breakfast with santa

It was our first year attending Breakfast with Santa at the River Center in Davenport.  Our babysitter reserves tables for her daycare kids among others, and the kids get to have breakfast and meet Santa!  Afterward, there is a parade and you can also attend the Festival of Trees.  Coop is still too little to realize who Santa is and I don't even think he knew to be scared of him when he sat on his lap.  Still, it was fun for Jason and I to take pictures of our little guy. 

family pics

We are horrible about getting Cooper's pictures taken at the 3/6/9 month milestones, so we hit the 9 month one.  :)  We used our wedding photographer and we are more than pleased.  We are absolutely in love with them and she's so great to work with.  And very reasonably priced.  Enjoy and if anyone wants any, let us know!

before/after

We finally had the house painted and I am so excited at how different and how much better it looks.  Jason really wanted to paint it himself, but realized that he just didn't have the time.  We hired Landon Dixon who paints houses for a living and we were extremely happy with the finished product.

Before:

• The house was painted a drab brown, which I couldn't stand.  I seriously think the last time the house was stained was back in the 1970's when it was built.  
• This was taken when we first moved in and you'll notice the landscaping is horrible.  We've since redone all of it and it looks so much better.
• The beautiful eagle is gone between the garage doors.
• The trim has been painted a lovely cream color.
• The front door is no longer peach.
• The antenna is most of the way taken down.

After:

• No longer drab brown!!!
• We still need to get shutters for the front windows, which will be the same color as the trim around the windows.  We didn't get the trim around the windows painted since it would have been $40 extra per each window.
• We are planning on getting a new front door, but in time.
• We are working on cleaning up our flower beds before the winter, so don't mind the mess in the front of the house.  :)

For the most part, we're all done with the outside of the house.  We have lots to do inside still.  We are going to work on the kitchen this winter painting our cabinets white, new hardware, new countertops, sink, flooring, and maybe taking out a wall to open up the kitchen.  I have yet to convince Jason of that last part, but we'll see.  :)  I'm so happy that my house finally looks better!!!

halloween part 2

Last night Cooper went trick or treating at his sitter, Mary's, then it was off to IL to visit Grandma and Grandpa Thirtyacre, his aunts & uncles, many cousins, and his Great Aunt and Uncle.  He had a really great time and is looking forward to next year!

Coop hanging out with his cousin, Maggie.  :)

Maggie had too much candy and was all tuckered out.  :)

halloween part 1

Coop received this costume from his cousin and since we already had one picked out for him, we didn't want this one to go to waste.  So, he got to wear it tonight!!! 

magpie

My little niece Maggie, aka Magpie, is the most cutest, sweetest, tiny little peanut (in comparison to my son), that I have ever seen.  She has the most perfect little face and I just want to snuggle her up.  She looks so much like her daddy, but her profile looks like her mommy.  It's crazy how fast you forget how tiny your kids used to be, and it's kind of sad how quickly you forget.  I just wanted to kiss her beautiful little face, but I remember not wanting anyone to put their lip tracks all over Cooper when he was little for fear of him getting sick.  It's so hard to resist!!!  I don't have many pictures of her yet, but I'm waiting a little bit until I can get one of her and Cooper together.  She took a little cat nap on me last night and she has the cutest little snore.  When she wants her pacifier, she gets fiesty!!!  She's a good sleeper, 3-4 hours at a time, but she likes to sleep on mommies chest. :)  I can't wait until her and Cooper can play together and all the fighting that will take place.  :)  This Thursday, she'll be 2 weeks old...such a big girl!!!  We love you Maggie Sue!!!

9 months

Cooper went in for his 9 month well check a couple weeks ago and all was good!  He's a big kid and that's pretty much all I know.  He did get his flu shot, and we have to go back in November to get his second round.  He cried for a little bit and then wimpered for a little while, but that didn't last long as he slept the whole 10 minutes home and then the entire way up to Davenport to wait for his cousin to arrive.  :)

Height:  31.25 inches (95th percentile)
Weight:  24 lbs 5 oz (90th percentile)

Happy 9 months, blue eyes!!!  We love you so very much!