3-month-mania

This month Snoop turned 3-months old. He has such a fun personality! If I were to guess some characteristics he'll have down the road, I'd say he would be observant, a processor (he literally takes in everything around him before reacting), and strong-willed (shocking)!! Oh, and advanced...obviously. :)

A couple important things to note about life all-things-Cooper at 12-weeks: he sucks on his fist, he found his tongue and always has it sticking out somehow, he loves to look in the mirror and can talk to himself for hours, you no longer have to work to get him to smile, he is trying to laugh now and it is adorable, he reaches for and GRIPS toys! Cooper has slept through the night several times - but Jeff and I, ever the movers, have traveled to visit grandparents or do this and that which always throws his schedule off- so he is not quite consistent yet. It's amazing how much I think about sleep these days! How much is he sleeping? How much should he be sleeping? Traveling throws off his sleep schedule? I'm so sick of thinking about sleep! Is he happy? Healthy? Then in my book, he is pretty darn PERFECT.

[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="There are many more pictures, but this one is CLEARLY the best. He is so OVER. IT."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_200" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sweetness."][/caption]

Here's what mommy is reading this month (awesome site for Babywise followers):

http://www.babywisemom.com/2010/10/sleep-hierarchy-3-6-months.html

Here's what CPK is playing with this month - the Oball rattle - great for learning how to grab he loves this thing!:



This month Cooper had his first flight to Texas. I flew with him alone and was slightly terrified but he did just fine. We had such an amazing time! It was so wonderful to spend time with family and friends and even more special- we got to introduce Cooper to his great-grandparents. Such a blessing! Family truly is everything. Here are just a few pics of the trip:

[caption id="attachment_225" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cooper meets some Dallas "aunties!""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_229" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Spending some QT with Aunt Elaine."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_226" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mi Cocina. A Dallas rite of passage. He looks frightened but one day he will understand."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_227" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Meeting his Great Grandpa "Bear""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_228" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="With his Granddad who can calm him down like NO other human can!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_231" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Meeting his Great Grandma Sally."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_230" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="SUCH a special moment meeting Great Grandma Betty"][/caption]

As always, I continue to feel it is of the utmost importance for CPK to know his Texas roots. This includes but is not limited to: Mexican food, humidity, that good ole Texas pride, and above all else, the Dallas. Cowboys. This is only one of many trips down south and I can't wait for him to look forward to our Texas travels!

Until next month,

Lauren

 

WW: The best is yet to come

Alas, my 30^th birthday came and went two months ago, and I’m finally getting around to posting about it. It was such a fun weekend! As the years pass I am convinced that it keeps getting better with each year. I mean, I know I'm only 30 and have quite a bit of life left to live, God willing, but I'd bet that my folks would agree that life gets oh-so-much-sweeter with age. Here are some pics of the weekend...

[caption id="attachment_214" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Surprise dinner in Denver with friends. Thanks husband![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_215" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Denver gals plus Kathryn and Jessica who surprised me from Dallas. Love you girls![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_216" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cheers to 30 more years of friendship![/caption]

In honor of this new decade, I took a quick look back on my 20s. It was fun, terrifying, and slightly embarrassing to reminisce. Ah, memories. I wrote down some influential decisions made in my 20s.

1. Graduating college. I’m going to go ahead and count this as a decision because I totally decided not to blow it off. Counts right? Not only did I successfully graduate (within 4 years may I add), but I was also blessed to have all my grandparents travel to Missouri from Texas to be a part of it. I have some fun memories of that weekend, and truly value that time with family.


2. Accepting a summer internship instead of pursuing a job immediately after college. I took a summer internship with a company right after college graduation. That position changed but the company did not, and was where I spent the last 8 years of my professional life. I found my career and calling through of this internship, and held 5 different positions and lived in four different cities due to this J-O-B. It has shaped who I am probably more than any other thing in my life. I am lucky to have lived this quote by Confucius: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”  This chapter in my book recently closed, but it was one of my most FAVORITE reads and has hands down made the biggest impact on me over the past decade.


3. My first post-college, live-by-and-support yourself apartment. Y’all we lived large in this place, spent money we didn’t have and explored our new-found freedom in Uptown Dallas. We loved it. I can’t say I made the best decisions during this first year of freedom- but I learned a lot, grew up a lot, and had a blast with the girls.


4. Living in Dallas. I look back at my time in my hometown of Dallas, Texas post-college, and it was seriously one of the most fun times of my life. I have since moved and am in the process of making a new city home, so now I MAJORLY value this time that I had in D-town. Having that time with all my high school friends, being close to my family, and living in such a fun young city was priceless.


5. Accepting a job in New York City. When I first got the call about this opportunity I said, without hesitation, “no way.”  However I did make that visit to the city that never sleeps, and lo and behold fell in love with the city, the job, and ultimately took the plunge and made the move. I can’t describe what it FEELS like to live in Manhattan, but I can tell you it is one of the most liberating and empowering feelings in the world. You find yourself in that place, or rather - it somehow discovers you. Whatever it is, it’s magical and living there is one of those puzzle pieces that I needed to feel complete.


6. Taking that trip to Vegas and saying yes to the guy with the Wal-Mart ring. Another city I loved to hate, but after meeting my now husband on his whirlwind trip to Dallas for a football bowl game, he invited me out to Las Vegas for a visit. After consulting my mother, another close friend, and a colleague over margaritas, I decided, what the hell. Two years later he proposed with a cubic zirconium ring from Wal-Mart and it was MAGIC! Saying yes was and probably will be the most defining moment of all decades to come.


7. The birth of our baby boy. He is delicious, challenging and all things perfect. Jeff and I were born to have this child, and he truly is the best decision that life allowed us to make, and God trusted us to bring into this world.

I always say that it is crazy how one decision can change the rest of your life. So make decisions wisely when you can and spontaneously when you need to, and as Frank Sinatra always said...the “best is yet to come.” Has there been a decision that you made that truly defined you?

With LOTS of age and wisdom,
Lauren :)

Wisdom Wednesdays: You're doing okay

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day on Sunday! I was so blessed to have spent the last week and a half with my family and mom in Dallas - here's a picture of our group celebrating the mamas (yep the plural would be me, my first Mothers Day)!



This year, obviously, the day is extra special. Jeff, Cooper and I were traveling on Sunday but people made a point to wish me a happy Mothers Day. Okay, at one point it was the flight attendant addressing the whole plane, but nonetheless I truly appreciated someone, even a complete stranger, recognizing me and others for being a mom. It's a rewarding title that takes on new meaning now that I actually AM one.  This past weekend I saw a commercial on TV that I just loved!  Did anyone see this Johnson’s commercial? Total tear-fest. If you missed it check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yotq4zr0dRc.

Totally hits home for me as a new mom of a little one. I think its pretty common, especially nowadays with all the books and resources available (hello pinterest), to feel inadequate.  There is always a new article or book telling you how to parent, the schedule to put your baby on, the pictures you should be capturing; there is constantly some piece of advice out there that you should be doing. I'm not sure its possible to have too much information out there, but whatever happened to intuition? It’s a little exhausting, because frankly, how can you measure up? You can’t, and inevitably, you feel like you fall short.

Sometimes you just need to hear out loud that you are doing a good job. With anything in life, all you can do is the best you can do, right? Whether it’s being a mom, a wife, a daughter, an employee…the list goes on and on. At the end of the day you are the ONLY person who has to look yourself in the mirror. Did you do the best you could that day? Did you do so with integrity? If so, cut yourself a break because I say, you’re doing okay. Sometimes it just feels so wonderful to hear it.

Happy Day!