Summer-time Kyle

Kyle has his Daddy's skin. It's amazing that after only a handful of afternoons at the pool, Kyle has the glow that some take all summer to achieve. He's my tan, little water baby and his hair already has those beautiful, blond, natural highlights I'm always jealous of. The locals (Latins) can't get enough of him and that blond hair, always staring and telling me how handsome he is. I'm sure he will just get more handsome as the year goes on. Summer-time Kyle is here!

Sleeping Beauties

Ryan went in for his two-week well-check yesterday. He weighed 7lbs. 9 oz. and was 20 in. long. Dr. Clemente was pleased that he's growing, even though he's not quite back up to his birth weight yet. She had only good things to say about Baby Ryan: perfect reflexes, lots of movement, circumcision healing well, kidney ultrasound (done after birth because of my 2-vessel cord) results came back perfectly normal. She asked about how he's doing with breast feeding, sleeping, etc. I'm not going to jinx anything by talking about it too much, but I'm happy with how Ryan is doing. I did ask about his sleep habits, though. Even though Ryan has a crib AND a bassinet, he will only sleep in his car seat or swing.

Dr. Clemente just told me to do whatever works for him and that it was just fine. (Good, because that's what I was going to keep doing anyway. Wherever he's sleeping well is where I'll keep him!)


And then there's Kyle. Again, I don't want to jinx anything by talking about it too much here, but Kyle had a GREAT day yesterday. He went to play group with Grandma while Ryan and I were at the doctor's office. There was no hitting, kicking, or throwing of sand/toys by anyone related to me. He also went swimming for two hours in the afternoon and had a great time playing with some kids there. It makes me so happy when he has good days!

He, too, has interesting sleep habits. No longer wanting to take a scheduled afternoon nap, Kyle might just fall asleep anywhere at any time--whenever he's so exhausted that he can't go on anymore. After such a busy day of fun yesterday, he was so tired that he crashed while he was watching Toy Story.



I just love my two sleeping beauties, especially when they are asleep!

The Four of Us

While we have someone in town to take a few pictures of our new family, I'm trying to possibly get a new photo for our blog header. So far on the days when all of us have been home, it's either too bright outside for us to keep our eyes from being squinty OR we're on spring storm watch and are being told to stay inside and away from windows. Maybe one of these days, we'll be able to get something that would work. Until then, I'll leave the one we have up because Ryan IS technically in it--you just can't see him!

Daily Pictures

I'm learning that it's much harder to get a good picture of two boys instead of just one. I've gotten pretty good at capturing Kyle at the perfect moment in photos, so I guess I'll just have to keep trying to get both my boys smiling/looking at camera/staying still at the same time. Until then, thank goodness for digital cameras!

Back to Church

After a few weeks' hiatus, the whole Cooper family was back at church today. Kind of. We decided to ease back into things and go for the last hour, sacrament meeting. I'm not quite ready for the next round of Sunday School Adventures with Kyle. (Stephen was much more righteous than the rest of us and actually got up for his early morning meeting and taught his Elder's Quorum class.)

It's definitely going to be a challenge trying to juggle tending to Ryan and wrestling Kyle. It was feeding time half-way through the meeting, but Kyle wanted to come, too. We got to the Mother's Lounge, but there were too many people in there and Kyle changed his mind. He didn't want to go back into the chapel on his own steam, so I had to compel him to go by carrying him. What a sight I'm sure it was--me with a 2-week old in one arm and a 2-year-old in the other, walking right back into the chapel after leaving only 2 minutes earlier. Thank goodness I had some help today. It's going to be interesting...

I was released from my calling as Sunday School teacher today, so I'll be out of a job for a few months. I'm sure Kyle will keep me quite busy in the mean time.

Mom & Ryan--First Sunday at Church

Kyle and Dad

I think Kyle is looking more and more like Stephen. Yesterday, he looked at us with this grin and we both turned to each other and said, "that is SO a Stephen look!"

More Swimming

Kyle's been having so much fun going swimming this week. Thank goodness Grandma is here to take him, since I'm banned from the activity for another four weeks. That water looked like SO much fun today!


Ryan and I just hung out and watched all the fun, getting some fresh air and sunshine. We could only stay so long, though, because Ryan got so hungry that he started to try to eat his own hands.



P.S. I'm going to try to remember to never write about how well a baby is sleeping. It seems to backfire.

Two Weeks

Ryan is two weeks old today! (He also has a belly button now!) After all the ups and downs of pregnancy and the predictions of possible health problems, it's so wonderful to have him here with us and to watch this little miracle grow each day.

Our baby Ryan is such a blessing to our home. He's been so kind, letting me have at least a 5-hour stretch of sleep plus a little more almost every night since we've been home. Last night, he slept for 7 hours straight! I was worried about how he would be since he was quite fussy all of the evening and just wanted to eat...and eat...and eat, but he gave me a pleasant surprise. He's a very good eater--I don't know if it's all him or a combination of me being better at nursing, but it's much easier now than it was with Kyle. Ryan moves around quite a bit and is constantly trying to hold his head up, which reminds me so much of Kyle.

After two weeks of being a new mommy again, I'm finally starting to feel normal again. I've lost 21 lbs.--almost HALF-way there. (Yeah, that's right. I gained 50 lbs. What of it?) I got a pedicure yesterday (ahhhh!) and was able to leave the boys with Grandma again today to go get my hair done. I feel like a new woman!


Happy two weeks with us, Baby Ryan. Keep on sleeping!

Two Little Men

Are you two brothers or something?

Kyle loves his little brother and is being such a good helper. He takes dirty diapers up to the diaper trash, brings me blankets and burp cloths when I need to feed Ryan, and grabs the binky and tells me to "get Baby Ry" whenever he's crying. I sure hope these two will be good friends as they grow up!

The First of Many

I'll be the first to admit it--I'm a bit of a clothes snob. I like to dress up my kids, even if they are boys. Boys have so many fewer choices than girls for cute clothes, but I always know I can find something adorable if it has that little embroidered pony on the chest. Here's our little Ryan in his first Polo outfit. I promise there will be many, many more, since we heart Polo stuff around this house!

I love the attitude he's showing in this photo. "What up, fools?" And, is he already trying to flash some signs with that hand?

Grandma's Here

It's hard being so far away from all our family, but we're so grateful that both Granna and Grandma have been able to come out and meet baby Ryan, play with Kyle, and help out so much. What a blessing!



Here's Grandpa and Grandma on the day Ryan was born. They weren't able to be in Florida, but they both dressed in blue to celebrate the birth of a new grandson.


Both grandmothers have been out to meet Ryan, and I'm so grateful that both Grandpa and Gramps (and others) will be here in June for his blessing day!

Stir Crazy

We barely survived yesterday. I decided I wanted to take advantage of my new baby status and skip church, but that meant Kyle didn't get out of the house in the morning. Add to that the fact that it rained--make that POURED--ALL.DAY.LONG, and you get one stir crazy boy. Only so many hours of puzzles, coloring, movies, and reading books will tide Kyle over...he is an outdoor adventurer and needs his daily amount of running around in the fresh air.

We kept waiting and waiting for a break in the down pour. FINALLY, around 3:00 in the afternoon, that break came. Once the sun peaked through the clouds, we slapped a swimsuit on Kyle--so he could feel free to get wet, packed up Ryan and the Udder Cover--since the sunshine came right at feeding time, and headed out on a walk to the playground. We were blessed with a small amount of time--only 20 minutes--in which to use up Kyle's stored energy, so we made it count: splashing in puddles along the way, sliding down the wet slides, playing in wet sand, throwing/kicking a ball, running with and chasing Grandma.

Thank goodness for small blessings! That little break in the day helped us survive (barely) the rest of the day with Kyle, the "Wild Thing." I guess that's what I get for not going to church--he surely could have used up some of that energy in the nursery!

Kyle watching the rain from his bedroom window

Today was much better. We got out of the house to run some errands and then took Kyle to Chick-Fil-A to play and get some energy out, since it was still sprinkling outside. He slipped on the stairs and busted up his ear and then slammed his hand in the door. But, he was out of the house and had a much better day! (The sun even came out this afternoon so we could go on a long walk.)

Baseball Stuff!!!

We love baseball season around here! Boy, I can't wait for these two boys to be old enough to play--or at least to enjoy going to games with us. For now, we'll just have to settle for dressing them up in baseball stuff.

Kyle loves pointing out Ryan's features. Here he is, trying to count Ryan's fingers and hold his hand.

Kiss, Kiss

Ready for Bed

Kyle loves his "Bay-ee Ry," (Baby Ryan.) He's really starting to warm up to him, wants to help me out, gives Ryan hugs and kisses, and pays attention to all his sounds and movements. Last night, Ryan was in his crib and Kyle climbed up the side to just watch him and talk to him. I couldn't resist grabbing the camera to capture the moment.

One Week Old

One week ago about now, I was stuck in a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs and an epidural, trying to survive on nothing but ice chips and sugar water for over 18 hours, waiting for my body to kick in and start going into real labor after just having the doctor break my water. I was also starting to wonder if we'd made the right decision about being induced and if I would truly start progressing quickly on my own, like the doctor and nurses kept predicting. It would take another two hours for that process to get going, but only an hour after that for a "one push baby" to join our family.

Today, I'm just grateful for all the blessings we've received and answers to prayers we've witnessed in the birth of Ryan--his health, my health/quick recovery/sanity, Kyle's kind attitude toward his little brother, and many more. It's only been a week, but quite an amazing one!

Having Kyle to keep me active has been a great motivator in getting into a new "normal." He keeps me on my toes, but I like a challenge. I talked myself into thinking that having 2 kids would be the hardest thing ever and that I didn't know how I was going to do it, but the reality is better than what I imagined, so it's encouraging.

Someone told me yesterday that sunshine is good for the new mother's soul, so I decided to put that advice into practice and get outside. Not only was it good for me, but Kyle loves to be outside, running around like a crazy-man, and Ryan has been prescribed a daily amount of sun, too. We even called up some friends to meet us at our neighborhood playground. Even though it was a little windy, I think we all benefited from breathing some fresh air.


I couldn't resist dressing Ryan up in this summery, very "Florida" outfit. It's a newborn size, so I wanted to make sure we got some good use out of it. The whole thing cracks me up a little, though, because it doesn't quite seem proportional. Either that, or Ryan has a tiny head and some HUGE feet!!! (His toes are sticking out of the shoes, but the hat could probably hold two of his heads!!!)



It's sure been a great first week with Ryan in our family--here's to many, many more like it!

Mom of Two

Yesterday I had an epiphany. After being so nervous about how I was going to "make it" with two kids--one a newborn--and after being so used to my daily schedule with just Kyle, I realized yesterday that everything will be okay. It's so amazing that, even though life can be difficult and challenging, you just find a way to adapt and make things work.

Stephen had to go back to clinicals yesterday and my mom flew home in the afternoon, so all my helpers were gone, and it was time to suck-it-up and make things work. Thankfully, my two boys were very nice to me and let me have an afternoon nap. Kyle was very quiet and watched a movie so I could sleep--so quiet that he dozed off, too!


Part of my revelation on motherhood also had to do with remembering what it was like when Kyle first joined our family. At that time, Stephen was working nights in the ICU and I was going to have to return to work in only a few short weeks. Looking back, I realized how stressful it was that I knew I only had a short amount of time with my new baby before having to leave him and return to the classroom--like the hourglass started pouring sand from the moment Kyle was born. (Plus, I was still trying to be involved with the beginning of the year stuff at school, working with my co-teachers and sub to try to coordinate plans for my classroom.) I knew every moment had to be squeezed into a short time, and I think I put pressure on myself to make all of those moments perfect. Add to that the fact that it was all new and foreign, and it was a bit overwhelming. For example, I knew I could only nurse for a few weeks, making it even more stressful when it didn't work so well at first. I had some guilt and fear and uncertainty about how our decision for me to work that year was going to affect Kyle and if it really was the right decision. I think the "normal" difficulties associated with being a new mother were exaggerated because I knew I had limited time to figure things out and learn how to juggle everything. Plus, I'm a perfectionist.

This time is different. Sure, I now have to juggle having a newborn and a two-year-old...a very active two-year-old...but it seems easier. I have the knowledge that I've survived it before and some past experience to draw from. I don't feel so clueless about every little thing. Plus--and this, I think, is the biggest difference of all--I don't have to squeeze all these early moments into a set amount of time. I can enjoy my two boys without having the stress of a time limit in which to have everything figured out. And if I have one of those days, it's okay because my days aren't as limited by a certain time frame. I have time to just be a mom without having to pay attention to the time, and that has made all the difference.

Now, today is my first official day on my own, so I may be singing a different tune tomorrow! But for now, life is good.

Here's a picture of Ryan from yesterday. I love this tiny tiger outfit!

Roar, I'm a Tiger!!

P.S. That was for Stephen (and anyone else who watches The Soup or Little Chocolatiers.) I hope it makes you smile.

Thirty-Three

Stephen's been having a tough time remembering important numbers lately. He recently told someone we'd been married seven years--(almost 10)--and that he was part of the "Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2000"--('02.) Maybe it's because he's getting older--33 TODAY!--I did have to remind him this week. But, who's counting?

We do understand that his brain is currently storing anesthesia information in the most recent files, so other information is pushed into the background. Keep working on the truly important stuff, Stephen, which will benefit us much more than knowing your graduation year or how long you've been married.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Love,
Mel, Kyle, & Ryan

Dad with his Little Elf

Doctor, Doctor

While Kyle went to his weekly play group at the park today, Ryan got to go to the doctor's office for the first time today. We really liked the pediatrician, which is a huge plus. At least the youngest Coopers will get great medical care. (The newest doctor in their group, the one who saw Ryan at the hospital, was awesome, too!)

Ryan checked out well. All the basics are looking a-okay. He is down to 7 lbs. 6 oz. and falls below the 50th percentile in everything, but the doctor joked, saying we wouldn't believe how much he'll grow even in the next 2 weeks. With the 2 vessel cord, we might need to follow up with another kidney ultrasound in a few months, but that was nothing to be too concerned about. Dr. Clemente said Ryan looked just a little bit yellow, but that she wasn't concerned enough to test him again--we just need to keep him in the sun a little everyday.

Here he is, hanging out by an open window, getting his daily rays!

Home Sweet Home

I was so glad to be released from the hospital earlier than expected yesterday! They like to keep babies there at least 48 hours from their birth time, but because I was Group B Strep positive, we were told the wait could be longer--at least 24 hours from the time Ryan's results came back. Plus, after only having a 2-vessel cord, there could be other complications to monitor. Basically, we didn't count on being released until late Sunday or early Monday.

However, I was cleared early in the morning and was told results for Ryan were looking good, too. Then, the pediatrician came in for one last assessment and promised she would speed up the process for getting us released. (She also mentioned how she could tell this wasn't our first baby because we were much more relaxed/less anxious than the other rooms she'd been in that morning.) All we had to wait on was the bilirubin result. It came back at 9.6, which is on the high-end of normal, but still acceptable. We were going home!

Ryan, ready to leave

After our experience with being released from the hospital after Kyle's birth, I was expecting a good wait. (We were "released" in the morning, but didn't actually leave until late afternoon, due to back-ups at the lab, the floor getting slammed with new patients, etc.) Not this time! It was about 20 minutes later that our paperwork was ready and the wheelchair was waiting!

Leaving the hospital

Stephen and Ryan

Ryan and Granna

Kyle just woke up from a nap when we walked in the door, so he was already a little groggy. He barely seemed ready to greet me, let alone a new baby. The look on his face in this picture is pretty accurate to Kyle's unsure reaction to Ryan coming home. When I asked if he wanted to come sit down and come say hi to his brother, he said, "no see baby."


It wasn't too long before Kyle started warming up to the idea of having Ryan around. (It also helped that the new baby arrived bearing gifts of a new book and some cars!)


We're home, happy, and healthy--and still holding (mostly) everything together!

Big Brother

Kyle sure is excited to have a new baby brother! He waited and waited and waited all day long yesterday to get to meet Baby Ryan. By the time Ryan finally made it out and was ready for visitors, it was nearly Kyle's bedtime, but he and Granna made it up to the hospital so the brothers to meet at last.

Kyle wasn't too sure what to think about his Mom being in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV and monitors, so he stayed pretty close to Dad the whole time. He did enjoy seeing the baby, pointing out the baby's hat, nose, eyes, ears, etc., and was very gentle. (If only that kindness will last.....) Kyle did help make a present to welcome his new baby brother into the world.


Today has been a rough day for Ryan. He's been poked, prodded, and snipped all day long. He had his hearing tested, his first photo shoot, a circumcision, blood work (CBC), a visit from the pediatrician--which he passed with flying colors--and will soon be taken away again, either for PKU testing or a kidney ultrasound--done for all babies from a 2-vessel cord. Through it all, he's been an angel and a great eater. How blessed we are that he's healthy and such a bundle of joy.

Granna got to spend the whole afternoon with us at the hospital, while Kyle and Dad had some male bonding time at Pei Wei and watching Kung Fu Panda. That allowed me to take a nice, warm shower and start to feel like myself again. (They finally unhooked me from the IV, too!)

Then, Kyle got to spend a few more moments with his new baby brother and the family was together again!

The first family photo of the new Cooper Family

I sure hope the love continues once Kyle realizes that Baby Ryan isn't just someone to go visit at a hospital, but the newest Cooper who will soon be sharing his home.

40 Weeks

Hear, ye! Hear ye! Announcing the arrival of Ryan Andrew Cooper!!!!

Born on his due date, April 9, 2010

7 lbs. 12 oz.
19 1/2 in.


Ryan's first photo with Mom after a LOOOOOOOOOng 24 hours. We started pitocin at 5:30 am (after being in the hospital all night) and broke the water at 1:30 pm. There wasn't much progress until my body FINALLY decided it was ready to go. I went from being dilated about 5 cm most of the day to 6 for a little while and then all the way to ready to push in an hour. I pushed through one contraction, starting at 5:22 and Ryan popped out at 5:23.



First Photo with Dad

All clean after his bath

We are so happy to have our beautiful, baby boy here! (And, what a great subject for the 900th post!!!)

Baby Eve

We're here at the hospital, awaiting the arrival of Mini Cooper 2010!

At first, I wasn't sure this was going to happen today. The hospital was supposed to call around noon to let me know what time to come in for my induction, but I hadn't heard anything by 2:30. I called my doctor's office for advice and was told that if the hospital didn't call me by TOMORROW, then they would call and see what was going on--not that the whole point of a scheduled induction is to actually HAVE a schedule or anything!!!

Not long after sending out a massive text explaining the situation, I got the call from the hosptial to come in, but they would only hold my bed for an hour!!! We rushed over, registered, got admitted, and found out that I was dilated to 3 and 70% effaced. The whole reason for coming in the night before actually being induced was to receive medicine to soften the cervix, but the doctor decided that I was far enough along to just wait until 5 am tomorrow and to just start pitocin then. So, it looks like we are here a night early just to hang out in the hospital!

I'm excited to be here and to be guaranteed a room, though.



Granna is in town and gets to hang out and play with Kyle while Stephen and I are at the hospital. They've been having lots of fun. Hopefully he'll have SO much fun that he won't realize how much his world is about to be turned upside down when we come home with a new member of the family.


Granna also let Stephen and I go out for one "last supper" before our own world gets turned upside down with a new baby. Even though Stephen was t.i.r.e.d after a LONG day at his neuro rotation, we sure had a nice evening out--alone.


And, here's one last picture. This is Kyle and his mom, on his last night as an only child!