Cooper's First Time at Church

We took Cooper to church for the first time this past Sunday (12/27/2009). These are some pictures that I took before we left the house. He was so good during the service! Thanks to Kelly for the precious outfit!

Merry Christmas 2009!

Here are a few pictures that we took of Cooper with the intention of ordering Christmas cards. I've been sick with a bad sinus infection so I'm not sure if I am going to have the time to get cards ordered and mailed out so I thought I'd share these with everyone. Merry Christmas!

Cooper - 1 Month Old

Cooper - At 1 month you are:

• In between a newborn and size 1 diaper.
• Wearing 0-3 month clothes (mostly 3 month sizes).
• At your 3 week checkup you weighed 9 lbs, 3 ozs and were 21 1/2 inches long, but you are growing like crazy and are even bigger now!
• You are getting stronger and are able to hold your head up for longer periods of time.
• You are noticing everything now and you love being in new surroundings.
• You are sleeping in 3 hours intervals at night. When you wake up to be fed and changed, you usually stay up for about an hour and a half before you are ready to go back to bed.
• You like your pacifier and love to suck your thumb.
• You like to nap in the mornings.
• You are very active and are always moving!
• You are such a good baby - Daddy and I are very lucky to have such a good, sweet boy!
• You have become the center of Daddy and Mommy's world and we love you very much!

Maternity Photo Shoot - October 2009

We did a maternity photo shoot in October. This was something that we really wanted to do to document my pregnancy with Cooper. Jeanie Cone and April Cone Pearson of Two Scoops Photography took our pictures and we were VERY happy with our photo shoot! We had a really fun time taking the pictures with them and we LOVED the photographs! We highly recommend them to anyone wanting to have pictures made - we will definitely be using them again! I know that they also do weddings, infant and children's pictures. You can check out their website at www.twoscoopsphotography.com.

Make a Smilebox collage

Random Pictures of Cooper (Birth thru 2 weeks)

Cooper Reece is here!

Cooper Reece
11/10/09
3:21pm
7 lbs, 15 ozs
20 1/2 inches long

Cooper is finally here! I was admitted to the hospital on Monday, November 9th at 3pm after my water broke at my OB/GYN's office (pretty convenient, huh?). I started having pretty strong contractions that night but wasn't dilating. At 6:30am, my doctor started me on Pitocin and Cooper arrived at 3:21pm on Tuesday, November 10. He was 7 lbs, 15 ozs, 20 1/2 inches long and was healthy and beautiful! We were suppose to be released from the hospital on Thursday, November 12th but Cooper's billirubin levels went up and he had some jaundice and had to stay under the billilights to try to get those levels down. We ended up staying there until Sunday, November 15th. We had him at UAB West, because that's where my doctor practices and we wanted him to deliver Cooper because both Chris and I think the world of Dr. Stephen. We had a wonderful experience there! The staff and nurses in the Women's Center were SOOOO good to us and took excellent care of both me and the baby. They were so attentive and supportive that we began to feel like they were family (being there for 6 days could have had something to do with that!). I've heard that some of the larger hospitals can make you feel like you are in a "baby factory" so I was hoping that delivering at a smaller hospital would be different and it was. We have nothing but good things to say about our experience there! I was released on Thursday but they let us stay in a room with Cooper until he was able to come home. As long as they had an extra room, they let us use it so we didn't have to leave him there alone and we really appreciated that. I don't think that there are many other hospitals that would let you do that! I will post more later once I have another free minute to download them off our camera.

Fur Babies

I couldn't resist adding this picture of our fur babies, Murphy (on the left) and Darby (on the right). They each have their own doghouse but are inseparable and will always stay in the same house. They love children and I know that they will be so good with Cooper when he gets older!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my parents' 46th wedding anniversary. I'm so lucky that God blessed me with such wonderful parents! We love you both very much and wish you a very happy anniversary!

37 Weeks

Here I am at 37 weeks. Dr. Stephen said I was at a -3 and 30% effaced so there's been a little progress. Everything is still going well! I know that this sounds weird but I am SO excited about Cooper's arrival but I admit that I will miss being pregnant. Chris is getting really excited and refers to Cooper as "his boy" - he'll be such a great dad!

36 Weeks

Here I am at 36 weeks. This week began my weekly doctor's visits. Dr. Stephen said that everything was going well and that I was at a -4 and 10% effaced. Cooper obviously is happy where he is at the moment and has made no attempt to move down! That's just fine though, he'll come when he gets good and ready! I still feel pretty good. I've began having some hip pain at night and when I sit for too long, but other than that, everything has went really well.

Couples' Baby Shower (10/9/09)

Our dear friends, Courtney & Noah Truett and Amie & Andy White, threw us a wonderful couples' shower on October 9th. Courtney & Noah opened their home to host the party and everything turned out SO good! The food was delicious and we had such a great time! Thanks to them for all their hard work in making everything so special! We are so thankful that we have such great friends! We love you guys!

Here's the table with some of the food. Noah also grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and we had that with all the fixins!

Courtney painted these precious pictures for us to hang in Cooper's nursery. They look SO good hanging over his changing table and they will be something special that we can save for him.

This is the other picture that she painted. SO cute!

Here's a picture of Eli and Sam Truett. They were a huge help to Chris and I when we were opening gifts :). Cooper will have 2 buddies to play with when he gets older!

This is the cake that Amie had made. Is this cake not precious!?!?!?

Here's a picture of Chris and I at the shower. I am 34 weeks and 6 days in this picture.

Us opening gifts. Seth and Meg gave us this adorable sleep and play. Isn't the little fire department Maltese Cross on the behind too cute?

Here's another picture of Chris and I. Thanks again to everyone! We had a great time!!!

Our Church Baby Shower (9/27/2009)

Sunday, some of our friends and family from church (Concord Baptist) threw us a baby shower for Cooper. There are SO many creative and talented ladies at our church and the decorations were the cutest I have ever seen! Everything turned out perfect! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family! Unfortunately, Chris wasn't able to be there. His birthday was the same day as the shower and he had taken a fishing trip to Apalachicola with some of his friends from work. He was able to see all the great pictures (Thanks, Tiffany!) and gifts when he got home last night. Here are a few pictures from the shower.

This is the area that was set up for me to open gifts.

The food tables - the food was delicious (as usual!).

This is a picture of me with Cooper's grandmother's (Chris' mom on the left and my mom on the right).

How cute were these front door decorations?

Our dear friend Evelyn made this table decoration using children's rainboots. I think that this is the absolute cutest idea that I have ever seen! So creative!

The candy pacifier tree. Too cute!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

In honor of college football season, I have to share the recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip. I really love any kind of dip but this one has to be my #1 fav and it goes perfect with football parties! It is SOOOO yummy and goes great with Tostitos Scoops or Fritos Scoops. Enjoy and ROLL TIDE!


BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

4 to 5 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Regular Sized Bottle of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
1 Package Cream Cheese
1 Regular Sized Bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Boil chicken, cool and then cut into small cubes. Place in a 9 X 13 casserole dish and coat well with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. Using mixer, blend cream cheese and entire bottle of ranch dressing together and pour evenly over chicken. Cover well with cheddar cheese and back for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

9 Week Countdown!

Not alot has been going on around the Richards' household. My cousin Meagan's baby shower (she's expecting little Charley on October 25th) was this past Sunday and she got SO many cute things! It makes me excited for our little Cooper to arrive! Chris and I start childbirth classes tonight so for the next 5 weeks our Tuesday nights will be spent there. My doctor's appointment went well yesterday. My weight gain is still good. I gained 4 lbs so that makes 15 lbs total for this pregnancy which is surprising because I really don't watch what I eat. I just try to make healthy eating decisions but I also indulge in some junk food too! :) Cooper is growing so fast now and and it's like my belly is getting bigger everyday. We can't wait for our little man to arrive!

Less than 10 weeks to go!

In 2 days, I will be 31 weeks pregnant. I can't believe that I'll be down to the single digit countdown! It seems like this summer has FLOWN by! Chris and I have been working on the nursery and it is looking SO cute! We are using light blue and white with red accents and are using a firetruck theme. I'll post pictures soon.

We have been so blessed that this pregnancy has been a fairly easy one (besides all the usual pregnancy symptoms!). I had a lot of nausea and fatigue during the first trimester but, other than that, it's been great. I'm lucky to have not had the swelling and water retention that most pregnant women have and I've very grateful. As of today, I've only gained 11 lbs. My next doctor's appointment is Monday, so that number could change! :)

Our church shower is going to be on September 27th and I know that it will be beautiful! Joyce, Evelyn and some other ladies from church are planning that for us and we appreciate and love them so much for all their hard work! On October 9th, Courtney, Noah, Amie and Andy are throwing us a couples shower which should be a lot of fun. We are blessed to have such wonderful and dear friends! I'll post pictures from both after the parties!

Cooper's First "Portrait"

We went for our 4D ultrasound yesterday and, of course, our little man wasn't in a mood to cooperate! If ultrasounds are any indication, then this little kid is NOT going to like his picture taken! :) He kept his little hands up to his face and moved the whole time but we were still able to get some good images. Everything looks great and we were very grateful to hear that! I'm so excited to meet this little guy that I can hardly stand it! It's amazing that you can love someone this much before you meet them!

Our Little Man Finally Has a Name!

We have finally decided on a name for our little boy (who will be here before we know it)! We decided to name him Cooper Reece Richards. Reece is after my Dad who has been insisting on us giving the baby his first name (Maurice) since he found out we were pregnant. I guess Reece will have to suffice! ;) It's nice to finally be able to call him by his actual name! I've been calling him "Monkey" because he is so active and, who knows, that might end up sticking as his nickname! ;)

It's a Boy!!!

Finally, after 2 ultrasounds, we found out yesterday that we are having a little boy! We went for our first ultrasound on June 23 at 2:00pm but the baby was in a lazy mood and wouldn't let us in on whether it was a boy or girl! :) The ultrasound tech was able to get all of the information that she needed for our doctor and we were able to see (almost) everything! The most important thing is that everything looked good and the baby is healthy and we are thankful for that! The ultrasound yesterday was just for finding out the gender. We are really excited!! Now all we need is to agree on a name!