happy 6 months to my sweet, sweet baby!

Ahhh reason number 243278789 there will be no more wining for this momma. Thinking about this post has got me a little choked up and I'm sober.


Cooper has knocked the 0 - 6 month milestone chart out of the park and has already started checking milestones off on the 7-12 month chart as well.


Next up: sippy cups and finger foods. I just can't believe it, feels like yesterday we were announcing we were pregnant!


I totally see why moms freak out and rush into a second baby (that will not be us I promise!) But already I feel like Cooper's childhood is blowing by. 


So with my other 324325 things I have to do, blogging is quickly climbing priority. I MUST remember all of it. I must remember the heart-wrenching details of how strong my family is when our sweet baby can barely breathe and the beauty of a blossoming friendship between boy and dog.


I have found myself taking a lot more pictures and videos of silly things around the house and not just the big moments. I am so scared I am going to forget all the sweet things that happen. 


Like how we went out to dinner the other night and Cooper was in my lap playing with toys at the table. He was getting tired and he'd been away from me most of the day. All of a sudden he turns around and hugs me, like really hugs me, lays his head on my shoulder and just snuggles. I know those days of him wanting to snuggle are numbered. 


And since Cooper is now sitting up on his own, I pulled a couple bags of toys that his cousin Delaney passed down to go through. I found this awesome tiger xylophone which I figured he wasn't quite ready for but would be soon. As I am dusting off the rest of the toys I hear him, he has found one of the sticks and is drumming away. I just couldn't believe he figured it out.


So here we are, Cooper James. Six months. Half a year. You are the BEST choice I have EVER made!

Meet our daughter!

Haha, tricked ya! We are not having another baby. But we do have a 3rd addition to introduce.


Meet Sophie Giraffe.

I first heard about Sophie from another blog OMG.....I'm a Mom! Her daughter apparently LOVED Sophie.


I had planned to purchase a Sophie myself but just didn't get around to it. Then Cooper came. A good friend from college came to visit and meet Baby Coop and what did she have for him but his very own Sophie. (Thanks Kate!)

Needless to say, much like OMG Mom's daughter, Cooper just couldn't get enough. Sophie has saved us from many a teething nightmare. She made it to Alabama and back, multiple trips to the grocery store, target, church, etc. etc. She even got her very own trip to Key West and got to ride up top with us in the plane instead of below with the luggage. Sophie put her toes in the sand and basked in the Key West sun and even got her picture taken at the Southernmost Point Buoy.


On our last night in Key West we went to eat at Blue Heaven, which is a pretty good walk from the condo we were staying. I guess Sophie decided she loved the island life so much that she jumped ship (i.e. the stroller) and opted to live the rest of her squeaky life island style.


We had a very frustrating flight back to Richmond with no Sophie but less than 48 hours we can now introduce Sophie II. She is a little different, legs are a touch shorter and her spots are the food paint that OMG Mom speaks of but thankfully Cooper didn't seem to mind!


Sophie I you were loved!

We can only imagine the places Sophie II will go! Thank you World of Mirth for not making us wait for Sophie in the mail!

Vegetarian Baby!

So far, Cooper has liked everything I have put in front of him... rice cereal, green beans, sweet peas, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, peaches, apples, pears...

Then we started the 2nd foods mixes like rice cereal with applesauce and bananas with mixed berries which also seem to be a big hit (eating has never been a problem area for Coop, even when he could barely breathe in the hospital after our ER scare).

And then it came time for meats. So on today's lunch menu we had chicken & green beans. When I opened the jar of chicken & chicken gravy and saw the curdled chunks on top, I was grossed out. When I leaned over and smelled it, I thought I was going to puke. So far, I have tried everything I have given Coop, but there was no way I was putting that stuff in my mouth. My thinking was that I've had all this wonderful food, so I'm spoiled. What does Coop know?
Apparently a lot because when I gave him a taste he spit it out. When I gave him a second taste, he gagged and proceeded to scream his head off.


So I waited an hour and tried again and he got mad. We are talking face bright red, screaming at the top of his lungs mad.

I think Coop is going to be vegetarian until he can chew!

look at us now!

Our very first family photo.

And this is us now.

I am so beyond blessed.

Conversation Topic?

Sitting down at the lunch table today, the topic of where babies come from comes up...

Boy #1: Jesus puts babies in the bellies (making a face like "Duh, why are we even talking about this...")

Boy #2: No, my brother told me a beetle bug comes and bites you. THAT is how a baby gets there.

Boy #3: Babies don't GET there, they come from there...

Before I can change the subject...

Boy #4 interrupts: (who happens to have multiple siblings): No, actually babies come from the mommy's legs.

This is where I decide now is a good time to excuse myself because if I burst into hysterics at the lunch table, they will keep saying whatever they think I'm laughing at over and over, thinking they have just made a joke.

Not the best topic with parent-teacher conferences coming up...

Best Friends!

So do you remember back when Fletch "knighted" Coop as Part of the Pack? Well, we are so beyond that these days.


We have since discovered, Cooper's creepy-incessant-tongue thing is actually an imitation of his K-9 brother. Yes, I understand that most babies go through a "tongue-thrusting" phase. But this is not tongue-thrusting. 


When Fletcher walks into the room, Cooper instantly sticks out his tongue. If he sees Fletch run through the hall, Cooper sticks out his tongue. If he hears Fletch's paws on the hardwoods, Cooper sticks out his tongue. If he hears Fletch bark, you guessed it, he sticks out his tongue but then goes into hysterics. We are talking shoulder-bobbing, belly-laughing hysterics.


It is the coolest thing you will ever witness. 


They are so beyond being in the same pack. They are best friends.

No more wining for this momma!

Yep, you read the correctly. This momma is no longer allowed to drink wine. Well, at least not when Cooper is doing something new. 

After weeks of only rice cereal, Cooper had a tub of green beans (puree of course) and mommy had a glass of wine. Five bites later, Cooper is crying for more and this momma is crying because she cannot believe her sweet baby is eating green beans!! 

I keep kicking myself that I haven't stayed on top of this blogging thing since Cooper got here.

I absolutely love going through my old posts. I started this blog when Rick and I decided to move to Oregon, little did I know that Oregon would mark the beginning of our amazing adventures together. And these are the adventures that are going to be the hardest to remember details. I MUST be better. I MUST stay committed. 

Cooper is about to be 6 months. Do you realize that is HALF A YEAR?

Every time I can't believe something is happening (ie eating green beans) something new happens. 

You know (or may not if you haven't had a baby or are a male) when you find out you are pregnant it is amazing to think about. You have a sweet little bean growing that is especially for you. But until you feel it move and listen to it hiccup, it is really just a thought. But then he comes and he is this squished up ball of love (mine was a bit on the skinny side) and he wants to be all wide-eyed because he is seeing everything for the very first time but he is WAAAAY too overwhelmed and exhausted to even try to stay awake for more than a couple hours.

And It really doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if its 1am or 4am or 4:12am or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, staring at your baby doing nothing is good enough.

But then you get through the up-at-all-hours part of the newborn stage and he starts to smile... coo... laugh... then belly laugh... maybe even talk (in my case stick his tongue out incessantly). At each stage, you think man this is cool. Man this is fun, even the shittier parts like having to wake up at 3am every single night for 7 nights in a row when you just got used to sleeping 8+ hours, even those times seem like a  blessing in disguise... (maybe I just didn't give my sweet baby enough kisses today, so he had to wake up for more.)

And then all of a sudden he is rolling over and "swimming" on his belly and sitting up.

Next thing you know he will be walking, talking (back) and getting married. Those were not the best days of my life. These are. And if I ever, and I mean EVER say anything different. You had better take that bottle of wine out of my hand.

Because like I said, there shall be no more wining for this momma!