Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Bowling Fun!

Last week, after Coopers doctors appointment I took Easton Bowling.  The bowling ally does FREE Bowling for Students during the summer. So I only had to pay for myself..can't beat that.  It was a lot of fun and very fast.  It only took us 1/2 hour to bowl. It was great fun.  Cooper was happy to watch from his car seat at first, but it didn't take long before he wanted out.  So it was "fun" to bowl with a baby.  It was a close game.  I won (114-98).  I even got a strike!  Easton got a few spares.  With bumpers of course:)

Great fun with my favorite Eastee!

















A fun picture of us!  He loves his mommy...well most of the time. :)

My little Shark!

Cooper loves the pool! He loves the water. He loves to splash, kick his legs, grab his toy, he even loves it when the kids splash him in the face. He loves his feet to go up and down in the water. I am relieved he loves the pool because we live at the pool during the summertime! I don't get to relax as much as did last year..I actually have to stay in the water this year.:)


He even loved our little beach...and especially the sand. He wasn't too happy that I wouldn't let him eat it.

Road Trip Stops...

In June, We went up to the Redford Family Reunion in Washington. It was a reunion with Eric's immediate family. We rented a cabin by a lake and enjoyed each others company. I don't have the pictures from the trip...but once I get them I will post about the whole reunion.

On the way back...I decided to make a fun trip out of it and see a waterfall and see Grandpa/Grandma Redford. It was Father's Day and we had a long 14 hour drive home. So why not stop for a bit on the way and enjoy some sights and company. Our first stop was at Multnomah Falls in Oregon. It was along the highway. It took a bit to park...I guess it was a popular Father's Day destination. We walked up to the first look out and took a few pictures. It was beautiful. You could feel the misty water from the falls. Cooper didn't like that. It was a short visit, but worth the stop. We took time to eat a snack and feed Cooper.


No Judging...we were traveling!


Our next stop was in Eugene to visit Grandma/Grandpa Redford.  She made us dinner and we enjoyed visiting.  She loved seeing the kids.  She was sad she missed Brooklyn.  (She went to Utah for a couple of weeks..we'll blog about that when she gets home).  It was a short but enjoyable visit.

Cooper is a little busy grabbing Great Grandpa's hair.  

It was a long drive home...but so much more enjoyable to take a few stops and enjoy some great company and sights.  And with Cooper...he needs a few break from his carseat.  We have another road trip in two weeks...yeah!

I didn't take any pictures of our drive up to Washington..because we drove ALL night.  We left around 7pm and arrived in Moses Lake around 9am.  Not bad with a 6.5 month old. Cooper slept for 11.5 hours straight and didn't cry at all.  We stopped for Breakfast at Denny's and he had a bottle then. Such a great boy he is.  Brooklyn and Easton did awesome too.  Both just slept and didn't complain at all.  Easton did make us laugh when he asked, "Are we there yet?" and we had only been driving for 45 minutes!

Summer Shop Fun!

Eric spends a lot of time in his shop these days...he escapes the heat..its nice and cool. The kids love to go down there and work with dad. He welds things for them...like mini cities and robots. The kids love to help him take apart his mustang.  And we even did a family project..we each painted a pole. The kids love Dad's Shop!





ERIC's


















BROOKLYN's


EASTON's


















MARINDA's (Brooklyn wanted to do one like mine...see it behind, cute)



Horse Camp=Happy Brooklyn!

It's no secret...Brooklyn {HEARTS} Horses! She has loved them since she was a baby...she loved Papa's horses. This year we decided to send her to horse camp at our friends ranch. She LOVED it! She loved spending all day with the horses. She loved being in "horseland" (that's what she called it) She was in heaven. She loved getting dirty. She loved taking care of the horses and of course she loved riding them. She is a natural rider, she loves the horses and they respond well to her. She was leading the horses by herself and even trodding around the pin. The ladies at the camp where amazed and said she has some real talent. It was a great week for Brooklyn...she was in Horse Heaven!




Tuesday, June 28, 2011

All Smiles!
















{7 months old}
PS...He's Crawling!  Cooper is one active little baby...we can barely keep up! 

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Cooper's 1/2 Birthday!

My baby is 1/2 a year already...where did the time go.
Cooper has changed from an infant to a "little man!"  At least that is what everyone tells me.  I hear it again and again..."He has a man face." 
I LOVE HIS MAN FACE!!!!!

He is one busy boy...he now sits up really well, he roll and rolls, he eats food (not his favorite time of the day), he smiles, laughs, giggles all day long.  He puts everything he can into his mouth.   He discovered his toes last month and loves to play with them..they haven't found his mouth yet though.  His hair is growing slowly but surely.  He loves his family...big smiles for any of us that walk into the room.  He has started the teething process and doesn't like the pain very much.  The only time he really cries is when his mouth hurts. Poor boy.  He is one great sleeper!  I am a very lucky mommy. He sleeps all night from 8pm-630ish.  He takes a 2 hr morning nap and a 2.5 afternoon nap.  I love his nap times! (Mommy isn't happy when the kids wake him up...they don't understand the quite voice concept.)  I haven't weighed him recently..I would probably  guess around 16 lbs. Very healthy, very normal. I love his baby thighs...chunky and cute.  Cooper is one strong little boy...I mean strong.  Everyone that holds him always tell me that he is so strong...yep he is!

He is one happy, perfect baby. I love him to pieces!  He is growing up way too fast. I wish I could freeze him right now...he is sooo perfect! Love ya Coop! 


 If he didn't look so cute in this picture I wouldn't post it...I am embarrassed that his onesie is over his pants...daddy must of done that. (ok me..and I was too lazy to fix it)

 Food...Brooklyn and Easton loved food and you couldn't feed them fast enough. Cooper not so much...HE LOVES HIS BOTTLE...he cries when you try to take it away from him to burp him.  He cries and reaches and twists to get it back.  If he didn't puke on me..I wouldn't take it away, I don't enjoy a full bottle of formula on me every time. Once in awhile is ok.

At 5 months we started with rice, oatmeal and formula.  He did ok but didn't love it.  His first real food was Avocado, I read a blog that suggests you start with that because it is so healthy. Well he didn't like it at all. No way was he going to eat it. He is already strong willed...just like his siblings were...can't I get a mellow kid! 

So for the last month I have given him..

*Squash..he likes them ok. He will let me put them in his mouth.
*Peas...I have to force them in his mouth and reinsert the peas he spits out but he does swallow.
*Bananas (Gerber's)  HATED them..gagged, spit up and almost puked.  I couldn't get him to eat them for the life of me. He can't stand them.  He loves fresh bananas especially in the mesh feeder.
*Green Beans...again hates them.  I couldn't even finish one container in a couple of days.  He cries when I feed them to him. He is tortured..at least he thinks so.
*Prunes...he would tolerate them but enjoyed them more mixed with oatmeal. 
*Sweet Potatoes...he seemed to like these ok. But what baby won't eat them.  He didn't spit them out too much. And in two days he did finish the container..so I guess that is keeper.
*Pears..home canned and mashed up...he will eat these and open his mouth a little bit.
*Applesauce..homemade and likes them with oatmeal. 

This week I want to try carrots and peaches.  I am sure he will tolerate those as well.  I am surprised that he doesn't love any of them.  It is so strange to me.  Most babies love it when they get to eat something that actually has flavor to it.  Formula must be totally gross..it sure smells like it.  Yuck.  I think Cooper will be one of those babies who wants table food and not baby food...I don't blame him one bit.
  I am tortured!!!!!  Can't you tell.

Cooper has slept in this snugly cozy thing (See picture below) since he was one month old.  Our house isn't the warmest in the winter so this really kept him warm and very cozy...well too much because now he is attached to it and he is getting too big for it and it is way to hot now for it.  So I bought him a sleep sack and was hoping he would transition without a problem.  Well the first night he was super tired so he fell asleep pretty fast but then he woke up crying at 3am. I let him cry for a few minutes but realized he wasn't going to stop.  He never cries at night...he sleeps all night until around 6-7am and then talks to himself and makes noise until I come in there around 7-730.  He's done this since 2 months..I know I am spoiled..He is a great baby!  Well he was really crying and I didn't know why...so I went in his room and gave him his pacifier and he didn't want it and kept crying.  So I broke down and got his snugly and took off his PJ's and set the snugly next to him.  HE IMMEDIATELY TURNED TOWARDS IT, GRABBED IT, SMELLED IT, AND SMILED!!!! It was SOOO precious and cute.  He immediately stopped crying and went back to sleep. 

The next morning, I put him down for his nap without it.  He was crying (again  he usually doesn't when I put him down for his nap) and after 15 minutes he finally quieted down.  I went in to check on him and this is what I found...thumb in his mouth and holding onto his snugly. I had to take a picture. Just so cute.  Brooklyn gave it to him.  No wonder he quite crying so quickly.  He LOVES his snugly.  After our trip to Washington this week I think I will cut it into squares so he can have one to cuddle with. I am nervous to leave it in his crib just in case he puts it over his face.  It isn't the smallest snugly in the world. I think he will like a small square just as much.   
I had a few really cute videos of him rolling, giggling, & eating food...but for some reason they won't upload right. Sad!