Dedicated to the Lord!

We had Cooper dedicated at our  church on August 14, 2011!  This was such a special time and one that Josh and I truly believe is so important for our kids.  Instead of baptising them, we believe that the child should be able to make the choice and the dedication is really more for the parents.  Josh and I have both made a pledge to God before our church that we desire to raise Cooper in a Christian home and do everything we can to teach him about Jesus.  He was dedicated with about 8 other children during the service and each one was prayed for individually by our pastor. 

SO many people came to watch and support Cooper!  People came in from Colorado, Newton, Baton Rouge, Mansfield, Southlake, Fort Worth and Dallas all to see Coop!   It was so wonderful to see everyone's faces in the pews celebrating this little boy!  We had a brunch afterwards and were able to share in this event with everyone at our house.

 Aunt Marcia was able to come in for the day and got to meet Cooper for the first time!

Of course Cooper had about had it by the time we actually got to get a picture of the 3 of us! He was such a great little boy and made it from 8am-2pm with no nap and held by all!  What a great sport! 

its the little things in life

Sometimes you've just got to DANCE!!

 We had a great night last night right before bath time!  Everyone was so happy and awake.  Josh turned on some music and we all just joined in on the fun!  First Caroline "helped" me do the laundry.  I thought she was being so sweet but then her real motive shined through... she wanted the basket!  Everyone got basket rides around the house! 

 Then it was time to DANCE!

A man who changes diapers...

CHANGES THE WORLD!!

Lately Caroline has been resisting bathtime and insisting that I do everything.  Well this has left some Daddy and Cooper time.  Sometimes I hear them reading books about sports, sometimes Josh teaching him how to throw footballs and baseballs and then yesterday I found my camera with these extra photos taken on them.  Josh is such a wonderful dad and does so much for both Caroline and Cooper.  He comes home and never complains, helps me get dinner on the table and then gets both kids ready for bed.  Our routine definitely works and I could not do it with out him!

We love you Daddy!!

Firsts!

 Last weekend on July 31st, Cooper had his first tastes of FOOD!!  Up until now he has only had milk.  Our doctor is pretty laid back and told us at his 4 month appointment that he was now ready to try anything that isn't chunky and doesn't involve honey.  I was a little skeptical of feeding Caroline so early, but we just knew Cooper was ready!  We gave him some sweet potato baby food and he did really well.  He took several bites and some actually made it in!  After about the 3rd night, he really looks like he is enjoying it!  I have to admit that it is a little sad to think that my baby boy is growing up so quickly!  While we got the highchair down from the the attic, we packed up the swing and the bouncy seats.  He was getting too big for the swing and never really cared for the bouncy chair.  It is sad to think that we are already done with them!

 Our family of 4 sitting at the table!!

4 Months Old!

Well here we are... just a little late!  :)  But my sweet boy is 4 months old!  We have had so much fun with Cooper and can not imagine life with out him.  He has grown quite a bit and continues to make us smile.  Caroline loves playing with her "Coo Coo" and loves worrying about him through out the day.  We had a 4 month check up with the doctor and Cooper had to get two shots and an oral vaccination.  He did cry and then was fussy through out the day, wanting to be held quite a bit. Much like his first round of shots.  Here is where he stands:

weight: 17 lbs. 4.5 oz. (88th percentile)

height: 25.75 in. (78th percentile)

head circumference: 44 cm (89th percentile)

As you can see, Cooper's head is 44 cm around.  This is just 2.5cm smaller than his sister's!  So funny!  Cooper and Caroline somewhat resemble each other, but are SUCH different kids!  I just love the fact that they are so different!  Cooper is starting to roll up on his side, but has not rolled over yet.  He is still a content little boy and is only fussy when he's tired or hungry.  Other than that, he just relaxes and pretty much lets us drag him to all of our outings through out the day.  Cooper is still wearing size 3 diapers and is wearing about 6 month clothes.  All of a sudden he seems quite long to me!  He sure is not a newborn anymore!! 

And the biggest news...COOPER IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!  The week before he was 4 months old was pretty rough sleepwise.  I just could not take it anymore and was getting up nearly every 2 hours.  We decided on July 15th to just turn off the monitor.  If he really needed us, we would hear him.  I think I got up 1 time and after that, he did so great.  This past week he has completely slept through the night!!  I am SO proud and was SO ready!  I can't tell you how much different this has made each day.   I've started getting up right after Josh leaves at around 6:30am and then getting ready for the day.  It is so much better to have all of my stuff done early before both kids wake up.  I've even been able to stay up until around 10 lately!  It has been a while since I've been able to do this!  :)

{*I did take a 4 month onesie picture, however I have misplaced the memory card!  I'm still searching and until then... here we have a 4 1/2 month picture.}

COLORADO

We were able to travel back to Colorado last weekend and see everyone we had not seen in OVER A YEAR!  I can not believe so much time had passed since we were last back there, but I can assure you it won't happen again!  We have been really lucky this past year to see my parents quite often, but with a new niece and a new child of our own, it was really difficult to find a time to go home.  My 10 year highschool reuinon was this year so we planned a trip back to Colorado during this time.  It was a quick trip and pretty much a whirlwind, but we were able to see just about everyone.  Caroline kept saying that she wanted to see Emma before we went and couldn't quite understand why she wouldn't be there.  It was a little sad to miss Missy and her family, but hopefully we will get to see them soon. 

Josh wasn't able to take a lot of time off so we decided to do things a little differently this time.  When we made the tickets for us to fly up there, we had just gotten back from Florida.  Remember that trip?!!  How could I ever forget?  Well, I wasn't about to fly with the two kids myself, so I left early Wednesday morning and just took Cooper.  Suzanne watched Caroline for part of Wednesday and then Josh and her flew out early Thursday morning.  Both kids were great and it was nice to have a little one on one time with my little Coopster! 

 Grami and Pop Pop's house is the place to be!  They have more toys than we do and anything a little kid could ever want.  Here Caroline is watching a movie and insisted on Mickey sitting next to her.

 Thursday night we had all of the family over to meet Cooper for the first time and see Caroline.  It was so wonderful to all be together again and catch up on everyone's lives.

 Cooper looked so big sitting up in the swing.  He loved this new point of view!

 

Grami took us on a little fieldtrip down the road to a local dairy.  It was so fun to see these baby animals up close!

The bunnies were Caroline's favorite of course!

Cady stopped by before all of the craziness of the reunion festivities started and said hi to Cooper.  He loved all of the attention!

Time for a Haircut!

Just short of 4 months old and this little boy already needs a haircut!!  Cooper's hair was getting pretty long and covered almost all of his ears!  We decided to give him his first haircut on July 9th.  We really just trimmed up along his ears and the back, but it made such a difference!  It actually made me pretty sad because he looks so much older now with it all cleaned up. 

So there might be a slight difference from how one side looks from the other.  Josh and I each had a turn and I'm not going to say which is better, but one got a little more hair cut off.  Oops!  Sorry Coop!  Good thing your hair grows quickly!!  :)  Your dad did say "Stop, don't cut..." but it just needed a little bit more off!

SO much hair!

The finished product!  Does his hairstyle look familiar?  2 peas in a pod!!