Birth Announcement

Well I was able to get this together and all mailed out! I believe Jordan's mom actually took this sweet photo of Cooper. I liked it because he was awake and wanted everyone to see his whole expression awake.






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Baby shower

Yesterday we got up and made our way to church! I feel like it takes an army to get us there all fed and happy :) that afternoon Cooper and I went to Annabel's shower, he did great!




My sweet friend Emily looks so great and we are so excited to meet her daughter!

I'm still working on watching Saving Private Ryan. Today is a day at home :)

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TOMS

First off, I was able to sleep last night from 10-6!!!!! Cooper slept from 8:46-6 with a midnight feeding that took 20 mins. I was shocked when I heard the monitor go off this morning and it was 6! Shocked!

Today Nana, my mom, came up to spend the day with us. It was the first time we went out and about with her. We ate at Panera, shopped and even had a stop at Masons (a cute boutique I haven't been in since before I was pregnant!)





She spoiled Cooper and got him a pair of little TOMS!!



We are now relaxing at home and Jordan just cooked a lovely steak dinner! I'm about to watch Saving Private Ryan for the first time.

Tomorrow we will work hard to get to church and I have a baby shower for my sweet friend Emily's daughter Annabelle!!!

6 weeks!!

Today marks our 6 week journey together. I had my doctors follow up and am all healthy! Cooper went with his dad to Feltner's grand opening on College.








This is by far my favorite outfit :








We want to wish Uncle Luke a happy birthday!!! This morning Cooper "sang" to him in a video!









And after a nap and before feeding time I tried out my Ergo. He is now sound asleep in it :)










We are going to meet dad for supper in a bit. Nana comes tomorrow!!!

Also, the store Carter's has opened in Fayetteville. Hope we can pop over there!

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Parenting book list

My friend Erin asked for parenting books that people have enjoyed reading. I've taken these suggestions to make my own list here for my memory. Please post any others you have found helpful :)























































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Cooper wears shoes

So our world is filled with simple pleasures these days :)

Cooper wore shoes for the 1st time the other day. He did ok, kept kicking them off bc he doesn't sit still










And we are grinning these days, so fun!










We have had a date with Kate and Reese but Reese and Cooper napped the whole time :)

We had jordan's parents stay the night and play!

I got to go see The Help w Elizabeth, thanks to Cooper hanging out w dad! Awesome movie, I'd see it again!!!






We have a relaxed day today. Hoping to go to the farmers market tomorrow or sat since weather is getting cooler!!! My momma is coming Sat to play!

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My 1 Month Memories!!!!

I've been meaning to sit and record some of my memories from month 1 with Cooper for me to have in the future. I looked on more blogs during those first days to see what my friends' babies were doing at one month to see if I was doing anything right! Things went well for month 1 and it went so fast, almost a blur!

NOTE: This is a really long post. I just wanted to jot some notes for me to be able to look back on.

*the first couple of nights were awful. I was breastfeeding and the lactation consultants told me to not use a paci, so mom and I stayed up all night with our finger in his mouth trying to soothe him. Day 3 he got a paci to help with gassy moments and he was so much better. 

*I used mylicon drops religiously after each feeding

*breastfeeding was hard, hard to get going-the pillow My Brest Friend saved me! And Soft Shield Nipple Covers-amazing! 

*Cooper was so tiny. I loved holding him on my chest. 

*he ate every 2 1/2-3 hours. towards the end of the month he would eat at 7pm, a bottle at 10 and around 2-3 in the morning-given by dad, and then I got up with him at the next feeding whenever he woke up. those days of him growing were crazy and he seemed to eat every time I turned around. no trouble with the bottle. we are just using the medela bottles right now because I pump into them. I have to pump during the night a couple times or I'm miserable. No troubles so far with nipple confusion. 

*I'm so thankful for having two full weeks of help from my mom and Jordan's mom. They were amazing and helped me so much to gain confidence in what I was doing. 

*Cooper didn't like the swaddle at first, now we use them as his arms frail about and it keeps him asleep. He never slept in our room, always in his crib. But really he would love it if i'd just leave him on the changing table-odd how much he loves this spot! 

*He went smoothly through all the colors of poops and now has major explosions. healthy baby and gaining weight, makes me happy. I didn't realize how much these signs would make me feel like I'm doing something correct. 

* He travels well. our moms have some of his stuff at their houses to help with the amount of stuff we take each time. But it really hasn't been to bad getting all of our gear together. I find the last few mins. of feeding, pumping (if needing), getting milk together to take is the toughest part.   

*When we came home from the hospital we let mello meet Cooper and got all settled. Mom had lunch ready and then I napped :) 

*The first weeks of hormones and the feeling of being overwhelmed were crazy!!! It all seemed to subside and get easier after a couple of weeks. Daily life seems to be more "doable" in this new role and I get more and more crazy about this little guy.  

*Most mornings we have Cooper and coffee time. This is after I've done his first morning feeding and I get a cup of coffee, we watch GMA and "visit" its really a lot of fun! 

*he started to grin and follow us with his eyes by the end of month 1. 

*he does great in social settings, but gets worn out from them. I use to think he didn't do anything just sat there, but from our last few events he seems to be so observant of his surroundings and held so much that he doesn't rest well and ends up being exhausted. But he always has such a sweet party face :)  

*we got to see so many friends this past month, had great time with family and time as our family and learning this new dynamic

*Cooper already has a spirit of happiness and excitement for new things around him. He gets fussy when he is hungry and then the transition from play time to sleep can be tough. I love when he "talks" to me and looks right at me. I love his little feet and when he holds your finger. We took newborn pics. and I've ordered those. I'm so excited to get them! I'm working on getting his birth announcement mailed out this week (week5). At our newborn session he did great, he had to eat twice, peed on his dad, and had a fussy time, but the rest of the time this child was asleep and Blaire could move him in all kinds of ways. It was amazing and she is amazing! 

*he loves to sleep on his side and enjoys the mobile when falling asleep

*Cooper has big blue eyes that I love, his hair gets really curly when wet-maybe some of Jordan's curls, his legs kick and kick all the time (I've mentioned to him that if football is a desired sport, I'm great with him being the kicker :), his skin was perfectly clear when born and then he got the baby acne-poor thing, his tear duct was clogged so I had to put this gel stuff in it and it worked right away, he weighed in at 10lbs. on his month birthday, enjoys the car seat, his play mat and loves the boppy. I have a swing and lamb seat but he hasn't fallen in love with them. Doesn't really have to be moving all the time which is nice. 

What Women Fear

I wanted to pass along this information for a book. I've heard great things about this author and am excited to read her work.

I haven't read it yet (because it's not out yet) but I know that I know that I know that it will be amazing. And how many of you DON'T struggle with fear of some sort? I know I have had night sweats and bouts with gripping fear that cause my stomach to tangle up in knots. We as women are natural worriers - I can't wait to read what Angie writes (with I know words that God has given her directly) on this subject.

The book comes out September 1st. BUT TODAY there is an exciting pre-sale through Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble has really supported Angie both for I Will Carry You as well as with What Women Fear and are doing an exciting one day pre-sale today, Monday, August 22. If you pre-order a copy today at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/WhatWomenFear you will get 50% off, so the book is only $7.49. In addition, if you order the book today at Barnes and Noble online, email your order confirmation to whatwomenfear@gmail.com to be entered in two prize packs of 10 books from B&H Women (http://www.bhwomen.com) and a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.

$7.49????? Are you kidding me? That is a great deal. Buy one for you AND your mom or BFF!!!

I got this info from: Kelly's Korner

Erin's shower

Today Cooper and I got to go celebrate with my friend Erin her little boy Corey who is due in Sept!!! We are so excited to welcome this little guy and have a buddy to come visit and play with! This was so fun as my friends got to meet Cooper. He did so good! Trying to develop good social skills early! :)

Here are some pics, thank you Annie!!!!




Looking forward to welcoming baby Matsuyama in Jan!!!



Such a fun group of girls! I'm so glad I was able to come!!!



We have a fun week ahead of play dates and family coming to visit!



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Cute shower idea

Yesterday I got to help with a shower for my dear friend Stephanie Peter's baby boy, Garrison!!! It was wonderful to visit with her, her momma, Marietta and Mrs. Shad! I'm so excited to meet this little guy!!!

Mrs. Shad and Marietta had the cutest idea to make a watermelon fruit basket, Drewa's idea, but not just any basket-a BABY BUGGY basket!





Just wanted to share how cute this turned out! These two women are the most creative people I know!!!!

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Partaay time!

This weekend we get to celebrate Stephanie Peter's son Garrison and Erin Conner's son Corey and are SO excited!!!!

I made this for Erin's shower thanks to my friend Hayley Pruitt's creativity!!!





And just because I love him dearly :)




I'm sitting here getting my haircut, back to my old ways of the bob! I've missed it and need something quicker to fix. Hopefully now it won't take me 3 nap times to get ready :)

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Blog facelift

This post is in all dedication to my friend LEAH MARTIN who spiced up my blog for me!!! She is the craftiest, tech person I know! She can create blogs, invitations, announcements, an stationary of all kinds! I really appreciate her work here and just thought I'd honor her with a post :) thank you Leah!!!!


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Happy 3rd Anniversary and Happy 1 month Cooper!!!

Today was special in our house. We got to celebrate our 3rd anniversary and Cooper turning 1 month old. Both have seem to sneak up on me so quickly. Amazing how the past two anniversaries have involved fun gifts and travels and how today's simplicity of being with Cooper was perfect! This beats the others for sure! I woke up to having Cooper and coffee time while Jordan went and got me Chick-fil-a breakfast. We watched a movie, went for a family walk, took Cooper with us to Chili's and ice cream, gave him a bath and are now relaxing. The perfect day!

mingling at our awesome reception! We had so much fun at our wedding!!!

my favorite pic with my son.

Our 1st walk! Even Mello hitched a ride in the bottom buggie

And this sums up Cooper's 1st month: living life in the boppy, the paci as needed, busting out of the swaddles, and cleaning up spit-up

I'm so in love with both of my boys and thank God for giving me them. I'm the luckiest girl in the world!!!!

Labor, Delivery, and going Home

Well this post is a month late, it has taken me a bit to get to sit and work on this. I'm now more in the swing of things and just love spending time with Cooper. Here our story of Cooper Coming!

I went into the hospital on July 13th at 5:00 to receive medicine to thin the cervix.  We ate Gusano's pizza and salad and I was craving a blue gatorade-my body must have known the workout to come :) The Rays and Hartnesses came up to visit which was wonderful! Both of our parents came into town and began to wait with us. That evening at 11:30 my water broke, we were thrilled and thought we were way ahead of schedule since Dr. Seale was suppose to do this Thursday morning. At that point I labored till 5:30 when I was informed I was only to a 2 and still about to receive Pitocin and so I opted for an epidural.

The morning from there was great. We watched the British Open and visited with friends. I began to get sick to my stomach that afternoon. Every time I did I would progress another cm, odd? This process was really slow and I was tired being up constantly since Wed. morning. At this point though I just knew we were almost done! Around 5:30 the nurse told me I was to a 10 and said we would start pushing in an hour, we were thrilled!!! We had friends waiting in the waiting room along with family and we all were so excited!!!! TILL the nurse came back in an hour later and said I was only to an 8, WHAT?!?!?! She said she must have checked during a contraction. Oh we were bummed. So we waited..everyone ordered Dixie Cafe-except me :) Our dear friends waited as long as they could and Cooper still never came.

After uping my medicine every 15 mins and feeling the urge to push around midnight a nurse named April came in and said "let's get to work and have this baby". And work it was!!! Being only dilated to an 8 and pushing for 55 mins, Cooper finally arrived at 1:09 am. I looked at my mom when she came in and said, "that's hard work". :) A really neat experience but not easy. Our family and friends came in to meet Cooper and the nurses took him around 3:00, I fed him at 4:00, they made us move rooms at 5:00, and they brought me breakfast at 6:00, can you say TIRED!!!! The next day was filled with wonderful visits from family and friends and we came home Sat. morning, yeah!!!!

Beginning the wait for Cooper

power naps were my life saver

 Our sweet friends waiting

Here he is!!! I was exhausted and yet so awake and excited!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COOPER!!!!!

Stephanie and Meg were such troopers to stick around to meet Cooper!!!

Cooper spending time with his Pops and Gramma

 Meeting Uncle Luke

Leaving the hospital

 

1st Bath

Meeting Aunt KK

Marietta and Ali came to visit, such a treat!!!

This past month has been filled with so many amazing memories and lessons in life. We are so glad to have him in our life and thankful God has allowed us to have our son. 

*My goal was to get this post up before his 1 month birthday, I just made it, haha! Hopefully I can get his 1 month up quicker!

Family time

We spent most of the week with our families and it was great. Cooper did great in his first road trip!! We got to show him off to lots of friends and it was wonderful. We love him so much and just want him to meet all the people we love!

Nana and Poppa Joe couldn't get enough of him. Both grandmothers had their time to feed Cooper, they just loved having this time with him! It was so sweet.










The dogs played so much! And kept watch over everyone from here :)



Fun family photos taken recently:

 All these wonderful friends came over to meet Cooper and to celebrate Lynn's birthday. These families are dear friends to the Wrights and have taken me in like they have known me for years, such wonderful women!!!

 Bobo and Nan got to meet Cooper. These are my "adopted" grandparents and I love them so much, glad Cooper got to meet them!!

 Today we all got ready and headed to church for the 1st time with Cooper. He did so well and we pray this is just the beginning of his time with God. This was such a special day for us as we have missed going so much.

Jordan is out playing golf, enjoying this gorgeous weather on a wonderful Sunday afternoon. Cooper is asleep and I'm catching up :) Tomorrow is a big day around here: Cooper turns 1 month and Jordan and I celebrate our 3rd anniversary! Both have come up so fast. This week I get order newborn pics and birth announcements! I also get to celebrate my dear friends, Stephanie and Erin's baby's shower this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to meeting Garrison and Corey in September!!! 

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