Hi Friends!
So we have made it through the holidays! Whew!
We had a great holiday season filled with all our favorites - family, friends and tons of FOOD!
Here's a little update on us since we last posted...
And got all dressed up for Christmas
(multiple Christmas outfits to follow)
Then we got all "dressed up" for Christmas Eve service
(Thanks to my mom "Mumzy" for the precious monogrammed jumper!)
Then Cooper's first Christmas morning came!
He had NO clue what all the fuss was about but he sure LOVED all the tissue paper (and of course got spoiled out of his mind!)
obligatory "no make up just woke up but Cooper is of course smiling and precious even though we are looking rough Christmas morning" picture!
We played "Speak Out" which was hilarious...
If you don't already own this game...get it. Good times will be had
All other record of this game are kept secret for the player's protection ;-)
He got to try his first world famous Lolli Christmas manicotti! Yum!
(we also made Christmas eve gumbo per Hannah's family tradition but that's still a bit too spicy for the Coopster)
And he LOVED having so much fun with Lolli and Pops!
We were SO pumped to also see these precious friends during Christmas week!
The Floyds are very dear super loved super missed friends of ours from Houston.
We used to live just down the road from them and we miss them LIKE.CRAZY!
Jenn is originally from Denver so we were so stoked to get to steal them away for an evening while they were in town visiting too.
We miss you Floyds!
Continuing the Christmas week adventures - we also got all bundled up and went to the Denver too and checked out Zoo Lights!
They did such a fantastic job!
Of course Alex found the Toyota lights
Every section the zoo was themed for what animals were in the exhibits (since clearly you couldn't see the animals). It was awesome!
They even had a Yurt you could go warm up in and learn about!
Cooper loved all the lights but was TUCKERED by the end!
The theme was "save the oceans" or something similar but they had these HUGE sculptures made completely out of trash taken out of the oceans and all proceeds went to ocean conservation.
Pretty cool :-)
And then Christmas week came to and end...
Yes...we jammed all that into Christmas week.
ONTO THE NEXT!
We LITERALLY dropped Alex's parents off at the airport and got to pick up Dinah and Matthew at the same time!
They came to visit over New Years and Matthew's birthday and it was such awesome fun to have them come stay with us for the weekend!
We hadn't gotten to see the fabulous McMichael's since their awesome Arkansas wedding in September so we missed them big time and their visit was such a blessing to us for them to come visit.
It was a whirlwind but we got to celebrate Matthew's birthday at Colt and Gray in downtown Denver. It was delicious!
Then we got up the next day and hit up Keystone for a day of New Year's Eve skiing!
Then we had to say goodbye over a delicious biscuit at Denver Biscuit Company
Thanks for coming to see us McMichael's! We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!
Of course the DAY BEFORE WE LEAVE Cooper wasn't feeling well but he got the all clear to fly from the pediatrician so off we went!
Hannah got some great sister time
And Cooper got some great Mumzy time!
And we got to most importantly love on this little precious addition to our family!
Cooper helped Mumzy fix Daddy's shirt...
And enjoyed the "warmer" temps (although to be truthful I think we brought the only cold front Houston has seen with us!)
Hannah and Alex enjoyed the glory that is Whataburger
(and other beloved Houston eats including some delish Lupe Tortilla fajitas that have gone unpictured because they were inhaled too quickly due to SEVERE fajita drought in Denver)
And after the fastest weekend trip ever we were back to Denver.
Cooper did great on the flight!
He LOVES Alex so much and always gives him the biggest smiles!
Alex does bedtime quite a bit so needless to say our flight looked like this for most of it.
Needless to say we were all EXHAUSTED after these two weeks of fabulous family, friend and travel time but had the best time and wouldn't trade it for the world!
AND in the middle of all that - Cooper J turned 7 months!
Sweet Cooper -
Happy 7 months precious one!
You continue to keep us laughing, keep us on our toes and we are amazed every month at how big you are getting and how much you are growing!
You sleep through the night pretty much all the time
(except when you're sick or your teeth are hurting you)
You are super curious which is definitely turning into some mischievous moments on your part.
You are so handsome (everybody says so!) and those eyes are staying the darkest shade of navy blue!
You have the worst runny nose all.the.time.
The pediatrician says it's par for the course so even though we are dealing with this...
We love you so much anyways.
The house got festive.
Ya'll - I can't even describe how fun it was to decorate this house and have it all snowy and Christmassy and our neighborhood was SO.CUTE.
Cooper wished Merry Christmas to his fave daycare teachers
Ms. Nagu
and Ms Flor
We got to go on our first actual date since Cooper was born!
We went to Keystone to ski for the day
(PS - being able to go up and down and just ski for the day is life.changing. LOVE.THESE.MOUNTAINS.!)
It was a whopping -10.
Needless to say it was a blast but we weren't so sad that we had to go in the afternoon either and get back in our warm car!
Love this guy and our Colorado adventures!
We played with our friends
(multiple Christmas outfits to follow)
This was Cooper's "christmas" outfit for holiday spirit week at school.
Isn't he the cutest?
He LOVED the Christmas tree lights but did not really get why there was a tree in our living room so he pretty much left it alone.
Good boy.
Do that next year too Ok?
(yes I hear all my toddler parent friends out there laughing at me)
Christmas at the hospital was so sweet too! We had a great time helping our families celebrate the best they could!
The week of Christmas came and Alex's parents came to visit for a whole week!
We had a blast with them and it was such a blessing to have them here all to ourselves for the week and to celebrate the holidays with us!
This year was certainly different than years past but we are definitely learning to love our new traditions!
We went to the Denver Art Museum (DAM) and saw the coolest Star Wars and the art of Costume exhibit on Christmas eve...
(Thanks to my mom "Mumzy" for the precious monogrammed jumper!)
Our first Christmas eve service as a family of 3!
Then Cooper's first Christmas morning came!
He had NO clue what all the fuss was about but he sure LOVED all the tissue paper (and of course got spoiled out of his mind!)
We played "Speak Out" which was hilarious...
If you don't already own this game...get it. Good times will be had
All other record of this game are kept secret for the player's protection ;-)
Cooper continued to be the super cool supervisor in his new earmuffs and glasses
He got to try his first world famous Lolli Christmas manicotti! Yum!
(we also made Christmas eve gumbo per Hannah's family tradition but that's still a bit too spicy for the Coopster)
And he LOVED having so much fun with Lolli and Pops!
The Floyds are very dear super loved super missed friends of ours from Houston.
We used to live just down the road from them and we miss them LIKE.CRAZY!
Jenn is originally from Denver so we were so stoked to get to steal them away for an evening while they were in town visiting too.
We miss you Floyds!
Continuing the Christmas week adventures - we also got all bundled up and went to the Denver too and checked out Zoo Lights!
They did such a fantastic job!
Of course Alex found the Toyota lights
Every section the zoo was themed for what animals were in the exhibits (since clearly you couldn't see the animals). It was awesome!
They even had a Yurt you could go warm up in and learn about!
Cooper loved all the lights but was TUCKERED by the end!
Pretty cool :-)
Cooper went on his first swing ride...AND LOVED IT
Yes...we jammed all that into Christmas week.
ONTO THE NEXT!
We LITERALLY dropped Alex's parents off at the airport and got to pick up Dinah and Matthew at the same time!
They came to visit over New Years and Matthew's birthday and it was such awesome fun to have them come stay with us for the weekend!
We hadn't gotten to see the fabulous McMichael's since their awesome Arkansas wedding in September so we missed them big time and their visit was such a blessing to us for them to come visit.
It was a whirlwind but we got to celebrate Matthew's birthday at Colt and Gray in downtown Denver. It was delicious!
Then we got up the next day and hit up Keystone for a day of New Year's Eve skiing!
Then we had to say goodbye over a delicious biscuit at Denver Biscuit Company
Thanks for coming to see us McMichael's! We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!
So New Years came and went...
(Happy 2017! Can we all agree 2016 was something of a mess?)
And we were off to Houston to celebrate the holidays with my family and most importantly meet this sweet nugget:
Our new nephew Harvey Andrew Steck!
Isn't he PRECIOUS!
Of course the DAY BEFORE WE LEAVE Cooper wasn't feeling well but he got the all clear to fly from the pediatrician so off we went!
Hannah got some great sister time
And Cooper got some great Mumzy time!
And we got to most importantly love on this little precious addition to our family!
Cooper helped Mumzy fix Daddy's shirt...
And enjoyed the "warmer" temps (although to be truthful I think we brought the only cold front Houston has seen with us!)
Hannah and Alex enjoyed the glory that is Whataburger
(and other beloved Houston eats including some delish Lupe Tortilla fajitas that have gone unpictured because they were inhaled too quickly due to SEVERE fajita drought in Denver)
And we took our first family portraits (more to come once we get all the proofs back but here's a sneak peak!)
And after the fastest weekend trip ever we were back to Denver.
Cooper did great on the flight!
He LOVES Alex so much and always gives him the biggest smiles!
Alex does bedtime quite a bit so needless to say our flight looked like this for most of it.
AND in the middle of all that - Cooper J turned 7 months!
Sweet Cooper -
Happy 7 months precious one!
You continue to keep us laughing, keep us on our toes and we are amazed every month at how big you are getting and how much you are growing!
You sleep through the night pretty much all the time
(except when you're sick or your teeth are hurting you)
You are the happiest little guy in the world when you wake up.
And you nap like a champ.
Once you start acting sleepy or fussy you just want to be held for a few minutes then you can be put in your crib and you want to put yourself to sleep.
You are super curious which is definitely turning into some mischievous moments on your part.
You are so handsome (everybody says so!) and those eyes are staying the darkest shade of navy blue!
You sit on your own with no support or problems and play on your own with your toys like a champ!
You are also talking up a storm which makes your speech therapy momma so happy!
and want to crawl SO BADLY but you just can't get it all going quite yet...
The pediatrician says it's par for the course so even though we are dealing with this...
We love you so much anyways.
...and you eat like a champ.
You weigh just under 16 lbs.
You want to feed yourself with your own spoon and you LOVE baby food or anything on our plates too!
You can drink from a straw (sometimes) and are working so hard on drinking from a cup!
You are definitely still teething big time but no teeth yet!
We are so proud of you!
Cooper -
Thank you for making every day richer, longer and shorter at the same time, happier, busier and our lives more full with each passing day.
We love you more than we could ever express.
You are truly and always our greatest adventure.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Well that's about it for now guys!
We hope you all had a very happy holiday season full of all your favorite things too!
Until next time!
Love,
Hannah and Alex
