Pumpkin Patch!

Last Friday Cooper and I went with Amy, Layton, Leslie, Mason, Juli, and Tanner to the pumpkin patch at Alamo Heights Methodist Church in San Antonio. We left early enough to eat lunch beforehand at Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers. I have never eaten there before and I must say it was delicious! After lunch we went over to the pumpkin patch and the kids had such a good time.......but I was having a little trouble keeping up with my little speedy gonzales! Cooper is really getting the hang of this whole walking thing and is now incorporating a bit of running in as well. He was the least bit interested in the pumpkins and more interested in seeing if he could outrun me. Needless to say, he won most of the time.....I'm not in shape whatsoever to keep up with a 16 month old.

Family Pictures

I can't believe it took us this long to take family photos but we finally did it! A couple of my friends, Tawny and Juli, are starting a photography business and to get things rolling they asked us and a few other families to be guinea pigs! They came over to our house on a Sunday afternoon around 6:30 and we took some outside photos and also several inside. At first I wasn't totally sold on taking the photos at our house because I didn't see how we had any good locations to take pictures and I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out. Boy was I wrong! I have never been more thrilled that they suggested taking the pictures at our house because they turned out AMAZING!! These pictures will always be so special to me because they were taken in the house that Cooper grew up in! They took so many photos that I could never choose a favorite but I will include just a few of my favorites. Please Please check out their website www.pocketfullofposes.org. They do fantastic work!

Growing Up Too Fast!!!

I can't believe the changes Cooper has gone through over the past 4 months. He is so much more aware of things now and even though he can't put words together yet I can tell sometimes he is trying to tell me something. It seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. I'll include a pic of then and now at the end! We are also thoroughly enjoying taking him out for walks at night because the weather has been so wonderful! He loves to ride in the jogging stroller and play with the steering wheel. I don't know why but it seems here lately I have had a much harder time dealing with the growing up thing! I wish he could stay little for just a while longer!

FINALLY!

I know I know.....it's been quite awhile since I've posted anything but life in the Hindes house has been rather busy lately. I have several things to talk about but will start with #1. I am keeping my nephew, Layton, two days a week. I knew it would be a great way to help out my sister-in-law, Amy, and also a great chance for me to see what it would be like to have 2 kids. Boy did I ask for it! Layton is a great baby but Cooper on the other hand has been a bit of a challenge. I have to say though that I love watching the two of them interact together especially when they make each other laugh! Here are a few pics that I have taken since he started staying with us!

Cake & Winnsboro...

Daniel had to travel to North Dakota a couple of weeks ago and be gone an entire week so Cooper and I decided to go visit my family and friends in Winnsboro while he was gone.  We had a great time while we were there even if Cooper clung to me the entire time!  I have never seen him like that....it really wore me out.  I think it was because we had been at a wedding the weekend prior, no nap in 3 days, and the fact that we dropped Daniel off at the airport in Houston on our way to Winnsboro and Cooper decided to have a nervous breakdown.  Needless to say, we made it through the week and he and I both are still alive!  I was so thrilled to be home....I forget how much I miss it there and how wonderful it is to be around family and friends.  My mom surprised me with an early birthday cake which was AMAZING!  They have this great bakery in Winnsboro now called Frosting and they do really amazing work!  She also took me shopping as a birthday present!  Cooper had a great time eating cake and ice cream (as you can see fromr the pictures)!  He also went swimming in the turtle pool that his MiMi got for him.....I will also mention that it RAINED most of the time we were there.  I haven't seen rain like that in so long!  Later this month Daniel has to go to Utah so I think we'll be making our way back there again soon....I can't wait!

Funtastic Playland!

I took Cooper to Funtastic Playland in San Antonio about 3 weeks ago with our church playgroup. The playgroup meets every Tuesday and it's a really great way for him to be around other kids and learn to share toys.  Funtastic Playland is basically like an indoor playground and they have a great area for toddlers to roam around on foamy toys.  He had an even better time than I expected.....when we left he definitely wasn't ready to go!  

We Made It!!!

                                   

I know I haven't blogged in about a month or so but it seems like we have been on the run whether it be out of town or just here at home trying to keep up with our growing boy!  Cooper is almost 14 months and he weighs 25 lbs.  He is eating us out of house and home and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon.  We had our 1 year well checkup about 3 weeks ago and the pediatrician was very impressed with how well he looked and decided that we could take Zyrtec only once a day instead of twice.  I am amazed how much they change from day to day.  I remember having so much trouble getting Cooper to drink from a sippy cup and to eat solid foods.  Now we can't seem to feed him enough food and he drinks from a cup so well that we lost the bottle completely for the first time last night!  I can't say enough how blessed we are that Cooper has not been sick except for having RSV over this past year.  I watch these kids with multiple ear infections and feel so great that Cooper has yet to have one! (knock on wood)  It seems so simple and minute but I feel like it's a huge milestone for us.....we made it past the first year and he's still alive and doing awesome!

The Sprinkler......

So this was supposed to be another adventure in the sandbox and it definitely turned into something else......Daniel was spot watering the grass and since Cooper loves the water so much he decided he needed to get in on the action.  He crawled out of the sandbox and over to a wetspot on the patio.  He liked it so much he ventured over into the actual sprinkler and had a great time!  The only problem was I wasn't prepared with a swim diaper so we still had our regular diaper on.......oh well.  

The Sandbox.....

Cooper got a new sandbox for his birthday from MiMi and Pop and we decided to try it out for the first time.  I was a little worried because his new thing is to put everything in his mouth and I was thinking the sand would be the next thing on his list.  Fortunately, we made it through our first time without eating sand!  Once he finally got the concept of playing in the sand he went bonkers!  He was rolling around and having a blast......

Daniel's 1st Father's Day!

Daniel got to officially celebrate his first Father's Day this year.  I went into labor and into the hospital on Father's Day last year but since Cooper wasn't born until the next evening I saved all the cards I bought for everyone and used them this year!  Since it was such a big year for our family (Daniel and Clifton were celebrating their first Father's Day) we decided to have everyone at our house and grilled hamburgers and had homemade ice cream.  It was a fun day for all and we were honored since this was Layton's first outing! 

Cooper's 1st Birthday!!

Ok so we didn't exactly celebrate Coop's birthday on his ACTUAL birthday but we did have a rather exciting day!  Our first nephew, Layton James Shearrer, came into the world and we got to be there!  It was so exciting to go through the whole waiting game with Amy and Clifton a year later at the same hospital in the same room!  We are so excited to have Layton here and doing awesome.....it will be so neat to watch he and Cooper grow up together.  We had his party on the 27th with family and friends.  He got lots of new LOUD toys to play with.  Enjoy the pics!

My first black eye.....

So we had our first black eye today......Cooper is very good about playing by himself in his room with the toys I scatter out and pick up each day (this is my way of showing him early that when we are finished playing with the toys we put them away).  His favorite thing now is his ball pit (pictures are shown) and he has learned how to climb in and out of it.  He also decided today was the day he was going to pull up on anything and everything and try to maneuver his way around the room.  Unfortunately, now that he can climb in and out of it I have to watch him a bit closer now because today he pushed the ball pit up next to his changing table and when climbing out of it he hit one of the shelves and gave himself a black eye.  I will have to be careful about taking him out in public because someone will probably think I abused him or something..... 

Memorial Day Weekend

Well we survived Memorial Day!  Cooper had a very fun-filled weekend of 1sts!  We took him to Rockport for his first time at the beach on Saturday.  He absolutely LOVED the water and sand.  It might have been the first time I have seen him actually stick something in his mouth...meaning seaweed!  We also took him to Canyon Lake for his first time in the boat!  I have to admit...I was a little leery of taking him in the boat because I wasn't sure how he would react to the movement and noise.....I should have known that I tend to overreact and think the worst of situations because again...he LOVED it!  The strangest thing happened....the movement of the boat actually put him to sleep....we had a harder time keeping him awake!  Experiencing something with your child that you love so much is priceless.....I don't know what I would do if he didn't like the water because we are such water people.  To see the joy in his face was amazing!  

My first Mother's Day! and ranting.....

I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day this past Sunday.  That was really exciting and rewarding. It was really surreal to celebrate a day with my mother as a mother myself.  My whole family came down this past weekend to celebrate....including my brother!  I was touched by that as he has only visited me about 3 times in the 4 years I have lived here.  He even brought me a present! I also really enjoyed the sermon at church and how Pastor Pete recognized the women and how hard they work....It's really hard sometimes to explain how hard it is to be a stay-at-home mom.  I have really been struggling lately deciding whether or not this is the job I am meant to do.  It's not that I don't love being at home with Cooper but I miss the outside....conversations with other adults!!  and feeling a sense of professionalism and that I went to college and endured 4 crappy years for a reason.  Ahh well I've said enough....until next time!

My first Blog!

Ok so I decided that I should hop on the bandwagon and create a blog.  I've followed some friends' blogs and I think it's a neat way for family and friends to keep up with what's going on in our lives.  I must confess that I am not very good and keeping up with things so bear with me if it takes a few days for me to get in the groove!