All American

Some things are just all American. Like going to the ball park, watching a good game, having a hot dog, watching fireworks, and enjoying an MC Hammer concert. Wait - what? MC Hammer? Oh yes. The singing didn't sound quite as good as it used to 20 years ago, but the man can still dance. He really is 2 Legit to Quit!!!

Not bad for a man who's almost 50 ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7412ULrhtE&feature=related

Chicago!

I love Chicago! There was so much to there! We drove up Friday to meet my Aunt and Uncle - Marianne and Dennis. Marianne had a work conference and we were all able to spend a few days together at the end of it. We went to a zoo and left just when the rain started. It was a crazy storm! Later that night we went out for some Chicago style pizza. Very yummy, but I find it odd that they put the sauce on top of the cheese ...

We also toured a Frank Lloyd Wright home and an old church and a museum. Then we went to Navy Pier. It was amazing. Lake Michigan looks like a really calm ocean and the pier is incredibly huge. There are restaurants (yeah for Jamba Juice!) and stores and a ferris wheel and a carousel and boats all along the side. There is a children's museum and a stained glass museum. The stained glass was incredible.

Sunday we went to Field Museum and spent a little longer there than we planned, but there was so much to see! Anyway, the weekend was packed and absolutely wonderful and we even got in a game or two of Hand and Foot. Thank you Dennis and Marianne!

Frank Lloyd Wright house
View of the water (and our little family) from the pier
View of the city from the pier
Dinosaur Sue - the most complete T-Rex skeleton there is
Mikey loved this little exhibit. There were different buttons to push that would light up different areas. He had lots of fun with his Great-Aunt Marianne on this one!

We love cousins!

Michael's sister Megan and her 3 kids were able to come and visit us for a week. We had lots of fun going to the zoo, a museum, having a water play day, making lots of fun, and just hanging out at home. A few shots from that week ...

Mikey, Isaiah, Linnea, and Elijah waving goodbye on our last day together
Elijah and Linnea help Auntie Bekka make cinnamon rolls
Water play day! The kids loved the slip'n'slide
Auntie Megan and Mikey having a good laugh
Believe it or not, all 4 of them fit in the tub!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a wonderful long weekend in North Carolina for Memorial Day. We were able to visit a couple of friends from Virginia Tech - Paul and John. It was great to catch up with them. We also had dinner with Bekka's cousin Shana one night. We spent a majority of the weekend with Gram Cooper. She is on a mission right now in Raleigh and loving it. Saturday we were able to go to the coast - Wrightsville Beach. We just loved it there. Here are a couple pictures from the weekend.

Mikey's Third First Birthday Party

Mikey ended up having three first birthday parties this year. Three different cakes. Mikey absolutely attacked the third one a couple of weeks ago, and some of the pictures are really great!

Click here to see a slideshow of the destruction and consumption of his slice of cake!

The fun begins when he dumps the cake off of his plate, and gets really good once he decides to get rid of the plate altogether!!

Mikey is Learning to Walk!!

Of course we weren't holding the camera at the "right time", but this short clip (turn your head sideways!) shows that he is learning to keep his balance!!

Thanksgiving

This year we drove, yes drove, to Nebraska for Thanksgiving. Our brother-in-law Micah is currently stationed in Omaha. It was 12 hours broken up over 2 days each way. Mikey only had an hour or two of meltdown through all the driving, so I consider that a success. He is such a good little guy. He had lots of fun meeting his cousins and Elijah was so good at making him laugh. Mike's parents and his sister flew in from Utah so we had all the Joners together. It was great fun. We even had surprise visitors - Aunt Becca, Uncle Eric and Aunt Barb all came in for the holiday too! On Thanksgiving it was like a big reunion with the Berggren side of the family. I met lots of relatives I'd only ever heard of.

We were able to go see New Moon, go to the zoo, have family pictures done and have tons of time for card games and Rock Band. I'm not so hot at Rock Band, but Michelle and I are (almost) unstoppable as a Hand and Foot team. Go Aunties!

On the drive home we stopped in Iowa and saw my old roommate Rebecca and her husband Dustin. It was so nice to catch up!

Here are a few pics from the trip ...

Micah, Megan, Michelle, Michael, Bekka (apparently I didn't get the "M" memo)

Elijah, Isaiah, Linnea, Mikey

These little guys, who are almost the same size, are actually 7 months apart!

It was very cold at the zoo!

Grandpa Joner discovered that Mikey loves donuts!

Hand and Foot of course!

Playing at the park

It was a beautiful afternoon, one that in the fall you want to take advantage of. So, after Braeden got out of school this afternoon we went out to ice cream and went to play at the park. Tara and Katie and Grant met us there too. Mike joined us when he got out of work. It was Mikey's first attempt at sliding and swinging! I think he likes swinging better ...

The Latest Pics

Shopping at Target when my friend Trish was in town

Mikey likes pumpkin whoopie pies!

Happy boy

Hotel pool in Indianapolis

How Mikey entertains himself in a hotel room ...

Watch out shelves! Here I Come!

Mikey started crawling last week and it has been so fun to see him figuring it out, and now he can reach up to the shelf and pull down his basket of toys! I can't believe how mobile he is now! Here is a short video clip ...

All dressed up

I know we haven't posted in forever, but I have to share this picture from yesterday. I put Mikey in a tie for church and his cute little bald head and shirt and tie look was too fun!

Mikey's first trip to Maine

We are so impossibly behind on our blogging lately. We downloaded a bunch of pictures from our cell phones. Since pictures are worth a thousand words, this may be the easiest way to communicate what we've been doing over the past week or two.

Click here to see a slideshow of pictures from our Fourth of July trip to Maine (and a few days before and after).

As an added bonus, here is a video of Mikey watching Third of July fireworks in Portland.

Mikey's first baseball game!

Yesterday was Mikey's 3 month birthday! We took him to the Red's game last night and he did pretty good. He kept crying at the loud noises for the first few minutes, but then he got used to it. He has decided that he doesn't want to take formula anymore, so I had to find a place to feed him. Not easy at a ball park. There is no mother's lounge. There is no rocking chair. There are people in front of you, behind you, to your left, and to your right. Mikey can grab the blanket and pull it off. I couldn't even think of trying to feed him in my seat. We ended up in a bathroom stall. Not exactly comfortable, but we survived. I have got to get him to take formula again!!!

We have been practicing sitting up and laying down and rolling to the side. He can hold his head up really well now. He can also blow bubbles and drool and get his little chin soaking wet whenever he wants to! Mikey is just too cute.

Holding his head up high

This mother’s day, Mikey showed us that he could hold his head up! With a little bit of help he loves doing sit-ups, too. Next thing we know, the little guy will be crawling!!

Mikey in Motion

Here is a little clip of Mikey on his play mat this afternoon.

We did it!

We both joined the current world and joined Facebook! You will have to find us there!

Our Easter

Clearly we're a little behind on our blogging. I wanted to write about our Easter weekend. We spent it with our friends, the Arnesens. Much of our time was spent relaxing in the cabin we rented together and playing games. We also went out for a 2 or 3 mile hike. It was nice to go somewhere outside!
On Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny gave Mikey a variety of things, as you can see in this next picture. Isn't he just so handsome??

My happy baby

I haven't posted for a few weeks. I've been stuck with a cold for too long, but it is finally going away. We've been enjoying the warm weather and good friends for the past few days. It's been in the 80s and I'm loving it!

Mikey is growing and learning. He can see more and stare at things and he is starting to grab at things. The first thing he really grabbed at was my spoon of ice cream! I guess he has some Cooper genes in him for sure! I just had to post this picture of him. I love that this is his smile right now! An open mouth and crinkly eyes. It makes me happy. I love that I get to play with him and he is doing better at laying on the floor or sitting in his bouncy seat for more than 5 minutes so I am able to get more done. He is sleeping for about 7 hours at night. That is really nice.

We actually started planting our garden this weekend. Mikey sat in his bouncy seat under the tree and watched us. We need to go back in the next week or two to buy some more of the plants that couldn't be planted yet. This will be entertaining to see if we can actually grow a garden and get something out of it. So much going on around here!

Baby Blessing

Last Sunday was Mikey's baby blessing. It was beautiful and we loved having both sets of grandparents and Great Gram here for the occasion. Here are a couple pictures of the special day. We've had a great time with friends and family visiting over the past three weeks and have appreciated all of their help. We've had lots of good food, shopping, and games.

Our first week with the little guy

Click to see a slideshow of Mikey's first week!

Mike was able to have the week off from work, so the three of us were able to be home together. We came home from the hospital on Tuesday happy and healthy. Mikey had a little bit of jaundice but it wasn't bad and it was short-lived. We've learned a lot about changing diapers and nursing and sleeping in short bursts. Luckily he seems to be a pretty good sleeper most of the time! We love to just look at him. He does random things like sneezing in twos and snorting. The pictures show a few of the other strange things he does.