Mommy and Me Date!

Tristan and I had the BEST date ever yesterday!! I have made a conscious decision to make sure he and I have plenty of quality time together even with the craziness of this semester and my internship. So, once a week we are going to go out and do something fun; just me and him! We went to the Safari Park Indoor Playland in Southlake and had a blast. It was our first time to go and Tristan really enjoyed it. They have everything imaginable there from train tables, play kitchens, arts and crafts, ball pit, trampoline, train rides and more! TK got to ride the life size electrical zebra and loved it. Such a cool place that we will definitely be visiting again and perhaps doing his 2nd birthday party at!! After we played for a couple of hours we went to lunch at Chick Fil A and shared a 12 pack of nuggets, fries and a lemonade. I'd like to say that I ate most of the food...but it wouldn't be the truth, T-man can hold is own and I'm pretty sure we each had 6 nuggets! Ha I love that little boy so much and he is doing something new every single day. He is saying so many new words. His latest are " Go, go, go! What?? All gone! Stop! Ohhh yea!" He LOVES to dance and anytime he hears the dragon tales music come on the tv, off he goes! He NEVER stops walking. He will roam through out the entire house, very rarely does he take a break. He has even started to run, it is hilarious. I love watching him grow and change every single day. My little baby is turning into a little boy. Life is so sweet, especially with him in it! :)



Out of ALL the things there, the first thing he wanted to do was play trains...even though we have this exact table at home!

You can see the tiki snack hut in the background, such a cute place. Definitely recommend it for anyone with kids!

Observing from the ball pit! :)

About to slide!

Part of the Safari Park. We rode that train around!

Real men cook, right bubs?!!

There was SO much to do!!

Giving one of his many serious glances for the cam!

Enjoying his lunch...this little boy already has a man's appetite. I am in for some huge grocery bills in the future!

His other new thing is blowing his nose, even if it isn't runny! ha

My little BUSY body!

Yes, my son not only climbed up on the fireplace but managed to get my starbucks at the same time...don't worry, he only got a few sips in! :)


Even when he's breaking the rules, he's cute!

Getting down is not so much fun, huh bubs?

Sunday after church!

Tristan ALWAYS has to have a blanket against his face, he's been like that since he was an infant.

Saturday morning before going to Sprouts and buying lots of YUMMY, organic foods. My new favorite store!!

Not wanting to cooperate with mommy. :)

We had a great weekend. Saturday we went shopping then came home and relaxed the rest of the day and Sunday we went to church, watched football and I did homework! As of today, Tristan will be attending either Primrose preschool of Keller or the Children's Courtyard of Keller two days a week, starting in March. I have class Tuesdays and Thursdays and since I went back to school last Spring my mother has kept Tristan but because of schedules and Tristan getting to the age where he will really benefit from social interaction with other children and a structured environment, we have decided that this will be great for ALL of us! I will be able to go to school at 9am and even though my classes end at 12pm, I can stay out in Dallas; work out on campus, do homework and just have a few hours to myself...a luxury I haven't had in 16 months!! :) This will also allow time for me to do my internship. I know that Tristan will flourish and absolutely love it there, both facilities are beautiful and enriched with age appropriate curriculum and qualified teachers. Mon, Wed and Fri my boy will be with me!! It will be an adjustment for sure and probably hard the first few times I drop him off...I never want him to grow up in daycare, and he won't! But I figure keeping him home with us for 16 months and at 17 months only being in school 2 days a weeks is pretty good. So, my little man will be doing lots of fun, new things! I will have a melt down the first day of kindergarten!!

Let the FUN begin!

Thursday night was PINK (Gateway's women ministry) night...I know, Tristan is a boy but he still got to come!

Mimi and Tristan after the message and amazing worship!
Tristan started off with us in the sanctuary but ended up in the nursery...I don't know how people do it. I cannot focus with him in there!

Wednesday we went to the Fort Worth zoo and had SO much fun!! It was the perfect weather.
Camille, Kathen and Tristan at the zoo.
I ALWAYS have to get a picture of the giraffes in honor of TK :)
My friend Senia and her kiddos.
They had a fun indoor playland that we let the kids go to as well!
On the carosell...If the horse wouldn't have gone up and down it would have been a lot easier!

Monday, Grace came and spent the day with us. We had a relaxing day around the house and of course took a wagon ride around a couple of blocks!

Friday Tristan and I went out to DBU to have lunch with aunt Ashley then I went to the Cheesecake factory and to see Avatar with a friend. I don't have pictures of either, I am slacking!! My first week of school was great but oh man 15 hours of upper levels is going to take a lot out of me. I really like all my courses, except Spanish! :) I can't belive that this is my LAST semester in my undergrad...how has 4 years gone by? I'm going to try my hardest to keep up with the blog, do the mounds of homework I have and stay sane! ha SO glad it's the weekend, we're off to Sprouts in Southlake to do some organic grocery shopping, my favorite!

P.S. I am looking at putting Tristan in a Mother's Day Out program twice a week while I'm in class, I realize this is late and a lot of the programs are full so if anyone knows of one or a preschool that you recommend, let me know. Thanks!!

Happy 16 Months Tristan!

HAPPY 16 MONTHS MY BOY!!!!



I can't believe my baby is getting SO big. He isn't a baby anymore, rather a toddler. The joy you bring to my heart every single day could never be measured my precious angel. Mommy loves you :)
You guys know how much I love to flash back. So, here we go...!

This feels like it was JUST yesterday!!

3 Weeks old...can you tell I was sleep deprived?!

New years eve 2008

Stop growing little man!! Pretty soon you'll be big enough to hold me in your lap! :)

Our Life Lately...

Well Christmas break is officially over and it's time to get back to the real world. :( As much as I enjoyed my month of I am definitely ready to get back on a schedule and get Mr. Tristan back on one too. He has slipped back into a pretty bad sleeping pattern so my goal this week is to correct that! I bought I think my 4th book on "sleeping" but I have heard good things about this one, so I am eager to put it into practice. We really have had a low key week; just taking it easy and letting Tristan recover, build back up his immunity and let me tell you...he has! He is back to his old self again, playing, talking and being the sweet little man that he is. His new words are "all gone" "more" and he says "mom" a ton, and I more than love it! He likes to say "mom" then I'll say "what" and he says "mom" we go on with this game for at least 2 minutes and it cracks him up. I love that little things like that entertain him and make him laugh so hard! His other thing is when he wakes up at about 6am I'll put him in bed with me then we sleep together until 7:30am when he wakes up he sighs over and over again until I open my eyes, then he'll rub my face really gently with his little hand! He really is so tender-hearted! He is OBSESSED with eating, it's getting out of hand!! ha ha if he hears anyone in the kitchen he runs...not walk, runs into there and begs. For breakfast he eats a yogurt, waffles, cereal and whatever I eat he usually ends up mooching off of. For lunch he eats 2 yogurts, organic ham or chicken nuggets and a jar of baby food...yes he STILL loves baby food and I let him eat it, I'd much rather that than junk! Then the same for dinner with about 20 snacks in between! This week I go back to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and start my internship; life is about to get c-razy but it's the last chapter in this "book" I feel like I've been apart of for the past 2 years. I am so excited to continue to see the Lord's will unfold for mine and Tristan's life and embrace all the sweet blessings He will/is pouring over us. Happy Sunday, GO COWBOYS!!! :)

After church!

Such a stud!!


Playing with his trains...I'm getting pretty good at building those tracks! After Tristan rips them apart; his favorite thing to do.

Home sweet HOME!

That's right, we're finally home! :) I forget just how much I LOVE my bed but am quickly reminded after I am forced to sleep in a hospital bed. The dr and nurses went back and forth on whether Tristan would be able to go home. They were certain he would until he threw up on my mother after breakfast yesterday. But after keeping everything down and drinking liquids they felt like he would be okay to go home around 8pm last night. It didn't hurt us that 3 new kids came in and they needed rooms! Tristan was on the 23-hour floor; it's a floor for kids who need overnight observation but won't be staying for more than a couple of days so the rooms were limited. After all was said and done they said that TK was hydrated, his blood sugar was good and his body was slowly but surely getting back to normal. Right now he is very weak, he lost about 4 lbs and you can tell...he no longer has his little belly :( but I know it'll be back! Also he hasn't walked in 3 days so when he does it's like watching a little deer walk for the first time; lots of falling! The final conclusion on what he has/had is a bacterial infection. The dr was SO nice and came in and explained everything and was very sweet with my T-man. He explained that what Tristan got is from fecal-mouth contamination...gross I know. So they think that whatever he got was from his "well-baby" check up on Tuesday from a toy or book that he touched. I ALWAYS bring T his on toys to play with but he saw a Thomas book in the room and I thought "okay, there is no harm in him reading that..." Wrong!! Lesson learned. The main instructions were WASH YOUR HANDS, A LOT!!! Especially after diaper changes, hence the fecal part. People spread this by changing diapers or going to the restroom and not doing so then spreading their germs to something that another person touches then puts the object or hand in their mouth. But we are home and happy, after 3 days of staying isolated at home Tristan will be able to enter the real world again. Thanks for all the sweet prayers and words of encouragement, no one likes to see their child suffer.

Thank you mother for taking this!! ha ha, I can't explain how exhausted I was but this picture does a pretty good job of doing so. I got the make up part done...just not the hair! :) Good thing TK was still while mommy napped.


Aunt Natalie visiting!



Tristan would drink sprite from the can but NOT his sippy cup...and no he never, ever gets anything other than juice, water or milk but when this is all he'll drink and he's in the hospital and we want to go home...he can have it! :)

Yay we get to leave!

Playing with the Elmo balloon I brought back for him.

Here is a sweet video of little man when he started to perk up the first day! Mute the music because he has a lot to say! :)

Ready to go Home!!

OH BOY! We have had quite the stay here at Cooks. First of all this is an AMAZING children's hospital and I am so thankful that Tristan is here. It is absolutely beautiful, clean and super modern. The pics below of all the green are of Tristan's room. Every floor of the hospital is a different color, I got lost last night going to get a dr. pepper ( for those of you who know about the fast I am doing I get ONE a day now, I was having horrible caffeine headaches....sad I know.) anyway I ended up on the purple floor, then the orange...and then the yellow. I am clearly tired! There is a playroom on TK's floor that he doesnt and will not know about since he cant go in there due to the fact that he has a virus. Last night went pretty smooth. Tristan has slept A LOT, I'm talking like newborn sleeping...he woke up to eat and when the nurses came in to examine him which he HATED. The sight of a nurse sends him into hysterics since he's been poked and probed so many times. :( They took his blood late last night and sent it off to the lab, we should know pretty soon if/when we get to go home today. PRAYING HARD that we do, I ... WE miss our beds! Mimi stayed with us last night, she slept on the other twin bed in the room and I slept with T-man in his hospital bed. It really wasn't that bad other than the baby next door cried ALL night long, poor thing was miserable and I could tell by it's cry that it was a little itty newborn baby. Then I woke up this morning in a lake, no, ocean of Tristan's pee. Since they have pumped him with tons of fluids he had to go and boy did he GO! So we started our morning getting cleaned up and changing clothes. I know these sweet nurses must be thinking does this girl own a straightener...perhaps some makeup! haha I had no idea I would be here over night so you can imagine what I am dressed in and look like. Oh well, my babe is feeling better and that's all I care about! :) My "favorite" part has to be when the charge nurse came in with a chart of an ice cream label to ask me questions like....If your son is allergic to peanuts can he have this ice cream? The answer was no because it had peanut oil in it. Then the questions got harder, I was divinding, multiplying and doing all sorts of stuff with measurements of calories, protein, saturated fats and more. THANK GOD I have a college education and got through it! ha, seriously my tired brain was not ready nor in the mood for that. But I passed. She said it was for a study they are doing to see if parents can accurately read labels on food and medicine containers that could negatively effect their children if improperly used. Tristan, you're in good hands with me buddy! :)

So in a nutshell...too late for that! Tristan is doing GREAT. He hasn't thrown up, had a yucky diaper or anything since before we got here yesterday morning. He is coming back to life again, able to eat and drink. He just ate some graham crackers and yo-baby yogurt. I'm so thankful for modern medicine and knowledgeable doctors to administer it. Little man is feeling SO much better and it makes me SO very happy! :) He was given a one-time antibiotic for a possible ear infection, medicine to keep him from vomitting and then lots of fluids thru the IV. Here are some pics from late last night and this morning.

Right after I finished that Tristan puked all over my mom!! Seriously, this is the 3rd time he has done that to her. Poor Mimi. I think the yogurt was too much too soon. Well off to take a nap with bubs then go next door to Harris Methodist to get him some suprises from their gift shoppe, the one here is closed for evaluation...but I happen to know from all of our family's hospital stays that Harris has the best gift shoppes around! :)



Stttrretch!


Happy boy finally eating!


If looks could kill...ha ha!


You can tell he doesn't feel good. :(


Told you I looked scary! Thankfully since then I have gotten to go home shower, get my chi so I can fix my crazy hair and put some decent clothes and make up on!

Poor guy is super weak.

Hang in there buddy, momma loves you.