Alexandria Continued

For those of you who have been disappointed in my recent failure to update my blog (jared) - have no fear! You will sick of all my pictures soon enough!
While we were in Alexandria, we celebrated the birthday of two very special women ... Colin's grandmother, Frances, and her twin sister, Cynthia. Frances passed away nearly six years ago, just before our wedding. She was an incredible woman, and I only knew her for a couple of years. I have heard so many wonderful stories about her life. It seems like she touched a million lives in such special ways. Anyone who knew her (and that's alot of people) loved her.
So, on her birthday, we had lunch with Aunt Cynthia - who is equally amazing. Aunt Cora, their older sister, was also at lunch. It was great to see them, and the boys did really well.

Not a great picture of any of us - but the boys great-great Aunt Cynthia looks great!

Cooper made quite a mess at lunch, so he needed a clothing change. Cynthia and Joann took on the challenge of getting this wiggle worm dressed.

Anything to keep him happy and occupied.

After our birthday lunch, we went to Alison's (Colin's oldest sister) studio. She had some canvases set up for Jackson to paint. He had a great time. Meanwhile, Pawpaw Kevin took Cooper around to look at all the other artist studios.

This artist makes custom mobiles. Cooper was in heaven!

It was after Cooper was pulling them and trying to eat them, that I noticed the price tags. Eek!

Sweet Home Louisiana -Mawmaw and PawPaw's house

We're back from our excursion to Louisiana. What a trip! I don't even know where to begin. I'll just start with some pictures.

The boys at breakfast time.

Cooper = full.
Don't know why it seems I have so many pictures of my children in highchairs. I guess it's the only time they are really sitting still.

Cooper warmed up to the dogs in no time. Here he is petting Tuck.
Let me say, this dog is well loved.
Cooper learned how to say "A dog - woof woof" while we were there. He is still looking around saying "A dog!" and pointing to random places in his sight. I guess he is hoping that the dogs will show up. Sorry, Cooper - but we're not getting a dog anytime soon.


Here is Jackson coloring at his art table.


And here is Cooper standing on it.

I think it rained every day we were there. It had been raining here in McKinney for the last couple of weeks, too. I was over it. But, we weren't going to let the rain stop us! So, we packed a "picnic lunch" and went to the zoo on Monday. It turns out that we had to eat our picnic lunchback at the house - since everything was soaking wet.

Thank goodness Mawmaw Cynthia has invested in so many strollers. We have one for every occasion. : ) The boys loved riding side by side - I was surprised no fights broke out - they seemed to really enjoy it.
Here are some of the favorites from the zoo-


And, of course, the train ride...
Now. I can hear you now laughing about rough I look. But, listen, it was really raining. And we were wet. And, we had to run, and I mean run, from one end of the zoo to make it to the train. Mawmaw Cynthia convinced the conductor, or engineer - which is it? to take us on a ride. He was shutting it down since it was raining. So, Pawpaw Kevin, Colin, myself, and the boys had to run after we got the desperate phone call from Mawmaw Cynthia at the other end of the zoo. Alas, we made it, and got to enjoy a much-anticipated ride on the train.

More to come soon from our trip to Lake Charles.

Boys meet a lion

We are in Alexandria visiting Colin's parents and sisters. The boys are having a great time, and actually sleeping really well. Yesterday, Mawmaw and Pawpaw took us to the Zoo. It was raining, and we had the whole place to ourselves. I have some great pictures of the boys and all the animals, but those will be posted later. I had to post this video showing the female lion we saw. She was lying down out in the grass, and we kept calling her. Sure enough, she got up and stretched, and let the boys get a closer look at her.

(You can click on "Full Size" at the bottom right of the video screen to see it a little easier)

http://s628.photobucket.com/albums/uu9/elizabeth_ann_delaney/?action=view&current=alex060.flv

Looking back

Yesterday my mind was on Cooper's birthday all day long. He is going to be a year on Oct. 22. I can't believe it's already been 11 months since he was born. Crazy. It seems like yesterday we were at the hospital, and I was SO ready to have him. At the same time, it seems like a LONG time ago. When I pulled up pictures last night, I couldn't believe my eyes.


Ahh! Jackson is SO little! And still has chubby little arms and legs. By the way, Cooper can fit into this outfit right now. Crazy, huh? Jackson was very late to start talking, and at the time Cooper was born, he still wasn't saying much. In fact, he couldn't even say "baby." People kept asking him what his brother's name was, and he would just look at them and giggle. At the time, I was always a little worried he wasn't saying more. I knew that he was very smart and understood almost everything I said. But he couldn't say much back. But now, my goodness. He is a chatterbox. He talks in this sing-song voice and drags out every syllable .... often adding a few to every word. This morning I overheard Jackson ask Cooper, who was crying, ... "What's wrong, Coop? Coop Stop Crying." and then I peeked in and he was hugging his little brother. Alot changes in a a few short months.

And this picture really gets me. Cooper was so little! Well, comparatively. He was just under 9 lbs, and now he is somewhere around 23 or 24 ... haven't weighed him in a while.
I'm so thankful we have pictures, because I truly wouldn't remember anything if it weren't for them. But just looking at this picture brings back all the emotion of that day. It is true what they say - your heart just grows and makes room for your second one. I couldn't imagine loving another child like Jackson. I mean, of course, I knew I would love him - but you just can't wrap your head around it. Just like I felt before I had Jackson - What's it going to be like? Will they look different? Will they act different?
As I continued to look through pictures, I couldn't help but notice how everytime I saw a picture of Cooper in the following months, I just remembered the screaming. and the crying. and the spitting. It's the truth. I know it is terrible that when I think about the first 6 months of his life, I just feel that bit of desperation in my stomach. I am so glad we all survived the collic and reflux. He is only spitting up 1-2 times a day, now. It still isn't much fun scrubbing it out of the carpet, or the couch, or off the toys. But, it is SOOOOOO much better than before. Not to mention, he is happy. So happy. When he is upset, he is UPSET. There isn't much of an in-between mood for Cooper.
This past weekend he took his first steps. He's been practicing a little all week, and is standing by himself alot. He can walk really well holding onto my finger, or pushing his little shopping cart. He doesn't seem to be in a big hurry to give up crawling, and I am okay with that. As long as he doesn't wait until 15 months like his big brother! Of course, Jackson didn't ever take a step until he started walking for good. Cooper likes to live on the dangerous side. : )
We're off on a road trip this weekend. We're headed to Alexandria and then to LAke Charles - we will be gone for a whole week. My ten year highschool reunion is on the 26th, so that should be fun. Looking forward to seeing everyone.
That's all I have for now - will post pictures of a Louisiana adventure soon.

Catching up and Frisco Horse Park

Jackson went to spend a week with his Grandparents last week. He spent half the week with Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Aunt Coco, and Aunt Ali, and then the second part of the week with Grandma and Uncle Daniel. I survived a week without him (actually 8 days!) and Cooper and I had some wonderful one-on-one. I didn't get as much done as I thought I would - turns out life with one kid still requires some work! I was able to keep up with the house without any problems, and actually had a decent dinner on the table every night. All in all, it was wonderful. I missed Jackson, but he had the best time. I'll be posting pictures soon of all of his experiences in Alexandria and Lake Charles. He was a VERY busy boy. Every time I talked to him he was too busy to stay on the phone. Only one time in the entire 8 days did he get sad. The last night in Alexandria he got a little homesick, and started crying. He was asking for me to bring him "home now." Needless to say, I can barely type that without falling apart. I was ready to get in my car and drive! I cried for a LONG time. Anyway, the next morning he was fine, and didn't have anymore problems. I'm so glad I let him go, and I know all the family appreciated his visit. We will ALL be heading back to both homes in a couple of weeks. My 10 year high school reunion is on the 25th. Should be fun.
Since Jackson has been home, we've been just hanging around the house. On Thursday, though, we went to a place called Frisco Horse Park. Jack loved it! There were animals roaming around everywhere.

Austin and Cooper - cruising in the wagon.

This is about the point where Cooper decided he no longer wanted to be in the wagon.
The animals were a little too close for comfort.

Jackson was also very interested in pointing out all the horse poop.


It didn't take him long to work up the courage to feed the horses.
At first he would just drop the hay on the ground as the horse go close.

Now he is a pro.

Jackson was chasing the goose around for awhile.

And then he chased this poor chicken.

So, Jackson ran right up to the donkeys, and this particular donkey was very interested in him. But, I screamed that he shouldn't touch the donkey after remembering how my friend Jessica's son was bitten by one earlier this summer. So, we moved on.

Jumping in the bounce house.
It was dirty.