Sweet Baby Boy

Here are some of my favorite pics of Cooper so far. He is just such a sweetie! I am hoping to go spend some time with him tomorrow. I have been trying to pack and once that's done, I'm free! My moving truck comes on Wednesday and then I plan to leave the following Saturday or Sunday (Aug 4 or 5).

Enjoy the pics of this cutie!

It's a BOY!!

Not that the boy part comes as a surprise, but he was not scheduled to be born until the 27th. He had other plans. Cooper Martin entered the world at 10:04 p.m. on July 16th. Just in time to make it on his favorite aunt's birthday!!! That would be me!!

Cooper weighed 8 lbs and 4 oz. He was 19 inches long and has the fuzziest soft blonde hair. :) He is doing great and my sister is tired but also doing well. They will get to go home in the morning. I have to finish packing so I can spend time with them next week. My brother in law goes back to work and my mom has until the end of the month until she "semi-retires" so I'm more than happy to help out!!

Here I am holding him for the very first time. We didn't get to hold him until the next morning. They monitored him that first night until the wee hours of the morning because he still had some fluid on his lungs. I guess that can happen with c-section babies. He is doing just great now!

One Man's Trash...

I've been going through my apartment and trying to decide what to keep and what to sell. It's given me a chance to organize things even more than they already were in preparation for my move. My sale pile already takes up a third of my living room. While I've been going through all my stuff, I've come to realize something....I have a lot of stuff that I don't really need. Don't get me wrong, I'm not much of a pack rat. I don't hold on to useless things, I'm not a collector of frogs of any other items. Ok...I take that back. I do collect pitchers. Yes, pitchers. I have them on the top of my kitchen cabinets, I use them to hold my kitchen utensils and I also keep fresh flowers in one on my kitchen bar area. I started with just a couple from my grandmother and then I'd find an interesting one at an antique store ar an art fair and purchase it. The more unique or antique they are the better. That is my one and only collection and they won't go near the sale pile. I have however went through many items and thought..."Do I really need this?" or "When was the last time I used this?" If I can't remember, it goes in the sale pile. I must say I have some nice stuff. Of course it could be considered junk to other people. I have a lot of nice clothes that are too big for me now....which is a great thing. But as I was washing and folding it all, I realized I missed a lot of those cute clothes! Then I started to think of the last places I wore those outfits. What I was doing, who I was doing it with. As I went through all of the things for my sale, I did the same thing. Garage sales are more about memories than making money or purging unwanted items from your home. I think that's why it is so hard for people to decide what to get rid of. Each item has a special memory associated with it. Some good....some bad. But, they are all memories. It's fun to take that stroll down memory lane, but the real fun is in knowing that even when I sell my junk, it will be someone elses treasure and it will create new memories for those people.

Texas...Here I come!

Well, the decision has been made...I'm moving to Texas. I accepted a job in Anna, Texas. I'll be teaching 5th grade language arts and social studies. I'm thrilled...I couldn't be happier about teaching language arts for a big part of the day!! Now I have to make some more decisions and do some major packing, and have a garage sale. The fact that I am over 1000 miles away makes it a bit difficult! Barry has been checking into soooo many things in Texas and we have decided on a moving company. For just a couple hundred dollars more we can have someone else do all the heavy lifting and carrying things down the stairs from my apartment. Was there really even anything to consider there?? The movers are coming July 27th & 28th. I have SOOOO much to do. I want to have a garage sale sometime before I pack everything up. Just thinking about it gives me a headache!

I haven't settled on a date when I will actually leave. I have to be here for the birth of my nephew! My sister is due July 26th, but her doctor told her last week they will most likely do a c-section. Cooper is breech and is already too big to turn. I guess when your husband was over 12 lbs the chances of you having a big baby are pretty good too. With all of her past health problems, I think it is really the best choice. After Cooper is born, I'll have a bit of time here before I head off to Texas. I begin school on the 13th so I want to get there and have a bit of time to get settled before I have to get back into the swing of things with work. I'm sure it's going to be a busy and crazy time, but I'm also sure it will be exciting! As sad as I am to leave my family and friends here in Michigan, I am happy too. A new chapter in my life is about to start!