LITTLE HANDS... BIG STUFF

the sweetness of the moment... the privilege of watching them learn... these busy little cooper hands have been trying to master cutting... his determination has been ~ well, for lack of a better word... inspiring... to practice is to grow...

i never want to forget this day...

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Five Good Things

1. that big box of crayons... loved putting them in their stockings and loved that i'm not so old that they had those when i was a kid... after all it was just a couple of weeks ago that christopher asked me if we still had donuts when i was a kid~ i am still smiling about that one!
2. awanas~ they come home so excited... i never tire of hearing all about it and seeing their little hearts grow
3. expanding... camera course in the near future? hopefully!!! or maybe just a lot of studying on line!
4. weekly donut dates with nate while the other boys are in school... to watch nate enjoy a donut will make you want 10!
5. my messy desk... lots of stuff going on with these little guys! neat can be over rated!!

ciao~alicia

TODDLER

He's not a baby anymore...

I had to move his crib because he was turning on his light during nap time and waking us all up at 4:00 in the morning crying... He's slept through the night for a long time now but I guess he wakes up during the night and has been playing with this little light.

His words are too many to keep up with ...

He is the little fish of the family; Christopher & Nate were never really interested in putting their faces in the water until they were older. This little guy is diving in head first in the bathtub and blowing bubbles all over the place~ oh, how he loves bath time with his brothers.

He loves everything about being a big boy... he chases his brothers and joins in their games. They welcome him in, give him a job and it is oh, so cute.

His favorite conversation is "what you doin?" this jumbled phrase means where are you going?, what are you doing? and you can answer him and he usually gives you a big long "ohhh". Precious.

He loves oatmeal and apples and chocolate.

Daddy hung the moon and the stars.

He also loves to tickle everyone and will lift up his shirt and make the more sign for a big raspberry on his tummy~ you know when you blow on it loud?... one of his favorite things ever. His laugh is contagious.

I have to say I cannot wait until the diapers are gone! Five years solid of changing diapers and these hands look 40!

We are entering a new season... time for me to pick up some more things just for me... Lord willing I will be starting my Masters Degree in the fall at DBU! I will also be homeschooling Christopher and Nate... yes, I said it. Over the next few months we will be changing this house... our little museum is up in the hallway, pics to come. And the big boys room is going to be our classroom/playroom! All the boys will be bunking in the little room and I can't wait to hear what goes on in there when the lights are turned out!

What a journey... what a season.

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Five Good Things

1. Snow!~ we had record breaking snowfall!
2. My crock pot~ yummy stuff coming out of this kitchen lately!
3. Little guitar players... Lee Boy Band?
4. Messes... they can always be cleaned
5. Magnetic Poetry on the fridge~ I missed writing!

ciao~alicia

SWINGIN'

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i think this is the heartbreak look... I'm hooked!

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Five Good Things

1. Old Friends~ you just never know who will come back into your life~ and not be accidental!
2. Brothers~ will there be one more Lee Boy? Who knows
3. Vail's Vaca with my Hubby!
4. Sister support~ love you Sistas!
5. Preschool

ciao~alicia

CELEBRATE

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it was over before I actually knew everyone was there and had drinks and saw Coop sit on his cake...

it was surreal... like a mini dream that you know you are in but just seems to kind of go along without... you just get to witness, say a few things and if you are lucky, feel like you were in moments... I just wanted to stand there and stare at him~ and I did.

when I thought about it, we didn't really have a Luau... we had leis and burgers... did I plan for all sorts of Hawaiian "things"... yep... did it happen... nope... that really seems to be how parties go with having kids for me... it's odd and yet so me... so disheveled... late... I'm rarely together anymore... babies and boogers and diapers have relaxed me some to a default...

so, I will be grateful to Chris who cooked some awesome burgers, kept our tradition with the leis and to Rachel for taking some rockin' pics and just remember how cute Coop looked on this special day... so I'm not the best kid party planner... there are worst things and they did leave with bubbles wrapped in some ribbon, the kids that is... although I'm practicing, I don't know if I'll ever truly be thrilled with my parties... I was happy with my cupcakes~ and I think a few others were too~

Time for b e d.

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Five Good Things

1. Coop loved my cake~ I'm smiling just typing... you get it
2. Smelling plumeria
3. Coffee
4. Organic cream for my coffee~ thanks Babe!
5. Brothers

ciao~alicia

BAG BABY

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I really want a new camera right now... did I say really? I feel like Coop may be the last baby and I want to photograph him all the time... All the time...

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he's a little busy lately though, and has other ideas!

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Five Good Things

1. Wal Mart is always open and I may be there at 2:00 in the morning when I realize I'm missing something for the party tomorrow
2. Chris' thoughtfulness~ I opened up a box from Hawaii today... smells sooo sweet in here!
3. Dad doing all the shopping~ thanks Dad~ love you
4. Dreams
5. Phone chargers~ it would be good if I could find mine;)

BACKYARD BABY

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Coop is officially 1!

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Stay tuned for pics from our Luau ~ Lee Style this Sunday!

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Five Good Things

1. Cooper's sign language~ milk makes me melt
2. Coop's awesome sleeping schedule
3. Coop's 4 teeth and 4 more coming
4. Cooper's open mouth kisses~ my Besos!
5. The Littlest Lee~ what a year!

ALMOST ONE

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Chasing the big boys... getting into EVERYTHING... using baby signs for milk, more, all done, no, yes, hungry... giggles, giggles, giggles... cruisin' down the sofa... open mouth kisses... head butts... peek a boo with style like in this pic...

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Where has this year gone?

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Our house is such a baby house... this first birthday will be bittersweet.

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Five Good Things

1. Small Towns
2. The Pumpkin Patch
3. Nate Nate on my lap
4. RIP mj...
5. Baby Showers... going to be sweet April;)

ciao~alicia

SUN

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the sun felt yellow today...

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Five Good Things

1. Soft, green grass Chris just mowed
2. Coop's stripes
3. Me
4. Naps
5. Green Apples

ciao~alicia

POOL PLAY'IN

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I just wanted to push pause...

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Five Good Things

1. Sun hats
2. Chris is going back to school... yay!
3. Little glass baby bottles make great kid cups!
4. Creative ways to be frugal
5. Little boy conversations

ciao~alicia

SHADE

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Summer... Sunscreen... Cool Water... Laughter... Wet Babies... Big Towels

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Five Good Things

1. Marriage
2. Love & Support
3. Health
4. Sisters
5. Clean Air

ciao~alicia

LEE BABY FARM

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I put Lee Baby Farm recently on an invitation... we got some calls asking if we were expecting. I've been thinking about that name for a while... it just seems to fit, ironically for this city girl. I do want a sign outside in a flowerbed that says "Lee Baby Farm" ~ even though we don't really have a farm we might as well have in my eyes... once we decided to have kids I wanted to live in a loft! Then something happened to me and I understood why people move "out" when they have little ones... I wanted them to see a more natural world with the grit ~ boy stuff! So here we are in our little town in our little house... I originally wanted 2 sets of 2 babies ~ if I did prego well I would want to be prego now. Christopher & Nate have THE coolest bond... they don't know life without the other! More babies to fill up our "farm"?... we'll see! Here's our littlest one this week exploring "the grounds"!

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Bonkers!

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this is my unwasted, wasted space... we don't use plastic anymore (I should say except for Tupperware ~ no bpa) anyway, it makes a great baby cabinet...

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It's fun to be a baby on this "farm";)

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Five Good Things

1. I love my feather pillow
2. My legs are shaved
3. Tylenol
4. My moody computer
5. Chris made breakfast this morning... ocean pancakes... he rox!

ciao~alicia

I WANNA COME!

Coop is all over the house trying to catch his brothers any way he can! If you look really close you can see Christopher's hand in the bathtub... his new thing is "hiding" from everyone... he hides under any blanket, pillow, or behind some door and then pops out and yells at you... I have my heart in my throat about 3 times a day... he's fun to live with like my sister was... he's going to be that kid that who "gets ya good"!

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Five good things:

1. I love my collection of dried flowers from Christopher

2. I have 2 less loads of laundry to do

3. Chris is off tomorrow

4. My gray roots will be covered up soon

5. English muffins with lots of butter... yum!

ciao~alicia

LOVELY

I am so in love...

can you see why?

Swim in the Moment

When everything seems to be moving so fast around us...

Swim in the moment... the story, the bath, cutting bats out of cheese;)

I am constantly reminded of all the distractions: more of this and more of that, spend, spend and spend some more you don't have. Get your kid "involved" so that they develop people skills. I noticed this new gym class that Christopher is in that since they are 4 you can drop them off. When he was 3 we had a wonderful group of Moms to visit with every week; there are 2 maybe 3 there every week now. Keep it up Sisters... you all do a wonderful job of being a light... a light for other Moms to see Him through you!

Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

proverbs 31:28

Coops & Me

This was such a good day I had to post the rest of these pics I just got from my Mom...

There are those moments in the day that make all the sacrifices all worth it...

Sometimes I miss meeting with the stylist about a photo shoot for one of my new models... Sometimes I miss going out for a glass of wine with some photographers from Europe...

But I wouldn't miss for the world:

Cooper learning to cough to get my attention

Christopher scoring his first soccer goal

Nate peeing on the toilet without being too short to stand up and not drip (this happened literally overnight)

staying up holding them when they are sick and knowing that I don't have to have anything for anyone else the next day...

seeing so many "firsts" that my soul is bubbly...

To all my sisters who know what I'm talking about... my heart is full for you...

we will never get these moments back!!

Kissing Coops

Coop goes to the playground a lot with us...

he's at that perfect size where I can carry him around with one arm and not get that tired. He just bobbles to keep his balance and looks all around...

more than half way to 1 year...

time flies!

Mimi's Muse

He's six months old...

my Cooper Jackson...

he's a joy...

he's my biggest boy at 16 lbs now... I just want to eat him! my new fave photographer... my Mom!

Sweetheart Fashion Show

He's been excited for weeks to do this fashion show... he didn't want to leave the stage and waved at everyone... he jumped when they were talking about the shoes so everyone could hear them squeak...

Coop modeled his little sailor suit like a pro... Nate & his friend Noah stole the show!

thanks to Shannon from Grins N Giggles... her clothes are adorable! also everyone from the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce... they were all so sweet with the kids!

I Heart Coops

Nuff said...