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!

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!!