Cooper’s First Christmas – A Recap.
I debated what to do about gifts for Cooper this year. Our house is not large and we have all the closets stuffed to the gills already so I had to decide what we wanted to get for him this year. I knew that Grand Parents and other family members would get him lots of great stuff. So, one night Danny and I went shopping and picked out just a few things. My favorite present for him and the first one he got (about 5 days early because I couldn’t wait) we gave him Milo the Monkey. It is a little plush chair that he can climb on now and sit in later. We also bought him a few toys that we thought he would like… mainly ones that have lights and music.

My dad, Popo, came with Nana to visit the second weekend in December. They were here to see Mimi and all the Grandkids. I am sure they were glad to see us kids too but, let’s be honest, the grandbabies are all that really matters. I hosted the fam here at our house for dinner and we played games all night. Popo and Nana got to spend a good amount of time with Cooper. The last time they saw him was when Aunt Stacy and I drove to Lubbock in June when Cooper was only about two months old. It was a great time and one that I don’t want to take for-granted since we see my Daddy so little.

Christmas at MaMaw’s house (my mom) was on the Saturday night before. We had our traditional spaghetti, meatballs and breadballs. If you don’t know what a breadball is, you are truly missing out on heavenly carb-loaded goodness. Cooper got soft blocks and soft toys from Lakeshore Learning from MaMaw and GrandPa as well as some clothes from them and from Aunt Stacy. He is a little young for opening packages yet obviously, but he is not too young to pound on them and crawl on them! It was a fun evening for him and for all of us to see him at his first Christmas tree.

Sunday night we hosted Big Papa (Danny’s Dad), GrandMa Cindy, Aunt Taylor and Uncle Cameron at our house for Christmas tree number two. Danny smoked a brisket and I bought food from Whole Foods for dinner. This is not really like me… I am known in my family and by my friends as being the person who ALWAYS makes food from scratch because that is what I love to do. But now that we have Cooper, he is what I love to do and cooking has to come second… really like tenth, but who’s counting? So, we had wonderful brisket from our backyard and the rest was at least not out of a can! The evening was lots of fun and Cooper got one of his favorite gifts, a lion walk/ride thing. The best part is that it plays a song and flashes when you press his nose. That was a huge hit and he plays with it everyday (remember this toy for a story later).

The next day, Christmas Eve, we headed for the lake with GrandMother. The next day we had Christmas Day and we opened presents between naps. GrandMother got Cooper some classic gifts that Danny loved growing up, including a popcorn popper and a little 4-wheel Radio Flyer. He also got his first US coin proof-set. Uncle Britt, Aunt Heather and Cousin Ford showed up late that night and so Cooper missed presents with them… but he had more presents when he woke up the next day. We really enjoyed being at the lake with Danny’s family but Mommy had to go back to work at the end of the week.