laugh for the day

Cooper's new laugh. This kid is such a cheese.

run run run

I'm extremely nervous for this weekend. Why you ask?

Because for some crazy reason, that I cannot for the life of me remember now, I signed up for a half marathon.

This Saturday my husband and I will be running the Provo Halloween Half Marathon.

You see, I am not a runner. It goes against my very nature. I probably run slower than some people can walk. You think I joking but I assure you I am not.

I haven't mentioned one thing on this blog about the race up until now because I didn't want everyone to know what a loser I was when I backed out. Well guess what, I'm not backing out! So I'm already a winner right?! yay!

You see this was going to be the thing that makes me lose the rest of that dang baby weight. Well that hasn't exactly happened. I've lost minimal weight. Luckily when I get really discouraged I have a sweet husband that tells me I'm super hot. He humors me and it works.

Speaking of my sweet husband. As mentioned before he will be running the race as well. You see I've been training for this for 16 weeks now. That's quite awhile. On the other hand my husband doesn't believe in such a involved training schedule. His training thus far has included running about 4 or 5 times. And of course each of those times he runs faster than me and acts like it's no big deal when I feel like I must certainly be dying.

Also, Colin will run 4 or 5 miles with me once and BAM! loses 8 pounds. Now is that fair? I don't think so. When he tells me he's lost weight I have a keep my cool and act like it's totally awesome. (cause it is right?) I try very hard to keep my angry jealous thoughts to myself and I admit sometimes I fail.

My dad is also running. He's a big time runner and does lots of races so I keep asking him questions like, So what if they like close down the finish line before I get there? (He assures me they won't.) What if everyone passes me and I look stupid? But then he said "Marissa everyone is worried about themselves and they don't care about you at all." Surprisingly, hearing how one cares about me was comforting.

So I'm off to find our costumes for the race. Apparently if you don't dress up you're lame and we definitely don't want to be lame.

9 months

A common conversation in our house includes talking about how big/old Cooper is getting. Then it usually leads into how cute he is and how did we get so lucky. I know, kind of a mushy, but this is something I think about often. Cooper is such a good baby and has such a happy and content disposition. He definitely has his moments but he is generally low maintenance and just goes with the flow when I drag him along with me everywhere I go. Where he got his mellow disposition, I have no idea, but I'm thankful for it. I'm just waiting for my next baby to be a terror so I can get a taste of my own medicine because as my mother's informed me I was not as sweet and happy as Cooper.

Coop Man is nine months old. Where did the time go? He's been out a of my belly as long as he has been in. Woah! There must be something about having kids that makes time go by faster right? My baby is becoming less of a baby everyday and looking and acting more like a little boy. It is the strangest thing to realize he actually understands some of the things I say. It makes me realize I better be saying the right things. I suspect he picks up on much more then I initially think. Sometimes Colin and I will be talking while driving in the car and randomly we'll here a giggle from the backseat. Cooper thinks the most random things that Colin says and does are so funny. Everyday when Colin gets home he gets down on all fours and plays with Cooper. Coop thinks it's the greatest thing that ever happened to him. I love watching it. I'm not quite as funny to him or entertaining but I'm a much better snuggler so I'm good for something.

I took Cooper in for his nine month appointment and he looks happy and healthy. He is in the 25 % for his length and 21% for his weight. Yup, he's kind of a shrimp. But he's in the 50% for his head. So I'm not really sure if that means his head in normal and his body is small so his head is too big for his body. Yeah I'm not going to think about that one that hard.

Cooper at nine months..

• Is still is doing the army crawl. And he's pretty dang fast so don't mess! He gets anywhere and everywhere. He gets into everything, opens drawers and cupboards and takes everything out. Every second I'm not looking he's trying to crawl into the bathroom. Gross.
  
• Pulls himself up. In just the last two weeks he's gotten really good. I love going to get him in his crib and finding him standing up waiting for me.
  
• Is a little too attached to mom. If I'm in the same room with him he won't let anyone else hold him even Colin most of the time. Whenever someone new talks to him while I'm holding him he will bury his head into me and not look at them. It's kind of funny. His only word is mama and he says it all the time.
• No teeth yet. I think he's a little late on that. The longer he doesn't have sharp things to bit me with the better for me.
• Loves cars and balls. A true boy.

This little boy is such a blessing in our life. He makes me laugh all the time and I'm just glad he's ours.