Christmas in the Mountains!

Every December, my family celebrates Christmas with a weekend in Gatlinburg! We always have such a good time! This year I was SO excited to take Cooper with us! Kevin decided to go up a day early and have a "Family Day" with just us three! We had so much fun!! We toured the Titanic Museum, did a little shopping, and ate dinner at The Smoky Mountain Brewery (delicious pretzels and cheese!) I LOVE MY BOYS!!

My grandmother took all the grandkids and great-grandkids to the aquarium on Saturday. Cooper had a blast! Well, kind of!! He was interested in some things and not in others....but he was very good!! I have some cute pictures, but we have lost our cord to upload them and haven't replaced it yet.....stay tuned!!

On the way home Sunday, it actually started snowing! It was so pretty! We stopped at The Christmas Village and had Cooper's picture taken with the most adorable Santa Claus! He even sang songs! Once again, Cooper could take it or leave it. He is too funny!! The picture is precious regardless!!

Operation Fat Baby is well underway!! Cooper gained 1 pound in less than 2 weeks!! He is having a little
trouble getting in all the calories we need to get in, but we are trying!! He now weighs over 16 pounds!! Stay tuned!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Our first sickness

Well it was bound to happen........Cooper got sick. Toward the end of his birthday party I could tell he was not feeling good. I was hoping he was just tired, but my fears were confirmed with a fever.

I took Cooper to the doctor on Monday morning to see what was going on with my boy. He still had a bit of a fever and was snotty, but most troubling was this cough. His oxygen saturation was still fabulous, so I knew he was breathing just fine. The doctor could hear a little "crackling" in his lower left lung...NOT GOOD! I remember those crackling days of the NICU and it always meant trouble! She sent us in for an x-ray and it was confirmed that he was in the beginning stages of pneumonia.....YIKES!! They put him on some pretty tough antibiotics and we were told to keep an eye on him for signs of breathing distress.

It just so happened that I had Cooper's 1 year old well visit scheduled for Wednesday, so we went back in. His lungs sounded a little better, but his ears looked bad. He had an infection in one ear and the other ear was starting to get infected on antibiotics.....Poor guy! They switched antibiotics and gave him his 1 year shots; Fun stuff!!

We are still working on "Operation Fat Baby". We were told we could switch to whole milk and load up on the solids! They also gave us this pediasure extra calorie shake to give him once a day. This should put weight on him!! He already looks fatter to me after 1 shake! LOL!! His breathing is still great without oxygen!! God is so good!!!

Cooper's 1st Birthday

Cooper is 1!!!!

Cooper and his NICU buddy Johannah!! She is so beautiful!

We decided to do cake anyway.....

Cooper's presents!

What a wonderful day!! Cooper had a blast hanging with family and a few friends! We were showered with gifts for this sweet miracle!! We debated and debated about the cake and I kept changing my mind...He barely eats solids and definitely has not had sugar yet. When the time came, we gave it to him and he licked his fingers a few times and was done! He got very messy, so everyone got the pictures they wanted!! After a short bath he rejoined the party and opened his gifts...Note to self: Save money; give wrapping paper and boxes!! What a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is Cooper 1 year ago!! We truly have A LOT to be thankful for!!

I am counting my blessings today:

1. My husband, Kevin, who works very hard and is a very "frugal" with money! I am thankful for his frugalness~it has allowed me to stay home with Cooper this last year!!
2. My son Cooper! He is a fighter!! He is stubborn!! He is loving! He is funny!! I am blessed!
3. Our friends and family! They have prayed us through this LONG year!
4. Doctors and nurses who really care!!
5. Military who fight for our freedom and sacrifice being away from their family!
6. Our Early Intervention teacher, Mrs. Sandy!
7. Our wonderful church family!
8. We have a warm home with all the comforts!
9. We have food in the pantry!
10. Too many to count!!

Most importantly, We are thankful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He died on the cross for our sins, even though we are grossly undeserving! Thank you Lord for our many, MANY blessings!!

Can it really be this easy??

Cooper and I with our glasses! He is too cute!! He has his Daddy's "serious" face! LOL

Cooper has been off oxygen during the day now for 2 weeks!! I cannot believe he is doing so well! He keeps his oxygen saturation anywhere from 97-99%; which is pretty fantastic! I am very much enjoying taking him places without the extra equipment! He is enjoying no nasal cannula attached to his face!!

I did have a moment of doubt and had to ask our pediatrician if he was really ok....It's kind of funny now! The monitor was saying that his saturation was good, heart rate steady, he was in good spirits, and was not breathing too hard. My thought "what if he is working too hard and won't gain weight". I had to ask:  if everything says he is ok...is he really ok?? Can it be this easy to FINALLY come off oxygen. His answer was yes! When they are ready, they are ready. DUH! I should have remembered this from the NICU, but I've had some time away and forgot! :) He reminded me to trust my instincts! Dr Bill  is WONDERFUL!

We have also found AWESOME child care for Cooper! I am going back to work in January and have been praying for the right person to come along....enter Mrs. Amy! She is wonderful! She has a 9 month old son and the boys get along so well! I am excited for her son to teach Cooper a few things! We have already done a trial run, and Cooper didn't even cry....not going to say the same for me! I feel very confident that we have found the perfect fit for Cooper, so I can focus on going back to teaching in January!! God is good!

NO oxygen and New glasses!!!





Our pediatrician told us to do room air trials for a few hours to see how Cooper does without oxygen. Armed with this knowledge, we visited the BPD clinic at Vandy on Friday. I told them what his oxygen saturation is without oxygen for 3 hours (he stays around 97% or better). They were impressed and agreed that if he continued to do well, we could have him off oxygen during the day. He still gets oxygen at night.

It's day 5 off oxygen during the day and he is doing great!! I am very proud of our guy! His saturation remains high and he is not showing any signs of working too hard. I even asked my pediatrician if we were doing ok...it just seemed a little easy...

His glasses came in on Friday and he looks so cute. He doesn't pull at them too much unless he is tired or just happens to find them with his hands. We are working on what the word "NO" means...He still laughs when I say it...Boy am I in trouble!!

God is so good!!!

Cooper's 1st Halloween!

Ok....So I'm a little behind. We have been busy busy busy!! The Fall season and Halloween are my favorite time of year! I love the cool, crisp air and the changing colors of the leaves! Oh yeah and the pumpkins!! I was looking forward to having Cooper pose with pumpkins and getting lots of smiling pictures... Let's just say THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN!!

He was NOT HAPPY and kept throwing himself backward refusing to sit up and pose for a picture. I couldn't help but laugh!! We bought 3 pumpkins and decided to try again at home where we could control the situation a bit better...

This is so NOT what I had imagined...But they made for a funny story!!

I found the CUTEST spider costume for Cooper for Halloween and despite the fact that I have an irrational fear of spiders; he was the cutest spider I have ever seen!!

We took him to our church's Trunk or Treat on Halloween night and then around to the grandparents. He was such a cutie and had so much fun looking at all the costumes!! Needless to say, he was a big hit at the Trunk or Treat!

We decided to pose for a few more pictures at home....

 Enjoying some candy...

 Posing with the Jack-o-lantern...

And posing with another spider.

Happy Halloween everyone!!