Cooper...

...he's pretty awesome most of the time. But today he has thrown several tantrums. I tell him no - he rolls on the floor and screams. I take him away from something - he rolls on the floor and scream. I put him down - he rolls on the floor and screams. It's my one day off this week and I was hoping for a fun day full of playing and having fun. Oh well...what can I do? I'm working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Thankfully I work from 6-2 so we can still celebrate this holiday. On a happier side... Look at Cooper's eyes in this picture? He has really cool eyes. And they are bigger than Brady's or mine. Another cute thing he has been doing is calling for mama and dada when he's in bed. During his morning nap yesterday we put him to bed and we hear "mama dada" perfectly clear! It was adorable and made us both giggle.

Award

With our busy schedules and much needed family time...the little things like grocery shopping, dishes, laundry, etc. are put off. They are usually put off until we desperately need to get it done. The other day we ran out of milk. Brady LOVES milk and has cereal for breakfast every day. When I was at work he ran into the store to grab a few things. He came home with some wonderful surprises!

- milk

- cereal

- pizza rolls

- oreos

- two different types of chips with two different types of cheese dip

I can't remember the rest but he bought these few things just for me! We don't usually buy these snack type foods but he deserves "the best husband in the world" award! It was a nice surprise after a long evening at work.

the FASTEST 10 Months

Cooper is 10 MONTHS OLD!!! I still can't believe it! It has been an AMAZING 10 months. So much has happened! I can barely remember what it was like before we had the little guy. Even though we are super busy with work, being parents, and house work...we have more "down" time than we used to (if you can imagine that)! Here are some fun recent facts on Cooper:

- he says "mama" a LOT when he's hungry! He says "dada" when he's playing with his soccerballs. He used to say them appropriately but he hasn't for the past week or so.

- he likes to open the cupboards and drawers

- he can stand by himself but is always too excited to do it for very long

- loves food. All kinds of food. Especially strong flavors (like garlic bread). He prefers ham over chicken. And the chicken that he will eat is flavored with the fajitas. The only thing I find he doesn't like to eat is peas (he'll eat baby food peas).

- he still LOVES bath time!! He still gets frantic when he hears the tub running.

- he doesn't like to be near the Christmas tree. The branches are too "poky" for him I guess! The ornaments he likes but he'd have to get past the branches to get to them.

- he doesn't like to watch TV. He'll spin around real fast when the Office theme song comes on but that's about it! haha

- he still LOVES LOVES LOVES little kids! He does this noise when he wants someone's attention - it was cute at first but now it's annoying.

- he has 3 teeth...2 bottom, 1 top.

- he's wearing 12 month clothes now and almost growing out of them.

- sleeps through the night like a champ!

Well, that's all for now. I'm sure I can go on and on and on about all the amazing things he's doing. He is so much fun and full of energy! We actually think his energy level is calming down (or maybe we're just getting used to it?)

*no pictures. I just got my Mac back!!

natural beauty

Yesterday I had a guy I work with tell me I "looked different".
Our conversation went a bit like this:
Me: "well, i've been sick so maybe i just look ill."
Guy: "no, do you usually wear makeup?"
Me: I laughed and said, "yup, but with my pink eye i am not wearing any."
Guy: "oh, well you look a lot different."

NOT even 10 minutes later a woman i work with told me I looked better.
Me: "thank you. I'm not wearing any make up so i take that as a good compliment."
Woman: "many women have natural beauty and i think you look pretty without makeup."

So many people have different opinions. I knew this little fact but it struck me hard yesterday. The days where I feel ugly and down someone else (besides my amazing husband) thinks I'm beautiful!

Isn't that a little comforting to know?

Blog editing

I see a lot of other blogs with cute fonts and gadgets. I haven't had any time to play around with it. HOWEVER today I thought instead of taking a nap, doing the dishes, or watching a movie (while Mr. Coop is sleeping) I would play around. I think I did good!!! First attempt without any problems...it only took an hour or so but hey it's cute!

Sickness

This past week has been interesting. I will start from the beginning...

LAST WEEK: I felt like I was coming down with something. Aches, chills, exhaustion, sore throat, red eyes

SATURDAY: I called work (I was supposed to go in at 2-10) because I thought I might have pink eye. The pinkish eyes, itching, burning, yuck! I went to the doctor and sure enough it was pink eye. So no work for me and a day to rest at home.

SUNDAY: I went to work that evening. Brady told me on my way home he thinks Cooper has pink eye too...in both eyes! Cooper slept for 13 hours that night.

MONDAY: He woke up Monday morning with nasty, green goup in his eyes and extremely red, puffy eyes. I took him to the doctor right away and he too was given drops for pink eye. He started to cough a bit throughout the day but nothing serious. So Cooper's not doing well and I am EXTREMELY hoarse! I sounded awful and felt awful. I was called into work that evening because so many people called in and no one could go in. They knew how sick I was and still needed me. So I went in for a few hours and ended up being sent home. I could barely talk and was exhausted. Brady had the chills, sore throat, aches, and exhausted. He could feel a head cold coming on.

TUESDAY: I went to work first thing in the morning. I felt awful and still sounded awful. I was scheduled but no one was able to come in and cover for me. Brady stayed home with Cooper in the morning until the 24 hours on the drops were up. He went to the doctor and picked up a slip that said Cooper was no longer contagious and took him to daycare. When I picked Cooper up at daycare he looked terrible! He just stared at me and could care less about what was going on. He coughed all the way home. Once we go home he was so clingy and wouldn't let me put him down. I gave him some tylenol and tried everything to get him to calm down. The only thing that worked was if I was standing and he was laying his head against my chest with his arms between us. Not fun! My arms were exhausted and I just wanted to curl up and sleep myself. Of course, as soon as Brady got home he was happy and cheerful like nothing was the matter. REALLY? I was a little upset about the whole thing. He went to sleep before 7 and slept until 8:30!

WEDNESDAY: I had called my work yesterday telling them that I would not be able to come into work becaue my baby was really sick. They were able to get someone to come in for me!! So I am home with Cooper. We are both feeling better than yesterday. Cooper is happy, cheerful, playing, and eating! His eyes look a million times better and not much of a cough today. Here is a picture of him this morning. Brady is still feeling sick and getting worse. I feel bad that he has to go to work today :( He's coming home for lunch so hopefully he can sit and relax for a few minutes.

So hopefully we all start feeling better. It's a crazy time at work for the both of us. Without family or friends we struggle juggling work, a sick baby, and our own sickness. All of this will pass!

Catch Up

Pictures in no paticular order:

Cooper playing with his first cell phone and in his new hat from Grandma!

New hat from Grandma!
New toy!

opening his presents

with mommy and presents!

our Christmas tree this year. I love our tree! My Great Grandma crocheted the tree skirt and this tree is from my Grandma. All the ornaments are from my mom, grandma, or a few that we've made.

Cooper putting on the star. He thought it was awesome!

The other day I gave him a pile of waffles and puffs. He divided them up and only ate the waffles!

Thanksgiving/Christmas with his cousins! We were trying to get a picture of them in matching PJ's. Cooper was not having it.

Bath time at Grandma's. He slipped and ended up with his first black eye!

Opening presents with Daddy

With Mommy opening presents

Learning

Work is hard. Just when I feel like I am getting the hang of things everything goes down hill. I forget little things when I'm at work and then remember them when I get home or the next day. These little things can turn into big things and it stresses me out. I hate letting people down and not doing my compete job. I've talked to many other nurses there and they all say the same thing...you're still learning! Oh how I hate that I am still learning and not that perfect nurse I dream of being.

Also, I have the cutest most happiest baby in the world!!! I love him SO much and he's the best little boy.
-A few posts ago I mentioned how he doesn't want baby food anymore. Well, he would still eat it but preferred other food. After Thanksgiving he has decided to NOT want to eat baby food or even a bottle. His bottle he'll only drink a few ounces and push it away. Food...he pushes away. BUT he has had shredded chicken, waffles, toast, grilled cheese, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, french fries (just 3 little pieces), ice cream (screamed when we wouldn't give him more), frozen vegetables and more things I can't think of. He doesn't like fresh fruit. His face goes sour and then spits it out. He says mama and dada all the time!
-He started to crawl using his feet and hands and not on his knees or belly.
-He's more interested in the plug to the Christmas lights than the tree itself!
-his top right tooth finally popped through
-His body is all bruised from the falls he's been taking. His most recent is right in the middle of his forehead!
-He weighs 19.7 pounds, 27 inches long. His head is small but the doctor says it's growing consistantly so nothing to worry.
-He's wearing 12 month clothes now!

So that's the rundown on Mr. Coop. He's loud, happy, smiley! We couldn't ask for a more perfect baby!

'Tis the Season

It's Thanksgiving time!! I can't wait to see family and have all the kiddos together. Cooper will finally be able to play with them! But aside from the celebration part here are a few things that I am grateful for in my life:

- our home. it's not perfect. it's not ours. but it keeps us safe and warm. a place to go home to. and along with our home - our stuff in it!
- family. especially my boys. all 3 of them! how lucky am i to have such handsome men in my life. i know i will be taken good care of when i get old.
- our jobs. even though i hate having to work i am grateful for my job. our house is warm, bills are paid, we have plenty of food, clean clothes, and even a little extra to go out on dates, or buy plane tickets to MICHIGAN!
- vehicles. we have 3 that run. nothing fancy, just perfect for our needs.
- brady. he gets me through each and every day. i don't handle stress well..at all! my heart starts acting up and my body starts hurting. i start to shake and can't control the tremors. i have a problem with stress and always have. but just a simple phone call or text from brady calms me down and helps me relax. since i've started working, i often find a little note on my windshield. and just this weekend i found a picture of cooper in my front seat. how thoughtful and sweet of him! he lets me sleep in when i didn't get home until after midnight that morning. cleans the house while i've been gone. he even puts the clothes away!! he tells me i'm beautiful every day. his kisses make my knees weak. his hugs make me feel safe and loved. he's so gentle and kind to everyone. he loves his family and hates being away from them. he loves me more than i ever imagined my husband would!

what are you grateful for??

all in a months work

Cooper has recently been eating like a champ! He will sit and eat 3+ containers of food...of the BIG containers of food. He LOVES LOVES LOVES to eat! When I try to give him "people" food it takes him forever to eat because he doesn't get full. We always know when he isn't feeling well because he'll only eat maybe 3 containers a day total. Anyway...his belly is getting big and he is feeling much heavier. I wanted to see how much he weighed. So I stepped on the scale to see how much I weighed, then I was going to pick him up and do the math. To my surprise I have lost 10 pounds!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I knew I was losing weight because my pants are looser - but I have a hard time losing inches in that area so I just assumed my pants were stretching out.

Now aren't you curious how I lost all that weight in one month?? My job! I am always on my feet. And by always - I mean 8+ hours STRAIGHT. I still am running behind schedule, which means I don't sit down until I am done on the floor. The other nurses that see me working joke around about how fast I can walk. The other night I was even asked if everything was okay because I was walking so slow (it happened to be the one night I was ahead of schedule). Some of my aids have even told me that they consider working as their cardio workout. Agreed! So the only times I sit are when I chart...after I'm off the floor. Also, I don't eat lunch or anything at all during that time. I have no time to get my work done and eat. Eventually I will be better at organizing my time and I will have that half hour to chill. But until then...I guess I will keeping losing the pounds!

October and November

I haven't posted any pictures because my Mac charger still isn't working and the Dell is kind of slow. But I have some "me" time while Cooper is sleeping...and some relaxation time after I am home after work...to post some pictures. I hope you like them!

Cooper is not even the tiniest bit afraid of the water! He would dive in head first if we let him.

playing before bed
he tends to dive head first into his spoon full of food!

playing with all his toys.

he LOVES paper and tore up Dad's soccer magazine within minutes

new favorite thing...looking out the window and grabbing the blinds

naked baby!

crazy hair. You can kind of see the weight he's been gaining!

bath time - enough said

Happy Halloween!

he hates things on his head. He screams.

he thought the fridge was pretty cool and climbed right in!

Look Mom!!

Happy Birthday to me!

first pumpkin

all of our pumpkins. C for Cooper, big one's mine, the owl's is Brady's, K for Kegan.

I woke up to this on my birthday :) All my favorite candy! And the card was super sweet with a gift card for a facial, money for whatever I wanted at the spa, and a picture of my cricut that we purchased later that day!

it takes two people to change this little boy's diaper. Sometimes even the two of us struggle together to hold him still long enough to get anything done. BUT give him a bottle and we can do whatever until the milk is gone. Seriously one of the most frustrating things as a parent.

Go Michigan!

Cooper waving at us!

giggles

exhausted

Work is kicking my butt! Since I'm still trying to get the hang of everything it takes me so much longer just to get half my job done. I speed walk everywhere (someone even told me I was going to get shin splints). And then there's the few days where I'm running. Last night was a marathon for me. The other nurses on the other halls mentioned how they've noticed I've had a lot of things going on (phone calls, faxes, call lights, etc.). Thankfully, one of the nurses was ahead of schedule and had some time to help me get the little things done (like checking blood glucose). If it wasn't for his help and guidance through this learning experience I probably wouldn't have left before 1:00 am. It was rough and my body is paying for it today. And unfortunately (or maybe it's a good thing) I have this weekend off and then only 2 days off until Thanksgiving. I am going to be one tired mama but Christmas is coming and the money would be helpful to give Cooper the BEST first Christmas!

Oh and on that note...we think Cooper will LOVE opening presents. His favorite toy or form of entertainment is paper. Any type of paper. Brady had a soccer magazine on the floor. It was torn to shreds within minutes! Cooper had a BLAST ripping it apart and shaking it around. When we go to restraunts...give him the children's menu to play with. It keeps him busy almost the entire time. The other times that it doesn't occupy him...give him a straw cover. Works like a charm!

So we're pretty excited for the holidays this year. It will be great fun with the little man of ours and all his energy!

cooper

i really really do miss my little man. i miss being home with home all day and knowing everything that he's doing. now that i've been working a lot i don't get to see as much of the cool things he's doing. but, as his mother i do get to see it just not as often. here's a list of some cool things our active boy is doing:

- opening cupboards. he figured this one out and has done it only a few times. hopefully he doesn't figure it out again any time soon.
- giggles ALL the time!!! brady has told me several times "he is always laughing!" maybe we look funny to him??
- said "dada" for the first and only time. brady was on speaker phone and i always tell cooper to say "hi dada". this time he breathed in real deep and whispered "dada". brady didn't even hear it :(
- he has no fear. he'll be standing against the furniture, spin around real fast and throw himself to the ground. he serioulsy pushes off the couch and falls with as much energy as he can. he then gets up and does it again, over and over. if he's on the furniture and we are not holding him...he will throw himself over the edge. i have only had to catch him once half way off the bed. he doesn't get very many chances to do anything that courageous.
- still has a ton of energy. brady and i will be on the floor playing with him. he crawls over to brady, stands up against him, does his spin move and throws himself to the floor. then he crawls over to me and does the same thing. once again, he does this like 5 minutes straight before he gets onto something else. oh and don't forget the giggles. he's laughing and squealing the whole time!
- he absolutely loves bath time. remember the whole "no fear" he has going on? i turned the water to the tub on. as usual cooper comes crawling in as fast as he can, naked, ready to get in the tub. i turned my back for a second and the next thing i see is cooper balancing (on his tummy) on the edge of the tub trying to reach the running water. the funniest part was his little legs weren't touching the ground but they were kicking trying to get a little farther. and to add to it he was giggling as usual :) i would've grabbed the camera but you can imagine what my reaction was!
- he loves, loves, loves hair. he will crawl up to me giggling and laughing...so i think he wants to play. when he gets to me and stands up the first thing he does is reach for my hair and yank on it as hard as he can. and not just the top layer...it's almost always the bottom little hairs at the back of your neck. OUCH! he does this to brady too but he will grab whatever he can. surprisingly, my hair is grabbed WAY more than my glasses.
- his new favorite spot is the window. unfortunately we have 3.5 windows total in our whole place. the one in the living room is low enough for him to look out.

well, that's all for now. he's napping and i'm so ready for a nap. i have a meeting i have to go to for work...mandatory if i want to get paid. blah.

oh and pictures will come sometime soon. promise. i am going to go buy a new computer cord today.

Time?

This week I worked a lot of hours...in the past three days I have worked 30+ hours. I want to say about 35ish. And, to make things worse I worked two evening shifts (2pm-10pm). I don't mind the late hours...it means more time with Cooper but when I leave work at 12:30 after being there since 1:45 I am pretty pooped. Also, I don't have the time to take breaks or even think about being hungry or peeing. So I can't wait to get home and into bed by this time, or maybe eat. Then all too soon Cooper decides to wak up in the middle of the night. Of course Brady gets up with him but I'm still aware that the little one is awake. But THEN he gets up at 6:30 - 7:00 every morning. So after several days of being up early, working hard for 11 hours straight, then maybe 5 hours of sleep at night is starting to wear on me. But hey...my pay check should be helpful right??

Old pictures

My mac charger is not working for some reason so we are using our dell for now. While Cooper is sleeping I thought I'd go through some old pictures that are on here. This one I wanted to share.

It's our first family picture...and only family picture with Kegan. For some crazy reason our camera had died the day we had Kegan. So, the only pictures we have are the few (and I mean 5 or 6) pictures the hospital gave us. I forgot that I had scanned them onto the computer and I am so happy that I did it because I can't figure out how to use the scanner anymore! This picture was the first time I got to hold him. He was the littlest and cutest baby I had ever seen. Even as little as he was he had dark brown hair, daddy's nose, daddy's feet, and mommy's little lips. I still remember everything about that day, the worst and best day of my life. The day I became a mother.

PAY DAY!!!

I got my first check today!!! WOOHOO!! As a nurse!! Not too shabby :)

Sickness

We have all been sick for the past week!!!! It needs to go away.

We ended up taking Cooper to the doctor today because he isn't getting better. He's had a fever, diarrhea, throwing up, rubbing his ear, whiny, not eating, raspy voice, runny nose, congestion. I figured it's been long enough and thought we'd see if there was something more serious going on.

The appointment went well. Cooper weight 18 pounds! He's getting up there :) He screamed when the doctor was looking in his ears. There's a little inflammation and redness but not enough to diagnose with an ear infection. Back to the screaming...Cooper fought this man as hard as he could!! He was kicking, screaming, pulling, rolling, moving EVERYWHERE! The doctor repeated several times about how strong he was. The doc said he's never had such a strong little baby at that age! haha I told him that it takes two people to change his diaper and that he has more energy than any baby I have ever seen. His response, "I can see that." Haha. I told ya...We have a strong/active little boy!

Two new things he started doing in the last few days:

- climbing onto things! I turned around to see Cooper's two feet on the couch along with him holding himself up! I was amazed that he could even do such a thing.

- he waves! I went to get the mail with him and two cars passed by. He waved at both of them! Brady came home and waved "hello" and Cooper waved back! All last night he waved to us during dinner. (video soon to come)

Brady and I have been going back and forth with stomach problems, head congestion, sore throat. It's been rough trying to take care of each other AND a sick baby.

Angela Cooke

Today we found out that our dear friend Angela had died in a car accident. She was headed home from school (yesterday) and hit a truck head on. She was air lifted to Idaho Falls where she bled uncontrollably. Angela was 5 months pregnant with their first child. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her husband and family.

a moment to complain.

Today was awful.

I woke up with a sore throat.

worked 9.5 hours with NO breaks

asked to pick up 2 more shifts

told if I don't work Thanksgiving...I work Christmas

working every other weekend...evening shift (2pm-10pm)

Cooper has a fever

feeling overwhelmed with new job

missing my baby boy ALL DAY LONG

And..

I'm really missing my job as a stay at home mother. Sigh.

Rocking Chair

We've been rocking a LOT lately. Cooper wanted in his own rocking chair and he started to move himself back and forth to get it rocking! So cute and I had to get it on video. Enjoy!

More of Cooper!

I'll start with pictures first in case you're not interested in the update of our 8 month old.

Patiently waiting to be put in the tub. Baby butts are so adorable!

Happy after a nap!

Can you see my tooth?

Rocking in his chair with Teddy

His eyes are brown in the center and green on the outside

Cute hat I found in his closet

standing up against everything and loving the Office

His hair is starting to get a little wave to it

Eating peas and toast

I bet you all are sick of hearing about Cooper. BUT he is the coolest little dude on the planet! AND it's the only time my mom gets to see pictures of him.

Well, he's 8 months old now.

- The day before he turned 8 months (Oct. 11) he decided it was time to start crawling with his knees! It's super adorable and super slow! haha He still does his little inch worm/fish crawl often.

- His 2nd tooth finally popped through!

- He is sick for the first time in his life. It's pretty sad and heart breaking for me. He won't nap, refuses to eat (except in the middle of the night), and is super whiney. I've been able to hold him a LOT this past week.

- He's starting to walk along the furniture and falls a lot! We don't think it'll be too long before he starts walking.

- He started to stand up in his crib. Nap time is challenging, especially with his cold. I have to keep going in and laying him down. He's also throwing his binky across the room...he won't sleep without the silly thing so that's become a problem. There's been a lot of crying and rocking lately. But he always wakes up happy!

- He shows no interest in baby food. I have to shove it in his face in order for him to eat it. I've been giving him peas, toast, fruit, and little graduates food for his age. He LOVES to eat on his own. It just takes FOREVER!

- He's starting to say "ma" when he's crying. Maybe it's the start of saying "mama"? Who knows. There are no signs of talking in the near future.

- We are working on the whole waving thing. I think we're making progress but he waves all the time. We're not sure if he's waving or just playing! haha

Saturday Drive

This fall all I requested of Brady was to take me somewhere to see fall colors. I REALLY miss being in Michigan this time of year. All you have to do is look out your window to see the beauty. But here we had to drive all the way up to the foot hills to even get a glimpse. It was a beautiful drive and we really enjoyed the time we had to relax and talk.

Our own little Yellowstone experience. Silly cows wouldn't move an inch.

At the top

Going on 8 years together this month!

We went a little early but the few trees that changed were pretty

My boys looking at the water

the beautiful clear water

I love these two

My little man

so pretty