Sweet Potatoes, Snowmen, and Baby Jesus all in One Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was so nice to see family and friends and eat yummy food. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. We're all healthy and we were blessed with Carissa Faith this year. A year ago I was going through a very difficult and long pregnancy. It is amazing to me that she is actually here and healthy. She turned 8 months old on Thanksgiving Day.

I also really enjoyed Black Friday shopping. Woo hoo! Me, Aunt Angie, Aunt Patty, and my cousins, Andrea, and Abby, left town at 4 a.m. and headed north. We made it to Kohl's by 5 a.m. and got some awesome deals there. Then we headed to Wal-Mart and made it out alive. I didn't think it was too bad this year, crowd-wise. I think we timed it well and went to each store about an hour after they opened. After that, we had a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Delicious! I love the Black Friday energy. It's so exciting!

We got our tree up this weekend. That made Maleah very happy. It looks really pretty even if she does keep rearranging the ornaments. Every time I look at it I notice that it looks slightly different. She wants to hang as many as she can on each branch at her eye level. So there are a lot of ornaments at about 45 inches high. Oh well. As long as she is enjoying the tree and is excited about Christmas, I really don't care. As we were decorating it, she found the beauty in each and every ornament. "Oh Mommy, this is so pretty and glittery" or "I love this one, it's my favorite" or "This one is so cute". I think they're all her favorites. There is one ornament that says "Baby's First Christmas" and has a picture of Maleah in it. It's hard to tell if it's Maleah or Carissa though. They look so much alike!

Maleah gets to go to her sitter's house tomorrow while I go to the dentist. She loves to go there and is very excited to see her friends and Juanita. Tomorrow is Juanita's 80th birthday and she is still watching kids. She is one of those people that doesn't look her age or act her age. She seems so much younger! She loves the kids as if they were her own grandkids and Maleah loves her. She used to go there full-time when I worked but now she just goes occasionally. It's wonderful to have a trust-worthy sitter that you can call at a moment's notice. Carissa is not staying at Juanita's tomorrow but instead gets to go with me to the dentist! Poor baby woke up with a cold today and has a super runny nose. She sneezes like every five minutes! I hate to send her and spread the cold around. Plus I don't want her to be fussy for Juanita because she's not used to staying there and she doesn't feel good on top of that. That's enough to throw even the happiest baby for a loop. But lucky for me and Carissa, my friend Nikki is riding along with me to the dentist and is going to watch Carissa while I am at my appointment.

So, what happened this week that was funny? Well, Maleah has a memory like an elephant. Earlier today we were talking about a tv show and I couldn't remember one of the character's names. Maleah thought about it for awhile. She hadn't seen the show in about a year probably. Finally she said "I used to pretend I was her when we were on vacation in Florida last year. Oh yeah, her name is Megan". Then I started thinking about it and now I very clearly remember her pretending to be Megan in August of 2008. I think she also remembers the day she was born. : )

I wore a new shirt on Friday night and she told me I looked beautiful but then said "Is that maternity?". Umm, no. Thanks. I'm just still fat from the last baby. Does anybody know how much a tummy tuck costs?

We have a nativity set sitting in the living room. I walked in one day and Maleah was rubbing the baby Jesus and saying in a baby-talk voice "Oh, you're a sweet little baby, Jesus. You're a cutie pie! Yes, you are!". She sounded as if she was talking to Carissa but wasn't. I wish I would've had a video camera of her talking to Jesus.

Carissa is still not crawling. Not much new with her other than the cold. She sure loved her Thanksgiving meals though. She especially loved Aunt Kay's sweet potatoes. Here's a pic of her enjoying them. We brought home some leftovers of the sweet potatoes and she has already eaten all of them. I think I need that recipe. If any of you start to notice that she has an orange glow about her please let me know right away. Thanks!

Jason got Thanksgiving off for the first time in four years. He was able to enjoy a long weekend and had three days off in a row. That is practically unheard of around here. It was so nice having him here and awake. He was able to get some things done that he needed to and we had lots of family time.

Maleah gets to start her advent calendars this week and she can't wait. One of her "calendars" is a countdown box with 25 little doors on it. Each day she gets to open a door and gets a little present in it. And when I say little, I mean little. If anyone knows of any cool, cheap gifts that are smaller than 2 inches, let me know. Every year I have a hard time finding things to put in it. When she asked me if I could give her a hint as to what her presents will be, I told her that I wasn't sure yet what she was going to get. She told me to just "go get some of that stuff, you know, that you put in pinatas". Good idea. But really that stuff is just a bunch of junk and yucky candy. I might resort to that though.

I know the next few weeks are going to fly by! I love this time of year! Oh yes, and by the way, Maleah is still playing "Christmas Morning". My mom gave her a light up little snowman that she keeps hiding around the house or wraps in Kleenexes and then pretends to find it. She gets so excited that Santa has been here and left her a gift. And each time is as much fun as the first! Here's a pic of her and her little snowman from Grandma.

It's Christmas Every Day at the Cooper's

Coats, coats, and more coats! The coats have started to roll in and my sewing room is filling up fast. I have a huge pile in there that I've washed and dried and some of the other sorority girls have a lot of coats at their houses too. Isn't that wonderful? Hopefully we will get in some more child-size coats and will have enough at our giveaway day for everyone that needs one! You have until December 12 to get those coats to me!!!

We had several funny conversations around here this week. Maleah spent a few hours with my mom and dad today. My mom informed me of everything Maleah told her while I was gone. After seeing a Harley Davidson go down the road, she told Grandma and Grandpa in a very matter-of-fact voice that "my dad really wanted a Harley but he got Carissa instead." Crack me up! Not sure how she thought that out. Yes, Jason would like a Harley but he wanted Carissa too. Carissa is definitely not the reason that he does not have a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

A couple of days ago, just out of the blue, Maleah told me I should be on What Not To Wear. I said "Umm, okay. Thanks a lot". You could see the little wheels turning in her head as she realized that that was kind of rude. Then she said "oh, you could be the pretty lady who tells people what they should wear." She totally tried to cover it up. Apparently she doesn't like what I've been wearing lately.

Maleah and I decorated the house for Christmas yesterday while Carissa watched. Maleah put her own little tree in her room again. Here is a picture of her and her Barbie tree. It looks so pretty in there! She loves it. Right after we were done with it she went and got some gift bags and wrapped up a bunch of her stuff. As soon as her dad got home we all had "Christmas morning" in her room. Carissa got a new blanket that Maleah had bought for a $1.00 at CVS to give her for Christmas. I assumed she meant the real Christmas but no. She gave it to her last night less than 2 hours after she bought it. She couldn't stand the suspense. I think we will have to take her Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve this year for the gifts that are from her. Daddy got an old white blanket and I opened a green glittery ball and a stuffed octopus. Lovely gifts. She immediately re-wrapped them and put them back under her tree. She wants us to play "Christmas morning" every day. Fun, fun!!

Not much new with Carissa this week. She really has an appetite now and is eating like crazy. She is still oh so close to crawling. It just hasn't clicked yet that crawling would be easier than rolling. She seems very content to roll everywhere. I can't believe she is going to be eight months old on Thursday! Time is going by so fast. This morning in church there was a tiny little baby that was about a month old sitting in front of us. I just kept staring at him and thinking how sweet and little he was and how fast the last eight months have went by. It amazes me how quick they go from that size to Carissa's size.

Jason wrapped up a big week of deer hunting. He has been bow hunting for several weeks now and then this weekend he went with his gun. He has seen several but not "muy grande". He is always waiting on "muy grande".

As for me, I've been busy just being mom. You know, cleaning, cooking, laundry (including five loads of coats), running Maleah back and forth to school, etc, etc. We're all looking forward to a fun week. Maleah has a "feast" tomorrow at school that she is very excited about and we're all excited about seeing a lot of the family on Thanksgiving and over the weekend. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving too!

Now Accepting Coats and Purple Hippos

We've had a good week here at the Cooper's. We're all still healthy and I'm so thankful for that! I hope I didn't just jinx us though. I didn't take any pictures this week (What's wrong with me??). So, instead I've included some "oldies but goodies" here and there.

Maleah did great at her tumbling class and one of her teacher's told me that she is a very good listener. That made me feel pretty good. She doesn't always listen to me but at least she listens to others. That's a relief! This coming week there is going to be a puppet show at her school for the pre-k kids at the exact same time as her tumbling class. I told her that she would have to choose which one she wanted to go to. She said that she chose to "go to both!!" Umm, no. They are at the same time. Which one do you want to go to? She said she'd get back to me on that one. It will be interesting to see which one she chooses. Kind of crazy that a four-year old has scheduling conflicts.

Our sorority is sponsoring a coat drive. We are accepting new and gently-used coats, hats, and gloves and also monetary donations to buy what we are lacking. So all of you local readers, if you have nice coats that aren't being used, send them my way! You can call me to come pick them up or there are drop off boxes at Wal-Mart, IGA, and a few other places. Also, if you know anyone that might benefit from this program, please let them know that there will be a pick-up day on December 12 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the county health department.

Carissa has been a funny little character this week. She has the sweetest personality. She is Maleah's biggest fan. Anything that Maleah does cracks Carissa up! Carissa has started to scoot just the tiniest bit forward. I wouldn't call it crawling but it's close. She still prefers to roll everywhere. This morning in church she played quietly on my lap and then fell asleep with her face all snuggled against me. Oh, so sweet! I don't think Maleah ever fell asleep in my arms. She always insisted on a bed. I don't blame her but it's nice having one that wants to snuggle. Carissa set a personal record today and ate an entire jar of baby food at one meal. Maleah said "Mom, aren't you so proud of her?!" Yes, I am. I was starting to think she was trying to exist on milk alone.

Maleah has a pretty short Christmas list this year. All summer she had told me that all she really wanted for Christmas was balloons. One latex balloon blown up by her dad, with air and not helium, can last weeks around here and provide way more entertainment value than many other toys that cost me oh so much more money. I was fine with balloons for Christmas. I thought that was a great idea! But of course, as Christmas has grown closer and the commercials more fantastic, her list has grown. This year she has decided that she really wants a Pillow Pet. They are advertised regularly on channels such as Disney and Nickelodeon. What is it, you ask? Well, it is a pillow that folds in half and looks like a stuffed animal. They make them in about 20 different "pets". She immediately decided that she wanted the purple hippo when she first saw the commercial. I pulled up the website and she looked them over very closely. There was a pretty pink hippo but she wasn't interested in that or the cute puppy or panda. It had to be the purple hippo. I found out last week that Hallmark stores are carrying these pets and since I was out shopping on Saturday I decided to check them out. Would you believe that the purple hippo is nowhere to be found? Sure found a lot of pink hippos though. A nice lady at the Hallmark store called around to at least ten different stores to check for me and no purple hippo. The good news is that I can order it online. I'll have to pay shipping, but oh well. It has to be the purple hippo. When I came home from shopping I talked with Maleah a little bit about the hippo and told her that there didn't seem to be any purple ones nearby. Her response? "That's okay, Mom. I think Grandma can get it for me. Or maybe I'll ask Santa!"

Dinner with the Duggars

This week I've had dinner with Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and all of their kids and various members of the Gosselin family. I've went to Wal-Mart with Anna Duggar and her baby Mackynzie. And I've had to make sure Clayton was with us the whole time. But the good news is Clayton can double as Mackynzie. Wondering what the heck I'm talking about?

Maleah's two favorite shows are 18 Kids and Counting (starring the Duggars) and Jon & Kate Plus 8 (starring the Gosselins). She is constantly in a world of make-believe and pretends to be someone from one of those shows. This has been going on for probably a year now but I think it just gets funnier and funnier. She has really been into being Anna this week. For those of you that don't follow the show, Anna is married to the Duggar's oldest son. They just had a baby named Mackynzie. So Maleah has been in labor this week, delivered a baby girl, and has been taking excellent care of her, if I do say so myself.

Maleah has a baby doll that she has named Clayton (when he's not doubling as Mackynzie). She feeds him, changes his clothes multiple times a day, bathes him, etc. She will be a pretty good mommy one day. She definitely has that mothering instinct. The great thing about Clayton is that he doesn't mind wearing girls clothes at all. If fact, if you ever meet Clayton you'll notice that he is wearing something that you may have previously seen on Carissa. He's real laid-back. : )

In other news, Maleah started tumbling class this week. She loved it!!! She was so excited to get to go. I'm glad that I decided to let her do it. Last year I had sworn that she would never go back to tumbling unless she was eighteen or older. She went twice last year and it ended disasterously (for a four year old). She was stung by a wasp at the tumbling center and was pretty hysterical when I picked her up. She never went back. She never wanted to and I was more than fine with avoiding drama. Hopefully, she sticks with it this time!

Carissa is still not crawling. I thought this was going to be the week that she just "took off". But she is more than content just rolling to wherever she wants to go. It is amazing how fast she can get across the room by just rolling. She fell in love with Pooh Bear this week and is absolutely crazy over these two stuffed Poohs we have. I have never been a big fan of Pooh myself, but whatever makes her happy is fine with me. She hugs and kisses them and it so sweet! She loves to hug her mama too and it just melts my heart. She is the sweetest little thing.

Carissa is starting to eat a little more finally. This child doesn't like anything! I have been feeding her cereal and baby food for about three months now and she spits 98 percent of it back out at me. But this week she did eat a little more than usual, so maybe she's finally decided milk just ain't gonna cut it. She also discovered that she likes those Biter Biscuits made for babies. Very messy but yummy. Here's a pic of her and her biscuit.

Funny quote of the week: "Please hurry Mommy! Hand me the GermX! I need to suck my thumb NOW!!!!" - Maleah Cooper, age 4

A Week of Halloween Fun and Miley Cyrus

Well, we had a great week here at the Cooper house. We had a lot going on and the whole week just sort of flew by. Actually, the whole month went by pretty darn quick. What happened to October?



Today is the first day of November already and the time changed this morning. Why don't babies understand time changes?? Carissa always wakes up around 7:30 or 8:00; so today it was around 6:30 that she started stirring. I know I shouldn't complain though. She is such a good sleeper and sleeps anywhere between 12 and 14 hours a night. I know I'm really blessed to have such a good little sleeper but when I realized that I could've gotten an extra hour and didn't I was a little bummed.



On Wednesday Maleah got to wear her cowgirl costume to school. All of the kids wore their Halloween costumes and then the class went to a local assisted living center to sing to the elderly. She had so much fun! All of the little kids looked so cute dressed up and it was so funny to watch them all sing. When Maleah forgot the words she kept moving her mouth but wasn't making any noise. She probably thought if she did that no one (especially her teacher) would notice that she wasn't singing. But it was pretty easy to tell that her lip movements did not match up with the other kids'. So funny to watch! It was very exciting for her to be there in her costume. She couldn't hardly quit smiling. But she was also very excited for school to be out so that she could go to the Miley Cyrus concert later that night.



Right after school was out we loaded up the car and headed to St. Louis. We heard the classic "Are we there yet?" and "How much longer?" about a million and one times. She was so excited she couldn't hardly stand it. We stopped to eat supper and had a great steak dinner (her favorite). Her night had hardly begun and she was already talking about how much fun she was having.



So we finally get to the concert and decided to buy some snacks. Maleah wanted cotton candy so we bought one small cotton candy and one medium Coke. Fourte
en dollars. Holy smokes! Then we found our seats, which were on the floor. So we walked through the stands to where you enter onto the floor. At that point, a staff member checks your tickets to make sure that you actually have a floor seat. There was also a security guard standing there. The guard walks up to Jason and says "I'm sorry. You can't have that in here". Jason, holding the Coke, was about to say "Come on man, I just paid $8.00 for this Coke" but then the guard patted Jason's hip pocket on his jeans. Jason was still carrying his pocket knife and that is what the guard was talking about. Oh brother! Any one that knows Jason knows that he always has his pocket knife with him. We had both thought on the way to St. Louis that he should take it out and leave it in the car once we got there but then we got sidetracked by an overly excited four year old and it just didn't happen. His knife has a stainless steel clip on it and th
at is what caught the eye of security guard. Suddenly there were two guards and a staff member that kept saying "Oh my God! Thank God you saw that! Oh no!" over and over very loudly. Errrr. The guards ended up confiscating his knife. Errrr. But they told him that if
he found them after the show, Jason could have it back.



The opening act started and it was LOUD!! Jason and I both wore earplugs. Maleah refused. The first act lasted a little over an hour. By that time Maleah was about ready to go and Miley hadn't even gotten on stage yet! She sang four songs and Maleah was asking if we could go yet. It was after 8:00 (her bedtime) and the noise was driving her nuts. So we left at 8:30. We heard Miley sing 4 songs. Maleah loved her though. She loved screaming for her and watching her dance but all in all she had had enough. So in hindsight, maybe four is too young for a concert? Or maybe next time we should go to an afternoon concert (is there such a thing?)and show up for the main performance and skip the opening act? Jason's knife was returned to him about fifteen minutes after the show started. Apparently the security guard could tell that Jason was no threat and was simply a Dad who was holding his four year old up high so she could see. But FYI, if you take a knife to the Scotttrade Center, it will get confiscated. : )

Friday and Saturday included a lot of trick-or-treating, a hyper four year old, and my mom's world famous homemade donuts. Here is a picture of my two trick-or-treaters. Maleah as a cowgirl and Carissa as my little snowman girl. We definitely had a busy week but it was super fun. Anyone need any Halloween candy??? We have waaaayyy too much!!