That's right everybody!!! That is the view right now from our street. It has already snowed about 3 inches and they are expecting more! There is a winter storm watch until tomorrow morning at 6. It's the most snow Las Vegas has seen in 30 YEARS! Wow. Cooper is napping right now, but we might get him out for one picture later on!

Well, it's almost Christmas. You'll have to excuse the delay in updates... our computer was, uh, resting for awhile. But now she's back! We had a great Thanksgiving in Pinetop with both my family and Ryan's family. We got in Wednesday night and Cooper met his cousin Jalyn for the first time. She is exactly three months older than him. It was snowing by Thanksgiving morning, the way Thanksgiving should be!

We had a wonderful time making Christmas cookies, cutting down a Christmas tree and of course, eating turkey!

Cooper is getting closer to crawling. A few weeks ago I figured I was in no rush to have him crawl because as soon as he does that, he'll be all over the place. So for right now, we're just enjoying his immobility! He started waving the other day! The first person he waved at was Daddy.

We are teaching him sign language. The first one we tried to teach him was 'more'. We think he might be getting it now. So we're using that in conjunction with 'all done'.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and fantastic holiday season!

Our week in Mexico was delightful, we loved it. Cooper did wonderfully! Every day was the perfect day; we spent time on the beach and at the pool. They had these beds down by the pool that were covered and kept Cooper and all of us in the shade for lots of the day but we all did our best to get tans! We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our family and hope to meet up in Mexico again!

We spent Cooper's first Halloween down in Mexico (they celebrate the Day of the Dead down there on November 1st). We had a bunch of different costumes to choose from, but due to luggage constraints, we could only take one with us! He was a monkey!

To get to Mexico, we flew from Vegas to Phoenix and when we landed in Phoenix and stood up with Cooper in our arms, at least two people behind us looked at us and said, 'You had a baby this whole time???' He made almost no noise and was perfect for both flights!

I attached several pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Cooper started rolling over about three weeks ago. It's so cute! He's really good at it now, but we captured one of the first few rolls on video. We take him for his sixth month checkup in a couple weeks (a bit late) to see how much he weighs! It's getting colder, finally, so we can put him in even more cute clothes, including hats! In a sad way, it's good that he spits up so much because then we can just keep putting more outfits on him! Poor kid...

We leave for Mexico next weekend! Just wanted to add a few pictures!

We have had a busy few weekends and it's not likely to let up between now and January! In a few weeks, we are headed to Mexico for a family vacation. Cooper is going to meet some of the family for the first time!

Cooper and I surprised Ryan with a trip to Flagstaff for his birthday. We were met there by his brother Kyle (who's birthday is the day before Ryan's) and his girlfriend Emily, his best friend Matt (who's birthday is the same day as Ryan's) and their Mom, Laura. They were just sitting at a table at Ryan's favorite restaurant when we walked in. It was great!

Last weekend, Nonna and Papa came up to babysit Cooper for our first night away. We went to a wedding in California. They had a lot of fun getting to know Cooper even better. He is such a fun kid, especially when he's spitting up all over the place right Nonna?? They brought extra t-shirts just in case.

I'm pretty sure Cooper will hate us for this in years to come, but about a week ago at daycare, he had gotten all of his onesies dirty so the woman that watches him had to get one of her 10 month olds onesies for him... her 10 month old is of course a girl (her two year old sons clothes were all packed away). We couldn't resist and had to take a picture of him in the outfit. He's not old enough for this to cause trauma, so we figured we'd be safe to take a picture.

Happy October!

Cooper is learning how to eat cereal. It's hilarious. He is 4 months old now and the doctor said we needed to put some weight on him so we're helping out the cause by giving him cereal! He's doing quite well with it. We are having lots of fun with him.

He gave us quite a scare last Saturday when he ran a high fever that took us to the ER for the first time. While the ER is always enjoyable, we just wanted our baby to be healthy. It turned out to be nothing, which is all we can hope for. Plus, every 4 month old wants a spinal tap right?!?! Ryan and I each got to take home the gift of a cold. I've been sick all week! It's been awhile since I took a bathtub picture so I added that in. I also put in a picture of him hanging out in his glider watching mom and dad try to get his crib sheet back on.

The weather is getting cooler, which is so exciting! We've been able to have coffee on the patio every morning and Cooper hangs out with us out there. This week will go by fast as we are preparing for Ryan's birthday next Monday! Cooper's in on the plans but Daddy's not quite sure what's going on yet.

Ahh yes... Cooper has found his fingers. He loves putting them in his mouth at any possible opportunity. He can sit up almost all by himself now but he still seems to enjoy standing more. It's a good thing everything he eats goes to his chunky thighs so he can stand!

He seems to have found his voice this weekend. He has been talking so loudly that we have not been able to hear the TV over his voice. I guess that means he wants us to pay more attention to him! We have been taking videos of him talking all weekend and then when we watch them they make us laugh all over again.

We also had the chance to go swimming again this weekend. I think he likes the water but I'm not sure if he's sure about that yet. Hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend.

It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of our gorgeous pet Marly. She passed away on Friday night quite unexpectedly. She was the greatest dog and she will be hugely missed. It didn't matter who met her, they always fell in love with her. How could you not with all the face love she wanted to give? She is probably spending most of her time running around in my parents' backyard which we always called 'Marly's Heaven'.

We love you Marly!

Unbelievable. Cooper is three months old on Thursday. We are having so much fun with him. He laughs now, mostly with his Daddy. It's adorable. We have had quite a few weeks. I started back to work part time on the 21st and full time today, it's been going alright. I just do my best not to talk about him or look at too many of his pictures during the day!

We said goodbye to two of our closest friends (Brandon and Jill) last week, they left to move back to the midwest... I can't imagine why they wanted to get out of the desert! There was a great going away party for them and we even had a babysitter for Cooper so we could go and enjoy!

Two weekends ago Nonna and Papa were in town to visit their grandson, oh and to babysit! We got to go see the new Batman movie and go to dinner. It was lovely. We also took Cooper on his second hike out to Red Rock. It was a bit warm but we got some good pictures and it gave Marly some much needed exercise. The picture in the sling is fitting because Cooper has spent many a nap in that sling in the last few weeks because we've been out and about so much!

Last weekend we took our long awaited vacation to Pinetop, AZ. First we stopped over in Flagstaff for the night and took Cooper to NAU. We took him to Raymond Hall where Ryan and I met and got him the cutest onesie at the bookstore! We visited with Ryan's grandmother for five wonderful days in the beautiful weather. We went for a great hike in Greer and I got to have a facial and a massage! We also got to see Nonna and Papa again! Cooper got some much needed bonding time with his great grandmother. I think he'll remember her from now on. We look forward to that trip every year. I don't like to wish away the time that Cooper is little but we did find ourselves talking about how he would be walking on the hike this time next year (at least a little bit)!

He is just a wonderful baby and we are so happy to have him around.

Cooper continues to be our Perfect Little Angel. He is just so wonderful and fun to be around. Today he had his two month checkup (he'll be ten weeks tomorrow), and he weighed in at 11 pounds 2 oz.! That's huge! I could just start doing bicep curls with him instead of working out my arms at the gym. He also got his first shots today. He only screamed bloody murder for about 5 seconds and it was all over so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to shed a tear!

This weekend we had friends from Chicago visiting and we took them to one of our favorite places in Las Vegas, Mt. Charleston. It was pouring down rain on our way up the mountain so I was worried we wouldn't be able to hike, but it was perfect by the time we reached the trail and only rained on us a little bit on the hike. It was gorgeous and Cooper was great. We took him in the sling and he napped the entire time. He makes great noises when he's napping in the sling and we took a short video of it.

Cooper spent part of his 4th in the pool for the first time. He didn't cry at all and just got a little bit fussy at the end (it was nap time). Nonna got him that huge floppy hat which kept him away from the sun. He smiled at Nonna and Papa a lot, I think he likes Phoenix! We like that when we drove in Thursday night there was an awesome storm coming. That's the worst thing about Vegas... the clouds form over the mountains away from the city and they just laugh at us. They never actually come into the city and rain! Our monsoon season is just a bunch of clouds and wind, so the storms were a nice change.

Our 4th was spent with the Pickard's for their annual party. The fireworks display on the drive home was awesome, my mom got to see fireworks all over the city!

On Saturday we got to spend time with our friends Laura and Rusty and their new son, Jacob. He was born on the 24th of June and was 9 pounds 5 oz and 22 inches long. I will just add here that Jacob was bigger at birth than Cooper is today at 9 weeks! We put them on the floor next to each other and they are right about the same size.

I attached a few pictures from the weekend. Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th!

Cooper gets more of a personality each day. His Daddy knows how to bring out the greatest smiles (see video below). However, Mom has trouble getting onesies on the right way (those buttons were supposed to be in the back). Oh well. Every day is a challenge! Marly gets closer everyday and when he makes lots of noise she runs over to check everything out and make sure he's okay. Earlier this week, I found out that Cooper fits in to a few more of his 0-3 month clothes so I've been putting on every outfit possible! When I found the 'Chicks Dig Me' onesie, I took at least 70 pictures just trying to get a sheepish grin out of him. It didn't quite work!

Hope everyone has a happy fourth. I know we'll have lots more pictures for the blog after this weekend!

This week, my friend Jenn was in town visiting from Pueblo, CO. If there was one great thing I got from living there for six months it was meeting her. She is a wonderful person. Ryan watched Cooper one night so I could take Jenn out on the town. I took her to the Strip, and showed her the greatest stuff about Las Vegas... anything that's free! We watched the water show at the Bellagio (I took a short video below) and saw the conservatory (a huge room full of real flowers). It was decorated for the 4th of July. They even built a replica of the Bellagio inside out of sand and all kinds of other stuff. A visit to the Bellagio is always enjoyable.

Cooper is smiling like crazy and getting so strong! He spends quite a bit of time trying to stand on our laps and keeping his head held up. He also likes to stick his tongue out, which I do right back to him and usually this elicits a smile. I'll do anything to get him to smile, it's the greatest thing to see! Marly is getting closer to him and will come over and sniff his head when I have him on the couch. They'll be great friends in no time! I uploaded some pictures in the web albums.

Happy Friday!

Well, Ryan's first Father's Day was long! We drove to Phoenix on Friday to spend the weekend with family. We had a reception for Cooper Michael on Saturday, so we were lucky to be able to see quite a few of our friends and family. I just wish we were able to spend more time with everyone there. The McKiernan's sure know how to throw a party! My Dad got to play with his band for the whole group which was great.

On Sunday, we made crepes for Father's Day brunch and then headed home to Las Vegas. The picture above is of Daddy and Cooper napping before our long drive. Cooper did awesome on his first road trip (the first of many!). Check out our web albums for a BUNCH of pictures! It wasn't until late into the night that we got to use the dance floor and by then only the McK's and Dallmann's were left, but we tore it up. Dad, son and son-in-law spent lots of time bonding too! It was a fantastic weekend!!

Today was Cooper's one month checkup. He now weighs 8 pounds and 11 ounces and is 21 1/2 inches long! WOW! We thought he was getting bigger and this picture shows just how big he is! It's so fun to watch him change each day. He holds his head up pretty well and even though the doctor says he won't actually 'smile' until he's 2 months old, the pictures in our web album beg to differ. He smiles a lot! Last weekend Jake and Colette came to visit with their son Waylon. He is moving all over the place and Colette got a great workout following him up and down the stairs. I took a picture of him enjoying Cooper's fun little mat.

PS, Ryan taught me how to do the blog, which can only mean one thing for all you lovelies... Lots of exclamation points and tons of '...'s.

Cooper's new nickname for us is P.L.A - it stands for "Perfect Little Angel".

We have been pretty busy with the boy, hence the lack of updates on the blog. We do, however, have PLENTY of pictures that we will be posting to the web albums. I am pretty sure mom takes anywhere between 500 and 2000 pictures each day.

May 6th, 2008 at 5:00 pm Ahna was driving home from work and laughed so hard her water broke. She was not certain this was the case - she was only certain that something didn't feel quite right. There were some contractions which came and went over the next 50 minutes, then we began timing them.

For one hour there were contractions every four to seven minutes and lasting one to two minutes - pretty close to textbook from what we had learned. Then we called labor and delivery and were quickly told "you could have come after you thought your water broke". Good thing we jotted down that note during birthing class about timing contractions for an hour (we will be writing a letter requesting a refund as soon as the baby is asleep for long enough).

Anyway, on to the hospital where we were examined and it was determined whether we were in the right place or hypochondriacs. As it turned out we WERE in the right place (maybe the birthing class was right??) and we were admitted shortly after 7:00pm. Time to set up shop and get comfortable for the long haul.

Ahna had been at three centimeters for more than two weeks - when we got to the hospital she was at four. The placard in front of the ride known as "epidural" reads "you must be four centimeters to ride this ride", so needless to say, Ahna got in line. A few nurse's checks later, she was still at four, but obviously not in pain.

We were finally able to get a little bit of sleep. Funny how an epidural will allow you to sleep through something so painful as contractions but when it comes to things like:

1. Your pulse monitor beeping like it's Y2K and we need human intervention STAT
2. Nurse number 5,387 knocks on the door to alert you she will be collecting blood, urine, readings, environmental data, collection plate offerings, donations, song requests, ETCETERA
3. Your blood pressure cuff deciding at random intervals to force your arm to straighten for 40 to 50 seconds while a machine takes your blood pressure reading -- all the while robbing you of your oh-so-comfortable fetal-position sleep which (unbeknownst to you) will be the last morsel of rest your entire body will see for the next three days.

an epidural has no effect whatsoever!! Anyway...

The next time the nurse came in, Ahna was at nine and it was time for some practice pushing. Aced the practice pushing of course - but when it came to the real pushing it was slow going. Over the next hour or so we were pushing with the nurse, who at one point explained that the baby might be posterior (facing the wrong way) and it might me more difficult to push him out. "Maybe we can get the doctor to vacuum him out - or we can go to C-section". That was all Ahna needed to hear in order to kick things into high gear as it were.

"I am going to get the doctor - you just relax while I am gone." As I am typing this, I DID NOT select a bold text for that part of the sentence -- that was how it came out of the nurses mouth. Regardless, Ahna was on a mission, and for the 30 or 40 minutes that the nurse was gone, she watched the monitor for the contractions and pushed her best each time. This was in addition to a little conference call she had with the baby, wherein she explained to him that this was the only option for him, and that he really needed to start working with her and stop being so stubborn, etc. etc.

Once the doctor finally came it was game-time -- what seemed like 40 to 150 nurses piled into our room and they put the stadium lights on and everything. Less than an hour later his head had finally popped out. "The head is out" said the nurses "Oh, what happens next?" said Ahna. "We need to get the shoulders out" said the nurses - not one second later the rest of the baby came flying into the world - no pushing necessary.

So, at 5:10 am on May 7th 2008, Cooper Michael Ward was born into this world. I don't think I have ever stared for so many consecutive minutes as I have with Cooper. Ahna and I have created the most beautiful thing either of us has ever laid eyes upon. We are completely and fully in love, and we have no intention of ever changing that.

Pictures

Updates...











We have been gone too long enjoying the last few months/weeks/days of our freedom and have been too busy to keep up with the blog, so here are a few updates.

There are pictures in the web albums of our surprise baby shower in Phoenix. It was great to see family there -- and it was great to get free stuff for the baby.

Speaking of the little fella, he seems to be growing a little bit (as you can see in the picture above). We are not sure if the constant bombardment of Ahna's right ribs means that he will be a soccer player or (from what I can feel) a sumo wrestler. Either way, we have mostly finished the baby's room. We have painted, assembled furniture and installed more storage in the closet. If he were to come today he would at least have a place to sleep.

We are down to the last four weeks (or so) and are very excited to meet our new bundle of joy.

Return to San Francisco












February 22nd weekend we took a day off for a trip to San Francisco. We've been told that once the baby comes, it won't be quite so easy to just up and leave for a weekend, so we figured we should definitely take advantage of the time we have. It was a fantastic weekend, but not without it's hurdles.

We took Friday off and flew in early Friday morning to SFO. Ahna had surprised me and rented a car so we could drive to the Jelly Belly factory (about an hour north of San Francisco). I have a bit of an addiction, so that was definitely a pleasant surprise. The rest of Friday was great. With the car we were able to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and down Lombard street, which is always fantastic.

Friday night, however, was when we would learn of the aforementioned "hurdles" on our trip. We were getting off the bus on the way back to our hotel when Ahna misstepped and sprained BOTH ankles. It was pretty scary when it happened but once the initial shock wore off, we were able to think more clearly and figure out what we needed to do to render first aid. With two-thirds of our vacation yet to come, we had to figure out a plan that would accomodate my wife's newly handi-capable status.

The next morning we found out that the hotel had a wheelchair we could borrow - PROBLEM SOLVED. I think we probably doubled the miles on the wheelchair just on Saturday alone. We DEFINITELY could have taken the bus to the farther reaches of our adventures, but I was just getting used to people on the streets staring at me pushing my wife in a wheelchair, so I wanted to avoid trying to use the wheelchair lift on the bus. Even without a wheelchair, I'm pretty sure the socially acceptable bus-boarding time is probably somewhere between 5 and 9 seconds, and when you take longer than that, you hold up everyone who is trying to get wherever they are going, therefore becoming a giant inconvenience in the whole process. It was much easier to push her for 11 miles around the city - the uphill parts were the hardest, but there was NO guilt about not being able to go to the gym all weekend!

The rest of the trip was just as great as it always is. We have definitely decided that we will try to make it one of our regular places once the little one is a little older. We have a whole bunch of pictures in our web albums for your perusal.

Baby Updates!










We have been meaning to update everyone on the pregnancy for weeks!

Aside from her ever-expanding belly, you would never know that Ahna is pregnant - not really any negative pregnancy issues. Of course now that the little one is getting bigger (2+ pounds this week!) he is pushing on stuff that hasn't really been pushed on before.

We are headed to San Francisco in a couple of weeks for one of our last "couples" trips. We will have plenty of beautiful pictures of the MTB in various exotic San Fran locations.

By the way, enjoy a photo of Ahna's belly at 26 weeks... and newer sonograms from 22 weeks.