3 Months

Wow... 3 months have gone by already! Probably every post I write starts out the same... saying how I can't believe how fast my kids grow... but it really is true! 3 months seems to be kind of a milestone to me, mostly because clothes sizes go from 0-3 months to 3-6 months. And it is true, Cooper is growing out of all his clothes. For some reason, it is so hard for me to not keep dressing him in his clothes that are now capri's and 3/4 length sleeves on him. I love his little baby clothes- how little and cute they are- and I can't believe that he just doesn't fit in them anymore. At 3 months, not only is Cooper growing out of his clothes, he is growing and changing every day. He can hold his head up very well now, and sits in a bumbo seat just fine. He loves to smile and coo, and talk to us. He loves to play with toys now... he will play with the toys on his swing, and his favorite thing is to lay on his play mat with the toys hanging above him. Cooper loves his crib. He will lay in it just happy and talking to himself in the mirror toy. He is sleeping through the night consistently!!! We are going on a good week now, of Cooper sleeping through the night. However, Sydney has been waking up consistently, for some reason, so we haven't quite gotten a WHOLE night's sleep without waking up at all. But, we are doing pretty well in the sleep department. Cooper also loves sucking on his hands and he is blowing bubbles now. We are having so much fun with him. It is funny how much different of a baby he is from Sydney. We call him our "sensitive" baby. I am pretty sure that he has reflux, which makes things pretty hard sometimes. He has a hard time eating pretty often, spits up a lot, and is fussy after a few feedings a day, arching his back, and is hard to calm down. The doctor said a diet (of no dairy, eggs, spicy foods, nuts/nut products) might help. I am not very excited to start another diet, but maybe it will help me lose some baby weight. Who would have ever thought I would have to do so many diets for the sake of my kids?! Even though Cooper has his hard times, when he is happy, he is happy! We sure love having him in our family, it has been a great 3 months!

Christmas

We had such a great Christmas this year! Matt had Christmas Eve off of work, because Thursdays are his regular day off. So, we spent the day running some last minute errands for Christmas, and then we headed over to Matt's grandparent's house for Christmas Eve festivities. At Nana and Papa's house we had a traditional scones dinner, a small talent show, a gift exchange, and a reading of the Christmas story in Luke with singing. It is always so nice to spend time with family and remember the story of the first Christmas. We brought Sydney's little piano so that she could represent our family with her talent! She sang twinkle, twinkle, little star, while playing the piano. She made our family proud! Then we went home and the kids opened some new pajamas... so cute!

Santa brought us a lot of presents this year! Sydney got some dress ups; a little mixer with some cooking things like measuring spoons, whisks, etc; a chef's hat and apron that matches mommy's; some small Dora things; a Fancy Nancy book; and a couple outfits; plus stuff from grandparents and aunts and uncles! She is a loved little girl!

Cooper got a bumbo, a few small rattles, baby soap, new blankets, a book, binkies, some 3-6 month clothes, some diapers and wipes, and stuff from extended family members...

We woke up at 7, so we would have enough time to enjoy the morning together before breakfast and before Matt had to work. We went into Sydney's room to wake her up, and laid in her bed with her. I asked her if she wanted to go see what presents Santa brought her, and she said "yes" and rolled over. She was very tired, but decided to get out of bed and go see. She walked down the hall and just stared at the presents. I think she was too tired to do anything else :) Then she laid down on the ground and looked at the presents under the tree.

Here's a picture of Sydney showing us the "cheese and yogurt" that Santa put in her stocking. She was pretty excited about it! I love the apron and chef's hat. We call it her cooking hat. She has been having a lot of fun putting her play eggs in her mixer... and making cookies.

We thought Sydney would enjoy some dress ups because she loves to put on my shoes and shirts. I have a picture of her wearing about 5 of my shirts at the same time with my heals on... I think we were right! Sydney has loved having some new dress ups.

Cooper hanging out in the sled...

We went over to my parent's house for a big Christmas breakfast before Matt had to work. So fun and yummy! Then Matt drove my dad's truck to work, so I wouldn't have to drop him off and pick him up, and I hung out with my family all day. When Matt got off of work, we ate a yummy Christmas dinner... ham, patio potatoes, rolls, and jello!

The highlight of the day was talking to our brothers! We called Tim at noon, and were able to talk to him for 2 hours. It was SOOOO good to talk to him and hear how he was doing and learn more about Africa. I have been amazed by how much I miss him. It wasn't as hard for me when Michael left, because he left when my family was living in AZ so I wasn't used to having him around. Anyway, it was fun for everyone to talk to him. Sydney talked to him, which was fun... but Matt wasn't able to talk to Tim because he was at work. Shortly after we hung up with Tim, Matt's family connected us to a 3 way call with Alex, and Sydney and I were able to say hi and have a quick conversation with him. Luckily, Matt was able to say a quick hello to Alex as well, because he called while Matt wasn't on a call at work.

I can hardly believe that Christmas is over! The older I get, the faster time goes... which I don't necessarily like. But, we had a great Christmas. Some highlights of the season include: parties with the Page, McEwan, and Holmes families; Olive Garden and the Nutcracker with Chris and Lisa; making gingerbread houses with the Schones and with the Appels; buying a fresh Christmas tree; shopping for presents; and just spending time with each other!

Grateful

You know how people stand up to bear their testimony, and they start of by saying, " I would be ungrateful if I didn't stand up to bear my testimony today..."? I have been having one of those moments lately. I could be cleaning my house right now, but I do feel like I want to write down my feelings. My kids are both asleep, the house is quiet, the snow is falling outside, and I am sitting next to our Christmas tree, which is beautifully lit. There is something special about this time of year. I love to think of the classic Christmas story, the story of Christ's birth. It must have been amazing to be Mary. Becoming a mother, is a very spiritual experience. I feel like I have such a big job to do in raising these children for the Lord. But the interesting thing is, I believe I can do it with His help. I believe that he believes in me. I believe that families are forever, and that the family is central to the Lord's plan. Sometimes life events happen that make you realize the truth of the gospel even more. Last week was one of those times for me. I have been watching my sister-in-law's family go through a devastating time. It is interesting to watch something like that from the outside. To see the Lord's hand in their family. To watch His tender mercies present in their lives. I truly, more than ever, believe that the Lord has a plan for us. He will not give us trials that we can not handle. Life definitely will not be easy, but we will grow and learn from our experiences. The growth that we gain from our experiences is needed for us to learn. And we have to learn! Knowledge is one of the most precious gifts that we have. How blessed we are to have the knowledge of the gospel. To know that Christ lives! To know that we have a prophet on the Earth today, who can guide us if we will only listen. To know that we can pray to our Father in Heaven any time. To know that we can ask for His strength and receive it. To know that our families can be forever! There is nothing more precious to me than my family and the gospel. I am so grateful for my husband and my children. I am grateful for the Lord's hand in our lives. It has been a hard year for us, but I can see how much we have grown this year. It is so easy to focus on bad things. I am learning that there will always be bad things going on in our lives, but if we focus on the good things we will be much happier people. Sometimes it seems we have to look hard for things that our good in our lives. But once we start looking, the good list becomes endless. I have been able to see my endless blessings in such a clear light. I feel like the Lord has blessed me abundantly. I love my family. I love my kids. I love Matt. And, I am so grateful that we are all together at this time, and that we will be forever. I hope that all of our friends and family have a wonderful Christmas season! For it truly is a special time of year.

Cheese and Yogurt

Sydney is having so much fun this Christmas season. She loves to talk about Santa Claus and how he is going to bring her presents, treats, snacks, and socks. Sydney loves having string cheese and go-gurts for a snack. So lately when we ask her what she wants Santa to bring her she says, "cheese and yogurt!" We ask her if she wants some toys, and as an afterthought, she'll say "yes... and cheese and yogurt... and socks!" Don't ask me where she got these ideas. And socks? Who knows! Life suddenly gets a lot more funny when your kid starts talking!

Finally!

Putting up our tree this year has been quite the hassle. First, we had to find some time when Matt was home to go buy a tree. It is a busy time of year, especially for students, with final projects, papers, and finals. So Matt has been especially busy with school and work has been very busy as well... last week Matt even worked overtime. We finally were able to buy a tree on Thursday, Matt's day off.

Then came the project of putting lights on. We bought a bigger tree than we ever have before, and ran out of lights. So then I had to find a time when I could go to the store to buy some more lights (I don't have a car most days). I made it to Walmart and bought 3 packages of lights, but when I got home and opened them I found out that each package only had plugs on one side of the strand, so I wasn't able to connect the strands. So, Matt stopped at Target on his way home from work the next day and bought some lights. This time when I opened the package I found that he bought icicle lights, which don't work very well on a tree. Sunday we took a break, because we weren't able to go to a store. And first thing Monday morning, Matt headed to Walmart to get some lights. They didn't have any, so then he went to Home Depot, who didn't have any, and finally he went to Target and hit the jackpot. He brought the lights home, and headed off to work. When I went to put on these lights, I had to take off a whole strand of lights because the plugs on the end were not polarized (one side of the plug bigger than the other) but the new lights were, and the two plugs would not fit together. So after I got a strand off, I put a new strand on, and ran out of lights again. Finally I used some creative thinking and problem solving skills to figure out a way to use the strand that I had already taken off, so I wouldn't have to make another trip to the store. Anyway, after 5 trips to 3 different stores, and after 5 DAYS of having a half lit tree, I finally got our tree all the way decorated! It's a good thing Sydney loves it!

The Lights

Our little man Cooper was in charge of helping mommy put the lights on the tree... he kept them from getting all tangled up and loved looking at them. And of course sister Sydney never wants to miss out on a photo shoot! I have decided that I DO NOT LIKE putting lights on the tree... if there is anyone who actually likes the job, you are welcome to come over and put our lights on next year! (hopefully we have plenty!)

The Ornaments

I wanted to do a couple of Christmas projects to keep us busy during our indoor days on this cold month. So we went to Robert's and got a few cheap things to make ornaments and a paper chain garland for our tree. Sydney loved painting the ornaments! You can tell because she wasn't even paying attention to the photo op. Check out her concentration!

The Finished Product!

The end result turned out fabulous if I do say so myself... feel free to play I-Spy and find our homemade ornaments from this year- 2 yellow stars, 1 snow flake, 1 long red and green paper chain, and 1 star tree topper!

Gingerbread Houses and Santa Claus

On Saturday afternoon Santa Claus visited our apartments. So, Allie and I took Sydney and Cooper over to meet him. Sydney did pretty well for a two year old. She didn't want to sit on his lap, but loved talking to him, shaking his hand, waving to him, and giving him a high-5. Now all she talks about is going to see Santa again. He gave her a candy cane, which she loves and hung on our Christmas Tree. Sydney is loving spotting Santa Claus all around. She keeps telling me that he is going to bring her some snacks and presents, and that he says "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

On Saturday night we went over to our friend's, the Appel's, house to make gingerbread houses. Sydney and Colton love playing together. Sometimes they just look at each other and laugh! Anyone that was at either one of our baby blessings can testify that they can cause a lot of mischief together and have a lot of fun while doing it. The Appels had baby Bailey a month after Cooper was born, so we have fun together, with our kids being close in age.

a picture of the crying babies... usually at least one of them is crying, and most of the time they take turns :)

Shots

We took the kids in for well child check ups this week. I can't believe how big they are getting!

Sydney got 2 shots- one of them being the H1N1. Luckily they had just gotten it in. I feel much safer sending her to nursery now! :) She did really well at the doctor's. When they gave her the shots, she didn't even cry, until the nurse said, "Wow, you didn't even cry!" Ha ha, then the tears came. Sydney is becoming more true to the size we thought she would be... She was 25 lbs (36 Percentile) and 32 1/2 inches (23 Percentile). The doctor described her as 'petite.' It's funny because she has almost always been right around 50th percentile for both. He also asked if she was beginning to put one or two words together to form sentences... um...yep! The most common sentences in her vocabulary are: "What are you doing?" "What does a ____ say?" "I want snacks" "Where's daddy" "Daddy's at work" and many more. I think she's past the point of beginning to understand sentences. She definitely is a little chatter box! Sydney entertains herself very well and loves playing with her toys. The other day I was sitting on the couch feeding Cooper when I heard water running. I went into the bathroom to find Sydney in the tub giving her doll a bath in Cooper's bath. She is getting good at pretending and using her imagination. We have a lot of fun playing and I love watching her play.

Cooper got 3 shots and drops, for a total of 5 immunizations... crazy. He was pretty fussy, but it should be his worst doctor's appointment because of the number of immunizations, and because he doesn't naturally use his muscles to ease the pain in his legs. He is a healthy baby. He weighed almost 12 lbs (48 Percentile) and was 23.43 inches long (67 Percentile) with a little noggin-15.2 inches (17 Percentile). It is fun to watch Cooper grow and learn. He is smiling pretty often and is cooing. We will ask Sydney what Cooper says, and she says "oooh, ooooh." We love it when he makes good solid eye contact with us and smiles and talks. It sure is fun. He is pretty much a pro at holding his head up now, and he loves his swing especially when he finds himself in the mirror on it. He is now sleeping in his crib, which he loves. He is SO CLOSE to sleeping through the night. The other night Sydney woke up at 4:45 yelling "mommy!" which woke him up. I was not very happy, just wondering if he would have made it had Sydney not woke him up. Because they share a room, they wake each other up sometimes, but they do better than I would have expected. I am definitely excited for my first full night's sleep though!