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!

ELMO LOVES HALLOWEEN

We had such a great Halloween! Our neighbors Heather and Doyle were nice enough to let us tag along with their group of friends trick-or-treating. 

Cooper had such an awesome time playing with all the kids and Colt and I enjoyed meeting some new people as well. This is the best picture I got of all the kiddos.  It was tough to get 9 kids to look at the camera and smile when all they wanted was to go get some candy!

Cooper LOVED trick- or-treating.  He even learned to say "trick-or-treat" or something that sounded like it. :)  It was the cutest thing ever.

Somehow Cooper managed to break open a candy bar while Colt was pulling him in the wagon.  His face was covered in chocolate it was hilarious!

After trick-or-treating we took Cooper to see our Houston family, the Abowd’s.  He got his second wind/candy high and had a blast “partying” until almost 10 o’clock.  Needless to say Cooper had an amazing Halloween and an extra long nap today!

BOO AT THE ZOO

Colt had a vacation day last Friday so we decided to take Cooper to “Boo at the Zoo.”  Cooper loves to go to the zoo and it gave us a chance to break-in our Elmo costume.  Elmo was a big hit!  Several kids walked by and said “Look Mommy it’s Elmo!” One little boy even walked up to Cooper and gave his Elmo head a kiss.  It was adorable.

They had several booths set-up throughout the zoo for the kids.  Cooper was able to get his first tattoo, temporary of course.

Cooper was able to get some practice trick-or-treating in at the candy booth.

They had a Pumpkin Patch set-up where all the kids could pick and paint a pumpkin.  They only had paint pens which Cooper wanted to eat so Daddy was nice enough to paint Cooper’s pumpkin for him.

Cooper loves the drums they have in the "African Forrest."  Every time we get close to them he gets so excited.  He loves beating on them and making music.

Our favorite part of the zoo is the giraffe platform. We LOVE feeding the giraffes and the handlers even gave us extra lettuce.  I think it was because Elmo was so cute!

We can’t wait to head back to the zoo again soon!

OLD MCDONALD'S FARM

Last weekend Colt and I took Cooper to Old McDonald’s farm in Humble.  We had the BEST time! 

They had tons of animals for the kids to see and feed.  Cooper was able to get in the pin with billy goats, sheeps, pigs, and rabbits.  He wasn't too sure about the billy goats, but he loved feeding the sheep and petting the rabbits.  

They even let the kid’s ride horses.  Cooper has been really into his Clydesdale stuffed animal lately, so he was so excited to ride the horse…and he looked pretty darn cute doing it too!

We went for a ride on the mini train too.  Cooper kept saying “choo choo” the whole ride!

Finally, we made our way to the pumpkin patch.  Cooper picked out a pumpkin or as he called it "Ball."  He kept picking up all the “balls” and throwing them.  We did manage to get him to pose for a few pictures though. 

Cooper is still my favorite little pumpkin!!! 

4 YEARS OF LOVE & BLESSINGS

On October 11^th Colt and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary!  I feel so fortunate to have truly married my soul mate.  He makes me want to be a better woman, wife, mother, and Christian every day.  I thank God constantly for choosing this wonderful man to be my husband. 

Thanks to the Abowd’s who watched Cooper, we were able to enjoy an amazing night out in Houston to celebrate! We went out for dinner (sushi our favorite) then went to see Jekyll & Hyde the musical.  It was such a great show! Colt and I are already trying to decide which musical we want to see next.

CAST OFF...FINALLY

Cooper was such a trooper with his cast.  After a couple of days it didn’t even phase him.  He was running on it so much that he wore the bottom down so far that we had to get it replaced.  We weren’t complaining though, the old one had just started to smell TERRIBLE.

He did great when we took him to get his cast off.  He got a little nervous when they brought out the saw, but he squeezed mommy’s fingers extra tight and it was over before he knew it.  He was so proud once the cast was off though.  We would say “Cooper did you get your cast off” and he would hold his foot up in the air.  It was adorable!

The great news is the doctor said his foot healed wonderfully and he shouldn’t see any repercussions from the break.  

SWEET HOME OKLAHOMA

Although we might not live in Oklahoma anymore it will always be my home.  In September, my sisters, Colt, Cooper, and I all made the trip back to Oklahoma for an OSU football game and our cousin LeAnne’s baby shower. It was THE BEST weekend because it was full of family.  On Friday night my Aunt Margaret babysat Cooper for us and we went out in Bricktown with my cousins Jake and Amanda.  Jake had just turned 21 so we had a blast taking him out for the first time.  

                         

We woke up early on Saturday and headed to Stillwater for the football game.  We had a great time seeing old friends and after the game spent more time with family.  

Cooper made his first trip to the OSU wrestling room and had his first dance at Eskimo Joe's.  I think he definitely is a Cowboy in the making!  

On Sunday we woke up and went to mass with Grandma and Grandpa Smith followed by breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  I truly treasure the time we get to spend with them.  Sunday’s with my grandparents are some of my favorite memories growing up.  

That afternoon was the baby shower.  We are so excited to welcome the newest addition to the Smith clan.  Cooper can’t wait for Caden to get here!

SEATTLE TRIP

In August my parents made the move from Denver to Seattle.  We were all so excited for the new opportunity my dad was given there, but we all loved Colorado so much so  it was definitely bitter sweet.  At the beginning of September, Cooper and I made the long trip (two 3 ½ hour flights) to visit the fam in Seattle.  I was so glad I could be there at this time because the kid’s had just started school.  We got to watch Meredith play soccer with her new team.  Cooper loved playing outside during the game and it was so great to see her already meshing with a new group of girls.  

The best part was that Meredith's game was in Tahoma which is one of the only cities in Washington with a Sonic.  If you don't know this is my mom's favorite place and she hadn't had Sonic in almost a month.  She was in heaven!

We also spent a day sightseeing around downtown.  Seattle is such an eclectic city with so much to see and do.  We all made our "mark" on the historic gum wall which was really gross and cool at the same time.

     

                                    

My favorite thing was definitely exploring Pike’s Place Market.  I loved visiting all the vendor’s booths.  If you don’t know I am slightly obsessed with fresh flowers, so of course I couldn’t get enough of all the fresh flowers for sale. 

After church on Sunday, we took a ferry to Bremerton island.  It was such a cool experience and the seafood in Bremerton was delicious.

We ended our trip with a bang.  Monday evening, Cooper woke up from his nap and Aunt Monica went upstairs to get him.  As she was walking back downstairs she slipped.  Luckily, she caught herself and it appeared that Cooper and her were both fine (besides a carpet burn on Monica’s leg).  Cooper cried but we thought it was just because he was scared.  We left for dinner immediately and consequently we never put him down to walk.  He was whiney at dinner, but I chalked it up to him being exhausted from his schedule being off and him having just woken up.  When we got home from dinner I went to put Cooper down and he immediately fell to the ground.  I took his shoes off thinking maybe they were on funky or something.  As soon as we took his shoes off we learned that it was a little more than the shoes.  My poor little baby’s foot was bruised and he was limping all over the place.  It was so sad, but I’m not going to lie it was pretty cute at the same time.  After about an hour of debating, we decided to go ahead and take Cooper into the ER.  Thank God we did.  Once they x-rayed his foot we learned that it was broken.  His foot bone was chipped and compressed.  He must have somehow impacted it in just the right spot when they fell.  They wrapped up his foot and Cooper and I flew home the next morning to Houston. 

We took Cooper into our local Pediatric Orthopedic Specialist on Thursday and he got his cast.  It’s football season so of course we had to get the cast in OSU orange!

Although our trip ended with a little hiccup it was still so wonderful, as always, to spend time with my family.  Being 36 hours away isn’t going to keep us from seeing them!