The Whiteleys

Introducing...

2012-02-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Tucker Wade Whiteley! He was born Tuesday, January 24th at 11:59 am. He was 8 lbs., 13 oz. and 20 1/2 in. long. As Dusty says, he's the runt of our litter. :) So far, he has been a great baby and his big brother love him.

Tucker in the hosptial.

Meeting big brothers for the first time.

Tucker showing his eyes at home.

Happy Birthday Cooper Graham!

2012-01-17T17:48:00.000-08:00

Cooper turned three (or "free" as he says) last week! Over the past few months, Cooper has officially become a big boy. He is completely potty trained, prefers drinking out of big cups, sitting without a booster, and just being a big boy in general. Although his big brother can irritate him, he often wants to do exactly what his big brother does. He LOVES trains and could play with, watch or talk about "Thomas the Train" all day long.

Speaking of Thomas, that's what kind of birthday Cooper wanted (for the 2nd year in a row). Here he is enjoying his Thomas cake and ice cream.

And in the interest of full disclosure, Cooper can be pretty ornery also. For example, he was recently involved in a biting incident at school (and yes, he was the biter!). His teachers at school say that he's pretty quiet, but when he talks, he almost always says something funny. We're kind of worried that he may be a handful when he's a teenager!

Despite his orneriness, I can't resist his sweet smile. He's also still my little cuddle bug. He loves to snuggle up when he's not too busy doing something else. I'm so thankful for my little Coopie!

Long time, no blog

2011-08-05T08:38:00.001-07:00

Here's how Cooper felt about this...

Hopefully more to come soon!

Four Years Ago...

2011-04-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

...our lives completely changed. I'm not going to lie... I wasn't sure if it was for the better at first! But now I KNOW it most definitely was. I love this little guy more than words can express, and I am so thankful for his health, his beautiful smile, his loving nature and even his 4 year old attitude lately. I'm so thankful that God's plan is bigger than mine and that He blessed us with Brady when He wanted to and not when we necessarily wanted Him to. He taught us a little something about patience, which is pretty ironic, since we both needed a lesson in that to prepare for parenthood. :) We had tons of fun celebrating number four, so more pictures to come later when I'm not so tired!

Twins

2011-04-18T19:11:00.001-07:00

Cooper recently started making this face when asked to show his "silly face". It reminds me so much of his cousin, Brooks! When you ask Brooks to "say cheese", he often makes a very similar face. Here is Cooper making his silly face. Here's a picture I found of Brooks saying cheese (I'm assuming anyway!). I feel like I can see the resemblance more in person, but you can kind of get the picture here.

Soccer

2011-04-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Brady started soccer a couple of weeks ago. We weren't sure what to expect, but he's doing great. It's just a beginners session, so there are no games, just practice, which is fine by us, because we're not quite ready for all of that yet!
Here's Brady kicking the ball through a hoop. They're playing "Follow the Leader" here. It was too cute to see them do this, and I think it's a great way for the kids to learn how to follow directions and listen. Brady was really into it as you can see!

Brady's friend Bayley is also on his team. She is quite the little soccer player!

Just for fun... here's Bayley's cute little sister, Abby. I think she was appalled that I was taking her picture during soccer practice!

They're sitting by each other AND smiling!

2011-03-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

The boys do not take pictures together very well at all. I was thrilled when they actually seemed to like each other AND smile for some pictures in their matching PJs tonight. Miracles do happen!

Cabin Fever Friday

2011-03-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

The boys and I were a little stir crazy today. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful that I get to spend Fridays with them (as opposed to at work), and I think they're thankful too. BUT we like Fridays better when we have at least one of two things - a car or nice weather. Unfortunately, we didn't have either today. It's a good thing the boys can entertain themselves (and me!).

If you close your eyes, you're not in the picture, right? That's what Brady thinks.

Someone got a hold of the spray bottle. We use it to comb their crazy hair, so I guess Coop had the right idea. I love his ornery look in this picture.

I guess we can have fun when we're stranded inside after all (with a little help from "Frosty, The Snowman" in the background).

Oreos & Donuts = Messy Cooper

2011-03-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

Cooper is so, so messy! I don't know what I was thinking, but I gave him some Oreos and milk. By the time he was done, he looked like this:

And here he is after having some powdered donuts.

He's not quite as messy here, but I like this picture, becuase it reminds me of a similar picture of Brady when he was around that same age. Here's the picture:

This picture was taken by Jeni Jeppesen (www.aohphotography.com) during Cooper's newborn shoot. Brady was 21 months old at the time and we had to bribe him with some chocolate to take some pics. :)

A star is born...

2011-03-15T19:36:00.001-07:00

... and his name is Brady. Brace yourself, because this is one serious perfomer! He even writes his own stuff. Here is a Brady original I've entiteled "Down to the Road".

What is it with Sunday night?

2011-03-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

Brady decided to throw another monster fit tonight. I guess he dislikes the thought of Mondays as much of the rest of us! He's driving me crazy. Maybe it's because Cooper bonked him on the head with a broom on purpose?! They were both rotten tonight, just pure rotten. I've said it before, and I'll say it again... it's a good thing they're cute!

To be in a 3 year old's head...

2011-03-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

Brady both cracks me up and amazes me with some of the stuff he comes up with. I realize that all 3 year olds are like this, but this is MY 3 year old (ok.. and Dusty's and almost 4 year old)! If I don't write this stuff down, I'll never remember it, and I want to remember it.

So at bedtime tonight, Brady and I had this conversation:

Brady: I hope I don't get scared tonight.
Me: I hope not too. Maybe we should pray about it. Do you want to?
Brady: Yeah.
(I then said a prayer and asked God to help Brady to not be scared and to be safe.)
Brady: Is Jesus with me?
Me: Yes, He is.
Brady: Then where is He? I can't see him!
Me: Well, you can't see Him. He's not like you and me. He's up in Heaven.
Brady: Oh... maybe Charlie could take his snow blower and blow the clouds out of the way, so we can see Him?!
(Charlie is our neighbor and is kind enough to snow blow our driveway pretty much every time it snows.)
Me: Maybe so!
Brady: Mom, I need a snow blower.

I can't tell you how many reasons Brady has come up with for needing a snow blower this winter, but this was by far the most creative one!

He then proceeded to sing me a song about flat beds and tractors. Always entertaining I tell you... always entertaining.

And just so I'm being honest here, Brady's not always entertaining, hilarious and amazing. Last night, he just about sent Dusty and I over the edge. This 3 year old can also throw a fit like no other, especially at bedtime if he's REALLY mad at you. He threw a full on fit for over an hour... all because he tried to steal a book out of Cooper's hands and got in trouble for it. Let's just say my night ended by pulling out a book I ordered a few months ago, The Strong Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson. Our Parents As Teacher educator had told me about it, so I ordered it since Brady tended to be a bit stubborn with discipline sometimes. I had put it to the side and decided that I'd get around to reading it some day. Well, some day officially became yesterday. :)

Bad Breath

2011-03-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

When Brady got up this morning, his breath smelled terrible. This was the gist of our conversation:

Me: Brady, I'm sorry buddy, but your breath is yucky.

Dusty: Yeah, it is buddy.

Brady: Well, it's because the water in my mouth is stinky!

Duh... I guess so!

A park kind of day... kind of

2011-03-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

We took a walk to our neighborhood park yesterday morning. The weather was decent when we left, but it was freezing by the time we got home! I felt bad for taking the boys out in their jackets and no gloves or hats, but the cold front just came right in the middle of our walk. Despite the cold, the boys had fun playing at the park.

On a side note, Brady planted an acorn at the park last fall. Honestly, I had completely forgotten about it until he mentioned it yesterday. He said "Hey Mom, do you think my apricot tree grew at the park?". Yeah, that's right, he thinks apricots come from acorns. :) Anyway, I thought it was so funny that he remembered. Sadly, there was nothing there yet, but we're not losing hope yet. Maybe it will sprout when it warms up!

Here's Cooper climbing through the tunnel. He spent a lot of time in there... probably to stay warm!

Brady going down the slide, all smiles as always at the park. When I said it was time to go, he tried to tell me he wasn't cold while physically shivering. Good try buddy.

Cooper not happy, because Brady was in his personal space in the tunnel.

Brady acting silly.

Cute Baby!

2011-03-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Here's our nephew, Mason. We watched him and his brother, Brooks, a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted to post this picture, because well, I think Mason is adorable! Oh... and he's about the only kid who's actually posed happily for me when I've pulled out my new camera. He even had a double ear infection when I took this picture, but he's still all smiles. What a little trooper!

Slumber Party

2011-03-02T19:36:00.001-08:00

Brady likes to camp out on our floor. He often comes into our room sometime in the middle of the night and sleeps on the floor in his sleeping bag. It's gotten so bad that sometimes we don't even know when he comes in. Or even worse, I wake up to a silent Brady staring me in the face... always on my side, never on Dusty's!

Honestly, this habit isn't the worst thing in the world, but we would prefer that he sleep in his bed all night instead. So a few weeks ago, we told him if he slept in his bed every night for a week straight that he could have a slumber party in our bedroom. He did it! So we watched a movie and had popcorn in bed, and then he got to sleep on our floor all night long. Cooper got to watch part of the movie and eat some popcorn also. (We should give him a party every week, since he's NEVER slept in our room!)

Week 1... success! Week 2... not so much! Bummer. I just keep reminding myself that my brother slept on the floor in the hall outside of my parents room for many years. At 29 years old, I'm pretty sure he sleeps in his own bed now. :) Some day Brady will also, and honestly, I'll probably be a little sad not to have him closer by... unless he's snoring like he was a couple of nights ago.

Mommy Jr.

2011-02-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

Brady is growing into his role as the bossy big brother really well. Today at the dinner table, I was warning Cooper not to throw his food on the floor. Here's how it went:

Me: Cooper, don't even think about dropping that food on the floor. (Cooper giving me the eye and I'm sure very much STILL planning on dropping the food despite my efforts.)

Brady: Tooper, if you drop the food, you will have to go to time out.

Me: Um... well, yeah, actually Cooper that's right!

Cooper: Otay Mommy.

Thanks Brady. I guess I just need a wing man.

New Camera

2011-02-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

I was able to get a new camera with my Christmas money, and I'm loving playing around with it. We had some decent weather last Wednesday evening, so we got to spend a little time outside. Needless to say, the boys were happy about it. Spring cannot come fast enough!

Cooper Talk

2011-02-26T20:01:00.001-08:00

Cooper is really starting to talk more. He's still pretty difficult to understand, but he knows what he's saying. Furthermore, he's not afraid to repeat himself a million times in order to get you to understand what he's saying. He won't take the generic response of "uh-huh" or "ok Cooper" as an appropriate response. He just gets mad, because he realizes you still don't understand him. Can you say stubborn? Yeah, thanks for passing that gene down to him Dusty.

Literally in the last week, Cooper has stopped saying "mama" and "dada". We are officially "mommy" and "daddy". It's cute but sad all at once. It's also a tad bit annoying when he says things like "mommy, MOMMY, MMMMMOOOOOMMMMYYY" (repeat about 20 more times) to get my attention.

He's also starting to put together short sentences. For example tonight, he said "Mommy more-more fruit snacks". He was happy that I understood him and then very, very mad when I said he couldn't have any more. That boy would eat fruit snacks for dinner if we'd let him.

Finally, he's starting to follow instructions. He's constantly going upstairs by himself to play with his trains in the playroom. We let him go up by himself, which is fine, except when it's dark and he needs the light on. He can't reach it. Normally, we just tell Brady to go upstairs and turn it on for him (3 year olds can be pretty handy sometimes). But tonight, we decided to give Brady a break. Cooper was yelling from upstairs "light mommy". Again, repeat 10 more times... are you starting to get my point about the repeating? I yelled back up to him and said to find his step stool and turn the light on himself. Well, instead of doing that, he then started yelling "light daddy". Smart boy! But Dusty's response was the same as mine. So what do you know, he gave up on us and actually found the step stool and turned the light on himself! Maybe, just maybe, we're starting to get through his stubborn little head.

Cooper is 2!

2011-02-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Cooper turned 2 in the middle of my blogging absence. We celebrated the day before his birthday with some family by having a "Thomas the Train" birthday theme. Cooper is obsessed with trains these days. If I had posted about Christmas, you would know that he and Brady got a train table from Santa... Brady likes it, but Cooper loves it!

Cooper had his two year checkup a couple of days ago (a little late on that also). Here are his stats:

Height: 35 in., 50th percentile
Weight: 28 lbs., 13 oz., 55th percentile
Head Circumference: 19 3/4 in. (I think... can't remember exactly), 85th percentile

I guess he's always going to have a big noggin, because he has slown down in growth in the other areas, but not in that one! Cooper is our tough little guy verses Brady who is our gentle giant.

Here are some things Cooper can do now:

Jump
Run pretty fast for a guy who didn't start walking until 15 months old
Go up and down stairs on his own
Peel an orange (orange is also his favorite color by the way, just like his brother)
Pick on his brother
Color and play with play dough
Look you straight in the eye when doing something he's been told not to do... we're in trouble with this one!

Cooper is also starting to talk. Here are some of his favorite words:

No!
Pancakes
Dada
Mama
Brady
Uh-oh mama (repeat about 10 times)
Mine (to Brady of course)
Bye-bye
Hi
Here you go
Please
Okay
Bear
Sorry :)
Orange
Donuts, chips, pop, sucker... anything else he's not supposed to have most of the time!

Cooper also had another first yesterday... he pooped on the potty! I'm sorry that I feel the need to mention these types of things on the blog, but I'm just really proud of him! I don't think Cooper's ready for full blown potty training yet, but I think this is a good sign.

Finally, Cooper is still a mommy's boy. He's such a little snuggler. He loves to sit down and read books and rock. I'm going to take it all in while I can before he decides he's too big for it!

I'm biased, but seriously... aren't they cute?

2011-02-13T20:03:00.001-08:00

Whiteley cousins Cooper, Brooks, Mason and Brady on Christmas Eve.

Jackson cousins Ellie, Brady, Luke and Cooper on Christmas Day.

Can you tell that I'm finally getting around to organizing pictures? Maybe I'll actually blog a few posts now that I'm kind of caught up. I'm sure if you're reading this that you're not holding your breath. :)

Help yourself...

2010-10-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

He sure is a resourceful little guy. The other day Cooper went to the pantry, grabbed some crackers and then climbed onto the couch for a little snack/cartoon time. And we wonder how our couch and carpets get so dirty...

10K

2010-10-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Andrea, and I ran in a 10K a couple of weeks ago. I think we did pretty good considering she had a baby only 5 months ago and I just started running 5 months ago. Our pace was 9:59, so we weren't at the front of the pack, but we weren't at the back either!

Here are a couple of pictures from the day. Dusty brought the boys out to see us finish. I told him if he came that he had to bring the camera, because I wanted proof that I ran the 10K in the event I never run another race again! :)

Cooper's New 'Do

2010-10-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

Cooper and Brady got haircuts today. I can never get Cooper's hair to do anything, so I thought it was pretty cute when Melissa styled his hair. Doesn't he look like such a big boy? Melissa does my hair, so I decided to take the boys to her for the first time today, and they did GREAT, so I think she'll be cutting their hair from now on. Brady has hated haircuts since his first one, but he didn't even flinch today. His only request was no blow dryers. If you know Brady, this won't surprise you. :)

Maybe Next Year

2010-09-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we received a Pottery Barn Kids Halloween catalog in the mail. I flipped through it and decided to let Brady take a look at it, so he could check out the Halloween costumes. I wasn't planning on buying him one from the catalog, because they're a little pricey, but I thought it would be good to get ideas. Then Brady saw this:

As soon as he saw it, he knew it was the one. From that point on, Brady let everyone know that he was going to be a "popcorn guy" for Halloween. I decided that I could find a cheaper version of the costume, but when I googled "popcorn costumes", I realized that the options are pretty slim. So my new plan was to wait until the Pottery Barn costume went on sale.

This brings us to today. I go to check the costume online and to my disbelief, I saw the words:

No Longer Available

All I could think was, noooooo, this cannot be happening! I honestly don't even really like Halloween that much, but Brady was going to be the cutest little "popcorn guy" ever! Yes, I was that sad over the costume. So tonight, I decided to call the customer service number to double check. When I gave the lady the item number, she actually said, "oh no, that's the popcorn costume, isn't it?". She confirmed the bad news and also let me know that it's sold out at the actual store in Kansas City. I checked eBay, but it's selling for around $150 there. I'm not going to lie, I was tempted for a minute to make a bid, but then I snapped back into reality. :)

The next step was to break the bad news to Brady. This is how the conversation went.

Me: Brady, I'm sorry, but the popcorn costume is sold out, so you'll have to be something else for Halloween.

Brady: No, Mom, I'm gonna be a popcorn guy.

Me: I'm sorry buddy, but you can't be one. Is there anything else you'd like to be?

Brady: No, Mom, I'm gonna be a popcorn guy.

Me: But I can't get you the costume.

Brady: Otay, I'll be a hot dog guy then.

Well, that was easy (and thank goodness I didn't lose my sanity and put a bid on the costume on eBay!). I guess I'll be looking for a hot dog costume now. Hopefully being a hot dog isn't as popular as being popcorn this Halloween. But if it is, I'm thinking Brady can be convinced to change his mind again. Regardless, my bet is that Brady's going to be some type of food this Halloween based on his first two choices. :)

Birthday and Branson Fun

2010-09-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

We celebrated a big birthday for my dad last Thursday... he turned 60! I think my dad isthe oldest kid I know. :) Here he is playing with Coop.

Kara's birthday is three days after Dad's, so they're birthday buddies!

Kyle, Ellie, Brady and Luke hanging out.

On Friday, the boys and I (minus Dusty) headed to Branson with Ron, Helen, Andrea and Brooks. We had so much fun! On Friday evening, we went to The Landing. Brady likes the 4-wheelers and fish at Bass Pro. Here he is taking Cooper for a "ride", making the sound effect and all. :)

Brooks and Brady are pretty good buddies these days. Brooks has no problems keeping up with Brady now!

We went to Silver Dollar City on Saturday. It was HOT, but we had fun anyway. Brady enjoyed riding several rides. Andrea and I even went on a water ride with him... what were we thinking?! And then I went on another one that was even worse. The things I do for Brady... he better appreciate it some day! I have to say that it was worth seeing his big smiles on the rides, though. I can't believe that my little guy is old enough to do this kind of stuff already!

Here are Papa and Mimi with Cooper, Brady and Brooks.

Can you tell this picture was taken after the water rides?!

Three tired boys after a fun day at Silver Dollar City!

Back in Business

2010-09-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

I purchased a new camera. It's not as nice as my old camera, but when you lose your camera, you don't get to be picky when getting a new one. :) Oh well... all that matters is that I can take pictures again. It was beautiful out yesterday evening so we spent the evening outside and I took some pictures.

Brady enjoyed riding his John Deer.

Cooper had fun playing with bubbles and all the balls he could find in the garage including this one.

And this little guy, or I guess I should say big guy, decided to take a stroll near our street. Gotta love the pond in our neighborhood. Last summer, one made it's way all the way to our neighbor's backyard. I hope we never find one in ours... yuck! I like most turtles (thought I better throw that out there for my DZ friends), but not snapping turtles!

Before I lost my camera...

2010-09-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

Brady took some pictures. He loves taking pictures, and asks to take pictures all the time. It's awesome for me, because it's a great bargaining tool. I'll often say, "You can take a picture of me if you smile big for me". Works every time!

This picture is from a few days before I lost my camera. Not too shabby for a 3 year old.

If you're thinking, "oh, how nice that Cooper's smiling in the picture", look a little closer! He's actually grimacing and trying to get away from me, which is why I'm giving him a big bear hug! :)

RIP Camera

2010-09-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

I lost my camera last weekend. I wish I could blame it on someone else, but it was totally my fault! I decided to take some pictures outside last weekend, because Brooks and Mason were here. Well, I took a few pictures and then I set the camera down on the back end of the Explorer, because I didn't want one of the boys to confiscate it. Bad move, especially when you forget about it and leave it there and then drive off when it's still there. I'm sure it fell off somewhere in our neighborhood, but by the time we looked (2 days later when I finally thought about it), we couldn't find it and it had already rained... awesome. So needless to say, there may not be too much blogging until I get a new camera. Argh...

We did have fun playing outside that day, though, so I guess it wasn't a total loss. And I have to say that Mason might be the best.baby.ever! I'm putting this in writing in the event he turns into a little stinker like Cooper! :)

Good Nap

2010-08-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

You know you've had a good nap when you wake up and your hair looks like this!

Big Boy

2010-08-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

I hope no one is offended by this post (especially Cooper when he's older since I've posted a picture!), but we have some big news at our house. Cooper has gone pee on the potty four times in the last week (yes, I'm counting). I would love to say that he's a potty genius and well on his way to being potty trained, but not so much. He's not really staying dry or telling us that he needs to go or anything (kind of hard when you only say a handful of words). However, he has shown us that he knows how to do it, which I think is pretty impressive for a 19 month old!

Here he is showing his new talent. He even likes to look at a good book while doing his business!

Brady Talk

2010-08-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

Brady has been saying so many funny things lately. He makes me laugh literally all the time. For example, tonight I was putting him to bed. I said a prayer like we do every night, but for the first time, I asked him if he wanted to say a prayer himself. He said yes, and here's how the prayer started:

Thank you for God and Jerry...

Brady has been on a Tom and Jerry kick lately... can you tell?! I about lost it. He said two prayers and both started with this line. It was too funny. He also went on to say how he was thankful for members of our family. It was the sweetest, funniest thing I've heard in a long time!

Brady is a little sponge lately too. He listens to everything we say and then he repeats a lot of it in the right context. For example, the other day, we were driving home from daycare/work, and we passed by a truck that was on fire (yes, with flames!). Luckily no one was hurt. Anyway, I was kind of shocked to see it, and I pointed it out to Brady. A few minutes later while we're still on our way home, Brady says:

OMG Mom... that truck was on fire!

That's when I realized that I must have said, OMG... look at that truck on fire! It's embarrassing to admit that I say OMG, but sadly I do say it, and a lot more than I'd like to admit. I totally blame it on my coworker with a teenage daughter. :) She says it jokingly, and I just kind of started saying it too. So now Brady and I both sound like texting teenagers!

Sweet Dreams

2010-08-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

I love to check on the boys after they go to sleep at night. I've heard other parents of young children say that they don't dare go into the room while their kids are sleeping, but not me. I put their laundry away, give them kisses, pat their heads, and even take pictures occasionally! I mean seriously... they are just the cutest when they're sleeping peacefully. It makes me realize that all the tantrums, messes, laundry, early mornings, etc. are definitely worth it! See the pictures above for proof. :)

Train Fun

2010-08-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

We went to the Kansas City Northern Railroad (http://www.kcnrr.com/) on Sunday afternoon to ride the little train. If you haven't been, you should check it out. It's fun, cheap entertainment. Brady loves trains, so it's perfect for him. It was hard to tell what Cooper thought of them until we asked him if he wanted to go again, and he immediately made a beeline toward the train, so I think he liked it. :) We went with Dusty's parents (aka Papa and Mimi), Adam, Andrea, Brooks and Mason. It was lots of fun. Thanks for the idea Papa and Mimi!

The dads and their boys (minus Mason).

Cooper's classic "I'm worried" look. :)

These two... not so worried!

Brady and his Papa.

My Little Dancer

2010-08-20T18:56:00.000-07:00

This video doesn't do Cooper's dancing justice... you really have to see it in person! It is hilarious. The really funny thing is that when I was replaying the video of him dancing, he got interested. I think the boy could watch himself dance for hours... he was pretty impressed with his moves. I'm afraid he got his moves from me, though... sorry Coop!

1st Movie

2010-08-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

We took Brady to see Toy Story 3 a couple of weekends ago. He enjoyed the movie, but LOVED the popcorn! This picture doesn't exactly show his true excitement, but it was the only picture Dusty would let me take in the theater. :)

The movie was Brady's reward for sleeping in his own bed for a week straight. The things I'll do to get a good night's sleep! He had been having some issues at night. It started with him waking up scared a few nights, and then it turned into him sleeping on our floor for half the night almost every night. Since fighting him in the middle of the night didn't go so well, we decided to go the reward route. So far, it's been working great (knock on wood!). He's been staying in his own bed for the last 3 weeks, so I really hope that that's the end of it.

Bye Bye Binkies

2010-08-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

Cooper has spent the last four days without any binkies. He was obviously ready, because he's done great! In fact, I think he's been in a better mood since we got rid of it. Who knew?! It's a little sad, because he still seemed like a baby to me with his binkies, but not anymore... he's definitely growing up! I even think he's already talking more, not that it makes sense, but he's definitely trying. When we took Brady's binky away, I was pregnant with Cooper, so it didn't seem so sad. Brady was only 15 months verses Cooper's 19 months also. Hmmm... I guess this means it's time for another baby. :) If I could only convince Dusty...

Recap since March 15th (oops!)

2010-08-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Since I like to blog in 3s, I thought I'd go on ahead and post pictures of what we've been doing since March. I really need to work on my blogging. I really wanted and want to use this as a tool to record memories, because my head doesn't do a good job of it on it's own! So I'm going to try to update this thing a little more often, but don't hold your breath. :)

In any event, here's what we've been up to for the past few months (besides working... I didn't think anyone would care to see pictures of that!).

Here are the boys in their Easter outfits back in April.

This is a picture of Coop from April, but honestly it sums up how he's spent a lot of his time over the past three months. :) This is specifically a picture from when his cousin, Ellie, was spending some time with us. He did not appreciate her playing with his mommy, his toys or well, really anything!

Brady turned THREE on April 18th! I can't believe how fast he's growing up.

Here are Cooper and Brooks at Brady's party. This picture says a lot. These two have some issues with sharing... I bet you can't tell by this picture?! Brooks calls Cooper "Pooper". I think it's because he can't say Cooper, but maybe that's how he really feels about him!

Andrea and Adam had their 2nd little boy, Mason, on May 7th. We love our new nephew and cousin!

The boys and I went to Deanna Rose Farmstead with some friends in May. It was a hot day, but we had lots of fun!

The boys have discovered that ice cream cones are really yummy this summer!

We had some swimming fun on the 4th of July at my mom and dad's house. Here are Luke and Brady playing with the water guns... they had a ton of fun that day!

My mom and dad retired in July. Kyle had special t-shirts made for the kids, and then we tried to take a picture of all the kids in the shirts, looking at the camera, sitting still, and maybe even smiling. We were sort of successful. :)

We went to Chuck-E-Cheese in July with Andrea, Brooks and Mason. Brady's been asking to go back ever since...

We celebrated my niece, Ellie's, 1st birthday in July!

Ok... Cooper smiles too, and when he does, it absolutely melts my heart. Cooper has the best smiles and giggles! He also loves suckers. He probably averages about one a day (I know... mother of the year, but he loves them!).

Uncle Travis came home for a visit in July, and he had his hands full with four nephews 3 and under!

We went to a splash park last week with Kara, Luke, Andrea and Brooks. Brady and Luke had a blast. The best picture I could get was this, because they were too busy running around.

Brooks had fun too (when the big bucket of water wasn't dumping on his head!).

That brings us up to today. Hopefully I won't be doing another three month recap three months from now. :) I also just realized that there's not a single picture of Dusty in here... I need to make him take more pictures!

My Birthday Buddy

2010-08-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday and it's also Brooks, my nephew's, birthday. Brooks had his party yesterday and we took this picture. My birthdays are a lot more fun now that I get to share them with Brooks!

When I grow up...

2010-08-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Brady, Cooper and I went to lunch with some friends on Friday. Two of the other friends are 3 years old like Brady, so you can imagine the conversations that we all have. The 3 year olds were talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. One of them said he wanted to be a paleontologist (his mom helped him say that... he had just learned about paleontologists in preschool during the week) and the other said that she wanted to be a gymnastics teacher. Then Brady said in all seriousness...

"When I grow up, I'm going to be the boss!"

Dusty and I are always reminding Brady WHO the boss is at our house, and we often have to remind him that it's not him. Maybe it finally sunk in?! I couldn't stop laughing!

Here comes trouble!

2010-03-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

Cousin Fun

2010-03-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Brooks has spent a couple of evenings with us lately, and the boys love it when he comes over! Here are some pics of the boys having some fun.

Bath time is triple the fun with Brooks! Look at all the splashing!

Brooks and Cooper watching some Elmo. I think they were wondering why I was taking their picture while they were trying to watch some TV. :)

"Uh-oh"

2010-02-21T20:19:00.001-08:00

Cooper's new favorite word is "uh-oh". Okay, so it's also only like his second word, but I still think it's his favorite! He can also say Mama and Dada, but he'll only repeat Mama if asked. :)He can also nod his head no and kind of yes... it's more like he's bouncing up and down.

Anyway, back to "uh-oh", this was pretty much Brady's first word also. Apparently we must say "uh-oh" a lot around here!

Sweet Boys

2010-02-09T20:09:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures of the boys that we had taken last weekend. I haven't gotten all of them yet, but the photographer downloaded a few to Facebook, so I got a little sneak peak. Just have to say that looks can be deceiving... Brady was a booger about this little photo shoot and Cooper wasn't overly thrilled about it by the end either! Thank goodness for a great photographer that can capture wonderful pictures regardless! :)

Price Chopper

2010-02-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

Lisa told me a funny story today when I picked up the boys at daycare. At lunch yesterday, all the kids told her how much they loved their lunch, which was spaghettios (who would have thought spaghettios could create such enthusiasm?!). Brady said to Lisa "You must have gotten this at Price Chopper!". I have no idea why, but the boy loves Price Chopper! According to Brady, all good things must come from there. I thought he just talked about it at home, but I guess he's spreading the word at daycare also. :)

"My Buddy"

2010-01-31T18:36:00.001-08:00

We had a visitor this weekend, Buddy, the polar bear. Buddy lives at Miss Lisa's Daycare, and gets to spend each weekend with a different kiddo from daycare. This weekend Brady got to take him home, and he was pretty excited about it! He calls him "My Buddy". :)

Cooper's 1st Haircut

2010-01-24T19:12:00.000-08:00

Cooper had his first haircut recently. We went with the Picketts, and Chase got his haircut also. Cooper did really well... didn't cry once! This was a new experience for us, because Brady hates haircuts. I think he's cried almost every time that he's gotten one. I'm thankful to have one child who doesn't mind them. The sad part is that Cooper got a terrible haircut, even though he was so good. I can only imagine how bad it would have been if he had thrown a fit during it! Oh well... his hair is growing fast! It's already looking better.

The before picture. They take before and after pics, and mess their hair up in the before pics. The funny thing about this is that I think this look is better than the after! :)

This picture cracks me up. Cooper has a worried look on his face... such a smart kid. :) He was also probably wondering why he was in a Cinderella car while his buddy, Chase, was in the airplane behind him!

Still looking a little worried...

I think Cooper's thinking... who cares about a bad haircut! This sucker makes it all worth it!

Cooper and Chase checking out their new 'dos.

I hate to keep harping on this, but seriously, we did pay $30 for this haircut! Does this look like we got our money's worth?! It's a good thing Cooper is cute regardless!

Coopie Monster is One!

2010-01-24T17:58:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Cooper's 1st birthday a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time with our family. Cooper enjoyed his cake and opening presents also!

Cooper had his one year checkup a few days ago also. Here are his stats:

Weight: 25 lbs., 10 oz. (85th percentile)

Height: 30 1/4 in. (65th percentile)

Head Circumference: I can't remember the number, but it was in the 90 - 95th percentile!

Brady was 28 lbs., 4 0z. and 32 1/4 in. at one. So Cooper is a little bit smaller, but I'm not worried about Brady pushing him around. Cooper can more than handle himself already!

I'm so thankful for this little guy! I'm going to snuggle and rock him as long as I can, because he's growing up so fast. Love you Coopie!

Here are a few pictures from the party!

I made Cookie Monster cupcakes and a Cookie Monster smash cake. Hy-Vee will probably be making next year's birthday cake.

Cooper and Mommy.

Getting ready to blow out the candle. He tried to grab the flame and we all yelled "NO", which completely scared him... hence the sad face! Poor guy!

Much happier now. :) Mmmm... this cake is good! Dusty's Grandma Adeline made him a little cake also, so he had two to eat. He loved her cake!

Happy boy after a belly full of icing!

Opening presents.

Brothers trying out their new chairs.

Trying to eat a sucker, wrapper and all. Grandma Kay put suckers on the present. I think Cooper enjoyed the suckers as much as any of the other presents.

Ellie enjoying the party.

Brooks and Cooper enjoying the birthday dinner.

Brady and Luke acting silly. They crack each other up!

Cooper and Uncle Kyle... can you tell that it's bedtime?!

Cooper with Mommy and Daddy.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-15T18:56:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas! It was fun while it lasted. Too bad I had to go back to work, which explains why I'm just now posting these pictures.

Our plans were changed up because of all the snow. It all worked out just fine, though, and we had a great time. What I think I'll remember most about this Christmas was Brady's fascination with Santa. He sat on Santa's lap four times before Christmas, and by the forth time, I think he'd kind of decided that Santa was never coming. He was pleasantly surprised on Christmas morning, especially when he heard Santa's jingle bells and "ho, ho, ho"! Thanks to Papa Whiteley for telling Santa to makes some noise at his house. :)

Here are some pictures of all of our Christmas fun.

Bass Pro Santa (Santa #1)

Silver Dollar City Santa (Santa #2)... Brady sat on this Santa's lap two different times during the day!

Crown Center Santa (Santa #3)

The Jackson grandkids at the West Christmas.

The Whiteley grandkids on Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Brady opening a present from Santa. He got his dump truck and digger, which he consistently told all the Santas he wanted. He also told us that he wanted a mixer and coffee maker, so we let Santa know. Santa also threw in a sweeper, because Brady is fascinated (and terrified!) of our sweeper. He actually swept side-by-side with me using his new sweeper, so maybe it will help him overcome his fear! :)

Cooper wasn't sure what all the Santa fuss was about, so Brady helped him open his present.

Cooper, the Christmas Tree. I love that Cooper's eyes are closed in this one... it just makes me laugh! I need to dig out the pictures of Brady in the same outfit for a comparison. Cooper loved it, Brady not so much!

Brady with Uncle Travis, Mimi, and Papa at the Whiteley Christmas.

Grandma Adeline got everyone snuggies!

Don't the guys look excited?!

Happy family... well, pretty happy for two boys that didn't take afternoon naps!

Grandma Adeline with all of her great grandkids.

Whiteley family picture... we keep growing every year!

Grandma Kay and Grandpa Ron with their grandkids.

Another family picture. Two in two days... that is definitely a first for us!

Tiny (Cooper) Tim

Cooper with his Aunt Kara

Cooper and Ellie... 1st Christmas babies!

Finally a girl to dress up in bows!

Ellie and Uncle Dusty... surprisingly no one is crying. :)

Brady giving Grandma Kay a little Christmas hug.

If you've made it this far, this sums up our Christmas. Thanks to our families for everything. We are truly blessed!

Brady's Two New Favorite Phrases

2010-01-02T19:51:00.001-08:00

#1 Phrase
Me: "Brady, what are you doing?"

Brady: "Nothing."

Me: "No really, what are you doing?" (At this point, I'm thinking this cannot be good!)

Brady: "I sorry Momma." (Before he even tells me what he's doing. At least he's polite!)

#2 Phrase
Me: "What's that?" (We're reading his new Elmo book, and I'm point at objects, such as a balloon, bowl, hot dog, etc.)

Brady: "I don't know." (Stated with a big grin on his face!)

These are the two answers to my questions far too often lately. I think his dad is rubbing off on him...

Little Monkey

2010-01-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

Cooper likes to climb... we may be in trouble!

BFFs and Babies

2010-01-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this a LONG time ago, but if you haven't noticed, I haven't done too well with posting lately. We were lucky enough to meet baby Will in November. He's the first baby of my oldest friend Jenny and her husband, Tad. Jenny and I have been friends since I born... she's 9 months older than me :). It's kind of hard to believe that we both have our own babies now. It was great meeting Will... he's adorable!

Better Late Than Never - Part 2

2009-11-23T19:58:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this about a month ago also! Cooper started crawling the first week in November, right before he turned 10 months old! He started out pretty slowly, but he has the hang of it now. Here's a video of him crawling for one of the first times.

Better Late Than Never - Part 1

2009-11-23T19:23:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that Halloween was almost a month ago. I'm posting some pictures even though it's a little late. We had a few Halloween plans, and some worked out better than others. Brady ended up getting sick on the day of Halloween. Despite this, we still had some family visit (although Brady really missed his cousin Luke). Luckily no one else got the bug with the exception of Cooper of course. :)

On the Thursday before Halloween, there was a Hallowen party at the boys' daycare. Brady and I made cookies for the party the night before. He was in charge of the sprinkles and he did a pretty good job.

He had to sample a cookie when we were done. I may have sampled one too. :)

I didn't get many pictures at the daycare party, but here's one. Brady's favorite part of his costume was the banana that came with it.

We got together with some friends the morning of Halloween (before Brady got sick). Here are Brady and Cooper with their friends Abby, Bayley and Chase... two little lady bugs and three little monkeys!

Happy little monkeys.

Here are a couple of pictures from the evening. I didn't take any pictures of my own kids. Brady didn't even get to wear his costume, since he got sick. And Cooper was tired of wearing his at that point, so he wasn't in it for long!

Grandma Kay and Ellie. Isn't Ellie the cutest little ballerina?!

Grandma Helen and Brooks. Brooks was as cute as can be in his puppy costume!

Can you see my tooth?

2009-10-27T19:45:00.001-07:00

P.S. Sorry for my messy face... if Mom had known that my tooth would show up in this picture, she would have cleaned me up first! Also, if you're counting, I now have two teeth. Wish my mom luck in capturing that on camera, though. :)

Fall Fun

2009-10-20T18:49:00.001-07:00

We've been enjoying the fall by trying to hit all of the fall festivals in the area! First up was the Liberty Fall Festival.

Here is Cooper and his buddy, Chase. They enjoyed taking it all in from the stroller. :)

Brady was able to ride a few rides, which he thought was great! Here he is on the carousel with Dusty.

Here is riding a ride all by himself. He looks miserable here, but he really wasn't. He really liked riding the ride all by himself.

Here is Brady/Dusty and Bayley/Scott getting ready to go down the big slide. Brady loved it, but Dusty wasn't a fan! :)

Next up on the tour of festivals was the Weston Apple Fest. We went up early on the Saturday morning of the festival with the intention of going to the parade. However, our plans changed when we realized that we'd have to be bused into town. It was also really cold that day, so we just decided to skip the parade and head out to the Big Red Barn just outside of Weston.

There is a pumpkin patch at the Big Red Barn. Here's a family shot of us enjoying the pumpkin patch (well, most of us... Cooper had just woken up and I'm guessing he was wondering where he was!).

Here's Brady sitting on a pumpkin. He really enjoyed the pumpkin patch. He made it home with two small pumpkins... only a $1 for each, so we were all happy with that!

Here I am with my boys.

Cooper and Mommy... he really does like the carrier even though the look on his face indicates otherwise. :) He won't nap in his stroller, but he'll snooze in the carrier.

Brady and Daddy... can you tell that it was a little chilly?

Brady with his neighbor buddies, Kayla and Patrick. (aka "The Rat Pack"). These three LOVE to play outside! We were glad that they had plans to go to Weston for the weekend also, so we all got to hang out.

After spending time at the Big Red Barn, we warmed up by having lunch at Cracker Barrell. Here are Brady and Bayley enjoying each other's company... they're so cute together!

The last stop on our tour was the Plattsburg Fall Festival parade. We met up with Dusty parents and had a good time even though it was really cold that day also.

Here are Brady and Cooper with their Papa and Mimi.

Coop was trying to break into the candy. :)

The boys watching the parade. I couldn't even get one out of the two to look at the camera! I can't say that I blame them, though. Brady was too busy watching the parade and Cooper was too busy with his candy!

Cooper's 9 Month Stats

2009-10-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

This picture just makes me laugh! This is Cooper in the act of one of his favorite tricks... reaching for anything and everything within his grasp (although it looks like he's working on a cheerleader move... Dusty was so proud!). It also shows that his hair is still as crazy as ever! :)

Cooper had his 9 month appointment yesterday. Here are his stats:

Height: 29 3/4 in. (80th percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs., 1 oz. (90th percentile)

Brady was 27 lbs. at 9 months, but I'm not sure how long he was because I apparently forgot to write it down in the baby book. Cooper has definitely started slowing down, where Brady was still packing on the pounds at this age. :)

According to the height measurement, he hasn't grown at all since his 6 month check up. I know that's not right. They actually measured him twice yesterday (because I questioned the first measurement, which was 29 1/2 in., so SHORTER than his 6 month check up). So he either had a major growth spurt between 4 and 6 months and none since or the 6 month measurement was wrong... I'm guessing the 6 month measurement was wrong.

In other Cooper news, his first tooth came in last weekend. It's one of the bottom middle teeth, and it feels like the one next to it is on it's way also. Cooper is also really close to crawling! He can get on his hands and knees and rock, but he mainly just goes backwards. Lisa (daycare) said he took two crawl steps forward today, so maybe he'll really figure it out sometime this weekend. She also said that he said "hi" today. He's doing so many new things at once!

Brady Stuff

2009-10-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy lately, so I haven't posted much. I kind of feel guilty when I post, because I'm sure there's something else I should be doing with my time (like laundry... oh well). I've been meaning to record some stuff that Brady says these days. It probably doesn't mean a lot to anyone who reads this, but I wanted to record it before I forgot about it all!

He wasn't talking a lot just 6 months ago, but that has definitely changed. He literally doesn't stop talking from the moment he gets up until he goes to sleep... almost anyway. Here's some Brady talk:

He refers to all songs as "doo-doo songs". When he sings, it's usually humming and it involves saying "doo-doo".
More, is more-more, walk is walk-walk. He's said more-more forever... I wonder when he's going to figure out that he just has to say it once to get the point across. :)
"Me wake up" (i.e. please don't make me go to sleep!).
Cooper is still "Baby" to Brady for the most part. He occasionally says Cooper, which sounds more like Tooper (at least it's not Pooper, right?!)
"Me good boy Mama" (nodding his head convincingly and patting himself on the chest). He says this when he wants to watch Elmo, because Elmo has become our bargaining tool. He doesn't get to watch Elmo unless he's a good boy!
"Where Ho-ho?" I bet he asks us this question at least 5 times a day. For a kid who has stranger anxiety, he sure isn't scared of the strange man who's supposed to bring him presents!
Brady counting... two, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. So he forgets a few important numbers, but I'm still impressed!
If you ask Brady, how are you, he almost always says "Me two". I wonder when he'll figure out that "how are you" and "how OLD are you" are two different questions. :)
Brady loves donuts and refers to them as "nut-nuts". :)

That's all I can think of right now, but I know there's more, so I may have to edit this post later. Unfortunately, this is now my source for the baby book (note to self... I really need to work on Cooper's since I think I've only written on one page!)

Oh... there is one other funny thing about Brady lately. He has an imaginary "kitty-cat". He talks about his "kitty-cat" all the time. When you ask where it is, he says "right there" matter of factly (but only when we're downstairs... for some reason, the kitty-cat is never upstairs). He will also run to Dusty or I at least once a day yelling "kitty-cat get me" like he's being chased by his imaginary cat. If I didn't know any better, I'd seriously think he was being chased, because he's pretty convincing. This would all be a little bit disturbing if it wasn't so darn funny!

Wow... this ended up being a really long post! Good for you if you got through it!

Cooper's Surgery

2009-09-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Cooper had his ear tube surgery today and he did great. The worst part of the surgery is waking up from the anesthesia. When Brady had his surgery a couple of years ago, he was not happy when he woke up! Cooper, on the other hand, didn't make a peep and just looked a little confused when we met him in recovery. The nurses commented how that they had never seen a baby wake up so calm. We weren't totally surprised, because Cooper is such an easy going baby, but it was still a nice little compliment to hear. I'm so thankful that it went well and that Cooper was such a little trooper!

Above is a picture of Cooper with his surgery center bear. This was later in the morning, and as you can see, he was as happy as could be. Brady was really interested in Cooper's new bear, so I reminded him that he had one too. We pulled it out of the toy box. Here are the boys with their surgery center bears.

In other news, Elmo is HUGE at our house right now. Brady hasn't been the least interested in TV until very recently. Over the summer, he started to take an interest in Elmo... not because he watched Sesame Street, but because he has some Elmo stuff. Well, he discovered that he had an Elmo video a couple of weeks ago (thanks Uncle Kyle and Aunt Ashley!), and he is now obsessed. :) Cooper enjoys a little bit of Elmo himself. Here's a picture of the boys watching some Elmo. I've decided that this is the secret to taking pictures of Brady... stick him in front of the TV. He doesn't even notice the camera!!!

Out with the old, in with the new!

2009-09-14T19:38:00.001-07:00

The new... Cooper is getting tubes on Wednesday. We're so thankful that he's finally going to get some relief after 4 months of pretty constant ear infections. I know that the surgery is very minor, but it still makes me a little nervous, so please keep our little guy in your prayers that day!

The old... Brady had tubes placed when he was 8 months old. When Cooper went to the ENT for his consultation a couple of weeks ago, Brady had his annual check-up. The doctor found that one tube was already out and the other was on it's way out, so he went on ahead and removed it. He seemed to think that Brady has most likely outgrown the issue, so we're keeping our fingers crossed. With our luck, Cooper will stop getting infections and Brady will start getting them again!

Big Boy!

2009-08-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Look who's sitting in a restaurant high chair... my baby is growing up way too fast!

(P.S. Click on this picture to see his spikey, crazy hair up close. Oh my goodness, I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again, I don't think it's ever going to lay down BUT it is super cute!)

Whiteley Weekend

2009-08-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

Travis was in town in late July, so we had a weekend full of Whiteley family fun! I intended to post these pictures a long time ago, but I've been so busy that I haven't had time until now. Here are some of the pictures from the weekend. We all had fun seeing Travis!

Brady and Brooks swimming with Uncle Travis.

Cooper swimming.

Brady and his water gun... such a boy! It's a good thing that Uncle Travis is a good sport. :)

Brady mowing with his grandpa (obsession #1).

Andrea, Brooks, Dusty, and Brady on a train (obsession #2).

Brady riding the train with Grandpa. This really isn't a great picture, but if you look close, you can see Brady waiving, which I think is adorable! He loved this little train.

Cooper with his Grandma, Andrea and Brooks.

The cousins... talk about an impossible picture! This is the best (and only!) shot I got of the three of them together. Believe it or not, Brady was the least cooperative of the three of them...

... so we took more pictures without him! Brooks and Cooper... I think these two will be buddies some day since they're so close in age. Aren't they cute?!

Family picture

Family picture with Grandma Adeline

Our little family. Only our second family picture ever (the first was in the hospital when Cooper was born). I would blame that on Brady and Cooper, but it's usually Dusty who refuses to cooperate!

Whiteley kids... they're pretty cute themselves!

Uncle Travis and his nephews. I love this picture because... 1. Cooper is crying, 2. Brooks has Cooper's binky in his mouth upside down (yes, he stole it from Cooper!), 3. Brady's in his own little world, and 4. Travis looks funny trying to juggle all three of them! Needless to say, this was the last pose for the day.

Can't wait to see you again in December Travis! :)

What happens when you leave a 2 year old alone with a bottle of hair product...

2009-08-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

Cooper's 6 Month Stats

2009-08-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Cooper is 6 months old (almost 7 months actually). We had his 6 month check-up on Friday. Here are his stats:

Height: 29 3/4 in. (100th percentile)
Weight: 22 lbs., 5 oz. (95th percentile)

Because I think it's fun to compare, I looked up Brady's stats at 6 months. He was 29 in. and 23 lbs., 11 oz. at 6 months. So Cooper has him in height, but I'm not sure if he'll ever catch him in weight! :)

Some notes about Cooper at 6 months (this is so I can update his baby book at a later date... otherwise I'll forget almost all of this):

He now wears size 4 diapers, which is the same size that Brady wears (this means it's time to get a little more serious about potty training Brady).

He has the cutest, fuzziest head of hair right now (see picture above for evidence). I am starting to wonder if it will ever lay down on his head, though. :)

He is really active. He can roll both ways, but only rolls from his back to belly consistently. He still gets mad if you don't turn him back over to his back, even though he knows how to do it himself. He is also quite the little wiggle worm. He likes to kick his legs when he gets excited... it's really cute!

He is a lot more vocal than Brady was at this age. He is very loud... it doesn't matter if he's "talking" in anger or happiness, it's always loud!

He's loving his baby food and cereal. He hasn't turned his head away from anything yet.

He has the cutest little belly laugh that you've ever heard!

He is SO happy and extremely easy going, which is a true blessing when you have a 2 year old also.

On a side note, after calling Cooper "Baby" since he was born, Brady has now started saying Coop or Cooper occasionally. It's so cute to hear him say it, but it makes me a little sad, because there is nothing cuter than Brady referring to his brother as Baby... well, unless he's saying "No Baby... MINE"! :)

Ellie Rose

2009-07-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Big news in the Jackson family... Kyle and Ashley had their baby girl today! Ellie Rose Jackson weighed in at 6lbs., 3 oz. and was 19 inches long. She is adorable (and tiny!) and we are so excited to have a little girl in the family. I hope Kyle and Ashley don't mind me posting this... I just couldn't wait to share the news! Here are some pictures from this evening.

Cute Ellie taking a snooze. Look at all of that hair!

Ellie and Cooper. They're only 6 months apart in age. It's hard to believe that Cooper was a newborn just 6 months ago. I guess he was never this small, though... at least outside of my belly! :)

Ellie and Brady. Brady was really good with Baby Ellie. He's becoming a pro with babies! He stroked her little head and gave her some kisses.

Fountain Friday

2009-07-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

We went to Zona Rosa on Friday morning to play in the fountain with Sara and Bayley. Brady had a lot of fun, despite it being a little chilly for July. His teeth were chattering, but every time I asked if he was done, he said no and ran back to the fountain!

Cooper's not quite ready to get in the fountain yet, but he enjoyed watching his brother.

Later in the evening, we met up with all of the Freemans for some Mexican. Here are Bayley and Brady sporting their shades! They are starting to really enjoy playing together. Brady can't quite say Bayley yet, so he calls her "B". And Bayley was calling Brady "my Brady" on Friday. They're so cute!

Cooper's New Trick!

2009-07-13T20:20:00.001-07:00

Cooper started rolling over during the weekend! He did it for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa Whiteley's house (our little stinkers like to have all their firsts away from home!). Here's a video of Cooper showing off his new trick. :)

Cooper Sitting Up

2009-07-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Cooper's mastering the art of sitting up! This is the first time I caught it on camera, which was about a week ago. As soon as the picture snapped, he fell backwards and hit his head on the fire place. :( I felt horrible, but luckily he was just fine. He's been practicing sitting up away from all hard objects since then!

July 4th Fun

2009-07-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun 4th of July weekend. We went to my parents house on Friday. We had planned to go swimming, but it was too cold and rainy (crazy Missouri weather). On Saturday, we had lunch at Dusty's parents house and then had a block party with our neighbors that night. I thought Brady would be terrified of the fireworks, because he's not a fan of loud noises, but I was wrong... he loved it! Here are some pictures.

Brady with a sparkler. Thanks to our friends who brought kid-friendly fireworks. Next year we'll be more prepared! :)

Brooks and Cooper

Brady and Brooks... poor Brooks was a little smothered.

Brady feeding Brooks a snack. :)

Brady swimming on Saturday... it was warm enough in the afternoon for some pool time.

Cooper (5 months) and Brady (2 Years) Pictures

2009-07-02T19:30:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of the boys. They both did a great job for the camera!

And here are some fun comparisons. This is Brady at 7 months old.

And here is Cooper at 5 months old.

Brady at 4 months old.

And Cooper at 5 months old.

They look alike, but they definitely have their differences too. It was fun to do the same pose in the same outfit!

Mine, Mine, Mine!

2009-06-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Everything is Brady's these days... for example:

My house
My juice
My toy
My tool
My lawnmower
My weadeater
My Baby (aka Cooper)
My Dadda
My Momma

It's getting a little old, although the last 3 are pretty cute! For a boy that doesn't talk much, he sure figured out how to speak in the first person! He's going to be pretty disappointed when Cooper is old enough to steal all of "his" stuff. :)

Father's Day

2009-06-21T19:40:00.001-07:00

We had a great Father's Day weekend with our family. On Saturday night, we went to my parents house. Brady had fun riding in the golf cart with Grandpa Ron and we all had a great dinner made by Grandma Kay!

Here's my dad with Brady and Cooper.

Here's my Grandpa Howard with Cooper. We tried to get Brady in the picture too, but he was too busy to settle down for a picture!

Here's Mom and Brady. We persuaded him to sit for this picture with some candy. Sometimes bribery is the only way to get him in a picture...
Cooper with my Grandma Maxine. He enjoyed spending most of the night rocking with his great grandma. :)

We went out to dinner with Dusty's parents this evening, so we got to see them too. We're so thankful for our dads (and moms!). I'm also thankful for my boys' daddy! And since it's Father's Day, here's a picture of Brady mowing with his daddy. He LOVES it when his daddy mows. He wants to be just like him!

Vacation with Papa and Gammy!

2009-06-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

Brady's Grandpa Ron and Grandma Helen recently took him on a little weekend trip to Branson. He had a GREAT time! I'm pretty sure he enjoyed getting a all their attention to himself now that he has to share them with Brooks and Cooper. :) Gammy sent some pictures of the big trip, so I thought I'd share.

Brady at the entrance of Silver Dollar City.

Relaxing with Papa while it rained for awhile at Silver Dollar City.
Riding a ride all by himself. What a big boy!

Trying out the choo-choo train. Brady loves trains!

Papa and Gammy took him to a Christmas store. We went there last November, and he remembered seeing Santa there, so he went looking for him. He didn't find the real Santa... he was off feeding the reindeer, so he settled for sitting on this Santa's lap instead. :)

Having some fun at a fountain.

Thanks again Papa and Gammy for taking him!

Busy, Busy

2009-06-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

We have been pretty busy for the past few weeks, so this is kind of a catch-up picture post. :) Here are some of the things we've been up to.

Dusty spent one weekend landscaping our backyard. I only helped a little because the boys keep me busy! Brady helped his daddy a little bit too. Notice his own shovel and wheel barrel. He LOVES to help Daddy outside!

We had a baby shower for Ashley a couple of weeks ago. Ashley and Kyle are due to have a baby girl in July. We are so excited to finally have a baby girl in the family!

Here's Ashley looking cute and pregnant at the shower. :)

Kara, me, Ashley and Mom

Ashley and the Grandmas

We celebrated Dusty's Grandma Adeline's 88th Birthday at a picnic in late May. It was fun to have all of the family together (minus Dusty's brother, Travis... we're looking forward to a visit from him in July).

Here's a picture of the whole family. Don't ask me why Brady's grabbing his belly!

Brady had a great time at the picnic, since there was a playground.

This is Brooks "resting". :) He decided to smash his face against the pack-n-play instead of napping... that's more fun anyway!

Cooper with his cousin, Gillian.

We've been spending a lot of time outside since the weather's gotten nice. Here's a cute shot of Cooper. He's not begging to go outside like Brady yet, but I'm sure he will be next summer!

Cooper and I went to a baptism for my friend, Dana's, little boy, Hunter. Hunter's only a couple of months younger than Cooper, so I'm sure they'll be buddies. Here are the mommies and baby boys.

Brady spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's house with Luke a couple of weeks ago. He had a blast! I don't have any pictures of that, but I do have a picture of Dusty and Cooper waiting for Brady to meet back up with us. Cooper was laughing at his daddy.

We went out to eat with the Whiteleys at Steak and Shake. Here's Brady posing in his hat. :)

We had a barbecue at Adam and Andrea's over Memorial Day weekend. Here's a picture of Cooper with his Great Grandma Adeline.

Brooks and Grandma Adeline

Cousins! Brooks, Cooper and Brady

We recently got a double stroller, so the boys and I have been on a few walks. Here's a picture from one of our walks. They don't look as excited as they really are during the walks. :)

Yummy... Cereal!

2009-06-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Cooper had his first taste of cereal with a spoon a few days ago. He wasn't so sure about it at first, but for the past couple of days, he's decided that it's pretty good stuff! He likes it so much that he's cried for some more a couple of times. Here are some pictures from the first time...

Some other Cooper news... he has another ear infection. :( We went to the doctor today, because we suspected that he might, and unfortunately he does. It's another double ear infection. He is such a little trooper, though. You can hardly tell that he's not feeling well. He smiled at the nurses and doctors at Urgent Care like nothing was wrong. He's a little charmer!

And so it begins...

2009-05-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Cooper and I had to visit Urgent Care tonight. Sometimes I feel like it's our second home between both boys! He has an ear infection. He had his first ear infection three weeks ago... well technically first and second because it was a double ear infection. Brady started getting ear infections at 4 months and got his tubes at 8 months. I was hoping we'd avoid this with Cooper, but I feel like tubes may be in his future also. Apparently Dusty and I make kids with defective ears... poor little guys!

Cooper's 4 Month Stats

2009-05-19T19:03:00.001-07:00

Cooper had his 4 month well check-up last Friday (the appointment was right in the middle of the huge downpour that day, so we were 30 minutes late... great timing!). He's not quite as big as Brady was at 4 months, but almost. He had a bit of a slow start because of his acid reflux, but now that his medication is working, he's catching up. It probably helps that he started out at 9 lbs., 15 oz.! Here are his stats:

Weight: 18 lbs., 7 oz. (95th percentile)
Height: 26 3/4 in. (95th percentile)

Just for comparison, Brady was 19 lbs. even and 27 in. at 4 months. I wonder if Cooper will catch him by 6 months... :)

Cute Cooper!

2009-05-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

This is my last post for the night, because I need to go to bed! I just wanted to share a cute picture and video of Cooper. He is such a happy little guy! I just can't get enough of his smiles and giggles...

For Luke...

2009-05-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

Brady really looks up to his cousin Luke. He often follows him around and tries to do everything Luke does. Luke got a fat lip a couple weeks ago (see "The Spaeths" blog for more details). Brady thought it would be pretty cool to get a fat lip too, so he made it happen! Well, maybe it wasn't on purpose, because Brady was NOT happy when it happened. :) Here's a picture a couple of hours after it happened...

Fun Weekend

2009-05-10T19:08:00.001-07:00

On Friday, Brady, Cooper, and I went to Deanna Rose Farms. We met our friends Dana and Hunter, Amanda and Henry, and Katie. Brady was the oldest, since his buddy Andrew (Amanda's 3 year old) was at school. He was also the only kiddo who didn't sleep, so I only have pictures of him! He had a lot of fun, and it was free, which is always a major bonus! We had so much fun hanging out with our friends. Hopefully we can do it again soon!

Brady with some turkeys.

Brady with his BFF for the day, Katie. :) Thank goodness Katie was there. I'm always in need of an extra set of hands when I'm alone with the boys!

Milking the cow.

Sleeping boys on the way home. Don't worry... I didn't take these pictures while actually driving! We were at a stop light. :)

On Saturday, we went to the Freemans house for a barbecue. The boys had fun with their friends, Bayley and Chase! Here are a few pictures from the night.

Chase and Cooper "playing" together. How cute is Chase with his arm around Cooper?!

Brady and Bayley wound up... they were both up past their bedtime. They had a lot fun playing with all of Bayley's fun toys. Brady especially liked Bayley's baby doll and stroller. Dusty was so proud. :)

Brady's 2 Year Stats

2009-05-03T14:27:00.000-07:00

I'm stealing this post idea from my friend, Traci (thanks Traci!). Brady recently had his two year check-up. He's still a big boy!

Weight - 32 lbs., 4 oz. (90-95th percentile)
Height - 37 inches (95th percentile)

If the old wives tale of "your height times two at the age of two is your adult height" is true, Brady will be 6'2... we'll see!

Cooper was also weighed when we went in. He was 17 lbs., 7 oz., so he's a pretty big boy too!

Brady's 2nd Birthday

2009-05-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

I'm a little slow in posting this, but better late than never! We celebrated Brady's 2nd birthday a a couple of weeks ago with our family. He had a great time and really enjoyed spending his birthday with all of his favorite people. Funny story about Brady and his birthday presents... whenever we said something about him getting presents, he said "ho, ho, ho". I'm pretty sure he thought Santa brought all the presents! It's funny how a 2 year old interprets things!

I posted a couple of pictures above, and here is a slideshow with several more.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Brothers

2009-04-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

I finally got a decent picture of Brady and Cooper together! Now if I could just get them to both smile at the same time...

Easter 2009

2009-04-16T19:13:00.001-07:00

Our Easter didn't go exactly as planned, but we made the best of it! Brady started getting sick on Saturday night when we were out to eat. He started rubbing his tummy and saying "owe", which we were pretty sure was a bad sign... and it was. :) When we got up on Sunday, we decided that we better not go to church, so there are no cute pictures of the boys in their Easter outfits. There's always next year! We did end up going to my parents later in the day, but I forgot to take pictures, so there's no pictures of that either. I did take a couple of pictures on Easter morning, though. Here are Brady and Cooper with their Easter baskets.

This is the best shot I could get of Brady. Even when he's sick, he's too busy for the camera!

Luckily, Cooper can't run away from me yet, so this is a better picture!

Easter Bunny

2009-04-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

Brady and Cooper went to see the Easter Bunny today. Brady was extremely fascinated... at a distance! He didn't last long on his lap, but long enough to get a couple of pictures. Cooper was just happy to be held by someone as usual!

3 Months Old

2009-04-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

Cooper turned 3 months old yesterday. Here are some of the things he's doing at 3 months:

He smiles, laughs, and coos quite a bit. We spend most of our time trying to get him to do all of these things, because it's so cute!
He loves to kick his legs and bat at toys with his arms on his play mat.
He sleeps really well at night, but is a major cat-napper during the day. I'll take night sleep over day sleep any day, though!
He recently discovered his hands and likes to stick his fingers in his mouth occasionally, but usually prefers his binky.

Just to show how much he's grown and changed in 3 months. Here's a picture of him at 3 days old.

And here he is a picture from tonight.

It's hard to believe how much he's changed. I'm going to enjoy him being a baby while I can, because it's going way too fast!

Fun Times With Cousin Luke

2009-04-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Luke's 4th birthday recently. Brady loves playing with Luke. He pretty much follows Luke around when they are together. :) It's so fun to see them interact. I'm sure they'll be good buddies... if Luke doesn't get annoyed with Brady!

Brady and Luke playing with some tools.

Did I mention that Brady loves Luke?!

Brandon, Kara, and Luke with Cooper.

Brady "helping" Luke open his present. :)

First Post (finally!)

2009-04-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

So I created this blog several months ago (I think in December), but I've never gotten around to posting anything yet. Since I like to stalk all of my friends blogs, I thought I should start using mine! I'm guessing I won't be updating this daily (or probably even weekly) since it took me 3 months to come up with a first post. :) But I do hope to post often enough to record Brady and Cooper's milestones. I'm not doing so well keeping up with their baby books, so hopefully this will make up for it!

So here is a little update on the boys. Brady will be 2 in only 2 weeks, and I can't believe it! He is growing up way too fast. He's started "peeing on the potty". We still have some work to do, but the fact that he knows how to do it is really exciting. Maybe we'll actually only have one kiddo in diapers sometime in the near future. :)

Cooper will be 3 months old next week, and I can't believe that either! He is really starting to show his little personality. He smiles and laughs all of the time. He is such a good little baby! He started sleeping through the night right when I went back to work too, which was a blessing for me since I love my sleep!

Here are some recent pictures of the boys...

This is the only decent picture I've ever gotten of them together, and it's not that great. It's hard to get Brady to sit still next to Cooper!

Cooper smiling.

Cooper holding his head up (and tolerating tummy time for a couple of minutes).

Brady enjoying making some brownies with Daddy.

Brady having some fun at a friends house (we forgot his coat, so we had to improvise... bad parents!).