Visiting Molly and The Girls

On Monday, Cooper and I took a short drive to see Molly and her adorable daughters, Jessica and Jordan. Cooper had a blast climbing up and down their stairs and playing in the car outside, as well as climbing up the slide and sliding back down with Jessica - she is such a wonderful big sister! While we were playing outside there was this bee that just would not go away...it ended up landing on Jessica's shoulder while Cooper and her were climbing up the slide and Cooper grabbed the bee and got stung on his thumb. It was so sad to watch him be in pain - but thank goodness it only lasted a couple minutes. He just kept putting his stung thumb in his mouth...poor little buddy. I definitely enjoyed having some time to hang out with such a good friend. Molly is such an amazing mom to both girls...it was so wonderful to watch something so precious. Thanks for having us and we can't wait to get together again REAL SOON!
Tried for a nap but failed - so back to having fun playing outside...

Cooper and Jessica playing on the slide

Jordan in the sandbox

1st try for a picture of all three...

2nd try...What cuties they are!

In & Out

While at Cheer Camp in Modesto, Chad and Cooper went to stay with Chad's cousin Jeromy and his wife Michelle and their adorable daughter Samantha. They were only able to see me a couple times and one of them was at In & Out where we had our Saturday night dinner. Cooper got an In & Out hat and he actually enjoyed wearing it. Besides looking absolutely adorable in this hat - he ate almost an entire cheeseburger to himself! He is a growing boy...



Unfortunately, these are the only pictures we have of Chad and Coopers trip with the cousins - but they had a great time, THANKS GUYS! They went to Jeromy's softball game, went out to dinner and went to a really fun water park.

Cheer Camp

It was that time again - Cheer Camp! I am beginning my 3rd year as the cheer coach for the high school and each year we have done something a bit different for camp - this year turned out to be the best. The girls had a blast and learned great routines. We had a 3 day private camp at POWER in Modesto. The owner of POWER was my high school cheer coach and is absolutely amazing at what he does! It was soo great to see him in action again with my girls. It reminded me of why I love cheer so much - he was strict, made us THE BEST and still allowed room to have tons of fun! At night we stayed in a hotel and did lots of different bonding activities.
Friday - After a long day of cheering - we went to Boomers (which was right across the street) and the girls got to mini golf, drive the go-carts, rock climb, play laser tag and go on the bumper boats. It was so much fun for me to see the girls outside of "cheer" and watch them hang out as friends instead of only "teammates".

Saturday - The girls had another long day of cheer, perfecting stunts, jumps and learning routines. At the end of the day the girls had to dress in their "colors" for our night of bonding. It started out by having each set of partners walk 3-legged to dinner - about 3/4 of a mile away. I was so impressed at how well they did. There was even a group of 3 that managed to stay tied together the entire way! Way to go girls! After dinner they walked back sitching partners every so often in order to get to know all of the new girls on the squad. To end the night each group of partners had to make up a dance/cheer about themselves in order for everyone to get to know them a little better. They were all so creative! We also played "step over the line" and had a question/answer circle session. It was awesome to see the respect everyone had for one another. There was definitely some team bonding going on!

We had one team injury - a crazy black eye! She could not even open her eye, it was like the size of a golf ball on her eyelid. Stunting will do that to you! She was such a champ and after 4 days it is healing nicely!
All of the girls had to think of a name for their rooms that described what they wanted others to think of their cheer squad - and all together the rooms spelled out PANTHERS. P - assionate, A - thletic, N - otorious, T - alented, H - elpful, E - xuberant, R - adiant, S - pirted. They were also supposed to decorate their hotel rooms - Rooms Talented and Helpful had outstanding decorations!


I always try and give everyone a little something - so this year I made keychains with their names on one side and their PANTHERS words on the other. They turned out pretty cute! Thanks girls for working so hard as a team and improving in every aspect! This season will be awesome!

A DAY AT THE POOL

Last week, the Alamedas invited Cooper and I to join them at their Cabana Club and swim. Cooper, of coure loved the water and watching all the other kids swim in the pool. Thanks for inviting us!!

Going to The Jungle

Since I get to enjoy all of this extra time with Cooper in the summer I have been trying to find exciting things for us to do each day. I joined Las Madres, which is a playgroup network - and we have gone to the park with other moms and babies a couple times. We would love to go more - but with cheer practice and Coopers nap schedule the times often conflict. We still need to go to the zoo, but Daddy wants to come too so we have to wait for a time he can join us. We did go to "The Jungle". I always thought I'd be more of a germ freak and wouldn't take my kid to something so infested with other kids' germs, but I did anyway - and Cooper had a blast! It has been over a week and he hasn't gotten sick yet (knock on wood!). He of course LOVED going in the balls since every other word he says is "ball". Before we left I took him in the "big kid" area and climbed throughout all the tubes with him...it was like a maze and at one point I truly thought we were stuck. Grandma Dawn came to join us for awhile and Chad was able to come play after his game. I'm sure we will go back someday - Tuesdays are Toddler Tuesdays!!!

SOOO BIIIGGG!!!

Anytime we ask Cooper, "How big is Cooper?" He will put both arms up in the air and wait for us to say, "soooo big!!!" And then it all turns into laughter. Lately, Cooper will put his hands up in the air without us even asking "How big is Cooper?" and just wait for us to say "sooooooo big!!" He is so much fun!

Erin and Richards Wedding

On Saturday, July 12th our friends Erin and Richard got married. Chad and I were both so excited for them. Chad has known Erin since middle school and Richard since freshman year of high school. Chad felt honored to be a groomsman in the wedding. Their wedding was absolutely perfect and gorgeous. Now Cooper can't wait for them to make him a friend...:)

Daddy's Basketball Game

Last night Cooper and I went to Chad's basketball game. Cooper went to high school basketball games all the time in January and February when Chad and I were coaching and he would sit so still and watch the game back and forth down the court. Cooper was 9 months old then and now that he is 13 months things have changed a bit. Of course, Cooper needed to be holding the basketball. At first he squated on the court with the basketball in hand and watched Chad warm up...that lasted about 5 minutes. Then he walked towards the hoop and put the ball over his head - trying to shoot it in the hoop! Once the game started there was absolutely no way we were able to stay in the gym b/c Cooper wanted to get down on the court and play with the big boys...so Cooper and I walked all around outside and only caught the last 2 minutes of the game. Sorry babe, we didn't get to see you play much but we tried and I know Cooper enjoyed holding the "ball" and walking EVERYWHERE! And congrats on the WIN!

Learning to use a Spoon

Oh my goodness...Everytime I feed Cooper yogurt or applesauce or anything else that requires a spoon - all he wants to do is grab the spoon and feed himself. So I have been trying to let him do that...though, he doesn't get much in his mouth - but he definitely enjoys himself. The other day Cooper made a mess on floor while trying to eat yogurt so I began cleaning it up - I didn't realize the yogurt was still on the table with him and he still had hold of the spoon...So instead of the yogurt hitting the floor while I was cleaning - it was getting splattered on my head! Silly Mommy! Funny Cooper! Good thing Chad was home to get a picture of us!

Still waiting for those teeth

Cooper got both of his bottom teeth at 8 months old. Ever since then we have been able to see his 4 upper teeth trying to come out - but they still have not made it! Cooper is such a champ and they don't seem to bother him too much, but I feel so bad looking at his gums so swollen all the time. Hopefully they will pop through soon!

Here is Coop enjoying his teether while relaxing with Grampy...

Stockton Visits...

A couple weeks ago we went to Stockton to visit my parents and brother and sister. It was awesome to have Matt and Mallory both home from college. We are all very close and it's nice to be all together! One afternoon Matt, Cooper and I went for a walk to the park. Cooper played at Laughlin Park - which is the park we used to play at when we were little (it's a bit outdated, but it was still fun). Cooper enjoyed swinging while Uncle Matty pushed him and he was having a blast climbing up the slide and then sliding down - OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN! When it was time to leave he was not a very happy camper - Cooper LOVES being outside.



Cooper also got to swim a couple times with Grampy. My parents put a pool in the backyard about 5 years ago and my dad LOVES getting in it any chance he gets. He was so excited to have Cooper join in the fun. Cooper loves his grampy so much, so I know he enjoyed the special swim time with him. Cooper really loved the BIG baseBALL in the pool. He loves every kind of ball - everytime he sees one he says "ball" and points. He even points to cantelopes and melons at the grocery store and says "ball" with a huge smile on his face!




Thanks Mom and Dad for having us over! It was extra special to spend the couple days with Matt, too. He has already gone back to UCLA to work baseball camps for the month of July and on August 1st he leaves for Spain - so we won't see him for a long time :( HAVE FUN MATTY!!! Luckily, Mallory is home for another month so we will get to see her a few more times before she is back to the college life!