16 Months

Our dear little man Cooper turned 16 months today, and with this has come an array of fun and new things for Andy and I to experience.  His hilarious facial expressions, new words such as ball, please, thank you (which sometimes all seem to sound the same), shaking his head no, the love of any kind of animal, cuddling with his stuffed animals, DANCING, dancing and more dancing, the love for his pacifier (which we are trying to slowly get rid of), and temper tantrums or "testing the waters", which has led us to that scary word discipline.  See example below:

I am sure you can figure out what happened here.  He really wanted to ride the Sesame Street Fire Truck at Babie's R Us, so me being the people pleaser that I am, payed the 25cents and set him on down.  He LOVED it.  Are you kidding, something that plays music, moves, and has buttons......he was ecstatic.  Until I took him off it......meltdown 101.  Luckily I was in discipline mom mode, so I carried him inside screaming and let him throw that tantrum right in the middle of the store.  I was really just trying to do what all the books say.

 

In happier moments, here are a few pictures from one of our favorites places, Grand Beach!

 

And although we have not seen Uncle Bryan lately, Coop got to have a slumber party in his room in Naperville, and did some exploring while he was there.  His favorite thing that he found:

Sorry Uncle Bryan, had to have a little taste of course!

 

And a few very special moments that have happened over the last week:

Baby cousin Josephine Kay was born to our dear friends Andrea and Ryan.  She is such a sweetheart and we couldn't be happier for them.  We love you so much already sweet Josie!

Meeting Josie for the first time

The whole Schieber, Richard, and Mendlik clan together!

 

I also got to spend some time with my dear friend Lauren who was back in the States for a few weeks.  Her and her husband are doing mission work in Thailand, and it was so nice to catch up and give a little kiss to her little man William (still in utero).  A little weird I know.

 

 Loving all the moments that God continues to bless us with!

 

And I may need to start asking for prayer now because just take one look at that little face above.  Although precious, he has that little "andy-like smile" in his eyes that can only mean one thing.......trouble.  If you don't believe me, just ask Suzi.

And if the look alone doesn't get you, check out what he is doing......eating Aunt Heather's tootbrush while bathing (and FYI  he usually touches his weenie and pees several times throughout bathtime!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dedicated to our Lord

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.  So now I give him to the Lord.  For his whole life he will be given over tothe Lord.
                                                                                                  1 Samuel 1:27-28

Lsat Sunday we had the joy of dedicating our now 15month only son at our church in Omaha, Christ Community.  Andy and I cannot believe how big he is getting, and we look forward to continue raising Cooper to know and love his Savior and to grow up to become a man of God.

We were lucky to have a few friends there to witness the moment.  And luckily our church streams the service live online, so our families were able to watch it live back in Chicago.

Afterwards we had a little Sunday brunch with our friends at our place to celebrate this special day!

 

Thanks to our dear friend Stacy for capturing these great pictures from the day!  We also want to thank all of our friends and family who have been a part of Cooper's life so far, and who will continue to walk with us as we raise our sweet little son. 

 

I also owe our families a huge apology for not making his dedication at a time when everyone could be out here to witness it live.  I know how much you all love Cooper and how wonderful you are with him, and he adores you all too. Andy and I are so blessed to have such great Christian families who we know will help us raise our son in Christ.  Thanks be to God!

 

Cruisin.....Disney Style!

I am so blessed to have married into such a wonderful family, not only because they are fun to be with, laugh all the time, and love the Lord, but also because they take great trips!!!  With much thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Sapp, the whole Sapp Family, all 30 of us, boarded the Disney Dream a few weeks ago for a 4 day Cruise Adventure.  We weren't sure how Cooper would feel about all the Disney characters and activity of the boat, but he LOVED every second of it!

Waiting to board the boat with Gigi



The boys with Donald

This became a very commonly used face on the boat, everything he saw
he was just amazed at and would say "ooooo"

We are on the ship and we are excited!  Look at this group ;)

Coop dancing on Grandpa Wayne's shoulders

I will just let the pictures tell the story.....there are way to many to share, but here are some highlights!  Between the amazing Disney themed shows every night, the delicious food, the lifesaving nursery (that Cooper and cousins Sawyer and Crosbi hung out in together during dinners), the baby-crawling contest, and all the family that you would run into around every corner of the boat, the experience was unforgettable!!!!







Checking out the top deck, "Woa it's Windy up here!"



Meeting Minnie on Pirtae night

These three LOVE Stitch, they chased him down the hallway to

get this pic with him! Not kidding.

Nemo's Reef

A little mini-golf, sure why not!

Getting in some Crosbi Lu time!

Had a great time with the Sapp Family.

Wish we could do it all again!

(sorry the font is kind of messed up on this,....
.if anyone has any blogging tips I could use some)