Cooper is a big boy!

It has been a while since I've blogged. I am really slack at it and I was trying to wait to blog again once I got Cooper's one year pictures done. Those are not coming until the end of July, so I figured I would go ahead.

When we found out we were first pregnant in Oct 2008, we were excited of course, scared and nervous at the same time. Our whole world was about to turn upside down. About 6 weeks later, the unfortunate happened and the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. At first, I was mad at God and I would always think "why me?". I honestly thought I was being punished.

Then, I realized God doesn't punish...he never does. If anything, I feel he puts these kinds of trials in our life to make us stronger and have faith in him. I know it sounds crazy thinking why would God let me miscarry and then I call it a blessing. Well, it was in fact a blessing. Lee and I were not in a financial place to start family and he had a terrible job with bosses that had the worst people skills that I have ever heard of. His schedule was awful and I really wanted to be able to stay home and raise our kids. I did not want to have to put my child in a day care.

Exactly, one year later (Oct 2009), we got pregnant again with Cooper. The due dates from the 1st pregnancy and Cooper's were only 2 days. I knew right away something special was going to happen. In Nov of 2009 Lee received several phone calls and went on several interviews with Nucor Steel. We were crossing fingers and praying that Lee gets this job. The opportunities were endless with the company. He was hired in Jan of 2010. We were so excited, bc we knew that this company could provide and allow for me to be a stay at home mom. His schedule is perfect...4 days on then 4 days off. It's not perfect all the time, with the overtime pick up, but we enjoy out family days on his days off.

God's timing was absolutely perfect. We were blessed with a good job and a healthy baby boy. Cooper was born on June 15, 2010, weighing 8lbs 5oz and was 20in long. He was a big boy. I am glad that I had that emergency c section now!

We celebrated Cooper's 1st birthday on June 15th. I can't believe my handsome little man is ONE. He has the biggest smile, with his mouth wide open, on any baby I have ever seen before.

Cooper has been a blessing. Some things I have learned over the last year are:

As a mom:

**patience is really a vurture. even though, i might want to secretly scream and act like cooper doesn't drive me nuts, but he does sometimes.

**it is ok to just go with the flow. cooper isn't eating very well right now. he struggles with textures of foods. he won't eat any kind of pastas, beans, meats...what kid doesn't like mac and cheese? my dr suggested occuptational therapy, but when we were interviewed and screened, he didn't qualify bc he shows absolutely no signs of motor delays...my gosh he was craaling at 5.5 months. so right now, we are just going with the flow with foods. whatever he will eat right now, is fine with us. i struggle with dinner choices, but for breakfast it's a pop tart or a nutri gain bar and for lunch it's a pb and j or grilled cheese. cooper likes whole things he can pick up and eat.

**you are not a bad mom if your child falls off the bed or the couch. it happens to the best of us.

**babies are very sneaky. cooper likes to hide things now and push his car up to the couch or ottoman so he can climb up onto it.

**cooper will never have a milk in the car again.

**your 15min shower and shave has now turned into a 5min shower. and what is shaving again?

**we call cooper the little beaver. i am constantly saying things like "cooper, don't eat the wood, baby" he has tons of bite marks in his crib and we've already taken a trip to the dentist to prove it.

**you never know what you will do with your child until you are in that situation. so, i never thought i would do (that)? ...is a reality.

**it is fun watching cooper grow, learn new things, dance, and talk like he is having a real conversation with you. our house is playground as he constantly explores it.

**it is more fun for him to take things out of boxes, drawers, etc than it is to put them back. i can not fold clothes when he is around. i will have to fold them 100xs. as soon as i fold them and put them in the basket, he pulls them right out.

**being a mom is the best and most rewarding job ever!