Eleven Months

One more month, and my baby will be one.  It is just too hard to believe. Every day Cooper is getting closer and closer to toddlerhood, and I can see it, and it kind of makes me sad.  He is just such a good baby, and I enjoy having him be a baby so much.  Maybe because I know what lies ahead, I'm trying to hold on to every ounce of baby I can.  I know he will start telling me no.  I know he will start throwing small fits (or big ones).  I know I will have to potty train him.  I know he will grow up someday and not need his mommy anymore.  I think it is the strangest thing, because with every new thing he learns I have a bittersweet moment.... my baby is learning and growing, and I love it and am excited!  BUT he is learning and growing, and I'm sad.  Maybe it's a mother thing...

When I think of Cooper a few words automatically pop into my head: sweet, good natured, loving, happy, and content.  What more could you ask for?  He is just so darn cute.  I LOVE his bald little head; his blue, blue eyes; his cute, chubby cheeks; the way he crawls around the house, usually following me or his older sister; I love him and even though I'm sad to see him grow so fast, I am excited to see the man he becomes. With his personality, he will be a great friend, father, and husband someday.  I can just picture him being kind and gentle with his kids, but fun-loving at the same time.


Here are 11 things about Cooper at 11 months:

1.  He likes to climb.  He recently learned how to climb onto the dishwasher and can often be found inside baskets.  When playing in the dishwasher, he always chooses one utensil and one plate, so he can hit the plate with the utensil.

2.  He has 3 teeth (2 on the bottom and 1 on the top).

3. When he is concentrating he will stick out his tongue- like his father and sister.

4.  When he eats his "treats" (cheerios, kix, and gerber puffs) he holds a treat tightly in one hand while eating the rest with his other hand.

5.  He really likes to have his little blanket when he sleeps.

6.  He still sucks in his bottom lip.

7. He likes to play in the lint trap on the dryer.

8. He loves books and turns the pages himself... and he likes to eat them.  Our baby books that lasted through Sydney are now showing signs of being chew toys for Cooper.

9.  He almost always crawls around with a toy in each hand.

10. His favorite toys are balls and his little baseball bat.  He likes to crawl around with a ball in one had, the bat in the other, and a ball in front of him.  He'll hit the ball in front of him with the bat, it'll roll forward, he'll crawl to it and hit it again.

11.  He can stand on his own, and will even squat down and stand up again.  Walking is coming up soon!

Busy Week

Matt's family came to town this week.  They brought Molly down to help her move into her dorm at Utah State, and stayed in Draper for about a week.  We did a lot of hanging out, lunches/dinners, and visiting baby Mason in the hospital.  It was great to have them in town again, and this time we will be seeing them again pretty soon- Thanksgiving.

They bought the kids Aggie shirts and thought it would be ok with me since they were the "right color"  (Any good sports team is Navy Blue, with the exception of maybe Alta High)

Blurry Pictures

Sometimes blurry pictures are the best ones, because they are so candid.  They capture funny moments, silliness, and kids who can't hold still...

A New Arrival!

We are so excited to announce that Sydney and Cooper have their first cousin!  Chris and Lisa had their baby two days ago- August 20th.  Baby Mason was 5 weeks early, weighed 5 lbs 4 oz, and was 19 inches long.  He's spending some time in the NICU, but is doing very well there.  We were able to go down to the hospital last night and visit.  Matt and I actually got to go into the NICU and see Mason.  We were lucky enough to watch his first bath, and watch Chris hold him for the first time.  He is just adorable!  Congratulations Chris and Lisa!

Sydney was so excited!  She wanted to have a birthday party and made Mason this birthday card...

I'm an aunt! (Finally!)

Our Mini Vacation

Matt has had a few days scheduled off in August all year...  We had big plans  dreams that we would be able to go to California- Disneyland, Sea World, the beach... Originally we thought we'd drive there after Stacie's wedding, but the timing didn't work out. Then we thought we'd still go on the days Matt had scheduled off, but we had to pay for tuition.  Needless to say, tuition is expensive and money has been especially tight all summer.  So Disneyland has been scratched... probably until Matt graduates or later.  Poor Sydney requests that we go there all the time, and is even saving "moneys" so she can go.  The timing will probably be right, that we'll be able to go when she's saved up enough money :)  (She's up to about $6) Luckily she is a resilient little girl, and really doesn't care too much.  By the time we get there, she'll be very excited after wanting to go for years!  

Last week Matt worked overtime every day.  He worked 85 hours in the span of 6 days.  So we really missed him a lot.  Sydney told my brother that her daddy was sleeping at work.  And I'd often overhear her saying "where's my daddy?... I don't know?..." when she was playing with her toys.  It was a rough week to say the least. Fortunately, Matt's 3 days off were after his crazy overtime week, and were Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week.  I REALLY wanted to so some fun things to kind of simulate a vacation.  Water parks, the Zoo, Swimming, Mini Golfing, etc.  But Matt was extremely tired from his overtime week, and all of those things cost money, so we didn't end up doing a whole lot.  We spent most of the mornings at home lazing around, and would venture out to find some free/cheap things to do in the afternoons/evenings.  We actually came up with a few great activities.  It was nice to be able to spend some time together without stress of work or school, even if it was not exactly how we had dreamed it.  Matt is back at work today, working overtime again.  But at least these 3 days will only be 8-8:30 instead of 8-11, and then he starts school again on Monday.  Life never seems to slow down or even give us a break... those 3 days went by so fast!  I am anxiously awaiting the day when we are no longer students!

Anyway, here are some pictures of our little mini stay-cation.  

Day 1:  

We ran a few errands- grocery shopping, Babies-R-Us- and then we went to Wheeler Farm.  The kids loved walking around and seeing the animals.  Sydney tried to talk to all of them, saying "oink" to the pigs, "quack" to the ducks, etc.  It was nice to be outside!  Later that night we went to the Drive-In and saw Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me.  I especially loved this!  If you haven't been to a drive in movie, you really need to go.  You get two movies, and it cost us $14 total, the atmosphere is so fun, and it is so much easier with kids because they have room to move around!  We laid blankets out in the back of our car, and set up two camp chairs.  The kids were adorable sitting in the car watching the movie in their pajamas.  Cooper kept pointing up to the screen.... they were both so excited.  Definitely fun!

Wheeler Farm- Sydney has a thing for tractors! (really)

The Drive-In

Day 2:

We lazed around home in the morning again, and in the afternoon prepared some tinfoil dinners to take up into the canyons and cook.  We packed up the cooler with dinner and stuff for s'mores, brought the pack-n-play for Cooper to play in, camp chairs, firewood, etc.  We drove a little ways up Little Cottonwood Canyon, and had a picnic at a little campground.  It was so perfect to be able to spend a little bit of time in the mountains.  Having the mountains so close is definitely one of the best things about living in Utah.  They are just beautiful.  Doing things in the mountains always reminds me of my Grandpa McEwan's cabin and going there as a kid.  I definitely have special memories of and feelings for the mountains!  Highlights for Sydney include eating chocolate, finding the river, throwing rocks in the river, and playing in the dirt.  Highlights for Cooper include getting out of the pack-n-play, having his first graham cracker, and playing with rocks.  Highlights for me include doing a little exploring with the kids, throwing rocks in the river, teaching Sydney about Granite (the rock the Salt Lake Temple is made out of), eating yummy food, and enjoying the scenery.  Highlights for Matt include building a fire, playing in the fire, and carving sticks.  I think it's so funny that rocks and sticks are so entertaining! It was a fun, dirty, peaceful, yummy, and nice evening!

Look!  There's Daddy!

Throwing rocks into the river

We found these cool rock "buildings"

Sydney's "temple rock"

Cooper loves rocks too!

Sydney decided she didn't like the s'more- but she really loved the chocolate!  I love that she took a bite right out of the middle of our King Size bar

Day 3:

Once again, we hung out at home most of the day.  We did venture out for lunch at a park, and didn't get to stay there very long because it started raining.  We visited my dad at work, and went to Toys R Us to look for  a Jessie Cowgirl Doll (from Toy Story) but they didn't have any left.  Then we rented a movie and hung out at home some more.  A pretty uneventful day.

I am sad that our little vacation is over.  I can feel fall settling in, and honestly am not looking forward to another long winter.  Our summer was cut very short this year- it didn't reach 80 until June/mid June at least, and is already getting cold.  There are many amazing things about living in Utah, but their long, long winters are not one of them.  Hopefully we can still get a few summer activities in before it gets too cold! :)

Our Backyard Carnival

Our apartments have a little carnival every summer.  Since we've been here two summers now (I know, a record for us!) this was our second carnival.  Last year it was raining on carnival day, so we didn't participate for more than 2 minutes, but this year the weather was great!  Sydney was so excited.  She looked out our window and saw all the blow up toys outside, so she ran out onto the deck to yell at all the people outside... she said, "Hey!  You came to my house!  We are going to have a party!"  She just couldn't believe that all these people came to her house just to have a party with her... so funny.  It was a fun little carnival.  Sydney kept confirming that "the party was over" for days after.  

Sydney was so excited to go inside this aligator, until she got to the opening, and it was "windy."  She attempted to go in several times, but was always scared... the air really was coming out pretty fast, check out her hair!

Sydney's first Cotton Candy!

Her first snow cone!

Showing me her blue tongue and face from the snow cone...

Butterflies

I think the reason why Sydney has always talked so well is because she is such a social butterfly!  She wants to talk to the entire world.  One of her first words was "HI" and she would say hi to anyone and everyone, before she could even walk.  While we have lived in this apartment one of her favorite things to do has been to go out on our deck and yell and talk to all the people outside.  I will often find her out there talking to some kid or adult walking a dog.  Many times I hear her yelling things like, "Hey guys, wait for me!"  She loves it.  Cooper has never been quite as social as Sydney.  He is kind of a mama's boy most of the time.  But he decided that Sydney was just having too much fun without him out on the deck.  So now they go out there and yell to the world together!  It is darling!

Stacie's Wedding!

Remember how I sometimes post about my good group of college friends?  Well Stacie got married last Thursday and  luckily we ALL were able to fly down to AZ for the wedding!  It was so fun to be able to spend time all together again!  Since it was just a short trip and Matt had finals and work, I decided to leave Sydney behind and just take Cooper with me.  Sydney stayed at Chris and Lisa's and had a fabulous time.  Every time I would call she would just say hi and give the phone away because she was just too busy having fun to talk! Lisa blogged about her stay here.  I have to admit, it was pretty nice to just have to worry about one kid again, even though I did miss Sydney.  It was Cooper's first trip on an airplane, and he did great both ways.

We all flew down on Wednesday morning and hung out for most of the day, catching up with each others' lives (I don't think we stopped talking the entire trip!) We were able to stay at Kelli's sister Maren's beautiful house because her family was out of town, and it was perfect!  We had Stacie's bridal shower on Wednesday night, which was so fun, and I'm so glad they decided to wait until we were all able to be there and have it the night before her wedding!  Kelli is a pro at putting together things like this, and of course the food was amazing!  I wish I could hire her to come and cook for our family all the time.  I am still craving her fried ice-cream desserts!

Thursday was wedding day!  Stacie and Jesse got married at 4:30 in the afternoon, so it was such a nice, relaxing day!  We got to eat breakfast with Stacie and her family, go see her new apartment, go swimming, and then get ready.  Matt's dad drove to Mesa to watch Cooper while I attended the sealing and the wedding dinner.  It was great to see him, and really nice for Cooper to be able to spend some time with him, since we don't get together very often.  The sealing was beautiful!  It is always nice to attend another sealing in the temple.  It always reminds me of my own, and makes me realize how blessed we are and will be when we keep the covenants we have made with each other.  

After the sealing, we took pictures in the BLAZING 117 degree heat.  It was so hot I think all our eyes were squinty and our smiles kind of funny, because your face just can't be natural in that kind of heat :)  We have all teased Stacie about getting married in Arizona in August.  It would have been really nice to go down there in January and escape the snow!  But as we all have LIVED- we plan our weddings for a time that works, not really around the weather- at least in our LDS culture when we don't have year long engagements.  Stacie was beautiful!  Her dress was so cute, and SO HER!  It was so fun to meet Jesse, and see the two of them together.  

Just finding some shade while we waited in between pictures!

The wedding dinner was awesome!  They had a pasta bar, and an italian soda bar- yummy!  It was decorated beautifully, and even included a little minute-to-win-it competition.  I would expect nothing less from Stacie!  I loved the tents they put up- everything looked so classy, and the cake- so good!

 

Our flights home on Friday came so quickly.  It was a perfect little trip!  It's amazing how fast you have to jump back into life when you get home.  I feel like I've been home for a month!  I think we should do these get togethers more often, because it's kind of like charging my batteries!  Congratulations Stacie!  It was a perfect day and I'm so happy for you two!

10 Months

Cooper is 10 months old now!  This month sure went by so fast! At 10 months Cooper is learning how to get into more and more things- opening drawers, and cupboards, and smashing many fingers.  He is also learning how to stick up for himself by crying.  He doesn't just sit there when Sydney tramples all over him and takes his toys- he lets her know he doesn't like it now.  He is beginning to get more toys out as he crawls around the house too, and will sometimes sit and look at baskets of books I have around.  When I read to him, he really enjoys touching the pictures and gets really excited.  One of his new favorite things is the dishwasher.  As I load it, he loves to pull plates and spoons out of it and bang on dishes with spoons.  He loves balls, and balloons, and does not like swinging.  He will sit in the swing at the park, but hates to be pushed in it.  He loves to be outside, and loves crawling around and exploring.  He will crawl all over, on the grass, the cement, the dirt... nothing phases him.  Because he crawls so much now, he seems to be thinning out a little, and is beginning to lose his baby chubbiness.   One of my favorite things about Cooper is that he still needs/wants to cuddle when he wakes up from naps.  He'll wake up, and I'll rock him in the rocking chair for a few minutes, while he rests his head on my chest.  Those moments are some of the best parts of my days.  He still only nurses and can't figure out any other form of drinking, including bottles, several kinds of sippy cups, straws, etc.  Hopefully someday he'll figure one of them out... he's going to have to!  He is such a good natured, happy baby, and we love having him in our family!