Cooper's first visit to OU

Cooper had his first trip to Waco in September and even though we've been to Oklahoma with him, we hadn't stopped at the OU campus yet, so we made plans to do so over Thanksgiving.  We had originally planned to stop on our drive up to Oklahoma City, but we decided to drive through and get to David's Nanny's house instead.  So we made the stop on our way back home on Friday.

Happy boys ready for their walk around campus

 First stop was the stadium

 Then we took a picture by David's dorm

 And the statue and most of campus

 Last stop was the site where the new BSU building will be.  David has a lot of fond memories of his time with the BSU and grew a lot spiritually during his time at OU thanks to this ministry!

Our happy baby Sooner!

It was fun getting to visit campus and let David show Cooper around.  I'm sure we'll have many more trips in the future!

Our Little Turkey

We had a great Thanksgiving last week with family!  Cooper did a fantastic job on the car ride to Oklahoma and we enjoyed a few days with his grandparents and great-grandmother and all of the family.  Cooper ended up with a plethora of turkey onesies, so he wore them every day the week of Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd share our little turkey

 Turkey tie for church on Sunday

 This onesie says "I'm thankful for daddy"

 This is the onesie I made him for November.  It's been a lot of fun making different onesies for him!

 He and his second cousin had matching outfits for Thanksgiving day!  And it was really fun watching them play together.

 And a gobble til you wobble bib.  He definitely gobbled down lots of yummy thanksgiving foods!

Our little family on Cooper's first Thanksgiving!

What's Up Wednesday: Thanksgiving Week

It's Thanksgiving week!  And I realized I haven't posted in a few weeks, so I thought this would be a good way to catch up on the month. 

What we're eating this week
Lots of Thanksgiving foods!  We had Thanksgiving dinner with our Community Group on Sunday to kick off the week.  And we will be spending the rest of this week with family.  I also made my Grandmother's coffee cake recipe for breakfast since that is one of the foods I most closely associate with Thanksgiving

What I'm reminiscing about

Thanksgivings of the past.  David and I realized this week that this will be our 5th Thanksgiving together since we've been married and we will be in our 5th Thanksgiving location.  We've been in Palestine, Cleburne, Garland, Branson, and now Oklahoma.  It's been fun to see so many different family members each year!  But as we've talked about old Thanksgiving traditions, it made me reminisce about all of our Thanksgivings spent with my grandparents.  Almost every Thanksgiving before I got married was spent in Palestine at my Grandparents' house.  And now that my Aunt and Uncle have moved, we no longer even have family in Palestine to go visit.  So I've been going through all my memories of years (and people) who are all a part of the past now and remembering it all fondly as we enter this new stage with Cooper's first Thanksgiving!

What I'm loving

Having a little guy to dress up for the holidays!  Cooper ended up with a lot of Turkey clothes, so he's been wearing them all week!

What we've been up to

Beyond just normal day to day stuff, we've been trying to enjoy some of the nicer weather we've just been having.  David is off work this whole week and when I asked him how he wanted to spend Monday, he chose a family walk on some trails that we'd been to before Cooper was born.  It was a fun day out with Cooper and Lily.

What I'm dreading

We've officially got a crawler on our hands.  As exciting as this milestone is, I dread figuring out all of the things he is going to get into and trying to find a way to make our house safer.  I love all of his new milestones, but I will at least somewhat miss the days of putting a baby down and knowing he'd be right where I left him!

What I'm working on

I made this wet bag last night to help hold Cooper's bottles and spoons when he's done or clothes that he gets messy.  I followed this pattern and was able to whip it up in less than 30 minutes and I think it's super cute!  Looking forward to making some more reusable waterproof bags in the near future!

What I'm excited about

Thanksgiving with family.  We're looking forward to seeing David's family this week and spending time with them for Cooper's first Thanksgiving.

What I'm watching/reading

We're still working our way through several shows on our DVR.  I also am enjoying Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship and Christmas Cookie Challenge!

What I'm listening to

Podcasts.  And maybe a little Christmas music.

What I'm wearing

Lots of t-shirts and jeans.  I also pulled out my boots and scarves a few weeks ago, so I am enjoying boot weather!

What I'm doing this weekend

Decorating for Christmas, spending time with friends and a dinner with my family.

What I'm looking forward to next month

Cooper's first Christmas!  We're looking forward to starting some new traditions with him and enjoying the lights and fun of December!

What else is new

Not a lot!

Homemade Baby Food

We are now a month into our food adventures with Cooper and he loves getting to sit down and eat.  As soon as I put him in the high chair, he starts making noises like he wants something and grabbing at whatever is in front of him!

Once I realized we'd be doing some purees mixed in with baby led weaning, I decided to try my hand at making a few of Cooper's foods.  We tried some store bought purees first to see what Cooper liked and what he tolerated before I started making purees in bulk.  There are lots of great resources and ideas for making baby food so I had lots of information at hand.  At his 6 month check up, our pediatrician had recommended a website called Baby FoodE that has a lot of great tips and tons of recipes and combinations of different foods and spices.  So I started there and found so many options and got to work!

The first thing I tried was some meat. He took to fruits and vegetables quickly, but I knew meat would give him some much needed fat and iron.  So I made this recipe for beef and sweet potatoes and while pureed meat is not all that appetizing, this seemed to turn out pretty well.  And Cooper gobbled it right it!

A couple weeks ago, I spent an afternoon cooking up a bunch of different purees.

 Apples and Spinach is definitely his favorite.  Cooper loves apples and pears both, and this one tastes just like apples with the added benefits of spinach with it--win win.

Along with that I made some Immune Boost Puree that includes apples, carrots, ginger, orange, and tumeric.  Cooper seems to like this one as well and will eat it up.  Here it is ready to go in the freezer.  Cooper usually eats 4 oz of a puree at a meal, so I did some 4 oz mason jars for full servings.  I also used a freezer tray for 1 oz servings of the Immune Boost puree--this makes it easy to add a cube to any other meals.  Then I did some 2 oz services of the apples and spinach as well so we can have it alongside other foods--I'd seen the idea of using breastmilk storage bags to freeze purees in and that has worked out well for us so far!

Cooper napped through some of the cooking, but when he was awake he played in the kitchen while I prepared his food.  He wants to be wherever I am--if I'm in the kitchen he does not want to play in the living room, but he is content if he can be in the kitchen with me.  And an added bonus is that he loves the kitchen floor because of how easy it is for him to slide around on it!

That evening I steamed some broccoli for dinner and pureed it with some olive oil and a white potato.  Cooper is not a fan of this one, but he eat broccoli if he can feed himself the florets.

I've also made up some of the Fall Superpower Puree (sweet potato, hard boiled eggs, and pear) and some Chicken puree.  Cooper loves these two mixed together.  He seems to get tired of the Fall Superfood puree by itself, but will eat it mixed with other things.  So far he has liked the chicken with everything (I've given it to him by itself, mixed with the Fall superfood puree, and mixed with the Immune Boost puree)

Our freezer is all stocked with his food!  It's so easy to make several batches of food and I'm enjoying experimenting with different flavors and tastes.

He is also loving feeding himself so many things.  He has had bites of bananas, apples, pears, plums, eggs, bell peppers, broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, asparagus, and bread!

Cooper's First Halloween

Our sweet little pumpkin celebrated his first Halloween this week!  I had looked at several different ideas for Halloween costumes, and I actually had one picked out that I was going to make using our Lillebaby carrier.  But then we realized our church wasn't having their usual Fall Festival.  And we weren't going to take Cooper out trick or treating.  So we weren't really going anywhere for Halloween which meant that it seemed silly to have a costume that relied on the carrier since we'd mainly have a costume for picture taking.  So I'm tucking that idea away for next year maybe.  

Then I remembered that Cooper had this monster onesie and a matching hat that we were given as a baby shower gift and it seemed perfect for his low-key first Halloween.

 Our sweet little monster

 On the move!

Cooper had a Dr appointment to get his flu booster shot, so we took his monster outfit for a spin.  All of the ladies at the front desk were a fan of his silly hat.  He kept taking it off, but he left it on for a while before removing it each time I replaced it.

After David got home, we ate dinner and then camped out on our front porch to hand out candy.  We weren't sure what the crowds would be like since it was cold and a little rainy, but it ended up being a nice evening and we had a pretty good group of people come through.

 If I'd thought more about it, I probably would have made David and I some monster costumes too.  Maybe next year we'll have a fun family costume.  This year our little monster stole the show.

Love my little family!  Lily also hung out with us (on her leash) under David's chair.  She actually does really well with people coming up to get candy, especially since they don't ring the doorbell.

Around 7:30 we had finished off one bag of candy and so we decided to call it a night instead of opening the second bag.  We put Cooper to bed and then David and I watched This is Us.

It was a fun Halloween with our little guy!

Cooper's Cubbyhole: 7 Months

Weight: 14 lbs 14 oz

Diaper Size: 2

Clothing Size: 3-6 months

Daily Schedule: We get up around 7:30 and you nurse and then play a little. Usually we do breakfast of pureed foods and some fruit or eggs for you to feed yourself.  Your first nap is around 10:00.  The rest of the day varies depending on how long you nap--about 75% of the time your naps are 30 minutes, but sometimes you sleep for an hour or more.  So then you go down about 2 hours after you wake up.  You take about 3 naps a day and go to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 at night.

Things you Love: Mommy, Daddy, Lily.  Trying to crawl.  Bouncing and kicking.  Swimming.  Eating.  Being outside.  Facing out in the carrier

Things you Don’t Love: Being in the car too long.  Being left alone to play.  Being laid down on the changing table.  Being put in your car seat.

Milestones: You started eating foods and you are a big fan!  Now that you are eating foods, you get mad if we are eating and you are not.  You are very impatient and want the next bite of food immediately after the first.  You gobble up your favorite purees--apple and spinach, pears, sweet potato, carrots, chicken, steak.  You are feeding yourself lots of little bites of food as well.

Memorable Moments: Starting Foods.  Your first trip to the State Fair.  Your first stay in a hotel.  Trip to the pumpkin patch.  

Cooper love, we are just having so much fun with you!  You are on the go a lot now.  You are rolling and pivoting and pushing backward to get where you want to go.  You push up tall on your arms and move yourself backward.  You get on hands and knees and rock and you want to crawl so badly but you’re just not there quite yet.  Your smile and your laugh are so much fun and you are always moving, always kicking and always squealing.  You’ve started doing a lot of screaming this month as you experiment with your voice, so we’re having to temper that a little bit--but you just have so much fun!  Starting foods has been the best adventure so far-- you get so excited and so into everything that you eat!  Life with you is always exciting and we love you so much!