30 Before 30: Learn to make baby food

Today I checked #15 off my 30 before 30 list!

We started baby cereal just over a week or so ago. Slim is loving it so onto the next big milestone in our sweet baby's life, baby food!

Here is what I bought at the grocery store:
3 apples (gala)
2 pears
1 avocado
1 bag frozen peas
1 sweet potato

I used a Baeba Babycook which I got used and the lady threw in a set of One Step Ahead storage cups and I had also received a solid food storage kit as baby gift as well (Thanks Shannon F.!). The best thing about the baeba is that I didn't have to separately steam! It is all in one and SUPER easy to use. I rinsed the cooking bowl between each batch and even that wasn't too bad. 

Total prep of dicing all of the fruits and veggies took about 20 minutes. I also received an awesome apple corer and peeler as a baby gift (Thanks Katie W.!) which saved a TON of time with the apples and pears.

I don't think this could have been easier. I got all of the fruits and veggies chopped and ready to go into the baeba. While each batch steamed (which took about 15 minutes) I could fold a load of laundry. The total process from start to finish took just under 2.5 hours and yielded 57 ounces of baby food.

3 apples = 17 oz

2 pears = 9 oz
1 avocado = 6 oz
1 bag frozen peas = 12 oz
1 sweet potato = 13 oz

Slim had an oz of sweet potatoes with his oatmeal at lunch and loved it! The rest of the food I put into the freezer and will pop them out of the trays and store them in a ziplock bag.

Total cost $5.13 which ends up at just 9 cents per oz compared to the ready made Gerber food which comes in just under 60 cents per oz AND I know exactly what is in Slim's food. Sounds like a win-win to me! 

Potty Partay!

So I bought Cooper a potty when he was about 18 months old. Everything I have always read said that is the earliest a child will be ready for potty training. We didn't do anything with it, just put it next to our potty and were able to relay its purpose with various books. I started inviting him with me when I went so he could get used to the idea. 

He was really interested at first. In fact, he kept diapers dry for a whole weekend. But at the time, he was in a classroom that wasn't focusing on potty training and to be completely honest, I am not sure I would've gotten the partnership necessary for being quite successful, plus he was really young.

We stopped for the most part after that. If you have ever read anything about potty training, although there are many different theories and ways to be successful, every single one stresses the importance of keeping it exciting and not putting ANY pressure on the child. It just wasn't Cooper's time. He ended up getting really sick after that so it actually worked out for the best. It would've been pretty difficult potty training in a hospital room hooked up to machines all the time.

Fast forward 8 months...

Last Thursday, Cooper woke up dry. After 9 hours of sleep, he was completely dry. I started jumping and cheering and dancing so he of course followed suit. We raced to the potty and he went! We called Daddy (he was out of town for work) and told him what happened. Daddy knew just what to do so Coop would stay excited. We went to work and told all of mommy's friends the good news, everyone did exactly as they should. Coop was glowing! 

Over the past several weeks, Coop started showing all the signs. He was waking up from nap dry almost every day and only going in his diaper 4-6 times each day, sometimes lasting 4 hours in between. It just so happened, this weekend we had no plans so it seemed like this was the time.

That day, I talked to his teacher about coming up with a plan and really encouraging him to sit every diaper change. Coop only wet 3 diapers during school that day. As soon as we got home he went in his potty!

Friday, I brought some potty treats and a potty chart for his teacher. Together they had a mini potty party, hung up his chart in the bathroom and talked about the treats. He sat on the potty but it was clear to his teacher that the potty was a little scary. She said he acted like he might fall in and suggested I bring an insert for it.

Friday after school, Rick and I took Coop to target to pick out his potty seat. He was pretty excited and upon arrival home carried it all around the house. We pulled out the underwear we had gotten back in February, showed them to Coop, hung up his potty chart and checked out the potty treats. We talked about how tomorrow was going to start our Potty Partay No Pants Day! Needless to say Coop was excited.

So I guess I should get to the theory. The theory is the 3 day potty training method. We varied ours a little, shortening it to 2 days instead of 3 official days being that Coop had 2 successful days of "holding it" at school. We also didn't stay completely naked. Saturday morning Coop was really sad after he WENT POTTY that he couldn't put a diaper on so we had to make a minor adjustment. I whipped out his rock star elmo underwear and suggested we put the diapers away for good and wear his big boy pants instead. Thankfully, Coop was excited and that was that.

Over the course of Saturday, Coop had 1 #1 accident and 1 #2 accident. Both were back to back and in the morning. During his #1 accident I thought he was going to cry because he hated it on his legs and feet and underwear. (This being a good sign to his momma!) He stayed dry, going in the potty every time until bedtime. Right before bed, he had another very small accident during story time, in fact I am wondering if he started to go and then stopped because it was so little. Not too shabby for Day #1!

After polling other moms, we were unsure what to do for the night. He stayed dry during nap, but as I mentioned before he has been dry after nap for weeks. We got some waterproof training pants meant to go over Coop's underwear but he HATED them, and I really can't blame him, they are awful. We opted for continuing with the underwear and just used a mattress protector that snapped to his bed rails. 

Coop was SOAKED when he woke up. We cut off liquids around 7pm and he went right before bedtime which is usually 8:30pm. Rick and I quickly agreed we would be going with night time pullups for awhile.

Today, I was super nervous. I have heard that others who have tried this were met with insane resistance the 2nd day. I really had no idea what to expect and honestly was exhausted from being excited about peepee all day the day prior but Coop did wonderfully. He started to tell us when his 15 minute alarm went off no potty mommy. When he actually had to go he would get really excited and race to the potty.

Today, Coop had 1 #2 accident. But ALL of his peepee ended up in the potty. Even after he got his pjs and "nighttime pants" as we are calling them, he went 2 more times before he actually went to sleep. Halfway through today, he would go to the potty and wouldn't even ask for his sticker or treat. We had to remind him and his response was "oh, yeah sure!" like it really wasn't that important.

Throughout the day, Rick and I just kept looking at each other, like is this really happening? I was pretty confident he was ready going into this weekend, but I really had NO IDEA it would go so well.

Thankfully, I warned his teacher last week that if this weekend went well, I would be packing him a basket full of laundry and underwear and we would be going cold turkey. She was totally on board so that definitely helped with our momentum this weekend.

So we said bye bye diapers. We will see them again when the new baby joins us. And hopefully that is far enough away that Cooper won't revert back when the baby comes, but we know that is definitely a possibility.

Don't get me wrong. Coop isn't 100% potty trained. He hasn't gone #2 in the potty since February. And I am sure we will have some accidents tomorrow and the next day and probably over the next several weeks. But all of the success stories I have heard and witnessed were cold turkey, so here we go.

So here we are about to embark on the school week. I am super nervous but as everyone is reminding me, he is super cooper, he will rock it out!

I want to point out we didn't really do anything special. Cooper was ready, and we are just responding to the signs he was sending us. I do know that window of potty opportunity can come and go (I have potty trained a few 4 year olds in my day) and we wanted to give it a shot. Just like we let it go when he showed us signs he wasn't quite ready back in February. Wish us luck! The work is far from over! :)

[Other variations: We didn't leave the house at all on Saturday. We did take him outside Sunday afternoon in the backyard, but the deal was he had to go potty first. This is supposed to teach them to pee on command,and associating the importance of peeing before leaving the house.

We also let him wear pants over his underwear on day 2. He is going to have to wear pants to school. We opted for sweatpants. I only packed him pants that don't need to button for school tomorrow, and he may live in those for the next few weeks, which is totally fine with me. 

And by no means are we going to follow that part about keeping him naked for the first 3 months following this weekend. I am pretty sure the moms of his classmates wouldn't appreciate that.]

no slowing down!

In the last few weeks, Cooper went to Kings Dominion for the first time, celebrated his first Easter and went to his first concert, Jimmy Buffett to be exact.


He went from scooting to full fledged crawling on his knees today and is now being offered real food (even though he seems to choose puffs over everything).


He even had his first high fever which is really not something to brag about. Apparently he wants to go ahead and get ready for his May sick visit, since we will leave no month out. Our doctor is going to meet us at the office tomorrow because, well, we have the best doctor. 


He is also making his first transition into a new classroom with a new teacher. (Which brings on a whole list of other feelings because we will have to say goodbye to his amazing teacher, Ms. Tiffanie. I KNOW his next teachers are going to be wonderful too but that still doesn't make it easier to let Ms. Tiffanie go. I definitely spent the better part of the last 2 weeks trying to convince her to move up with him, but to no avail!)


So as you can see... we have been quite the busy bees and show now signs of slowing down! We have lots to trips coming up including Long Island and Chicago in May and Virginia Beach and Outer Banks in June. This family doesn't slow down for anything!

Cooper riding rides at KD

 Celebrating Grandad's Birthday at Jimmy Buffett in Raleigh

 Rocking the bunny ears with Emery

Hanging out at the Monument Easter on Parade

Ms. Tiffanie with Cooper and Emery :)

did someone say houston??

I am not in a witty writing mood, so I first must apologize if this post is bland and boring. But I really felt like it was important that I share about our last 2 weeks, especially since we are coming off a blogging frenzy with an average of 2 a week! (That is probably a record.)


Two weeks in the life of a 6-month going on 7-month old is insane.


We went from sitting up to scooting to pulling up and I am sure full fledged crawling is going to happen any day now, that is if walking doesn't happen first.


We went from sort of eating solids, to chowing down and not interested in formula to eating some solids like puffs but especially pickles! In fact, the joke these days is the ONLY thing that grandad can do wrong is take the pickle away!

Coop went on his first park playdate with mommy Molly and baby Livi and he took his first ride in the swing!

We ditched the baby tub which Coop seems especially happy about because he can do things like this...

And just when I think it can't get any better, my sweet baby, who isn't much of a baby anymore, starts talking. He said "dada"! Don't tell Rick that babies usually say dada first because he is on cloud 9! I have never seen him (or Coop) so proud. 


And reason number 43782057831 I cannot believe how fast time is moving. It is unreal how fast my sweet baby turned into a little boy, a rough and tough little boy, who squirms and wiggles and puts his hands on EVERYTHING!


And the cherry on top of our sundae(y), our VCU Rams made it to the final four! It is possible, Cooper might be taking yet another plane ride to Texas to check yet another state off his list!

My Little Fish!

Cooper received his third postcard this week, the third installment in the postcard project.


It arrived on Tuesday from Richmond, Virginia. Yeah, you read that correctly!


Every year since I can remember, we take a "vacation" downtown for the Men's CAA Basketball Tournament. And although the travel time is short and most of the destinations are familiar (and your best friend and child's god mother can sneak downtown and join your alleged vacation...) staying in a hotel makes it feel like you are out of town.


And nothing says vacation like swimming in the winter!


Let me backtrack a little... 

Cooper has always been a swimmer. Even in my belly, he did somersaults, one so acrobatic he tied his umbilical cord in knot! Baths have always been a breeze. In fact, those beginning nights when I couldn't figure out why he wouldn't stop screaming, I would put him in the bath and everything was better. Cooper went in a swimming pool for the first time when he was about 6 weeks old and has been swimming almost every month of his life.

Rick and I both loooove the water, I mean we got married on the beach! So we sort of figured that because we planned on exposing to our child to the water he would love it too but I am pretty sure he was just born this way. 

A friend at school taught Cooper how to spit bubbles. When he did it the first time, it was cute. But this new trick lost its luster pretty quickly. BUT when he started spitting bubbles in the pool this past weekend, we got a little excited. After careful baby steps and lots of practice, Cooper put his face in the water and eventually his entire head. In fact, the second day in the pool he started spitting bubbles and putting his face in without any prompting!

He is my little fish!

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!

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!

cooper's birth story...finally!

So last time we were celebrating our 2 year anniversary! Gosh, so much has happened in the last 3 weeks its hard to know where to begin... and I must apologize this is a LONG post...

So our due date was fast approaching and Cooper showed no signs of being ready to join us. I was going to the doctor once a week, each time leaving school expecting not to return! And as you have probably guessed, getting more miserable/hot/swollen by each passing day. I was READY to have this baby!

Yeah, yeah, I know everyone kept telling us, get sleep while you can, enjoy it while you can.. blah blah blah I was not enjoying being the size of a whale. I could barely get out of bed all 4 million times I had to get up to pee. I really just didn't want to be pregnant anymore.

Then our due date came and went. Coop was still showing no signs of being ready. Each appointment turned me to absolute mush... instant crying the minute we got in the car to once again leave St. Mary's empty handed. It was seriously starting to feel like I would be pregnant for the rest of my life.

My go-to joke was that this was some sick joke. I wasn't actually pregnant, I just gained a bunch of weight. There actually wasn't a baby in there...

Are you starting to see how desperate I was?

Friday, August 27th my doctor scheduled yet another ultrasound to check on the baby. She said the previous Monday that we would make some decisions based on the ultrasound findings. These were the options she mentioned on Monday... a) hope that my body and baby were ready and I would go into labor on my own b) induce labor (multiple different ways were options) but with my closed cervix and the baby not engaged in my pelvic cavity at all would 50% likely result in a c-section after hours of trying to force labor OR c) elect to have a c-section.

So basically the whole week I cried. I had stopped working so needless to say had a lot of time on my hands which was mostly spent crying. I prayed more than I have ever prayed. I called my sister and sought her advice. And then cried some more...

I tried to let go. Every time I let go, God usually shows me the right answer. But as much as I tried, I couldn't let go. I had spent the better part of the last 10 months focused on not having a C-section. I wanted a natural childbirth more than anything else (well besides a healthy baby). But I was starting to feel like there was a C-section in my future...

Then I realized my goals were unrealistic. Just like my doctor said from the very beginning of this pregnancy, the way the baby comes will be up to the baby. He will guide us on his birthday, not the other way around. It was time to focus on things I could control and let go of the rest.

If I couldn't be guaranteed to hold him, I at least wanted to remember him being born. After talking with many women, including my doctor, it seemed that inducing labor with my circumstances wouldn't be successful and if I had to have a C-section after days of labor, I wouldn't remember it.

After a long week, we decided if nothing had changed at our appointment on Friday, we would elect to  have a C-section, end the waiting game and meet our little man. And sure enough, there had been zero change. At 5pm on Friday afternoon, my doctor was able to schedule a C-section for Monday morning (August 30). She said hopefully I would go into labor on my own over the weekend but if not, we would check one last time Monday morning to make sure inducing labor wasn't a better option but otherwise to plan on a C-section.

Monday morning rolls around and we are beyond excited. It took many long days of praying and crying to come to the conclusion that a C-section was the best option. We were both VERY excited our long wait was coming to an end. Little did we know how important this decision would be....

We were told to be at the hospital at 6am but in our excitement arrived a little early. The first nurse we had was very quick to voice her opinion on our elective C-section. Multiple different times she made comments about how weird it was that my doctor agreed to perform surgery when induction wasn't even attempted. I responded as politely as you can at 5:45am when someone is telling you that you are making a mistake. It took all of my energy not to tell her how unprofessional she was being. Last time I checked this was my body and the decision was between my doctor, my husband and me and had absolutely nothing to do with her. Thankfully, Rick kept reminding me that we came to this decision carefully and not to listen to her. 

Thank God for shift change because the next nurse we had was the polar opposite. She asked the same questions but instead of telling us we were making a mistake, she totally got it. She never questioned our decision. She was goofy and sweet and kept us laughing all the way through Cooper's birth. 

They checked me one last time to discover there was no change. Cooper was coming via C-section. I couldn't believe it was finally here. I was scared, nervous, excited, ya know about everything you can feel all at once.

Fast forward through the incision.... Rick was sitting next to me. He was white as a ghost in his scrubs but telling me how excited he was. I hear them tell us it's a boy and then my doctor says, Rick you are going to want to get a picture of this... and holds up the umbilical cord that is tied in a knot, a loose knot but a real knot. As Rick pulls out the camera the doctor precedes to tell us that these knots cause still births. The nurses are now explaining to me had we tried induction, the knot would've tightened cutting off all of Cooper's blood and oxygen, resulting in what they referred to as a "fire alarm" c-section, meaning we would've raced to the OR to have an emergency C-section and I would've been put to sleep. I wouldn't have my husband or my memory. 

I still have yet to hear my baby cry. I hear still birth and no baby cry and start asking Rick over and over if he is okay. Of course he was okay. Healthy as a horse, but with a little fluid in his lungs. I immediately start crying. Not because I just had a baby but because I am beyond happy to have been led down this path.

I am so happy we decided to have a c-section. Who knows what could've happened to our sweet baby boy if we had chosen option a or b.

After we got to visit with Cooper for a few minutes, they whisked him off to the nursery to make sure his lungs would get the fluid out. I just lay there in shock while they close me up, absolute shock that my baby has had a knot in his umbilical cord for the better part of this pregnancy. There is no doubt based on his size (and mine!) that he was getting nourishment throughout the pregnancy. 

I am so thankful that I was able to let go and give it to God. Because he is my little miracle. He was meant to come via C-section and he was meant to be ours! :)

Ps. Pictures to be posted soon! Will not be sharing the actually surgery pictures because they are a bit vulgar, so if you would like to see the umbilical cord, I can email it. :)