More Snow and More Cold Means S-Days with Cooper!!!!!

 After I got home from Chicago I had Monday off because of Martin Luther King Day, so I got a day with my boy. We got a big snow storm on Tuesday morning so I also got a snow day with Cooper on Tuesday, Wednesday, and a 2 hour delay on Thursday. Not too bad! I got to make up for some lost time with my little man. It has been so cold here, nothing melts, so every bit of snow we get sticks. I haven't seen my grass since almost Thanksgiving. Most days have been about 5 degrees too and I feel like we live in Antarctica!

During our days off Cooper got 2 teeth, learned how to crawl, was pulling up on everything, and also took several steps with his walker!!!!! We need baby gates and baby proofing ASAP! He took forever to get any teeth at all and now he has a mouthful coming all at once.

Although I am away from Cooper during the day for work, I have been very lucky that I have been able to see all of his "firsts" and I have been able to get pictures or videos. It would break my heart if daycare told me that he learned how to crawl, or learned how to do something. I have been very lucky that I have been there when he rolled, sat up, crawled, pulled up, etc. It is wonderful getting to see him change so much and so quickly. It is hard to believe he is almost 8 months old!

 Pulling up.

Walking with the walker

 TEETH!!!

 Playing with Flash

 Crazy boy!

Climbing in the rocking chair

Mommy goes to Chicago

This weekend I traveled to Chicago for Erin's Bachelorette party. Erin is one of my best friends from college. She traveled to our wedding from Germany, so I wanted to make the trip out to see her since I had never been to Chicago before. It was so hard leaving my boys!!!!! I missed them so very much. I got cute pictures while I was gone and also got to FaceTime.
We have had some pretty rough weather this winter, but clearly we have had nothing compared to Chicago. The Tuesday before I went, it was -25 windchill here at home, which was miserable. I was in Chicago during their "warmer" weather and they had 5 inches of snow the day after I got there and it was a nice warm 9 degrees without the windchill. It is NO JOKE!!!! the crazy thing is that the people there don't think anything of it. People ride bikes and go running in this stuff. They also put scarves on their dogs....if you have to put a scarf or a turtleneck on your dog where you live, you probably shouldn't live there. It was COLD!

Luckily, Erin's mom was awesome and got us a limo for the night so we didn't have to brave the freezing cold which was nice. We were still pretty bundled up though.

Missing my little man

In the limo!

Lake Michigan...Yes...that's a lake

Doesn't it look like a nice tropical vacation there???

The BEAN in downtown

 It was a rather cold stop to get out of the limo and take pictures by the lovely frozen lake Michigan

Pulling up and Other Random Cuteness

 Cooper has been a wild man lately. He has officially learned how to pull up. I put him in his crib for all of 5 seconds to carry some laundry into out room and came back and he was standing in his crib! We are in big trouble!

 This was a picture the first time he ever pulled up. It is so funny because he got himself standing and then got so upset because he couldn't figure out what he had done or how to get down. 

This is how I'm supposed to play with the exersaucer, right???? Forts are awesome! 

 Flash and Cooper are such good buddies!

Arehart/Perry Family Christmas

 This year our life was kind of like the movie 4 Christmases. We had a lot going on. My cousin Suzy, who just got married in August was in town January 4th. The whole family got together to visit and also celebrate Dad's birthday. 

The whole crew!

Daddy and I are Twinsies

 This hair is out of control!!!!! Someone needs a haircut for sure! Looks like his daddy!

Smith Mountain Lake

Typically we get a house somewhere at a ski resort or in the mountains with a group of family friends for the week between Christmas and New Years. This year we decided to try something new and go to Smith Mountain Lake. The house and the view was beautiful. However, unfortunately it wasn't the relaxing vacation we were all hoping for. Right after getting there Jason, Cooper and I all caught a stomach bug. Needless to say, so did everyone else in the house. All 12 of us got horribly sick. So, both of us sick, Cooper sick, the 4 year old twins sick and all of the grandparents sick too was NOT good. Having a sick kid is horrible but then having to try to take care of them when you are horribly sick too is even worse. We did manage to get a few good days in, but it was unfortunate that all of us ended up with the yuck, which is why we don't have too many pictures!

Cam, Carley, and Kendall

Flash was the only one who didn't get sick. He loved his lake vacation!

Carley and Kendall with Cooper