8 weeks and ROLLING!

So Cooper is 8 weeks old today!  How in the world has 8 weeks gone by so quickly, yet I can't even remember what life was like without him!

At 8 weeks Cooper:

• weighs 11lbs 3 oz  (based on my bathroom scale, which may not be the most precise)
• LOVES to be talked to and smiles like crazy!
• Enjoys a bath, as long as he has his bath Lovee (see below for a picture of this wonderful thing!)
• has as much hair as the day he was born and it is W-I-L-D!  I comb it down....to no avail....it pops right back up as soon as it dries!
• has finally figured out the whole nursing thing and eats about every 3 hours during the day
• goes to bed around 9 (we started our bedtime routine this week that consists of a warm bath...some nights he just soaks in the warm relaxing water, other nights he actually gets a bath...a nice massage with Johnson's soothing bedtime lotion, a warm bottle, reading "Guess How Much I Love You" and "Goodnight Moon" and then in the bed!  We started out at over an hour from start until the time he was asleep and tonight...45 minutes for the whole process!)
• sleeps around 5 hours (give or take) at night for the first stretch
• has figured out how to ROLL OVER from his tummy to his back.  Today was the first time he did this...I thought maybe it was a fluke until he did it again this evening...I think I've got one advanced boy on my hands!  :)  of course I think so...I'm his mama!  :)
• falls asleep with one hand behind his head grasping his hair....seriously...so cute!
• LOVES his swing and likes to smile and "talk" to the owls hanging from it.
• has started to notice Arnold and follows him with his eyes at times
• is spitting up a LOT less now that we have started baby Zantac for his reflux (and he's getting better at taking the Zantac...it obviously tastes AWFUL based on the faces he makes!)
• is the best, happiest, sweetest baby I could have every hoped for!  I could just eat him up!

And now for some more  pictures!

"reading" with daddy

Love those sweet blue eyes!

The wonderful bath Lovee...it looks like he's not too sure about it, but he really likes it!  it keeps him nice and warm throughout the bath, no cold air giving him a chill.

And now I must go take advantage of him sleeping and get some sleep myself  :)  Thanks for stopping by!

not completely lost....

I know....you thought I had given up on this cute little blog didn't you...honestly, I thought I had too! Life at the end of pregnancy and then with a newborn got super busy and the 'ol blog naturally took the back seat!  My sincerest apologies!  :)  With 2012 upon us, I'm going to try to get better at blogging again....if for no other reason than to have a record of the things (and changes) taking place with my new sweet little man....

Look at the face....can you blame me for being preoccupied!?!?

As I re-enter the blogging world I have a few photos to update you on the last....ahem...5 months.  I'll share a few now and more later....because you know I have TONS that I could inundate you with  :)

WHOA!  39 weeks and about to go into surgery to meet the little guy

Going home from the hospital

Newborn photos at 5 days old

Newborn photos at 5 days old

5 days old....I love his hair!  :)

He was NOT feeling the 3 week pictures!  :)

Cooper's first Christmas tree

We have a 'slight' spit up issue that we're trying to work through, but I thought this picture was too funny!  :)

So what does the new year hold for the Dahmers???  I'm SURE it will be full of adventure! For myself, I would really like to jump into something that I've dreamed about for a while...photography!  In taking pictures of my own little man and having professional photos done, I think I'd REALLY love to do newborn photography....That's my goal, to start learning more about the art pf photography and to start going after that dream. Step one....I entered a giveaway that an AMAZING newborn photographer is doing....you should check her out...and like her  :)

                            Keri Meyers Photography                                   

 What's your goal for the new year and what are you doing to achieve it?

Thanks for stopping by!

Photo Card

Handwritten Wishes Christmas

Make unique Christmas cards this year at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

And he shall be called.....

well I'm almost into the third trimester (only a few more days) yay!!!  I've been feeling great overall!  starting to feel a little tired again but nothing like the first trimester!  I've also started to have more back pain and difficulty getting comfortable.  Thank goodness for my wonderful husband who bought be a snoogle pillow from babies r us a couple months ago in anticipation of this time period.  It is like a body pillow but curved into a C shape so that it curves under my head and between my knees and it has been AMAZING!  If we go anywhere for the night....the snoogle goes too!  Thanks to this genius invention I have been able to actually get some good sleep!  Dearest hubby likes to make fun of me as I prepare my "nest" each night to get into bed....but hey, I'm sleeping like a rock so go ahead and tease away!  :)

Right now baby D is about the size of a head of cauliflower and weighs in at about 2 pounds....here's what he looks like according to baby center:

and here's what he looks like according to the baby....in my center....  :)

ya know what....who cares if my Dr. says I "don't have to eat anything else for the rest of my pregnancy"(based on my weight gain)  to me....this looks like all baby!  hope he isn't too much of a haus!

And now what you've been waiting for.....we have had a name for a while now and have been calling him by this name.  We've shared it with family and close friends who have also been calling him by name.  I thought we probably needed to think of some other options and make sure we really like this one best, but every attempt to think of new names.....we kept coming back to the same things and couldn't get past it.  So I guess we should just stick with what we know we like.  So.....sweet baby D shall be called.........

Cooper Ryan Dahmer

daddy is very excited that they will have the same initials and that he shares his middle name.

That's all for now....thanks for letting me share!

26 weeks and a little nursery preview

sorry it's been a while since I've posted....time has a way of slipping away from me these days!  The pregnancy is still going really well.....just growing as much as ever.   We go back to the Dr. this week so hopefully everything is still going well (and judging by the power of his kicks....I'd say he's doing JUST fine!)  I really hope that my increased water drinking and cutting out white bread and limiting my sweets (a little bit more ;))  have paid off this visit...we shall see!   next week will be the big glucose screening....I am NOT looking forward to that!  Here are some recent pictures of what's been going on....enjoy!

Ran into Amber and Adam while shopping for maternity clothes this weekend (she's due 5 days before me) and mom insisted that we needed to have our picture taken in the maternity section together

26 weeks and 3 days (got a little behind on taking the picture this week!)

A baby shower gift I made for a girl that my mom works with.  Bassinet made of diapers, a couple baby wash cloths inside, and a burp cloth over the canopy

A little nursery preview.....

Some of the nursery "crew"  :)  we still have a few more forest friends to find

The fabric for the nursery (or most of it anyway....)

Short post this time.....I'm exhausted!  :)  thanks for stopping by!

Baby Rutabaga

So apparently little man is about the size of a rutabaga now....but I don't know what that is!!!

there ya go....now we all know  :)  He also weighs about a pound and a half and is about 13.5 inches long....I think I can feel those 13.5 inches when he shifts positions at night!

Here's the 25 week bump watch.....

You know you're pregnant when.....

Over the course of the last 24 weeks I've come to learn a LOT about my body and have experienced a myriad of changes in it.  It's amazing to think that this tiny 1 pound, foot long, ear of corn sized little boy is causing all of these changes and is growing bigger and bigger inside of me every day!  So I thought I would compile a list of "you know you're pregnant when..." here goes!

You really know you're pregnant when....

• Your every waking thought revolves around food and what you're going to eat next.
• Every food that goes into your mouth is either AMAZINGLY delicious or so revolting that you'll "never do that again"....until the next time you're "starving" :)
• Eating those oh-so-scrumptious foods often gives you major heartburn, but it doesn't matter....it tasted SO good!
• You make a slight grunting noise when attempting to get off your ever so cushiony couch
• you begin resting your hands on top of your belly because it just seems like a natural resting place
• Questions like "how far along are you?" and "boy or girl?" become commonplace while grocery shopping (for that AMAZINGLY delicious food!)
• The Pampers commercial (you know the one....with all the babies and the whole premise being that pampers doesn't care how they enter the world, they all matter....) makes you teary eyed
• you can't remember ANYTHING unless it's written down....and even then, there's no guarantee
• you spend your free time perusing the web looking at various nursery design ideas (and pin them on your pintrest board so you don't forget that great idea tomorrow) and reading reviews of baby equipment
• A former student approaches you with her book bag on the front of her body and says "look!  we match!  I can't see my feet either!"  oh boy....

So there you have it.....just SOME of the ways that you really know you are indeed pregnant!  What about you....anything to add to that list?


And now for the bump watch.....I know I'm a little behind on these posts....I try to keep up, it's just so hard!  :) 



23 weeks




24 weeks and growing all the time!

 Can you tell that school has started back.....I think I look more tired and I've given up on fixing my hair.... pony tail it is....  :)

Thanks for stopping by!