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.

Cupcake Fun!

Today the family made some Coca-Cola inspired cupcakes. They were a lot of fun to make. It was my first time working with fondant and I was very surprised how easy it was to work with. I thought it was going to be really hard to mold and shape but it wasn't too bad. Connor really enjoyed decorating the cupcakes. He really enjoyed the sprinkles and used a lot of green sprinkles for his cupcakes. I think he went through half of a bottle on five cupcakes. I got this idea for the cupcakes on a website that I go to all the time. I saw them and I fell in the love with the concept. The website is called Bakerella. Definitely check out her website. She is extremely talented and has so many great, creative ideas. The snow globes on our cupcakes are actually made from the round holiday Coca-cola bottles (which are so hard to find). We finally found a few still available at the Wal-Mart in Bernalillo. The coke bottles that the bears are holding are actually coke gummies that you can find in the candy section anywhere you can buy candy. I bought mine at Walgreens. I posted more pictures of our creations on Facebook if you want to see more cupcakes, including Connor's!

Merry Christmas

This is my favorite time of the year. I love the smell of pine, cookies, cinnamon, and sugar. I love spending extra time with my family and friends. Connor is very excited for Santa. He has a little elf that watches over him during the day and reports back to Santa every night. Connor named him "Elf-elf"! In case you didn't know, he names everything double of what it already is, dog-dog, boy-boy, etc. This year we put up a tree in every room, almost. I was able to get a few real trees a few weeks ago from the Jemez. It is our first time having real trees in our house for Christmas. This will be Connor's first Christmas with Josh being home. We are so excited to have him off this year. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and enjoy your time with your families and friends.

Highs and lows

These are a few photos that I took of Connor at his friend's birthday a few weeks ago. He had a lot of fun playing with all the kids at the party. This adorable basset hound was at the party too and I couldn't resist taking a picture of him. He was so cute! He looks really big in the picture but he was only a puppy. The weather is changing and outdoor shots will be limited but I hope to get a lot of indoor "practice" with my camera. I am ready to start setting up for Christmas. Josh and I have already planned our outdoor decorations and now we are deciding where to put all of our decorations in our new house. We are so excited! It is Josh's first Christmas to be off with Connor. I cannot wait!!

What a week. Last week was so, so stressful. I was sick at the beginning of the week. Then, Connor got sick with the flu. The flu caused him to develop Transient Synovitis which causes your joints in your legs and hips to swell and it causes a lot of pain. It was so painful for Connor that it caused him not to be able to walk. Before I knew what he had, I was really panicked. I took him to the ER Sunday morning and that is when I found out what he had. It goes away after several days. He has been fine today and he doesn't seem to be in anymore pain. I just thank God that he is okay and that he is getting better.

Max O'Doodle

One my friends at work was telling me about the most adorable dogs on this earth! They are called Golden Doodle! They are The Perfect Dog!! Golden Doodles are part Golden Retriever, part Standard Poodle. They don't shed, hypoallergenic, and they are so cute! Josh has been wanting a dog for a very long time and we finally decided that this would be the perfect dog for us! I searched on the web for breeders in NM and there are only a few. We found a breeder in Taos that bred these adorable pooches. We drove up to their ranch and bought us a boy golden doodle! We decided to name him Max. Max was very sad and didn't eat anything when we brought him home. When Josh took him to vet it turned out that Max had round worms. I was very scared of Max getting Connor sick and that he could possibly be unhealthy, so I decided that we should return him to his home in Taos. Josh was very, very sad to see Max go. He finally got himself a dog and I made him take him back. I promised Josh we would get another golden doodle but I told him I needed time before our next one. This is a picture that Josh took on his phone of Max before he took him back to his home on the ranch. I don't know if I made the right choice, but I had to do what I thought was the best interest for our family. I did not want Connor to get sick. Sorry Max! We all love you very much and we hope you are well. I hope you find a good, loving family.

Our day at the Pumpkin Patch

We went to Wagner's Farm this afternoon. Connor was so excited! He was running through the corn maze laughing. Last time I went Wagner's Farm it was with my students from school and my group got lost in the corn maze. It was crazy hard! We had to end up cutting through the corn maze to get to the pumpkin patch. We were so lost. But Josh had us out of there, no problem at all! Connor found the smallest pumpkin he could find. The last picture is his final pumpkin choice. He wants to carve it but I think it is too small. For our group picture we had to get creative and prop my camera on a hay stack and balance it just right on an ear of corn. :) But we made it work. We had a great time. Connor even got to ride on a tractor and a horse carriage! I love spending time with my family! It makes all the stress and worries fade away. Thanks for a great day boys!

Connor Turned 3!!

Connor just celebrated his third birthday on Sunday, October 17th. He had a blast at a small party that we threw for him at my mom's house. He had a pirate themed party because that is what he is into at the moment. He had a great time jumping in the jumper with not a care in the world. Time flies way to quickly- I wish I could just freeze time sometimes and keep him small forever. I think that is why I like photos so much! Photos always remind me of how much he has grown and all the special moments that we have shared as a family.

I have such a busy weekend planned! I hope to be able to tour some of the parade of homes. One of my favorite things to do during this time of year. I love interior design and see how people decorate these incredible homes that we would never live in. I also want to take Connor to the pumpkin patch. He has never been to one before and I think he would have a blast!

In a few short weeks, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes to theatre!!! I am so excited to go and see it. I wish it wasn't just part 1, part 2 doesn't come out until February! That is such a long time. I hope it is as awesome as the book! I have very high expectations for the movie. Probably won't make it to the midnight showing but I plan on making it the next night.

I hope everyone is doing well. I PROMISE to post some more pictures sooner. I cannot believe how bad I have been about posting pictures.