The Cooley Chronicles

Baby Time Flies!

First of all how is it almost the end of April and secondly how do we already have a crawling, teething, pulling himself up babe?

My girlfriend Kelly asked me when Chase started crawling the other day and I couldn’t remember. How am I already forgetting when our little babe is experiencing milestones?! Only one logical answer … lack of documentation (no way is it mommy brain)!  

Here are some factoids about Chase so I can look back to when my memory fails me. Everything happens at warp speed in baby time. 

Chase is nearly 6.5 months (a.k.a. 27 weeks 4 days) now and is sitting like a champ. Look at this! 

Oh yes and finally Chase started crawling at just over 5 months (22 weeks 3 days - sadly I had to refer to Facebook for this statistic). Here is a video of his first attempts for your viewing pleasure.

Love you C! You are incredible.

Happy 5 Months Chase!

We have been having a lot of fun with you lately. You are getting a huge personality even though you are still so small.

You want to eat and drink everything we are eating and drinking. Poppa has been letting you drink out of his water bottle and you get so frustrated when he takes it away. So momma got you your own sippy cup and you are loving it!

You have found your feet and apparently they taste delicious.

We didn’t realize how soon we would need to baby proof but it looks like it’s time since you started clear over by that boppy on the right when we sat down for dinner. We are in trouble :-)

Something that I am personally pretty excited about is how much you loved your first taste of sunshine last weekend. It seems like you’re going to be in love with summer + outdoors just like your momma. 

You also love watching baby Einstein and you have this new thing where you giggle SO hard when the dogs start to get rowdy with each other. You’ve also begun to say something that sounds oddly similar to momma when you’re hungry <3

You amaze us and we are loving every minute we spend with you!

We love you Chase bear!
Love momma + poppa

Tummy Time 24/7

Chase has recently started rolling back and forth pretty consistently. Once he found out he could get to his tummy on his own that’s the only place he wants to be.

He is so fascinated by this new milestone that, on occasion, we literally have found ourselves trying to keep him from rolling onto his stomach (i.e. right after he has eaten = spitting up instantly & during the night = getting wedged in the bumper-free crib slats).

I thought I agreed with the no bumpers rule until the morning I was awoken by a painful baby shriek and found Chase had rolled himself into an awkward position with one arm and one leg flailing thru the crib side. He wasn’t the only one traumatized. The next time I heard a similar cry I was at a dead sprint to save him. 

I decided forget this I’m getting a bumper. Then I remembered a gift I got from my friend, Melanie. A HALO SleepSack. Thankfully I have smart friends because one night in the SleepSack and we were sold!

For the most part it has kept him on his back at night. Although when he musters the strength to flop over at least his limbs are still intact.

Happy mom!

Photo credit to my amazing friend Kim Soper.

Shampoo Twice, Yeah Right!

Last night I realized that I never wrote about our first night at home with our newborn, Chase. I vaguely remember beginning to formulate some thoughts to put on paper and then clearly recall stopping to take an N.A.P.

Tanner’s memories of those initial moments in our house were of us carefully and thoughtfully introducing our pups to our new little guy and then … hmm, weird … not much for about 2 months after that. Good thing we were camera happy and captured many of those milestones that we were too seeeepy to remember. Click here to see the Baby Chase photo + video montage! Note: If you can’t get the video to play on your phone, scroll to the very bottom and select ‘desktop.’

Even though it’s been a whirlwind of absurd, sleepless amazingness, we have had a few key learnings the past few weeks

We have really, really, REALLY great friends and family who prepared/purchased us food because we have been too busy staring at Chase to feed ourselves, have provided helpful advice, and have prodded us out of our pjs and out of the house.

Baby yawns are quite possibly the most magical things we have ever seen.

Shower time is to be cherished because it may be a while until your next one comes along.

We have found we don’t like can’t handle crying, we need to figure out how to make that stop.

And finally for those of you that don’t have kids yet please remember this one last thing: Zippers are important. Especially in the middle of the night when your tired stupor is heightened, fumbling around with snaps can and will wake a sleeping newborn.

And finally, finally teamwork has been key for us…I thought Tanner and I were a good team but now I know we are a great team. I can’t imagine having survived the past few months without my amazing husband. He has been unbelievably hands on and can always make me laugh when things get rough. Wish us luck as we try to get this right but inevitably will get it all wrong.

Sleepless in Brambleton

I hate sleep walking more than anything. It’s the absolute worst because it’s impossible to wake the sleep walking person, there is no chance you can talk reason with them, and you just have to accept the fact that they could destroy the house and there is literally nothing you can do about it. I documented the following from my sleepless night last night to share with Tanner because I didn’t want to forget any details from the epic experience.

Dear Tanner, 

This morning at 5:00am on the nose you stood up quickly with a mission and went straight for the bedroom door.

I shout whispered in a concerned tone, “What are you doing?! Stop! Come back tell me what you’re doing!” (I knew you didn’t know but I asked anyway).

You mumbled something about me being crazy and you having things under control.  I could hear you pounding around in the spare bathroom then suddenly nothing. I was so tired (I had logged about 3 hours to your 1.5 hours at this point) but I finally mustered up the energy to get up to see the damage.

I opened the bedroom door to find you peacefully sleeping in your underwear in the hallway between our 6 week old Chase’s nursery and the spare bedroom where my dad was staying. I instantly peeked in the nursery to see if Chase had slept through the ruckus. Check. I gave the bathroom the once over to see if it was in working order. Check. Then I, as a duty of a wife whose husband sleep walks on occasion, snapped a photo of the evidence to show you in case you thought I was making this all up. But come on you can’t make this stuff up.

I shook you and said “Brennan, get up.” (side note: we’ve been watching Step Brothers this week, if you haven’t seen the sleep walking scene you have been deprived and must click this link now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jIYBatQyCM)

You finally woke up and stared at me with those crazy I’m awake but I’m asleep eyes for quite some time until I coaxed you back into our bedroom.

Then I mistakenly took you for coherent and I asked, “What were you doing anyway?”

You said, ” I was trying to get them food,” motioning to our sleepy eyed dogs, “without waking everyone up, but everyone’s awake so it’s okay.” And you tried to leave the room again.

A genuine frustration overwhelmed me and caused me to use ugly words,  ”You are a dumb, sleep walking freak.” 

You looked at me and said, “No, you are a dumb, sleep walking freak.” Then plopped down on top of the comforter and went to sleep.

I shared a laugh with myself and knew it was important to stay up a few extra minutes to write this experience down. Because I knew the original sleep walking freak himself would find this just as amusing as I did.

Love your tired but entertained wife,

Kirsten 

{Nesting}…and such

I thought nesting meant soon-to-be-mama getting the nursery ready for baby to come. When people ask me if I’ve been nesting my response is pretty much an explosion of answers relating to various projects. Our house has been turned upside down getting ready to welcome Baby Chase. And FYI it’s not just me doing all this over-the-top preparation, Tanner has had his hand in it too (I didn’t know guys nested, but I like it).

Project #1 - The Most Important One…The Nursery! We’ve fancied ourselves as hardcore DIY’ers and decided to hand-make a lot of the decor. Here are a few photos of Chase’s vintage sports themed nursery as well as notes for things to be added later.

First of all please take a moment to notice the amazing board and batten on the lower half of the wall. This is all thanks to Tanner’s patience, his new tools and fine craftsmanship.

Close up of the crib gallery wall…yay!

Tanner’s masterpiece mobile. I found something similar online for $180! We made this for a little over $20 (and Tanner’s time).

My DIY window cornice! Similar window treatments sell for around $100 on Etsy. This was really quick and easy to make (once I decided on fabric) and cost less than $30. Plus don’t you love that feeling of pride you get when you make something on your own? I can’t stop staring at it and showing it off to people. Ha, sometimes I’m a little ridiculous.Even though it was a debacle to create, one of my favorite things in the nursery is the sports themed subway art on the left. It took quite a bit of research to get it right and patience to put it together but I love it and all the memories it conjures up.I love how this clothespin/twine/frame plus preggers photo turned out!So there you have it! We have a few more finishing touches including a dresser, side table and a bookshelf for all of Chase’s new books (thanks to the generosity of our family and friends!) 

Project #2 - Painting We have had the same bold paint color staring at us from our living/dining room walls for THREE years straight. Now mind you it was my idea to go green but I have had enough….so when Tanner said he’s ready to paint I was like go…GO NOW! Here are a few afters with the new paint color, “Squirrel.”

Project #3 - Random Gallery Walls…are in process. This layout is going up in our office :) I am in the process of creating something similar to this to put up in our living room with our photos and monogram of course.

Is that all? I think it is. And now we impatiently wait…

Baby Chase Update: Only 3 weeks until his due date and of course he is topping the charts in weight, thanks to my large, strong hubby :) Chase is in the 78th percentile at 6 pounds 11 ounces. Come on people that’s nearly a full grown toddler in there.

Style Section 2.0 - Week by Week

Patient: Am I too fat for these genes?

Dr: You’re not wearing jeans?

Patient: You know G-E-N-E-S. (alluding to pregnancy weight gain in comparison to height)

No matter what books you read, what your friends tell you or what you ask your doctor…nothing prepares you for this crazy transformation. All along I have felt like I am eating the “right” amount of the “right” types of food and my doctor has told me I’m gaining the “appropriate” amount of weight. It’s honestly strange to comprehend those facts while I’m watching my ass slowly start to resemble JLo’s and then a few weeks later Kim Kardashian’s.

But as my husband has suggested to me many times, you have to embrace it. He’s been so patient through all of this. Listening to all my complaints and making me feel beautiful. Even though every day without fail I ask him in awe, “Look! Can you believe how big my (fill in the blank: butt, thigh, tummy, etc) is?!”  He says, “Yes, you ask me that every day, and I can believe it. You are having a baby.” 

This is such an exciting time for us and honestly my pregnancy has been a really enjoyable experience. Only 9 more weeks and we’re going to be able to meet baby Chase!

Hmmm, so maybe I should go ahead and get to the point of this post. One of my absolute favorite things to do is style. I love finding outfit inspirations and making them my own from items I already have in my closet or inexpensive clothing I come across at Target, H&M etc.

I still remember those girls who gave me false hope saying they wore their normal clothes through their entire pregnancies. They must be magical pregnancy unicorns because that has not been the case for me. 

It has definitely been a challenge finding the right pieces for my ever-growing mid-section. There aren’t many attractive maternity options online or in the store. But here are some of the things I have put together without spending a lot of money while trying not too look like I’m wearing a tent. 

There you have it folks. A week by week look into my wardrobe (and growing belly). 

A few side notes: Week 22 (asos.com) and 30 (gap.com) are the only “maternity” clothing items. 

Also, a must-have in my book was a name brand pair of maternity jeans (shown in week 23, 27 and 30). I was really nervous about investing in maternity jeans, but I am so extremely happy with this purchase. I wear them a lot and they are so much more comfortable than wearing a bella band with your normal jeans (plus, I didn’t want to stretch my jeans out).

Everything else was just something I already had or bought in a bigger size. Loft and Target were my faves for good deals. 

Wish me luck squeezing into the photo and my clothing for my last 9 weeks :)

Constructive Hoarding

We’ve been doing some major overhaul in our garage and house getting ready for baby :)

I’ve found myself unnerved for keeping some of the most seemingly worthless crap…every greeting card I’ve ever received, all my textbooks and notes from my master’s program and even older projects from junior high and high school. I have folders of poems and stories and personal journals. And boxes upon boxes of movie stubs, notes and photos.

Most of the stuff was clearly junk and I threw it out without batting an eye but there were some mementos I couldn’t put down. I found myself laughing and reminiscing and asking Tanner why he didn’t have a folder of fiction short stories he wrote in his free time. I’ve always loved to write, but honestly I thought everyone did.

As I shuffled through this random junk I was sort of annoyed that I had kept it at all cluttering up in my garage. But then I began to realize why I held onto it for so long and why I once thought it was so important. These old stories and random items are each a part of who I am today and also bring back some great memories from times long forgotten. I’m actually glad I had a chance to see it all one last time when I could truly appreciate it and get a few laughs too.

Preface on the inside cover of a “book” I created in the 7th grade:

VANESSA AND APHRODITE takes place in San Ramon, California. It is partly a quiet city. In the portion of the city where everyone knows everyone a girl named Vanessa lived with her mom and her dad in a nice house. One day Vanessa planned to spend a day with her friend Janey. But something happened, something mysterious, something unexpected. Vanessa’s plans were ruined.

You want to read it now don’t you? :)

Also, some definite goodness came out of these random keepsakes. I had all the cards to create this beautiful wedding card book. Thanks Pinterest for making my hoarding seem normal.

Sleeping Like a Pregnancy Unicorn

Not sure about the rest of you pregnant ladies out there but I can’t seem to catch a break when I’m trying to sleep. I am using like 12 pillows to prop up my leg, my belly, my head and apparently my dogs Jack and Baxter too, who have found this new pillow pile to be their sleeping sanctuary. At least someone’s sleeping through the night … Although sometimes, when I’m real lucky, I almost become content with my comfort level only to have it ripped away by an urge to get up to go to the bathroom. Sigh.

I was feeling incredibly desperate and exhausted. I’d heard of these crazy maternity pillows but I couldn’t bring myself to buy one. One because of the high price ($52.00, Amazon) and two I just plain don’t like to be told what to do. I want to decide for myself if I think I need to purchase an enormous C-shaped pillow and not just because the maternity producers say I should buy it because I’m pregnant.

I’m sure you could have guessed this but I caved and bought a Leachco Snoogle Pillow one late night in a moment of hopelessness and honestly it is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Ha. I’m such a sucker.

In all seriousness, doesn’t she look so comfortable? It truly is the all-in-one answer to my sleepless nights.

Speaking of sleepless nights we got some new photos of our little guy last week :) Isn’t he so cute? 

I love this one of him kicking. See his leg outstretched and his big foot telling me who’s boss on the left? Doctor says he’s right on pace for his due date at the end of October :)

And finally for those of you that have no idea what I just showed you Tanner has added some inappropriate props to help you decipher the sonogram.

Style Section 2.0: A New Perspective

For those of you who know me well or read my blog know that I’m huge on fashion. I love to mix bright colors with classic looks like the tucked in shirt and cardigan. I get a little too giddy over blazers, bold jewelry and fun shoes. I find it exciting to mix and match things in my closet and to change up my look every day. My closet is quite possibly one of my favorite places…click here to see why. 

Unfortunately, lately that has not been the case. I just stare into my closet feeling defeated trying to find something that “works.” A few people have said you don’t need to dress up right now, just wear stretch pants and sweats and call it good…uhhhh, not going to work for me. And it’s not just because I like to look put together but because I really think it’s true that when you look good you feel good and that translates into all aspects of life. BUT I can totally understand how feeling comfortable far outweighs anything at this point.

I have noticed there are not many pregnancy fashion blogs or fashionable (reasonably priced) maternity stores. My experience in Motherhood Maternity was not pretty. Let’s just say there were some tears involved and I vowed never to enter again. I didn’t know what to do. Very quickly I started outgrowing everything in my closet but maternity clothes were not the answer either. Sigh.

I had to find a different approach and thank god it’s summer. My favorite places right now are Gap, Loft, Target and American Eagle and not necessarily the maternity sections. Stretchy colored jeans and sundresses are going to be my staples this summer, so get ready for them. I don’t want to invest a lot of money into my new oversized clothes but I have found a few key pieces that “work” while being fun and fashionable.

I found this dress in the clearance section in LOFT for $30 (retail: $49.50). Yes, I have succumbed to the empire waist dress, but remember comfort is key to me right now. 

I also found these STRETCHY pink jeans at American Eagle for $22 (retail: $44.50). They will zipper (awesome) but not button (oh well, still LOVE!)

Also, with some creativity I have found that many things could be repurposed in my own closet. I am finding clothes I haven’t worn in a while that at one point may have been a little on the large side fit quite perfectly now. I’m looking at this as a fun new project, a chance to reinvent my wardrobe. Style Section 2.0 :)

Sharing Our News

Dear Internets, I’m sorry I’ve really, really neglected you. I’ve been doing a little too much living and clearly not quite enough documenting…tsk, tsk.

One of the most recent things that has been absorbing our lives is that we are having a baby!! Are you in shock? Me too :) it is still hard for me to believe that it is real!…but my perpetually growing belly is a daily reminder. We are ridiculously excited and equally as clueless but we’ll leave that for another post. Today I want to talk about how we told our families our big news :)

One of the challenges we faced with telling our families about our baby news is that my entire family lives 2,082 miles away. Many ideas went through our heads…we could fly there and surprise them, we could Skype or call them, hmmm, everything was a little to pricey or a little too boring. We settled on the decision of creating each of them a special announcement, putting said announcement in the mail along with instructions for them to call us before they opened it.Kirsten’s Mom - Not trying to be too boastful, but I have really great genes! So when I I came across a book “Funny You Don’t Look Like a Grandmother.” I knew it would be the perfect way to announce to my mom.  My mom is one of the prettiest people I know in real life and she doesn’t look a day over 29 :) This book is all about how grandmothers nowadays are so different than the image we have in our heads of our grandmothers knitting and baking and visiting.

Kirsten’s Dad - My dad and I have been collecting shot glasses together for years. It’s a really fun tradition where each time my dad visits a city he’ll buy two shot glasses and mail the other one to me and vice versa. Tanner and I decided that a personalized shot glass would be a perfect way to surprise my dad.

Kirsten’s Sister - My sister is very sentimental and crafty so we thought that she would love a thoughtful and creative announcement. We decided that we would create our own photo-booth style photo announcing the news in our house. As Tanner would say this was a debacle. Let’s just say my husband doesn’t exactly like getting his photo taken and when I can get him to pose for a photo it’s usually one shot and done. I wanted this to be perfect so we probably snapped 100+ self portraits. Pretty sure he wanted to kill me but look how cute it turned out!

They were each excited in their own way, there was LOTS of tears mixed with happiness and surprise. Being able to hear their excitement on the phone was the next best thing to telling them in person, which we were lucky enough to do with Tanner’s family.

Tanner’s Mom - A tradition that we have with Tanner’s mom is the impromptu Chinese take-out night. This usually occurs when one of us is about to go out of town or just got back in to town. Basically an excuse to get together and eat where no one has to do any work! 

Since Nancy just got back from a 10 day trip in Wyo we suggested Chinese the night she got home. Tanner was really excited to tell her so when she said, “No, I think I’ll be home too late.” he talked her into doing it anyway. It was so much fun catching up but not going to lie it was really hard to wait until the very end of the night to announce via our personalized fortune cookies. Tanner kept trying to bust them out in the middle but I gave him eyes saying “No, not yet!” Near the end of the night, Tanner carefully laid out the fortune cookies on the table and I talked Nancy into eating one, even though she was a little wary of the new packaging, she ate the cookie said yum and threw the fortune to the side. Ha! Tanner and I looked at each other and laughed and I said, “Nance, aren’t you going to read your fortune?”

Tanner’s Brother - Even though Tanner’s brother lives only 20 minutes from us it’s sometimes tough to get some quality hang out time with him. Tanner invited him to Akira for what Chris thought was just a regular lunch with his brother. They spent the afternoon hanging and eating and talking about regular things then midway through their lunch Tanner said nothing just passed him his phone with the 8-week ultrasound on the screen.

It was so much fun being able to tell Tanner’s fam in person, they were ridiculously happy for us and even more excited to be a grandma and uncle. Chris even said “I want Kirsten to have it now!” This has brought a lot of happiness to our family and we can’t wait until October when we get to meet our new little addition.

Seeing Polkadots

I love the days that you try to remember every tiny detail because it is just that great. That was my Saturday. It started with my first visit to Arlington Gold. I still can’t believe I had never been there, (actually I can because I’m boring). Arlington Gold is Kim’s maid of honor’s house - a house well-known for hosting some great parties - and I’m pretty sure the parties I missed included kegs and beer pong not bath salts and crockpots.

I was pretty excited to play Mustaches & Tiaras, a game adapted from Craftaholics Anonymous.

I had Kim & Pat answer a few questions about themselves and then chose one answer from each question to share with the ladies. They then had to decide who said what, if they thought it was Kim they should hold up their tiara or if they thought it was Pat they should hold up their mustache. It was so fun hearing what Kim and Pat came up with and also watching everyone trying to guess who said what.

I loved meeting all of Kim’s friends and family and spending some more time with her sweet bridesmaids. Oh and the foooood! Everything was so delicious and of course I had to try it all.

The sun came out of no where and we walked outside and took a few photos, if it looks like we’re squinting it’s because our eyes haven’t seen the sun for a few days. 

Me & Kim!Bridesmaids!Tanner called while I was slowly saying my goodbyes to the girls and I texted him saying I would call him soon. I finally got myself together and into the car with plenty of time to get to my next activity of the day, our good friends Mike and Christie were getting married at 3 today and I would have an hour to get ready and get over there by the time I trekked the 45 minutes to home :) I called Tanner to let him know I was making my way and the conversation went something like this.

T: Where are you?!

Me: I just left.

T: You know the wedding starts at 2?

(Insert Kirsten having a complete and utterly ridiculous panic attack)

Me: NOOOOOOO!

Let’s just say my reaction was a little overly dramatic…but we somehow managed to get to the wedding right on time. Like literally within minutes before the wedding party entered Saint Theresa’s chapel. 

I had never been to a Catholic wedding before but I’m pretty sure its customary to power down your cell phone when you enter….(sorry IE aka Christie McGuire). One of the lovely wedding attendees had the look of pure terror in his eyes not once but twice when his alarm went off during the ceremony. Oh and it wasn’t just a normal cell phone alarm it was a loud, non-church appropriate rap song. It caused me to perspire a little bit sitting next to him, I can only imagine how he felt as he jammed his panic stricken hand it his pocket to make it stop.

After Mike & Christie’s beautiful ceremony we had a few hours to kill and we were all starved. We went to Jacksons and proceeded to eat a bunch and the server spilled ketchup all over Paul’s pants. lame…..

We all had such a great time at the reception. Christie did a fabulous job making it absolutely perfect. Mike and Christie’s families gave some of the best speeches I’ve ever heard, literally found myself laughing and crying multiple times. The music was to die for and so was the company :) oh and their friends and families are party animals! Congrats to the new bride and groom! We love you two and are so happy for you!I’m really looking forward to having some memorable moments with both of these amazing couples!

Banquet Style

I never quite know* how to dress for Tanner’s wrestling functions. I think my first problem is that I call them functions and my second problem is that I’m worried about how I’m dressing for wrestling. I have found that everyone dresses pretty casual, but I am not very good at dressing casual. Guess it’s the past 8 years I’ve spent in business school and the business world.

(*Side note: I keep typing no when it should be know and know when it should be no, I’ve never done that before, maybe I’m getting dumber).

Anyway this is what I decided to wear to the Broad Run wrestling banquet on Sunday. I wanted to go for the “casual but dressed up” look. Did I pass?The banquet was really great! I’m glad I got to go :) They had a ton of really cool traditions, including having the seniors “retire” their shoes.