Cooper's Newborn Session

We are so happy to be reunited with Angelina with Asterisk Photography for another year!  We had our session scheduled a week after Cooper and I came home from the hospital.  We all had such a great time during this session and it was so good to see Angelina again.  Although this was suppose to really be for Cooper's newborn session, I have to say, Alyssa stole the show.  She was in such a happy mood and was so playful and happy!  There are so many pictures that I love and wish I could post every one but it'll take way too long to load so here a some of my favorites.

One Month

Happy one month birthday little man!  This month has passed by in a blur of sleepless nights, feedings, diaper changes, and lots of spit ups but it's to be expected for the first month.  I can say he and Alyssa are the complete opposite at this age. Cooper does not like sleeping in his crib but loves sleeping with mommy and daddy. He loves to be held and loves to snuggle. He grunts and cries a lot more than his sister and he hates diaper changes! 

Alyssa loves her little brother so so much!  It's so cute watching her with him. She always wants to hold Cooper and the last few days has taken to just putting her nose on his cheek since she sees us do the same thing. It warms my heart seeing how much she loves Cooper. 

Cooper had his one month well check up yesterday and he is slowly gaining weight! He is now 7 pounds and 8.5 ounces!  Yay for nice weight gain! I guess all that on demand feedings weren't for nothing! And he is very demanding, always wanting to nurse! But as long as he is gaining weight, I really don't mind :)

Welcome to the World, Cooper Willie!

We are so excited to announce the newest addition to our family, Cooper Willie!  We named him Cooper because we love the name and Willie after Park's dad.  He was born on November 19th at 8:53AM, 6 pounds 6 ounces and 19.5 inches long with a head full of hair.  He is just the sweetest little babe.  He loves to snuggle, especially on my chest, his favorite spot! I love the way he sleeps when he's not swaddled.  He loves to have either one or both hands up by his face.  

I went into this c-section feeling confident since I've already been through this once before.  Park said I started the day in a very jokey mood, first joking with the nurses while I was getting IV'ed up on both arms, then in the operating room.  I was told before the surgery that the assistant doctor (Dr. Taylor) always suggest parents to name the baby Taylor since it can be for either a boy or girl.  So once I was in the operating room and Dr. Taylor came over to say hi, I told him I was naming my baby Taylor and later after the surgery, the nurse told me I had him going for a bit, heehee.  My doctor requested an anesthesiologist that she knew and trusted since my last one didn't go so well. This anesthesiologist knew what he was doing and got the epidural going with just one try!  He was so nice and reassuring that I was completely at ease.  Once the doctors got started, Park was brought in.  This time around, he was able to take picture of the baby being pulled out!  (I'll spare you the detail pictures) but I thought it was really cool.  With Alyssa's birth, we weren't asked if we wanted to take pictures of her coming out.  I thought this was a great picture Park took that captured my very emotional joy upon hearing Cooper's cry.

My recovery from this c-section started as expected but then went down hill on the second day.  So much went on that I can't keep it straight and can't really remember exactly what happened, but Park thinks it was the pain meds that caused all my nausea and lightheadedness.  It was a roller coaster ride for me.  In the early morning I would be on a high and feeling good but as the day wore on, I'd start to feel sick.  I fainted once into a nurses arms while trying to get out of bed and had 2 blood transfusions.  After the second transfusion, I was feeling better and on my road to recovery.  Again, I stayed the full 5 days at the hospital but I could not wait to get home to see my sweet little girl.  The first day, Alyssa came to visit with my mom and brother, who was watching her, she didn't even want to come near me.  I didn't take offence since I think seeing me hooked up to all these tubes scared her. She didn't take too well to baby Cooper either.  Did not want anything to do with him at all till the end of the visit when she started to warm up to him.  Park told me on the ride home, Alyssa kept asking for "baby", mama, Bocoupe (what she calls Cooper).  By the second visit, she was more interested in Cooper.

We didn't have much visitors since I wasn't feeling well most of the time, but Park's mom, sister and her family were able to visit.  

Now, a week and a half after coming home with Cooper, we are settling in and enjoying time as a family of 4.  Alyssa has grown into such a loving big sister.  She thinks about Cooper all the time!  First or second name really that comes out of her mouth every morning is "Bocoupe".  She gives him kisses and will help me pat his back when I burp him.  She also wants to "bao"(hold) Bocoupe all the time!  It's really sweet seeing her with Cooper, I'm thinking they'll get along just fine!  At least for now. :)

34 weeks

How far along? 34 Weeks 3 days

Baby Size: Cantaloupe (17.75 inches, 5.7 lbs)

Total weight gain: 20 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yes
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Ok to not so ok, depending on how tired I am and also depending on how well Alyssa is sleeping.  The past week has been a little rough since she's teething.  
Best moment this week: Seeing Peanut for the first time in 3D!!!
Movement: Oh yes!  Lots and lots of movement, all the time, nonstop
Food cravings: Ice cream (chocolate)
Anything making you queasy or sick: No
Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks.
Symptoms: None
Belly Button in or out? Out.  
Wedding rings on or off? On but only wearing my wedding band
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and tired, and stressed



I've been seeing a specialist for the last few months about my placenta previa, which I had with Alyssa and it had lifted by this time.  With this pregnancy, I have full previa.  That means my previously scheduled C-section of December 2nd at 39 weeks has been moved to November 19th at 37 weeks.  I was not happy about having to move my delivery date when I first found out about a month ago, but after my final appointment yesterday with the specialist, I'm ok with the new due date.  Why?  Because Peanut is currently 5.7 lbs measuring 35 plus weeks and I'm 34+.  When I deliver at 37 weeks, he'll be around 7lbs and if we kept to original schedule of 39 weeks, he could be close to 9 lbs!!! Yikes!  That's huge for my little frame!  So less than 3 weeks from now, we will be holding this little babe and we can't wait!


18 Months

This little babe is 18 months today! 

She's such a little girl now.  One of my favorite things to do is watch her run.  It's the most adorable cause it just looks like she's about to topple over at any second.  She loves going to school (daycare) and seeing her teachers and little friends. 

Favorite Foods: EVERYTHING! She eats just about anything you put in front of her.  And she loves it when she hears daddy open the pantry door because she knows it "nack nack time" (snack).  Or if she hears the crinkling of the chip bag, she will drop whatever she's doing and run into the kitchen to see what goody daddy is munching on so she can get her little hand(s) on it. 

Favorite Words: Da, Daaaaaa!, Dada, no no no while shaking her finger, uh-oh, muck muck (come on) while doing the come on motion.

Favorite Activities: Reading her books, dancing - either by herself or with mommy or daddy, throwing her balls around and chasing it, and loves loves loves playing with her cousins!

Least Favorite: Loud or dramatic sounds from the TV.  Not really sure why, but she'll hear something loud she'll come running to one of us.  Or she'll see something scary, she do the same. 

For the past several nights while putting her to bed, Park would give her kisses on her cheek.  She'll then point to me wanting him to kiss me.  So he'll give me kisses and when she thinks I've had enough, she'll point to her cheek again wanting Park to kiss her.  And she'll do that a couple of time till she's tired of the game.  Not sure when this happened, but she is one bossy little girl!  



Little Conductor

My parents comes over every Monday to have dinner with us, but truthfully, it's really to see Alyssa.  It's ok, I don't mind that I've been replaced by my daughter because Alyssa adores her grandparents!  Towards the end of our dinner the other night, can't remember how it happened, but we started to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and Alyssa was doing or trying to do the rolling of her fists.  After noticing only Park and I were doing the motions, she would grunt and point to the person that's not "singing" along and doing the motions.  At first we weren't sure what she was trying to do or tell us then finally came to the realization that she didn't like it when a certain person wasn't participating.  With her sitting at the head of the table, she was our little music conductor, conducting her choir.  It was the funniest thing and I wish I had gotten it on video but was just so in the moment that I didn't even think about grabbing my phone or camera to record it.  Maybe next time...

Here is next time without the conducting.  It's her with Park singing "The Wheels on the Bus".

After dinner while we were cleaning up and Alyssa was running around, she ran into the kitchen looked at us and turned around and walked away with her hands on her hips.  When I called her name, she turned around and looked at me. I told her to do it again, while demonstrating with one hand on my hip and my head tilted to the side.  She did exactly what I did and it was just the cutest thing!  I tired to recreate it to snap some pics but the moment was lost....

These are the times when I really truly wish there was a camera on her all day every day to capture all these fun silly moments!

30 Weeks

How far along? 30 Weeks

Baby Size: Cabbage (15.7 inches, 2.75 lbs)

Total weight gain: 19 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yes
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Ok to not so ok, depending on how tired I am.  
Best moment this week: Getting over my stomach virus or whatever it was that took me out of commission for a day and a half.
Movement: Oh yes!  Lots and lots of movement, all the time, nonstop
Food cravings: Ice cream (chocolate)
Anything making you queasy or sick: No
Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks.
Symptoms: None
Belly Button in or out? Out.  
Wedding rings on or off? On but only wearing my wedding band
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and tired


Over the weekend we were at my sister-in-law's house and were looking at some old pictures of Park's family and came across this most adorable picture of him!  Hoping Peanut will look like this!
 

27 Weeks



How far along? 27 Weeks and 3 days

Baby Size: Cauliflower (14.5 inches, 2lbs)

Total weight gain: 15.8 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yes, have started wearing my maternity leggings and jeans but mostly dresses
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Ok to good.  
Best moment this week: Learning that "Peanut's" cheeks are starting to fill out and has a head full of hair!
Movement: Oh yes!  Lots and lots of movement, all the time, nonstop
Food cravings: Still in my watermelon phase but still always craving ice cream (chocolate) or almost anything chocolate related and french fries.
Anything making you queasy or sick: No
Labor Signs: Started getting Braxton Hicks last night
Symptoms: None
Belly Button in or out? Out.  
Wedding rings on or off? On but only wearing my wedding band
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and tired



Family Reunion

The past 2 weeks has been amazing but exhausting! The craziness begin when my cousin drove from Nevada with her kids for a visit.  We all met for dinner at my cousins house a few days after their arrival.  When Monday arrived, we all had a great surprise!  Another of my cousins from Hawaii flew in with her kids so we could all spend time together.  We had almost everyone under one roof! This was about 10 years in the making! It was crazy fun and my cousin was brave enough to host everyone at her house.  It was really nice to have so many family members together.  And this all started with me only getting about 4+ hours of sleep every few days.  I wanted to take advantage of the fact that my cousins were in town and wanted to spend as much time as I could catching up.  Park was amazing thru all this.  He would take Alyssa home first so I could hang out.  It was really hard going into work with only a few hours of sleep, but it sure was worth it. 

Alyssa also had a great time meeting all her cousins, especially Caitlyn.  She took such good care of Alyssa that I didn't even worry about anything except catch up and have fun!  

It was a sad night when their last day rolled around.  It seemed like they has just arrived and now they are all home!  We were all talking about another family reunion in Hawaii next year.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it happens!

21 Weeks

How far along? 21 Weeks and 3 days

Baby Size: Banana (7 inches, 11 oz)

Total weight gain: 8.8 pounds
Maternity clothes? Only on the weekend when I wear my maternity leggings.  I normally just wear my regular tops and with pants, I'll have to wear it without buttoning it up or zipping it up.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Ok to good.  
Best moment this week: Having family in town!
Movement: Oh yes!  Lots and lots of movement.
Food cravings: Went thru a watermelon phase but still always craving ice cream (chocolate) or almost anything chocolate related and french fries.
Anything making you queasy or sick: No
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: None
Belly Button in or out? Out.  I don't think it ever recovered from my first pregnancy!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!