Catching Up

Here are a few pictures from Memorial Day.

We went fishing with Brandon, Aislynn and Parker.

Cooper has started scrunching his nose. We sat on the blanket the whole time.

This is Parker with a fish. It's not the one that he FINALLY caught but he was always excited to add one to the cooler.

We went to a bbq that evening. Cooper is playing with Coby's truck.  He's wearing his camo overalls that he got for his birthday from my dear friend Betsy. My blue eyed baby boy looks so sweet doesn't he??

So that was just a few to catch up. Up next BIRTHDAY!

I got to take a Monday off and stay home with Cooper and get some work done around the house and have a "Mommy" day. We had a good day together.

While I was finishing a batch of baby food Cooper played with his toys. I looked over to see that he was sitting in his wheel barrel. 

I don't think that he meant to sit in it he gets stuck in some pretty funny places and positions because he hasn't exactly figured out how to maneuver his little body yet.

We went to dinner at Aunt Mar and Uncle Kelbs house. I think he ate longer off Kelby's plate than Kelby did. He tried a plate full of new things, potato casserole, fried okra, fresh green beans AND pot roast.  

Watch out Uncle Kelbs you might pull back a nub! 

We had a really warm weekend so Cooper's afternoon nap was in his diaper. I went in to see if he was good and asleep so I could go lay in the sun outside his bedroom window and he was

"Comfy Cozy". He slept with his leg propped up for a long time. 

We had a great weekend!

Washed Up

We had some major rains in May. We came home to the creek rushing over the driveway. So on one side we had an 8 ft deep pond and on the other a rushing river. It washed out the edge of the driveway.

We had a few critters washed up in the water that got left behind when the water went down.

Grandpa tried to give it to Cooper. He didn't want anything to do with it.

His Daddy tried to let him take a bite of it. Luckily he didn't want to do that either. 

11 Months

Cooper turned 11 months on Mother's Day so we had a double celebration. 

He gets funnier and funnier daily. 

He makes this face ALL the time.  It's SO funny!

Pardon the diaper bear shots this was post our snuggle nap after church/lunch/grocery shopping. 

As you can tell he doesn't really sit still for his bear shots anymore. But it's fun to see what he'll do while we're trying to take them. We had to take these in the floor because he looked like he was going to dive off the couch even with Gary sitting by him.  He'd make his OH face like he saw something he had to have and try to crawl off. 

We went to see Atley who was born Thursday afternoon.  

She's hanging out with Aleeya (Squeaky) and her proud big brother Coby.

Cooper was checking out what Aleeya was doing.

They are buddies. Coby shares his tractors with Cooper- this is a rare occasion depending on who you are. He a good older friend. Cooper has fun watching Coby run and play and push tractors. They have lots of fun ahead. 

I have a feeling Cooper, Coby and Mac have some good times coming and their Mama's have some worrying to do. We've got our hands full I'm afraid.

I had a very nice Mother's Day.

To start our celebrations Saturday after the March for Babies that we did with a group of friends I headed to my second Mother's Day lunch with my friend Narissa's family. Last year I was the only daughter that went with her mom. This year we had a full group. It consisted of Narissa, her two sisters, Rebekah and Sara Jane, her mom Lori, her two aunts, Tina and her daughter Chelsey and Marta and her son Kyle and her Grandma Karen, oh and the boys Cooper and Mac. We had lunch at Nearly Famous then headed for pedicures. I had fun with the girls. I've been blessed to have been adopted by their family since mine is so spread out. You can't have enough Mamas I say!! Thank you girls for having me! I had a wonderful time and I love you dearly!

Yesterday we had time to get our weekend snuggle time with Cooper before time to get up for church. We headed to panera for a quick bagel and coffee then off to church. After church we took Gary's Mom to lunch then headed to the store for a few things. We were lucky enough as you already read to get a nap in and then continued getting our weekend plans done. 

Thank you Cooper making my first Mother's Day so special!

I got my first handprint flower picture today that he made at the babysitters. I was so excited to receive it!

I love and miss you Mama! I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day with you Mama! 

10 Months

Someone recently told me, "you never realize how quickly life goes by until you start measuring it by months." That is SO true.

Cooper is 10 months already!

He still likes the bears nose.

He likes strawberries. Can you tell?

Strawberries have been our after work snack. He's a pretty big fan.

We are so glad the weather has warmed up. We've gotten some good times in the hammock. 

Easter

Here are a few pictures from Cooper's first Easter...

We decorated eggs...

His favorite things about his Easter basket were the fuzzy chick and the wheel on the wheel barrel and maybe the wrapper on the chocolate peep that was in there for his daddy.

All dressed up for Easter. 

We had a great day. The weather was beautiful! 

He is risen, He is risen indeed.

Back To The Basics

For some time now I've been asking Gary for a clothes line. He always had some response that was not fitting and never got one during the season I asked. However, on our recent trip to MX we got the chance to use the roof top clothes line and to Gary's surprise he was a fan. It brought back good memories for him and he was convinced that maybe this small request I've been asking for wasn't so ludicrous.  I've always loved the smell of fresh sheets and clothes from the line. This brings back memories for me as well. Growing up we rarely had clothes dried in the dryer. At the time it seemed like a punishment. You have to admit that jeans dried on the line aren't exactly the most inviting item to wear. I remember my mom taking my dad's jeans off the line and they had frozen and were able to stand on their own. I want to say that that was how they felt on a regular basis but not so extreme. Towels aren't my favorite either but regardless it was a simple "go green" want.

We finally tracked down the materials we needed. They included: Clothes line (not as easy as one might think to find), clothes pins, clothes pin hanging bag, AND steps up to the backyard so we can use the new energy saving dryer. Gary set out with some railroad ties and a shovel, a little gravel and I'm sure a few other tools and started making the steps. A few hours later his proud smile came back through the door requesting my approval. He had done a nice job making the steps, now we only needed to hang the line and have a few more days of sunshine. We got the line hung and then here comes our lovely Ozark unpredictable weather patterns and we got more cold, windy, dreary days so no hanging clothes up yet...

 I FINALLY got to use it and hang a load of Cooper's clothes. 

I'm not sure if you can tell how low to the ground that the clothes are hanging but they were centimeters from the ground. So my DIY self thinks, how can I keep the clothes off the ground, along with being thankful that I hadn't washed heavy towels to hang because they would have certainly been dragging/resting on the ground. 

I had remembered that Mom had a stick that she would prop the line up with to bare some of the weight so again the wheels began to turn and I headed to the shed where I found a paint roller pole. PERFECT! Now what? How will I keep the line on the pole?

A clothes pin and duct tape!! 

So my invention made perfect sense however it only lasted until the wind blew and moved the line and it would slide out. So I decided to add another pole and make it a triangle so it would stand better. Wrong again! It still didn't work. So the logical thing would have been to take out some of the slack right? Well in my head I didn't think I could do that without messing with the bolts that were screwed into the tree. Wrong again!! I wrapped and I wrapped and I wrapped the slack up around that bolt and vua-la! I tightened the line! I had to do it again after they dried because it stretched more but still I kept the clothes off the ground and with the nice breeze they dried quickly!

Cooper joined me outside for our first clothes line adventure. He played on the blanket that soon became balled up and then he played in the dirt. (Funny thing is his Granny apologized for his feet being a little dirty from playing outside just a little while before, little did she know that he'd soon have dirt caked on his pigs!)

He wasn't mad at all but I got a shot that is a look of a serious matter. He knows when I'm trying to take his picture and is able to play opossum in a sense and make the most serious face and ignore me. I finally tickled it out of him. He was a good helper! You can't go wrong with a stick or crinkly leaf to occupy this kiddo!

So the next time you long for that wind fresh childhood memory, remember it's only a roof top or backyard clothes line away and it's a fairly inexpensive memory to create!!

ENJOY!!!!