My Little Man

Poor Cooper, I don't feel as if he's really gotten much print lately. So, here are a few pictures of our little man from this past week. The weather has finally gotten warm enough for Cooper to wear his tank top onsie. When I put it on him Layla commented on how big his arm muscles were. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was fat rolls! I love that baby fat (on Cooper, not on me!) Cooper is 10 weeks old, about 15 pounds and around 24". He's a very sweet little boy! I am savoring every moment of this time. He's very in love with mommy right now and I know that won't last! It won't be long before Daddy is the center of his universe and I'm just the household labor. Cooper loves to smile, laugh and talk. Its getting to the point I can't look at him while I feed him during the day. As soon as I do he just starts smiling and talking to me. The feedings take forever! He's still doing great at night. He sleeps 7 hours, gets a feeding, and then goes another 2-5 hours. It's wonderful when Daddy is home and can take that morning shift. There are a few nights each week that I get 8-9 hours......heavenly!

Happy Father's Day!

Our Father's Day celebrations started last night and we plan to carry them through to this evening. We've had so much fun that Layla asked me if she could have a "Fadders" Day too. She didn't seem to buy it when I told her every day is Layla Day!

Why do the kids love Dave? He's fun, patient, safe, extremely loving and makes time for them every day. Yesterday we put the trampoline up and Layla had a great time jumping with Daddy.

How Old Are You?

Yes, this is Layla at the pool on Friday. I have a friend whose children are old enough to play at the pool by themselves. This means she gets to sit in the sun and read People. When she was finished, she gave me the magazine to read. At the time, I was about to feed Cooper and just layed it to the side. When I looked over at Layla, this is what I saw. Seriously, how old are you child? You seem to mature a year with every week! As I write this email she's laying in her bed trying to take a nap. I hear her practicing her letters, their sounds and encouraging herself along the way. She just said, " 'D' sss, sss, sss like Dog. Good job, good job!" Well, almost.

You Know You're Old When........

....you get a major injury bowling! So, it's raining AGAIN today and we decided a great activity would be bowling! Layla loves to bowl. There are great lanes in Waukee that are smoke free, new, have automatic bumpers and ramps for the kid's balls. After about 2 frames Layla decides she wants to forgo the ramp and bowl like everyone else. No problem. She walks up to the line sets her ball down and gives it a push. I'm standing next to her and can immediately see that her little push isn't going to get the ball to the pins. So I go to give it a push and as I do, I step over the line and into the lane intended for the ball only. Now, I remember being told all my life not to step on this part of the lane and I soon found out why.......IT IS VERY SLIPPERY. My right leg went one way and my left leg went the other way. My groin hurt so bad I actually had to just stay on the ground in my pathetic little heap for a few minutes. Dave comes rushing over to help and its then that I realize how hilarious this whole thing must have looked. I start laughing, Dave starts laughing and soon we're laughing so hard I can't get up. Layla thinks I'm crying and seriously injured and is on the verge of hysterics. She's trying to hug me, lift me, anything to help mama!

Here's a picture of Layla bowling. As you can see by her face, she had a great time. Again, this is a picture taken with my cell phone so the quality isn't that good. I can't seem to leave the house with both kids, the kid's stuff and the camera. Thank goodness for the camera on my phone.

Mr. Calm and Cool

We finally had a day at the pool and it was wonderful to be out of the house with the kids! The weather was overcast, humid and only 78 degrees. But, it was perfect for the kids and the pool wasn't crowded at all. Here is a picture of what Cooper did for the 3 1/2 hours we were at the pool. I took the picture with my cell phone so the quality isn't great. Layla and I had a lot of great play time and I only had to do one Bay Watch, running through the water rescue of her while I was attempting to feed Cooper. I new a trip to the pool would be tricky with him being so little and Layla wanting to just go, go, go! But, we made it through and plan to go again.

The big news today, however, is not that we got to go to the pool, but that Cooper rolled over. He will do anything to get out of spending time on his tummy! By this evening, every time I put him on his tummy, he was over on his back within seconds. He just laughed with delight every time, he was so proud of himself.

18/22

18 is the number of hours it took for us to make the 8 hour trip from Winterset, IA to Nashville, IN on Friday. And 22 is the number of straight hours I was awake in order to make the journey. It really did make night feedings of a newborn seem like a piece of cake! Friday was the day we dropped the kids off at Ben and Kari's and headed east to move Jerry and Jaime. Jerry and Dave drove the UHaul truck and pulled Jerry's car. Jaime and I drove Dave's truck with Jerry's motorcycle in the bed of the truck and we pulled Jaime's car behind us. All was going well until we hit Peoria, IL and the brakes and power steering started to go on the UHaul. I will now take this time to fully explain what the brand "UHaul" really means. It means U load your own stuff, U haul your own stuff, U sit around Peoria, IL for 5 hours while UHaul's customer service is of no help and U fend for yourself trying to get their recommended service garage to replace a part it takes them 4 hours to get from across town. Needless to say, we don't like UHaul! Even through the truck incident, we all stayed in good spirits, made each other laugh and just kept naming all the ways the situation could be worse! By 7:30pm, when the service garage still couldn't give us a completion time the guys sent Jaime and I ahead. By midnight Jaime and I were taking cover from tornadoes in a rest area 30 miles west of Indianapolis. The adventure continued as the rest area lost power and the maintenance staff opened up the tornado shelter. Luckily, we didn't have to use them! We pulled into Nashville, IN at 2am and slept like babies! And, the guys were able to get the truck fixed, avoid the storms and make it into town around 2:30am.

It was a rocky start to the trip but the rest of the weekend went great. We were able to get Jerry and Jaime settled, meet many of their new friends, see their new town and church. It was truly fantastic and all I could say to them at the end of the weekend was, "You made the right choice. We love you and are proud of you guys."

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We are in the middle of a whirlwind 10 days. This past weekend we Dedicated Cooper and had our families down for the weekend. What fun we had! Layla ran around outside with Sam and Henry all day Sunday and all day Monday. Let's just say the girl was pooped out Monday night. She layed her head on the table as she ate dinner and was in bed at 7pm and slept until 8am. Dave and Ben began a building project Monday. Right now, it looks like we're adding a single car garage out in the middle of the lawn. I guess this is what happens when you give 2 grown kids the creative liberty to build Layla and Cooper a playset/house. I've included a picture so you can see that I am not exaggerating! It's so large that you can't even see our existing swings and slide from the garage. Monday night, 10 minutes after the last of our family left, we had friends over for grilling and game night. It was so fun!

Tuesday we had Cooper's 2 month appt. He woke up with a cold and it didn't help that we pumped his body full of vaccines. He's a little grumpy still today! I keep telling you that our boy is a chunk and the numbers now prove it. He is 14.4lbs (95th percentile) and 23.5" (80th percentile). This is the exact opposite of Layla at that age and a full 2 pounds heavier. He's chunky but funky and we love him to death!!! He's the sweetest little guy, or should I say big guy.

Tomorrow we are off to Nashville, IN to help our great friends and pastor, Jerry and Jaime, make their big move to a new church. The kids are splitting time between Uncle Ben and Aunt Kari's and Mama Faye. It will be a great adult get-away and a great opportunity to help friends, but I always miss Layla and now Cooper! Layla has an especially close relationship with Jerry and Jaime and although I've tried to explain that they are moving I'm afraid the poor girl just won't get it until they're gone. The above picture is of Jerry, Jaime and Layla. Jer and Jaim, we love you guys and pray many blessing over this new adventure!