A Little Summer Schoolin'

I had really good intentions of doing lots of fun somewhat-educational activities with Cooper this summer to reiterate what he learned last year at school and to help him learn more.  It was supposed to be quality time for him and me while little brother napped.  I have to admit, for us at least, it is so much harder to teach your own child than someone else's!  My hat goes off to all the home-schooling parents out there!  Although we didn't end up doing very much at all, we did some activities here and there.  This particular activity was very spur of the moment and not something I had planned before.  We were bored, Jake was sleeping, I needed Coop to be quiet, so my brain got to spinning, and I came up with "Smarty Math!"

I made flashcards for the numbers 0-5 and drew corresponding lines under each number.  First, Cooper identified the numbers.  If he didn't know one, then I had him count the lines to determine the number.  Next, he put the flashcards in order.  To jazz things up a little, I then gave him a pack of Smarties (that were leftover from Halloween...) as his manipulative.  He counted out the correct number of Smarties for each number and placed them on the lines.  The absolute coolest thing about this is that a pack of Smarties has the perfect number of candies for this activity.  Don't you just love when things turn out like that?!  Of course, the best part of this activity was when he was done, he got to eat them!  It was fun (probably more for me than him as I got to itch that teaching bug I get every now and then), educational, and yummy!

Another thing we did that was really fun was working on writing his name.  He's known the letters in his name but hasn't learned to write them.  To begin with, I printed off the letters in his name in a font that had outlined them and was large.  Then he used finger paint to trace the inside of the letters and get a feel for how each letter is made.  Once the letters were dry, we trimmed the paper, put the letters in order, and attached them to each other to make a banner.  He was so proud of his work!  I told him we could hang his banner wherever he wanted, and he decided to hang it on the front of his bed.  

We also played letter swat, number swat (both with one of his toy hammers and flashcards), made a ninja turtle sight word book (I see Leonardo.  I see Mikey.  Etc.), worked hard on writing our name, used scissors and glue to make some beautiful unique masterpieces, and practiced tracing shapes and letters.  He was cooperative for the most part, as long as I didn't make an activity take longer than ten minutes!  In other fun summer news, we discovered ITunes radio this summer (click the music icon on your phone and it's at the bottom where playlists, songs, etc. are), and in particular, we discovered the Frozen channel.  It is all Disney songs from old and new Disney movies.  We love it and listen to it all the time!  If you have little ones, then I promise you will love it too!

Summer Snippets, Part II

Here's a little this-and-that from July!  We've had a lot of fun with grandparents this month!  Grandpa (my dad) has been making and sharing lots of homemade ice cream with us.  This summer he's made strawberry, peach, vanilla, vanilla with mini chocolate chips, and snickers.  That's playing a part in why I'm still holding on to some "baby" weight!  No pictures of it, but we have really enjoyed it!

Pappy and Niecee (Karl's parents) got a new dog a couple weeks ago!  Stryker (named after John Wayne's character in The Sands of Iwo Jima...their previous dog was named Duke and John Wayne) is a yellow lab and is as cute as can be!  I love that puppy breath!  The cuteness of this puppy made me briefly want a puppy!  Our plate is full for now, but I did decide that one day if we get a lab puppy, I want to carry on the John Wayne tradition and name him Chance after the Duke's character in Rio Bravo, my favorite John Wayne movie.  

Nana (my mom) came to visit last weekend, and the boys had a blast with her!  I could kick myself for not getting a picture with Cooper and her, but Little Man was always on the move, and honestly, he was a bit of a pickle last weekend.  He was showing out and didn't nap, and by Saturday night, I was ready to lose my mind!  He was very sad when she left, as was I.  However, Little Buddy was more than willing to get his picture made!  Nana put him on the bumper car, and he loved it.  His facial expressions were cracking me up!

Cooper finished his summer session at school today.  It was "Water Day," and when he got in the car yesterday, he immediately told me that he had to wear "sunscreen and a bathing suit" today.  The first thing he said this morning was, "IT'S WATER DAY!!!"  The kid was excited!  They had an inflatable slip and slide and all kinds of water games.  I wish I could've seen him playing!  I know he had fun because he didn't resist his nap at all today and has been sleeping for almost two hours!  I'm so glad he loves his school, and I'm so grateful for such an amazing place for him to learn, play, and grow!

Jake~9 Months

I know what you're thinking: How on earth is this baby already 9 months old and only 3 months away from his first birthday?  Well, it may just be his mama who's thinking that, but I really can't believe we're three months from my baby turning one!

Our little one is very squirmy these days and and always has his hands and feet moving.  We laugh at how those precious feet are always wiggling!  He's somewhat able to army crawl...he prefers not to though.  He pushes to sit up when you lay him on his stomach and loves looking around and watching Cooper.  He tries to pull up on things, but isn't there yet.  I haven't been encouraging that either!  

He has little tricks he does for us that keep us entertained.  He dances when he hears music, waves, gives high fives, and grunts ("Ahh") back and forth with you to have little "conversations."  His vocalness is really cute because although he keeps making the same sound, he'll change the inflection and pitch of his voice.  He also gets vocal when he gets mad.  If you take something away from him, he locks his arms and legs out in front of him and yells!  He's going to be good at letting us know when/if his big brother takes advantage of his littleness!

He's very curious and is always trying to see what's going on around him.  When Cooper is around, Jake's eyes follow him everywhere!  That's why I'm a little surprised that he isn't crawling yet.  I thought he would crawl early to keep up with Coop.  He's very content to just sit and watch though.  

He's doing well with his eating.  We're still nursing.  He loves to play with his toes and put his toes in my mouth while he nurses.  He also likes to play with my rings.  He has cut out several feedings during the day now and is eating baby food, cereal, and some real solids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He has been consistent with lunch and dinner for awhile, but he wasn't interested in breakfast until recently.    His pincer grip is very good now, likely do from a lot of practice picking up Cheerios.  The boy loves, loves, loves Cheerios!!!  He gets so excited when he sees them and starts grunting and waving his arms and legs around!  That's definitely his favorite food!  His two top teeth are just about completely broken through now which is making eating real food easier for him.  

He continues to amaze us with his sweet, easy going disposition.  He makes every day wonderful.  

Big Brother wore the same outfit during his 9 month photo shoot that Jake wore for his.  They look similar but definitely not the same.  The shape of their faces is very different, but they both have blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes!  They were both born with dark brown, lost it at 3 months, and grew it back blonde!  Coop's has gotten darker as he's gotten older, but it's no where close to as dark as when he was born.  

Here are my boys at 9 months:

They sure are two cuties!!!

Jake on the Move

After Jake and I spent the day with Jennifer and Baby Becca, we went to spend the night at my grandmother's house, which was only about 30 minutes away.  It was a quick overnight trip, but it was very special.  My grandmother and I have always been very close, but I never get to really spend time with her when we go visit.  When we go to see her as a family, I'm always running around chasing Cooper or visiting with other family members, which is wonderful, but I don't get time with her.  For the past couple years, I've really wanted to go visit her and just have a little time with just us.  It was something really important to me.  I also wanted her to have some time with Jake.  Sometimes second children don't get that special one-on-one time, and I wanted this for both of them.  She met Jake at Christmas time, but it was a crazy time with most of the family there!  This was just the three of us, and it was so calm, relaxing, and peaceful.  They got to bond, and I got that time with her like I've been wanting.  I told Karl when I got home that it was good for my soul!

On the way to her house, Jake and I stopped at The Varsity to get frosted oranges.  It's a family tradition. :)  The first time Cooper crawled was at Mama's house, and Jake had been flirting with the idea of crawling but hadn't yet done it.  I was hoping it would happen here again.

And it did.

Same rug.  Same scenario.  With Cooper, Mama teased him with a water bottle.  She dangled it close and pushed on it to make noise, and Cooper went for it.  When he would get close, she would move it just a tad.  It worked!  With Jake, she used her frosted orange!  She let him feel it, and it got him curious; then she moved it just a little bit, and he started to move!  Without even realizing what he was doing, he started army crawling!

When he got to her, she rewarded him with a little sip!  

He makes this face every time he tries something new:

But he liked it enough to go after it again!

It just made my heart smile that both of my babies crawled for the first time with my grandmother.  We only see her a couple times a year, and she is so special to me.  I'm very thankful that they hit these big milestones with her there to encourage and coax them and that she got to experience that excitement with them.  I've talked before about how much I love going to visit her and the many memories I have at her house and how much it means to me that my boys are getting to make memories there too.  I just never imagined when I was a little girl running around outside her house playing with my cousins that my children would be doing the same thing one day.  I know we're not quite there with Jake, but I sure do look forward to those days.

The Future Mr. and Mrs.

My best friend Jennifer had her baby girl in June, and Jake and I snuck over to meet his future wife one Saturday.  She is a beautiful baby.  And she was so tiny!!  I just love that sweet newborn stage where they want to be cuddled and sleep in your arms.  It is so precious, and my goodness does it go by fast! I have been waiting a long time for this baby girl!  Jennifer told me she was expecting when she came to visit the weekend after I had Jake.  I fell in love with that baby right then and there!  I didn't get many pictures, but we were able to get a few to document Jake and Becca's first meeting.

Me holding the sleeping beauty.

You know that pacifier isn't very big, but I love how it shows how small she is.

Mamas and their babies

Yes, I had a talk with Jake later about how to treat his future wife.  He apparently didn't want to share the sofa with her.  You know how boys are.  He'll outgrow it!

I promise, Becca, he's going to be a better and more attentive husband than he seemed.  He was just trying to play hard to get.  

My Little Ham

Cooper hasn't been getting too much attention on the ol' blog these days.  Part of the reason is it's hard to find time to blog and I feel obligated to at least do Jake's monthly post when I do have time, and the other part--the main part--is that Coop just doesn't like getting his picture made.  If I'm able to get him to be still for 2 seconds for a picture, then more than likely he's either giving me a pouty face or making a funny face while saying, "CHEEEEEESE."  Well, the other day out of the blue he asked me to take his picture.  I was quite surprised and couldn't grab my camera fast enough!  He dictated the pictures  (imagine that...Cooper being bossy!  Ha!), but I was happy to oblige!  

First up, he wanted a picture of him and his brother Jake.  He rarely just calls Jake "Jake."  It's typically "my brother Jake."  He does this with a lot of people in his life.  "My friend Maddux."  "My teacher Ashley."  "My daddy Karl." :)

He was making some noise here, but I can't remember what it was.  It made Jake laugh though.  

I snuck this one in...

Next, he wanted me to take a picture of him taking off his sock.  Excuse the blur.  He did it quickly.  

And why would I take a picture of him taking off his socks if he didn't want me to get the jewels they were hiding-his feet!  How have those little piggies grown so much?!

I kind of snuck this one too, but I thought it was cute and shows how he normally is when I say, "Cooper, let mommy take your picture real quick!"

That's my boy!

I love that face!

Jake was like, "Hey guys, what is going on here?!?!  I am the one who should be getting my picture taken!"

Coop will be four in a few more weeks.  I can't believe it.  My baby boy.  Something about your child's birthday really makes your heart swell.  The love, the life, the thankfulness.  We're getting ready for a ninja turtle birthday party at the jumpy place that we've been talking about since December.  That's a long time to anticipate a birthday party, folks!  I'm not going to lie--Karl and I are pretty excited about the new age coming our boy's way.  For everyone out there who told us--better described as "warned" us--that three was rough, thank you for the honesty on that one.  It was/is.  We've been told that four is better, and our fingers are crossed!  Although there was some challenges in three and a lot of disciplining was involved, I still loved it...for the most part. :)  We've gotten to see our child really stretch his limits and learn right from wrong and why and grow into quite an amazing little boy.  He is strong willed, but that kid has a heart of gold.  I can't wait to see the incredible little four year old he's going to be!

4th of July Fun

My cousin's family spent 4th of July weekend with us.  To simply say we had fun is a major understatement!  It was a weekend filled with laughter, fun, great food, lots and lots of playing, blackberry picking, fireworks, and good memory making.  Just what our forefathers would have wanted!

Friday we had a cookout with our neighbors that started around mid-morning and lasted until well into the night.  Smoked meats.  Mac and cheese.  Baked beans.  Salads. Peach turnovers and homemade ice cream.  Blueberry margaritas with fresh picked blueberries.  Sprinklers and plastic pools for the kids.  Lawn chairs in the driveway.  Fireworks and sparklers.  God bless America!

Saturday we took a trip to the park and went on an unplanned blackberry-picking excursion behind the park along a field.  The kids were stuffing blackberries in their mouths left and right!  I think we all had different favorite parts to the weekend, but this was my favorite.  I loved watching the daddies and boys pick and eat blackberries right off the bushes.  I also loved the excellent lighting and photo opportunities!  

 

We were able to get all four boys together for a cousin picture.  Is there anything cuter than four boys in a field of green grass on a summer day with hints of blackberry stains on their lips?  I think not!

I took advantage of the fact that Jake can't walk yet and parked his little booty in the grass for some precious pictures while the big boys and their daddies kept picking!

 

Cooper and Brady definitely have a special bond, but it looks like the two littles might have a special bond of their own! 

 A couple shots of brotherly love...my boys were over the picture taking and hot temperatures at this point! 

We closed out the day with a little taste of the town at a local brewery and pizza place where we could eat outside and the kids could be loud and run free.  

Sunday we enjoyed the beautiful morning at the zoo.  We got to feed giraffes and lorikeets and see some really neat animals doing some really neat things.  

I think by the time we got home from the zoo, we were all pretty worn out, so after some good naps and a little more socializing, we went and got dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant, and then our two families parted ways.  It was a great weekend, and as we pulled out of the parking lot that night, Cooper immediately started asking when Brady and Paxton would come back to his house!