Cooper's Sleeping Habits

I took Cooper to the doctor on Saturday, he's had a runny nose and cough and has been extra cranky. I just thought his cold was getting worse. Well, he's just got a lot of teeth coming in. First of all, the tank weighs 20lb 2oz. That in its self is amazing at 6 months old. But the doctor told me to give him real children's Motrin/Tylenol, since he weights so much. I had been giving him just a tiny, tiny bit of infant medicine and it was not making him comfortable. The doctor also gave him some ear drops the numb the ears and I can also rub some on his gums. So Saturday afternoon, Cooper slept for 3 hours. He hasn't done that since he was a very tiny infant. I kept checking on him, making sure he was still breathing. He was such a happy baby when he woke up. And I let him sleep in the bed with me Saturday night so I could comfort him when he woke up, he only woke twice. I was so happy. Tonight he is in his bed and I pray he sleeps well again tonight. The doctor said he will be getting the other 3 front teeth within the next two weeks. So I'll have to stock up on the children's medicine!!

Hand Me Downs!

I love hand me downs. I love to get them and give them. I have a few friends I have gotten clothes from for Isabella and Cooper. And I have given back as soon as the kids outgrow clothes, I always make sure I have a friend to give the clothes to. Isabella has had some of the cutest outfits handed down and I love giving it all to another cutie pie. It is just so much easier to pass it on, then sell it or donate it.

I love me some hand me downs!!!

Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate

I have found the ultimate drink, finally! Last Wednesday I went to Starbucks to meet a friend and I wanted to try something new. Well, I fell in love with an amazing new hot chocolate. You have to try it, it's truly amazing and will make you so happy. All I wanted to do all week was get another one, and I did. Today I was craving one, boy was it hard to not jump in the car and run get one.

This is what the website says: Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate
This delicious sweet and salty combination brings together our rich, indulgent Signature Hot Chocolate and the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt. It is topped with whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and a sprinkle of our sea salt topping - a combination of artisan sea salt and Turbinado sugar from Hawaii.

My Vote Counted!

Last Thursday, after the gym, I went to vote. It was painless and I felt very patriotic after. I wanted to be able to feel good about complaining for the next 4 years, because I made my vote count.

Here's to 4 years of the good, bad and the ugly!

Reading

I'm finally reading a book I have been wanting to read for a long time. I listen to XM talk radio every chance I get. I love the Dr. Laura Schlessinger talk show. She is someone you love to hate. I bought the book The Proper Care & Feeding of Husbands, and I love it. I bought it before we went on our mini vacation in early October. I read it all the way through during our drive and then I read it again over the past few weeks. And now I am about to start it again. I love it. Dr. Laura has made me appreciate my husband and children. As well as my extended family. I keep reading it because I keep finding something else I should be doing that I'm not that will show Brian how much I love and appreciate all his hard work. Gotta love making the hubby happy!!

Bitter Sweet

This past weekend was my mother's - father's family reunion. We all gathered in Weatherford at a great hall and enjoyed each other. It was great to see so many relatives and all the new additions. There were 7 (I think) new babies in attendance, and 8 new babies over the past year. And all but one were boys. Lots of love was spread around the family last year. My grandfather was there for a little while. He is 88 years old and for the majority of his life he never looked or acted his age. Until Saturday when I saw his thin little body, all his bones were pointing out. He looked his age. And for the first time ever I felt like he didn't know me. He is always so happy and excited to see me walk into the room, but when I walked up to him to say hello and show him Cooper, I wasn't sure he knew who I was. I was instantly sad. My grandfather has been the pillar of the family, he knows of only good and honest things and he is the most amazing man in the world. I have always looked up to him and wanted to marry a man who had/has the same characteristics (which I was blessed to do). I am most frightened to see him die. My mother will be completely beside herself, as will my sister and I. We adored my grandmother and I think we were all completely torn up when she died because our grandfather would be alone. But now that it is nearing time for him to go, it breaks my heart.
My mother took him to the doctor today, he fell twice at the nursing home this morning. So something isn't right. He 'has' cancer, but doesn't want to know it. But the doctor said the cancer has spread, therefore he's very sick and weak. All he does is lay in bed and watch TV and sleep. I'm so sad, when the phone rings, I think it's my mother to tell me he's passed. I know that call is coming, so I need to prepare myself. 88 years is an amazing time on this earth, he has seen so much of history. He is a very smart man and could tell you stories about anything and everything. But now he is just wasting away. The doctor put him in the hospital today, not exactly sure why, but I'm sure it has something to do with the fall and the cancer.

I pray that if he is in pain, or before he get in pain, the good Lord will take him and fast. Pop-Paw has seen his fair share of pain and now its time to let him meet Jesus. He'll be reunited with his wife, my Granny and one grandson, my brother. Bitter sweet!

Cooper's 6 Month Update

Wow, my baby is so big. We went for Cooper's 6 month check up on Monday, he weighs 19lb 9oz. He's in the 80%. I'm not surprised. He is such a happy baby! He had 4 shots, one being the flu shot. OUCH. He didn't like that and neither did I!

Isabella went to Cooper's appointment with me to get her flu shot. She had NO idea what was about to happen to her. She was a gem, I had her lay down the nurse held her legs and I held her arms and kissed her face, I told her I loved her and asked her if she wanted a sucker, she said yes and then yelled for about 15 minutes. She cried and yelled and screamed and threw her sucker across the room, twice. She was so not happy.

The pediatrician is located across the street from her church school and Adventure Kids. So she always says, "I need to see the doctor" then she follows that up with "I need a sucker". She has put two and two together. While she was screaming, she said I don't like the doctor, I don't like suckers! and threw the sucker across the room. It was somewhat comical, in a twisted sort of way.

Colonoscopy Update

I had the colonoscopy done yesterday, all went well. The dr. found two polyps and one ulcer. He's biopsying it and I'll know in a few days. I'm sure all is fine. However, I have been pretty icky today. I guess they blew some air in my butt hole, because I have had the loudest gas, EVER! Now if you know me, gas and I go way back. My nick name when I was very young was Wendy/Windy. So all night last night I thought my tummy was going to explode, but it was all just gas! I asked Brian if he heard me all night, he laughed and said yes. Ha! Ha! Gotta love that!

Anywho, besides the gas, I have felt like I had major cramps and I just wanted to bend over and hold my belly. I assume it's from removing all the things the dr. removed, I would guess it takes a while to heal from being cut on. I'm on a slight diet. I can't have anything carbonated, no beans, bran or any Advil or aspirin. Not that big of a deal. I think it said for one week. And with all this gas, I don't need to be making more. My tummy will explode!

Cleansing Day - TMI!!!

WARMING - TOO MUCH INFORMATIONS

Today is cleansing day for me, to prepare for my colonoscopy. It is 3pm and I've had many stool sofners, laxatives, nausea medician and two pills I have no idea what are, but they were in my packet and on the list. I have already gone to the bathroom and had two loose BM's. I have had two Dr. Pepper's, three cups of chicken broth and a few bottles of water.

I'll update later how it is all going...

What A Weekend!

This weekend was so much fun, busy but fun! Friday night I had some moms over for a Mom's Night In, to drink, eat & be merry! And boy did we ever! We played 'I've Never...' where you say "I've never drank beer." and if you HAVE you drink. So everyone at the table would drink. We got really honest and it was so much fun. I have some wild girlfriends!!

Then Saturday I slept in and went to my sisters for Michael's 9th birthday party. Isabella had a blast and I did too. We jumped on the trampoline and I reverted back to my childhood. I loved it.
Then today we meet Julie Birdseye http://www.birdseyephotographyblog.com/ for a photography session. I'm so excited to see her work. She has such an amazing talent, I'm really proud of her. She made Isabella love the camera (a feat of its own!!) and we all had FUN! Usually it is a complete beating to get photos taken, but the time flew by and before I knew it we were finished. I can't wait to see the photos she took today.

Now, I'm waiting for the time to pass so I can go to be, just to wake up to prep for my colonoscopy. I'll be going to the bathroom ALL day tomorrow. I just hope I loose a few pounds doing this. And I hope all is well in my colon. The big day is Tuesday early am. Can't wait.

A Busy Month!!

Happy Fall Y'all!!

The month of October is always busy, but this year even more. Not only am I celebrating my 33rd birthday and my nephew Michael's birthday (9 years old this year)!! But we took a family vacation early October, I have a mom's night out here at my house for my mom's group with 20+ moms coming over to drink and be merry, then the Susan G Komen race for the cure in honor of one of the moms in my group. And then a family photogrophy session with Julie Birdseye in Denton, and a family reunion I am organizing, and a halloween party for all the kiddos in my moms group. BUT on top of all of that I'm having a colonoscopy on the 21st. Now, about that, I have been having issues since before Cooper was born and after the issues becoming pretty bad, I finally went to the doctor and he couldn't see/feel anything unusual, SO the next step is a colonoscopy. I'm not worried, I just want the bleeding to stop, if you know what I mean! So with all that, I'm actually looking forward to the next few weeks. I thrive on staying busy. Fall is here and it is so nice to be outside going and blowing.

New, New Hair...

So, a few weeks ago, I colored my hair a dark brown with a hint of red. Well the red is all washed out and now it's a great natural brown color. Then this past week, I chopped it all off! And I actually like it a lot. Good thing, right?!!

Me and baby Major at my birthday party!!

Annual Pumpin Patch Outing!

Every year we head to the Owens Farm Pumpkin Patch in Richardson. The moms groups I'm involved in goes each year so we make this a fun family outing. We went this past Monday. They have farm animals and a hayride and rows and rows of pumpkins to choose from. Here are a few photos from our outing.

This is our first family picture. I love it!!!


Brian and the kids on the hayride.


Cooper and his pumpkin!


Isabella and her pumpkin!


Kids with their pumpkins!

Brian, Cooper and I. Isabella was 'finished' with the photos!


Isabella feeding the goats!

More goats - fearless!

Isabella's other boyfriend, Landon!


Not interested in the camera... and Lilah (Landon's baby sister)

Fredericksburg & San Antonio

The weekend of Oct.1 we took our first family trip, as a family of 4. The kiddos did fantastic! Neither one of the slept on the way down. Cooper fell asleep for about 20 minutes until Isabella woke him up by her singing. UGH! So then she entertained him the rest of the way.

We first went to Fredericksburg on Thursday night and stayed until Sunday early morning. We went to Oktoberfest with the whole Stephens clan. Todd and Genna's son Jack and daughter Avery both played well with Isabella. We're going to arrange a marriage with Jack and Isabella. They would make some pretty babies!! (I can't believe I said that!)

On Sunday morning we drove to Sea World/San Antonio. We saw all the amazing animals at Sea World and Isabella absolutely loved it all! Especially feeding the dolphins. Cooper was even interested in the dolphins flying through the sky at the Viva show. We took a back stage tour of the Viva show and got up close with the dolphins and whales. It was pretty great to see the animals in a private tour. The weather was great and Cooper even took a little nap while we watched a few show. We stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and it was beautiful. Hammocks, tree tire swings, playgrounds, tricycles, bikes, lazy river and much more. We can't wait to go back when we can actually enjoy it.

Headed to Oktoberfest - Isabella, Jack & Avery

At the Wildseed Farm - Isabella holding a butterfly on her finger.

At Todd & Genna's - Avery and Isabella on a very fun swing.

Jack and Isabella on their first date. Jack's even driving.

Isabella trying to touch the dolphin.

Isabella feeding the dolphins.

Shamu! Amazing!!

Isabella feeding the Sea Lions.

The backstage tour of the !VIVA! Show.

Backstage - dolphin

At the resort - a very fun tree tire swing

Cooper watching sister swing and daddy push her. He loves to watch her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Today is my 33rd birthday. Wow, is that old? Brian keep teasing me about how old I am, but he's over 4 years older than me. He'd better watch out. He'll be 40 soon and I'll be pushing his buttons big time!!!! I'm already planning that party! Watch out, dude!!

Anywho, for my birthday Brian got me some beautiful roses, I love flowers. They smell amazing! Good job, baby! Also, over the past few months Brian bought me out door furniture and 16 training sessions with my personal trainer. So I didn't expect anything additional! I did however go clothes shopping for myself, without any kiddos. That was actually fun! I got my hair cut, pretty short (I'll post pictures soon). And with my new hair color, I feel like a new woman. I got some very cute trendy blue jeans and shoes and a few new tops. I wore one of my new outfits today to a brunch playdate, and my entire attitude was completely different. I love feeling good again. I look, feel and even smell good! I just needed to give myself a make over and there you have it a new me!

Happy Birthday, to me!