Okay, this will be my last Christmas 2010 post!

I think :) I can't help but post pics from Christmas 2009 and compare them to this Christmas! Last year at this time, Cooper hadn't even reached his due date yet!

2009

2010

White Christmas!

I don't believe that I've ever had a white Christmas but was given the opportunity finally over the weekend! Georgia had their first white Christmas since the 1800's but I was in Pittsburgh so I missed the fun at home!

We had like one mini episode of snow last Winter but Cooper was way too small to go out in it...but, that wasn't the case this past weekend! I don't think he was a huge fan and we were only out in it for about 5 minutes. Really, I didn't care if we were out there for a long time as long as I was able to get some quick pics ;)

This pose didn't last too long! Who wants a cold and wet hiney?

"What is this stuff?"

I'm wearing my hubby's gloves because I forgot mine at home!

Christmas 2010

Our little family of 3 actually celebrated Christmas on Wednesday night because we were headed to Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve to celebrate with my in-laws. It was fun because we ordered chinese food and opened our gifts and our stockings. I didn't buy Cooper a whole lot of presents because he's still at the age where he's not sure of what's going on but I'm sure it'll be a whole other story next Christmas!

He thoroughly enjoyed his stocking! He looked at every item and then proceeded to pitch every item individually over the side of his highchair!

I was very nervous about our flight because he's only flown one other time and he was only 5 months old at the time. All I had to do back then was give him a bottle and he was happy as a lark...yeah, that's not the case now that he's almost 14 months old. Luckily, he fell asleep the moment that we got into the air and slept most of the flight!

Now, I love this because any mommy of a toddler will tell you that it's a rare moment when they'll actually sleep on your chest! Ahh, I savored every second! Oh, and please excuse my double chin...the point of the pic is Cooper's peaceful sleeping! ;)

We headed to Pittsburgh on Friday and were excited to arrive to a city full of snow! We don't get snow often in Georgia and it's not very impressive when we do, either! Georgia also has mild winters so Cooper was surprised by the chill in the air!

My men folk

We went to a fun party at my hubby's cousin's house on Christmas Eve and Cooper got to eat some northern type food. This made be a weird comment but the flavors of the food and some of the items, to me, taste different than what we get down here in the south! He ate like a little piggy so I think he approved!

We woke up the next morning bright and early because that's what Cooper does regardless of holiday status so we went to open gifts. My in-laws ADORE Cooper and were thrilled to be up at 6:30 AM to open gifts. No, really they were over the moon with excitement and I was really happy that we could spend Christmas morning with them.

Cooper working very hard to open this present

Cooper reaping the rewards of his present opening skills

A funny story about our flying home on Sunday. They cancelled our flight home. The airline wanted us to fly to Detroit and layover until Monday or just stay in Pittsburgh until Tuesday. Neither one of these options were appealing to me because I was eager to get my child back to his home and his things. So, we drove 2 hours to Cleveland to fly home to Atlanta. That flight was delayed an hour so it took us 8 hours to get home. I now know that we were the lucky ones as I watched the news this morning to see that some people are literally stuck because the entire airport is closed in a few cities!

The cool thing about Cooper is that he was a total rockstar yesterday despite everything that we went through to get home. He played with a pack of (unopened) peanuts and the window shade for the entire flight home! Awesome!

One last pic (I promise!) of me and my little man on Christmas Day. I just love him!

Mommy's music man :)

Cooper received this Fisher Price Learn and Grow piano for his birthday and he loves this thing! It actually connects to the television but he actually prefers it just on it's own. This piano and a set of bongos are his two of his favorite toys...future rockstar, maybe?

The letter P is his muse ;)

Triple post day...Coopie is a sick puppy :(

Cooper is sick with a horrible cold. He didn't really eat yesterday and he hasn't eaten hardly at all today. I took him to his ped and she just said that it's okay if he doesn't eat for a few days (really???) but to just make sure he takes fluids. He's not a big fan of fluids today, either, and I've only managed to get about 3.5 ounces of pedialyte in him today.

I've spent my day sucking out snot, wiping up with boogie wipes, begging him to drink some chocolate pediasure and/or his orange pedialyte, sticking a thermometer up his bootie, dispensing tylenol, smearing on vicks baby rub and giving a whole lotta snuggles...only one of these things is enjoyable...

Can you spend a few minutes today sending up some prayers for my little man that he gets better soon? I mean, it's tough work being Super Cooper!

I have a feeling that this is going to be a long, long weekend...

When elves attack!

We have an invasion of elves! My mil gave these elves to us a few years ago but I'm having a lot more fun with them since Cooper came into the picture :)

No elves or babies were hurt in the photo snapping of the elf invasion :)

Applause please!

Cooper graduated from speech therapy on Monday! Yippeee! He's been cleared to eat whatever he wants (except for raw vegetables) and he is loving all the yummy new foods! He's still not on a sippy cup but he's getting there...

We have many more months of PT and OT ahead of us but both are commenting all the time on how much stronger he is these days. The PT is ordering him some braces for his legs because he still can't bear weight on his legs. He is sitting up for about 10 minutes at a time so his trunk balance is so much better.

One day at a time but I'm excited that he has graduated from one of his therapies :)

December 8, 2009

We brought Cooper home from the nicu! Exactly one year ago today, our 13.5 week (7.5 weeks for me, 6 weeks for him) hospital vacation came to an end!

Our house has never been the same...and, we've never been so happy and blessed!

The sign that we made him for his homecoming!

Me bringing him into the house for the first time~ I know this is a special moment for every parent but I think it was even more special for us because of everything that we had been through to get to this moment. This day will always stand out in my mind has one of my happiest days ever...

Cooper meeting his crib for the first time. No worries, he never slept in the crib with any of those stuffed animals.

Cooper is not a fan...

of Santa.

We went to visit Jolly ole Nick on Sunday and let me just say that it was terrible! First off, stupid me didn't realize how popular Santa is...heck, I'm friggin 32 and this is my first kid so how was I to know that if you get there 5 minutes after Santa comes on deck that you have to wait an hour for a 3 minute sit on his lap?

Ugh, moving on...Cooper hated him from the word "go." We got one photo during a break during meltdown time when Santa started reading a coloring book to Santa.

Yeah, next year, we're totally rocking a weekday Santa visit! Mommy has learned her lesson!

(oh, and another thing, Santa wouldn't let me take one friggin second to pull Cooper's pant legs down so now he looks like he's wearing capri pants...Thanks a lot, Santa!)

One day...

We had a wonderful speaker at our MOPS meeting last week talk about fostering relationships with other women. It made me think a lot about what type a friend that I am to my friends. I know that I have a few girlfriends that are awesome and I would be proud if I were half as great as they are to me.

One of the relationships that she discussed was the one with our mother-in-laws. Now, I love my MIL (really!!!) but she's 77 and comes from a different school of mothering and being a wife than I do. She can't change how she was brought up and her views on womanhood and she can't help how they've changed over the decades. The speaker than said "imagine, how she must feel to be her son's favorite woman and then all of a sudden she's not..." Ouch!

As a mother to a little boy, I know that one day (Lord willing) Cooper is going to fall in love and...dare, I say it...leave me! Oh, just the thought makes me want to hurl. One day, I will be someone's mother-in-law! It made me think about how I've dealt with my relationship with mine and how I hope/want to be as one.

She did say that we should start praying TODAY about our children's future spouses. Our prayers for their safety in this world will prepare them to be healthy mates for our children. So, I'm going to start doing just that...

But, that's not going to stop me from reminding Cooper EVERY DAY that mommy was the very first woman that he's ever loved...and, probably the only one that will ever lose an organ for him...okay, just joking about the last part!

I really was!

Cooper getting ready for 2030 (when he'll be 21!)

My hubby is a big wine appreciator and used to have a subscription to Wine Spectator. We've held onto the magazines over the years and they used to be kept on the bottom shelf of the library bookcase...but, that shelf now belongs to Cooper! Cooper has a library of well over 50 books so he needed his own shelf! Sadly, he still has a huge basket of books in his room that I need to find room for...

Cooper rolls over to the bookcase several times a day to pull a book out to "read" but he was sidetracked by this stack of magazines on this trip to the bookcase. I really need to invest in one of those baby corral/ baby fence things to keep him contained in the living room but for now, I'm content with just following him around the house with my flip camera ;)

Mr. Independent! Who needs mommy?

Cooper has been in speech therapy twice a week for about 2 months for feeding purposes. Her original treatment goal was to see him twice a week for 6 months but he's doing so good that he's most likely going to graduate next week!

This is yesterday's lunchtime where he feasted on a tuna sandwich and veggie chips...He didn't want my help, at all! This whole "I can feed myself now, thank you very much" thing is hard on my "I want to keep my house clean" thing BUT what can ya, do???