My first Christmas!

Cooper had such a great time opening his MILLION presents @ Christmas. He seemed to figure out that they were all for him...it was pretty cute. He also has started making this "cheese" face when we point the camera @ him and it appears he is trying to smile...he may not be very photogenic in the future if this continues, but we think he is adorable! :)

I am putting some more pictures at the bottom since I have been so bad about updating the blog recently, so please check them out.

By the way, so milestones we have reached in the last month or so. He is officially crawling and into everything...hard to keep up with! He is pulling up, able to go from standing to sitting and sitting to crawling. He is starting to wave bye-bye and is saying mama, dada, and baba...all of which are too precious! Love you all and Happy Holidays!

I can't resist adding the videos where Ryan is tickling the little man. He just loves it! I really can't believe what a happy disposition Cooper has--he must have gotten that from his daddy! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season. We have been blessed and we are so excited to go to the beach to spend a few days with my family over New Year's!

Unfortunately, Ryan and I both had to work on Christmas, so we sent Coop to stay with Ryan's mom for a couple of nights. I couldn't believe how hard it was to be without him for a few days. I don't know what I am going to do when he goes to stay with my parents for a whole week. It is really amazing how much having babies changes your life and perspective on things. I never thought I would love being a Mommy so much!

Burrito baby!

One of Cooper's new favorite things is to roll himself up in blankets and we were fortunate enough to capture one

of these adventures on camera! It is too precious. He is really at a fun age--almost 8 months--I can't believe he is SO BIG already. Hope all is well...we are certainly looking forward to the holidays and it is starting to feel like winter up here in Ohio. There were even snow flurries last week! :) For those of us from Alabama...school would have been canceled. Hope everyone is well and Happy Holidays! I am posting more pics and some videos at the bottom.

Ryan, Katie, and Cooper

Super scary!

We were fortunate enough to travel to Huntsville over Halloween/my mother's 60th birthday and we thought Charlie Brown (thanks Debbie B for the suggestion) would be the perfect costume. Cooper was an absolute angel on the flight and as you could guess, a total hit in the airports given how precious he is! :) He definitely has a block-head like Charlie Brown. He also was a dalmation once we were in Huntsville because his BIG cousins (Ian and John) were firefighters and the little ones (Coop, Haze, and Nicholas) were their dalmations. It was pretty precious...here is a pic of the five cousins!!

Cooper also got to meet his Aunt Jan for the first time and he loved her from the start!! He was really sweet with everyone. I know he misses them dearly. We also got to meet my newest nephew, Nicholas. He was born on October 13 and is absolutely adorable...Nikki was certainly blessed with a good baby. So the Nicholson girls now have an entire basketball team!! Kinda crazy...

I hope you all enjoy the pics. I will post some more at the bottom and there will be more posts to come when I have all of the pictures. Cooper was also baptised this weekend and his godmother, Marianne, was sweet enough to make it to see him.

We miss you all and love you!
Ryan, Katie, and Cooper

Teefers!!!

So...not a whole lot new in the Pettit world...just new teeth for Cooper. He has his 2 bottom teeth and is cutting one on the top as well. We have captured some good pics of his new-found friends that he LOVES to show off. He is making this new funny face...especially at his daddy, so I will load a video of that as well!! :) I can't believe our little man is 6 months old now!!!!!!!!!!! Time flies. I hope everyone is well and we miss and love you all.

And he is sucking his thumb now!

Look at that sweet baby!! :)

Isn't his face hilarious!!

There are more pictures of this below...he is getting so big, so fast. Please stay tuned for Halloween...I can't wait for everyone to see his costume! Love and miss you all.

Ryan, Katie, and Coop

I wanted to upload this video of Cooper laughing at his daddy so everyone could hear his sweet giggle! He really is the sweetest and most even-tempered baby I have ever seen--he must get that from Ryan! Other new news...Cooper has cut his first baby tooth without even fussing. We just happened to notice it when he was chewing on his hands (and ours) more than usual. It is so adorable to see him with a little tooth. I am also adding some more pics for everyone to see. He spent the weekend with his Grandma since we were both on call on Saturday!!! We miss you all and I hope you enjoy the pictures--he is too handsome!!

Superman!

Here is a short video of Cooper's new favorite game of hitting the floor. He stays pretty busy (and loud) most of the time. At his 4 month check-up he was almost 17 lbs...I guess he has figured out the eating thing! :)

Who's more tired??

Hi everyone!!

Sorry it has been so long...life has been pretty hectic around the Pettit household. I promise I am adding lots of pics at the bottom though. We are really enjoying Cincinnati (though we haven't had too much time to explore) and Cooper is getting SO BIG! I can't believe he is 5 months old now. Time flies. I just finished my first month at Children's hospital. It was really busy, but amazing and I really enjoyed it. Ryan is now in his busiest rotation of the year doing OB at Good Samaritan hospital. We rarely see one another, so that has taken some adjustment. Megan has been amazing with Cooper and he loves her to death. I hope everyone is doing well and please enjoy the pics of our little (BIG) man! I will try not to go so long between posts next time.

Katie

Playtime

Cooper has been loving his bouncer...so I have tried to upload some video of it. Don't know if it will work or not, but hopefully you can all see how precious he is playing in it! :)

TIme to eat!

Well, we had our first experience with cereal this morning and it was pretty hilarious! I think Cooper liked it after he figured out eating off of a spoon. The first few bites were funny...I wish Ryan had been here to take pics of his facial expressions. I just wanted to post a little note showing what a mess we made. He did finish the entire bowl (in true Pettit style) and was pretty happy about it! By the time he had eaten about half, he was yelling at me to get the spoon to his mouth more quickly. It took us about 30 minutes to eat one small bowl, mostly because he was trying to help by grabbing the spoon. We miss you all and please check in and let us know how things are going! :)

Summertime!

Hey everyone-

Just wanted to add some pics (which have been highly requested by everyone) and update everyone on how residency is going...life has been treating us pretty well up in Maineville. I think we are finally settling into a routine and Cooper loves spending all day with his Aunt Megan. She is adventurous enough to take him out and about and loves on him endlessly. We feel really blessed to have her in our life. Cooper is getting bigger by the second and I have added a ton of pics since the last time I posted, so make sure and check them out.

As far as residency goes...my program at B. North is just awesome and I love all of the people I am working with. Ryan is really enjoying the TriHealth OB program and is about to start his most intense rotation in the middle of August. He already has some exciting stories to tell...I have to share at least one on the blog. :) On Friday when he was in clinic, he had to do a cervical check on a pregnant patient and when he was finished and removing the gloves from his hands he shot the vaginal goo onto the upper lip of his chief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet you all can imagine how violet his face became!! :) Luckily, after his chief got cleaned up, she laughed about it, but has proceeded to tell everyone in his program the story and sent out a mass e-mail, so I am sure it will be awhile before Ryan hears the end of it. He's got a few more exciting stories, but you will all have to check in with him to hear the rest because I am not sure they are PG enough to be posted on the blog!

We are missing everyone and hope to hear from you all soon...please check out all the pics of our handsome man. He is really enjoying his new saucer/bouncer combo and goes to town playing in it. He is also talking up a storm and has perfected the art of rolling over. He is getting pretty close to rolling from his back to his belly now too. Please leave some posts and let us know how life is treating everyone!

Love-

Ryan, Katie, and Cooper

Bigger and bigger...

Hey guys-

Thanks for the well wishes with starting orientation. It was certainly an adjustment not being with Cooper all day, but it is such a blessing to come home to his adorable face at night! One more week of orientation and then the real work starts and people will start calling us Doctor!!! Really scary and a bit overwhelming, but I think we are ready for the challenge. Cooper has adjusted like a champ and has enjoyed his time at home with his Grandma Stelzer (Ryan's mom) and his Aunt Megan who is our live-in nanny as of Thursday. :) I hope everyone is doing well and I will do my best to keep updating the blog...especially with pics because he changes so much so quickly. He is rolling over from his belly to his back really easily now and looks like he is ready to crawl any minute (but I hope we have a few more months before he takes off!). Keep us posted on how everyone is doing!

Katie

New House

Hey everyone-
Happy Father's Day to all the dads!! Well, we are officially residents of Maineville, OH now!! We have spent the last week and a half moving in and getting settled in our new home. We absolutely love it...I definitely appreciate being in a newer construction after living in Mobile for the last few years. I am going to upload some more pics of the main floor for everyone to see. Cooper is adjusting really well to our new surroundings. He is now sleeping about 6-8 hours at night which is nice and has been rolling over like a mad man!! He is talking a lot to us with lots of goo's and ga's and is more adorable with each passing second. We miss everyone and if you are ever headed to the Cinci area...call us and come visit! I start orientation tomorrow and Ryan commences on Wednesday, so keep us in your thoughts and prayers...life is about to get infinitely more chaotic! :) We are so blessed!!!
Ryan, Katie, Cooper, and Deacon

Memorial Day in Huntsville

We spent Memorial Day in Huntsville to have some quality time with my family before intern year and the madness commences. It was really great to get to see so much of my family and be in town over my dad's birthday. Cooper is really growing and has started smiling a lot (which you will see some pics of). We stopped by Dr. Roth's office on Friday to show him off and he weighed 9 lb 9 oz!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe how quickly he is growing. We are definitely ready for him to start sleeping through the night....hopefully it won't be too much longer!

On the Ohio front--we have found a house and are closing on it June 6th and can't wait to move in to our new house! It is really exciting and we love it. I promise to post some pictures as soon as we get settled. We both start orientation training in a couple of weeks and "real" work starts July 1. I can't believe it is finally upon us. I hope everyone is doing well and please enjoy the pics of our precious boy. Sorry it has been so long!! :) We love and miss you all...

Ryan, Katie, and Cooper

Kristen and Jessi's Baby Shower

Cooper, Ryan, and I were lucky enough to travel to Huntsville over Memorial Day weekend and Cooper and I went to a baby shower for Kristen and Jessi. It was really great getting to see everyone and catch up with some friends I haven't seen much of since high school. Kristen and Jessi both look amazing and are expecting little boys (Andrew and Luke) before the end of the summer! I can't wait to meet their little ones. Cooper was a big hit at the shower, as would be expected!

My first flight!!

Wow, this was a busy day! After moving all weekend, Ryan, his dad and Alex drove both of the cars up to Cincinnati while Cooper and I stayed back until Tuesday to take a flight. Luckily, Cooper's aunt Ashley let us crash with her for a couple of nights and was willing to drive us to Pensacola to the airport on Tuesday afternoon. Once we got to the airport, the fiasco began!! Of course, I was running a little late getting to the airport and when we were checking in my bag was 8 lbs too heavy, so I had to purge some stuff so I wouldn't have to pay $80!! Once we made it to the gate, it was already time to board and let me say...it is not easy to stow luggage, get seated and buckle your seat belt, get a bottle ready, make sure you have the pacifier and an extra blanket, etc all while holding an infant in a completely booked flight! I felt like one BIG stress ball the entire time!

Before we even took off from Pensacola, Cooper decided he was hungry, so I fed him the ONE bottle I had brought for our flight (not such a great idea to only pump enough milk for one feeding...). After eating, he was a complete angel for the rest of the flight and was sound asleep when we landed in Atlanta. Fortunately, we did not have to de-plane in Atlanta because I tried to awaken him and make him feed (so I wouldn't have to breast feed on the 2nd flight), but he was not hungry and he had a complete melt down while we were waiting in Atlanta. It only took a few minutes to calm him down (thankfully) and he fell back asleep before we took off from Atlanta. For the 2nd leg of the trip I was sitting next to a really nice L&D nurse and she was so wonderful. Cooper was able to nurse pretty inconspicuously, I hope, during the flight and fell asleep while eating, so he was great! I think this whole ordeal was much more stressful for me than it was for him! I must say that once we landed in Dayton I was so relieved to see Ryan and Megan waiting for us!!!!!!!!!! All in all it was a pretty good travel day, but I am very happy that I will not be travelling with Cooper alone anytime in the near future. I certainly underestimated the difficulty of having a little one on a flight without anyone to help...

We are now settled at Ryan's father's house in Cincinnati and have been house hunting the last few days. We are really excited about finding a place to live and hope to have some more news for everyone soon! We miss all of our friends in Mobile already, but we are ecstatic to start a new chapter in our lives...

Katie

Family and Friends

Hey everyone, just wanted to update the blog with pictures of all the amazing family and friends that Cooper was fortunate enough to meet graduation weekend. Life has been unbelievably hectic between graduation, family in town and moving to Cincinnati all in the last week or two. We are now in Cincinnati trying to get settled and ready to start residency in less than 2 months. Enjoy the pictures below, we love you all!

Ryan, Katie and Cooper

My first bath!!

Sorry it has been a few days between posts...I was planning on adding this yesterday, but I left my camera at a friend's house, so it caused a little delay!! Cooper's umbilical stump finally fell off over ther weekend, so he got to take his first bath in the BIG tub with his daddy! He seemed to tolerate it ok, but there were times when he voiced his discontent (see below for evidence of this)! :) Life is going well here in Mobile. We are just continuing to pack and work towards a manageable schedule with the little one. He seems to be sleeping more at night and is pretty alert throughout the day, so we think we are headed in the right direction! We can't wait to graduate on Saturday and then head towards the north at the beginning of the week...it's going to be a busy next few days! Cooper is excited to finally get to meet his paternal grandparents this week/weekend and we are ready for them to get here! Love you all and enjoy the new pics!!

Katie

A Good Report!

Hey y'all-
Just wanted to update everyone about how we are doing here at home...we went today for Cooper's 2 week appointment and got a great review from the doctor! Cooper has gained 12 oz in the last 9 days and now weighs 7 lbs 2 oz which we are very happy about! It is nice to know that I am providing enough sustenance for the little guy. Ryan and I have really been enjoying all of the family time we have been blessed with and are finally daring enough to venture out of the house from time to time. Cooper seems to be developing a pretty good schedule, thanks to the Baby Wise mantra, and has somewhat figured out days and nights and is getting some well-needed shut-eye during the night hours. Other than hanging out with Coop and one another, we have been slowly trying to get some packing done since we leave for Cincinnati in less than 2 weeks! I can't believe I am moving to the North!!!!!!!!!! We are really excited about being close to family and about starting residency in a couple of months, but the task of packing up our house is pretty daunting. I am going to post a few more pics of our precious for your enjoyment and hopefully those of you who haven't had the privilege of meeting him will get to see him in person soon! Lots of love...
Katie

Deacon and Cooper

For all of those who were concerned about how Deacon would react to our new addition...you can rest easy. Deacon has been very docile and sweet with Cooper. Only the occasional sniffing, but otherwise he seems a little timid around him! This picture cracks me up because whenever Coop is in his swing and talking Deacon jumps up to check him out!!

Cooper is growing by the second and eating like a champ! We are getting some sleep at night as he seems to be switching his clock and realizing that it is time to go night-night when it is dark! Thank goodness...the sleep deprivation certainly takes its toll on you quickly! I am going to add some more pics to the bottom of the posts so you guys can see how big he is getting! Love you all!

Katie

My First Walk

Yesterday we were able to venture outside for the first time as a family. It was really nice to get Cooper (and Mommy) some fresh air. The weather down here is beautiful, so hopefully we will be able to make walking a part of every day! I added a few more pictures to the bottom. I feel like he is growing so much already!! Thanks to everyone for all of the thoughts and prayers and calls over the weekend...we are glad to have made it through that rough patch! Cooper is doing much better and eating a LOT, but we are still struggling to get him to sleep at night...any suggestions????

Love- Ryan, Katie, and Cooper

My Aunt Nikki

I am really missing my Aunt Nikki now. She left us yesterday morning after being here all weekend and making sure she kept my momma's belly full of good food so that I could grow! She sure is good with babies and I love it when she cuddles me. In this picture I was saying goodbye before she left for the airport...I don't know when I will get to see her again, but I do know I love her! Mom and Dad seem to be really grateful for all of her help. I don't know if Mom would have made it through the first few days of breast-feeding without her! Thanks again Aunt Nikki for everything...I love and miss you!!!! Make sure you check out new pics of me added regularly to the bottom of the posts! :)

A little scary...

Hey everyone-
Sorry it has been a couple of days (that feel like weeks!) but we have been having some adventures down here! We had to take Coop to the doctor yesterday morning for a weight check to see how things were going and we didn't get the best review...he had lost 13 oz since birth which was more than the pediatricians like to see. The doc was optimistic since my true breast milk had started to come in, but we have to go back in the morning to make sure he is making adequate progress in the weight department.
While we were at the doctor's office I mentioned that he was looking a little jaundiced (yellow) and wanted to make sure he didn't think it was too bad. The doctor didn't seem too concerned, but sent off a bilirubin sample just to double check, especially given the significant weight loss.
Needless to say, we didn't get the best news about the bilirubin levels either--they were a little on the high side, so all day yesterday Cooper was confined to a "bili blanket" which is basically like a mini tanning bed that helps the little guy break down the excess bilirubin. Ryan and I were really worried and stressed about all of this news yesterday morning and were pretty discouraged, but we kept working hard on the feeding and my milk finally made a GRAND entrance and things have been going much more smoothly since then.
This morning a home health nurse came to check his weight and bilirubin levels and we were ecstatic to see that he had gained 5.5 oz in one day!!! He just needed to eat! :) His bilirubin levels also came down substantially, so we were able to stop the bili-blanket this morning. Overall, we are quite relieved and feel blessed that he turned around so quickly. He has been eating like a champ (as would be expected with the parents he has) and is just adorable.
We are so blessed to have such a strong little man and we are so thankful for everyone's love and support. I am going to post a few pics...some of which he is a little yellow in for everyone's entertainment!! Lots of love from the Pettit family! Check out our new pics below!
Katie

Rough Night!

Hey everyone-
Thanks for keeping up with us via the blog. Well, we had our first night home last night and boy, was it a rough one! I think between the circumcision, the neonatal tests, and the change of scenery, Cooper's schedule was really affected! Cooper, Mommy, and Daddy were up most of the night, but we are doing better today!! We certainly would appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers as we adjust to the pace of our new lives.
We feel unbelievably blessed to have such a precious little one. The breast-feeding is coming along (though not without frustrations) and Cooper is getting settled into life outside the womb. I am fortunate that my oldest sister, Nikki, is here with me through the weekend to help out in the feeding department. She has been a God-send. My parents, Kelly, and Haze left this morning after taking care of us while we were staying at the hospital and we are certainly missing them!
Thanks to everyone for all of your posts and well wishes. Please continue with the prayers and encouragement! We love you all and hopefully before too long you will all be able to meet our little man in person!
Katie

Home Sweet Home

Katie, Cooper and I finally made it home at about noon today. We're so happy to be home. Cooper seems to be adjusting to his new environment. He loves his bassinet, his swing given to him from cousins Ian and Haze and all his new clothes! Katie is doing wonderful keeping up with Cooper's appetite, he is a Pettit afterall! Again, thanks so much for everyone's well wishes and prayers. I'm really looking forward to updating this blog with all of Cooper's adventures!

Absolutely amazing!

What an amazing day...Cooper was born today, 4/8/08 at 2:45 PM. Fighting weight was 6 lbs 14 oz and he measures 21 inches long. He's an amazing little man and words cannot describe the emotions that Katie and I feel for him already. I'm uploading a few pics tonight for everyone with more to come in the near future. Thank you everyone for your prayers and wishes, we love you all.

Ready to go!

Hey everyone-
I am attempting the blogging this time. I can't believe how crazy life has been. Ryan and I haven't been able to sleep we are so excited about the arrival of our little one...we are trying to tie up all loose ends before heading to the hospital this evening. This morning we completed a CPR class, at 2:00 today we are closing on our house, and then at 7 tonight we are headed for Mobile Infirmary. Thought we would stay busy up to the last minute!!
I am really excited that my family is going to come down for the birth and be here with us when we come home from the hospital. Accepting the responsibility for another human is quite overwhelming and we are hoping and praying we are prepared for the task! Please keep all of us in your prayers...we look forward to posting some pictures of Cooper soon!
Thanks everyone for all of the love and support! We need it more than we know.

Countdown has begun...

We're so excited! It looks like Ryan Cooper Pettit will be making his grand entrance on Tuesday, April 8th! We're going to head to the hospital on Monday night for a little pre-game excitement and hopefully everything will go well on Tuesday and we'll have our little man in our arms. I'll post some pictures as soon as we have them! Thanks to everyone for keeping up with us and checking out the blog.

First Post

I was really hoping to figure out this "blogging" thing so that Katie and I could update everyone on the arrival of Cooper. We're so very excited that we'll hopefully be seeing him in a few weeks or so! I hope to post a bunch of pictures and update everyone as much as I can.