J Cooper Photography

No you aren’t seeing things…no typo in the title.

Being very pregnant I have several things that have been pestering me (ok…annoying me) these past few weeks. Both relate to pregnancy and the need to keep secrets. I have a firm belief that if you know the sex of your baby you should feel obligated to share that with those who love you (you’ll get more gifts that way anyways). Likewise…if you have chosen a name…waiting to share the name before the birth of the child will not jinx the birth in any fashion. I’m sure there are people who can come up with numerous reasons to keep these informational tidbits a secret…but I cannot.

With that being said. I have an introduction to make!

Sam has been our “back-up name” for each of the girls and Ellis is a family name. A has been telling everyone that his middle name is “Alice” but I think we will stick with Ellis just the same.

Which brings me to the rest of my post.

I have two sisters who I adore….The Writer and The Librarian. They are both insanely creative in their own rights.

Combined with the fact that I have been shopping in excess for this baby (I know that is hard to believe)…and he needs not one stitch of clothing for at least the next year of his life…my sister (The Librarian) put her sewing prowess to work. She came this past weekend with her adorable family (see this post) and brought a special present for the baby….his FIRST SUPERHERO! At first I thought it was Super MAN but was later corrected that is is actually Super SAM. And of course she provided the perfect Superman-ish onsie and cape…because all babies need a special outfit to wear when they bravely fight evil and rid the world of injustice!
Anyways…I hope you enjoy SuperSAM as much as we are!

And on a side note…THANKS to all of you who have sent sweet messages about the fact that I am STILL pregnant I will be sure to post a quick note on my blog when we are heading to the hospital. If he hasn’t made his debut by Monday my Dr. is planning on scheduling an induction. It figures that I would spent 5 weeks on bed rest trying to PREVENT labor…now he seems to have had a change of heart and is quite content to live out the last few weeks in amniotic bliss

I couldn’t resist joining in on one more of IVYLANE’S summer launches before the baby comes! So today I’m listing this fun “Monkey See Monkey Do” jumper for little ones in the size 2-4 range. Click HERE if you would like to see the auction! It is ready to ship!

We had a momentous week at our house. A has graduated from Pre-K…she’ll be heading off to Kindergarten in the fall. And for anyone who thinks to themselves…”what’s the big deal…it’s only preschool right??”…then you don’t know A. She loves school and despises change. A deadly combination. I have never seen a child cry so many times over summer vacation. This morning she woke up begging me to take her to school just to see if anyone might still be there she could talk to. Poor thing. It would be comical if I didn’t have to listen to her wailing in her bed every night…lamenting the bygone days of Pre-K. But she’s a kid, and kids are resilient right? So hopefully the crying will subside and summer will shine through!
Here she is ready to go! She wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a picture but I managed to sneak one in before we left!

Lining up with some of her girlfriends before the graduation ceremony

Getting her “diploma” and a medallion to wear around her neck…pretty darn cute!

Playing on the playground after the ceremony. There was an all-school picnic and of course the kids ran wild!



Goofing off with her buddies


And a tearful goodbye to her teacher. It really was quite sweet…even her teacher cried. Now I am off to find some great summer camps to fill the long summer days ahead

Thanks for letting me share!

Sometimes I wonder what it is like in their world…the constant state of dancing, dreaming, daring. Tonight we celebrated. After a positive dr.’s visit yesterday, I have been relieved of bed rest and I can’t think of anything that would make me want to dance more. So we doned our best twirling dresses and headed for the fields…to celebrate life and the chance to live it well!

The girls had a birthday party today for a special friend and I couldn’t resist the urge to jump off the couch for a couple of hours and join them P took a few pictures of us…can you believe I didn’t have any pregnancy pictures yet? When I was pregnant with A I took a picture of my growing belly every month. But somehow with 2 girls, a hubby, a business, and all the other craziness of life…it just hasn’t been a priority.

So this is me ready to pop! I have less than a month now until my due date! Our target date is May 26th. If I can make it until that day my Dr. said I can go hog wild I can’t wait!

And a few fun pictures of the girls too…

Well I am going to sneak one more ebay listing in before this baby comes! I’ve had this set completed for over a month but bed rest was keeping me from taking the photos. It is FINALLY green enough in our backyard…so A and I took a break from the couch and did a mini photo shoot yesterday afternoon! I absolutely adore these Baby Lulu knits…they are so yummy!

Click here to check out the auction!
I have been playing around with editing my photos as well. I will never feel like I have a handle on all there is to learn! But I thought I would share a few of my favorite shots from this week And if anyone knows how I can make my photos bigger here…please shoot me an email! I have spent WAY too much time trying to figure it out…my ‘ol pregnancy brain has had it!!

A lot happening at our house this weekend! We are in the final countdown to baby (1 month or less!) and trying to get our house ready for any upcoming visitors. P has been working feverishly on finishing a room in our basement to use as a guest room. Most of the basement was already finished…during the second trimester I had a burst of energy and did lots of fun decorating down there! This weekend he put the finishing touches on the guest room. Who wants to come and try it out??

We had a quest room upstairs which became A’s new room…her old room became the nursery…and we moved all the guest room furniture to the basement…confused yet? This was her old day bed. And we put a trundle underneath so we’ve got room for 2!

This old dresser was a gift from my parents for one of our anniversaries. I love the shabby aqua paint job! And the crazy lamp with the funky sash!
This was P’s solution for covering up the ugly sump pump that resides in that room. Pretty clever guy huh??
And a cute little niche he made me so I would have a spot for display on the entry wall.

We finished off the baby’s room as well…ready anytime for him to make his debut! I’ve shared some pictures already of parts of his room but here are just a few more!
And a sweet friend of mine, Jen of little*red*wagon, sent me a fun surprise package with all sorts of goodies! If you aren’t familiar with her designs you must check her out! Included in the package was a huge stack of remnant knit pieces perfect for our new baby boy…so I spent an afternoon sitting at my sewing machine (not exactly bed rest but it might qualify for chair rest?) making a couple of little things for our little guy to wear!
Had to make him his own “name blanket”…I sell a ton of these locally and love to make them as gifts so I figured he needed one of his own!
Sunday we enjoyed a nice quiet Mother’s Day. P cooked a yummy lunch and the girls got me flowers. Not just ANY flowers though…they hid down in the basement and made me this fantastic bouquet of tissue paper flowers…brought them up to me in a sweet vase with some homemade cards They just make me SMILE!
And last night we took A too her spring violin recital. My heart just melts watching her play! She looks like such a little peanut up there with all those big kids! She is on the far right

I hope everyone enjoyed their special day! Whew…I think I need a nap!

There is no denying that I love photos…especially a nice black and white portrait of my kids! I have collage frames throughout my house. Two upstairs in the hallway (one for each girl), a huge memo board in my sewing room full of snapshots, and a collection of frames in the built-ins in my family room. Seeing the faces of the ones I love scattered throughout my house makes me so happy.
I was debating what to get my Mom for Mother’s Day and I couldn’t think of anything better than some original photography. My Mom is a huge driving force in my life…and my best friend. I’m hoping she will love these pictures of the grand kids as much as I do! Mom…Happy Mother’s Day! I can’t wait to deliver your gift in person soon
And speaking of images…check out these fun Moo cards I just received in the mail!! I was so inspired by Patty’s cards that I had to get some of my own! Can’t wait to hand some out to my friends. If you haven’t checked out www.moo.com you need to! And see Patty’s Etsy shop where she has a cool wallet to carry all those cards! Patty…I’m thinking you need to restock your shop (hint, hint)…hmmm….maybe a fun splurge for Mother’s Day!

A seems to ask the hardest questions. I never truly know how to respond. Half of the time that’s because she is twice as smart as me. She is forever asking me things like “how far is it from the earth to the moon” and “at what rate does the earth spin”.

Today she asked me this:
“Mommy…can you touch the sky?

I replied:
“No A…you can’t touch the sky” (for once I knew the answer!)

A:
“Well…in an airplane you are IN the sky…a space ship goes THROUGH the sky”

Me:
“I suppose so…but you still aren’t TOUCHING the sky” (determined to be right for once!)

A:
“That’s not true Mommy. Every time I swing…my feet touch the sky!”

When did she get so smart?!?!