A visit with Omi and Opi

Friday afternoon we loaded the car with the kids and headed to Chicago for a brief visit with Omi and Opi. It was our first excursion as a family of 5 and it went relatively well... for traveling with a 9 year old, a 3 year old and a 2 week old infant. Traffic was not too bad and we made it to Omi's house in time for pizza.

 Everyone enjoyed snuggling Omi and she was THRILLED to meet Cooper.

 Lillian and I enjoyed a few snuggles in Omi's chair- just the 2 of us.

 Omi's great grand kids!

 A family dinner of pizza.

 Daddy thought Cooper needed to have a closer look- to see what he was missing.

 It must be good pizza- Opi had 2 slices! Thats a feast for him.

We love you Omi and Opi.

Sparkle Siblings

We have been blessed by many outfits for Cooper (so far he has not worn the same one twice). His Little Brother onesie is one of Lillian's favorites (it matches her big sister shirt). 

Mama's 3 Sparkles!

Cooper's Lion

Each of our children has a special animal.
Madison is our elephant
Lillian our Monkey
and Cooper is our lion.

 Here he is practicing his ROAR!

Mama's Sparkles

My children are the Sparkles in my life and I am very blessed!

Can you tell me how to get...

to Sesame street (I mean the Sparkman's)

Big Sisters Snuffy and Elmo

 and of course, our family would not be complete with out our Oscar!

I wonder which Sesame Street character Cooper will be?

One Week Old

The first week has been a bit of a blur. Adjusting to 3 kids and a family of 5 is a bit overwhelming, but we are all doing really well.

Thursday marked Cooper's first week in the world and he is doing awesome.

At his one week doctor's appointment, Cooper was back to his birth weight of 7 lbs 10 oz (he was 7lbs 3 oz when we left the hospital). The pediatrician was thrilled (they like babies to be back to their birth weight by 2 weeks of age) and will see us when Cooper is one month old.

Lillian loves picking out Cooper's outfit each day and his jp's at night (it is fun to see the garage sale finds on our little man).

Grammie's Sparkles

Grammie arrived Wednesday afternoon to help take care of the girls while I was in the hospital and the days that followed coming home from the hospital with Cooper.

The girls are having a blast with Grammie.

Here they are sporting their new dresses (picked out themselves) for church on Sunday.
They love them.

HGL's newest employee

This is the picture we sent to our office to announce Cooper's arrival.

He already has his company shirt and is ready for his first ISO audit on August 5th.

Ready or not HGL, here comes Auditor Cooper

Cooper's Going Home!

 Getting dressed to go home.

 Hospital gown off and ready for his going home outfit- Florida Gator onesie, orange shorts, matching socks and hat

 Snapping up the Gator onesie

 Decked out to go home

 Cooper Sparkman- the newest Sparkman family gator

 A final snuggle with Mommy before getting into his car seat

 Loaded in the car seat and ready to go home

Good-by IU West hospital, Hello home!

Hospital Stay

We spent 48 hours in the hospital with Cooper and the time passed quickly with snuggles, feedings and visitors.

 The girls came up each day to visit and see Mommy.

 The girls loved to give Cooper kisses and cuddles

 Lillian picked out a little lion for Cooper and was very excited to give it to her new brother.

In between visitors, Rob and I enjoyed our own quiet moments and memories with Cooper.

An afternoon snuggled with Daddy

 Enjoying a few moments with Mommy all to himself

A mid afternoon nap for Mommy and Cooper- can you see the family resemblance?

 (yes both put themselves under the blankets)

By Saturday late afternoon we were ready to come home and we left the hospital at 6pm.

Cooper Meets the Family

Everyone was anxious to meet Cooper.

They were all waiting in the waiting room- Big Sister Madison and Lillian, Nana, Papa, Grammie Ellie, Aunt Niki and Uncle Kevin).

We brought the girls back first to introduce them to their Little Brother.

They girls were so excited to meet their brother Cooper.
Rob had sent a text message to the family to let them know the baby had arrived and everyone was doing well but did not mention the baby' sex, as we wanted to tell the girls first.

After a few cuddles and kisses, the girls then raced back down hall to the waiting room to tell the family. 

(Papa and Uncle Mike were walking up the stair case and could hear Lillian shouting "It's a boy" before they reached the rest of the family)

Everyone came back to our room to meet and cuddle Cooper. 

Papa was first and the others were quick to follow.

Nana

 Grammie Ellie

 Aunt Niki

 Cynthia was so excited to see Baby Button.

 Uncle Kevin

We were so blessed to have so many loved ones with us to celebrate the arrival of Cooper and to share in  our joy. We will have many memories together in the years to come.

Cooper's First Bath

After a quick cuddle with Mommy, Cooper was taken over to the baby area for his first bath.

 The nurse also checked his vitals and stamped his feet for his birth certificate and hospital records.

 Cooper was not really a fan of his bath.

 He was quite unhappy.

 Bath complete- safe and warm on his belly.

Baby Button is Here!!!!!!!!

We are all doing well.

More pictures to come soon (if I ever get tired of holding this cute little man and am willing to put him down or share)