Cooper William

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I started getting really nervous about having someone here to watch Hudson when I went into labor. I had heard second babies come earlier and faster than first babies so I was really scared about having time to get Hudson to someone and make it to the hospital in time. The hospital is about 25 minutes away from us, so it really worried me. We decided to have Clay's mom come out a week before my due date. As much as I wanted to meet my baby early, I prayed that he would not come until she was here. Janet got here on Saturday May 28th and I was 39 weeks that Sunday. We went on a date for our anniversary Saturday night and then I was in nesting mode, cleaning everything and making sure everything was packed for the hospital.

On Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment and I had my first cervical check and I was 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Since I was already progressing, the doctor let me schedule an elective induction for Monday, June 6th. I was happy that there was an end in sight if I didn't go into labor on my own. I also had my membranes stripped. I was planning on having my membranes stripped after 39 weeks and I had a feeling all along that that would put me into labor, but the rest of that day I had a few contractions but nothing regular. I was kind of bummed thinking it didn't work. Wednesday morning, I woke up feeling really crampy and kind of sick to my stomach. I thought maybe this was the day, but thought it was just wishful thinking. I cleaned some that morning. Janet wanted to drive out to the hospital to make sure she knew where to go if Clay were not home when I went into labor, so we did that. We grocery shopped and then I took Hudson out to the playground and we saw some friends at the pool. They were asking how I was doing and I told them I was sad because I had my membranes stripped the day before and it obviously had not worked. That night we went to dinner at one of our favorite pizza places and came home and put Hudson to bed. I forced Clay to go on our nightly walk trying to get things going. I only made it to the mailbox and back because I was so sore and crampy. Around 10:30 PM I was texting my mom and telling her I "thought" I was having contractions but was not really sure. With Hudson, my water just broke and then I went to the hospital, so I didn't know what to expect this time.

Around 10:45 I noticed the contractions were lasting over a minute and I decided to start timing them. They were 10-15 minutes a part but still really irregular. I told Clay that I felt like it was early labor, but wasn't sure. We got ready for bed and I was trying to go to sleep, but just when I was almost asleep I'd have another contraction and they were getting painful. I couldn't just lay there through them, I kept getting up and trying to get comfortable but nothing was comfortable. I was in a lot of pain, but the contractions were still about 10 minutes apart and I remember the midwife saying not to call until I was having contractions 5 minutes apart for an hour. I was moaning and laying on the floor and was kneeling on all fours trying to get through the contractions. Clay suggested we should call the midwife. We didn't even have the right number to call. He ended up just calling labor and delivery and we eventually got the midwife on-call. The midwife was Cheryl Carol, the only one I had never seen before in the group, but I had heard she was amazing and had 30 plus years of experience so I felt good about it. She was very cheerful on the phone. I told her what was going on and told her I was feeling nauseous like I had felt when I was in labor last time. She said I could go ahead and come into labor and delivery whenever I wanted and that I was probably in labor because of the nausea. She said I could finish packing my bag, take a shower if I wanted and then come in. Well, the contractions were getting really painful so we quickly packed up the rest of our stuff and were in the car at 2 AM getting on the interstate. In the car, the contractions started getting 4-5 minutes a part and still super painful. Clay was going like 100 mph and thought it was so cool to get to go that fast. Of course no one was on the roads at that time anyway.

We got to the hospital around 2:15 and had to go in through the ER because it was after hours. Clay asked if he should drop me off and I said I could walk. It was super hard to walk all the way to the door because I was feeling so much pressure even when I wasn't in the middle of a contraction. I got into a wheel chair and we finally got up to labor and delivery. They put us in a room and gave me a gown. Clay couldn't figure out how to button it up and I was so frustrated and mad at him. I was in the midst of contractions and just wanted my epidural ASAP. I think at this point though I was still not convinced I was in real labor and didn't if they were going to let us stay. No one was coming into the room and I was crying but tears wouldn't even come out. Clay went out to the nurses station asked what we were waiting for and maybe got a little stern with them and a nurse came in right away. Thank goodness! She checked me and said I was dilated to 4 cm and my water was bulging. They were definitely keeping me! She put in my IV and got blood. They had to check my platelet count before they could give me the epidural. It was taking foreveerr.

The midwife came in and was really nice and asked what she could do for me, I said "epidural ASAP!" My contractions were at least every 2 minutes and I'm pretty sure I was squeezing the crap out of Clay's arm during them. I tried to get up to go pee after a contraction and it hurt too bad to walk or sit to pee. The midwife came back in and I asked her what position is the most comfortable and she said, "want to try to sit in the rocking chair?" That sounded awful. Right then I started screaming, "I feel like I have to poop!" I felt like I couldn't sit or stand. The midwife was so calm and said "so you're feeling a lot of pressure in your bottom? Let me check and see what's going on during your next contraction." I laid in the bed and a few seconds later she checked me and said "You're 9 cm!" And my water broke right there on the bed. She said it was time to push. I was like "No! I need my epidural! I can't do it without an epidural!" She said there was no time and she had me push her fingers out and she said the head was right there and that he'd be out very soon. I was freaking out. I begged her to let me have an epidural first, but she said there wasn't time. I have always said natural birth is something you have to really prepare yourself mentally for and I was NOT prepared AT ALL! I was basically planning on having little to no pain and LOTS of epidural. The midwife called the nurse to bring in blankets and whatever else for delivery. I was freaking out- again crying but no tears would even come out. I said "this is literally my worst nightmare!" With Clay holding one foot and the nurse holding the other, I started pushing. It literally felt like I was pooping out a bowling ball. I told Clay to say a prayer he comes out soon because I couldn't push anymore.

And after 5 minutes, at 3:27 AM our sweet boy was here. They laid him right on my chest and the first thing I noticed was all of his dark hair. He didn't cry right away and looked a little blue which scared me, but he was fine. He was perfect and he was our's. That feeling is so indescribable. I was shocked that he was already here, but I was so glad he was. I held him for a long time and tried to nurse, but he didn't seem to want to. They eventually took him to clean him up a little and weigh him. They asked if we thought he was bigger or smaller than Hudson. Hudson was 8 pounds, but he definitely seemed smaller to me. He weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces. I was in heaven. They moved us down to mother and baby and we texted everyone and told them he was here. Everyone was shocked to wake up to those texts and phone calls because it all happened so quickly. I held Cooper all night and didn't sleep at all. I was too excited and couldn't stop staring at him. He slept really well and we put him in the bassinet for maybe a few minutes and it made me sad to think of him all alone in there, so I had to hold him. I just kept thinking how perfect he was, but also how weird it was to have another baby who I loved so much, who wasn't Hudson.

Later that day, Janet brought Hudson to meet him. Hudson was a little apprehensive but gave Cooper kisses and held him for about a second. He really liked playing with my hospital bed, making it go up and down and wanted to get water and explore the room a lot. My parents were in Atlanta and drove over as soon as they could. We stayed one more night and then went home the next morning. Cooper did great and we are so grateful for our healthy baby boy. He is such a sweet, calm, easy baby. We are so happy he is here and feel so lucky to have him in our family. I am so glad Heavenly Father sent him to us. Clay and I just stare at him and look at each other and smile. I already can't imagine life without him. He is perfect.

Right now at 15 months,

You are learning so many new things everyday! I love just watching you play and figure out how things work. You are so curious and determined. You are always trying to do things on your own, but get frustrated quickly when it doesn't go as you want. ;) I still feel like you're my little baby, even though you are definitely a toddler now. You are the sweetest little boy and I'm so lucky to be your mommy. I still wish I could capture and remember every little thing about you. Here are some things about you right now:

-You are still so friendly and social. You love to FaceTime! We call Grammy, Grandma, Aunt Taylor and Livvy all the time and you love it! You will always laugh and get excited when they answer and you get sad when they have to go. You always try to kiss the screen and reach for them to hold you, too. It's so cute. You also love to carry the phone around yourself, which often results in you hanging up or muting the phone. :) everyone loves to talk to you! You still wave and say "hi" to everyone when we are out and about, too. 

-You are walking 99% of the time now! You sometimes walk with one arm out for balance. It's pretty cute. :) you love the stairs and can do them sliding down on your belly and climbing up really well. It still makes me nervous, but you are always sneaking down the stairs and you are quick!! 

-You say "yeah" to every question! It's so cute and funny! A lot of the time I feel like you understand what we are saying. If we ask if you want a snack, you go to the pantry, if we ask you to hand us something you usually will. You are responding a lot better to "no" lately and will stop whatever it is you are doing. (Like pulling ornaments off the tree ;)) 

When we ask you what the lion says, you do a deep little growl and you can "woof" like a puppy, too. Daddy taught you both of those. :) 

-You still love books! If we are sitting in the floor, you will grab a book, turn around and sit and scoot until you are on one of our laps. I love to read to you! Some of your favorite books are "Peek-Who?", "I love you through and through", "That's not my Reindeer", "Polar Bear, Polar Bear", "Dear Zoo" and "Little Gorilla". You also love this counting slide book that we have.

-You are getting a little pickier about food. You will pretty much always eat yogurt, crackers, berries, grapes, and cheese. Other than that, it depends on the day. Some days you eat tons and others hardly anything! Oh and you always love to nurse. :)

-You are getting 4 molars right now. :( 3 have broken through and 1 is about to break through. You have had a little fever and wake up a lot more. It's so sad. You pretty much only want to sleep with mommy in our bed. :) we are creating great habits. ;)

-You do a lot better in your car seat now and a lot worse in your stroller! In the car, you are usually good as long as you have snacks and you have been falling asleep a lot in the car. I'm actually waiting in the Target parking lot right now for you to wake up! Strollers and carts are getting trickier. You just want to get down and walk everywhere and pull everything off the shelves in stores or escape. ;)

I'll try to add more as I think of them! You bring us so much joy! I just drove by the hospital where you were born and thought about the day we brought you home. I loved you more than I could have ever imagined then, but I had no idea how much happiness you would bring us and how I would love you more and more every day. You are the cutest, sweetest, funniest little guy around! I hope you know how much we love you!! 

Let's pretend I didn't skip 13 months... 14 month update!

I wrote this at 14 months and never posted it! 

I don't know where the time has gone! 

-You are walking! A LOT! You still crawl sometimes, but you are walking more and more every day! You look so big now. You were a little apprehensive to start walking. You are pretty cautious most of the time, which I am grateful for! But now that you've figured it out, you love it! We cheer for you whenever you take lots of steps and you get so excited! 

-You're my little cuddler! In the mornings when you first wake up, you just want to be held for a little while. We'll watch shows or YouTube videos with you and you will sit really still for sometimes 20-30 minutes. It's the sweetest. Then, you want to get down and play. Sometimes when you are playing and I am sitting or laying on the floor, you will come crawl on top of me or lay down next to me. I love your sweet little personality!

-We have a gate at the bottom of the stairs, but we can't put one at the top because of the way the railing and wall are. We have to watch you really closely when we are upstairs because you will go down the stairs every chance you get. You flip your little body around so quickly and slide down the stairs on your tummy. You are really good at it, but it still scares me! We pretty much have to shut all the doors to whatever room we are in when we are upstairs or you'll escape! 

-You are so, so, so busy! You actually play by yourself a lot now. You love to play with your car you got for your birthday from Aunt Lynn and Great-Grandma. You store all of your toys and snacks in the trunk and in the front part and you dance to the music on the radio. You dance to all music actually! Even the hymns at church! It's too cute! You also love your stacking rings, and your little peg pop up toy. You still love everything non-toy though! You empty all the drawers and cabinets pretty much daily. You even figured out how to take the floor vents off. That will be your new hiding spot soon. I just know it. You definitely keep me busy! 

-You LOVE books! Today, you kept grabbing books and hopping up on my lap for me to read to you. You love the interactive books with textures and flaps. And you always kiss yourself in the peek-a-boo mirrors and give yourself a big grin! You love to be read to! You will sit through lots of books! Today, we probably read 5-6 in one sitting! I'm glad you like to read!

-You wave and say "Hi!" to everyone we see! Everyone loves you wherever we go and are always commenting about how friendly you are! You say to "hi" probably 50 times a day. You say "hi" right when we wake up pretty much everyday. It's the cuter thing ever!

-You love to nurse now more than ever! You have just started trying to lift my shirt and "asking" for it. I'm worried we will be nursing until you are 5... ;) 

-You are a pretty good eater most days and you love to feed yourself. You eat way more when we let you feed yourself, it's just so messy! Sometimes you like to play with your food more than eat it! 

To my ONE year old,

(Pictures by my friend, Jordan!)

I can't believe you are one WHOLE year old!! This past year has flown by and has been the best year ever because of you! You are getting so big, learning so much every day, and showing more and more of your personality! Every new stage is more and more fun! Here are a few of my favorite things about you at ONE:

You are really such a happy, content baby! Everyone is always commenting about how pleasant you are all the time. You are easy to get a smile and laugh out of and you smile and wave to everyone. You love to be out and about and you love to watch people. If we are in a restaurant, you notice right when someone walks in and you wave really big at them until they wave to you. You are definitely a people person and you have never met a stranger! You have such a sweet and loving personality.

You are so cuddly. Rocking and singing to you at night is still my all time favorite. I love to sing you Primary songs and hymns. I will cry the day you won't let me rock and sing to you. I love singing to you about Heavenly Father, Jesus and how families can be together forever. I love that sweet time we share together every night.

You are so, so, so busy right now!! You have actually lost an ounce since your 9 month check up because you never sit still. You are losing your baby chub and it makes me so sad. You are getting really close to walking. You pull up and try to climb on everything. When you see something you want you wave at it until you can get it. You are a determined little guy and you love to get into everything! You love playing in our bathroom and pulling everything out of the drawers and cabinets. Showering and getting ready is becoming very difficult for me if Daddy is not home. You also love keys, pots and pans, bowls, and cords. Our house is always a mess because of you, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love watching you explore and figure things out. Oh, I also love when you carry things around in your mouth. :)

You LOVE to eat now and finally started drinking out of a sippy cup last week! You eat everything, but if we give you a few things at once, you will spit out the things that aren't as tasty. :) You started drinking out of a sippy cup because I put some chocolate almond milk that I was drinking in your cup.. So naturally you had to learn really quickly how to get that out! :)

You love to climb the stairs. You always stop halfway and at the top and smile really big and clap! It's adorable. You also clap whenever we say, "Good boy!" 

You give the best hugs and "kisses" ever! Sometimes when you are playing you will just crawl over to me and put your arms around my neck and squeeze me really tight. It's the best! Whenever we ask you to give kisses you either put your cheek up to our cheek or give a big, wet slobbery, open-mouthed kiss/bite! We love your sweet kisses!

You also love to share! You will hand us stuff or try to put your snacks in our mouths. Today you were carrying this wooden little peg man in your mouth and I grabbed you and cuddled you and happened to open my mouth and you stuck your toy in my mouth. It was so cute. :)

I kind of just want to press pause on life right now because I don't want you to get any bigger, but at the same time I am so excited for what's to come! Every stage with you has been better and better and more and more fun! I have loved watching your personality grow. You are so sweet, friendly, and you love to have a good time! I am so grateful to be your mommy! You are the light of my life. I probably tell Daddy a million times a day how cute and sweet you are and how lucky we are to have you! I love you with all of my heart and I hope you know how special you are to me. I treasure every minute with you!

11!

My baby is almost one?! It makes me sad to think about, but at the same time I'm excited for what's to come! He is learning so much and I love to watch him explore and discover new things. He is constantly on the go now and always doing something new! This month we were in Florida for 3 weeks with Clay's parents. I feel like he changed so much in the time we were there!

-He is clapping! It's probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. When we clap and say "yay Hudson!" he gets a big grin on his face and claps. It's adorable!

-He can throw a ball. He loves to play ball with us. We roll a ball to him and he usually first tries to bite it and then throws it back to us. At Grammy and Granddaddy's house, we were playing with a beach ball in the pool and he would literally attack it and wrap his whole body around it and try to eat it. It was hilarious! He is all boy!

-He is so strong! He pulls up and stands, no problem now and can climb to the top of the stairs. He has the tightest grip and when he wants something, he goes for it pretty intensely! We joke that he is a little thief because he can grab something so quickly you don't even notice! This includes pens out of pockets, glasses, keys out of purses- just to name a few. :)

-He is eating so much now! On our flight to Florida, he ate more baby puffs than ever before and now he is all about food! If someone is eating, he has to be eating too! He loves fruit- nectarines are probably his favorite. He likes pretty much everything we give him except avocado. He reallllyyyy likes chocolate chip cookies. We made some while we were in Florida and I gave him a bite and he pitched a fit when I wouldn't give him more and then he reached for the cookies every time we walked by them! We eventually had to hide them from him. He's a Cookie Monster like his Mommy. :)

-His sleep got pretty messed up while we were gone, but since we have been back he is doing so much better! The past few nights he has gone to bed around 7:30 or 8:00 and woken up at 5:00 to eat and then goes back to sleep until 7:00 or 8:00! While we were gone he wouldn't let me sing to him and cuddle him before bed, I just had to nurse him to sleep, but now he is letting me cuddle and sing to him again. I love it. It's still one of my favorite times of the day.

-We always say that changing his diaper or getting him dressed is like trying to wrestle an alligator. He does not like to be still and lay down! He is busy, busy, busy! He also really hates being put into his carseat and most of the time, I still ride in the back next to him. We can't wait until we can flip him around! He is not a fan of facing the back! 

-For being as busy as he is, he still likes to be held and cuddle. He still loves to watch me do things, but he likes to help now too. :)

-He is the friendliest baby! He waves at everyone and talks to everyone! He makes friends everywhere we go and loves to get attention from people! He will literally strain his neck to look around Clay and me to see new people! It cracks me up!

I love that boy so much! He is the sweetest baby ever! I love each stage with him more and more! He is so much fun and so smart. He can mimic things we do now and he still has the best laugh! I want him to stay my baby forever. 

TEN MONTHS

*Written a few days after you turned 10 months on July 4th

I feel like you have gotten so big lately! You are so much fun! Daddy and I talk about how cute and sweet you are all day every day. You are the best thing that ever happened to us and we are so grateful to be your parents. You bring us so much joy. This month you have learned lots of new things:

-You are CRAWLING! We were FaceTiming with Grammy last Sunday and we thought you were doing your typical army crawl, but no, you were for real crawling! Now, you crawl all over the place and pull yourself up on everything! You love getting in drawers and cabinets and standing in your crib. You are getting so strong!

-You started waving right after you turned 9 months! It's the cutest thing ever. You wave at everyone all of the time! You are a friendly little guy. You wave when we say "hi" or "bye bye," when we walk in the room, when we say "amen" after a prayer, when you want something you wave at it. You pretty much wave all the time and we love it! You wave at random people all the time when we are out and about. It's literally the cutest! Everyone loves you, Hudson!

-You can put yourself to sleep now for bed. You are so big! I nurse you, Daddy gives you a bath and reads you stores, and then I rock and sing to you for a little bit and we put you in your crib awake and you fall asleep on your own. It's been hard to teach you to sleep, but you are doing so much better! Cuddling you right before bed is my favorite thing. You just lay your head on my chest and straddle my hips and get so still. It's the sweetest and it's something I will never forget. You start breathing really slow and your eyes get heavy and you feel like my little baby and I love it. You are still a momma's boy and it's the best.

-You are eating so well now. You like everything we give you. You had chicken for the first time today and even swallowed it right away! Sometimes you just leave your food in your mouth for a while. :) the other night we went to Milagros and I gave you some rice, beans, and zucchini. You had half a black bean in your mouth for a good 30 mins! It was hilarious. You were drooling everywhere but would not swallow or let me get it out! I finally found it on your shorts at bedtime. You are a silly boy!

-You are starting to mimic things we do now. You fake cough when we cough and you laugh when we do. You say "da da" and "mama" all the time and talk a lot.

-You are stable enough in the bath that we don't have to use the baby bath anymore! We just put you directly in the bath on a non-slip mat. You love bath time. You splash and play and squeal and try to stand. 

To my 9 Month-er,

(My friend, Jordan took these amazing pictures! I am obsessed with them! I took some too, but they were not good. At all. Her Hudson is 3 weeks older than my Hudson. They are adorable together!)

-You weigh 19 pounds, 15 ounces now and are in the 55th percentile for weight. You are 28.5 inches long and in the 58th percentile for height. Your head is in the 73rd percentile. :) You are wearing some 6-12 month clothes and some 12-18 month clothes already! You are growing so fast! The pediatrician said he thought you looked like you weigh more than you do! You are quite the chunk!

-You are becoming such a busy boy! You are army crawling, rolling, and scooting all over the place now! You can pull up on things and stand holding onto something and you can pretty much get into whatever you want to these days! You especially love mommy's makeup, kitchen stuff, shoes, cords and phones. You would rather play with anything but toys. And... everything still goes in your mouth! 

-You have finally started liking "big boy" food now, too! You are not a fan of being spoon fed, so I just cut up soft foods and you feed yourself. You love fruit! You have tried mango, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas, nectarine, avocado, greek yogurt, and baby rice milk melts. The first time I gave you the baby melt things, you got a whole bunch stuck on the top of your mouth! I had to scoop them out with my finger and finally nurse you to get you to swallow it all! It was so funny! We are glad you are finally starting to show interest in real food.

-Everyone always comments about how smiley and happy you are! You smile at everyone and love to be around other people, but are the most comfortable with just mommy and daddy. When you are at home with just us, you laugh, squeal, and talk so much! You think a lot of things are funny! You crack up when we blow kisses to you, fold the sheets and wave them around, get the trash bags out, when we go swimming, and when we put anything on your head. You love to be watching everything I do. You are my little sidekick and you always want to be right in the action. 

-You love being out and about. Now that you can sit up in the front of the cart, it's a lot easier to take you places. You always turn your body completely around and face the front of the cart. It's hilarious and looks so uncomfortable, but that's the way you like it! :) Costco is your favorite place to go for some reason. You squeal and talk and laugh the whole time we are there! You are starting to not like being in your stroller, so going to the mall is becoming difficult because you just want to be held the whole time and you are getting quite heavy!

-Being outside is your favorite! Summer time is the best! You love going on walks and going to the pool. You laugh the whole time you are in the pool with Daddy, but when you are in your float you won't stop drinking the water! So, we are going to have to put the float off limits for a little while. You are so fair that I always worry you are going to get burnt, but we are vigilant about the sunscreen and so far you have been fine. We are going to Florida in about a month to stay with Grammy and Granddaddy and we cannot wait to take you to the beach. I think you will like it a lot better than last time. :)

-You are still the sweetest boy in the whole wide world. You are definitely a mommy's boy and I wouldn't have it any other way. You are still really cuddly, even though you like to be free to explore sometimes, but I love when you will just lay on me and when you lay your head on my chest. It's the best. I still nurse you to sleep and it's one of my favorite times with you. I love watching you fall asleep. You still seem like my little baby when you are sleeping on me. Nursing is just about the only way you will go to sleep now. You won't let us rock you, you won't sleep in our bed anymore, and you rarely sleep in your stroller anymore. Sometimes you will fall asleep in the car, but most of the time I have to nurse you and you still wake up a lot during the night. We keep thinking it will get better, but we might have to sleep train you. :( Every time we are about to do it, I chicken out and think that you are too sweet to do it. 

We are completely crazy about you and can't believe how big you are getting. We love watching you learn new things and seeing you grow and develop. We love watching your personality emerge. We definitely think you are going to be a rambunctious little boy! You hate to be still and when you have your mind set on something, you won't stop until you get it. You are so much fun and we are so lucky to have you! We love you so much, sweet boy!