Three Months

Our little man turned three months old on Wednesday. He's getting so big! It's a lot of fun to see how he is changing & interacting with the world around him,. David certainly loves to chat & coo at Mommy & Daddy (& whomever else he can get to converse with him). It's a lot of fun to laugh & have him giggle back. He's been trying to stand in our laps for a long time now & loves to see what else is going on around him. The little boy in the mirror seems to catch his attention quite a bit as well. When he's not talking at or munching on his toy duck, David has been making quite the effort to fit his whole fist in his mouth - much to the entertainment of his parents. We're also happy to report a very well slept baby boy. David sleeps through the night & has been napping on a fairly regular schedule- which makes it nice to try to get things done around the house (or craft projects). We are so blessed to have this little delight in our lives. I can't express how much we adore him.

September 17th

David was helping Mommy fold the laundry today & was making all sorts of funny faces. I can't help but giggle when I see this picture! He has so many expressions. I just love the one eyebrow & finally caught it on camera!
Can you believe this kiddo is going to be three months old in a week!? He has changed & grown so much! (He's fifteen pounds now!)
Hugs to all!

Life's a Beach

We just returned from a fun Labor Day weekend at the beach in Lincoln City, OR! We rented a beach house with a few friends for the weekend. There were a total of 8 guys, 3 gals & 2 kiddos under 1. It was definitely a new experience & a lot of fun! We drove down (about 2+ hours away) on Friday evening. I woke up bright & early Saturday morning to walk on the beach with Ashley. Our rental house was a short walk away from a pretty quiet beach where we searched for seashells & rocks at low tide. We all spent the rest of the day shopping at the outlet stores nearby & then exploring Newport, OR. We met some hilarious sea lions in Newport just lounging on the dock & barking up a storm. There's a popular local restaurant called Mo's where we stopped for dinner. Apparently they are well known for their chowder, but we enjoyed some shrimp. Rain was expected Sunday, but the entire weekend turned out mild & sunny. Sunday was a nice restful day hanging out at the beach & enjoying a bon fire after the sun set. We all packed up Monday morning & then most went their own way. Jamin & I followed Kevin & Ashley up Highway 101 to take the scenic route home (& avoid Portland holiday traffic). Our first stop was the Tillamook cheese factory where of course, we had to have some ice cream! Their tour is free, but there wasn't much production going on. I definitely have to go back sometime when they are busy working away (& to pick up some more amaretto fudge!). We then headed to seaside for lunch & up to Astoria to cross back into Washington. All in all, it was a nice weekend & Jamin & I hope to relax at the beach again in the near future.

the view from our dining room window

a view from down the street as we headed to the beach Saturday morning

Ashley posing for a shot on our Saturday morning walk

silly sea lions at Newport

family time keeps us smiling

sleepy baby (yes, he kept those sunglasses on & didn't fuss with them at all)

Tammy always has a pose for the camera

beautiful evening on the beach

Two months!

David & I are back home safe & sound from California. David was an angel on his first plane ride, earning a few compliments. He repeated the performance on his ride back home as well, not sleeping as much as the first plane trip. I am such a happy mommy. (bottles & pacifiers worked like a charm!)

Our little guy turned two months on Sunday & had his two-month check-up on Monday. He sure has grown! He is now 14lbs., 2 oz. and 24 inches long! Big Boy! He also received his first set of shots on Monday. He only cried for a moment & spent much of the rest of the day snoozing. What a brave guy! :)

Swingin' Away

David loves his swing! There's a mirror on the top in addition to to leaves & little animals that rotate (his 'friends'). He just stares at that little boy in the mirror & smiles at him sometimes too. Very cute :)

He's been very spoiled here at Grandma Debbie's house by all, including Great-Grandma & Great-Granddaddy Cooper. Grandma found a swing just like his so he'll have a fun place to hang out (in addition to hanging out in everyone's arms). What a lucky boy! :)

I've been scrapbooking!

Most of you know I enjoy crafts, especially card-making. I tried to get into scrapbooking a couple years ago, but just wasn't 'feeling it'. Well, nothing kick starts the scrapbooking bug like having a baby! (Since I have so many great photos!) I've been having a blast! Here are the first couple of pages I've done. I have had the "Daddy & David napping" page in my head for a while (few things are cuter than seeing your hubby & baby snoozing together, you know) Look Julie! I'm actually using the paper you gave me for Christmas! It's tough not to hoard paper - so many pretty designs. Well, I am off to finish packing! David is taking his first plane ride tomorrow! We're heading to California to visit my family & help Debbie with her mountain of paperwork. My dad, brother, sister & Debbie's husband, Jim haven't met David yet - so this will be fun!

Fresh Lime Chiffon Cake

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love cooking & baking. Two weekends ago, I tried a recipe that I've been wanting to make for two years! Cooking Light published a yummy recipe for a Fresh Lime Chiffon Cake in June 2006 (here is the recipe) I've decided this is a special occasion cake since this recipe takes some time. We made it for Sunday when David was blessed. Jamin was a super star & juiced 6 limes by hand! (who knows where our juicer went!)My only trouble was with the frosting.. it just didn't turn out -I'm not sure what I did wrong. 'oh, gee, darn...' We'll just have to keep baking this cake to get it right! ;) Anyway, if you like lime flavor (I love anything citrus), then you'll love this cake! It was a great treat after our dinner of teriyaki chicken & ginger coconut fried rice. The rice recipe was from our ward cookbook & was FANTASTIC! I'll be posting that recipe when I make it again.

Blessed Child

Today was David's blessing at church! Jamin's parents & my mom joined us for sacrament meeting, as did a few friends. Jamin gave a beautiful blessing & David just about slept all through church today (boy was he hungry when we got home!) He looked so handsome in his cute little romper. Debbie crocheted a beautiful white blanket that arrived yesterday, so we thought we'd show it off here. Hugs to all!

walking off the baby weight!

About 3 weeks after David was born, I started a walking routine with a good friend of mine, Ashley. She & I made a deal while I was still pregnant, that we would walk together as soon as I was ready. The weekend after David was born, Ashley got herself a new pair of walking shoes & broke them in, getting all revved up for getting in shape. I am so grateful to have a girlfriend to keep me on my toes & on point for reaching my goals. I was afraid of getting stuck in a rut early & not getting a hold of this baby weight early. (Heck, who am I kidding.. there was more than baby weight before I even got pregnant) I've actually already lost the weight I gained for my pregnancy & am working on my cozy winter layers... hehe :)

Ashley's son is 10 months old & we really wanted to make sure that we were getting out of the house, not only for us, but for the boys too. I'm sure the same 4 walls every day are just as boring for a kid as they are for a stay-at-home mom. There's a nice green belt near our home, with a wide paved walkway that goes for quite a long way (lots of path for those ambitious mornings). We've been taking advantage of the beautiful pathway, and pretty sunny summer mornings. Heck, I'm up early feeding the baby anyway, so I might as well throw on a pair of tennies & hang out with my friends, right? :) We have another girlfriend who has joined us on a few mornings.

Anyway, here are a few pics from when we were out early last week. We're going to explore some other walking locations starting this week, but this is our main route. I'll share our adventures in walking & health progress too. I'm liking what the scale has to say so far, so we'll see what the difference is at my 6 week postpartum appointment. :)

this is making me hungry!

I just have to say that I feel like super-mom! (For like 2 minutes, but that's enough for me). This weekend, I was determined to sit down & get a meal plan laid out... & I did! I have 4 weeks of dinners all set out, including new recipes to try from our ward cookbook & a couple I've been wanting to try. I only plan dinners since Jamin takes leftovers or a sandwich for lunch & I generally do the same. Breakfast is cold cereal most of the time. Jamin is very good at getting something for breakfast... I am working on it (doing better lately since I've been walking in the mornings). Saturday supper is generally not planned since the day tends to be crazy, Sunday is often spent with Jamin's family & we only plan one Monday night meal in 4 weeks, since we get together with 3 other couples on those nights & we rotate who's house we go to for dinner.
Some of you probably don't know that I've gone all nerdy with the meal organization. I have a spreadsheet all set up with one page listing every meal we make (so I don't have to stare at the computer screen trying to figure out what I actually cook during a week) (& it's organized by main meat ingredient), several blank weekly worksheets to list what's going on during a particular day, the plan for dinner & needed ingredients (helpful in case we need to make a grocery stop or can prepare foods for 2 dinners in one night, depending on ingredients), & a grocery list organized by category. The categories are helpful to make grocery trips more efficient - no going back & forth to different aisles & less likely to purchase items not on our list.
Anyway, it's a nerdy blog post, but I'm just happy to be on the ball. ;)