Excited for smiles!

Cooper is really starting to interact with us! occasionally Daddy will get a smile, and sometimes I'll catch her smiling at big brother...but these were ALL mine!

and if you look closely at the last one you can see those lashes sprouting as Axl's did at about this age... :)

Jessamine County Water Park

What a difference a year makes! I thought we had fun last summer taking Axl to the pool, but this trip was a totally different story! My mom came down and kept the girl while Tyler and I took him to the water park for the morning. John and Erin joined us with Abby! The height of the water where all the kiddie slides and fountains are was perfect for the Axman! He ran around like a monkey and we just followed him everywhere he went! I'm so glad he doesn't seem to be afraid of the water, but sometimes he does get a little too big for his britches, so we've gotta stay on our toes! Hopefully we'll get a couple more trips in before the summer's end!

Unless we had blocks for dinner last night...

...he doesn't get it.

Three Year Anniversary!

We celebrated a little early this year, on Saturday, since Tyler works nights throughout the week. We took Axl over to Grandma's house and Cooper tagged along (she was a decent 3rd wheel and just slept the whole time, ha). Our first date was at Culver's so that is where we decided to celebrate...also, one of my favorite things in the world is a good cheeseburger and my post-pregnancy diet has not allowed any of those lately! Since life with 2 kids doesn't allow for much alone time, Tyler and I had a great time catching up, having adult conversation, and reminiscing over the last 3 and a half years in that same booth! :) I love him more everyday and I love little experiences that remind me of that. (like looking over and seeing him cuddle our two children...too cute for words)


On our actual anniversary, Tyler came home from work with a dozen roses and I had a spice cake waiting for him. (epic failure, by the way--maybe by our 50th anniversary I'll be able to make a decent cake)

Cooper is 2 months old!

2 month stats:

Weight: 11 pounds 14 ounces 75th percentile

Height: 24 inches 90th percentile

Head Circumference: 38.5 cm 55th percentile

Our little girl is just growing and growing. I cannot express how grateful we are to have worked out her issues and to finally be able to enjoy having a second child. She is on two medicines, Zantac morning and night, and Donnatol, which she gets 30 minutes before she eats. Donnatol, once we worked out the schedule, has literally saved our lives. She is on a pretty strict 3 hour eating schedule, so that we can ensure she has the Donnatol on her tummy the right amount of time, but the schedule is definitely suiting her well. She is awake for and hour and a half and then typically takes an hour and a half nap. Now this has only been going smoothly for about a week, so I hope it continues! And even bigger news...She has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks! She lies down shortly after Axl goes to bed and I wake her up to feed her at 11 or 11:30 and then she doesn't wake up until between 7 and 8. I am of the opinion that Babywise is just magical. I started it with Axl at about 3 or 4 months so we didn't reap the full benefits (he was still waking up to eat in the night at 6 months), but it has just worked wonders with Cooper. I think it definitely helps with her reflux and colic to be on a good schedule.

Her waketime is full of fun; she is giggling a little bit, cooing, and her arms and legs move at about 90 miles an hour while she lies under her toys. She just started to be able to hold her head up a little in the last couple of days.

Most of the time Axl doesn't really care what's going on with her, but I thought I'd note that whenever we leave a room or get out of the car, he ALWAYS reminds me to get the baby. Which is good, I guess, because we wouldn't want to leave her behind. :)

I can't, for the life of me, get Tyler to stop calling her "little David". I think he calls her this more than he does Cooper. I do agree that she looks like my brother, but she is a girl for goodness sakes!

Happy two months, Cooper Jay!

1 month old 6/21/2010

2 months old 7/21/2010

Updates!

Axl and Axl Bear...the Year in Review
It's official...I'm a Graduate!
Hey, It's Mario!
Oh, Christmas Tree
Thanksgiving
Hair brushing!
Favorite Place in the House!
Christmas!
Finally, some teeth to brush!
Visit with Savannah Rayne
Hamilton Family Cruise 2010
Snow? No, Thanks.
Catherine's Wedding
First Steps
We're talking! ...a little.
Erin's Book Shower
Big News
Date Confusion
It's a...
Axl loves his Papaw
Tennessee Getaway
Dr. Fade and Axl's First Haircut
Swimming Hole
First Trip to the Zoo
Axl is 11 months old!
Gasp! Axl is one year old!
12 month stats

Bathed babes in clean sheets...

...it's a good night. :)

He woke up when the flash went off, whipped his head around, pulled out his yummy, said, "teeeeeeeese", and made this face. oh, my how I love him.

Big Boy...Big Bed

If this sticks...the toddler bed stage was insanely short. He asked to lie down in the twin bed for nap this afternoon (in the picture). And then again tonight he wanted to go to bed there. He really loves the fluffy "pwoes" (pillows). :) It was more fun to lie down with him for a minute in the twin bed than it is in the toddler bed (glad no one has a picture of that, ha!). We talked for a bit while we listened to the thunder and "wai" (rain). Glad we're still finding time for just the two of us.

Sweet Relief

Honestly...I had never imagined having a baby with colic. I had heard about it, even talked to people who had "colicky" babies, felt bad for them, and NEVER gave it a second thought. Until Cooper. This experience has definitely been an eye-opener for me. Perhaps the hardest thing I've dealt with thus far in my life...When the bouts of crying and projectile vomiting (from the reflux) started I would guess she was about 1-2 weeks old. I felt helpless and so sorry for this little child who had no idea what was going on and couldn't tell us what to do to make it better. As they continued I didn't necessarily notice the change in myself, but things were definitely getting bad. I felt like I was fighting a battle that had no end, no hope, and honestly, I just started to shut down. Each day I went through the motions, tried to schedule someone to be here from the time Axl woke from his nap to when he went to bed (and Tyler was at work) at which times she usually slept soundly until they walked out the door. and then the screaming resumed for me. One specific day I remember thinking that I was definitely going crazy. That if someone came to my house and spoke with me, they would admit me into an insane asylum; I prayed that things would get better. It was the next day that Cooper did something Axl used to do when he nursed, stop for a while, look up, and give me a big, huge smile. It was at that moment that I realized that I wasn't even really looking at her as a person anymore. Just something that I was trying to SURVIVE. Heavenly Father and Cooper both knew that I needed something to wake me up, remind me that I have a daughter...and it worked. I had resisted calling the doctor as so many people kept suggesting to say, "my baby cries all the time" for fear that the response would be, "that's what babies do". and then I'm not sure what I would do to the person on the other end of the line. But I believe it was that next day that I made the call. After explaining everything the nurse called back, gave me some coping strategies (all of which we had tried) and said that the doctor did want to see her again. So we went back, which I already wrote about, and she has been on the Donnatol since. The first few days were TERRIBLE. She vomited probably 3-4 times as much and began puking up both the donnatol and the zantac. I remember telling Tyler that I was about to quit both the medicines, because it seemed they were making her vomit even more, when Bonnie came over one Thursday evening to help out. We trouble shot some of the dosing things...(the script was written for .5 every 4 hours, but she eats about every 3 hours and she should have the medicine on her stomach for it to work), so anyway, long story short, we came up with something that is working BEAUTIFULLY, a pretty rigid schedule, but it is definitely working and totally worth it. It is seriously like we have a different child. Sure, we have some colic episodes breaking through on occassion, but I am so rested that I can totally handle it without feeling at all like I did before. She is doing fabulously. It is so wonderful to see her be happy and content. I definitely hope we can keep this up and that she outgrows the medicine soon so we can just be! :)

Getting a little daring...

I've never had to worry about being one of those moms who says, "oh, he can't have that", "I don't like him to have too much sugar!", or "no ice cream!", because frankly, I knew that by whomever, however, and whenever it was offered to him, he would just snarl up his nose and walk away. Secretly, I was actually wishing he could enjoy things like ice cream as much as I do! Well, I still offer him creamy sweets every once in a while (side note: he has never refused a cookie or a popsicle, though, ha) and just the other night, he finally decided to discover chocolate and pudding all in the same sitting!

The Many Faces of Medicated Cooper

Who knew this little girl could make a face other than the gaping-mouth scream we've all gotten accustomed to... :)

4th of July Weekend

We returned to fabulous Karen's house this year for the 4th of July. Just like last year, we had a blast! I was very worried that it would be a miserable trip considering our fussy infant and ON-THE-GO toddler. However, the life jacket we bought last year proved to be a real "lifesaver"...Axl just ran around the pool all day (and by all day I mean it...he wore all the skin off the bottoms of his feet on the first day so he could stand on them without sandals on the rest of the trip!) and something about Tennessee brought the absolute best out of baby Coop.

Cooper had her first swim...at first she didn't like it much, but very quickly decided she could relax!

Axl being his goofy self...eating a hamburger.

getting his flirt on, he really LOVED Sonia

trying to get a picture of them together...nearly impossible

Karen bought the little kids bubble wands...Axl tried his heart out but mostly just licked it.

Dad tried to convince Axl that he liked the sparklers, but it didn't work.And ALL the kiddo cousins together!

Thank you, Karen and Dave, for a GREAT weekend!

Jaxon's Birthday

One of my best friend's from high school, Julie, now has a son named Jaxon who turned a year old this month. Axl was invited to his birthday party, so while Granny kept the little girl, Tyler and I used it as an opportunity to get out with the little man. :) It was great to see some old high school friends, Axl wore himself out chasing around their children, and we loved watching little Jaxon tear into his cake! They pretty much could care less about each other at this point, but I hope in the future they become great friends, just like their mothers! I sure do miss those old marching band, young womens, and seminary days! :)

Big Mistake

Today, after deciding that Axl needed a trim,I took him to Kiddie Kutters. Upon entering the door Axl decided to completely lose it. I had to hold him with all my strength, maneuvering his flailing, screaming, absolutely ridiculously acting self for the hairstylist...eventually forcing her to take off MUCH more than I wanted all the while getting slathered in spit, tears, sucker, and finally, hair. I will never do it again. I hate it. Please grow back.

Wait a second...I DIDN'T forget Father's Day!

In typical fashion for our marriage, (neither of us have an ounce of patience when it comes to gift giving), I had given Tyler his Father's Day present a little early...Catherine took these photos while we were visiting in Iowa. We really LOVE them!

And Tyler...shame on you for not reminding me you'd already received your present! haha :)

During the same photo shoot, Catherine also captured the most hilarious picture of all time.
Love you and miss you Aunt Catherine! Thanks again!