Time flies, but we are having fun!

April 28th… where did the month go? Where did the first four months of the year go? Little one’s ticker says 109 days until she is “officially” due, but she be here sooner. Wow!

Here are a few pictures and updates from the last two weeks…

Oh where, oh where, oh where is Cooper???

"Here I am!"


Peek-a-boo!



My mom and dad came to visit last week. They were just here overnight, but we had fun in the short time they were here…. lots of shopping and chatting. They brought Logan’s toddler bed and the bedding set for Cooper’s new room. Hopefully we can get it started soon. They also brought some of Jacob’s old toys and Missy’s baby doll from when we were younger. Cooper has taken to his “baby sister”. He’ll have his baby to take care of once his real baby sister arrives.

Maybe we should work on how to hold a baby...

And how to hug them...

I love babies!

"Does she have teeth, yet?"

Cooper had fun playing with Papa.

Cierra graduated from puppy class on Saturday! I can’t believe we started the class eight weeks ago! We’ve had her over two months now. She is still young and has some work to do, but she did very well on her graduation test. She had to sit, lie down, stay at an open door without going out until called, leave treats until told she could have them, walk on a loose leash through PetSmart, walk off leash for a lap (keep in mind PetSmart has lots and lots of distractions!), and stay for 30 seconds. The stay took a couple of tries, but not bad for a pup with a lot of energy. I’m still amazed she can do “leave it” with food and stay at an open door until called. We’ll miss the formal class time to work on commands, but we’ll appreciate getting our Saturday mornings back… I’m sure Jackie will, too. Jackie has been wonderful and has kept Cooper so that we could both take Cierra to class. Maybe in a few months… or next year we’ll take the intermediate class. I would love for her to get a Good Canine Citizenship certificate. Someday.

We really got a great dog. She is so good with Cooper! She will do the puppy nips with us when she wants to play, but only licks at Cooper. He will tug on her ears and coat, but she just takes it as attention from Cooper and just sits there. Such a good puppy. We’ve been bring her into the living room more and more and she is doing really well. I think we can say that she is officially potty trained! Now to just get past the chewing… someday. She just has a couple more teeth to lose and then I think she will have all of her adult teeth. She loves Cooper’s toys, so she needs constant watching. I can’t wait for the day that we can have her in the living room all the time. She is definitely growing. I’ll take her back to the vet early Mayo to get a current weight. I’m sure she has made it to 50 pounds. This might be why...

Cooper got outside a few times this last week. He loves to explore. He loves to pick up mulch and the river rocks next to the house and hand them to me… What a find! It’s been a bit cooler and rainy the last few days, but we’ll get out again soon.

Cooper got to spend last Friday evening with his friend Amaya… a very big thank you to Jan and Steve!!! Steve and I got to go out for a quiet dinner… a rare treat these days and I’m sure it will soon be even rarer. He had a blast with Amaya! They look like they could be twins…, but then again they are only about two weeks apart. Very cute kids!

I'm sooo tired...


"These puppies are calmer than the other one."



Little one… oh, she needs a name!... is doing great! I’m really feeling her on the outside now. She got in a few really good kicks last night and then a few more this morning. I had Steve put his hand on my belly last night, but as soon as he did she stopped. Sounds like what Cooper did. Silly kids! Soon her movements will be even easier to feel. I love it! I have an OB appointment next week. Just three months (and a few days) and she’ll be here.

More later...........

After Easter update

I had hoped to get an update on Easter, but it just didn’t happen. So here it is…

Steve’s parents came to visit on their way back from Texas on Friday and spent the weekend with us. Friday night was fairly uneventful as Steve and I left Cooper with Grandma and Grandpa to go to Babies’R’Us to buy diapers and a few extra things. Gotta get diapers cheap when you can! Saturday we took Cierra to puppy class while Grandma took care of Cooper again. I think she enjoyed spending the time with him.

Cierra did great at class. With the other dog gone for Easter we had one on one time with our trainer. We worked on sit and stay at the door with distractions… and she did very well. As long as there is food involved Cierra will do just about anything. We walked a few laps around the store and greeted staff. Cierra had to sit to get attention from them. She also had to go a sit, a down, or a “leave it” on each wall of the walk. She really does well with leave it! She breezed through that exercise. Then we worked on staying for 20 seconds. That one was a bit harder. We still need to work on it more.

Saturday then became a bit more interesting with Cooper running a fever of 102. We game him Motrin and Tylenol, but he creeped up to 103. Steve’s mom and I gave him a bath that evening and when I took him out of the tub he didn’t want me to unwrap him from the towel and he was shivering. I checked his temp again and this time he was 104.5. We had been alternating the Tylenol and Motrin all day and never saw a break. After calling the pediatrician on-call, he suggested being seen right away as it was the weekend… of course. We spent about three hours in the ER and had absolutely wonderful care! No waiting this time. After a diagnosis of bronchiolitis and an ear infection… still, he got more Tylenol and Motrin, a neb, and antibiotics and we were sent home.

If it hadn’t been Easter we wouldn’t have gone to church, but Cooper seemed to be in a pretty good mood even with a temp. He slept through much of the service. I think a combination of him radiating heat and me being pregnant, I was miserable by the end of the sermon. I don’t know, but I would think he was back to about 104. Probably against my better judgment, but with more Tylenol and Motrin, we went out to dinner. The experience was lacking in service and the food was questionable, but it was reasonably good.


Cooper didn't have a ton of energy in these pictures, but he's still cute and quite handsome in his shirt and sweater! Usually the pacifier is for bed, but when he doesn't feel good, he wants it. Don't ask about the bottle nipple in the last picture... he loves playing with them.



"Can I eat my bunny now?... Before Mom get's to the ears?"

Steve’s parents left about 3pm on Sunday to head back to Michigan and get settled for the summer.

Cooper and I stayed home together on Monday and Tuesday and he slept, snuggled, and played. We had two really good days together.

Yesterday I missed a great photo opportunity. Cooper was standing at the gate and Cierra was sitting up against the gate on the other side. Cooper reached through the bars and gave her a big hug. As soon as I grabbed the camera they were both looking at me like, “Missed it!” He does so well with her and she with him!

I had an incredible experience this morning. If it hadn’t been at about 5am it would have been a bit better, but still very neat… in its own way. I had both kids kicking me at the same time. Cooper was in bed with me and was very restless and was kicking my upper belly. My little girl was kicking my lower belly at the same time. While being kicked by Cooper isn’t usually a pleasant experience, it was interesting to feel them both. The day will probably come where both will be kicking on the outside… in our bed. We may need a bigger bed.

My other incredible experience of the day was when I put Cooper on the changing table to get him dressed. We’ve been doing these hugs in the morning when he gets dressed. I say, “I love you!” and he squeezes me back really tight… and gives me a kiss… really wet and on the mouth… a very endearing act. This morning he started to say, “Waa u”. I think it was his version of “I love you”. It will make a mommy’s heart melt.

Cooper, Cierra, and Baby...

Hello again! I finally found a few minutes to update. The fast-paced adventure continues.

The poor camera has been neglected which means the blog has been neglected of pictures. But I got a few. These are the ones that keep us busy. :)

Mealtimes have become a real adventure! Cooper is trying to use a spoon, but most things don’t end up in his mouth. He also does not want any help, so unless we are prepare for a mess, anything the consistency of yogurt or applesauce, etc is not had. We are sticking to lots of finger foods. Cooper also loves to “get into” his food. His tray is “finger painted” as well as his face. Cleaning him up is fun, but I know this is a learning process. He is really good at rubbing it through his eyebrows and hair… especially when he isn't due for a bath. While Cierra doesn’t beg from us, she knows exactly where to sit to get treats from Cooper. About two weeks ago tooth #5 and tooth #6 came in. Cooper is great at biting into things… and even bit Mommy while I was brushing his teeth last weekend. He didn’t mean to… I don’t think… but it hurt.

You should see our master walker! Very little crawling for Cooper these days! He went from a step or two to five or six steps to across the room to now from one end of the house to the other. He has made great strides in balance.

We have one smart little boy. He loves to play with the real phone… hoping he doesn’t try to call China. We were taking out the one of the batteries, but he figured out what we were doing and now he just hands the phone back if one is out. He loves to turn anything into a phone and pretend to talk, but then he wants us to talk on it, too. Yesterday he was “talking” on the light/fan remote from our bedroom. It does look like his play cell phone. Watching him figure things out is amazing.

Last night he was taking all our (I suppose that should read “my”) books and putting them on the floor. Steve went to sit with him and they carried on a conversation for quite some time. I wish I would have caught it on video… oh yeah, we need to use that more often.

Cierra is doing really well. I think she is growing. It’s hard to tell when we are with her every day, but she seems bigger. She also seems to be losing her puppy look. Puppy classes are going well. We are working on sit and stay at the door. So far so good as long as we have treats. Last week she had to walk over treats and leave them… very tough for a food motivated dog. The trainer said it would likely take a few weeks to master. She has had virtually no potty accidents in the house for about two weeks. Wow! We’ve been letting her in the living room more and more. It is easier to do after Cooper has gone to bed and his toys are picked up. She just seems so much happier to be with us. I can’t wait for the day when she can have free run of the house. The vet said the chewing should slow down after about six months… she’s five now. We’ve found seven puppy teeth, but I think she is nearly done as most look pretty adult. The other night at some point she started to chew the corner of the kitchen wall. Ugh. I think we may need to get the movie Marley and Me and rename it Cierra and Me. But overall she is such a good dog. This stuff, while not desired, is to be expected. At least she didn’t eat a huge chuck of wall… that spot will just have to be repainted.

I had an OB appointment yesterday and all is going great! Her heart rate was in the 140s and she is measuring right on. I’ll see my OB again in four weeks. Wow, these months are going fast! Every time I look at the ticker at the top of the blog I think, “Really??? Only that may more days??? Wasn’t is just at 165?”. And keep in mind that we will likely go a week early, so subtract six or so days.

The other day I stopped in the baby section of JCP and found two little pink and white sundresses. I’ve wanted to find a going home outfit (yes, I know it is a few months away, but…) and I couldn’t decide between the two, so I bought them both with a little pink cardigan and matching booties. I keep telling myself that I only really get to do this once. I love buying little boy clothes and I’m having just as much fun with little girl clothes.

Well there is so much I could tell you, but this will do for now. I hope to be back sooner than two weeks from now.