Memories made here.....

Grand Beach that is.  A little slice of heaven on earth.  A getaway.  Our home away from home. Grandparents, girlfriends, and cousins!  Coop, Claire, and I got to spend a few weeks there, and we truly enjoyed every minute of it.  Poor Andy just got to come back and forth on the weekends, but although he missed us he was happy that we got to spend some extra special time with grandparents and cousins.  There are way too many moments to share, but I will include a few of our favorite pictures. 

Here we are, about to begin our first official road trip in the new minivan!  It all went relatively smoothly (except for some projectile vomit from poor Coopy)

This soon became Coop's favorite thing to do at the lake, he would just ride it in circles around and around that pool. Somehow he fortunately never drove it into the pool!

And of course there was candy at the lake.....lots of it......

Stand up paddleboards!

 Getting a free ride from Uncle Bryan.  Thankfully he has some big muscles!

Coop looooves his Aunt Heathe!  Favorite memory with her of the trip: Coop found a dead bird on this little ride at the mall and brought it over for her to see.  Heath screamed, Coop thought it was hilarious, and still to this today tells the story.  Always starts out with: "I touched a bird......"

I think Papa wins the prize though, as he was wonderful with Coop!  From golf cart rides to hot tub swims to smashing bugs to playing with the hose, Coop was never bored.  Favorite moment with Papa:  Seeing deer poop on a golf cart ride! (and yes he still talks about that too)

Michigan City Zoo with Papa and Gamma

 

Looks like Papa might be a little worn out.....

With my lovebugs

Celebrating our first 4th as a family of 4! 

 (and happy to have dad there)

Catching up with some Chicago friends (loved seeing Lauren and her two precious children Georgia and Grant!)

 And some more great Chicago friends (at a local brewery in Sawyer, MI). 
Thanks to Papa and Gamma for a night out without the kiddos!)

Gamma and Claire became best friends fast.  She just loved her Gamma ;), and thankfully Gamma had no problem snuggling her all day.

Sand Art (well just an "attempt" at Sand Art, as most of the sand ended up all over the ground or on the grandparents chair cushions!)

Just Like Papa

 Catching up with another great friend.  So happy to see Lauren and finally meet her sweet little man William.  She was visiting all the way from Thailand!

Chi O sisters and our two boys (crazy we used to be roommates not that long ago sleeping in our twin beds just feet apart, and now we have our own little ones!)

And a truly precious moment, Claire learned to smile at the lake!  She started cooing and talking and seemed to suddenly become a little person.  Must be that fresh lake air!

 

The annual golf cart parade, with some ninja turtles and Coop (dressed as the rat....Master Splinter....can you tell?)


Would love to add some more captions and share more stories, but my two little ones are both waking up from naps, so time to run again!  All in all, we can't wait until next summer to make some more memories at grand beach!  (Although I will see Andy is happy to have us home.....could it be because he ran out of clean shirts to wear to work or was sick of eating 3 meals out a day?!?!)

Thanks to Gamma and Papa, Grandpa Wayne and Gigi and the rest of our family and friends for making our time at Grand Beach a vacation to remember!!

She's Arrived!

Ok so the more appropriate title of this post would be 2 months, but it's never too late to announce the arrival or our sweet baby girl!!

Claire Michele Richard

Born May 17, 2013 @ 2:06am

7 lbs 3 oz

Andy and Julie-overjoyed parents

Cooper Raymond- big brother who hadn't realized this sweet baby was coming home with us :)

Miss Claire Bear arrived in true Richard Fashion, meaning she waited until the grandparents descended upon Omaha to make her appearance.  I don't know how they do it, but just like with Cooper's birth they arrived in plenty of time.  They rolled in this time one hour before we had to leave for the hospital, and both grandmas were busting through those hospital doors at 4am to meet their little granddaughter when she arrived!!
Here are a few of the FAQ's I have gotten since she has been born:

1. How did the labor and delivery go?
(feel free to skip ahead if labor stories are not your cup of tea, however I will keep it PG)
~It was a great experience, with the help of a little friend of mine called an epidural.  My contractions actually started the night before she was born, but suddenly stopped that morning which made me a bit anxious because I wasn't sure what was quite happening.  Besides my contractions keeping me up all night, poor Coop had a horrible ear infection and was up the night before all night too!  One sleepless night led into another as she arrived the next night.  I was the only patient on the floor when we checked in that night at 9pm, and after an hour of "triage" which was quite painful, they announced I could be admitted and started the IV and Epidural.  Thank goodness.  We "slept" for an hour (actually I think Andy is the only one that slept), started pushing at 1:30, and by 2:06 she came out!!

2. How did Coop react to seeing her for the first time?
~Well I would say there wasn't much of a reaction, unless you call glancing at her, then running to push every button on the hospital bed one.

3. How is the adjustment to 2 kids?
~It's an adjustment that's for sure.  It's quite busy, especially with crazy busy Coop man.  I think I am finally getting the hang of it, but breastfeeding every couple hours and expecting Coop not to do anything mischievous during that time is next to impossible.

4. Speaking of Cooper, how is he adjusting?
~For the most part well.  A little more whiny, needy, and ornery, but that's why they call it the terrible twos right?!  His two favorite phrases are "Claire crying", and "Claire sleeping", which I guess is all he pretty much sees her do anyway!  In the past few weeks he has started "sharing" toys with her, which means running over and laying piles of toys next to her head.  He also likes to pat her on the back a lot.  So sweet.  Here's a few pics of our big 2 year old (and his many expressions)

5. How is Claire doing?
Great!  She is sleeping through the night (about 6-7 hours now), breastfeeding great, and has a very sweet little personality.  She just started smiling and cooing about a week ago.  Melts your heart.  She does have some fussy periods and likes to be held a lot, so I call her a little high maintenance, but she's a girl so that's normal, right?!

6. How is Andy doing with a daughter?
Amazing, he is so sweet with her.  He already says she has him wrapped around her little finger.  Still working on changing those diapers though.....something about the concept of wiping front to back, and those little woman parts, scares him a bit!

Overall, our family of 4 is doing great and are loving every new moment we get to share with our sweet bear (as Andy has affectionately nicknamed).

One Special little 2 year old

I write today as the mother of a 2 year old!  I can hardly believe it even as I say it out loud!  I was cuddling with Coop in his chair Tuesday night singing him Happy Birthday for the third time in a row (he was loving it), and I looked up at the clock and realized it was 8:19pm.  The exact time he was born 2 years ago to the day!  Brought tears to my eyes thinking about that moment when our little man joined our family.  What an amazing ride it has been so far.

As a big two year old, here are some of the things Coop loves (and the mischief he is up to these days)........

-Tools, tools, tools, and especially "Daddy's tools!"
-Coins
-George (aka "the monkey", or Curious George)
-Permanent Markers (which I do not let him have don't worry)
-His Binky (still, yes for all the dentists out there I know it's time to go......)
-His favorite phrases:  "Daddy work?",  "Where did Papa go?" (this one lasts usually about a week after Grandpa and Grammy leave from a visit), Mine, No, I did it, My peepee, Daddy's peepee (and occasionally he will throw in "daddy's peepee big").
-Naming his friends......Gabe, Same, Will, Anna, Gigi, Ollie, etc.  the list goes on
-Potty Training!  Yeah!  On his birthday he actually left a birthday surprise in the potty for dad as he actually pooped on it (I won't include a picture of this, although proud daddy did take one)
-Pushing the reset button on the outlet (which he follows up with saying "daddy spank me", because he knows Dad does not let him do that)
-Golf Clubs
-Playing outside
-And the boy still loves to dance!!!!

We were blessed to have all 4 grandparents in town this past weekend to help celebrate Coop's big birthday at a Construction Themed party!  Looking around at all the family and friends that came to celebrate with us it was truly amazing how lucky we are to have such a great group in our lives. 

Here he is, the birthday boy!  I don't think he let go of that hammer the whole party.  That's ok though, fit right in with the theme!

Stopping for a little photo opp on the "construction site"

Grandpa Wayne and Gigi

Two Grandpas, a Great Grandpa, and Daddy

Showing off his hammer to Papa and Grandpa Wayne

The Sapp Sisters.  So happy to have Great Aunts at the party too!

Blowing out the candles....then wiping his fingers full of frosting on his shirt....perfect buddy, perfect.

It's Pinata time! I was super excited about this part and it ended up being a big hit (no pun intended).  The kids loved it!

Hanging with his pal Ollie.

Why wouldn't 4 boys want to dig for worms?

Grammy sampling a cake pop (aka "Delicious Dirt Ball")

Ready for action.  What can I hit next?

Aunt Kiki


 The party was a great success and we had a beautiful day!  Now it is 35 and snowing again, I guess that's Nebraska for you.  And yes if I am looking a bit "whale-like" in these pictures, it's true.  I am definitely ready for the next big event, that being the arrival of baby girl!  Two more weeks , but who's counting?

 

Finally this was Coop's Birthday crown he got to wear at Daycare on Tuesday.  They said he just loved it and strutted around in it all day!  Even wore it on the ride home ;)