Saturday, September 30, 2006

My baby is 6 months

Why yes, it's another collage. Humor me, I find them entertaining to do..... And yes. I noticed that her hair was standing on end. But it was getting some static from her little bear friend. She's wobbly, so picture me, pushing her back, stepping back really quick to take a photo or two before she fell over, and then setting her up and pushing her back again. Yes. Static. Too bad she didn't cling! :)

My baby at 6 months. It's really weird, but I'm not ready for her to be 6 months. I keep holding on to her itty bitty clothes, because she's my baby and should be wearing them.... but she's a growing girl, and it's time for Mommy to let go of the baby stuff. I was folding away some clothes this evening, and already find it hard to believe she actually fit into some of those clothes... aahhh, they grow so fast, and even faster once you have more than one. You are too busy to notice like you did the first time. That makes me a little sad.

Sweet Payton is a Mommy's girl. She wants Mommy. She does the stranger thing a little bit.... and always finds comfort when Mom takes her away. Love that.

I was going to wait until 6 months to start giving her solid food, but back at about 5 months she started acting fiesty, and I don't have a pump and it was getting a little stressful for me on my one day in the office, to feed her, race to the office, work a few hours, and then race home... or stop at the grocery store and feel stressed the entire time that she needed me, and then race home and feed her again. This being my only break. So, I thought it was time to introduce her to solids, so that at least on that one day a week, I could eeeeease into the office, eeeease to the grocery store, and then eeeease home. Well, for several weeks, it didn't go so well. She didn't take to solids nearly as easily as Morgan did. She blows raspberry's, sticks out her tongue, and is all hands and feet when the spoon comes near. And then she'd cry halfway through her cereal and you'd have to stop.

After another week or two.... we came to the understanding.... that she DOESN'T like rice cereal. DUH! I don't either! So at 6 months we're finally able to give her some applesauce or banana baby food. Last night I tried to give her peas and her eyes watered and she gagged on it the whole time, so she's not ready for peas yet.

So, I'm trying to wean her a little bit. I'm only going to nurse up to a year anyway.... but with her wanting to eat every 3 hours, even now... Mommy starts to go a bit nutty with no time to myself.

My little roundbottom girl can't sit up on her own yet, much to her dismay. She uses her legs too much, in reaction to her surroundings, and knocks herself down every time. She does tummy time, and I'm starting to see her roll across the room a little bit, but there's no sitting. And she isn't necessarily rolling to get somewhere. She just might be playing with something, and rolls with it a bit, until she's over yonder.

Payton LOVES her big sister.... and just recently noticed the dog. Morgan comes in to greet her when she hears her wake up first thing in the morning.. and Miss PJ's eyes light up every time. She's a hair puller too, but I try to tell Morgan that she's just holding on tight because she loves her so much.

She's starting to babble, but there's no Mama yet. No consistent babble sound. I've started doing a little bit of sign language, but I need to work on it and make sure I do it more often.

We've been borrowing Sabrina's saucer, but Kael is ready for it so we need to head to the store and get Payton one of her own. She loves standing up in it and playing with the toys. We also need to get her a highchair. I don't know why we never got Morgan one.... but Payton is ready for one. I think one reason might be because Morgan sat at 5 months, so she was steady once it came time for solid foods. Payton isn't, so I need a chair with more support than Morgan's blue booster seat, now that she's an eater.

Miss Payton is still sleeping in the pack-n-play (and our BED!).... I haven't quite figured out how to make the transition into putting her with Morgan.... I want them both to sleep! I think I'll wait until she's sleeping through the night. The last thing I need is Miss Morgan waking up for the day any earlier than she currently does, because Payton woke up to eat. Morgan already bounds in and announces "I'M AWAKE", "TIME TO GET UP" at 6ish as it is. Eek. Not sure how this is going to go, but I am sad that she didn't get some sweet and girly nursery. At least I made her blankie, though!

So that's it. My babies are growing up, and I don't like it one bit. They are beautiful though, aren't they...... :)

Ice Cream Social

Who is this Girl?

Criminy sakes...... Not only is Morgan cooperating for the camera.... she looks... at least 3 years old! Where's my baby girl? WAHHHH!

It's Payton's HALFDAY

Yes, it's Payton's halfday! In honor of her special day..... please go get an icecream... and set up your tripod or have someone take your photo. I'd like to make a fun, special album in honor of her special day... of everyone having icecream as they think about my sweet girl. She's made it to 6 months, happy, healthy, and full of life. It's been fun!

Steve is hunting but I'm going to take the girls out for icecream after nap time this afternoon/evening. I'll post more pics later! Have some ice cream!

Friday, September 29, 2006


Yes..... Payton is my girl! There have been times when I've taken a picture of her, or she's had a look that really reminded me of Rae... interesting how family resemblence carries along, because I never used to think ANY of us Coopers looked anything alike. I still maintain that when I listen to my voice on some video we've shot... I always think I sound like Krystal... just bits. That's the only time I notice it, but notice it I do! And sometimes when I laugh... I feel like I sound like Alyca!

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Today...... she SWINGS!


A beautiful fall day in the backyard..... almost 90 degrees!.... and my little PJ had her first swing ride. I think she liked it! Morgan had a hard time learning how to push a swing without then getting run over by it, but all in all, a success! My girls are adorable! :)

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

She BLOGS!

JN KG 7 T ng nn^n ~hn #a^aaaqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq



Note to self: Don't do that again. She messed up the computer and I had to system restore in order to fix it! But.... this'll make a cute scrapbook page!

Please note: Pebbles/Bam Bam do. First time. Isn't it hysterical!?


Sunday, September 24, 2006


Morgan denies any knowledge as to why her sister is "blue in the face". And.... mama has no idea either. All I know is that she had blue hands to match. This is washable marker, hence the smearage..... I did not see any marker within her reaching distance.... so it is a great mystery.


I captured a smile today...... Miss Morgan was "helping" me decorate some Halloween cookies. Would you care to have one that she frosted? :)


Did something different with this pic......


For my scraproom. I hand stitched the fluorish on that lampshade


For the laundry room. That's a handmade paper flower.


Custom made. Have been aging this piece of wood for a while.... and the key actually goes with the lock for this doorknob. It's hanging in our entryway.

Thursday, September 21, 2006


I revamped these pics.... I LOVE it. The fluorish is chipboard and the dragonfly is on pop dots, so it really looks like it's flying over the page, and that Payton is looking right at it. Love this paper! :)

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

She's calling me MOM

............... and I don't like it ONE BIT! She's still two. She should be calling me Mommy. And she still does sometimes.... but out of nowhere, she's started calling me MOM. Ack!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Reflecting....

Man..... I'm glad 9/11 is overwith. I had a stomache all day yesterday. What a different world we live in post 9/11 in the USA.....

Is it wrong to be grateful we didn't live in New York in 2001? I feel so guilty and selfish at the same time... because I know that if we lived in New York, you bet Steve would have been in one of those towers. He is in league with a brotherhood of heroes, who will sacrifice their own lives to save others. They don't even think twice. Is it selfish to just want him to come home to me and our family?

Everyone wanted to come out..... and hundreds of firefighters went in. 343 firefighers/paramedics never went home again. In total 3051 children lost a parent that day.... and I'm so glad they weren't mine. I feel so guilty about that.

Every day there's a small part of me that wonders if he will come home safely. I try not to live pessimistically, because you need to live your life, not be scared to live your life, but I still worry. I have dreams of being old and grey with this man, our children growing up in the same home with parent's who love each other, children who come to visit us with their children, and their children's children..... and I want Steve to be there. I want all of us to be there.

I don't want to forget 9/11, because it is important to never forget. But I hope we can work towards world peace, or whirled peas, as they say...... because I don't want to see the next 9/11 at my house, and I don't want you to see it at your house either.

Monday, September 11, 2006


Isn't this just the sweetest? I used fabric from her blankie for this layout.....

Friday, September 08, 2006


Mommy with Payton


I think this one is adorable too!


This is significant because Morgan wrote all the letters in her name. Now, they aren't in order.... but the point is, she did it! M's are "up down up down" , there's the O, of course, R's are candy canes...... :)


Reminds me of Ariel on the Little Mermaid....


A family photo. Imagine it more in focus. Very nice! The haze is from the forest fires. We are just down the road from the fire camp central. The three big fires in Oregon have one command center, with hundreds of firefighters camping down the road at Hoodoo. We only noticed the smoke this night.


Morgan went on a "baby ride" on the tube with mommy. See the little bit of wake? That's all the faster she'd let the boat go. Well, as they say.... baby steps..... :)


The three amigos. The 3 dirty amigos.


Morgan burying her feet on the beach. It was nice and warm at Big Lake. Big Lake is at the summit of the Santiam Pass, next to Hoodoo, and it was warmer up there than it was in town!


Camping with my dirty bird. She was so filthy that wipes weren't going to cut it. She had to take several sink baths.


We had a hot air balloon fly near the house. Morgan thought that was VERY cool.


She's 5 months old! Egads! I'm trying to start her on rice cereal, becuase Miss Payton has stopped sleeping through the night and wants mama every 3 hours.... if I make her wait! She hasn't quite figured out how to eat cereal though.... she's not acting ready for it, yet I can't be attached to her alllll the time! As it is she's a mama's girl, and if I'm around, she wants me to hold her. A sweet thing, but needs to be a teeny bit more independent. She loves to stick her pointy tongue out as far as she can.. and go ppllbbbb, which is quite silly, Morgan can't even do that. I had to give her a small haircut because her wacky hair was getting all over the place, yet her bald spot in the back is still bald. It looks much better now, but she's starting to look a lot like her cousing Rae. Not sure if it's the hair cut, or the way she smiles, with her mouth wide open. Silly girl. I think she's slowed down on the growing process too. She's still my big girl, my little chunky monkey, but she's 5 months old and still wearing many of her 0-3 clothes... many of the 3-6 clothes are too big, except for jammies because she's fairly long..... She's starting to enjoy the play saucer, LOVES to play with her feet, Morgan never did.... and isn't sitting up yet. Morgan was at 5 months but Payton would rather lay and play. Morgan had a bootie, and Payton has a little round bottom, so I don't know if that's part of the problem or not. She's fairly wobbly, and when she gets enthusiastic she uses her legs, so she straightens them out and loses all balance. She'll reach out her little hands and grab a hold of your face if you get close, or your hair for that matter.... babbles, and I'm just waiting for "mama" to come out of her sweet mouth. She's a joy to have around, and her big sister loves her to pieces. :)


Testing, testing..... with my little country bumpkin. Is this program going to work today?

It's Official..... He's a Cowboy


He's been wearing Wrangler since the early 1990's. I bought him a black Stetson in.... 1998? He's had his Grandpa's saddle on a saddle stand that my Mom made him..... in 2000ish (No horse! hahahaha). His parent's grew up on ranch's in Wyoming. But Steve was born and raised in Bend, Oregon, in a little house on Shepard Road. And while it did have a big back yard and a tree house.... it wasn't until 3pm on Thursday, September 7, 2006.... that Steve finally earned the right to be called : Cowboy.

Yep, that's right. Two 1000 pound cows arrived at our little farm to eat some weeds for a few months before they end up in the freezer. And when they showed up, you bet I made him put on his fancy schmancy hat and let me take some pictures. I had been thinking about the scrapbook layout all day, and went into a fit of giggles just thinking about it. tee hee. Nevermind the fact that he's wearing a shirt that says "bite me" at the bottom.


Wednesday, September 06, 2006

A Camping we did Go

I tried uploading pics all day yesterday, but Hello, Hellooooo, it wasn't working. So, I'll just post a tease for now.

We went to Big Lake on Thursday morning and came home Monday. We had a blast! It was windy on Friday, but the rest of the weekend was perfect. Morgan went on a tube ride with me, swam, played, and had a great time. Both kids did awesome. We were in a group of about 30 people, and there were several kids the same ages as mine, so it was wonderful!

Steve was stung by a wasp and we had to take a quick drive to the ER on Sunday because after Benadryl and 48 hours... his arm continued to swell. Turns out he got an infection, so they put him on some antiobiotics. Since then I've learned a lot about wasps. They are nasty little bugs! They don't sting.. They actually bite! And they are meat eaters, so I am completely horrified by what they put in Steve's arm that caused an infection. A coworker raises honeybees, and she said that wasps built a nest down by her hives, just so they could attack the bees. I imagine those sweet little bumble bees, doing their sweet job for their little queen, coming out of their hive, and then being attacked! Eeek!

Anyway..... we had a wonderful last hurrah of the summer. The camper is now winterized and tucked away, retired for the year.

I'll update with more pics as soon as I can. For now..... my favorite pic of the weekend. :)