Family of 3

January and February were our last few months as a family of 3! Looking back it's hard to remember what things were like with just 3 of us. 

We spent a lot of these months talking about our new baby. Somewhat to prepare Cooper that things were going to change, but mostly because we were just so excited! (Or at least I was until things started getting closer, then I just got nervous)

Cooper had a lot of fun helping me get all the baby clothes out and kept insisting they were his. Surprisingly a few of them actually fit him!

34 weeks along. I was really terrible at taking pictures this pregnancy.

The weather was so great this winter that Cooper was even able to ride his bike a few times in January.

He also loved running around on the bales. The only problem was my size. I couldn't get up on the bales to help him out, or get through them sometimes to get him down haha

We also did a lot of this in January and February. I'm so glad he loves sleep as much as I do.

Another favourite thing for him was "working" with Dad in the shop.

He spent so much time in Uncle Keith's shop that he started talking about it when he was playing with his trucks. He'd say "My tire's broken! Let's fix it at Uncle Keith's shop," and use a trailer to haul it to his imaginary shop.

I swear he's going to be just like his dad and be able to fix anything.

I was also finally able to finish Crosby's baby blanket thanks to a ton of wonderful ladies in the ward. I've never hand stitched anything in my life so I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping it holds up in the wash....

I was really hoping I wouldn't make it to Valentine's Day even though I wasn't due till the 22nd, but unfortunately I did so this was all the baking I was up for doing.

Cooper trying out the new carseat for the baby! He also gave his soother a try but quickly decided he preferred his thumb.

This is called the Chuggington face. Cooper started doing it every time he would hear the opening song for a kids show called Chuggington. I finally figured out that he was trying to cross his eyes like one of the characters does during the opening credits.

Our last picture as a family of 3! This was on my due date, February 22nd, but thankfully he came just 3 days later!

Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014 was busy and exhausting like christmas always is, but I love that we're able to be so close to both our families...most of the time haha

Cooper had so much fun this year and I LOVED watching him open up his presents! 

Matt and I got him a giant John Deere combine for his main present which we knew he'd love seeing as how he was with us when we picked it out (we're not so sneaky like that, but you tell me how you'd hide a giant box in the cart with a 2 year old)

I was always told to give the best present from Mom and Dad and make sure Santa's present isn't as great. Selfish I know and I THOUGHT that's what we did this year.

Anytime we go to the mall (which let's me honest isn't very often with a 2 1/2 year old) we'd have to stop at the Fantastic Learning toy store and look at all the John Deere toys. Cooper fell in LOVE with this John Deere lawn mower because it was "just like grandma's" (unfortunately we have a red one) Well one day, back in October, I ended up being at the mall alone, shocker!!, and I bought it for his stocking. When Matt and I went Christmas shopping together the beginning of November we stopped in for him to pick out a new tractor for Cooper because let's face it he knows way more about them than I do, and they were completely out of the law mowers and said they weren't going to get any in until January. I'm so glad I love to get Christmas shopping done early!

Christmas morning came and Cooper's favourite present of the whole day was this little tiny lawn mower in his stocking! To this day (and unfortunately it's June. That's how long it's been since I've written!!) every time he's looking for it he says "Mommy where's my John Deere lawn mower that Santa got me for Christmas?" It just goes to show how easy to please kids are.

Don't get me wrong he LOVES his combine too! Especially since Grandma bought him a Peterbilt grain truck to go with it and on occasion Mommy will let him put rice or popcorn seeds in it for grain and let him auger it into the grain truck. The plus side is it takes him forever, the downside is that it generally doesn't stay in the truck or combine for too long...Also I think Matt has just as much fun playing with it as Cooper does which is great since it gives them so much bonding time!

My favourite Christmas present this year was finding out what we were having! When we had our ultrasound done I had the receptionist at my doctor's office put either a tractor or tiara in a box and wrap it up for us to open Christmas day. It was hard waiting those 2 1/2 months, but the closer it got the more I could see myself letting it be a surprise (with the next pregnancy). Anyways Christmas morning came around and we were able to Skype with Matt's brother Nathan who was in England on his mission. We opened it up and inside was a TRACTOR!!!

Honestly I've had some incredibly vivid dreams every time I'm pregnant about us having 3 boys, so I was fairly certain that it'd be a boy but I LOVED how we found out! 

We went to my parents in Magrath later that morning and let them open the present as well. Needless to say with 4 grandsons already it wasn't much of a shock that we'd be having another boy! 

Cooper Runs Away

Cooper is such a character. A few weeks ago he decided to run away. 

He threw one of his toys so I sent him to his room for a time out. Basically we have him sit on his bed with him arms folded for about 2 minutes and then go in and talk to him about why he got frustrated and what he should do different next time. Well this time I got a phone call and totally forgot that he was on time out (has this happened to anyone else or just me?).

All of a sudden I heard some clanking around and his bedroom door open. He'd taken his backpack and packed it full of his metal trucks and tractors and put it on. This is how our conversation went.

ME: Cooper what are you doing?

COOPER: I'm leafeen!!!

ME: You're leaving?

COOPER: Yes. I go find my Daddy. I leafeen!

ME: Ok. See ya.

Cooper then opened the front door and walked out on to our deck. I really just wanted to see what he'd do and since we live in the middle of a field there was really no where he could go. 30 seconds later he opens the door back up.

COOPER: Where's my shoes?

ME: In the house.

COOPER: Help me my shoes?

ME: I'm not helping you run away.

At this point he gives me the cutest most exasperated sigh I've even heard and walks back in the house and takes his backpack off. Oh that kid cracks me up!

Another incident happened when we were taking Shelby up to the airport after she'd been home visiting for about a week. We're driving and all of a sudden Cooper (who's sitting by Shelby in the back seat) starts crying and saying "my baby hurts!" Ever since I've been pregnant I've been trying to tell Cooper that Mommy has a baby in her tummy. Well he's decided that he has a baby too and often refers to his tummy as his baby. 

My first thought was that he was going to be sick so we pulled over and I switched Shelby spots so that I could hold a bag in front of Cooper incase he was going to be sick. We started going again for another couple minutes but Cooper seemed to be getting worse. Finally I told Matt he'd just have to pull over so we could get Cooper out of his carseat. As soon as he pulled over I took Cooper out and asked if he had to go to the bathroom. He said yes so I helped him go on the side of the road. As soon as he was finished he said "My baby all better Mommy!" He'd been making himself sick trying to hold it so he didn't have an accident! What a little turkey! I honestly asked him so many times before if he needed to go to the bathroom and he kept saying no :) hahah at least he knew not to have an accident in his carseat!

In the mornings Cooper walks from his bedroom into ours to come get me up. Usually I'm already up but just checking my email or something in bed so I generally hear him coming. The other morning I thought I heard him in the kitchen, but when he didn't come in right away I figured I was just hearing things. About 5 minutes later Cooper comes walking in with a giant double chocolate Costco muffin 1/2 eaten and grinning from ear to ear. He looks at me and says "I got my muffin mommy!" I guess he'd taken a slight detour to grab a muffin Matt had left out on the kitchen table and have a little snack. It makes me nervous for wrapping presents and putting them under the tree for Christmas!

Speaking of presents Matt and I decided to wait until Christmas day to find out what our baby's gender is. We've had it all wrapped up as a present ever since my ultrasound back at the beginning of October. Well we decided to decorate for Christmas last week for FHE and once we got the tree up I put the present under it. That lasted for 2 days because Cooper kept bringing it to me and asking me to open it up. I didn't trust my willpower enough and decided it'd be best to just put it on top of the microwave again so I wouldn't be tempted. Out of sight, out of mind!

Also I just realized I didn't post anything about Halloween! This year we dressed Cooper up as Mr. Carl Fredrickson from the Disney movie UP. I knew with his white curly hair I wanted him to be an old man and Matt was able to help me modify a cane to fit Cooper. He had so much fun and it was such gorgeous weather that we were able to go to our town's Trunk or Treat and then to a few other houses after. On the way home we even stopped at a couple of the other houses that are near us out in the country. I just have to say that I dread the day when he actually has an opinion about what he dresses up as for Halloween ;)

Lately we've been able to go with Matt to work a little bit during the day to haul straw in the semi. Cooper loves it! He just plays on the back bunk with his little semi and stares out the back window at the bales. He also loves helping his dad load all the bales with the tractor. The other day Matt had to go to Calgary and bring 2 loads of bison down. He left at 5 AM Monday morning and didn't get home until close to 7 PM from the 2 loads. Matt drove right into our yard with the semi and trailer on. Cooper kept saying "Where's my buffalo dad?". I guess he didn't quite realize that Matt wasn't going to be bringing any home with him. Matt was pretty tired and had to get up at 5 again the next day to do another load so I told him Cooper and I would go with him so that way Cooper could see the bison. Coop didn't even wake up when we put him in the semi the next morning and my thought was that Cooper and I would just sleep until we got to Calgary around 8:30 or 9. Matt mentioned how tired he was and grateful that I had come to keep him awake haha so I was stuck. Actually it was really nice to just spend some time with just the two of us and we were even able to decide on a boys name for the baby if it's a boy!! For some reason we always have an easier time thinking of girl names. Anyways we finally got to the feedlot and I thought I'd go lay down with Cooper while Matt helped load the bison, but as soon as the semi stopped Cooper woke right up and was hungry. I'd brought 2 Costco muffins thinking that Matt would have 1 and Cooper and I would share the other. Well Cooper did share…..barely. I got 4 bites and he ate the rest haha. He must have been a hungry boy! He loved that he woke up in the semi and we even went out to watch dad load the bison for a bit. 

Waking up in the semi and eating a chocolate muffin! Best day ever for this little boy!

I just love this kid so much! He always keeps me laughing with his goofy grin!

Clumsy Thumbsy

This all started way back on September 4th. Matt and I had our house refinished with Hardi-board siding and, since I love to have things match, we decided we'd refinish Cooper's playhouse/my storage shed with the leftover materials. Then Matt had the great idea to do Ruby's dog house as well so everything would really match. Well he'd been pretty busy with drywall and farming for quite a while so things were a little slow going with our 2 smaller projects. Since I actually really enjoy doing things like that I would do what I could during the day to help things a long. Plus neither project was very big so it wasn't like we needed 2 people to work on it together. 

So I got the playhouse done like I'd wanted but kept putting off the dog house cause it was so small and I didn't really want to have to cut the trim that small. Well September 4th rolled around and I figured I just needed to get it done before it started getting too cold. So I started ripping the trim all down so it would fit. I was just ripping down the last board when it kinda caught on the end and I tried to flick it through the rest of the way with my thumb. No the greatest idea. I didn't realize how high the blade was up and ended up filleting my thumb when I tried to push the board off the table. 

I'm so glad the body going into shock when something traumatizing happens to it. It honestly didn't hurt that bad but it sure looked gross. I'd cut from the top of my thumb down through the first joint of it, running parallel with my fingernail so 1/4 of my thumb was just hanging there. I used my right hand to put pressure on it and hold it together, but that made it hard to try and call someone to help. Because we live out in the country we don't have the greatest service and because of my weak stomach I needed to lay down/crawl on the ground or I was afraid I'd pass out. So I ended up crawling around outside in the back yard until I could find service. My first call was to Barb to have her come down and drive me in to the hospital, but they'd just gotten to Lethbridge so she called Matt's grandma Orr instead to come and get me instead. A minute or two later Matt called me. Honestly I'd forgot to even call him :S. He was drywalling out in Taber so it wasn't like he'd be able to come get me and I was more focused on keeping pressure on my thumb. He left as soon as he could but was still going to be over an hour before he could get there. 

Through all this Cooper was inside. He'd been watching a movie while I finished up the trim and then, once it happened, I wasn't able to open up the door to get inside the house without letting go of my thumb. That was when I started to cry. Having Cooper standing at the door crying for me and not being able to help him broke my heart. I'm not exactly sure but he may have been looking out the back door when it happened because afterward when we'd ask him what Mommy said he'd say "Bzzz ow ow ow". I told Matt luckily I didn't swear when it happened or I'd wonder what he would have been saying instead. Thankfully for the shock, since it wasn't hurting at the beginning, all I honestly remember saying was ow.

Once Matt's grandparents got there we decided Grandpa would stay with Cooper until Barb got there and Grandma would drive me to the hospital and stay with me until Matt could get there. As a side note through all this Cooper was in the middle of potty training so when Grandpa come for some reason that was my biggest concern, making sure Cooper went to the bathroom enough. Fortunately he stayed dry the entire time. 

Once Grandma and I got to the hospital they took us right back and had some x-rays done to see if I'd gone through the bone and tendon. I had so they decided the best thing to do was bandage it up and send me home so that I could have a plastic surgeon look at it in Lethbridge the next morning and re attach the tendon before they stitched it up. They'd frozen my thumb with some local freezing so it hadn't started hurting again yet, but in the middle of the night I woke up in the worst pain! Because I was pregnant the strongest thing they recommended me taking was an extra strength Tylenol. Needless to say it didn't do much and I didn't get a lot of sleep before heading in to the hospital the next morning. Since I didn't want to take Cooper with me to the hospital I drove myself in so that Barb could watch Cooper for me. I had quite a few offers for people to come and sit with me at the hospital, but I preferred to go by myself since I knew what a baby I could be and didn't want anyone to see me cry. 

Once I got to the hospital I found out they didn't have me scheduled in so they were just going to try and squeeze me in. Once I got back there they didn't have the right equipment (a C arm I think) in the room that would allow the Dr. to see if he was setting the bone and tendon right, so he had to do his best to guess and then stitch it up. Then they sent me for another x-ray to see if everything was set right. The joint was in so many pieces and there were a couple that had to be rotated into the right place so back I went to the plastic surgeon to have them take the stitches out, rotated the bones, and then restitch me up again. They wanted me to get a brace made for my thumb/hand/arm so that I wouldn't move it, but the hand clinic was so backed up that they just put a full cast on it and told me to come in the next week to have a brace made. This whole process took just over 5 hours so by the end I was very glad to be able to go home. 

My parents came and took Cooper for the weekend so I could get some rest and I was lucky they did. Because my thumb was healing and swelling so much the cast was putting a lot of pressure on it. I ended up being sick all Friday night and by Saturday morning needed to go back to the Fort Macleod hospital. I was still only taking an extra strength Tylenol every 6-8 hours like they recommended, but it wasn't enough. Combine that with the morning sickness I had still and I wasn't able to even keep the medicine down. Matt hadn't gotten any sleep the night before either because he was taking care of me so Barb took me back in to the hospital so he could get some sleep. They gave me 3 or 4 IV's to rehydrate me and a shot of morphine in my thumb and I was able to get some sleep for a bit. When the doctor came back he told me I had hints of starvation and that he was concerned that I might have gestational diabetes because of my blood glucose levels so to make an appointment with my OB. He also gave me a prescription for morphine and told me that I could take 2 extra strength Tylenol every 4-6 hours instead. This helped a ton! I made sure I was still careful with what I was taking but it was such a relief to be able to manage the pain better. 

I made it through the weekend and by Monday had appointments with my OB, the plastic surgeon, the hand clinic to get a splint made, and my chiropractor. The OB said the pain meds were fine to be taking and that they would still wait until I was 26 weeks to check for gestational diabetes. The plastic surgeon took my cast off and had me get an x-ray again before they made a splint for me at the hand clinic. It was a busy day and just a hint of what the next 2 months would be like. My trips to Lethbridge consisted of going to see different doctors and leaving Cooper with Grandma Barb in Fort Macleod. Slowly my thumb has been healing and I've been making appointments at the hand clinic for my rehab. I almost have full movement in the joint at the base of my thumb, but the top joint can only move 15 degrees instead of the 70 degrees that my right thumb can do. It's a work in progress but the more I work with it the more movement I'm able to get. 

It's been a long process (almost 3 months) and I'm ready for it to be done. Although I am very grateful that it happened when it did and not when I was further along in my pregnancy. It's given me the time to heal that I need before the baby comes. Cooper is also at a very independent age which has been a huge help to me. Another small blessing is the fact that I could wear maternity jeans so I didn't have to do any buttons up! I don't have feeling in the very tip of my thumb so it's made doing buttons up a very difficult task ;P. 

Count Your Blessings

I'm not a super positive person and this is something I'm working on changing. As a result I usually end up saying something negative and then trying to think of something positive about that instead. For example if I'm venting to someone about how Matt loaded the dishwasher 'wrong' I usually catch myself and end by saying "but at least he's willing to help me out." It's still a work in progress.

Considering this past week I've realized I could do a lot of complaining OR count my blessings. These are some if the blessings I've counted do far:

• I have a thumb! We'll still have to wait another 6-8 weeks to see how functional it'll be, but at least it's all there!

• I have wonderful neighbors/family who were able to help me out in my hour of need. Without Barb to organize having Grandma Orr take me to the hospital and Grandpa Orr to watch Cooper until she was able to get there I don't know what I would have done. 

• I have an amazing husband who has helped me with everything lately. Whether it be washing and doing my hair or rinsing out my puke bucket he's been such a great example of Christlike service to me. 

• Our families have also been incredible through this all. My parents took Cooper for the weekend to help me recover and Matt's family has been there to take me to the hospital, watch Cooper so I can nap or wash my dishes. It's all been so appreciated and I can never say thank you enough. 

• I've also been blessed to have wonderful doctors and nurses anytime I've been to the ER or had surgery done. I feel like I've spent a little too much time with them lately, but I'm very grateful for all their care and understanding. Especially with my weak stomach  

• Cooper has also been another huge blessing. He has such a sweet spirit and has been so mindful of 'mommy's owie'. He's always trying to 'help mommy feel better' while Matt's at work. 

• I'm so grateful for this pregnancy. It definitely hasn't been a walk in the park. I've had to be very careful with the amount of pain medication I take, and I usually end up getting sick at night. But all those things remind me of the blessing we have to grow our family. I know there are some who are struggling with that in their lives so I've learned it appreciate every part of it. 

Baby Orr #2!!!

Cooper is going to be a big brother!!!

I definitely cheated and had this photo taken way back in April when we did family pictures. I wasn't pregnant but what can I say….I'm a planner! 

I want to make sure I write down the funny story about why we ended up telling people a little early just in case I forget. 

So I've been a lot more sick with this baby than I ever was with Cooper. Now before anyone says "That means you're having a girl!" I'd just like to point out the very strong Orr genes we have and the fact that my parents (in the next few weeks) are going to have their 5th grandson so I'm not getting my hopes up :) Anyways I've mostly been sick in the mornings, but occasionally it lasts longer than that. I was asked by a lady from our ward to fill in for her teaching Relief Society (the 18+ year old women in the ward). I said yes and figured since Matt would be teaching the same lesson in the men's class we'd just study together. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't enjoy public speaking. AT ALL. That being said I know that practice makes perfect so I try to never turn down an opportunity to "practice". While we were on our way to church that Sunday I started feeling VERY sick. It was probably a combination of being nervous and the morning sickness, but I decided to roll the window down to get some fresh air. That turned out to be a very bad idea because as soon as I did the top paper for Matt's lesson flew out the window!!! We were going to be late for church so I told him we didn't have time to stop and get it. I felt so bad, but I honestly was very grateful that it didn't happen to me!

Needless to say I was a little less nervous after that and got up to teach my lesson. Things were going along great until all of a sudden I started to get very warm. Then my stomach started to churn and I knew I was about to be sick. Luckily I had just asked a question so the ladies had something to talk about. I don't even remember what I said. I'm hoping it was something like "Excuse me" and not "Oh CRAP" like I was thinking. I booked it out of the Relief Society room and into the bathroom just in time. It was so EMBARRASSING!!! As soon as I was feeling better I went back to finish teaching the lesson. The conductor had gotten up to take over while I was gone and I was hoping to just ignore what happened but some very sweet older ladies were concerned with how pale I looked and kept asking if I needed a chair cause they were afraid I would pass out. 

The rest of the lesson went ok, but I had a few ladies ( including some very thoughtful visitors) come up and give me a hug after and tell me what a good job I did. I had to try not to laugh cause I sure didn't feel like it when the lesson ended haha Matt and I had a few people come up to us and congratulate us on our pregnancy after, even though we'd never officially told anyone. I guess getting sick in the middle of your lesson will lead people to assume that ;) So we decided we'd better hurry up and tell our families. 

Both our moms had been told the month earlier because I was feeling so tired and sick that I thought it'd be better for them to know why I was being so grouchy all the time ;) I think that's the hardest part about being pregnant. You feel awful for the first 3 months, but aren't supposed to tell anyone. Maybe it's a good thing though so people don't hear all your complaining cause I assure you Matt heard his fair share. Sorry sweetie! I really appreciate you putting up with me!!

So a little bit about this pregnancy. I'm 15 weeks along now and have started to feel a little better. Usually I'm only sick when I take my prenatal vitamin and that usually only lasts for an hour or so. Cooper reminds me most days that I'm pregnant by either asking to see the baby or showing me "his baby" by lifting up his shirt and showing me his belly button. Right now he thinks my belly button is the baby which is sort of funny cause he always tries to talk to the baby through it. I've started showing a little bit which is way soon than I did with Cooper, but that's normal I think with most second pregnancies. I went for an ultrasound last week to double check the dates and I love that I can go for 2 ultrasounds with this one. Matt wasn't able to make it, but I'm hoping for the second one he'll be able to come cause I actually felt like I knew what I was looking at this time! 

Anyways we're super excited and can't wait for our family to grow!!

Summertime!

Things have been so busy this summer. Definitely in a good way! We took a week and a half to go to Utah and visit Matt's aunt and uncle and to go for his cousin's wedding. Matt seriously does NOT like the drive to Utah. I don't love the drive either, but Matt will honestly drive for 30 minutes or maybe an hour and he's tired enough that he's going to fall asleep and we have to switch drivers. It used to really bother me, but I've gotten used to it and I just like to tease him about it now :)

One of my favourite things to do in Utah is shop! They have some awesome stores down there so Cooper and I took a day to go up to Provo and do some shopping with my cousin Alexis. It was so much fun to discover some new stores!

Hope's wedding was gorgeous! She was such a beautiful bride and we were so lucky to be able to be there for her special day. She got married July 5th so we were there to celebrate with them for July 4th as well. We went to the parade and Matt had a ton of fun later that night setting off fireworks and dynamite!


We were also able to go camping a few times this summer. We just drove 15 minutes away from our house to a piece of land Matt's parents own on the Old Man River. Even though it was never very far it was still so much fun!

Cooper was able to have his first sleepover this summer as well! My cousin Meagan was gone to girls came so her little boy Jet came out to sleepover for a few days. This was just after we got home from Utah and about a week after I found out I was pregnant. I was feeling pretty sick and very tired so usually when Matt got home from work he'd take the boys and I'd go nap for a little bit. He obviously is a much more fun parent than I am cause I woke up from my nap and went outside to see this:

It was pretty muddy in the ditch by our driveway and the boys had wandered over and started playing in the mud. By the time Matt saw them he figured they were already dirty so might as well let them have some fun. I about had a heart attack when I saw that they were both in white shirts, but I calmed down and after 3 baths they were both clean and very happy little boys. I'm so glad to have Matt around to "encourage" me to let Cooper do things like that :)

Then we had Andrew and Hannah's wedding! It's so exciting to have another girl in the family! Cooper loves his uncle Andrew and gets so excited when he comes out to the farm. He usually runs to the door and gives him a big hug saying ANDREW! Once he started dating Hannah though and they got engaged Cooper started asking him "Where's Hannah?" whenever he walked in the door instead :) I think it's safe to say he's pretty happy she's joined the family too. 

Cooper excited for his best man duties the night before the wedding!

Everyone the night before.

The happy couple!

All the boys at the reception!

Cooper and I! They had a candy table so it was very hard to get Cooper to sit still for a picture ;)