Goodbye February..

Somehow, I blinked and the month was over. Yes it is a very short month, but it seems like the only exciting   moments were the two snow storms that blasted our region. Though there are no complaints with the lack luster month, I quite enjoyed the lazy days. I love the monotonous sequence of our day: 

1. Wake up to laughs and coos from the mouth of my little loved one

2. Cuddle with the Cooper Monster while he's still in a calm, baby sleep daze

3. Fill up Little Man's tank for playtime

4. Play until we are both tuckered out, take nap (Have to recharge those batteries)

5. Eat a monstrous lunch. (I swear, I don't know where he puts it!)

6. Cause chaos until dad gets home, eat yet another colossal amount of food

7. Play with dad, then go to bed

I love being surprised with the greatest bed head after a long nap. 

This was, "The Grinch" hair day

Dad declared this, "The Crazy Old Man" hair day

There has been a lot of commotion stirring around the house. Cooper has developed the lovely habit of standing on the brick to the wood stove, grabbing the handles, and shaking it like candy is going to magically fall out of it. Before you gasp by reading this, know the wood stove is just an alternative source of heat, only used in power outages.

I am constantly chasing after him before he finds all the "things" he is not supposed to get to. Apparently toys are no good. Getting into cabinets, surround sound dials, and computers are much more fun! Time to baby-proof.....again.

I caught him wrestling poor Pooh just after this was taken

This is what I like to call, POWER HOUR! From 6:30-7:30 every evening, our baby acts like he is on crack. He laughs, he cries, he's mad, he's sad, then oh, he's Goofy Baby. In a matter of one hour we'll experience all the multiple personalities of Coop. I can't blame him though, haven't you ever been so tired you get delirious and laugh at absolutely nothing one minute, then want to cry the next? Well, the only way to get through this is to make as many "Superman" laps around the house as possible, rock out to music in the dark, and bounce the silliness out of him.

This is after maybe 4 laps of bouncing from one end of the house the the other

 February 27 we woke up to around 8 inches of snow. The storm system was significant enough to see snow in the valley for the first time in many years. Around 9 in the morning we lost power which was so exciting.........for maybe 15 minutes. Throughout the day it continued to snow, and Cooper and I were ready for the day to be over by 11:00. I didn't realize how much I appreciate Cooper's favorite tv show until that day. That 1/2 hour really does help me relax from mommy duty. During his 2 hour nap, I decided to break out my sketching materials and design a new family emblem for Cooper's baby book.

Early Morning

Cooper wasn't too thrilled to be stuffed into layer after layer, and then a snow suit. He was immobile like the little boy from A Christmas Story. Shamelessly, it was adorable.

10 Months Old

As I mentioned earlier, the hour before bedtime can be quite challenging. With a grumpy baby, sometimes the only way to lighten up the atmosphere is to have a little fun....making fun of our little one!

I have found that Cooper's hair is a contradiction. I love it, and hate it. I love how unique his baby mullet is, the cute little curls that sprout at the nape of his neck. I hate that it is so unmanageable when it's time to look nice when we go out. Sometimes he reminds me of a beer chugging redneck. Other times the sweet curls remind me of how peacefully he slept to create them.

The positions he puts himself in........Look at that belly!

Daddy-time. Cooper gets Dad exclusively before dad leaves for training. 

Sweet Cooper: You are the love of my life, I am so blessed to call you my son. You are beautiful.

What a change, the boys are in the kitchen.

 What our life is all about......

Pre-Op for Coop's palate surgery is this Thurs. I'll be sure to update then.

Goodbye February, Hello March!

First Snowman

 Cooper woke from his nap to find his first snowman. Just his size!

From 70's to Snow...In just a few days!

It's funny how Mother Nature works, in my last post you could have mistakenly believed it was the start of spring. Blossoms were blooming, warm breezes filled the air, and parks were filled with people young and old enjoying the beautiful weather. 

Fast-forward a few days and rain, hail, and high winds pelted the town full force. Around 3a.m. this morning, I woke to a loud hail storm where snow was soon to follow. It has been snowing consistently throughout the day creating a beautiful winter wonderland landscape for my Little Monster and I to enjoy. 

Little Coop started laughing as the snow fell upon his face. Apparently it was very funny to him that white stuff was falling from the sky.

Just 6 days short of his 10 month mark

Something I regret daily, is the fact that I don't have any Momma & Son pictures. The last intentional picture of us was in the hospital on the day of his birth. I don't want Cooper to look back and wonder why there are no photos of the two of us, so we had a small little photo shoot to catch up on lost time.

You'd think I adopted him I swear! Daddy's genes definitely dominated.

Grandma decided to get Cooper some treats when we went shopping last week. I have never given him animal crackers before and this is the reason. He was on such a sugar high before bed, yet he was in an unbelievably good mood. He was laughing at himself and thought it was hilarious when I told him he was, "yucky!"

In fact, that night he decided to exclusively knee crawl. He had always known how, but chose scooting as his preferred method. Now he is really gaining speed and I literally have to chase after him.

Momma & Dad's Nightmare. We hate messes

Lovely Bed Head

Healing Process

Progress of Cooper's recovery dating from pre-surgery to almost 3 months post-op

Lately, I have been reflecting on Cooper's lip surgery and the long, daunting healing process we endured. I am hit with all the emotions of how helpless my little boy felt after being drugged, cut up, and stitched up. We didn't have the easiest recovery either. The incision tore apart, a stitch broke through the scar, and his tissue is very contracted and firm. 

I have many fears for his upcoming surgery, mainly though, the aftercare. The surgeon informed me that the repair to Coop's palate may not hold, which in that case, they would do an emergency surgery to sew it back together. I can not begin to tell you how scared I am of that being our luck. It is even more nerve racking knowing that we live so far from any proper medical care for him in case the repair doesn't hold. 

I know that I shouldn't worry, the Lord is watching over him, but it's only in my nature to worry for my child.

I hope and pray that the recovery for this surgery will be slightly easier for all of us. 

I hope this time around I can get a bed in his hospital room, rather than the make-shift fold out chair provided. In his previous stay, he literally did not leave my arms the entire night and we both were crammed into a corner trying to get rest on the fold out chair. The crib provided was not used other than the occasional diaper change. 

I hope that I am not placed in a room with a poor little 7-year-old boy who was left abandoned by his awful parents who didn't have the decency to stay with their son overnight, (even though they were staying at the Ronald House were my husband slept-one of them could have been with their son.) 

I hope feeding goes as well as it did his last surgery. 

I hope the repair is successful and that it will be the last surgery for a couple years.

Ultimately, I hope he doesn't feel much pain and can play, laugh, and give us smiles with the quickest recovery

possible.

On that note, I'll leave you with some pictures of Cooper at the park from last week.

Check out his hair

He almost fell asleep swinging with Dad

At first he was terrified of the pine needles and would NOT put his hands on the ground

I Love the weekends.  Joel's home!

At this point he was done with the park