And the winner is....

This cute little man wanted to let you know that the winner of the baby pool is.....

SARA!

She won by a landslide with the right gender (BOY) and the closest to November 8, 2010 (November 5). You can check out how you faired by going back to the baby pool link on the side. I would like to point out that I cam in 25th out of 30.

Come on over and collect your gift of newborn baby cuddles!

Cooper's Newborn Photos

We had Cooper's newborn photo's taken the Sunday after he was born at 6 days old. We used the same photographer as we did with Grady and again think the pictures turned out great!

Here are a few of my faves....

Little Cooper with his eyes closed. Surprisingly he wanted to be awake through most of the photo shoot.

Here is a full body shot in his little model pose. He is laying on the same blanket Grady did for his photos over 2 years ago! Cooper was a little more cooperative and allowed us to remove his diaper. Grady was not so cooperative.

Daddy and Cooper.

Grady and Cooper. Love this one.

Mommy and Cooper

Here is a side by side comparison of Cooper and Grady.

In real life I think they look a lot alike. In the picture... not so much. I think it looks like they have the same nose in the picture but that is about it. I hope they grow up to look like brothers, but that would mean they both look like their Dad. I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope Cooper ends up looking just a little like me :)

All in all the photo shoot went well and we are thrilled with how the photos turned out.

To see more photos from the newborn photo shoot, click on the Picasa link on the right or go to this link.

2010 Christmas Cards

In 2008, the year Grady was born, we started doing photo Christmas cards. I contemplated doing a yearly Christmas letter, but let's face it, as much as I LOVE reading them, I am not sure I have it in me to write one. I seem to get myself so stressed out around Christmas that it would be one more thing to add to the never ending list. So instead I decided to do the yearly photo card that takes only a few minutes to create once you have chosen a photo. It is a great way to capture your family yearly and what better time to do it than around the holidays. We are so excited to put together our 2010 Christmas card that includes both our boys!

There are many many places out there that have pre-made templates that you simply add a picture to. Shutterfly is one of those places. We have used Shutterfly in the past for calendars and photo books and have been very impressed with the quality of the product. We did a photo book when Grady was born and one of our trip to Maui. I am sure there will be one for Cooper proudly displayed in our book shelf soon :)

Because of our great experiences with Shutterfly in the past and this fantastic promotion for bloggers we are going to order this year's cards from there. If you have your own blog, you should check out the promotion that could get you 50 free cards!

Another reason I am choosing to try Shutterfly for the cards this year is that they look professional and there are just so many choices! I am thinking of doing something like the Cranberry Swirl Christmas 5x7 folded card and including one family picture :

Or I may try something like the Seasonal Chic 2010 Christmas 5x7 folded card where I can include one family picture and a picture of each of the boys individually.

There are just so many to choose from! The most difficult decision this year will not only be choosing the picture but also choosing the template!

Check out all the selections here, here, or here.

Happy Christmas card shopping!

Thank You Grandma!

My Mom left this morning before sunrise to head back home after 3 weeks and 2 days of living in our 'Grandparent Suite' in the basement. The first 2 were spent helping me with Grady while Cooper refused to make his grand entrance until he was good and ready. The past week has been spent helping me with whatever I needed. Cooking. Cleaning. Playing. Holding. Feeding. Support. Babysitting. Listening. The list goes on and on.

How do you thank someone for putting up with your mood swings when you are 41 weeks pregnant or when you have the raging hormones of a new Mom? Or for putting up with your 2 year olds tantrums or for getting up morning after morning with Grady once the baby arrives. How do you return the favor to someone who didn't complain once?

Being a Mom of 2 boys now, I realize that she is doing it because she wants to. Did we argue? Yes. Did we always get along? No. Would we do it all over again exactly the same? In a heart beat.

I am so happy my Mom was here for both our sons birth and to help me in the first week where hormones rage and frustrations are high. Her time here gave me the confidence to tackle parenting on my own today. I am scared. I am nervous. But with her encouragement I know I can do it.

Thank you Mom for being you. A great Mom and Grandmother alike. We are all so lucky you love spending time with us as much as we love spending time with you!

We miss you already!

Brothers

Grady

is a

very

proud

BIG



brother!

Cooper's Birth Story

This is the short version as the adjustment from 1 kids to 2 kids is kicking my butt! But before I start to forget the details I wanted to get a few things on paper the blog to refresh my own memory.

This is officially the last picture of me pregnant at 41 weeks. I sat in this chair while my mom timed my contractions and we watched Desperate Housewives on TV. My contractions started at about 4 minutes apart, but by the end of the show they were closer to 3.

We headed to the hospital about 11:30 and I was 3-4 cm dilated. I was so thankful I wasn't still stuck at 1cm! They sent us for a walk where I progressed to 4-5cm. Because I opted for the epidural this time around we were admitted at this time and set up for monitoring.

I had the epidural about 2am and I got 'epidural drunk' as my Mom called it. I was just so happy to feel absolutely nothing. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The nurse kept asking if I felt any pressure and I said no over and over. Finally she decided to check me anyway. It was 3:55am and I was at 10cm! I guess my body really knows how to get babies out fast.

When it was time to push the doctors noticed that he was facing the wrong way. They brought in a specialist to manually turn the baby. At this point I was very glad to have opted for the epidural as I again felt nothing.

I pushed a total of 4 times. Yes you read that correctly, 4 times. Cooper came shooting out right into the doctor's arms.

I actually got to see him come out this time and the first thing I thought was 'look at all that hair'! They immediately placed him on my belly where James and I got the first glimpse of our new son.


While the doctor finished her ahem work on me, James had a chance to cuddle Cooper while Grandma took all the amazing photos.

We couldn't be more happy about the arrival of DJ our son, Cooper James.

That is the story of how our family went from a family of 3 to 4.

the end.

Introducing Cooper James!

He is finally here!



Cooper James was born Monday, November 8th, 2010 at 4:19am.

He weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces and is 19.5 inches long.

We are taking our time adjusting to our new family of 4 and loving every second.

More details to come....

41 Weeks

No News. Still pregnant.

Speaking of Stubborn...

We had our first of 2 ultrasounds to monitor DJ while (s)he continues to bake in my little oven. DJ had 30 minutes for the technician to assign it 2 points each based on:

• practice breathing for 30 seconds
• tone
• movement
• size

DJ got the 2 points for size right away but waited a full 29 minutes to complete the other activities with movement being the last. If DJ did not make those couple movements in that last minute we would have been subjected to another hour or 2 of non-stress testing where I have to sit in a chair and push a button when I feel a movement. If DJ failed that I would have been induced today..... As it was we were there for a full 1.5 hours between the 30 minute ultrasound and waiting to see the doctor for the official results that the ultrasound tech has already told us.

The ultrasound at nearly 41 weeks was interesting. I couldn't tell what we were looking at. Your mind tells you that you should see more since the baby is bigger but that was not the case. We got to see the face only once and it looks chubby. Per the measurement, DJ weighs 8 pounds, 1 ounce. I asked her whether this was plus/minus a pound and she said in our case she would expect the baby to be between 7 and 8 pounds. I can live with that.

If baby hasn't arrived on its own by Monday, we get to go back for another ultrasound for the same tests. I really hope DJ does not leave us hanging right until the last minute again. Or better yet, let's have the baby before then so we don't even have to go for the second ultrasound. Yes... I like the sound of that much better!

Have a good weekend!

I. am. still. pregnant.

I repeat. I am still pregnant.

I went to the doctor today and am still stuck at 1cm with a very high baby. We have 2 ultrasounds booked and an induction scheduled for next week. I am still somewhat optimistic that the baby will come on its own but that optimism is slowly fading.

I have tried raspberry tea, acupuncture, vigorous walking, and even considered castor oil before reading about it on the Internet, then I chickened out....

The doctor suggested that it must be a boy since it was so stubborn. My Dad suggested it must be a girl since it is being so stubborn. I wonder if everyone thinks the opposite sex is more stubborn?

One more thing... it wasn't just me that was mislead into thinking DJ may arrive early. There were only 5 guesses for baby birth dates in November and the last one is tomorrow. I still have a smidgen of hope.