Cooper @ 9 Months

Cooper is officially nine months old now. Where did the time go? I’m sure you’re also thinking are you not a little behind on this post. Well I did want to wait until we visited the doctor to get all his fabulous stats that way you could know exactly how much he weights, and how tall he is and all the other wonderful things people talk about as their babies are growing up. So here they are:

Height: 29 inches
Weight: 16 lbs. 5 oz (I think, I don't remember)
Head: not measured
Thoughts: these were going to be from the Dr. who we did not see more on that in another postb

Cooper is of course very active, in case you were not aware before, he is all over the place. I have my first official child who likes to open cupboards and see what’s inside. I think I’m going to have to have Ben put latches on a couple, other wise he can just got to town. So that is pretty new.

He as also started to wave at people, and clap. I’m really working on “more” because despite what his old doctor might think, this kid can eat. He seems to be a bottomless pit some days, probably because he is burning so many calories moving around. He has also started to stand up on his own. Now this is by releasing his hands from the object that he pulled up from but still. He gets up there, and looks at you like hey here I come. But then he cannot figure out how to make his legs work, it’s too cute.

Let me see he drools a lot, I’m just waiting for those top two teeth to finally make and appearance, not sure how that will feel but oh well. He loves to be where ever there are people; this kid does not want to miss a beat. Oh yea, he has also started to climb down the stairs. The first three he does head first then makes it to the next set and starts out that way and then changes his mind to go down feet first. At least he is working on his problem solving skills.

Overall we are very happy with Cooper and I think he likes us as well. He will be a pretty tough kid, thanks to Bear. He is not quite as cuddly as Bear but does like to be up in the air and see what is going on. Isabelle loves to have a baby brother and is a wonderful helper. He is a lot of fun!

Self Portrait

I just wanted to include a self portrait so that you guys would not forget what I look like. Ha, ha.

Crazy kids

This is what the kids like to do when I’m not completely focused on them, or god forbid, going to the bathroom. So do you think this is better than the basket sliding down the stairs? The only challenge here is that Bear will not help Isabelle where as, she of course will help Bear. He so has her figured out.

Halloween

For Halloween we had a very busy day. It started off with the family 1 mile run for Penny’s Cancer center over in Irving, bright and early. The kids were not fans of waking up that early but they soon got into the swing of things. Isabelle and Bear did great on the run, Isa ran most of the mile and Bear ran a good portion. Cooper just strolled along with Grandma Susie and Grandma Nana. From there we went to the soccer game, where Isabelle was a machine, scoring at least four goals and have two to three assists. She is too funny and tries to keep count for herself. We have to take her out of the game to let the other kids play as well as let the other team have the ball. What a difference a year makes. Bear actually played a little more than usual and did very well; I think he just prefers soccer tots. Good thing we’re starting that on Thursday.

After a good rest we went to Mary’s house for a little Halloween get together. We were the only non-bowlers there. Mary’s Dad Gene works for USB and so they hang out with lots of competitive bowlers, Ben really wants to learn some good tricks he can implement at the bowling ally. The kids had fun meeting and playing with new friends and then of course trick or treating later on. They both came home with really big bags of candy. People were very generous with their candy and willingness to provide dental decaying products to today’s youth. Overall our Halloween was a good one and the kids had a blast.

Nursing Home

A couple of days before Halloween I got the kids all dressed up to visit a local nursing home with a new moms group we are trying out. They have a book club, enough said right? I think they had fun, it was a little short, we walked around the facility to show off the cute costumes the kids wore and then they had put bags together for the kids with candy that they just loved. I think the residents really enjoyed themselves and thought it was great for the kids to come by. I got lots of great compliments on my cute little frog.

Fall

I love fall; the colors, activities, and the changing of the weather. Although our weather has been crazy and we do not really get the leaves changing like we use to in Utah it is still a fabulous time of the year. And for the weeks You Capture, she selected fall. I have decided to include pictures for Minnesota of the colors there and one of my favorite fall activities, the pumpkin patch. I do hope you enjoy!

Happy 80th Nana

Ok so the real reason we went up to Minnesota was to help Grandma Nana, Ben's Grandmother, celbrate her 80th birthday. Not just snow and potaotes, those were just side benefits. We all helped Ben's Mom put together a party for Nana, so that she could share her special day with her friends and family. And you know what we did not even run out of food. We could of had another party on Sunday with just the left overs, and still of had food for Monday, ha, ha. I think that Nana was greatful for her party and that it was a huge success.

Pumpkin Days

The kids had pumpkin days at school; I guess this was the schools way of celebrating Halloween without recognizing a pagan holiday. No witches or vampires were seen at this pumpkin celebration. The kids had lots of fun playing with their friends and going to various activities in fifteen minute intervals. Some stations were not long enough and others were too long, even though each was just fifteen minutes. The activities include but are not limited to pumpkin decorating, petting zoo, Stretch N’ Grow, music and much more. The day was pretty full interesting for the parents who were in attendance. Bear went around with Isabelle’s class and I think he really enjoyed that. I just figured Isabelle would have more fun with her friends than Bears, and I did not want to have to run between the two classes.



Cooper was a trooper, he did get to get out and see the animals but mostly he was happy and content to stay in the backpack carrier. He even fell asleep.

Snow and Potatoes

Our trip to Minnesota was somewhat eventful. We stopped in Kansas because it’s a long drive and we exchanged children, Isabelle stayed with her cousin Gabby, and Noah came along to play with Bear. Let me tell you they had lots of fun.

For three days they played in the very wet snow, making a snowman, having snow ball fights, and sledding down the hill in Grandma Nana’s back yard. Now there was hardly enough snow to cover the ground but they had lots of fun anyway. Grandma Susie even got out there to help and play with the boys, it was a great adventure.


They went to see a man about a cow, at the sales barn and watched the process of farmers buying and selling their cows. Noah is an old pro at this and Bear is surprisingly well for his first time. I think he was mesmerized by the cows; how big they were and how close they get while at the sales barn. Too much fun!

Now of course we cannot forget about the digging for potatoes. Which ended up coming in very handy for Nana’s party, but that is another story for another day. All the kids helped dig potatoes from the field and were nice and dirty.
But they had a lot of fun, counting the potatoes and picking them up to take home. They collected over thirty (30) potatoes and that was just a small portion of the row, imagine if we went up the entire row.

Overall Noah and Bear had a great time and got a long really well. Boys will be boys, especially when there are just boys around and no girls. It was quite the experience, but lots of fun.

Bike

Just so those of you who are not close by don't feel left out, I am going to make a quick post about Bear and his new bike. As he reward for being potty trained we told him he could get a new bike. Well he has been done for quite a while now and we are just now rewarding him for all his hard work. (I really wanted to make sure he coud push the pedals, he had a hard time with the tricycle for some reason.) But he is a bike riding machine, he just has a challenge with turning around. I'm sure one day when it stops raining he will be able to figure that out pretty quick. Then Isabelle will be moving up to a world without training wheels. I told her she cannot get a new bike until she learns to ride without them. And since she is getting taller, everyday, she could really use a new one. Oh yea Cooper is rocking the walker, he really wants to be just like his older sibs. And yes the walker has been used and abused by both his older siblings, it started with Isa and has been used by Bear, plus it has spent quality time outside.

Just Wait

I have lots to chat about and post, and once I find the time I will put some stuff up. But I will say that I miss blogging when I'm out of town. Crazy I know.

A Few Found

I was down loading photos the other day and ran across some that I had taken but not yet posted about. Probably because I had not down loaded them, image how the two things coincide. So here are few of the goings on in our household.

It has been rainy and wet outside and one day there was a short break in the weather so I sent the big kids out to play. Cooper really wanted to play too, the windows were open and he could hear and sort of see all the fun they were having. But Momma said no, it’s too wet. So instead he stood by the window trying, desperately to see out. Too cute!


Cooper really likes taking a big boy bath with his brother and sister. I just worry about Bear he can be a little rough sometimes. But he loves to splash the water and make a big mess just like his big brother. He has so much fun during bath time.



For all for seeable Christmas’s and Birthday’s for both Bear and Cooper Aunt Penny got the boys bunk beds. Bear is so excited about them, and could hardly wait for the delivery guys to get the bed into the house. I had to pull up the window blinds so that they could see out better without creating any damage. I would show you the bed but I have a slight problem that I am hoping can be fixed without too much of an issue on my camera.

These are just a few of the recent goings on in our house hold and instead of boring you with multiple posts I figured one post would work out just fine.

Pink NFL

I have to give the NFL some pops. I'm sure that some of you have watched at least parts of some NFL games since the start of October. And many of you are aware that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Well in support of this the NFL players, coaches and extra personnel are wearing pink. All the players have pink ribbons on their helmets, some wore gloves, shoes or arm bands that are pink as well. I think I might have to get a new Packers hat with a pink bill to help support the cause.

So if you have not watched a game, check out highlights from ESPN or turn on the TV Sunday, to see more of the support the NFL is giving in the fight against breast cancer.

Laundry Day

Who knew that laundry day could be so much fun. At least the kids think so. Wait until they are older and have to do it themselves.

Ben

Ben is really staring to look like his Dad. I really noticed it in this picture today while I was going through them. Wow I can hardly believe it. Sorry I did not have a good picture of Bernie to compare. Maybe later.

Post wedding reception

In April a family friend got married and since he is currently stationed on Hawaii, and his new wife is from Hawaii they had the ceremony there. Now never mind that we were not invited, we have all gotten past that, but we were invited to the surprise reception here in Texas. Matt’s mom went all out for the Texas style Bar-B-Q for her new daughter-in-law. The newlywed’s acted surprised just for mom, since someone (Ben) spilled the beans. Apparently when I told him it was a surprise he tuned that out, oh well they did a good job at showing the surprise and made his mom very happy.

So there was Bar-B-Q, cake and remembering of old times. Or in his case just a few years ago times, since he’s not that old to be able to have old times. But life in the military does change ones perspective, so for now, we can give him at least one extra year of wisdom. Any more would be just too much, but I won’t go into that here.

I let Isabelle have her way with the camera and take some pictures of the guests, and I was very happy to see that I did not get a whole lot of knees in the shots. I did take over when it was time for cake and toasting, because we really did not want to have overly sharp or high angled shots, of people standing up, since she is just about too everyone tummy.

I think everyone had fun and we wish the happy couple a long and happy marriage.