I would NEVER...

"let my baby watch TV"






"breastfeed past a year!" (I think he is around 11 months here but you get the idea)

"let my baby sleep in my bed!"

The crib makes a great storage device!

"let my house be taken over by toys and kid stuff"

"let my kid climb on the furniture"

And the list goes on and on. If there is one thing I have learned from motherhood, it is that there is always more than one way to do things!

I always thought that breastfeeding past a year was crazy, but here I am still nursing and Coop is almost 18 months old. Actually you could say I am becoming an expert on extended breastfeeding. I have learned that the benefits of breastfeeding don't just magically stop at a year, in fact there are many more benefits that come with nursing a toddler and we see that every day. Luckily, Doug is super supportive.

When I was pregnant with Cooper someone told me "don't spend a bunch of money on baby furniture, buy a nice king sized bed because the baby will be in your bed most of the time" we said "no way". But, sure enough he comes to our bed for at leas part of every night and you know what? We love it! We aren't ashamed that we love waking up with our sweet boy in between us saying hi and giving us kisses. We are in the market for a king sized bed!

Our home defiantly is dominated by Coopers toys and he often climbs the furniture! As long as we are all having fun, we don't' care!

We have budged on our no TV policy, but we do have limits which we are working out since he has just become and addict for Finding Nemo.

I have learned that ultimately, you have to do what makes your family happy. People are quick to tell you you have to do this or you should never do that! You just have to push those comments aside take the advice that works for you and do what you feel is right and in the end you will be happier!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Teething pain

We are in the throws of teething misery. Cooper is generally a happy boy so when he is off, we know it immediately. He woke up on Sunday morning "off" and then woke up from his nap with a fever. I know when he has a fever just by kissing him and feeling his back, no thermometer necessary. He is a little heater when he has a fever. Other than the fever, no other symptoms of illness. But, being the paranoid person that I am, I took him to urgent care yesterday evening just in case because he had a fever on and off for more than 24 hours. I wanted to be sure we weren't missing an ear infection. The Doc was a friend of mine that I have worked with and he assured me that it was likely just the teething. When he looked in his mouth he saw multiple teeth coming in on the top and the bottom. BTW, Cooper screamed bloody murder during the entire visit! He was terrified of the Doc! Poor guy, it was very traumatic. We are giving him Tylenol and TLC but looking for some natural remedies as well, as we always like to turn to natural first.

On a happier note... the weather here has been awesome! (as my dad likes to point out every time we mention going back to Seattle) We have been going on neighborhood walks and enjoying the outdoors every day. Here are a few pics of us out in the Bosque near our house.

Cooper learns to swim!

This past weekend we went to LA to visit my sister, Lauren and her family. FYI this was Coopers 11th plane trip and he did awesome as usual! It was around 80 degrees all weekend long. Cooper played like a crazy man with his 3 cousins, Nikko (7), Evan (2.5), and Ella (1). Evan showed him the ropes and Cooper was happy to follow. Evan calls Ella "Ella Bella" and it wasn't long before Cooper was yelling "Ella Bella!" It was so cute!!

Doug and I had a very relaxing weekend. My sister and I went to the spa and Doug and Patrick were able to golf. We had a blast! Actually, we had so much fun that we are considering spending some time there this summer before Doug has to start his job, wherever that may be.

Anyway, on to the swimming. So, we all went swimming and Evan and Nikko can swim like fish. Well, Cooper was watching them jump in and act like crazy boys and naturally he did not want to miss out on the fun. First, he would jump in to my arms and allow his whole head to go under. At first he sucked in some water but he learned his lesson fast. We moved on to the hot tub, that was just warm not hot and he was desperate for me to let him loose. Finally I said "I am just going to let him go and see what happens". It was amazing, I have never seen a baby so young swim. He went under and actually swam, kicked his legs and moved his arms and then brought his head up without drinking in any water at all! You could see the little bubbles coming up from his face and you could also see a huge smile and his eyes wide open under water! It was so cool, I have never been so proud of him! We had to pull him out of the water kicking and screaming, a human prune, because the sun was going down! I just have to add that I was the one who taught him to swim, I just didn't end up in the pics (yup, a true Leo always wanting the thunder!)

We ended the trip with a dinner at my brother Michael and his boyfriend Casey's house which was so fun! It was a great trip!



Swimming under the beautiful sun set




He was so proud of himself. This is Doug letting him go and he would swim to the side all by himself!



Amazing! Look at him swim!!

My little fish

Thats me holding my Nikko. I can still remember when he was a baby and now he is almost as tall as me! The blondie is my Cooper.

Best friends.

Evan

Miss Ella Bella

Winter Wonderland in Seattle

<-----all the Cousins on the Blair side

<------ Cousin Jake

Sled fun

He says "Annie" perfectly

His first look at snow

It has been a while since we have posted. We are now back to our routine in Albuquerque after a wonderful Christmas in Seattle. It snowed nearly every day while we were there. Because of the snow, we were unable to go to the family cabin in Winthrop. Even though we didn't go, it felt like we were at a cabin. We went sledding , played in the snow, and some family members even went cross country skiing in the city! It was beautiful. Cooper had so much fun playing with his cousins, it was really cool to watch him interact with them. Doug and I got to catch up with old friends and we had lots of great time with both our families.

We had a quiet but wonderful New Year. Doug and I put Cooper to bed a touch early and had a fancy dinner at home, pretending we were out to dinner. Doug made king crab legs for the first time and they were amazing. He opened one of our nice bottles of wine and we relaxed in our own personal restaurant. Yup, pretty sure we are parents now. I made it up to 11:50 and Doug stayed up until 12:15. Happy New Year!

Snowed in!

We have been in Seattle for about a week now and the weather is crazy! It is quite the winter wonderland here. Doug has ventured out of the house and is at the Seahawks game, GO HAWKS! We have been staying cozy indoors but have been walking around the Greenwood neighborhood for coffee and food. So far our trip has been very relaxing. We have been visiting with old friends and family every day. We may be braving the roads tomorrow and going up to Dougs family cabin, weather permitting. We will post pics of the trip soon!

Thanksgiving holiday weekend

We had a fun holiday weekend. Doug was off of school and I was off of work for 7 nights so we were really able to enjoy ourselves. Our small Thanksgiving dinner ended up being so much fun. In fact, we even dare say it was one of the best Thanksgivings ever. Some of the highlights were Doug face planting in the turkey and me lighting the candied yams on fire! Ask me later if you are interested in details. We ate and laughed until our bellies ached!
On Sat, Doug and I ventured up to Santa Fe for lunch and then the Ojo Caliente hot springs for a Cooper free day while Coop hung out with Grammy and Po. It was very relaxing for us. We ended the weekend with getting our Christmas tree. This year we will be spending nearly 2 weeks in Seattle so we decided to get a small tree. We also decided to get a living tree so that we can plant it in the yard once Christmas is over.
We hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! Enjoy the pics...


How cute is the tree (and Doug)


Picking out a tree


Us at hot springs

Playing in the rain (check out those beautiful lashes)

Feeling the rain

He runs now!

Thankful

Mmmm the house is full of the wonderful smell of our Thanksgiving dinner! We are having a small Thanksgiving, only 5 of us (my parents, Doug, Cooper and I). This is the first time ever that any of us has had such a small gathering. We are relaxing and enjoying a glass of wine and Cooper is having a long afternoon nap after a day of playing with leaves and feeling the rain on his face, yup it's raining here in NM!
This past week I took care of a baby that made me feel even more thankful for my son. He was born a healthy newborn and then unexpectedly stopped breathing at 2 hours of life and now is severely neurologically devastated. He reminded me a lot of what my Cooper looked like at birth, long and skinny, big eyes, pale skin, absolutely beautiful! I spoke with his dad candidly about his grief. The grief of knowing that his child will probably never lead the life that he had once imagined that he would. My heart broke for this dad. After the dad left, I rocked that sweet baby to sleep and I saw my baby and thought "this could happen to anyone". We are so blessed to have a healthy baby and my work forces me to realize this every day and I am thankful for that.

Today I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for our health and happiness. I am thankful for my wonderful husband. I am thankful that I had a beautiful healthy birth and that I have a healthy baby boy who lights up my life. I am thankful for all the joy that my life has brought me!
Happy Thanksgiving!