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}

{9 Month Pictures}

We are very blessed to have such a great photographer who not only takes amazing pictures but also has become a friend of ours. It has been so fun to have her take our family photos for almost a year now and capture who Cooper and we are as a family. This last time around the weather wasnt coroporating with us so we decided to stay indoors and take them in our home. Thank you Kara so much and we love all of them especially the candid ones.

{Matching Shirts -well sort of}

{I Love this picture of Holland and Cooper}

{We always try to get a picture of Cooper with the soccer ball to show how much he is growing, but this time it was a bit difficult because he did not want to stop moving}

{This is a daily occurance, us sitting on the couch having family time and Cooper trying to find where Holland is}

{This was Ryans rocking chair when he was a toddler}

{My baby boy and I- he was pretty tired at this point}

{Cooper's Grandma was in town & was able to help us with the pictures as well as got a few of her own-Thanks mom for all your support and love for Cooper}

January..came and went

This past month has gone by faster then any other month and I wasnt good at documenting.We celebrated a few birthdays, had time with family visiting and fun times with friends. I also began to PROM our house and suprisngly I have enjoyed it. I am hoping to have our whole house done by march.

Cooper turned 10 months on his Daddys bday and we cant believe he is almost one years old.

• Our little guy is crawling everywhere, standing up-trying to reach for everything and for the past few weeks he is walking along the tables. He is defiently mobile and life has changed for us and probably will even more when he takes off walking!!!Yikes I am excited for that time but also sad cause my baby boy is growing up.
• He loves to follow Holland around the house, crawl down the hall to play in his own room with his toys and if we do leave the bathroom door open he loves that toilet paper holder. Isnt it funny how much kids would rather play with things that arent their toys for example Cooper loves the tupperware lid drawer, laundry bag, coasters, and Holland's bones.
• Cooper is one of the best nappers. Well okay sometimes he isnt the best but lately the past few weeks (besides the few days being sick) he totally lets you know that he is tired and wants to go to take a nap. All he needs is his lamby and he is good to go.
• LOVES FOOD...all food but recently started to become a bit picky (hopefully not picking that up from his dad) He is loving feeding himself, string cheese, puffins, anything he can pick up and put in his mouth. (It is difficult because he only really has two bottom teeth and few upper are coming in so we are still grinding food up for him)
• The noises he makes are precious but hilarious at the same time. Ryan and him have this grunting match back and forth and if it doesnt make you laugh your crazy.
• Dada..nana..and sometimes mama are the words he is blabbing besides the crazy other noises.
• Like I said before he adores Holland. If he is outside Cooper is standing up at the slider glass door either crying cause he wants to go out or making noises and banging on the door.
• Ryan is teaching him high five and he has done it a few times.
  

Ryan and I got to enjoy a night completely alone a few weekends ago. It was such a relaxing & special time to spend with each other with no distractions. Our dinner at Seastar was fantastic {thanks to my father in law} and staying in a hotel, going to bed early and sleeping in well we tried to {thanks to my mom}. Cooper did great with his grandma and we were happy to miss him. We know that time away is what will make us better parents as we will also be a better husband and wife as well. It is very important to have that time alone & we are so blessed that we were able to.