Cooper's Arrival

December 18, 2008 8:05AM 8lbs 0oz. 21 in (and he was early!)

It has been quite a week!! We began with the arrival of the PennB's- wahoo and got to spend some great time with them. Dennis' brain surgery was on Tuesday (which went GREAT-praise the Lord). He is doing very well. Wednesday was full of hustle and bustle and after visits to the hospital etc, we went to eat with Brian, Jenn, Jordan, Trevor and Heath at Chili's. A bit into dinner I got sick and started feeling not quite right. (Remember that I had a C-section scheduled the next morning at 7:30.) Shad and Jenn talked me into going to the hospital even though I refused to admit that I was having contractions. They weren't terrible but I am glad that we went. About 10:00 they admitted us and monitored Cooper. The contractions weren't terrible but they did increase throughout the night. Around 3:00 am we discussed an epidural but went with some oral pain meds and followed through with the c-section at 7:30 so that Dr. Alexis would be the one to do it. I was awake and remember WAY more than I did with Abby. The whole experience was calm and went well. We had TONS of visitors and were blessed so much. He is an amazing little guy who mostly sleeps.


Big Sister is VERY proud of him and doesn't seem to be jealous at this point. She wants him to eat all the time and often tries to share with him.

(Abby called his bed Cooper's wagon and we all got a kick out of it)

Some Visitors (still downloading some others)

Christmas- almost

The Nichols clan descided to celebrate Christmas rather early this year. We all gathered at Van and Kathy's this year and ate and opened presents. We all had a blast, especially the kiddos. I took a bunch of pictures but here are a few...
My immediate family....

Every year the cousins take a stairstep pictre and the boys fight over who is the tallest. We used to be in order by age but now it is all rearranged. (Don't ask about the leg- I am not quite sure why that got started but now we do it every year. )

Here we are trying to get a picture of all the great-grandchildren (easier said than done). I didn't get a good one. :( Kathy saved all of her kiddos toys from when they were little. Here are the kids playing with Ninja Turtles.

Abby had a blast with all of the kids. She and Madison are close in age and they had a ton of fun laying tea party and ring around the rosie. Abby and Ethan thought wrestling was quite fun.

Halloween

Better late than never.........

Abby was a "hehe" for Halloween this year. She had a ton of fun in her horse costume and look adorable. Here are a few pics of the evening.


Here is Daddy... isn't he cute????



We met all the grandparents at Wedgwood and made the rounds.

After that we hopped over to Southcliff (which had an AWESOME setup). Abby LOVED the petting zoo.

DeHart Visit

We had such a blessing in November! Meghan and Reese came to visit us from West Virginia. It was full of fun new memories and a good time had by all. They need to come visit more often- we miss them too much. (Andy can come too. :)) Here is a pic of girls night out. Somehow Meghan got to hide her prego belly in the back. Mine is there front and center. Isn't this the greatest gaggle of gals you ever saw!!

One night my gaggle and all their families (minus 1) came over for some fun. Here is a picture of the baby gaggle.

Here are Abby and Reese in the bathtub. They thought it was the greatest thing on earth. Abby misses Reese. Even now she walks through the house looking for "Weese"

Thanksgiving

Whew- another whirlwind Thanksgiving! We had a blast seeing all the family. Abby enjoyed playing with her cousins from both sides. The food was delicious!!

Here she is with Ethan and Madison watching the cows. These guys played outside the majority of the time and by the time we all left smelled of the farm. :)

Chloe and Abby and tons of fun too. They were very friendly and love chasing each other around......

The Zoo

Wednesday before Thanksgiving "ampa", Shad and I took Abby to the zoo. It was perfect weather! Abby LOVED the whole day. She was obsessed with feeding the birds. The moment we entered she started chanting "birds hungeee mommy". Here are a few pics of the day....