Cooper Special on Aisle Four!

I don't know about your family, but when my boys get a little antsy in Babies R Us and they begin to wonder around on their own, this is how I find them...

Don't mind me, just part of the display.

Ooppss, I did it again...

Dear Mom,

Remember when I did this before? I thought you learned your lesson about leaving open snack containers in my cabinet. My tummy thanks you!

Love, Cooper

Day of Birthday Fun

I know what you are thinking...another birthday post?! My answer is simply, yes. Those who know me know that I love celebrating birthdays--my own, my friends', and now, of course, my son's!
Cooper's birthday was, of course, all about him! For breakfast I made him toasty biscuits with cinnamon (something my mom always made for us). Yummy! Then, for lunch we met Philip at a fun restaurant in Uptown.
And, since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by Gammi's office and played, played, played! I can officially say that not a single person got any work done during the hour we were there.
Coop's favorite part of my mom's office was watching the big construction trucks working across the street.
After a good afternoon nap,...ok, maybe for both of us...we met our family at a little neighborhood restaurant for dinner. We are so blessed to have our families in the same town!

Time to blow out your candle!

Gift from Mommy and Daddy-- a new ride-on firetruck!! Coop said, "wow" (one of his new words) when he first saw it. I think that means he likes it. :)

Happy Birthday, my sweet angel. I have LOVED being your mommy for the last year. Daddy and I are so thankful that you were given to us!! You have blessed our lives more than we could have ever imagined!

Party Time!!!

Someone is ready to party! (Ann and I made the "Happy Birthday" sign. I love how it turned out!)

Cooper's first birthday party was so much fun!! We had our best friends and lots of family all under the same roof to celebrate! My original plan was to have the bigger kids outside running around with Drake and playing t-ball, but mother nature decided to rain buckets, so we all just squeezed inside and played, played, played!

"Cooper" was my theme, so all the decorations were all about the birthday boy. Ann, Lisa, and I created a "Cooper collage" under the glass of my kitchen table. I love it so much that it just might become a permanent fixture.
Cupcakes in honor of my "Cupcake."
For party favors, I had a table with animal crackers and frosted animal crackers for the big kiddos and bunny crackers and baby puffs for the little ones. You could scoop what you wanted, and make your own goody bag. It didn't exactly work as I had hoped--I should have made the bags beforehand, but the table sure looked cute.

Anyone up for "pin the birthday hat" on the Birthday Boy?

Monthly pictures with Mr. Gorilla.

Cooper and his best friends!

Cake time! All the kids were so cute with Cooper and excited about singing "Happy Birthday" to him.

One of Cooper's very best friends, Penelope, moved to DC the week after his party. We are going to miss Penelope, Ed, and Amy so much!!!

Little goodbye kisses!Time for presents!

After all of Cooper's friends left, he was still in party mode and kept playing! Daddy, on the other hand, was a little tired.

After a long and exciting day, the Birthday Boy finally fell asleep during dinner!