Our little artists

These pictures are from right before Piper was born - I think late November/early December.  The kids, especially Laney, are totally into coloring.  I just love to see their coloring progress and a peek into how their little minds work.

 In early November she was so proud to write the letter C.  This came out of nowhere, she has never written any other letters!

 More of the letter C.  And those scribbles is how she always colors, I LOVE it!

 A great perk of their coloring-the table talk that I get to eavesdrop in on.

 More of her scribble scrabble…that's what Cooper calls it.  

 Cooper's first family portrait and I couldn't love it more.  Piper wasn't born yet, hence the baby title.  I love the typical heads on sticks with giant hands.  I love we are all one color except for Lola who got lots of colors.  I love that he ordered us biggest to smallest (backwards ;)) and this is the exact order he prays for everyone each night.

 Coop's coloring pages are usually superheros.  

 Laney is also loving Dora these days.

Adam was working in the office and Cooper joined him to write a message to his (imaginary) friend Robin.  He had Adam print it out, brought it to me and asked if I would put it in the mail.  Of course I did ;).

Dad and his (sleepy) girls

Dad and Piper were napping in the recliner.  Laney climbed on up and made herself comfy.

Pajama Day at Preschool

PJ Day is always a favorite!  The kids picked out their PJs for the day.  Laney refused to wear anything else than her Minnie nightgown, luckily I was able to get some pink leggings on with it. 

 See last years PJ Day here.

 Cooper always with the cheesy smile.

Cooper's soccer season

Cooper was adamant about playing soccer as his next sport.  A couple other boys in his class wanted to play soccer too - so we all signed up for indoor soccer this winter.  Indoor was great because there was no out of bounds…can't imagine if they were on an open field.  If nothing else, these games were a great 45 minutes of Sunday afternoon entertainment and a good intro to soccer.

 It took him a few games to get acclimated to how the game worked and what he needed to do.  

 In the beginning he sure was an incredible cheerleader when his team scored a goal ;).   And he and his buddy Jackson did a lot of chatting on the field.

 They are so cute in their uniforms!

 Already posted this pic, but it was worth the repost.  Piper's first outing was to Cooper's soccer game at just 3 days old!

 Serious pre-game huddle

 Dad helped coach the team, he and the other coaches did a lot of laughing on the sidelines.

At this age, we were just so happy he was happy to go, happy to play and got some good exercise.

 About 1/2 way thru their short season, Coop started to get a bit more aggressive.  The first few games he was just following the pack of kids up and down the field, if the ball came near him-he wasn't sure what to do.  Then he stepped up his game and was really chasing that ball around and kicking it when he got close.

 My pictures are all from behind the glass wall so they aren't that great.

 Laney Faith was so good at each game.  She was content sitting right next to me as long as she had a snack.  The one game she had to go to the bathroom was when Cooper scored his first and only goal and we missed it :(, but he doesn't know that.

 The day he scored his first goal-think he was happy about that?

While at the Uhaul store with me last week, he took a selfie of his medal to send to Dad.

Cooper's TOT Performance

Cooper is doing TOTs again this year.  I wrote all about TOT and this same performance last year, here.  

This was also my first outing with the 3 kids alone as Adam was out of town for work.  After I got all 3 of us checked in and squeezed in on the middle school bleachers (not made for infant carseats ;), I took Piper out of her seat to realize she had a blowout diaper all up her back.  Awesome.  Thankful for 2 things…good friends there to sit with my big kids and the fact that I actually had an extra outfit for her in my purse.  Of course there is no changing table in the bathrooms so Piper and I made ourselves at home on the bathroom floor (yuck!) to wash/change her.  I should also note this was her first ever blowout - nice timing Piper ;).

Cooper did so awesome, we are always so proud of him when he steps out of his comfort zone.  I could tell he was wanting to back out before it started but he stayed strong!

 Just like last year, he parked himself in the far back corner!

 Can you see him in the back?  We are always so impressed at these performances.  This many young kids dribbling a basketball would seem to create chaos - but not at all.  They always rock it!  

Cooper was searching for us in the stands afterwards :).

We are so proud of you Cooper William!

Perception vs Reality

It was a beautiful afternoon one day in early January so I took the kids on a walk.

This picture…

perception - look at that big 4 year old riding his bike and that sweet 2 year old girl pushing her stroller, playing mom.

reality - 1/2 way around block Cooper is in tears because he is sure he can't pedal his bike up the hill, Laney abandons her stroller (who knows why??) and Piper is crying.  So with Piper in baby bjorn, I have Laney's stroller on my shoulder and pushing Cooper up the hill.  

When we make it back to the house, Cooper and Laney want to go around the block one more time! Uh, no.

Piper is 1 month!

Aaahhhhh, my baby is already 1 month old, how did that happen??!!!

People ask me all the time if either of the kids had hair like her and if she looks like Laney.  Well, here is the blog post from Laney at 1 month.  They totally look alike and Laney did have that crazy hair, just not as much!

Piper was still pretty fussy at 1 month…hence that colic/reflux post I wrote last week.  She sure loves being held and hearing her big brother and sister talk to her.  She weighed 10 lbs, 14oz (87%ile) and was 21.5 inches (64%ile).  Her head was 37.5 cm (76%ile).

 Her adorable blanket is from the McCormacks -you can find it at Pottery Barn Kids.  I totally recommend if you need a baby gift…it's super soft, makes the perfect carseat blanket in this cold weather and the monogram is a cute addition!

 Oh those toes!

 And, she was over it.

 She is so cute when she cries!

Happy 1 month Piper Marie, we love you!!!