J Cooper Photography

It only took us six months to make this video…but it is finally done

The last 2 years have been an amazing experience for our entire family.   We have seen God’s hand move in ways we never thought possible.  I pray that we will have the opportunity to adopt again someday.

If you have a few extra minutes….we’d be honored if you would take the time to journey with us through our adoption process.  We love Daniel with our whole hearts and feel like he has changed us.  I hope he has changed you too!

Much love, The Coopers

If you live in Kansas City…STOP BY!  I am hosting a fall trunk show with a friend on TUESDAY, AUG 2nd and WEDNESDAY, AUG 3rd.  I would be happy to give you all the information via email if you would like to come by and see the awesome new line.  Matilda Jane is one of our favorite lines for girls (and me too!)  I am a firm believer that little girls should look like LITTLE girls…and Denise always does an amazing job of satisfying that request for me!

The new line “You & Me” goes online MONDAY, AUGUST 1st for viewing!

www.matildajaneclothing.com

If you would like information about location and times just send me a note or leave a comment with contact info!

If you like to join in the fun you can order virtually too!  Just send me a note and I will get you my contact information!

Having a house is a blessing.  I know sometimes we tend to stress out about house related projects.  What color should we paint the trim?  Where should we purchase our new sofa? etc.  But for MANY people across the globe…just a simple shelter…mud…twigs…tin…it’s a huge blessing.  I’ve seen it with my own eyes.   The pride of ownership overflowing in a humble taxi driver in Ethiopia.  He was so proud of his mud hut with its lone hanging light bulb that he asked us to come for a coffee ceremony.   And yet WE feel like we somehow deserve more.

After the freakishly huge hail that battered our house in April we have the blessing of insurance paying for a new roof, new gutters, new windows, and all new siding.  IT IS A BLESSING.  At least that is my mantra this week.  When the siding went on the WRONG direction…”this is a blessing”.  When the workers killed our grass…”this is a blessing”.  When the windows came in the wrong color….”this is a blessing”.  And today.  When the crew RAN OUT OF THE CUSTOM COLOR SPECIAL ORDER siding….”this is a BLESSIN”G.  As you can tell…I’ve been chanting this a lot this week.  HA!  (I’ve been an emotional train wreck)

I don’t deserve this pretty new house.  No one owes me anything.  So why am I so bent out of shape at the inconvenience of it all?  (gulp)

I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to find my “happy place” this week after a slew of unfortunate events and it has me thinking about where I find my joy.  Is it circumstantial?  Or is my hope in something bigger?  And does the siding REALLY matter anyway?

{a happy little spot in my kitchen…added a few aprons via Home Goods and Matilda Jane to brighten things up}

{a new-to-me giant bird cage in my family room bookshelves}

There’s no doubt that I LOVE to putter around my house…go thrifting…paint…decorate.   {And those shelves have always been a challenge…so tall and deep!}  But when I gauge the success of the week by my completed house projects, I know I’ve crossed the line.  And this week they definitely got the best of me.  Can I get a do over?

1. The hubby went to Switzerland so The Librarian came to stay.  She actually came for the express purpose of taking a U-Haul full of furniture home with her.  Although she swears she wanted to see me too.  She made us girls these matching tanks.  She is crafty like that and now I want to sew yo-yos and fabric flowers onto everything  I own.

2.  Saturday morning while my sister was here we heard a VERY LOUD crash.  We ran downstairs to find that the siding crew had shown up early and were pounding like madmen on the side of our house.  In fact…they were pounding directly behind the hutch in my dining room and as I ran down the stairs there were plates and cups literally FLYING from the hutch and crashing to the floor.  We banged on the windows for them to stop and then made a mad sprint through the house in an attempt to salvage the mirrors and pictures which were all dangling precariously from other walls.  That was a fun start to the day.

3. Then Saturday night this one came down with the stomach flu.  Then 30 minutes later I came down with the stomach flu.  Doesn’t she look so cute?  It’s a trap.

See what I mean?

4.  Fortunately this one never puked (at least not yet).  So she is still on my good list

5. A puking mommy, a hubby out of town, 100+ degree temps, and a yard full of contractors = MOVIE TIME!  This is Super Sam’s “I’m watching Thomas and I’m just thrilled” face.  He makes through the entire episode.  You’d think his cheeks would get tired.

6.  This little guy just wanted Mommy to hold him (that’s fun in between trips to the bathroom) because he is getting a few teeth (the top four are all coming in together…what fun!)

He’s like a little chewing puppy.  Only much cuter and smarter.  And he doesn’t have floppy ears.  Ok…so the chewing is really the only similarity.

7.  He has a new out look on life.  One might say he is seeing the world from a new perspective these days.

8.  He’s pretty happy about it as you can tell.

9.  Since Mommy (why do I keep referring to myself in the 3rd person?  Are you as creeped out by it as I am?) was too sick to do anything but lay on the couch…the troops took over.  It looks like they had things pretty well under control.

10.  The girls have spent hours in the playroom making these robots over and over again.  They named the big one Robert the Robot.  The little one is Robert Junior.  My sister suggested they name the little one “Raymond” which I found down right hilarious…too bad the girls didn’t get our twisted humor.

11.  (Bonus)  Now my in-laws are here.  Everyone seems to be fairly healthy again.  The siding is going up on our house the CORRECT direction (oh yeah they did!), our phones are working again, we have cable, and life seems to have turned right around.

Here’s to a better week!

A year ago Thursday we received a very important phone call.  We had friends over for a play date when my case worker called to introduce us to a TINY baby boy who would become our son.  This past Thursday we celebrated the year anniversary of seeing Daniel’s picture for the very first time.

It was shocking really.   In many ways I was on Cloud 9…I HAD A NEW SON!  I stared at his picture and tried to memorize every little detail of his face.  I speculated about his health, his personality, his struggles, his dreams…all while gazing at a tiny, grainy image on my computer screen.  But it was gut wrenching too.  In my great joy, my son had suffered a huge loss that he would have to carry all of his days.  Another mother struggled and felt immense anguish so that I could celebrate with a Mexican dinner and phone calls to all my friends.  Adoption is hard.  Beautiful.  Rewarding.  Full of JOY.  But hard in a way that changes you heart and makes you feel things you’d rather lock back in the recesses of your mind.

These were our first glances at our baby boy.

{His first day at Hannah’s Hope.  2 1/2 months old and barely 5 lbs.  Sick with pneumonia and malnutrition.  Held by an amazing woman who I owe many thanks}

{Scrawny little  baby boy…unable to grasp or control his limbs.  Ironically wearing a onsie that reads “I just pulled an all-nighter”…foreshadowing at its finest.}

Those were the images burned into my mind.  But they weren’t the ones I showed.  I held them close to my heart and prayed for a healthy appetite, miraculous weight gain, and clear lungs.  And in the meanwhile…I showed off this image of him a few weeks (and ounces) later.

We had a LONG wait to meet our son in person.  After seeing his pictures in July the courts closed for the rainy season.  We first traveled to meet him in November and then again in January to bring him home.  God provided amazing peace (and a thousand distractions) during our wait.  I worried, and prayed, and worried, and prayed.  Every day for 6 months.  And then I grabbed him in my arms and fell instantly in love.  I know this doesn’t happen to everyone.   Maybe it is easier with a baby who is so tiny and relies on you to meet his every need.  But the love was immediate and having him home with us has been such an awesome reminder of how hard God works to set the lonely into families.

One year later that tiny baby boy is flourishing.  Not because of us.   But because GOD LOVES him and has a plan for his life that doesn’t include an orphanage on the other side of the world.  He was meant to be loved by FAMILY.  And there are SO MANY more who God wants to set in families still waiting.  Maybe you have room?

We are so proud of our little Danny boy.  He’s on a curve of his own…still struggling to make up lost time from his sickness and rocky beginning.  And I’m STILL praying, and waiting, and praying, and waiting.  Every day.  I’m trying really hard not to compare him to others.  Because he has his own story.  And I know that God has given him this life with a purpose and I am just SO fortunate to get to watch what kind of GREAT THINGS God is going to do with his life.  He is overflowing with joy.  Bubbling over.  Full of smiles.  He’s inquisitive…a studier…content…and relaxed.  He’s never in a hurry and rarely cries.  He blows kisses, plays patty cake, gives hi fives, gives hugs, signs “more”, “eat”, and “all done” and can say a host of words like “mama”, “dada”, “anna”, “all done”, “yeah”, and “baba”.  He’s brilliant don’t you think?

We’ve had this guy home for SIX MONTHS and the change in him over the course of that time has been remarkable.  He started out as a shell shocked infant with no control over his body.  He was withdrawn and scared.  His muscles were tight and rigid and his eyes were crossed.  Slowly but surely he has started to open up to us and show us his true personality!  He’s a charmer and a complete flirt!  He’s made huge strides in flexibility (he couldn’t lift his hands over his head at first) and is growing stronger every day.  Now he can roll, sit up, get into a crawling position from his tummy, rock on all fours, and stand with help.  And his eyes are healing ON THEIR OWN…which means…PRAISE GOD…no surgery!

We had plans to go out for ice cream to celebrate his REFERRAL-VERSARY but things got too crazy before bed.  Instead, we slipped out into the backyard and took a few impromtu photos to remember OUR SON on this special day!

Thanking God for the GIFT we have in this baby boy!  WE LOVE YOU DANNY!

We have lived in this house for 4 years and I have always wanted a spot for a children’s library.  We have books.  And I mean….we have A LOT of books.  Books are one thing I don’t mind collecting around our house.  Now that’s not to say we visit Barnes and Noble every week.  And we do like to “borrow” books from the library as well (I just don’t love visiting the library once a week with 4 little people in tow).  Sometimes we find good used books at Half Price Books or we scour garage sales.  My Mom recently retired as a 4th grade teacher and has gifted us with LOADS of books.

The books have lived in various spots throughout our house.  But I have ALWAYS wanted a spot where ALL the family books could reside.

Our basement is somewhat long, narrow, and L shaped.  Which makes it fairly unusable as the “man cave” that is popular in our area.  We also have an entire wall of large windows down there which floods the space with natural light and makes it so cheery!  So the basement has always been our oversized playroom.  And I intend to keep it that way.  At the far corner of the “L” we have carved out a little family room area.  A few weekends ago Mr. P and my Dad built these bookcases to house our growing collection.

This is where we will keep all of the “family books”.  We have books in EVERY room of our house.  The girls have an entire bookshelf full of all of their own chapter books in the attic playroom.   Danny’s bookshelf houses all of the smaller board books, and Super Sam keeps all the larger board books (and anything Thomas the Train related) in his own room.

I knew I wanted them floor to ceiling and this little alcove seemed like the perfect spot.  When we moved in it had a built in desk with cupboards above it.  But it didn’t work as an office for our family.   So we ripped out that unit and repurposed it in my craft room (after giving it a fresh coat of white paint of course!)

This is the same corner 4 years ago when I was using it as a sewing space.  Off to the right you can also see a built in tv niche that we ripped out as well.

Much better use of space I think!

Right now we have a giant armoire against the wall in there as well.  But my sister is coming this weekend to haul that off for use in their family room…which will give us more breathing room!

Directly across from the new shelving is our play room couch and a wall of windows.  To the right is our piano and all of our violins hung on the wall (where we do our nightly practices!)

In front of the couch is the coffee table I painted out last year.  This was a thrift store find that just needed some TLC.

Unfortunately, I am completely obsessed with this idea right now.  So I’m on the hunt for a more sturdy coffee table that the kids can use to play games, etc.  Wouldn’t this be fun for tic tac toe or for keeping the score during Wii tournaments?

We put our thrift store chairs on either side of the bookshelves so there is a landing spot for reading.

I still really love these chairs.  They are insanely comfortable and ratty enough that I don’t worry about what the kids will do to them.  I found the polka dot fabric at a local warehouse for $3 a yard (which was a GREAT deal as it was 108″ wide!)  It only cost me $15 to make covers for 4 couch pillows and 2 GIANT floor pillows!

I filled up the top of the bookcases with my globe collection.  In hindsight I would have MEASURED the globes before the shelving was built…could have used an extra couple of inches so they weren’t so squished in there…but I didn’t think about it before hand.

A lot of the book we have are what we call “soft books”….meaning they are paperbacks.  Those are always harder to contain as they don’t look as pretty on open shelving and it is hard for the kids to flip through them to find the titles.  I found these crates at Hobby Lobby and waited for their 50% sale (it is NEVER when you need it).   They came stained and slightly beat up.  I was worried that sliding them in and out of the shelves would ruin the paint job though.  I first tried furniture pads on the bottoms but they were still scraping.  Then Mr. P suggested hot gluing felt to the bottom (he’s the brains behind this operation) which worked perfectly.  I was able to find a carmel colored felt at Hobby Lobby and just measured rectangles and glued them right down!

I knew I wanted to label the bins by category as well.  I purchased little 4 packs of wood rectangles at Hobby Lobby for $1 per pack and sprayed them down with chalkboard paint.  Then…yep…hot glued them down!  In hindsight I could have just painted them black with existing spray paint and used a white paint pen to do the lettering.  But that would have been more permanent and we may want to switch up our labels down the road as the kids’ interests change.

Hard back books are prettier in rainbow order.  {definitely time to update the family picture…yikes!}

I used vintage soda crates to contain a lot of the smaller paper back books.  These make it so convenient for the kids to flip through to find their favorites!

I got SO LUCKY.  I went to a favorite antique store looking for crates expecting to only get 1 or 2 (as they usually retail for $15-20 a piece).  One of the dealers in the back had an entire booth littered with them…for 5 BUCKS EACH!  Oh, HAPPY DAY!

I think I am going to say goodbye to the green walls in the basement soon.  We have loved them well.  But it is time for something new.  I’d love a rug to anchor the space a bit but I’m holding out for the perfect find.  Would LOVE a CHEVRON RUG…but I’m thinking that might be too much with the crazy chairs??

Thanks for letting me share!

WHY am I not home schooling again?

What a day!  We spent the day holed up inside while two sweaty contractors dripped on my floors installing our new windows.  Then Super Sam nearly killed Bubbles the Fish during his rest time.  I laid him down in the girls’ room for nap time since his room was one of the rooms getting a new window.  He was awfully quiet…never a good sign.  And sure enough…he had “fed” one of the fishes some rocks and knocked the fish bowl right off of the dresser.  We thought Bubbles was a goner for sure…but he miraculously survived the ordeal (so far).  What is with these fish anyways??  Can’t they just DIE already?  After that I had to slay a GIANT wasp that had gotten into our house (Miss Middle is allergic) and then the baby BARFED all over his high chair.

SO GLAD tomorrow is a NEW DAY

Anywho….just a couple of outfits to share this week!  I didn’t think to take pictures while we were in Nebraska so I’m only sharing the few days since we’ve been home.

Day 1

top – TJ Maxx

jeans – GAP

sandals – DSW

headband – raided from the girls’ closet (shamefully from Claire’s) – probably shouldn’t admit that at my age

Day 2

white tank – Old Navy

grey tank – Banana Republic outlet

coral shorts – New York and Company

necklace – Sweet Tea Boutique

shoes – never wore shoes that day as I never left the house

{On Miss Middle:  top from Von Maur and leggings from Old Navy}

Day 3

top – Francesca’s

jeans – New York and Company

necklace – Francesca’s

sandals – Target

This past weekend while in Nebraska I did a bit of shopping with my Mom.  She is the BEST person to shop with because a) she is honest and b) she apparently knows my style much better than I do.  The Francesca’s in Lincoln is MUCH bigger than the one here so I always like to check it out if we have time.  I grabbed a few things I liked and headed to the dressing room.  Meanwhile, my sneaky Mom was grabbing items herself and flinging them over the curtain to me.  Man, she is good.  I didn’t purchase ONE thing that I picked out.  But everything she flung over at me was PERFECTION.  At one point I asked her to grab me a pair of jeans so I could see how a certain top would look (I had on a long skirt).  As she headed back into the store I called out my size and she grabbed a pair for me.  THE.JEANS.FIT.PERFECT.  Now gals…if you have shopped specifcally for jeans…you know.   If I had gone out looking for new jeans I would have searched for days and tried on EVERY pair in Kansas City.  But LO and BEHOLD my mom can walk blindly into any store…toss me a pair….and the stars and moon seem to aline at her very command.

Thanks, Mom.  Let’s shop again soon

After 4 1/2 months of weekly physical therapy and endless hours of “torture” our little man is seeing the world from a new perspective.

Don’t underestimate the significance of this stance.  This is MAJOR in our house.  This takes MAD SKILZ people.

We’ve nicknamed Danny “Rigamortis Baby” as moving his body is just HARD WORK for our little guy (ok…I actually coined that nickname and the rest of my family would like you to know they are effectively creeped out by it.  I think it is kind of endearing in a disturbing kind of way.  But maybe it’s time to move on to something a bit less macabre).

The point is.  We might just have a crawler here in the Cooper household (give or take a few weeks).

Mr. Content just needs someone to light a fire under his little toosh and we’ll be all set!

1.  a husband who will go to the ends of the earth to try to make my dreams come true.

2.  summer camps that whisk my girls away for sweaty sing alongs, water balloon fights, and mornings alone with my boys.

3.  homemade brownies with chocolate frosting {for lunch and dinner}.

4.  our sweet 14 month old baby boy…and the 6 months he has graced our home.

5.  a retired teacher conveniently called “mom” who gifts you with an entire children’s library.

6.  excessive heat which drives us indoors for an afternoon full of impromptu puppet shows.  {and a functioning air conditioner}

7.  families who let me borrow their 2 year olds for an evening of swinging in the backyard.

8.  gardens that need perpetual watering almost as much as we need the time alone in the mornings with a special little helper.

9.  siding, windows, and gutters littering our driveway with the hopes of a nearly new house.

10.  God’s grace.  new every morning whether we deserve it or not {that’s what grace is all about after all}.

This was our fifth session together.  I’ve seen Miss S grow up right before my eyes.  And this is EXACTLY why I do what I do.  Through the lens of my camera, I have met some amazing families.  People who have opened their homes to me…people who have become my friends.  People who trust me to capture the little things that make their kids special.

And this little Miss has definitely become special to me!  We spent the evening in her backyard swinging, blowing bubbles (or at least eating the soap), rolling in the grass, and climbing the rope ladder.  She showed me all of her tricks and I snapped away trying to keep up with her.

Her parents followed along and we caught up on “life” and all the things that have changed (and haven’t changed) since our last session.  It was a pretty perfect night.

Can’t wait to show you the rest!