#4… check!

You all know I’ve never claimed to be a good Mom. A fun Mom… but not necessarily a “good” Mom. Everyday he has a bath, he eats food that’s good for him 90% of the time (that’s pretty good considering our travel schedule), he naps on time, he goes to bed at the same time every night, and I try to keep him from disrupting other people’s lives. He says Thank You and he actually puts his dirty clothes in the hamper… other then that, pretty much we just fly by the seat of our pants. Like the whole “night time routine” thing. We never really got that down pat. Don’t get me wrong, he goes to bed at almost exactly 8:00pm every single night with no fight and sleeps until after 7:00am, but we don’t you know… take a bath, read a book, blah, blah, blah… Not that a calming routine isn’t great for some kids, but so far we have a little more of a “party right before bed” routine. He eats dinner and then gets his PJ’s on. After that, we pretty much have an hour long wrestling, tickling, sliding session. Yep… my kid has a slide in his room (one of my proudest parenting moments so far). Right now his favorite thing to do is take his LARGE stuffed horse (Buck-Buck) and ride him down it. That usually results in a Cooper vs. Buck-Buck wrestling match at the bottom of the slide which leaves Otey and I in stitches which of course prompts Cooper to run around, climb back to the top of the slide and start all over again. Before I had Cooper, I did a lot of thinking about what I wanted for him in life. Here they are.. #1 become a Man of God, #2 Be honest and care for others, #3 have an outstanding work ethic, #4 enjoy life, have fun, laugh not just daily… hourly. I’m not sure how I’m going to get the other three accomplished… but I have #4 down.

All of these photos were shot with a cruddy flash in about a five minute time span about fifteen minutes before bed. Gosh…I love that kid.