Pictures.

Easter 2010

Cooper playing in his thomas train

He loves to crawl on the dishwasher-I usually never open it when he is aroundFamily outing to the ballard locks

I love my family and so grateful for our times together.

MONKEY BIRTHDAY PICTURES

I know this post is over a month late but I thought I could post some pictures from Coopers 1st birthday party. We had a great Saturday lunch with all our family and friends. Coopers Oma made an amazing spread of food {pulled pork sandwiches, salads, veggies,fruits} and we made an assortment of cupcakes.

Party Favor- Some yummy monkey munch

A very creative wrapped present

Cooper didnt dive right into his cake, his daddy did have to help him. But he loved to lick all the frosting off his hands.

Cooper helped us open his presents and wasnt always interesed in them all but he has played with most of them now.

On of our favorite gifts, was a handmade husky sweater from my "Aunt" Lynn. We are so excited for this fall and for Cooper to wear it. It will be an item passed down in our family.

Our Sweet little monkey boy. We hope you had a great first bday party!

Our little boy is 1

Yes I know this post is 2weeks late, but with all the birthday's we had and family gatherings I completely forgot to finish it.

Ryan and I cannot believe that we have a 1 year old. Looking back at this year we both have no regrets but we can only say that it has been the best year of our life. Cooper has brought so much joy, happiness and more laughter then we could have imagined into our lives. I have learned so much about selfless love, compassion, patience, and to sleep when needed. God has given me this amazing time to be with Cooper at home as well and I am so thankful.

To our Cooper James, we hope you had a great birthday and even though we want to freeze time and enjoy every moment with you we also can't wait for the next year ahead. We are excited to watch you grow, learn and take off (once this little guy starts to fully walk we are in trouble). You are so curious, always wanting to know what is going on around you but also so sweet and caring for others especially for your doggy. Words cannot describe how much we Love you and so blessed by you everyday. Thank you for being our little boy.

He woke up on his birthday happy as can be. I made him pancakes and he ate them off our "you are special plate" (a new tradition for our family). We spent the day playing as normal & getting stuff ready for his big party. Later for dinner we had just our families over for pizza and of course an ice cream cake. Ryan and I both love ice cream cake and it will forever be a family tradition in this household. He really didnt care for the ice cream that much probably cause it was so cold. We only gave him a little bit since the big cake would be at the party.

What's up with Cooper lately

I think I have said it before but our little chunky baby has become our little man. Just in the past few weeks he has learned so much. Sometimes I get worried that I wont remember all the little things that he does and I'm trying to document as much as we can. Luckily this day in age we have iphones, the flip, and digital camera's.

Some of Coopers most recent things:

• He loves giving kisses. Usually we ask him to give us a kiss and he leans in with his mouth wide open. Lately he has just been doing it on his own and boy let me tell you he is such a cuddler!
• Talking..talking..talking all the time. While driving in the car he is sitting back there blabbing away. His new word he is trying to say is Dog
• Cooper loves to eat. Lately though he also knows that he can drop his food and Holland will eat it. So our new job is teaching Cooper not to feed the dog.
• He isnt walking yet but man does that kid move. He crawls so fast sometimes I wonder if his knees are going to be sore later in life.
• He loves to swing. We put up a swing in the backyard which is very nice and conveinent. So lately its been so nice outside we have been able to do yardwork, play with Holland and have Coop be outside with us.
• Our son is such a sweetheart. I know he is young but I already can see him being someone who is very attentive to others feelings. He loves to share his toys with others and constantly is giving to Holland. They love to be together and honestly I find them back in Coopers room alone playing with his toys. Cooper with play with them then give them to Holland. It brings a big smile to my face.
• I love all of his facial expressions. I cant even start to list them all. He has one for when he is trying to listen to what we are saying, or the way he looks at me when he knows he isnt suppose to touch that, or the smile he gets when he sees his Daddy come home from work. Two of my favorite looks is one when he knows he is being funny and I cant help but laugh at him and two when he is being shy and very lovey (watch out girls) I just want to capture every expression he makes or noise but I know that its impossible and I am excited to see these emotions become more of who he is.

I could go on forever about Cooper and who he is and how excited we are for his future but something I have learned this past year is to really live in the present. I may not be the perfect Mom or do what everyone else is doing, but I feel like I know my son and all I can do is love him, teach him and be with him {which I feel so blessed to wake up and get to spend all day with him}

Sometimes being a parent is really hard.

This past week was probably the hardest week we have gone through as parents. A week ago Cooper just wasn't himself- he had a runny noise, was crying a lot at night and wanted to be held a lot. So Tuesday after he didn't eat anything for breakfast or lunch I called the doctor. They are so great there that they had me come in right away and what do you know he had two ear infections (luckily at the beginning stages). We got medicine and home we went. Later that night he wasn't acting to sick but at around 5 o'clock that was a different story. He slept on Ryan for two hours while having 104 temp. We got him to wake up around 8 and barely get any liquids in his little body. I grabbed my bathing suit and got into the tub with him hoping to bring the temperature down a bit. Luckily Cooper loves baths and he did enjoy it a tiny bit, laying on me and letting me pour water all over him, but quickly started to fall asleep. Ryan finally got him to bed around 10. The hardest part was he never really cried just moaned, whimpered and would give us this look like "help me". It broke my little heart and I cried a few times, but Ryan reminded me these times are what being a parent really is about, dropping everything and loving your child as much as you can but also not losing control or overreacting. I feel so lucky to have Ryan by my side, he is the best Dad and I couldn't have asked for a better teammate. So a week later thankfully the medicine has worked and our little monkey is back to normal. Were heading to the doctors today hoping that the ear infection has gone away.

Now I can't have a post without a few pictures. These of course were before he was sick.

{we had a few great days of sunshine and played in the backyard with holland, they were sorta playing catch}

{Cooper has always loved baths from the day he was born, usually he only cries when its time to get out. Lately he has really been into playing with his duckies and splashing a ton}

{I love seeing Cooper and Ryan together. Everytime my phone rings he will say "Dada" and when Ryan gets home from work all he wants to do is be with him. I cant wait for their bond to grow has Cooper gets older. The pictures below are of Coop in his husky gear one day when the basketball game was on and the other is his Arsenal jersey}

(I cannot believe my little guy is 11 months. This month he will turn 1 years old and I cannot believe it has gone by this fast. This month I probably will be posting about special moments over the past year}