Home Made Photo Shoot

I loved Cooper in this outfit so we had a photo shoot. Here he is scheming his night-time cry fest that would shortly ensue...

Still scheming...

High five!

Check out my cool digs!

3 Weeks Old

Cooper turned 3 weeks old last Friday. Our little guy is growing up quickly.

Here he is chillin' with his Dad.

Wearing his first pair of jeans...

A Visit from Chelsey

The same day my Mom left, my little sister, Chelsey, arrived for a visit. One of the first places we took her was the Silver Comet Trail, one of my favorite places to go for a walk. (We took Grammie here too, but forgot to take pictures.)

Just down the trail, next to Nickajack Creek, are the ruins of an old cotton mill (the steel beams have been put in to prohibit the remains of the structure from falling down). The trail to the ruins is a steep/winding paved downhill trail, uphill on the return trip. Nathan and I walked this several times in the last weeks of my pregnancy to try to augment labor. It always brought on many contractions. Postpartum. the hill portion of the walk was quite a challenge, but one that I was able to conquer. I felt so good about that. Before the c-section I never realized how much you use your ab muscles to walk up/downhill.

Nathan is always about taking short cuts, even if it means taking Coop offroading in his stroller.

Last Saturday we took Chelsey to Dahlonega, GA to visit the cute little shops there. When we arrived we were pleased to find out that it was the weekend of "The Gold Rush Festival." Apparently Dahlonega is the home of the first Gold Rush in the US. The festival entailed lots of booths of crafts/paintings/arts. Our favorite was the booth with the terribly cheesy toilet seat covers (too much lace, to say the least), with the tortured old man sitting bored nearly to death in the booth that had probably not sold one thing all day. It was obvious that his dear old wife had sewn all these things and he was the one who was supposed to man the booth to sell them, poor guy. I wanted to buy something from him just out of pity.

Only in Georgia can you find this...PORK CHOPS on a STICK. Not a hot dog on a stick--no, no--an entire PORK CHOP, and only for $3. It was picture worthy. (Can you tell we're sisters?)

After our stop in Dahlonega, we drove up the scenic highway in hopes of finding some autumn colored trees. The high that day was around 45 degrees, which is COLD for GA in October. Poor Cheech; it was cold and rainy here the entire duration of her visit. We did see some yellow and red leaves among all the green. The scenic highway took us past some really redneck areas of GA. That was fun for Cheech to see. We also saw some really beautiful scenery of the GA hills where the Blue Ridge Mountains start.

Our trip wouldn't have been complete without a stop at one of the orchards on "Apple Row." We stopped at the same place we went last year--B.J. Reece's Apple Store. As I sat in the car to nurse Cooper, Nathan and Chelsey braved the cold wind and fetched fresh apple turnovers for themselves and an apple fritter for me. YUM, YUM! After Coop was full, we braved the cold again and bought apple danish, apple bread, and boiled peanuts (which are sold all over GA). I ate half the peanuts on the way home. Double yum.

On our way back to the car we quickly plopped Cooper in the middle of the pumpkins for sale. It was too cold to adjust the blanket, but the picture is still pretty cute.

And here is Cooper with his Aunt Chelsey in the pumpkin patch.


Sunday afternoon we again braved the cold weather and set out to show Chelsey some more of GA. Our favorite Chattahoochee River site was closed due to flooding damage from the floods on Sept. 24th. So we went to another more populated place. Here we are in front of "The Hooch."


Chelsey went home Monday morning. We had to snap a few pictures of Cooper with his Aunt the night before, just before he went to bed for the night.

We miss you Cheechee!!! Thank you for visiting!

Mom...MY Mom....Cooper's Grammie

My Mom's 2-1/2 week stay in GA taking care of us passed by all too quickly. The home-made meals morning, noon and night were such a blessing and a welcome relief. Nothing compares to Mom's cooking. I knew I didn't have to worry about meals at all the whole time. And she cleaned the house, did loads and loads of laundry, and spent time talking to me while I nursed Cooper, took walks with me, and helped me get back on my feet again. When she arrived I couldn't go up/down my stairs more than once a day. By the time she left we went on a walk on the Silver Comet Trail, ran a few errands, and walked all the way to the end of my street with the baby and the dog (all on seperate days, of course). I was a mess for 3 days before she left, crying at the drop of a hat about her leaving. The day she went home I must have cried more than not. Wow--talk about pregnancy hormones! I wasn't nervous about her leaving (although her extra set of hands and baby know-how sure were a relief and a huge help at times). I guess having a baby has just made me more homesick than I've ever been before; I have never missed my family so much, and wish we could live closer to them, especially my Mom. When I was little I told my Mom when I grew up I was going to build a house in the empty lot next door and live next to her my whole life. Pretty ironic that I'm the one child who ended up moving across the country 1500 miles away. Thank you for EVERYTHING, Mom. You were missed the moment you stepped out the door.

The night before Grammie left, she gave Cooper his evening bath. He loved it.

Look at that cute little chub Grammie is holding!

And I couldn't resist getting a picture of the three of us...

Will my Saturdays ever be the same?

My Mom has been here taking care of me/us for 12 days now (I think--I am too tired to check my math and all the days are running together lately). She has been so amazing and I don't know what I would do without her here making us meals, cleaning my house, doing laundry (where did it all come from all of a sudden?), running to the grocery store or drug store, and keeping us sane with her third set of hands and reassurance only a mother can give. This morning while I was getting ready for the day after feeding the baby his morning feeding, I heard the vacuum running downstairs and was so thankful my mom was vacuuming the dog hair AGAIN. There seems to be no end to that either. I was feeling exhausted from the shower I just took and was sitting at my bathroom vanity seriously debating whether to put on any makeup and dry my hair, or just crawl back in bed with wet hair as I have several times in the last week, and try to sleep.

Today I mustered up what strength I had left and put on a full face of makeup and did my hair. WHEW! I mean, it was exhausting. Where did all my strenght, stamina, and energy go? I know, I know, I just had a baby 2 weeks ago, but COME ON! I am bored of this recovery bit and want my life back.

So as I was sitting there debating whether I had the energy to put makeup on, I heard the vacuum and wondered when/if I will ever have the strength to clean my own house again, cook my own meals again, or walk farther than down to the corner and back without being utterly pooped out. I am usually such a busy body; this is driving me crazy.

My "big day" today consisted of my mom driving me and baby to Babies R Us to buy diapers and wipes that were hugely on sale. We drove there (30 min), were there for MAYBE 45 min, and drove home via the scenic route so mom could see something in GA besides freeway. On the way home we stopped at Target and my mom went in while I sat in the car and fed the baby. I hadn't pumped enough and did not come prepared to nurse (I'll leave the details out), so we got to drive home the remaining 15 minutes with a SCREAMING baby. Maybe my mom is used to that after 32 years of mothering, but it stressed me out. We were gone a total of 3 hours and by the time we got home it was all I could do to stumble up the stairs to bed and crash for a 2 hour nap.

I used to get so much done on Saturdays. Will they ever be the same? (This is clearly a rhetorical question; I'm just venting here; Not looking for sympathy. Really.)

2 Weeks Old

Our little Cooper is already 2 weeks old. I can't believe it. He is growing up so fast. He is finally settling into a nice routine of feeding every 3 hours in the day, and then sleeping a block of 5-6 hours at night, which is SO NICE for his tired mom. Now that he is falling into more of a schedule, he's back to his calm self most of the time. Actually, unless something is wrong (diaper, cold/hot, hungry, bubble), he continues to be a happy baby. We are so lucky.

Today he was awake and alert a lot more than he has been the last few weeks.

He is very particular about some things. He most often has his hands clasped or held close together just under his chin or on his chest. He sleeps like this, eats like this, etc. I have tried and tried to get him to move his arms and hands away from his chest while eating because I think it would be much more comfortable for the two of us, but he wants none of it. He'll start throwing a fit if I try to move them. The only time I can move them without a fight is when he is nearly full, drowsy, or asleep. Funny kid.

He is such a strong little guy. He has been holding his head up on and off since he was born, but in the last few days I have noticed a marked difference in his ability. I happened to snap a picture just when he had his head up looking around.

His favorite thing to look at are our windows and blinds at night. The windows have white panes in them, and the blinds are white. The white against the black windows at night create a nice contrast, and he will just sit and stare at them. He also has a few rattles he likes to watch and will track them with his eyes.

Nathan is such a great dad. He has learned a lot about babies in the last two weeks. The other day he handed Coop off to my mom almost like a football. I mentioned something to him about the nice football pass off, and he commented how funny it is that within two weeks time he has gone from being afraid of hurting the little guy and being ever so careful and gentle, to realizing that he's not so fragile and breakable and can really handle a lot more than that. Nathan is anxious for Cooper to grow up a little and become more interactive. He likes to walk him around the house and show him different things. Last night he put Coop to sleep after I fed him. He has been such an amazing husband and father in the last two weeks. I am not at all surprised, but just very thankful for him and all he does to support me, help me, and be an active part of our baby's life.

Of course I love the fact that I'm starting to get a little more sleep, but I am trying to enjoy my baby being a little newborn because I know these weeks are fleeting. I get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye just thinking about it. There is nothing like holding your baby in the wee hours of the morning after just nursing him, looking into his cute little eyes with him recognizing who you are, and sharing such a tender moment as you sing him to sleep. Being a mother is everything and more than I dreamed of. The last two weeks have been the most rewarding in my entire life. Happy 2 week birthday, little Coop.

Mommy Milestones

Enough about the baby for a minute...I've hit some major milestones and want to shout it out.
Boys/men may want to stop reading at this point--it's all very "girly."

1. That's it, declare me the "Biggest Loser." I have lost 30 lbs in 10 days!!! I know, I know, it's pregnancy weight, but still. That gives me only 8 lbs of pregnancy weight to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, and that's WITH clothes on, and obviously includes the Dolly Parton-size ta-ta's I'm sporting now. That goes to show that most of my weight was baby, water, and other quickly expelled pregnancy accessories. I am so excited!!!! (At this point I'm not mentioning SIZE--that's another story. Will this jello belly ever go back to normal?! Will I ever wear non-maternity pants again?....Back to celebrating; Let's focus on the positive.)

2. I have normal feet again! No longer do I have elephantitis-looking feet that bulge over any shoe I try to wear. I can start wearing cute shoes again. Time for a peticure. There are actually visible VEINS in my feet again. Haven't seen those babies since May/June. Welcome back!

3. The cankles are gone! Nuff said.

4. I have bony knees again! Who would have ever thought I'd want bony knees again, but I missed them.

5. I can bend from the waist! (albeit gingerly)

6. I can see my own feet when standing straight!

7. I cut my own toenails a few days ago without feeling like I needed to come up for air before I passed out.

8. I slept on my side for about 20 minutes last night. After several months of mandatory side-sleeping, you'd think I'd be sick of it and want to sleep on my back. But after being so used to sleeping on my side, sleeping on my back without the OPTION of side sleeping due to the c-section has been really frustrating. Pre-humungo prego belly, I used to sleep on my side to fall asleep and then roll to my back. So falling asleep the last 10 days has been hard for me. Last night was a little painful still, but it felt good nonetheless to turn over in bed.

I was trying to think of 10 things, but 8 sound good. I have 30 minutes before The Coop will be awake for feeding again, and I need to catch a few Zs before then. Thanks for celebrating with me! :o)

I love my little baby Cooper, but having my body morph back to its pre-pregnant self is a wonderful thing.