Hello, friends!

My amigas over at Lullaby Lubbock are doing a super fun blog series called Summer Essentials, and they’ve been having guest bloggers each week telling about their favorite products, hobbies, ideas, etc. for the summer. What a fun idea, huh?

So I was WAY honored when they asked me to give my two cents on their blog, and share a little bit about my family’s Summer Essentials. Go check it out! And here, let me entice you… it involves poop stains, lighting tips, and fun pictures… :)

I do love me some summer… Yes, even when it’s 110 degrees outside. What is this, Lubbock??

Fine by me, if it means we get to make plenty of pool trips. This was Cooper’s first time at the pool about a month ago. I think he likes it almost as much as his momma does.

What else have we been up to?

plenty of Cooper kisses…

Celebrating Mickey’s birthday (Mick is a good friend and Cooper’s Godfather)

And watching him be all cute with his lady friend :) Aren’t they adorable?!

hmm… what else have we been up to? Visiting family, editing (thank you for your patience, my sweet clients), and getting ready for a big family reunion in South Dakota this weekend… Woohooo! OH! And we’re also getting so excited to have some house guests for a couple months… CasaGrande will be Grande again!! Yay for The Remke’s coming on over before they make the big move overseas!

One of Cooper’s gifts from our Clovis shower has quickly become one of our favorites. Yes, it’s so cute, and yes it’s functional and soft and yadda yadda yadda, but I just loved the story behind it all!

It’s a blanket from Cassie Mae Beloved… Check it out.

Here’s how it works… Once Cassie Mae Beloved receives an order, they discuss the “feel” the client wants the blanket to have. From there, they put together a few looks to choose from. After final decisions are made, the blanket goes into production and there is a two week turnaround  (which is AWESOME!) All blankets are custom made to order, so every blanket is special and unique to the kiddo. And there are lots of fun sizes to choose from, too.

Once the kiddo has their blanket, they send a picture in with their new fav blanket. Cassie Mae then updates the blog, and shows the blog world all of these growing bambinos with their awesome new blankets. So much fun.

Here Cooper is, lovin’ life.

I knew the time would come when the Booths would move away. But hot dang, it sure did come faster than I could have ever imagined.

I’m totally not going to get all emotional in this blog post, because I’m suppressing all of those emotions until later… You know, until they’re actually gone, so that way I’ll be sitting at home with a newborn all by myself, wishing I could hear McKenna’s sweet giggle, or hear Saved by the Bell playing in the other room, knowing Ella is absolutely loving every second. Or having Allison to talk to or hang out with at any given point throughout the day… Or laughing at Bob’s constant stream of jokes… I guess I just got emotional. What can ya do.

It’s been a fun season. We’ve gone from acquaintances to friends to roommates with this sweet family. And my camera likes them, too. From fun in the sunflowers, Christmas Card pictures, to Birthday Parties, and other randomness, and most recently, sweet baby McKenna coming into the world. Goodness… so much fun.

Okay, but onto the reason I’m writing all of this jibba jabba. It only made sense that they had one last family session here in the LBK. So here it is folks.

Of course our dogs have become BFF as well.

It’s almost laughable… thinking I can sum up the last couple weeks of life in one blog post. I just felt like I needed to give my blog peeps SOMETHING. All two of you out there :)

I keep loving our little Coop more and more every day. I’m wondering if I’m just going to explode someday if it keeps going at this rate. But really, he has brought us so much joy, and having him in our lives constantly points me to Christ… Seeing God’s creation so wonderfully made, and knowing that it’s all for our enjoyment and for His glory… it all just makes me love God more. There’s a lot of love in this place.

What’s funny is that I started writing this blog post about 10 hours ago… but I think that’s the new blogging time line in my life. And I’m okay with that :)

Here’s a little peek into our lives the past 4 weeks.

still one of my favorites…

deuce loves him some cooper. some day they’ll be bff

our fam on Easter. I got them matching ties from Apple and Ivy.

hangin’ with his girls

we love our family walks

hehe :)

Cooper was born March 29 at 11 a.m., 8 pounds 5 ounces, 21 inches long.

Talk about the most awesome whirlwind of happiness ever!! This past week has been a little crazy, but more amazing than I could have ever imagined. God has sure blessed us with this little guy, and I can’t even wrap my mind around how much richer this blessing will be as he grows older

The day of his birth went more smoothly than I even thought possible. Jordan and I got up to the hospital bright and early… actually dark and early, since it was 5 a.m. and all… And we got the whole process started. And badda bing, six hours later, he was in our arms.

Courtney Ryburn documented Cooper’s birth and I was blown away by her work. Not to mention, I progressed more quickly than anyone thought I would, so Courtney got the call much sooner than she thought… We were trying to hold off as much as we could, and I was even told to stop laughing because I was going to “laugh the baby out.” But you better believe that girl came into the room at the perfect time and started snapping away. I think Cooper was born within 30 seconds of her walking into the room. Fun times :)

Here’s one photo from her blog, but check out the rest here!

I’m 39 weeks. HOLY COW. In one week, Jordan and I will be holding our little man, and we can hardly wait!! I really have enjoyed being preggo. It’s been a mostly easy, super fun and exciting time and although my body is definitely starting to slow down, I couldn’t be more thankful for how smoothly everything has gone so far. Thank you, Jesus, for that. And who knows. Since I had my last pre-Cooper photo session last week, my next blog post could very well be about our baby boy.

We had a doc appointment this morning, and were told Mr. Cooper isn’t too anxious to make his entrance into the world… So Allison did some research this morning and we made a list of all the things I should start eating and doing to get this going into labor thing rolling. So, needless to say, after a trip to United, I have been eating pineapple all day (yes, my tongue is raw), sipping on some cinnamon tea, trying to incorporate spicy food into my diet, and walking. And I do plan on starting tomorrow off with an exciting session of Wii Zumba. Oooo… or Wii Just Dance. Decisions decisions.

Anyhow, Aric & Casey outdid themselves again. They took some belly pictures last week, and I love love love them!

Aric had a vision for this one… and boy did they nail it!

I know, I know. Not too many posts these days. Honestly, it’s been a great season of catch-up for me. I am no longer indebted to Wedding Albums or editing of any kind… that’s right. I’m totally caught up. CUH-RAZY.

I’ve had sessions here and there, but this time of year is usually a slower time for me any way, so I’ve been trying to ENJOY it, rather than go stir crazy. I guess I’m realizing I don’t have too many hobbies… So, I’m trying to work on that. Jordan got me a sewing machine for Christmas (which I’m so excited about, really), but I’m a little bit terrified of it at the moment. I kept saying I would bust it out once I finished Wedding Albums, so now is the time. I did take it out of the box this week, so I feel like that’s a big step. I’m ridiculous, I know. And I’m not always such a sissy about things in life, but for some reason, talk of bobbins and $60 scissors makes me want to take my time. Goodness gracious, I need to stop typing before I sound like a complete crazy.

Moving on… It’s also been so much fun getting ready for Cooper to come into our lives. Washing his teeny tiny clothes, putting the bedding on his crib, pushing around his stroller around the house for fun… that’s normal, right? ;) We have six more weeks to go!

A while back, I did a session of sweet Mary Grace, back when it was freeeeezing cold outside. She’s a doll, huh?

And this is one from the precious Morgan family.

And last, but not least, Ella. It’s strange posting a picture of Ella in the snow, when I’m about to go outside and catch some rays in the 80 degree weather. Better late than never though!

More babies!! Sweet Thomas entered the world yesterday and things couldn’t have been better. He’s perfect.

This was right before Thomas was born.

And this was right after Carrie got to hold her baby boy. Love this moment!

Big sister approves :)

congratulations you guys!!

You might start seeing a theme going on here… lots of baby related posts lately… Haha. Yes, Jordan and I are not the only ones expecting these days, and it’s been so fun being surrounded by such close friends welcoming their little ones into the world!

Jordan (not my hubby… Kojo Designs Jordan) and Drew had their precious little girl, Evie, January 31, and I got to be around for it all. Well, maybe not ALL of it. Turns out, Evie was a little eager to make her appearance into the world, and I walked into their hospital room about two minutes after she was born. But it was still so amazing to be a part of!

This photo was probably 20-30 minutes after she was born… Love the way Drew is looking at his girls.

Jordan DOES NOT look like she just had a child… beautiful!

we were thankful for the natural light in the room we moved to :) isn’t evie a doll?

time to meet the big sisters!

love love love this.

one of my favs.