Cooper Fast Forward...

So, after Ian was born I really got into photography.

When he was about 2 months old I took a set of photographs that I really loved and from that point on I decided I was not going to take him to a studio and pay outlandish prices, and hope and pray he would be having a good enough moment to get some good shots.

I decided that I would do them.

And that's what I did.
Every month.
And I was happy.

Along came Ana and though I had the best of intentions and did mostly okay, with a few delays here and there in timing. The difference with her was that I didn't print out oodles of copies every month and hand them out to everyone willing to take one.

I handed out her 1 year photos,

But mostly, they sit here on my computer.
But I'm still happy.
I can look at them whenever I want to after all.

So onto Cooper.
He's quite possibly my last baby.
I want to hold onto every memory even more so.

I've been doing okay.
Well, except that I missed the 1 month and 4 month ones.
Oops.

It's just so hard to find the time;
enough time to set up the backdrop,
to take the pictures,
and take DOWN the backdrop all in one day.
It didn't matter so much with Ian if things were still set up the next day.

But with Ms. Mischief in the house, it most certainly matters!
In a "we would probably end up in the ER with head trauma" sort of way.

Anyways, what I haven't been so good about is sharing with you all.
So I thought I'd catch you up on how much our Coop has changed over the last 5 months.

So here you go, a Cooper Fast Forward:

There you go.
5 months already.
Time really flies.

But I say that a lot, don't I?

2 Years Ago Tonight...

This cutie became a U.S. citizen.

We were so happy to finally have her HOME...



It's hard to remember her at that age!
She has changed in so very many ways!

Sleepy Stories

Between having a 4 month old who alternates between sleeping 7-8 hours in his own bed to spending vast amounts of time in between mummy and daddy; a 2 1/2 year old who has just graduated to a toddler bed; and an 8 year old who still climbs into mummy and daddy's bed every single night, there's a lot of chatter in this house about sleep. I've started a couple different posts about different stories and have decided to pool them together into one post.

This first one is from February 8th:
Okay, it's 5:20 am and Cooper has slept through the night, and is still sleeping! Why then, have I been up all night? Well, he's got me freaked out, that's why! Besides the sleeping so long thing which was enough to keep me up, he's insisting on pulling the blankets over his head over and over again. So I've been up for hours just listening to him breathing. We did have a big day yesterday, traveling to Worcester, MA to visit with a college friend and go to an indoor zoo event. He was awake most of the day so I shouldn't be that surprised, but he fell asleep in the car around 6:15, and I had to wake him at 8:15 because he continued to sleep in his seat when we got home. He slept through me changing his diaper, then nursed, but never opened his eyes. I put him down at about 9pm and here we are at just about 5:30. As I've been typing he's starting to finally stir, and is working hard to fill his diaper.

So, fast forward to 8 am...I totally expected him to wake up STARVING; after all, it had been 9 hours since his last feeding! But this is what I was greeted with when I peered over the bed side:

I laughed out loud when I saw the grin on his face, he is so funny!

From Febrary 17th:
Ana has graduated to a toddler bed, or as she calls it, her big girl bed. She's doing pretty good and as I type it's her fourth night in it. We have a gate on her room so she can't get out and wander if she awakes during the night, which apparently she does because each time we go to get her after nap (which doesn't involve sleep anymore by the way) or in the morning she is wearing different clothes than she was put to bed in. Yesterday morning, I go in to check on her in the morning and she sits up quickly in her bed and says, "Oh, hi mummy! I waked up! I put my dess on!" (dess is clothes). Her "dess" of choice was a shirt, tights, and FOUR pairs of underpants! I got a total giggle when I helped her on the potty and counted layer after layer of underpant; it was too funny!

Ana sleeping in her big girl bed for the first time!

Okay, here's the new stuff:

A little more about Ana's big girl bed escapades - Ana has since started to not want to nap during the day, it's far more interesting to empty her drawers and paw through the bucket of out-grown clothes in her closet, putting on multiple layers of shirts, pants and/or dresses. I'm hoping to do a separate post just on her post-nap styling, but you all know my track record, so don't hold your breath! Another problem we have encountered is that the gate we had been securing her doorway with she figured out how to maneuver out of. One morning last week we woke up and she wasn't in her room...PANIC! She had gone downstairs and had emptied an entire loaf of bread onto the bathroom floor and was playing with it. I can't think about the incident without getting sick to my stomach with the possibilities that could have arisen from her being downstairs by herself (she has taken to trying to go outside to play all by herself on multiple occasions). I'm so thankful that loaf of bread held her interest for some unknown reason!

Lastly, lately our bed has been a gathering place for all members of the family. I have come to the conclusion that we desperately need a king size bed! Anyways, after climbing out of bed one morning a couple weeks ago, I got a real kick out of this sight:

I call it "Small, Medium, and Large".

Oh, I guess there is one last sleep story to share. It's pretty involved, and I'm going to save it for another post. I'll just say that we discovered recently that Ian is a sleep walker...and it was in a very scary way that we made this discovery! More to come....

Ana-versary

Recovering from the stomach bug can do a lot to you, but I can't believe it let yesterday slip by without a mention. Two years ago yesterday, Ana was placed in our arms forever. I simply cannot believe it has been two years already! It seems like only yesterday we were sitting in that crowded hotel lobby holding an 8 month old Ana, in disbelief that she was finally coming home with us. Not hearing a word the hogar director was saying to us, only admiring chubby cheeks and crazy dark sticky up hair that covered her sweet head. Two years later, and she has brought so much joy and laughter to our house. I can't imagine our lives without her!

Happy Ana-versary Liliana Michele!
We love you so, so much!


Oh, and thanks to Debbie over at World of Weeks from whom I stole the term "Ana-versary" from. They will be celebrating their own "Lilianaversary" in just over a week, which also happens to be while they are in Ethiopia picking up their newest addition, sweet Naomi. Congratulations guys, and have a safe trip, we'll be thinking about you and can't wait to see pictures of Lili with her new baby sister!