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

Week 1 - DONE

I survived my first week of work!! That's a HUGE accomplishment considering I haven't worked in a few years, I have a sick baby at home, and my days start at 6 am. I actually enjoyed yesterday and today. My orientation the last two days have been on the floor with patients as a RN. I passed medications, dressing changes, assessments, and a bunch of random things. I even signed my name with the title "RN" next to it!! haha Today I was left alone for an hour. I think I handled everything fine. Didn't do much but enough to keep me busy. But mainly...I watched and observed.

Cooper is sick. He has a runny/stuffy nose, fever, and a raspy voice. It breaks my heart that he wants me to hold him all the time and I have to run out to work. I made Brady stay home with him today (actually... Brady agreed he needed to stay home with him). It was boss's day at work and they had something planned for him. Ooops! He had to miss it. He actually went in after I got home but he still missed his special lunch just for him. Cooper hasn't been eating too much and is super whiney. He falls over even the tiniest bit and freaks out. Yesterday I rocked him for over an hour while he relaxed and slept - I got to love on him and enjoy his snuggles.

So things are going well...just busy and different. It's hard having to do something when I used to be able to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. My dishes are piled up, laundry needs to be done, carpet needs vacuumed, and the floors need scrubbed. BUT my baby is loved, Brady is loved, and the bills are paid :)

2nd day

Work went well. Kind of boring actually but not bad. I had to sit down and feed a patient today. I wanted to run out the door and pick up Cooper. Everything seems a little scattered and unknown. I hope things start to be more organized. oh well.

I picked up Cooper and he was super happy! The ladies told me "he has so much energy!" hahaha this little info I have known but no one ever sees it. I think he gets a little shy around other people. He will seriously crawl/climb/jump/kick non-stop at super high speed until I lay him down in bed. He will sit for a little bit while we read books (one of my favorite times of the day). But even when we're reading he is smacking the pages really hard and trying to flip through all the pages really fast. He doesn't even sit still to eat. He must have a spoon to hang on to while we feed him because he gets distracted and won't eat. Another thing they mentioned..."does he always cry when you change his diaper?" hahaha this too is something I know. He SCREAMS like we are torturing him when we dress him or change his diaper. We used to be able to give him something to play with to hold him still long enough to get it done...but not anymore! I was telling them I have to pin him down with my leg to get him to stay in one spot and they said it took 2 people to change his diaper. I am giggling to myself right now but there are times when I was in tears because I was so frustrated! I am not sure what is going on with him. We've talked about ADD/ADHD but he can calm down and fall asleep perfectly on his own. He does go through phases where he'll sit on our laps peacefully - it may be for a minute or two but it's there. Once he finds a toy that he really likes he'll sit and play with it for a while. So I don't know...we just came to the conclusion that we have a very active little boy! and I mean EXTREMELY active!

First Day at work

Well, the first day is over! Hallelujah! I do not like first days. The anxiety of something new and not knowing what to expect. I think it went really well. Of course it was only orientation...full of paper work, videos, rules and regulations - that sort of thing. Nothing to interesting. I get paid pretty good for just sitting there and listening! I was even dressed comfortably in my scrubs. Tomorrow is another day full of orientation but we won't be sitting there listening. There will be a tour of the place and other things that won't be so relaxed. I found a few things out. I will be working a few evening shifts (2pm - 10pm), which is alright. It's an extra $1.50 more an hour and less time for Cooper to be at daycare. I also will be working every 3rd weekend instead of every other weekend. That is awesome! And of course the many perks of being full-time...paid vacation, sick days, insurance, etc.

Cooper had his first full day at the daycare center. He did good...not great. He only took two naps. The first was only 40 minutes and the second was 45 minutes. They said he was happy after the naps but pretty fussy before (duh). They couldn't believe how happy he was after his naps! haha the boy LOVES his nap time and feeding time! I called to check up on him and I could hear a baby crying (I am 90% sure it was Cooper). The lady said that he was a little fussy and they were getting ready to feed him. But there's nothing worse than calling and hearing your baby cry in the background...even if it could've been someone else's child! I was heart broken and felt so bad. I wasn't able to call again for the rest of the day but when I picked him up he was all smiles and happy! He seemed content and SUPER excited to see me! As soon as he saw me he giggled and wanted me to pick him up. He gave me a great big hug and was bouncing every where. That moment was so precious! I can't seem to get enough of my happy boy!!

Tomorrow is day two...

Videos

First tooth

It finally popped through!!!

Pumpkin Picking

Our first pumpkin patch as a family! Cooper was tired so he wasn't very smiley but he was a trooper.

With mommy

With big brother's pumpkin

What's that??

His first pumpkin!

New Pictures/Update

Playing with his toys

Helping me fold laundry

Cooper is growing so fast lately. I can't seem to keep up and enjoy all the little changes he's going through!

- his tooth has almost popped through!! Woohoo! We are anxious for the silly thing to finally come in.

- he has figured out the whole "chewing" motion. He likes puffs and bread. I haven't given him anything else to eat other than that. We tried a french fry to keep him from crying today and he didn't like it! That's good because I didn't want to give him fried food :) He still has trouble making the food into his mouth. He tries real hard and it just falls so we usually end up helping him a little.

- he's starting to pull himself up to standing position. the other night we had him stand between the black foot rest thing and the couch. He took a few steps on his own!

- bed time is awesome. He goes down without a peep! Sleeps all night long. Usually 10-11 hours without eating.

- I think his new favorite food is sweet potatoes and corn. He gobbles it up faster than any other food I give him. The ladies at the day care think it's funny he likes vegetables more than fruit. I guess he just spits out the fruit they give him! haha I don't think there's anything he doesn't like. He'll tolerate most foods. Peaches he doesn't usually eat the whole jar but everything else he chows down.

- he's starting to give hugs and kisses! One night he just kept squeezing me tight and coming at me with a wide open mouth! It was really cute. He loves to give his Daddy hugs when he gets home.

- he giggles when we put him on our shoulders. Super cute! I'll be posting a video sometime soon

- he cries when we take things away from him. :(

- still shows no signs of saying "mama" or "dada". We work with him ALL the time to say something similar...but nothing, nada.

I guess that's enough of things about Cooper...here are a few more pictures:

I usually go and check on him once he's quiet because he kicks off the blankets. One day I found him like this!

Learning how to pull himself up on things.

He likes his face buried into whatever he can find. This day was the bumper. I have found him face down in the mattress, blankets over his face, and in the bumper lots of times. We hardly ever see him without something over his face...must but a comfort thing?

New chair from Grandma! He's such a big boy!

Day Care

We finally found a day care for Cooper. It's super difficult trying to find a place where we feel comfortable leaving our child. Everywhere I checked out was dirty, dark, dungy like. I felt awful and couldn't imagine leaving Cooper at any of the places. Then Monday I went and checked out a few more. I FINALLY found a place that was clean, the appropriate number of adult to child ratio, bright colors, windows, high chairs...everything we have at home! It was also the only place Cooper wanted to get down and play (good sign right?). I was so excited and took Brady there later that day. He liked it and so we decided to try them out.

There are a few things that I absolutely LOVE about this place:

- the kids are separated by age group. He is with all the "babies" that are mobile and around his age.

- the play rooms are "no shoes allowed" so the floors are clean

- he has a crib to sleep in that are clean and taken care of.

- there are several ladies there to help with the kids. There is never more than 12 children and at least 2 adults (I've always seen 3 helping out with 6-8 kids). The ratio is one adult to 6 kids and they try to have more adults to that many kids

- the facility is on the way to work for me and 2 stop lights away from Brady's work.

- they give me a paper with the times of every diaper changed, nap times, feeding time and what he ate/amount, and comments about the day so I know what happened.

- they are honest when I call and ask questions. If he's crying they will tell me and let me know that he's not a happy camper.

- they will work with the schedule I have him on and won't do anything that I don't want them to.

Tuesday was our first day. We both had to work at 8 so we dropped him off together. Cooper was excited and Brady and I actually did fine leaving him...I didn't even cry at that point. My first day didn't go as planned so I was able to pick him up around 9. I walked in and he was crying in a crib. One of the ladies were trying to comfort him but nothing was working. They told me that he did wonderful playing with all the kids but when it came down to napping he wasn't happy about it. He even cried most of the way home. I was super discouraged and felt AWFUL about the whole situation. I cried basically the rest of the day. It broke my heart and I couldn't believe what I had done to him that day. Turns out when we got home he slept for about 45 minutes and then ate more than he has in a REALLY long time. He must have been hungry.

Since I won't be starting work until next Tuesday, we decided that this week will be an adjusting week. I am taking him several hours each day to get him used to everything...and help me adjust too. Today was the second day there and he did wonderful! He was excited to get down and play. I called often to check up on him and if he got upset I was going to go and try and calm him down. They said he had breakfast (ate 2 jars of food and 4 oz of formula), played, and went down for a nap. They said he cried for a little while but that's basically because they forgot I had brought a binkie for him! Brady said "I bet they won't ever forget that again." :) I was on my way when they told me they were trying to get him to sleep and when I got there he was out! So I ran around and did a few more errands and they called me when he woke up. When I got there I peeked through the window to see how he was doing. He was smiling and one lady was feeding him some peas. His little legs were kicking and seemed to be doing just fine! I couldn't believe it! My heart ached a little knowing that he is fine without me there. But I was also happy to know that he would be taken care of while I had to work.

I don't want to work. Brady doesn't want me to work. But with so many things happening right now we would struggle financially if I didn't work. This job came at the perfect time, has the perfect hours, and pays very well. We will be able to pay for all of our expenses and put some in savings. It's an answer to our prayers and we are very thankful for how things have fallen into place. I am SO happy that we found a day care center that we feel comfortable with. It is the most expensive place we looked at but it's worth every penny.

So we will continue to take him there. We are always praying that Cooper is taken good care of. I do not like the idea of someone else caring for Coop but it will never be more than 24 hours a week. I try to look at it as a play date with other little kids! Anything to make it a little better right?? :)