The Beautiful Mess: 30 weeks of sweetness!

Cooper is 30 WEEKS OLD today! wow, that just sounds like he's getting so big! that's over halfway to his first birthday....I better start planning! *wink wink* just kidding (kind of...) This was a whirlwind week and, unfortunately, I didn't slow down enough to take very many pictures of it all! :( Friday morning we headed to winston so that I could help my mom with rehearsal stuff for my brother's wedding that was this weekend. We got LOTS of stuff done and ran a few errands. Before heading out to run our errands my mom dressed Cooper and just put the onesie that was in his diaper bag on him (which happened to be my back-up, just in case we blow out, onesie). I figured, eh....that's ok....we won't be gone long. So we headed to Carrington's work to leave the car for him (since we are down to one vehicle now) and then went to pick up a prescription for my mom. As we were almost there Cooper was VERY fussy so when we got there I moved to the back seat to sit with him. While waiting on my mom to come back out I thought I smelled something so I checked the leg of his diaper and sure enough we had a stinky one! I didn't think it was going to be bad because it wasn't exploding out of the leg holes yet.....that was until I got him out of the carseat.....it was TERRIBLE! Not the worst one yet, but the worst one I've had to change in the back seat of a car, which is ~~rather~~ Extremely difficult with a wiggly baby! Anyway, we got the diaper changed and I realized that was he was wearing was the back up outfit....so into the carseat he went....in just his diaper! :) needless to say, our next stop was the Carters store (which was close by) to get something for him to wear. Luckily, they were having a killer sale and I got several romper outfits and several pairs of shorts for $4 each! I even got him a shirt for rehearsal that said "My uncle is awesome!" It was a good excuse to get some new cute clothes! :)
That afternoon Cooper started to get VERY congested and snotty! At one point he was in his jumper and snot was just running down his face! Poor little guy had caught daddy's cold! I suppose it was inevitable! He was a real trooper though and hardly acted like he felt bad! Mom and I spent much of the afternoon working on the groom's cake. We had big plans for it, and it was going to be so cute! Unfortunately....it didnt' turn out that way! we made a round cake and fondant to lay over it. The fondant was going to be camouflaged (which turned out really cute!) and then we were going to pipe (with black icing) a deer silhouette and a gun scope on it and write "the hunt is over" (my brother and his, now, wife both love hunting). The camo fondant was great, but it ripped going onto the cake...so there was a big seam across the middle. The black icing to write with stained my om's teeth and tongue and took several brushings to get it off so we decided that we couldn't do that to people, and we just plain ol ran out of time! I was so disappointed! we ended up giving it to just my brother at the end of rehearsal, and he seemed to appreciate it, that's all that matters! The rehearsal went well and we had a very nice dinner. We decorated the tables with some old bottles that had been my uncles. We put sprigs of pink flowers in the bottles, tied a really pretty ivory linen ribbon around them, and clustered them in groups of 3 on the tables. We then, secretly hid G.I. Joes in the arrangements because my brother LOVED his Joes when he was little! :) We all had a great time, but it ended up being a late night for little man....however, he was so good for it all! After we got home and I got Cooper to bed (well, and Carrington too) my mom and I headed back out to walmart to get some things for the bride's dressing room and the groom's dressing room....some snacks for while we were getting ready. I also had several things left to get for the shower I was throwing on Sunday (I know, I was just trying to kill myself with all I had planned this weekend!) We got what we needed and were back home around 3AM!
Saturday was the big day! I'm not sure where the day went but all of a sudden it was time to head to the venue. The wedding was beautiful, the weather was perfect (although a little warm), the bride was gorgeous, the groom was handsome, the reception was fun, we saw lots of family and had a great time! Sadly, Carrington, Cooper and I weren't able to stick around to see them off because at 8:45 Cooper, who was still VERY snotty and obviously sick (but being SO good) was almost to his breaking point....we had to get him home and in bed!
Sunday morning I finished last minute shower stuff and got it all ready for the party. It was an around the clock themed shower so my SIL and I decorated the tables with different times (bath time, snack time, diaper time, nap time, play time, and story time) it turned out so cute and we got lots of compliments. The parents to be were very appreciative and, while there wasn't a huge turn-out, we had a good time!
Monday I worked at the YMCA in the morning and again in the afternoon. Nothing too eventful there! :) Tuesday afternoon I also worked at the Y so we stayed in Winston yet another night! After work on Tuesday we finally headed home!
Yesterday we hit the road, again! in the other direction this time...we headed to Raleigh to pack up my classroom. WOW, a teacher sure can accumulate a LOT of stuff in 4 years! I left a lot for the new teacher coming in but I definitely wanted my books....some day little man will want to read them (I hope!). After quickly doing that, we headed back home so Cooper and I could be dropped off and Carrington could head to Winston for Twin's Night where the soccer players come out and meet their coach for the upcoming season and they have some fun things going on. Carrington went to that by himself because I felt like Cooper needed an early night in his own bed....and he was in bed by 8! :) It was a late night for daddy though!
Whew....are ya tired yet? I am! :) I keep waiting for the day when life slows down....it just hasn't come yet! Give it another 30 years, right!?!? Maybe when we retire and move to the Caribbean to live on "Island time"!! ;)

At 30 weeks Cooper:

is pulling up left and right! it is nothing for this kid ot pull himself up on anything nearby....stable or not! :) he is getting REALLY good at getting up tall on his knees and if it's sturdy enough for him, he just pulls right up onto his feet!
has no trouble going from sitting to laying down, to crawling and back to sitting...or any combination of that.
Has tried pears and loves them....as I would expect! :)
really knows his name! He will turn just about any time you call him
has attended his first wedding! :)
is on the go go go! The kid never stops!
makes me feel like I'm wrestling aligators every time I change his diaper! He is no longer able to be changed on the changing table because it takes about 0.8 seconds for him to flip over and be rocking on his knees. We now do it on the floor or crib. It's hard for me to be too stern about making him lie still because when he flips over and has the little bum in the air, it's just soo cute! unless it's covered in poop...that's not so cute when he's trying to flip over!
makes the cutest/sweetest little sounds!
"sings" himself to sleep. I know he's really relaxing when he starts to hum! :)
has found his little boy parts! I don't know what it is about little boys and their weenies, but he definitely thinks it's interesting whenever it's exposed! I'm just waiting for the day that he pees himself in the face....wonder how interesting it will be then! :)
will throw things in a heartbeat, especially in the car! Sometimes he'll yank that paci out and toss it over the side of the car seat, or any other toy he has in his possession, and then he gets upset because he doesn't have it! :)
thinks the silliest things are funny! I was getting some coolers together for the rehearsal dinner and had Cooper in one arm, a cooler in the other, and another cooler to get back to the house....so I decided to kick it across the yard to get it there. Cooper just cackled and thought it was the funniest thing ever! Check out the video below of him laughing at a balloon at the baby shower. It was a bit loud in the background, so hopefully you can hear him! :)
is getting VERY attached to mommy! He's typically fine with others, unless I'm visible....then he wanted to be with me. We've got to figure out a way to break this....I don't want him to be too clingy to me (even though it's slightly precious....I am, after all, the only girl he'll ever need! ;) )
is showing some signs of walking! A couple times this week, when holding his hands while he's standing, he has moved his feet in a walking motion! Whoa now! we're not going there yet are we? I'm not ready for a walker ANY time soon!
is STILL working on those teeth! He's working hard but nothing has broken though yet.....that's ok, I'm in no hurry...I absolutely love his little gummy grin!