A few things

I'm going to post pictures soon, of Luke and Cooper dressed the same, but I thought I'd add some things beforehand.

Let's see:

1. Cooper took his first steps last Friday! He took about four steps three different times, and about seven steps one time. Since then, he barely wants to stand up, so he hasn't done it again. Woo hoo!

2. My daddy BUSTED his knee hunting last weekend. I mean, it's shot. Not really shot, but out of commission. Pray that his surgery goes well and his recovery is minimal. Go daddy!

3. Cooper can now say THREE when I say "One, two ..." What a genius. He can also say "mmmmoo" when I ask "What does a cow say?" it's great. he loves saying Bible and can almost say Jesus. So cool.

4. I'm making an actual dinner with pork chops tonight. This is rare.

5. Jay and Ally had their baby girl Camden yesterday evening. We're so pumped for them. She's gorgeous.

6. I can't wait until Project Runway tonight! Such a great show. Everyone is so talented. I can't even cut in a straight line.

7. The switch to milk for Cooper is going well. We're making the milk switch first, and he's getting less and less formula. We should have the total switch by his first birthday, and then we'll make the no bottle jump. That should be the hardest. Again, thanks for everyone's advice!

Keep the high five alive!

This post has nothing to do with its title. An intern at work said this to me this week, and I thought it was funny at the time.

Thanks to everyone for the milk/sippy cup/straw advice. He uses a sippy cup at mealtimes that's usually filled with water, so when I hand him one with milk in it, he gets confused. We're going to make the switch to milk first I think, then to exclusive cup after October. He's already doing pretty well!

So, Grey's Anatomy? How does everyone feel about last night's show? I really tried to get into it because most of you know my dislike for Meredith Grey. Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd put on an awesome performance last night. I really like her. But seriously Meredith, GET A CLUE! Sorry, I'll stop.

Wanna talk about compelling - does anyone out there still watch ER? SUCH a great show last night. SO controversial - I love it!

The Office was hilarious. Poor Pam and Jim. Steve Carrell and his conference room scene with the awkward hug - I almost died laughing.

11-monther

Can you believe Cooper's almost a year old? Where did the time go? I can hardly remember what he was like in those early days already, so I'm having to go back to pictures. It's all very crazy that those pictures are the same little boy.

We had a fun weekend with my mom and dad in town! Went out to eat, Cooper (and Luke and I) got some clothes and toys from Grandma and Big Walt at the new outlet mall, and of course Target, and just relaxed. Coop's been feeling a little feverish lately, and has a cough and runny nose, but I think he got better over the weekend with the grandparents being here. :)

Here's a narration of Cooper at Z'Tejas. He's really good at mimicking us:

Wow, I can put my hands on my head just like daddy!


Hey, I think I have more hair.


Everyone, stop laughing so loud at me!



Now at home:

I love the cabinets. I wish mommy and daddy would baby proof them for me, but that would be less fun. Don't worry, the cleaning stuff is up high, for those who were scared.


Grandma gets me.


Okay, advice time. We're having to switch Cooper to whole milk soon, and to a sippy cup as well. Has anyone made that transition easily and has some advice to share? Or, tricks? He just looks at me funny when I put real milk in his sippy cup. He likes water so much, and his formula too. Sometimes, he just doesn't wanna drink. Suggestions?

Catch up

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, and I'll try to do better.

Cooper's getting so big. I know I say that every time, but it's true. He's about to stand up and walk away any day now. Here's a few pics. He wont' stand still at all for pictures now, so I either need a major camera, or accept blurry pictures!

We had a good weekend with some friends in Emory, Texas. HUGE town. Some great catfish, and fun times just chatting with friends and watching each other's kids play. Good times. We missed Jay and Ally though ... come on Camden!

IT'S RAINING

It rained this morning, and I think it scared Cooper. He starting crying the car on the way to the sitter this morning because of the hard rain, and I just realized that this is probably his first realized experience with rain. Boy, do we need it!

You be the judge.

Here is Luke at four months, and a couple at eight months:







Now I see the nose and eyebrows looking more like Luke's. And, I've seen that look in the eight month picture before. Sorta like, "Whatever mom. You're not that funny but here's a courtesy smile."

Sara W.'s Blog Blurb

Check it out:

My friend Sara has started a new business and I thought you all might like to see it. Check it out online at www.photocardcafe.com. If you want, put a link to this Web site on your blog if you have one. It would really help her out!

Cooper totally got his looks from me.

Picture courtesy of my mommy this weekend. See the picture in the last post to compare faces. I'm looking for a Luke baby pic to scan as well, just to see. :)

10 MONTHS yesterday

My boy is getting into the double-digits. In months, that is. It's hard to believe that in two months, he'll be a YEAR old!

He can do so many things now, and we can barely keep up. He can:

- Eat basically anything, and drink out of a sippy cup most of the time
- Walk pretty well holding only one hand - he's almost there!
- Cruise along the furniture, really fast
- Still army crawling, but can go on all fours if he wants. He'd rather walk!
- Say mama, dada, ball, kitty, doggie, bye bye, hi, uh oh, and a version of thank you
- Knows to step up on stairs
- Has two teeth coming in, and we don't know where the tip of a top tooth went that was there a couple of months ago. I guess this isn't really something he can "do" per se, but something he has!
- Laugh when we laugh, all of the time!

He's so smart. I can't wait to see what he's going to do at this time next year.

Cooper is such a blessing to us. We couldn't have asked for a more agreeable, flexible, happy, well-adjusted, fun child. We love him so much, and are so thankful to God that he is in our lives. We can't remember what we did before Cooper was born, and we really don't want to.

Birthday weekend for momma.

I had a great weekend! Luke went all out for my birthday. Man, I'm old. TWENTY-SEVEN! Whew.

Friday night, Luke and I left Cooper with Jeffrey and April (and Mason and Landon) and went to a late dinner at Truluck's downtown. MAN was it good. That's the best place. Everyone should go there. Then, Luke gave the gifts - best part. I got a bottle of perfume I'd been wanting, and then was the clincher: I open an envelope that basically says to go to Spa Aloha at 10:45 tomorrow morning (Sat.) for your hour massage, lunch and hour facial. WOO HOO! I was elated. Needless to say, it was a great experience, and I'll be going back.

We went to a Chris Rice concert on Sat. night at Westover (before which, we went to Wally's down the street from church and got some good greasy food). It was an AWESOME concert. He's so smart with his songwriting, and relaxing too. What a fun job he has. Cooper actually liked it too. He sat in Luke's lap and leaned on me for about 45 minutes just listening. He's going to be a musician, I feel it!

Sunday I went to a baby shower while the rest of the guys went to eat. Cooper too - I guess he's one of the guys now! Then, we went to the Hejls for some burgers and cake. Mmmm. Best part: Got the pre-ordered ZOE Group CD Closer from Charlie and Janie. Can't WAIT to get that one. Good gifts guys! I also got some great gifts from my sis from Target - I love Target - money from grandparents and a much-needed deep freezer from my parents. We're all hooked up!

All in all, a fabulous weekend. Lots of family time and good food. That's what it's all about.

Trying to catch up - too much stuff

Some cute video of Cooper talking and walking. He has fantastic conversations with himself! Please excuse the river of drool.

Click here for video #1 ...
Here for video #2.

The title of this blog sums up my life in the past week or so. It just never seems like I can catch up with anything - housework, work work, blogging. My goal this week is to get everything back on track, including my posting to this blog. I always think of interesting topics to blog about, but I'm always somewhere other than my computer when ideas hit me. So, when I sit here, now, nothing comes to mind. I'll just start where I think I left off, and go from there. I'll talk more about the too much "stuff" bit in a little bit.

Mexico: Luke and I had a blast in Cancun. It was SO beautiful, and unbelievably nice to get away from the real world for a while, Cooper too. I know that's little harsh, and it could make me sound like a bad mom, but I don't care. We ate a lot of great food, got some sun on the beach and just talked and sat around. It's been a long time since Luke and I hung out for an extended period (yeah, three nights isn't just oodles of away time, but oh well). Much needed. Once we touched down in DFW, I realized how much I missed Coop and couldn't wait to get back to grandma's. He had a fantastic time, and all was well! Well, except Luke's back and face. He was body surfing and hurt his back, while scraping his forehead and nose on the sand. He had a cool story and a funny wound. It's healing nicely.

I'm serious, this is an actual picture from our hotel room at the Hilton:



Here are my feet, in heaven:



Then, back to work. It was a crazy three days back, but the weekend was productive, and lots of fun! We went to the lake with Luke's family (and soon-to-be sister-in-law Alyssa) to of course, eat and swim. That's what we Hejls do best. Cooper took a nap in his stroller, and enjoyed the water.

Here he is, all smiles:



THE cutest. I always worry about when and where Cooper takes a nap when we go places for a long time without a bed, because for some reason, I always feel like THE WORLD WILL END if he's off schedule. Is that a mom thing, or should I just chill? If anyone knows me, it's hard for me to just chill. Our BlackBerries worked in Mexico. That is not chilling.

Back to the "stuff" comment: Does anyone feel like they have just way too much stuff? Especially baby stuff? I mean, to the point where you hate to get out of the car at home because you know you'll have to make three trips back to the car to get the bag, the Bumbo, other toys, his stroller, etc. It's almost exhausting the amount of things a baby "needs" day to day. Granted, Cooper is a LOT easier to take care of than he was six months ago, but I mean, goodness. I went to the grocery store last night to get CAUGHT UP on groceries, and a few hundred dollars and a tax-fee weekend later I got out to my car to put the groceries in. It was a lot of groceries. And, if you know me, you know I have a lot of SUV to put them in. 'What a relief,' I thought, thinking that I could just chunk all of the bags in the very back and go. But no. I open the hatch and there they were - a stroller, an exersaucer, fold out chair, some toys, and an air compressor. UGH. I had to use the BACKSEAT of my gigantic car for the bags. The horror. So, anyway, the stuff is wearing me out. I'm going to have to minimize what it takes to keep Cooper happy, and go from there. The other option is an aching back and lots of sweating because of the 300 million-degree heat wave.

And, as I think about this, I have to stop and think about how dumb and spoiled I sound, when there are parents out there who can't even afford to give their children backpacks and school supplies for school. Westover works with an apartment complex down the road from the building - puts on VBS, actually had our VBS over there, etc. - and we were all charged to donate a backpack or two with school supplies in it for these kids at the complex. They were worried about getting 200:



There were just that many on the other side of the pulpit. SO cool. So, don't take what you have for granted like I have lately. Count your blessings every day!

I'm going to an ACU Austin party tomorrow. Go Wildcats!

This is what happens ...

... when you leave your son with his crazy Uncle George and Aunt Rachel. Haha.



Isn't he so gangsta? Yeah, I still need to post trip pictures. They're coming - I'll try tonight. I have to post more stories too, I just never can think of anything interesting to say. Let's see ...

Did anyone watch/listen to the View from yesterday with Elizabeth going off on the morning after pill? Thoughts? I just heard it on the radio this morning, and whew! Barbara had to calm her down.

Luke ate mayonnaise

That's how crazy we were on our trip to Cancun, sans Cooper. He ate fries too.

I'll post pictures this evening - hang tight all. I've been slacking, I know.

What's up doc?

Cooper had a Dr.'s appointment this week. He's all normal and perfect and such. Little cold virus, but that should clear up on it's own.

Weight: 20 lbs., 11 oz. (50%)
Height: 29 1/4 in. (75%)
Head: 46 (cm I think - 80%)

So he's got a big head. Whatever!

Julie, this is for you

Luke has lost about 90 pounds since 2003. But, we have an ongoing laugh about "fat Luke." Sometimes we all have moments where we give in to the temptation. Ha.

Probably the nastiest thing I've ever done - 9 months

So to ring in his nine month birthday, Cooper decides to give mom a surprise.

I'm doing dishes and I can see Cooper from waist up in his exersaucer, just smiling and playing away. I finish the dishes and notice that our dog Joey is sniffing around by Cooper. When I walk around, I see something that I don't understand at first, all over the bottom part of the exersaucer, where his feet go. Low and behold, he had pooped out the side of his diaper, onto the bottom of the exersaucer and was SMEARING HIS FEET AROUND IN THE POOP. I was disgusted. I woke up Luke, we stick his straight in the bath and I had to wipe everything off. The bottom of this toy is a piano keyboard, so there are lots of little nooks and crannies. You get my drift. Gross. Anyway, it's funny now, but something I'll never forget cleaning up.

A couple of pictures:

Just like his mommma.


To be featured in the acclaimed ACU Today.

Must ... have ... gadget

Luke and I ordered these for ourselves last week.



We couldn't help ourselves. The Blackberry 8700g is an awesome device, and I'm pretty sure we both had a hankerin' for something new to play with. Not as if we're already the most connected people on the planet with three laptops and a desktop, we have to get Blackberries. Now we have absolutely no excuse whatsoever in the world not to email or call people back, unless we, heaven forbid, turn them off.

Here's a cute picture of Landon and Cooper (cousins and buddies for life) in nursery school at church this week. Precious.



Cooper is getting around pretty well now. It's more of an army crawl than a real crawl. He likes to walk around while we hold his hands and stop to play with the cat and the dog. It's so funny how much they intrigue Cooper. Do you think he even know what they are? Scary.

He's eating everything now, and can't ever seem to get enough. He's still skinny, so eat away child! Enjoy it while you can!

We're not doing anything this weekend except for Mason's 3rd birthday party. I love cake!

God won't let me not watch fireworks.

Happy Fourth!



We had a great time this weekend with my family in the Fort Worth area. We swam almost every day. Cooper loves the water - I'll post a video in a little while. He's a crazy splasher!





I got a lot of rest and my family got to hang with Cooper. He's starting to ooch around and crawl a little now. Today was his first "no" experience with the stereo receiver in the livingroom. And so it begins ...



We sat on our little front porch and behold, there were big fireworks that we could see down the street in front of our house. It was really nice. We were thinking we wouldn't see them for the first time ever this year, but there they were. It was good to chill and talk to Luke like we used to. Wuv you honey.

Three day work week this week. Every week should be this way! We're doing nothing this weekend, and I'm so excited about it. Maybe some yard work and long walks, but that's it.

I know this is random, but I wonder where Ken Lay is right now? I guess stress really does kill. Perfect example of greed. Sad.

I took a nap.

It was heavenly. Cooper and I slept for 2.5 hours this afternoon and I feel awesome.

Just few links for tonight. I'll post some pictures after the Fourth.

Heather Armstrong's blog, dooce.com, is something I frequent. She's hilarious. A great writer, a little vulgar at times, but pretty much hilarious. She had a great post a couple of months ago about parenthood. Eloquent, and true to how I feel most of the time, when I start to throw a pity party and realize that I have a great life. Her archives, especially her birth story, are some of the funniest stories I've ever read. Carolyn posted a link to her blog, so I figured it was okay for me to do so as well. :)

Julie Kiser's blog last week really moved me. A great post about helping the poor. Read it. You're awesome Julie.

It's the Fourth. Back to my eating spree!

Pictures, pictures

As promised - more lake pictures to come, when I download them ...

Chase and Coop at the grocery store.







Cooper's actual first time in a grocery store cart.



Go Mavs! More like UGH Mavs ...



My roomies.



My other roomie.



Breakfast at grandma and grandpa's.



Learning how to drink from sippy cup. Ha.



Memaw and Pepaw. :)





Just in a good mood.





Getting pictures taken.



He LOVES the outdoors and the lake. I need to put baby pool video on here from this past weekend.



Him at work with me. Notice people swooshing by the background. Thought that made the picture funny.