Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!













Hi to all and happy turkey day! Hope this finds you doing well and not nearly as stuffed as your turkey was today. Speaking of stuffed turkeys, you should see mom's belly! Someone in Walmart asked her if she had a basketball under her shirt the other day! Can you imagine? He must have been either crazy or in the mood for a serious brawl! We are having quite a wonderful Thanksgiving so far. We have completed round one of dinner and are anxiously awaiting our bellies to empty so that we can go for round two. In the meanwhile, maybe some pecan pie will speed up the process! Mom made two pecan pies and bought an extra frozen one just in case. Needless to say, she loves pecan pie, and I guess she was afraid of not quite getting her fill. We have some surprise Thanksgiving day guests...the Costello gang came down to spend this fine holiday with us. And boy are we thankful! We only wish Gram, Gramps and Kamrie could have made the trip with them. Luckily, Gram and Gramps had their own surprise in store last weekend. They came down on a whim on Friday night and were there when I got up Saturday morning. They are loads better than Saturday morning cartoons!! We had a ball. We hung around the house, relaxed, and played our hearts out. Talk about a great time. And now, this weekend, cousin Kent is my new plaything. I say his name about 25 times an hour; I am honestly not sure if there is anyone cooler. We have had such a great week, with the aforementioned guests (did I say how much we LOVE company), and yesterday, we had a Thanksgiving feast with Ms. Michele and all of my friends at the daycare. I ate for about 30 minutes straight! My favorite was the corn, and of course the turkey! I even said, yum, yum! That's not all, I am practically saying everything these days, whole sentences, you should see how hard I try. In fact, if you get the notion, you should come on by and hear how much I have to tell you; I promise you will be amazed. Now that we have Thanksgiving under our belt, both literally and figuratively, we are more than ready to tackle Christmas here in UB. Mom has been busy, busy, mostly with thinking about what in the world to get everyone for Christmas. She has made a few purchases, but bless her heart, she has quite a handicap going on as far as the actual shopping goes. Between that big belly and my impatience, it looks like she'll be doing most of her browsing online! We hope you are checking your list off quickly; mom says she may just give everyone a group gift in exactly their size and color, a bouncing baby boy! Sounds good to me, how about you? Well folks, I wanted to let you know I was thinking of you and thankful for you this fine turkey day. I better get going as I hear the leftovers calling. Please think of us and we will keep you posted, you know the time for Baby B's arrival is drawing very near! Take care and eat lots of turkey and dessert for me. Lots and lots of love with gravy, gobble, gobble, Cooper B.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

November Rain?









Hi, howdy do, and how in the world are you? I must apologize once again for my neglect to you, my faithful reader...I squeezed an extra post in for October and I have almost missed the proverbial boat to wish you a Happy November!! I hope you are doing well, staying warm, and bedding down for the upcoming winter months. Let's hope the weather stays as temperate as it has been thus far. If it gets any colder I can personally assure you both Dad and I will freeze to death. In case you didn't know, the two of us are living with a walking, talking, hot flash. If you have these similar symptoms, we will gladly send her your way. While the two of you hang out in your t-shirts and flip flops, Dad and I will work on rewarming our extremities! Bless mom's heart, all she keeps saying is what a great time of year it is to be really pregnant (for some of us anyway)! I have posted some pics from the wild Halloween party we attended at the UB fire hall. There are also a few extras from my trip to the pumpkin patch with my daycare friends. We are still visiting them once or twice a week, and both mom and I look forward to our playtime at Ms. Michele's. She drinks coffee and chitchats while I play to my heart's content, definitely a win win situation. We are both so thankful for Ms. Michele and her family; we honestly do not know what we would do without them! By the way, have you been raking leaves? Well, I certainly have and I hope you are not forgetting the best part of the job is jumping in the pile. I had poor mom out there raking last week and I wasn't sure she was going to make it. She's quite a trooper, but I honestly thought she would cry when she looked out the window later that day and they were all over the back lawn once again! Pesky hormones! Good news...mom finally got a few Christmas presents ordered. I think she is really starting to feel the pressure (both figuratively and literally) of our upcoming arrival. There's been quite a bit of hustle bustle here in the Bryant household and you should see how my new room is coming along. Dad has been working his fingers to the bone painting, hanging, putting together, you name it, and I will have to say it is definitely paying off. My only concern is that the two of them will be moving into my room when it is finished. They are both obviously jealous of how utterly cool it is and I am not ashamed to say, I'm not quite sure I trust those two. Furthermore, I can't say what's worse, mom eyeballing my storage bins, or dad's outright lust for my new alligator mirror. For my next post, I will take some pics of the finished product so you can see what they are up to and what all the fuss is about. Mom said today my room is the only one in the whole house with matching curtains (read curtains period). All I can say is that I guess they really do love me. Dad has to paint the crib and dresser Ms. Michele so kindly gave to us for Baby B., and then they are almost all done. Poor mom is worried sick she'll wait too long for all the tasks she has in store; don't tell her I told you, but she is waddling already and can barely get herself out of our chair, forget the floor! Yet she drives on...you know we only have one more swimming class left! Can you believe it has been four weeks already?! I LOVE IT!! I talk about it non-stop to dad at dinner every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Heck, mom has even heard me talking about it in my sleep. Friday she asked me, "how about we go see Ms. Michele?" I answered right back, "how about we go swimming?" She doesn't know what she'll do next as she isn't quite sure she will be swim-ready for the next four weeks but she hates to see yours truly landlocked. She is trying to recruit Dad for Saturday mornings, but we can't sign up for this class for another four weeks. I know we will figure something out...meanwhile, great news, I got to go swimming with dad on Tuesday and we had a blast. He was a trooper, singing songs, chasing moo cow (I throw my toy moo cow and then 'swim' to get it), don't you know he got an "A" in class participation from Ms. Susan. Don't tell Mom, but I personally think Ms. Susan likes dad best, something about him being less confrontational... Other good news, Uncle Bart is home for the holidays, and we are thankful to have him back safe and sound. Both he and cousin Robbie are heading out after Christmas, so please remember to keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers. While you are at it, please also add Mr. James' dad and Ms. Michele's dad to the list; we sincerely appreciate it. In fact, we appreciate all you do for us, especially checking in on me, Cooper B., when you have a spare moment. Oh...more wonderful news, Dad got his first paycheck for Crossfit Retribution, and you know if he wasn't watching so closely, mom would already have that baby spent! Lucky for him that he's already a shrewd businessman, and he'll get plenty more practice prying the plastic from mom's clenched fists! Between you and me, I think she is starting to go into shopping withdrawal. Her self-discipline has been commendable in that realm; I only wish I could say the same on the chocolate chip cookie front! Oh well, soon enough and she will be back to leaves (this is what I call lettuce) and nuts. I know I have told you how much I am talking, but I want you to know we have been having some serious conversations here in the Bryant household. You will simply have to come see for yourself to get the full effect. Please do so any time you have the opportunity. Before I forget, we spoke to cousin Stephanie and she is doing well; it's always nice when mom gets an opportunity to commiserate with a fellow mom-to-be. Oh, two more items that deserve attention...first of all, HAPPY BELATED 2ND BIRTHDAY to the Smell triplets and a big thank you to aunt Helen for mom's birthday package and for not forgetting I like presents for mom's birthday too! Also, don't worry too much about the swimming situation; I always have my fallback in nerdville at the local library. And hey, I don't mind mom using me for an excuse to fulfill her need to read. Let's face it, she could have worse addictions although I will say probably none quite as geeky! She dreams of me growing up to be a voracious reader and lover of board games. There are worse hobbies you know. Anywho, now that you know mom's deep dark (dork) secret : ), I guess I should be running along. Please take care and let me know how you are doing by posting a comment or two. Better yet, give us a ring or come by and we will put you to work on one baby's room or another; there's more than enough work to go around! We'll be thinking of you, please think of us too. Much love to you from me, Cooper B.