# 71 - Partial Check

So # 71 on my 101 list is to read ten biographies, and I've read two so far.

The first is Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall.

It was pretty good, but it seemed to drag on and on and on. And some of the writing and dialogue was just weird the way it was worded, as if to be too perfect. I've read similar stories by other 'escapees' from the FLDS and they are just written much better. It was good though.

Then I read Love Times Three by the Darger Family.

Notice a trend? Ha! No, I am not becoming a polygamist or anything like that. It is just a very interesting lifestyle. This book was much much better, and it showed the complete opposite side of polygamy than the other book. This one is written by a husband and his three wives. They are in a loving, trusting, consenting relationship where they are committed to each other and their 20+ children. It's great. I love it. I've read it multiple times since getting it about a month ago. And now I follow them on Twitter. LOL.

30 Day Photo Challenge - Day 1

So some people on Facebook are doing a 30 Day Photo Challenge. I'm posting this stuff there, but I'm doing it all out of order. For the sake of some kind of order, I'm going to do it chronologically here.

So Day 1 - Post a picture of yourself with 10 Facts.

28 weeks preggo with Cooper

1. My favorite cereal is Lucky Charms, and when I eat it, I always eat all the cereal pieces first then the marshmallows. 
2. I love to take my shoes off at work and sit with my feet in my chair. Sometimes, I've "lost" my shoes because I took them off at one desk and then moved to another desk and forgot where I left them.
3. I have a sister that I'm not actually related to, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
4. I think whoever paid $20.5 million for a Jackson Pollock painting needs to find something else to do with their money.
5. I have never been out of the Southeast. The furthest north I've been is Gatlinburg, and the furthest west I've been is Longview, Texas. 
6. I can't stand it when someone messes up verb conjugation in writing. For example, it drives me crazy if someone writes, "She like to dance," when it should be "She likes to dance."
7. I work at an answering service, and I will have stories for years to come of the craziness and stupidity that I and my co-workers have encountered.
8. I never really understood the difference between cheap wine and good wine until I had a glass of Castello del Poggio Moscato at Olive Garden, and I'm hooked.
9. I really like stand up comedy, my favorites being Gabriel Iglesias and Jeff Dunham.
10. My husband and my son are the absolute materialization of my dreams.

So there we go! Day 1 complete. I'm pretty sure I won't finish this whole thing in 30 days, but I'm at least going to try to finish it. There may just be better things to blog about. 

Anywhoozle....later my friends!

Cooper is 6 Months Old!

My little boy turned six months old today! I've been telling people all day and it still hasn't really kicked in that my boy, my little baby, is six months old. It's hard to believe. I totally forgot to take his picture, so here he is asleep. Haha! It's easier to take a good pic this way since he's not wiggling all over the place. 

Weight:  

I'm really not sure honestly. I figure around 19 lbs. He was 17.5 pounds at around 4 and a half months old, so maybe around 19. I could be way wrong though. He will be 7 months at his 6 month doctor appointment so we'll see for sure then. 

Height:

Again, not sure. He was 26.5 inches at his last appointment so maybe what, 28? IDK

Clothing:

He is certainly wearing 6-9 month stuff, and even some 9-12 month things. For sleepers, he has to have 9-12 because the 6-9 month ones are too short for his long legs. 

Diapers:

We are in a size 3, and I think he'll stay there for a little while. He's in a stage where he is constantly trying to get away from me during diaper changes. 

Feeding:

Boy loves food! He has a bottle every 3-4 hours, eating 8 ounces at a time (I know right!). He has been eating baby food consistently for about a month now. We had been offering it to him sporadically, just to introduce it, but it has been full time for a while. For breakfast he gets cereal and a fruit (we've had peaches, apples, pears, and bananas.). Around lunch he gets a vegetable and dinner a vegetable. For vegetables, he loves carrots, squash and sweet potatoes (all the orange ones). He isn't really into the green beans or peas, but he will eat them if you mix it with something else, like carrots. He is trying to hold his own bottle, but he'd rather someone hold it for him, and I'm always happy to do it.

Hair/Eyes:

I still can't tell what color his hair is/is going to be. It's kinda blonde, with a red tint in the sun, which he gets from his daddy. But sometimes it looks dark. He has a little cradle cap, but we are working on it. He has a bald spot on the back of his head from scooting on his back so much. His eyes are still beautifully blue, and I hope they don't change. 

Sleep:

He was doing so well before we moved, but this move has thrown him off. Pre-move, he was going to bed around 8 or so and sleeping until 6 or 7am. When I started back on day shift, I had to get up earlier to take him to my mom's in the morning, so he started going to bed earlier, usually around 7, and he sleeps until I wake him up at 5:30 or so. Now that we have moved, he is pretty much on the same schedule, but he has started waking up at night. He's not hungry, he just wants to be cuddled and he goes right back to sleep. I know I know, I have to break him of that and quit picking him up but it's hard because I know this is a new environment and he has to get used to it. 

Fun Stuff:

He is rolling over like a pro! Both ways too! He loves his walker and his activity center. And he can't get enough of Tec the Tractor (Baby First TV). He has started reaching for people ever so slightly, and that has tickled his PawPaw to death! Cooper loves his PawPaw Wayne (Dixie's dad). We go to his house and Cooper just lights up and giggles. Cooper likes everyone. I've taken him by my office and he just laughs and laughs with my two boss ladies. He is such a charmer. 

Fun moment:

 At the Thrift Store the other day, I was walking around, with Cooper in the buggy in his car seat, and an older, gray haired lady stopped to see him. She started talking to him and he was smiling back and squealing like it was his job, and the lady turned to me and said, "He knows a grandma when he sees one." Love it!

Sleeping through the Night....Part Deaux

(Ignore the fact that it's been so long...) So Cooper has been sleeping through the night since he was a little over two months old. It started out as sleeping from about 9pm to about 5am ish, maybe a tad longer some days. It has gradually grown to where he would go to bed between 7 and 8p and wake up around 6-6:30. Then when I started back working, I have to be in at 7am, so I would get up and get myself ready then wake him up around 5:30am to get him ready right quick and off to my mother's house. Since he was up so early, he had been going to bed a little earlier, but still sleeping through the night.

 Well, that got thrown out of whack when we moved. We recently bought a new place, and since moving in, Cooper hasn't slept well. I know that the new environment is throwing him off, plus he is teething something fierce so that has a lot to do with it. But wow, this mama was thrown for an even bigger loop! I got really used to sleeping again! The last week or so has seen Cooper getting up every 2 hours at night. He doesn't want to eat or anything, he wants to snuggle and be rocked. And of course, bad mommy, I don't have the heart to let him cry it out and go back to sleep on his own. So I get him up, rock him to sleep, and put him back in bed. Which takes about 30 minutes each time he does it. That means I've been losing about two hours of the sleep I usually get, plus the time it takes me to fall back asleep. So maybe its three hours. Either way, I'm exhausted.

 Last night, he managed to sleep all the way through, but he was up for the day at 5am this morning, therefore, so was I. I'm so not sure what's going on. I know I just probably have to give him time and let him get used to his new surroundings. So I guess that's what we are doing. Giving it some time.

 In other news, the boy loves food! We have started him on baby food full time, which he gets twice a day right now. He usually gets a fruit for breakfast, usually bananas, and then a veggie sometime around lunch-ish. He loves bananas, and has had peaches also. As for veggies, I haven't found one that he wouldn't eat. He likes squash, peas, sweet potatoes, but his favorite so far is carrots. I can't get them in fast enough. With the other foods, when he sees the next bite coming, he opens his mouth, but with carrots, he has his mouth wide open before I even get the next bite ready! He loves it! I'm so glad, because my eyesight sucks bad, so maybe the carrots will help. Or maybe it won't have anything to do with it, but hey, a mama can hope.

 Now that I've been up over an hour, it's time to get ready for work. I love our new place because it's 4 miles from my job instead of 24, and it's less than 2 miles from Dixie's work. Awesome I know! Maybe I'll get around to posting some pics of the babe, but you know, they are all still on my camera, which I think is still packed somewhere....I think....it better be...

 Anywhoozle.... off to work. Maybe I'll have a good story or something later...