A Quick Quiet Moment

It's hard to get one of these around here these days (a quiet moment, that is), but when I do I am usually scurrying around trying to do a million things around the house.  Laundry, make beds, pick out dried macaroni from the highchair....you get the point.  So in the meantime, there is not a lot of time to catch you all up on the Richard household's happenings.  But a lot has been happening, so here are some pictures to tell you the stories ;)

Hanging with his new neighbor pal Ella. 

A little project with Gamma at the Children's Museum

Watching some 3D football with Uncle John

Jumping in the foam pit on an outing to PE 101

Loving me some dress up, especially being a fireman!

Oh and of course, who can forget about this smiley face?!?

Playdoh with neighbor pal Ollie.  And I think Coop got into some markers right before this picture (check out his red eye!)

Claire is becoming more smiley than ever.  This girl loves the camera (and anyone who will chat with her)

Living up the last few days of summer at the splash park

Cooper sandwich!  Neither kid seems to be enjoying this too much ;(

Claire's first visit to the zoo.  She loved checking out the fish!

And some more Lake Michigan time in Grand Beach.  Coop is trying his hand at surfing (yes, with his tennis shoes I know......not sure what happened there).

Some great swimming time in Papa's pool

Gamma and her sweet Claire Bear

The Fab 4

Playing in Grandpa and Grandma Great's basement.  It's crazy that these are some of the toys in their basement that we used to play with growing up.

My sweet girl.  Look at that grin.

A little blurry.....

The Richard and Eccleston clan

Claire officially  moved into her room.  She was excited to sleep in her own crib and slept 9 hours the first night in it!

But that means this little guy had to transfer into a big bed.  Not going the greatest, but we had some success in this pic.  Last night he was up until 11:30......couldn't get him to stay in his bed.  It's only night 3 tonight though, so hoping each night gets better!

My sweetheart is 3 months already (and actually as I write this we are turning the corner on 4 already!)  She is smiling now (obviously), almost rolling, laughing at her brother, and putting everything in her mouth!



Trying to do the perfect push-up with some coaching form Uncle Bryan

Taking a little break on the frog, sure why not?

My cousin Lauren's wedding (not going to enlarge this one because I think my b**b may be hanging out!)  Modesty goes out the window when you are breastfeeding!

Some serious work is going on here.

 

 That's it in a nutshell.  We are sad summer is coming to an end but love the crisp smell and feel of the fall air.  Fall is my favorite season and I am looking forward to a jam-packed fall full of all things wonderful!

Wedding Fun

I am sure I have said this before in several other posts, but wedding's are the best.  I absolutely love them.  I love all the hoopla and excitement, watching the bride walk down the aisle, seeing the tears in the groom's eyes, the music, the dancing, must I go on?!  We had Andy's cousins' wedding this past weekend, and it was a blast!  His family was in town so we got to hang with them, and to make things even more exciting, Coop was the ringbearer!   It was his first "official" walk down the aisle.  Last year he was in my sister's wedding as an honorary ring bearer, but he couldn't even walk yet then.  I was so nervous for the little guy, but he did great!

Pre-Wedding Festivities.  Pizza Night at our house.  Coop and cousin Crosbi getting some good bonding time in.  Love this little curly haired girl :)

And here is what Coop and Crosbi were staring at in the last picture.  Yep, a mini Coop full of boys!  Great neighbors and adorable nephews, couldn't ask for anything better.

Having a little chat with Grandpa Bill

Suzi did great in organizing this great-grandkid pic.  However as with any picture that has multiple children, you know that there are going to be tears.  But sometimes those are the cutest ones!

Check out the three little girls up front.  How cute are they, tears and all! 

Coop and Peyton.
These two were adorable together, luckily Peyton realized quickly she was going to have to take charge to get Cooper to cooperate and walk down the aisle.  She did a great job and he loved following her around.

Congratulations to the beautiful couple, Austin and Maribeth.  They are just perfect for each other and their wedding day was beautiful.  Thanks for letting Cooper be a part of it!

 

And to cap things off for the night, here's one happy little "Caire Bear" (as Coop calls her every now and then.  He just can't quite say that "L" for some reason!)

The Binky, Wubs, Pacifier, Binker Binks......

Whatever we have called it over the past two years......it was a lifesaver at times and a curse at times.  A lifesaver when he needed to nap in the car, was screaming in a restaurant, or just needed some extra comforting.  A curse when you seemed to never be able to find it in the house (although at times it seemed like we had 10 laying around), when you were on vacation and forgot to pack one, when you lost the only one you had at 12am and your father-in-law had to make an emergency run to Walgreen's, or at last, when the time has come to get rid of it completely.  Someone recently told me there is really no way to wean them off the pacifier, that getting rid of it has to be done cold turkey. 

Well the turkey got cold today......because today we did it.  Poor Coop did not even see it coming, nor did I really for that matter. 

We had finally gotten him to only use it at naptime and bedtime, however even though he was doing pretty well with that, he always seemed to sneak it out of his crib or run to look for it when he got upset.  So this morning after constant begging and whining, I decided I couldn't do it anymore.  We just needed to be done with it completely.

So I tried to explain to him about the binky fairy, that she was going to come and take away all the binky's.  He gave me this look like, "what the heck are you talking about".  Ok, I get it, Fairies are for girls.  Let's do something that he would understand, let's just take them out to the trash.  So out we went.  We put on our shoes, got Claire situated in her bouncy seat, and trekked out to the garage.  I opened the lid to the garbage can, and he watched me toss in two.  Then the two he had in his hand he decided to just toss them out into the rain on the driveway.  One landed in a bush, the other rolled under the van.  I made a mental note to find those two later, and watched my big boy turn around and go inside.  Wow, was it that easy?!?!

Wrong......then came naptime.  He asked several times for it, and when I asked him where they went, he said outside.  I explained a rabbit probably picked them up and put them is his rabbit hole.  So now whenever he asks, I say they are in the rabbit hole.  After 10 minutes of screaming followed by 20 minutes of crying, he fell asleep.  I call it a success............until bedtime I guess.

                          We'll miss you binky!  (and please pray for Andy and I)

Smiles, coos, and hairbows

 

That's what our days are filled with (at least with Claire).  The title may be a little different if we were talking about Coop, but let's just take a minute and enjoy the sweetness and innocence of the little Claire Bear.  I could sit and stare at her for hours, listening to her sweet coos and marvel at the site of her beautiful smile.  Something about having a girl......it's just different.  Melts my heart.  She has been doing great, starting to really notice toys and faces.  She has started to like "playing" in her little play-mat, and Coop also enjoys trying to fit in their as well!

 

Coop seems like a giant next to her!  He is getting so big, talking more, and causing more trouble each day.  Love that little guy more than words, but boy does he cause my blood pressure to rise. 

 

Each day brings a new adventure with these two, and I am so far enjoying my new job!

 

 

A week of Firsts

1st Shots ;(

Claire had her 2 month appointment this week, she is growing great! Weighing in at a little over 11lbs and 24in long.  Poor girl was worn out after seeing the Dr. though.

1st Day on the Job ;)

1st Dentist Appointment

Coop did great!  He loved all their "tools" of course and was a good little helper by holding the sucker while he got his teeth brushed.  No cavities, but we were told to make sure pacifier is gone by next appointment (that gives us 6 months, whew!)

                                       1st Time mom hanging out in Coop's crib! 
It was raining and we were playing a "thunder" game.  Coop loved it, might have been a mistake though because every time I go to get him up from his nap now he says, "mommy come in"!

                                                                   1st Hairbow!
           That's right, the girl has got enough hair to actually clip a bow in.  Love it!

1st Parade! 

Hanging out with Uncle Kevin and Ollie at Ashland Stirrup Days.

1st time seeing Dad's new office

It is a little bare and boring, so Andy asked us to come check it out and help him hang a few things to spruce it up.  That basically gave mom the go-ahead to go all out at Home Goods!