Easter

Last Sunday, we had a great time of celebrating Easter with friends and family.  

The Easter Bunny left Mr. Cooper a few treats... a sock bunny, a teether, a rattle, The Story of Easter board book, a few jars of baby food, and some chocolate truffles.  I guess The Easter Bunny knows that Mommy & Daddy like chocolate.

I could just eat this kid up!

Mom did most of the cooking, but I prepared this awesome Asparagus & Melon Salad.  Thanks Giada!

It was so sweet of Clayton to skip his nap so he could hunt Easter eggs with everyone.  Love him!

Sweet Christina is due in June and I am SO excited for little Reid to get here!

All the Little Bitties

These guys are two peas in a pod!

Happy Easter from the Allens

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; He has risen!" Luke 24: 5-6

6 months

Happy Half-Birthday, Cooper!  Today, you are six months old!  I can't believe that you have been with us for half a year!  Where does the time go?  It is amazing how much you have transformed our lives in the six precious months that we've had you.  You are an incredible son!  This is what you've been up to this month...

Your feeding schedule hasn't changed in the past month.  You still eat 6 times a day plus some rice cereal in the morning.  You LOVE cereal, Coop, and can polish off a bowl in about 3 minutes!  In the next week or so, we will give you your first taste of baby food.  I bet you love it, big guy!  You are still on the same growth curve.  We found out today at your 6 month checkup that you weigh 16 lbs . and 13 oz. (35%) and are 25 1/4 long (10%).  You are just perfect!

You have gotten much more mobile this month- especially at bedtime!  You have started flipping over and sleeping on your side or your tummy.  When you are sleeping on your side, I think you look like such a little man!  Sometimes I have peeked in on you when you are sleeping, and you will be curled up in the funniest positions- swaddle kicked off, stuffed animals chewed on (instead of a paci), hugging the bumper, and oftentimes your body is flipped the opposite way of how I laid you down.  Oh goodness, Cooper, I love you!

We took you to see your very first bluebonnets this spring.  And like a good Texas boy, you loved them!  It was hard to get a picture of you looking at the camera, because your eyes were so focused on the sea of blue flowers.

I love your tiny little hands reaching out for the bluebonnets.  All of a sudden, your little baby hands have been starting to look like toddler hands to me- chubby and always grabbing for things.  When I feed you a bottle, you love to reach up and touch my face.  I will treasure those little moments with you, Cooper Boy!

You started sitting up on your own this month.  Way to go!  You seem to enjoy your toys so much more now that you can sit and look around when you play.  I am so proud of you, Cooper!

A few weeks ago, we had a scary trip to the Emergency Room.  When you weren't buckled into your swing and we weren't watching, you scooted out of the swing and bonked your head on the floor.  We rushed you up to the ER right away- Mommy & Daddy might have been more shaken up than you were, sweet boy!  Thankfully, the doctor could tell right away that everything was alright with you, since you were happy and laughing by the time we arrived at the hospital.  We only stayed at the ER for a couple of hours, but we definitely learned a hard lesson.  You will NOT be unbuckled ever again!  

On Easter weekend, we took a trip to the Antique Rose Emporium with Lolly, Aunt Megan, Aunt Kelly, and cousins Ellie & Blake.  All of the girls had a great time, and clearly, you were REALLY into looking at a bunch of roses with us.

Thankfully, you were your typical sweet self, and just napped while we strolled along!

You've been blowing tons of raspberries with your mouth this month.  It is so funny!  You seem to do it the most when you are really tired or cranky and just aren't sure what to do with yourself.  It's just another little thing that makes us love you even more!  All that raspberry blowing got kind of loud one Sunday in church, though, and we made an impromptu decision to let you play with the other babies in the church nursery.  You've spent 3 Sundays in the nursery and have done great each time! 

We think you are an affectionate little boy, because you LOVE giving us big open mouth "kisses" on the cheek or trying to grab onto our noses or chins.  We have nicknamed you "Sharky," because sometimes you seem like a little shark just waiting to latch onto our faces.  You are such a silly guy!

We celebrated your first Easter this month.  What fun that was!  We had an awesome time of worship at church, a yummy Easter brunch, an Easter egg hunt with some of your little friends, and plenty of pictures in your little seersucker outfit.  You are such a handsome boy!

This month, you have started making some "steps" towards crawling.  YIKES.  You can scoot forwards and backwards, as well as get up on your hands and knees.  Once you are on all fours, you aren't totally sure what to do with your hands.  Sometimes you hop your bottom legs like a little bunny; Sometimes you just face plant.  But we are SO PROUD of you, Baby Coop.  I can't believe you are on the move now.  Look out world!

You are such a gift to us, Little Love.  Sometimes I feel like my heart is going to burst open, because it is filled with such great love for you.  I pray that every day of your life you will know that you are loved, cherished, and delighted in, by Daddy & me and by our Heavenly Father.  We absolutely adore you, precious son.

Happy 6 month birthday!

Grilled Pizza

We made a grilled sausage & veggie pizza tonight and mmmmmmm... was it good!  It was too good not to share the recipe, in fact!  It's a Bobby Flay recipe, so you just KNOW it's good! Todd & I tried it last summer and were quickly obsessed with it!  We also learned that it is a great meal for us to cook together- and when it was all said and done, it only took about 20 minutes to prepare!  

So here's what you need:

1/2 lb. Italian sausage (we used 4 of the HEB original sausage links.  It was kind of a lot, but it was good, so don't judge!)
1/2 red onion, cut into 1/4 inch rings
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Oregano
Store bought pizza dough, cut into 4 equal pieces
1/2 lb. Monterey Jack cheese (Bobby's recipe calls for Fontina)

{Grill the sausage links on both sides until they are browned and cooked through- about 10 minutes.  Brush the peppers & onions with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper.  Grill the veggies until they are soft- about 4 minutes.  Once they are cooked, remove from the grill and cut the sausage into 1/4 inch slices and roughly chop the veggies.

Brush the pizza dough with olive oil and sprinkle with a little oregano.  Put the pizza dough on the grill and grill both sides until it is golden brown and you can see grill lines- about 3 minutes.  Take the dough inside and assemble your pizzas with sausage, peppers, and onions.  Top the pizzas with a little cheese.

To melt the cheese, put the pizzas on a baking sheet in a preheated to 450 degree oven for about 5-10 minutes (until the cheese melts)

and then you top all of that with a basil vinaigrette, which is the BEST part, so don't skip it!}

Basil Vinaigrette
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 TBS honey
Salt & pepper

{Blend all vinaigrette ingredients in a blender & drizzle over pizza}

And there you have it!  Yum yum.

Side note: In Bobby Flay's recipe, he has about twice as many veggies, but I don't know how he fits all of that on a pizza.  2 bell peppers are PLENTY!  He also tops the pizza with ricotta/oregano, but in our opinion, it didn't add anything but calories to the pizza.

Sock Bunny

In celebration of Cooper's first Easter, I knew that I wanted to make something handmade to stick in his Easter basket.  At first I was going to sew him a cute spring chicken stuffed animal, but when I saw this sock bunny tutorial, I knew that he would love (chewing on) it just as much as I would love making it!

It was actually VERY simple.  But it's also VERY homespun and imperfect, so don't look too closely or you will see that the embroidery is elementary, the ears are crooked, and the stripes don't line up.  Stuffing the body took the most time.  I was thankful for a long trip to Canton with my mom behind the wheel, so I could sit and stuff.  I had a great time sewing this little guy for Mr. Coop, and am already in the process of making a couple of little bunnies for Ellie & Blake!

Oh, and here is the console table that I painted last week.  At first I couldn't decide if I liked it, but now I think I do.  I used chalk paint (which was WONDERFUL!) and a brown glaze, and it felt like a good transformation.  The decor on top is in process, so don't pay attention to that!

Happy Thursday!

Five Months

Five Months, Cooper!  Really?!!  Everyone said that it would happen faster than I could imagine, and they were right.  And now look at you: five months old and HUGE!  

We celebrated your five month birthday with your first taste of rice cereal.  I honestly can't believe that we are at the "solids" phase in your diet.  These five months have absolutely flown by!  You seemed to really enjoy the cereal.  I was surprised that you actually knew how to swallow it.  For some reason, I just imagined you would push it out with your tongue.  You ate about half the bowl, and then let us know that you were finished by blowing bubbles each time you were given a bite.  You have been doing the same thing with your bottles- always blowing those bubbles! 

We fed you cereal again yesterday and I think you liked it even more than the first time you tried it.  You finished the bowl, and then practically licked it clean!  You dropped a feeding this month- woohoo!  Now you are eating 6 times a day (7:30, 11, 2, 5, 7:30, and 10).  This feels like the first time that I've had you in a routine that you seem to really enjoy!

You have had a busy month, Coopy!  We drove up to Oklahoma so you could spend time with Lolly & Pop.  They love you so much, Cooper!  Then the following weekend, Pops came in town from Memphis to spend time with you, Ellie, and Blake.  You had a great time being held by him and getting in a ton of fun cousin time!  I can't wait for you to be good friends with E&B.  You seem to already know that they are "your people."  I am already looking forward to Christmases, birthday parties, and weekends spent with your sweet cousins- you three will definitely find some ways to have fun!

You are growing so quickly, big guy!  You are 25 inches long and around 15 1/2 lbs.  Whew!  That means that sometime this month, you doubled your birth weight.  Way to go, Coop!  You wear size 2 diapers and mostly 3-6 month clothes (although I can still cram your tiny little butt into 0-3 months pants at times!)  I still think you are the perfect size, baby boy!

You "competed" in your first race ever this month.  Daddy pushed the stroller in his 5K at Baylor, and you got so relaxed that you fell asleep.  The following weekend, we went up to Austin for the Capitol 10K.  You stayed bundled up with Mommy during that race and were waiting at the finish line to cheer Daddy on to a great finish!

While we were in Austin, we got to have a great visit with our sweet friends Sarah & Michael.  Sarah is one of your best Aunts- I am so excited for you to get to know her, Coop!  We also took a special trip to Whole Foods, which seemed to be your favorite grocery trip ever!  You kept flashing that big toothless grin at everyone who walked past our cart!  I used to be so scared to take you out in public, because I was afraid you would cry and I wouldn't know what to do.  Now, I see that you thrive when you are around people (like your Daddy)!  You are such a little flirt, with those long eyelashes!

You have been increasingly alert, Cooper.  A couple of weeks ago, you discovered your toes!  You are always grabbing them while on the changing table.  I can see the wheels turning in your head already- you are thinking, "how can I get these in my mouth?"  I guess I just have to accept the fact that it's only a matter of time before you figure it out.  

This month we tried out your Excersaucer for the first time.  I would say you are somewhat entertained by the toys on it.  Your favorites are the lion hand puppet- which makes you belly laugh when you see it- and the little wire that you push the beads over.  You will sit there totally quiet for ten minutes just pushing the beads back and forth.  It's kind of amazing to watch you focus so intently on pushing those little beads!

You are still a champ at bedtime, praise the Lord!  You sleep 9-10 hours a night, with 3 hour long naps and 1 1-2 hour nap.  You must get that from your mama, because Daddy isn't a big nap taker.  Sometimes you go down very easily for a nap, and sometimes you fight it!  When you get really upset during nap time, the only things that calm you down are walking out to see the front yard or looking at your reflection in the mirror.  Maybe you realize how silly all of that fussing really is!  This month we started giving you your lovie at bedtime.  We are hoping that the lovie will comfort you a little bit during bedtime, since you aren't really into the paci.  

Usually you just chew on the lovie- but sometimes you will accidently drape it over your face, which scares you a little.  There have been so many times when we've crept into your room to find you fast asleep, just like this:

A couple of weeks ago, you went to the zoo for the first time!  You stayed awake the entire time, just happy to be rolling along in the stroller.  I took you out a few times to show you the animals, but you didn't seem that interested.  I thought that you would love the giraffes, since you are obsessed with chewing on your Sophie, but you were more interested at people watching.  Oh well!

This month you had your first cookout in Cameron Park!  A bunch of friends got together to grill out and play games for Kat's birthday, and you seemed to have a great time.  Of course, you love any opportunity to be around Corban and Clayton (your big boy friends).  

You had a great time, but were so tuckered out by the end of the night!  I LOVE your sweet sleepy face, baby boy!

I have had a hard time this month, accepting the fact that you are growing up so quickly.  I am proud of the milestones that you have accomplished so far, but I definitely don't feel like I am pushing you to crawl or walk anytime soon.  I treasure you, my sweet boy!  I love snuggling with you and singing to you when you are curled up on my chest.  I know that it won't be long until you are mobile and would rather scoot around than sit in my lap, and so I have been trying to savor each sweet moment I have with you.  You grow so peaceful when we sing to you, just looking up at us with those big, blue eyes.  Your favorite songs are "Jesus Loves Me,""Jesus, Savior," "My Little Buttercup" from The Three Amigos, and "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley.  I have to say that I am really proud of you for enjoying multiple genres of music.

Cooper Hudson, you are one of the greatest gifts that Daddy and I have ever been given.  We love you with everything in us!  Right now, precious boy, you truly make our worlds complete.  I love your curiosity; I love your playfulness; I love your happy heart; I love your purity; I love your sweet, content smile.  I cannot wait for you to know the lengths, and depths, and heights of the love of the Father.  His love for you is SO GREAT, and I am so excited for you to know it!

Happy Five Months, Baby Coop!