Two years ago today..

at the very time this will post, my whole world changed. I became a mommy. Not only was I responsible for myself, but a whole other tiny life.

He isn't tiny anymore, but he's still my whole world! Happy birthday Cooper!

Want an Update??

Good! Because I finally have time to write one! TONS has happened since I last really updated you guys. My first semester of Nursing finally ended a couple weeks ago. I made a B which I'm pretty happy with considering lots of people failed and I got sick right in the middle and got really behind. I got dehydrated in spite of drinking an appropriate amount of water and was passing out so my doctor admitted me to the hospital. This was at the end of October and I still don't have any answers about a cause. As long as I keep Powerade handy, I'm usually ok now though.

Now for the update you really want! Cooper! My baby will be 2 this month. I really can't believe its been almost 2 years since he was born. It went entirely too fast! He can count to 3 all by himself now! I hope to get this on video to post soon. We'll see how that goes.. He knows blue and green and doesn't seem to care about any other colors. He has been speaking in complete sentences for quite a while now. I swear his vocabulary is larger than my husbands *snicker* He amazes me everyday with how smart he is and how fast he learns. It seems like just yesterday all he could say was mama and dada.

He is outgrowing most of his one-size cloth diapers, which means I get to buy more!! I'm kinda excited about that, but I found a much cheaper way to do it. And its going to get its own post :)

It wouldn't be an update post without a recent picture so here are a couple!

This was our Christmas card picture. If you look close his horse is pretending to be a reindeer, but his antlers blended into the tree :)

Here is Cooper playing in the snow on Christmas day! We had our very first white Christmas here in East Tennessee!

Cloth Diapering: An Update

Cloth diapering is going great! Cooper seems to really like it, and it hasn't been as gross as I thought it might. I had given myself a couple "outs" when I decided to try cloth. They were (1) I could use sposies when going out and (2) I could use sposies overnight. Well last night my brother took us out to eat and I decided to use my cloth. I put him in a shirt and just let him wear a matching diaper. It was ADORABLE! But it was not hard at all to use cloth on the go. They take up a little bit more room in my diaper bag, but that's ok. Just an excuse to buy a bigger bag ;) In regards to "out" number 2, we did use a sposie last night. We only have 6 cloth diapers right now,and therefore not enough to use them full time. When I get enough to go cloth full time, we will not be keeping sposies in the house anymore. (Well we might keep a few for "just in case") I LOVE this so far. I'm definately hooked. I really look forward to getting more and using cloth full time! My husband's sister is graduating tonight and we are going to use cloth at the graduation. I will let you know how it goes! So far, so good :)

Here is Cooper's cute tush and his Uncle Ty at dinner last night.

IT'S OVER!!!!

My first semester came to a close today. I thought I would be relieved, and for the most part I am. But, also, I don't know what to do! There is nothing hanging over my head that I need to get done! Cooper keeps me busy, but I'm usually juggling Cooper and working on something. I've kinda forgotten how to just relax with Cooper. I only have a month until summer semester starts, so I will barely have time to get used to this new found freedom until there are assignments hanging over my head yet again. Grades will be posted on Monday. I will post them for you as soon as I know myself :)

In other news, Cooper is a ball of energy lately. He is running EVERYWHERE! He has forgotten how to just walk. He is also opening doors by himself which scares me. Today, he heard my Papaw start up the backhoe. He ran to the door, opened it easy as you please, and walked right out. This scares me for 2 reasons. (1) He can open doors by himself, and (2) he is not afraid of heavy machinery. He will go right up to Papaw and demand "buden, buden." We will be making a visit to Target tomorrow for baby proofing stuff for the doors. We will have to work on the not-running-up-to-heavy-machinery thing.

An Update on Cooper: 15 Months

I have lots to do for A&P and I have been procrastinating by doing things for other classes. Now I'm out of things to do for other classes for the moment! Heather suggested that I blog! Its a great way to procrastinate! *wink*

So here is my past due update on Cooper:

He turned 15 months old on the 12th of this month! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! Last week was his 15 month well-check. He weighed 23 lbs. and was 31 inches long. He has been communicating wonderfully! He is still saying boob when he wants to nurse, which I'm not thrilled about. Also, now it sounds like boob instead of boo so everyone definately knows what he is saying when he screams boob at me in the middle of church. I'll have to thank his daddy for that... Speaking of screaming, he has got a temper on him! He tells me no when he doesn't want to give me something he shouldn't have. (We are working on that) Besides his defiant moments, he is usually a very happy little boy. He loves to give kisses and definately is a snuggler! Mommy loves that! He is still nursing atleast 2 or 3 times a day and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Other eating is touch and go. Sometimes he will eat all day and some days he won't eat at all. He loves spaghetti though. And smoothies are definately a favorite. I make smoothies for us with frozen fruit, juice, and plain yogurt. Even when he won't eat anything, he will drink a smoothie. When I go to Smoothie King now, I have to order a big one because a certain small person drinks half of it! He loves them!

Yesterday, I noticed he felt warm so I took his temperature. Sure enough, it was 102 degrees. I gave him Motrin and waited. It just didn't want to come down. So off to the doctor we went this morning. He has an ear infection :( Wasn't this why we did the tubes?? I'm disappointed right now. I thought this was behind us. We will just have to wait and see I guess...

Just an Update

This will be just a small update on some happenings of the past week or so.

This is what happens when you let a one year old play with your Blackberry.

We ended up turning Cooper around in his car seat last weekend. It is the only way it would fit in Jerry's Jeep and he insisted on taking Cooper for a ride. After facing forward in the Jeep, Cooper refused to face the rear when he moved back to my car. As you can see, he loved getting to see everything!

Jerry ordered Cooper and himself matching TapOut shirts. They look pretty darn cute in them if I do say so myself! Cooper is just waking up and Jerry squints alot in pictures. Oh well, this is the best one I got.

This has been my life for the past couple nights. As I tried to study for my Anatomy exam last night, my son turned into the whiniest child on the planet. I mentioned to a friend I thought maybe he was getting sick. And sure enough, a runny nose started this evening...

...along with this lovely fit. But, yes he is still cute Olga :)

Cooper is 11 months old TODAY!!!

I can't believe my little booger will be a year old in one month! This past year has flown by! It has been the best year of my life though. Even with all the ups and downs it has been wonderful.
As of November 17, he weighes 21 pounds and is 28 3/4 inches tall(I guess since he is standing more than he lays down its tall not long anymore). He takes steps but refuses to walk more than 3. He will walk holding onto 1 hand now instead of having to hold both hands. He has stacking cups in the bath tub and has figured out the big ones can't go into the little one but the little ones will go into the big ones. It was so sweet watching him figure it out all by himself!
He is getting better about eating solid food. Sometimes he will eat two jars and sometimes not even a half. He is still nursing. Anywhere from 4 to 6 feedings a day. My initail goal when I was pregnant was to nurse until he was 6 months old and after I started I moved it to a year. Now I've decided I'm going to try baby-led weaning, within reason though. I will not be nursing a 3 year old. Some women do, and that's fine; it's just not for me. So I guess we will just see what happens.
I can't believe he is on the verge of toddler-hood. But I am excited to see what God has in store for our future!

Cooper is 9 Months Old!

Cooper turned 9 months old Monday. and today he added quite a few tricks. He has been crawling up the step in our living room for a couple months now but when he wanted to come down he would sit at the edge and squeal. Today he has came down the step by himself twice! Also, he does not like to feed himself smalls things like gerber puffs. He opens his mouth like a bird and expects someone to put one in his mouth. This evening he sat in his highchair and ate puffs by himself(with mommy in the chair beside him) for about 15 mins. He is getting so independant!