Cooper Ryan

For those who have not heard yet, Cooper Ryan was born Tuesday June 24th at 7:48 pm, weighing 7 lbs 8 oz. He took one breath and cried once before his heart stopped. He had lost a lot of blood in the womb. They think that a blood vessel might have burst with the sack. The doctors worked hard and got him revived and at times stabilized. They gave him several blood transfusions and hooked him up to machines to help him b reathe. They fought hard for him and several times he improved giving us much hope, but he appeared to be bleeding internally. Wednesday morning they transferred him to Children's Hospital where they hoped to perform surgery to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately Cooper's little body, taxed by the ordeal, was unable to clot his blood. They feared surgery was impossible without that. He was given more transfusions to keep his blood pressure up, but the bleeding inside put too much pressure on his lungs and eventually it made it too difficult to keep giving him oxygen. At 5:15 pm they took him off life support and let Kristen and I hold him. He passed away in our arms a beautiful little boy with the blue eyes his mother wanted him to have.


We will get through this. Ty is helping to keep us grounded. We are very thankful for all the support and prayers we have received over the past several days. We will have a graveside service for Cooper Wednesday July 2nd. For further details about the service please post a comment and we will contact you.

The Museum of Flight

Last Thursday, Mommy and Daddy took me to the Museum of Flight. I love airplanes, so I thought the museum was awesome! There were airplanes everywhere and right up close where I could see them--not just a little speck in the sky.


A few times I tried to get really close to the planes, but there was this little fence in the way, and every time I tried to climb over it, Daddy would pull me away.




I didn't mind too much, though, because there were some planes that I actually got to sit in!


We also visited the WWII section of the museum where I showed what a "Big Stud" I am and read all about different planes and what pilots painted on their noses.

I had such a fun time. Maybe I'll be a pilot when I grow up.

Thirsty anyone?

A few weeks ago I learned how to get water out of the water dispenser on the refrigerator. It's a bit tricky, but if I reach high enough

and stand on my tippy toes,

I can usually get something to come out--although it doesn't always end up in a cup. Sometimes I forget that I'm supposed to have a cup there to catch the water. That's why Mommy and Daddy usually lock the dispenser so nothing will come out, no matter how hard I push on the little lever.

I sure do like drinking out of a cup now. It makes me feel all grown up--just like Mommy and Daddy.

But I have to admit that sometimes there are more interesting things to do with a cup of water than just drink it. What's going on in this picture?:

Just trying to cool off a bit.

Can I have more water now, please? Mine is all gone.

The Arboretum

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day, so Mommy, Daddy, and I headed to the Arboretum in Seattle.

One of my favorite places to hang out is on Daddy's shoulders. If I hold on tightly to his hair, I know I won't fall off.

The pond looked really cool. I wanted to jump in since it was so warm outside and tried several times to step in, but Daddy refused to let go of me.

This is pretty typical of me. Mommy is heading one way, so I'm gonna head the other way.

Would you believe this is a rhododendron I'm sitting and standing on?!

I scream, you scream....

Mommy and Daddy stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream cones on the way home from the Arboretum. I had fallen asleep in the car, otherwise I'm sure they would have bought me my own cone. But they were nice enough to share theirs once we got home. We ate them in the shade in our front yard. Doesn't Daddy's grass look great?

"Hey, how come you still have so much more ice cream than me?"

Polishing off Mommy's cone.

Maybe Daddy will give me the rest of his.

I guess I'll just finish chewing what's in my mouth. It sure was yummy!

The History Channel

So while Mommy is trying to make me a book lover, Daddy is trying to show me how great The History Channel is.

One hot day!

So last weekend was sunny, warm, and wonderful, just as promised. Although Saturday was a bit too warm. I was okay with it, but Mommy wanted a fan blowing on her in any room she happened to be in. I heard it hit 92 degrees here! The heat really drains you as you can tell by these pictures:




Notice how close Mommy placed the fan by us.

And the only reason I have a blanket (or two) on me in this heat, is because I always need them nearby--especially if Mommy is rocking me.

Unfortunately, it looks like it will be raining for most of this coming weekend. Bummer!!!