Cooper's Baptism

Our sweet baby Cooper was baptized this past Sunday. It was such a special day. I made an effort to really slow down and absorb it all this time. Given the ages of our three, we were concerned with how they would all behave! At Bob's last year, Anne was 2 1/2 and she got scared standing up there in front of all the people. Once she saw her grandmother in the first few pews she wanted to go be with her. Luckily, it all went down without too much of a scene, but it had me nervous for this ceremony. Miraculously, they all did great! We had several talks with Anne about what would happen and she walked right down the aisle holding my hand like a big girl while I held Cooper in my arms and Will held Bob. She then held the hand of our minister and helped her present Cooper to the congregation. So sweet! Bob and Cooper both got a little squirmy, but neither made a peep. Hallelujah!

We attempted to take pictures before the service. The children were not into it. So much for my Christmas card pic :-)

Bob with JJ

Cousins

 Anne covering her face. She was not into pictures. 

My dad James Cooper with his namesake James Cooper

Mommom and Cooper

After the Baptism we had family and friends over to our house for a luncheon to celebrate. It was easy to plan since we had just done this a year ago for Bob! I had Cooper's little brass hand and footprints displayed along with the page from his baby book. I left it sitting out and Bob nicely scribbled all over it the next day. Typical.

Decorated for the party

It helps to have an empty room to put tables and chairs in :-)

Cooper and Aunt Jan

My brother and my dad

 Will and his sister

Sweet friends

The weather was great and so all the kids played outside and ate lunch at the picnic tables. I probably should have changed Bob's outfit before sending him outside...

My mom, me and my sister-in-law

Our guest of honor getting a bottle and heading off to nap!

Cooper will be 6 months old tomorrow and is the best baby ever. He is very laid back and definitely goes with the flow! He weighs 18 1/2 pounds now. Hard to believe he was ever 4 pounds! Thank you for all of the prayers that have gotten us to this point. All the trauma of my hospital stay and Cooper's time in the NICU seems like a distant memory, thank goodness! 

4th of July

I can't believe it has been so long since I have blogged! There is just not enough time in the day... So I am playing catch up. These are all pictures taken on my phone. I have not downloaded the ones on my big camera yet. I am so behind.

By the end of June I was ready for a scenery change. Cooper was eight weeks old and doing great so we loaded up and headed down to Point Clear for our annual trip with the Pringles.

The kids all fell asleep and it was nice and quiet. That lasted for about 30 minutes. And it is a 5 hour car ride...

We headed over to the hotel once we arrived and enjoyed the afternoon outside at Bucky's. Here is Bob checking out his statue.

We enjoyed the beautiful weather at the Lakewood Pool. Cooper napped in his bassinet. Most of the time.

Anne and Martha Glen swam together at the Grand's Pool. They are in the middle of the picture.

Bob discovered his belly button. Funny stuff.

He also had fun hanging around with Uncle John and Aunt Caroline!

Baby Cooper was a trooper and was along for the ride everywhere. 

He was also a good sport when little hands were grabby (and this looks worse than it was!)

Anne enjoyed playing in the castle

with sweet friends

and snuggles with daddy (the glasses are part of a Nerf game and for some reason my kids love to wear them/make others wear them!)

We took Anne to see the fireworks at the Grand Hotel for the first time. She was scared at first, but did not cry. She was not a fan of the loud noises, but was in awe of the pretty colors!

Bob just being silly on the sunroom door. He is at such a fun age and cracks me up daily!

It rained ALL day for the last several days of our trip. We played inside most of the time and I even attempted to take A & B to the indoor jumpy place in Spanish Fort. It was fun for about 20 minutes until Anne had a MAJOR meltdown over losing a game of musical chairs?! Epic. Like had to throw her over my shoulder (while also carrying my bag and Bob) and she was screaming so loud everyone stopped what they were doing and watched me drag her out. It was the end of the week and she was exhausted by that point after staying up late with her big cousins and not napping. Remember I was also waking up in the middle of the night with a newborn so I was tired too. I was not amused. She fell asleep on the car ride back to the house and woke up a much sweeter little girl. Thank goodness.

On our last day in Point Clear we finally saw a glimpse of blue sky! Beautiful. 

It was a crazy, exhausting week but loads of fun too. We made wonderful memories and scenery like that is just icing on the cake!

I read recently that vacations with little ones are not really "vacations", they are really just "trips" as they are not relaxing. We are in that stage of life for sure, but after a car ride back to Birmingham where baby Cooper slept the ENTIRE 5 hours and we did not stop once (a miracle) it made me want to go on another "trip" sooner than later!

First few days...

We have had visits from family to see Cooper at home...

Anne LOVES her little brother. She constantly wants to hold him. She will just sit and watch him and hold his hand while he sleeps. So sweet!

Cooper is really starting to fill out. He is now 7 lbs 6 oz!

We are adjusting to life at home with Cooper. He is a really good baby most of the time. He is on a 4 hour schedule from the NICU. He is like clockwork with it. He will eat, wake and then sleep until time for the next feeding. Will and I have laughed at how easy only one child is :-) But 2 out of the 3 nights home he has had awful constipation/gas and just cried and cried. So pitiful. Last night he would sleep if I held him sitting up but would wake up and fuss as soon as I put him down. The Dr suggested we cut back on the amount of rice cereal we are giving him and hopefully that will help. I forgot how brutal a screaming baby in the middle of the night is! Luckily my in-laws are keeping Bob this week and my parents are keeping Anne. So nice to be able to nap when Cooper naps... He is just precious and we are loving having him home!

Cooper is home!

Exactly one month from his birthday on May 2nd Cooper was able to come home from the NICU today! It has also been 40 days since this journey began and I was admitted to the hospital for bed rest. God is so good! 

Here is Anne meeting Cooper for the first time.

She is obsessed! She was more excited than she was on Christmas morning. It is so sweet!

Here is Bob seeing Cooper for the first time. He was intrigued!

They both love the baby

Our first picture as a family of FIVE!

Sweet big sister!

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers over the last 40 days. It has been a long journey and the support of our wonderful family, friends, and church helped us survive. We feel very blessed to have this healthy 6 lb 15 oz baby boy home with us. We love you Cooper! 

Now say a prayer for us as we try and manage life with three small children at home! :-)