The Cooper family is growing...

...as is my (Josie's) midsection. Baby Cooper ("Sprout") will be joining us at the end of June, and we can't wait to meet him/her! With only 25 weeks of gestation left, we are realizing that nine months is not a very long time to prepare for the arrival of a baby! When you take out the three weeks this winter that we will be spending in New Zealand, it seems like Baby Sprout will be arriving in no time at all.


While I've been busy trying to avoid morning sickness, Andy had other things to keep him occupied:



Shoveling us out after 18 inches of snow from The Great Blizzard of 2009







Keeping Toodles from performing his new favorite trick- jumping on top of the refrigerator and knocking cereal boxes onto the floor for Miss Ping to play with.









Taking Josie to a Christmas concert and trying to stay awake (he failed).






Bringing Josie to a tree farm to cut down their very first Christmas tree, then ensuring that no Christmas tree decorations were hung within two feet of the ground (the danger zone for being eaten by curious cats).





Considering past Christmas tree problems (Toodles climbing the tree, then falling and breaking his tail, Toodles eating glass Christmas tree light bulbs...), the season was an uneventful success. Happy New Year!

Newish Couch

Some updates our couch:
-Brownish
-Does not smell yet
-Comfortable to sit on
-Good for sleeping
-The cats love it:

Stalin gets the scoop on new art!

This "new" art has been on the wall for some time but has not been seen online - yes the 3rd piece exists! Photos exist and will be posted if they do not appear on a popular art blog soon!

SPOOKY, SCARY

The neighborhood children were not prepared for the Cooper house. They got their candy but witnessed...

Yep, they won't be back.

Camping Trip!

We went camping this weekend, Yellow River state park. We also saw some of Josie's relatives and such.


The views were beautiful - this is NE Iowa near Harper's Ferry. In the morning there were mists rising out of the valley.

Here is a closer view - it it looked a lot like smoke but more wispy and random.



We backpacked to a site, and were able to hike from there to a Fire Tower - we think the barbed wire meant no climbing. Oh well.
And we saw a beautiful sunset! All in all a good trip!. I'll document the meal next!

Superior Shores!

Josie had a great mini-vacation in Two Harbors, MN. Lots of family, fun, and good wine! Here are some pictures of second cousins (first, and once removed), dogs, wildlife, and beautiful scenery!

Theft Alert!

It has recently come to my attention that a notorious "backpack thief" has been seen in the area. His M/O is to steal cuddly animal packs from small children, then flaunt his theft at family functions. If seen, placate the suspect with cheese (any type) and contact the police. Do not attempt to apprehend the suspect by yourself.

Sushi

So a few weeks ago our friends had us over for homemade sushi. Even some raw tuna rolls! [scary but turned our great]. Here is makin' a roll:

This is Andy's contribution - opening Miso soup packages and distributing into cups. I gave myself one thumb up for perfection.

And here is the spread-- a lot of time but was fun and delicious [except for those who hate the smell of fish, which was Josie and our friend]

Many Things!

Guess who got to take a nap with a kitty AND a puppy? Yep, Josie [see below]. Andy helped by tricking the animals so they did not realize they were in bed with "the enemy." Jackson is extremely cute, even for a puppy.
The cats still like their tree. In this unstaged photo you can see all 3 enjoying it. Pongo decided it was fighting time but Ping was not so sure. Toodles was happy with nip.
So this blog is not updated that much, but maybe 2 weeks ago Mom & Dad visited. Here we are enjoying a Verona brewpub. Slow service but they had sweet potato fries and good root beer so all was well.


And Mom went hope but Day stayed and enjoyed a classic winter oven baked BBQ chicken dish with asparagus, red potato, and mushrooms.


So as you can tell things are going well! More posts to come, perhaps they will be more interesting. Hmm in other news we are off to visit Josie's fam this weekend. Should be good times.

New Buddy

Josie and I have a new friend, here is Jackson:


Josie gets to puppy-site for a co-worker when she is working and Josie has the day off. Needless to say, Josie enjoys those days a lot:
I like him alright too.

Sunshine?

My dear friend Heather is vacationing in Arizona right now, and is filling her days with hikes and backpacking trips in the warm desert sunshine. Our friend Amanda is swimming in the glorious ocean waters of Saipan. My sister is relaxing on the beaches of Mexico (a much-deserved vacation from residency). In an attempt to make myself feel better about our snowy, cold, cloudy time in Madison, I am posting the famous 5:50 am photo from hiking in sunny, warm colorado this summer. The sun will return! I have faith, I'm just getting impatient...

2009 -- more food

Made some good oven food, rasperry walnut chutney on chicken breasts, asparagus, and sweet potato:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh6X4gwuqww (skip to 1:00 if you are pressed for time)

And a spinach, pomegranate, and walnut salad. Pretty solid.

On the non-food front... today:
-Running
-Go to store
-Samosas for dinner!

tomorrow:
-cross country skiing
-Christmas party for JoJo's work