Thirty Days of Thankfulness: The Second Half

Thanksgiving and the Mister's birthday got me off track, so I figured I would round out the end of the month with one big post!

Day 15: Thankful for a toasty home and office. It's cold out there! Just remember, some people, like my hubby, work in the cold every day!

Day 16: Thankful for my vehicle! We bought my SUV one year ago today, and it's been wonderful to have to tote around baby Coop.

Day 17: Thankful for time spent with friends. Playing board games. And having Nerf gun wars :)

Day 18: Thankful for a social baby who stayed up about three hours later than usual until he conked out in my arms around 11pm. And a good sleeper, since he is still asleep at 9:30!

Day 19: Thankful that my husband is celebrating his one year anniversary as a non-smoker! So proud of you, babe!

Day 20: Thankful to live in a town with such generous people!

Day 21: Thankful that we get off work at noon today!

Day 22: thankful for family and friends to spend the holidays with!

Day 23: Thankful for my motherhood experience! The past year has been the absolute best, and I am so grateful that God gave me an absolutely perfect, loving and healthy boy. I was so unsure about how I would "be" as a mother, but am thrilled with how easy the transition has been.

Day 24: thankful for four-legged friends! Especially Coco!

Day 25: thankful for pajama pants, and days when I never change out of them :)

Day 26: thankful for so much family and friends that shower my boy with love.

Day 27: thankful for my health and that I am able to work out.

Day 28: thankful for my parents. We may not always agree but they always support me!

Day 29: Thankful for fast food!

Nov. 30: Thankful for sweet new baby cousins!

And that's a wrap :)

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I hate ...

I hate cancer.

One of my best friends is hurting today, because yesterday, her dad went to be with Jesus. All because of cancer.

 

Mr. Q was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer about 4.5 years ago. At the time, they expected him to make it about six months.

 

But he fought on, and was here to meet four more grandchildren during that time. He and Mrs. Q never questioned their faith, but leaned very heavily on God.

 

Back in August, things took a turn for the worst when Mr. Q got pneumonia. Then, the doctors said he probably had 2-3 months. Yet he still refused to give up hope and continued seeking treatment. Last week, they learned the horrible news that some organs were shutting down, and he came home to be with family.

 

When will we find a cure? I think we have all been touched by cancer in some way, whether through our immediate family, or by witnessing a friend hurt. I pray every day that some cure is found - and that my baby is never affected.

 

Please, when praying today, remember the Q family. There are five children in this family and they are all friends or acquaintances of mine, and I really want to shower them with love.

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Women Connect

Two posts in one day! You guys are in for such a treat!

I'm Michelle.

I'm a mama and a wife. And a fundraiser/developer, daughter, sister and friend, although my roles as a mother and wife are the ones I take most seriously. I love to cook and bake

These two are my life

I love to write. So much, that I obtained a degree in journalism and was employed by a newspaper for four years, until I was offered this position.

11.23.11 - best day of my life!

My love for writing is what led me to blogging. While I wrote for a living, the blog was, and is, my true creative outlet. Not to mention, I was buying a house, planning a wedding, etc., so it was a great place to journal.

Our beautiful home! It sits on about 5 acres in Southeast Missouri

I truly consider this a lifestyle blog - while sweet Cooper {who just turned 1} is pretty much the star these days, I also dabble in decorating, recipes, and just life.

I love margaritas, whiskey and beer. Trying to become a wine lover.


The hubs and I. We used to be fun. Now a great weekend night is spent laughing at our cute kid.

I'm a pseudo-runner. This fall, I ran two 5K races, and can't wait for spring to begin running them again {I am a wimp and refuse to run in the cold.}

I'm far from perfect. I wish I had stronger relationships with family. I'd kill to have a little more patience. I could stand to lose about 15 pounds. I could definitely be a better wife and mom.

But I am me. Every time my little boy tries and tests my {lack of} patience with his stubborn, hard-headedness, I want to pull my hair out. But then I breather. And I thank God. Because even though that little boy may look like his daddy, he acts just like his mama. Independent. And I would definitely have that stubborn independence than a kid who just follows everyone and everything through life.

 

I'm Michelle. Nice to meet you.


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Cooper :: 12 months

AKA one year ...

My, how this year has flown by! It's been the best :)

Mister Cooper, you sure have developed your very own personality this month. You sure have figured out how to use those emotions, too.

You LOVE to laugh. And we love to hear it. I think it's my favorite sound in the whole world. You especially like us blowing shlerberts on your tubby little belly.

While you tend to go with the flow, you definitely have a mind of your own and a bit of a sassy streak as well. If you aren't happy, you won't hesitate to express that.

You are a very curious little boy. If you hear something, you whip your head around to see what it is. Sometimes, I swear I can see the gears moving inside your sweet little head.

You aren't just walking, you are running now. It's just the cutest! That helps the nosiness :)

You are my mischevious little man. I swear, just before you get into something, you turn and give me a sneaky little smile. You have definitely learned the word no. You also are a climber - most recently, trying to climb up the pegs on the entertainment center.

You are quite the sweetheart, though, and will still cuddle up to your mommy and daddy. I can sit on the floor and say "mommy hug" and then you'll pitter patter my way and hold me tight. It melts my heart.

 

In terms of food, you eat it all! You've been nursing morning & night and having milk milk in the sippy cup (12 ounces total) during the day. We've officially said goodbye to the bottle - which doesn't mean you're doing fantastic with the sippy, but things are better and you don't need the bottle.

I'm trying to decide how to wean you completely, and emotionally prepare myself.

You eat three meals a day (with pretty large servings!) and also a couple snacks. I'm also working to have you eat more table food - this mama is getting tired of the purees! For your birthday, daddy made pancakes, and you thought they were good. You also like pizza and hot dogs :) I use Cheerios to distract you in the mornings. Oh, and you absolutely loved our Thanksgiving meal.

Cooper, you cut a new tooth that showed up Thanksgiving morning, so we're now at seven. I think another is pretty close behind.

You know the word "no" {wonder why} and you yell "Mama" all the time. You will also say bye, Dada, da {dog} and sometimes Doc, our horse.

Last week, we had you hanging out in just a diaper since your clothes were soaked from sippy cup malfunctions. You have learned to take off your dipe, and were walking around the living room wearing nothing but socks. Too cute.

We go to the doctor today, so I'll have to update with your stats tomorrow :) I'd guess you weigh about 22 pounds and are about 30 inches tall.

Your body shape is hilarious - you have broad shoulders (like Daddy), a long torso (like Mommy), a skinny little waist (all Daddy!) and short legs. Seriously. You can wear 9-12 and 12-18 month shirts, but can still wear 6-9 month pants ... along with 12 month, of course. And your feet are huge! You are already outgrowing the 18 month socks.

You are all boy and then some - you like to play with/roll the ball, anything with wheels, and trains! You love to go outside, and it kills me when it's too cold to let you play outdoors.

My dear, sweet baby boy:

This has been the greatest year. I love being able to watch you grow and develop and hit all these milestones. You have taught me so much about life. You will always be my baby boy, no matter what. I thank God that he chose me to be your mama.


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12 months!

We made it!

:)

This little guy is absolutely amazing. Full post to come next week, for now, I'm soaking up every minute I can with Mister Cooper, and getting ready for a big birthday party tonight!

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The week before ...

This being the week before my baby turns 1, I'm doing a lot of reminiscing. So often, I think "this time a year ago" and it's just absolutely insane. I mean, it feels like we were just celebrating Christmas last week.

Anyhow, one of the projects I'm working on for his party is a display of all his monthly pictures. So I figured I would share them on the old blog as well. Just in case anything ever happens to my computer, iPhone, and the hard copies :)

I received the prints in the mail yesterday and had them all laid out when hubs got home. We were debating our favorites. I think mine are 5 (chubby), 8 (grown!) and 10 (silly.)

I'm so glad I got the monthly onesie stickers - It gave me the motivation and reason to make sure I got a photo each month, and for that I am incredibly grateful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend update!

Haaaaappy Monday, Friends! I am super dooper excited because this is a short week. Not to mention, it's the beginning of Mister's birthday week!

I decided to join in on a linkup for this weekend wrap up.

{Friday}

A couple of our friends stopped in to deliver Cooper's birthday present, since they will be unable to make his party. Mister did have fun ripping the paper, but really enjoyed pushing around/stepping on the box! He got a ton of new clothes. Thanks, Liz and Josh!

Since L&J just found out they are having a baby, I threw together a little goody basket for them ... mostly to help Liz address her cravings! I did crackers, Flipz, a receiving blanket, a rubber ducky, water flavor packets (I remember those days!), and a couple books for Baby H. We also got pizza and had a great time visiting!

{Saturday}

As usual, I got started on the cleaning and laundry pretty early. When C took his morning nap, I headed downstairs to test out the treadmill. Woof. Let me just say I hate the treadmill because you have to run at a set pace. Then there's the fact that it's been about four weeks since I last ran. Oh, and I didn't take my Claritin. At least I did some running, right?

That afternoon we loaded up and went to a Power Rangers birthday party. Made a quick trip to Cape to look at gun holsters and pick up party supplies at Sams.

And Saturday night was epic. My good friend Christine and her boyfriend, Greg, were in for an early Thanksgiving, so we all hung out that night. Catching up. Having Chinese. Playing Apples to Apples and Privacy. Having our boys play, until they finally passed out around 11 p.m. Just perfect.

 

{Sunday}

Thanks to our late night, C slept in until 9:30 a.m. - which allowed us to sleep in AND eat breakfast before he woke up! Once C laid down for his nap, J & I got to work down in the basement, beginning to set things up for this weekend and finishing cleaning. Like a dork, I totally forgot to take any pictures ... but I promise, there will be plenty in his first birthday post!

We then got to working outside ... organizing near the doors, placing some blocks around shrubs, etc. Hubby then decided to work on putting together the cover for Coco's pen, so Coop and I helped some, until we had to go in. Thankfully, Mister cooperated rather well while I was able to get some house cleaning done.

We wrapped up the night with fish stick sandwiches, the Amazing Race, and Hawaii Five-0. A great weekend!

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Fill in the black Friday

THREE consecutive days of posts? Yippee!

 
1. My best quality is   that I am honest. Brutally. You don't have to worry about me talking about you behind your back or ever wonder what my opinion is on something  .

2. One of my less flattering qualities is  I am such a perfectionist that I come down really hard on myself if I haven't done as well as I'd have liked to. And it's true that if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy    .

3. I'd rather be    lounging on the couch in sweats, watching soap operas and eating junk food   .

4. Something I have been challenged with lately is   just taking the reins at my job and instead of counting on other people, working my butt off to get the results I need to see .

5. I am looking forward to  Cooper's first birthday! All of my friends tell me the first is the best, and I've vowed to enjoy every minute of it .

6. A super random factoid about me is I always have to set the alarm for some odd time. Never 6 a.m. ... more like 6:03  .

7. I want to  have a maid.

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30 Days of Thankfulness: Week Two

Day Eight: Thankful for modern technology like Internet, smartphones, messenger and DVR. Makes life so awesome!

Day Nine: SO very thankful for our sitter, Ms. Robin. She really loves our Mister. Not only that, she lets me drop him off at 5:30 am when I have early morning meetings like today!

Day 10: Thankful for lazy Saturday mornings when we all get to cuddle and play in bed after C gets his morning milk :)

Day 11: Thankful for veterans and all the freedoms they have fought to earn and keep for our country!

Day 12: Thankful for strong and healthy teeth! Yes, I had a dental check up today :)

Day 13: thankful for friends' kids who helped me learn how to be a mom. Happy fourth birthday, Payton Oliver!

Day 14: Thankful for CHEERIOS! They keep the Mister happy and occupied while I finish getting ready for work in the morning.

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What I'm Loving

I can't remember the last time I participated in WILW with Jamie, but there are so many things I am loving on the cooooold day that it's the perfect link up!

• I'm LOVING that the details for Mister's first birthday party are coming together. I got this in the mail yesterday :)

• I'm LOVING that next week is a three-day work week. So excited to get some R&R.
• I'm LOVING that this will be set up in my house by the end of the week:

 

• I'm LOVING that we have a fourth birthday party this weekend, AND we get to spend time with one of my good friends who lives four hours away on Saturday.
• I'm LOVING that our basement is clean and organized ... except for the storage room :)
• I'm LOVING that my sweet little boy doesn't think he's too old to cuddle or fall asleep in his daddy's arms ... yet.

• I'm LOVING that a couple of people from another department on campus brought in doughnuts today ... yummy.
• I'm LOVING that even though we haven't run or worked out in two weeks, the number on the scale is the same. In spite of the doughnuts and other junk food.
• What are you loving today?

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Thirty Days of Thankfulness

On Facebook, I am one of those people participating in the 30 Days of Thankfulness. So, I decided to share them on here every Thursday :)

As a disclaimer yes, I agree that we should be thankful every day, not just during November. However, I also think it is good to participate in these types of things, because it really makes you see what you are thankful for. Of course, these are in no particular order, just what was on my mind that day.

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Day One: thankful for a hubby who did dishes and cooked supper when he saw life had me overwhelmed!

Day Two: Thankful for a job! Not thankful I have to work, but that I have an enjoyable job to help contribute in my household.

Day three: Thankful for a beautiful home. Even though I hate cleaning it, we are so fortunate to have it.

Day Four: Thankful our family has so many clothes I spend the entire weekend doing laundry :)

Day Five: Thankful for my sweet, healthy, hard-willed baby boy!

Day Six: Thankful for the right to vote!

Day Seven: thankful for super creative friends who fulfill my design needs for invitations and more!


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Weekend wrap up

Before going to sleep last night, I told hubby that if I could, I would keep hitting pause and rewind on this weekend. It was that perfect.

Friday was pretty laid back. By the time I got home, hubs had finished extending the water line in our basement and hooking up the ice maker in our new fridge. A few weeks ago, we bought a stainless steel fridge that was heavily discounted at Lowe's - all because the people who purchased it first said it didn't make the ice quickly enough. Seriously, it was like 1/3 of the price :) Well, the catch was that we only had 30 days to return it if it didn't work, and that time was winding down. Luckily, hubs got it hooked up with no problems, and it makes ice great - in fact, it looked like maybe they had forgotten to flip a switch. Their loss was totally our gain!

Anyhow, we did need one small piece to totally finish it up, so we ran into town to stop at Lowe's, hit up a big sale at a local grocery store, and stop for some dinner. And of course, have some family time in front of the TV once we made it home!

After sleeping in Saturday, we did a lot of housework. Or I did, while J detailed his truck. We also got to take advantage of some family time outside - it was a beautiful day!

We had loosely talked to some friends about going out that night. Well, they ended up canceling, but since we had a sitter, we decided to take advantage of an unexpected date night! We ended up eating at Logan's, then checking out the new casino and stopping in at the club where we used to practically live on the weekends on the way home - my, how things change! Under new ownership, it didn't have near the crowd, and it was a lot of "older" people - and here I was afraid of being too old to hit the club :)

Mister decided to make mommy pay for having fun on Saturday night and woke up before 7 a.m. Sunday - practically unheard of! We played a bit, then I headed into town to do the grocery shopping. Of course, there was plenty of cleaning and laundry in the mix!

Later in the day, hubby and I decided to work on cleaning up the basement. Our friends had a battery-operated Artic Cat for their little boy that he had outgrown and graciously handed it down to us for Mister. We put him on it and he figured out he controlled the pedal. Too cute!

{I couldn't get it to embed, but here is the link!}
http://youtu.be/PeWjSO5qTVA


After some supper and Amazing Race, w e all decided to call it a perfect weekend :)

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