8, 66, 2, and 1

Ok weird Blog Title I realize.  But these are special numbers in our life, and I am about to tell you why.  I also dedicate this post to my dear mother in law who loves "number meanings" (not sure if that's what you call it) and how certain numbers represent things!  Ok here is what 8, 66, 2, and 1 mean:

8 MONTHS!

That's right, Cooper turned 8 months on December 30th and is loving it (as he has loved every month before).  And in our 8th month, Cooper has been alive for a new record, that's right:

66 degrees in January (in Omaha!)
It is unbelievable, we were out for a walk in a long sleeve shirt in the middle of January.  We are loving it, although kind of missing the snow and the "feeling" of winter, since I am a seasons girl.  But I guess not missing the 0 degree weather that's for sure.

And now you ask what 2 is?  Well 2 is......

2 TEETH!
Yep, Coopy got his his first two bottom teeth (wish I had a better picture of this, but you can kind of see in the pic above!).  He did very well with it, was a bit fussy but nothing that a little tylenol can't help ;)  And don't worry, even though Andy thinks as a nurse I tend to overmedicate (myself and now our child), I assure you I did not. Sadly with the two teeth came the end of breastfeeding.  Only took getting bit a few times to realize it needed to come to an end.  But my goal was 6 months, so I guess I felt ok stopping.  And finally, to our #1....................

1 picky eater!

Check out his face, he is just not sure about the latest.......meat.  Although we have come a long way from the ice cream and guacamole faze.  I know you are all judging me right now as a mother, but for awhile there he woudn't swallow anything, so we were worried that he didn't get it, but then we tried a taste of ice cream and then guacamole, and believe me, he got it!  Bottom line is, he knows what he wants.  Which is usually whatever Andy and I are eating.  Can't wait for a few more teeth so we can give him some real food (he has told us loud and clear he hates the baby food purees!)

But he is doing  lot better, thanks to this invention:

Food in a pouch!  Who would have known?  But he loves it, and if it gets food in his mouth, I am all for it!
So that's our 8, 66, 2, and 1.  Below are a few more fun pics from the life of the Richard family.

Andy and Coop's new favorite thing to do.  Andy always ask me to look at Coop and see if he likes it.  And when I look over, both of them always have a huge smile on their face!  Love my boys!

Trying the sweet potatoe/meat combo.  Mom's pretty excited as you can see. Ok I realize I look like a dork here, I tend to give the thumbs up sign a lot these days in pictures.......guess that's one thing I got from my dad!

Andy with his head lamp on.......enough said

Decided if he wasn't going to eat it, might as well let him play in it.

Thanks for checking in with us! 

Pictures Tell the Story

Quality Grandpa Time

Christmas Cookies with Grandpa and Grandma Great, Brandon and Aunt Lori and Lazor

Sorry Dad, I don't think there is much resemblanc here.  He is still your #1 Grandson though!

Aunt Heather and Uncle Bryan teaching me how to play pool

Love Love Love swimming, especially since mom lets me go naked! Shhh don't tell Dad.

New Year's Eve with the Connell Family

Sunbathing on the dock with Grandma

Dad always make me laugh!

Wish these two didn't live so far away!

By the end of it all, we were all exhausted.  But in a good way ;)

The Last Few Weeks

Wow how the last couple weeks over the holidays have flown by! We got in some quality time with the family during a weekend in Chicago, Christmas in Nebraska, and a trip to Florida with the Bailin's. It has been a whirlwind and I have to say I am experiencing the usual post-holiday depression that many people feel.  It usually only takes me a day or two to snap out of it, but my house is in all sorts of disarray (sp?) with laundry, unpacking, putting away Christmas decorations, and finding room for all of Coop's new toys.  And boy did he get some cool things! Its amazing all the stuff they make for kids these days, endless amounts of fun for the little man (hopefully)  There are way to many pictures taken over the last three weeks to show you them all, so I have tried to just include a few to give you a little idea of all the fun and special moments we had.

The next couple pics are from The Jingle Bell Run 5K Fundraiser for Arthritis.  Our dear sis Ali was the poster girl and got to start off the race.  She raised an amazing amount of money and had a tone of supporters (I think there were about 38 walkers on Ali's A-List Team).  Good Work Aunt Ali - we had so much fun walking for a good cause.

Thanks to Bowser, Brian, and the Wolski's for walking with us!

Mary Lou and my mom with Coop trying to stay warm

The whole Richard Clan

Grandpa Wayne and his three boys

Cousin Love

A little playdate with a pretty little lady.  This is my dear friend from highschool's little sweetheart, Chloe.

Whew I will post some more pics tomorrow. Just watching a little Parenthood with the hubby.

It's Beginnng to Look a lot like Christmas!!!

The Richard Family tree is up and there are even some gifts starting to appear underneath it.  We are loving this time of year and soaking up "everything Christmas".  A few season favorites at our home this year:
-Peppermint Mocha's (ok that one is Julie's)
-Christmas cocktails (Hot cocoa and rum, White Russians)
-Amy Grant Christmas Collection CD (yes people still buy CD's....well I do at least)
-Our first Christmas as a family of 3
-Our sweet little angel
-The excitement and anticipation of "going home" to Chicago this weekend!!! 

Pretty excited about his first stocking!

Here is Coop opening his first Christmas presents (a little early I know) from Aunt Kristel

Like my Reindeer Antlers?!

 True to his bib, Coop is pretty much always jolly!

We hope you are all getting in the Christmas spirit, because as we like to say around here, "Tis the Season"!  So if you are having a bad day or feeling a little low, shake of the Grinchness, have a hot cup of Cocoa, thank the good God above for sweet baby Jesus, and give your loved ones a kiss., because, yep, you guessed it, Tis the Season!

And to our amazing families, we will see you in 3 days!  We are counting them down, Coop can't wait to see everyone and we are long overdue for a visit to our hometown.  Until then, love you all!

Happy Boy

These pictures don't need much of an explanation....... we have a very happy 7 month old on our hands.  He loves the holidays, that's for sure.  It doesn't take much to make this litte guy smile and it melts your heart every time. 

Here's a few other happenings from the Richard household:

The tree went up (can you spot Coop in this picture?)

We got to hang out with our good friend John who was visiting from Chicago (John got Coop this Papillion highschool tee that he's sporting)

As you can see, John thinks the shirt is pretty cool

Cooper's girl Jayla Mei celebrated her 1st birthday in California, but since we couldn't be there to celebrate, Coop picked this hat out for her

We made it to 7 Months!  As Grandma put it, we are past the half year mark, so crazy to think!!

 We sit up in the bath now! Although be careful, I am slippery when wet!

 And we put EVERYthing in our mouth, from bath toys......

 to the hair washer device... to washcloths
 (the washcloth is his absolute favorite, which is kind of gross I realize, he loves to suck on it whether wet or soapy or dirty.......and it usually ends up burping up a little bath water about 20 minutes after his bath.  Please don't judge me.......or my parenting skills.......)