8 Months

Holy moly, Coop!  You are the big 8 months today!  I am going to stop saying, "I can't believe you are x-months old" each month, because I am just going to have to get used to the fact that you are growing up way to fast!  Just look at how huge you are!

I weighed you this morning and you are exactly 19 lbs. You probably carry most of that weight in your adorably rolly thighs or your cute fluffy cheeks.  People always seem to notice your kissable cheeks and your bright, blue eyes.

This month you have become obsessed with your teddy bear, Bobo.  We sing a little made-up song about Bobo the Bear before we go to sleep, and then we hand Bobo over to you to cuddle with.  Each time you see Bobo, you get the biggest smile, wrap your arms around him, and bury your face into Bobo's chest.  It's the cutest thing!  He's definitely replaced Sophie as your favorite toy!

We still have no complaints about your sleeping patterns- you LOVE to sleep!  You would take 3 naps every day if I let you, but I'm trying to keep it to only 2 naps a day.  This month we played with your routine a little bit, so now you wake up around 7:30 or 8 am (bless you, Cooper!) and go to bed around 8:30 pm, with a morning and afternoon nap.  You eat 5 bottles a day and ideally eat 3 "meals" a day.  Maybe that explains those thunder thighs!

You aren't wild about veggies, but you LOVE fruit!  Bananas and apples are your favorites.  I think you've got a bit of a sweet tooth.  Wonder where you got that from!  You also started self feeding a bit this month.  As soon as we pull out the tube of Puffs, you get the most excited look on your face!  I am convinced that you would eat Puffs all day long if we let you!

This month, you have grown leaps and bounds in terms of mobility.  You are all over the place- pulling up on everything and crawling all over the house!  You love to explore, as long as you can still see Mama from wherever you are.  It's funny to watch you take off to check something out, and then turn around when you are halfway to your destination to make sure that you can still see Mama or Daddy!  I love your curious little heart and can't wait for the fun adventures that we are going to have, Cooper Boy!  

One of your favorite spots to explore is the dishwasher while I am unloading dishes.  You love to pull up and shimmy your belly up onto the dishwasher to see if you can find a spoon to play with.  I love it, although I am still getting used to having a baby underfoot while I am cooking in the kitchen!

It has been super hot in Waco this summer, so we take you out to the pool at least once a week to cool off.  You love being in the water and aren't bothered at all by all of the big kids who splash you.  Last week 4 or 5 ten-year-old girls swam to you and wanted to talk to you and play with you the entire time we were at the pool!  I can't believe how you are already attracting the girls, Coopy!

Your first two teeth broke through this month.  Woohoo!  You look like such a big boy with those two pearly whites growing up!  Getting those first two teeth was more difficult than I expected- they popped up and then went down, and you were VERY fussy.  You worked so hard for those two teeth, baby boy.  One of these days we will give you a steak to show you how proud of you we are!

 A few days ago we noticed that you would mimic us sometimes.  You will repeat "mama" or "babababa," slap your hand down on the coffee table, or do a really loud yell as you mimic us.  Wow!  I am amazed at the new things that you are learning every day!  You still love blowing raspberries and will often stick your tongue out like a little lizard!  Baby Coop, you are, without a doubt, the cutest and happiest baby I have ever seen!

You had a random week this month where you were really into the paci.  It was so weird.  I tried and tried to get you to take it for MONTHS, and you wanted nothing to do with it.  Then one night, you saw Clara sucking hers at Lifegroup and crawled over, took it from her mouth, and put it in yours.  You crawled around the rest of the night sucking on HER paci!  So, for a week, you wanted a paci, but as soon as the week was over, you were over it.  Sometimes I just can't figure you out!

Daddy and I took you to the swings at Mountainview Park a few weeks ago and you had the best time!  I wondered why we had never taken you before.  You love all things that seem "adventurous," like swinging and being tossed in the air by Daddy.  We continually pray for you to be a boy with courage and adventure in his heart!

We went to the Mayborn Museum for the first time last week with Blake and Oak.  Clearly, you had a blast riding the camel in the Egypt exhibit.

You love your little buddies so much, Coop!  I hope you always love people the way that you do now- you are always so happy to see your friends and you make sure to smile at all of the little old ladies who come and tickle your feet at the grocery store.  The other day I walked past the window to the childcare at the gym, and you were practically hyperventilating trying to get a hold of a little baby in a carrier.  The sweet teacher was trying to hold you back because you were just thrilled to have a new little person to play with.  You're such a nut, and I love it!

I love you so much, Cooper Bear.  You are the biggest blessing that I could ever imagine.  I know that life existed before you were here, but it just seems so incomplete!  I thank God every day that He picked ME to be YOUR Mommy.  You are my sweetest little treasure, and I love you Cooper Hudson!

Heavenly Day

Three years ago, today, this handsome man came off the market for good.  I feel like I've struck gold with him!  No one else can make me laugh as joyfully, challenge me as faithfully, ruffle my feathers are frequently, see my weaknesses as transparently, and then still want to climb in bed with me at the end of the night.

Our first dance as husband and wife was to Patty Griffin's 'Heavenly Day.'  The newness of the song and the memories of that first dance still haven't worn off.  I will always remember how magical Ridgewood Country Club looked with all of those drapes tented over us, and how surreal it felt to be attending my own wedding, and how much joyful anticipation was in my heart just thinking about our honeymoon and the years to come.

Marriage has definitely not been the easiest thing I've ever done, nor has it been the hardest (that was maybe childbirth!)  It has had it's ups and downs, as we knew that it would, even as we approached our June wedding.  Perhaps that is why our first song seemed so appropriate.  The valleys in our marriage have been pretty low, but the mountaintops have been incredible, empowering, and faith building.  At the end of the day, I am beyond thankful for my strong and loving husband to just sit with and enjoy life.  Happy Anniversary, Babe!

"Heavenly Day" by Patty Griffin

Oh, heavenly day

All the clouds blew away

Got no trouble today with anyone

The smile on your face, I live only to see

It's enough for me, baby, it's enough for me

Oh heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

Tomorrow may rain with sorrow

Here's a little time we can borrow

Forget all our troubles in these moments so few

Oh because right now is the only thing 

That we really have to do 

Is have ourselves a heavenly day, heavenly day

Lay here and watch the trees sway

Oh can't see no other way, no way, no way

Heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

No one at my shoulder bringing me fears

Got no cloud up above me bringing me tears

Got nothing to tell you, I've got nothing much to say

Only I'm glad to be here with you 

On this heavenly, heavenly, heavenly, heavenly, heavenly day

I NEED This.

Hey... can someone buy me this?  Or make one for me, at least?

Now that I've got a crawler, I am suddenly aware of how gross my floors are.  Cooper was crawling around the other day and had two huge wads of dust bunnies in each hand.  Sick!  And today, I am about 50% sure that he had a little dried up worm in his mouth.  Why, Cooper, WHY?!  

He's not too young to start doing some chores, right?

Also, how cute is that baby?  He reminds me of the cutie baby from the "Babies" documentary.

Arkansas

A couple of weeks ago we took a fun vacation with Todd's family to Mt. Ida, Arkansas.  We stayed in a very cute and very rustic cabin in the woods and really had a great time!  It was Cooper's longest road trip to date (7 hours) and he did amazing!  I mean, look at this kid- who really looks THAT refreshed after a 7 hour road trip?  Cooper.  Maybe it's because I kept him happy with my awesome road trip playlist, or my never ending chorus of songs from summer camp.    

 Nevertheless, I love these boys!

Cooper got all kinds of practice crawling on the hardwood floors.  Before this trip, I think he was scared of hardwood, because at our house, he always would stop crawling as soon as the carpet would end.

We took lots of trips to the creek down the road to stick our toes in the water.  How cute are the Atkinsons?  I am incredibly blessed to have outstanding in-laws.  Kelly is an amazing mom- if you know her, you will have to ask her about how she rescued her entire family (minus Blake) and Ellie's beloved Lambie from their overturned canoe on our canoe adventure!

Cooper wasn't wild about the cold river water, but we did let him try it out.  And let me just say that the Bjorn makes "hikes" much easier!

 Down by the river, there were all of these amazing butterflies!  Ellie pretty much was The Butterfly Whisperer- they would all flock to her like crazy!

And of course, Coop was thrilled to get lots of Cousin Time with Blake!  Look at Blake brushing his teeth.  Such a nugget!  Cooper tried his hardest to keep up with Blake, but Baby B was more interested in climbing the stairs than hanging out with Mr. Coop.

We spent one day in Hot Springs about an hour away.  We ate yummy fish tacos at The Bleu Monkey, and then Todd and I strolled along Bath House Row.  We had to make sure to get a manly looking picture of the guys since I sure did drag them through multiple antique stores!

We were able to celebrate Ellie's Fourth Birthday while we were in Arkansas.  You should have seen this girl just eating up her birthday encouragements!  Such a sweetheart!

 I would say it was a great trip and the perfect start to the beginning of summer!

My pictures are kind of sparse from the trip, but here is what I wish I WOULD HAVE taken photos of...

-The AMAZING meals that everyone helped prepare!

-Watching the fireworks on Memorial Day

-Our canoe adventure- my enormous bruise from sliding down the cave, John retrieving our down river canoe, the Atkinson clan safe and sound in their boat, and all the nice "river folk" along the way

-Fun family game nights 

-And at least ONE good family photo!

I think we will have to make it happen again next summer!

Lets Go To Luckenbach, Texas

This past weekend, Todd & I took a little weekend anniversary trip to Fredericksburg.  My mom was amazing and drove down from Oklahoma to stay with Cooper so that the two of us could get some good quality time with each other.  We had a great time (almost conflict free!) just being silly, enjoying each other's company, and not operating on the babe's feeding and nap schedule.  Blessing!

We went to Fredericksburg Brewery so Todd could get a locally brewed beer.

We went to Luckenbach, so we could get a t-shirt and see what all the fuss was about.

 Luckenbach was funny but we liked it!

 There were chickens everywhere.

 And this guy was singing "Into the Mystic," so everything felt right about our trip out there.

 Then we drove back to Fredericksburg for our dinner reservations at The Nest.  We enjoyed a quiet dinner and talked about things we'd like to do in the upcoming year.  And then we also looked at pictures and videos of Coop, because we were badly missing him!

 We have this same picture for every anniversary.  Maybe on our 50th anniversary, I'll make a photo album of all of the cheesy anniversary dinner photos we've taken.

 We stayed at this little B&B called "Queen Anne."  After having breakfast with a really grumpy lady, we decided to go on a negativity fast.

 On Sarah's recommendation, we went to the Rather Sweet Bakery just off of Main Street.

 We had the best cinnamon roll of my life!  Not super buttery, just really flaky dough.

After some shopping on Main Street, it was time to hit up the wineries.  First was the Fredericksburg Winery.  It had the most boring setup, but Todd's favorite wine (Cuvee IV, a good manly wine)

 Next was Grape Creek, which had my favorite wine (Sorreline, a white grape blend)

 Next was Rancho Ponte, which had a guy playing classical guitar outside, but no wines that really stood out to us.  Everything was starting to run together, if you know what I mean...

 And last was Becker Vineyards, which was the most popular.  I bought a lavender candle there and would love to go back for the Lavender Festival next May. That might have to be a girl's trip!

 After we finished at Becker, we headed back to town for an early dinner.

 Then we headed out to Enchanted Rock.

 We had a prime camping stop which was nice because I had to pee in the woods A LOT.  All that wine, I guess!

 After getting a decent night's sleep, we hiked up to the top of Enchanted Rock while it was still early.

 Grossest picture ever, but proof that I did it!

 Happy Third Anniversary, Babe!

And then we drove home and saw that Cooper had learned to do all kinds of new tricks, like crawl into the bookshelf and get stuck.

I can't wait to see what this next year holds for us!