My 4 year old!

Happy birthday to my precious baby boy!!  

1 day 

                                                                 

                                                1 year                                                 2 years

3 years 

4 years

Dear Cooper,

These past 4 years have flown by entirely too fast!  It really takes my breath away knowing that you will not always be my little boy.  My one wish is that I could capture your sweet, tender, loving, sensitive, happy heart and bottle it up so that I will never forget how amazing you are at this very age.  You exude happiness. Some of my most favorite things about you: You are so tender and so affectionate!  You NEVER turn down snuggle time.  You love to snuggle in so close that you practically become another one of my body parts.  Every night Daddy gets you ready for bed, reads  books and says prayers.  When you are all finished, I get to go in and scratch your back, legs, arms, and even your tiny hiney!  You make me kiss your face all over...but it has to be soft!

Ok, so enough with the mushy stuff because you are ALL boy!  Your favorite thing right now is BUGS BUGS BUGS!!!!!  Oh my!  You love to hunt for bugs all day every day!  Your new obsession is catching moths and naming them after your friends.  Brody and Cole were your first two moths you ever caught. You love to do anything and everything your daddy does...fishing, hunting, golfing...going to Academy!!  He has started taking you to the golfing range recently and you're not too shabby!! You love your friends and are super social.  You have a crush on two little girls...Emily June and Allie.  If this is any indication of what the future holds....we are in trouble!  You even have a little pet frog that you named Emily June....and your snail is named Preston!  Silly boy!

You are FINALLY writing a little bit!  I have to bribe, bribe, bribe....but whatever it takes!  You've never liked to color, so getting you to sit an actually practice writing letters is a big deal!  You've got your name down!!  Our mission this summer....you will be able to write all letters...upper and lower!!  We started pre-reading with you a couple of months ago.  You had the -at family down, but then decided it was way too much work and would completely melt down any time I even mentioned "learning how to read".   So, I've let that go for now because I don't want you to hate reading and think it is a chore!  However, it is summer, and I've heard there is a "DeeDee Daycare"!  Yes, I do plan on sending you!

You are into anything that has to do with superheroes or transformers.  Your favorite color is blue.  You wear 5T shirts and pants....3/4T shorts.  11 1/2 shoe.  You weigh about 34 lbs and are taller than most of your friends.  This entire past year when I would tell someone you were 3, they were always shocked because you looked older.  You think DeeDee and Gabby hang the moon!!!!  Every time we drive past the bus barn, you shout, "Grumps lives there!!"  You saw a horse being born at Gabby's a few weeks ago and she named it Cooper!  If I could describe you in only ONE word, I think I would have to say you are JOYFUL!  You are just so full of life!

In the past year I have watched my 3 year old little boy mature into a sweet, loving, smart, happy big boy. You make us so very proud!  I love you, sweet boy!  Happy 4th birthday!

Happy birthday cinnamon roll for breakfast!!

 Playing with the new transformers masks!

Sweet FOUR year old!

                                     

 Tried to get a few of the boys together...didn't work out so well!  

 Whitt singing twinkle twinkle little star....

...how I wonder what you are!?

He got the helicopter he's been asking for since his 3rd birthday!

Cook out with friends....

Last weekend we had some great friends over to cook out!  It's so fun to be able to keep in touch with high school buds! I didn't get many pictures, but the ones I did get were pretty sweet of all of Coop's buds!  There were 8 boys and only ONE sweet girl!  I didn't even get her picture.  I'm pretty sure she was terrified of all of the craziness that comes with a house full of out of control boys!!!!!  Poor thing!  It was such a fun time and I'm hoping to have many more in the future!

This is the only picture that I got of the ladies!  Kanji and Leslie!

Leslie's sweet boys, Cole and Case!

Preston, Cooper, Brody and Cole

This is just one of those priceless "finger up your nose"pics!  I'm surprised I didn't ever catch Cooper like this!!

Wrestle mania!

All of the boys...minus Whitten and Case!

Doctor update

I got results about a week ago that the pathology reports were benign!  Praise the Lord!  However, I wanted to wait until after I talked to the doctor before posting any news.  Basically he feels like a subcutaneous double mastectomy with reconstruction is going to be our next step.  I have had numerous biopsies and two lumpectomies.  I have severe hyperplasia (and some other stuff that I can't remember at the moment) and will continue to have biopsies and lumpectomies for the rest of my life.  So instead of just being cut open every year and being scared out of my mind while waiting for test results, he feels like this is an appropriate and necessary step.  The good thing is it's not an emergency.  We are going to take our time in researching doctors and plastic surgeons.  I go back in 4 months to discuss our future plans.

Here are a few definitions of different types of mastectomies.

modified radical mastectomy  total mastectomy with axial node dissection, but leaving the pectoral muscles intact.

radical mastectomy  amputation of the breast with wide excision of the pectoral muscles and axillary lymph nodes.

subcutaneous mastectomy  excision of breast tissue with preservation of overlying skin, nipple, and areola so that the breast form may be reconstructed.

Subcutaneous, although still a complicated surgery, it is much less invasive because they are just taking out the tissue...which is what my problem is! I'll never forget when I had my first sonogram at 21 years old, the doctor told me that my breast tissue is so dense that finding cancer would be like finding a certain snowflake in a snowstorm!  Yep, just a little scary.   So, that's the latest!

An update on my sweet friend Rachel who just had a double mastectomy...she is doing well.  It did NOT spread, so that was such a relief to hear.  She's two weeks out and still very sore.  I read on FB that her hubby helped her take a shower today for the first time in 2 weeks!!  I know that must have been heaven to get all freshened up!

19 months

Whitt, you are a WHOLE new kid after tubes! Funny, happy, a little bit more talkative. You are finally starting to run a little bit! Tubes were a miracle for you!

• You sleep through the night most nights! You will stay wake up on occasion. We will go in the 1st time, but if there is a second time, we just let you cry it out.
• You now have SEVEN teeth!! 4 on top, 3 on bottom. (Um...i just stuck my finger in your mouth and a top molar has broken through!)
• You still don't eat well. However, I have discovered that you love fresh fruit and pineapple is your favorite. I finally tried Nutella the other day to get you used to that type of texture. You loved it....of course the first ingredient is sugar. Next step is to try almond butter. That is still scary for me because your big brother is allergic to almonds!

• I talked a lot about your moodiness in your 18 month post, but I feel like that has died down a bit. You are so stinkin' happy and giggly all of the time. You can still throw a tantrum when you don't get your way, but it's manageable...for now!
• You finally found your own eyebrow and use it all of the time when you are tired.
• You love letters and can now identify- A,B,C,D,E,F,I,K,M,O,P,R,S,V.
• I don't really think you have many new words. But you are babbling more than you used to....having little conversations! You are calling me momma again instead of daddy!
• When you are tired and ready to go to bed you will lie down on the floor and "swim". Hilarious...except for when you do it in public places!
• You sleep with a duck now and it is so cute. You get so excited to see him that you quack at him and give him kisses.
• You are taking one nap, but would still prefer 2. You sleep anywhere from 1-2 hours.
• You wear a size 6 1/2 shoe. 18-24 month clothes. You are finally getting some meat back on your bones after being sick for 4 months!

You are to die for precious and you melt me every day!

Easter 2012

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:25-26

Whitt finally found his OWN eyebrow!!! Yay! However, he still uses mine....or anyone's for that matter, for comfort! It's so fun to watch him sit in his little chair or in his bed just going to town on his eyebrow....and sucking away on his lip!

Our sweet friends Paige and Marina (and their babes Callyn and Rhys) invited us to a FABULOUS Easter party! There were lots of yummy treats, adorable decorations, and even live baby chicks and a cute little bunny for the kiddos to play with. I mean....greatness! The boys had so much fun! Thanks, girls, for inviting us to such a great party!

Going back to the animals! After Whitten got "acquainted" with the chicks, he decided to squeeze them as tight as he could by the neck. I had to save a few of their lives...only to have yellow feathers left in Whitt's hands. On several other occasions, he would be holding them so sweetly and then just chunk them on the ground. We need to have some lessons on gentleness.

Let the hunt begin....

Easter Sunday!