It's OK

I haven't done this link up {or any, for that matter} in quite awhile, but wanted to join in on the anniversary, since I did link up a year ago for the first!




You can link up too with Neely and Amber. :)

So, It's OK ...

... to do the happy dance while singing "no more summer hours" this morning.

... to eat two breakfasts pretty much every day.

... to leave your kid alone for two seconds then find he's eaten paper. At least it was a Ruby Tuesday coupon, so maybe he just thought the burger looked good?

... to know you probably annoy the heck out of everyone by talking constantly about your kid, but when you're obsessed, you're obsessed.

... to have your boss offer to buy ice cream for the office this afternoon, and then proceed to eat two cookies at lunch. Yes, I am a fat kid.

... to be pulling clothes from the very back of your closet because you haven't done laundry other than the absolute essentials in about two weeks. 

... to want to hire someone come in to clean your house because it's that bad.

... to constantly choose playing with your kid over cleaning. 

... to say "that'll just make him tough" when your babysitter tells you how said child hit his head on the coffee table while pulling up. 

... to be dreading August for the first time you can ever remember. It's been hotter than snot around here since May, I need some cooler weather!

... to agree to a freelance article when life is way too busy just because it includes your crush, Easton Corbin!

... to be extremely jittery for said interview to commence in about 10 minutes. 

... to stop rambling. 

Happy Thursday, my friends!

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A sweet sprinkle!

This past weekend, I helped host a baby "sprinkle" for my friend Jessica. She has an adorable 3-year-old boy, Payton, and is due to have a sweet little girl in September!

Since none of us were able to hose in our home {we are currently working to finish off our basement} we decided to have it at a local bake shoppe. Before, we've always rented a local community building and done all the decorations and food ourselves, but with everything going on in all of our lives, we thought it was easiest to pay a little more and have it all done for us. We literally just showed up with the diaper cake and some games ready to play, everything else was set up, prepared, AND cleaned up for us. Definitely worth it in my opinion.

Delicious food - we had fruit, dipped strawberries, mini cupcakes and sugar cookies. And of course, the beautiful princess cake!

One of the hostesses made the diaper "cake", while another made the cute cupcakes with receiving blankets, onesies and headbands. Ah-dorable. We also played the poopy diaper game {which I am horrible at, by the way ...} and a game where you guessed the cost of the baby products in the basket. This one rang up at about $60!

 The hostesses:) Three of Jessi's friends, her MIL and SIL. Her SIL is the one who made the cupcakes, which she also gifted me at my shower!

My little man got to join all of us ladies for the afternoon. There were a few other kiddos there that he got to play with, including his friend Delaney. She called him "Coo Coo" and was kissing him all afternoon. Too sweet!

Cooper has a thing for rubber duckies, so he picked out a princess one to gift - we gave Auntie Jessi a tub full of goodies. He wanted to keep the duck, but I told him he had to share. Aunt Jessi says she'll get him one for his birthday!

We had a blast and this was by far the easiest shower I have ever helped to plan. Now, I just can't wait until September when we get to love on Baby E!

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Cooper:: 8 months!



Oh time, how do you fly by so quickly. I seriously cannot believe my boy is 8 months old already. We've known him here longer than we knew about him while he was inside of me - crazy!

 

It's been another big month for Mister Cooper! Per usual, this has been my favorite month so far. We're on the move and just charming the heck out of everyone we meet :)

In addition to crawling {which allows you to be wherever you want to be} you are pulling up, and we had to move down the mattress on the crib. We're about to have to replace the coffee table with something softer.

We took you swimming in a "big boy" pool for the first time this month, at Uncle Donnie and Aunt Debbie's. You literally took to it like a fish, and were kicking those little feet within about 15 minutes.

Teething was a little rough on you earlier this month and dramatically dropped what you were eating, but you are now back on track! Your eating solids has dropped your milk intake a bit, but you are still a very good eater. We nurse first thing in the morning, and you have 4 T. of oatmeal with a cube of fruit and one ounce of milk around 8:30 a.m. You take an 8 ounce bottle of pumped milk around 11 a.m., eat veggies at 1:30 p.m., 6 ounce bottle around 4:30 p.m., supper at 6-6:30 p.m. and nurse before bed at 8 or 8:30. You try to take two pretty decent naps in the morning and afternoon. Your favorite foods are sweet peas (often mixed with carrots) and sweet potatoes. We tried chicken last night and the verdict is still out on that. You also like puffs and although you can pick them up, dropping them into your mouth is a little difficult. 

We are starting to go out to eat again, and you like sitting in the high chair like a big boy! Last week, you were Mommy's date to Olive Garden. Mommy is starting to share some of her food with you too, like chicken & gnocchi, cantaloupe and more.

You love being on the move but boy, you are in everything! You are pretty much guaranteed to always lunge for the one thing in the room we don't want you messing with. Baby proofing is likely on the horizon. It is so, so sweet to see you get that determined look in your eye that you want something and just go after it! It makes you much happier as well.

Blurry, I know, but still sweet. Trying to get to Mommy's pump :)

You are definitely my little charmer. You just have the sweetest little gummy smile and it melts my heart and so many others'. I took you to a baby sprinkle with me yesterday and all the ladies loved you!

You are also very socialable and have a great disposition. You were so tired at the sprinkle but weren't fussy as long as you got attention, too, although you were asleep within 3 minutes of getting in the car! This weekend, Mommy's cousin Jennifer watched you and even when we woke you up around 12:30 to get you home, you were passing out those adorable smiles. I'm gonna miss them so much when the rest of them toofers decide to pop on through.

I'm not completely sure on your stats, but I'm guessing you weigh about 19 pounds, my little turkey. You are definitely getting taller too. You wear a size 3 diaper and 6-9 month clothing.

You really, really like TV. One morning, Daddy and I were having breakfast and hadn't turned it on, and you kept looking from the black screen to us, totally befuddled. You also like to play with Maxx the dog, your Fisher Price puppy and activity center, and your V-Tech steering wheel.

You'll never understand how much your sweet little smile brightens our day, and how big all these accomplishments really are to your Daddy & I. Until, of course, you have a little awesomepants kid of your own. Then you'll think to yourself "no way my parents loved me this much!" But we do. I love you to the moon and back, and then some, little boy. You are my sunshine :)

XOXO, Mommy

One.

Over the weekend, we went on a little trip to celebrate our one-year anniversary.


Originally, we talked about going back to the beach. But we quickly decided against that for a few different reasons. We did know we wanted to do something special, however, so we settled on St. Louis - it's only a couple hours away, and we wouldn't feel like we were "wasting" a trip by only going for a day.

Since it was so hot, we decided to leave Coop with my parents. Yes, I just about freaked out a time or two, especially with his teething troubles the weekend before. But they assured me he would be just fine, and he was, thankfully. This also enabled us to do more walking, since we stayed Downtown, and go to a really nice restaurant for dinner.

Once we arrived on Friday afternoon and checked in (we stayed at the Hilton at the Ballpark, which is very nice!) we changed clothes and headed out. We stopped at the gift shop at Busch Stadium looking for something Cardinals to take home for Mister Cooper, but didn't find anything we liked. So, we ventured on over to Hooters for some appetizers and a couple beers.  

Afterwards, we stopped at a little market to pick up more beer and a few food items.

View from our room ... they are currently doing work on the old Courthouse

Once we got back to the hotel, we rested a bit, then made a decision on dinner and got reservations. We had lots of suggestions, and mostly just wanted somewhere good, within walking distance. We decided on Carmine's  and it was absolutely delicious!

All ready for a night on the town!

After dinner, we decided to take a little carriage ride through Downtown St. Louis. We've been on one in Memphis, Tenn. so decided an StL one. It was fun!

Afterwards with our horse, Hercules.

 We had great intentions of changing clothes and going out for a few more drinks, but after pumping, I was exhausted so we just stayed in and slept.

The next morning we got on the road decently early so hubby could take advantage of his anniversary present. A few weeks ago, there was a voucher on Living Social for a flight instruction school and 30 minute supervised helicopter ride. Hubby would totally love to be a pilot, so I knew it would be perfect for him!

He totally enjoyed the class. I actually sat in on it because it was about 1 hour from Downtown and there was nothing for me to do, so the instructor actually took me up in the air for about 10 minutes for free

Proudly holding his log book!

Since we only had granola bars for lunch, we were STARVING at this point. Since riding in a helicopter was on his bucket list, we decided to cross something off mine - eating at the Cheesecake Factory! I had a yummy tomato basil mozzarella pizza, and hubby had the biggest burger ever. Seriously, I've never seen my husband fail to eat an entire burger, but he couldn't finish it!

Once we scarfed down our food, we raced to my parents' to pick up our little sweetie. We were so excited to get him. I think he was glad to see us too - once he saw us, his face lit up and he started squealing! A perfect ending to a perfect weekend :)

Brain dump

• So, the last two weeks have been crazy busy. All good though :) But between work and a teething little one, I just haven't had a lot of time to blog.
• A couple weekends ago, we went up to Cape for a bit. Mostly because Mister needed diapers and I really like the price and quality of the Target brand. While there, my boys took me to Bagger Dave's, which recently opened. It was great! And while it's technically a tavern, we felt right at home with Coop - practically everyone had a child at their table, and his constant {happy} shrieking didn't bother us in the slightest.
• To solve the shed/flood insurance debacle, we are building a base for our shed. Well, mostly hubby. He was on vacation all last week and worked his butt off on it. Concrete was poured before we left for St. Louis last Friday, and we're planning to take apart the frames, fill with rock and get the shed moved in the next couple weeks.
• I was actually off last Monday, so I helped a bit, with setting up the stringline. I had work functions Tuesday & Thursday evening and didn't get home until late, but was able to help some with the braces on Wednesday.
• At one of my functions, we made a presentation to a civic group at a bingo hall and I felt like I REEKED of smoke. I changed clothes and pulled up my hair before even holding Coop.
• This weekend, we have a wedding reception at a winery on Friday and are playing poker with friends on Saturday night.
• Although I love having Fridays off, I am so glad to only have one more full week of summer hours. It's definitely not worth the long, 10-hour days to have a three-day weekend. That being said, I have accomplished some good projects during my time off. But I'm REALLY looking forward to resuming the 8-5 work day.
• This Friday, my mom is going to help me make salsa. A couple years ago, I tried making some using the Mrs. Wages seasoning packets and we really loved it. This time, I'm taking the easy way out and instead of cooking, peeling and dicing the tomatoes, purchased a gallon-sized can of them. We also like to run ours through the Ninja to make them extra fine :)
• Speaking of the Ninja ... I think it's time to venture into finding some new baby food recipes for C. Fruits, veggies and pizza just don't seem to be cutting it anymore! I'm bored with them all, so I'm sure he is, too.
• I think I could live on pizza and spaghetti. Seriously ... I just picked up Pizza Hut breadsticks for lunch!
• I'm helping plan a sprinkle for a good friend this Sunday. We opted to have it at a local restaurant and it's by far the easiest shower I've ever planned! It is a bit pricey, but it's a fixed cost, with the menu options being determined by the total number of guests we have. And we figured that by the time we rented a hall, decorated it and paid for cups, napkins, tableclothes, plates, etc. it would be over $150, where it's all basically FREE with this venue. I'm so excited for all the yumminess.
• This morning, I spent about an hour rearranging my desk. I had a huge printer on my desk and my desk space was extremely cluttered. Like overwhelmingly so. I was talking to a coworker and she suggested finding a small table for my printer ... so I swiped one from our lobby :) So far, I am LOVING the new setup.
• So glad the work week is on the downhill slope. It's been a long week - probably because I haven't worked a full 40 the past two!

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Cooper lately

It's been a couple weeks since I've really blogged {crazy busy life!} and baby boy has been doing lots of growing up.

• He's figured out how to hold his own bottle. I believe we'll start trying a sippy cup soon - I may have to talk to the sitter about that, since she would be the primary one giving it to him right now.

• On July 3, we spotted tooth No. 2.
• July 5, I ended up leaving work at 11 a.m. because I got a call from the sitter that Coop was running a 101.4 degree temp and not eating like normal. We did lots of cuddling all weekend, and I finally deduced he must have just been teething pretty badly. So now we're figuring teeth 3 & 4 will be here any day.

So sweet, but breaks my heart ...

• Last Monday, July 9, he started crawling! We'd been thinking it was going to come soon. He'd been pivoting and going backwards for awhile, but everything finally clicked! He was pushing off the chair when he finally did it, so I think that helped!

Mischevious little boy!

• His favorite things to crawl toward? My breast pump {baby boy loves those cords!}, cell phones, remotes, balls and other cords.
• Once he started moving, he hasn't looked back and is definitely all over the place. He can be wherever he wants to go, and is much happier.
• Cooper has become proficient at pulling apart stereo speakers.
• Oh, he also likes shoes. Heels, flip flops, he doesnt' care. Tries to eat them all!
• Apparently Cooop is already bored with crawling, because we catch him doing "mountain climbers" and straightening his legs quite a bit. I think he's ready to walk, but can definitely wait.

Big boots to fill!

• He did figure out how to pull himself up on the coffee table over the weekend, so the mattress has been moved down. So sad, he's getting to be such a big boy!
• Mister got to spend some time with Grandma and PaPa this weekend, and stayed overnight for the first time! Thankfully he slept well and was a very good little boy.
• As always, he is the sweetest, most adorable little boy ever and we obviously love him to pieces!

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One year

One year ago today, we said "I Do."

It was cloudy and overcast all day. On the way to the wedding site, it stormed.

But it cleared up. We saw a double rainbow. And everything was perfect.

Over the past years, I've learned that's a lot what marriage is like. You have those tough, difficult, stormy moment. But it clears. And no matter what, you get through it.

This weekend, we did some reflecting on our first year of marriage. I declared it's been the best year of my life, and remarked at how well everything just fell into place.

Yes, we've had our arguments. We've had tears. But we've experienced more laughter, joy and love than I ever thought possible. I can definitely say that I love my husband more now than I did a year ago.

So many people out there say marriage doesn't change much when you are already living together. I was one of them. But I beg to differ. Something about those vows, that commitment, makes it all the more serious.

We were pretty low key for this anniversary. Originally, we planned to go back to the beach, but with Cooper and wanting to save our money for other projects, we opted for a day in St. Louis instead. I'll detail that trip later this week.

Today is hubby's first day back at work after being on vacation last week, and I had an early morning meeting, so he requested spaghetti for supper tonight. Of course, I do have the top layer of our wedding cake in the fridge, and am hoping it's at least semi-edible.

Nothing extravagant. Just living our "old married couple" life. And loving every moment of it.

Happy anniversary, love. Can't wait for all the others to come!

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Our Fourth of July :)

We had such a wonderful Fourth of July as a family of three!

The day began by sleeping in. Little bit woke up on his own around 6:15 a.m., but after I fed him, we were playing in bed and he kept rubbing his eyes, so back to sleep we all went, and I didn't get up for the day until 9:30 a.m. It was heaven ...

After breakfast and some house work, we got all dressed up to head to a small town in our area for a Fourth of July picnic. They have a big meal that includes kettle beef & gravy, fried chicken, chicken & dressing and more, so we definitely stuffed our faces. I love the food so much, I made hubby go back in line to get me more dressing and tomatoes :)

It was so hot we didn't stick around long, and ended up spending the afternoon at Grandma and Pa Pa's house. They hadn't seen Coop for a couple of weeks and commented on how much more he is moving and getting around. Still scooting and no crawling forward, but definitely getting closer.

Once we got home, Baby Coop was exhausted from not having a real nap, so he napped a couple hours while hubs and I just relaxed. Later, we went to town to pick up some BK and then went to watch the fireworks display. It was waaaaay past C's bedtime {the show began around 9:15 and typically he's asleep by 9} but he was a trooper for about 20 minutes then decided enough was enough, so we went on home.

This cracks me up, I think it looks like he is flying

Watching the boom boom pow!



Me and my boy

 Hope you all had a fun Fourth as well. God Bless the USA!

XOXO,
Michelle