Here are some photos from the past.

This shows one of the many times the park has flooded.

Cutie boy Matthew eating at Grandma's.

William before opening day for little league.

Patriotic Valerie.

Audrey with Mommy & Daddy
(08-05-07)

Addison awake 08-07-07

Day 10

Carrie with Audrey

Audrey on her side

Addison on her tummy

Wedding, Cheerleader Clinic and Weird Van

Over the weekend I traveled to Tennessee for the wedding of Tim Phillips and Moriah. I rode down in the Ayers' van with Terry Lynn, Briana (12), Cassie (10), and Dawson (8). We caravaned down with Carol Purdy and her kids Luke and Sarah.

The wedding was at the Historic Rock Castle (about 6 blocks from the Phillips' home) in Hendersonville which is just outside of Nashville. The temps that day were over 100 degrees and after the 7 p.m. outdoor ceremony it rained, which caused the humidity to raise to at least 200%. Tim escorted the grandmothers and mothers to their seats before the bridesmaids were escorted down the sidewalk by the groomsmen. Among the groomsmen were Chris Coleman and Josiah Loveland, both from Anderson. Carolyn Phillips and Rebekah Phillips were two of the bridesmaids. Grace Phillips (8) played the violin before and during the ceremony and Libby Phillips & Andrew Phillips were the flower girl and ring bearer.

About 85 friends and family, including the wedding party, attended the reception in the back yard of the Castle. A lasagna dinner was catered by Olive Garden. Just as I finished eating, the rain poured down so we ran under the trees and up on the Castle's porch. I sat with Tim's grandma, Teresa Maher, on the porch bench. While we were talking, we noticed a crowd out at the waterfront (the Castle is on a lake) so we went out to investigate. In advance, Tim had ordered a speedboat to come and whisk his new wife and him away for their honeymoon. They didn't even get to cut the cake!! So, we went and ate cake without them. We hung around for a while talking and meeting Liz's friend Kathy. Later we drove to the Phillips' house to hang out and let the kids play.

Liz Phillips (mom of the groom) and Terry Lynn Ayers.

Van we passed on the way home from Tennessee.

We stopped in Lapel on Sunday afternoon to see the house Travis Ayers is building for his uncle. His father, Terry, and his brother, Mitchell, were helping. All the outside work needs to be done by Wednesday because Travis is getting married on Saturday and will be gone for a few days on his honeymoon.

Here are Karyn's cat Hoblette and dog Simon. Hobs (his real name) was recently in a tragic accident with Simon and received shaken kitty syndrome. He was taken to the hospital and is now home and recovering. He is seen here after the accident. Michael took the two photos with his new iPhone.

Valerie recently attended the week long Shenandoah Cheerleader Clinic. One night they dressed in their blue and gold crazy outfits. She learned to do more chants and cheers and had a great time with her friends.

The Twins at Day 4

Audrey sleeping

Hurray from Addison!

Addison's touchdown!

Boy, do the girls have different personalities already.

Audrey, the older and bigger, is having trouble with stopped breathing episodes. Her oxygen levels go down and then her heart rate slows and eventually stops. They have to watch her very carefully. Joey and Carrie have been allowed to touch the girls but when they touch Audrey she gets too excited and stops breathing. Since she is on a ventilator she will not be fed any milk until her breathing levels out. She is on an IV. She is also been given a sedative to keep her calm so she doesn't open her eyes. She has lots of blond hair.

Addison on the other hand is a fighter. The doctors say that her fighting attitude is usual for the smaller baby since she is used to fighting for nutrients inside Carrie. She is lanky and active. Joey has seen her with her eyes open. Addison was finally fed mother's milk yesterday. Carrie has been pumping every two hours since the babies were born. The nurses said she kept down 1.5 cc. At that rate Carrie will run out of milk soon. She was only getting about 1 cc per pumping. Hopefully her milk will let down soon.

Fortunately the theory on feeding babies has gone back to mother's milk being the best. If the mother can't provide milk, the hospital uses other mothers' milk and in a last ditch effort they resort to formula. YEAH!!

I read in the newspaper yesterday that Indiana is opening its third milk bank, in Muncie. The Bloomington milk bank reports that their freezers are full. The other bank is in Michigan City. When I was nursing and had extra milk I inquired about donating and was told that could never happen as there is too much risk if tainted milk. Well, I guess they have changed their minds. Too late for me, though. Don't think I can start producing now.

The Twins Have Arrived!!!

Audrey June Cooper


Addison Michelle Cooper

Audrey June Cooper and Addison Michelle Cooper were born around 8:15 a.m. Saturday, July 28, 2007, eleven weeks early. Their proud parents, Joey and Carrie Cooper, were both present at the c-section delivery at St. Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis.

Audrey weighed 2 pounds, 6 oz and was 14.75 inches long, while smaller Addison weighed 2 pounds, 1 oz and was 14 inches long. Both girls are in the NICU at the same hospital where mother Carrie is recovering. Everyone is doing great.

Father Joey spent the day escorting family and friends one at a time into the NICU to see the little girls. They are in separate incubators and are breathing on their own. They have oxygen tubes for additional help and the tube in their mouth goes to their stomach to pump air out, not to put food in. They are on IV.

Carrie will probably go home Monday evening or Tuesday. Audrey and Addison will probably go home around their due date of October 13.

Audrey's footprints


Addison's footprints

Carrie's belly at 28 weeks 5 days

Why do I participate in these things?

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

What is a CANNA anyway?

CANNA spp. Canna (E); Achira (C); Achiva (S); Bandera de uriba (C); Cafe cimarron (P); Capacho (C); Chisgua (C); Chumbima (C); Maraca (Ch) . The roots of some species serve as a source of starch allowed to diabetics (!). The seeds are used in necklaces, rattles, and popguns. the leaves are used for wrapping food. Leaves and tubers serve as fodder. In certain parts of Colombia, cakes are made from the flour extracted from the roots. the plant is considered diuiretic and emollient. Necklaces of the seeds, sometimes accompanied with the teeth of the fish payara, are supposed to drive off the "mal de ojo" and to make the teeth grow strong. The leaves and rhizomes are considered refrigerant and rubefacient, and are recommended for epilepsy. The leaves are used as cataplasm for hernias.




FROM: http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/ibc99/dr-duke/c.html

Fourth of July

I recently kept my first grandson, Matthew, for the week while my daughter attended a conference in California. He is three and a half and very cute. He is very quiet and can entertain himself for hours if needed but from the picture you can see that his young aunts and uncles love to entertain him too.

Hannah and Matthew rolled their tongues for this picture. Can you do that? You'd be surprised how many people can't roll their tongue.

Today our family will celebrate Michael's 18th birthday. His birthday was Friday but with all the softball games and practices, math classes, and life at the newspaper, we couldn't figure out a sooner time. He has requested chocolate cake with white frosting and ice cream with tracks of some kind. We bought bunny tracks ice cream when we shopped at Wal-Mart this morning. We also had to finish birthday shopping for him while we were there. The celebration will start with eating out at "The Great Wall" Chinese buffet in Anderson. Then we will return home to eat cake and ice cream and open presents. I guess tonight there won't be the age old problem at the Cooper household of whether we will do dishes before or after presents as there won't be any dishes. Yeah! After the party we plan to go to New Castle for the fireworks show. We usually go and eat fried chicken and play on the playground while we wait for the entertainment. Today it is supposed to rain from 2-8 p.m. so it will be good we planned on Michael's party during that time. We may still pick up some KFC for a snack before the spectacular; you know Chinese food doesn't stick to your ribs for long.

I talked to Carrie (daughter-in-law who is pregnant with twins at 25 weeks) today and she had the baby monitor on for an hour and had to be really still. The doctors have changed from every six hours to every twelve hours for her to be on the monitor so that is better for her. Yesterday the doctor had talked about letting her go home and just come back every other day to be monitored but she said she wouldn't be coming home by tomorrow. Kim and Emily and I hope to visit Carrie Thursday evening for a little while.

I am missing my friend Karyn so much that I feel as if I might cry at any time. She and her husband have been sailing up on Lake Erie for the last two weeks. They are having tons of fun. I hate to call her on the cell phone and interrupt her fun. Hope everyone has a good Fourth.

Pockets of History and Aprons

This is a book I bought in May at The Museum of Costume in Bath, England. They had a display case full of Pockets from the past. Ladies used to tie homemade pockets to their waist either under their apron or over their skirt.
It was really neat to see how intricate some of the pockets were. There were cartoons and works of art depicting pockets; and there was even a six inch doll with a pocket accessory. Some pockets came in pairs while others were single. Some were knitted and others were made from scraps of material pieced together. I will have to add a pocket to my list of items I am going to sew for myself.






My friend Karyn gave me this book about Aprons so that I can make an apron; I have a hard time finding an apron long enough or full enough to fit my liking. Maybe I'll make a pocket to go with it.

I'm starting a blog

I guess I will try to do this. It seems really complicated. But here goes.