December & January

The last time I blogged Cooper was 1 month old...he's now 17 wks old today. Where has the time gone?? A lot has happened in the last 2 months and I'll try my best to remember the highlights...no promises though, baby brain is worse than pregnancy brain! We'll start with Dec 3 and Cooper's 2 month old picture:

My friend Molly got me these cute owl stickers to put on his onsies each month so that we can track how much he changes, I just love them! And by coincidence, we got that blanket as a gift from one of my showers and the leaves just go with the owl theme so well! He grew so much from month 1 to month 2...wait until you see his 4 month picture! His rolls have rolls :)

December 10th my hubby came to IN to meet Cooper for the first time (Coop was 10 wks old)! In July my husband deployed to Iraq for what was supposed to be a 12 month deployment. Lucky for us, the President pulled all of the troops out of Iraq and my husband's deployment was shortened to 4 mos! We originally weren't sure when he would get to meet Cooper, so this was an amazing surprise! Here is our first picture as a family of 3:

Justin had never held a baby or changed a diaper before Cooper came along, so it was quite entertaining to teach him everything! The first poopy diaper change, Justin had his shirt over his nose b/c he swore it smelled so bad! It's been so amazing to see my hubby and son interact with each other, Justin can get some great smiles and laughs out of Coop!

We also had some family pictures taken while we were together in IN (we've never had any professional photos done before). Here are some of my favorites:

I think Justin just looks so happy here <3

Cooper, Mr. Serious

A REAL smile from Justin!

That face just has mischief written all over it!

Justin's smile cracks me up in this one!

I can't wait to get our full disc of pictures, they should be here any day! Our photographer is absolutely AMAZING and I'd be more than happy to pass on her information!!

This was also our first Christmas as a family of 3!

After the holidays we had to pack to get ready to go back to TX with Justin. I don't think any of us realized just how much stuff we had accumulated for Cooper. Wow! We ended up renting a 14 ft Uhaul truck and towing the car behind it. I was a little nervous for a 24 hour drive with a 3 month old, but it honestly wasn't that bad. The first day we left around 5 pm and drove until 3 am where we spent the night in Joplin, MO. We just so happened to stay at the exact same hotel that Justin and I stayed in when we moved to TX the first time! Cooper did great! Since we left in the evening he slept the majority of the time and even let us get about 6-7 hours of sleep in the hotel before we left again. The second day we drove from Joplin all the way to El Paso. I think we were ALL ready to be out of the truck by the time we got to our house. By the way, I'm totally loving having a house this time instead of an apartment. Once I get the house all organized and decorated I'll share pictures :)

Here's Cooper's 3 month picture:

He's definitely not starving! LOL

This last picture brings us to today. I'll have a new post with pictures on Feb 3 when Cooper is 4 mos! Speaking of, how do you count how old your baby is? In weeks or on the actual date he was born? He's 17 wks today (so 4 mos and 1 week), BUT Feb 3 will be 4 mos (to the day) since he was born...hmm?

1 month

Cooper 1 month

I'm a week late in getting this post up, but I can't believe we have a 1 month old on our hands! I just love this miniature man so much and I can't remember what my life was like without him (nor do I want to)! He's a sweetheart the majority of the time, but he can sure throw a fit when he wants to!

*when he's hungry he wants to eat NOW, not in 5 minutes
*he fights sleep like a toddler
*he loves his swing, the birds on it and the music w/ the nature sounds
* he likes his butt pat, hard..none of that soft tapping!

He definitely is a little boy that knows what he wants! I can't wait for Justin to get to IN to be with us and meet his little man in person. They've seen each other via Skype and Cooper recognizes his voice and smiles whenever he hears it! I think they're going to be totally smitten with each other <3

Introducing...

Cooper Lee born 10/03/11 at 8:44 am 5 lb 12 oz and 19 1/2 in long!

The newest love of my life! I never knew it was possible to love someone as much as I love this little guy <3 Here's the story... On Oct 2 I had to work from 10:30a-7p and woke up feeling very sore and super tired. Something about that day just didn't feel "normal". I really didn't want to be at work AT ALL that day and had even told Justin that I was whiny and to forgive me. Around 3:30p I was contemplating asking the managers if I could go home early to rest and even talked to a couple of co-workers about starting maternity leave early because I was so tired. I got up to go to the bathroom and refill my water bottle and when I got about 5 steps from the bathroom door I felt an uncontrollable "leak". I went ahead to the bathroom and then called my mom to tell her what happened and ask if I should leave work. I called my friend Molly on the way home and told her, but she said I might have peed my pants and to just go to the ER to get checked out. I went home, changed clothes and then we went to the hospital. This was around 5p. They did a test and it came back that my amniotic sac had ruptured!! I was admitted and got to my room around 6p. From this point it's kind of a blur, but luckily my mom took notes, haha! At this point I was dilated 2cm, 50% effaced and baby was -2. They decided to let me progress on my own and Dr S came in around 8p to check me again. No change. He said that if I didn't progress by midnight they would start pitocen...I didn't progress. Once I got the pitocen I was hooked to the monitors, iv, and blood pressure cuff at all times. This sucked because any time I needed to go to the bathroom I had to call the nurse. At 3a I was dilated to 4cm, 75-80% effaced and baby was -1. I got a shot of NuBane at this point to take the edge off the contractions and that medicine hit me FAST! I felt wasted and started falling asleep. Around 5:15a I asked for more NuBane because my contractions were harder and closer. At 5:40a I asked for my epidural. Dr M came in at 6a to start the epidural process. He was done at 6:30a and around 6:45a it felt like my body was involuntarily pushing the baby out. They checked me and I was 100% ready to go! Since I just got the epidural they decided not to waste it and let me sleep for an hour. When they woke me up it was time to push and w/in 45 min to an hour Cooper was here!! I really am lucky because it was a very easy process for me. I joked with my husband afterwards that we needed another one, lol! It might have been the drugs :)

Catching Up (AGAIN)!

I read a lot of blogs, some people I know and others I don't. I realized the other day that I haven't updated my blog in almost 9 wks! Since my last up date I've had 3 baby showers and a whole lot of doctor appointments!

My first baby shower was on Aug 14 and it was my family shower. I have a very large family and my Mom and Aunt thought it would make sense to do a family shower separate from a friend shower because of the size of our family alone!

Me with my ADORABLE cake that my friend Tara Silver made! If you want info about her cakes, leave a comment and I'll pass it along. It not only looks great, but tastes amazing also!!

The cute jungle theme! We didn't want to overwhelm everyone with blue so we chose a fun, colorful theme!

 

The closet after we organized all of the gifts! There's even more now, it's kind of crazy how much stuff he has!!

 

 

My next baby shower was on Aug 28 and was thrown by my friends Molly and Melissa. This was my friend shower and they did an amazing job with an Owl theme (the same theme as Cooper's bedroom)!

Owl decorations on the food table!

More cute owl decor on the dessert table!

The AWESOME hostesses (Melissa (L) and Molly (R)

 

Even the little girls wore owl shirts to match the theme! Lola (L) is Molly's oldest daughter and Hannah (R) is Melissa's daughter. Annabelle had an owl shirt on too, but she was napping.

My last and final shower was thrown by Connie, whom I work with. We had a small gathering at her house on September 4th. I love the girls I work with, they're all so much fun! I don't have a ton of pictures from that shower, but I do have a fun one of myself with the other 2 pregnant girls in my department!

Myself (35 wks), Shannon (30 wks) and Alex (17 wks)

 

 

I am now 38 wks and so ready to meet this little boy! I have 13 days until due date, but he could come any time between now and Oct 25th. I don't mind if I go over my due date, but I really don't want to be induced and they won't let you go more than 2 wks overdue. I'm hoping he comes by his due date, if not sooner! Everyone said these last 4 wks would go slow and they really are! Here are a few pictures of Cooper's decorations in his room!

Before we got the bedding

We've since gotten the bedding, and shockingly, I haven't taken any pictures of it! We are all set and ready for little man to get here. We've got our hospital bags packed and the car seat is in the car...we're just waiting on Cooper Lee to pick his birthday! Wish us luck!!

Quick Updates

I am 30 wks pregnant this week, that means only 10 wks to go!! It seems so close and so far at the same time. I had a doctor appointment today and found out that my glucose test came back normal (whew!) so no diabetes for me! My belly is also measuring 28 in which is right on track. They're keeping my due date at 10/11/11 (my father-in-law is hoping I have him on 10/19/11 b/c that's his 50th birthday). I have to take an iron pill now. The doctor says if your iron is below 10 they like you to supplement. Mine was 9.8 (of course). The reason for the supplement is b/c they expect a certain amount of blood loss with delivery and the higher your iron, the less likely you are to need a transfusion. I'll gladly take that pill over a transfusion any day! I'm also taking a vitamin D supplement and now we've added heartburn meds to the mix. This little boy is causing his Momma some serious heartburn/acid relfux!

I just got back from El Paso and telling my hubby "see you later" for his deployment to Iraq. I'm really glad that I got to fly down there to see him off and help tie up the lose ends w/ the apartment/bills. It was a draining trip (emotionally/physically/mentally). They flew from El Paso to Maine to Germany to their temporary destination before they go on to Iraq. That's really all I'm allowed to say right now b/c of OPSEC (the military's rules on security). I can tell you that they made it to their temporary destination OK and are getting acclimated to the weather. Justin told me it's 142 degrees and you don't really sweat b/c as soon as you do it evaporates off your body. Another girl's hubby said it's like holding a blow dryer in front of your face non-stop. I will no longer complain about the heat in Indiana! Especially b/c the guys are in ACU's along w/ full battle gear (boots, vest, helmet, backpacks, etc...about 75+ extra lbs). I am very proud of my husband and all of his battle buddies for the jobs they are doing! I know he will be gone 12 mos and as of right now he won't be back for the birth, but I'm hoping he'll get to come home after December.

Please keep my husband and all of the soldiers in your prayers for their safe return to the US and the ability to carry out the mission and help the Iraqi people!

Oh my!

I am beyond behind on my blogging! My last one was in May...I'm such a slacker! In my defense I've been working quite a bit and whenever I have a day off I very rarely have nothing to do. I am now 28 wks preggo (which is the first week of my 7th month AND the first week of my 3rd trimester), I have 12 wks to go!! We know that we're having a little boy and we are beyond thrilled because that's what we wanted (although, I would be just as happy with a girl as long as the babe is healthy)! We are naming him Cooper Lee Hise...of course my husband already calls him "Cooper the Pooper, Coop de doop, Coopster, etc). I need to add some pics, but a lot of them are taken with my phone so I'll have to do that later when I have extra time and am not so tired.

June was a busy month! My sister and 3 of my cousins graduated from high school this year so for the month of June we had a party to go to every weekend! Justin also came home for 14 days and we spent that time w/ his mom, dad and my mom. It was busy, but great to see each other after being apart for 2 mos! Justin's mom went absolutely crazy and bought Cooper so many things, like his swing and car seat/stroller. We're very lucky to have her help us with things like that. This is my parents and his mom's first grandchild and his dad's first grandson! Everyone is beyond excited!

I've been experiencing the craziest heartburn/acid reflux, so bad that it will wake me up choking and puking. It's awful! I will lay in bed for 8 or 9 hours and maybe sleep 4. I also started experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions lately....kind of exciting b/c it means my body is getting ready for the BIG day!! I hate to cut the blogging short, but I'm exhausted and ready for bed.

Welcome To Indiana

I know I'm VERY behind on my blogging, but I'm still getting somewhat settled at my Mom's and still waiting for the internet to get hooked up. My Mom doesn't own a computer so we have to go buy a modem and wireless router and then wait for Comcast to come hook us up. They will finally be here to do it on May 31st! I'm looking forward to having the internet for various reasons, but mainly so I can skype with my husband.

I'm back working at Best Buy in Lafayette as a part time customer service associate. I would love to be full time, but I'm waiting for a spot to open up so I can apply for it. Luckily, this store loves me and I'm still getting about 30 hrs/wk as part time...can't beat that! I just wish I could get full time perks as a part time employee, but, it is what it is.

Justin comes home to Indiana in 12 days...OMG I CAN'T WAIT!!! We are going to be quite busy while he's home also. We get to find out the sex of the baby bump on June 9th and then we're going to go ahead and do our registries while he's home so we can pick out baby things together (I'm sure he'll be so thrilled to "shop").  Out of the 14 days he'll be home I only have to work 5 days so we'll get a lot of time together.

Other than working and counting down the days until I see my husband, nothing else too exciting has been going on. Spending time with my close friends and family that I've missed and relaxing. Growing a baby is fun, but tiring!!