Snow, Snow, Snow

24 hours, 12.5 inches, and no electricity--who would have thought it could be such a blast?! (Ok, maybe losing electricity wasn't that fun, but luckily it came back on around 3 a.m., just when I started realizing how cold it actually was in the house.) Get comfy, lots of pictures from our Winter Wonderland!!

It's really fun when Daddy throws us way up high!

Philip brought home a mail crate from his office, tied a rope on the handle, and VOILA! A sled made just for Cooper! Coop enjoyed pulling the sled around as much as he enjoyed riding in it.

Falling down the hill is even fun when you have some padding!

And then around 8 p.m., we lost power. If you know Philip, then it won't be a surprise to you that he instantly jumped into action--more firewood, bigger fire, several flashlights, light the candles, pull out the radio and extra batteries, don't open the fridge, pull out the blankets, frequent checks on Cooper--we were well taken care of.

Ann had come over earlier in the day to play in the snow with Coop, and she ended up spending the night because of the weather. So, when the electricity went out, the Sister Adventure began! Around 11 p.m., with snow still falling, we decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood. It was amazing how light it was outside though. Not at all what 11 p.m. normally looks like, but more like dawn. And, everything was literally in black and white. (The pictures below are exactly how I took them; I didn't change them into black and white.) There wasn't color anywhere because of the several inches of snow covering everything! After about 45 minutes, we decided it was time to head back inside when tree branches kept falling around us and another electric box popped. (Don't worry, Dad, we walked in the street to avoid being hit by the falling trees.) ;)

Friday morning we woke up to a completely white and unbelievably gorgeous site!

Look how deep the snow was--almost to my knee!

Sitting in the powder with your dog, sledding on a trash can lid, making a tummy snow angel, or throwing snow in the air, you have to admit--snow brings out the kid in ALL of us!

Nope, not a river. Our street.
What a fun, fun 24 hours in our Winter Wonderland!!

Cooper Got Mail

Cooper got really excited when he got to open an envelope addressed just to him!

A Valentine's Day card from Nana!

Happy Valentine's Day Eve, Love Cooper

First Chalkboard Drawing

Soon after we moved into our house, Philip and I painted a wall by our kitchen with chalkboard paint. We usually use the chalkboard wall to make lists, write reminders, say "Happy Birthday", or just to practice our art skills (mine need a little more work than Philip's!), but we've always talked about how fun it will be when our kids can draw on the chalkboard wall...and ONLY on the chalkboard wall. ;) I hadn't pulled out the chalk yet for Cooper, but last night when I went to dinner with a friend and the boys were having a "Daddy and Coop" night, the chalk came out and Coop had his first chalk art session! (Yep, that's a picture of Mommy! Ok, so Cooper might have had a little help.)

Philip said he liked to draw with the chalk and then rub his hand all over the wall, which resulted in this...

But, nevertheless, Cooper had a ton of fun with the chalk and was so excited to show me his masterpiece this morning. The minute we walked into the kitchen this morning, he began pointing and smiling at his art. It makes me so excited to see a creative side of Cooper, and I'm looking forward to ALL the artwork that is to come!

Night Night Kisses

A few nights ago Cooper did the cutest thing (surprise, surprise). My sister came over to watch American Idol, so we were all sitting in the den, when I told Cooper is was time to go to bed and I asked him, "Can you give everyone a night night kiss?". Cooper jumped out of his chair, ran up to Philip with a big open mouth, and gave him a big kiss! Then, he walked over to Auntie Ann and gave her a big kiss, then ran to me and gave me the best kiss of all! And, if that wasn't cute enough, he decided to give everyone three rounds of kisses. So stinkin cute. If that doesn't make for a perfect ending to a day, I don't know what would.

Meeting Santa...with Muddy Knees

A little late on this post...oops!

Guess who we met at the Arboretum one Saturday??

HO HO HO!

I wasn't sure how Coop was going to react, but he looked at this jolly man with lots of curious stares.

And then he tried to squirm away.

But, in the end, we did get a great first photo with Santa!! Oh, and if you are wondering why my little boy has muddy knees, well that's because he was running around in the grass before picture time and he happened to find a really great patch of mud to fall right into. Oh well! I think it shows exactly where we are in life.

New Posts

A few remaining 2009 posts. Better late than never, right? (I think I'm officially caught up now!)

New York City

Thanksgiving

Salt Lick BBQ

Celebrating 16 Months

I realized that I haven't written much about being home full-time with Cooper. It's been just over five months, which I can't believe. It's flown by just like everything in my life these days. But, I can officially say it's been an amazing five months and just what we all needed. Yes, I miss SWA and I miss my friends (terribly!) and I miss being a part of that "family" but, all in all, I feel good about the decision we made to walk away from the great thing I had going and stay at home to raise my little monkey. The fact that I am there to feed him lunch, put him down for a nap, sit down and play, and yes, even change all his diapers, means the world to me. And, really, I don't think I would appreciate it as much as I do if I hadn't gone back to work and experienced that daily life without him.

It's taken me several months to get into a routine, but I finally feel like we are there. We have fun outings two to three times a week, like neighborhood playgroups, Gymboree, playing at the park, getting together with a friend. And, I'm working on getting my dinner routine down. I've been trying to set goals about making a delicious and healthy dinner for us all at least three nights a week, as opposed to just a quick dinner I've thrown together. I've always loved cooking, so I'm really enjoying this time to create meals for the week and cook away!

So, my little man is 16 months, and he's a blast! Here are 16 fun facts about Cooper:

1. He will happily tell you that a cow says "mmooo" and Santa says "ho ho"
2. He knows where his nose, mouth, head, ear, tummy, eyes, and feet are
3. He's doing great with his sign language--milk, more, eat, please, finished, blankie
4. He's still a great eater and loves his milk
5. Drake is officially his best friend and can make the biggest tears go away
6. He's a great sleeper (finally!)--13 hours at night and a 2 1/2-3 hour nap during the day
7. He loves books and balls
8. He talks nonstop and loves to explore
9. He is silly, silly and has a laugh that melts my heart
10. He is all boy--rough, tough, and enjoys a good football game
11. His favorite words include: go, ball, light, hot, drake, kitty, cheese
12. He sometimes starts walking faster than his little body can go and laughs at himself
13. He is great at independent play. Getting into his own little world and creating his own fun.
14. He loves for feet to tickle him. He will sit at your feet, take your shoes off, tickle your toes to his tummy, and laugh, laugh, laugh!
15. He doesn't watch tv, but will glance over when Sesame Street or Handy Manny is on
16. He loves to dance to Willie Nelson and already developing some signature moves!
    

Cooper's Treasures

Everyday Cooper finds little "treasures." Things he finds in the morning and won't let go of for the entire day. He might put his little treasure down for a bit while he unloads his toy basket or throws the ball for Drake, but he always goes back to his little daily treasure and carries it around with him. And, the funny thing is that it's not always a toy. In fact, it's usually anything but a toy.

Sometimes it's a turkey or chicken roaster from Daddy's grill.

Sometimes it's Daddy's shoe.

Sometimes it's a balloon from Central Market and our "vintage" toy phone.

Sometimes it's a measuring spoon.

But no matter what, it's always a "treasure" in this little boy's eyes.

National Championship

Who's excited about the National Championship?

Texas Fight, Texas Fight, Yea Texas Fight!!!

Bookworm

I love being a mom. I love it. Every single day, I love it. Yes, we have difficult days and tiring days and days that I could use a glass of wine at 2 p.m., but at the end of every day, when I'm rocking my baby before he goes to bed, I feel so blessed to be his mommy and realize over and over again how much I love being a mom. (Thanks, I just needed to share that.)

For several months now, Cooper and I have been "reading" a book or two each night before he goes to bed. Usually I hold the boardbook, Cooper flips the pages, and I just read whichever page we land on, which means that sometimes the Hungry Caterpillar eats through all the candy before he breaks out of his cocoon. But no matter what order we read a story, Cooper sits on my lap and enjoys the book.

Well, all day today Cooper carried around his little Tale of Peter Rabbit book--it was next to him when he ate lunch; he held it when getting his diaper changed; he even juggled it when drinking his milk--so I thought tonight we would read this treasured book before going to bed. Well, I was wrong. Cooper did not want me to even touch his Peter Rabbit book. So I grabbed his Noah's Ark book from the pile next to us, thinking we could read that one...no, no, Cooper waved that one away. I grabbed the next book, one about a puppy, but Cooper waved away that one, too. However, this whole time he kept reaching for the pile of books like he knew which one he wanted to read, I just hadn't picked it up yet. So, the third book I picked up was his airplane book. As soon as it was in my hand, Cooper laid against my chest, tightened his grip on his blankie and his Peter Rabbit book, and settled in for the airplane story. How did he know that book was in the pile? The way his little brain works just amazes me!

We read that airplane book over and over tonight. Each time I reached the end of the book, Cooper would turn the pages back to the beginning and settle back in for another round. And, he actually sat and listened to me read, totally taking in the pictures and the words I was reading. The book doesn't really even have a "story," it's just about different types of airplanes, with great colorful illustrations.

It was time for me to put him in bed, so off he went with his blankie and his treasured Tale of Peter Rabbit, which he still wouldn't let me touch. After he had been asleep for about an hour, I went to check on him and see if he ever let go of his book. This is what I saw in his crib--too cute, so I had to take a picture. (Yes, the flash was really bright, but luckily he didn't even stir!) It was like he had fallen asleep reading and the book just slid off his chest.

My cute little bookworm.

Happy New Year!!!