A Letter To My Son {Month 4}

Little Prince,

This month we enjoyed our first major holiday with you and I must admit, "Cooper" definitely topped our list of things we were thankful for! While your daddy and I reflected on the last four months with you, we were truly overwhelmed by how much joy you have brought to our lives. You, sweet boy, have made our lives infinitely better!! 

My conversation with your daddy moved from reflecting over the last four months to what our hopes, dreams and prayers for your future look like. So today, I want to share my prayers with you. I think it's important for you to know that you have been lifted up in prayer since before you were even a twinkle in our eyes and now that you are here, well, Momma covers you NON-STOP with prayer... I pray over the big things and the completely unimportant small things. I pray over your physical and spiritual life... and I pray over absolutely silly, pointless things. I want to share my prayers with you, but please know that what I write today is in no way all encompassing. My list of prayers for you is endless... This is just a sampling.

I pray that...

1.  First and foremost, you come to know, love and have a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. More than good grades, great plays on the ball field or anything else you could possibly do - there is nothing we will be more proud of than for you to walk daily with the King of kings.

2.  When you get your first boo boo, owie, little hurt or whatever you choose to call it, that it isn't on your face. I know that sounds silly, but I literally pray that God breaks me in gently to you getting little injuries. I am quite confident I will cry over your first boo boo much more than you will. Please let me start with a skinned knee Lord, please.

3.  You always feel incredibly loved. There is not a thing in the world that you could do to make us love you any less . We may discipline you or get frustrated with you, but our love for you will never, ever change. I pray that you always know that you are loved by your Mommy and Daddy and many, many more.

4.  Somewhere out there some mommy and daddy are raising up a Godly, loving, fun, adventurous and intelligent daughter to be your wife. I know this may seem like I'm getting ahead of myself here, but some day you will know how incredibly important it is to find your perfect mate. Sweet boy of mine, I want to make sure that I pray over her too - she will be a very important part of our family some day! I pray that God protects her and guides her... and that she likes her mother in law! 

5.  You sleep! I am never irritated by the fact that you wake up multiple times a night because I was, and still am, a night person too. I've never needed much sleep so I get it. (Maybe God was just preparing me for you!) But sweet boy, Mommy would be a much better mommy if you'd just let her sleep just a little!

6.  You will have the courage and strength to be a mighty leader. Life isn't always easy and sometimes making the right decision is hard, but if you are a leader, and not a follower, I have full confidence that you will follow your heart and make a positive impact on our family and everyone you come in contact with. 

7.  You will never be too big or too busy to love on and talk to your Momma. Son, you hung my moon and I pray, pray, pray that you never outgrow me. My relationship with you will be one of my most prized possessions and it is my great hope and prayer that it will always be a strong one. Sure I'll get on your nerves at times, but please know that I always have your best interest at heart.

8.  I don't embarrass you to death when I constantly carry my camera around and take your picture... because it's going to happen and I'm not going to stop and no, I'm not sorry.

9.  Our house is a home full of laughter and joy. I was blessed to grow up in such a happy home and I pray that you (and your someday siblings) will feel the same way about our house - I want to build a place that you look forward to coming home to, where your friends feel welcome and where you can be yourself - dirty shoes and all!

10. You grow up to be nice and tall. Superficial? Maybe just a touch, but trust me - girls like to wear heels and we want a boy that is a good couple of inches taller even when we are wearing heels. Sorry, it's just the truth.

11. You always remain a strong willed child. Crazy, I know, because strong willed children tend to be more difficult, but I pray that you stick to your guns from the get go. You see your daddy and I are going to do our best to raise you to be different - to be in the world but not of the world. Sweet boy, you are a child of God and therefore you are called to not be normal... Sometimes this is very, very hard but I pray that God gives you a strong will and great confidence to do what you believe is right despite the pressure of the world.

12. You always love books like you do right now. Reading is the key to education and when you unlock the door to education - well, everything else is on the other side of the door! 

13. You grow up to be as handsome as your daddy. Your daddy is smokin' hot.

14. You get along well with your cousins. The relationships that I have with my cousins have brought me such incredible joy over the years - I pray that you and your cousins, near and far, get to enjoy that special bond as well. 

15.  You are kind and compassionate from the very beginning. Oh son, I pray these things for you so often because they are so important! We even talk about them together - we say, "Cooper is brave, strong, smart, kind, compassionate and an adventurer!" You think it's very funny... But it is and will always be one of my prayers for you - that you can see other people's hurts and that you will be brave enough to show them God's love through your kindness and compassion.

Again, these fifteen little things don't even begin to cover the gamut of prayers I have for you... I believe that our Heavenly Father knows and cares about our every desire - whether serious or silly. He wants us to tell him about it ALL - so that's exactly what I do - I let him know my every hope, desire, wish and pointless little thoughts that I have about you. Always know that He loves you... and so does your Mommy.

All my love,
Mommy

Four Month Milestones:

Eye Color - I think you are officially a hazel eyed boy! There is definitely some brown in there, but I'll see the occasional fleck of green and gray. Regardless of color, those big pretty eyes are a show stopper! Not to mention, your eyes are definitely the window to your little mind. You have the most expressive little eyes - you already give me the "Woman, you are crazy" look (I had hoped I wouldn't see that one until at least the teenage years). Happy eyes, sad eyes, crazy lady eyes, "I'm completely skeptical" eyes... Your little eyes and brows might be my favorite thing!

Weight - We had to go to the pediatrician this month because you got sick for the first time and they weighed you...Note: You were wearing jeans and a t-shirt, instead of naked like normal... Coming in at 16 pounds 10 ounces! Momma's arms are getting jacked!

Height - Long. We don't have your four month check up until after Christmas so I don't know exacts, but you are long. We are growing through pants every week, but you also have a long torso - this sometimes leaves you with a little bit of belly showing! Oops! Mommy tries her best to keep you from wearing crop tops but it happens occasionally. :/

Clothing - You wear 3-6 month clothes. If it says "3 Months" its going to be too small... and sometimes on things like one piece full body jammies you can wear a 6-12 month just fine! The 3-6 month full body jammies are too short, but you wear them anyway because they are pajamas - nobody will know! I also bought you the cutest little Polo snow suit and you got to wear it... but only for about 5 minutes because if I put it on our shoulders, it gave you a wedgie and if I pulled the pant legs down it about ripped your shoulders off... you didn't love it so it's been retired.

Nicknames - I still call you the Little Prince. Sweet little Evie pronounced your name as Coop-ah and now EVERYONE calls you Coop-ah! Daddy and I call you "Bubba" a lot too.

Sleep - Errr... You are completely hit or miss on sleeping. Two nights ago you woke up FIVE times (a new record) and then last night you only got up once! There is no rhyme or reason to this madness, you just do whatever your little heart desires. We did accidentally create a mini-monster by letting you sleep with us while you were sick (Yes, I knew better but you were whimpering in your sleep and I couldn't stand to not cuddle you!). Now you only want to sleep in our arms and the second we stick you in the crib you roll over (instantly, no exaggeration) and then you start screaming. Most of your night crying fits don't even require you to open your eyes! Crazy baby. 

Hair - Umm, you need a hair cut. Your hair has to be combed just right or it covers your ears and the back needs a serious trim - you're currently well on your way to a mullet. I'm all for trimming it but everyone looks at me like I'm crazy when I suggest it. It's probably going to happen soon though if we can just get you to hold still for two seconds!

You were sick for the first time this month. Broke your mommy and daddy's heart! You ran a low grade temperature and I was sure it was a tooth coming through, but no tooth ever showed and your temperature kept rising. You skipped a couple of meals and then only took a very small feeding twice and I knew it was time to go see your doctor because you, sweet boy, never miss a meal! So after a quick trip to the pediatrician you were diagnosed with strep throat! Babies don't typically get strep throat, but you did! I felt so bad for not taking you in earlier, but all the symptoms - fever, crying when trying to eat, etc - were all the same as teething! Even when you clearly felt bad, you weren't bad. You cried a different cry and you would whimper in your sleep and want to be snuggled, but other than that you just acted a little numb. We were happy when the medicine kicked in, knocked out that yucky stuff and our happy baby returned!

Your survived your first Thanksgiving at the Ranch! We spent two nights and you were such a little trooper! Everyone wanted to hold you and you were passed from one person to the next but you didn't seem to mind one bit! (Gigi Tena was your primary holder as she isn't shy about stealing you away! She LOVES to hold you and you are always happy to be entertained with her and Coach!) You also played with Journey, Zoe and Blythe quite a bit - mainly you just watched them to see what all they were getting in to... Next Thanksgiving will be a mad house of happiness when you will have THREE new cousins to play with! 

Hands are still your favorite thing! You are definitely sucking your thumb, much to my dismay. You don't suck on it when you are upset or sleepy - if you sucked your thumb to help you sleep I could probably get behind it, but no - you really just suck on it randomly, especially if you are watching something or someone. You also don't really care if it is your fingers in your mouth or someone else's - you'll grab our fingers and jam them in your mouth! 

You are reaching for EVERYTHING - nothing is off limits! Everything is interesting to you and needs to be explored! You are also very interested in your toys... your favorites differ these days depending if you are in the mood for sound or not. You like your musical turtle and the little learning puppy that talks to you, but of course you always like Mortimor and Stretch. You've definitely been interested in a little Infantino ball that has a little monkey tied to it - that monkey's ear fits into your mouth perfectly!

We love Baby Yoga! You love to look at the other babies and you must think the exercises are very fun because you smile non-stop! We are the biggest baby (by age, we've been the literally the biggest for a long time!) now which makes me sad because I had enjoyed watching babies a little older than you so that I could know what to look forward to. Oh well, now we are leading the pack and that's fun too!

You are definitely going to be a talker. You talk non-stop! All I have to do is look at you and say "Tell me about it Coop" and you go to town! If we talk back to you in jibberish, you think it's hilarious and instantly start smiling and laughing. So fun! I can't wait to listen to what is on your little mind as your words start to form!

You are still a wonderful cuddler! YAY! You like to snuggle up on either one of us and it makes our day! You also aren't biased to your mommy and daddy, you're just fine to go sit with complete strangers (not that we let you do that, but you wouldn't mind!). Everywhere we go people want to hold you and you'll just go sit with them like a perfect little angel!

You continue to be a wonderful baby! There isn't anywhere that we feel that we can't take you. You sit in our lap during church (although you will start going to the nursery now that we've hit the four month mark) and rarely ever make a sound. You literally sit perfectly still and watch the game when we go cheer on Uncle Awesome and the Sooners. People are always in awe of how good you are - you're spoiling us!! We couldn't be more proud of our sweet boy!

Cooper: Week 14

COOPER LIKES:

HIS HANDS. 

As you can tell from the majority of his weekly pictures.

This boy wants to suck his thumb soooo bad 

but Mommy and Daddy are ultimate thumb blockers!

BATH TIME. This kid is such a huge fan! 
He could stay in the tub for days as long I as continue to refill the water as he kicks it out!

COOPER DOES NOT LIKE:

When his hat covers his eyes! 
We were driving to meet BK for dinner and Cooper fell asleep on the drive.
He woke up as a parked and started the most serious scream, not his normal wake up cry.
I hurried back to get him and found his entire face covered except that bottom lip which was sticking wayyyyy out! Poor guy!

MOMMY'S FAVORITE 

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

Yes, yes I am!

Thanks Taryn for the perfect onesie!

WEEK 14 HAPPENINGS:

Day 92: Cooper hit the three month marker and was quite happy about it! We also had a fun little get together at our house that night with a bunch of my fun family - Haley, Maggie, Hayden, Uncle Awesome, Jane and Cooper's new best friend, Evie! It was the first time these two cuties got to hang out and Evie was instantly enamored!! She told her mommy, "I be nice" and then promptly came and cuddled up with me so she could hold "Coop-ah." She was so very sweet - she held his hand, wanted to hold him herself and just talked to him non-stop. We adore Miss Evie and we were so happy to introduce her to Cooper!

Clearly not Cooper's best picture, but Evie and I looked cute!

Sleepy boy.

A bunch of pretty girls and one handsome little man!

Mommies got to get in the picture!

He loved hanging out with Haley and Mags 
but we woke him up trying to take this picture and he didn't love that one bit.

Out cold.

Day 93: OU played Iowa State and Cooper enjoyed another fun football game! He was a bit outnumbered when it became picture time - that's a lot of ladies! We had such a great time having all our pretty cousins in town!

Day 94: We spent Sunday with the King fam. We played with Brooks and Kamryn at Grammy's house (Brooks is always on the move and a little more difficult to get in a picture than the other two!) We also visited Grandpa Larry's new house - it is sooo pretty and we can't wait for him to get to move in.

Day 96: Well for starters, I put Cooper in his swing and realized that his outfit may be getting a touch small! He looked like he was wearing an 80's workout outfit. Oops. Ohhhh and get super excited... We busted out the Johnny Jump Up! Cooper was rather confused at the start (as was Rylee) but he quickly got the hang of it and has been jumping non-stop since! (I'll try to post a video next week!)

Day 97: Momma tried to get some house work done and her little helper crashed on her! 

Day 98: I got a haircut while Cooper played with Hayden at her dorms. She posted this picture shortly after I had left... I had really hoped I wouldn't have to have a talk with Cooper about crashing in the girls' dorms for a few more years but apparently the time has already come! Ha! Thanks Miss Hayden for always being so willing to watch our little man! We love you and know that he does too!

**This is another set of pictures that I snapped right in a row and thought they were too funny not to post. This would be Cooper in one minute or less - nonstop movement! I can't get enough of this little cutie!

A Letter To My Son {Month 3}

Little Lamb,

As I sit and watch you sleeping so peacefully in your swing I can't help but think about how drastically our lives have changed in the last three months. There are the obvious things - I didn't used to have such dark circles under my eyes and I wore clothes other than sweats, bathed regularly and even put on make up! Crazy, I know. But other things are changing - your little feet didn't hang over the edge of that swing just a few days ago... and it makes Momma so happy and breaks her heart all at the same time.

Sweet son of mine, you are teaching your daddy and me new things every day. We have always been absolutely crazy about each other, but you have introduced us to new depths of love. We have quickly realized that we both have the occasional bout of selfishness, but you require that we be selfless. We have learned lots of new things about ourselves in the past few months, some good others not so good. Regardless, we know that, even now, you are watching. You are learning how mommies and daddies behave, work together, solve problems, love... and because we know you are watching we try and try and try to do everything better than we did before you came along. We work hard to love each other better. We put effort into always having good attitudes. We do our very best to take on the world as a team and we pray daily that God takes from your little memory the times when we screw it up, lose our patience or act a little ugly. Thank you sweet boy for making us want to be better.

This month has been packed full of developments - rolling over, riding in the shopping cart like a big kid, really sleeping in your crib and, of course, your personality continues to blossom! I know these things are supposed to happen, and yet my heart feels the joy and excitement of a new trick while still being hit with a twinge of sadness that you learned it so quickly. Every milestone is very bittersweet. The rolling over thing showed up very randomly - I had sat you on the activity mat in the kitchen so I could get some things put away and I watched as you lifted your little legs up as high as they would reach and then swung them to the side, trying to build up momentum! It was quite amusing, I must admit. Then suddenly, you made it! And once you did the first roll, there was no stopping you! Your arm seemed to get in the way a bit and you didn't figure out how to pull it through until the next day, but you got it and now are a rolling over pro! At least half way... The funny part is, you get to your belly and then cry because you're mad that you are stuck there! I'm sure you'll figure out the belly to back soon as you are as strong as a little ox and are quite capable of doing whatever you want. And riding in the cart - that cracked Mommy up. I sat you in the little seat and you could just see it in your eyes that you were very proud of yourself. You looked around the entire time, smiled at all the shoppers that couldn't help but stare at such a cute little boy and then just when you were feeling like a big boy you would kick your feet or lean just enough to lose your balance, fall over to the side and just hang by the seat belt until I set you back up. Ha! The sleeping in your crib thing comes and goes - the inconsistency is totally my fault, not yours - sometimes mommy is just too tired to even think about walking all the way across the house to get you and other times, Daddy and I just want to cuddle you and we can't stand the thought that soon you'll want your crib over one of our chests so we squeeze you extra tight and refuse to put you down. You honestly do better in your crib and after a night or two of you kicking me all. night. long. I give in and you go back to sleeping by yourself for a week or so. Mommy is trying to be tough and let you grow up, but it's hard!

We love you so very much! We love getting to watch as you rapidly grow from baby to boy and the part we most adore is having a front row seat as your personality becomes more and more apparent every day. You are still a serious baby, but you smile so easily! Your MamaShawna/Gabby/Whatever says you are serious because you are a genius child and you make your serious face because you don't understand why we are all talking baby talk when you clearly understand our adult conversations... I don't know that that is true, but we are going with it. You do make a very adorable face when you see something for the first time or hear a new sound - you'll look at it, make little wrinkles between your eyebrows (kind of like a squint) and then slightly raise one eyebrow as if you aren't real sure about whatever it is and you are trying to figure it out. It's stinking cute. You have become quite the smiler - you smile nonstop!! Everything we do is apparently very funny - no laughing yet, just pure smiling! If someone talks to you - whether it's your daddy or a complete stranger - you will smile and flirt and start chattering away. You've mastered the little motorboat sound when you blow out with your lips closed. I recently started telling you "no" when you put your fingers in your mouth (you so want to suck your thumb and we are trying hard to prevent it!!) and you will just look at me and basically stick your tongue out and then smile so big as you move those hands right back to your mouth... Trouble!!

Precious boy, you are making our lives much more wonderful every single day. We are so very thankful God chose us to be your Mommy and Daddy. We love you more than you could ever imagine.

All my love,
Mommy

Three Month Milestones:

Eye Color - Finally starting to look a little more brown, with the occasional hint of green! Zoe was playing with you recently and asked if your eyes were brown, green or gray... Good question Zoe, good question...

Weight - (Going to get weighed next time we visit Daddy at work)

Height - (Going to get measured while we are visiting too!) Nobody ever guesses younger than six months, ever.... and then they are just shocked when I say "He just turned three months!"

Clothing - You are sporting the 3-6 month clothes nonstop now. The jeans are a little big around the waist, but we've started wearing them anyway before they get too short! I will look at something in your closet and think there is no way it'll fit you yet and then it does... Ouch. You've also moved into the size one shoes - Momma loves putting you in tiny version of big people shoes. You are currently rocking the cutest little brown Polo boots everrrrr. 

Nicknames - Still getting Little Prince quite a bit. Sweet little Evie pronounced your name as Coop-ah and we thought that was super cute until she got really excited and called you Coopy and oh. my. goodness. I LOVED Coopy!! Daddy and I call you "Bubba" a lot too.

Sleep - This month has been a hot mess as far as sleep. Last month we put you on the schedule and then this month I chunked it... and then brought it back! We decided to just do the parts of the schedule that we wanted to do and skip the rest. So, we don't obey the bath time immediately before bed rule (never did), we also laugh at the thought of putting you down at 7pm, but we try to stick to the day time part... as long as its convenient. Ha! With the exception of about five hellacious days, you are sleeping much better - only waking up once or twice a night. We've also started letting you nap on your belly and you sleep so much better - I have to go wake you up! Overall I think you just take after your mommy and prefer to just stay awake. Lucky for you, I hated napping as a kid and insisted on staying up to watch Cheers with Pops every night so I'm somewhat understanding when you just keep on keepin' on despite the fact that your bedtime comes and goes without you even giving so much as a yawn.

Hair - Your hair continues to fill in nicely, however we've had to start rotating you a bit so you don't get a bald spot. It's not from being laid down too much (because that definitely isn't happening), but from laying your head on our shoulder while you sleep! Mommy and Daddy had to switch shoulders!

You still LOVE your hands. Thankfully the stinking out your tongue has slowed down a bit, but instead you put your hands in your mouth non-stop. Whomp whomp. You suck on your pointer finger and knuckle until they are beat red and just recently you've started finding that thumb... nooooooo! We sing "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and you think it's so fun, but the entire time while I'm making your hands do the motions you are chasing them with your mouth - especially on "out came the sun," that part gets you every time!

You are reaching out and beginning to grab things - Mommy's hair and necklace primarily. (I fear my monogram necklace is in serious peril.) You are finally taking interest in your toys because you can hold them. Your favorites are the puppy that hangs on your carseat and the Lamaze animals Stretch the Giraffe and Mortimer the Moose. 

We love Baby Yoga! You love to look at the other babies and you must think the exercises are very fun because you smile non-stop!

You are definitely going to be a talker. You just go to town telling us stuff. You talked to Pop on the couch one night for so long, you had us all rolling. You just looked at him and went on and on and on and on... You also continue to sigh very loudly before sneezing which crack us up!

You are still a wonderful cuddler! YAY! You like to snuggle up on either one of us and it makes our day! 

You are such a good baby - we really lucked out! (You must have got it from your daddy because by all accounts Momma was a bit of a hand full as a small child... Oops) While you have shown that you have a definite streak of stubborn, 99% of the time you are one happy camper! You aren't afraid to be held by new people and it makes my heart happy when we go home for a football game or church and everyone just passes you around and you are completely fine with it! We couldn't be more proud of our sweet boy!