Cooper: Week 23

COOPER LIKES:

 

Taking a bubble bath in the sink.

You know, some days Cooper just has to ride along for whatever I have to get done that day  and other days we are at home and the "to do" list doesn't seem quite so daunting. This was one of those days where I thought - let's just do nothing but have fun today... and a bubble bath in the sink followed! So often I have to remind myself that my sweet boy won't fit in the sink for long and that I should slow down and enjoy the moment. Plus, life in general is better with bubbles!

Standing up in his crib by himself.
The Little Prince was quite proud of himself for being able to hold himself up!

Listening to Coach tell tall tales.

Jumping. All. The. Time.

COOPER DOES NOT LIKE:

Not being able to reach the Christmas ornaments.

Sleeping on a floor pallet at the lake. 

He rolled all over the place despite the wall of pillows we erected.

Pack and Play here we come!

MOMMY'S FAVORITE 

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

The picture above is not in any way the best quality picture I've ever taken, but it means a lot to me. I grew up eating at good ol' Charlie's Chicken in the neighboring town. It's one of my dad's favorites and for as long as I can remember the owner, Larry, has always been so kind to me. Whether he snuck me a bowl for ice cream when I was a kid or just asked me how I was doing when I was in for the weekend from college, he never fails to make me feel special. This week we took Cooper to Charlie's for the first time. My dad, Brandon and I were doing our best to eat while the little man reached for each plate, squirmed like a little worm and gave us fits as we all passed him back and forth. Larry came over and sweetly offered to hold him while we ate, but Brandon declined his offer - not wanting to inconvenience him as the lunch time crew was starting to pour in. A few minutes later, Larry came back to our table and told Brandon he WANTED to hold Cooper and so we passed him over. He took our little guy and sweetly switched the channel on the only tv in the restaurant to cartoons (despite the fact that there were four booths full of older gentlemen that were watching the news). He bounced and talked and slowly made his way around the restaurant showing Cooper off until every last bite on our plates were eaten. We didn't worry about Cooper for a second - we got to enjoy our meal instead of inhaling it - we even had the luxury of having a real conversation! We know that when we leave Oklahoma City we will lose a lot of the conveniences that we are used to... but there are some things OKC doesn't offer - like free babysitting at Charlie's Chicken. Thanks Larry!

And then this picture was just cute... 

This picture makes me understand why people say Cooper looks like my brother.

WEEK 23 HAPPENINGS:

Day 155: This was a really big day for our little family - we closed on our new house! This was probably the first tie that "residency is almost over" really set in for us. We've been talking and praying about moving back to my hometown for years and it's finally happening... and we have a home... and man, did those three years of residency fly by!! We could not be more excited!

Cooper loved the girls - and the ink pens - down at Valley Land & Title!

 

We have been incredibly fortunate when buying houses - both times we have looked at ONE house and bought it (crazy, I know) AND both times our parents have been super helpful - both Brandon's mom and my dad are real estate brokers! Grammy took great care of us when we bought our first home in OKC and this time Pops is knocking out all the paperwork and doing a complete remodel on the house for us! 

We bought this great little cabin in large part because of the incredible view of the lake. We cannot wait to get the remodel underway as we plan to gut the entire house and add a second story! Get excited - we are going to have LOTS of before and after pictures coming soon (hopefully).

Daddy, Uncle Neal and Casey - these three didn't leave any left overs!

Sweet Baby Henry slept through the whole party!

Aunt Jana, Mommy and Lyndsey

Levi had the magic touch - Cooper thought he was hilarious.

We also celebrated Daddy's 30th birthday with a fun shrimp boil at the Lodge! The whole family came to celebrate and we had lots of fun!! Pops cooked up a yummy feast of shrimp, sausage, corn and new potatoes which we devoured. It's always fun to have a reason to all come together! Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Day 156: Grandpa & Sonya came to play with us at the lake! We went shopping at the Briarpatch, checked out the new house and enjoyed an evening around the fire. We were so happy they came to visit!

Nothing like reading with your feet propped up...

Day 157: After church, we hung out with Gabby and Pops until Daddy got done at the hospital. Then we went and started cleaning out the new house - the people we purchased it from basically took the golf cart out of the garage and then left so we had to sort everything into keep, donate, or trash piles!

Day 158: We had a fun lunch date with Haley & Maggie, but sadly didn't take a picture. Guess what?! SWIM lessons start in March! So of course we needed to try on our swim suit...

Day 159: Baby yoga ends when Cooper starts crawling and since we know that is right around the corner we went ahead and enrolled in the next class - Kindermusik! Kindermusik is an early childhood music and movement program and Cooper loved it! I obviously didn't take any pictures during class, but we came home and showed Daddy what we had learned. Do you see how much fun we had?! Cooper (with a little help) tapped his sticks to the beat of the music, banged on a drum and danced to a few new songs! Off to a good start...

Day 160: "Where's Cooper? There he is! Where's Cooper? There he is!" Oh man, we love playing hide and seek right now! 

Day 161: Momma cleaned house while Cooper played in his activity saucer. So thankful to have a little squirt who occasionally enjoys entertaining himself.