As you already know, a little man named Cooper has taken over our lives, hearts, and minds. But here's what happened that led up to where we are now.
The dogs enjoyed the weather with us and I reminisced on my good luck charm I've had since childhood.
My feet were so fat I could not wear any shoes. Not even flip flops. The only thing that fit was slippers.
Farmers market with shelly. It was really fun and I have always wanted to go and never have!
I got my hair cut and colored
Dallies famous nachos, Jakey loves the nursing pillow
Working in the upstairs bathroom
Poor dallin dealing with "some assembly required"....
Our dryer broke. Turns out there were multiple birds nests clogging these vents to outside
Loving on the pups
Watching the president as he addressed the nation with the latest news on Corona virus
Coop liked my right side way better... which was uncomfortable for me and it made the gut look super uneven. lol Kinda funny looking! (The second picture is my view of my own stomach looking down.)
In the end, the pool of snakes wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Absolutely nothing like tv shows and movies portray. We both realized how big of a difference helpful kind nurses make, and we were so lucky to get the best. Out of the whole thing only like 3 or 4 hours were bad. The rest of it was really non dramatic. Everything progressed really well and happened like they’re supposed to and no problems. I was soooo happy it was over and Dallin said he was proud of how I handled it after the first 3 freak outs. Haha And when we got home I was so proud of myself. 
Dallin was the best support in the world and I definitely could not have done it without him. The hospital plays a song every time a new baby is born and Dallin cried when it played for us. It felt like a dream to me, like it didn’t even really hit me the magnitude of it until we got home. All the nurses who saw him kept mentioning his dimple, eyelashes, and when they did that paper thing they said wow he has big feet! 
He passed all the little screenings the doctors do there.
After we got home we were both just so happy and relieved it was over and everyone is ok. It was a little bit of a struggle right at first pulling the stuff together since we weren’t ready at all. But our friends were there for us and we felt so cared for. Lexi came over and got the dogs and cleaned when she was here! She watched the dogs for a few days and then sent us dinner and supplies that are hard to find in this quarantine. We were so grateful to all the people who reached out, and Especially Shelly because she came up here and is doing sooooooo much for us. I don’t think we would be surviving without her (seriously) and we are all so happy and taken care of.
the pic on the right was his first walk
Dallin keeps saying how proud he is of me and that I’m a natural. I don’t think I am because when they first handed him to me I didn’t even know to support his head lol and I ask dallin and Shelly for tons of help and questions and stuff. But Dallin really has completely morphed into dad role seamlessly. Immediately he was the one that could calm him down better and do the swaddle better and he has by far changed the most diapers. He loves doing skin to skin with him and I just think it’s incredible to watch how good he is at all of this cuz I’ve never seen him that way before.
So many people have called or texted to check in on us and it has really helped us to feel supported and loved during this big change. Because of the virus that’s all the contact we can have so it’s killing friends and family to not be able to meet him yet, but using FaceTime has helped a lot.
His favorite- I call it the monkey face (check out that dimple)
The “how you doin” face (said like Joey from Friends) lol future heart breaker
Jakey loves him so much. He is always right by him watching and will kiss him on the head. Josie seems more annoyed and jealous that he’s taking the attention.
We do our nights in 3 shifts so that we all get 6 hours of sleep so it’s been good. That was another big fear of mine just being so miserable and tired so I feel lucky that Shelly and Dallin are so willing to help.
This picture could be a meme lol
Supply is not a problem for me which is cool.
These were pics from like 5 days old
I used to think it's gross what happens to the body, and some parts of it DEFINITELY still are. And some parts I was kindof mystified by..... like I didn't understand how it worked. So I was really pleasantly surprised that when it's you it just sort of happens to you and you don't have to think about it. For example I thought it was amazing that I lost 23 pounds in only 1 week and I didn’t do anything different it just came off. And the whole “doing the dangle” thing- I didn’t know how to control it at all, the kid knew what to do and it just came out on its own. Pretty crazy.
My dad is sad he can’t meet him yet ( lots of family and friends feel the same way because of the virus we haven’t seen anyone besides Shelly) . So anyway he sent us these roses and I thought that was sweet
When we first found out it was a boy and I wanted a girl dallin said “ but think about Jake won’t it be fun for him?” And that turned everything around in my mind because my favorite book as a kid was “The puppy who wanted a boy.” It has been so sweet and kind of surreal to see how much Jake loves him and then to read that same book to Cooper. I don’t know much about it yet but so far motherhood has been very fulfilling.
This is his monkey face I told u about earlier
He has really dry feet and hands
This was our April mantle change for Easter. I can’t put up pics of the school bulletin board because they closed down for the rest of the year because of the Coronavirus.
Shelly helped me put away a bunch of clothes and stuff. Luckily we had just barely went and bought most of the kid stuff we needed, we thought we still had more time so with how it turned out and supplies being hard to get these days we were lucky. (We both felt so poor after getting the rest of the stuff we needed lol babies ain’t cheap!)
My dad and Shelly helped us do house projects . They have both helped so much with this and we have never appreciated them more. It’s been amazing.
Every day I would look at myself in the mirror just astounded at how I could possibly get any bigger.
Watching the bachelor
As the due date came closer and I looked at this calendar I got more and more anxious so we eventually took it down. I am glad it happened the way it did so I could rip it like a bandaid instead of watch the days tick by of those last 2 weeks and get more and more beside myself.
Utah had an Earthquake and my mom said a few things came off of her shelf but that was it. lol The thing they were more annoyed by was that Tom was getting surgery on his broken ankle that same morning and so it delayed them and they were stuck in the waiting room longer.
Josie stole Cooper's stuffed animal. I was able to save the other one (my mom gave him 2) but I didn't have the heart to take it from her because it made her so happy and she had been so sad. The reason she was sad for a week or so was she got Kennel Cough. She found that bear and was so happy it was so cute.
This is how bad the kennel cough was. We felt so bad for her. The vet gave her an antibiotic and another pill they called a "cough suppressant." We looked at the bottle and it was hydrocodone lol Dallin said, "Ya that will suppress a lot of things.... thoughts, emotions, motivation, ability to move, coughing.... so that'll do it I guess!" hahaha
The Pool of Snakes
Long story short- at the 38 week appointment they said they had to induce right then. So I freaked the F out, Dallin and some really sweet nurses helped me pull it together and then I had no choice but to get on with it. I kept myself distracted by other things (dallin helped me with that by getting shows and games on my phone) and would only let myself think about one thing at a time so I didn't get too scared. I still don’t think it’s my favorite to talk about but I’m at least not horrified about the topic anymore.
These 2 were pics when we were there at first. Dallin thought it was so funny that I could use my belly as a shelf for my phone lol
Got some good food in the hospital, we did a lot of walking around so we took that selfie in the ceiling lol
The process started at 3pm and Cooper was born around 1:30pm the next day.
In the end, the pool of snakes wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Absolutely nothing like tv shows and movies portray. We both realized how big of a difference helpful kind nurses make, and we were so lucky to get the best. Out of the whole thing only like 3 or 4 hours were bad. The rest of it was really non dramatic. Everything progressed really well and happened like they’re supposed to and no problems. I was soooo happy it was over and Dallin said he was proud of how I handled it after the first 3 freak outs. Haha And when we got home I was so proud of myself. 
Dallin was the best support in the world and I definitely could not have done it without him. The hospital plays a song every time a new baby is born and Dallin cried when it played for us. It felt like a dream to me, like it didn’t even really hit me the magnitude of it until we got home. All the nurses who saw him kept mentioning his dimple, eyelashes, and when they did that paper thing they said wow he has big feet! 
He passed all the little screenings the doctors do there.Went in with 2, came out with 3!
This is us going home to pretend like we know how to be parents! haha we were both so scared
After we got home we were both just so happy and relieved it was over and everyone is ok. It was a little bit of a struggle right at first pulling the stuff together since we weren’t ready at all. But our friends were there for us and we felt so cared for. Lexi came over and got the dogs and cleaned when she was here! She watched the dogs for a few days and then sent us dinner and supplies that are hard to find in this quarantine. We were so grateful to all the people who reached out, and Especially Shelly because she came up here and is doing sooooooo much for us. I don’t think we would be surviving without her (seriously) and we are all so happy and taken care of. At home with the coolest cat in town
I'm not sure if we took enough pictures..... jk ;)
All 3 of us are obsessed with baby cooper. He is a pretty easy going guy, and super cute of coarse. The first 2 nights at home were hard but after that we got the hang of it and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. (Well as smooth as it gets for a new born... so medium smooth)
All 3 of us are obsessed with baby cooper. He is a pretty easy going guy, and super cute of coarse. The first 2 nights at home were hard but after that we got the hang of it and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. (Well as smooth as it gets for a new born... so medium smooth)
the pic on the right was his first walk
Like every parent I am convinced he is advanced and of coarse on his way to win olympics and a Nobel prize. Lol he can do no wrong and I already way overestimate his skills
Anyway this is him grabbing his own binky and putting it back in his mouth at only like 5 or 6 days old. I know it’s cliche of me but I was like omg u guys he is so smart. And I know you’re not going to believe me but he is only 2 weeks old and already so close to rolling over. So he’s basically an athlete and scholar.
This wa one of the many pediatrician appointments. We accidentally got a car seat that disinterested have a handle so it was way harder to transport him so this was his new one.
So many people have called or texted to check in on us and it has really helped us to feel supported and loved during this big change. Because of the virus that’s all the contact we can have so it’s killing friends and family to not be able to meet him yet, but using FaceTime has helped a lot.The many faces of Cooper Alexander ( photo credit - "Sheryl")
The thinking/mischievous face
And last but not least- the POOPING face. We are thinking of saving this one for embarrassment in his teen years
Jakey loves him so much. He is always right by him watching and will kiss him on the head. Josie seems more annoyed and jealous that he’s taking the attention.
So many doctors appointments.
Some of the appointments were standard for a new born and some were because of some problems. Literally all 3 of us have had some problems and we've all had to go to doctors. So the last 2 weeks have been uncomfortable for all of us for different reasons but luckily we are all in the clear now. I'm so happy because we can finally start feeling like our normal selves again and also because we want to avoid going out (especially to doctors offices) because of the virus.
The picture on the left is me doing the dangle at the doctor hahaha
Anyway we went to screenings, he needed a billy blanket for jaundice, my stuff, and dallin was sick too.
We've been saying this whole time that we are so incredibly blessed because so many good things have happened for us that there has to be some divine intervention and it's way more than coincidence. We’re just so grateful.
This picture could be a meme lol
Supply is not a problem for me which is cool.
These were pics from like 5 days old
He likes the bouncer thing
When we first found out it was a boy and I wanted a girl dallin said “ but think about Jake won’t it be fun for him?” And that turned everything around in my mind because my favorite book as a kid was “The puppy who wanted a boy.” It has been so sweet and kind of surreal to see how much Jake loves him and then to read that same book to Cooper. I don’t know much about it yet but so far motherhood has been very fulfilling.
We are doing this bracket for the office, Shelly and I watched love is blind, and making the cut, I watched cheer, and I’m reading graveling. We have been stuck inside for 2 weeks what can I say lol so obviously u can tell by the pictures most days I don’t get dressed or do hair or makeup. I figure what’s the point when we can’t go anywhere?
It hits us both at random times like “woah this is our own kid can u believe that?”
This is him using Josie as a footstool because she was still bound and determined to have the spot right next to me like we used to sit.
Coopers first bath
He fell asleep changing diapers so I thought that needed to be documented since he usually screams lol
Since we couldn’t get professional new born photos we tried to just take some ourselves. Here they are!
We go on walks to get out of the house at least a little. Makes us all feel little more sane lol this is jojo in the bottom of the stroller
I ❤️ Him so much
Another walk
I surprised dallin with the help of Justin and got him new head phones because he has seriously been the only reason I got through this. He was so sweet and understanding with all my demons leading up to “the event” and then during of coarse he was the biggest help and supporter I had. And after he changed every diaper and got up every time he cried and made bottles and did so much and never complained once. He deserves the world so I tried to surprise him and he loved it!
We're quarantined like everyone else because of the Corona virus, and it's kind of nice because since we just had a kid we probably would have been doing this anyway (laying around the house and not really going out much) so it's nice that I'm not going through that alone. But some days we do start to lose our minds. And we do freak out a little if we're running low on a supply that we know we need and won't be able to find. We thought these memes were spot-on lol
Can't wait till we can take Cooper out on adventures! We're hoping that we can beat this thing and it will stop causing all this destruction. Until next time!
