Off He Goes

This week has really been such an eye opener to me about how big Cooper is getting. He's been trying to roll over for a few weeks now, and finally did it Monday night. For some reason it made me so sad. Mobility is just around the corner. That means crawling and climbing and then walking. Then no more baby days!

He's also started to really master the eating of baby food. The rice cereal really was not at all exciting to him. He did it, but was not begging for bites, that's for sure. Once we started to mix it with veggies, he really started to show some interest. He's now had squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and several really icky green vegetables (why do those stink so bad!?). He seems to like all of them. He's doing really great. It's still kind of messy business, but it gets better every time. We haven't added fruit yet. I want him to be OK with food that isn't sweet. The one major drawback is that now the constant flow of spit up is colored. Yucky! I decided to head to Babies R Us to get solid, dark colored bibs and a large new stash of solid white burp cloths that can be bleached. I know that these times before the little finger foods come is not too long, so that's good. I really don't enjoy this, but it will be something I know I'll look back on with fondness.

Oh Those Summer Nights

On Sunday night, we were blessed by my sweet friend, Scooter, with FABULOUS tickets to the Ranger game. The weather was so amazing. We could not comment enough on how wonderful it felt outside! The seats were on the second row just down from the Ranger dugout. Chris started out the evening by warning me to not get too focused on talking because we were in the prime line-drive range. I waved him off and continued to gab with Em. Thankfully I was facing the plate when a laser shot came right in my direction. My eyes literally crossed as I saw it coming right for me! I was in the process of ducking when the guy in front of me knocked it down with his glove. We all sat up and looked at eat other, knowing I'd dodged a serious bullet! All we could do was laugh! It was a great chance to relax and just enjoy the game as it should be!

I tried to take one of those "hold-the-camera-out-in-front-of-you" pictures of Emily and me. I forgot that my camera was totally zoomed in and I obviously was not aiming at the right angle either. This is what I got...Brad's shirt.

Still not quite right...

We finally got it! We look pretty goofy, but the process was memorable!
Then last night, we went to the game with the Gentrys again, but this time we added the Durhams- double the fun! We spent a lot of time laughing and just enjoying another beautiful, mild Texas summer night (what's that?).
There was a really cute family in front of us that had just adopted a 5 year old girl from China 12 days before. I was so blessed by their story! What a better way to introduce her to our country!

The boys were thrilled to take a picture

Indepedence Day

The Fourth was a very enjoyable day for our family. We took it easy by eating lunch with Nana and Papa and then came home for a nap.

Later in the day, we met the Ericksons and Gentrys headed out to Glen Rose to eat at Loco Coyote (twice in one month is a treat!). The food was amazing and the sun was HOT! The kids played in the dirt and field while we waited on the food. After we finished dinner, we headed up the road to Granbury. We did it the high class way and parked in a parking lot right on the highway. Thankfully there was a small strip of grass where the kids could run and we could throw the football. We enjoyed a great time of snacks and music. Cooper stayed awake during the entire fireworks show. He stared at them in awe. I think I spent more time watching his face than I did watching the fireworks! What a wonderful evening with wonderful friends!

Being Silly

Shakin' It

Big Smile!

Being Super Heroes- I LOVE Conner's face!

Dancing

The Big Man

The Girls

The sweet tea was the only way we stayed cool! I think I drank a gallon!

Hailey's Grilled Chicken Sandwich- HUGE!

Drew dragging around the kiddos

Watching the fireworks

Big Man and Big Girl

Caroline and Cooper both went to our beloved Dr. Phillips today for the check ups (4 year and 4 months respectivly). I love going to the doctor because it is such a cheery place! Caroline spends the few days before making a mental list of all of the things that she needs to mention to the Good Doc- important things like mosquito bites. I am so thankful to the Lord that my kids have been healthy! Caroline has only had one sick visit in 4 years and then she was only working on an ear infection.
Today they were weighed and measured. Caroline was 42 inches and 39 lbs. She is in the 75 % in height and the 50% in weight. She is definitely a long string bean. I wish I could say she got it from her Momma. Cooper weighed 16.5 lbs. and 27 inches, which puts him in the 70% in weight and 95% in height. He's solid!
They are both got shots today. I made the mistake of having Caroline go first. She had to get 6- yes 6!- shots today. The girls screamed, I mean SCREAMED. She was the child that could be heard throughout the entire office that I always wonder about. Yes, it was ugly. Coop only had to get 2 shots and he didn't even flinch. He just sat there giving me google eyes. I guess it's from all the extra fluff in his thighs- he CAN say he got that from his Momma. We decided to treat ourselves to a sweet snack afterwards, so we headed to Cracker Barrel for dessert on the way home.
These are some pictures I got of Coop this morning. It is nearly impossible to get one without a little dribble of drool!

Kickball Tournament

Last night was hopefully the First Annual TABC Kickball Tournament. We braved the crazy hot temps to head out to a local park for picnics and some kickball. There ended up being about 50 people there! There was a lot of great fellowship! We were worried when we were planning that the park might be packed full of people, but luckily, it was not. There was however a group of evangelical rappers that set up a speaker system and entertained us with testimonies and rhymes throughout the evening. It was definitely a success! Hope to do it again soon.

Coop just chilled all night

My Hunky #14

Caroline helped Daddy pitch some

The Hot Tamales

Caroline and her BFF (or partner in crime...) Lola

It's Feedin Time

We had our first experience with rice cereal. Since our Little Guy eats way more formula than most his age, we thought maybe we could fill him up with cereal! We'll see how it goes!

4 Months

Today's the day! Coop is 4 months. This month has flown by! I cannot believe it's July already! We had VBS and Caroline's birthday and I've been doing a ton of cakes. But, here we are!
He really is a joy. So many of our friends comment on the fact that they never hear him cry (we do!). He's sort of quiet- not as chatty as Caroline. He is so quick with a smile though.
Here's a bit about him right now...
-He is still huge- wearing some 6-12 month clothing. We go to the dr. next week. I'll update with numbers later.
-He has started to enjoy his exer-saucer more these days. His hand control is getting so much better. He can pass things from one hand to another and pretty much everything ends up in his mouth.
-Speaking of his mouth, he is getting his two front teeth on the bottom. His mood and diapers are definite proof that the teeth have arrived! We may give some rice cereal a try this week.
- We've been trying to get a more regular nap schedule down. We are always going out and about so I find that he just dozes off and on all day, but that makes it where he doesn't take long naps on the days we're at home. I want to get this down in the next month so Mom doesn't have to fight that battle when I start back to school. He really is happy as a clam all day long when we're running errands, but at home he's a little more needy
-He is still sleeping at night FOREVER- at least 12 hours a night. What a blessing!
- I've mentioned before what a fan he is of his Momma. It is serious! Sometimes he fusses when I just walk by and don't hold him. He'd love to be in my arms all day long, but I won't be having that! SO there is a lot of fussing right now. And is he persistent! There is no cry for 10 minutes and then tucker out- we're talking marathon whining sessions. He's learning or maybe I'm losing my hearing...

He really is so precious. He loves his Sissy. They have a great time in the backseat of the car. I love to hear them babbling back and forth. I am so grateful to have two such amazing, healthy children.
I love this picture because it shows how chill he is. He generally just sits back and watches what's going on. Love my easy going boy!

Cupcake Kabobs!

Check out my cake blog for details!

Pool Time

We took on a pretty big task a few weeks ago- swimming lessons. Just thinking back on that week makes me start to sweat-or maybe it's that it's 150 degrees, I'm not sure- but either way, we signed up! Our sweet friend Paige has a GORGEOUS pool at her house and does lessons nonstop for most of the month of June. The best! We will be taking them every year!
Caroline was a little, shall we say, timid of the water. Really that is being generous. She does not like getting her face wet. She has to have a towel next to her bathtub so she can wipe off her face should a stray drop slide down her brow. She really wanted to be brave. Before we took lessons, she would stick the two sprigs of hair on the back of her head in the water and say "See Mommy, I can put my head in. We don't need to go to Mrs. Paige's." Anyway, the week came and Caroline was actually excited!
Really the first 3 days she cried pretty much the entire lesson. Not pretty! I was so frustrated, but then I remembered crying at my lessons, so I tried to show her some grace- not my strongest gift. She always was excited to go and swim with Lola, but was scared the entire time she was there. I was so grateful that Paige would have NONE of it! I was also glad that Lola has no fear at all- the peer pressure worked in my favor this time! Paige was awesome! She taught them about kicking and getting things off of the bottom of the pool and how to roll over and float if you get too tired swimming. I was thrilled at her progress, even with the tears!
By the end of the week, she was very excited for my parents to come to her last lesson. We came straight from picking them up from the airport. She didn't cry, but started to do this weird nervous laughter. It was hilarious. She was trying so hard to put on a brave face, but would just shake and giggle! Well, by the end of her last lesson, she jumped off of the diving board and swam to Paige. I was so thrilled. She was still very nervous, but she would do it and had the skills to be a little safer which made my Mommy heart relax a little.

Since then, Caroline was still a little nervous. Our trips to the pool consisted of a lot of begging and threatening to go home or cancel her birthday party. She was still just scared! I tried to keep reminding myself that she was just 3.

Well, then her birthday party came. Caroline has a few older friends that are great swimmers. She wanted so badly to keep up with them, that next thing we know, she jumping off like crazy! She didn't even want to come and eat- SO not her Mother's child! Thanks to friends like Kim and Chad and others, she was able to spend her entire night jumping and swimming! Her little eyes were so red by the end of the night (goggles don't work for her. They just make her eyelids pull back and she looks like Michael Jackson- OK maybe that joke is ill- timed.)All that to say, I could not be more proud of my little fish!