3 months old & Vacation!

We flew to California last week to celebrate my Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary and our 6th anniversary, also.  Marc and I got married on my Grandparent's 54th anniversary.  It is nice to share the day with them.

Great Grandma & Cooper

Great Grandma...She's the best!

4 generations

3 generations

4 Generations with Great Grandpa trying to "share" with Cooper

Our outbound flight left at 2:30 in the afternoon and arrived at 5:30 pm in Long Beach.  Cooper was an excellent traveler.  I wore him in the baby Bjorn and we used his stroller to wheel our carry-on luggage.  That was our best idea yet!  My back was a little sore from wearing him, but he seemed to like it very well and fell asleep while we were waiting in line for security check.  On the plane, I was in the very front row so I would have more room to move around with him.  The flight attendants and many of the passengers on the plane commented to me on what a sweet and good baby he is.  He only made happy noises.  I pumped 2 bottles before we left and gave him one during take-off and another during descent and landing.  He didn't cry once!!

We stayed with family and enjoyed our trip.  We also celebrated my grandpa's 89th birthday while we were there.  Cooper got to meet his great grandparents, and they loved meeting and holding him.

Cooper turned 3 months old while we were there.  I didn't take his "official" 3 month picture until we got home, though, so I could put him in the same rocking chair and put his football beside him to see how much he has grown...And boy, has he!  He began rolling over on 8/10/14 from his tummy to his back.  My mom watched him but I missed it.  Fortunately, on 8/11/14 he rolled from back to tummy and I got it on video the 3rd or 4th time he did it.  NO more leaving him in the center of our king sized bed when I run to the laundry room anymore!! As I write this, he in on the nursery floor playing with his little baby gym.  I tried to load the video but Blogger is not cooperating.


He gets his bath between 6:30 and 7:30 PM, then nurses until he falls asleep.  He sleeps about 7-8 hours the first stretch, then I nurse him and he goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours.  He usually wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30 AM.  He wears all 6 month size for onesies and footed pajamas.  He will likely outgrow those int he next 2 weeks.  He is so tall!  3 month shorts and pants still fit him in the waist, but the pants are too short for him.  I had bought him 2 pair of shoes in June or July in a size 2 thinking "surely his feet are going to be this big by August"...Nope.  They flopped all over, so he has remained barefoot thus-far.  Good thing it's summertime, and shoes are definitely non-essential.  I haven't bought a scale yet, so I am guessing he weighs about 16-17 pounds, and he is about 26-27 inches long...That's my guesstimate, we will see his true stats in September at his 4 month check up.

For our flight back to New York, we took the red-eye and left Long Beach at 9:20 pm and arrived at 5:20 am the next morning.  Cooper slept from the time we got in line to check our bags curbside until just before takeoff, (I jostled him to wake him up so I could nurse him for takeoff) until just before we landed.  We had already descended when he woke up so no inner ear issues, thank goodness.  He was so good, we really are so lucky!  He's a very content baby and only cries if he is hungry or having trouble passing gas.  Even in the morning when he wakes up, he generally plays in his crib and makes happy noises.

His Baptism will be September 14th.  We are having the party afterward at our house.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone!

Happy Boy!

Grandpa & me celebrating his 89th birthday

Grandpa, Grandma, Marc, me, & Cooper after our anniversary dinner

Marc & Cooper after church

1 Month

2 Months

3 months

Hope y'all have a great week!  Only 18 days until Razorback football starts!!

Cheers,
Kelli

2 months

Cooper is 2 months old already.  I really don't know how time passes so quickly, but I sure am enjoying every moment with my little guy.  We went to the pediatrician on Tuesday and he got his first round of shots, as well as getting weighed and measured.  He is 14 lbs. and 24 3/4" long.  He is in the 96th percentile for height and 94th for weight.  He is very healthy and growing like a weed.  He wears all mostly 3 month clothes, and some 6 month.  Everything 3 month fits him in the waist, but he is too long for his 3 month pajamas, so he is wearing 6 month pajamas.  I think he would be wearing all 6 month clothes if it weren't summertime; he wears a lot of shorts.  I bought him some 3 month creepers 2 weeks ago, and he's getting his last wear out of them this week.  He's so tall that they start to pull at the neck.  I already packed up all of his 0-3 month and a lot of his 3 month clothes and put them away for future baby #2 (no, not pregnant, just hopeful!)

Here are 3 pics of Cooper: one from the hospital, then 1 month old and 2 months old.

1 day old

1 month old 6/8/14

2 months old 7/8/14

Hope y'all have a great week.

Cheers,

Kelli

Cooper's nursery

Cooper's nursery has been 90% complete for several months.  We got his furniture right around Christmas and I had it all laid out and mostly decorated from that point on.  Once my baby shower came along, I received many of the larger items that he will need, but doesn't need just yet, so they were all stored in his crib.  I moved him out of the bassinet in our room and into his room and crib this week, and I finished decorating the nursery so I took pictures of his room.  It is decorated with football stuff.  The 2 pictures flanking the window are of Marc playing football for St. John's University.  They were professional shots that we had framed.  I like that it's not just generic football pictures, or some professional athlete; it's Cooper's Dad.  The afghan that sits over the back of the rocking chair/glider was made for Marc by his Grandma when he was playing in College as well, so it's got sentimental value.

When we had Cooper's newborn pictures taken, we had the photographer take one in the Razorback hat I bought for him, and that picture is in the football frame above the rocker.  The painting hanging from the shelf says "how to really be a Razorback" and it lists the Fayetteville game traditions of our HOGS.  The nursery has to play double duty as my office, so I bought a corner desk that sits behind the closet door and doesn't take up much room.  The curtains were made by my mom and me, the football plays were drawn by Marc, and I made the monogram sign and the "thinking" sign.  We also bought a framed print of Vince Lombardi's speech "What it takes to be Number 1" and hung it by the crib/changing table.  I custom ordered his bedding from Etsy.com  and ordered the 2 football rag rugs on the floor from Wayfair.com.  I like that I was able to make several of the items that are in his room, and ordered the ones I couldn't make myself.  The lamp on the dresser is a football also, and I ordered a football bank from Zulily.com.  I'm still waiting for that to arrive.

I really like the way his room turned out, it's my own design and unique, and I hope he loves football as much as we do!

We will go to the pediatrician on Tuesday for his 2 month check up and first round of shots.  He was 8 weeks old this past Thursday and will be 2 months old on Tuesday.  I'll do a post with his stats and a picture then.

Hope y'all had a safe and fun Independence day!
Cheers,
Kelli

1 month old already!

Cooper is one month old today.  It has gone by so very quickly.  We are incredibly lucky that he is such a sweet and content baby.  He only cries if he is hungry, so there's no mystery as to why he is squeaking!

1 month old with a little grin!

I don't own a scale (it's on my shopping list) so I haven't weighed him.  I would venture to guess that he is about 12 to 12.5 pounds though.  He has certainly grown in height.  He is wearing all 0-3 month clothes, but they are all getting to be too short.  He'll probably be able to wear them for a week or so before I have to switch them out for 3-6 month clothes.  The pants are all too big in the waist for him still.  He hasn't gotten a lot of rolls yet, but his cheeks are getting chubbier by the day.  I love it!

He sleeps between 3 and 3.5 hours at night.  I'm hoping we can stretch 3.5 to 4 hours this week, but we will see how it goes.  He doesn't miss a meal!  I am nursing him exclusively and seem to be producing plenty of milk for him, for which I am quite grateful...Formula is expensive, and it's nice for helping to drop weight as well!!

We have gotten Cooper's baptism planned and have a couple of trips coming up.  As fast as this month went by, they will be here before we know it.  California in August, Baptism in September, and Arkansas in October.  Busy, busy.

Not too much else going on, just trying to establish our daily routine.  below are just some pictures I took of Cooper...

Telling me a story

I HAVE THE POWER!!

Snuggling with Dad

My favorite little face

Thinking...Probably tooting too!

napping while Mom watches me sleep!

Have a great week!
Cheers,
Kelli

Cooper's Birth Story

We had a baby!  My labor started about 11:45 pm on Wednesday, the 7th, which was my due date.  I'm glad he came on time, because my mom came up here so she could help me with the baby and we wanted for her to have as much time with him as she could.  She arrived on the 3rd, so we didn't have to wait too long for Cooper to arrive!

39 weeks, 5 days pregnant...Tuesday 5/6/2014

I started having contractions at 11:45 Wednesday night (5/7/14) .  At first, I thought it was just the baby stretching, but they became more frequent, so I called my doctor.  She told me when I had 3 contractions in 10 minutes to call back, and she would tell me to go to the hospital at that point.  It was about 4:30 in the morning before the contractions reached that point, so we called and then headed to the hospital.  The nurses brought me back into the delivery room, and the Dr. came in to check me.  I was dilated less than 1, but was having regular and painful contractions, so she ordered the epidural for me.  Oh, thank GOD for epidurals.  She also ordered pitocin to help me dilate more.  They did an ultrasound because I had a little bleeding, and said the baby looked to be about 8 and a half pounds, but that the ultrasound could be off by a pound in either direction.  We had anticipated Cooper being about 8 and  half pounds, so that was no news for me.

Around 6:30 AM, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural.  I was so tired, because I hadn't slept at all the night before since I was having contractions.  The epidural allowed me to sleep off and on for most of the day.  My mom and Marc were there with me in the delivery room.  Marc was sleeping on the tile floor...I knew my labor wasn't progressing quickly at all, so after the Dr. came to check me again and I was still dilated to 1, I sent Marc home to sleep and check on Max & Pixie.  The Dr. didn't come back in for about 6 hours, and when she checked me the next time, I was finally making progress and was dilated to 5cm.  This was about 4:30 PM, so Mom called Marc and told him to go ahead and make his way back to the hospital.  My Epidural was wearing off and I was feeling every contraction again, so the anesthesiologist came back in and added a little bit to make me comfortable.  The Dr. came back an hour later, and I was dilated to 10 cm.  She told me to ring my call bell when I felt like I had to push.  By 10 minutes to 6, I called in the delivery team and was ready to have this baby!!

I pushed about 12 times and at 6:07 pm they placed a huge baby on my chest!! I couldn't believe how long he was...I mean, I know Marc and I are both quite tall, but it was still a surprise.  Cooper had to have been so balled up inside of me, because he took up the entire table where the nurse was weighing him!

9lb, 8.5oz, 22.5inches.  Welcome, Cooper!

He weighed 9 pounds, 8.5 ounces and was 22.5 inches long.  He was nice and pink and all filled out.  he truly didn't look like a newborn!  He has blonde hair and his eyes are currently blue (I hope they stay that way!).  He has my fingers, Marc's nose, ears, eyebrows and toes.  He is adorable and we just love him to pieces!!!

The nurses took Cooper to the nursery while 2 doctors worked on me.  I was bleeding a lot and they were working to get that stopped. Thankfully, they were able to do so pretty quickly so there were no real complications.  The hospital was SO busy with babies being born that I had to wait in the delivery room for 3 hours before they had a regular room ready for me.  I didn't get to see or hold Cooper at all during that time.  In fact, I didn't get to hold him prior to them taking him to the nursery because of the aforementioned bleeding.  I wanted to see MY baby!  Finally, around 10 pm, I got to my room and they brought my gorgeous baby boy to me.  I cried.  It surprised me how quickly you can love this little person so completely.

Happy tears!

I can't believe I grew him! :)

Sweet baby boy

We stayed in the hospital 2 nights and came home on Saturday the 10th at about noon.  It's been a transition for sure, but I can't imagine our lives without him.  My mom was the biggest help, I would've been lost had she not been able to come up for the 4 weeks she was here.  I really didn't want her to leave, but she has a job and a dog who need her too.  Bummer.  ;)

First car ride.  

Wore my Giants gear for Dad!

Now, I'm trying to get him on a schedule.  He sleeps about 3-3.5 hours at a time, so it's not terrible.  I am nursing him, so I get up and take care of business.  He is a very happy and content baby.  He goes right back to sleep after his nighttime feedings, which is truly a blessing.  The sleep stretches are getting longer, I think in a few more weeks he will be sleeping about 5 hours at a time, which is not too shabby!

We had newborn photos taken of him when he was a week old.  We used Jennifer Sirris at Storybook Portraits.  She is amazing to work with; so calm and patient with the babies!  She took the pics right in our living room!  I can't wait to work with her again in the future when Cooper has pictures taken.

Go Hogs!

I have my momma's fingers

Little football

Kisses!

3 generations

One very proud Grandma!

Pouty face

Baby feet!

With Dad's uniform

With Uncle Justin's photo and Dog Tags.  Cooper Justin's namesake & guardian angel

love his sweet baby face

Future Arkansas Razorback!

Cute Koala 

Sweet sleepy baby

So peaceful in Black & white!

I love all of the pictures she took so much, I didn't post every one of them, but a lot of them.

I'm glad to have a place to write everything so I don't forget!  As I get a routine set, I should be able to update more regularly.

Have a great week!
Cheers,
Kelli