Have a holly jolly christmas

I had a lot of fun this weekend taking some pics for my friend, Larisa. Their little boy is Cooper's favorite bud. They live upstairs and get to play with us all the time, we love it. Anyway, as you can tell I've been a bit camera happy lately...I hope you don't mind all the pics :)

We went to the mall this wknd and Cooper rode this cute little train. You can't really tell by his expression in that picture, but he loved it. The second picture was at Rainforest Cafe for lunch and Dave was tickling the crap out of him. Poor thing, I feel his pain. He gets it from me. We are both extremely ticklish.

Gosh, the last couple weeks have been a whirlwind. We've had christmas stuff and christmas shopping going on. It's driving me nuts that I haven't been totally 'enjoying' this holiday. Usually I just soak it all in, but this year, I am just stressed for some reason. We're leaving for Utah wednesday night (WOOOOOOOOOO!) so I'm trying to get ready for that and get everything done beforehand. I'm also stressing out about our trip. It's hard when we have to jump from home to home and place to place. Sometimes I dread the moving around more than the trip. There's always just so much to get in while we're there. And this trip seems like it will be extra busy. BUT, at the same time I can't wait, since we'll be seeing some of our favorite people....YEA!!!!

A few holiday favorites this year:
-hot chocolate (nothing new, just love it extra this year)
-candy cane joe joes from Trader Joes. Those are pretty much peppermint oreos. A must-try.

-pumpkin spice oatmeal...also from Trader Joe's. I love that place.

-my friend spoiled me with the cutest card holder that are held by glittery snowflakes, and a glitter star for my tree. (I expressed to her my latest obsession of a glittery christmas)
-along with that I found some cute glitter snowflakes at target.
-some of my favorite christmas music: amy grant, sarah mclachlan, celtic christmas, celine dion
-my favorite scents (all oils from the body shop): sugar cookie, gingerbread, and vanilla spice

Alright, we are off on the road tomorrow night. Our first roadtrip to Utah since we've been here. Wish us luck! And until next time...Merry Christmas!

Recap

Saturday night was Dave's work Christmas party. We joined a bunch of people in taking a "party bus". Those are the only words to explain our vehicle. It wasn't a limo and it wasn't quite a bus. Inside it was about the size of a hummer but with plenty of standing room. It was totally nice inside and the music was thumping (which I secretly really enjoyed). Me and Dave were such animals drinking our pepsis. That's as close as we got to being as drunk as everyone else. We got there and they had 2 huge camels you could take your picture with. (The theme of the party was "Rock the Casbah" incase you were wondering about the camels) Some guys were also walking around with monkeys. They were so cute! We ate a nice dinner with live music and then after, we fake gambled for about an hour. They gave everyone a bunch of chips to play with so we ended up playing black jack. I dominated for a bit and then lost every chip. Thankfully I don't do that in real life because I'm quite sure I would gamble my life away. Then there was a dance before our bus came to get us. I, of course, had to join in. I LOVE dances, but when on earth do I get the oppurtunity to? So I took full advantage. Anyway, the night turned out to be fun. And it was kinda fun dressing up (thanks to an affordable H&M) even though I was dreading it the whole week. I forgot the camera but luckily we got one shot in before. And Dave's co-worker took this shot of us by the camel. I could tell that the camel was that man's (the guy that wouldn't get out of the picture) pride and joy. I love his "if you touch him, you die" face.

Saturday we visited our friends, Tiffany and Bryce, who had a baby girl on Friday. This is her second baby and their boy is only 14 months old! She was a complete surprise to them, but Tiffany is someone who can handle it...she's very patient. Here are a few pics I snapped of the precious baby. Newborns always gets me excited for baby #2! And that's not an announcement.

On a last and random note, is anyone watching October Road? Please tell me someone out there is. I love this show and I'm terrified they are going to take it off the air since it's only in it's second season (the first being only 4 episodes). I love the cast and the small town feel of it . I formed a small crush on Bryan Greeberg (the lead) during the first season of One Tree Hill and was stoked when this show came out. Anyway, I am dying to find out who Sam's father is. Wow, that was embarassing. I have got to stop admitting what shows I watch on t.v.

18 months...and one week

Cooper is 18 months. It came and went so quickly, but I wanted to post a bit about him and how he's growing. This is the stuff that matters...and they grow way to dang fast to keep up. So here's the scoop...it's boring to most people, and long, so read on if you want!

He is still obsessed with eating and milk...he loves milk. He constantly goes to the fridge and points at what he wants. Here are a few of his favorite things:
-cereal (that a boy)
-bananas, strawberries, clementines...pretty much any fruit
-edamame beans
-any mexican food, and anything spicy
-cheese

-craisins

-toast

-quesadillas (spelling anyone?)

-yogurt

He is talking like crazy. A lot of it is jibberish but he knows what he's saying ;) Some of the latest:
-shoe shoe. Every time we're getting ready to go, he runs to his room and grabs his shoes
-ball ball (notice a pattern? For some reason it's got to be two syllables)
-apple

-stacie (ok it sounds like ci ci ,but I love it)

-robbie
-joshy

-jackie
-All day long he goes "mama?" and I'll say "yes?" and he'll tell me something that makes no sense. But I know he's talking to me...and I love it!

-He answers "ya" to everything I ask, or sometimes it's "mmhhhhmmmm" like he's annoyed or something

-choo choo

-ha choo (pretend sneezing)

-owie

He loves to help me clean. Every time I get out the broom he insists on sweeping. We always unload the dishwasher together, and his job is putting the utencils in the drawer. When I clean him up in his high chair, he grabs the paper towel and starts scrubbing the tray.

He got his first hair cut last week from my friend. Finally, I'm not tucking his hair behind his ears constantly.

He loves outside, disneyland, his friend Tino, and most of all he LOVES Dave. Nothing makes him happier.

Every time we leave somewhere or say goodbye he does this cute little wave and blows kisses. He melts my heart.

He loves to run in place (only to copy Dave...and he eggs it on)

Congrats if you've endured this post. Hopefully the next post will be about US at Dave's work party tomorrow night...all dressed up and feeling completely out of our realm in formal wear.

How I miss you, Mizzou

Ok, I have found my new favorite place...and I want to live there. St. Louis, Missouri...the Lou...Nelly's hometown...the number 2 most dangerous place in the U.S. to live. Ok, not for those reasons, but for the reason alone that it is BEAUTIFUL! We went to visit Dave's brother, his wife, and two kids who live there and I fell in love. I would beg them to go on drives just so I could stare at the big beautiful, old, colonial style homes. (f.y.i. the dangerous part is on the east side of the river apparently, but where they live it is safe and So pretty) I kept asking Dave if we could move there. Anyway, the trip was f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c. So relaxing, so fun, so filling, and Cooper had the time of his life with all their toys and cat. It was nice to just stay in one place and do whatever we felt like doing...that is my favorite kind of vacation...no obligations. And thanksgiving dinner was awesome. Sara way to go on your excellent cooking! Mmmmmm...I'm dreaming about her stuffing right now. Ok, back to the point. Here are some pictures...aaaahhhhh.....the leaves were my favorite part. We just don't get falling leaves here...
I love that over-sized coat on Cooper. It's Will's. We had to borrow stuff, since we only brought flip flops and jackets.





































Two of Coop's favorite toys: their tricycle and the train "choo choo" that grandma and grandpa gave him











Grandma Murdock with Coop. I am still jealous of that beanie she found at H&M for $1.00











Me and my two favorite people. We went to Grant's farm this night I promise it was 50 below zero. But we got to see Santa...all worth it.











Dave's brother Chris, his wife Sara, and their two kids William and Libby












Thanks you guys!