Cooper Catch Up: November 2014

November 2014 seems like yesterday! Our little ray of sunshine was growing like a weed and becoming quite the little Mr. Personality. This  little stinker makes his momma smile from ear to ear every second of every day.

November 1st: Crossing Clean Up Day! The men of our church spent the day cleaning the lot where our new church would be built. Cooper spent the day happily pulling a brush hog behind the tractor with his Pops. 

November 3rd: Cooper mastered the "Cheeeese!" smile and pose!

November 10th: Mommy might have gotten a little overzealous about planting tulips and bought a few hundred… Luckily I had a handy little helper who happens to specialize in hole digging!

The month of November means the start of non-conference basketball! Our itty bitty Baby Boomer was beyond happy to cheer on the Sooners! We love getting to be in the gym watching Uncle Awesome and our beautiful cousin, Hayden! 

November 16th: We are incredibly fortunate to be able to live in a place that is surrounded by amazingly beautiful scenery and wildlife. Each year the geese choose our local refuge as a place to stop and rest during their migration. We took Cooper to see the fields of snow geese and he thought they were the most fun thing ever! He practiced his "honk! honk!" and thought it was sooooo funny when an entire field would erupt into the sky. It's our absolute pleasure to get to watch him discover different, beautiful things in this big world!

I can't help but stop and stare… I know the days are limited before his feet reach the other end of the couch.

November 17th: It's not every day you get to have dinner with Cinderella! I asked Blake to squat down by Cooper for a picture, but of course if Blake end down Cooper had to too!

November 21st: 15 Month Check Up - 33 inches (96%) 23lb 5 oz (58%) 48.5cm (90%)

November 25th: Our dear friends, the Casts, came to visit us! Cooper and sweet little Loran    sweetly played together… and shared a few kisses! Loran's mommy and I have been best friends since college and it makes our hearts so happy to see our babies becoming friends. We look forward to arranging their marriage in about 25 years or so!

Cooper always wants Henry to feel comfortable so instead of making him feel left out since he can't walk, Cooper just crawls too. 

November 27th: We spent Thanksgiving with Pop-Pop! Unfortunately these are literally the only three pictures I have… but obviously, Cooper had so much fun he passed smooth out at the end of the night.

November 28th: Thanksgiving at Grammy's house! Highlights include: Coop getting to play with Brooks and Kamryn. Cruisin' in Brooks's hot rod! Coop thinking it was sooooo funny that he and Daddy had on matching boots! And last, but certainly not least, all three babies very sweetly sharing one ice cream cone. 

Nothing says "I Ball Till You Fall" like carrying a squeegee and wearing one rhinestone flat… Also, Cooper loves Ryan.

When we lived in the city there wasn't a single full grown tree in a five mile radius of our house. I love trees. I missed trees. I longed to be able to see the glorious colors of fall out my windows… so when we moved into our new house which is virtually in the woods, we celebrated the trees! When our neighbors grumble about having to rake, blow and burn leaves, we did the work with great joy! We are so thankful for the trees and the beautiful leaves they provide!

November 30th: Pumpkin Throw! Thanksgiving was over which meant it was time to ditch the pumpkins! Cooper and Daddy had loads of fun chunking them into the woods! A new favorite tradition!

Cooper Catch Up: October 2014

October 2nd: Cooper mastered the somersault in record time!

Cooper and Mommy got to attend Noon Day, a devotional meeting for high school students led by our Uncle Neal. Cooper was used for a demonstration and he did his job perfectly (he just had to stand there and let me hold him)… then he happily played basketball! 

We do our best to NEVER wear orange, but when we do, we wear it for Shelly Sheffield! Another great turnout at the Multiple Sclerosis Walk to support our sweet friend.

An afternoon at the Ranch is an afternoon well spent!

Who won at the Vian Football pie auction? COOPER KING. Everyone generously shared their goodies and Cooper happily accepted and ate every single bite.

Rain or shine we cheer on Denver and the Vian Wolverines! Weathering an hour rain delay with two busy toddlers is quite the experience...

We enjoyed a rainy lunch date with our favorite friend, Evie Jane. The coordinated rain jackets was complete coincidence but sure did make for some adorable pictures! 

Mommy turned 30 and Daddy threw a big surprise party to celebrate! Our entire, gigantic family filled every square inch of the Branch. Mommy was definitely surprised! Cooper, Creede and Henry were looking sharp… and checking out their Aunt Tyra who was walking in from the car! 

Cooper and Henry took their mommies to the pumpkin patch and petting zoo! After watching Cooper toss pumpkins, we feel confident he has promising future in the shot put!

Mommy learned real quick if she wanted to get ready in relative peace all she has to do is get Cooper a toothbrush and let him play in Daddy's sink.

Precious little snuggle bug. Some days the to-do list can just wait...

Pops, MommyShawna, Daddy, Mommy and Coop went to visit Uncle Awesome and his OU Sooners by attending an open practice. Cooper loved watching the guys work out and was thrilled to get to play a little at the end, but he was an even bigger fan of the tour we got at the end! I thought we would never get him out of the dressing rooms!

Two hard workers making sure the flower bed was just right!

Another fun Saturday cheering on the Sooners! We ran into our sweet friends - Britanny and little Loran. Cooper couldn't help but kiss her and landed himself a spot as her Man Crush Monday on Instagram!

Possibly my all time favorite video… I could watch this cutie for days!

Party at Cooper's house! All the cousins came over to watch the OU game - messes were made and fun was had by all!

Ashley and I decided we had been successful walkers when BOTH babies were down for the count! And randomly both leaning the same direction...

For one night each year, we set our differences aside and pay tribute to the greatness that is Oklahoma State Homecoming! Cooper and Daddy attended their first Walk Around and LOVED getting to see all the cool house decs! Our super talented cousin Maggie earned a first place price for her awesome artwork and we got to visit with our sweet Randi and visit her beautiful sorority! Plus dinner with Mommy's precious friend Ki who is now a big time professor! Such a fun night!

Mommy couldn't help but stop by and check out the OSU Pi Phi house! They sweetly let us march right in like we owned the place. Cooper made a cute new girlfriend and Mommy made him swear to only date Pi Phis when he gets to college...

Cutest kitchen help you've ever seen!

The trees around our house have decided to put on quite the show! Yellows, oranges and even the occasional reds are starting to sparkle! Cooper LOVES getting to explore outside in this beautiful weather… Again this year, we are beyond thankful to be surrounded by God's amazing handiwork!

Sometimes nap times are a bust and as the saying goes, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Fun memories even if it did mean another day without marking anything off the to do list.

Our big cousin Blake turned THREE! We love that Blake throws an extra fun costume party every year for her birthday! Its so nice to be able to have all the little cousins together to celebrate and take pictures in their adorable Halloween attire! Cooper was a little old man this year (more pictures coming!). Henry was the tiniest little lumberjack you've ever seen! Creede was a super scary and insanely adorable Trojan! Blake was a beautiful Pocohontas! Journey and Jacksons made cute little pumpkins and Blythe and Zoe were the prettiest witches we've ever seen!

I love how a baby will make you stop and appreciate things that would typically go unnoticed… Cooper kept smelling the mums on our porch which made me stop and appreciate the sweet smell of fall and the memory of proudly wearing a big mum corsage on Homecoming day!

Daddy was in the woods looking for a big buck so Cooper and I cuddled on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn and some of the best college football we've ever seen! TCU and Baylor played a knock out game that had us both cheering! 

#Momfail. Cooper successfully caught the ball all by himself on October 27th… a few days later I busted him in the face while trying to document it.

Scout has been coming to visit us and Cooper loves him. We let him out and Coop stands at the door yelling "Stout! Tome here! Tooooome here Stout!" right up until Scout barrels him over while running back into the house.

Cooper rocks a watch like it's his job.

Cooper and I were at the park playing and I quickly snapped this picture. I loved his little tongue sticking out as he concentrated on making his big descent… Boy, how they grow overnight… 

After a few nights in the woods Daddy found that big buck! I've never seen a kid look more proud of their daddy than that night! Cooper was elated! He smiled, he hugged Daddy, he proudly told everyone about the "big buck!", he pet it repeatedly and then he leaned and gave it a big ol' kiss!

The Little Prince was hands down the most adorable little old man there ever was! Pops knocked out the cutest little tiny PVC pipe walker in record time. MommyShawna sewed his suspenders to his pants and Mommy scored an adorable polka dot bow tie at an estate sale - costume complete! Cooper had great fun with the walker, we obviously didn't have to ask him twice to sport his watch and the glasses turned out to be much more entertaining than we had hoped for! Our little ham loved all the attention! We didn't actually trick or treat since Cooper doesn't eat candy yet and Mommy and Daddy really didn't need any more sugar! So we celebrated Blake's birthday in costume and then sported it one more time so Mommy could get a picture of him at the local pumpkin patch (perks of small farming town - there are literal pumpkin patches!). I'm guessing the Halloweens of Mommy getting to pick his costume are few and far between so we are living up these first few years before Batman and a variety of sports figures begin. 

October turned out to be such a fun month! Between ball games and Halloween costumes, visiting petting zoos and planting flowers - we stayed plenty busy! We love this boy so much more than we ever imagined was possible…