We Needed an Ark

It rained last week. A lot. And then it rained some more.

Ella decided she would spend the rainy day by pulling out all of her books. She told me that she couldn't put them away until she read ALL her books. She emphasized "ALL" a few times. Mommy was not a fan of this plan.

Then, Ella and Mimi found a better way to spend the rainy day! They put on their rain gear and splashed in the puddles!

Don't Try This at Home

So, the entire reason to have two children is so that you can dress them in matching sailor suits, right?? Well, at least that is what I have always thought. So, on one of the last weekends of summer, I set out to fulfill my childhood dream of having a picture of my two little ones looking beyond adorable and angelic in their snazzy sailor suits.

It was a disaster. The above picture says it all. Ella would have none of it. It involved lots of tears, tantrums, bribes of ice cream and declarations that "I WILL NOT HOLD MY BROTHER!!" Some people will probably tell me I was asking for it by dressing my children in ridiculous outfits. Well, maybe I was. I paid for it, let me tell you. I didn't even want to look at the pictures, but finally found the courage. Below is all that I could salvage.

Oh Ella...

Had to throw this in. If I asked her to smile, and she actually looked at the camera, it generally involved something like this.

If you look close enough you can probably see the tear streaks down her face.

Gotcha mom. Ella 1, Mom 0.

Ella!

And, for those of you who wonder where Ella has been during all of these Cooper photo shoots -- do not despair! She has been having a blast. A sleepover with Mimi and Poppa, Peter Pan, the zoo!

Watching Peter Pan with Nana. She was a little scared at first, but then loved it!

The zoo with best bud Zoe (and the Dads).

Playing chicken with Zoe :)

Oh yes --- how did THIS escape the blog? Well, long story short, Brian fell down the stairs at 5 am while holding Cooper. Gave us all quite a scare. Cooper is just fine (THANK GOODNESS). Brian managed to cut and brake his little toe. So he ended up with some stitches and a boot that he gets to wear around. Who needs a little toe anyway??

Why does she seem all grown up now? Can I please stop time?

Half Way There

Yep, that's right folks. Cooper is six months old. And cute as a button, if I say so myself :)

He has what I call "fuzzy chick head." This adorable blond fuzziness growing in.

Yes, I staged this. No, he's not this advanced. It will not be long though.

We have a thing with celebrating half birthdays in this family with half cakes. Don't ask. I don't know. Last year, at Ella's half birthday, we announced we were pregnant with Cooper. There were questions as to whether there would be any similar announcements this time. Um, Heck. No. Have you visited my house recently?? Pure chaos.

The Cooper lip bite. Love it.

The best thing about little brothers. More cake.

Off to the Races

Cooper decided that he would celebrate turning six months by giving up army crawling and moving to full on stomach-off-the-floor-crawling. Oh boy.

Actually, right now, it mainly looks like this. Cooper gets up on all fours, can't figure out how to go anywhere, and screams at the top of his lungs. You pick him up. He screams to get down and try again. You put him down. He gets up on all fours and screams again at the top of his lungs. You pick him up. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Good times.

Determined to figure this out.

Here I come!

Lil' Man

For those of you who have read The Help (fabulous book) I often think of Ella and Cooper as Mae Mobley and Lil' Man. Not sure why that is relevant to this post, but anyway, here are some random pics of Lil' Man.

Congressman Cooper. A repeat for those of you on Facebook :)

I have a thing with putting hats on babies. You all know Ella wore a zillion hats. Well, just because Cooper is a boy he doesn't get a free pass.

This expression kind of fits the hat...

The Cooper lip bite. He does this all the time. I think it is the cutest.

Squeaky clean after a bath.

Sacked out.