Sprinkled

As Baby Jake's arrival sneaks closer, our sweet friends have added to our joy by celebrating our little one!  We had a Baby-Que (take off of a 'barbecue') at the beginning of September at Donielle's house.  It was such a fun night with lots of delicious food and great company.  We had delicious hamburgers, baked beans, cole slaw, mac and cheese, and cupcakes.  I ate until I felt sick, but it was all so good!  At one point during the night, I looked around the room and got a little sentimental.  These are the friends we made in college (and some go back to middle school).  We've been through a lot together.  I love that the friendships have only deepened over the years, and although we don't all live in the same place anymore (at one point, most of us all lived in the sorority house together), we're closer than ever before.  I guess having history together has that affect on relationships.  We went from being carefree teenagers to college graduates out on our own for the first time to brides and now to mothers.  We've done it all together.  Seeing everyone gathered together with their significant others and little ones, well, it was enough to make a hormonal woman get a little teary eyed!

  

Since Jake has plenty due to having a big brother, our only "need" is diapers and wipes, which as any parent knows, you can never have enough of, and that's what our friends loaded us up with!  

Unfortunately I did not remember to pull out my camera until the very end of the evening as everyone was getting ready to leave, but better late than never, right?! :)  I was able to attempt to get a cute pictures of these two cuties who had a blast playing together all night...

 ...but getting a great picture of two little boys can be quite a challenge!

This past weekend our wonderful neighbors had a diaper shower for us to celebrate Baby Jake.  We have a great set of neighbors, which is a huge blessing!  Over the 7 1/2 years we have lived in our house, we have had good neighbors, bad neighbors, neighbors that we'd rather not remember, and now the best neighbors you could have.  We spend just about every afternoon congregated in the street talking and catching up.  Often times, these afternoon gatherings run through the evening and have even been known to last until past mid-night!  Our shower was hosted at the home of an LSU fan...who loves us enough to decorate with an Alabama theme...during football season...even though my husband tampered with her LSU flag and drew a big Alabama 'A' on her driveway a couple weeks ago to kick off football season, which was on the same day that her family and in-laws were coming on town...now that is love!  I did a much better job taking pictures than I did at our Baby-Que, but I still dropped the ball during the shower and didn't get pictures of our sweet neighbors all together.

 This is the cute diaper wreath that was hanging on her door with red ribbon and houndstooth ribbon and a cute little elephant rattle!  

The dessert table had snickerdoodles (Karl had told her once that snickerdoodles are his favorite cookie.  After eating her snickerdoodles, they are now my favorite too; however, they have to be whatever recipe she used!), mini-red velvet cupcakes, personalized cookie favors, and a red candy selection.  I love a dessert table!

 This punch was fantastic.  I couldn't stop drinking it!  It's Sprite, Hawaiian Punch, and Raspberry sherbet.  

The table in the kitchen was full of yummy food! 

 We had Chicken Roban, salad, cheese, crackers, chips, spinach dip (which Cooper LOVED), and a vegetable tray. 

 This is Chicken Roban.  The first time Joie invited us over for dinner, she told me this was what she was making and described it as a Cajun chicken and pasta dish.  I knew we were going to be great friends right then!  This stuff is even more amazing than it sounds!  Also, that may or may not have been the night that Baby Jake was conceived! :)  Our joke since we found out I was pregnant that this was our lucky meal that did the trick after almost 2 years of trying!  TMI?!

 We also had lemonade and water to drink out of these precious mason jars.  

These are the two sweet ladies who threw us this fun shower.  We are blessed to have them not only as wonderful neighbors but also as very dear friends!

Jake's bathroom is now stocked with diapers and wipes!  Karl started laughing when he walked in and saw all the boxes of diapers stacked against the wall because it looks like we have a huge abundance of diapers.  However, we know looks can be deceiving.  I bet we go from having a ton to none in no time at all!

Coop's Scoop~3 Year Edition

I've said it a thousand times, and yet I'm going to say it again:

I love this age!

I really do love this age.  Cooper at 3 might be the best age yet.  Although this past summer was super busy, it was wonderful, and every time I think back on all we did over those three months, I am amazed at how much Cooper grew and changed.  He went from still being somewhat of a toddler to a true little boy.  Karl and I have enjoyed him so much lately.  The things he says, the things he does, his imagination, his energy, how smart he is, how loving and compassionate he is.  Not a day goes by that we don't say how blessed we are to have him as our little boy.
This is going to be a hodge-podge of some of the little random things about Cooper that Karl and I want to make sure we remember about him at 3 years old.  Although the list is long, it is really just a short overview of some of the special things that stand out in our minds about our boy at 3!

Now that he is finally talking, some of our favorite things about him right now revolve around the things he says.  Cooper has a unique pronunciation for a lot of words.  Some we can figure out, some we can't, and some we don't know how he created!

• "Momen"(pronounced with a long o) = open
• "S'at?" = what's that?
• "Hoffle me" = hold me
• "Bapple juice" = apple juice
• "Hehwoh" (pronounced with a short e and long o) = hello
• "Yos" (pronounced with a short o) = yes
• Calls himself "Coo-Coo Man" (All day long I hear, "Coo-Coo Man do it!")
• Calls Karl "Daddy Man" (sometimes if Karl doesn't answer him right away, he'll call him by his name!)
• Calls me...that's right..."Mommy Man"
• When he eats something he likes, he rubs his tummy and says, "Mmmmm, Coo-Coo yuv dis!"
• Anything from the past is "dat day," as in, "Soddie (Sadie) got bit by snake dat day."  He tells everyone about Sadie getting bit by a snake.  Everyone.  It makes for a good long conversation with strangers.
• If we tell him he can't do something right now for whatever reason, he'll ask if he can do it "'morrow?" "nes (next) time?" "when I ol'er (older)?"  
• He likes to do everything "by mysevs (myself)"
• If he's scared or uncertain or just doesn't want to do something, he says, "I no fee (feel) good," with a big pouty face.
• He gives the best "bisses," which are big kisses of course!  At night when I tuck him in, he always gives me a "big huge hug and biss."  I love them.  When Karl is getting ready to leave for work, he always gives Cooper a hug and kiss goodbye, and Cooper also tells him to give Mommy one too.  
• Instead of asking if something will cut him, he asks if it will "sharp" him
• After everything he says, he says, "kay?" or "alwight?"
• If he has to leave the room to get something, he says, "Be wight back," and holds out his pointer finger to us to signal us to stay put.  
• Any time we're upset about something, he always says, "Be okay.  It be okay."  He's very sensitive and doesn't like for you to be sad or upset about anything.
• He probably asks me at least a hundred times a day, "Where Daddy go/went?  He be home weal soon?"
• He says, "I yuv you more," "I yuv you most," and sometimes even "I yuv you more most!"
• He tells me I'm too big for things all the time.  Sure knows how to make a pregnant woman feel good! :)  In all fairness, he tells Karl too!
• He loves to play hide and seek and chase, and he always yells, "'Prise!" when you find him or he finds you.  He also loves when you jump out and scare him.  The child is fearless and loves excitement!
• Sometimes when he wakes up in the morning, he'll still call me from his bed by yelling, "I yuv you, Mommy!" really loud.  When I get to his room, he's normally hiding under his covers, and I'll act like I don't know where he is.  Then he'll jump out and scream, "'Prise!"  However, most of the time now, he just comes in our room in the mornings and stands by my side of the bed.  When I open my eyes, he smiles really big and crawls in bed with me or tells me to, "Gih (short i) up now, Mommy!"

Although his speech is so cute, there are some other super cute things about him too!

• He crosses his arms over his chest when he's made or nervous and looks down.
• He LOVES Dum-Dum suckers.  I carry a bunch of them in my purse at all times!
• The boy can get crazy hyper and has insane amounts of energy!  He prefers to run instead of walk and loves to be on the go!
• He bites his nails.
• He still likes for me to kiss his boo-boos.  I love how a little kiss makes them better too.  
• He's such a healthy eater.  He loved our garden this summer and ate strawberries, tomatoes, and bell pepper straight from the plants.
• We still haven't been able to figure out if he's a lefty or righty.
• Ever since Sadie's snake bite, he has been obsessed with snakes.  I love when he puts on his cowboy boots and gets his toy shotgun to go "hunt snakes!"
• He has an amazing memory.  All the time he'll say things that we just are stunned he remembered.  On the way to school the other day, he told me about what Santa brought him for Christmas last year.  He was right too!
• He loves to snuggle at night before he goes to bed.  He always says, "Mommy, you yay (lay) wif (with) me, 'kay."  I snuggle up to him, and he'll put my arm over his chest.  What better way to end the day than that?!
• He loves to help me cook.  My dream come true! :)
• He loves airplanes and tractors right now more than anything else.
• He is noticeably very protective of me and looks out for me.  The boy takes good care of his mama.  I hope that never stops.  
• Sometimes Cooper and I go on lunch dates together.  He is always really well behaved too.  I love our special dates so much.  
• He loves to walk Karl to his truck in the mornings before work and yells, "Bye," and, "I yuv you!!!" as Karl drives off.
• He loves the Toy Story movies.  We have watched all three movies way too many times this summer!  

Speaking of Toy Story...At the end of Toy Story 3, Andy's mom walks in his packed and empty bedroom and puts her hand to her heart and gets teary-eyed as she looks around.  Andy walks up behind her and says, "It's okay, Mom," and she says something like, "It's just that I wish I could always be with you," as he hugs her.  That part of the movie brings tears to my eyes EVERY single time!  Cooper always is telling me, "It be okay, Mommy," and I can just see us in that same scenario in 15 years as he gets ready to go to college.  I already know exactly what she means too when she says she just wishes she could be with him always.  From the moment your baby is born, your whole life revolves around that sweet little life that just started.  You'll do anything in the world for them.  You love them with all that you are.  You do all that you can to raise them to be good people.  And all along, you're preparing them to leave you.  Out of every struggle I'll face as a mother, that will be the hardest.  One day Cooper will pack his room and set out to conquer the world without needing me to kiss his boo-boos and snuggle him to sleep.  As much as my heart will hurt in letting my little boy go become a man, it'll be in that moment that I'll know Karl and I did our job well.  

But for now, he's my 3 year old little boy... 

The Boys' Rooms

Both boys' rooms are finally done, and they are my favorite two rooms in the whole house!  One of my first thoughts when we found out that we were having another boy was, "Great, the nursery is already done!" On second thought though, we've spent a lot of time in that room over the past three years, and it needed a little sprucing up.  Plus I think when you're the second child with an older sibling of the same sex, it's easy to become the "hand me down" kid.  I wanted Jake's nursery to be unique to him and not just "Cooper's old room."  As we transitioned Cooper to his new big boy room, some pieces of furniture from his nursery went with him (the night stand which had been in the corner by his window and the two shelves), and we decided to paint the nursery a light blue to really freshen up the room since we would be using most of the same furniture and the same bedding (we did have to get a new bumper of the same pattern because Cooper had torn his bumper up through almost three years of loving use). We updated, changed, and bought a few things, and voila!  We have a "new" nursery for Jake!

Jake's Nursery

The view from the door

*When you walk in his room, this is the wall to the left.  I haven't put the sheets on the mattress yet or the bumper on since it'll just collect dust for the next several weeks until Baby Jake gets here.  

*Cooper had a nightstand/table where the bookshelf is now, and there was a shelf hanging on the wall above it.  

*The baskets on the floor are also new.  They have his stuffed animals, baby toys, and some board books in them.  The bookshelf holds several special trinkets including the poem "Why God Made Little Boys" from Karl's nursery, special gifts I got when I was pregnant with Cooper, a wonderful book called Let Me Hold You Longer, and a quilt one of my former student's mom made for Cooper.

*There was also a shelf above the glider when it was Cooper's room, but that shelf went to his new room too.  This one is a different style than the others were.

*The glider is the same.  It's not the most beautiful glider, but it sure is comfortable!  Karl and I have spent many, many, MANY hours rocking our firstborn in that chair, and I know it will serve us just as well with Baby #2!

Out of the all the changes, this is my favorite.  I love the box letters of his initials!  I wanted the J to stand out since he will go by part of his middle name, so I stood it up on two books.  A Light in the Attic was one of my favorite books as a little girl.  I remember the day I got it and how giddy I was as I read all the poems in one night.  I read them to my students, and when my boys are a little older, I'll read them to them too.

This is the wall to the right of the door when you come in.  His changing table is all ready for him, and his drawers are stocked full of his sweet little clothes and blankets.

The picture frames on the wall were also in need of a little update.  Cooper's frames had brown satin ribbon attached to the back.  I took that off and put burlap ribbon on them and got little knobs to "hang" them to the wall.  The pictures are actually mounted to the wall, but the knobs give it a nice little decorative look.  Cooper's newborn pictures are still in the frames because they're too cute to take out until I have some of Baby Jake.

An overall shot of the nursery from the doorway.

*Here is a link to see what Cooper's nursery looked like.*

We started planning for Cooper's big boy room back in April.  We knew our old guest room/playroom would be his new room.  After a lot of trips to Pottery Barn Kids and a lot of planning, we slowly but surely started to get his room ready.  I ordered his furniture at the end of April, and it was on backorder until June, which was fine because we had to get the old room, closet, and bathroom cleaned out before Coop could take over.  I also used those two months to make little purchases here and there so it wouldn't be so much at once.  By the middle of June, the furniture was delivered, and Cooper immediately was claiming the room as his.  He loved his big boy bed from the moment they came in with the box and never went back to his crib (which he loved).  I never imagined we would transition him the same day as when the furniture was delivered; I thought it would be gradual process.  Nope!  Little Man is a big boy, and this is a big boy's room!  The lighting in Cooper's room is terrible for taking pictures, so the pictures do not do the room justice.  It is absolutely precious!  I love his room, and more importantly, he loves his room!

Cooper's Big Boy Room

The view from the doorway.
I decided not to do a theme because little ones change their interests so fast, but I did get a train pillow and a little old fashioned train to put on his nightstand since he loves his choo-choos right now.  He also has a train picture frame that he colored on his nightstand.  I wish I had taken a close-up of his nightstand.  Anyway, I wanted an All-American boy room he could grow up in, and what better way to show that than with a rustic wooden flag?!

Another view from the doorway.  To the left of the door is his dresser (with the two shelves from his nursery) and closet door.  On the main wall is his nightstand (from his nursery) and his bed.  On the right wall is his bookshelf and bulletin board and window.  On the wall with the door to his room is a framed picture and his bathroom door.

I love the black and white pictures of him in the raw wood frames.  To add in a little color, I got mats to match the colors in his quilt.  Of course, his Cooper Bear is on there too (Karl used this bear to tell me he was ready to have a baby when we started trying for Cooper)!

This is a view from Cooper's bathroom.

*I love having a bulletin board to display Cooper's precious work from MDO since our refrigerator isn't magnetic.  Last week they learned the letter A, and on Friday when I picked him up from school, he showed me the picture of the big A and said, "I color that A." And then, the part that got me crazy excited, he said, "/a/, /a/, apple."  Any kindergarten teacher out there knows how exciting that is! :)
*Cooper's bookshelf has two shelves.  The top shelf is full of his books, and the bottom shelf has his puzzles on it.  
*When he "graduated" from his nursery, we still had to move a few of his special baby things: his monogrammed elephant that I took his monthly picture with when he was a baby, his engraved picture frame with all his birth information, and his precious wooden block that also has all his birth information.  That wooden block has always been and will always be my most favorite baby gift.  We have had one made for so many of our friends and family members since Jennifer got it for Cooper.  Here is a link to the website where you can get one: http://www.craftefamily.com/baby_gifts/baby_block_personalized.asp.  

Cooper's bathroom is also pretty cute, but I didn't think to take a picture of it.  The boys' rooms are right across the hall from each other, which might pose a bit of a problem while Jake is very little and crying during the night, but I know in no time at all they'll be taking advantage of that short distance to yell to one another!

Maybe now that the boys' rooms are done, I can one day (after being married for 7 1/2 years) get around to finishing mine and Karl's room...

Summer Recap

We had quite a summer this year!  When I think back to the middle of May, it's hard to believe how much we accomplished and what all we did in three months!  We knew it was going to be a busy summer, and oh how we enjoyed it!

A quick recap some of the highlights of this sweet season (in no particular order)...

• We enjoyed three movies at the movie theatre (love the entertainment for him and air conditioning for me).
• We went to see my extended family in Georgia, Karl's extended family in Oklahoma, and made one last trip to the beach before Jake comes.
• Cooper potty trained!!!
• Cooper took swim lesson and actually learned how to swim!  Plus we had our fun Mommy and Me swim class together that I absolutely loved!
• Karl turned 32, I turned 30, and Little Man turned 3.
• Sadie got bit by a copperhead (not a highlight of the summer, but definitely memorable).
• We watched Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and Toy Story 3 more times than I would ever want to know!  It was a rainy summer...
• We redecorated the nursery and changed our guest room into Cooper's new room.
• Cooper moved to his new room and new bed.
• We enjoyed many get-togethers and cookouts with friends.
• We celebrated engagements, weddings, and babies with friends.
• We LOVED picking fruits and vegetables from our garden.  Cooper has always been a healthy eater, but the kid loves to pick bell peppers and try to eat them like apples now!
• Jake has grown a lot and is now only weeks away from his big arrival!
• Cooper started MDO at a new school!

We spent our days knocking off items on the endless "To-Do Before Jake Comes" list, organizing/rearranging/cleaning out the house, swimming, cooking out, playing outside, hunting pretend snakes (Cooper likes to copy everything Karl does, but hunting real snakes like Daddy has done since Sadie's bite is not an option!), and trying to soak up these precious last days of just having one child before we adjust to a new kind of precious day when Jake adds to our family.  As wonderful as this summer was, we are anxiously anticipating all the blessings of this next season...

First Day of School

My Super Cooper started Mother's Day Out on Wednesday!  We are at a different school this year, and we love it so far!  We knew this was where we eventually wanted him to go, and I am so thrilled they had a spot for him when I called earlier this summer.  He has two wonderful teachers, a fun, well decorated classroom, and mostly boys in his class.  We had Meet the Teacher last week, and I told Karl as we left that I was already dreading the end of the year!  His teachers are answered prayers and exactly what you hope your child's teachers will be like.  

I was so nervous about Cooper's separation anxiety, but he did great!  We went through the car rider line, he got out with a big smile and no tears, and apparently had a fantastic day.  He told me all about his day on the way home and was so excited and wound up that I didn't think I would ever get him down for his nap!  His teachers went above and beyond to make the first day as special as it could be.  This morning he told us he was "so excited" about going to school today, and sure enough, when I dropped him off, he was still all-smiles!  After hearing about his day on Wednesday, I don't blame him.  I get to pick him up in less than an hour, and I can't wait to hear about his day today!

Beach Bummed

We decided to close out our super busy and adventurous summer with one last trip as a family of three! We took a long weekend trip to Gulf Shores to get a little sun and just not feel tied to a to-do list like when we're at home.  When we got there Thursday, we quickly unloaded the car and then headed out to see the beach.  Cooper referred to it as "my beach" the whole time, and loved "my new house" (aka our condo).  

We danced in the water some and cherished that beautiful feeling of the waves running over our feet!

We also used this time for some picture taking!  I am so glad we did because this ended up being the nicest weather of the whole trip!  We apparently packed the rain with us because it was very overcast and rained all day Friday and all day Saturday.  I couldn't believe it!  When we got home, our neighbors bragged about how perfect the weather had been that weekend after it has rained almost every day this summer!  I couldn't believe that not only did they get such nice weather while we were gone but that we didn't get any!

Cooper loved the sand. He ran in it, made sand angels, threw it, and just couldn't get enough of it!  Friday morning Cooper had gotten up early, as usual, so I took him out to the beach for a walk so Karl could sleep in some.  What a special little time with him!  We walked and collected seashells and played.  We talked about what we saw and followed our footprints back to the pier.  He loved picking out our footprints in the sand, and I loved the way that Cooper's were never in a straight line-you could tell he was everywhere!  Later that day, I laid down with him for a nap, and as we were snuggled nice and tight, he said, "Mommy, I yuv you footpins (footprints)."  This boy sure does know how to pull my heartstrings!

I love your footprints too, Buddy!

After a good dinner on Thursday, we went to the "dive in movie" at the clubhouse pool and watched The Lorax.  That was one of the highlights of the trip for me!  I loved watching the movie in the pool at night, and then snuggling in our towels and eating popcorn!

Friday started out slow.  After Cooper and I took a walk, we went and got breakfast, and then came back to our room to change into our swimsuits.  Only it was pouring outside, so we went to the indoor pool!  After lunch and naps, the rain had stopped, so we went to the beach despite the yucky clouds.

After some good play time, Niecee and Pappy (Karl's parents) arrived to spend the remainder of the weekend with us, and we took lots of pictures!

This next picture is especially close to my heart.  I have a special necklace I had made before Cooper was born.  I still wear it all the time and am about to order my charm with Jake's name to add to it.  Cooper has always loved playing with this necklace, but he hasn't done it in a really long time.  For whatever reason when Karl was about to take this picture, he started playing with it...

...just like he did when he was 9 months old at this very same place.  

After dinner, the clouds had broken up, and we saw a beautiful sunset...

...and a beautiful rainbow!

Saturday we woke up to the same weather as Friday: cloudy and rainy.  But just like Friday, it stopped raining after nap, so we headed to the beach!

We closed out our day by ordering pizza and taking it back to the beach for a picnic dinner.  We all agreed that might have been our favorite part of the whole trip!  It was just quiet and relaxing and peaceful.  

Sunday we enjoyed another delicious buffet breakfast at the clubhouse, and although it was cloudy, it wasn't raining!  We packed the cars, cleaned up, and put on our swimsuits!  

Karl's parents left around 12:30, and we decided we would just leave when we felt like it.  After Karl and Coop played in the ocean a little more, Cooper wanted his mommy to "hoffle" (hold) him.  I put him in my lap with a towel around him, and he was asleep within minutes!  I love holding my sleeping child any time, but by the water with my feet in the sand, well that's just life at its highest!  Karl took a quick nap in the sand, and then I felt something...and then I felt it again...and then there were more.  Raindrops.  When I looked to my left I saw that a big storm was quickly moving our way!  I grabbed Cooper, and Karl grabbed all our gear, and we booked it to the clubhouse!  We ate lunch while it rained, but then the sun started to peek through.  And it got sunnier and sunnier and sunnier!!!  Karl said we needed to head home, but Coop and I weren't ready, and this was the first time we had actually seen the sun since Thursday afternoon.  We convinced Karl that we could linger a little longer, and Coop and I played in the pool some more.  Around 3:30, we decided that we really should get on our way, but I was so glad we stayed the extra time!

It would have been great to have sunny weather the whole time, but nevertheless, it was a wonderful final vacation as a family of three!  This was the first place we came for vacation as a family of three, and we're already planning on coming here for our first trip as a family of four!