Birthday Madness!!

This is the two weeks of the year in which my family celebrates MANY, MANY birthdays!!

Last friday was my uncle's birthday

Sunday, the 29th was Aunt Katie's.....we LOVE seeing and hanging out with aunt katie, even though they live so far away from us in the big city.  We've been trying and trying to persuade them to move to the south where the sweet tea flows and the accents are THICK =)

For some flashback pictures, click here.



Today is my dad's birthday!  We celebrated this weekend with mexican food and some cake! 

I summed up A LOT about my dad in this post here! 

 I really am sooo blessed to have him in our life!!

Christmas Recap

I am not sure about you....BUT DECEMBER FLEW BY!!!

I picked up C's calendar to jot down some milestones and realized the entire month of December was blank. 

Seriously, COMPLETELY BLANK and I didn't even realize it.  Yikes.  I'm thinking THAT will be one of my 2012 goals....to do less in december and enjoy the many holidays that it brings!!

So, In a brief picture recap....here are some Christmas pictures.  Other activities to hopefully come later....

Our own reindeer....followed by Santa Claus

One of our Christmas traditions on Christmas Eve...making cookies!!  R was in HEAVEN!! His favorite part was the sprinkles!!

Christmas morning...Opening his stocking (this is gift unwrapping session #2--he did a few from my aunt/uncle on christmas eve)

Before church on Christmas morning...

Opening at my parent's house (#3)

Then up the grandparents we headed....

Opening session #4

And #5 at grannie's house...sorry, just had to put this picture of my uncle =)

 Then onto Ohio we went.... Session #6, in which aunt laura made them all matching sweaters!!

And now you see why we are STILL de-toxing from Christmas (and disney world)  (oh, and his birthday party--coming later) 

It was super busy but we def. consider ourselves super blessed with such an amazing family =)  Our boys are loved by sooo many people!!!

Fall Synopsis in pictures!

Bobpa meeting Coop and celebrating Caleb's FIRST birthday...

 The beginning of Cooper's "firsts"....

About to visit the pumpkin patch

Carving a pumpkin....

 Thanksgiving in Ohio followed by a visit to the holiday trains...

Celebrating Brennan's coming arrival and my TEN YEAR reunion....yikes!!

 

P.S. I just got my computer back so lots of pictures on the way =)

4 months Old!

Poor little Coop hasn't gotten ANY blog time!!  So here is a summary of the latest happenings in this little guy's life.

Cooper is such a sweet, sweet baby.  His smile is priceless!!  He is a cuddler and enjoys being held by anyone =)  He could sit in the swing all day long (which apparently he got from his daddy).  We just pulled out the jump-a-roo and he is absolutely loving it.  He is always wanting to stand up!!

He wants nothing to do with a pacifier despite our valiant and constant attempts!!  And most recently has been refusing the bottle!!!!!!!!  I have NO clue how to handle that!!!!  My mom says it's pay back cause I never took one until I could hold it myself.....which is pretty funny, ha!  Who knows, maybe a sippy cup is in his future!!

He has been having some major tummy issues and we are hoping and praying for answers soon!! I had always felt like he had a super sensitive stomach but about 3 months ago, I began to realize that something was just not right.  We had him checked and he had blood in his stool so (in a nutshell)....no dairy or soy for me X 2 weeks- still positive(for blood)......  no dairy, soy, wheat, egg, nut, fish, or citrus for me X 4+ more weeks- still positive.....a two weeks trial of Alimentum (in which he lost a few oz, then maintained the same weight for a week, then finally gained)- still positive....and give or take some time...here we are today.  Still unsure of what to do.  I am feeding him again with a modified diet for now.  There is one other formula we could try but it's crazy expensive and with his track record it's going to take some time for him to adjust to it!!  Overall he is acting okay.  Still not as good as he was but not even close to the worst he was either!!

We haven't been able to start rice cereal yet but hopefully soon!!  He weighs 15-2 and is rolling over from belly to back.  He laughs at our funny faces and 'coos' back and forth with us a lot.  He also does this playful scream quite often!!  Drooling, chewing on his hands, and watching his crazy big brother are his favorite past time right now!

(sorry no pictures for this post cause my computer is messed up and that's where they all are, yikes!! I am on John's right now!!)

Our Big Guy Turned TWO!!!!!!!

(Soo...I started this on the 14th and am just now getting around to publishing it....oops!)

I can't believe it's been two years already!!!!  

It seems just like yesterday that this little guy was born!

This kid keeps is constantly making us laugh.  He has such a big personality.  He loves anyone and everyone and within minutes will be your best friend.  He is very independent and wants what he wants when he wants it.

 His vocabulary is endless and he is always talking in complete sentences.  Some of our favorites... "uh-oh, what happened?"  "daddy gone to work on school bus" "where did ___ go" (in a high pitched, questioned looked face) "I no like it" "one more time"

He is such a good big brother!!!  He always talks to "Coop-e" (as he has recently named him) and tries to watch out for him.  One morning in Ohio over thanksgiving, Cooper was crying upstairs....Rader immediately came to each one of us and said "cooper need lunch".  After he realized none of us were going up to get him, he headed up that way and said "it's otay Cooper"

He has shared his favorite blankey with Cooper and is always helping me to get the burp cloth, paci, etc!

Of course, we see this face below from time to time.  Particularly when he doesn't get his way, Imagine that!!!  He has a time out chair which he has responded to great!  Now all we say is..."do you want to go to time out?" and he says NO then usually quits.(of course a subject change helps.

)

He has turned into a super picky eater lately and doesn't really want to eat!! He would much rather be playing than eating!  His favorite snacks right now are fruit snacks and applesauce.

  

And HE DOESN'T MISS A BEAT! His memory is amazing. If you do something differently than before, he knows it.  If you do something one time, he wants to do that way for EVER!  He can be quite OCD at times including his habit of loading, unloading, and lining up items (animals, shoes, etc)

He can def. be a "ham" at times and will do anything you ask him too.  He loves washing clothes and the dishes along with sweeping.  Now if only I could teach him to fold clothes and clean the bathroom!!

He has an obsession with animals and will play all day with them! Any size, any shape, or anyone!  I'm pretty sure he knows just about every type of animal there is!!  He is also into trucks and trains now!!


He has his basic colors down and still enjoys his puzzles.  We got him one of the USA and it's quite cool to watch him put all 50 states together (his dad is beyond thrilled about this)!!

About 4 months ago, he started getting into "tv shows" and his favorite is Little Einsteins with Barney as a close second.  (over Christmas, he watched 101 Dalmations and toy story...amazing)

Despite our constant discipline and direction for this big guy, We are absolutely loving this phase right now and can't wait to see what else God has in store for him and us =)

Trick or treat

Our very own Bob The Builder

W.W.