Fish.Funnies.

This is what happens when mom is gone.
Dogs and dad's think they get to eat the babies treats.
Babies get delirious and lose all control.

StUbBoRn.WaLkEr.

Cooper is one of the most stubborn children I have ever met. He must get it from his dad....ha ha. We have known he could walk for awhile now. But he has literally refused to walk. Cooper has walked around furniture and holding on things since he was 9 months old. It wasn't something new to him. In the past few days he has FINALLY started walking more. He has known how to stand up from the sitting position all by himself, so that wasn't the problem. He would walk a little more in the evenings and then wake up and we would start back at square one. It was like it took him all day to build his confidence up and then would lose it when he went to sleep. Well now that he is 13 1/2 months old......CRAZY!!!!!!! He will actually walk around on his own. Don't get me wrong he still loves to crawl but we are catching him walking around on his own a lot more often. He will even walk in his flips flops.

It is amazing how much we love watching those chubby little feet walk in flips flops. How he is still wobbly and clumsy with it. How excited and proud he is of himself. How cute that tiny little body is walking around all on its own. The satisfaction of knowing you helped teach him something new. How proud you are of your child for succeeding at something. Knowing your child is the cutest little walker ever. Seeing how far your baby has come in the past year or even just few months is amazing!

Enjoy our little Godzilla!

When Daddy's Leaves

Lately Cooper has not been happy when Brad leaves for work in the morning. He starts crying and tries to follow Brad. He crawls to the garage in hopes he gets to go with him. Today was adorable. He walked (YES he does it when he wants to) over to Brad and wanted him to pick him up. He totally just cuddled on daddy and didn't want to let him go. He wouldn't even come to me so that Brad could leave. Brad would say "Daddy has to go to work" and Cooper would say "NO". It really was the most precious thing! It is the best thing watching your child love their daddy so much. It is amazing how early that love starts and they can show it. I wish Brad could stay home with us every day too! But I am so grateful that Brad is willing to work hard for us so that I can stay home all day with the sweetest most adorable little boy!

The Little Things

It is amazing the little things that melt a mom's heart.
It doesn't have to be anything big.
It could be something you have seen a million times.
It could happen every day but melt you every time.
You know that no other child is that funny, smart, or adorable.
You could be the only one that would even notice.
Seeing it can totally fix your entire day and make everything better.
It's the little things that make it AMAZING!!!!!
Here are the little things my Cooper does that I just adore!












I need to make more of an effort to pay attention and remember all the little things and not stress about all the big things in life!

Got Milk???

Well it happened a few weeks ago but I am just now getting around to blogging about it. Cooper is weaned and drinking cow's milk now! It was a hard day when I decided to give up nursing. Let me begin by saying I had always planned on nursing (if my body would allow it). But I was weirded out by older babies that nursed. I was sure I would stop nursing when Cooper got teeth, so around 6 months. He had other plans however.

Cooper supplemented with formula for the first few weeks of his life. He was a big baby (8 lbs 7 oz) and my milk just wasn't doing it for him until it fully came in. I also wanted him to be used to a bottle and formula if for some reason I couldn't be with him or if we were out and about and he got hungry. Besides I HATED pumping it just never worked for me! He only had a bottle here and there but never had a problem taking it. He was awesome at nursing too! Well the bottle worked great for the first 4 months of his life. But the second we started him on cereal/baby food he wanted nothing to do with the bottle. It didn't matter if it had my milk or formula in it. We even tested out a few different formulas, but nothing! He just liked to nurse. This was totally okay with me because I LOVED nursing. I loved that only I could soothe him when he was hungry and that he only wanted me. I loved nursing before bed and in the morning and even those middle of the night feedings that we had for 10 1/2 months!!! Besides formula just stinks and is nasty. And since he was spitting up so much I didn't want the spit up smelling and being even worse. He always ate at least 3 hours apart (from the beginning) and once he stopped taking a bottle he was eating baby food so if he got hungry I could give him that to hold him over until I could nurse. Once he hit about 6 months he wouldn't nurse if there was anything else going on however. The tv, mother's room at church, Indiana, etc. Everything distracted him because he was so curious. But we figured out what worked and he realized that if he would just eat then he could play and be crazy.

When he got teeth I contemplated stopping but since he wouldn't take a bottle it was just too big of a hassle. Biting was never an issue however. I was very lucky! So I just kept nursing. When he hit around 10 1/2 months he started showing interest in other babies bottles. So I figured I would try some milk in a bottle. He loved it!!! His pediatrician said he could start on cow's milk around 11 months. So I held off until 11 months before I really started giving him milk. I would have stopped nursing there (I didn't want to but could have I should say). But we had the family reunion the week of his birthday and I knew that nursing was a comfort to him and that he would probably need it being out of his routine and own environment. So I nursed until he was one. I was leaving for Youth Conference August 4th so I knew I had to be done by then.

I started on July 18th with cutting out his mid day feeding. I started giving him a cup of milk. He hadn't been on the bottle since 4 months so we just skipped over it and started with the sippy cup. No need starting a habit that will just have to be broken in a few months anyways. Then the next week I cut out the morning feeding and just gave him a cup. He hadn't been getting middle of the night feedings anymore because he was sleeping thru the night. Even if he did wake up in the middle of the night he wouldn't get a feeding. So that was nice getting that taken care of before I started weaning. Then the big and final step was when I cut out the before bed feeding. I was so not excited about his one. This one was my favorite. I loved sitting in my glider in his room with the lights out, him all cuddly and ready for bed. He was just so sweet at this time of day. However this kind of happened naturally because I was gone a couple nights in a row when Brad put him to bed so he just got a cup anyways. I still am the one putting him to bed if I am home and I love this. I love being the first thing he sees in the morning and the last thing at night. He is at the stage where you give him his bink and blankey and he just wants to be put in his crib and go to sleep. SO NICE!!!! But on the nights he is beyond tired or not feeling great I love sitting in the glider and just rocking him. Best thing ever that he wants to cuddle now. This stage is so sweet!

It was really sad for me to stop nursing. I knew that it was time. He was getting to rambunctious and wanted to be all over the place when nursing. He would crawl around in the middle and play then want to come back for more. Or would try to nurse while he was standing or just weird things like that. Then he started coming over and try to pull down or lift up my shirt. When this happened I knew we were done!!!! I was surprised at how easy of a transition it was for him to quit nursing. Not only that but for my body. I had heard horror stories about when you wean and let your milk dry up. But I didn't have anything. I didn't have any painful days or discomfort or anything! It was like there was no change at all.

I do miss nursing but it is nice to have a break. I only have so much time before I get pregnant again and it starts all over. No it won't be happening anytime soon! Cooper loves getting milk in his sippy. He watches it in the microwave and lights up when you give it to him. He loves that he can crawl around with it and drink at his own leisure. You watch his face and you can tell he feels so cool and is so proud that he can do it on his own. It is weird to think he is such a big boy doing big boy things. He isn't my tiny little baby anymore. And he LOVES being big. It is funny to see him watch the bigger kids and then try to do what they are doing. Now if we could just get him walking like the big kids :)

Coop's being a big boy with his sippy

A Little Boy's Best Friend

I am a true believer that every child should have a pet. I always had a dog from the day I was born. I loved it! I have already seen the bond between Cooper and Indiana. They are just best buds and keep each other entertained. I love watching them together.

Cooper follows him around with the leash and tries to put it on Indiana.

Cooper tries talking to him.
He has this voice/tone he only uses when talking to Indiana.
They play fetch.
Cooper chases him around.
They give each other kisses.
They relax and watch tv together.
Indiana is always by Cooper's side.
Indiana runs up and waits for you to come when Cooper wakes up from naps.
Cooper loves to play in Indiana's bed and kennel.

Here is my proof on why every child needs a pet!

TuPpErWaRe

I have actually been meaning to blog about this for the past few months. I have started selling Tupperware back in May. Yeah the stuff that's been around forever and all of our grandmas had. My friend Amy had a party and signed up to sell it herself. I initially just purchased the business kit back in May because you get over $525 of Tupperware for $120. It is an awesome deal! Then I had my party in order to qualify for the kit. My party was awesome. I was surprised at how many people came, bought stuff, and wanted to have parties themselves. The product really sold itself. I got a ton of free product from my party and just wanted more. I started thinking more about maybe selling it for serious. I went to a few Tupperware events and a few parties and realized how fun it actually is. Not only that but I am constantly getting FREE Tupperware and making some good money doing parties. On top of that I get to buy stuff at wholesale and sample price.....AWESOME!!! They don't just have stuff to store left overs in either. They have everything you could imagine. So many gadgets and cute things I just can't get enough of it. I have become addicted and I am obsessed with the stuff. I just want everything! Brad keeps teasing me because I am filling up our kitchen and our kitchen is actually quite big with tons of cabinets! But I am getting such a good deal on it how can I turn it down :) And besides it lasts forever and I can get it replaced if anything breaks.

I have recently been promoted to a Manager for Tupperware. I recruited and now have 4 consultants under me. It is so fun getting out of the house and being around other women. Not only that but I don't feel so bad for Brad being the only one working. He likes to tease me that I spend more now then when I was working :) This way I don't feel so guilty for spending money because I helped bring some in. Let me be clear Brad has never and would never say that since he earns the money that it's his or anything like that. He has never tried making me feel guilty for not working either. But how can I not feel guilty when he goes to work and works hard every day and I get to stay home and play with the most adorable little guy in the world! And since I don't HAVE to work it makes doing Tupperware fun and no stress!

I have really been surprised at how fun and exciting selling Tupperware has been. Between the extra (easy) money, discounted product, free product, fun, new friends, etc. I have just had a really good time. There is actually a Tupperware retreat in St. George in October that I get to go to now that I am a manager. I have been a little busy with it right now because I am doing a training and parties and helping the consultants under me get started. But once I get through this first stuff it will slow down. It is nice because I choose how many parties and how much effort I really want to put into it. I can work as much or as little as I want to. I could continue moving up and promoting but I honestly don't want to get higher than manager. I will become more busy and it is just not something that I want to do right now. It has actually been really rewarding doing something again. But don't get me wrong I wouldn't want to go back to a real job in a million years. I still get to spend all day everyday with my baby boy and then just leave him with Brad an evening here and there. Then they get to bond.....it's perfect!

So if anyone wants to buy some Tupperware or get a ton free let me know!!!!