Thirty-One Months Old

Spring seems to finally have sprung!  I have a bigger garden this year than I've had since Cooper was born, and I have Cooper "in training" to be my helper.  Actually he planted some sunflower seeds himself, which are doing very well.  I can't wait until they start to get really big!  Hopefully he'll get bitten by the gardening bug too.

We had a brief visit from Cooper's Uncle Doug, Don's brother, who was passing through town from Pennsylvania.

We have finished Community Bible Study for the year.  They had a children's program on the second-to-last day, which Cooper participated in.  He didn't sing too much, but he sure did look cute up there (at least in my possibly biased opinion).   ( :

Someone gave Cooper a secondhand bike, and we recently got it fixed up so he can ride it (with training wheels).  He's getting pretty good at pedaling, though he's still got some work to do in the steering and stopping departments.  We've got to get him a helmet pretty soon too.

We've had a lot of nice weather this month, so we've played outside a lot, at home, at the park, or whatever other creative places we can come up with.

And, we like to eat popsicles.  Life is good.

Mid-South Live Steamers

Yesterday my friend Laurie invited Cooper and me, along with another friend of hers who also has a little boy, to a semi-annual event in Columbia (south of Nashville) that I didn't even know existed: Mid-South Live Steamers. 

It was a fun day-all the way around.  The weather was beautiful.  Cooper behaved, and I think everyone had a great time!

This park is full of miniature (1/8 scale) railroad tracks, and apparently there are people who collect working steam-engine trains that are smaller than a real train but big enough for people to ride on.  Twice a year, they invite the public to come ride them.  We went over bridges, through tunnels and around the park, about a 10 or 15 minute ride.  There were about 6 trains running, and the wait was never too long.  Of course, we went on a Friday; it would probably have been longer on a Saturday.

We brought our lunch and ate it there, and besides the trains, there was a playground to play on and live music playing. 

Everything was free except concessions and souvenirs.  They even gave us free books! 

What a great day!  I think this is definitely something we will do again.  Thanks, Laurie!

Thirty Months Old

I can't believe Cooper is 2-1/2!  Everyone told me time would fly, and they were so right!  My only defense is to savor every day and take lots of pictures!

We had a fun Easter all the way around.  Besides having my family come visit, we went to a local egg hunt the day before.  Cooper had a great time hunting eggs, petting baby chicks and ducks, riding a train and playing on bouncy inflatables.

And while we were having fun, we also focused on the meaning of Easter, using books and Resurrection eggs to begin teaching Cooper about Jesus' death and resurrection.  Of course, he doesn't fully understand the concept at this point, but I pray that he is hiding these truths in his heart, and we will be able to build on them.  Our greatest prayer for him is that he will someday come to know Jesus as his Savior.

He also had his first trip to the dentist this month.  He wasn't too receptive initially, but with a little bribery on my part, he did finally let the dentist examine him.  They didn't actually do a cleaning this time, but just examined him to check on something I was concerned about, which turned out to be nothing serious.

 

Afterward, we went to the lake to feed the ducks (the fulfillment of my bribe).

We renewed our zoo membership, and went there one day as a family,

and another day had a play date with one of my MOPS friends who has a little boy his age, as well as 3 other small children.

I saw an example of Cooper's sweet side there when her baby was crying, and he went up to her stroller to check on her, saying gently, "I'm sorry, baby."

Since our snow a few weeks ago, we've had mostly pretty weather, and we've been getting outside a lot to enjoy the sunshine.  I love springtime!

And I love my baby boy!

A Happy Easter

In the years since we've been married, we've had a tradition of having family and friends over after church for homemade pizza and an indoor egg hunt for both adults and children.  Last year we didn't get to have it because my brother and his family had moved out of town and were unable to come, though we did have my parents and some friends from church over for pizza.

This year, we were back in business.  My brother's family came to town for a few days and the egg hunt was on!  I thought his kids might be getting too old for it (ages 7-12), but they seemed to have just as good a time as ever (which may have been helped by the extra challenge of finding hidden $5 bills in the house).  Even Cooper participated this year, though he had his own eggs and didn't compete with everyone else.

He had a blast hanging out with his cousins.

We also had a belated celebration of my brother's 40th birthday

and had mini flute and piano concerts.

We had lots of fun,

good pizza

and lots of silliness.

It was a day I think everyone enjoyed.

Snowy Day

Well, I said I was hoping for another snow, and we got one.  Not a huge one, but at least as big as any we've had all year. 

Cooper and I went outside to check it out this morning.

Then Don, who is on vacation this week, came out to join us. 

You'd think someone who grew up in Iowa would know how to dress for snow a little better than this.  Maybe he's already put his winter clothes away for the year.

It's good we got out early because it was gone within a couple of hours.

And now I'm ready for warm weather.

A New Blog

As if I could even keep up with this blog, I have decided to do a second one as well.  This one seems to appeal mainly to friends and family, but not so much to the general public.  The focus of my new one is going to be my life as an older, stay-at-home mom, and some of the things I am learning as I go, things that might be helpful to others.

So, for those who are interested, you can find this new blog at www.pooroldtiredmama.blogspot.com.

I'm still planning to keep blogging on this one least as much as I have been, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it all.  You never know 'til you try!

Twenty-Nine Months Old

One of the things I was concerned about when I found out I was pregnant with Cooper was Don's and my age.  I thought we we would be "old geezer" parents, too old to have fun with our child.  Everyone told me, "he will keep you young," but I had my doubts.

The truth is, we WERE old geezers (sorry, Don) before Cooper came along.  And Cooper has, in many ways, restored our youth.

Who would have guessed I would go to Sky High, a local sportsplex and jump on trampolines all morning (okay, I was REALLY sore the next day, but it was so worth it!), or build forts and crawl inside (at least until my legs went to sleep and I felt like I was about to suffocate from lack of fresh air)?  I thought my days of climbing up on playground equipment, swinging on swings and sliding down slides were over, until now.  I didn't envision myself going to the lake and hanging out with the ducks and geese . . . just because.

Don probably didn't think he would be building with Lincoln Logs again.

Even our tortilla press has taken on a new life . . . as a laptop computer.

Most importantly, Cooper has brought joy and laughter to our home.  Not that we didn't laugh before, but there is a happy, silly, lightheartedness here now that wasn't here before.  Who would have ever thought that saying the word "thingamabobber" could be so funny??

 

We thank God every day for this little guy who has made us young again, who has brought us more joy that we could have imagined.  We look forward to the days and years ahead, watching him grow and learning and laughing right along with him.