Baby Bookworms

We met Rachel and Katelyn at Baby Bookworms this week!

Notice that Cooper is the only child sitting and listening to the story. It is probably because he is the youngest one there and the others are walking. But, let's just believe that he is a great listener and is preparing to be a great student someday!

Cooper discovered the greatness of the tunnel today! He crawled through it several times usually while chasing a ball.

The librarian also let the kids play with these egg shakers this week. They were a big hit. (Apparently they taste good too!)

10 Months Old!

Cooper is 10 months old today!
We started the day with a little posing...


played and laughed a little...


and then he was done. :)


At 10 months, Cooper is a moving machine! He crawls, pulls up on, and discovers everything. He can get into all positions (standing, sitting, crawling) on his own. He can roll a ball back and forth and wave bye bye. He loves to laugh and be outside. This month he has learned to enjoy riding in a stroller and the wagon. Thank goodness! He is sleeping well at night and takes 2 naps. His morning nap usually lasts about 45 minutes, and his afternoon nap is usually around 2 hours. Cooper eats alot of finger foods now. This month he tried watermelon, cantalope, honeydew, egg yolk (scrambled and boiled), pasta, rice, and grilled chicken among a few other things that I am surely leaving out! He has also started to babble. The only word we can understand so far is "DaDa".

Here are a few recent videos:
Waving Bye Bye

Talking

Cooper's Dedication

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

This weekend was Cooper's dedication ceremony at our church. What an important and special day it was for our family. For the past several weeks Chad and I have been taking a preparation class at our church called "Fostering Faith in the Home." Our class introduced us to the First Look curriculum that is used with the preschool children at our church. The teacher in me was very interested in all this program has to offer. There are so many resources for parents to use in connection with what the children are learning at church! You can read more about this curriculum here. Chad and I feel both honored and overwhelmed with the task of raising Cooper in a Christian home and guiding him to his own personal faith. We are so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends to help us with this huge endeavor. Thank you MiMi, Grandad, Case, Grandmommy, and PaPa for taking the time to come celebrate with us this weekend! Also, thanks for the cards, calls, and gifts from those of you that couldn't make it. Here are some pics from our special weekend!

Cooper's first Bible! It even has his name on it! Thanks Grandmommy and PaPa!

"These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" Deuteronomy 6:6-7

My Little Hoarder

Cooper has become quite the little hoarder when it comes to his pacifiers! This is how he wakes up every morning. (One in each hand and the rest surrounding him)

Unfortunately, I created this habit by putting every paci we own in his bed at night. (This usually prevents a late night trip upstairs to find a lost pacifier!) We usually only allow pacifiers in the bed, so why not keep them all in there anyway? This morning when I got him out of bed, I even discovered a pacifier inside of his shirt. Guess he was trying to sneak that one by me! HA!

Cooper, Cooper Everywhere!

Lately, Cooper has been standing up on...

crawling under...

taking out...

going in between...

opening and closing...

and climbing on...

EVERYTHING!!!

Oh, what fun he has! (And this was all in a matter of about 10 minutes!)

People ask if being a stay-at-home mom is boring. HA!

Sweet Madie is Here!

Cooper has a new cousin! Miss Madie Lou McQuitty was born on Tuesday. She was 9lbs 30z and 21.5 inches long! Looks like she'll be big enough to play with Cooper sooner than we thought! Cooper remains the only boy cousin on both sides of the family, but it doesn't seem to bother him. :) Doesn't he look excited to meet Madie?

The waiting room was packed so we took Cooper outside to play for awhile during the labor.

Sweet Madie! (She already has curly hair like her mommy!)

It didn't take long for Cassie to put some girly pink on that sweet girl. Just look at those precious cheeks!

Congratulations Cassie and Mike! She is beautiful!

First Haircut!

Yesterday, I took Cooper to get his first haircut! We went to Cool Cuts for kids and had a great experience! Cooper got to sit in a little taxi and watch Elmo! So cute!

He was very serious the whole time! He was very curious and kept trying to look behind him.

He only had one meltdown when she sprayed the water.

They gave us this cute certificate for a keepsake!

What a handsome little man!

And the wall came tumbling down...

Last night Chad and I awoke to a very loud crash around 1 a.m. We had no idea what the noise could possibly be at that time of night. Of course, we both ran straight to Cooper's room to be sure he was ok. He was actually still asleep until we came bursting in. Chad went outside to find out what was going on. He ran into our neighbor who had also heard the noise. After some investigation, this is what they found!

Yes, that's right. The brick actually fell off of our house?!? When the brick fell, it fell on top of the roof of our bedroom then continued down to destroy our fence. When we got back inside, there were pieces of sheetrock on top of our bed. Needless to say, we both slept (or tried to sleep) on the couches. The cause and repair plan are still in question. Looks like we might be heading to a hotel for a few days!

Baby Jake and Yard Work

On Saturday, we went to visit my friend Shelley and her sweet baby boy, Jake. He was born on Friday and is super cute! Cooper wasn't so sure about me holding another baby. He watched very closely! I think I could have held him all day. (But I'm definitely not ready to brave the long, sleepless nights again) We can't wait until Cooper, Jake, and Jax (Jake's big brother) are all old enough to play together! Congratulations Jeremy and Shelley!

After church on Sunday, Chad and I decided to finally tackle our flower beds. After a lot of trimming, weeding, planting, and many bags of mulch, they look much better! We had to be very creative in order to entertain Cooper while we worked. This idea lasted maybe 10 minutes!

Cross Cut

This weekend, we took Cooper out to Chad's family's land in Cross Cut, Texas. Cross Cut is a small town outside of Cross Plains. Cross Plains is a small town between Abilene and Brownwood. He absolutely loved being outside and seeing all the sights.

First steps on Cross Cut soil. Cooper is the 6th generation of Chambers to step foot on this land.

Watching the horses run behind the truck! (No, he was not in a car seat much to my dismay! I was informed that there are no rules here.)


Cooper was not at all afraid of the animals. He just kept reaching out for them and grabbing them!

Meeting the donkeys

Meeting Jake

Feeding crackers to Jewel from inside the truck

Checking out the tank with Daddy

Watching Daddy, Grandad, and Uncle Case work on an oil well. (Yes, MiMi is still a fashionista even in the country!)

Sitting in the shade on a water cooler

Taking a break in the back of the Tahoe

Rocking with Grandad by the tank

All the Chambers men

Easter!

We had a great Easter in Abilene! What a blessing it is to have a heavenly Father that laid down his life for us. May we never for get the sacrifice He made for our sins. We had a wonderful time rejoicing in his resurrection this weekend!

Cooper had his first Easter egg hunt at MiMi and Grandad's. He wasn't too interested in the eggs, but he did like the shiny ones with money inside! Don't worry, they were taped closed! (the other eggs had Gerber puffs and cheerios inside!)

Hunting eggs!

Cooper and his egg collection. He had a little bit of help! :)

Cooper's treats from the Easter bunny! The basket I ordered didn't come in before we left for Abilene so we had to improvise with this Elmo basket instead! Inside were some books, a book of Bible stories for babies, clothes, pjs, and a spout cover for the bath tub! MiMi got Cooper the cute camo basket. Inside were some cute summer outfits, sippy cups, and a vibrating teether.

This was the basket I had originally ordered. It was waiting for us when we got home. :( Guess we will be prepared for next Easter!

Next, we went to church with Grandmommy and PaPa! Cooper started out great, but kept giggling at everything. Grandmommy took Cooper into the nursery and played with him during most of the service. Thanks Grandmommy!

After church, we had another Easter egg hunt at Grandmommy and PaPa's house. Cooper wasn't too interested, so good thing the adults got in on the fun! I even got the golden egg with a cash prize!!!

Here is our first family Easter pic!

I know I have already posted his outfit, but I couldn't resist this one!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful families. Thanks for a great weekend!