Attack of the Squirrel Monkey

This morning I was awoken by the sweet screechings of a squirrel monkey "talking" in his crib. We can't seem to capture it on video yet but if he takes after his mommy, once he finds his voice, he will never shut up :) Sing on little squirrel monkey, sing on! Update: Caught on video!

Relaxing Weekend

Ribs are simmering in the crock pot, football is on tv, the laundry and grocery shopping are done. Now I can relax. It's nice to have weekends like this :)

Favorite Photos

4 month doctors visit

Cooper turns 4 months on the 19th and his visit today went really well. He is now 14 pounds and he growing like a weed right on schedule! The doctor saw two little tooth buds under the skin(Grammie was right) and he can now have rice cereal 3 times a day. We don't go back until his 6 month check up. Cooper comes from tough stock...he didn't even cry but for 1 minute when we got his shots today but wait until you hear how tough Cooper's oldest cousin Tyler is. Tyler cracked his skull this week in the hockey rink, he is 16 and tough as nails though. He is home and is fine (with no sports/activity for 6 weeks) but I am sure just knowing your skull is fractured is scary enough. Yesterday we were excited to hear that cousin Britany's national gym meet this year is here in Florida. We are really excited to bring Cooper, Pop and the whole family over to watch her this year. Sure beats past trips to the middle of nowhere like Oklahoma and Mississippi!

Baby magic

I swear this kid has me under a spell, I can't get enough of his laughing, smiling and now "talking". He makes noises that sound like a dolphin and loves to swing outside in the porch in his swing. We started giving him rice cereal at night and he seems to really like to eat off the spoon. He's not great at it but he's figuring it out. He has a Drs appointment tomorrow so I'll post then to let you know his weight etc. He is drooling like crazy and I am sure he's too young to get teeth....maybe he is just learning to make drool, we finally see real tears when he crys so I guess it's all starting to work now. He loves the bath and we are getting into a nice regular routine at night, he loves his little baby message we give him when we lotion him down after his bath. Tonight he talked and talked as Rob and I rubbed him down...what a spoiled boy!

Oh and he rolled over, we found him now twice looking up at us in shock that he did that on his own!

Big Trouble for a Little Person

I love "Little People, Big World" on TLC. I have no idea why but I have been watching it from the beginning and Rob and I sit and asked each other questions all day long as we watch. It fascinates us for some reason. We love to watch how they live, what they do, how messy their house is etc. I have been crazy with the little people since my sister met one of the original munchkins from the Wizard of Oz (crazy right?). But come on now...is EVERYONE getting DUIs and then publicity for their trials? Apparently to make it in Hollywood you now have a head shots and a mug shot. I guess it gives the shows ratings or maybe his little head is getting "too big" :)

Baptism and Nona's 90th Birthday

Today we celebrated Cooper's baptism with family as my grandmother, Cooper's Nona, turned 90! We had a really nice day, besides me almost burning down the house with a small fire in the oven :) Thanks to Danny and Aunt Marilyn for saving the day. Cooper wore my christening gown that I wore as a baby but with the warm Florida weather, he didn't like the hat or the shoes so you won't see any pictures of those on him. We are enjoying a wonderful visit from family from Texas, New Hampshire and all over Florida. Cooper is really enjoying his cousins and all the family loving on him!

2008... WE MADE IT!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....that is what 2007 was to me. I guess I can now officially call it a new year since it's Jan 1 but I have to admit, I have been pretending my new year started Sept 19th when Cooper was born. As you all know, besides the best thing that ever happened to me (Cooper), 2007 was the worst year of my life. It's strange how such terrible things can happen and then the best thing...all in the first 9 months of a year. While I was able to enjoy a wonderful pregnancy, it got so distracted by the drama that became my life. So, I put behind me: Tampa, Moffitt Cancer Center and all things related to leukemia, ICU, moving, buying and selling a home in today's market, dysfunctional family who continued to be consistently dysfunctional as I dealt with the illness and then death of a parent, the initial shock and early stages of grief of losing my dad, bereavement/mass cards and people coming out of the woodwork to give pity and sympathy. From this year I gained: - a wonderful son, God truly blessed us when he gave us Cooper, I would do it all again and more if I had to in order to have this precious little boy. - a closer relationship with real friends and family who last year I learned will always answer the phone to listen, jump on a plane to see you when you need them the most and cry with you when that's all you can do. - a stronger marriage....what didn't kill us made us stronger and I can't image my life journey without Rob and the many lessons we have learned together. - a nephew :) - about 20 plus pounds that I let myself put on due to the stress and pregnancy that now I can't believe it let myself do when now almost 3 years ago before my wedding I was running 5 miles a day! ACK! So.....good riddance 2007, I made it to 2008!