Rollin', Rollin', Rollin' !

Cooper is three months old and doing great! He started rolling from back to front this week and is now unstopable!

Happy Father's Day!

Love...

You...

Dad!


Tim got some Oreos as part of his Father's Day gift and taught Grace how to dunk them in milk! What Fun!!

Cooper Family Swim Party
Those Coopers who could make it came for a swim party to celebrate Father's Day. It was a perfect day for a swim ... or ...
...a chance to watch others swim!


And other stuff we have been up to...

Pool Season has arrived!

Cooper found his hand this week!

Strawberry Festival Parade - Go Colts!

Uncle Bob and Aunt Mitzi were kind enough to let us show our Colt's Spirit on their float this year. Grace did a great job, waving her pom-pom and yelling "Go Colts!". She liked waving at the people and especially at those she knew! Cooper hung out with the rest of the Pilgrims along the parade route. (He also was decked out in his Colt's gear!)

Bible School - Jerusalem Market Place

At Bible School last week I was the Co-Director, Tim was the playground leader, and Grace was the village orphan. :) We were able to be outside 3 of the 5 evenings, where Grace could wander around and visit the "shops". Thanks to those who let her hang out with them for a time! Her favorites were the candy shop and the jewerly shop (where they had baskets of beads!). She also liked the Water cooler... She got into the dancing as well! It was a blessed week and she was very excited to see Jesus when he arrived on Friday night - well, until he tried to give her a hug!!

Hot Summer Days

"Gracie swaddled, too!!!"

Ok, my mom had a flash back while my dad was holding Cooper last week and went to the photo albums to recall...

This is me

This is Cooper!

FREAKY!!!

Grace's first tatoo. How fitting it would be a Pop Tart tatoo!

A favorite for breakfast on the run!

(Or "Top Part" as she calls them!)

We made a trip to Manchester to visit Aunt Margaret this week.

And stopped to visit Grandpa Gene on the way home.

Finally the pool was ready! It reached 80 degrees so Tim and Grace gave it a try. I guess she loved it and likes to hang out on the steps. (I didn't see much as I went in and took a nap while Cooper was asleep!)

Somerset Days this weekend. Our first ever parade!

Cooper liked the Lion's Club little cars that went by!

Cooper continues to do well. He gained a pound in a week according to our check up at Riley last week! This was our first regualr check up and he is doing fine. We go back in September as we now start regulating his medicine. My heart still breaks for him every time I give him his medicine, he has to have blood drawn, or we walk into Riley as I just wish I could take this away for him and have it myself, but he is such a perfect baby and joy to have around! I know he is going to be fine!

He loves to watch Grace and does NOT like to lay his head back! So we got out the Bumbo seat and exer-saucer today. He loves them!

Grace "helped" me plant our garden this week and we potted some flowers today.

We headed straight for the hose when we were finished!!

(You can't see it well, but she had rubbed the potting soil all over her belly!)
Hot Summer days

Summer is coming!

Things are moving right along here at the Drake residence! Cooper is good at explosive poops - even on the carpet! He loves to smile and talk to us. And he is surviving his sister's love. He is growing just fine - 11 pounds, 7 ounces - at his 2 month check up! He is such a good baby, now sleeping about 5 hours at night!

Grace is doing well, too. She is a talking fool! Some of our favorite sentences are: "Here you go Daddy", "Cars everywhere!", "I will hold it", "I will get him" (referring to Cooper!), and "Danger!" (When grandma drives!) She also does a really good peacock impression and can sing Jesus Loves the Little Children.

You'd think Grace is trying to teach him something here, but really she doesn't like it when he touches her face!

Cooper, in his sweater vest outfit and Colt's shoes! What a heartbreaker!

Cooper was Dedicated at church on Mother's Day.

(That is my childhood dress Grace is wearing!)

For two weeks, this was the view from our front window as they worked on the water lines!

The kleenex box was aparently too close to the crib.... (That would be an entire box in a pile of them in the corner) All you can do is laugh... right?

Oh that smile!!!

Grace has been helping Tim around the house and yard. She recently helped open the pool and is often found mearsureing things or tapping on things with a tool. And in case you were wondering...the door is "20 Inches", but so was her hand, the swing, and the gate!

Technology...

NOT SO MUCH!!!!

So, we are looking into cell phones, recently purchased our TV converter box (Yes, that will be ONE MORE REMOTE TO KEEP TRACK OF!), an Internet connection that acts like dile-up! I'm not too hip on technology these days! And this is why... The customer service for a cell phone seems like a foreign language (not to mention the amount of choices for plans we have to choose from - or the cost!), we lost most of our channels when we hooked up our converter box to the TV, Tim cannot watch his master's class videos on the computer, and we cannot talk with Margaret on our video phone. !!!!!!

I know, I know...I need to just suck it up.

Anyway.... here are some pictures I spent all afternoon downloading... :)

One afternoon, while I was in the kitchen, Grace just came in and started setting up her books in the dining room. I don't know what she was thinking, but it kept her busy for quite a while!

Still trying to capture the elusive smile!

You never know where a Dora sticker will show up.

Tim has a theory about Cooper and sleep...

Our first trip to the zoo was a success! Tim and I were exhausted, but Grace had a good time. If you ask her about it, she'll tell you about the monkeys and the boat ride we took.

CAH

Dr. Lewis called today with the results of Cooper’s test. It came back that he does have CAH. When they tested him with the chemicals that would stimulate the adrenal glands, his body did not make the Cortisol that it should have, but rather made more testosterone – indicating that he does have CAH. We will now be running tests to see how the Cortisone that we have been giving him is working, and begin the process of regulating the amount of medication he will need to take. Dr. Lewis will also be checking once more for the salt wasting hormones to check that he continues to process that part of his body correctly. We will return to Riley to meet with her on May 28 to learn the specifics of his treatments. In the event of an emergency when he could not keep the Cortisone down, we would have to give him an injection – which they will be teaching us about at that appointment.

I thank God for all of the incredible things that He has done for us. I can stay home every day with my 2 amazing and beautiful children! I am grateful that this is a treatable illness with simple daily medication, that this is the most common form of CAH, that he is a boy, that we have him (praise the Lord!!!!!), and that with the medication he will live a "normal" life. (As normal as any child of ours could be.) He can play any sport he wants – something non contact would make me feel better, while his dad keeps on talking about the Colts! God is sooooo good!

Thanks to an anonymous comment on my previous blog about Cooper, we found a great web sight/organization that has lots of information about CAH if you are interested in learning more. http://www.caresfoundation.org/ I’m sure it won’t be long before I am an expert on it!

Thank you, again, for your continuing prayers. I’m sure before I know it, he will be climbing all over and finally be able to defend himself from Grace! ~shelby

Tummy Time!