Juice!

Nathaniel thought it was time to teach Adam an essential life skill... making juice!

Also, some more pics of our little boy... just cause :)

Playing with his hands.

 With great Grandma Bassett

He's turning into a little boy... no longer a newborn.

Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween, including a costume party with some friends and a ward trunk or treat.  Our little monkey went as... a little monkey! Thanks to Aunt Sherri who got the costume for Adam.  Nathaniel and I went to the ward party as "football" (soccer) fans from our respective missions. (it was cheap and only took a couple minutes) here are some pictures.

 Adam was having a hard night, so by the end his arms were zipped  up in the monkey suit.

 Such a cute little monkey!

At the costume party (only the babies dressed up) we also decorated Halloween sugar cookies. They were really tasty!

The Best Year of our Lives

One year ago (give or take a couple of weeks) I married my best friend, and this last year has consequentially been the best year of my life.  I have learned that I married the most excellent sort of man. Nathaniel has stood patiently and even happily by my side through morning sickness, moving, different church callings, labor, midnight feedings (although in that case I guess he didn't "stand")  postpartum moodiness and a whole load of great memories too. I could not have asked for a more perfect husband for myself.  Friday (our anniversary he came home from work with this.

Actually with a dozen of these they were beautiful.  That night we did sealings in the Mount Timpanogus Temple, where we got married, and were treated to coldstone ice cream (yum) Thanks Jocelyn and Ryan for the ice cream and babysitting!

On our honeymoon we went to Park City.  Because we didn't want to cook or prepare meals and we wanted to keep the expenses fairly low, our first meal alone as a married couple was crumb doughnuts and milk.  We drank the milk out of the carton and I think we dipped the doughnuts in the lid.  Yes we are weirdos :) To commemorate that event the day after our anniversary we did the same. Fun memories.

After we went to a fun place called 'color me mine' where we painted our own ceramic stuff,

Nathaniel had a really cool design for his plate.

Such a great day to celebrate a most wonderful year. Can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Caramel Apples

Word to the unexperienced caramel apple makers... do not forget the water when melting the caramels. Other than having the caramel hard enough to break our teeth, this was a fun activity :)

3 months!

Adam has been hitting some impressive milestone in the past week or so. He is just over 24 inches long or you could say two feet tall! We finally caught one of his smiles on film but you can see that once he sees the camera he stops- silly monkey!

I got him a cool rattle that he just loves to hold on to and shake, this morning I caught him passing it from one hand to the other.

He also has started jabbering away when ever he isn't sleeping (including at 4:00 in the morning when he used to just fall back asleep) as you can imagine, it is a little difficult for me to sleep through!

As of yesterday, when I rolled him over for tummy time, this is what happened.

Adam has never gone up on his arms like that before and he seems to enjoy the view! Next step is rolling over, so no more sleeping on the couch!

For some reason, blogger is having a really hard time with the videos I am trying to upload... they are all on facebook if you can't see them here. Sorry about that. This is a snap shot of Adam giggling from the video.

more pictures, as promised!

S0, I have been slacking a little bit, but I am still taking a lot of photos of Adam and the family. Here is a good sampling of the happenings in our home :)

Getting too big for his little chair

He likes his moby wrap

Tummy time

My 25th birthday

I got together with a couple friends whose babies were born around the same time as Adam, Eliza, the girl in the middle, was born on the same day. Jonas is about a month older. I got the outfits for them for our combined baby shower.

He loves bath time, especially with his baby bath that can be put anywhere (important when the sink is full :)

Sunday afternoon nap with daddy, in a really cute outfit!

Our little monkey playing with his little monkey. He will hold the monkey on his own and tries to eat it too!

He likes his sling too

Sleeping with his pouty lip out.

I love his giggles and smiles that are more and more frequent. Last night I had a dream that Adam was walking around and I decided that even though we love how big and fun he is getting, I can wait for that milestone.

Two Month Check-up

Adam had his two month check up last week and here are some of the numbers. He is now:

11 pounds 5 ounces

22.8 inches long

39 cm head diameter

he is between the 28th and 50th percentile for everything so he is just on the small side of normal. It's crazy how fast my little guy is growing up!

I love his blue eyes that seem to get more blue every day. He is grinning a lot more too :) but I have yet to catch a really good smile on camera. as soon as I pull the camera out he gets all shy or fixated on the thing! He cracks me up all the time.

He also is really good ad kicking his blanket off. He is such a wiggly boy!

I never understood why my mom always got videos of my baby brother, they were sooo boring. But now that I am a mom I do it too! But now I think they are the cutest thing in the world. The other great thing is that you don't have to watch them if you don't want too ;) More pictures to come.

Look what I can do!

I really like this picture of Adam. Not only is he wearing a cute onesie tie-dyed by his Cook Aunts, Uncle, and Grands, which is super cute but he is also showing off one of his new tricks! With the support of the couch at his back he is able to sit up. only falling over when he gets too wiggly :) Other new skills he has all but mastered include:

~standing, with only stabilizing back support (he has been doing that for a few weeks!)

~making fists with his thumb on the outside

~responsive smiling (seriously soooo cute!)

~talking, I wouldn't really call it cooing yet seeing as though it sounds pretty forced and more like yelling, but he will start jabbering away... tried to get it on camera but I guess he is a little camera shy, or just being a tease :)

~self soothing by licking and sometimes sucking on his fist, one time he even got his thumb!

We took him swimming on Labor day and he really enjoyed that as well. It just amazes me how quickly he is learning and that he is such a good baby.

On a more spiritual note. I have always felt or known that our Heavenly Father loves his children, but it wasn't until Adam came into my life that I started understanding if only a little bit that kind of love. I look at Adam and I am filled with this indescribable love for him. Mostly he eats, sleeps, whines, and makes messes in his diaper, but I love him all the same, logically or not. Most of the time we as humans whine and make messes out of everything, but God loves us, and he always will. We are his children and nothing we can do will change that. I look at the love I have for my husband and son and I am filled with gratitude and awe to realize that my love pales in comparison to God's love. His love is perfect. I hope to one day understand that love completely.

Bath Time!

Adam just loves taking a bath, he could stay in the water forever! even if he is having a hard day, a bath can calm him right down.

see how big his belly is getting? But he still has tiny legs, it makes him look like a little froggy!

"Walking" on the bottom of the sink. Can you see that his hair is turning red?!

All snug as a bug in a rug. He is doing better at not crying when we take him out of the water :)

First Month Photos

He loves his swing!

Bright flash

no flash

Sticking his tongue out

singing

Matching green shirts

We love how alert he is and how much he tries to do, like gaining control of his head and neck. Nathaniel is not moving him, or if anything trying to stabilize him. We caught it on tape just a little too late because this is him winding down

It has been such a great first month!

Daddy's favorite time of day

Dad took these pictures of Adam and told me that he just loves seeing him all swaddled up. When Adam is awake he doesn't like it because he can't move his arms at all, but he sure sleeps well! Mom agrees, he looks so cozy and snuggly like this and I can't complain, last night he slept for seven hours straight!

Blessing Day

Adam Nathaniel Cook was blessed August 8th 2010 in Provo Utah. He had a lot of family there to support him and congratulate him. It was a very nice day. Thanks to everyone who came especially to his Grandma and Grandpa Cook who came in from California.

Proud parents, Nathaniel and Amber with little Adam

Four generations of Cooks, Great Grandpa Gene, Grandpa Val Gene, Dad Nathaniel Val, and Adam Nathaniel. Can you see the trend in names?

The circle, all immediate family, yes we have a big family! Thank you all :)

Our little monkey Adam after his bath waiting to get his blessing suit on. I love this little guy so much!

Monkey Update

Our little monkey is growing and changing. Adam just passed his two week mark and we have noticed so many things that are changing and he is learning. Here are just some of the highlights.

• he gets hiccups about three times a day (I'm listening to them right now)
• he is now seven pounds and at least nine ounces (a full pound more than his lowest weight)
• the added weight has not added to his length, but his cheeks and legs are filling out!
• he can sleep as long as five hours straight during the night, such a blessing to mom.
• he seems to be very curious a looks around with wide eyes for hours on end.
• he rarely cries, just makes little noises when he wants something.
• he enjoys being passed around asleep or awake (a plus with a big extended family)
• he wiggles ... a lot :) (but he never finds any sandwiches)
• he likes car rides and stroller rides
• when on his tummy he can lift his head with a bit of control
• he loves bath time
• he has his daddy (and mommy) wrapped around his fingers

Every day Adam learns something new and we learn new things about him. We are very much enjoying every minute we get to spend with him. He is our little angel monkey.

blue light baby

We have been into the doctor every day this week and Adams little feet are sore from giving blood for samples. Unfortunately the results of these samples are not really what we wanted to see and now because there is too much bilirubin in his blood he gets to hang out in the bili-lights all day and night until the levels drop. He is being such a good sport and I think mom is having a harder time of it than he is. I miss not being able to snuggle with him already and he has only been on them for an half hour.

He looks like a little space man in this one.

Another angle, I am glad the technology has changed a little bit since I saw my nephew Mark in an older model. This one has a "blanket" that we can keep on him while he is eating or needs to be comforted, a little more versatile.

This morning under the kitchen lights, just chillen :) He is so much like his daddy already, just check out the resting positions!

Snoozing with daddy the day after he came home from the hospital

Snoozing with mom earlier that day after his tummy was filled! What a little Angel. We are really hoping and praying that this works quickly so we can snuggle with our little monkey again and soon.

Adam Nathaniel Cook

Our waiting is over. Storytime!

Thursday was a busy day, I made the most of my waiting by cleaning, watching some movies, going shopping, eating otterpops, and drawing a picture of a monkey. at 10:00pm Nathaniel and I were both ready for bed. It had been a long day and I couldn't wait to sleep. The lights were out and I was thinking about how the baby kept wiggling down their and how it would be ironic if he broke his own water (as I did mine as a baby) sorry if this is all too much information, but in all seriousness, I'm talking about a baby being born here. :) As I was thinking this I heard a little popping sound. Hmm that is interesting, I didn't think it was my water, there was no gush or feeling like a water balloon bursting like I've heard it described before, it was more like one of those plastic packaging bubbles popping, still, might as well check. yeah, it was totally my water. That was at 10:15

we got to the hospital and I wasn't very far dialated but my hard labor contractions started around 11:30 the whole night was difficult and neither of us slept, I got an epidural around 5:00 AM and at 1:23 PM little Adam Nathaniel came out with little more than a shout on his part. His color was great and from the beginning all three of us have been doing well. I was very tired and a bit loopy by the time the doctor came in, and aside from the epidural wearing off a bit, Adam being sideways and needing to be turned, needing the forceps, and mom getting a few stitches, everything went just great. We are so happy with how it all turned out. We were able to come home Saturday night and everything is still going great. I am so happy to have my little family here around me. The waiting has been worth it!

Picture Time!

He was wide eyed and alert and very content to be alive. I may be just a bit biased but he is seriously one of the cutest little things I have ever seen. He totally has me wrapped around his tiny fingers.

We are a happy family! Dad (Nathaniel) Mom (Amber) and baby Adam shortly after birth.

Tired but oh so Happy. As soon as he came I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

Adam Nathaniel Cook Born the 16th of July 2010 1:23 PM Six pounds thirteen ounces, 19 inches long. Four days early but none too soon!

Waiting

Lately my routine has consisted of something like this: Wake up in the morning to an alarm and then sleep for another hour, then try to convince my husband for the next half hour that he should really get up and get ready for work, eat breakfast and have family scripture study and prayer, make lunch and try to convince my husband that he needs to leave for work or else he will be late, shower and get ready for the day (though depending on how motivated I am this sometimes doesn't happen until afternoon), check the mail, and.... hmm how best to describe what it is I do for the rest of the day? I wait. I wait for my boredom to magically disappear, I wait for motivation to go out walking, I wait for motivation to make a good dinner, I wait for my Nathaniel to come home, or for him to text, I wait for brilliant ideas that will help me spend my time well, but most of all, I wait for him.

With just over a week left until his due date, waiting for Adam has become one of the biggest events of my life. I am waiting for it all to happen, for labor, delivery, tons of pain, and everything that comes with it, most especially for my son. I am actually pleased to admit that this kind of waiting is the kind I handle best. It is like the anticipation I used to get before a big dance or a big race, the biggest difference though, is that I feel like I have been waiting for this for most of my life. Having my first baby ranks right up there with getting married to my prince charming, I know it will be worth the wait. I can just picture Adam, tiny, wrinkled in my arms and me, just staring at him, reacting to funny noises and funny faces he will make. Wanting with my whole soul to protect him from everything, but knowing that he will still cry and still hurt, but I will cry and hurt right along with him.

Things are ready now, we have a car seat hooked into the back seat, dresser full of clothes and blankets, crib with bumpers, ruffles, caddy, mattress, mattress cover, a supply of diapers, a stroller and about everything else we could think of. Just like me, they wait.