Charlie's Baptism

The 16th was not only Cooper's birthday, but Charlie's baptism as well!
We packed alot of fun, crazy, and special moments into one day.

Once mass started, Charlie fell asleep.
Once Fr. Jose poured the water over his head, he woke up : )

Whoa, he wasn't happy. And he spit out his pacifier into the holy water.
I made a note to keep that pacifier and use it for really bad days.
But, he spit it out again later that day and it rolled under my mom's car.
Not sure that we ever recovered it.

Jackson must have been pretty impressed with what was going on.
My mom was holding Cooper...
when we first walked up to the alter, Cooper started screaming.
I mean, screaming.
We laughed.
My mom took him to the back of the church,
and he calmed down a little once we came back to the baptismal pool.

I watched a little of the video from the baptism,
and all you can hear are the shrieks from Cooper.
Guess he wanted to join us in the front of the church.

After mass was over, Cooper finally got his chance ...

Little turkey.
Little strong-willed, quite loud, turkey.

Charlie's Godparents are Rebekah and Daniel.
We're very thankful for both of them.
Yes, Daniel, even you.
We didn't just pick you just because Catholic men are few and far between : )
We chose you because you are such a good Christian, and will be a role model to Charlie.
You have such a optimistic outlook on life, and I'm thankful that our children will witness that as they grow up. You don't sweat the small stuff, and you see the best in every day.
Rebekah, we chose you because you are a great mother yourself.
You are raising your own (adorable and talented, I might add) children in a loving Christian home. Colin and I are striving to do the same.
You look to God when making decisions in your life, and are so clearly devoted to serving and following him in your journey as a mom. It shows.

A family shot:

Not bad.
I probably should try to adjust the color on all of these.
One day...

And here's my favorite outtake -
I think Jackson and Cooper were past the crazy point by 6:30pm.

When we were leaving after mass, Father Jose wanted to hold Charlie.
Love this picture.
Charlie does look slightly like a girl.
But still very very cute.

When we got home, we said goodbye to the Louis'.
(Henry may or may not have gotten a little sick during the baptism)
We were planning on sending them home with dinner, but we forgot to turn on the rice maker before mass. So, they got gumbo without the rice.
And leftover cold pizza and some caramel corn to eat on the ride home.

All of Charlie's uncles, aunts, and grandparents were there for the whole day.
Thank you all for being here!
It would not have been the same with out you.

When it was time to go to bed, we told Cooper to "put your balloons in the closet, so they can go 'night-night' " as a ploy to get them out of his hands.
He hadn't let go of them since the party (except during church).
Well, I guess he replied eagerly, "sure!"
and crawled right in the closet over all the toys and went "night-night" himself.

I think if we had let him, he really would have slept right there.

What a day!

Up, Up, and Away! Cooper is Two!

We celebrated Cooper's birthday on the 16th of October. My mom and brother arrived on Thursday - which was my mom's birthday. So, we celebrated grandma Cathy's birthday and then started working on Cooper's party.

Jackson and Cooper enjoyed some time with Uncle Daniel.

Cooper was most excited the morning of his party. He was so excited to see all of the decorations. I was holding Charlie when he was looking at this banner, and he started naming the letters. Colin and I both looked at each other in disbelief. So, I was using my foot to point to each letter, and then he started doing the same.
Nice Christmas pjs, huh?

When we were trying to decide what theme to have for the party, we tried to pick something that Cooper really loved - and then it was an easy decision -
Hot Air Balloons.
He's crazy about them.
He walks around the house with the whisk, calling it a hot air balloon.

Turns out, it's not really easy to find hot air balloon "stuff" to decorate a party with.


For the favors, we made caramel popcorn and lollipops, too.
Tried to pretend this picnic basket was "hotairballoon-ish."
Found it on clearance at Target with a tray and utensil holder, too.

The Clampitts drove in from Austin (we're so glad they are close now!)

Sugar cookies - I wanted to make cloud-shaped cookies, too, but didn't get the cloud cookie cutter in the mail until the middle of the party. HA!
Maybe we'll have an airplane party or something in the future so I can use it : )

I found cute napkins, too ... forgot to take a picture of most things.

Did I get a good picture of Cooper's shirt?
Nope.

The kids painted their own little hot air balloons paper lanterns.
Sam also painted his hair!

Also decorated paper cut outs with stickers - found these at Oriental Trading Company as well.



Charlie was a little overwhelmed. Thank goodness for my mom.

I'm loving this picture of Cooper and Nathan.
Guess Coop was warm - using his juice box to cool off.
And Nathan's pants rolled up.
Precious.



Sweet Joseph.

Trying to Charlie happy.

Lia was so excited to get a chance to hold Charlie.

Heather loaned us her bounce house again - it was a hit!



After we had lunch, it was time for cake and icecream.

That's supposed to be a hot air balloon on the top of the cake.
I made it with Rice Krispie treats covered in royal icing, then fondant.
My genius husband made the board with the dowel on it to hold the balloon up.
Cake Boss makes it look easy : )

"I did it!"

The kids loved the party blowers.

Next up, the pinata.
Colin found a place in Dallas, not too far from where he works, that will make a pinata to order. Too funny. For $23, we got ourselves a "small" pinata.
Turns out, "small" is about 3 feet tall - bigger than most of the kiddos.

The kids loved taking swings at it.

Matthew put his whole heart into it.

Auston, too.

Cooper took one swing, and then sat down and waited while his buddies did the work.
He was there to get some candy, though.

Gift time!
I think he opened 3 or 4 and was ready to move on.


Here's my attempt for a picture with the birthday boy.

After the party, the Speckmans, (who drove in from Shreveport), the Clampitts, and the Louis' all hung out for a while. It was like a mini Centenary Reunion.




Tried Cooper's new rain boots on Charlie.
I can't wait until Coop gets to wear them - here's hoping for rain, soon!

Margaret and Charlie sharing a moment.


And playing footsie.

We had such a fun day. We're so thankful we have so many great friends and family to celebrate our children with.

I'll end this entirely too long post with some sweet pictures of Cooper and his balloons.






Happy Birthday Sweet Cooper!
Can't believe you're Two!