2 quick stories!

Today Coop dropped his paper and marker on the floor and said, "Oh crap" like 4 times. I think it's time for Mommy and Daddy to stop saying that! = )

While we were driving over to Dee Dee's house today, Cooper looked out the window and said, "Look Mommy, cloud dinosaur". So fun to watch him be so imaginative! And no, we've never talked about dinosaurs in the clouds before. I guess it means we can start playing that game, though!! Love this little boy more than anything in the world! = )

2 year stats

Weight: 27 lbs. (35%)

Height: 36 in. officially 3 ft. tall!! (90%)

I can't remember his head circumference. I just know that he's still in the 10% and it is growing nicely along the curve!! = ) Little pumpkin head!

So, what is Coop doing these days??? TALKING TALKING TALKING TALKING!!!! Man, oh man! His speech has really taken off and it's so fun to try to have a conversation with him. He is so animated and he uses his whole body when he's talking to you! And when he's not talking, his eyes do the talking for him! Beautiful brown eyes! They're so expressive.

• He still knows all of his letters...upper and almost all lower
• He knows most of the letter sounds
• He's pretty darn close to being able to sing the abc's It's SOOO cute because he tries to sing in tune....and that's just never going to happen considering Josh and I are completely tone deaf!
• He counts to 11 and can recognize numbers 0-10.
• Colors- red, green, blue, yellow, purple, black, white, orange...think that's it
• Shapes- circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, star, heart, crescent (he calls it a moon crescent) octogon
• He loves to sing and doesn't get embarrassed any more!
• He can jump and get air...today was the first day!
• He's ALL boy but so so so so affectionate. He loves kisses, hugs and cuddles. I just can't get enough of him. He will randomly come up behind me, hug my neck and say "I lub oo (I love you)!" It so neat that he knows what that means and he uses it appropriately!

Coop, you truly are our world. I can't imagine living on this earth without you. You complete Mommy and Daddy in every way, and we just thank you for being the little boy that you are! I've decided that there is no more room in my heart for anyone else, so I've already started growing another heart for your baby brother, Whitten! I now have three hearts that are completely filled up. One for you, one for Whitten, and one for Daddy! My three boys!!! I can't wait for you to meet your brother. I know that you will be best friends and will love each other so very much. I love you sweet boy.

You Make Me Wanna....

JUMP....JUMP(and slide)!!!

Cooper is fearless!! We went to the Jumping Party this weekend and Coop pretty much rules the place. There is a little tot area where all the little kids play....but not our little man! He was hanging with the 10 yr. olds being a little daredevil! We've got a busy guy on our hands!

(ummm...just realized I used "little" 4 times in this short paragraph!!)

And his NEW name is....

Whitten David Jones!

We went back and forth on spellings, but ultimately decided this was the way to go! We love it! Yesterday morning I told Josh that I liked it better than Cullen, and he said, "Me too, I just didn't want to tell you that!" It was actually in the running the first time around, so I guess it was meant to be! I've never heard it before (just like I hadn't ever heard Cullen and hadn't heard Cooper all that much) so hopefully we're in the clear with popularity! I looked it up and I think it is ranked 14,000!! So, Whitt Jones it is!!! = )

Belly Pic

It's truly crazy how much sooner I started showing this time around.

21 weeks with Whitten

"W"

So we've settled on a name!!!! It starts with a "W", but we haven't figured out how to spell it yet!! When we do...we'll share! I'm excited because I love it! It fits!!! Now let's just hope that Twilight doesn't decide to name one of their characters the same name! Crossing our fingers!!

Coop giving Gabby and Grumps kisses over Skype!

NEW NAME!!!!

I think we have a new name for our sweet little boy! It's hard calling him something different after calling him Cullen for 20+ weeks, but I really like the new name (s)! There are two in the running, but we're leaning more to one. I just have to get used to it first. When it's a done deal....we'll share so you can help us pray for our sweet baby!!! = ) And no, it's not one that I've mentioned before...just to keep you guessing! = )

Happy Birthday and Mother's Day!

My beautiful birthday boy!

Dee Dee and Coop blowing out the candles of Coop's eggless cake!

The non-eggless cake!!

I think Cooper blew out candles a total of 4 times! We had to keep relighting it because he thought it was so fun!!

Taking a bite of his eggless cake! Yummy....not!! = )

Coop and Mommy on Mother's Day! This is the only picture we could get. It was after church and nap time! How blessed am I to have such an amazing little boy!

Baby name woes!!!!

When you name your baby, you're shaping their identity. I mean Cooper is Cooper no matter what. It fits him so perfectly. It's who he is. The way he talks, the way he walks, the way he laughs, his hilarious personality....it's all Cooper!!! Although I was disappointed when the name became so popular AFTER he was born (ha), it was still his name. It's a family name, and no amount of popularity was going make us change our minds. He is a Cooper. Period.

I'm sure everyone has seen the latest headlines of the insane rise of the name Cullen. WHAT?!? I swore we were choosing a name that was so under the radar that there was no way it was going to become popular the way Cooper had. I second guessed myself only because I worried that we were going to have to spell it for everyone; I didn't care if people liked it or not. It only mattered what Josh and I thought....and we thought it was a pretty cool name! Now I'm worried that I'll have to explain, "His name is Cullen, and no, not after the vampires. And, no I did not read Twilight!!" When I try to call our baby another name, it feels like I'm talking about someone else's baby. I've had several people tell me this is the reason they keep their baby names a secret. First of all, I can't keep a secret if I tried!!!!! = ) I'm all about the surprise effect...but I just can't do it! I get way too excited!!! But the more specific reason is that it is so very important to me that my family and friends can pray for our baby by name. It just makes it more personal...makes the baby seem more real!

So here we are wondering what to do! It's one thing to have a popular name! No biggie! But to have a popular name because of some teen heartthrob book is a little corny if you ask me. It's a "cult phenomenon" and it makes me so sad. My mom tried calling our little one by another name at lunch today to "try it out". I do really like the name, but is it who he is?? It felt wrong. I'll ask Cooper to say one of the names we are trying out and he always repeats back "Cullen"! Ha!! I mean, I guess the names sound similar...but still, they don't even start with the same letter!!! So, I guess for now we are going to play around with some other names. We have about 6 lined up, and we're just praying that we land on the right one...and hope that there is not a book/movie in the works with a character that has the same name!

Happy Birthday, Cooper and Dee Dee!!!!!

My sweet baby boy turns 2 today!!!!! And he just happens to share this special day with my mom, his Dee Dee!!!! How fun is that! Happy Birthday to two of the most important people in my life! I love you both so much!!!

Coop on his first birthday!

This is why we will be celebrating with and eggless birthday cake this year!

Name and more...

So...Cullen it is! We have called this precious boy by that name for so long, and if we change it now...it just won't seem right! We love it and hopefully he will too! Coop can say it so clearly and it's just so sweet!!!

Update on Coop!! We had a doozie last night! He woke up at 4:30 a.m. calling for Mommy. Well, Daddy went in his room to tell him to go back to sleep and ended up sticking his hand in vomit! When Josh called for me, I jumped out of bed to assist in the clean up! I cleaned up Coop and Josh got the rest! Coop was just as happy as a bug to see us and acted like he felt completely fine. I stuck him in bed with us because I didn't think he would go back down in his room. Well, after lots of sweet snuggles, twirling of my hair and fingers in my eyes and up my nose I decided to take him back to his bed. It had been an hour of him trying to be so good and so quiet, but he just couldn't get back to sleep! He's never slept with us before, so I guess it's just not comfortable for him. I took him back to bed at 5:45 and he went right to sleep. He woke up at 7 asking for water, and we just decided to go ahead and get him up because he was wide eyed and happy to be alive! My precious hubby got up with him so I could get some sleep (which I never fell back asleep...oh well, it's the thought that counts!). Coop had a great rest of the day...no more vomit and he played like he was never sick! I guess it was something he ate!!!! Well, we'll find out soon!!! So far we feel ok!

And on a sweet note! Josh taught Coop how to whisper a while back, and it's just the cutest thing! You can whisper in his ear, but when he tries to whisper back, he just puts his ear on your ear and whispers to the the air. Well, today we were sitting on the kitchen floor whispering to each other, and he started whispering in my my mouth instead of my ear! He was so proud of himself....and of course I just ate it up. It was one of those moments that you can't explain the sweetness of, but you just want it to last forever! I hope that Cullen is just as affectionate!!!! = )

I don't have any new pics...and it feels wrong to post without a picture!!! He's 6 mo. old.

Second thoughts!

So, I'm having second thoughts on our new baby's name! We've been calling him Cullen since before he was conceived, but now I'm stressing! Every time i tell someone what his name is, I have to repeat it and then spell it! Ugghhh! Some people even ask me if I said "Colon"...oh my! I don't want him to have to deal with that his whole life! I love the name and love the way it looks when it is written, so I'm stuck!!! Our runner up names were Nolan and Samuel! I just love the nickname Sam!!!! Naming Cooper was SO easy! I want this sweet boy to be proud of his name! Suggestions?!?!?

And just because......

My little man hard at work!! = ) Isn't he delicious!? I could totally eat him up!