Me and My Little Man...

Since I'm normally the one behind the camera it's not often that you will see me in a picture so I asked Matt to get a picture of Cooper and I the other night.  He just might be the best lookin' baby I've ever seen.  Being in a picture with him definitely takes the pressure off of me to "look good".  

Gingerbread Train

While I was making truffles the other night Matt and the kids were all gathered around the table to assemble and decorate the Gingerbread Train that we had here at the house.  The kids had been asking for weeks to do it, but we kept putting it off until closer to the holidays.  As you can see fun was had by all, and I think that the decorating was taken to a whole new level!  Not a piece of candy went to waste.  Matt and I both agree that we'll just enjoy it from a far and won't actually be partaking of what is I'm sure a delicious work of art.  

Hanging out...

All of this kids are here for the holidays.  Here's a cute shot of all three of them hanging out on the couch together.  Kyler and Elise are a great help with Cooper, and he really enjoys it when they entertain him and read books to him.  

Fun times...

Cooper is such an easy going boy!  He was enjoying himself on this particular morning in the Christmas pajamas that Grandma JoJo sent him.  After he finished "tummy time" he was content to just play on his back.  I love it when he will use his hands to grab ahold of his pants to move his feet.  One of my great friends, Gayle, gave us this "antique" play gym---it has Sesame Street characters on it.  :)  Cooper is happy to use his hands and legs to move the characters on the sides and hanging down.  You can hear him throughout the house talking to it and squealing with delight.  He also loves to sit upright...hence the activity seat in the other pictures.  On this day as you can see Cooper had a little visitor---Tasha.  They don't normally get much "face" time because we try to keep the dogs out of his face, but this was too cute.  

It's a sad day....

Tomorrow is my first day back at work.  Everyone keeps telling me how it will be good for both of us.  Adult interaction for me, and kid interaction for Cooper.  I'm trying to believe everyone, but I feel sad to leave my little man with someone else (who incidentally is right down the street from work and appears to be a fantastic woman and mother---she just isn't me).  We'll try out working until the end of the school year and then revisit the topic.  

On a brighter note...Cooper has been taking longer naps more often.  Good for him, and Good for mommy!  He gets his rest, and I am able to get more done during the day!  

Kentucky...

Here are a few photos from our last trip to Kentucky.....coming down with the stomach flu limited my photo taking opportunities or a least my desire to play photographer.  The cute lady holding the sleeping Cooper who resembles a sweet angel is my Great Aunt--  Sister Margaret Regina.  She loves holding a baby...especially her great, great nephew.  We are so excited that she'll be coming out with my parents for Coop's baptism in January.  The other picture is Grampa and Cooper.  He sure does love his Grammy and Grampa.  

16 Weeks Old!

I can not believe that Cooper is 16 weeks old....seems like just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital.  He is such a blessing!  He has been rolling over from his stomach to his back more and  more frequently.  Laughing out loud is happening more often also.  Matt and I have discovered that Cooper laughs just like Matt and his brothers!  The occupational therapist in me loves that he is bringing things to midline to hold in both of his hands, and is tranferring things from one hand to the other....all in order to get it to his mouth!  Everything goes in his mouth.  And as you can see in these pictures---drooling is the name of the game right now.  We've had to take all clothes in the 3 month range out of the drawers....he's just too long.  I tried to measure him today, and it looks like 26.5 inches and if I were guessing I would say 17-18 lbs.  He's just a big boy.  The pediatrician said we could start rice cereal if he didn't seem satisfied, but we're putting that off as long as possible and that's just fine because he seems happy to have just breastmilk.  

I've been Tagged...

A special thanks to my cousin, Candice for tagging me.....I had no idea there was such a thing.  :)  This only took me about a week to complete---maybe I should have wished for more time in the day???

8 things about me:
1. I share my birthday with a special little guy--- Cole Forte.  My cousin Candice's son.  
2. I am allergic to chocolate....don't worry---I'm doing just fine without it.  
3. I have to clean any dirty dishes in the sink before I can go to bed at night---a little OCD maybe?
4. I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up since I was in elementary school (besides a mom)---an occupational therapist.
5. I love to drive with the windows down on nice, sunny days.  The blah, cold weather here makes me want those days! 
6. I sometimes snort when I get to laughing too hard.
7. I actually like to go to the grocery and to do laundry....it's putting those items away that I don't like doing.
8. I read extremely fast.  I can finish a large book (think James Patterson) in just a few hours.  


8 Shows I watch:
1. 48 Hours Mystery
2. Football
3. Big Bang Theory
4. Seinfeld
5. The Amazing Race
6. Pretty much anything on Bravo
7. Pretty much anything on HGTV or DIY...I love home renovation shows.
8. I'm torn between The Bonnie Hunt Show and Oprah.....Bonnie Hunt is pretty entertaining.


8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. PF Changs
2. Romano's--- The BEST crab cake I've found in MD.
3. Cracker Barrel if only for the egg sandwich on sour dough.  
4. Duclaw--- local brewery.
5. My mom's house....does that count?
6. Red Robin
7. Chick-Fil-A
8. Cheesecake Factory


8 Things that happened today:
1. Woke up to a babbling and giggling baby
2. Fed Cooper
3. Wrangled him into a diaper
4. Took a shower while Cooper napped
5. Got dressed---including hair (new no maintenance style is great) and make-up
6. Ordered crab cakes from Romano's to ship to family for gifts
7. Wrapped presents
8. Started taking dog crate back down since Boris appears as spry as the day he was born and no longer needs to be confined all day.  


8 Things I look forward to:
1. Our first Christmas with Cooper
2. Christmas Eve mass at our new church
3. Cooper being 6 months old so we can take him to the day care center at the gym so it will be easier for both of us to go work-out on the same night.
4. A small part of me is looking forward to going to work again on the 19th---like 5% of me.  
5. The first snow fall of the season
6. To when Cooper can sit in the grocery cart by himself or he can walk---that carrier is getting heavier and heavier all the time.  
7. My parents coming up for the holidays.
8. 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 19th...it will be the end of Cooper's first day at day care.  


8 Things I Wish for:
1. To live the Serenity Prayer every day.
2. For a happy and healthy family with very  little drama.
3. To make my family proud.
4. To return to the midwest.
5. For Cooper to continue to be the happiest little guy I know, and to grow up with good values.
6. That my parents will continue to be able to come for visits often so that Cooper grows up with them on more than occasional visits.  
7. A little housecleaning fairy who would come overnight to get everything done that I just can't possibly do during one day.  

8.  For Cooper to grow up knowing who his Uncle Chris was...

Such a busy time of the year...

Well, I felt like I should post something while I had a moment since it's been so long since I have been on here.  Matt, Cooper, and I went to Kentucky to visit our family over the Thanksgiving holiday which was great.  Matt had to come back that weekend, but Cooper and I kept on visiting until later in the week when my Dad drove back with us.  While we were in Kentucky we had a "special" visitor....the stomach flu.  That was loads of fun!  I'm still not feeling back to 100%, but so much better than those first few days.  Unfortunately, feeling ill kept me from going to Indy to visit friends.  Hopefully we'll get back there soon!  

Upon our return to MD we had the kids for the weekend, and not one hour after they got here we had a trauma in the family.  The gate was accidentally left open and one of our weims got hit by a car.  Can you believe that the person who hit him didn't even stop???  What is wrong with people?  I won't take the excuse that maybe they didn't know they hit something---he's 90+ lbs. and Matt heard the hit.  It was a horribly traumatic thing for all of us especially Matt who has gone through a lot with Boris (on the bottom and Tasha is on the top), but thankfully he is going to be fine---just some soft tissue damage so he's sore.  After getting the bill from the vet's office I have decided that I should have gone to school to be a vet.  Holy smokes....it's a money maker!  Then we put up the tree and I made some of my "famous" cut-out cookies to later decorate.  And today we went to church and then to see the Cirque Du Soleil show Kooza that is going on in The National Harbor in Washington D.C.  We kept it a surprise for the kids and it just about ate them up to be in suspense for so long.  

Cooper's First Visit with the big guy...Santa

So, we went to the local mall today.  I had been wanting to take Cooper to get a picture with Santa, and unless we were wanting to enroll Elise in some belly dancing classes she needed some new shirts.  This is how we found ourselves at the mall with a gazillion people doing holiday shopping and hoping to find some good buys with our precarious economy.  Cooper appeared very disinterested in Santa, and was more interested in the noise one of Santa's elves was making on the side as she was bagging up someone's photo purchase.  I'm sure one year very soon we'll be the parents of one screaming toddler trying to get  away from the old guy in the red velvet suit, but for now he was content to sit on this stranger's lap with his siblings.  I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner.  First comes Thanksgiving this coming week----yea!!  

The crazy things we do....

One day when Cooper is of dating age he is going to say something that starts with "Mommm...." in a very exasperated tone because of all the goofy things that I do to him.  For instance, the "Santa" beard I made for him during bath time the other night.  Or when I dressed him up in his pumpkin costume and put him in the bin with the pumpkins.     But for now...I thought it was too cute and made Matt take a picture.  Sure, the beard is a bit uneven but he's only 12 weeks old so I'm sure it will grow in.  Oh, yes....one day he will get revenge on me.

The Highchair...

Well, weeks ago we figured out that Cooper prefers (sometimes strongly and very loudly) to sit straight up.  He doesn't like to lay back (i.e., the bouncy seat, etc.).  So, we pulled out the highchair for him, and he loves it.  He'll just sit there and watch me cook, etc. in the kitchen.  We often have long and very deep conversations while he is in it....that is until he nods off and I'm once again talking to myself.  It's only disturbing to me when I'm still dancing and singing in the kitchen to entertain him.....to turn around and find that he has been so bored that he fell asleep.  Just like in these pictures.  

Also, you'll notice how he loves to "eat" his hands and thumb....he's a drool machine lately.  Gotta love those slobbery hands reaching out to you.  :)  

Funny faces...

We have discovered that Cooper thinks that it's hilarious when you wiggle you eyebrows up and down, make your nose flare out, or wiggle your ears (if you're coordinated enough for that).  Here are some cute pictures of Matt making Cooper laugh making funny faces.  I wish I could capture it when Cooper tries to imitate the eyebrow wiggling.  It's the funniest thing...

Cold, Fall Sundays..

Caitlin keeping warm on the sidelines
Reilly in action....she's #20.
Rick and JoJo.  Rick recently moved here with his family from CA, and JoJo is visiting from Florida so you can imagine how cold it felt for all of them!  Brrrr
Cooper all snuggly in his stroller checking out the action...
Marion keeping warm while she cheers Reilly on at the game.

Today after church we ventured to Virginia to see our niece Reilly play her last soccer game.  In church, Cooper was very chatty so it felt like I was constantly walking out with him so as to not disturb the other church-goers.  No one was bothered and it is the Children's Church time, but I felt like I should respect everyone else there and take him out when he got too loud.  He was fighting sleep, and he tends to get chatty at those times.  He's usually either sleeps through a good portion of church or is too busy looking around at everything and everyone to sleep.  The usher commented today on how he is always such a good baby.  So Reilly is in the All Star league down in VA, and we went to visit.  It was a great trip especially since JoJo (Matt's Mom) was in town from Florida.  If only it were about twenty degrees warmer!!  Cooper and I ventured out to watch the action (Reilly is #20) for a few minutes all bundled up, but ended up back in the car because it was so cold.  Then we went out to lunch with everyone (Rick- Matt's older brother, Marion- Rick's wife, their 3 kids--- Caitlin, Reilly, and Jonathan, and JoJo) and headed back to MD to watch the end of the Colts game....Hooray for the Colts win over the Texans!  Matt's team (the San Francisco 49ers) also pulled off a win today.  It was a good football day for our family!  

12 Weeks Old....Already!

As the saying goes...Times flies when you're having fun!  It sure does, and it is making me have mixed feelings.  I'm sad because Cooper is not only getting so big already and the more days that pass the closer I am to returning to work.  Then again, I'm so excited to see him grow and explore the world.  

At Cooper's 2 month appointment Cooper weighed 15 lbs. 6 oz. and was 24.5" long.  He's in the 95th percentile for both height and weight.  His eyes are still a blue-ish color, but are getting more hazel.  I think he may have my eyes.  He is such a happy baby, and has gotten the gift of gab from his daddy.  I'm going to have to figure out how to get video of him "talking" on here someday.  It feels like we have conversations some days...I'll talk and he'll talk back, etc.  It's cute!  Who am I kidding??  I think everything he does is cute.  Even when he has diaper blow-outs and thinks it's the most fun thing in the world.  Cooper has rolled from his tummy to his back several times, but he's not doing it consistently and has a knack for doing it only when I'm out of the room.  Bath time is a favorite time for him.  He loves to sit in the warm water, and being wrapped up in his hooded towels.  He's getting used to having the water run over his head and face when we rinse his hair.  We were just using a wash cloth to rinse out shampoo, but he has so much hair it was taking forever and I wasn't getting it all out.  Matt and I feel very blessed to have a happy and healthy little guy.   Thank you Grandma JoJo for the cute personalized towel!  

Big steps....

For me.  :)  I'm so technologically impaired that finally making a blog is a HUGE step for me.  I'm always getting peer pressure from family and friends to keep them updated on what things Cooper is doing now that I finally took the plunge.  So far it's going okay, but I can only imagine that it's just a matter of time before I do something wrong and the computer dies right in front of my eyes.  Which will upset Matt since I'm on the Mac which he loves almost as much as me.