BIG big boy bed

Cooper has been sleeping in a "big boy bed" for at least 6 months now. This big boy bed has just been his crib modified to a bed. This summer I (almost) finished the room downstairs so that we could transition him to that room when we had another baby (little did we know we were already pregnant). Mom and dad had given us our, Cori and my, old bunk beds from when we were little. We thought that would work in the room for now. We will worry about a real bedroom set when we have a different house.

Joshua and I have been procrastinating moving him downstairs to the new room. We really don't have any good reasons for waiting, we just were. However, this weekend (starting Friday night) we tried it. Cooper has done a great job. We used the baby monitor for the first couple of nights, but has since quit. We call this new room/bed his "Big big boy bed".

The room down stairs has been his play room for awhile. I painted the walls this summer. The reason I say I almost finished the room is because I still have a few things left to do 1) paint the trim 2) hang curtains 3) rearrange the furniture. I need to get to some of that before the baby comes, but I really shouldn't be painting right now.

Fireworks

I know these pictures are not great due to lighting, but I had to put them on (thanks for taking them Meredith). We went to a wedding this weekend for a lady I used to work with at Farm Bureau. You can not go to any Kevin Ogle event and not expect to see some fireworks. At the wedding they also had sparklers for all the kids. These were not the tiny little sparklers that come 10 to a box. These were the big ones (2 ft. long). It looked really neat watching all the kids in the yard with them.

So, my point to putting these on here......if you look back at my fourth of July post you will see how much Cooper hated all the fireworks. He is crying in all the pictures. This time he LOVED it! I promise this is Cooper in the pictures holding the sparkler all by himself!!! He even sat on my lap threw the firework show. The only thing he ever said was, "momma, that loud." I was so excited that he was finally able to enjoy the fireworks.

Penguin for Halloween

Cooper did an EXCELLENT job this year for Halloween. He not only loved his costume, but he played the part well. If you asked him what a penguin says, he would reply and act with a, "waddle waddle waddle."

We started our Halloween on Thursday night with everyone at Grandma Gayle's for dinner. Gayle was going to be out of town so she had us all over so that she could see all the kids in costume.

I love Cooper's grin in this picture!

Friday night we got dressed up again, and I was able to get a couple of pictures of Cooper in his costume. We went out and hit a few of our friends houses. Cooper had so much fun, and even though he was excited about the candy, he did not let it consume his every thought for the night.

Natalie and Brandon gave Cooper some vampire teeth in his goodie bag. On Sunday I caught him in the bag and he was playing with the teeth. I helped him put them in and quickly snapped a couple shots. The pictures are not great....Cooper did not want the teeth in for too long. As you can see he was having trouble swallowing!

Dr. update

Went to the doctor on Thursday afternoon. Joshua was able to get off early and join me this time. This check up was just a normal check up, but Joshua was able to hear the heartbeat. I weighed in and it showed that I had gained 2 lbs......Oh Man! I know it is inevitable, but I don't want to gain the 40+ I gained with Cooper. I start zumba again on Monday so I am hoping that will help with the weight gain, or lack of.

The baby's heartbeat was 152 this time. It has dropped from 178 at the last appointment. Dr. Kemp did make a comment that my belly is getting big pretty quickly. I actually feel it is smaller than I was at this time with Cooper. I will have to look and see when I started measuring my belly with Cooper and compare.

We have made our next appointment for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I will schedule a sonogram at that time, probably for the first part of Dec.

Still feeling pretty good. Don't really have any changes to talk about. I still do not like peppermint. Don't mind brushing my teeth, but CAN NOT chew peppermint gum.

Jackson and Cooper's day of fun!

The Schroer's from Texas came to Wichita for a wedding. They had a very busy schedule with all the people they wanted to see, but we were able to find a little bit of time on Friday afternoon to get the boys together to play.

We started the afternoon at the bowling alley. The boys greeted each other with hugs. As a refresher for some of you, Jackson is 8 days older than Cooper. This is the same family we went to visit over spring break.

During the second game the boys started to loose interest a little bit. Ramie, Jackson's mom, started finding different ways for them to finish the game. They both enjoyed throwing the ball between their legs.

After we left the bowling alley we took the kids to the Sedgwick County Park. This is a new play area that they just opened in the last couple of months. It is a GREAT play area for kids. The first picture is a picture of the main play area. I am actually standing in another area that is designed for children 2-5 years old.

The boys had a blast even though both of them were EXTREMELY exhausted from not sleeping well the night before and not having naps. They RAN back and forth to both play areas. Both boys played hard for about an hour and a half before they hugged and said goodbye.

Giving hugs goodbye.

Americus Days

This weekend was Americus Days for our small town. Due to the fact that Joshua and I play/run the softball tournament, we don't really get to enjoy much of what goes on at the park. However, we did take the time to take Cooper and some other kids to the parade.

Cooper did better this year than he did last. Last year he would not leave any ones lap for anything. This year, he was still a little uncomfortable, but with a little guidance he would run out to pick up the candy being thrown. Next year I hope that he is a little faster at this so that he gets the good candy... HA! The big kids just beat him to it.

We walked from the ball field to Main St. for the parade. While we were trying to find the Worrel family (Joshua's best friend from HS), we ran into several other friends along the way. We were walking past the Brunkow family and Cooper walked right up to "grandma Donna" and climbed into her lap. I had to take a picture.

Picking up some candy that the big kids did not get to.
Devan, Derek, Cooper, and Braxton

I took this picture of Donavan and myself. Donavan is 21 months, and he was not quite sure what to think of everything going on. His mom and dad, Dom and Kilee, play ball with us. I love watching Cooper and Donovan play together.
Cooper is waving at the parade going by.
Cooper and one of his favorite people, Ben. Ben has been on the blog a few times before. Cooper adores Ben and always wants his attention when he is around.
When the parade was over Treva and I were trying to get the boys pictures. I know for the best shots they needed to face the sun. I guess the boys didn't like it so much!

On Sunday morning when Cooper woke up, he crawled into bed with us like normal. He was laying on my side of the bed and said, "I see parade." I replied, "you did?" Cooper, with his excited voice yelled, "YEAH!" I then asked, "what did you see at the parade?" Expecting to hear him say, motorcycles, tractors, candy, etc. he completely surprised me when his answer was, "horse poop." Of all the things I thought I would hear, that was not one of them.