Project 365: Week 1

Yay!  I’m going to do Project 365 this year!  I really hope I can remember to take a picture every day.  So far, so good, but I’m sure in the future you may get  a picture (or 10) of my pajama pants because I’ve forgotten and only remembered right before I go to sleep :)

January 1: We went to Target on New Year’s Day and Cooper  took his first ride in one of these fun carts.  i promise he was more excited than he looks in the picture :)

January 2: Cooper’s first time to watch the movie Cars.  His little expression crack me up!  He kept pointing excitedly to the tv.  It kept his attention for a whole 5 minutes!

January 3: This is my One Line a Day book that I mentioned in my 2012 goals.  See how small it is?  Makes it super easy to just quickly jot down a fun memory from the day.

January 4: Cooper got a tent for Christmas and he loves playing in it.  He will go in there and lay down.  He was vacuuming it on this evening :)

January 5: I snapped this pic of Cooper’s bed while he was getting a bath.  He sleeps with a TON of blankets!  One was missing because he has to hold it while he is getting his jammies on after his bath.  Funny boy!

January 6: Cooper didn’t sleep much, if at all, the night before because of an upper respiratory infection and teeth (poor buddy).  He fell asleep in the car on the way to daycare.  I felt so bad waking him up to go in.

January 7: We went over to my parents’ house to celebrate my dad’s birthday.  Cooper played with his Little People Zoo and he looked so big standing next to it.

2012: THE PLAN

I don’t usually make resolutions. Last year, I didn’t make any, and I felt good about that. And although I didn’t resolve to make any changes in particular, two things I’d been wanting to do for a while happened. I found a new job that I love, and we moved. So, 2011 was a pretty good year for us.

This year, however, I do feel the need to write down a few things I want to accomplish throughout the year. I wouldn’t call them resolutions, in particular, “goals”sounds more appropriate :)

So, 2012 goals!

Budget, budget, budget!! This is the biggest goal I would like to accomplish this year. We usually do pretty well with limiting our spending (ahem, when we try), but between the two of us, we have a car payment and three student loans. My student loans are horrible and I hate seeing the interest we will pay in the end. I want to pick the two lowest and pay them off this year. It’s a big goal, but I think we can do it!

Blog more! Ha! Notice that at the beginning of this post, I didn’t even reference the amount of time that has passed since I last blogged? Sick kid, selling/buying/moving homes, crazy happenings at work, and tv all won out over blogging for most of 2011. But I WILL be better in 2012. I have come to rely on this blog as a way to remember events and just general everyday life, and I don’t want to lose those memories. So, I will blog more! And, it will be boring, everyday life, weekend recaps, tons of pictures, etc. Because that’s what I like to look back on, and that’s why I started blogging in the first place. Those are also my favorite posts of others to read. I love peeking into your everyday lives :)  I need to start with…Christmas events!  A little behind, but could be worse!

Get back into a workout routine. Having a child really complicates the logistics of working out. I am going to have to get over the mommy-guilt of working out a couple of evenings after work, and for a few hours on the weekend.

Lose weight. Typical! Last year I lost 30 lbs. That was great, and I was happy with it. BUT! I was 20 lbs away from an ultimate goal that, quite frankly, I was too lazy to continue pursuing. Plus, I thought we were going to want to have a baby in 2012 and I didn’t want to “waste” the effort. Ha! For several reasons, we have decided not to have a baby this year, and I am going to finally make this long time goal a reality!

Watch less tv! I love tv. Love. Maybe too much. But lately, I have felt like tv has been controlling me. Sound stupid? Probably, but that’s they way I felt. I would like to have more time in the evenings to read or pick up the house, or just hang out without the burden of what show is on that night. I’ve already started out right by not watching The Bachelor!! :) I have actually only watched tv one night this week, and it was one show!

Work on decorating the house. I want to get the main living areas painted, and make curtains. As well as finish Cooper’s room, and possibly start on his bathroom.

Fill this out every night. I have been wanting one of these little books for over a year now, and I finally got one for Christmas. I can’t wait to be able to look back on years past and see what we were up to!

Pumpkin Patch!

Let’s pretend that it’s October, not December, for just a moment, mmmkay?  Better late than never, right?

Eight weeks ago we went to visit the pumpkin patch.  I wondered what Cooper would think, since last year he pretty much hated it.  Well, he LOVED it this year!  He had so much fun walking all over the place.  The one we went to covers a pretty big area of land, and all he wanted to do was play with the animals or walk around and around.  He could have cared less about the pumpkins!

Checking out the goats.  He touched the horns on this one and squealed and jumped up and down, haha!

I really can’t explain how much he loved the animals.  He is laughing and jumping here.

Climbing in the pumpkins

Take 3 of 398,502 attempts at a family shot

Cooper kept picking random things up off the ground and putting them in his mouth.  Wait…that’s really not different than any other day, actually.  But this was a corn cob, and he tried to eat it! 

This was behind everything in the very back of the patch.  He loved it back there for some reason and refused to leave.  So we sat a pumpkin next to him for a picture!

Take 4,938

This is how he gives “smooches”

Oh, so nice and gentle with the pumpkin…we all knew what was coming…

He tried to throw it with all his might! Lee’s face is priceless and I will keep this picture forever!

Cute boys!          

Cooper’s ENT Visit

Cooper has been getting ear infections.  A LOT of ear infections.  Since Sept 1, he has had 5-6.  Some of them have lasted for 2 weeks or more.  They’ve been a little resistant to antibiotics here and there.  I think we had to get a new antibiotic twice, because the first wasn’t working.  The last one, we had to take to an apothecary shop to get compounded because he has either already been on everything else too much, or the antibiotic didn’t work.  Oh, and he’s allergic to amoxicillin, so that doesn’t help.

After his last confirmed case, which was about 3 weeks ago, I asked his pediatrician when we should think about discussing tubes.  He said that usually they start thinking about tubes when a child has had 3-4 ear infections in a year.  Ha!  Clearly, we were well beyond that limit.

I asked around and got the name of a doctor that lots of friends and co-workers have all used and loved, and we had the appointment on Wednesday.

They did a hearing test first, and I literally had to look at the wall and cover my face because I found it so hilarious.  Lee and I both went, and Lee sat in a chair with C, and I sat in another chair kind of facing them.  He was really good when they put things in his ears.  And then, they did the test.  There was a speaker on his left and right, and the audiologist sat in another room and spoke through a microphone.  The funny part is that under each speaker, there was a clear box with a toy that the audiologist controlled.  When Cooper would look at the speaker he heard noise coming from, the toy would light up and move.  Additionally, there was a 3rd toy box directly in front of C, that would light up and play when nothing was coming from the speakers.  Omg, it was hilarious when those toys went off!  I didn’t want to be distracting by laughing, so I tried to hide it.  It was kind of creepy, like in a fun house where things keep going off and you don’t know why.  Luckily I think C was too confused to be freaked out.  Ha!  You should have seen his head going left, right, forward, right, left, etc.  And the look on his face was priceless!  He was like, what the heck is this?!

Picking out toys while waiting for the hearing test to begin

Anyway….After that, we saw the doctor.  There was fluid in both of his ears.  Even though he had been on an antibiotic for 15 days (first one didn’t work) right up until the day before his appointment.  Also, the doctor said that C wasn’t able to hear as well as he ideally could.  Not that his hearing was bad, necessarily, just that it could be better.  I did notice during the test, that when they played static through the speakers, he never turned his head.  He did for everything else, though.

Basically, just based on the number of ear infections he has had, we didn’t do too much small talk about whether or not to do the tubes.  The doctor said he suggested getting tubes, and taking his adenoids out.  The adenoids were suggested because of the horrible runny nose that C always has.  They actually just shave it down, they don’t really remove it, or won’t in Cooper’s case.

So.  Cooper is getting tubes put in and adenoids removed on Dec 12th.  The surgery should only take about 25 minutes.  Of course, a surgery is still a surgery, and he will be under anesthesia, so I am nervous about it.  But, all I have to do is remind myself of how bad Cooper has felt for essentially 3 months in a row.  There was a night a couple of weeks ago that C was having a particularly hard time, and I think at that moment, even Lee was like, we NEED to see about tubes.  Lee had been very adverse to even talking about tubes, so that was a big turn for him.  I’m thankful that we have the option of doing something that will help Coopie feel better!

Oh, I cannot leave without telling you all the best part.  We got this pamphlet about tonsils and adenoids:

Hahahaha!!!  Lee and I were giggling in the office about it.  And then when we left, I told him it was even funnier (more funny?) because of the doctor’s last name: Siemens!  Heehee

:)

Thanksgiving

 

We had a great thanksgiving this year.  We hosted it at our house, and Lee’s parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their daughter stayed with us.  My family lives here :)

Everyone helped with the side dishes, but we were in charge of the turkey, stuffing, and a couple of other things.  It didn’t dawn on me until less than a week before thanksgiving day that I’ve never actually made a turkey.  And I don’t have recipes for anything that goes with it!  Cue panic.  Luckily my friend Jenny saved the day and gave me some great recipes!  I followed her recipe for the turkey, and after watching hours of Food Network decided to brine it first.  I got SO many compliments on the turkey.  I think it was a combination of the brine, and they recipe that said to roast it breast side down for the first half of the cooking time.  Either way, I was so happy I didn’t screw it up!

It really was such a great day of getting to know family and just hanging out and relaxing.  Everyone said that they had a great time, and I’m glad.  I know I did.  It was so great to have so much family in one place.  And everyone got along :)

Okay, now for come pictures.

I’ve mentioned that we offered to host so that we would finally make a decision on a new table.  And here she is.  This is with 2 leaves (leafs? no.), so much longer than usual.  I know the rug is way too small.

Cooper and his cousin Cailee.  She is a year older than him.  Have I mentioned this is the first time Cooper and I have met my sister in law and her family?  Yep!  They lived in Alaska up until about a year ago, and then they lived a few states away.  They live in Lee’s hometown right now, which is about 3 hours from where we live.  They are a military family, and I don’t think they plan on staying close by for very long  :( 

Our little family :)

Cooper with my brother.  Cooper LOVES his uncle Tyler.  Seriously.  It’s so funny!  Cooper sat still in Tyler’s lap while he read the paper.  Cooper never sits still!

Cheese!!  This makes me laugh, I was following him around with the camera trying to get a good picture.

Lee’s side of the family

My side of the family

That evening, we decided to go walk around a local church/bible school that puts on a huge Christmas light display.  You can drive through it or walk.  I have lived here my whole life and never walked through it!  And only driven through once.  This was Cooper’s first time to really see Christmas lights, and he LOVED them!  He was so excited and kept pointing at them.

His arm is out because he was pointing :)

Such a great day!

Mish Mash

I feel like all I’m doing lately is playing catch up.  In life and on this blog!

Since I last posted, Cooper had another ear infection (shocking!), I had a mild stomach bug, Lee got the flu, then I got the flu.  Whew.

Somehow, Cooper managed to escape the flu.  I have no idea how, but I am SO SO grateful.  We all 3 got the flu shot also.  This was the first time I’d gotten it, and the first time since 8th grade (when I had to miss the Valentine’s Day dance) that I have had the flu.  Does that tell you anything about my decision to get the shot next year? 

Work is incredibly busy.  Between a typically busy year end, and a huge change my company is making, I have not been this busy since I started working here 3 years ago.  I don’t mind it though.  Makes the days go by faster.

I am sad that, because we are SO busy with work, (oh and that little thing called vacation days that no longer exist because of all the sickness since September) we aren’t going to get to start the annual tradition of having a little family Christmas getaway that I have been wanting to kickoff.  Maybe next year.

The good news about being sick so much lately?  I have lost as much as 10 lbs in the past 6 weeks.  I have managed to keep a steady 7 of it from coming back.  Yippee!  Haha.  My clothes don’t really fit any differently, but I’ll take anything :)

We have had 3 earthquakes in the past 3 days.  We live in Oklahoma.  Not normal for us!  What is normal is tornadoes, but not in November.  And yesterday?  Tornadoes AND an earthquake!  StopitrightnowMotherNature.

I am already in the holiday spirit and I am honestly fighting the urge to bring down the Christmas decorations!  Ridiculous!

Speaking of the holidays, we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year, as I have mentioned.  I guess this means that I have to cook the turkey?  How?!  Advice?!  I don’t even like to eat turkey.  I wish we had a turkey fryer, I actually will eat fried turkey.  Hmmm…Oh, Husband!!

I finally finished a photo book of Cooper’s first year!!  The one I made is actually for our parents, but I am still so happy about it!  I want to do a separate one for us.  The grandparents’ one only has pictures, but I want to include milestones, fun memories, etc. in ours.  I had to start with the easier one because I put so much pressure on myself and then stress so much I just don’t even start it.  Ridiculous.

Eggnog latte is back at Starbucks!!  I wait for it to come out like a lot of people wait for the pumpkin spice latte :)

16 Months

Cooper, you are 16 months old as of a few weeks ago, oops!!

You’re getting so big!  Here’s what you’ve been up to over the past couple of months.

You have been sick, sick, sick!  No fun at all!  You had your first ear infection, which you just couldn’t get rid of.  Along with that, you’ve had a myriad of other unknown bugs, not to mention cutting four molars at once!

You have become quite the picky eater, and you think it is hilarious to throw food behind your chair and ON your head!  You are just so, so funny :) You can eat A LOT.  Sometimes I wonder how we will afford to feed you when you’re a teenager.  You often eat even more than I could, and that’s saying something!  You love beans, pesto pasta, cheese, most fruits and vegetables, yogurt, and all carbs.  Your hands down favorites are bananas, club crackers, and sliced cheese.

You have a vocabulary of about 7 words: Dada, Dog, and Woof, which you have been saying for a while.  New ones over the past month are: Mama(!), Uh Oh, Up, and Truck.  Your favorite word is Uh Oh, and you say it all the time.  You love to do something you shouldn’t on purpose and say Uh Oh.  You are talking SO much gibberish over the past week.  It is non-stop and so funny!  Makes me think you might be on the verge of really beginning to talk.

You love to point at everything, and you love to clap!  You only started clapping a few months ago, and now you do it very often.  Particularly when you think you deserve praise.  Like, when you throw food on your head.  Stinker :)

You recently started blowing kisses.  I have no idea where this came from, as we never tried to teach you, but I am so glad you figured it out, because it is the cutest thing ever!

You are always up to give a kiss on the cheek.  But, you give big, wet, open mouth kisses.  Often with tongue, hahaha!

You started daycare this month!  You go 3 days a week.  I think you were a little shy the first several weeks, but now you seem to be more comfortable.  I can tell because we get reports saying that you have been grabbing faces and pulling hair.  Nice, buddy.

You have a new favorite toy.  The vacuum cleaner.  You are obsessed with the vacuum!  You even take us to the closet every day and make us take it out.  You would prefer that we run the vacuum each time also, but we don’t.  You like to play with the attachments and take the handheld part off.  You also love to drag the cord all over.  The other day you even took the plug-in part over to the electrical outlet and tried to plug it in!  Very smart boy :)  I will say that thanks to this newfound love of yours, the house is vacuumed way more than it would be normally!

You play rough.  I have always disliked it when people say “he’s all boy”, because, well, yes, you are all boy.  Um, because you are a boy.  Anyway, as much as I dislike the term, it’s appropriate.  You are all boy.  You can roughhouse and wrestle with the best of the middle school boys, I have no doubt.  You’re so rough that I often hesitate before laying down on the floor because I know that you will immediately run over and jump on me.  Quite literally.  I close my eyes and hold my breath, seriously!

You now refuse to drink milk before bed.  You used to down a full sippy, but now you shake your head no and push it away.    For some reason, this, to me, meant the end of babyhood L

We took you to the chiropractor for the first time this month.  You were having major issues with being sick all the time and you did not sleep more than 3 hours at a time for a month.  After endless trips to the doctor, we decided to try another route.  And I will tell you that your ear infections are gone and you have slept 11 hours straight since we went.  I’m not saying it was for sure the chiropractor, but SIX weeks of illness, and then it stopped after that adjustment.  We’re going back on a regular basis!

Speaking of sleep.  At night, you go down for bed about 7pm and get up about 6am.  When you are at home, you usually take 2 one-ish hour naps around 10 and 2.  When you’re at daycare, you take one nap at noon.

Oh my gosh, you LOVE to help cook!  Love love!  Every time I am making something, you ask to be picked up so you can watch and “help”.  Sometimes it is difficult, especially when I’m making something on the stove.  But, if I’m mixing something that is not hot, I will often let you help “stir” and you love it!  I think you will become a good little kitchen helper one day :)

love love love

Mama