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!

I am a slacker.

Actually, I am the opposite of a slacker.


Somehow (by the grace of God, I am sure) I have managed to learn how to be a wife, teacher, home maker AND mother.


The difference between 3 months and 4 months is unbelievable. Looking back on the first 3 months of Cooper's life, I was just trying to survive. Just trying to be the best mom I could be and everything else sort of fell by the wayside. Definitely living day by day, sometimes hour by hour, especially with tracheomalacia flair ups and cold after cold, since Cooper catches EVERYTHING!


But now that I am getting the hang of it, I am able to refocus on my other roles. I must say, I am pretty proud. My house stays clean. The laundry gets done. And somehow through all the stress and worry, Rick and I have still managed to have some time alone as a couple and even some time alone from each other. And we are happy! :)


I put a lot of stress on myself to be a good parent. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT! I spend 40 hours a week, teaching kids and helping parents find ways to help their children. Some days I spend more time helping parents raise their kids, than the parents do. And that is okay. BOY  have I learned a lot.


But with that comes the pressure of making sure I am listening to all of my own advice. 


I must say (to toot my own horn), I am very proud of how far we have come. Cooper puts himself to sleep every night, usually in his crib but can go to sleep anywhere really. He is able to put himself to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night as well. He has been getting up between 2am-3am to eat, but again goes right back to sleep, all on his own.


And while we are on the subject of good parenting, I know I have said this before but Rick is an amazing teammate. He is such an active and involved father. I feel so blessed to have him!


So much has happened in the last 5-6 weeks.


We celebrated Cooper's Baptism on Christmas Eve which was wonderful. We baptized him at our church, Good Shepherd UMC where Rick and I have been attending for over a year and have been members since May 2010. We have built a wonderful church family, which has had a HUGE impact on our lives.


We celebrated Cooper's first Christmas! He was able to see all of Rick's family, many of whom he hadn't seen since he was a few days old and some that he was meeting for the first time.


We celebrated 2010 and welcomed 2011. 2010 will always be an incredible year in our family history. We bought our first house and had our first baby. I am so beyond excited for what 2011 will bring!


We celebrated LSU's Cotton Bowl Championship! LSU defeated Texas A&M last weekend in Dallas, Texas. It was no national championship but we will be there next year at the Sugar Bowl.


Next up on this busy Rice family's agenda is Key West! We are flying to Key West on Febrary 12th and staying through the 19th. My parents, brother, sister and her family will be meeting us there. I am definitely looking forward to taking Cooper to the beach, can't wait to put his toes in the sand with mine!


So I am not a slacker. I am carrying a very full plate and somehow managing to stay on top of everything (except maybe this blog!)


Life is good.

Here are some pictures from the last couple months.


My little fish! He loves swimming. He loves his Grandad. He loves his Delaney!

At All Fired Up making handprint coasters for Rick and the grandparents. They were a big hit :) I am definitely getting the hang of keeping secrets!

Merry Christmas Cooper James!

Cooper's first playdate... Louisa and her mommy Julia and Livi and her mommy Molly. Both mommies and I went to high school together. The best part is that we are going to try to do this once a month! It is sooo wonderful to have them.

New Year's Resolution

I'm feeling inspired.

I forgot how much I loooooved being crafty.

I use my creativity pretty regularly creating lesson plans but when you do it at your full-time, put-food-on-the-table-job, it just isn't the same.

As I worked on my crafts the weekend, even through the millions of hot glue gun burns and the frustrating crafting pot holes (burlap is a pain to sew) I loved every second of it.

Especially the feeling when I took a step back from my freshly painted bricks to admire my beautiful book page wreath (that only took 1 hour labor and $7).

Why haven't been crafting since I love it so? (Oh, that's right! I had a baby and bought a house!).

So here is my new year's resolution a month early.

I am going to open an etsy shop.

I will spend 2011 researching like crazy, gathering ideas and feedback, getting my crafting space organized and developing an inventory (of whatever I am going to sell) and MAYBE even creating a separate blog to go with it!

Ambitious much?

Isn't that what resolutions are all about?

Part of the pack.

Our K-9 son has been something of the jealous older brother type to say the least.

As soon as Cooper arrived, Fletch started chewing on everything (especially things found in the nursery), peeing in the house, back to his old general puppy ways... "acting out" is what we call it.

We figured eventually things would settle and eventually Fletch and Coop would become best buddies. In the meantime, we had to expose them to each other without over exposing them...

Every evening before Coop's last bottle, he gets his last turn on his playmat and usually can stay occupied for an hour some nights! This is usually when we try to give Fletch lots of attention.

Tonight, Fletch went and found his giant tennis bone that he loves so dearly. Instead of bringing it to one of us, he dropped it right next to Coop and sat down, patiently waiting for Coop to throw it and play with him.

I guess it is official. Cooper is a part of the pack! :)