My First Thanksgiving

Since this was my first Thanksgiving, mommy and daddy decided to let me tell all about our trip to Nampa, ID. The Thanksgiving festivities began on Tuesday. I noticed Mommy and Daddy scurrying around the house at an unusually fast rate filling different bags with clothes and cameras and computers. It was interesting to see. I suspected that this unusual activity meant something was up, so I decided not to sleep much in the morning. Mommy and daddy put me in my car seat and I knew this would be interesting. We were all packed into the car and started driving. This trip seemed a little different than other trips I have taken. We were in the car for a long time, so I decided to fall asleep. A couple hours later, mommy woke me up so I could eat. I didn't really like the fact that mommy was giving me a bottle. That's always daddy's job...at night. It was strange because we were in a noisy parking lot, and when I was done with my bottle this strange man with dark glasses changed my diaper on the front seat of the car. I later figured out it was just daddy hiding behind his sunglasses. After we started driving again, I let mommy and daddy know that they forgot to rock me after eating by screaming. The man with the dark glasses reappeared and leaned over my car seat to calm me down, but he just made me scream louder. Mommy almost pulled over, but I finally decided that I would just forget the rocking. Besides, when I closed my eyes, the strange man with dark glasses disappeared. I slept the rest of the way. It was a 6 hour drive! I was so glad to finally get there. That was my longest trip ever!

When we arrived in Nampa, Grammy Terry and Grandpa Ed were excited to see us. I was a little cranky from the car ride, so we all decided to go to bed early. I didn't sleep so good in the bassinet because when mommy and daddy put me on my back, I kept startling myself...stupid Moro Reflex! I think I finally fell a sleep and before I knew it I was already waking up hungry.

Wednesday was mostly a sleep day. Thank goodness mommy held me or I would have never gotten any sleep. I'm not used to being away from my room for so long.

During the afternoon we went to visit Aunt April at the coffee shop. More riding in the car. At least this time it was much shorter. When we got there I woke up long enough to say hi to Aunt April, look at all the bright lights and then fell back asleep.




Grammy Terry, Aunt April, Mommy and Daddy at the coffee shop.


Before I knew it mommy was putting my pj's on me and I was being rocked to sleep.
I haven't completely mastered the use of my eyes yet, so sometimes I cross my eyes to try and focus. Silly mommy wanted to put me in my bassinet to sleep on my back. Daddy knew I wouldn't like it and when I woke up 10 minutes later daddy decided to put me in my car seat to sleep. Great idea daddy! I think I slept for almost 4 hours, but I can't tell time yet so I'm not really sure. After a good night sleep I woke up and it was Thanksgiving day.

I wasn't sure what to expect on Thanksgiving. After Grammy got home from Church she had a few minutes to cuddle with me. I liked it so much I decided to smile. I was a little gassy at the time so it was easy for me to smile at Grammy.

Grammy could only hold me for a short while because she had to start making dinner. It was hard for me to stay asleep in the other room because I kept hearing everyone having so much fun in the kitchen without me. No fair! Mommy helped make the cranberry sauce while daddy made the potatoes.






Aunt April always makes the butter rolls. Mommy tells me that April is really good at it. After all the banging and noise in the kitchen was done I decided I wanted to stay awake and eat. Funny how mommy and me always seem to want to eat at the same time. I decided I'd eat fast and then fall asleep so everyone else could eat. Wasn't that nice of me? I don't let that happen very often.


I didn't get to eat with everyone else so daddy took some good pictures and I got to meet everyone else later.


Daddy took a picture of dinner so I would know what mommy had eaten. We had stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, butter rolls, and of course turkey. It tasted pretty good if you ask me. After dinner I heard everyone making lots of noise in the dining room. It sounded like they were having lots of fun without me. Mommy told me they played Cranium. I can't wait until I'm old enough to play with all the little pieces.



The play dough that Grammy was playing with looks like something I would enjoy getting my hands on.


Of course, I couldn't let the fun continue without me. I had to cry rather loudly to be heard over all the laughing. Finally, daddy came to pick me up. Thank goodness mommy was close behind because I was hungry again.

Before I got to eat Aunt Erin wanted to hold me one more time before she had to leave. I liked looking at her long curly hair, not something I get to see very often. But after a few minutes I realized I was still hungry so I started to fuss so she would give me back to mommy. Sorry my visit was so short Aunt Erin.

Friday morning was a busy time. I woke mommy up early to eat and then decided I didn't want to go back to sleep. Grammy wanted to hold me and I thought this was fun.

I liked looking at her when she wasn't always in a hurry to cook something in the kitchen. It was nice of her to hold me up so I could see everything.





I had so much fun I completely forgot where mommy went. I finally decided I was tired and Grammy put me in my car seat to sleep. After mommy was finished in the shower I decided I was hungry again. Being awake for so long uses up a lot of my energy. Mommy fed me and then got me dressed. By this time it was starting to get very noisy in the dinning room again. But this time it was only daddy and Grandpa Ed making the noise. They were taking down an old fireplace and making a big walk in closet for Grammy and all her kitchen gadgetry. Daddy was impressed that he and Grandpa Ed didn't have to cut down all of the pipes. It came down with a few tugs on the rope.




Things were beginning to get noisy and dusty. Mommy thought it would be a good idea to get out of the house for awhile while Daddy and Grandpa Ed worked. We decided to go visit Aunt April at the coffee shop again. This was most likely the only place that wasn't packed with people shopping on black Friday. When we got there I decided to wake up and I was glad that I did. Aunt April had decorated the shop for Christmas with lots of lights and decorations. It was pretty and sparkly. But after awhile the lights began to hurt my eyes because they were so bright. It was nice of Grammy to hold me for a few minutes until I fell back asleep. Before I knew it we were home again and I was hungry. After I ate, mommy took me out into the dining room so I could see daddy and Grandpa Ed hard at work. I couldn't believe all the progress they had made in such a short few hours. It's a good thing daddy has built walls before or it might have taken a lot longer. He's so handy. I can't wait until the day when he teaches me how to use all his fun looking tools. I'm sure I could make just as much noise as him using that hammer thing.


Later Friday night I got to meet some of daddy's high school friends, Mort and Simmons.

Mort's head kind of looked like mine, no hair. His is by choice. Mine is just taking a long time to grow.

Then Simmons wanted to hold me. He was wearing a hat and I couldn't really see his face too well. I didn't like his hat so I decided I wanted mommy to hold me again. I started to fuss and wiggle around but before mommy could get her hands on me Grammy was there whisking me away. She held me and rocked me to sleep. I didn't see mommy again until early the next morning when I was hungry.

Saturday there was more banging going on in the dining room. This time mommy and I stayed home. Mommy watched movies while I slept most of the day. Everyone else was too busy to pay attention to me. Mommy was tired because she wasn't able to take a nap like she had hoped.


Every once in awhile mommy would bring me out to say hi to Grandpa Ed and daddy and see how the closet was coming. I couldn't believe they had finished the closet in two days. That's some fast building.

This is what the finished closet looked like. The only thing left for Grammy to do was paint it and add shelves. Grammy Terry and Grandpa Ed were very happy that we stayed so daddy could help finish the closet.

Since daddy had hardly seen me all day, he wanted to rock me to sleep. I was so tired I fell asleep fast. Daddy was having a difficult time keeping me upright. I decided that it was most comfortable with my face in daddy's arm. It smelled like sawdust. Yum! I can't wait until someday when I can play with that stuff.

It was finally time to leave on Sunday. Mommy and daddy were up early to pack up all of my stuff. Grammy was nice enough to hold me while mommy and daddy looked all around the house to make sure they didn't forget any of my things. Packing the car went much faster this time. Then were on the road before I knew it. I was a little fussy at first because I knew this was going to be another long ride home. I was so anxious I kept spitting out my pacifier and mommy had to lean in the back seat and help me find it again. This was making her car sick so she finally decided to come sit in the back seat with me. This made me feel a little better. I liked to see her next to me. I soon went to sleep and before I knew it I was hungry and started to wake up. It was a good thing that mommy and daddy stopped shortly after that because I don't know how much longer I could have waited to eat. The man with the dark sunglasses was feeding me my bottle. How dare he give me a cold bottle. I kept fussing and finally the sunglasses came off and I realized it was daddy. Despite the cold bottle, I decided it was safe to eat. After I finished eating, mommy changed my diaper on the front seat of the car. Luckily, this time the car door wasn't open because it was so windy and it would have made me even colder than I already was. When I was all changed mommy put me back in my car seat and daddy put some gas in the car. Mommy must have forgotten that I wanted to be rocked so I tried to tell her by screaming as loud as I could. The best she could do was sit next to me, hold my hand, and sing me a song. I decided this was better than nothing and went to sleep after awhile. W hen I awoke, mommy said that we were almost home. It's a good thing we were because I was starving. I'm glad the long trip was finally over.

Thanksgiving Blessings

This year I have many things to be thankful for. Overall, this year has been an exciting adventure. I am most thankful for my family, especially my little baby Cooper. He has been a great baby, except for the occasional fussing. Nothing that's been out of the norm. I am also very thankful for my husband Paul. What a blessing he has been helping out with Cooper. Most nights he is willing to get up and feed Cooper a bottle so I can get a few extra hours of sleep. On several occasions he has come home from work at lunch time so I can take a shower and eat lunch. As many of you know, that may be difficult to do on some days with a crying baby. As of Monday, I am thankful that Paul and I have found daycare for Cooper. Thanks to my friend Mandy for the recommendation. I am thankful that my parents have finally been able to put their house on the market. Although they have not had anyone looking yet, I pray that it will be sold soon. There are many other things I am thankful for, but it would take too long to list them all. Below are some recent pictures we have taken of Cooper.


It's amazing that Cooper was still sleeping even though his pacifier was backwards against his mouth. I guess when he's tired he'll sleep through anything, thank goodness.


I love the way Cooper tucks his legs under and sticks his cute butt up in the air. How can a butt that cute be so smelly?!


Cooper always seems to sleep well in his car seat. I wish he'd sleep that well in his crib at night.


Cooper looking at mommy. He is starting to look at people a little longer now.



Somehow in all his squirming, Cooper managed to find his thumb and enjoy sucking on it.

1 Month Old and still growing

This past Sunday ( November 9th) Cooper turned 1 month old. As of then he weighed 8.7 lbs. I can't believe how much he's grown in the past month. This weekend Cooper got to meet some more new people in his family. He met his Aunt April and his Great Grandma Beulah (GGB). It was so nice that GGB got to meet her first great grandchild. Here are some pictures from our weekend.




Cooper is learning to use all the different parts of his body. Someone was able to catch a picture of him sticking out his tongue. That's some quick picture taking.


GGB holding a sleepy Cooper. He always seemed to go right to sleep whenever she held him.


Aunt April holding Cooper.



Cooper was so tired he decided he would go to sleep sitting on mommy. Mommy loves the Cooper hugs.


This was about the only time Grandpa Ed had a chance to hold Cooper all weekend. The Grandma's held him most of the time.


Cooper yawning as he is being rocked to sleep.


It's amazing Cooper was able to sleep this weekend with so many people holding him. Surprisingly he stayed awake longer than usual. He seemed to enjoy being awake spending time with everyone.


This was a cute picture of Cooper sleeping on his stomach. He was about to roll off the pillow. Luckily when we moved him he didn't wake up.

Lately Cooper has been sucking on his hand to help him go to sleep. I can't bring myself to give him a pacifier yet, so this will have to work for now.


Great Grandma Beulah, Grandma Terry, Daddy, and Cooper.


Cooper was always well behaved when being held by GGB.


Here is Cooper sleeping on his stomach. He likes to sleep with his legs curled up and his butt up in the air. This seems to be his favorite position to sleep in because he sleeps for 3-4 hours at a time (Supervised of course). I wish he would sleep this long at night.


Cooper was overstimulated this weekend by the many kisses he received from family. Daddy was a little overwhelmed by all the kissing going on.


Here is Daddy giving Cooper his first bottle. Daddy did a great job feeding him, although Cooper seemed to be hungry an hour later. I don't think he drank enough. Now daddy will be able to help feed Cooper during the night so mommy can get a little more sleep. Thanks daddy!

Cooper's First Halloween

Cooper in his ghost costume.


This is what Cooper did most of the day.


Here we are getting ready to carve a pumpkin for Cooper.


Daddy is carving out the pumpkin while mommy and Cooper watch.


Here is the finished product. The pumpkin has Cooper's name carved in it.


This was a cute picture of Cooper sleeping.


Here is Cooper in his reindeer costume. He was trying to suck on the hood.