Blessed

Blessed to have a husband

who takes his role as a father seriously.

Blessed that my days include hours of playtime.

Blessed that the Lord hears our prayers.

Six Months

My big, sweet, beautiful boy turned 6 months on the 15th. Six months, people. Where is the pause button? I'm trying to soak up this wonderful, crazy time in my life, but it's going by so quickly.

Here's what our little guy has been up to lately:

-At his 6 month check up he weighed a whopping 19 lbs 5 oz. To give you some perspective, Carter weight 18 lbs 12oz at ONE YEAR.

-He's still nursing like a champ. I mean, duh ... look at him :) He's huge. He also loves his baby cereal and carrots. Green beans were not a big hit.

-I have a hard time finding ANY similarities between him and Carter as babies. Truly, their personalities are so unique.

-Cooper loves to smile and laugh- especially at his big brother. And of course, Carter thinks he's greatest thing in the world.

-He's super, SUPER strong and, given the chance, will pull anything out of your hand in order to put it in his mouth. This includes coffee cups, as I learned the hard way.

-Lately, I've caught him:

hitting his crib mobile with one hand.. spinning it around

turning on and off his rainforest-music-thingy that's attached to his crib

rolling across the room to get to Carter's alphabet puzzle...

and then pulling out a piece and stuffing it in his mouth

He's a mess, but in the best kind of way.

-His hand-eye coordination is remarkable and he just might already be more skilled in this area than his brother is at 3 years old! (Daddy's really hoping for a ball player)

-He is sitting up (without support) for longer periods of time, though would much prefer to be on the move than sit still.

-He currently wears a size 3 diaper and mostly 9-12 month clothes.

-Our sweet "Coopy Coop" is such an alert, happy boy and adds so much to our little family of four.

January Reads

In no particular order, here are the books I read in January:

I enjoyed them all and was really proud of myself for reading 3 non-fiction books in a month! In regards to The Hunger Games, I have to say that I thought it was good but I'm not dying to read the second book. Is that weird? Probably. While I enjoyed the general concept of the plot, it was almost too much fantasy for me. Maybe I'll eventually finish the series- who knows.

If you are a mom, I highly recommend The Mission of Motherhood. It challenged me in so many ways that I probably could write a whole post about it.

I have a preschooler who is spelling words like crazy, so I had to get my hands on something that would give me guidance on basic reading skills. Ready, Set, Read! gave me some great ideas.

Finally, I have a hard time turning down a Holocaust memoir, so when The Secret Holocaust Diaries appeared on my "Daily Kindle Deal" (i.e. a FREE book!) I couldn't pass it up. This was a different than any other Holocaust book I've read and I liked it so much that I recommended it to my mom... and she loved it too.

Here's to a great year of books!

If I May...

... Please allow me to vent about a couple of current pet peeves.

For the record, I have a much more sophisticated post in the works about some wonderful books I just read, but right now I need to get a few things off my chest :)

1. When did it become socially acceptable to complain via Facebook all the time? And I do mean all the time. People, I am really really sorry that you have a headache for the 3rd time this week and your kid has been sick all winter, etc etc... but seriously... tone it down. Please.

2. If your last name is Smith (for example) please don't sign your cards "The Smith's". It should be "The Smiths"... no apostrophe. Am I correct, English teachers? I have seen this on WAY too many Christmas cards and it drives me nuts!

3. My second born child is NOT a girl. Nearly EVERY time I go out in public, people either assume that he is a girl baby or have to "guess" (as a lady in Nordstrom said yesterday) as to whether or not he is a boy. I seriously don't get it. I don't dress him like a girl (I don't even put him in smocked boy clothing) and he doesn't have a cross-gender name. My mom says he's a "pretty baby", which he is... but just in case you are ever confused... If you see a baby in a green stroller, dressed in all blue, wearing a hat that says "Cooper" written in blue, sucking on a baseball pacifier... it's a boy. All boy. I never had this experience with Carter, so it has really taken me by surprise.

Ok, that's all. Happy Thursday!