Sparkling Kitchen Floor/Cooper pictures

Today a cleaning lady came to my house. I've never thought in a million years that I would have a cleaning lady in my house cleaning and thanks to my mom she made it all happen. This was one "last" gift that she was giving me now that Cooper is here. Last week she said she would pay for her cleaning lady to come out and clean my bathrooms and scrub my kitchen floor and let me tell you this was one awesome gift! I read my sister-in-laws blog earlier and she summed it all up on one of her post about her parents and how they are always there for her and her family and how she never has to ask. It was so well written and so true that I wanted to say how much I appreciate my family as well. And everything they have done to help us out is amazing. I can't even explain it but I don't know what I would do without them!

Even though I don't have pictures just imagine my kitchen and bathrooms clean and the floors sparkling because that's exactly what they are. Even Tom was impressed with the shower when he showered this afternoon and when I gave Cooper his bath tonight I was super impressed with the tub that he baths in. Everything smells so good and I just love my house being cleaned and finally (almost) organized, just a few more things I want/need to do and I have the next 6 weeks (OMG that's it) to do it. As for the cleaning lady and if I'll have her come back - probaby! Tom even said that he wouldn't mind it either, maybe once a month, I'd be happy with that. I just have a hard time cleaning my floors and she did so good on the bathrooms I'd have her do those as well. So we'll see!

I really don't have much to blog about so I thought I would put a few pictures of Cooper out here so everyone can see how big he's getting. As of Tuesday he's weighing 8lbs 7oz! This boy is an eater!

I'm not sure what days all these pictures were taken on but they were all this week! LOL

Here is Cooper in his Hawkeye shirt that his sister, Micayla, got for him and his booties and hat came from my friend Jody. I thought they looked so cute together. I'm pretty sure this was on Monday, LOL

Here we were headed out to the grocery store to get our ingredients for supper. Tom was making Seafood Fettuccine and an Angelfood Pineapple cake. All was so yummy! Tom's mom and dad came out for dinner. 

 

This picture should have been before the one right above as you can tell once I got him strapped into his car seat he was fine, he doesn't like that initial feeling of being strapped in or something but once we get moving he's fine.

And once we got back home he was chillin in his swing.

 

Same day, here's Tom making homemade Fettuccine noodles, we also made some spaghetti noodles as well that we threw in the freezer. The was a birthday gift from his mom, it's an attachment that goes on our Kithen Aide that Tom's mom got us for Christmas. It was pretty slick and the noodles tasted delicious!

I think this was the same day as well, here he's napping on the couch with his little blankie, this is where we snuggle but I had to get some work done!

Here we are on Tuesday, I'm all ready for Jazzercise and it was such a beautiful day out we sat out on the front porch for a little while before I left, he was crabby but once we got outside in the sun he was in heaven, can you tell??

He's trying to catch some rays!

Wednesday we went up to mom and dad's for Hamburger's and Sweet corn, not Fincels, but it Fareway's, it was OK. It's becoming an every Wednesday event, not that I'm complaining. I think Cooper has a little something to do with it. LOL 

Here Great Grandma is holding Cooper. I had him decked out in his new shorts! I just love his skinny legs.

And today, Thursday, this is the only pic I got today, here he is sleeping this was just taken about 10 minutes ago, my sweet boy all swaddled up. 

I just love this boy more and more every day. Oh and we got pictures taken on Wednesday. I can't wait to share them!

Weekend recap

Friday night Tom and I dropped Cooper off at Grandma Linda's so him and I could go out to dinner for our anniversary. We ate at The Olive Garden, it was delicious. We were going to go to a movie but after we got done eating we were so full and both were tired so we decided to just stop at Sam's and head back and get Cooper and go home. Cooper did great at Grandma's, I left a bottle with him and Linda said she gave it to him and he ate it down real fast and was wanting more, so I know what Momma needs to start doing - pumping! The few bags in the freezer are starting to dwindle down, I need to stock up, because its a great feeling knowing that he takes a bottle so well and if I need to be gone for a while someone can give him a bottle. So I need to make a point to pump daily, it's just so boring! LOL Not that it takes long but you know what I mean??

Just a few random pictures of our weekend, we bought the flooring at Sam's, they are rubber mats that fit together like puzzle pieces. It's a great job done and now we don't have any excuses not to be exercising.

 
Last night, Mom and Dad stopped after dinner, they ate at the Moraco and stopped down after, they said they needed to get their Cooper fix! LOL It was about 8:00 and mom was going to change Cooper's diaper and I was like "well he needs a bath", so that's what we did. Grandma got to help give Cooper a bath. It was great, Cooper is really starting to like his bath - finally! He just sits there and lets us do our thing and I just love the way he smells after his bath!

Here are a few pics after his bath, we're in the basement and he's just chillin.

And today, Sunday, Grandma Pat picked us up to go do some shopping. There was a craft thing going on near Monticello, about 20 minutes away, it was in a barn and it was quite the experience. Cooper got to ride on a golf cart! The parking was on a gravel road and there were golf carts shuttling people back and forth, we had him in his car seat and the stroller in the back of the golf cart, quite the experience. Don't worry, we didn't go very far. Cooper slept the whole time!

And when we got back home Grandma and Cooper hang out. He loved looking out the window looking at the clouds and the trees or whatever it is that he can see. He's just the best boy and I couldn't have asked for a better son!

Speaking of Cooper, he's sitting, actually lying, here next to me sleeping I was thinking he was just going to take a nap, but it's been an hour and a half or so, we need to get jammies on and get ready for bed. I'm not really getting this schedule thing down to well yet, but we'll get there. Tom's getting ready to leave for work. The weather is supposed to be nice this week so we're hoping to get out for a few walks. And Cooper has pictures on Wednesday. I've decided to go to a professional and get some good pictures, who knows this may be my only child and if I don't do it I will regret it.

One Month Old

Wow, I can't believe one month ago my sweet little boy was born, my how time flies. I just want to stop time and keep him little. He's just the most precious thing in this world and sometimes I still feel like he's not even mine. Kind of like I've been babysitting for a month but in reality he's all mine and I'm loving EVERY minute of it! It just took us so long to get to this point I think that's why I feel like this.

Here's our little guy on his one month birthday and it's such a special day because today Tom and I have been married 3 years! Again, how time flies!

There were just too many cute pictures I couldn't decide on one so you got a few more of Cooper.

Some of the things I want to remember from Cooper's first month of life:

• He is wearing Pampers size NB still, I have tried the Huggies size NB just because I got a pack from one of our Grandparents, however they seem to be bigger than the Pamper's brand and they just weren't as snug, so Pampers diapers it is! The way he's growing I think he might be out of this size in a few weeks.
• He is sleeping in our room in a bassinet, we have a bassinet that has an incline to it and once we put that on he slept much better, he's not a fan of lying on his back on a flat surface.
• We don't have much of a sleep schedule, we go on whatever Cooper wants, however once we get to bed around 10 or 11:00 he seems to sleep until 4:00am, know matter what time we go to bed it's always around 4am that he wakes up to eat. It's funny because when I was pregnant that was one time I always got up to go to the bathroom so it's not a shock to me that this is the time he wakes up to eat. 
• We got the feeding down in bed, he lays next to me and I feed him, it seems to work out great because I can kind of doze off while he's eating then once he's done and fallen back asleep I can just lay him back in his bassinet.
• After his 4am feeding he'll go back to sleep until 6:30 or 7:00 we'll feed in bed again and once daddy comes homes I put him back in the bassinet until he wakes up, usually 8:30 or 9:00 then we get up for the day.
• Him and I will take a long nap together usually around 9 or 10 and we'll snuggle on the couch together and take a 1 to 2 hour nap, this is one of my favorite times of the day, because whether or not he's tired, and I usually am, but he'll just lay there with me like he's letting me take a nap, he's so sweet.
• He has the skinniest legs and arms and boy are they hairy!
• He has been breastfed exclusively - no formula! I'm so excited about this and it's going great. 
• He got his first taste of a bottle last night while mommy Jazzercised. I pumped before going, I only got an ounce out because I did feed him about 45 minutes before I left for Jazzercise. I told Tom just in case he gets fussy to try and give him a bottle, well he did and he ate up that ounce and Tom said he was still fussy so he got a bag out of the freezer and warmed that up, 3 ounces, and he ate that right up too. I guess I didn't feed him enough before I left. But he took the bottle great! Momma was a little sad but I'm glad Tom got to feed him.
• He DOES NOT like to be on his changing table, nor does he like his diaper changed. I've gotten pretty quick about it and good at changing him laying on his side. 
• He also doesn't like to be naked, one time, a couple of days ago after his bath he was happy naked but I'm working on it.
• Oh and baths, the first 2 weeks were very rough, we put the sling in the sink in the kitchen but he didn't like it at all. Once we moved to the tub he liked it much better, still not his favorite but as long as I keep him warm with the water and washcloth he doesn't seem to mind it.
• He likes sleeping on his side, it doesn't matter what side but he doesn't seem to like it on his back.
• He loves his car seat, well once we get him in there and moving, whether us carrying him in his car seat or once we finally get in the car and moving he just looks around and loves it. I've only had one time where he was fussy and it was because he was hungry.
• He loves to be held and we love to hold him, especially his big sister! She'll come home from work and if she could she'd hold him all night long. Big brother on the other hand, he'll hold him as long as he's not crying but not usually for a long time. But he's always around "talking" to him, its so cute.
• He's awake for a good couple of hours in the morning and the evening, usually after our nap in the morning and again when daddy wakes up and at night before we go to bed.
• Tummy time is not his favorite time of the day, we need to work on this.
• He loves his swing when he's awake, if we put him in while he's sleeping he seems to wake up, so we put him in his bouncer when he's sleeping and he'll sleep for a good 2 hours.
• He's a snorter, just like his momma, when he gets angry he will snort, it's so funny and cute. Especially when he's hungry and trying to eat and he'll get frustrated or something and just snort and make funny noises. 
• When I watch him sleep he'll make funny faces and I'll talk to him and he'll smile, it just melts my heart, but I can't wait to see this when he's awake.

I could go on and on, this little guy has changed our lives and I wouldn't take it back for anything. I can't wait to see what month number 2 brings. I'm sure hoping to get lots of smiles!

Here is the way he's usually on his changing table, I tried to get some pictures of him on his back but it wasn't working.

And a cute one of him in his car seat, we just got back from Grandma and Grandpa's, we ate supper up there. This is his new favorite blankie, he found this in his bed the other day when I put him in there while I went to the bathroom. 

Here is how Cooper and I nap in the mornings, we are on the couch, I usually just snuggle right up to him, it's awesome!

And this is what I woke up to this morning, Tom picked some lilac's for me, they smelled so good!
Happy Anniversary Honey! I love you!

Jazzercise Baby Shower

Saturday afternoon the Jazzercise girls hosted a baby shower or a "sip and see" for Cooper and myself. They all got to meet sweet Cooper and just thought he was adorable.

The table all decorated by Julie, and there is Shelly mixing up some Peach Belini's, they were yummy.

Lisa, one of the instructors made this cake, it angel food with a lemon cream cheese frosting, it was delicious! It says WELCOME COOPER!

Here Lisa is holding Cooper, and looking over her shoulder is Kim and Julie is next to Lisa. All instructors.

We got Cooper's high chair from all the girls, it was perfect because he'll need it.

Grammy came too and of course she had to hold Cooper too. He's just one spoiled boy, but we love it!

Here is Brenda, Heather (one of the owners) and Lisa

I also got a few other things, a musical piggy bank, a gift certificate to Target and a couple outfits. We also had some wonderful food, Julie made some pulled beef sandwiches, Linda made Ruben dip and Brenda made a pasta salad. Oh and Anita, I didn't get a picture of her, but she made a fruit pizza. It was great and I went to my first Jazzercise class that morning too. It felt great to be back and I'm planning on taking a few classes a week to get back my stamina and get back in the groove.

And just a few pictures that I took today. He's still not fond of his changing table but he's getting better. Here I got a few with his new favorite blanket. He was in his bed while I was going to the bathroom and he found this next to him and just hugged it. It was so sweet!

Basement photos!

The time has finally come where I can show off our basement. I know I've teased for the last couple of weeks, but once the work was done it needed to be cleaned! So Tom and I cleaned it all up yesterday and I finally got around to taking pictures.

So here's the tour! 

Here is what the basement looked like before we started.  This corner is where the bathroom is now along with a storage closet and the bar area.

And here, to the left is where Brandon's room is now and the right side is the living room area. The one pole in the middle of this picture was removed! We were so excited about that!

And this is looking into the basement from right below the steps.

Here are the steps coming up from the basement, we weren't going to do the steps but the old carpet was pretty bad so we decided to have them recarpet the steps and fix the bottom step, you that one that step that mom broke her ankle on? LOL

And now the good pics!

 

And the carpeted steps! This is the same carpet that is in the basement.

Here is a picture from the bottom of the steps looking into the basement. We got all new tile below the steps as well so it all matches.

 

The living room area - Tom's got Cooper so I can take pictures.

 

 

 

Here is Brandon's room. The window we had to install to make a "legal" bedroom. This is a picture from the door looking into the bedroom.

Here is Brandon's closet.

And Brandon's room now. Notice the mess already? We let him go this time because we just finished the closet organizer.

And here are his closet doors on, notice they are closed! LOL

This is an open area where Tom wants to put a pool table. This is also the place where the pole was taken out, there would have been  a pole right in the middle where you enter the room. We are so happy that is was able to be removed.

Micayla is working on a puzzle right now and it has great lighting in this area so she's doing it downstairs

If you look at the picture above, the first door on the left is the storage closet, this is below the steps and the picture below is with the door open. They had some extra carpeting so they carpeted it. I say it should be Cooper's playroom. But we'll need the storage! LOL

Oh and the 2nd door is the workout room, this room does not have carpet we're debating on what to do with it, maybe get some of those rubber mats or something, but I didn't take a picture of that.

Here is the bar area

And the bathroom

Closet doors in the bathroom

And the bathroom with the new shower curtain and accessories.

I think I need a bigger towel or a smaller towel holder. LOL

And a picture looking from the living room area. We were hoping to put this ladder shelf in the closet in the bathroom but it wouldn't fit, we didn't measure correctly so we're putting it right where it's at for now.

And just because Cooper was crying!

And 5 minutes later - he's sleeping!

We are so happy with the way the basement turned out and the kids really love it, now they can have a place to watch TV and play video games without interrupting us or having to play in there rooms. We can't wait for everyone to see it!