CHRISTMAS FUN

Cooper was really able to get into the Christmas spirit for the first time this year.  He LOVED Santa.  Every time he would see a Santa he would say, “ho, ho, ho!”  It was adorable.  Needless to say, we were so excited for Cooper to meet Santa.  He was a little cranky after waiting in line for about 45 minutes.  Colt and I fully expected your typical 1 year old “crying” picture.  He was definitely apprehensive when I sat him on Santa’s lap and kept reaching for us to pick him up.  Luckily, our Santa was awesome and grabbed Cooper’s hands so you couldn’t tell.  The result this adorable picture where Cooper looks perfectly content hanging out with Santa! Mission accomplished.  

Many of you know how special the movie “The Grinch” is to Colt and I.  Not only is it my favorite Christmas movie, but Colt also used it in his proposal.  Cooper loves to read so we were so excited to get him “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”  Aunt Moo sent Cooper these super cute Grinch pajamas and stuffed animal too.   

One of my favorite things we did over the holidays was making Christmas ornaments.  I found this idea on Pinterest and decided it was the perfect homemade ornament to make for Cooper’s grandparents.  We made “MistleTOES” for Gaga and Nana and his great-grandma’s all got handprints.  Cooper and I had so much fun playing with the clay and the ornaments turned out pretty darn cute.  Cooper was even nice enough to make one for Mommy’s tree.

14-23 WEEK PREGNANCY UPDATE

This pregnancy is definitely flying by! I can’t believe in less than 4 more months we will be welcoming our second little baby BOY into the world!  That’s right it’s a boy and we couldn’t be more thrilled.  I have always wanted a house full of boys and so far God is obliging to my wish J  We have a name too! Baby boy #2 will be named…..Charles “Charlie” Michael Braden!  Charlie will be the namesake of his two wonderful grandfathers, Charles after my dad, Ronald Charles, and Michael after Colt’s dad.

This is definitely my favorite part of pregnancy.  Finding out the gender and feeling the baby kick just makes everything so real.  Baby Charlie is definitely a wild one.  He moves around constantly and it’s not just little kicks.  I swear it feels like he is doing back flips and break dancing in my tummy sometimes.

Here is an update on how things have been going these last few weeks…

Feeling: Nice and hungry! I am definitely over the nausea hump and am feeling great.  I have noticed my appetite has picked up these last couple of weeks.  I get a little faintish and “woozy” every now and then, but as long as I can sit down and have some crackers and water they pass. 

Baby Bump: I undeniably have a baby bump now.  Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas I went from having a cute little bump to a BUMP!

Maternity Clothes: I have started infusing some maternity clothes into my wardrobe.  I have transitioned over to my maternity jeans mainly because my belly button (which never recovered from my first pregnancy) is already sticking out again.  The panel in the jeans helps to camouflage it so my belly button isn’t poking out of my shirts.

Baby Size: The baby weighs a little over a pound now and is the size of a large mango.

Cravings:  I have definitely been indulging my sweet tooth lately.  I can’t seem to get enough of Blow Pops, ice cream, and Double Stuff Oreos.  Don’t worry I am only enjoying in moderation.

What I Miss: I did miss ringing in the New Year with a glass of champagne.

What’s Different: I don’t want to jinx it…but so far I have avoided developing the dreaded “dark line.”  I had a serious one with Cooper and it took forever to go away (like 6-7 months before it was completely gone).

What I'm Looking Forward To: I am already anxious for him to be here.  Once we found out for sure it was a boy all I can think about is how much Cooper is going to love having a baby brother to play with.
 
Best Moment:  I just love anytime I get to see my little guy and our 18 week genetic ultrasound was no exception.  We got to watch our sweet baby for almost an hour while they examined him and at the end we found out we were having a very healthy baby boy!  

17 weeks!

Charlie’s first NYE- 21 Weeks and BUMPIN'

FAVORITE THINGS

I can’t believe Cooper is already 1 ½! He has grown up so much over these last few months.  He has become so independent and is really starting to communicate.  He discovers something new every day.

At his 18 month check up Cooper weighed 25 lbs and was 33 inches long.  He is still in the 90% for height.  It looks like we are going to have a tall boy on our hands.

Here are a few of my “favorite things” about Cooper at 18 months....

He FINALLY says “Mama!”  For the longest time he wouldn’t call me by name.  Now I get to hear “Mama, Mommy, or Mom” about 1,000 times a day and I LOVE IT!

He’s into everything! I always said I wanted an ornery little boy and I got one.  He’s at that age where he loves to play with everything but his toys.  His favorite “toy” of the moment is an empty box.

He loves his sleep! I am seriously the luckiest mom in the world.  Most days, Cooper sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon.  He will even wave bye to us when we lay him down.  Let’s hope baby #2 sleeps half as good.

He prays!  Nothing warms my heart more than when my little man folds his hands when we say our prayers.  He’s even starting to attempt the “sign of the cross”…it’s the cutest thing ever!

 

He loves to snuggle!  Some of my favorite moments are on the weekends when we will bring Cooper into our bed in the morning for a little snuggle time.  But, he also will just stand or sit by me and put his arm around me.  It’s the best!

….And Cooper’s Favorite Things

Elmo: Elmo is definitely Cooper’s first “character love.”  He loves watching Sesame Street while he eats his breakfast.

Dancing: Colt has always said if Cooper can’t dance he has failed as a father.  Well he definitely hasn’t failed because Cooper can certainly dance.  It doesn’t matter where we are, if he hears music he is going to dance.

Ball: Cooper is all boy and loves to play with balls.  His favorite is a big green one, but he also loves his football, baseball, and basketball.

Cheese & Cuties: Cheese is definitely Cooper’s snack of choice.  He will go the refrigerator and say “cheese” whenever he is hungry.  On a healthier note, he also loves Cutie clementines.  They have replaced “nanas” as his favorite fruit.

Books:  Cooper loves books.  I love when he brings me a book and then sits in my lap waiting for me to read to him.

THANKSGIVING

We spent Thanksgiving with Colt’s family in Borger.  It was such a great trip.  We arrived on Tuesday night and the rest of the family arrived on Wednesday…then the madness began J

We had so much fun cooking.  Colt roasted the turkey for his third consecutive year and he didn’t disappoint.  

Mike smoked a ham and another turkey as well.  They were all to die for.  This year Joy established a new family tradition.  The “in-laws” cooked one of our family’s traditional holiday favorites.  I cooked my Great-Grandma Volturo’s tomato pepper salad and pizza bread.  I was so nervous because this was my first time to cook the bread, but I must say it turned out delicious.  Honestly, all the food was so yummy!

Cooper had the best time playing with all his cousins.  Cade and he were practically inseparable the entire holiday. 

        

Sadly, Cooper had his first bout with the stomach bug on Friday night.  It was so hard to be helpless while my baby was so miserable.  He bounced back like a champ though.  Saturday morning he woke up ready to play and cheer on the Cowboys.  Unfortunately, despite our cheering Bedlam didn’t turn out quite like we wanted.  Regardless it was an awesome Thanksgiving!

We are excited to head back up to Borger for a few days next week!

CHICAGO GIRLS WEEKEND

The second weekend in November, Melissa, my mom, and I all met up with Madalene in Chicago for a girls weekend.  We had the best time! 

We, or should I say, Melissa and I decorated Madalene’s apartment for Christmas.  Madalene prefers to “manage.” J  Nonetheless her tree ended up being gorgeous.

We spent most the weekend walking around Chicago and Christmas shopping.  We also enjoyed some fabulous food!

It was my first time to leave Cooper since Colt and I went to Puerto Rico last November.  He had a great weekend with his daddy and spent Monday with Abowd’s.  I enjoyed my time away, but was definitely ready to get home to my angel baby!

         

  I hope we can make this trip a yearly event.  Every mama needs a getaway!

FIRST TRIMESTER IN A NUTSHELL

Now that we have made it to the “safe zone” we can fill everyone in on how my pregnancy has been thus far.  I officially entered my second trimester this week so here is a little recap of how my first trimester went….

Feeling: I experienced some nausea, mainly first thing in the morning and around dinner time.  For weeks 10-12 I was having pretty severe headaches every afternoon, but luckily they always coincided with Cooper’s nap time so I could take a Tylenol and rest my eyes.  (I have definitely been taking advantage of Cooper’s naptime and resting if I need to) I can’t decide if I felt better this pregnancy or if it was just easier to manage because I was home. 

Baby Bump: I feel like my bump appeared overnight.  It’s still pretty small, but I love it.  It makes me feel pregnant J

Maternity Clothes: I haven’t busted out my paneled jeans and ruched t-shirts yet.  I’m still able to wear my normal jeans and have just been wearing flowy tops.

Baby Size: The baby is now the size of a peach. 

Cravings: Nothing specific.  It’s more like I’ll think of something and want it right then.

What I Miss: I’m not gonna lie I have definitely missed being able to kick back and enjoy an adult beverage. 

What’s Different: So far I have had a wonderful pregnancy just like with my sweet Cooper.  The main difference has been that we have a 17 month old running around keeping us busy so we aren’t “obsessing” about every little thing.  Sometimes I catch myself forgetting I’m pregnant.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Designing the nursery.  I’ve been surfing the internet like crazy already looking for ideas.
 
Best Moment:  We had our 12 week appointment and an ultra sound to check for down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities last Monday.  During the ultrasound the baby was moving around like crazy and was sucking it’s thumb. It was so great to see our sweet baby so active.  I couldn’t help, but tear up!  The great news is that the baby looked perfectly healthy.

Here is a picture of my bump at 11 weeks.  I swear this picture is deceiving the bump doesn’t look that big in “real life.” 

BABY BRADEN 2.0

We are so excited to officially announce that we are pregnant!!!

Baby Braden 2.0 will be here in early May.  My estimated due date is May 11 which means the new baby and Cooper will be a little less than 2 years apart (Cooper’s birthday is May 27)!  We are so excited to expand our family and Cooper is so pumped to be a big brother!  I took these pictures of him today sporting his “#1 Bro” shirt.  I had this dream of him holding the sonogram and smiling for a sweet picture.  After about 15 minutes, of trying to get him to sit still this was the best shot I got.  It’s still pretty sweet though.

I just imagine him saying “Who me? Duh, I’m the #1 bro” in this one!

We’ve started talking to him about the baby and added the baby to his nightly prayer list.  He’s even made it a part of our morning snuggle routine to raise my shirt and give the baby a kiss. He says “baby” and leans down and kisses my tummy.  It melts my heart every time!