Well maybe it’s just two rings for the moment, but I’m sure life is only going to get more interesting. I’m not sure which way is up and which way is down and I don’t know if I am coming or coning. Things seem to be a bit of a blur these days. So I thought I’d write a quick post to let you know that we are still here. I’m not sure what happened in the last week or so, but time has gone very fast.
To start, Cooper is sick again. I had a cold a few weeks ago… nothing much and I was really hopefully he wouldn’t get it. I don’t know if it was my cold or if he picked something up elsewhere, but he is sick. After a few days of him whining and being easily irritated… not fun in a 13 month old, we suspected he had another ear infection and guess what??? He does! I hate to say we are getting good at diagnosing these things… in Cooper. When I asked about tubes the pediatrician said six in a year… well he is on #5. I don’t want to put my child through a procedure just for the fun of it, but I can only imagine he isn’t going to miraculously stop having them. She said we are moving out of ear infection season and we’ll see how he does. But as I remember he had ear infections in July and August… not quite ear infection season. He also has a horrible cough, so we are back to doing the albuterol inhaler. He still sounds rough and I’m walking that line of do I take him in again or wait another day or two. Sure enough it is the weekend which makes that decision even harder. They do have appointments tomorrow morning, if we need to. Poor kid. I know he doesn’t feel good.
Even though Cooper is sick, it hasn’t deterred him from walking. The longest stretch I have seen was about five feet. He usually does about 5-6 steps and falls, but that is an improvement from the 1-2 and falling. I think in the next week or so he will have it mastered. He also continues to climb on anything he can. That skill (hmmm is that what it is?) got him a sore lip and gum yesterday at daycare as he fell off a step stool. They try to keep him on the floor, but any opportunity to climb, he does. Thankfully his teeth are fine and he didn’t get a fat lip. Yesterday he also sat on a basketball, so he doesn’t really have any issues with balance. Silly boy.
Oh Miss Cierra. She is a wonderful dog, but the puppy stage can be challenging at times. In all honesty she is doing great… hardly any potty accidents in the house and she is quick to learn new things. She has sit and down mastered. Last week at puppy class we had a 20 foot lead that we couldn’t hold onto. We could step on it if we needed to. The task was to wander around PetSmart and have her follow us on voice command. Keep in mind this was a Saturday morning with people, kids, and other dogs in the store. I was a bit frightened when I trainer told us what we were doing, but Cierra did extremely well. She listened and followed us. As part of the puppy stage, last Saturday she had to be de-wormed again and the label on the tablets said, “May cause loose stools”… yeah right. Cierra had a reaction to the medication and had brown water coming from her… yuck. On Monday she had an accident in her kennel while were at work. I’m quite sensitive to smells and other things these days… sorry to gross you out, but I started retching while cleaning it up and added to the already disgusting mess. Yuck! Poor Cooper and Cierra sat watching me.
The other night Cierra got the sillies… where she goes crazy running from one end of the kitchen to the other. Well, she discovered that with a good running start she could launch herself over the baby gate and into the dining room to be with us. How she did it without getting hurt, I don’t know. She hasn’t made it over since, but I know she is trying. We’ve been slowing introducing her to the living room. She wants to be with us, but we don’t trust her yet and need to watch her every second. Cooper’s toys also have to be picked up or she thinks she can take them. Once the novelty of the living room wears off she’ll probably be fine.
I’ve really started to feel our little girl move! It is still very faint yet… as I know that won’t last for long… which excites me as I LOVED feeling Cooper move. My belly is popping out more. I’m still having clothing issues as I don’t have enough for maternity shirts, but regular shirts are too short. Oh my, the shirt I put on today works as long as I don’t move, lift anything, or raise my arms. What was I thinking??? I guess it’s time to put most of my regular shirts away until next fall. I love being pregnant… other than being exhausted. I can’t complain I feel really good. Last night I had a dream that she was here and didn’t have a name. In my dream I kept thinking where did those last 20 weeks go and how didn’t we get her named???... I have a feeling the 20 weeks going fast will be a reality, but I hope we have her named before August. Send suggestions, if you would like, but please don’t feel hurt if she isn’t named one of them. And I thought naming the dog was hard…
Well it’s Friday and I’m ready for it. We have determined that we actually get less sleep on the weekends, so here is to hoping for Monday… No, no, no, not really! I love weekends! :)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
“g-gl” and pickles…
Interesting title??? Read a little further down…
Well, I didn’t get the ultrasound photos scanned, but I thought I’d give you an update anyway…
It was a fast weekend, but they usually are! It was gorgeous here! Finally warm weather has come. Today it is 63. It is so much easier to do potty training with a dog when you don’t have to get all bundled up and hope she doesn’t go potty in the house in the meantime. Not to mention hoping she would just hurry up and go then it is below zero and blowing. We had a calmer weekend as we didn’t do much. It was nice to have some time to just breathe and relax. I started to clean the bathroom closet yesterday, but put it all back right before bed when I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. Someday we’ll get it done.
Back to Friday afternoon… As you know we had a fabulous OB appointment. Our little girl is absolutely beautiful! Her heart and brain look great. Two kidneys, no spinal defects, no signs of Down’s Syndrome, etc. We saw five fingers on each hand and we have a neat shot of her feet. It looked better on the ultrasound, but they look like footprints. She was wiggling all over… if we thought Cooper was a wiggler, I think she has him beat. It was neat to see her arms move. She had her right arm near her head most of the time that we saw her. She weights about 8oz right now and measures right on for my due date. I saw a resident following the ultrasound as my OB was gone last week. It took him about a minute to tell me everything was fine… which I knew as I had already seen a perinatologist following the ultrasound… another perk of being advanced maternal age. He wrote an appointment request for four weeks and let me go.
Well, I didn’t get the ultrasound photos scanned, but I thought I’d give you an update anyway…
It was a fast weekend, but they usually are! It was gorgeous here! Finally warm weather has come. Today it is 63. It is so much easier to do potty training with a dog when you don’t have to get all bundled up and hope she doesn’t go potty in the house in the meantime. Not to mention hoping she would just hurry up and go then it is below zero and blowing. We had a calmer weekend as we didn’t do much. It was nice to have some time to just breathe and relax. I started to clean the bathroom closet yesterday, but put it all back right before bed when I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. Someday we’ll get it done.
Back to Friday afternoon… As you know we had a fabulous OB appointment. Our little girl is absolutely beautiful! Her heart and brain look great. Two kidneys, no spinal defects, no signs of Down’s Syndrome, etc. We saw five fingers on each hand and we have a neat shot of her feet. It looked better on the ultrasound, but they look like footprints. She was wiggling all over… if we thought Cooper was a wiggler, I think she has him beat. It was neat to see her arms move. She had her right arm near her head most of the time that we saw her. She weights about 8oz right now and measures right on for my due date. I saw a resident following the ultrasound as my OB was gone last week. It took him about a minute to tell me everything was fine… which I knew as I had already seen a perinatologist following the ultrasound… another perk of being advanced maternal age. He wrote an appointment request for four weeks and let me go.
A note about Steve’s reaction to a girl… When we started to think about a dog, there was some debate about a male (Steve) or female (me) and which side would win as we knew we’d probably not wait for the ultrasound to decide the gender of the dog. We also knew were going to adopt a dog so we decided to let the right dog choose us. As you know we got a female. So, Steve’s first reaction when the ultrasound tech told us it was a girl was that we needed to go and get a male dog… to keep the testosterone/estrogen balance. No, little Cierra will be more than enough.
So on to other happenings.
So on to other happenings.
I just have to share how much Cooper LOVES pickles. The kid can’t get enough of them. He is completely obsessed if he sees one. Forget any other food. I have a strong love for pickles and apparently it was passed in the genes. Yesterday after breaking off several pieces of a pickle I gave the rest to him… about ¾ of one. I was sitting with him in case he bit off a piece too large. He ate the whole thing! Move over chocolate this kids loves pickles!
This morning during breakfast we heard a word that was something of g-gl. Steve and I both think Cooper is trying to call Cierra “Good Girl”. It makes sense since we usually say something like, “Cierra, sit. Good Girl”. I’m sure he figures “Good Girl” is her name. I asked him where Good Girl was and he looked right at her.
Cooper took about ten steps on Saturday! He is gaining more and more confidence in walking. Soon he’ll be running. Another fun Cooper story is that he is starting to follow commands. I told him to go tickle Daddy and he did it! He is just to fun to watch. He loves to tickle toes.
Have I ever said how much I love being a parent??? No two days are alike!
This morning during breakfast we heard a word that was something of g-gl. Steve and I both think Cooper is trying to call Cierra “Good Girl”. It makes sense since we usually say something like, “Cierra, sit. Good Girl”. I’m sure he figures “Good Girl” is her name. I asked him where Good Girl was and he looked right at her.
Cooper took about ten steps on Saturday! He is gaining more and more confidence in walking. Soon he’ll be running. Another fun Cooper story is that he is starting to follow commands. I told him to go tickle Daddy and he did it! He is just to fun to watch. He loves to tickle toes.
Have I ever said how much I love being a parent??? No two days are alike!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Sooooo.... Can you guess???
I'll try to ge the ultrsound photos scanned and posted this weekend. So I'll keep this short. We'll be celebrating the news of a healthy baby this weekend! Everything looked great!!! I am excited... now to go buy some dresses and lots of pink!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Another day of anticipated excitement…
Well tomorrow (Friday) afternoon is our anatomy ultrasound for Baby Hull. For those of you that read my blog while I was pregnant with Cooper know I was pretty nervous when we had his ultrasound… and excited, too. This time I am really trying to not get quite as worked up. Why worry? It’s not going to do any good and it will just get me flustered. I am praying for a healthy baby. A great heart and brain, etc. I will be nearly 18 weeks so hopefully this little one cooperates and everything that needs to be seen can be. And hopefully he or she will reveal himself or herself. I know I have had several people say, “don’t find out”, but I really want to know and it will definitely be a surprise. I don’t think it spoils it by knowing early. I loved knowing Cooper was a boy…. partially since it took us so long to finally decide on his name. We probably had him named before he was conceived, but we wanted to make sure that we had chosen the right name. It will hopefully prepare us if we need to buy girl stuff or little boy clothes that are the right season. Knowing Cooper was a boy didn’t change how we felt about him when he did arrive. In fact, I think I may have bonded with him even more after I found out he was a boy. I was so in love with him… and I would have been just in love if Cooper had been a girl. As I said all I want is a healthy baby… that is all that truly matters. So for the next 22 hours I will try to breathe and relax and think good thoughts.
Please hold us in your prayers as we anticipate with excitement in seeing our little one tomorrow. I will try to update this after our appointment.
Please hold us in your prayers as we anticipate with excitement in seeing our little one tomorrow. I will try to update this after our appointment.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The privilege of parenthood
I have to share an observation from the other night… well I feel this quite often, but the other night really hit me. Maybe it is partially pregnancy hormone induced or the sermon at church on Sunday on peace and the dependence of a small child on his parents.
The other night I was cleaning out my hall closet (yes, I can’t get all my clothes in one closet, but that is changing… hopefully) in preparation to get stuff out of the closet in the room we are going to move Cooper into. Cooper was trying to help me. Steve then came to join us and the three of us were sitting in the hallway. Cooper crawled on Steve’s lap and started giggling. It hit me really hard what a privilege it is to be a parent. God chose us to care for this little guy, protect him, and guide him. I watched the complete joy on his face in the simple act of sitting on the floor with us. There was a peace about him that all of his needs at the moment were met. Often our days are so busy that we continue to move forward, but we don’t always take the time to appreciate the moments of just being together. I am honored that God chose me to be Cooper’s mom. I know I have said many times that I think that Cooper is an incredible child. He is! There is something so incredibly special about the love of a child.
Life is beautiful!
The other night I was cleaning out my hall closet (yes, I can’t get all my clothes in one closet, but that is changing… hopefully) in preparation to get stuff out of the closet in the room we are going to move Cooper into. Cooper was trying to help me. Steve then came to join us and the three of us were sitting in the hallway. Cooper crawled on Steve’s lap and started giggling. It hit me really hard what a privilege it is to be a parent. God chose us to care for this little guy, protect him, and guide him. I watched the complete joy on his face in the simple act of sitting on the floor with us. There was a peace about him that all of his needs at the moment were met. Often our days are so busy that we continue to move forward, but we don’t always take the time to appreciate the moments of just being together. I am honored that God chose me to be Cooper’s mom. I know I have said many times that I think that Cooper is an incredible child. He is! There is something so incredibly special about the love of a child.
Life is beautiful!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Introducing Cierra...
Life continues to be rich and full in the Hull house. To add to the excitement, on Saturday the three of us ventured to Faribault, MN to a rescue shelter to see a little four month old black lab puppy. Needless to say, we brought a little bundle of energy home with us. I think we knew before we left that we were bringing a dog home. We were to see another dog that day, but we never made it up there as I fell in love within moments and about 45 minutes later I was paying for her and we headed back home. 
Cierra (meaning black in Irish) is quite the little girl. She is a typical puppy starting the chewing stage… she is teething and needing to chew… sound familiar? She and Cooper seem to be at the same stage on many levels. She is doing well with potty training. She hasn’t had any accidents in her kennel at night or while we are we’ve been at work. She has had a few potty accidents while we are home and didn’t catch the signal right away (we are still learning, too). But no poo accidents since the one on Saturday. She can sit on command and Steve has her shaking for treats. We need to work on her lying down and staying. She is jumping up, but knows that she doesn’t get any attention until she gets down. Cierra loves to play ball, but being 4 months tires pretty easily and needs frequent “dog” naps. She does really well on a leash and walking. Right now I would guess she is about 30 pounds (we’ll find out when I take her to the vet this afternoon), but her foster mom thinks she’ll get to about 70 pounds. Her mom was Black Lab/ German shepherd. They don’t know what dad was, but since she looks all lab, they think dad was likely a lab, too. She had four brothers and four sisters. She was the largest female. One of her brothers had feet about the same size as Cody’s. They will likely be big boys. She is so small right now (compared to what we are used to) that it is hard to imagine what she will look like full grown. I hope she is big.
As for Cooper, he is enjoying watching the puppy. We are keeping them separated as she has a bit too much energy for Cooper, but someday I think they will be best friends. He has started to feed her Cheerios in the morning and she has started to figure out that they taste good. She doesn’t know to beg yet and hopefully won’t.
Cooper said his first real word… “Hi”. And he loves to say it and wave. Sunday night he started with it and hasn’t stopped. He often initiates it and wants a response back. Apparently the daycare director had some visitors in yesterday (I think it was their accreditation) and he had to say to each person.
Last night Cooper and I spent about twenty minutes pulling off and putting on the cap to a cardboard mailing tube. He was determined to figure it out. Watching his facial expressions was interesting. I’d swear I could see his mind at work. I have a feeling he is going to be quite analytical in his thought processes.
Here is another picture of his climbing adventures. He actually stood up on his feet, too. He has started to climb on objects to reach things that he shouldn’t. He needs a rope and a helmet… and a climbing wall.
As I said life is interesting. It’s no wonder I forget that I am pregnant, other than when I can fall asleep sitting up. We are busy… perhaps a bit crazy at times, but it is all wonderful!
Cierra (meaning black in Irish) is quite the little girl. She is a typical puppy starting the chewing stage… she is teething and needing to chew… sound familiar? She and Cooper seem to be at the same stage on many levels. She is doing well with potty training. She hasn’t had any accidents in her kennel at night or while we are we’ve been at work. She has had a few potty accidents while we are home and didn’t catch the signal right away (we are still learning, too). But no poo accidents since the one on Saturday. She can sit on command and Steve has her shaking for treats. We need to work on her lying down and staying. She is jumping up, but knows that she doesn’t get any attention until she gets down. Cierra loves to play ball, but being 4 months tires pretty easily and needs frequent “dog” naps. She does really well on a leash and walking. Right now I would guess she is about 30 pounds (we’ll find out when I take her to the vet this afternoon), but her foster mom thinks she’ll get to about 70 pounds. Her mom was Black Lab/ German shepherd. They don’t know what dad was, but since she looks all lab, they think dad was likely a lab, too. She had four brothers and four sisters. She was the largest female. One of her brothers had feet about the same size as Cody’s. They will likely be big boys. She is so small right now (compared to what we are used to) that it is hard to imagine what she will look like full grown. I hope she is big.
As for Cooper, he is enjoying watching the puppy. We are keeping them separated as she has a bit too much energy for Cooper, but someday I think they will be best friends. He has started to feed her Cheerios in the morning and she has started to figure out that they taste good. She doesn’t know to beg yet and hopefully won’t.
Cooper said his first real word… “Hi”. And he loves to say it and wave. Sunday night he started with it and hasn’t stopped. He often initiates it and wants a response back. Apparently the daycare director had some visitors in yesterday (I think it was their accreditation) and he had to say to each person.
Last night Cooper and I spent about twenty minutes pulling off and putting on the cap to a cardboard mailing tube. He was determined to figure it out. Watching his facial expressions was interesting. I’d swear I could see his mind at work. I have a feeling he is going to be quite analytical in his thought processes.
Here is another picture of his climbing adventures. He actually stood up on his feet, too. He has started to climb on objects to reach things that he shouldn’t. He needs a rope and a helmet… and a climbing wall.
As I said life is interesting. It’s no wonder I forget that I am pregnant, other than when I can fall asleep sitting up. We are busy… perhaps a bit crazy at times, but it is all wonderful!
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