Day of LOVE

Valentine's Day is certainly not overlooked in the Keyes' household.  It's no secret that I love Valentine's Day.  The VDay decorations went up shortly after taking the Christmas decorations down, and this year MJ really caught on to my excitement and appreciation for showing lots of love as well.  His enthusiasm this year was really cute, and for the first time, we even made Valentines for friends at school together.  These are the moments I dreamed.  :) 

 

 

 Working on his Valentine's together

 Thank you, Pinterest!  MJ was really excited to share these glow bracelet Valentine's with his friends.  His teachers received Burt's Bees lip balm with "Bee My Valentine" cards. 

This was my favorite VDay decoration in our house this year.  This old window hangs in our family room.  I'd displayed all our picture Christmas cards on it, and I hated to take them down yet. I just added the Valentine banner, and got some more life out of them!  We enjoy looking at our friends and family for a few months!  

 I started these little Valentine mailboxes for the kids last year.  They sit in our window sill and are used to put an occasional love note or treat in.  Last year MJ got into it a little bit, but I usually had to remind him to check his.  This year was completely different.  First thing each morning, he'd run down to check his mailbox.  Once I realized he'd wake us up each morning then to tell us what was in it, I decided to change my timing a bit.  ;) They both received suckers, Hershey's kisses, cards, and postcards throughout the month.  MJ even reciprocated the thought multiple times a week by placing pictures and treats in our mailboxes (yes, Mat and I have one too). Next year, I'm guessing Charlotte will catch on even more, and I already have a mailbox purchased to add for Cooper as well.   

When MJ returned home from preschool, and Charlotte was waking up from nap, it was the perfect time to put out their Valentine's goodies.  Coloring books, books, a couple treats, and one small toy each, and they were very happy campers! 

MJ discovering Silly Putty.  Oh, how I loved to play with Silly Putty as a kid!



My happy girl full of LOVE!

In full Valentine gear and snuggling with Daddy reading Dora's Valentine story

We had plenty of good eats on Valentine's Day.  We began the morning with heart shaped donuts thanks to Dunkin' Donuts.  Heavenly!  Keeping in true healthy fashion, it was a heart shaped pizza for dinner followed up by these heart shaped brownie cupcakes.  That's about as creative as I get when it comes to baking!  

Cooper was happy to be celebrating his first Valentine's Day!  

I loved seeing my fridge adorned with these homemade Valentine's from the kiddos.  I'd worked with MJ and Charlotte to each make a Valentine for Mat, and he'd helped them one night at the library make their Valentine's for me.  So special! 

 

In early February, I tried to snap a sweet picture of all three kiddos, so we could prepare Valentine cards for grandparents and other family and friends.  Let me just say that I took 53 photos and ended up with two that were shareworthy.  Ha!  This one was a definite keeper.  Lots of X's and O's from these cuties!  I'm so lucky to love on them on this special day and all year through!

 

A Letter to My Grown Up MJ

Dear MJ,

There are often times that I think of writing you a short note in hopes that one day, many years later, you can read it and know just how loved you are.  Then, unfortunately, I get busy and forget to put my thoughts on paper.  I settle for showering you with words daily and constantly letting you know how much I love you, but today you inspired me and comforted me, and I want to put my gratitude into written form so that one day you can refer back to this, know just how much you touched my heart, and remember what a special gift you have. 

Today was a hard day for mommy.  I try to hide my emotions from you usually.  You are only four, and my "adult problems" are not appropriate to share or burden you with.  But today I shed some tears.  I couldn't quite contain my emotions, and you witnessed my sadness.  You asked me what was wrong, and I simply explained that mommy was just having a "sad day", and that I loved you and I would be fine.  You seemed content with this explanation, but you told me that you'd pray for me, and you let Daddy know that everyone should pray for me.  You then disappeared into the other room for a moment, and when you returned you declared that you'd just prayed for me and that God told you "it would be alright". 

Your tender four year old heart touched mine in a way you probably won't understand for many years to come...until you are an adult yourself.  I was humbled and in awe of your kind, innocent and beautiful soul.  My prayer for you son, is that this tender heart of yours will not fade as you grow and mature.  May you always think of others, pray for others, and love others without abandon.  May your faith in God's power to make it all alright be strong and steady.  I am SO blessed to be your mommy.  Thank you for reminding me today of your mighty love for me, God's mighty love for me, and your wonderful ability to put all things in perspective.  I love you, son.


Love,
Mommy

Four Months

Cooper Steven turned 4 months old on February 11, 2014.  It's hard to believe four months has already passed since his birth.  In many ways he still seems like such a teeny tiny baby, almost newborn, to me, and in other ways I feel like it's all going too fast once again! 

Cooper hanging out at his pediatrician's office just waiting for Dr. Scott

 

4 month stats:  Cooper is 25.5 inches long (73rd percentile), 16lbs. 5 oz (79th percentile), and has a head circumference of 42.5cm (58th percentile). 

 

Cooper checked out quite healthy!  He even had his hip x-rays due to being breech (although not in delivery...surprise!), and everything came back perfectly normal!  He's continuing to have some tummy issues lately, and I am definitely wondering if he has a lactose intolerance, but time will tell perhaps. 

 

 Cooper was extra smiley for his 4 month milestone picture.  Big brother was helping get some giggles and smiles out of him!  At four months old, Cooper is rolling from side to side.  He likes to lay on his play mat and just roll back and forth.  He also turns himself in a complete circle.  He's rolled from his belly to his back a couple times.  Bad mama doesn't put him on his belly all that often though, so he hasn't had many chances to prove himself.  Quite a few times I've thought he was about to roll form his back to his belly.  He gets all twisted and like he's ready to push off, but he hasn't made it quite yet.  He looooves having his hands and fingers in his mouth.  I don't think he can decide if he wants to suck his thumb or fingers or if it just makes him mad in the long run, but in nearly every picture he has his hands either headed towards his mouth or already in his mouth.  We've tried leaving him unswaddled in hopes that me might use his hand gnawing to soothe himself, but no such luck.  Cooper naps pretty well.  He still naps 3-4 times a day, usually in his swing.  He falls asleep well on his own in both his crib and his swing, but is doing the majority of his sleeping in his swing still (or again after lots of waking up at night, I should say).  He nurses or takes a bottle of breast milk every 2-4 hours during the day.  His nighttime sleep is rather inconsistent still.  He wakes at least once to eat, but sometimes wakes 3-4 times a night and needs a quick settling.  Luckily he usually goes back to sleep very quickly, but mama is tired from all the up and down!  Cooper is very smiley and giggly lately.  He hates having his shirts put on over his head, but he giggles like crazy when you take them off.  He's ticklish and playful!  He's now wearing 6 month clothes and just upgraded to size 3 diapers.  His hair seems pretty blond and it seems like his eyes will be a bright blue.  He loves bath time and really enjoys being held and bounced. 

 

 

Too funny not to share:  In typical middle-child fashion, not to be outdone by her little baby brother getting all the attention, Charlotte decided to steal the show on the day of Cooper's 4 month well-baby check up.  MJ was still at preschool, but I knew I'd need to take Charlotte with me to Cooper's pediatrician appointment.  She hadn't napped that day and been destroying the house one room at at time it seemed.  I was trying to get us all ready to go, so I decided to get the house all picked up, get Charlotte dressed, and then put her in her room to play while I got Cooper ready.  I knew she'd make a mess but figured it would at least be contained to one room and knew she'd be safe to play on her own for a bit.  I got her all ready and then moved onto Cooper.  I wanted to nurse him one last time before leaving for the doctor's.  Then, after getting him dressed and myself ready, I went to Charlotte's room to retrieve her.  I opened the door to a huge greasy blob.  She'd gotten the Vaseline out of her drawer and used the majority of the tub on her hair and face.  She could hardly open her eyes they were so covered in the goo.  I would have loved to have seen my face when I realized what it was that was spread all over my daughter!  I knew I was already running late to make it to the doctor on time.  There was no time for a bath.  It was either no-show for the appointment or try to clean her up the best I could in about two minutes and hit the road. 

Judging by the greased back hair do you can tell which option I chose!  I wish I would've thought to take a picture of her covered in the Vaseline, but I think I was in mama freak-out mode.  I grabbed some baby wipes and tried to wipe away the worst, changed all her clothes, and set off for the doctor's office.  I was so flustered it was humorous! 

Mat washed her hair for me once we got home.  Her hair was extra curly and extra greasy...

 It took several washes over the next few days to get it out.  I think I'll always remember this story when I think of Cooper's check up, and I'm sure we'll be telling her this one for years to come! 

Cooper finally wears hats without screaming his head off.  :)  He's pretty cute if I do say so myself. 

 He was mama's shopping buddy one night while Mat took the two bigger kids to the library.  They seriously do not make carts big enough for an infant seat plus groceries.  Cooper was looking a little worried about all these groceries surrounding him!

 

With MJ and Charlotte, we held off on cereal until the five month mark, but since Cooper has been struggling more with sleep at night, we decided it was worth a little nighttime snack of oatmeal.  These were his very first bites.  He seemed to like it and even grabbed for the spoon.  He got the hang of it fairly quickly.  Unfortunately, it didn't really seem to make a difference at all with his sleep, and it seemed like it was causing him some tummy issues, so we've backed off for now. 

 

 

 

Today, I bought Cooper a jumperoo and put him in it for the first time.  He was a happy little camper.  I see lots of bouncing and playing in his future! 

 

Life Through My iPhone

My iPhone is typically never far from me.  Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes that's probably a not so good thing.  One good outcome of this though is the ability to capture little day to day  moments with the quick push of a button.  Here are some fave moments I had on my phone from the last few weeks...

 

 

 Charlotte dressed and ready to run an errand with me.  Fully decked out out in a pink outfit (including tutu) with pink bow, pink sunglasses, and pink winter coat.  The ironic part is MJ, in the background who is wearing green shorts, a fleece sweatshirt, leather boots, and putting on his black winter coat.  Too funny the differences already! 

 

 Cooper just hangin out in one of his very favorite spots.  He can now turn himself in a full circle just by scooting around and rolling from side to side. 

 

 Art time on another cold winter day.  Painting and Do a Dot art makes for happy kiddos! 

 Cutie pie!  I loved dressing MJ in this outfit when he was a baby.  It belonged to my friend Kelley's little boy, and she passed it on to MJ, since it was quite fitting after Michael Jordon "MJ".  Loved seeing Cooper in it, too!

 

 Pinterest always makes it look easy.  Ha!  Suzy Homemaker I am not.  MJ and I tried to do these yogurt melts that I saw on Pinterest.  My kids love yogurt, and this seemed like a fun and healthy snack to make to have on hand in the freezer.  Needless to say the ones we made didn't look anything like the ones on Pinterest.  Lucky for us though they still tasted good, and MJ asked for them every day.  Charlotte wasn't quite sure what to make of them though!

 

 We haven't really been able to get out to play in the snow much this winter because it has just been SO cold, like dangerously cold.  There have been several school delays and cancellations simply due to the temps being in double digit negatives with very dangerous windchills.  This winter has been extreme, that's for sure!  Last weekend we had a day of upper 20's, which we knew was going to be followed by -10, so we were sure to take advantage of what felt like a warm 28 degrees and get outside for a little play time! 

 We have recently done a big room switcheroo.  We've combined the boys into one room, so they moved to our former room.  We moved to Charlotte's former room, and she moved to MJ's room.  This required lots of painting!  MJ was anxious to help Mat with a little painting of his new room.  He was excited to be Daddy's helper! 

 

 I guess Charlotte was inspired by the recent painting and decided to paint her own face with a purple marker.  So proud of her masterpiece!  Thank goodness we only have washable kid markers, and an even bigger blessing that when I found the marker sitting on my couch with no lid on it that no marks had been made on the couch, wall, etc.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time, right?

 

Cooper finally has a crib, and I found him this Cars bedding thanks to a garage sale site that matches big brother's Car decor just perfectly.  This is set up in his and MJ's new room!  I can't believe my original miracle baby boy and my surprise of a blessing baby boy are room sharing!

 



 Sound asleep in his new crib...I think he likes it!

 

Look at me, mom!  I just slept through the WHOLE night (11-12 hours)!  This made for one happy mama...too bad it only lasted a couple nights. 

 



 A very happy big sister reading to her little brother. 

 

Cooper sitting up and mesmerized by his toys. 

 

3 Months!

Cooper turned 3 months old on January 11th!  Seeing as how the month is almost over, I wanted to document some favorite pic, moments, and milestones.   

 Lil Cooper sporting his "12" jersey the day he turned 12 weeks old.  I always feel like that 12 week mark is significant.  I'm not sure why really, but it just seems like when babies definitely seem past the itty bitty stage, start becoming more alert, and their smiles and personalities begin to come out.  This shirt was special because it belonged to Uncle Jeff when he was a baby.  I also put it on MJ when he turned 12 weeks old.  I'm so glad my mom saved some special outfits like these as I love being able to see them passed down and the memories they create. 

 

My boys...MJ and Cooper each at 12 weeks

 

Cooper was happy to pose for his 3 mos picture this time.  I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to prop him and the chalkboards up in the board.  I think pretty soon he'll be grabbing the boards or wiggling to much that he knocks them over.  As of the day he turned 3 months, he was loving his swing and sleeping in it for all naps and bedtime (yup, we pretty much breed swing sleepers and don't even fight it anymore).  He had begun to chew on his fists.  He was waking 1-2 times per night to eat and was nursing every 3-4 hours during the day.  Still spitting up a lot, too!  He really enjoys spending his awake time playing on his kick and play mat, and we were getting more and more smiles and little giggles daily. 

 

 

 

This is the mat that Cooper loves to lay on and kick at the piano.  He also began rolling from side to side on here to play with his toys. 

MJ still adores Cooper and gives him attention often.  I love seeing Cooper respond with smiles.  I snapped this pic down in the playroom one recent morning.  

Okay, so this is SO not a flattering picture of me, but I know it is one that I will ALWAYS treasure, and so I gladly document it here.  Mat snapped this picture one morning a couple weeks ago without my knowing (obviously).  Love my sleep mask?  ha!   Cooper had been going through a spurt where he'd sleep really well on his own until around 6AM and then he'd been fussy and kept waking frequently, so I'd just put him in bed with me in hopes of getting another hour or so of sleep.  It worked every time and Cooper would nuzzle up next to me and go right to sleep.  It was a deep, peaceful sleep, and I must say that I really enjoyed it!  It hasn't happened as much lately, and I kind of miss our morning snuggles.  Neither MJ or Charlotte was much for snuggling up for a nap (not sure that I ever had the need or tried them in bed with me in the mornings), and selfishly it's something I always really longed for.  I enjoyed it thoroughly and hope we'll have some moments like this in the future!  Lil Cooper and I have bonded so well and are quite connected to one another.  

 

 

Handsome little guy dressed in his duds and ready for a morning at the aquarium.  I really thought he looked like a Norris in this picture.  

Sitting up in his Bumbo chair and loving the new view of the world.  He only seems to like to be in it for about 5 minutes at a time and then he tires out. 

 



Cooper was doing a little tummy time on my bed when MJ decided to keep him company.  Think these boys are plotting against me already?  :)

 



Who doesn't love some sock monkey?  I got this outfit for Cooper for Christmas.  He's just about outgrown the sleeper already. 

 



Ohh, how I love this!  Cooper and Charlotte have coordinating guitar cloth diapers, and I kept meaning to try to get a picture of them in them together.  I tried posing them in a chair together, and it just wasn't working, so I'd given up and just put them on the bed.  When I saw how Charlotte was just gazing at Cooper and him kind of propped up looking at her, I knew I had to capture the moment.  The time frame of having them both so sweet and innocent will be short lived I know, but I will most certainly enjoy it for now!

 



Cooper met another one of his first baby best friends this January!  My friend Shannon, and her 7 month old son Griffin, came to visit us from Chicago.  Shannon and I have been good friends since college, but have really become especially close these last few years as we've both experienced motherhood together while living just a few hours from one another.  Our kiddos are all almost the same ages apart and we each have two boys and 1 girl.  Lots in common and we can totally relate to one another's daily struggles and joys.  Her friendship is such a blessing, and I was so honored she drove from Chicago and back in one day just to spend some time with us and meet Cooper. 

Snoozing away in that beloved Miracle Blanket while swinging 

 

Cooper LOVES bath time.  He know kicks his chubby little legs and splashes water.  MJ and Charlotte enjoy Cooper's bath time as well.  :)