We hope you each are having a wonderful holiday season full of lots of family, friends, food and maybe even a few good deals. As we look at 2009 right around the corner we sometimes wonder where 2008 went – maybe to sleepless nights? ;)
We spent the month of January getting ready for our baby and enjoy the last of our ‘baby free’ days (if one can call it that being 9 months pregnant!) We took in lots of dinners and movies and just enjoyed getting the nursery ready.
On February 12, 2008 @ 1:15pm our world forever changed for the better. After 17 hours of labor and 2.5 hours of pushing (and literally Kevin saying at one point during the delivery ‘wow this is really tiring!’ I could have hit him if I wasn’t so exhausted!) Cooper Cristion Drake entered the world perfectly and has remained that way since. He was 8lbs 14oz 21.5in. And has been growing everyday since!!! He is an amazing baby – full of such delight, smiles, giggles and curiosity. Everything he does is perfect. Each day we realized how blessed we are to have him in our lives. We often wonder what we did in our lives before he came into it (except maybe sleep a little more!) But even sleep he is good at – sleeping through the night by 7 weeks. Overall he has been healthy. When we were pregnant they saw on Ultrasound that he had fluid within one of his kidneys. When he was 5 weeks old and also again at 6 months old he underwent a series of test to access his kidneys. Overall the kidneys still have extra fluid on the left side but they are healthy and functioning great. We now continue to monitor the kidneys yearly.
At 10 months now he is already crawling and pulling himself up on everything. We caught him today trying to climb his dresser! He has 8 teeth and loves to eat!!! Especially bananas and his favorite MumMum Crackers. He babbles a lot but only real close to works are mama and dada. He loves his two kitties, Lucy and Gracie, and giggles everything they come near. They on the other hand just prefer to watch him from afar. We have been on lots of adventures together including his first airplane ride at 11 weeks to Orlando with Uncle Riley, Grandma Tamy and Grandpa John. We met my Godparents and their children there and enjoyed the beautiful Florida sunshine together! Coop is an angel in the car and he gets lots of experience as we make a lot of trips up to Brainerd to see both of our families and also ventured to WI to meet the Cullinane’s. Being the 1st boy grand/greatgrandchild he is definitely spoiled!!! J He loves the park, being outdoors, reading, swimming and bath time and exploring any and everything he can get himself close to! We really are so blessed and we love him even more then we ever thought was humanly possible. We didn’t even know the heart was able to love this much. There is a saying that we have found to be so true “A baby fills a void in your heart that you didn’t even know was missing…”
We still live in South Minneapolis and enjoy the area and people we live by.
I am still working as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the University of MN Children’s Hospital in Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT). I have the opportunity to work daily beside children and their families as they literally fight to live. No one decides to have a BMT for the heck of it but you’d never know by looking in the faces of the children I take care of daily. I am so blessed to be able to work beside such amazing families. I never really understood what it maybe like to be a parent in that situation until I am a parent myself. I am humbled daily by my job and also realize how blessed we are to Cooper. The little bumps in the road with his kidneys and an ear infection are nothing compared to the families I work beside each day.
Kevin took a new position in a Chiropractic Personal Injury clinic right outside of downtown Minneapolis. He has really enjoyed the position and the opportunity to work with a wide range of patients from all economic and cultural background. He is also close to home so that makes his commute great! He was able to spend a few weeks this summer being ‘Mr. Mom’ before this job started. Both he and Cooper loved it! He is also able to spend many mornings having ‘papa/Coopie’ time before work. He also has become quite the hunter with my dad and brother. Kevin did get his 1st 8 point buck this season (and the antlers are hanging from our back porch to prove it!)
Kevin and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this December (12 years together counting dating!) Being with your best friend makes these last five years of life fly right past and we look forward to fifty-five more! Besides being parents we have also been able to enjoy time together with our friends and families. We continue to have fun making our house into a home. We worked hard and had a lot of on our perennial and vegetable gardens this summer. Ofcourse the not so fun parts of homeownership we have also experience like our sink and oven breaking. . We hope to do a little traveling and do plan to take our first baby-less trip in May out east for a wedding. Coop probably won’t even realize we are gone because he’ll get so much grandma/grandpa/auntie/uncle/cousin time and attention! J
We pray that 2009 will bring you love, peace and happiness. Take the time to step back and remember all of the Reasons for the Seasons. We thank you for your love and friendship in our family’s life!
Happy Holidays!
Kevin, Erica and Cooper
We spent the month of January getting ready for our baby and enjoy the last of our ‘baby free’ days (if one can call it that being 9 months pregnant!) We took in lots of dinners and movies and just enjoyed getting the nursery ready.
On February 12, 2008 @ 1:15pm our world forever changed for the better. After 17 hours of labor and 2.5 hours of pushing (and literally Kevin saying at one point during the delivery ‘wow this is really tiring!’ I could have hit him if I wasn’t so exhausted!) Cooper Cristion Drake entered the world perfectly and has remained that way since. He was 8lbs 14oz 21.5in. And has been growing everyday since!!! He is an amazing baby – full of such delight, smiles, giggles and curiosity. Everything he does is perfect. Each day we realized how blessed we are to have him in our lives. We often wonder what we did in our lives before he came into it (except maybe sleep a little more!) But even sleep he is good at – sleeping through the night by 7 weeks. Overall he has been healthy. When we were pregnant they saw on Ultrasound that he had fluid within one of his kidneys. When he was 5 weeks old and also again at 6 months old he underwent a series of test to access his kidneys. Overall the kidneys still have extra fluid on the left side but they are healthy and functioning great. We now continue to monitor the kidneys yearly.
At 10 months now he is already crawling and pulling himself up on everything. We caught him today trying to climb his dresser! He has 8 teeth and loves to eat!!! Especially bananas and his favorite MumMum Crackers. He babbles a lot but only real close to works are mama and dada. He loves his two kitties, Lucy and Gracie, and giggles everything they come near. They on the other hand just prefer to watch him from afar. We have been on lots of adventures together including his first airplane ride at 11 weeks to Orlando with Uncle Riley, Grandma Tamy and Grandpa John. We met my Godparents and their children there and enjoyed the beautiful Florida sunshine together! Coop is an angel in the car and he gets lots of experience as we make a lot of trips up to Brainerd to see both of our families and also ventured to WI to meet the Cullinane’s. Being the 1st boy grand/greatgrandchild he is definitely spoiled!!! J He loves the park, being outdoors, reading, swimming and bath time and exploring any and everything he can get himself close to! We really are so blessed and we love him even more then we ever thought was humanly possible. We didn’t even know the heart was able to love this much. There is a saying that we have found to be so true “A baby fills a void in your heart that you didn’t even know was missing…”
We still live in South Minneapolis and enjoy the area and people we live by.
I am still working as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the University of MN Children’s Hospital in Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT). I have the opportunity to work daily beside children and their families as they literally fight to live. No one decides to have a BMT for the heck of it but you’d never know by looking in the faces of the children I take care of daily. I am so blessed to be able to work beside such amazing families. I never really understood what it maybe like to be a parent in that situation until I am a parent myself. I am humbled daily by my job and also realize how blessed we are to Cooper. The little bumps in the road with his kidneys and an ear infection are nothing compared to the families I work beside each day.
Kevin took a new position in a Chiropractic Personal Injury clinic right outside of downtown Minneapolis. He has really enjoyed the position and the opportunity to work with a wide range of patients from all economic and cultural background. He is also close to home so that makes his commute great! He was able to spend a few weeks this summer being ‘Mr. Mom’ before this job started. Both he and Cooper loved it! He is also able to spend many mornings having ‘papa/Coopie’ time before work. He also has become quite the hunter with my dad and brother. Kevin did get his 1st 8 point buck this season (and the antlers are hanging from our back porch to prove it!)
Kevin and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this December (12 years together counting dating!) Being with your best friend makes these last five years of life fly right past and we look forward to fifty-five more! Besides being parents we have also been able to enjoy time together with our friends and families. We continue to have fun making our house into a home. We worked hard and had a lot of on our perennial and vegetable gardens this summer. Ofcourse the not so fun parts of homeownership we have also experience like our sink and oven breaking. . We hope to do a little traveling and do plan to take our first baby-less trip in May out east for a wedding. Coop probably won’t even realize we are gone because he’ll get so much grandma/grandpa/auntie/uncle/cousin time and attention! J
We pray that 2009 will bring you love, peace and happiness. Take the time to step back and remember all of the Reasons for the Seasons. We thank you for your love and friendship in our family’s life!
Happy Holidays!
Kevin, Erica and Cooper
