Our Weekend in Pictures

You always hear that with life comes death.  Unfortunately this past week we lost two people dear to our family . . . Jon's step-father Steve and our neighbor Dennis.  It was a hard week followed by a very busy weekend.

{Dennis and Maddie}

On Friday Madeline went on her first car trip.  We packed up and headed to Bellingham for Steve's viewing.  Madeline had a chance to meet Jon's family and we had a chance to see Steve one last time.  Although Madeline loves her car seat, she was tired of being in the car and we needed to take a little break to just relax and cuddle.

{Maddie's first trip to Starbucks}

On Saturday Madeline went to her first wedding.  Our friends, Anna Rittmueller and Chris Elder got married in Lynden.  We were so excited to have the chance to attend their beautiful wedding and everyone was excited to meet Madeline.

We are glad to be back home and back to working on establishing a schedule.  Unfortunately Maddie has decided she does not like to nap anymore.  She has been fighting them for the past few days and today was more of the same.  Luckily she's still sleeping at night :)

2 Week Update

  

Wow! It's hard to believe little Maddie has been a part of our family for two weeks.

The first week was a blur as I was in the hospital for the majority of the week :(  This left plenty daddy daughter bonding time for Madeline and Jon.  Luckily I got my wish and we were out of the hospital just in time to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary (on August 1st) at home with our little peanut.

During this past week, we had an opportunity to spend some quality time at home with Madeline.  There has been lots of cuddling and sleeping :)  Maddie is a great eater and sleeper.  As such, we are getting between 8 and 10 hours of sleep each night.  We are crossing our fingers that we can get her sleeping through the night soon.  Although she loves to be swaddled, she always finds a way to free her arms.  It's adorable because she gets super excited when she gets her hands free {she loves sucking on her hand/thumb}.

{morning cuddle time with dad}

At Maddie's 2 week check up we learned she broke the 6 pound mark. . . she was 6 lbs. & 3 oz. and 19 1/2 inches.  She also had her foot pricked for her second PKU test.  She cried a little when they pricked her foot, but then she was just grumpy.  It's so weird to see so much of myself in her facial expressions.

She's Here!

Madeline Grace Cooper arrived at 5:17 pm on July 26th.  She weighed 5 lbs & 14 oz and was 19 inches long.  She has beautiful sandy brown hair and her eyes are getting bluer each day :)

39 Weeks

How far along? 39 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 31 pounds 

Maternity clothes? Although I can still wear a few pre-pregnancy items it's mostly all maternity clothes

Stretch marks? None

Sleep: Sleeping great!

Symptoms:  About once a week I have an "off day" where I feel a little ill

Miss anything: Laying in the sun. . . I get way too hot if i'm out on our lounger for more than 5 minutes :(

Movement: Starting to slow down a little bit but, still feeling baby Cooper every day

Food cravings: Protein and veggies . . . this week I have been eating a lot of chicken, nuts, quinoa and veggies from our garden.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender Prediction: Boy 

Labor Signs: My belly is starting to drop a little each day, hopefully this means we're getting closer

Belly Button in or out? still flat/out?

Wedding rings on or off? On 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Best Moment of the Week:  Going crabbing with my husband!!  It is nice that he is still able to enjoy getting out on the water even though I am not as involved or as helpful. Baby Cooper doesn't seem to mind boating either :)

Looking forward to: Hopefully meeting baby Cooper next week . . . I really don't want to spend our 5 year anniversary in the hospital (August 1st) 

38 Weeks

  

{can't wait to take baby Cooper to the pumpkin patch this fall}

How far along? 38weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 31 pounds . . . Eeek!  Hopefully I'll start losing some of it soon :) 

Maternity clothes? Yep . . . I had to buy new pajamas this week.  All of my sleep shorts have become a little too short.

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Sleeping great

Symptoms:  I am getting dehydrated a lot quicker than I used to, so I am consciously drinking LOTS of water. 

Miss anything: Yard work . . . Jon won't let me help weed.  Not doing yard work makes me feel so lazy.

Movement: Lots of punching and kicking my ribs

Food cravings: Donuts!!! Just Kidding . . . no cravings this week

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender Prediction: Boy 

Labor Signs: No changes since last week.  Still experiencing lower back pain, pressure/cramps, and lots of Braxton Hicks. 

Belly Button in or out? flat/out . . .  it looks so weird

Wedding rings on or off? On, but I'm not wearing them that much this week 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Best Moment of the Week: Checking off things on my "pre-baby to do list."  free time = time to finish all my small home projects (or as Jon calls it "nesting")

Looking forward to: Tuesday. . . Jon is convinced baby Cooper will be born on the 23rd*.  I am also attending a district iPad training on Tuesday since I am getting a new teaching station this school year.  I am looking forward to "learning" how to use my iPad during late night feedings :)

Why July 23rd (aka "The Rule of 4")

* July 23rd is our niece Trinity's Birthday . . . this year she will be 4

* Jon's twin sister Christina (Trinity's mom) and Jon have the same birthday. . . February 27th

* Pat (Trinity's dad) and Beth have the same birthday . . . April 18th 

* Christina and Pat are 4 years apart

* Jon and Beth are 4 years apart

* Christina was the same age as Beth is now when she had Trinity

* Pat was the same age as Jon is now when they had Trinity

* 4 is Beth's lucky number

* July 23rd is a full moon 

Guess we will have to wait and see if anything happens on the 23rd . . . for the record I am still going to my training even if I am having contractions  It is only 90 minutes and I want to get my iPad before school starts :) 

Hospital Prep

Since it is the middle of July, it is time for us to start thinking about our upcoming hospital stay.  The bags are {almost} packed, the checklists are created, the birth plan typed up and we are starting to get very excited to meet baby Cooper.  Although it feels like we are ready for this event, my pre-baby to do list is still rather long . . . 

This past week I was able to check off a couple more items: Jon's snack basket and our thank yous for the nurses. 

1.  I made Jon a basket filled with some of his favorite snacks and beverages.  Each item has a silly note letting him know how much I appreciate his love and support, while playing on the words of the item . . . "Whenever I feel spread too 'thin' you are always there to pick up the pieces and help out.  I love you!" (on a box of wheat thins)

2.  For the nurses, who we will come to rely on at the hospital, we have a small treat to say thank you . . .  a goodie bag with some candy and sweet pea hand sanitizer.  Just a thank you for taking care of us and our little "sweet pea."  I'm a sucker for the cheesy play on words. :)

Next on the to do list . . . create our hospital playlists.

I'm thinking they are going to involve a lot of Jack Johnson and fun, carefree summer songs.  We know baby Cooper is a country music fan so maybe we can throw in some Miranda Lambert for when he/she is born :) 

37 Weeks

How far along? 37weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 30 pounds . . .  only 1 pound before I hit my "goal" weight :(

Maternity clothes? Yes . . . and even those are starting to get smaller.

Stretch marks? None

Sleep: Sleeping great. Which is great since I'm tired every afternoon!

Symptoms:  This week I feel pregnant . . . glad it's been pretty "easy" up until this point.    

Miss anything: Energy. . . it is taking a lot longer to get through my to do list than it used to. 

Movement: Lots of pressure and kicking my ribs. :(

Food cravings: Water . . . I have been so thirsty this week.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender Prediction: Boy 

Labor Signs: I'm starting to notice lots of changes so I know baby is getting closer to arriving . . . lower back pain, pressure, and lots of Braxton Hicks.  As of Friday I am not dilated or effaced. 

Belly Button in or out? Flat

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Best Moment of the Week: Feeling reassured that we are "ready" for the baby.  We took our childbirth class, had the car seat inspected and had our final ultrasound.  Turns out we know a lot about babies and their birth, care, etc.

Looking forward to: Meeting our sweet baby . . . I'm excited to see how big/small baby Cooper will be.  The ultrasound tech predicted about 6 pounds and our doctor says there is no way the baby will be that small, he projects closer to 7 pounds.  Guess we'll have to wait and see.