Another Day in R Life

A good day.

2013-04-20T20:25:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day. It was good weather, it was Saturday, and I got to be with my family. We started off this morning just doing the normal thing, and then my Aunt Kay and baby Beckett (6 months) came over for me to do her pictures. My mom also stopped by, so that was a bonus :) After Beckett's pictures, my mom grabbed my camera and took some pictures of Cooper since he was ready to pose apparently lol. These crack me up cause they look like school pictures or something...

After mom/Kay/Beckett left, Cooper and I ran to the store and got some chicken salad for me since I'm an addict :) Then came back home, and Cooper went down for a nap.

After he woke up, we went outside to join Daddy to do yard work. It was BEAUTIFUL outside, so we stayed out for a couple of hours. Then back inside Cooper and I went...that's when I grabbed these pictures with my new Sigma lens - the 85mm 1.4 lens.

My new favorite is this one below:

Once daddy got done with yardwork, we all took showers/baths, and then headed up to Casa Mexicana, our favorite mexican restaurant. It was yummy, and then when we left, Cooper started showing out and showing some aquaintances of ours all of his tricks (blowing kisses, saying hi, high fives, showing his belly, being happy, talking, etc)....he was so cute <3 p="">

It was a good, good day.

2013-04-16T21:05:00.000-05:00

I've been getting so mad at myself and feeling all guilty because I just do.not.take enough pictures of my sweet boy. I'm seriously going to start trying harder. I have to.

Cooper is currently 15.5 months old, 16 teeth, talking up a storm, or rather jabbering alot, LOVES being outside, says a few words, and says a lot of things I have no idea what he's saying. He points, cries when he doesn't get his way, loves chicken nuggets/corndogs/FRUIT/string cheese/yogurt/pancakes/bagels. Everything else...you just never know if he'll eat it or not. He claps, blows kisses, says TA-DA with his hands out, says bye bye, talks on the phone, tries to be funny, yells/claps when Wheel of Fortune is on, mimics you sometimes, gives kisses and hugs, and dances! There's so much more...

These pictures are from last weekend, just playing around.

Here he is face timing Sugah Mama and JDad - blowing kisses <3 p="">

Updates

2013-02-24T08:17:00.001-06:00

Okay so I've been seriously slacking on blogging. But I'm on this new kick with making albums, and I need to blog so I can pinpoint certain milestones and memories! My last post was Halloween...ugh. I have a lot of posts to fill in from back then to now...but, ill go ahead with a SHORT update one here :)

First things first, we are pregnant again! We couldn't be more thrilled!! I'm about 14 weeks along and feeling good. I'll do pregnancy updates again probably, joy for you guys huh?!

Secondly, Cooper is almost 14 months old, and a pure delight in our household. He's walking everywhere and into everything. Just started really climbing on stuff too (like window sills lol). He's eating anything we can find to give him, BUT is somewhat of a picky water. He loves fruit, corn dogs, chicken nuggets, fruit, applesauce, mashed potatoes, pancakes, bread, and fruit. We give him a lot of veggies through the squeeze packets cause he'll eat those. Whatever works right?

He is loving books these days, just recently got to where he'll bring me a book and wants me to read it to him. There's many times I'll find him being quiet, and he will be flipping through a book, so cute!

He loves the park, and being outside....whether its being pulled in the wagon, in the stroller, or just walking around and getting into our mulch. Boy needs some dirt piles soon I'm sure ;)

He has, ohhh, almost 14 teeth? I think? His top ones (4 of them) all just broke skin so they're not fully out...dude is drooling big time!

I'll have to go back and fill in his 1 year stats, but he's about 22 lbs right now and we always think he's getting bigger :). Wears a 4.5 - 5 shoe, 12 month shirts, and 12 month (or smaller) pants. Sweatpants and such are always right on, but jeans run big on him.

Okay that's all the updates I'm going to now, I'm on my phone and who knows if this will even upload...it seems in past it would never work for me. Crossing my fingers because then maybe I'll blog more?? Maybe?

Halloween!

2012-11-09T07:47:00.003-06:00

So my friend Amy gave us a nascar driver outfit for Cooper to wear on Halloween, but then at the last minute, Bryan decides he wants Cooper to have a 'typical' infant costume with something going over his head. I went to Halloween Express THAT DAY, and came home with a monkey outfit. When I picked Cooper up from daycare, I noticed he was kind of cranky. Well, it didn't get much better that night. He was just crying all night long. So needless to say, we got some MAD MONKEY pictures ;) He ended up going to bed early, and we handed out candy at home...very simple Halloween.

So Halloween was on Wednesday, and Cooper continued to be super cranky for days. We just automatically assumed it was teething because he was slobbering like nobody's business. Well a few days later, I finally took him in to get checked. I found out that I was MOTY (mother of the year) when the doctor checked him because yep, he was sick. He has an upper respiratory infection, a sore throat, and an ear infection. Motherhood FAIL. Apparently slobbering is a sign of a sore throat...I had no idea!

Now he's on antibiotics and on the mend. He sounds bad though because he's really snotty and coughing everything up and out, I hope my poor baby feels better very soon.

Pumpkin Patch

2012-11-04T08:04:00.002-06:00

Last week we made it to the pumpkin patch for Cooper's first time. This is the kind of stuff I have been looking forward to and never done because we were kidless. Even though he is only 10 months old, it was still a lot of fun, and I loved it for the picture aspect of course ;) It was actually pretty chilly that day, so that was something new for Cooper since we haven't had to live in cold weather with him before. Or well...he was only a month/two months old when it was cold before, and we never went out hah!

Hanging out with our best friends :)

2012-11-01T20:26:00.003-05:00

Last month, one weekend our best friends, Toni and Wade, called us up and said, "Hey, why don't yall come down to Hot Springs for the weekend and hang out with us!"

I wasn't really wanting to do much since we'd been out of town a bunch, but you know what's so cool about these friends? We didn't have to try very hard to pack up and go. I could go with hardly any makeup on, hair all ratty, kid in bum clothes, etc...that's what I love about these people! So we went on Saturday, and I took my big camera (with 85mm lens) and forced myself to take some lifestyle pictures. You can tell in some of the pictures that some adults were making fun of my paparazzi self LOL! But look at what we got from it...I LOVE these.

(note: Wit is 4 years old, and Beau is just 6-7 weeks younger than Cooper...they will be best buds for sure)
(note2: these were all edited in Lightroom...very basic edits!)

Enjoy.

Yup, that's how we roll :)

Cooper is 9 Months Old!

2012-10-12T10:31:00.002-05:00

I wrote this out a couple of weeks ago, but didn't have access to the pictures on my computer, so finally, I'm posting it.

Cooper is 9 months old, and here are his stats:

Weight: 19lbs 6 oz (30%)

Height: 28.5in (58%)

Head: 18" (62%)

So overall, he looks good. He's still going along his curve, and has increased his %age in weight from last time. He gained a lot since he's been on formula (stopped breastfeeding at 7.5 months).

Here's a list of what he's up to these days:

crawling everywhere
pulling up
walking along furniture
says dada
eats about 5- 6 oz bottles of formula a day
eats mostly purées with some solids (avocado is his fav! also likes to mooch off my poptarts hah!)
pincher grasp is good
starting to show a little temper at times (thankfully they last .02 seconds)
goes to bed at 7-7:30 pm and sleeps til about 5. Most mornings he wakes me up with a poopy diaper!
Still being rocked to sleep at night - we do bath, lotion, pjs, and read goodnight moon, then bottle/rock. Sometimes he will fight us, and we will put him in the crib awake. There's been a total of 2 times that he put himself to sleep (after some crying of course) - last night was the 2nd time - and he cried for 3.5 minutes and was asleep at the 4 minute mark - WIN!
JUST started being clingy, and has a little stranger danger.
In size 3 diapers. Wears size 4 huggies overnights for bedtime.
Wears 9-12m in shirts, and can still wear some 6 months stuff. Pants - 6 months fit best ;)

Overall, Cooper is SUCH a happy baby. He loves to laugh, he loves making us laugh, and is such a joy to be around. He makes so many people in my family smile and happy - we just love him so much. We are incredibly lucky to have a great son that is pretty easy, Bryan and I just know we will have it bad with our next one ;)

**update: as of this week, 10/7, he's been pretty much going to sleep right after his bottle with no rocking, AND sleeping until 5:45-6am. Not sure what switch turned on, but yay!

Cooper at bathtime...

2012-09-28T13:49:00.002-05:00

I finally took my big camera out last night and took some pictures of the little man (9 months in a couple of days). I'm so slacking on taking his picture with anything but an iPhone. And my iPhone is horrible camera wise. I have GOT to get better at this.

Bryan worked late last night, so it was just Cooper and I hanging out. I busted out the camera right before bath time with Cooper. He actually started laughing at the sound of my shutter going off. It was kind of funny. We took a couple of pictures, and then I scooped him up and we went outside.

He LOVES going outside. I had on tennis shoes, so I started stomping onto the concrete sidewalk while I was holding him, and he just giggled. Then I did it more and more, and would even run hard along the sidewalk, and he was just CRACKING up. I will literally do anything to make that boy laugh, and yeah, I'm pretty sure if my neighbors were watching they were getting a funny sight. For about 10 minutes, we were just running and stomping along my sidewalk in the front yard, but Cooper just thought it was the best thing. I love that kid.

Then we went to the bath and well, bathtime, he's all over the place. He likes laying on his tummy and playing with the bath toys, likes climbing up and standing while holding on the edge, and he likes to hold on to the faucet while standing (this part stresses me out because I'm always afraid he will slip and knock his teeth out).

He loves to lay on his back while I wash him. He'll just kick and splash and laugh. He thinks it is super funny when you do a yelling "WOOWEE!" - I'm not sure why he thinks that's hilarious, but almost everytime, if you do a sort of high pitch yell like that, he CRACKS up.

So what do you think friends? I need to start pulling out my camera more and talking on this blog huh?

Cooper at 8 months...

2012-09-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

8 months. Took the picture weeks ago, and just now posting ;)

9 months is tomorrow, so I PROMISE to do an update. With words.

Cooper is 7 Months Old

2012-09-12T09:48:00.000-05:00

(posting way late, but picture was taken at 7 months)

ABC Overview

2012-07-31T20:39:00.001-05:00

Well of course, I had to put them all together! I'll do some outtakes later too.

Now, I must decide whether I want to finish out his first year doing the ABC's again, or find another weekly project. I want to do SOMEthing, just can't decide what. I've had suggestions to do colors, numbers, and books, but I feel like ABC would be the easiest and most creative. If you have any suggestions, let me know! I'm 4 weeks behind if I do the ABC's again, but I can just do something for 22 weeks if I start this week...hmmmmmm.

Z is for Zoo.

2012-07-31T20:36:00.001-05:00

Woohoo, finally done, 4 weeks late ;)

Y is for Yellow.

2012-07-31T11:33:00.003-05:00

X is for...

2012-07-31T11:32:00.005-05:00

W is for Whine.

2012-07-31T11:32:00.001-05:00

V is for Vacation.

2012-07-31T11:31:00.004-05:00

(more vacation pictures to come...eventually)

U is for Up.

2012-07-31T11:30:00.003-05:00

Happy Fourth of July

2012-07-31T11:29:00.005-05:00

Cooper is 6 months old!

2012-07-31T11:28:00.001-05:00

He is actually a week older than 6 months here. We went in for his 6 month well check, and it was a good coincidence because he ended up being sick that day, had fever, was coughing, had horrible sinus sickness going, and was just NOT feeling good. He hasn't been sick his whole 6 months of life, and then ironically, the day he turns 6 months, he gets sick. He wasn't able to get his shots that day because he was just crying and pitiful, it was sad :(

Turns out he had upper respiratory infection. We got antibiotics, and he was on his way to getting better, we thought. A couple of days later, he gets pink eye. Then I get pink eye. So we go back to the doctor, and get him eye drops prescription. By a few days later, he was definitely on the mend.

We went back to the doctor at 6 months and 1 week exactly for them to give him his shots, and to check up on his sickness. Well...turns out now, he has an ear infection! I had no idea! He wasn't acting like it at all! So we got another (different) round of antibiotics to battle that. I'm so glad we got everything figured out, because it was the next day we were leaving for Florida, our family vacation.

6 month stats:

Weight: 6 lbs 1 oz - 24%

Height: 26.25" - 45%

Head: 17" - 34%

We were a bit surprised on how little weight he had gained. He, at this point, was still 100% breastfed, so I was sure that my milk was just skim ;) hah! He didn't look skinny at all though, so I wasn't too worried.

My original goal was to breastfeed Cooper until 6 months. It was that week that I started adding formula in. We started with just using formula to make his oatmeal cereal. Then, by a week later, I was OVER having to pump after he goes to bed to be able to level all of his bottles off (so they would be 100% breastmilk). So I cut out that pumping, and starting supplementing formula to level off the bottles.

By 6.5 months, I had cut out another pumping session (3pm). After vacation (6.75 months), I had cut out yet another one (12pm). So I was just slowly weaning off. By 7 months (I'm writing this later if you can't tell), I had cut out all daytime pumpings/nursing, and was down to only first morning feeding, and 5pm, and bedtime.

I'm mad that I'm writing this late, because I can't possibly remember what his milestones were at this point. I do know he sat up well. He laughs and laughs, cackles, and just makes us smile every day.

Cooper's First Food {Cereal}

2012-07-31T11:13:00.001-05:00

So, our pedi recommended us to start him on cereal about 5 months. She said some start at 4, and some start at 6, and some never have cereal. So she went for the happy medium, and suggested 5 months.

We...well, waited until 5.5 months. It's funny how people say your child will let you know when they are ready for X, Y, or Z. Well, Cooper was plenty ready for food, and was giving us all the signs. We started out with rice cereal. Which...he actually hated. I moved onto oatmeal pretty quickly, and realized he liked it thick, so I bet if we went back to rice and made it thicker, he would like it.

Of course, I had to get on camera his first try with with any food:

As you can see in some of the pictures, he wasn't a fan. We tried rice cereal again for a few more nights, and then went to oatmeal. He eventually fell in love, and now LOVES him some oatmeal.

T is for Toes.

2012-07-31T11:08:00.003-05:00

S is for Summer.

2012-07-31T11:07:00.003-05:00

R is for Runner.

2012-07-31T11:06:00.002-05:00

(disclaimer: my child cannot run, or walk. This was heavily photoshopped using many composites!)

Wow...I'm so behind....

2012-07-31T11:05:00.002-05:00

Just a warning, I'm a month-2 months behind on posting, so hereeeee I gooo!

Okay first up, I finally exported a ton of photos out of lightroom, so I'm going to share...

Cooper a little older than 5 months....

Cooper {everyday}

2012-06-12T16:31:00.003-05:00

Gah, I just love this boy.