to see Baxter's new hair do. He was so cute!

6:00 Headed for to meet the Snows for dinner.

6:05 Went back home to get Cooper's food that I left at home.

6:10 Really left to go meet the Snows for dinner at Five Guys. Cooper did great eating his veggie and fruit and then enjoyed some more cheerios! I gave him a little bite of french fry, which he liked and tried to give him a little piece of burger, but he turned his head. Crazy boy!

7:30 Went next door and got some frozen yogurt. Mmmm.

8:30 Got home and it was time to get birthday boy ready for bed! He had done amazing this afternoon, considering he never really got another nap. He napped in the car but otherwise he was going on fumes. He was also past his bedtime. But, he loved his bath time and took his last dose of medicine (for his ear infections) like a champ!

9:00 Jammies and bottle time.

9:30 Birthday boy was asleep.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 15

2011-04-19T20:00:00.001-04:00

Sunday April 10
We went to breakfast with the family before we headed home. Today's Aunt Cathie's birthday and Mom's was last week. We had a little cake for the two of them, but we were all so full we didn't get to eat any of it!

Monday April 11
A little pic from our dinner tonight. I'm trying to be better about fixing things that we all can eat. Cooper had some of the Sour Cream Chicken and corn. He's such a cutie!

Tuesday April 12
Relaxing day today. After our crazy busy weekend, we both needed it. Zach did the laundry and went to the store for us. I'm one blessed wife!

Wednesday April 13
This cutie patootie started giving me open mouth kisses tonight while we were playing. It was cracking me up as he'd come at me with his mouth wide open and grinning/laughing. Love him to pieces!

Thursday April 14
We did some shopping this afternoon. My bright orange shirt is thanks to Zach picking me up a clean shirt while we were out, after Cooper peed through his diaper, jeans, and my shirt. The 2nd pic is a reenactment pic of a year ago when we left for the hospital.

Friday April 15
One year ago today this little guy made me a Mommy. Today we celebrated just the 3 of us and it was perfect! I love my guys so much and treasure this pic I caught of them while we were eating today.

Saturday April 16
Pirate party day! We had a house full of family celebrating our little guy's first year of life. One of my favorite memories of the day was how Cooper smelled like cake the rest of day.

Cooper at 12 months

2011-04-18T20:13:00.001-04:00

My baby is a one-year-old. I cannot believe it. Here's a few highlights for the month...

Eating: He takes 4 6oz bottles throughout the day. Usually around breakfast, lunch, dinner, and one before bed. He still does great with them and readily feeds himself everytime. I love at bedtime, when I'm rocking him and he's eating his bottle, he'll turn into me and snuggle up close. He'll start out using both hands, but then turn into me and use my chest to help hold up the bottle. Simply precious. We've gotten a little braver with all the food choices and are trying to let him try more table foods. I have to admit, though, I'm often too lazy and just give him some baby food. He likes it and always eats every bit of it. He has tried chicken, bread, BBQ pork, mac & cheese, corn, sour cream chicken & rice, blueberry muffin and of course cake! I'm sure there's other stuff, I just can't think of it all!

Sleeping: Still does great at night. Sleeps for about 12 hours every night and on normal days when we're at home, he starts winding down about 7. I can almost tell time by him, because he starts getting super clingy and fussy. I am thankful that he is a pretty flexible little guy and will go with the flow when we've been out a little later than normal. He's doing better about nap time for us. At least, he'll pretty consistently lay down in his rocker and nap. This is much improved from me having to hold him, if I was home. He usually gets about 1 3o minute nap and another longer nap in the afternoon.

Other Cool Stuff: We are trying to teach him "no". He knows what "no" means, but he doesn't always respond. Our biggest thing has been him pulling up on our entertainment center and playing with all the stuff up there. I have been very diligent about telling him no, swatting his hand, and then taking him away from the tv. We do this over and over and over. But, I can finally start to tell a difference. He still goes for the tv, but not nearly as often. And most of the time he will stop when I say "no" and "sit down".

He's a super fast crawler and will furniture surf with the best of them, but so far no attempts at taking steps on his own. He'll hold our finger and take a few steps, much less wobbly than before, but as soon as we let go he plops down. He does use his little dinosaur walker to practice those walking skills and he is so proud. He always smiles so big! He's also getting better at balancing when up on both knees.

He's still babbling like crazy and practicing all the different sounds he can make. A new one is for him to just open his mouth and start screaming. He's not upset. Just yelling. He says things like "dadada" and "mamama" and "du" and "nenene" but I'm not convinced anything is purposeful yet. He's also started pointing and grunting when he wants something. Like if he wants more cheerios or puffs, he'll point at the jar and start grunting. The speech therapist in me is trying to not let him do that, I want him to "use his words", but I also know it'll come.

He does open mouth kisses, which are disgustingly precious. Melt my heart. He also still waves and claps. We're trying to get him to be better about waving when we say wave, but most of the time he waves after the person has walked away or turned around. He'll also just start waving at random people and look at us funny when they don't get excited and start waving back.

12 Month Check Up: We have a healthy 12 month old! I will never take that for granted. We are truly blessed. We saw the NP that we've seen the last 2 times with his ear infections and I really like her. She checked his ears again and said they were all cleared up! I am so thankful! They had to prick his finger to check his iron level and blood count, both of which came back normal. He didn't even flinch when she pricked the finger and no fussing when she had to keep squeezing it to get the blood into the little tube. I barely had to hold his other arm out of the way! But, come time for her to check his boy parts, he started screaming. Go figure. He had to have 2 shots and after a quick time of screaming and snubbing, he recovered and all was well in Cooper world.

Stats:
Height: 31 inches & 80th percentile
Weight: 22 pounds and 7 ounces & 50th percentile
Head: 18 inches & 50th percentile

Pictures:

Wedding Weekend

2011-04-13T22:02:00.001-04:00

***Disclaimer. This post is very very wordy and more detailed than most anyone would care to read, but since I'm no good at keeping a journal, I decided I wanted this for me.***

Thankfully when we got up on Thursday morning, Cooper was not running a fever. I am so very thankful that we did not have to decide what to do if he was as sick as he was on Wednesday. For the most part he was my happy baby. We got everything packed up and got started on the errands we had to run before hitting the road.

After a stop a the hospital to pick up Mom's bday gift from a coworker, Walgreens for a small bottle of dishwashing soap (for the bottles) & pictures, gas station, All Occasions for the linens (by the way... I had no idea how many linens there actually would be, nor how heavy those things are), the mall for some make-up, Men's Warehouse to get Zach's tux, and Chick-fil-A for some lunch we were finally able to actually start the road trip. Cooper slept through most of this and even slept most of the way to the 'Boro.

When we got to Murfreesboro we stopped at Jess's hotel to get her house key and so she could show off the real life Cooper to her new coworkers. We then headed to her house to drop off Jere and then to the church to drop off our car load of linens. We were then finally able to head to the hotel.

We got unpacked and I actually put my stuff in a drawer. I never do this, but for some reason I really needed to not be out of a suitcase this weekend. We relaxed a little and fed Cooper and waited for the rest of our family to get there. Mom and I headed to the store to pick up some things for dinner that night, while Zach and Dad went to get the BBQ and trimmings.

We all met up at Ben & Laura's and had dinner with the family that was already in town. Cooper was so tired. He'd had a long day of traveling and visiting and he was worn out. His little eyes got so puffy, but he was determined to keep on trucking. He really didn't get that fussy, he was so entertained by all the people paying him so much attention.

We headed back to the hotel to get him to sleep, but he had other plans. I guess it was a mixture of being way out of routine, way past his bedtime, and daddy was there that he thought it was playtime. Despite my best efforts and using all my tricks, I could not get him to sleep. That has never happened before. He was also so tired, he was fussy and wiggly and just uncomfortable. Zach finally just put him in the carseat and took him back out for a ride. That did the trick and he came back, completely asleep and I was able to put him in the pack-n-play with not waking him up.

You'd think that with him getting to bed so late, that he'd sleep in some in the morning. At least that's what I thought. I was wrong. He woke up at like 6:45 or 7:00 ready to go. I tried snuggling in bed with him, but he was having none of that. It was play time. Crawl time. Let me down on the floor time. Zach had to be up early (for him) to meet up with the guys for breakfast and then golf. I stayed in the room for a while and Mom came down and we put some last minute things together for the rehersal dinner and bridesmaids luncheon. It was actually a pretty calm morning! I even got her to iron our clothes for the rehearsal! As Zach says, she really is the best ironer person.

Danny and Janice were so wonderful and came to the 'Boro early in the day so they could be on Cooper duty. They picked him up from the hotel around 11:30 and kept him all afternoon for us. I cannot begin to thank them for doing that! It was such a relief to know that he was being well taken care of and I was free to do wedding stuff.

Mom and I headed for the Bridesmaid's Luncheon downtown. It went so well! We had our own little room and plenty of room to get the tables together so we could all sit together. The food was delicious and we just had a fun time getting to visit and relax a little bit before the rest of the festivities.

Aunt Lisa and I were going to try and meet up with Laura and some of the girls to get manicures and pedicures, but it was not meant to be. After trying to find several nail salons that had apparently gone out of business, we just headed back to the hotel to meet up with Mom. The three of us headed to the church to get set up for the rehearsal dinner. It really didn't take us to long and it wasn't long before my boys met me up at the church.

While we were at the luncheon, the guys were out playing golf. Apparently, Ben got a hole in one!! Zach wasn't with him, but Dad was and I'm so glad he got to see it. They were all super excited about it! We wondered what would be more memorable for Ben this weekend... hitting a hole in one or getting married?? :)

The rehearsal went very smoothly. We got started a little late, but I really don't think I've ever been to a rehearsal that started on time. Including my own! I about lost it, just watching the whole thing. I couldn't help but look up at my brother and picture the skinny little kid who went around showing us his bat wings. To see him now. Makes me a proud big sister.

Oh and thanks to Jessica and Sean for watching our little guy during the rehearsal!

We had a yummy Italian dinner with a room full of family and friends to celebrate Ben and Laura. Ms. Rhea Anne catered the dinner and of course it was delicious! She even made it after having to have unexpected outpatient surgery that morning to remove a tick that had made it's way in her back. Zach and I got Cooper back to the hotel and got him a bath and then bedtime. I really think that the bath helped him relax a little after all the craziness of the day and he went to sleep with no trouble.

Wedding day arrived! Zach kept Cooper and took him to the reception site where he was meeting the other guys to help set out tables and such. Jessica and Sean met him there and took over Cooper duties for the day. Again, I cannot thank them enough for watching him. It was so wonderful to know that he was well taken care of and I was free to do what I needed to do.

Mom and I had the early hair appointments. I mean early. Her's was at 7:30 and mine at 8:00. It wasn't bad though. We were both pretty wound up anyway! The lady who does Laura's hair did Mom's and the rest of the bridesmaids/bride's hair for the day. I'm always a little concerned when someone new does my hair since it is so thick and fine, but I was very pleased with how it turned out and she did an amazing job getting it to stay put for the day (even in all the wind!).

We met up with the guys at the reception site, where set-up and decorating were in full swing. I made a Micky D's run to get some biscuits for us. Aunt Lisa and I then made a quick run to the store for some cocktail sauce, to pick up the guest book, and then stopped by Ben's to get the shrimp. We dropped all that stuff back off at the reception site, where things were still in full decorating, set-up mode. I then went back to the hotel and met up with Zach before we headed to the church to get ready.

The rest of the day was spent getting ready, balancing in high heel shoes, driving the lovebirds to our off-site photo shoot, pictures, pictures, and more pictures, walking down the aisle, watching my brother's face as he watched his bride come down the aisle (because while everyone else was focusing on the bride, I was watching him), passing out bubbles, blowing bubbles, receptioning - being introduced, eating, visiting, cutting the cake, watching dances, more pictures, and more visiting.

Everything turned out beautiful. The colors. The love birds. The candy bar and coffee bar. The flowers. The linens. The wishing tree. The cookies. It was all so perfectly Ben and Laura.

After they left, we helped get everything torn down. We figured out quickly why people make a living out of decorating/undecorating, because it is a job. But with the help of some amazing family and friends, the job got done.

The family headed out to get something to eat and decided on Zaxby's. Oh my goodness the memories of that place. I used to go there all the time when I was in school there. I still love it! And they brought back the birthday cake milkshake. Delicious.

We all had cars full of stuff to leave at Ben's, so we headed back to drop off everything. Zach and I then had to go pick up Cooper who was with Danny and Janice. They had taken him back to their hotel so we could finish up at the reception. So wonderful of them!

We crashed that night and thankfully Cooper was able to calm down after his bath and slept pretty well too. Sunday we got packed and loaded up and then picked up a birthday cake for the birthday girls (my mom and Aunt Cathie) before heading to meet up with the fam for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The pancakes and eggs were delicious and we all got so full that no one was even able to eat any cake! We sent it home with Aunt Cathie!

After all the goodbyes, we hit the road for home.

It was a crazy, busy, wonderful weekend celebrating my favorite brother and his new bride.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 14

2011-04-12T22:20:00.005-04:00

Sunday April 3
Stayed home from church since baby boy was still running a fever, but we had a fun day together. We practiced walking/falling, eating, playing, and sleeping.

Monday April 4
Poor baby was not feeling good tonight. His fever got up pretty high, so I'm thinking it's not just teething. So precious how he crawled over to the fireplace and just plopped down on Jere's pillow.

Tuesday April 5
He had less of a fever today, but I went ahead and took him to the doctor. So glad I did because he's got another double ear infection. Poor little guy. I felt terrible. They said it probably hadn't healed completely from the last one. We got him some medicine and still went on a date for some dinner and then to Sarah's surprise party. He's such a trooper!

Wednesday April 6
I ended up having to leave work early today. Cooper's fever got up to 104.8 at one point and we were all a little freaked out. I have never felt anyone be literally hot to the touch. Poor thing was just wimpering and limp. I gave him a warm bath, stripped him down, gave him some cold water and then rocked him. He was able to sleep a while and woke up with fever down to 99. He was back to playing and eating. We were so relieved.

Thursday April 7
Cooper was doing so much better today. No fever at all! We headed to the 'Boro this afternoon for the wedding weekend. I was so happy that my grandparents were doing well enough to make it. Love this pic of my Papaw with my son! He loves Cooper so much!!

Friday April 8
Golf with Ben hitting a hole in one. Bridesmaids Luncheon. Decorating. Rehearsal. Rehearsal Dinner. Bed time. Cooper didn't think it was bedtime. He thought it was playtime. Zach had to go back out and drive him around to get him to sleep. Love this pic. Those two were so very excited that the time was finally here!

Saturday April 9
Oh my goodness. My baby brother got married today. It was beautiful. I can't help but be reminded of our wedding and how thankful and blessed I am by our family. Zach was amazing today... such a big help with everything and didn't complain once.

I Was Right

2011-04-12T21:43:00.000-04:00

If I wasn't such a chicken who didn't want to start blubbering in front of a big group of people, I would have shared the following story at Ben's wedding reception...

Ben had mentioned Laura several times in our conversations and always said that they were just friends. He had told me that she liked him, but he just wanted to be friends. I told him he better not lead her on and break her heart.

About six months before Ben and Laura started dating, Ben came to visit us. We took him out to dinner at a local pizza place and somehow the conversation turned to Laura. I started asking him 20 questions about her, her family, what brought her to the Boro, where she was from, etc. And Ben got very annoyed very quickly by all the questions. He told me to stop, and that I hadn't ever asked all these questions about his other "friends". He was right. So I stopped.

But, before I did, I told him that in a couple of years when I was in a pretty dress, Zach was in a tux, and he was in a tux I was going to tell him that I was right, because he was going to marry her.

And, I was right.

We couldn't be happier to have Laura becoming part of our family.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 13

2011-04-05T08:00:00.006-04:00

Sunday March 27
Little man moved up to the crawlers class at church. He actually was pretty small compared to the other kids in the class... it was strange. They said he was very good! When I picked him up, he was playing and totally not interested in Mommy being back to get him. I'm glad. And Happy Birthday Aunt Jess!!

Monday March 28
When I was home last weekend Dad made me a smoothie and I made myself one tonight. It was so good! I have to say, using a straw made all the difference. Not really sure why, but I loved it. As Dad said... I guess it's the simple things in life.

Tuesday March 29
Danny and Janice did some shopping today and brought him home this hat. Oh my goodness, he was so cute and grown up and such a little boy in that hat! I love this face and Zach's arm trying to get a pic with his phone.

Wednesday March 30
This is one of my favorite pictures! I love his precious smile! He's being all mischievous now and loves to pull up on the table and make his way around until he can reach something (anything) to grab and pull off.

Thursday March 31
"It occurs to me that I sometimes pray like God is all out of ideas. Like, if I'm stumped, He is, too. He knows both what and how. Move over." via @bethmoorelpm

Friday April 1
Job Offer + McAlister's + Sonic blast + finishing Grey's Anatomy season 6 + extra snuggles to calm my little guy = perfect Friday night.

Saturday April 2
Happy Birthday to Mimi! Cooper's supervising Zach starting his new blog. He's been doing amazing keeping up with pictures of Cooper every day and is now transferring them to a blog and plans to keep it up after his bday! Yay!!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 12

2011-03-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

Sunday March 20
On our way back home, Cooper and I stopped to visit Jessica and Sean at Centenniel Park in Nashville. It was a gorgeous afternoon!! It took Cooper a little while to wake up, but he seemed to enjoy getting to be outside. I have to remember to get some sunscreen for him, though. Luckily he was in long sleeves/pants and had his super cool hat!

Monday March 21
He's sporting his new shirt that Janice brought back from Ireland. She got back last night and Cooper was so excited to see her this morning after her being gone all last week!

Tuesday March 22
We all went over to Granny June's this afternoon so she could check out my bridesmaid dress for the wedding. I am so thankful that she thinks she'll be able to take it in some for me! Cooper was showing us one of the little toys that he found. I think that one was the California raisin.

Wednesday March 23
He got in his jammies before Mommy even got home from work! Daddy had to give him a bath and change him after he went to change his diaper and found more poop outside the diaper than inside.

Thursday March 24
Such a little cutie pie! We had such a fun morning together. We took Jere to get a haircut and when we left there must have been a magnet in my car that just had to go to Chick-fil-A for some chicken mini's. We brought them home and had breakfast together. He had yogurt and oatmeal, no chicken minis for him just yet!

Friday March 25
"Stop with the pictures, please!!" We got a new point-and-shoot camera and of course we had to test it out on our favorite little model.

Saturday March 26
Such a perfect family Saturday. We didn't do anything exciting. Lots of cleaning, playing and some grocery shopping. But we did it together. And I loved it! No pic of the three of us, but I love this shot of him just playing.

Centennial Park

2011-03-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

We went to church with Mimi and Papaw and then to get some Mexican food. Cooper even got to try a bite of beans from his Papaw. He's like his Mommy. No beans for Cooper (yet). He spit them back out!

We met up with Aunt Jessica and Sean at Centennial Park in Nashville on our way back home. It was a gorgeous day! At first Cooper was very asleep. His eyes were open, but he had this blank stare on his face. He warmed up after a while and enjoyed all the cool stuff they had at the park.

Swings.

Going down the slide for the first time.

The tunnel.

And of course, Aunt Jessica.

Behind the Scenes

2011-03-23T22:20:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful weekend! We had a very busy day out and about with Mimi and Aunt Jessica. Cooper got some new clothes for the summer and especially for the upcoming wedding. We also did a little shopping for some supplies for his birthday party. I can't believe it's already time!!

Mimi's favorite flowers are buttercups and when we got home we decided to take Cooper up to some of the flowers and try and get some pictures. We knew that a tired baby, who's been out shopping all day would not be the best subject. But we decided to give it a try anyway.

That boy did not crack a smile one. single. time. Not one. single. time.

We tried distractions...

Showing him he could touch the flowers...

and Games...

We got a little of this...

And some pouting...

But never a smile.

It's ok, though. Just look at those tiny toes and try not to smile.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 11

2011-03-22T21:16:00.006-04:00

Sunday March 13
We stayed home and rested today. Cooper was feeling better, but I wasn't feeling too great. He was playing with his dinosaur and I looked up to see him pushing it and taking steps for the first time! I couldn't believe it!

Monday March 14
(Pic to come from my phone)
Today was an insanely busy day at work! I ended up at three different places, having to cover for a girl who was out sick. I ended up having to run home and eat a bite with Zach before he went to work and then took Cooper with me back up to the hospital to do my charting. He did very well considering he had to just stay in the stroller! We were both ready for home and snuggles before bed time.

Tuesday March 15
This adorable little guy is 11 months today! I can't believe it!! We did a little shopping this morning and when we were leaving a store, we met some ladies walking in. They weren't paying attention to us, but Cooper saw them and started waving. He looked at me very confused when they did not eagerly wave back!

Wednesday March 16
I love this pic that Zach took. I think it's one of my favorites. He's just so into everything these days and he just looks mischievous in this pic! I went back up to check on him before I went to bed tonight and decided we needed a little extra snuggle time, because I can. He didn't flinch and snuggled right up next to me. Precious.

Thursday March 17
"It's me first St. Patty's Day" He was in such a good mood tonight and I got some super cute pics of his smiling face and his tongue clicking. Love him.

Friday March 18
The trees in our neighborhood are budding and they were so pretty today. I hate that they only stay like this a couple of weeks a year, but enjoy them while they last. I love the other shot that Zach got of me and my baby!!

Saturday March 20
Mimi and her grandson with her favorite buttercups in the background! She loves buttercups almost as much as she loves Cooper! This was after a long day of shopping for Cooper some wedding clothes and things for his birthday party.

It's Me First St. Patty's Day

2011-03-17T22:15:00.001-04:00

Nothing lucky about it... we are so blessed by this little guy...

Cooper At 11 Months

2011-03-16T22:56:00.000-04:00

Eating: We are gradually trying to introduce some "real" food, but so far he prefers baby food. He will eat just about any kind of baby food, but you put a real green bean or butter bean in front of him and he gags. We're working on it! I don't want to force anything. He eats real oatmeal, bananas, applesauce, yogurt, cheese, and some cottage cheese. He's tried several other things like noodles, some veggies, chicken, and mac & cheese but doesn't eat more than a bite or two. He does have a sweet tooth like his Momma. I gave him a crumb size piece of a strawberry pound cake I was eating and when I went to take my next bite, he had his mouth wide open for the bite. I think he's gonna be a huge fan of his birthday!

Sleeping: We are blessed with a wonderful sleeper, at least at night. He goes down about 8-8:30 and sleeps until 8-8:30 most mornings (when I don't work). He's taking 2-3 naps a day for anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours. He's not a fan of laying down for naps, but he will snuggle in your arms, sit in his rocking chair, or in his car seat.

Other Cool Stuff: His big new things are clapping and waving. He cracks me up when he just randomly starts clapping (like after a diaper change or after I start singing to him) and when he claps when we say "yay, Cooper". He will wave at just about anyone now. I love it when I come home from work and he and Zach are waiting for me. He's sees me get out of the car and starts waving and grinning so big. Melt my heart.

He's crawling all over the place and will even race you if you get down on the floor with him. He pulls up on anything he feels is sturdy enough and is getting braver and braver of letting go with one hand. He's had a couple of little spills where he loses his balance and falls backwards, but overall he's doing so well.

He is jibber jabbering so much more lately, which is music to my ears. I just cannot get him to say "mama". He can say it. He has said it. But every time I say "Say, Mama", he responds with "Da" and a huge grin.

Oh, and still no teeth.

Pictures:

Watch Out Ladies...

2011-03-16T22:37:00.003-04:00

... he's on the loose.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 10

2011-03-15T22:20:00.006-04:00

Sunday March 6
I put up Cooper's 3-6 month and 6 month clothes today. I can't believe he's grown out of all of this stuff. We probably have enough clothes for 2 kids! I feel like I've been getting distracted when hanging out with him (computer, tv, phone, house stuff, etc) and I really tried to focus on him and not be distracted. It made for a much more patient Mommy!

Monday March 7
No picture today. Will fill in with some extra journaling.

Tuesday March 8
Cooper had been somewhat better from his cold over the weekend, but he was still very fussy/cranky. Especially when I went to lay him down, either in my arms or on the changing table. It was awful! I also noticed him flapping his ear (always the right one) and I finally just had to take him in. Diagnosis = Double Ear infection. Right worse than Left. I hate that he is sick, but so glad to know what's going on and get him some medicine to help him feel better.

Wednesday March 9
I got a wild hair this week and decided it was time to go through my clothes. I haven't done this in several years, if ever, really. I'm slightly embarrassed yet proud of myself on how much I am getting rid of. I tend to want to hold on to things (I could probably tell you some memory associated with every single piece of clothing in those piles) and have a hard time letting go. Enough is enough and I'm so happy to have this done.

Thursday March 10
He loves to pull things down and take things out. The magazines. Anything on the coffee table. Toys out of the basket. He's not so good at putting them back at this point.

Friday March 11
This was the first Friday night we've had at home in a while. I loved coming home to Zach holding Cooper at the door and Cooper waving/grinning real big when he saw me. Melt. My. Heart.

Saturday March 12
Loved our beautiful Saturday together. We hung out at home, did a little shopping (Sam's is not the place to be on Saturday), and went to dinner with some friends and a quick visit to the Apple store to play with the new iPads. Wonderful.

A Fact

2011-03-10T16:40:00.002-05:00

I have never been a mommy to a 10.5 year old before.

Everyday is a first for us.

Last week I took Cooper to sign him up for Mother's Day Out at our church. He's getting to heavy to carry him in the carrier, so I just got him out and carried him in. I knew it shouldn't take very long, so in order to save myself from carrying in my purse and the diaper bag and him, I just took in my purse. I had the information ready that I thought I would need and was ready to fill out the application. I met the director of the program and introduced Cooper and she gave me the form to fill out. She did give me the option of taking it home and filling it out, but I opted to just stay since we were already there. Plus the thought of having to put him in the car and take him out of the car again was not very appealing to me.

We sat at a small table (like in a preschool room) and I put Cooper in my lap. It is very hard for me to fill things out for him for some reason. I'm still not used to it and I had to concentrate to fill out his name instead of mine. His birthday instead of mine. My name as the mom instead of my own mother's name. And trying to make sure that all the information was correct and look up what I didn't know.

The trick was, I had my 10.5 month old with me. This same boy that not a week ago was perfectly content to sit on my lap and look around or be entertained by a piece of paper for several minutes, decided that today would be the day he no longer was content to just sit on Mommy's lap. Today, the day I'm sitting in front of the director of MDO, trying to fill out forms for my baby, would be the day he starts to fuss and buck and wiggle and grab and not be entertained by Mommy. I worked with what I had.

A pen. A receipt. My phone. None of which kept his attention for long. I resorted to putting him on the floor, only to have the director point out after a couple of minutes that he was close to pulling over the folding chairs by the wall. Of course he was. I moved him away from the wall and by my purse. I look down to fill out a few more questions and look up to see him waving around a baggie of ibuprofen that he pulled from my purse. Grinning of course. So I picked him back up, still trying to concentrate to fill out all the questions while he was wiggling and reaching and grinning at the director.

At one point I had to get out my wallet to get the insurance card out and I somehow dropped the card and was looking frantically for it as it had just been in my hand. It was on the floor beside me.

Thankfully, admittance to the program is not based on your ability or lack there of to fill out forms while entertaining your child and he will be starting in the fall.

Like I said, everyday is a first for us.

Warning: Lots of Pictures

2011-03-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

The month of February was a very busy month for us. I worked the first weekend and then every weekend after that we went out of town.

The second weekend we went to Mom and Dad's. Zach and one of his friend had tickets to the hockey game on Saturday night, so they spent the afternoon/evening in Nashville. Mom and I went shopping in Nashville for some fancy dresses for her. We were very successful and found a dress for a ball she has to go to and we found he dress for the wedding. We also did a little shopping at one of our favorite stores, the New York Store, and used coupons and got lots of goodies! So fun! While we were out shopping, Dad kept Cooper all day. They had a good day and met us at the APSU game. I was so proud of Dad getting him there all by himself! It was Cooper's first basketball game. We didn't make it through the whole game, but he got the idea.

The next weekend Cooper and I went back to Mom and Dad's for Ben's shower. The MS clan was also in town for the weekend, and we loved getting to hang out with them! Saturday I got my hair done and then we hung out with Lynz and the girls for a little while. Aleasha was kind enough to play photographer and try to catch a pic of us and our kiddos. The series of photos is to funny not to share.

A few pics from at home...

And a couple of pics from the shower...
"aaahhh my baby's getting married"

The last weekend in February Cooper and I hit the road for the 'Boro for another shower. We met up with some friends from college for lunch and then I took him on a little tour of my college town and little bit of campus.

Next we headed over to Ben and Laura's and we hung out for a while, went shopping, and then headed to Jessica's new place. Sean volunteered to stay with Cooper while we all went to the shower. (I don't have those pics yet!)

We had a very very busy month. Lots of traveling and visiting and being out of our normal. Cooper did so well with all the extra attention and did great with the traveling. But, we are looking forward to a weekend at home!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 9

2011-03-08T16:20:00.001-05:00

Sunday February 27
Went to church with Ben and Laura. Ate lunch at Pei Wei (never been there before, but it was delicious and I was super excited to find out they had one here!). Easy drive home. Relaxing evening at home with little man. He's such a good little traveler, but I can definitely tell a difference when we get back home and it's just us.

Monday February 28
The day of the flood. So thankful that I didn't get stuck anywhere because of the water and was amazed to see the news reports and pictures of cars floating.

Tuesday March 1
My verse for today... "I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:25-26

Wednesday March 2
For the most part, he is a very happy and content baby. But he has his moments...

Thursday March 3
Got him signed up for MDO. What an adventure! We went to the park for a little while afterwards to enjoy the beautiful weather we had today. And we went to WM with Daddy and he rode in the cart for the first time! He seemed to enjoy it and did very well!

Friday March 4
I'm thinking now, that Cooper's crankiness the past couple of days is related to the fact that he woke up this morning with a 100* fever. Most of the day it was between 100 and 101. The doc said just to wait it out unless it got any higher. Poor guy was snotty and miserable most of the day.

Saturday March 5
I absolutely hated having to leave him this morning. Today was my Saturday to work and Danny and Janice were so good to watch him for us, but still. I wanted to be with my baby while he wasn't feeling good. I was so happy to get home to him and love on him.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 8

2011-03-01T08:00:00.005-05:00

Sunday February 20
What a busy but wonderful day celebrating Ben and Laura. Church. Lunch at the Mexican resteraunt (where we saw Bro. Moore - such perfect timing that Ben could introduce him to Laura and I got to introduce Cooper). Shower. Drive home. Unpack. Get ready for the week.

Monday February 21
Adored walking into Cooper's room this morning and seeing him peek out through the crib. When he saw me, he grinned so big. Melt my momma heart.

Tuesday February 22
This is the view we have him most of the time now. He loves to use us as his own personal jungle gym. He climbs up and over and around, sits down, and then does it again.

Wednesday February 23
We are so blessed to have Melanie and Charley with us this week and she cooked us a delicious dinner of chicken enchiladas and this amazing chocolate chip cookie pie. We can get used to that!

Thursday February 24
He's getting braver and braver. He started out pulling up and holding the couch for dear life and is now letting go with one hand and grabbing the table and then will bring the other hand to the table too.

Friday February 25
I can't believe I didn't get any pics of Melanie and Charley and Cooper. I must do better! Cooper and grandmommy got to spend some great time together this week while I worked and then tonight she watched him so Zach and I could go out to eat with some friends. It was so nice! And it was only the 3rd time I haven't put him to bed since he was born... he did great, but I had to look at him when we got home.

Saturday February 26
Cooper and I headed for the Boro this morning. We met up with some college friends for lunch, toured campus briefly, and saw Ben and Laura's house. The girls did some shopping while the boys stayed home and napped/watched Ole Miss. Tonight was a shower for them and Jess and I went while Sean stayed with Cooper. I was so grateful for that!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 7

2011-02-22T22:15:00.005-05:00

Sunday February 13
Sweety pie being all happy eating cheerio's! He was so happy to be back home after our weekend away. We got to eat at Blackhorse after church this morning before heading back home. It was so yummy! Cooper doesn't know what he's missing.

Monday February 14
Some girls get a dozen roses. My man knows me well and he brought me a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for Valentine's day! Oh my goodness they looked so pretty and tasted even better!! Krispy Kreme + Hobby Lobby gift card + my 2 Valentine's = perfect day.

Tuesday February 15
Happy 10 months to this little man. He is growing so quickly and I'm loving it! We met some work friends at Cracker Barrel for lunch and did some grocery shopping before coming home for a nap. He's doing so good being out and about!

Wednesday February 16
We had a going away dinner for Aunt Jessica tonight. I chose to simply think of it as a regular dinner so I did not have to deal with the "going away" part. Cooper was cracking us up! Jess would put the sock on his head and he'd just look around like "what's the deal".

Thursday February 17
So blessed to get to hang out with this little guy today. I love seeing him explore and play and get all excited about things. He had a runny nose most of the day but was still in a pretty good mood. We have been so blessed with his health!

Friday February 18
Cooper and I hit the road for round 2 of our February travels. The Shaw clan came tonight as well and Cooper got to enjoy some time with his great-grandmother. He was especially admiring her necklace, as he does with most necklaces.

Saturday February 19
We hung out with Lynz and her girls for a couple hours this morning and with the help of Aleasha the photographer, we tried to get a pic of us and our kids. It was hilarious trying to get everyone still, not crying (Cooper), and looking at the camera at the same time. I think we'll treasure the attempts more than anything!

Cooper At 10 Months

2011-02-18T22:49:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest on little man...

Eating: We transitioned from 5 4oz bottles a day to 4 6oz bottles a day. It seems to be working just fine. He always eats breakfast and dinner. Most days he has a little lunch, but we're not as consistent with this. Mostly just when he acts hungry. I know he's still getting plenty of nutrition from the bottles, so I'm not to worried about it. For breakfast he has some combination of oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, banana, and cheerios. Lunch is usually some leftover yogurt, a jar of baby food, or a banana. Dinner is 2 jars of baby food and something crunchy (cheerios, puffs, graham cracker). I'm trying to get him more used to using a sippy cup with water and he seems to do better with it - he actually swallows the water instead of spitting it out.

Sleeping: He is still taking 2-3 naps a day for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours each. It's pretty inconsistent on how long or when he naps. He also usually naps in someone's arms, his chair, or his carseat. He's not a fan of the crib for naps. But, at night he does amazing. I've been starting to get him ready for bed about 7:45 or 8:00 and he's usually asleep by 8:30 or 9:00 and will sleep anywhere from 7-9.

Other Cool Stuff: He's crawling all over the place. It amazes me how quickly he can go from flat on his back to his belly to all fours and then on the go! He pulls up on the couch and us. He will walk still just with us holding both hands. We tried to see if he would at least stand with just one hand, but he immediately starts wobbling.

He's getting to be more expressive and opinionated. He knows when he wants something and usually doesn't want to wait - like for his food. He screams and yells and bangs on the tray until the food is going in his mouth. He cries when we take something away from him that he doesn't need. He smiles and laughs and gets so excited at the most random things. Like us blowing in his face or barking like a dog.

He has tons of toys but seems to prefer climbing on us or finding Jere's toys the most.

We've had to introduce the word "no" and he just looks at us like we're insane and then smiles super big.

He gets super excited and flaps his arms around and then likes to smack you in the face. Not cool.

He can hold his own bottle like a pro and for the most part, prefers to do it himself now.

He's babbling still with lots of various sounds at various volumes.

And for a few pics from the last month...

Project Life Tuesday | Week 6

2011-02-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

Sunday February 6
FB Status of the night: "I asked mom who we were cheering for tonight. She said the Packers... Because we like cheese. Ok then. (I love my mom!!!)" Packers win the Super Bowl. I missed watching it with Zach... hate he had to work.

Monday February 7
He's starting to pull up on the couches. He's so funny when he gets up there, he can't quite figure out what to do! Most of the time he starts fussing after a couple of minutes because he hasn't figured out how to sit back down!

Tuesday February 8
This adorable face was my shopping buddy at Hobby Lobby this morning. 50% off sale + Gift Card + Cooper = Fun Times.

Wednesday February 9
Aunt Jessica came to visit us for a while tonight. We love when she comes to hang out with us and are gonna miss her so much when she moves!

Thursday February 10
We went over to help Jessica pack up her kitchen tonight. Cooper had fun crawling around and trying to help us pack. I caught a toy he added to one of the boxes just before we packed it up! Chance is much more willing to let Cooper try to pet him than Pickles is!

Friday February 11
I never dreamed three people and one of them is very small could take up so much space and have so much stuff for just 2 nights! We got to Papaw's house and Cooper was in such a good mood after his nap on the road. He played and crawled and pulled up and off for his Mimi and Papaw. Papaw fed him his bottle just before bed time.

Saturday February 12
Cooper and Papaw had a fun day together! They played and cooked (deer steak for Zach and Greg) and came to the APSU basketball game together. Mom and I did some shopping in Nashville and were very successful. We found her dress for the wedding and a dress for a ball she has to go to. We met up with the boys at the basketball game. So fun!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 5

2011-02-08T23:26:00.008-05:00

Sunday January 30
(Pic to come...)
We were so glad to have Mimi and Papaw come see us this weekend! We always have to take a few group shots before they leave.

Monday January 31
Mom and I worked on the vinyl and prints for Cooper's bathroom over Thanksgiving and I finally ordered the frames last week. I was so pleased with how it turned out! I think it looks really cute!

Tuesday February 1
He's so cute peeking through the rails in the morning. So far he only gets on his knees, but I'm guessing it won't be too long before he's pulling up to his feet. I still swaddle him up before I lay him down at night, but he always gets out of it before the morning. He just goes to sleep so well, I can't help but keep doing it. That too will stop very soon, I'm sure.

Wednesday February 2
Yipee!!! My new Project Life kit came in the mail today! I'm so excited to get it set up and get caught up for January! Cooper is super excited too (It's just because I'm so excited, but still).

Thursday February 3
Celebration brownies! Jess got a new job! We are so excited for her, but will miss her like crazy when she moves. :(

Friday February 4
This was pre-dinner. We went out with some friends for dinner and Zach thought he had his soup out of reach of our little "grabber" but he was still able to get a finger on the bowl and in a second it spilled all over the two of them. We all jumped and Cooper screamed. I took him to the bathroom to get him changed and realized the outfit was too small. I was able to get it on but it wouldn't snap and the legs were above his knees. At least it was dry.

Saturday February 5
Found this recipe from my friend Terra and decided to try it out. It was a success!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 4

2011-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday January 23
I love that Zach does our laundry. I do Cooper's stuff and help out with towels and sheets and things sometimes, but he always does our laundry. I'm a blessed girl.

Monday January 24
I broke a graham cracker into teeny tiny pieces and gave it to him tonight. He seemed to like it. He gums it around in his mouth and gets is super soft to the point it is mostly dissolved before he swallows it. We are also noticing he's using his left hand a little more than the right. Just an observation at this point.

Tuesday January 25
Kind of a blah day for me today. But as Laura reminded us on her fb status... we celebrate the invention of the telephone today on it's 91st anniversary... thanks Mr. Bell. We've come a long way, we don't even have a home phone anymore. We just use our cell phones.

Wednesday January 26
Today's pic will be a pic of an email I got from Laura of the earrings she made us for the wedding. This is just a filler pic that I got from Mom. They got 5 inches of snow and we got nothing. No complaints from me!

Thursday January 27
He is getting to be so big! I still like to hold him when he takes his bottle, but he likes to hold the bottle himself. I let him sit in his little rocker and take his bottle this afternoon while I ate something.

Friday January 28
He cracks me up with his dinosaur. We mostly push him around and he loves it! Tonight, Zach let him try it on his own. He can barely reach the floor, and he wasn't moving forward, but he did move backwards. It was hilarious.

Saturday January 29
Love this pic that mom caught of me and little guy. I just love him so much! I also love that my parents dropped everything for the weekend and headed over to visit us, just because we invited them and they could. Such a nice treat and we had a great time.

From His Point of View

2011-01-31T22:46:00.004-05:00

There are times when I look back at my day and I try to figure out what exactly I've accomplished. Especially since Cooper came along, normal things like unloading the dishwasher just seem to take forever. I can't really finish one thing without stopping and checking on Cooper or finding something to distract him for 30 seconds while I try to put a couple more dishes away. I was feeling a little frustrated last Tuesday and feeling like I didn't really get anything done all day. I then tried to look at the day from Cooper's perspective and everything changed.

He woke up this morning with his Mom and Dad because he'd had a rough night and needed some extra loving. Over the course of the day, he got to eat oatmeal, bananas, puree fruit and some carrots, and applesauce. He practiced feeding himself some puffs and drinking water from a sippy cup. He fed himself all of his bottles today.

He played with Mommy, crawled all over the place, and explored new-to-him things. He laughed at Jere while he was crawling after him. When he got tired of playing by himself, Mommy was right there for him to crawl over and practice pulling up on. He pulled up to his feet on the loveseat and he watched himself on the computer.

He napped in his Momma's arms and played with Daddy when he got home from work.

He took a bath and played with his turtle, ducks, and cups. He got all wrapped up in his blanket and snuggled next to Mom until he fell asleep for the night.

Looking at the day from his perspective, completely changed mine for the day. What a privilege it is to be his Mom and to watch him grow and change and develop.

Project Life Tuesday | Week 3

2011-01-25T08:00:00.004-05:00

Sunday January 16
Got so much accomplished today! Church. Cleaning (even washed the shower curtain and dusted the fan in our room!). Nap. Snuggles with little man. Nap time. Working on photo book for Christmas. Cooper still loves his Santa duck!

Monday January 17
After work, I went Wal-Mart shopping. We were in great need of lots of things, but I had a list and it went by pretty quickly. The best part was that Cooper was with Zach! So much easier not having to entertain him! Got him one last pack of size 2 diapers. He'll be ready for 3's by the time we need some more.

Tuesday January 18
Doctor visit this morning went very well. Let Cooper try some puffs for the first time. He really didn't get it at first, but once he got the hang of it and realized they tasted good, he got into it! He ate those while I worked on setting up our 2011 bills folder and writing out the January bills.

Wednesday January 19
Aleasha got here last night and she stayed with Cooper today. She said he did great! I love this pic of him and his rebel football. His face is hilarious!

Thursday January 20
Just had to run back in a grab my camera to capture this beautiful sunrise this morning. So pretty! After a quick morning at work, Aleasha, Cooper and I headed up to visit ETSU. We had such a good time and literally had God's perfect timing all afternoon.

Friday January 21
Oh my goodness. I could just eat him up! He spent the day with Aleasha again. He was worn out after our adventure yesterday and the two of them took a 2 hour nap in the chair upstairs this morning. Love that they got to snuggle together!

Saturday January 22
Oh my how we adore this girl! She had to leave today and we were sad to see her go. She had to get back to school so she can get done and transfer up to east TN. :)

Cooper At 9 Months

2011-01-19T22:07:00.003-05:00

Here's the latest on little man...

Eating: We transitioned from still breastfeeding some, to strictly formula/bottle-fed. It was definitely bittersweet, but it was time. We exceeded our goal of six months, and he has done great with the transition. Probably better than me. He's now having 5 bottles a day; a breakfast of oatmeal or rice cereal and sometimes a fruit; and supper of a fruit and veggie. We just started adding a lunch meal of a fruit or veggie as well. He's had real bananas, butter beans, and black-eyed peas (all mushed up of course) and done pretty well with all of those.

Sleeping: We are blessed with a good sleeper. For the most part he goes to bed about 9 and sleeps until 6-7. He had a couple of 4:00am mornings and he got to snuggle in bed with mom and dad until time to get up, but other than that he's always in his own bed at night. Napping is not quite as consistent. He takes 2-3 naps a day and most of the time someone is holding him or napping with him (me!).

Other Cool Stuff: He officially moved from army crawling to fully crawling on all fours. At first he would go just a couple of steps and then back to the belly, but over a couple of days, he moved to being on all fours all the time. He's also getting faster and stronger... able to go a little further without having to rest. Over 3-4 evenings he went from crawling from the middle of the living room to the table, to crawling from the middle of the living room to the kitchen.

He's still babbling like crazy with lots of "dadada" and some "mamama". He's adding in some other sounds too ("nanana", "guh", "hey"). Every once in a while he'll come out with a trill or loud scream when he's either super excited or super upset.

He'll wave at you. Gives high five. Looks for things that we take away from him like our phones or the remote.

We celebrated his first Christmas and New Year's during this month. I've just finished a photo book detailing all our celebrations and will leave all the pics and stories for the book.

Doctor Stats and Update: We have a very healthy baby boy!!! His development is right on track and the doctor didn't have any concerns. He said we could start giving him more table foods (this makes me nervous for some reason) and some milk products like cottage cheese and yogurt. We were very happy that he had grown a good bit since his last visit since last time he wasn't even on the charts.
Height: 28 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 17 lbs 11 oz (10th percentile)

Project Life Tuesday | Week 2

2011-01-18T22:01:00.003-05:00

Sunday January 9
Sunday afternoon naps were taught to me at a very early age. I am teaching by example to my own little guy.

Monday January 10
We woke up to 3-4 inches of snow. Roads were covered and stayed that way in our neighborhood all day. We weren't able to go anywhere today, which was frustrating since I was supposed to be at work and it bothers me when I have to miss. Jere really doesn't mind the snow all that much!

Tuesday January 11
Zach was able to get out to work in the late afternoon and was able to bring some stuff home to work on so he wouldn't get stuck overnight. Cooper was taking a water break with daddy before bedtime.

Wednesday January 12
If you can't find Miss Pickles, she is usually snuggled up on our bed, the back of the love seat or in our closet. Tonight I found her snuggled on the bed. Caught her mid yawn. Makes her look kinda mean... she's actually a very sweet cat.

Thursday January 13
Cooper still loves his baths. I pretty much leave all his toys out and he just switches around things to chew on. He's starting to figure out how to splash and drop toys over the side of the tub. Love him snuggled in his pirate towel that he got for Christmas from Sean.

Friday January 14
Crazy hair! His hair is still very light, but is getting longer. It was sticking up after wearing one of his cool hats and pretty much stayed that way the rest of the evening. We had date night at Wasabi with my boys and then started watching Grey's Anatomy on the Apple TV. Such a relaxing evening.

Saturday January 15
This was how I felt after my super long Saturday to work! And I wasn't even supposed to work... I volunteered. Oh well, it went by fast! Happy 9 months to my little man!!

Project Life Tuesday | Week 1

2011-01-11T09:36:00.001-05:00

I am almost completely caught up with my Project Life 2010 album. I need to print a few more pictures and fill in a couple of blank spots and I will be done! I am so proud of myself for keeping up with it. I looked back through the album and there are only 4-5 days from the whole year that I don't have a picture for.

My goal for last year was to simply take a picture each day. This year I'm setting a few more specific goals for myself.

to keep up with photo printing and journaling cards monthly
utilize new vertical divided photo pages
have more variety in my pictures (not all photos of just Cooper!)
choose themes for a few weeks during the year (such as the food we eat, places we go, etc.)
link up weekly with Jessica at The Mom Creative to help me keep up with pictures/journaling

Here we go with my first week of pictures...

Sunday January 2
He's getting better at using his sippy cup. He at least swallows a little bit of the water now! He looks so big in this pic!

Monday January 3
I had great plans of getting up a little earlier and having a relaxing morning getting us ready for work instead of rushing around like normal. I set my phone like I always do, only it didn't work this morning. Apparently something happened after the new year and the alarms weren't working. So, we were definitely in a rush this morning.

Tuesday January 4
I've been in a funk since we got back from our trip. Partly because I still don't feel 100% but partly because my house was still in disarray. So today, I got all the Christmas stuff put away and the house pretty much cleaned. It felt so good! I was very sad, though, that this ornament slipped out of my hands and the bottom part shattered. It was one of the angels that Mamaw gave me a few years ago.

Wednesday January 5
This is what it was doing when I left work today. Zach kept trying to tell me to go ahead and leave, but I had to finish my paperwork. I couldn't believe how fast the snow came. It was a long drive home, but I didn't slip until I got into the driveway. Zach ended up having to pull my car in for me.

Thursday January 6
I've been working on the goodies that Jessica made for us. I am addicted to those pecans! The peanut butter stuff was so good too and it cracked me up that Zach was treating it as regular peanut butter (putting it on bagels and sandwiches).

Friday January 7
I got off work a little early and we all quickly headed out so I could get measurements for the dress for Ben's wedding, we made a quick stop at the mall to spend some Christmas money, and we headed back home and ordered pizza. Zach just had to play with his new present, the apple TV.

Saturday January 8
Oh. My. Goodness. I could just eat those little toes up. He was taking a quick break from jumping in his jumper and I was playing around with the camera.