Finally, after almost a year, our little tricycle motor is working properly!
He go so excited that he could use the pedals that he would stomp is feet and laugh like a crazy person.
Cooper, your Mommy and Daddy are super proud of you!
Thirty Four Months
Dear Cooper,
On September 20, you turned 34 months old. Mommy’s been pretty busy this month and has not had much time for fun pictures. I hope that things will start to level off a bit and we can have some fun.
You started back to school this month. You were so excited to start but it took you a while to understand that you would be in a different class with a different teacher and new friends. You wanted to be in Ms. Faith’s class again, but this year you are in Ms. Emily’s class. You are adjusting very well and are making new friends.
I especially like the fact that you won’t take a nap at school because you are not tired, yet. That means you will take a good nap when you get home, which means extra time for Mommy. You come home singing new songs and talking about all the things you enjoy at school. I love watching you learn.
We have been stopping by our new house after school to see the progress the builder has made. So far, we still don’t have a foundation, but it should be poured any day now.
Mama Choo-Choo came for a short visit and the next weekend we travelled to Houston to visit Mama and Papa Mery and Uncle Robert, Aunt Becky and Baby Jaxon. You were so excited to see your cousin, Jaxon. The first thing you asked when you saw him was if you could hold him. You were so sweet to him; you couldn’t keep your hands off of him. You even helped Mommy feed him a bottle.
You’ve been a really good kid, lately. Keep it up!
Love,
Mommy
Months 32 and 33
Dear Cooper,
On August 20, you turned 33 months old.
You are not my little baby any more. You have officially transformed into an adorable little boy. You have thinned out quite a bit in the last few months, no more pudgy baby belly.
Back in July, Uncle Robert and Aunt Becky came to visit with your cousin, Jaxon. You were very interested in him, but were afraid to get too close. Mommy got a taste of what it would be like to have two kids. You were jealous at first, but you quickly adjusted.
You are developing quite the mechanical mind. You love to ‘fix’ your toys, especially the ones with wheels.
I’m trying to limit your TV time, so while I work out, I’m trying to get you to play in your room. Although you usually end up in the living room, you have also spent some time playing in your closet, where you found your nap mat from school. I still let you watch your ‘bideos’ while I shower, and one time I came out to check on you when I was done and found you like this.
You have been all about the hand gestures, lately. Your Daddy has taught you how to head bang to music. We’ll be riding in the car with the radio on and I’ll look back at you in the mirror and see you with your eyes closed, hand in the air, shaking your head up and down. You don’t always get the right fingers up, but it’s still really cute. You can also get your guns up: Go Tech!
This summer has been incredibly hot. We’ll hit a record number of days with highs over 100 degrees in just a week or so. It finally rained and you were so intrigued by it that you pulled a chair over to the back door and just watched it for the longest time.
The last two months have been full of transition for you and I’m sorry to say, it’s not over yet. Our house sold after just three and a half weeks on the market, which means we had to move into an apartment until our new house is built.
Mama and Papa Choo-Choo came to help keep you occupied during the move. The first day went really smooth, but Mommy got heat exhaustion on Saturday, so our friends came to help us move the last odds and ends on Sunday. Thanks Danny, Jenny, Katie and Juan! You got to spend some time playing with Karizma while Katie and Juan were helping. (Some more cute pics of Cooper and Karizma here, here and here.)
You did really well during the actual move, but the days following have been a roller coaster ride. Some days are really good, some really bad. On the bad days, it seems like you don’t know what you want. For example, you want to eat, but when I fix you something, you don’t want it, so I put it away and you cry because you really did want it. At your first swimming lesson after the move, you sat on the side of the pool and cried for most of the lesson because you didn’t want to do what the rest of the class was doing.
The good days far outweigh the bad ones, though. Your Daddy and I feel very blessed to have such a good kid.
We love you very much!
Mommy
Procrastination Station
I know I’m really late in posting Cooper’s 32 month letter, and I only have 12 days until it’s time for his 33 month letter, but there is good reason…
First of all, our house sold after 3.5 weeks on the market, yay! We are set to close on Aug. 25th. We will be moving into an apartment next weekend, boo! Our new house should be ready before Christmas, knock on wood! Have we packed, yet? No. Do we have a moving truck reserved? No. Why are we procrastinating so bad? I don’t know. I think, subconsciously, that it’s because we are not at all excited about having to live in an apartment for 4 months.
Secondly, the photographer I work for has had some major personal issues going on which caused her to get way behind, which in turn, caused me to get way behind after a couple of weeks of having nothing to work on. I have been slammed with a ton of work for the last three weeks, most of which was past due. I’m finally starting to get caught up, though, so that’s good.
Thirdly, P90X is very time consuming. You work out everyday for atleast an hour. Most workouts end up being an hour and a half long after you add the ab workout to the routine. I’m sticking with it, though, because I’m starting to see results. Each workout is getting easier, I’m adding weight and reps and I’m able to keep up with the ab workout, which I couldn’t even do some of the exercises the first time around.
Lastly, MOPS is starting soon. We had our Steering Retreat last weekend and it was amazing! We got the entire year planned and I’m super excited about it. Jeff purchased the rights to gcnmops.org for us and set it up so I could administer the site. Didn’t know I was web savvy, did you? Neither did I! Actually, we’re using some free software (Joomla) to administer the site and it’s super easy, with lots of tutorials. Jeff thinks I’m addicted now, but I just want the site to look the way I want it to look, so I’ve spent a lot of time working on it.
Once we get into the apartment, I’m hoping to have some time to sort through all the photos and get Cooper’s letters written. That is, if we ever get into the apartment. We got a call from the complex this morning and they said they made a data entry error. The apartment that we are supposed to be renting (2 bedroom, 2 bath, den and attached garage) was supposed to be vacated this weekend. Was it? No. Apparently they entered the move-out date into the computer incorrectly. So, we can’t move into that apartment next weekend and they don’t have any others like the floorplan we were wanting available until September. Did I mention we close on August 25th? We told the sellers we would be out next weekend so they could do a final walk-through before closing. The apartment complex is awaiting a response from their regional office to see if they can lease a three bedroom apartment to us for the same price. We’ll see what happens.
UPDATE: The guy from the apartment complex just called. We’re getting the 3 bedroom for the same price, yay! The downside to all of this is there is no attached garage, and they don’t have any unattached garages available, either. We were going to use that for storing our appliances, extra furniture, etc. The upside? He said he would have ‘his guys’ help us move all our stuff up (it’s a second floor apartment) to the third bedroom for us. Hopefully, it will all work out.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat…
…well, not exactly. A couple of months ago, Jeff and I ordered P90X. We were looking for something we could do that did not include running in the Texas summer heat and trying to save some money by getting rid of our gym memberships. If you’ve never heard of it, just flip through the channels, they have an infomercial that plays every so often. Yes, we bought something advertised on an infomercial. My boss, Les, has been doing it for a while with amazing results. Then, two of Jeff’s running buddies from his marathon training group started it, so we had real life proof of its effectiveness. After watching the initial video and reading through the fitness and nutrition guides, we went shopping and bought all the supplies we needed: a pull-up bar, push-up stands, and resistance bands (I already had a yoga mat). I would like to say that we started it immediately, but I would be lying. We were scared, and rightly so…
I finally got angry enough at my laziness up the courage to start it last Monday (about 2 months after we bought it). Here is the routine:
| Weeks 1-3, 9, 11 | Weeks 4, 8 | Weeks 5-7, 10, 12 | |
| Day 1 | Chest/Back, Abs | Yoga | Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Abs |
| Day 2 | Plyometrics | Core | Plyometrics |
| Day 3 | Arms/Shoulders, Abs | Kenpo | Back/Biceps, Abs |
| Day 4 | Yoga | Stretch | Yoga |
| Day 5 | Legs/Back, Abs | Core | Legs/Back, Abs |
| Day 6 | Kenpo | Yoga | Kenpo |
| Day 7 | Rest or Stretch | Rest or Stretch | Rest or Stretch |
Doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Yeah, right! This program was designed to get you in shape in 90 days, without hitting plateaus, through muscle confusion. It is the most intense workout I have ever attempted. After Day 1, I could barely raise my arms, after Day 2, I could barely walk, and so on and so forth. By Saturday, my entire body hurt. But the funny thing is, this morning I was ready to do it all over again. It will be a while before I look stronger, but I already feel stronger. It’s crazy!
I wasn’t brave enough to take before pictures, but I plan to take pictures on Day 30, 60 and 90, unless I get pregnant, but that’s a discussion for another time.
Jeff started on Wednesday and is writing about it here.
To my fellow P90X’ers: BRING IT!
Too cool for school
So, Jeff decided he needed his own blog. Check it out http://jeffmery.com
Silversun Pickups – Swoon
This is the best album I have heard in *years*. That’s not a statement I make lightly. Do yourself a favor and just buy it. Now. No, really, I’ll wait.
Thirty One Months
Dear Cooper,
On Saturday, you turned thirty one months old. This has been an exciting month in the Mery Family. Your very first cousin, Jaxon, was born on May 26th. We traveled to Houston to welcome him into the world. When we got there, Aunt Becky was just starting to push and Jaxon arrived almost two hours later. You were such a good boy at the hospital, especially having to wait in the waiting room for so long without a nap.
Later that weekend, Daddy and I decided to build a new house for us. We went looking and picked a floor plan. We put some money down on a lot and started the building process. We put our house on the market and hopefully it will sell soon, because keeping it clean with you in the house is hard to do. I keep finding little finger prints everywhere.
Mommy got to babysit Karizma and got a true , but brief, taste of what having two kids would be like. It took a little while for you to not be jealous of her, but after that you were so good with her. You were very interested in what she was able to do and the noises she made. I can’t wait until you have a baby brother or sister to play with.
Next we had a MOPS Playdate at Dawson’s Place. Boy do you love that tractor! You played on it almost the entire time we were there.
You had your very first official swimming lesson this month. I hate to say it, but you were the crybaby of the class. Because you are not three years old, yet, Mommy has to be in the water with you. You clung to my neck like a spider monkey and yelled, ‘No Mommy’, ‘I don’t want to’ the entire class. Our class meets once a week and the second lesson was a little better, but not by much.
I decided to take you to the neighborhood pool to practice and get in some time at the splash pool. You had a blast! I think your problem with swim lessons is that you have to do what the teacher says instead of what you want to do. I did get you into the big pool and you let me practice some stuff with you. I even got you to go under the water a couple of times.
We went to visit Phoenix and you guys had fun playing in the pool, on the swing set, and playing with his train table.
You are very independent and you like to ‘do it myself!’ Now if only I could interest you in using the big boy potty. You’re naps are getting back to normal as long as I keep you entertained in the mornings. After our trip to the pool, you slept for 3 and a half hours. Time to fill up your schedule with fun things to do.
Love,
Mommy
Wanna’ buy a house?
It’s official; our house is on the market. You can find it with MLS#5461403. There aren’t any pictures yet, but there will be later this week.
Nine Years
How has it been nine years already?
Yesterday, Jeff and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary, and we both forgot! Or should I say that we didn’t remember? We knew it was coming, it just kind of snuck up on us. Anyways, thanks to Uncle Todd, we were able to enjoy dinner at La Margarita all by ourselves and Jeff forced me to eat ice cream treated me to Maggie Moo’s for dessert. With everything going on these days, it was a nice little evening that we really enjoyed.
Here’s to another nine years!
