Grandpa's 80th Birthday Celebration

Grandpa turned 80 on July 31, 2010. The best time for everyone to get together was the day after Thanksgiving and it was so much fun! Here are Grandpa and MaryJane with all his children- Rebecca, Sterling, Jennifer, Michele and Marcia.

This is all of his family that was able to be there. We loved visiting with everyone and Sadie and Wes were very popular guests as well. My mom put together a book about his life and while I feel very close to my Grandpa, I was amazed at the things I learned about him. I saw pictures of him and of my Grandma that I had never seen before. I am so grateful for the work that mom put into this- it will be something that we will treasure and pass down through the generations.

An elephant cake

A friend asked me if I would make an elephant cake for her book club that had just finished reading, "Water for Elephants". I have not made an elephant cake before and these pictures were taken in the fridge. I forget to take pictures of the cake and when I remembered I had already put the cake in and once a cake is finished I like to move it as little as possible- so, thus the poor lighting! I thought it turned out okay for a first attempt- I think a person could tell that it was an elephant.

Go Sooners!

Our sweet Sadie!

Saturday morning has found a new tradition in the Cotter home. I get home from work and sleep a few hours before working that night- Buck watches college football with the kids. Our friends in Oklahoma sent us OU outfits and many Saturdays the kids wear them. I am so happy that we have captured Sadie smiling on camera! I remember the morning when she smiled in response to me- or on purpose. I was so tired and it was very early- she was around 10 weeks old I think- I felt so exhausted and while I was arranging everything to feed her I looked down and she was looking straight at me and just smiling away. I thanked her for smiling and told her how much it helped me and gave me more energy to see her smile. Seeing her smile that morning re-affirmed to me that indeed I could be a mother and that everything really was going to be okay. A few days later when Wes smiled I felt the huge wave of emotion all over again. We have such limited communication with the babies- we wish we knew what they were trying to tell us, that seeing them smile or when they reach out and touch my arm or my face, I feel that in our own way we are able to communicate and are learning to understand them. We are so blessed to have them!

3 month pictures

Wes and Sadie turned 3 months old on October 26 and when local photographer Shane Morris offered "The Great Pumpkin Shoot" I wanted to participate and was glad that we did. These pictures are adorable- Sadie was taking in the whole scene and Wes was loving all the attention and bright colors. I should also say that Sadie does not like to wear a hair bow and so most of the time she doesn't, but I thought she needed to wear one. As soon as the pictures were finished I took it off and she smiled.

Trying to coax a smile- I had gotten off of work that morning, taken a quick shower and then packed up the kids- please excuse my dry hands- at least it is proof of good hand washing habits!

2-3 months old

We introduced little Bumbo seats around 2 months old- as you can see Wes feels more secure with one foot on the ground! As he has gotten a little older- now 4 1/2 months old- the chairs are not his favorite thing, however once he has a foot on the ground he tolerates them much better.

Little Sadie feet

They are both very happy and content babies- we are still working on smiling for the camera!

Another day of practicing sitting in the chairs- this was the first they wore jeans- they didn't seem to notice but I thought they looked so cute.

Sadie likes to sit in the chair- though none of the pictures have her smiling- I think she likes to be able to see everything that is going on. Now that she is a little older and getting stronger each day, she will sit and hold a little ring toy or a burp cloth and be quite content.

Here is a little proof of how happy they both are- we are so blessed to have healthy and content little babies!

2 months old and fresh out of the bath- Sadie is so much fun!

Happy Halloween!

Sadie the Butterfly

This Halloween was inspired by Eric Carle's book- The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Sadie is the butterfly at the end of the book and with all the time spent on those amazing wings, the caterpillar outfit did not get finished and so Wes was dressed in a cheetah costume. Buck/Dad makes the costumes each year. In fact, when I met him he had his own sewing machine and always had the best costumes. He says he gets his ideas from Uncle Bill and that the costumes have to be done right or not at all. We enjoyed ourselves and the babies didn't really know what was going on- but they were very cooperative participants.

Very beautiful wings, though our butterfly does look a little worried!

Wes the Cheetah
and perhaps true to form for a tiny cub- he kept trying to bite the costume that touched his cheek.

Cousin Elyse was also a butterfly with Sadie. The wings are so big they will probably be able to wear them as teenagers- but who knows what will be in fashion then.

Sadie flying

The very tired butterfly

Happy Halloween from the Cotters!

ps- I wish someone would have mentioned that my hair was going crazy!

All grown up and wearing pants!

I am not quite sure where Sadie's little joker smile came from, but we still think our children are simply adorable! My sister-in-law put pants on Sadie the other day and she looked so cute that when I dressed them both in outfits today- instead of their typical onesies, I had to take a few pictures. This was taken right before they ate- perhaps why Wes is gripping the pump?- so I am impressed they were smiling at all- mad hatter style or not!

Dad and Wes

I know the lighting is not great in this picture, but I love that little boy's smile!

In a trance watching the mobile- since they still can't hold toys- it is nice that something can entertain them and it's fun to see how much they have grown- they turn their head towards the sound and can follow the little animals around in a circle- we are so blessed to have them and to see them growing so well.

Wes at Two Months Old

Wesley was born weighing 7lbs 14 ounces and was 20 inches long.

At 2 months he weighs 14lbs 5 ounces and is 24 1/4 inches long- he laughs at the mobile and is starting to make a lot of different sounds. He smiles a lot and laughs in his sleep.