Family Party!

There are a LOT of kids in our family...........  This photo is missing many of them, but a good representation of some of us.  A cute crew!

At this family party my brother or cousin brought baseballs and footballs and a helmet - which my girls loved!

 

You probably also know that we hosted an exchange student from France.  She was super nice and we had a lot of fun with her. She got to see so many fun things in the city - beaches, Great America, Shedd Aquarium, Botanical Gardens, zoo, Michigan Ave, the Planetarium, Museum of Photography, Art Institute, Millennium Park, pools and so much more!  Here's a pic of our expanded family!

And, finally, my 2 favorite girls!

Cooper is 9 Months Old!

My how time flies by.  My little guy finally has a tooth!  And, it did not seem to be too painful for him.  That's good news!  Erin always was a pro, meanwhile Ev alerted the press that she was teething - it was bad!  He is officially on the move and crawling all around.  His crawl is kind of silly, but it gets him around just fine.  We try not to push him too much - we know that he'll move at his own pace and there is no big reason to rush.  He is eating up everything in the house and has not yet found anything he really does not care for.  One thing he really enjoys is going on the swing at the park.  The girls enjoy pushing him and are relatively gentle.  He'll just swing and swing...........

The girls are just wonderful with him.  To this day we are amazed at how easily and well Cooper just fit into our family.  Seems to have been destined.

Singing on the Pot

I am not sure when child innocence ends.  I hope it stays forever!  My girls have taken to singing while in the bathroom.  Does not matter if they are at home or a public restaurant.  Apparently, they don't care that stalls do not go floor to ceiling.

Well, the other day Ev had to use the potty - about 10 minutes after the first time she had to use the potty.  I took her and while she was doing her business, she was singing - at the top of her lungs...

Oh, I really like Chipotle.
I think that it tastes super yummy.

But, I love Sweet Tomatoes. 
Yes, I love Sweet Tomatoes.

I am glad to report that we were at Sweet Tomatoes, so the song was only somewhat embarrassing.  There was a woman washing her hands during this serenade - and she laughed.  How could you not?

Maybe we need to stop eating out?

Build a Bear...

Auntie Suzie & Uncle Mike gave the girls gift cards to Build A Bear.  This is a cool place where kids can pick out their new stuffed animal, put a heart in the guy, choose how much stuffing, select clothing, name the "guy" and really bring him to life.  We finally found time to have a lunch date - at Red Robin (yum) and hit Build a Bear.  The girls didn't know what they were in for!  They were a little overwhelmed with the choices, but had a lot of fun selecting their new "guys".  Ev chose a blue peace bear - she named it Abby Kiley (after 2 of her friends).  It has peace signs all over it.  Erin has a panda named Kevin (after her cousin).  Even their little cousin got to make his own bear... I think he chose a dog.

Chocolate Party!

The girls went to a fun birthday party - at a chocolate factory!  They got to make chocolate pizza, chocolate suckers and everything else that can be turned chocolate!  So many cool ways to celebrate a birthday!

Happy Birthday, Sarah & Tristan!

Cooper got a Tooth!!

This morning Dave and I were playing in bed with Cooper.  We felt his mouth and kept saying how he is NEVER going to get a tooth.  The boy is nearly 9 months old - he should have a tooth, right????

Well, fast forward 4 hours and I am giving him watermelon for lunch.  He opens wide for a bite and I see something white......  I feel in ... and it is sharp...........  Little guy got a tooth!!!  He didn't cry, winse or fuss at all!!  Just popped one through.  Let's hope this is how my little guy teethes.  Erin was a champ - Ev ... not so much. 

It's about time!!

A big wet kiss...

This morning Dave and I were hanging out with Cooper in bed.  Cooper grabbed my cheeks and pulled himself toward me to give me a big wet kiss right between my nose and lips.  So wet and so cute!!

Summer Fun to Remember

Somehow I know in about 9 years, Erin and Evelyn will be too embarassed to hang out with us. When that day comes, I think Nancy and I will have to come read this post again. Ah, the good times. Summer fun in the yard with the hose.

We love you girls!

Cooper is 8 Months Old!!

Hard to believe, but my little man is 8 months old! He is still the best little guy ever! Really, there is nothing little about him. He is so long and although not pudgy, he is not little. He is solid and strong! He loves to sit and play with his toys. He scoots around in circles to see what's around him. And, if he'd give it a try, I am certain he could crawl or scoot around! He seems to want to have tracks, but just not the patience or energy to give it a try. I am sure any day he'll just get to it!!

We think he finally has the 'sleeping all the way through the night' thing under control. He goes to bed around 7pm and wakes areound 5 or 6. If he wakes at 5, he'll chug a bottle and sleep till 7. Life is good!!

He is also a great eater. Though peas are not his favorite food, he really does seem to like most everything else. He is not a big fan of much texture yet, but loves the purees I make. I just made him a spinach, lima bean, corn, carrot, green bean mix and he is all over it! Sometime I mix it with yogurt or applesauce - but he loves it!! He is also pretty good at putting food in his mouth - nicely developing pincer grasp!! In fact, he just ate his first teeting biscuit - what a mess.............

Coop smiles a LOT. He loves to laugh when the girls dance for him. He smiles back at you when you smile at him. He also gets the biggest kick out of splashing in the tub. He can sit in the tub now all by himself without a seat and can navigate pretty well with bith Erin and Evelyn bathing with him (so far, only 1 incedent of sibling to sibling peeing).

A bump in the road.....

Well, Cooper had his hat taken off a few days after surgery and has been recovering well.  Unfortunately, we had a bump in the road - and, thankfully although it was frightening, he is doing just fine now.

Tonight we had a wonderful time at my cousins home.  We got to spend time with many family members we don't get to see often.  Family from near and far... Arizona and even Japan!

We got home and quickly wanted to get the kids to bed - it was well past their bedtime.  Dave took the girls and I was in charge of Cooper.  I sat in the glider and gave Cooper a bottle - the usual drill.  I noticed he needed a diaper change, so took care of that stinky mess and back to the bottle we went.  Quickly, he got fussy - and started screaming.  I took out the bottle and tried it again - thinking he is tired or not wanting it or ... just not sure what's going on.  The room was dark, so I could not see anything.  I tried to give him his bottle again and he screamed again - and then I felt a strange feeling on my elbow.  His head was resting on my elbow and all of a sudden it did not feel "normal".  I saw a bump from the very limited light in the room and screamed for Dave.  He came in the room and I told him to turn on the light...  He did and boy did we see a bump.  More than a bump, it looked like he had a golf ball under his skin (literally that size).  I passed him to Dave and called 911.  He ran to get help from the neighbors.  By this time there were 2 bumps that were merging into one.  Probably about 3 inches long - stuck out like a golf ball - looked like something out of this world.  Something I never want to see again.

I rode in the ambulance with Cooper while Dave drove behind so we could get home from the hospital.  My parents met us at the hospital, where Cooper had an MRI to ensure he was no longer bleeding internally.  The ER doc spoke with Coop's surgeon and she said to make sure the MRI showed no bleeding and give some time for the bump to go down.  All in all, we were there about 3 hours - and then were sent home once the bump got a bit smaller. 

The next day I was back at the doctors office so she could check him out.  She has only seen this twice in her 20 years as a surgeon.  Normally, it would have happened within 48 hours of surgery - not 7 days which is why he was wearing his funny bandage hat.  This doesn't normally happen at all but when it occasionally does happen in the first 48 hours, the hat keeps everything in place and doesn't let things bulge out like this. 

So what everyone believes happened is that Coop may have strained a bit with that last diaper and popped a blood vessel that was still healing from the surgery.  The internal bleeding caused these bulges that stretched the skin.  It was absolutely amazing (looking back at it now) and scary (at the time) how much the bumps protruded from his head and how quickly.  It was like an alien was trying to climb out of the back of his head.  We didn't take any pictures because we were just too frightened and focused on what was going on, and if you hadn't seen this I don't think words can really convey how this reshaped his whole head in a matter of minutes.

Thankfully, he is fine.  His head could use a little reshaping, but time will heal it and get it back to "normal" in the next few days.