InstaFriday

I'm very thankful for the end of another work week.  I'm still loving my job... just worn out!  We have another busy weekend ahead of us too.  Tomorrow Andy is working so Coop and I are going to hit up some community yard sales and head out to the mall.  I've got to start rounding some stuff up for his birthday and I want to look at some shoes!  Sunday is Andy's triathlon and our annual church picnic.  He's extremely fussy right now... I'm hoping it's a combination of teething and exhaustion. 

  

 All dressed up for Andy's deacon ordination.

 Sleepy boy pulling on Daddy's chin scruff.

 Still working on my board handwriting. 

 The iPad is perfect for my little lesson plans.

 All the baby boys begging to go out!

 Someone is ready for his 1st Halloween!

 I snuck this picture while we were driving down the road.

 This is my biggest battle every morning... trying to play in the toilet while mommy is getting ready.

 His newest trick!  He was frantically trying to unroll the toilet paper before I got to him.

 Hanging out at Connor and Max's.

Have a great weekend!

Pizza Over Peanut Butter

The last few days have been pretty uneventful but tiring nonetheless for the Smithson clan. Earaches, teething, and restless nights are getting the best of this mommy. I think Coop's ear is finally starting to feel better but teething is getting the best of him. He's cut the bottom two but now I think he's working on the top. The last few nights/mornings he's woke up crying between 5am and 6am. He hasn't done this in months so I'm blaming it on the teeth. He goes back to sleep within 5 minutes once we're up with him... wish it was that fast for us! I would almost rather him wake up around 1am or 2am. That way I wouldn't lie there thinking "Oh I've got to get up in a few minutes." That is an awful feeling! Hopefully tonight we'll all get some rest!

I've already cooked one meal tonight but I'm about to cook another. I'm a person of habit. I've been eating peanut butter sandwiches everyday for lunch since kindergarten. I'm not joking. I've never switched up my lunch menu in 19 years... I like peanut butter that much. I can do ham and cheese at home when it's fresh but it doesn't do well in a lunch bag. Well there is a student at my new school with a severe peanut allergy. No peanut products are allowed on the campus. I completely understand that and have no issues with it whatsoever. I hope if Cooper ever has an issue like that his school will be that accommodating. To make a long story short I've had to change my lunch routine. I'm slowly adjusting to it but it hasn't been easy! I've been taking leftovers and warming them up. It hasn't been bad and is probably more healthy for me but I'm having PB withdrawals. Tonight I'm making a homemade pizza to take the rest of the week. Hopefully that will hold me over until I get home and get my PB fix in!

Photo Fun Day Monday

I took a lot of pictures over the weekend on my camera so I thought I'd share them!  Enjoy!

 Balloons & Tunes Festival

 Connor's 7th Birthday Party

 Max!

 Sawyer!

 The birthday boy!

 Silas!

 He just ate some grass...

 Craft time!

 "Autumn Tree"

Weekend Wrap-Up

Another busy weekend under our belts! Friday night we went out to eat at a little pizza place before heading out to the Balloons and Tunes festival. We met my sister and her family to eat. Surprisingly enough all three boys were very well behaved in the restaurant... very odd! After we ate we headed to the festival. It was very cool and windy but they had a lot set up. The older boys had a great time but there wasn't much for Cooper to do. We walked around a lot and then watched some of the concert. I was looking forward to seeing the hot air balloons but there were only two, they weren't in the air, and they weren't lit up. I was so disappointed! I'm not sure if it was because of all the wind or what but I hated we didn't get to see them.

Saturday morning Cooper wad up bright and early. He's so active now, it's amazing! His favorite thing to do now is walk around the coffee table, pull everything off of it, and throw it in the floor! As soon as we pick it up he throws it down again. He just reached down, while holding onto the coffee table, picked up a basket, and brought it back up to the table! He pulls up on EVERYTHING! His little face has bumps and bruises all over it from hitting it on things he pulls up on.

Back to Saturday... he woke us up early and once we were good and awake he decided to take a nap. It always seems to work that way. We went up to my parent's for a little while and then headed out to ride bikes. We went with Andy's brother Kevin and his wife Sara. We had planned on having a nice, leisurely ride by the river but that turned into an 8.5 mile ride! My legs are aching so badly right now! Thankfully Andy put Cooper on his bike or I'd really be dead. The girls decided the double our ride length so we could get some ice cream... who wouldn't make that decision? We had a nice little break with some milkshakes and got back to the trail.

We ate and hung around their house for awhile and then headed home. Cooper was tired from bike riding and so were we! Sunday was a big day in the Smithson household. Andy was ordained as a deacon at church today. I'm SO PROUD of him and the Godly man he is. He's taken a very active role in our church and I'm so thankful that Cooper has a daddy who loves the Lord to look up to. Our brother-in-law, David was ordained as well.

After church we headed to my oldest nephew's, Connor, birthday party. He had it a playground/park and even though it was a little warm we had a lot of fun. He's the sweetest 7 year old you'll ever meet. He's got the kindest heart and is such a loving boy. I can't believe it was 7 years ago when that little angel was born. I'm very thankful I've been blessed with him in my life.

After the party Coop and Andy took a nap and I caught up on some tv. We went to church and then headed home to watch Amazing Race. It's one of our favorite shows and I'm glad it's finally back on!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

InstaFriday

Oh my goodness... I'm so exhausted this week!  I think the change of pace/new job has done me in.  Don't get me wrong... I love it... but I'm tired.  I've had a really good week learning the ropes and am feeling more comfortable and confident each day.  My pictures this week are a mixture of Cooper and my little classroom.  Enjoy!

 Sleepy head!

 Ice cream!

 Watching the Wildcats with Daddy!

 He's such a good helper!

 Before...

 After!

 Before...

 After!

 Before...

After!

We've got a busy, but fun, weekend ahead of us.  Tonight we're going to a fair called Balloons and Tunes.  We've tried to go every year since it started 3 years ago but have never made it so I'm very excited!  It's hot air balloons and music... I can't wait!  Tomorrow we're riding bikes by the river and hanging out with some family.  Sunday Andy is getting ordained as a deacon at church and then my oldest nephew, Connor, is having his 7th birthday party.  It's crazy that he is that old!  Get ready for another long weekend wrap-up!

Trying Something New

As everyone knows I've been doing a lot of bogging from my new iPad. I would go directly to the Blogger site to do my blogging but it wasn't very user friendly so I just bought this app for blogging. Very easy to use and I've already got my money's worth!

Love You Forever

It's been a rough day for my family and me. While Andy was reading Cooper his bible story a few minutes ago he read a verse I needed to hear... "You are much more important than birds. You are much more important than flowers. So do not worry. If God takes care of them, God will take care of you."

Today started out great. Work was good and we had plans to go and look at that house again so we could make an offer on it. I spoke with our realtor about what time we had planned on meeting and called Andy to double check. When I called him he had just had an accident in his FedEx truck. Thankfully he was ok but very frustrated, understandably so. Cooper and I got home and he took a very short nap... as you can guess he wasn't a happy camper the rest of the afternoon. I still think his teeth are bothering him. He cut his second one yesterday! Well time was drawing near to go look at the house when I got a call from our realtor. I saw her name pop up and figured it couldn't be good news. As much as I wanted to be wrong I was right. The bank just accepted an offer on the house this morning. I was so disappointed and upset! I had a good cry after I shared the news with Andy.

While I was feeling sorry for myself I was reading an update on Facebook about a guy we know (through friends, we've never met him) who has been battling cancer since last Christmas. He's very young with two young children. For several months they thought the cancer was shrinking and he was feeling much better. A month or so ago he had some headaches and found out the cancer had spread up his spin and into his brain. He has quickly gone down hill and stopped treatment. He's on hospice and not expected to make it much longer. After I read this I was mad at myself for getting so upset over a silly house. The Lord has blessed my family and me in so many ways that I shouldn't get upset over such trivial things. So... after some more crying I pulled myself together, cooked dinner, and took care of an extremely fussy little boy. We didn't go to church because he was so tired and upset.

To top my emotional night off I read Cooper the book Love You Forever. If you've ever read that you know how sad it is. I cried the whole way through. He went to bed without a fight tonight and now I'm spending some quality time with the hubs!

A Little Change of Scenery

Well I've got some surprising news... I'm switching gears some and starting a new job! Wait... I just announced my "new" job a few weeks ago right? Well this is a new new job. Confusing, I know. I was offered a job at an elementary school a few miles from my house working for some wonderful people. It's SO much closer to home that I couldn't turn it down. I also know more people in the school and county plus it's the county I've wanted to be in since I decided to teach. Most importantly I'll have more time in my day to spend with Cooper so how could I turn it down? It's similar to my job at the high school in that I'll be working with at risk children in small groups or one on one... they are just going to be much younger! I really enjoyed my high school students and am going to miss them but I'm very excited to be starting this new adventure closer to home. Wish me luck as I learn a new routine!

Ear Infection Epidemic

Well it's another Monday, the beginning of a work week... for some of us anyways. Andy had the day off with Cooper, again. And I was super jealous, again. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that Andy is getting to spend more time with him... I just wish I was too! Andy was the perfect little housewife while I was gone. He cleaned, did the laundry, and organized the house! What more could I ask for? He kept Cooper entertained which was a huge task in itself considering Cooper felt bad all day. He's been hitting at his ear all weekend and Andy informed me while I was working that he was still doing it so I called the doctor. When I got off work Coop and I headed to the doctor and low and behold he had an ear infection. This makes number 7! We didn't see our normal doctor so we didn't have an in-depth discussion about tubes but discussed it some. He just had one a month ago. If tubes will make him feel better and keep us away from the doctor's office I'm all for it. He's just been so pitiful today.

Once we got home and I got dinner cooked we headed up to my parent's for a little while. Dad and Andy are still working on trees and I went through some school stuff my sister had set aside for me once she stopped teaching. Cooper trashed their living room and then wanted to go to bed. Luckily he fell asleep in the car on the way home and made an easy transition to his crib. I was planning on making a run to the Dollar General, honest to goodness, but it seems Andy's late night run is going to keep me from going... I think he planned it that way.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Well it feels like I just wrote my last weekend wrap-up. How quickly our down time goes by.

Friday night the Smithson clan stayed in. Andy didn't get home until around 7pm so Cooper and I had a pizza waiting for him. Coop took a 2.5 hour nap, which I had to wake him up from at 6:40pm, so I had plenty of time to whip up a pizza. After dinner we bathed Cooper and then took him out to swing. It was cool outside and has started getting dark so early that we didn't stay out too long. He went to bed early and we followed suit shortly after. It's funny how the earliest night we got in bed this week was Friday night.

Cooper woke us bright and early at 7am Saturday morning. He had an appointment for his first real haircut and I think he was excited. We both had appointments at 9am so we got ready to go. I've got naturally dark brown (chocolate) hair but it started turning gray when I was 11. My mom and dad wouldn't let me start coloring it until I was in high school. My sister and I colored it out of a box all 4 years I was in high school... I was very thankful for Summer's help all those years. The older I got the more gray my hair got. By the time I graduated from high school we couldn't cover it anymore with the cheap box color so I started having it done professionally. At this point in time it was about 50/50 brown to gray. Pretty crazy for an 18 year old right? To make things worse my hair grows fast... very fast. With it being so dark I could have easily had it colored every two weeks but stretched it out to four. Eventually we started adding some blonde to it to mask some of the gray. Well I went every 4 to 5 weeks since I graduated to have my hair colored until this spring. I never missed an appointment in 6.5 years. By this time my hair was/is completely gray. Yes, I'm completely gray headed at 25 years old. I couldn't tell you how many people have told me I should let it go gray. I kindly tell them they are crazy. Back to the story... I kept having it colored after Cooper was born but money was tighter with a new baby and having my hair colored every 4 weeks was expensive. We needed to cut back so that was one of the luxuries that fell by the wayside. I colored it myself all summer from a box. It did fine, it didn't completely cover it but it wasn't bad. I'm letting my hair grow out so I could get by with not getting it cut too.

Cooper needed a trim and mine was getting thick and unhealthy so we both had ours done. Coop's looks so cute! He looks like a big boy! He behaved himself as well even though it
was nap time. We colored mine dark brown all over, thinned it out, trimmed it, and cut some bangs. It looks so much better! I'm very happy with how both of ours turned out.

After we got our hair done we went up to my parent's for a little while. Andy helped my dad cut up a tree and then they rode bikes. Cooper and I hung out with my mom. It was beautiful yesterday so we stayed outside a lot of the afternoon. For dinner we went to a little Mexican restaurant that Andy had been craving and Cooper entertained everyone by putting on a show for some ice cream.

When we got home we put Cooper to bed and I ran to the Dollar General. I'm obsessed with that store. I literally go there about 4 times a week and spend a fortune each time. I walk around and browse everything each time I go. You'd think it was the mall from the way I act. If I could cut back my DG visits I could probably afford to get my hair colored every 4 weeks again.

When I got home Andy was glued to a football game and Cooper was sleeping. I suddenly had the urge to clean. That is very rare so I jumped to it while I had it in me.

I dusted, swept, mopped, and picked up the whole house all except for Cooper's room since he was sleeping. Once I got done I was warn out so I went to bed.

Today we got up and went to church. Cooper is 10 months old today! That's so crazy to me.

There is my little buddy trying to fall asleep while I shove a camera in his face. He hasn't felt really well today. He's been coughing, pulling at his ears, fussy, clingy, and has a very stuffy nose. Poor baby! He always seems to get sick around his "birthday". He is also cutting teeth so we can't really figure out what's going on.

This afternoon we went and looked at a house. We've been keeping ours eyes open but haven't been too serious yet. The house we looked at today was a foreclosure. It's a big house for a low price but it would need a good bit of work. We're going to pray about it and see where the Lord leads us.

We're putting Cooper to be now and I'm about to run to the Dollar General... go figure!

InstaFriday

Yay for Friday!  We've had a busy week and I'm exhausted!  I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend!  Here are the pictures from our week... enjoy!

Going through the carwash with Coop.

He loves his swing!

 

Happy belated birthday to me!  Thanks Deana!

Ready to ride.

 

I LOVE these little ankle socks.

Outdoor lab day at school.

 

He loves using his sippy.

 

Yummy!

The new toy... I'm obsessed.

Well I hope everyone has a good weekend.  We don't have any plans and I'm looking forward to relaxing!  Cooper is asleep now so I'm going to catch up on some TV.  See you Sunday!



Blogging from Bed!

I'm so tired tonight! That's why I'm blogging from the comfort of my bed. The last couple of days I've felt so busy even though we haven't really done anything. Last night we put Cooper's bike seat to good use and rode to my sister's house. He didn't show much emotion during the ride but seemed to enjoy it. It was a great workout for my legs. We then put his swing to good use and he loved it! Tonight we went to church and then went to my parent's for a little while. Not that busy right? Well I think the main reason I've felt so busy is this iPad! I've got a bit of an obsessive personality and I haven't been able to put this thing down. After we put Cooper down for bed I get on here and play. I haven't used my laptop since I bought it... it's so convenient. I've been staying up til around 11pm each night playing and that just stresses me out. That's too late for me, especially on school nights! Once again I'm doing it tonight so I'm going to wrap it up and get some rest. Good night!

Blogger Mobile!

Yay!!! I've found a much easier way to blog from my iPhone & iPad! Blogger just came out with a mobile app! It's designed for the iPhone so it's not totally compatible with my iPad but I'll take it. If I had to guess I bet an iPad app will be out soon. I can put iPhone/iPad pictures up directly from my device so that's great! Now I won't have to do so much back and forth work for InstaFriday... wonderful! Well, I just wanted to share the good news & test it out... I'll be back later tonight.

iPad Fun!

I'm blogging from my new iPad! How fun! I'm still trying to get used to typing on it but I LOVE IT! I would be thrilled if blogger would let me upload pictures from it... that way I could use it to do all my blogging. Oh well, hopefully I'll figure that part out soon (if anyone knows how to do that I greatly appreciate the advice!).

Today we had to take Cooper to the doctor for his 9 month checkup. He'll be 10 months old this week so we're a little behind. He weighed in at a whopping 16.15 lbs and was 28 inches long. He's still a little guy but doing great! There were no shots today but he had to get his toe pricked to do a CBC. We were expecting that but we weren't expecting the worst part of our visit. If you're a parent of a baby boy you know how important "pulling it back" is. Andy and I have always been faithful about pulling it back and so has my mom when she keeps him. We thought everything looked great and that we were pulling the skin back properly. Well Dr. Meredith checked him and the skin had grown back up some. He said the easiest thing to do was pull it back now instead of re-operating in the future. Well he gave it at good pull and poor Cooper screamed and screamed. I felt so bad for him! He was pretty much re-circumcised today. Right after that he had to get his toe stuck so he had a very traumatic few minutes. He calmed down and by the time we left he was asleep. We then went to eat, buy my iPad, then to Target.

The U.S. Open finals came on at 4pm and I had our DVR set to record it. Much to my dismay they didn't air it on TV for some reason. I was heartbroken! I was even more heartbroken that Nadal lost though.

Once we got home we bathed Cooper, doctored up his little booboo and put him to bed. I've been on my iPad ever since & Andy is running. I've got to pull myself away from this and get some stuff done!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Well I was hoping to write my weekend wrap-up from my new iPad 2 but after three days of having every intent of buying it, I still don't have one!  We went to the store to get it Friday night and they were closed, Andy worked late yesterday, and today Cooper napped all afternoon.  I could've gone and purchased it by myself but I like to have moral support (Andy) with me when I make a purchase that big.  The plan is for us to get it tomorrow... we shall see!

I had a very relaxing and lazy weekend.  I spent a lot of time with Cooper, watched a lot of tennis, and read a lot.  All in all a great weekend!  Friday night we went out to eat at my second favorite restaurant, Red Robin, and then bought Cooper a seat to put on the back of my bike.  The original plan was to put the seat on Andy's bike but it was a lot more involved than we thought.  Andy rides his bikes a lot and didn't want the hassle of taking off Coop's seat every time he rides so it ended up on my bike.  I'm very nervous about that because I'm not the best rider ever but he seemed to enjoy it today!  Plus, we have a helment for him!

Saturday Andy had to work so Cooper and I ran some errands, went to my parent's, and watched tennis.  Nadal has made it to the finals of the U.S. Open and I'm thrilled!  I can't wait to sit down tomorrow and watch it.  I worked on a small project while Cooper was napping.  We had a little photo board up in the kitchen that I kept pictures on but it always felt out of place to me.  Back before Andy and I got married I hit up a yard sale and bought some odds and ends that Andy wasn't a big fan of.  One of my lovely purchases was a door to a chicken coop.  It was at my parent's house forever and Andy told them to throw it away but Mom knew better and saved it for me.  I got it yesterday and put it in place of the photo board.  I put some clothes pins on the chicken wire and hung up my pictures.  It looks so much better and holds a lot more pictures!  Andy even had to agree that he liked the change!



When Andy got home he put up a swing in a tree in our front yard for Cooper to swing in.  He loves it!  After that I had to babysit so Andy and Cooper had a guy's night. 

This morning we went to church, came home, and Cooper napped all afternoon.  Once he woke up we played outside some and then headed back to church.  He went to bed early and now I'm winding down while Andy watches TV.  I'm already looking forward to next weekend!

InstaFriday

It's InstaFriday fun time!  I have quite the mixture of pictures this week... I hope you enjoy them!

Big boy!

Cooper took this picture of himself!

Helping Daddy play cards.

This is his new favorite way to be carried... like a sack of potatoes!

My new bling-bling watch from Andy and Cooper for my birthday.

Being silly early in the morning.

The beginning of our vermiculture project in my freshman environmental science class... yes, we're so smart we're farming worms in homemade compost.

Not a coffin, our worms' future home.

My poor little broken toe.

Ahh... the things a teacher does for her students, like translating a test from English to Chinese.

Getting his snaggle tooth brushed for the 1st time. 

I plan on having a very relaxing, laid back weekend.  We have no big plans for the next few days and I'm glad... we need a little break!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!