Months 4 & 5

Wow! I'm behind on blogging.  With Thanksgiving being later this year it has gotten me all out of whack with my Christmas planning, and every day I feel like I have 1,000 things to do (plus take care of a 2 yr old!).

In October we celebrated 4 months of glory days for James Tipp with a trip to the beach.  Sus took Coop and his cousin B to the beach for a few days (and the moms got to come too).  We had a wonderful time, and it was fun watching the boys explore a new environment.  They both loved the beach!

In November we gave Thanks.  We thanked God for the time we got to spend with James Tipp and rejoiced in the fact that he is in Heaven.  We thanked God for all the blessings He has given us and His grace and mercy that He offers us over and over again.  We serve an awesome God!  

Cooper also had a Thanksgiving program on the 22nd at out church.  He was suppose to sing, but he just sat there instead :)  I think he was a little shocked by all the people there!  

As Christmas approaches I've thought a lot about what I think should be...I think there should be 2 boys filling our home with chaos right now.  I think there should be a baby crying in the nursery.  There should be spit up, dirty diapers and sweet newborn gowns everywhere.  And there shouldn't be a stocking hung for a child we will never get to celebrate a Christmas with.  These are my selfish desires. I know His plan is perfect and that has to be my source of strength and faith.  

  For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

⁹ 

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

Better Late than Never...

Happy Halloween from the cutest cow I've ever seen!  

We took Coop to our church's fall festival and he had a blast.  He definitely has this candy thing figured out.  I was a little hesitant to let him jump in the bouncy houses but there was one that was open and we could easily get to him if need be so we let him try it.  He LOVED it!  He didn't want to get out!  

I've been trying to get him to put on his costume for weeks before Halloween and he wouldn't hear anything of it.  He loved the costume but didn't want to wear it.   But when daddy suggests he should wear the costume it's a completely different story!  He gladly put it on for dad and wore it the whole night (oh, the power of daddies). 

My parents came the weekend before Halloween and we all loaded up and went to the pumpkin patch. Of course Coop loved all the animals and rode the horse twice!  He even got to milk a cow!

This boy loves to ride the horses (and cows).  Husband recorded a rodeo and let Coop watch it and now he is constantly asking to ride cows and horses.  Husband lets him ride on his back and pretend bull ride. Coop hops on daddy's back with cowboy hat on and holds on tight while I count for 8 seconds.  He always has a super dramatic fall off "the bull"which requires his hat to fall off.  Falling off a bull clearly requires your hat to come off.  This pretty much sums up our nightly entertainment :)  What did we used to do before kids?  

Anyway back to the pumpkin patch... I was also a little hesitant to let him get in the corn.  There were a ton of big kids in there and I was worried he would get upset.  Of course he loved it.  I don't know when I'm going to learn that whatever he sees big kids doing he wants to do too!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy!  On October 12th he turned 2.    Where has the past year gone?  So much has happened.  He grew up when I blinked.  Cooper is such a mess and loves loves loves to be outside.  We play outside every chance we get.  I'm so amazed that I can understand about 90% of what he says.  Never thought that day would come. Every night we say prayers and tell him we love him and he responds with a hearty AMEN and love ya Momma and love ya daddy.  Melts my heart.  This boy is his father's child all the way.  He loves animals.  Favorites are horses and cows.  I take him to feed the cows at the clinic at least twice a week.  He and Husband trek out in the pasture and whistle for the cows.  Then Coop rides in the wheelbarrow on top of the cow fed and husband pushes him to the trough.  Husband pours the food in and here come the cows.  Coop loves it!  Most of our conversations revolve around cows :)  Since he is slightly obsessed with cows we decided a cow themed birthday party was our only option (and when your dad is a vet, you can have a REAL cow at your party).

Our neighbors were probably wondering about all the mooing coming from our back yard, ha!  This boy was so thrilled about having a real cow in his backyard, it was priceless!

We had a great time with family and friends celebrating 2 years with Cooper.

We got him the Thomas up & down roller coaster for his birthday present.  He loves it and constantly ask to ride choo choo!  Best part about it is that he can ride it all by himself (no help from parents needed, haha!)

Due Date...

October 4th came and went.  I thought it would be more of an emotional day than what it was.  The Husband decided to take off work that day and to make it a special day for our family.  Cooper ended up having a doctor's appt that day in Huntsville so we decided to get up early and head to Huntsville to the Early Works Museum.  I was slightly disappointed in the museum, not much there for a 2 yr old to explore.  I have some wonderful childhood memories of my granny taking Sister and me to the children's museum in Memphis, and I was expecting Early Works to be more like that.  Oh well, it was fun and Cooper enjoyed it.  We then went to Cooper's appointment.  Coop had been turning his ankle slightly inward when he walked and our pediatrician recommended we see an pediatric orthopedist.  Every thing checked out and Cooper should eventually grow out of it as he gets older.  I have been really homesick for LA recently (hadn't been home since August) so after to appt we headed south.  We  had a great time visiting with family and we were able to attend my BIL's church and witness my oldest  nephew be baptized (a very special day for our family).  Sunday night after getting back home it hit...

I was tired.  Emotionally and physically tired.  I told Husband all along that if baby was a boy he would be born on 10/4 because that was my Granddaddy's birthday.  The name Tipp came from his dad (my great-grandfather) and my dad's middle name is Tipp.  I know this is totally crazy to think, but I just know James Tipp would've been born on the 4th.  The hard reality of no baby on 10/4 hit me like a ton of bricks.  There would be no baby.  I know my granddaddy is in heaven having a wonderful time with his great-grandson.  I bet they are into all kinds of heavenly mischief!!  James Tipp is now surrounded with several of his great-grandparents, and I know they are having a blast.  Most importantly James Tipp is with his Heavenly Father.  How great is my longing for Heaven.  As David says in II Samuel 12:23 when referring to his infant son that has died, "I will go to him, but he will not return to me."  One day I will go to James Tipp.

October is also National Infant and Pregnancy loss month with October 15th being the date of the month that it is recognized.  October 15th is also my birthday.  I knew Oct 15th was the national day for recognizing infant and pregnancy loss before we lost James Tipp and thought about what a sad day my birthday fell on, but now it seems very appropriate.  Point blank - October will be hard.  We are so thankful for the numerous cards, texts, and kind words we have received over the past 2 weeks.  Thank you for remembering us and our precious son.

4 months

Every month on the 22nd we've decided to do something fun as a family.  What could be a really sad day for our family, we are going to make a happy day.  I did monthly updates of Cooper's first year and in a way this is my monthly update of James Tipp - recounting the joy we had on the 22nd.

Just to catch up, here is what we have done so far.

1st month - We went and picked up Mr. Flint!  And Flint has certainly been a whirlwind of fun.  I don't think my backyard will ever be the same!

2nd month - Zoo trip with B and Aunt A.  Cooper loved the farm animals (of course) and the dinosaur exhibit (even though T. Rex gave him a little scare at first).

3rd month - We went to Harmony Park Safari in south Huntsville and it was so much fun!  If you live in the Huntsville area, I highly recommend going.  Also, I delivered the memory boxes on this day - what a perfect way to remember our boy!

4th month - We built a sandbox.  Well, not much "we" to it...the Husband built a sandbox.  We had a fun day with just the 3 of us at home playing outside.

So Long Summer

I haven't done the best job of documenting our summer activities, so here are a few pics of what we've been doing lately.

Going on a safari adventure

Riding Turtles

Playing in the sprinkler

Training dogs

Going to school (and not wanting to take a picture)

Dove hunting with mama, daddy and Bop

Our neighborhood pool is officially closed so I suppose that means summer is officially over :(  We have enjoyed spending these hot summer days at the pool or outside in the sprinkler.  Coop loves to be outside.  I don't know what I'm going to do on cold winter days!

In other news...Sister has started a blog.  I think she is wonderful writer!  She is known in our family for her letter writing.   We've all been recipients of her infamous letters!  love ya Sis :)

3 Months

3 months ago we were in the hospital holding our precious James Tipp.  Today I went back to a hospital holding 20 of these.

When we left Huntsville Hospital the nurses gave us a Memory Box.  The box had a small teddy bear, a card with James Tipp's handprints and footprints, a baby bonnet, and some information on grief.  The box meant so much to me, and I appreciated  that someone had taken the time to make a box for grieving parents.  

I decided I wanted to make Memory Boxes for our local hospital about a month ago.  I asked for volunteers from our church and we made 20 boxes.  I'm so thankful for a loving church family and for wonderful friends who helped me make these boxes.  Each box is a little different, but every box has a pink, blue, or white New Testament, the book I'll Hold You in Heaven, and an In Memory Card that has a place to put the baby's footprints.  Our church provided the book and Bible for each box, and I made the cards.  

The outside of the boxes were decorated with scrapbook stickers.

Making these boxes has been so good for me.  In a way this has helped me grieve.  It has also provided a way for me to share my faith with other parents of loss.  No expecting mother should ever have to leave a hospital without a baby, but if she does she should know that somebody knows and understands her pain and is praying for her.  I pray these boxes provide that comfort to a grieving mother. 

*If anyone would like more information on making memory boxes, please let me know. *