Today Josh and I took Cooper to a park in Ft. Worth to "play", soak up the sun and to enjoy the day as a family. We took a short walk before trying out the playground equipment. Coop was sleeping in the car on the way there and he needed some time to warm up if you will. First we tried to put him in a swing. He cried and even pouted his bottom lip, so we lifted him out and tried the merry go round with daddy. This was a great way to get him to wake up. It didn't take but a few seconds and he was smiling from ear to ear. He sat all by himself, beside Josh of course and went round and round while he giggled. In the midst of the failed first swing ride, a kid had bent down and had stuck his fingers in throw up. O.M.G. It was disgusting. His mom said what is that and immediately looked down to see the vomit on the playground. It was not her sons which makes this even more disgusting! Josh and I just stared and gagged as we saw what could happen to us in our near future. The nasty things kids do!
After that Cooper was ready to play on other equipment. He slid down the slide with mommy and even rode on a green frog teeter totter type thing. He started bouncing up and down on the frog like a bull rider (yes Josh was proud). He also flirted with a little girl who was a year or so his elder. We even revisited the swing and he loved it!! Let's just say he enjoyed his first trip to the park. Here are some sweet pictures of us and our baby boy at the park.
Family time at the park
A firm foundation...
I am a member of Burleson Church of Christ and have been for my whole life. Also my mom has been a member for her entire life, my grandma and great grandma as well and on and on. This is such a wonderful family tradition for generations to follow in the same religious footsteps as those set before them.
Our church is currently building a brand new building to accomodate our growing family. At church a few Sunday's ago our preacher Karl focused on how important it is to have a good, strong foundation. Obviously he was preaching about a spiritual foundation, however he kept making references to the building of our new church. He explained the obvious- a foundation is the lowest part of a building, on which it rests. Just like with the physical building process of a home, church, building etc. if your love of God, family is built strong from the bottom up it is prepared to withstand the strongest of storms.
This was a great lesson and it applies to me in my personal life right now. Josh and I are a new family of 3 and we are building our very own home. We are so excited and proud to have a new home being built. Our foundation has been poured and all the framing has been done. This process is symbolic for us. We want to continue being a family who serves the lord in a house with a firm foundation.
Luke 6:48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luke 6:48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Toy Story 3 on Ice
My sweet little boy in his Woody pajamas, a few days away from going to see Toy Story 3 on Ice! My Aunt Jackie said he looks more like Big Tex in this picture and I think she's right :) Whichever it is Coop says... "Howdy"!
Back in January my mom purchased tickets for her, Amorey, Hadley, Cooper and I to go see Toy Story 3 on Ice at the AAC. She randomly got an email with the info to buy tickets and she jumped on the offer! We sat on row F on the ice level! We had awesome seats, if we hadn't there would have been NO way that we could have stayed until the end like we did. The boys did not have seats of there own of course and had to sit still HA!, I mean sit in our laps. We were so close that they both could actually see all the characters and the bright colors of their costumes. We all really enjoyed the performance and the boys were very good!
Buzz...my dad has called him this since birth. Hahahaha! Look at Hadley's shirt...snacks were necessary during the 2+ hours show. He had orange juice all over himself, yes we peeled oranges during the performance! You could smell citrus for a mile away. Whatever it takes!
I had no idea
Cooper,
I cannot believe that you are 9 months old, just about the same number of months it took me to "cook" you! I am sad to think that this time last year I was getting so excited about being a mother! I had NO idea what your first days of life would be like, nor how you would arrive (c-section it was). I had no idea that a wiff of your baby breath or the softest touch of your skin would bring sweet tears to my eyes. I also did not really know how time consuming you would be. You have been VERY demanding since the day you were born. You have never been the baby that will nap for hours on end and I still await the day I get a REAL NAP! I was told "sleep when the baby sleeps"...well when exactly was that? You slept better at night than you did during the day...not bad at all just not normal for infants. You have also been a screamer from the get go. You did not have colic, just an attitude. I would have never guessed that your father and I who are so laid back would produce such a high maintenence baby. I had no idea that you would be SO incredibly happy! I sound like I am confused because in one breath I say that you are a screamer and high maintenence and the next I say you are happy. Which is it you say?! Well here's the deal...when you are happy you are SO happy! Your smile can light up the room and you know how to flirt and work your beautiful blue eyes. When you are mad I swear the earth shakes. You are both physically strong and strong willed! You are able to scream, cry, throw your head back and all that because we tell you "no" or because you didn't get your way. I am completely telling the truth. I have taped one of your fits as proof. I love how you are saying "dadadada" all the time now and occasionally you will slip in a "mmmmmomma".
I had no idea that such average parents could have such an above average child. At 9 months you are still way above average for your height, 29 1/2 in. (80%) and you weigh 21 lbs 4 oz (60%). You love snack food and most of the time could care less about baby food. You are eating/drinking around 4 bottles a day and you love water and apple juice. You are wearing size 3 diapers and are in 9-12 month clothes. Some pj's are 12-18 months because you are so long! You still only have 2 pearly whites. I am shocked that you do not have a mouth full. You are able to pick up snacks and successfully put them in your mouth. You are finally getting some hair! There is enough to 'mess up' and you even have bed head when you wake up! It is very light brown and looks blonde at some angles. You are crawling ALL over the place, standing up/pulling up on furniture and sometimes you are brave enough to let go before you fall to your diaper padded hiney. I am sure that your brave self will be walking soon (yikes)! You are quite a talented 'lil drummer! You are able to drum both of your hands on things such as the high chair, table, coffee table, your crib etc. with such rythm.
I had no idea that time would fly right on by without a moment's pause. Just the other day in the car I was asking your daddy what he remembered about your birth and we were talking about how he/we felt at the exact moment you were born. Of course your daddy remembered every little detail. We both just stopped and thought about how much has changed and how much we have learned in these last nine months. Most importantly I had NO idea that I could really feel SO deeply for you and be SO in love with you. Everyone says "you don't know love until you are a mother" and my oh my is that such a true statement! I couldn't have even guessed until I became your mother. What a precious gift from God you are Cooper! Your mommy and daddy are SO SO blessed and in good times or bad (fits) we wouldn't trade you for anything!
All my love,
Mom
151 Trifecta Lane
I know this piece of land doesn't look like much to you, but I am picturing our future home right here on Lot 12 Block 5 of the Legacy Pointe addition in Aledo (Benbrook address). The last few weeks we have been super busy with appointments to 'create' our new custom home. We have made several trips to the Design Center a.ka. Reflections in Arlington, Texas Lighting in Weatherford, and Texas appliance in Arlington and of course meetings with Maverick Homes. MANY hours have been spent picking out EVERYTHING down to the smallest details, such as brick, tile, faucets, carpet, cabinet stain, arches for cabinets, drain spouts, front door, paint colors, grout color and the list goes on and on and ON! These are very very important decisions! Maverick Homes is actually building our very own house from the ground up based on our choices...YIKES! What pressure! Don't get me wrong it has been the FUNNEST thing ever, but it is so hard picturing what all this is going to look like all together.
Tonight we met with Maverick Homes to finalize all of our decisions before they actually begin building our house. We spent two hours picking apart all of the plans and making sure all the choices we made are exactly what we want! We have tweaked and added things here and there and I can now say that all things are a GO! The lot has already been staked, the forms have been set and the plumbing has been roughed out. Weather permitting we will have the slab poured Tuesday and framing will begin at the end of next week. This huge project sounds like it is moving very fast and it is! They told us 93 days (weather permitting of course) starting now until it is finished. So roughly we are looking at July to move in. We have been so very pleased with the service we have received and we cannot wait to see and live in our new home! I will try and keep up with what's going on. Stay tuned for the progress!
Check out Maverick Homes at Maverickhomes.net
This is our temporary home
Here it is people, our house for the next 5-6 months! I am totally not complaining free rent, no mortgage or monthly bills, how fabulous is that?!! This little cozy love shack is in the backyard of my parent's house! We can walk 15 feet to the back door to enjoy a home cooked meal (even though there is a kitchen in our place) or to pass off Cooper to his Nana at 7am on Saturday mornings when he would rather play than sleep! Not to mention that we have a beautiful in ground pool right outside our front door! We will most definitely be living pool side this summer (ha! no pun intended!) Who could ask for more?!
Standing in Cooper's corner...looking at the kitchen, couch-living room and our bedroom lol! There is my hubby Josh and our sick little guy. 
Here I am standing in the kitchen, showing you the other view of the house...Cooper's corner and the living room-bedroom! The bathroom is just over to the left out of sight of the camera and the door to the outside is over there too. The whole place is captured in two pictures! It is what we are calling home until our new home is built!
8 months
Well I guess technically you are not 8 months because we did not have a 29th day in February. But I know that that fact alone will not slow down your growth process. Darnit! You are the light of our lives and we are shocked at how smart you are!
At 8 months you are crawling EVERYWHERE! When we were encouraging you to crawl we did not realize you would learn so quickly. You began crawling around the second week of February and not only are you crawling you are also pulling up on things and standing in your crib. It all happened so fast! You are beginning to look like a little boy and less like a baby. You are still an excellent eater and that makes for a healthy growing boy! You are eating Goodstart formula every 4-6 hrs and you eat and love baby food. You are also eating small snack foods in very, very small bits. We have tried things like goldfish, cheerios and you love the Gerber Graduate yogurt melts and the apple cinnamon puffs. You weigh around 22 lbs right now and are wearing 6-9 and 6-12 month clothes. You are now able to clap your hands and can clap when we sing patty cake to you! So smart! Your favorite show is still Wheel of Fortune and it cracks us up when you turn your head to watch it! Maybe one day you can go on your favorite game show and win lots of money!
You reached the 22lb weight limit with the infant carrier and we upgraded you to a bigger boy carseat! You are a growing boy!
You are still adjusting to our new lifestyle, your dad and I are too. We moved out of our first home and are currently living in the pool house, in my mom and dad's backyard. We will be living in tight quarters until our new house is built! I was so sad that we had to leave the house that we brought you home to, but I know we will be in our new home very soon, it is looking like it will be sometime in July!!
You are a very happy little guy and attract many people with your sweet smile! On the flip side you still have a temper and I can only imagine what it will be like as you get older.
I am sure that you are teething again but you currently have 2 bottom teeth. We are just waiting for a couple more to break through the surface.
Your sleep habits have been inconsistent lately. I think there are a few reasons why...you are probably teething again, you can see us when you stand in your crib and you would much rather be with us, you are sick. You have officially broken your healthy spell and have come down with a double ear infection, yucky chest- head cold and have been running fever, sleeping constantly, and you have been uncomfortable and achy. We are taking good care of you and are working to get you back to your happy, healthy state! We are so lucky to have you as our son. We thank the good lord for you every day and count our blessings because you are special! We love you Cooper Jackson!
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