What.the....

EFF?!  The following is an excerpt from our local newspaper’s website:

 

Tulsa police have blocked off the area around 21st Street and Yale Avenue because of a shooting at Walmart Neighborhood Market.

Initial reports indicate that shots were fired at officers, Officer Leland Ashley said.

EMSA ambulance service supervisor Chris Stevens said that one man was pronounced dead on the scene.

Another ambulance remains on the scene, he said.

According to officers, the shooter fled the area at 12:35 p.m. Police said a suspect is in custody, found at 23rd Street and Yale.

Traffic in the entire area is shut down, police said.

A man inside the store said he was in the back of Walmart when he started hearing gunshots and everyone fled to an exit and ran. He said that he heard at least 15 shots.

-----------------------------------

Please note that we live TWO BLOCKS blocks from where they found this guy.  This is the grocery store we go to multiple times per week, you don’t even leave the neighborhood to get to it.

For real, we do NOT live in the ghetto.  Although you wouldn’t know it from the amount of crime we have seen over the past year or so.

Thank you GOD for giving us the opportunity to move in less than a week. 

New House!

I’ve been a little hesitant to post pictures of the new house.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I thought it would be bad luck?  I think I’ve decided that is ridiculous.  Plus, this way I can look at them whenever I want :)

We are tentatively scheduled to close on June 6.  It’s kind of a long story, but there could be an issue that would hold it back a week or so, but we’re trying to stay positive about it.  Either way, it’s getting pretty close!

Just a few quick stats: It’s a 4 bedroom (technically the 4th bedroom is a study), 2.5 bath, with a formal dining room, game room, and a 3 car garage (which we HAD to have, and which Lee’s truck does NOT fit into!  Haha, oh the irony!  Poor guy)

This house is WAY more than we ever thought we would be able to get, and we are pretty much in house heaven here.  It has so many “extras” that were on my dream-only list.  Needless to say, we are feeling very blessed that out house hunt worked out the way it did.

It’s 2.5 times as big as our current house, haha!  What will we do with all the space?!

It’s new construction, which is wonderful and amazing, but we will have to build a fence which is not wonderful and amazing.

I don’t have a pic of the front yet, but I will eventually.

Entryway (from kitchen):

From Entryway – Immediately to the left are stairs to the second floor, just past the stairs is a hallway to the master and the laundry room.  Immediately to the right (which you can’t see at all) is a study and a half bath.  Further back to the left is the kitchen (where everyone is standing), and to the right, across from the kitchen are the living and dining rooms.  I hope that wasn’t too confusing.

Living room (from the kitchen):

Dining room (from kitchen) – This will actually be a playroom for Cooper.  There is a good size breakfast nook in the kitchen, so we really have no need for a formal dining room.  This is actually perfect for a play area, since it’s so open to the kitchen and living room.

Kitchen and breakfast nook (from dining room):

Study – this will actually be he nursery, for Cooper now, and then he will move upstairs when we have another.  It’s the only secondary bedroom downstairs, and I’d like to put off climbing stairs nightly as long as possible :)  (I know, this is a horrible picture.  I’m pretty sure no one comes here for my amazing pictures :) )

Half Bath (right outside of the study/nursery:

Master bedroom (they were doing a few finishing touches this day, so some equipment was lying around):

Master bath:

Door to the garage with a cute little mud room area thing, which I am so excited about!  This is right outside the master, and to the right is the laundry room.  On the left of the picture you can see a door, that is a closet under the stairs and it is HUGE!

At the top of the stairs is this game room:

Perfect for Lee to watch sports! (Which will probably become an issue when any kids are moved up there, with all his screaming and yelling)

This will most likely be a craft room for me :)

Guest room:

Full bath upstairs:

View of the game room from the guest bedroom.  The bath is to the right, and craft room is to the left.  The entryway is where the light is coming from, just for a point of reference.

At the risk of beating a dead horse...

I don’t think it’s any secret that I have a strange relationship with my job.  I have moments of sheer, outright hatred.  There are many, many of those moments(daily).  And then I have days were I think “okay, I can do this, I don’t love it, but I can stick it out”.  Those moments, the thoughts of sticking it out, are fleeting, but they are there.

At the same time, I am also terrified of getting a new job.  Even selecting positions to apply for is extremely difficult for me.  Because I don’t trust myself, since I clearly accepted my current position (in which I am very unhappy, duh).  But, I have to remind myself that I did have a gut feeling, and declined this position.  Twice.  Then they came back a third time, and that time, they told me that after one year of employment with the company, I could apply for any job within the company and simply transfer.  It’s a really big company, with great opportunities, and so I said yes. 

Due to circumstances along the way (wedding, baby, etc), and my above mentioned fear, I have yet to actually apply for any inter-company jobs.  Until a couple weeks ago.  In the past, I had seen a few things I was interested in, but out of fear, waited too long to apply, and then the job was gone.  So when something came available a couple weeks ago, I knew that I couldn’t wait around.  I allowed myself to think about it for one weekend (It came up on a Friday), and on the following Monday, I went for it and applied.

And yesterday, I was called for an interview.  It’s tomorrow morning.  I went back and forth this morning about it.  Do I really think it’s a good fit for me?  Could I just stick it out here for a bit longer?  And then something happened at work, and I had a little cry at my desk (which hasn’t happened in quite a while, although not unheard of, haha) just out of sheer frustration.  And that’s when I knew, I have to give this a shot.  So, I’m praying that this new position would be a good fit for me, and that the interview goes well.  And, if any of you feel compelled to do the same, I’d really (really, really!) appreciate it!

Something important to note:

There is indeed a large difference among these three colors:

Aqua

Turquoise

Teal

Also, if something says teal/jade, those are, also, two very different colors, and most likely will not work for either.

It took me three painful months to learn this.

#birthdaywoes

(I think in hash tags now, so I’ll likely be including them in blogs, even though that’s not where they belong)

#twitter

 

P.S. Perhaps the MOST important thing to note: COOPER SLEPT ALL NIGHT THE PAST TWO NIGHTS.  It’s a miracle.  And, yes, he is all better now and back to his old happy self thank you all for the concern!

xoxo

Acts of desperation

Cooper was diagnosed with pneumonia on Wednesday of last week.  As of yesterday morning, I had gotten about 10 hours of sleep, in total, during those 5 days.  I’m not completely sure why he would wake up every 30 or so minutes.  (once or twice a night, he would go about an hour before waking) And he would wake up wailing.  Just crying so hard L  I wasn’t sure if it was his breathing, or if it was his teeth, because I had also thought he was getting a top tooth in addition to being sick.  Poor guy.

This is not even newborn material for Cooper.  He has always been an awesome sleeper, so this?  This was new territory for us.

Wednesday night I was fine, yes, he woke up.  Lots.  But, he was sick and I didn’t mind rocking him all night long.

Thursday night, I was pretty tired, and not looking forward to him crying all night, so in act of desperation #1, I put him in our bed to sleep with me.  Lee slept on the couch.  Once he slept for an hour and a half.  Other than that, it was every 30 minutes.  Oy.

On Friday, I could barely keep my eyes open at work.  That night, in act of desperation #2, we gave him Benadryl to help him sleep longer.  It helped, at first.  He slept for about 4 hours in a row.  Of course, those hours were between 6 and 10pm.  When we were awake.  Why had I not learned my lesson and gone to bed earlier?  As soon as my head hit the pillow, it was on. 

By Saturday I was praying that it was the last night.  I was seriously not dealing well with the lack of sleep.  I cried a ton because I missed my happy, sweet baby.  He hadn’t been himself in about 3 weeks and I was starting to wonder if he would ever be his old self again L  I also may have screamed at Lee to leave me alone.  With a few colorful words mixed in there.  Not my finest moment. 

So, in act of desperation #3, I tried to let him cry it out in his crib for a nap (yes, this no sleeping applied to naps also).  We had been hesitant to let him cry it out, in case he still wasn’t feeling well, but as I said, these were acts of desperation.  He cried in his crib for about 40 minutes.  And then, he climbed out of that sucker and fell to the floor. Yes, he climbed out of his crib.  At 11 months.  And it was already on the lowest setting.  I’m not sure how it happened.  The mattress was propped up to help with breathing, but not that much.  I’m guessing he used a combo of that, his bumpers, and his sleep sheep.  He is nothing if not determined and strong willed, so I’m actually not surprised he made it happen.  The sad thing is, I heard him fall, but it was so loud that I thought the noise came from the garage.  It wasn’t until about 10 minutes later that I decide to give up on the nap, and I went in to get him, that I found him sitting on the floor, pushing on the door.  It scared me at first, but he was crawling all over just fine, and even laughing at the dogs.  No ER trip was made, the bumpers are now removed, and the sleep sheep is up high.  That night, no further acts of desperation were made due to that catastrophic event.

On Sunday, in act of desperation #4, we went and got his swing out of storage.  Haha.  Yep, his motorized baby swing that he was clearly too big for.  I thought that maybe sleeping more upright would help (if it was congestion keeping him from sleeping).  I can’t imagine that he remembered the swing, as he hadn’t used in well over 3 months, probably much longer than that, but his face lit up when he saw it and he wanted to get in it right away.  He loved it.  But, did it help him sleep?  Errr, that would be a no.

So, yesterday Lee and I went back and forth.  Let him cry it out, or no?  We would feel so bad if he was crying because he really was in some kind of pain (thinking it might be hard to breathe while lying down, or maybe he was getting a tooth, or even if it was because the antibiotics upset his tummy).  But, I was also wondering if he had just gotten used to being held and rocked, and that’s why he kept waking up.  Well, it turned out that, by the time we picked him up after work, he was finally back to his old self!  Happy little buddy J  I was so so happy to have his personality back! 

So, that night, we kept him up later since he was happily playing.  And when we put him to bed, we were hopeful that we would have a smooth night.  He slept until 11, and woke up, but not crying as hard as he had been.  I rocked him and put him back in his crib.  And the screaming continued.  At that point, in act of desperation #5, we decided.  Just let him cry.  And I have no idea how long he cried for.  I don’t think that long.  But I can’t tell you for sure because I was so tired myself, that I passed right out and didn’t wake up until 5 this morning.  And neither did Cooper J  I am hoping, wishing, praying that he has gotten over this and he continues sleeping well, even if we do have to let him cry it out for a few days.

A few Thursday things

Cooper has pneumonia.  Yes, my child, who has never had so much as a runny nose until a week ago, has pneumonia.  Luckily, the doctor said that it is in the very early stages, so we caught it early.  That’s what happens when you take your baby to the doctor 3 times in 10 days.  Also, have any of you with babies ever had to have a chest x-ray done on them? Oh.my.gawd.  It looks like a torture device.  Even the doctor warned me about it before I took him in.  Super sad face.  He did well though, only a little crying.  I would have been screaming.  And I’m almost 30.

I should feel lucky that this is the first time he’s gotten sick, but seriously?  This is what he has to deal with the first time he’s sick?  Poor baby.

I’ve been putting off making Cooper’s baby book.  I wanted to do a completely digital on and print it out into a book on one of those millions of websites.  But, now I’m thinking I want to do a regular one so that I can put in some things of his, like hospital bracelet, footprints, his birth announcement in the newspaper, etc.  So now I don’t know what to do.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I am SO SO mad at myself.  Several months ago, we had a garage sale where we sold a TON of stuff.  Including ALL of my crafting supplies that I had purchased and collected over 10 years.  I had so much stuff.  And I rarely used it due to lack of time and space.  And I hate clutter, so in a moment of insanity, I sold it all in the garage sale.  What on earth was I thinking?!  Especially now that I have a child, I need my craft supplies more than ever.  I’ve been running around buying things for the second time.  Awesome.

Luckily in the new house, I will have a craft room :)

Speaking of the new house, I have pictures!  I need to post them.  I’ve been hesitant to post them in case something were to happen between now and closing, but I think I’m going to do it anyway.  If something happens, then you can all cry with me.

I bought a bag of Hershey’s nuggets; the kind with toffee and almonds.  They’re unbelievably good.  I bought them to have one nugget per day after lunch.  I always need something sweet after lunch and dinner.  I often will have a 100 calorie pack of cookies, but they are 3 WW points, and a nugget is 1.5 points and WAY better.  Well, I’m sure you all know what’s coming.  That was a big, fat FAIL.  I ate 7 yesterday, and probably 8 today, because they are sitting in my desk at work, and then I get stressed about something, so then I eat them.  I gave the bag to a co-worker today.  Haha.

I am so happy that tomorrow is Friday!  I hate having to be at work while Cooper is sick, but with being out of town last week, I am so far behind that I just can’t take off.  I’m ready to snuggle with my boy, do some crafting, maybe some packing, and hopefully get to see a good friend who will be in town.

11 months

Dear Cooper,

On May 8th, Mother’s Day this year, you turned 11 months old!

This month has been a little rough on you.  You got 3 teeth (all on the bottom), and are currently working on a forth.

In addition to teething, you also got sick for the first time.  And, of course, that happened during the first time I was away from you.  I was out of town for a week for work, and Daddy had to take care of you all by himself.  Poor Daddy and poor Buddy.  The doctor said you just had a cold or allergies and there was really not much we could do for you. :(

Not to worry; that cold didn’t stop you from getting in to any- and everything around the house!  You sure do keep us on our toes!  It seems like overnight, you became so adventurous and not afraid to get into EVERYthing.  This month, you started full on crawling, not just army crawling like you have been for a few months; although you do prefer to army crawl on the wood floors.  You save the real deal for carpeted areas.

You pull up on everything.  If I’m standing up and you’re nearby, I can bet that you’ll come over and try to scale my legs.  You also love to pull up on the tv stand and try and pull down the sound bar.  You know that you’re not supposed to though, and you will crawl towards it, sit down and look at us, then get up and crawl the rest of the way, and reach up while looking at us.  Seriously?  I thought you’d be at least a couple of years old before you start that business!

You graduated from the ducky tub (sad face) and you now get to take your bath in the big tub with toys!  You love it, and many evenings we cannot get you to stop splashing!  You have always loved to splash so hard in the water.

You cruise around furniture and try to use the wall to help you walk when there is no furniture to steady yourself.  You would love for us to walk you around all day long.  You occasionally get too brave, which has resulted in a lot of falls and bumps on the head recently.  So sad.

You’ve discovered that the gates around the house are to keep you out of anything that is fun, and unfortunately for us, you quickly learned how to move those gates and get to wherever you want!

You have started refusing your formula over the past several weeks.  You will drink very little of it before shoving it away.  We’ve tried changing brands, but you still refuse it.  Maybe you’ve developed your taste buds a little and discovered that it doesn’t actually taste good?  Either way, the doctor doesn’t seem too concerned.  You currently eat 3-4 meals a day, and we attempt 3 bottles/sippy cups of formula, but you rarely drink more than a few ounces.  I think we may switch to milk soon, because formula is quite an expensive thing to waste!

We went to the doctor when you first showed signs of being sick (a fever of 103!) and there you weighed 21 pounds 3 ounces.  You wear size 4 diapers, and 6-12 month clothes.  I briefly thought that you were outgrowing those, and bought a ton of 12-18 month summer clothes, which turned out to be huge on you!  Hopefully you will grow (at least somewhat) into them over the summer.  You’re wearing a size 4.5 shoe.

This month, you discovered the dogs.  The poor, poor dogs.  You chase them around the house.  You corner them when you’re in your walker.  You pull their hair (trying to work on that…)  Zoe is very wary of you (smart girl), but Isabelle is such a lover, she can’t help herself.  She loves to lick you, and you find that hilarious!  You still love Zoe’s yellow ball, and she now thinks that you are playing with her when you have it.  She always waits patiently for you to throw it.  Which, of course, you do not do.  You put that dirty thing right in your mouth.  I cringe.

And, just in case, we weren’t quite sure how happy that ball made you, I caught this on camera :) I may or may not have contemplated getting you one of your own….

I can’t believe that you are almost a year old!  Let’s make this next month go by really slowly, okay?

I love you sweet boy!

Mama

Cooper's first haircut

You might have noticed that Cooper has quite a bit of hair. You can see in his 10 month pictures that it was getting a little out of control. See how long it was over his ears? And, it was starting to stick up everywhere, and there wasn't much taming it.

So, we decided it was time to do it. I made an appointment for him to get his haircut just about a week after his 10 month birthday.


I debated whether to go to a guy that some of my friends use for their little ones, or to use the stylist that Lee and I use. The guy my friends use only does children, so I thought maybe he would do a better job, but we love our stylist and (I think) she really wanted to cut his hair, so in the end, I decided to go to her.

Here are some before pictures. Please excuse my appearance.

See how it was curling up at the ends? I thought he looked so cute/funny when it started doing that :)

At the salon:
She had a little cape for him!

Of course, he wanted to put it in his mouth!

He was SO good during the haircut! I don't have pictures though, because it took me and Lee to get him to sit still enough. He kept jerking his head back and forth, because he was curious about the scissors and what she was doing, but he was quiet and didn't freak out.

She cut around one of his ears first, and just with that little bit, I was shocked at how much older he already looked! :( But, I have to say, he did look very handsome afterwards! :)

The back:

The front:

My big, sweet boy!

*And, yes, he loves his pacifiers. I have to say, that before I had him, that was my thing, you know? My kid will never have a pacifier. Hahaha. Now that I'm a mama, I know waaayyy better than to say never :)

My ticket to the Royal Wedding

*Blogger is spacing things really strangely (as usual) and I can't fix it, so sorry for the sloppy spacing*

Did you know that there was a royal wedding last week? Not many people knew about it, so I wanted to ask :)

There is a local, independent movie theater here in Tulsa. It's been around for over 80 years. And I believe that it is also non-profit. I'd actually never been to it before last week, but I'd driven by many times.

They were showing the royal wedding live on Friday, and it was free to watch! How many times in life do you get the opportunity to watch a future king and queen get married in a (an?) historic movie theater? Pretty cool, right? Oh, and they also served tea, crumpets, eggs, bangers, and scones. Seriously, it was fun :)

So, my friend Jenny and I decided we would go. We arrived about 4:30am, and it was full! There were a lot more people than I thought would be there. There were a lot of cute old ladies dressed up wearing hats :)

The line for breakfast tickets (you did have to pay for breakfast)

We were so happy that the actual theater was relatively empty. And then about 10 minutes later, it was completely full! We got there just in time.

Pretty good seats, huh? There really isn't a bad seat in the house there, since it's such a small theater.

I'm not sure why the zoom-ed in photos are blurry, but oh well.

It was really the best idea we've had in a long time. It definitely made watching it more exciting, not that it needed any help, it was just a fun atmosphere. And, the manager of the place was SO nice. He even came into the theater and gave a little speech and sincerely thanked everyone for coming. To their free event. I will definitely be going back!

Oh, and ladies, if you're depressed that it's all over, like I was, no need to worry :)

When did Harry become the hot prince? For real, he was like a Disney character dressed up like that!

Anyone want to take bets on wether he and Pippa hooked up that night? ;)