Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Welcome Cooper Michael Skroch!


Cooper & mommy....so sweet!


Cooper


Cooper & his mommy


Cooper & Auntie Lindsay


Addison kissing Cooper


Kennedy, Cooper & I


Mama Vicki & the girls visiting baby Cooper

On Friday May 22, 2009 at 9:23AM my sister and brother-in-law welcomed their first son, Cooper Michael into the world. He was a big boy, weighing in at 9lbs 6oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He is adorable! They had him at Kaiser Sunnyside, in the building right next to my work, so I was able to run over there between cases and hold him an hour after he was born. I am thrilled to be an Auntie :)

We've Moved!


Check out Addison's new bike gear


Addison & Cooper having a tea party


One of my favorite pics of Kennedy


Kennedy hanging out in Addison's chair

Yep, that's right we found a rental house and moved of the past few weekends. A week after I started back to work we packed up and moved about 3 miles from our tiny apartment. Let me tell you, we are SO trilled to be out of there!!! We ended up finding a nice sized house that is around 2200 sq ft, in a decent neighborhood, with a yard, on a cul-de-sac. It's pretty perfect for what we need and now that we are finally getting all settled in we can't be happier. It's such a relief for the girls to have their own room (that they share) and not have everything crammed into 700 sq ft. I keep having to remind myself to bring my phone around with me because I can't hear it now that we have 2 stories :)

Now that we have a nice neighborhood, Brian and I promised to get Addison a bike, which we did this past weekend. Addison got to pick out her bike herself and was deciding between Dora and Disney Princess and she selected the Princess bike. She got the matching bike helmet which came with elbow pads. Her bike is just a hair too big for her, so we may have to add some blocks to the pedals so that she can reach better, but she doesn't seem to care. She is so funny, she will keep her helmet and elbow pads on....I think she would sleep with them on if we let her! It's so funny, Addison even woke up Monday and really wanted to ride her bike but had to wait until we were showered and, after exclaiming "ugh, frustrating" she sat at the bottom of the stairs with her helmet and elbow pads next to her until we were ready. That girl is a crack up!

Kennedy is getting to be such a big girl. She is SO close to rolling over, but she just can't quite get her other arm out. She gets all flipped over and then just looks at you like "help me!". Once she gets on her belly she is a happy camper. Kennedy is loving all of Addison's old toys, the Johny Jump-up, exersaucer, and play mat. It is so nice that we finally had the room that we could dig them out for her to enjoy. Kennedy is also the happiest baby ever! She only fusses when she wants something and that is pretty much just when she is ready to eat, otherwise she just smiles, coos, or blows bubbles. Kennedy especially loves her big sister and Addison is very good with her. I can't be more pleased with my girls!

Back to the Daily Grind

The first week in May I returned to work after my 12 weeks of maternity leave. It was a nice time off with the girls but it was also nice to go back to work and see my coworkers, see Brian outside of the house, and have some adult conversation. Kennedy joined Addison at daycare with Debb where they now attend 3 days a week but they are long days. Kennedy seems to be doing very well at daycare and Addison loves seeing her sister there and calls her "my Kennedy". Debb is great, she is taking on both the girls and even allows us to send Kennedy with cloth diapers and wipes which is probably a bit of a chore for her but it means the world to us!

As for myself, I am glad to be back at work full-time but would one day like to cut back to part-time. It was surprisingly not hard for me to get back in the groove. I am having to get up earlier than ever before at 4:30AM so that I can get in the shower and start getting ready before Brian and now we have to drop the girls off where as before Brian took Addison on his way to work in the afternoon. Getting up early is a great trade off for spending more time as a family and I wouldn't change a thing!

Eagle Crest


Tree on the golf course


Barbed wire up close


Up close of log

Okay, so the last time I blogged was on our April trip and I only blogged on the beach half of that trip. After the beach we went to Eagle Crest, just outside of Bend/Redmond in Central Oregon. Although the weather was dry and the sun was shining it was pretty chilly. Brian took Addison to the pool and Kennedy and I relaxed in the room. We had a nice time cooking and just spending some quality time away from home. Over the weekend we were joined by our friend Jeff and his girlfriend Rachel. Saturday we all went in to Bend and toured the Deschutes Brewery and enjoyed some delicious samples and topping the afternoon off with a yummy lunch at McMenamins Old St. Francis School and dessert at Cold Stone Creamery. Sunday we packed up and headed home for me to enjoy my last week at home with the girls while Brian started his new job at Kaiser Sunnybrook (where I work).

For those of you that didn't know, Brian left Kaiser Sunnyside to work with me at Kaiser Sunnybrook in outpatient surgery. He is now working 4 days a week, 10 hour days with Saturday-Monday off. Not a bad gig, 3 day weekends, car pooling, and day shift!!! What more could you ask for?