Welcome to the Hull Three Ring Circus…

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! :)

“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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!

One year photos...

Mr. Monkey

Now that I haven’t done a “real” post for what seems like months… other than pictures, I thought I would try to get one out. As I’m sure you can imagine life is interesting and busy!

Cooper had a fabulous birthday and was spoiled. You should see our living room. It looks like a toy store... including what he got for Christmas. He is still obsessed with his tool bench. Last Sunday we took the hammer and wrench to church with us. Other than that he just loves to play will all of his toys. He’ll spend time with one item and then go onto the next. There are times that I think, “Wow he hasn’t played with that in a while” and then he plays with it for days. He loves books. Of course being curious and adventurous is always fun, too. Anything he shouldn’t get into he does… or tries to.

He can stand unsupported, but hasn’t taken that first step yet… at least a successful one. I’m sure when he does it will be a flat out run from there on. He has started to climb on things… hence the name Mr. Monkey. He made several attempts at crawling on top of the trunk I have. Once he mastered it, he does it in about half a second. He is so good at being able to get down. He turns around and reaches with his feet for the ground. Wow, how does he know to do that and not go over head first? His new trick is to get both knees on his race truck and hold onto the handle at the back. He is trying to stand up on it and I have a feeling it won’t be long. Steve was saying it was probably a good thing we took down the tree in the front yard as he would be climbing within a few years… now we only have about fifteen other trees for him to climb.

His other top front tooth is coming in… finally. It seems like we keep seeing it and then it goes back up, but I think it is here to stay. He loves that he can bite into crackers and cookies… those teeth are good for something.

He had his 12 month shots and came in at 21 ½ lbs and 29 inches long. He is growing up! So far no signs of a reaction to the MMR, chickenpox, or Hepatitis A vaccines, but they usually start about 7-12 days out so we still have a few days. They so wonderfully tell your child could actually get chickenpox from the shot… great… we’ve had enough illness. Oh, and I just happened to ask them to check his ears as he had an ear infection a couple of weeks ago and was pulling on his ear and acting a bit crabby at night and yes, he had another ear infection. More antibiotics! The Amoxicillin went down great, but the Augmentin he hates.

With allowing him to sleep with us when he’d wake up during the middle of the night for four weeks, we are struggling to get him to sleep the entire night in his crib. Some day…

For those of you that followed my blog while I was pregnant with Cooper will enjoy (or cringe) at hearing that the clothing saga of the last pregnancy is starting again. I am at that weird body stage. It looks like extra pounds instead of a baby bump. I have “too much” for regular pants, but my maternity clothes are really too big. Ladies you might enjoy this… guys skip this part… Yesterday I wore non-maternity tights with a dress. They fit on Friday. Now they want to roll over the “bump” and continue rolling. I’m afraid I am going to walk down the hall with my tights around my knees. Now that would be an embarrassing sight! So let the clothing saga begin!

As for Baby #2, all looks well. We will do the anatomy ultrasound on March 13th. It is a little earlier than the normal 20 weeks, but hey it’s the special attention you get when you are labeled “advanced maternal age”. I’m not 80, but that term makes me feel like it. We’ve seen the little one three times. Two weeks ago it was curled up and didn’t want to be measured from head to rump, but the doc said it looked like a 13+ week baby… right on track. My due date is August 15th, but since we are planning to do a repeat c-section it will likely be the 10th. I have had many requests for “special days”, but unless one of those days is early and this one comes early it probably won’t happen. All I can say is the next five months are going to go fast! We have so much to do. Thankfully we have all of the big baby stuff we need… crib (but Coops will need to transition to a toddler bed early), car seat, bottles, pump, diaper bag, etc. Of course if this is a girl we may need a little bit of pink and a few dresses. If it is a boy we have lots of blue, but they will be of different seasons size-wise. All in due time we will find out… or in a little over two weeks. This pregnancy is so different from Cooper’s. I’m so busy that I often “forget” that I am pregnant. There isn’t the luxury of going home after work to take a nap or going to bed by 8pm. But when I do think about it, I am excited! It is all wonderful. We are so blessed and will be blessed even more.

Well, I suppose that is enough to get me back to blogging. Take care!

Cooper would like to announce...

He will be a big brother around August 10th!

More details to come. :)

First Birthday in photos...

Cooper's cake




Getting my hands in it

Yummmmm!!!! A bit messy, but yummy!

My new tool bench. Papa would be proud.

My giraffe from Jackie and Kyle. Hugs!

Mommy got me balloons!



Have I said I love my tool bench???

Happy 1st Birthday, Cooper!

One year ago today...

We love you so much!

Mommy and Daddy

p.s. More pictures of his big day to come...

Cody

Our beloved Cody died yesterday afternoon (2/1/2008). It's hard to imagine a heart like his ever stopping. He is so dearly loved and now incredibly missed.

Coughs, sniffles, sneezes… and wheezes, oh my!

Once again I am delinquent in getting an update done. But I must admit that life is just busy. At work we are preparing for an accreditation review and I’ve been busy reviewing the last three years to make sure what I need is there. Not a small feat when added to the year-end reports and getting started with 2009. When I get home we are busy with dinner, playing, baths, and other need-to-do items… like falling asleep on the couch. There is just never enough time to get everything done.

Cooper had his first neb treatment on Wednesday. He came down with a cold not quite two weeks ago. His cough started to get worse and by Wednesday he was really wheezing. The daycare called to say he just wasn’t acting himself. I decided to endure the pediatrician’s office. I hate that feeling of “why are you bringing in what seems to be a healthy kid” when I know he doesn’t feel good. But when I got to the daycare there was no doubt that he needed to be seen. I hadn’t ever heard him wheeze as bad as he did. The thought is he has RSV, but since he is nearly a year old, he should be just fine. After enduring a neb treatment, we were sent home with an albuterol inhaler to give him several times a day. With a family history of asthma they said the wheezing with a virus was to be expected and he is very likely to have asthma, but I had hoped that he would be lucky and not get it. Last night I was concerned the albuterol didn’t seem working, but thankfully, he was able to sleep through the night and didn’t sound too bad this morning. Hopefully, he will be feeling pretty good by the end of the weekend. The occupational hazard of being a mommy with a sick, cuddly child is that you usually get it, too. So needless to say I’m tired and not feeling the greatest either.

Here is a quick update on what Cooper is doing…
Tooth #3 is through on the top and #4 is trying to come… more loose diapers… FUN!
He can walk on his knees, but not quite on his feet yet. He can cruise around the furniture and stand with just one hand supported.
He weighed 20 pounds and 12 ounces on Wednesday.

Cooper has a week before he is a year old. I am still in amazement that the last year has gone as fast as it did. We are probably going to have a small party with Mommy and Daddy next Friday and then Gramma and Papa come on the 9th and we’ll celebrate again.

Here’s to a quiet weekend!

Three week update...

Where has time gone again??? I am finding the days are blending together and are just as busy as before Christmas.

So what has happened during the last three weeks…

Cooper got his bottom teeth Christmas morning. I happen to be feeling his gum and sure enough there they were! I think his body also let us know they were coming in by giving us a week of loose diapers and vomiting. During the week between Christmas and New Years Day I think Cooper and I each went through three clothing changes every day. He would either poop enough to get on me, too or vomit to the point of drenching both of us and usually the chair we were in. Ugh. Thank God that is over! Until the tops one come...

My parents came to visit the Saturday after Christmas and my sister and her family came the Sunday after Christmas. It was great to be together. Opening gift with six adults and three kids was fun. Cooper loved the wrapping paper and by that time was a pro at ripping it off. Our living room looks like Toy Central.

Cooper graduated from the baby bathtub to the big bathtub. He loves it as he can slash better and move around more. Mommy gets a bit nervous when he gets on his knees, but he usually listens when I ask him to sit down.

Steve managed to pick-up strep throat, so was miserable for several days with a very sore throat. Thankfully, he is on the mend and feeling better.

Cooper turned 11 months old on the 6th. Wow. In just about three weeks from now he will be a year old. My baby is no longer going to be a baby… he will be a little boy.

Steve and I went out on date on Saturday and went to Marley and Me. I loved it! It was so well done and kept close to the book. I, of course, sobbed through the ending, but only from the love we have experience from the labs that have been in our lives. See it, if you can, but bring Kleenex.

I got some pictures on Sunday of us protraying the Holy family at the children's program at church in December.

Hmmm… the last three weeks have been a blur with just the day to day activities and being back to work after a week and a half off.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas in pictures...

Our tree before opening gifts...

Cody opening a Christmas cookie...

My new Christmas jammies...

Riding my Little People race truck...

My tractor from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa...

My book from Aunt Tamra and Uncle Brian...

My new outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Hull...


Playing my kitty cat keyboard...

Playing with my bead maze...

My race truck...

Reading the 12 Dogs of Christmas... a texture/feel book

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I can’t believe it is Christmas Eve! Last week I was thinking I still had about a month left to get everything done that I wanted to get done. Well, it is here and I’m not sure… actually, I know, I don’t have everything done, but it is just going to have to be okay. I work until 3pm today and the daycare closes at 3pm, too. Steve is off, but thought he’d try to get a few things done while Cooper plays with his friends. I’d like to get a pan or two of cookies made yet this evening. Tonight we will go to church and then hopefully crash for the night. Santa dropped of a new pair of jammies for Cooper to wear tonight. However, Santa forgot to wash them, so we’ll see if it gets done. We’ll also hope Cooper sleeps until at least seven tomorrow, but I’m sure he’ll be up about 6am. I could use an hour or so to sleep in. Thankfully he doesn’t quite understand gifts yet and that they arrive Christmas morning.

It was fun to look at Cooper this morning and think back to last year. Steve and I got to see Cooper on ultrasound on Christmas Eve for a growth check. He was roughly 4½ lbs… now he is 21lbs. It is amazing to think of everything that has happened during the last year.

Have a wonderful Christmas. I’ll try to update tomorrow.

"Look at all the presents!"

"Who me??? Bow? What bow?"

Let it snow, let it snow... no more.

So you are probably wondering where we have been, right??? Me, too. The days have been full and I’m not sure where the last two weeks went. We have been busy preparing for Christmas and dealing with a bit of weather that has made things interesting. You’d think that being stuck at home has meant that I’d be able to get to the computer more, but it hasn’t really happened. There are just so many other things to do and of course Cooper needs attention, too.

Cooper loves the Christmas tree! So far he hasn't pulled it down or taken too many ornaments off. The one that he has he can't hurt. The wrapped gifts are starting to become a little more appealing to him. We'll see how many stay wrapped before Thursday.

I have no idea how much snow is on the ground other than I think I heard on the weather that we are already nearing our winter average. We will definitely have a white Christmas. After Thursday it can ALL go away. I have to admit I have been a little behind in getting gifts and had hoped to maximize Saturday, but this is what we got…

We did venture out, but it was a fairly quick trip. Thankfully today looks a little better… at the moment… and I’ll try to get a few more things done before the next blast of snow that is due to arrive later today. Steve has been busy shoveling and snow blowing the driveway. It has been terribly cold, too. I could really do without the -30 wind chill. I think Cooper would agree. We try to keep him out of it, but there are times that you have to go out.

In an attempt to amuse ourselves during lunch on Saturday, we had ABC’s and 123’s for lunch. As you can see we were playing with our food…

Last night our friends Steve, Jan, & Amaya came over for a visit. It was fun to watch Cooper and Amaya play together. They stood at the baby gate and played with the exersaucer-activity center.

"Santa, I've been a really good boy!"

Sorry to keep this short, but I’ll try to get a few posts up in the next week.