Pumpkin Patch Pictures!

I knew that I wanted to take Cooper to a pumpkin patch and have pictures made.  I came up with a cute idea for props (I might have seen it somewhere, but I can't remember) and Kyle's uncle agreed to take pictures for us with his nice camera. Somehow I think we picked the hottest day in October.  Despite the heat and a tired 3 month old we got some great pictures.

There are a lot of pictures here but I love them and wanted to share them all (could have been the 200 we took!)

Love that smile!

 He loved licking the fabric

 Cute family pic despite the shadows and the awkwardness of holding Cooper in mid-air

 Love that look (we get it a lot) like "What are we doing?"

 That's better

 Loved his pumpkin!

 Not liking this

 But Grandpa helped calm him down

 Loved this tractor but the sun was right on Cooper so it was hard to get a great pic

 Doesn't he look so grown up?

 This is my VERY favorite!  Just love that sweet boy!

*The pumpkin that says 'Cooper' and 'The Clines' is the same pumpkin just painted both sides of it.  I also painted the C pumpkin which was meant for a wreath or centerpiece and was on a stick which was perfect for Cooper.  The painted ones are both fake pumpkins I got from Hobby Lobby and did myself. 

The pictures were taken at a pumpkin patch in Colleyville and it was awesome!  I can't wait to go back every year (preferably a cooler day!)

***************
Side note:

One year ago this past weekend was when we found out we were pregnant was that amazing little boy!  I can't believe it has been a year! 

Friday Favorites!

I forgot my camera that has pictures of some of my favorite things so this is going to be favorites and thoughts!

• I am losing hair like crazy!!  I collect my hair in the shower or bath to one spot to avoid clogging the drain and then I throw it away when I get out.  The balls of hair that I am losing are HUGE! Not to mention what I lose when I brush my hairs, style it, and just run my fingers through it!  It is gross!
• Today I paid off my 2nd of 3 student loans.  I am so excited.  To be honest it was the smallest of the 3 but I pay them off according to the interest rates not the balance.  We are still on track to pay them off in about a year and I am so excited.  I wish I could just pay them off now and get rid of the stress, but no such luck.  Maybe I should play the lottery!
• This week at work we all got dual monitors!!  It eats up more space on my desk and it is still taking some getting used to.  But overall it will make some things faster and it is great!

• Today I forgot to put on mascara and I feel naked without it.  It is weird how different I look without it.  I think I look kinda of tired and worn down without mascara.  Oh well!
• I had lunch with a coworker of mine that no longer works in my department.  She brought an adorable hooded towel for Cooper.  It is an orange monster!  I can't wait for him to use it.  (I will share pictures when I do!)
• I seriously CANT WAIT to see Cooper's pictures from JcPenney today.  I know I have already seen them on the screen but it doesn't matter.  And to be honest I can't wait to show them off to everyone else!  (yes I am that mom that brags about how adorable her kid is, but don't we all?)
• I LOVE the Rangers and despite a very frustrating game I still believe they will win the World Series.  Last night was a horrible game to watch.  I thought I was going to throw up from anxiety and frustration.  And even though I only got about 4 hours of sleep I still love my Rangers.  I especially love this little Ranger fan!! (love the blurry foot!)

And finally...My blog favorites

• Courtney and Heather featured this cute idea from their local PTO and I thought it was adorable.  If I had more time in my life I would have done it for my coworkers this week.  Oh well!
• Courtney also featured her adorable sofa table that she re-did.  I LOVE IT!!  It makes me want to do one myself, but I am sure it wouldn't turn out as cute and I have no clue where I would put it!
• I am sure there were more but that is all I saved...more next week!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Thursday Thoughts

• My mom got Cooper this cute Halloween onesie and he gave the sweetest smile in it on Tuesday morning before heading to day-care.  This smile melts my heart!

•  Have you heard about Pinterest?  Honestly I don't even know how to explain it because I haven't been on it but I have been avoiding it.  I have heard that it is amazing but also very addicting.  I have a feeling I will eventually cave but for now I am still avoiding Pinterest.
• I am officially on the hunt for a Christmas outfit for Cooper.  I found one I like online at Osh Kosh but the closest store isn't that close (Grapevine Mills) and I want to see it before buying it.
• Cooper fell asleep like this yesterday evening and it was just so sweet.  I had to snap a quick pic!

•  The sound of someone opening a can of soda makes me salivate and crave a soda!  I LOVE that sound!!  We have a free soda machine at work so I hear that sound a lot.  It might be the reason I have drinking about one soda a day when I used to only have 2 or so a week!
• Monday I am starting a 25 day challenge (or maybe it is 24 days) that continues to Thanksgiving day of no sodas and no sweets!  I have no clue if I will make it but I really want to try.  My goal is to lose some of this baby weight without dieting.  Because I am nursing I have to maintain a certain amount of calories so I can't diet, but I can eliminate the large amount of "empty" calories that I consume every day.  (I never should have bought 4 bags of Halloween candy that may or may not be half gone despite the fact that we haven't gotten to the trick or treating part!)
• I must sadly admit that my goal of running in the Turkey Trot this year isn't going to happen.  I have slacked off in running since returning to work.  My evenings fly by and I just haven't made room for exercise.
• Riley is doing okay with her leg.  We have not made an appointment with the specialist at this time.  We have just kinda put the whole issue on the back burner since she doesn't seem to be uncomfortable (though she does still favor her leg).  She does seem to find Cooper's pacifiers and chews them.  She has destroyed 3 and I have also caught her twice reaching for one off of the coffee table!  It is crazy what she can reach with those little legs (and put weight on her hurt leg).
• And finally!  Today was Ranger's Day at day-care which we love!!  Today when I dropped off Cooper I saw that he had a twin.  The little boy that is only one week younger than Cooper was wearing the exact same outfit!!  (I blurred his face since I didn't get permission from his mom to post the pic!)  Isn't that funny!!  I love it!

Fall Festival

Friday night we went to a Fall Festival at Cooper's day-care.  You donate canned goods as your entry and the rest is free.  It is a chance for the kids to wear their Halloween costumes and play games.  We decided to invite Melisa, Trent, and Mac to join us.  We loved getting the chance to let the kids wear their costumes more than once and show them off : )

There were 10 rooms set up with activities- Silent auction, cake walk, bean bag toss, wheel of fortune, fishing, bowling, over the hill, face painting, dance expo, and duck pond.  Even though the kids were too young to play and enjoy the prizes we decided to participate anyway.  Kyle and Trent held the bags and thought how ridiculous we were but we loved it!

And of course we took pictures all along the way.  They are iphone pics so not the best quality but they are better than nothing.  Melisa didn't send me the pics of Mac from her phone so I think I only have one of her.  But they were both adorable!!

This is Cooper holding a candy corn bean bag for the bean bag toss.

Cooper is a skunk.  Can you tell?  I think he is the cutest skunk ever!  As I mentioned before this costume was made together by Cooper's mom, Babi (grandmother), and Granny (great-grandmother).  It means so much to me and I loved how it turned out.  Everyone thought he was adorable and I couldn't agree more!

This is Cooper getting ready to bowl (ha!) Ignore my goofy right hand.  I just loved that he is holding the ball and has the big paci in his mouth!

Cooper picking a duck from the duck pond!

Getting ready to bowl (sorry some are out of order)

MacKenzie picking her duck!  Love that little moo cow!

Time to go fishing!  Uncle Trent decided mommy isn't allowed to take Cooper fishing because I am not very good at it.  (that is fine with me)

But we eventually got a fish!

It was past his bedtime so he was getting tired.  He is holding his marker for the wheel of fortune game.  It made me laugh because he held onto like he didn't want to give it back.  So cute!

Over the hill game.  The ball was heavy so we let him kick it and then mommy rolled it and got it on her first try!

Hanging out with Daddy while Mac got her leg painted. 

He was very tired and as soon as I held him he passed out.  I can't get enough of that sweet face!

We had such a good time and we even got to meet the parents of Cooper's friend Aiden.  They are very nice and we enjoyed talking to them.  Cooper got home and we all hit the sack.

I know Cooper won't remember this at all, but I am so glad we did it.  I love making memories with him.

Friday Favorites!

 I have decided that I have a lot of random stuff each week and I am going to split it into Thursday Thoughts and Friday Favorites.

So here are some of my favorite things this week!

Every morning the day-care teachers have to write Cooper's name on the lids and the bottles!  #1 It is work for them and #2 I hate them writing on the bottles!!  It comes off in the wash which is good but that meant they had to rewrite it every morning.  So two weeks ago I ordered these Orbit labels for Cooper's bottles.  They are like rubber bands and they have his name on them.  I know you can't tell in the picture! They weren't super cheap, but they will work on baby food jars, sippy cups, and other stuff as he gets older.  I also ordered some "dishwasher safe" sticker labels for the lids.  Hopefully they really are dishwasher safe and will last!

 Kyle picked out this cute onesie for Cooper and I just love him in it!  He had jeans on with it and looked so grown up but I didn't have time to take a picture in the morning and by the time I got home he was pant less!  He doesn't look like trouble to me, but if he wants a truck like that when he turns 16 he better start saving now!!

I am in love with this snack lately.  I eat one wedge of cheese with the triscuits as my morning snack at work each day.  It is about 200 calories and I love it!!

Yesterday I saw this cute shirt at Target.  I want to get it for Cooper for his 3/4 month old pics but they only had it in 6 month and it looked big to me.  I am going to checkout the Target by my house tonight or tomorrow morning.  I think it is perfect Fall colors to go with jeans for his pictures. (it is blue and orange but it looks red thanks to the carpet!

 Kyle has been eating Ramen noodles for lunch lately. I know not healthy, but it is easy and cheap.  Plus he was burnt out on sandwiches.  Earlier this week we saw creamy chicken Ramen and decided to try it.  I have never seen it before or at least noticed it.  Kyle said it is his favorite now.  I haven't tried it but I think I might have to!  Did anyone else know about this flavor?

 Cooper's Mimi bought his this adorable Thanksgiving onesie and bib!!  I love the colors!!  I can't wait to see him wearing this with jeans or brown pants!! LOVE!

 Earlier this week I ordered this cute trick or treat bucket for Cooper.  I found it on Etsy.  I ordered it Monday and it arrived at my house on Thursday!! Just in time for tonight's fall festival.  Of course it says Cooper but I didn't have time to take the picture so I borrowed this pic from the website!

And finally-

I loved these blogs this week that I wanted to share with you! (just click on their name)

Megan- I just love this sweet post!

Tiffanie- This is a great idea that I hope to remember when it comes time for Cooper to walk.

Kelly- This is exactly what I needed to read after my stressful week.


That is all of my favorites for the week!  I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!!

Busy Week

As negative as I was yesterday I also know that I have a lot of positives in my life. 

First I will get the bad and ugly out of the way

The vet told us that they think Riley has a torn ACL and will likely need surgery.  The surgery is estimated to cost $2000!!  We won't know more without talking to the specialist.  Kyle and I do not know what we are going to do at this point.  We have a lot of questions and research to do.  Riley is only 2 years old and such a playful little girl that I can't imagine not doing whatever we can to get her back to playing, but I also cannot imagine spending that kind of money right now (or ever!!).

She was such a scared little girl.  She was shaking so bad that I was COVERED in hair by the time we left. I was also covered in mascara because I cried when the doctor told me she needed surgery.  Both for Riley having to go through it and mommy having to pay for it.

This is what Cooper wore to day-care on Monday.  I have started putting bibs on him in hopes to keep him from spitting up all over his clothes and the car seat.  He always seems to spit up on himself on the way to day-care.  I loved putting him in a Halloween onesie and the cute Halloween bib!

Monday when I dropped Cooper off at day-care I noticed that they had decorated the door for tomorrow's fall festival. Isn't my spider adorable??? Cutest spider I have ever seen!

Cooper is the blur on the left and now it is time for a confession.  I accidentally took an up close picture like the one above of the blur on the top right first and then after looking at it I realized it was not Cooper.  It was the other little boy in his class that is only a week younger than Cooper!  I guess I should have paid closer attention!

I am really looking forward to taking Cooper to the fall festival tomorrow night.  He gets to wear his Halloween costume, trick or treat, and hopefully we can meet other parents.

Monday I also took Cooper to the doctor to check out his cold and cough.  The doctor confirmed that it was a common cold and we were doing everything right.  As long as he doesn't have a fever we just have to wait it out.  He was so good the entire time including the 2-3 minutes she took looking in his ears (after getting wax out of the way) to make sure there was no ear infection. 

We also found out his weighs 13 lbs 14 oz! 

I ordered Cooper a personalized trick or treat bucket online and it is supposed to arrive today.  I can't wait to see it!!

My arm is sore from the flu shot I got yesterday, but I survived and it is completely worth it to help keep our little guy healthy!

Tonight is Game 2 of the World Series!  I feel a win coming on!!  Let's Go Rangers!!!!