How big is Cooper? ... So big!

Cooper is now 9 months old! I've heard the phrase "the days are long, but the years are short" and seriously...this first year is flying by. I know the summer will be busy and before we know it, we will have a one year-old.

Stats from his 9 month appt:

17 lb, 3 ounces- 11% (so excited--he was under 1% at one point, so gaining weight)

27 3/4 inches- 24% (maybe not growing as fast in this area)

And then there's the head....

Our new doctor joked that he's just trying to become really smart, because his head measured in the 91%. Wow!

We met our new pediatrician today and he seems to be really nice. He didn't have any concerns and said that Cooper seems to be developing well. Sleep has been a little more rocky this past month--which I'm blaming on teeth and new developments. Not to mention that we are sharing a room and he's been sleeping in his pack-n-play for the last 6 weeks. He has been a trooper though! We'll try and forget about that night last week when he was awake from 11:30-1:30. It felt like a newborn again. Okay, I'll just get to the pictures!

Started crawling and figured out how to sit up in bed all in one day!

Loves to swing at the park!

Showing off our 4 teeth...which now there is a fifth on the bottom and the top two middle are so close to busting through the gums.

Our next new trick: pulling up, standing and cruising. Sometimes he will just stand in one spot for half an hour. Crazy kid.

Bath time fun!

Cooper with his cousin Kaylen at the Royals game!

Playing with cousin Clara

Snack time with Bri out on the front porch.

"Crazy mama tries to make me wear these sunglasses. Usually I just chew on them, but one day I wore them during an entire jog!"

Until Next Time....

Today is my last day living in Southeast Missouri (for now).  I say 'for now' because Eric and I want to be sensitive to God's leading in our lives, and we would never make a claim that we are NOT going to live somewhere or on the other hand that someplace is going to be our forever (or really long time) home.  I don't want you to get the idea that we are fickle, noncommittal, or just going with whatever way the wind takes us... because I think it is important for relationships and jobs to have some longevity.  Relationships take time and energy.  Yet we know as Isaiah 55:8-9 says, God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours.  We believe He is sovereign and has a plan...and we desire to be in His will and be obedient.  Part of that obedience is listening and acting at what He tells us. Obedience to stay.  Obedience to go.

Moves have been very bittersweet for me.  I'm always excited for what is next, yet it's a weird feeling to think that life will continue on even though I am not there.  As we had our final BSU hangout yesterday, I had those bittersweet thoughts.  I didn't feel too sad though because the relationships we have will continue.  It's not "goodbye"...it's an "until next time".

Some of our students "surprised" us with a party on Sunday.  It wasn't really a surprise, because we kind of knew about it and had pieced some things together--but we appreciate all the hard work and thoughtfulness that went into planning this party for us.  Seriously, we are SO grateful for them.

some party goers/party throwers

Eric would tell our students that they are not at SEMO to get a degree (shhh....don't tell your parents).  Hopefully, they do get a degree in the process, but they are at SEMO to be a missionary to all of those that they are around.  They are in a certain dorm, specific class, and placed around certain people for a reason.  It's not an accident.  Our students got that.  They live on mission.  They tell people about Jesus and live out the Gospel.  I've loved getting to watch my husband lead these students.  He put so much time and energy into planning things, preparing to teach, meeting with students, discipling, and showing them what it means to follow Christ.  We've loved them and opened our home to them.  And it has been so wonderful.  They have loved us, loved Cooper, and taught us a great amount.  When you have relationships like that, you know that it is not "goodbye", but rather "until next time".

Spring Break 2012

Vancouver- January 2011

August 2012

October 2011

October 2011

May 2011

Follow me to bloglovin'

I have made the switch to bloglovin' to keep track of the blogs I love to read!  I know I might not post often, but if you would like an easy way to keep up with my blog, you can follow it HERE!

...At least to see pictures of this handsome dude :)   (He might be bigger than this now, but still just as cute)

goodbye to this old house

We closed on selling our first house today....you know, the adorable old house that we bought just a year and half ago.  We are approaching a very bittersweet time in our life--moving.  I have lived in Cape Girardeau for 2 1/2 years now and Eric is approaching 4 years.  He has seen an entire group of students from start to finish in their time at SEMO.  We've really grown to love living here over the past year and half (or so).  I'll admit, it was hard for me at first and that is why the love has been more recent.  After we got married, I joined Eric down here and it was just hard to make friends (outside of our students).  I think I had this picture painted that we would get to hang out, play games, do whatever with a group of friends, but they were hard to come by.  It seemed like a lot of people were from here and had family here, and that deep community that I so longed for and knew in Columbia and Jeff City wasn't forming the way I had envisioned.  It was a battle for me because I knew our purpose here was for the students, but I selfishly wanted other friends too.  Over time, God has answered our prayers for friends and although we are excited for our move and the next step God has for us, we have formed some friendships that we will definitely miss.  If we had known we would be moving at this point, we probably wouldn't have bought a house when we did.  Let me tell you though, we loved our home.  It will forever hold a special place because it's the first house we owned owed.  It is where we brought Cooper home from the hospital and he spent his first 8 months.  We specifically chose to be located close to campus hoping to make it easier for our students to come over and we enjoyed having them in our home.  We even had someone live with us for a couple of months, while in transition before getting married.  We got to try our hand at some DIY projects and house updates.  And God was able to take a place that had been a psychiatrist's office and then her home (not saying psychiatrists are bad or anything--but we were guessing from the Darwin symbol on her car that she wasn't a believer) and make it into a home used for worship, prayer, discipleship, and family.  All praise goes to Him--for the opportunity to have this home, for selling it quickly, and for the way He has grown us during our time in Cape Girardeau. 

Closing day--Oct 2011

After coming home from the hospital

Cooper's first room

8 months old!

This little guy is 8 months old today...and we are ending our first extended time away from him. We have been in Orlando since Monday and Cooper has been staying with grandma and grandpa Barb.

A few milestones:

Tooth #3 is in...and it wasn't as smooth as #1 and #2. We had 4-5 nights of waking up in the middle of the night for a few hours. And let me tell you, we have been out of that habit and it was a little rough. Not to mention it was during our packing and moving. Have I mentioned that we're moving? Probably not, since blogging is few and far between. Our house in Cape sold in 6 days (Praise the Lord) and it closes on Monday. We are moving to Jefferson City next month and staying with friends during the transition. Back to Cooper though...

I think we are close to crawling--maybe? He lunges for things and will be up in position. He also loves be up on his feet and wants to pull up (even though he's a little guy).

Good news though: our little guy weighs 16 pounds!! He didn't double his birth weight until about 7 1/2 months, but our doctor is proud of his progress. He had his second ear infection last month too (which why we got a weight check).

He loves to babble (ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, ba-ba-ba) and loves to eat! He is doing great with table food...and loves meat. He is still breastfeeding 4-5 times a day--or taking a pumped bottle when I'm away.

Some favorites: swinging outside, going on walks, eating, practicing walking, watching baseball, and being around other kids/babies.

Just a couple pictures this time....and how cute are Cooper and his friend Ella. I'm not sure what I think about him grabbing her leg though!

Sharing life and chocolate pie

(I started this post on Monday...so the "yesterday" refers to Sunday)

Yesterday was one of those days that you just don't want to ever forget. One of those days where you want every single detail to sink in. And maybe in the moment, you don't realize it's one of those times. Eric preached at a local church on Sunday morning as part of a missions conference. We had been invited a few days before to have lunch at a couple's house after the service. We followed them to their home and walked in to the smell of roast. Immediately, C (the wife) was worried that she had forgotten to turn down the temperature before leaving and had burned lunch. She immediately put on her apron and went to work preparing the rest. Eric and I sat in the living room with T (the husband) and chatted away. You see T has been in ministry for over 60 years, so he had a story or two. He told us about churches he had served in and lessons he had learned. He shared that he didn't grow up in church, but decided to go with friends one evening and was saved. The way he told the details of how they ended up at church that night was like it had just happened. He then told us that he surrendered to ministry just 3 months after that. Wow! Did God grab a hold of his life or what?! All during the middle of our conversation, C would come in and out, correcting T on details and dates, and taking a second to get smiles from Cooper. I think one thing that was so encouraging to me is that T and C are in their eighties (I think 87 and 82)...and they invited us over for lunch! And let me tell you, C had made a feast for the four of us. She had roast, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, green beans, and corn. I went in the kitchen to see if I could help her, just as she was taking her homemade rolls out of the oven. She said they might not be good because they were left-handed rolls. Her arthritis was so bad in her right hand the night before, she had made and rolled these with her left hand....and we're talking about 3-4 dozen rolls! She asked Eric if he needed more rolls (with a bowl full on the table) and he said that he had gotten two. She responded, well I have 2 more dozen in the kitchen! And if all of that wasn't enough, she had chocolate meringue and pecan pie for dessert (homemade of course), that she had also made the night before after getting home from the missions conference (so after 9:00). Since they are both diabetic, we got sent home with the remaining of the two pies. how funny! Lunch was so wonderful as we talked about life, family, health, and ministry. Cooper didn't take a morning nap and was starting to melt down (aka...crying hard at this point for 15 min until he fell asleep) but it didn't seem to phase T and C. They had 6 children of their own in 8 1/2 years---I can't even imagine how exhausted C would have been. And now they have 15 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren (I think those are the correct numbers).

I could go on and on about our conversations and the couple of hours spent in their home. We laughed about the way they interacted with each other after that many years of marriage! I was reminded of a verse that I love from 1 Thessalonians.

"Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well." 1 Thess 2:8

I desire to be a hospitable person. I want to share our life with others--not because of anything I am or can do, but because of who Jesus is and what He has done in us. And because I think community is so important as we learn and grow in our walks with Christ. I'm learning early in motherhood that its okay to not be completely put together (hard lesson). The dishes might be piled up and the laundry needs to be done, but I don't want to miss moments with Cooper and I want to share our lives with others. I desire for our home to open to others. So thank you T and C for your amazing hospitality and sharing your life with us. If the Lord keeps me here on earth until I'm in my 80's, I hope I'm entertaining, hosting Thanksgiving, and making homemade chocolate pie as I host a young couple over for lunch.

Update on the past couple of months!

I know I've been absent from the blog... whoops!  I feel like we've been busy these last few months with the holidays, travel, and just general life stuff.  If you're reading this, I assume you want to know about sweet Cooper.  I missed a 4 month and 5 month update....and we are less than a week away from having a 6 month old.  So here's a quick recap and some pictures (more for me to remember down the road).

In December, we took a trip with my mom's side of the family to Branson for a weekend. It was fun to all be together and the big kids loved Silver Dollar City. My dad wasn't able to come and we sure missed having him there.

Clara & Grandma at Silver Dollar City

Cooper and his daddy at SDC

Uncle Bill, Eric, Cait, Rob, Sadie

Kaylen, Caitlyn, & Sadie

Kaylen & Rob

We also got the chance to act as Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus at a walk-thru nativity at church in our association. Cooper was a champ during his 2 hours in the spotlight!

We spent Christmas in Kansas City and Green Ridge this year.  We celebrated with my immediate family in KC at my brothers' house and then with Eric's family in Marshall and Green Ridge.

Cooper with his big cousin Drew

Eric's immediate family

A few days after Christmas. we had Coop's 4 month appt and he weighed in at 11 lbs, 8 ounces and was 25 1/4 inches long.  Our pediatrician was happy that he is continuing to grow (slowly....yes) but continuing to grow and we added fruit to his diet.  Coop is now a big fan of pears, peaches, apples, and bananas.  At 5 months we went in for a weight check and Cooper weighed 12 lbs, 5 ounces and we began adding in vegetables.  So far, we have had squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, and green beans.  He's not always sure what to think of mom's homemade squash and carrots, but we can usually get him to eat in combination with some pears. {fail on no eating pictures}

At the first of the year, we packed up and headed with a couple of students to Atlanta for the Passion Conference.  He was such a trooper during our walks back and forth to the Georgia Dome and the main sessions at Passion.

Our first time at The Varsity!

Some play and snuggles with Ashley!

Some other big milestones have been the first two teeth!  It was completely out of the blue one day that I asked Eric, "do you think he's getting teeth in?"  Eric stuck his hand in there to feel around and sure enough, you could feel the top of a tooth.  And about 2 days later, the one right next to it popped up as well.  We sure have a teething champ!  We never would have known.  Maybe he woke up a little extra in the night, but he didn't seem fussy or anything. 

Tooth #1 at 4 1/2 months

Tooth #2 was quick to follow!

He's also been doing really well as we practice sitting up.  We have been using the bumbo for a while now, and he can stay in it for a while before he begins to slide since he is lacking the chunky legs to help keep him in.  The last couple of weeks, he has been doing great as we practice just sitting on the floor.  He can usually sit there for several minutes before the slow lean and fall happens!  Before six months, we were watching for rolling both ways (check), jibber jabber (check), toes in mouth (check- ALL THE TIME- soaking wet socks or eventually just takes them off), close to sitting by himself (check), and rocking back and forth (not sure that we have much progress there- if he's frustrated laying on his tummy in his crib, he will kind of get up on his knees, but not anything any other time).

Cooper also got to meet his new friend Leah!  She just turned one and they hadn't been able to meet yet!  We can just picture the trouble that these two are going to cause in the future!

We love Leah, her mommy Natalie, and their whole family!

I know I missed a lot that happened during that time!  I kind of just went off some pictures I had to replay a little of what's been happening!  Another "first" we had last week was Cooper's first ear infection.  Yuck!  He had a cough and so we finally took him in and found out that he had bronchiolitis and an ear infection in his right ear.  We had no clue about the ear infection...just wanted to check on the cough that wasn't going away.  The cough has cleared up though and he tested negative for RSV.  Thankfully we've only had to deal with a little winter cold!  Thanks for reading the fast track through the past couple of months!