Back to School

I cannot believe we area already back at school.  Our summer flew by and before I knew it, I was back at work setting up my classroom for my first graders.  I have a wonderful group of students this year. They are so sweet, smart and work really, really well together.  I am one lucky teacher!  

Connor also started preschool this year.  He is at Shining Stars Preschool and absolutely loves it.  He had a rocky first day. But since that day he has been an awesome student.  He really likes his teacher and is meeting a lot of new friends.  Connor is still enjoying golf!  He has been going every Saturday to his lessons and is actually doing very well.  His instructor says that he is very good for his age and that he listens and understands what to do very well.  I think he is going to be a natural athlete, like his daddy.  I am glad he didn't take after me- I am not good at any sports.  Connor is also starting soccer at the end of the month.  He has been asking to join soccer all summer and so we decided to enroll him in soccer instead of t-ball since he was very interested in playing.  

Bradley is almost a year!  I am starting to plan his birthday party.  I have been going back and forth on his theme for the party and we finally decided to do a 'little man' party.  It is all themed with suit-ties and mustaches.  It is really cute!  I got all my ideas from Pinterest, of course.  If you haven't seen the 'Little Man' theme, do a google search on it. Super adorable!  Bradley is also walking!!  I cannot believe he is already walking.  He has been taking steps for almost a month, but has been actually walking for a little over a week.  He is a very fast walker and is very determined to get where he wants to go.  Bradley is also the reason the reason they make baby-proof safety equipment.  He is constantly getting into things.  I don't think he spends a whole lot of time playing with actual baby toys.  He is always just looking for things he shouldn't be playing with.  He has also learned how to climb the stove- which is really scary.  He pulls out the drawer on the bottom, and uses it as a step, and them holds onto the oven door and tries to turn on the burners!  You cannot leave him alone for a second.  He is definitely a hand-full!  But he is also the most loving and sweetest boy in the world.  He is so cute when he blows his little kisses and repeats my name over and over again.              

 Just going for a walk in the neighborhood.

 Mommy snaps way too many photos!

 Look at all those teeth!  He has 8 teeth!

 First day of school!  Watch out Shining Stars!

 Love that smile!

 This was Connor's idea for a photo!

 Ready to learn!

 So serious!  It must be a very important picture.

Finally got a big boy bike!!  He is having so much fun riding it!

Where Does The Time Go??

I can't believe it is already June 18th! My summer is flying by so quickly. Sometimes I wish I could just slow down the time and savor every moment I have at home with my amazing family.  Not only do I get to spend some extra time with my precious boys, but I also get to spend so much extra time with Josh.  We are so lucky that he is off for four days in a row every week.  We finally narrowed down our family trip for the summer.  We are going to be heading to Denver in July with some friends and their kids.  We plan to go to the Denver Zoo which is a fantastic zoo to visit.  We also plan to go to the museum and butterfly pavilion.  I definitely am looking forward to our first family trip with Bradley. I am hoping his helmet is off by than, but we are not sure how much longer he has to wear it at this point.  Connor concluded swim lessons and t-ball, now he is starting golf lessons every Saturday morning at Sandia Casino.  He absolutely LOVES it!  He really enjoys the independence of the sport and is actually really good at hitting the ball. He is popping the ball and sending them over our back wall of our house.  Pictures to come soon!  I did take some new photos of Bradley in my bedroom the other day.  I need to start taking more photos!  I have been slacking in that department and I feel that I need to brush up on my photo skills.

Summer Break is Finally Here!

The school year has finally come to an end. I think it went by pretty fast.  I think it is just because I went on maternity leave this year so it flies by when you are gone that long in the school year. It was a good year but I am always excited when summer starts approaching.
I am really looking forward to this summer! Looking forward to slowing down my crazy life and just enjoying being with my family and friends. We are still hoping to go on a vacation this summer, but still haven't even decided where we should go.  I was thinking either Denver or Phoenix, somewhere close to take the boys to the zoo and go shopping. Next year we are definitely planning a big Disneyland trip since that is when Connor will be starting Kindergarten.  This summer since Brad is still little I thought a small getaway would be better than a long vacation but we will see.  We were hoping to convince a few friends to go with us on our vacation this year. 

Bradley is doing an amazing job with his helmet!  His head is starting to round out in the back and his sides are more symmetrical.  He does very well wearing all day. He never seems bothered by it and even does pretty well in the heat with it. He is crawling all over the place, which I am very happy about. I was actually very worried about him crawling because he can slide on his helmet across the floor very easily. He is still loving mommies homemade creations. I am still loving making his baby food and always excited to try a new recipe or introduce a new food to him.  His favorites are sweet potatoes and carrots. Just like his brother, except Brad hasn't turned orange. Brad also got his first tooth a few weeks ago and I think he is working on another one already. 

Connor is really enjoying his t-ball games. He enjoys seeing his friends that he plays with in t-ball and learning about the game. He says his favorite part is hitting the ball. Connor starts swim lessons next week (which I will miss the first week since I have to go to a training for work). He is very, very excited to start his lessons and learn how to swim. We are also planning to making many trips to the library the summer. Today Connor is going to sign up for the summer reading program at the library. He absolutely loves going to the library and looking at books. His favorite books so far are anything to do with animals, dinosaurs, and Mo Willems stories. He is beginning to read books very well on his own. He has his own bag of books that he can read them on his own. He is starting to read signs and menus on his own when we go out. It is really incredible how easily it comes to him. He also finished his first pre-k program this month. I was able to go to the end of the year celebration and it was so cute!  They sang songs and also had an award ceremony. Connor received the "Little Teacher" Award. Which he was very excited about. He does like to teach everyone about what he knows. He may be going to Shining Stars or continuing at Early Learning next year. It just depends if he gets accepted into Shining Stars or not which is completely a lottery system. I really tried to get him in kindergarten early but they would not let him start this year since his birthday barely misses the cut off. Which is too bad, I think he is really ready for Kindergarten.  

 Connor with his "Little Teacher" Award

Thanks for checking out my blog!  I plan to post more things since I am off this summer. I hope everyone is doing wonderful. We will talk to you soon!  Happy Summer!

T-Ball Time

First Day of T-Ball!!

Connor started t-ball today! He was so excited to go to his practice this morning. We had a few errands to run and he told everyone that he had t-ball today. He did a great job listening to his coaches and had a lot of fun! He is really looking forward to playing his first game. His team name is the Roadrunners...I guess they let the kids pick the name. I cannot wait to cheer him on at his first game.

Bradley with Daddy at the Aquarium

Bradley is doing great! He has been wearing his helmet for a week now and he has adjusted to it very well. Brad has to wear his helmet for 23 hours a day. He gets it off for an hour every day during bath time. But he sleeps and plays in it all day. I can already see a difference in his head shape. His flat spot already appears a little more round and his ear symmetry seems better- and that is in a week! His helmet is still plain white. We ordered some stickers to decorate it with. We had a really hard time deciding what theme to put on the helmet. Some of our favorites were: football, baseball, and evil knievil. We finally decided on an Isotopes baseball theme. It is going to have the Isotopes logo, pinstripes, his name on the front and the number 28 (the day he was born). I will post pictures as soon as he gets the stickers on it. They should arrive any day!

More Spring Break Fun!

He really enjoyed his homemade butternut squash!

YUM!

Connor's Catch of the Day

He went fishing yesterday with my mom and dad.

Connor's favorite treat

Can't believe it is already Friday! Time flies when you are having fun! It has been a great week hanging with my wonderful family. This weather has been absolutely perfect! I could not have asked for better weather for all of our outdoor fun.

Bradley started solid foods today! He has been getting rice cereal since he was four months old. I made him homemade butternut squash. I thought that would be a great first food for him to try. My goal is to make all his baby food myself. My friend Sarah made her own baby food for her little Audrey and has really inspired me to do the same. I tried making my own baby food with Connor but was very unhappy with the texture of the food. I gave up way too soon. I like knowing how fresh the produce is and how it was prepared. I also bought me a Blendtec Blender and I love, LOVE this thing. Yes- I know it is very expensive and you can buy a cheaper blender. But, it blends things like you would not believe. It is well worth the investment. It makes the smoothest smoothies. I feel like I have a Keva Juice at my house. Connor has a smoothie every morning with his breakfast. This blender makes the smoothest baby foods! It looks like the same texture that you get from the jar. It is great! Plus, the color of the baby food is so much brighter since it is fresh and actually looks good! Thank you Breanne for recommending the Blendtec! It is amazing!

Spring Break Fun

Having fun at the zoo!

My two cuties! Don't they look just alike?

Had a great time at the zoo!

It's finally spring break! We've been having a lot of fun at home. This weekend we went to the Aquarium with the kids and Josh's parents. We had a lot of fun looking at the shark aquarium and then had lunch at P.F. Changs. Yum! On Tuesday, Josh and I took the boys to the zoo and it was a perfect day outside! It was a great day for the zoo. Connor had a lot of fun! He was a little disappointed that the reptile house was closed. That's one of his favorite parts of the zoo! Bradley had a lot of fun too. He enjoyed just being able to be outside and look around at everything.

We also have been looking at buying our first travel trailer! We really want to be able to take the boys camping and fishing this year. We recently sold our boat since we were not using it at all. We learned that we just like to camping, not boating. Plus, we need some place for the kids to get out the sun and take naps. Tents are not the best for babies. We really like a trailer at Camping World and are considering buying it. We (or just I) just want to make sure that it has everything that we need and want in a trailer. If it was up to Josh it would have already been a done deal.

Bradley's therapy is going very well. He goes to therapy every two weeks. We have seen a huge improvement in his mobility. Our therapist is absolutely wonderful. Bradley just got fitted for his helmet on Monday. He has his appointment for his final fitting next Friday. From that point on, he has to wear it everyday until his flat side is corrected. I am a little worried about how he is going to respond to wearing it all the time. It has to be uncomfortable and just plain hot! He will have to wear it anywhere between 3 to 6 months depending on how fast it corrects itself and how quickly his head grows. I am praying that it is closer to 3 than 6.

Thanking God for my Family

This is Brad and me at a birthday party we went to this weekend!

Connor LOVES going to the Lowe's projects! It is so cute to watch him and Josh put together a cute project on a Saturday morning. He is always so proud of his accomplishments.

First of all, I would like to thank all the messages and emails that I received from all my friends and family. Thank you for all support, advice and words of encouragement. It means a lot to us and we are so lucky to have such great friends and family.
I am so lucky to have my healthy, amazing family. Today, I went to Carrie Tingley to get Bradley's initial scan to see if he qualified for his helmet. My doctor was a little late taking me back and I spend some extra time in the waiting room. I totally think it is God's way of making me open my eyes to see how blessed we really are with Bradley. As I was waiting, a young boy was sitting with his parents in his wheelchair with severe problems. He was actually there to get fitted for a feeding table. I felt so grateful for Bradley knowing that his condition is only temporary, where as the family sitting across from me would have extreme problems their entire lives. I don't know all their circumstances but I know they have been through so much more than we have had to go through. I think God wants me to appreciate my family more and not take them for granted. I pray for that family and hope that they find help for their son.

Bradley did qualify for his helmet. We are now just waiting on the insurance company to see what they will pay for and than we will move from there. Bradley is continuing physical therapy and he has his next appointment on Wednesday.

Connor is on his way to becoming a T-ball athlete! He will be starting his league in April. He is very excited to play and practices all the time at home. He can actually hit the ball very well! I think it will teach his some much needed skills. He really needs to work on not always winning and also having to follow rules in a game instead of just making up your own. It is going to be hilarious watching him play.

Where have I been?

It has been a long, long time since I have done anything to my blog. I apologize to all my family and friends who are out of the loop of all the new changes in the Cooper house. I am going to really, really try to do better. I am no longer sick every night from my pregnancy and my computer is working perfectly (finally)!

It has been a long and stressful year filled with happy and sad moments. We were so happy to find out that we were going to have another baby! It was fantastic news but I had a very long and tough pregnancy. I was so much bigger this time around than I was with Connor. No idea why. I was diagnosed with borderline hydramnios. At the same time, we also found out that our precious baby had fluid in his kidneys. It was very scary and stressful for the rest of my pregnancy. I was freaking myself out by reading these awful stories on the internet about these conditions. I really thought our baby could be born with down syndrome. But, on September 28th, God blessed us with an adorable, healthy baby boy! We named him Bradley Martin- Bradley, because Josh and I really liked it and agreed on it, and Martin is my mom's maiden name.

Bradley is such a sweetie pie! He is so calm and relaxed. He always just goes with the flow and is so gentle. He has such an innocence about him. He adores his big brother and lights up whenever he is around Connor. You can tell they are going to be best friends. Connor loves being a big brother and likes to help take care of Bradley. He even had to feed him a bottle in the car the other day for Josh while he was driving. I am so proud of him! Bradley did get diagnosed with torticollis a few weeks ago. He "favors" his right side due to his neck muscles being tight. He especially favors it when he sleeps. Bradley started therapy last week at Carrie Tingley and we were told that his is a minor case and he is starting to correct it on his own. We are doing extra exercises and stretches at home to help him work those muscles on the left side. He is doing much better every day. He even rolled over Thursday from his back to his belly! Since he favors his right side so much, he has caused the back of his head to flatten. He will have to get fitted for a helmet soon and will have to wear it for 23 hours a day for a few months. It is going to be really hard but I know that he needs it and I am doing what is best for my child. If he didn't get the helmet, his face would not be symmetrical and could cause other health problems. I know he will thank me later and he won't even remember wearing it a week after he gets it off. I just thank God that it can be corrected and he is going to be just fine.