Coop and His "I'm Glad there isn't a Barton toll" day

Transitioning!... I know what you must be thinking.  "Great. Here we go with another one of those home birth bathtub stories." Actually....  I am probably the only one thinking that because I live in a house with one very passionate Labor and Delivery nurse.  But, for the sake of this story, "Transitioning" has nothing to do with the laboring woman, and everything to do with the circle of life.  No. Sorry. No stampeding wildebeest here either.  Just reflection on the fact that Auntie Doe (who also happens to be my youngest sister) is moving away from home, and "transitioning" to the next big chapter in the story she so cleverly calls "Quin's Life".  It will  be a big change, but one she will surely embrace.

I can almost hear him now. Augustus Gloop, clammoring through a mouth full of food. "Bu whad us Quin's jurney hav tadu with Count Coopula's blog?" Patience my dear boy. As it turns out, and as the astute one's already know, Quin is going to Azusa, which is just down the road from us.  Since they gang made the trek to help her get moved in, we had the pleasure of enjoying their company for a night.  Today. Since Nat had the masses at her disposal she decided to go spend a few hours at work.  After going to church for a couple hours this morning I joined the brigade in hunkering down and keeping the kids happy while Nat was gone.  Coop really seemed to enjoy hanging out with the crowd.  Always someone to talk to him, coo at him, hold him, hug him, kiss him, and give him tons of attention.   We have, however, developed a routine that keeps the gears turning.  The hungry hippo gets a ticket on the nanna express (he really enjoys car rides these days) and visits mom to nurse.  My right kidney thanks the city of Loma Linda for not having a toll on Barton road.  We never could have pulled this off with Kylie (she would have attached and even the jaws of life would not pry her off), but Coop just needs a top off, and he's ready to play again.  If only life were always so simple.

The rest of the afternoon baby C just smiled, stared at his animals on the playmat, and cruised with whoever would hold him.  He is such an easy going little guy.  He has been making strides toward rolling over, so if we lose him one of these days don't panic.  He probably just rolled under a couch cushion.

Now the tribe has moved on to San Diego so tonight the kids had a fun bath, a quiet dinner, and now are both curled up in their beds.  Another day in the books.

More to come soon,

Craig

Parenting is all about the lessons we teach.  This lesson. "If we pretend we're sleeping, mom can't give us any chores." That's gotta be on the top ten lessons to learn list.

 Kylie's favorite game. "Chubba little Coopie". I'd say he's a fan.

 A parent's dream.  Two kids entertaining themselves for a least five minutes in a 24 hour day

The Johnson group arrived, yay!

Craig worked today and Kylie, Cooper, Papa, and I headed to Olive Market for breakfast. After a wonderful walk and delicious breakfast we headed back home, thank goodness for the double stroller, it was another hot one today. Next step would have been nap time, but Kylie decided that a nap was not part of the plan today, so instead she "helped" me with dishes and laundry. We had some good play time and it was once again time to try for a nap. Kylie was still not very interested, but even less so when she saw one of her favorite aunties poked her head in to the room, "Doe!" Ammy, Papa, Doe and Lala arrived this afternoon. They were moving Doe in to her apartment at Azusa, getting ready for school to start. Kylie was so thrilled to see everyone, she jumped straight in to her performance mode. Lots of play time led to dinner (at the new place called Pieology, yummy), then there was a little more play time once daddy got home and finally some sleep. Cooper was a trooper today, he kept trying to take a nap but it was often interrupted, sorry Coop. At dinner tonight he was a little overwhelmed with the loud restaurant so he and Papa spent some good "guy time" together. One of the highlights was walking to the auto part store, Coop was a big fan of all the bright shinny stuff :o) We are looking forward to spending some more time with the family tomorrow :o)
Good night,
Natalie

Yesterday I took photos for Harper's 1st birthday. After the shoot she was so eager to play with Cooper. She gave him so many hugs and kisses, such a sweet little girl!

Out on a walk with her aunties...

 She looks so big in this photo :o( what happened?

Papa needed to take a nap and he must have been sleepy, because Kylie read books out loud to herself for a while and Papa didn't move a muscle.

Making silly faces at Pieology

 "Oh you Lala"

Draft day and much more...

I am starting to slack on writing the blog, and to those family members that enjoy reading it everyday, I'm sorry. I have been back in work mode the past few days. I had a meeting Tuesday morning, taught my class Tuesday night, group Wednesday morning, lactation work Wednesday afternoon, Lactation again today and teaching again tonight. I am enjoying be back to work, But it is hard being away from Cooper and Kylie and I think it has been hard on Craig. Luckily this is just something that we are trying out and if it doesn't work for us, I will just cut back.

Tuesday evening Craig had his fantasy football draft. He had everyone over and they had a great time drafting. That evening Craig left Kylie "draft" her own team with the extra stickers. She was so excited, she kept running around saying "this is my draft" and "I put the stickers with the names for my draft."

Yesterday we got the second seat for our stroller! Yay! it is so awesome to be able to have both kids in the stroller. Even though I love wearing Cooper, there have been a few times when it is so hot that both he and I are more comfortable when I am pushing him. We walked to story time this morning with the double stroller and it worked out great.

Cooper visited me again at work yesterday and today. As annoying as it is for Craig to have to bring him to see me at work, he says that it is better then me being gone for a 14 hour day, so we will keep doing it for now.

We have had some creepy stuff happening in the neighborhood lately :o( On Tuesday a man approached my passenger side door and looked like he was going to open it. I had just pulled up to our house and was just sitting in the car writing a text while Cooper slept. I rolled down my window and asked how I could help him and it totally startled him. He backed away and started walking down the street then a car pulled up and he got in. We then saw that same car parked on our street multiple times over the past couple days. We filed a police report and there were cops parked on our street last night just keeping an eye on the empty house on the corner because we think someone has been squatting there and our neighbors thinks they saw the two guys (from the same car) leave the house the other evening. While the cops were parked the white car drove by, they didn't stop so I am hoping they have realized that we are all watching for them and maybe they will move on. It's very unsettling though and now, more then ever, I am so glad Craig is home at night :o)

A few photos before I go to sleep :o)
-Natalie
P.S. Kylie slept through the night last night! It still doesn't happen very often, but when it does it is awesome!

Ama and Papa and creating an amazing backyard! Kylie likes to help when she is there. Soon they will be putting in the new swings! and more artificial grass, we love it!

Look at this handsome guy, I feel like he is looking less like Kylie these days.

Kylie is enjoying her new room and even got to share her toys on draft day.

Ky's draft, we tried to pick name she knew so here are a few of the lucky ones she drafted...Johnson (3), Graham (2), Taylor, Vick (for Vicky), the Giants of course, Franklin (the turtle), Jets (even though she is scared of them), Dolphins (because she likes them) and a few more that were words she knows.

I let her watch some Sesame Street the other day after trying to get her to take a nap for an hour. When I walked in she was pretending to talk on her phone, but was so focused on learning bird sounds that I think she forgot she was on the phone :o)

After drafting down the side, she decided to make her own row on the bottom, she did pretty well for a 2.5 year old :o)

Play date with Janisha, Alana and Ahmad

We have had a couple busy, fun filled days...Yesterday we went to church, Kylie is one the the bigger kids in the nursery now and she loves playing with all the little ones. We go tot see her favorite dog Shelby and she danced to the worship music. She brought a little doll with her and during one of the songs I looked down and she was rocking back and forth, patting her baby on the back. Then I noticed what I was doing, the exact same thing :o)  wish we had a picture.

After church we headed home and not much later I headed to my first day working back in the hospital. I had pumped some milk for Cooper and was hoping to get Kylie down for her nap before I left, but after nursing her for 25 minutes, I had to go and she was at the door waving good bye. I started a "new job" that is temporary, but I am very excited about the opportunity. I am going to work as a lactation educator and helping moms in our postpartum. My first day was just about 5 hours, just the right amount of time to be away from the kids and I was able to help some mommies, it was perfect. Cooper ended up making a little trip to visit me on the floor about half way through, he was not interested in taking the bottle. But luckily I had some charting to do, so I was able to nurse, chart and not skip a beat. This job opportunity presented itself at the perfect time and is such a blessing, I could not be more happy.

I was home in the early evening, Kylie, Cooper and I went to play with Portia while Craig fixed dinner. We ate an amazing meal then it was bath time and off to bed.

Last night was rough, I was in Kylie's room 4 times before making her come back to bed with me so I would not have to get up again. The kids seems to be on the same sleep cycle, Kylie will wake up call out "Mommmmmmy, naaaaa naaaaa," the moment I get to her I hear Cooper starting to fuss and cry, ahhhh. So needless to say I was jumping back and forth multiple times trying to keep everyone quite enough so Craig didn't wake up. Once we were all in the same bed, around 4, we slept better. The kids and I even slept in until about 9! Then we went on a morning walk with Tabitha, Portia and Nico. We decided to stop by Gerrards on the way home and tried to get some shopping done with two strollers, two babies and two two-year-olds pushing carts, we were a sight to see. The big excitement at the store (for us) was Kylie asking to go to the potty. She wanted to go after Portia went, we got to the restroom and her diaper was dry and she peed in the potty! It was so exciting! I think we are getting closer to potty training, but we will see, she still doesn't like to go at home. We came home and had lunch with Tabitha, Portia and Nico then it was nap time (frantically clean the house time for me). This afternoon my good friend Janisha came over with her (almost 4 year old) daughter Alana and her son Ahmad (15 days younger then Cooper). We visited, ate dinner and the girls enjoyed playing together. It was so wonderful to spend time with her, we are going to try and make it a weekly event.

Tomorrow will be another big day...Fantasy Football Draft Day! Craig is hosting the draft at our house, Cooper and I will be at Childbirth class and Kylie will be hanging out with Ama and Papa. Craig has been doing a lot of prep, so I hope it is a successful draft day for him :o)

Good night for now,
Natalie

Poor Daddy fell asleep while he was playing with Coopie.

Looking cool in her 4th of July shades and smelly tatoo (thanks Raine for sharing, Kylie loves them)

 "You lookin at me?"

 "Yay you know you were."

Happy post-bath baby boy

 "What no way!?!?!"

Friends! Janisha pointed out to me today that we have known each other for 15 years! Ahhhh, so so much has changed since high school high jump practice :o)

Ahmad: "Touchdown!"
Cooper: "What? I missed it?"

Last night at the Bowl :o(

Sorry I have been a slacker lately with writing the blog, the past few nights both Craig and I have been so sleepy we could not manage staying awake to write.

So here is an update from the last couple days... Wednesday evening we had a wonderful dinner with our neighbors down the street, we ordered Nan Cafe and enjoyed a delicious dinner. Nico is getting so big, it was fun to have him sitting at the table with us. Kylie insisted on being told "one day" stories the entire meal, which is fine when we are home, but makes it very hard when we are trying to have dinner conversation with our friends (one of the many challenges I am trying to find a good solution to). Thursday we headed down to story time, while Craig took a nice bike ride up to Oak Glen. We ran in to the family that might be moving in to the corner house, they were looking at another house on Eureka, we really hope they move in somewhere close, we have totally fallen in love with their sweet family and can't wait to call them neighbors :o) That afternoon I went to get my hair cut. It has been months and I needed a change. I decided to cut it short again. It is harder to do, and I actually have to do it everyday (which I don't know that I have time for), but I was sick of putting it in a little pony tail everyday, so we will see how it goes. It is defiantly to short for a pony tail now, so I will either have to do it, or invest in many more hats :o) That evening we invited Matt and Undi over for dinner. It was so fun to have another big family dinner, they more time we spend with our wonderful friends, the more I wish we lived in a huge house all together, or some type of commune :o)

Today Kylie woke up in a very good mood (which has not been the case the past couple days). She was eager to get dressed, eat breakfast and play play play. It might have helped that Cooper was sleeping for some of the morning so it was just her and I, but even once he woke up she was happy and eager to see him and help me with him. We headed to a mommy group where we got to learn about infant massage. I am really hoping I can find time to do some massage with Cooper, I never did a ton with Kylie, but I am feeling like it would be good focused one-on-one time for he and I. At the end the of the group Kylie was starting to act up, she then told me she was tired and wanted to go home and take a nap, ok. So we came straight home and straight to bed, she was asleep 20 min later and didn't wake up (besides once to nurse) until 3:45ish (3.5 hours later). Needless to say I got a lot done this afternoon, laundry and photos were the top priority. Cooper slept for about 2 hours with Kylie (I think they both nap better when they nap together) then he had wonderful awake time, smiling and cooing while I folded clothes. Changed his diaper, fed him and he was back to sleep, wow. Once they were both up and fed we decided to start a fun project...Kylie has been sleeping in the guest room, so we decided that we should just make it her room. It has been much harder for me having her in another room, getting up and nursing her then getting back to our bed is SO hard, but she cries and says she wants to stay in her bed and not ours (which is a good thing, I guess). It's just ironic, we kept her in bed with us until she was two, when she decided she wanted to sleep in her own little pony couch. Now she has moved herself in to her own room and in to a bigger bed and is so happy to have her own space. I feel like parents work so hard to get their kids to sleep in their own bed and want to be in their own space and now we have a daughter who is choosing it and I still wish she was in bed with us, go figure :o) So anyway we broke down the crib (we never use it anyway) and started moving all of Kylie's toys in to her new room. I am just hoping she enjoys playing in there as much as she like sleeping there. And I also hope that whatever scared her in the back room, doesn't end up scaring her in her new room, or who knows, she might want to start sleeping upstairs!

I took both kids down to the bowl by myself tonight. Craig got stuck at work late, Melissa was working and my parents are out of town. It actually went well. I ordered pizza to be delivered, since we were working on the bedrooms and not the kitchen all afternoon. Once it arrived we headed down to enjoy the symphony. It was the perfect evening, the temperature was amazing and the bowl was packed. Craig joined us at intermission and we stayed until the fireworks a the very end. We had been told that there would be fireworks and although Kylie kept talking excitedly about them, she would also say she was scared of them. So we told her that we would leave before the fireworks started and maybe watch them from Ama and Papa's house. When the show was coming to an end, they started to play the final song and just seconds in to the song the fireworks started. It was timed to go with the song, oops, Kylie was not so happy about that. Craig took her across the street to the Lincoln Shrine and they watched form there while I get a little bit on video knowing that we would need the video as part of our debriefing that would be happening over the next couple days. In the end she actually did really well, they were not very loud ans as long as she was being held she was good. We told "the firework story" a handful of times on the way home and she watched the video a couple times. I'm sure we will talk about it more tomorrow :o) I am so sad the bowl season is over, it is such a wonderful part of the summer, we are already looking forward to next year.

Tomorrow we will have a family day at home and I will be enjoying rearranging everything! yay!
-Natalie

We walked through an open house on wednesday at the house with the little rocking chair. Kylie was so excited to have a chance to sit on it, she talks about that chair every time we walk by. Ellie Jane is sitting next to her, she is one of the 4 girls in the family that we hope moves in on the corner.

New haircut, ahhhh.

Of course we had to visit Goldie, but only after we stopped to ride Tommy. We were proud of ourselves, we were able to name all 6 ponys, Tommy, Patrick, Missy, Cheyenne, Pinto and Pepper! 

 Fireworks at the Bowl!

Our Proposal

Kylie and I had a big morning...we both got proposed to! "Will you be my bridesmaid?" "Will you be my flower girl?" And the answer was of course YES! My good friend Michele is getting married next June and this morning she hosted a group of us at her house and popped the questions to us all, it was so fun. Kylie and Coopie had a great time playing with Michele's dog and baby Harper, until Kylie decided that she "had to go home now." So our visit was cut a little short, but none the less it was wonderful to see all my girlfriends and so exciting to be asked to be part of such a wonderful day.

This afternoon Auntie Marta came over and got some good cuddle time in with Coopie while I cleaned and Kylie slept. This evening was another childbirth class for Coop and I and bowl night for Ky, Ama, Papa and Marta. Kylie was ready for bed when we all got home, but tonight Cooper was alive and kicking. So active in fact, it prompted Craig to ask me how much caffeine I had today. None is the answer, I think Cooper was just happy to spend some play time with his daddy :o)

-Natalie

Last night I tried to wear both kids with one wrap, love it!

Group selfie :o)

The kids. Harper was so sweet, she kept giving Cooper hugs and kisses, she was actually trying to hold him too, Cooper was not so happy, sorry buddy. 

Copper-Le lets out a gigg-le

Oh milestones.  They are oh so important...until you forget them.  That's right. The first time you drove a car, you swore you'd never forget it....but then you got older, spent a little too much time in the sun, and, POOF! Memory gone.  That my friends, is the power of the blog.  We may forget, but this milestone will be collecting dust on some shelf long after we're gone.

Today the Coop-zilla decided to let out his first giggle.  We have been getting smiles for a month, but the giggles just never quite made it out...until today.  Naturally, Nat was home with him alone, so Kylie and I did not get to witness the fun, but she tells us it happened.  A little belly tickle was all it took to get the jolly ole boy jigglin'.  Hopefully it wasn't his last. 

We discovered something new about or miniature marrionet this afternoon.  He is slightly opinionated.  How so? Well he determined that he has a go too holding position and if we don't get it just right, he grunts and wiggles until we do.  Nope. little to the left...too far...back just a bit...no sir...up just a hair...I said a hair not a smidge....just right...don't move a muscle.  Like Nat and I have said all a long.  We are still just a work in progress.

More to come soon,

Craig

Photos!

My big success today was getting both kids bathed before noon. I had it all set up, both kids were happy, Coopie was almost done (just his hair left) in his little bath and he had the hugest explosion, the water turned yellow! Luckily he was in his little whale tub so I was able to get the poop water out and still finish his bath with Kylie. Also Kylie did not cry when we washed her hair!!!!! She just puts her head back now and says she is a big girl and doesn't cry. We had a fun play day at home, Coopie napped a lot and Kylie took a 3.5 hour nap, a recovery day for everyone.

This evening I had the pleasure of taking photos for a gender reveal party. I met this wonderful couple when they were pregnant with their daughter and now she is getting a little brother! So exciting. My mom and dad watched both kids while I was taking photos and they survived! Coopie was not thrilled about the bottle but I was only gone for about 2 hours so it was not a big deal.

Here are some photos from our trip...I decided not to take my good camera, there were moments I wished I had it, but overall I think I enjoyed the experience more because I was not behind my lens the whole time.

When I uploaded these they were all out of order, I don't have the energy to fix it :o)

Kylie's favorite ride at LEGOLAND, she went on it 6 or 7 times. I could not sit next to her and we thought it might be a problem, but she loved it, obviously.

Our hotel room.

\The play ground at the hotel, princess Kylie waving from her castle.

Bath time

 The dinner conversation put him right to sleep, or maybe it was because we were eating dinner at 8:00pm.

Kylie enjoying the breakfast buffet before our trip to the aquarium. 

Say "Hi" to all the fish.

Jellyfish, yay!

Napping again...

Helping build the lego "sandcastle"

Kylie enjoyed touching the sea star, but was frustrated because it didn't have a name.

SCUBA diver Bob read all the kids a story about a shark for shark week.

He also gave Kylie a high 5

She asked me to take a photo of her here, not sure why :o)

Then she insisted on a photo with the whole family

Getting ready in Ama and Papas hotel before going to the service. 

Raine holding Cooper, one of her favorite things to do.

Thank goodness Ama brought 2 umbrellas, it was a hot day at LEGOLAND

 Airplane ride with Daddy.

End of the day selfie

Kylie was the last kid to get to ride this ride before the park closed, so glad we squeezed in :o)

Beginning of the day at LEGOLAND

Our first ride was on a boat through story book land.

Who knew she would love the small water play area, it took only about 3 minutes for her to get soaking wet.

Train ride!

Cooper slept most the day, but when he was not sleeping he was looking like this, such a sweet boy. 

This photo is mid ride, Andre and Kylie would look at each other and laugh, so cute!

Mid ride waving to Papa. Andre would scream at each turn on the ride, by Kylie's 4th ride she was screaming too, she thought it was so fun!