love, the murdocks

Peace out.

2010-01-09T06:44:00.008-07:00

Due to my constant frustrations with blogger, I have decided to take my thoughts and post them elsewhere. We will be residing at murds.tumblr.com. It's a bit of a pain, but this new blog will make my life that much easier. This blog will remain up, but I won't be posting here anymore. Rest in peace, blogger. I will miss you...kind of.

I'm slowly recovering from hibernation

2009-12-10T06:49:00.002-07:00

It's been a painful process just trying to talk myself into updating.

The weekend before Halloween we took a last minute trip down to Newps (Thank you Tracy for using that word on your blog, it's hilarious. It reminded me of when Melissa called it Newpy...also hilarious). The trip was short, but heavenly, as they always are. The weather was absolutely perfect. I can never explain enough how much we love that place. The connection we feel to it and the people we know there. It was where we started our family, where we met some of our greatest friends. And after yesterday's bitter, bitter weather, I want to move back, like, tomorrow. So I will take us to the beach here, with some shots from our trip.

We went to Montage beach down in Laguna with Kristin and Jared and their two cuties. This beach was beautiful, can't believe we had never visited.

Beach and B.j.s near the balboa pier with the lovely Castillos.

Fashion Island, I think our first night. Dinner at wahoos.

We met Wendy for lunch and then she snapped a few little pictures of us.

The night we got home I got sick with something fierce. It took me down for a week. I don't know what it was, but I pretty much had everything in the book, all at once. Dave got it too. And then Cooper got a fever literally 1/2 hour before we went out trick or treating. So after his second house and barfing all over the sidewalk we were all inside with our sweats on, feeling like crud. Although it wasn't a great halloween, it was memorable. And we spent it together which is what makes me happy. Since halloween, I have no clue what I've been doing. Christmas hasn't been stressful at all...and that is probably because I have done nothing. No joke, nothing. Which is all of sudden stressful. Shoot...I should probably get on it. Why must I wait till the last minute to do everything in my life?!

112th post

2009-10-19T16:36:00.006-06:00

Once again, I have waited at least two weeks to blog. I am on such a roll.

It is 6:24 am and there is no strange reason for me to be up this early. When fall rolls around, for some reason, Cooper wakes up earlier, waayyy earlier. I will never understand. I already miss the 14 long days of summer. Don't you agree thats about how many we have here in the indecisve land of Utah? Totally. I can't complain though cause heaven knows how much I obsess over autumn.

May I start out with the hugest news in the history of the world????? Coop actually peed on the toilet. ON THE TOILET. That day was a wonderful day...there were almost tears of joy. But I didn't allow myself to get my hopes up. And good thing I didn't cause he's peed on the toilet maybe twice since then. Awesome.

Reese has been keeping things extremely real for me as of lately. I don't know what switch went off in her head, but I must say the baby that I once new was a far sweeter version of the girl that I know I now. It might be the teething. She's chewing on her little hands constantly, she gets fevers like they are going out of style, she will not, under any circumstances, let me put her down, and she wants to take like 4 teeny tiny naps a day. I will just continue telling myself it's a phase. It's a phase.....

I had a great weekend. Any time spent with family from Canada is great. Besides this weekend, the kids the I have had a pretty laid back couple weeks. Good thing I have a few pictures to look back on, or else I would forget everything...since I do forget everything.

Last week we hit up the pumpkin patch. I love the pumpkin patch. Coop was giddy when he saw that the tractor he sat on last year was there still.

This picture cracks me up

This is the #1 reason I love daybreak. Coop's got some good buds here.

There is no other reason for posting these, other than they melt my heart.

"Growing Old Is Getting Old"

2009-10-05T14:54:00.004-06:00

I can't get this seriously awesome Silversun Pickups song out of my head. When I like a song, I listen to it over and over again until I can't bear it anymore. I seem to run everything into the ground. My problem is that I can only do it one thing at a time. One song at a time, one interest at a time, I can't talk on my phone and do anything else at the same time. I'm a one track mind kinda gal. Kudos to all you people who can do everything at once.

This is why I despise blogging. I never seem to write about the interesing things that go on our lives. I write about the miniscule, mindless thoughts that pop into my head. Then I think, holy...why did I write about that? I should delete it. Then sometimes I don't, and all you lucky people get to hear about it.

See?

As I'm sure everyone else is, I'm enjoying the colder weather. I'm in a clean my house, stay inside and eat food, watch gilmore girls kind of mood. And it seems like I've done just that a whole lot lately. I'm such a home body.

The first rainy day last week, we ventured out to the library to pick up a new load of books for the kids. Before getting into the car Coop ran out into the alley and basked in the rain for a bit. These are seriously the only measley pics I've taken forever, so enjoy.

Check out these ridiculously cute bloomers that my talented friend Karrie made for me. There is a dress that goes with them, but the bloomers are cute by themselves, don't you agree? Nothing compliments her chubalicious body better.

Poor Reese has had a rough couple weeks. It started out with a literal bang, as I accidentally rammed my camera right into her brand new tooth and chipped the crap out of it. Way to go, me. Then she got some sort of eye infection last week which made it hard for her to see out of her goopy eyes and hard for me to look at her goopy eyes. She's good now, and back to her spunky, active self.

The day Reese's love affair with cake began

2009-09-23T07:53:00.004-06:00

The day after Reese's birthday we invited a few of our favorite people to our house for cake, and really nothing else. I know...you're thinking wow, she knows how to throw a party. No, no I don't. It was super low key. The only thing I like about a one year old's birthday party is watching them shove cake down their throats and all over their face. Totally entertaining. So we watched Reese do just that, then we shoved cake down our throats. It was great.

We moved her up to her high chair to finish the dirty job

Then I just got sick of taking pictures and wanted to visit with people.

Near the end, she started looking drunk. Then eventually she just sat there, not moving a muscle...staring at nothing. It was awfully cute. Thanks family and friends who came. It was fun having you there to share the love and eat cake...

I still can't believe she is one!!

My birfday girl

2009-09-19T09:30:00.005-06:00

My little miniature slice of pumpkin pie is one today. I can't believe it. Seriously, what happened. Where has my tiny, newborn gone?

Oh, but I can't complain. She gets better and better by the quick second. More smiley, more mobile, more delicious, more fun....and more destructive. I won't lie, a future of pure destruction does make me nervous. But, I'll enjoy her in the meantime.

She still seems like a lil 9 month old. It may have to do with her late desire to crawl, or her lack of being able to take a single step on those wobbly, abnormally small feet. Or maybe I've been in denial. Who knows. All I know is that I have whole heartedly tried to enjoy every waking moment with this child. I try to smell her and kiss her and take in her sweetness at least once a second. It seems the more I want time to hold still, the faster it goes.

Enough of the mush gush. You guys all get the picture...I'm obsessed with her. We were out in our courtyard Wednesday night and I snapped a few pictures of her. Nothing special, nothing thought up (is it ever??), just her being her insanly cute and lovely self. The way I obviously prefer her.

Oh those cheeks and that curvy mouth. I'll take them on a platter.

Happy birthday my sweet little Reesey girl.

Snorkeling

2009-09-09T14:47:00.007-06:00

Yesterday coop asked to take a big, big, big bath (sometimes he'll say the adjective 20 times so I get the picture). So while reese napped, I filled up the tub and let him play. He wanted goggles, so I put on the only goggles we own....dave's snorkeling goggles. And I thought, what the heck, I'll show him how to use the snorkel. He didn't quite get the snorkel but still kept trying. Every few minutes I would hear him go under the water, he'd squirm really bad, then come up for air and choke. Then he would do it over and over again. It was cute.

We went to park city for an over-nighter last weekend and I took one picture. Yes, one. So I decided I would put a link on here to my sister, Melissa's, blog so you can see the pics and hear about the fantastic time we had. Only if you want...

http://lifeofelders.blogspot.com/2009/09/labor-day-in-park-city-black-and-white.html

A week, or two, in pictures

2009-08-25T22:30:00.005-06:00

I've been away for awhile. Not from home, just the computer. Blogging doesn't excite me lately. But then I fall in love with a picture of my kid(s) and I get excited again.

The past couple weeks have been nice. Just hanging out, doing what we want, being with people we like.

I've taken a few pictures, just to document a few little moments.

I love this girl's eyes. Seriously, sometimes when the light hits them right they look unreal. So sparkly. Besides the basic color pop I use on the entire picture, I don't ever enhance her eyes. They are really that blue.

Cooper's eyes are beautiful, too. Just not as "blue" as Reese's. One of my favorite people, and cousin, stayed with us a couple weeks ago. It was so fun. Brette has an eye for photography. She takes amazing landscape pics and catches beautiful moments with ordinary objects. She took this picture of Cooper that melts my heart. Brette's site is brettegibbphotography.com

Melissa and Brad are always entertaining my kids. They love them so much.

I'm happy to have these guys back from New York. Reese is especially happy to have her hunky and chunky boyfriend back. They are two of a kind. The day after they got home, we went to the lake to send off the boys on kayaks. The babies were too young to go out, so we hung back at shore. I love this picture of her and Ford. So sweet.

Dreamy.

Some pictures from yesterday. Wowsas...her eyes look fake in this picture.

Cooper after his nap. He lays on the floor by the door after he wakes up and takes off the little door stopper. EVERY time he wakes up. It drives me crazy.

Banana popsicle

Cooper has been determined to ride his bike with no training wheels this past week. He would beg and beg for me to take him out. He's worked really hard and know he is rockin. I'm so proud of him. If only he could put that determination into potty training. My life would be a whole lot easier, and less disgusting.

Dave spending what little time he has with the kidlings. He is great with spending every moment he is home with them. This time of year he works a lot. Until October 15th, I don't see him much. I still hate his schedule. But I should be grateful he has a job, right? I just keep reminding myself of that.

Ugh. Sorry the pictures are so big.

Reese sitting on grass

2009-08-05T22:42:00.003-06:00

Original title huh? When it takes me longer than 10 seconds to think of a title, I usually get irritated, then write the most obvious thing about my post. In this case, I have a few pictures of Reese...sitting on the grass.

I don't know why my posts are so boring. I do stuff, I just never write about it. I think about stuff, I just don't remember my thoughts when I'm blogging. Sometimes I think, 'I should write down this thought and blog about it', but of course I never do. Holy cow, am I actually writing about this?

I've got a one-track mind. And lately, my mind happens to be solely on track with painting. It's all I can think about. I am sick of the one color covering every square inch of our walls and ceilings. I want to paint so bad, but I hate painting more than I hate my boring wall color. So what to do? Well...I went to Lowes and got a bunch of paint samples last night. That was pretty ambitious for me...I'm sure that will be the extent of my painting.

Enough of this nonsense. I took some plain old pictures of Reese on the lawn the other day and they melted my heart. Just like she does every second of every day.

My own little ray of sunshine

It is 11:23 pm and I am currently watching Wizards of Waverly Place. Really?

Sweet, sweet baby

2009-07-28T08:56:00.005-06:00

Words just can't express my obsession for my sweet baby girl. My friend reminded me that I need to have more of her face on my blog. I do take pictures of her, I just suck at updating my blog. So there ya go.

I could go on and on and on about how much I love her. ALL day I want to nuzzle my face up against her and breath in her delicious baby smell. I want to touch and play with her fantastic chubby thighs all the time. I love to stick my nose in her mouth and smell her wonderful baby breath. I love making her laugh. When I hand her off to someone, her eyes stay glued to me to make sure I don't leave her eye sight. I love it. Lovely, delicious, wonderful, and sweet are a few of the words I use to describe her. I tell her often. I try so hard to take in each moment with her and Cooper.

This picture of her and her dad make my heart happy. I know the lighting is harsh, but I love her soft baby face against is hard, scruffy face. She has really taken to him. And him to her.

She wants to crawl so bad.

I love my sweet babies.

Maren

2009-07-21T22:27:00.009-06:00

One night up in Canada my cousin's wife, Maren, agreed to a lil' "photo shoot" out in the bea-u-ti-ful country. Every time we are up there I just die at how lovely it is...so this year I was hoping to get my camera out and photograph someone....anyone. Maren was willing, and I was happy. I have always thought she has such a photogenic face.

Maren Ord is my one claim to fame. She is a celebrity up in Canada. She had a hit album with a hit song that you've probably heard..."Perfect", which has been on t.v. shows and movies. She's toured with Sarah Maclachlan at the Lilith Fair and worked with Randy Bachman. Anyway, you get the picture...she's talented.

I really admire her work because she writes her own music, plays the piano, guitar...does it all on her own. She is really amazing. Check her out...

(Now please ignore the watermarks. I was feeling paranoid the day I edited most of them. I must have not been paranoid editing the rest of them on a different day because I didn't add one to those. It means nothing. Just so people don't take them)

There are about 12 things I could say about this picture. I just love it.

Wow....there are always too many. And I forgot to mention she is pregnant folks...with her third!

Oh Canada

2009-07-15T08:51:00.001-06:00

I have been dreading this post. There are so many things I want to remember, but have to keep it at a reasonable length. It will be long, with details you probably won't want to read, and the pictures are all over the place. I'm just saying...

A week ago we arrived home from the greatest place on earth. (I know I use that term loosely, but this is seriously the greatest place on earth) For the past 26 years, excluding two, I have spent July 1st on a farm in the lil'est town ever, Hillspring, Alberta, Canada with THE coolest people ever. And they all happen to be blood related. We are a pretty sweet family, I have to say.

Most nights began harmless. Sitting in the large living room of the 14 bedroom lodge, talking. The conversations would usually escalade quickly, leading to rolling on the ground belly laughing after Joe would make a dry comment or Melissa with an impression of someone. Many impressions of poor Peter Breinholt were made throughout the trip. We may have been drunk from the home-made, yeast-filled, root beer made for the anual root beer contest, or endless popcorn Aunt Collette would serve us, but anything after midnight was the funniest thing I ever heard. I yearn to be back, re-sculpting my six-pack from all the belly laughing.

As if any of you want to hear all that. I just want to remember the funniness.

I've always dreamed of living a simple, quiet life up there. I always daydream while driving up there, through the country. My favorite thing to do after entering the great country is pop in my burned copy of "Fumbling Toward Ecstasy" (One of my top 5 "if I were stranded on an island what cd's couldn't I live without") and take everything in. My favorite song, Elsewhere, plays and every word fits my mood. Exactly.

'I love the time and in between
The calm inside me
In the space where I can breathe...'

Aaahhh...my heaven.

We did everything we do every year, and it was perfect. Perfect and so fun.

Alright, alright. Enough of that. I took some pictures, but not nearly enough of my family. A lot of other people though. I need to work on that. Bad.

The first day we got there we joined everyone down at the river bottom for some weenie roasting. One of my favorite traditions.

This is at the river bottom. Also where we go tubing.

July 1st goes something like this:
pancake breakfast
4 minute parade
4 hour program
beef and beans at the park
races at the park
do whatever we want. I think bridge jumping went on that day. Or tubing? Can't remember.
roman candle wars with the boys
fireworks

Here's me and Coop at the program. I find that I take WAAAY more pictures with my point and shoot. So you'll get a lot of them :)

ALL the sexy ladies at the parade.

Coolest parents ever. And my cool sister, Jax.

Dave regretting marrying into this madness...

Onto...dun dun dun...the roman candle wars. Pretty much all the boys/men/guys, whateva...go into this field and try to hit eachother with roman candles. We all watch and laugh. Seriously, we are so weird.

Preparing.

Torturing.

We may get bored and start taking pictures

Lastly, the fireworks just as good as any fireworks show you'll see anywhere, put on by my cousin

I had fun taking pictures of random kids. Meaningless to you, but fun for me.

sweet kendall

katie eating ice cream

tracie and skylie

more skylie

beautiful neighbor menenite girl

silly boys

Aaahhh...my sweet baby and aunt Jackie. I want to devour Reese's face in this picture.

sweet Cooper pondering

dreamy little summer

and of course, my camera's favorite subject, Skylie.

oh wait, this is my camera's favorite subject. Her eyes are so sparkly in this picture. I love them.

I had to add this picture of me and melissa at the bar we ate at on the way up.

Uncle darryl took us boating. And once again no pictures of my own family. Sickening.

Alright, alright...I promise I'm done. This is a huge burden off my chest. Blogging/thinking about blogging is starting to suck the life out of me. Why must I stress?

raged.

2009-07-06T11:19:00.005-06:00

Ok people. Anyone who has been on my facebook page please disregard my status update. My freaking cousin got onto my account after I was checking my account at her house and wrote on my status. We have been in Canada all week long, and I just saw it this morning. Don't worry, I will kill her. Kill her bad. I am not a photographer. I love it, but don't have a business. There will be no photo shoot give aways...

These last pictures are from my vacation last month. They are my personal photos...not for anyone...so critiquing them is not necessary. The lighting sucks, they are blurry and wrong in probably every way, but I love them. No money was made, no one asked for them...they are just picutures I took of my friends. Ok, just had to clear that up.

Sorry you had to hear this. As you can tell, I am dying with embarassment and had to clear that up.

Last one...

2009-06-23T08:47:00.004-06:00

Ok, promise this is the last post about California. How did a week go by without posting anything? Time is going by waaayyyy too fast for me. That is why I am obsessed with remembering details lately. So bear with me while I go back and recall certain details from our trip. There might be a lot. Actually I can guarentee this will be the longest post you have ever read in your entire life. Feel free to skip.

We stayed at the Marriot Bayview...or whatever it was called. It's by the newport back bay...beautiful. Dave would always run the trails around the back bay so we purposely chose that one so he could have a trail nearby. We swam only once or twice at the hotel. I loved when night time came cause we were exhausted from a full day and would just crash. Before bed we loved to hang out for a bit and read to the kids. The one of Dave, coop and reese on the bed is one of my favorites.

Sunday, after attending our old ward and feeling completely at home again, we went to fashion island with some our FAVORITE people in the world. Our old neighbors and dear friends, Paul, Larisa, Tino and Maya. Coop and Tino were best buds and hung out all the time when we lived there. We hung out almost every day. I miss them so much. Anyway, just like old times, we hit up fashion island to go see the fish pond and wander around. It was a weekly activity of ours.

there just happened to be a guy sitting by the pond...with a snake. Guess who thought it was so cool...

larisa and sweet maya

aaaaahhh....the carousel. Can't forget that carousel.

On Monday, after disneyland, we walked in our hotel room to find a box of one dozen sprinkles cupcakes. Words can't...no, seriously...words can't express the jollies I got at that moment. I remember angels flying around and a light glimmering down on them. It turns out my more-than-wonderful sister, Melissa, had a dozen cupcakes delivered to our hotel room for my birthday. All you need to know is that every cupcake was gone by the next day. And I believe I only shared a couple with Dave and Coop. Melissa, I love you. And thank you once again. If you haven't tried there vanilla coconut.......my word.
Oh, and disneyland was awesome. The highlight of the trip for a certain 3 year old blonde boy was seeing Mickey and Donald of course. Actually, the only thing he recalls when asked about the trip :) I hate taking pictures at disneyland.

The beach. What more to say...

Tuesday was fantastic. We got to see more of our favorite people. Kristin, Jared, Brecke and Cove. We miss them. I love love love Kristin. We have similar opinions on certain debates ;) I miss our kids playing together and living across the street. I miss our beach days. Anyway, they came down to play at the beach with us and the kids definitely played. Larisa joined us with her kids for a bit and a blast was had by all. After the beach we walked to B.J.s pizza. The greatest pizza in the world. Mmmm...I crave the buffulo chicken as I speak.

Look. Just look at that hair. She is three people. THREE!!!! I want just a handful for Reese.

I think Wednesday or Thursday we went down to Balbao Island to walk around. We used to love doing that. As we did in every neighborhood, we would pick out the street we would live on if we could choose, and the house.

For lunch that day I met up with another favorite friend. I worked with Wendy at the Scrapbook Oasis up until I had Cooper. That was my favorite job EVER. She managed the store and hired me. The job was awesome but when we worked together it was always a party. I love you Wendy. And she has the cutest family. She has 3 girls and her youngest is a boy, Tayden. So cute. And his hair....ooohhhhh so cute. We ate at Rubys on the balboa pier and then played at the park right on the sand. Oh, I miss it all. It's just awesome that I chose to take every picture on the same day so Cooper is wearing the exact same thing in every one.

Friday night some friends of ours planned a small bbq on a little beach in their neighborhood. It was a perfect night. I remember standing their when it was almost time to go just soaking everything in. I wanted to stand there forever. I stood there thinking "one day we'll be back here." We ate food and then toasted s'mores over the expensive neighborhood grill. Next door to the beach front was Nicholas Cage's previous home he had recently sold. That neighborhood is the one I would choose to live in if we could. I decided that night :) Beautiful homes full of character all close by eachother. I loved it. Anyway, our friends Tracy, Adam and Kaelin were there. I love them. We lived next door to eachother and share simliar interests in almost everything. She is so freakin cool. The only mom I know who has subs in the trunk of her car. She also surfs and loves Sublime. And for some reason, I love that about her.

My whole body hurts from the amount of time I have spent on this bloody post. You can probably understand now the love we have for this place and people who live there.

2009-06-16T14:11:00.003-06:00

As promised I am posting more pictures from our trip. For my sake, of course. I am already forgetting the great feelings and memories from that time. That is why a picture is so amazing to me. Each one can simply bring me right back to that moment and all of a sudden I can remember everything.

These pictures are from Thursday night, I think. After eating at Wahoo's (one of our favorite places to eat), Tracy, Nicole and I took our kids and our cameras to the beach one night and snapped away. It was fun for us, but waaay more fun for the kids, as you can see. We had only a small window of time before the sun went down. I remember the weather being perfect. It was cloudy but not cold. The water wasn't freezing. The second we got to the sand, the kids ran into the water right away, naturally, and were drenched within 5 minutes. Cooper was wearing a bright orange sticker that the cash register at albertsons gave him. (Reese had a fever that day so we had to go pick up some pain reliever for her). After we were done, we washed the kids off at the showers and walked back to Nicole's house, who is lucky enough to live across the street from the beach.

I have the most fun when I am taking pictures of kids, but especially kids I know. So here is an overload of pictures from that night. You will get sick of seeing pictures from this trip. Just to warn you. There are more to come...hopefully throughout this week.

I miss California

2009-06-10T15:25:00.005-06:00

The title says it all. We miss it way too much. I want to go back to last week when our family lived in a little hotel, didn't have access to the internet, and hung out 24/7. It hurts how much I miss that place....e v e r y day. The trip was wonderful, perfect in every way. The weather was mostly cloudy, but it was perfect. We saw friends every day...amazing people we miss every day of our lives. We ate at our favorite resaurants. We went to the beach a few times. Went to disneyland once, and shopped only a little bit. What made it wonderful was not the weather, the beach, or being at disneyland...but being with my family every minute, being with friends most of those minutes, and eating lots of unhealthfood. Anyway, I could go on and on. Thank heavens for pictures that are able to bring me back to memories that I love. Each photo I edit causes me to drift off thinking about every memory from our heavenly little world in newport beach. Not just our vacation, but our life when we lived there. Aaahhhh...here I go again.

Ok, snap out of it.

Anyway, you got the jist of it...the trip was fantastic. I will probably post later and share more pictures, but I wanted to write down how I was feeling right now. After a week in our own little paradise.

My lovely friend Karrie, who I miss with all my heart, (she's in new york for only two months, but whatever, I still miss her) has been telling me how she wants to simplify her life. I can't help but want to do the same. I live a pretty simple life, I don't like a lot on my plate, but I want to simplify more. One of the greatest things about being in the hotel was being away from the compter. I can't tell you how much I loved it. I want to get rid of stuff. I want to organize and lessen. I have come to apprecite small living spaces. I like being together in the same space. Karrie has been sharing her insights with me, and I can't help but love what she says and want to change as well. So let's see if it happens. Doubt it. I don't enjoy pouring out my heart on here, but that is what I have been feeling, like non-stop, so I thought I'd share. So thanks Karrie for being my example. I miss you.

Ok, nuff said. Way too much said. Onto a few of my favorite pictures from the beach. Will hopefully post lots more later. Yeaaa right.

SUCH a classic cooper face. Making some weird face while being blinded by the sun.

must.update.blog

2009-05-20T14:33:00.003-06:00

Neglected blog. Why do I feel a need to update it? Don't know. But I must. The weather has been wonderful, we've been outside playing a lot. Cooper could live outside if I let him. 8:30 in the morning I hear the door open and he's gone. Or we'll be eating dinner and he runs by and says "see ya mama" and he's out the door. It's funny. But how could I get in his way? He's got things to do and people to see. After all, he's almost three.

I've got one thing on the brain, and one thing only: CALIFORNIA. Home (used to be). Heaven on earth. Beach. Friends. Oh, lovely friends who we miss more than words can express. We are heading back to the O.C. next Friday...where we will reside for a week...a week of complete and utter bliss. I get giddy just thinking about it. Can't wait to be back. However, I can wait for the round-trip car ride.

On to some pictures I took last week of a sweet little girl named Daphne. Aaahhh... SO refreshing to see a little girl with a t-shirt and jeans on. With un-done, messy hair. A kid being a kid.

For you Tori...

2009-04-27T15:19:00.005-06:00

I almost have your pictures done. WOOO! Until then, here are few sneaks. More than a few. Thanks for letting me play and have fun with you guys. I think they turned out pretty.

boring, boring, boring

2009-04-24T09:36:00.002-06:00

I know, my blog is so boring. But seriously, I've just had no desire to update it. Life has been so busy. I hate busy life. I like my simple life, but for some reason I have let it get busy the past couple weeks. I have been editing photos like crazy (which I will get to posting), but also trying to enjoy my husband being home again. It's been soooooo nice. Catching up on our thursday night t.v.

Speaking of, is anyone watching parks and recreation? I think we will like that show. And did anyone watch 30 rock last night? Awesome. We can't get enough of that show. That is the #2 greatest show on tv. #1 being arrested development...by a far stretch. If you haven't watched it, YOU MUST. Since it's over, go to hulu.com and start it. Your life will be better, take my word for it.

Holy side note.

Ok, anyway, can't do a post without pictures. Last week it was overcast and Cooper was outside playing with our neighbors. ("his guys", as he calls all his friends) We live in a parkside home, which means we are on a row of homes perpendicular to the street, and we are facing another row of homes. So in between we have a nice little grass area where all the neighbors and kids like to come out and play. We LOVE it. I can send cooper outside whenever and (usually) don't have to worry about him running out on the street. He just rides his little scooter around the sidewalk in front of our homes. ANYWAY, here are some pictures of a couple of our neighbors who are just plain cute. I can't understand why I just wrote about our neighborhood for 15 minutes.

Alright, I'm off to my weekly friday chick-fil-la date with friends in a bit. Mmmmm...I'm craving a juicy fried chicken sandwich this instant. It's been a couple weeks...I'm going through honest withdrawls. Have a great weekend!

Easter

2009-04-13T22:50:00.007-06:00

Easter is over, but we have enough candy to last another year. This holiday is way worse than Halloween. But don't worry, I'm taking care of it...by eating a piece of candy, or two, every hour. Coop had the time of his life this week by participating in three easter egg hunts. On saturday we hit up the Wallace household and hunted like mad. Coop had the time of his life with his bud Izak...as they always do. Thanks Kristen for hosting a kick butt easter party....complete with fresh fruit and chocolate banana muffins. A dozen of which were devoured by yours truly.

This kid wasn't messing around. Oh, and the pink basket was 100% his doing. At target I asked, "Do you want a blue, green or yellow basket?" And he replied with a firm, "pink". Ok then.

the after-party

My very own easter egg. Scrum-didly-umptious.

Stud muffin Hudson

2009-04-02T13:41:00.001-06:00

I can't explain to you how cute I think this boy is. Thanks Matt and Jackie for the fun time AND giving birth to one of the cutest kids ever. Sorry about the homeless man who kept yelling out profanities to the other homeless people. We weren't even downtown for the love of pete.

Good

2009-03-29T14:27:00.003-06:00

Today is a good day. Dave isn't working today so I am happy. We got to hang out TWO nights in a row, Friday and Saturday, and totally have fun. No band-aids for Reese all weekend. Church was good and both kids are sleeping right now. Life is good.

A couple other reasons my life is good.

One reason life ain't good...it snowed today.

Raise your hand if you suck at blogging

2009-03-24T07:56:00.004-06:00

[hand raised]

I will try and be better. Life has been busy lately. But a good busy. I can't complain. My idea of a perfect day is having nothing planned...and just doing whatever I want, whenever I want.

On a totally different note....

My sister's good friend came over last thursday to have her sweet baby's pictures taken. She was an angel. But even a perfect angel couldn't stop my nerves from going crazy. It takes a special person to take newborn pictures, and I don't think that person is me! She was perfect the whole time. Even when a baby is peacefully sleeping, my favorite shots are STILL the ones with mom and baby. Those are so special to me. So thank you Cherelle for being my first "newborn" guinea pig....and being at my house for 4 1/2 HOURS. That's right people. I still loved it! Oh, and you are beautiful!!

Baby Kynlee

On another wonderful note....Reese FINALLY slept through the night. The WHOLE night. On her 6th month birthday to be exact. I know....it took 6 long months, but she did it. I'm so proud. And extremely happy. Weird enough, I'm more tired than ever....I think my body is not used to getting so much sleep :)

Glamour Shots

2009-03-09T13:13:00.005-06:00

HA....remember glamour shots? The ones your mom would go to the mall and have done? Well, thank heavens my mom got them done...more than once. I thought they were so cool. Well, last week after I took Reese's pics with the cute yellow background, my sister, Melissa, came over and I forced her into getting some of her own "glamour shots". Minus the glittery blue cowboy hat with matching blue gloves. Thank you again, mom....those pictures were glorious. Anyway, we had so much fun, and I thought they turned out pretty darn stinking cute. Thank you Melissa for being beautiful and letting me take these of you! Regardless of how dumb you felt :)

Apparently diabetes does the body good. She was diagnosed almost a year ago and has been doing an incredible job at eating right and staying healthy. I truly don't. know. how. she. does. it. She is commited to eating a very healthy diet. If you know our family, you know food is everything...especially eating whatever we want, whenever we want. She has stayed insanely strong and continues to inspire our family. I LOVE YOU MELISS...so freaking much. Thank you for being such an example to me.

If you are interested in learning more about the diabetic diet and eating better, she has started a blog with tips and recipes to stay healthy. She's done a great job with it...check it out here. Oh, and her blog is here.

Band-aids? What band-aidssssss?

2009-03-05T10:47:00.005-07:00

I get asked every day what happened to Reese's face. Ya wanna know what happened? It's not a big deal...it just looks like a big deal. It started out as some dry skin. Just an innocent dry patch of dry skin. Then it happened. She scratched if off with her bear claw nails. That was the beginning of the end. She kept scratching at it, so I put a band-aid on. That just made her scratch more. So I then put 3 band-aids on. That worked better, but still not enough. You have to understand her "first" scratch was January 24th or something. That was the night of my mom's birthday dinner. Since then it has been a disgusting, vicious cycle that might drive me to drinking soon. I put on the band-aids, after a couple days she rips them off along with an almost healed scab...and the cycle starts over. It hasn't stopped. Her oozing scab just won't heal. I am getting heated just writing about it, so I will stop.

The point is, it's ugly. I want to kiss her flawless 6 month cheeks...and I do, but it would be grand if there wasn't a pile of band-aids on them. Of course I think she is beautiful anyway...and more delicious than a chocolate covered strawberry.

I thought I'd post some pics of her bandaged face in all it's glory. And a picture of her cute feet and chubby legs because I love them.

I normally have socks on her hands, so one my favorite things lately is when I take them off, she admires them like they are the most glorious things she has ever beheld.

Hello world

2009-02-25T08:49:00.006-07:00

Yes, I am here. But not mentally. Mentally, I am off in organizing land. That's right, the only thing on my brain the last week has been organizing. Why you ask? Don't know...I have never felt this way in my life. I am a clean person, but soooo not organized. My house looks clean, but after opening one closet or door, the truth will be told. When we moved in, I was sick and didn't care where anything went. I literally threw things in cupboards and closets and didn't give a hoot where it went. So it's about time I go through it...one year later. WHAT??? We've lived here one year? Wow. Time flies.

Anyhow, I JUST realized why they call it spring cleaning. I've been organizing toys, closets, and cupboards like a bloody mad woman. I also have an urge to paint and re-decorate my entire house. Won't happen, but I can dream.

Aaaaahhhhhhh....toys, contained.

Well, that's about it. I've had one thing on the brain. Well that, and my poor little sick Reese. She's got RSV, but taking it like a champ. I want to hold her and kiss her and stroke her little head all day. Oh my baby. I miss her when she sleeps :)

Tax season has begun. I think she misses her daddy.

And I KNOW this guy does.

Is anyone else as giddy about the good weather as I am? There is nothing I love more than the sound of kids running around outside. Music to my ears.

A buncha sickies

2009-02-09T10:43:00.004-07:00

That's what we are today...and have been for the past few days. Ya know, the usual. Coughing, runny nose, spit up, throw up, snot everywhere, and to add to the chaos I must've caught some sort of food poisoning on Friday. 'Twas lovely. Oh, but what was even better was the night of my nausea, Reese was up, like, 15 times. No exaggeration. We think something was going on with her tummy. Constipation maybe??

So, to say the least, sickness has taken over our home.

It's snowing outside today which means I pretty much have a free ticket to do NOTHING but hang out inside with my lovies. I might've mopped...ya that's right...it's been a few weeks, or months...I can't remember. But don't be fooled. The only reason I whipped out the mop was to clean up the vomit Cooper left all over the floor after throwing up his chicken nuggets and apple. Told ya....lovely.

Since I can't post without pictures, here are some. Have I mentioned this little girl is a dream come true? Probably.

Betcha can't tell...

2009-01-27T21:23:00.003-07:00

So I've been doing some decorating. Well ok, I would hardly call it that. I would call it "making my house look like it's been lived in for longer than 10 days...kind of." Check it out...I put up some curtains....

Ok, I have to confess...

They aren't curtains.

They are sheets. Chocolate brown, $10 sheets...that probably need some more ironing.

Bet I fooled ya though.

Really?

2009-01-20T10:39:00.004-07:00

As if being pregnant and barfing 19 times a day, eating nothing but toast and cereal, then rapidly gaining 40 pounds and eating everything in sight, sleeping on my side for 7 months, being kicked and beaten by my unborn child, labor (speaks for itself), delivery, a "chest" so sore I have to kick the floor while I nurse, painful contractions AFTER I give birth, and getting no sleep for 3 months isn't enough.

I have to lose my hair now??????

I will never understand the hair loss between my babies' 4 and 6 month birthdays. It's like a fun little after-party surprise. You think all the "crap" is done and then BAM...you go bald.

And yet, somehow, they are TOTALLY worth it.

On another note, they can surprise you....by yelling from the bathroom, "Hey dad! Wash my balls!" while taking a bath.

Aaaahhhh...the joys.

Our smiley girl

2009-01-14T10:21:00.004-07:00

Yup, that's right. We actually have a kid that (gasp) likes people. If you remember Cooper as a baby, well you remember, he only scowled at people. I can only say that because Cooper grew into such a sweetheart (who is slowly warming up to people!)...but as a baby he was no ray of sunshine. This little girl honestly has me wrapped. Absolutely smitten.

She is amazing, to say the least.

Lucky I am.

We went sledding, it was fun.

2009-01-12T15:59:00.003-07:00

Saturday we went sledding...ALL of us...baby included. Well ok, she didn't go down any hills, but she enjoyed it from the inside of her stroller. Might I add we had a rockin time...just down the street. I love our neighborhood.
Thanks Bass' for calling us to come!

Just a case of the twos??

2009-01-07T13:32:00.006-07:00

Cooper has been on a napping and eating strike. Sure, it's been fun...FOR HIM. Why is it when he doesn't nap...I get tired?

So for lunch yesterday I bribed him with a hostess donette. Seemed to do the trick. I've never seen him shovel food down so fast.

This kid can try me, but I'm pretty sure he knows I love him. I hope he does.

I grabbed the camera yesterday just as we were heading out the door. I want to get more "every day" shots. I want to take at least one picture a day...of us...just hanging out. Ya know...real life.

Don't even get me started on how much I love this little girl

We had ourselves a merry little christmas

2009-01-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Did you?

Christmas eve is far better than Christmas in my opinion. The anticipation, the food, being with family, the food...

It was another year of loveliness. We spent Christmas eve at my folks' house with the whole family. Including my Oma (grandmother in german) who flew down from the GREAT white north, Edmonton, Alberta. Fun was had by everyone.

My beautiful sisters...and me in my freaking pajamas. My mom told us all to wear our snowman pajamas. I did. But did anyone else? nope.

So I forced everyone to put them on

pretty.

ugly. (bet ya didn't know I had chicklets for teeth. neither did I)

Christmas morn was fantastic. We woke up at our home (and if you know cooper, you know it was early) and had our own little christmas. What can I say? Cooper was on cloud 9. After each present he opened, he would get excited and ask us to open it so he could play with it. He loved it all...every minute. If you are wondering where Reese is...she was soundly asleep in her bed. Where I prefer her to be at 6:30 in the morning.

This was our tree before we hit the sack christmas eve. half our lights burned out long before christmas...I was just far too lazy to replace them.

for sure my fave....coop in anticipation

coop decided to try out the skateboard santa brought him right away. and we discovered he's weirdly good on it

Later in the day he tried on his construction get up from grandma and grandpa hank. His favorite part of the outfit is the hat. He calls it his baseball hat and wears it around when we play baseball. Dare I say this kid has got a one track mind.

So that pretty much sums it up. Dave has gone back to work and it's back to reality. We already miss him and it's 9 am. I can't help but be excited for the new year and what's to come. Last year was a wonderful whirlwind...this year???????

It was a good weekend

2008-12-15T09:31:00.004-07:00

First off, I just changed a 6-wipe diaper of Cooper's. It's gotten to the point of dry-heaving. That kid has GOT to learn to potty train.

I absolutely loved this last weekend. I'm not totally sure why, I think it had to do with the fact that Saturday we had nothing planned...and that's how I love Saturdays. We just chilled, did a little christmas shopping (emphasize little....if it was a lot, it wouldn't have been a favorite day), and hung out as a family. My favorite kind of day, with my favorite people on the planet.

We've got a snow lover on our hands. Dave took Cooper out sledding in our neighborhood and he loved it, to say the least. I got a few pics before they left.

I think dave was more excited to bust out the snow shovel than anything else

oh hi....it's me

and off they go...

While the boys went sledding...I got to hang out with this little sleeping angel.

My oh my she is perfect. I just can't get enough of her sweet little personality. She is smiling so much now and loves to watch us. She brings such a calm spirit into our home. We love her so much!!! It's funny how we are the exact same parents as we were to Cooper...yet two completely different children have come from it. You name it...and they are the total opposite. Good things and bad :) But we love them both the same.

brilliant.

2008-12-03T16:20:00.004-07:00

This show is absolutely the funniest show we have ever watched.

I recommend it to all.

the lovely barnetts

2008-11-25T08:40:00.006-07:00

Brooke, hope you don't mind me sharing these. I thought they turned out mighty cute....and your family is just fantastic.

two of the cutest kids in the world. Brady was the first baby I can remember ever "loving". I never liked babies, never cared to hold them (before I had my own). But when I met Brady after he was born, I was smitten. At that time I remember thinking, hmmmm...maybe there's a chance I will like my own children :)

daybreak downfall

2008-11-19T23:15:00.004-07:00

we get none a this goodness

it's official. fall is my favorite season. please don't leave me...

Oh hi.

2008-11-13T13:08:00.005-07:00

The more behind I get on this blog, the more I don't want to update.

But I know you all are DYING to see our halloween pics, so I better post. HA. That wknd was pretty eventful for the four of us, it being the weekend we also blessed Reese. But let's start with Halloween....the greatest day in the history of the world....according to Cooper. He won't stop talking about trick-or-treating with mama, daddy, reese, and grandma and grandpa hank. (dave's parents...who he happened to name after their dog, Hank. We don't know, so don't ask) The weird part is that he hasn't asked for a single piece of candy since that weekend. Wonderful.

I ain't big on dressing up. Actually, I'm going to go out on a limb and say I downright hate it. So unless we are forced to dress up for a party, you will never see me in costume. Cooper was Thomas the train and Reese was a peapod. They looked mighty cute.

This is how much Cooper despises my camera

trick or treat

I could eat this child, she is so scrumptious

Reese's blessing day was perfect. We had our families come and the Wallaces (pretty much family). Dave did a beautiful job on the blessing and then we came to our house to pig out. It couldn't have turned out better. Well, maybe the rain could've stopped pouring :)

Oh and check out her AMAZING blessing dress. This was hand-crafted by my wonderful grandma, Hazel (who Reese is named after). She crocheted it herself...hat and booties included! I about died when I saw these. And yes, I photoshopped the crap out of her face. That baby acne ain't the prettiest...and I wanted her to look pretty in her dress. Not like I did in junior high. (but good news...it's finally going away)

p.s. I think heaven might be smiling down on me. This entire week both my kidlings have taken 2-4 hour naps AT THE SAME TIME. It's been a ray of light, I tell you. I've gotten so much cleaning done. HAHAHAHAHA. Yea right. The only cleaning that gets done while they sleep is the computer chair, where my behind sits.

Lil bundle of sweetness

2008-10-30T15:06:00.004-06:00

I am terrible at getting "studio" pics taken of my kids. I took Cooper to Target when he was 6 months old, and left incredibly unhappy after the camera man, while showing some serious crack, left me with a variety of not-so-good pics of Cooper to choose from. I was let down...and vowed to myself I would never take my kids to a studio like that again.

Now, I'm so happy to be near my loverly friend Skye who can actually take a great picture....and doesn't moon me in the process. The one time in my kids' life that I really want to capture is when they are newborns. Such a precious time that only lasts a few moments. So I hauled the fam over to Skye's and she captured some serious cuteness. Not to mention the cuteness of a baby who WOULD NOT sleep. Reese was so stubborn that I had to come back a second time and finish. Thankfully we got some cute shots...so thank you Skye! You rock.

Ok, bear with me...I loved them all.

We had to get a few of lil coop man

I love my baby girl! Sweetness sent straight from heaven.

It's that time again

2008-10-20T15:14:00.000-06:00

Once again, my favorite place to take pics...the pumpkin patch. Why you ask? I don't know...I think it's the color orange. I love that color. This day was the highlight of my week. Dave stayed home with Reese and I was able to have some one-on-one quality time with the little big man. (It had been a while) He ran around, ate treats, and was able to see some buddies from the neighborhood. We went with our mother's group so I was able to be with friends too. So nice after, what seems like, being a hermit most of the time! I love the fresh air...I am trying to get out more and take advantage of what's left of the beautiful weather. I am fearing a deep depression when winter comes :) Anywho...behold the patch...

I love this one of him jumping

love the old tractor

couldn't decide which one I liked best :)

Me and the kidlings are having a pretty chill/boring weekend. Dave is in Florida till tuesday night for work. He's been so busy since Reese was born it will be nice to finally have him home at nights. Last week he actually worked a 43 hour shift. I'm not kidding...he left for work monday at 8am and didn't get home till wednesday at 3:45am. I don't know how he did it. So I'm glad he is able to have 3 nights of solid sleep away and room service. But poor Cooper asks 29 times a day when daddy will be home. My heart breaks every time. He loves his daddy so much.

Ok, so Friday night before Dave left we headed to Gardner Village to see all the cute decorations. I LOVE that place! (except it's more fun when you can shop w/o two kids!) Anyway, we took the kids, ate dinner at archibalds, and visited the petting zoo. It was totally fun. It was so great having a night with all of us together.

Ok, Dave and I totally busted up when we saw this witch. Only a few of you will find this amusing...I found my profile twin.
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All right, I'm off to tend to my crying child. Cooper is bouncing her seat trying to calm her down and shouting at me that baby is crying.

I'm gettin there

2008-10-10T11:03:00.003-06:00

I think it's safe to say I'm getting used to this two-kids thing. Now that the "after birth" crud is over (pains, aches, complete sleep deprivation, deer in headlights mentality, etc etc) I'm getting used to the every day routine. Reese's calm temperament has definitely made life easier on me. The funny thing is I feel way less stressed with two then I did with one. Only because Cooper never slept in the day and was totally fussy all the time. Life is definitely more busy and crazy, but I seem to be handling it better.

And can I just add the last 3 nights have finally been so much better. She is waking up twice to eat and will go right back to sleep...thank the high heavens. Before she just stayed up all the live long night. I have hope now, and my eyes don't feel bruised anymore :)

Cooper has been so sweet, giving her kisses and "huggies" every chance he gets. He touches her head so gently and puts his face to hers. It always melts my heart.

Our sweet little angel

Reese received a package in the mail the other day from our dear friend, Larisa. I must say, people, every baby needs to own these socks!!

The are so stinking cute I can't handle it. It seemed like all the babies had them in california, I always wanted them! So thank you Larisa...we love them!

(If anyone is curious, they are called trumpettes)

She is so alert now...just taking everything in

Aaaahhhh...fall time. I have just decided it's my favorite time of year. I totally copied a neighbor with this idea, but look how cute these pumpkins are!! A little black glitter and ribbon, and my pumpkins are totally jazzed up.

And we finally got something to go on our naked porch...some cute black rockers. I know, I know, you'll see these on like every 4th house in Daybreak, but I love them and they compliment our house well.

Happy fall everyone!

Sorry for the hold up

2008-09-28T16:40:00.004-06:00

We've just been enjoying our time with this little ball of deliciousness...

So here's the scoop on our girl:

Reese Hazel

born on sept 19 at 11:12 am

8 lbs 8 oz

19 inches long

...and seriously cute

Life has been crazy since she's entered our world, but wonderful in every sense of the word. I've been recovering well, and she pretty much lives the kick-butt newborn lifestyle...sleeps till she's hungry, and eats till she's tired. The nights are a different story though. Her days and nights are definitely mixed up. Cooper was the opposite....slept great at nights from day one, but hardly slept in the daytime. I thought I hated that at the time, but now I don't know which is worse :) I told Dave this morning I have never been so physically tired in my life than today. No exaggeration.

Cooper has been a champ. A whole lotta tv watching, book reading, couch climbing and messing up the family room as much as physically possible. He's been such a sweetie with his lil sib...always giving her hugs and kisses. But when we ask if he wants to hold her, his reply is still, "not yet." We love it.

more pics from the hospital

(Wow. I didn't realize how scary she looked right when she came out. I was just smitten)

She had some jaundice, so here she is with her bili blanket...it was permantly under her back inside her blankets. After we got home she had to be under the lights for two days. It was hard not being able to hold her all the time.

Reese doing what she does best

I could kiss those yummy cheeks all day long...wait...I do.

Dave is quite smitten as well

Don't worry Coop, we still love ya

Maybe I should consider getting out of these pjs and putting clothes on. 5:00 isn't too late to get dressed is it? Good cause that seems to be the trend this week.

Our lives are about to change

2008-09-15T09:25:00.006-06:00

and this little stud has no clue what's coming

It makes me sad to know that it won't be me and him anymore...it'll be me, him, and a baby that will take most of my attention. Poor kid. I hope he will remain his gentle, sweet self after she comes. I'm trying to prepare him as much as possible, but how does anyone prepare for a baby?

Most pictures consist of me coaxing him to look at the camera....it just doesn't happen. Maybe once I have the camera in the baby's face all day long, he'll get jealous and want to be in more pictures. HA. I still love him to pieces.

I'll take it.

This little stinker has been waking up at 6 AM EVERY MORNING this week. It's killing me. Doesn't he know that soon I'll be up multiple times a night??? The timing is impeccable. And to make matters worse, now that he's in a bed he can hop out and come wake us up. It used to be that he would lay in his crib and talk for like 1/2 hour before yelling for us. Big boy bed ain't so fun anymore.

I have one more week to go. My doctor told me she'll be out of town this weekend until monday (I'm due monday) so cross your fingers I deliver before she leaves on thursday! I have a feeling labor will start the instant she takes off on that plane.

38 weeks

2008-09-09T21:34:00.003-06:00

and the size of a sailboat

I must give kudos to shade for making the most comfortable maternity shirts in the world. They make up, what seem like, 75% of my maternity wardrobe. The other 25% is made up of one pair of jeans I have worn every day this summer...unzipped and unbuttoned. I plan on burning them as soon as my body will allow another pair of pants to fit over these fantastic birthing hips.

the ice cream I'm downing right now probably isn't helping much either. But it tastes so good! Every time I try a new ben and jerry's flavor I swear it's my favorite. Tonight this is my fave. My wonderful hub surprised me with a pint last night after a l-o-n-g day at work. No seriously, he didn't get home till midnight and still made time to stop off at the grocery store. I love him.

I have a sudden craving

2008-09-04T21:58:00.003-06:00

I just topped off a huge bowl of ice cream, yet these pictures I took last week are making me hungry. What else is new.

a photobook of Cooper digging in...because I just can't choose one

sorry mom

ok, not really

greatest day ever, going on my fourth cookie

I'm going to be sick.

Wow. Soon there will be 4 of us. Today after my doc appt it hit me...and I started to cry. And just so you know, crying is something that doesn't happen to me when I'm pregnant...just major irritation with everything. Anyway, my life is going to change...and it hit me like a brick. My nerves are kicking in and instead of the excitement I've felt the entire pregnancy, I am feeling anxious and scared all of a sudden. I think just cause it's getting close. It's all good, everything will turn out wonderful. How can it not?

19 months down, 1 more to go

2008-08-18T09:16:00.004-06:00

Sometimes it feels like I've been preg forever, but other times I can't believe it's gone by so fast. I know this last month will fly, only because I feel totally unprepared in every way. All well....when do you ever feel ready for a baby? I just can't wait to hold that sweet girl in my arms for the first time, and experience that un-explainable feeling of love and joy you have when you have a baby.

On the other hand, I feel clueless in the girl section at any store. I don't know what to buy.....dresses, skirts, cardigans, shoes? There are too many cute options. Shopping for Cooper was beyond easy. One or two pairs of shorts and some t-shirts and he's set. On saturday, I stood at old navy for well over an hour just staring at everything, chewing on my lip, not knowing what to buy. No worries, I'm sure it will become easier ;)

Well it appears we officially have a "big boy" in the house. We got Cooper moved into a bed so that "she" can take over his crib. He thinks it's the bomb....to say the least. Take a look at the first night we set it up. And please forgive the bad photos. They were taken with my point and shoot, and Cooper insisted on taking the photos with the lights off, so most of the pictures are way off.

He jumped for appr. 45 minutes on his bed while singing "ring around the rosies" It was hilarious. And good news, he's been sleeping great since he moved in! He adapted like a champ. Phew...

We've been enjoying our last days of summer...I'm sad it's almost over. We've been taking advantage of the pool as much as possible. Although, I have learned that pregnancy and sunlight aren't a good combo. I'm just trying to enjoy my time with Cooper before our lives completely change in a month. I hope his mellow little personality sticks around after the baby comes...that would sure help me out. I know things are bound to change though...lets' just hope I can stay sane!

California, rest in peace

2008-07-31T08:27:00.003-06:00

Dang it, we miss that place. When we drove in to Newport we immediately got sad that we don't live there anymore. It was so great seeing our friends and ward that we miss so much. But when we got back to South Jordan after a long drive, it was good to be home. Don't worry, we are already scheming plans on how we can move back some day :) Basically it involves us making a whole lotta money. Hmmmm......

Anyway, here are a thousand pictures from our trip. We tried to hit the beach as much as possible. Did some shopping. Went out to eat. Celebrated Tino's 2nd birthday (Cooper's best little bud who lives in our old apt complex) We had so much fun, I'm so happy we have nothing but fantastic memories from living there. Best 3 1/2 years of our lives.

Kristen and Tino

Amy and Eden

Fashion Island and dinner with Larisa, Kristen and Tino

Ok, I LOVE this picture because while we were eating dinner (at our fave mexican place down there El Ranchito) Tino laughed non-stop at Cooper. I kid you not, he didn't stop belly laughing at him the entire time we were eating. Cooper laughed a bit, but just kept eating like it was nobody's business. It was so funny. We miss them!

We were able to be there for Tino's 2nd birthday. It was kind of the highlight of the trip cause we were able to see all our old neighbors and friends. And eat lots of good food...and possibly the best white cake I've ever eaten in my life.

Before church on Sunday. It was so great to see all our friends from the ward.

Sorry for the picture overload, I know these don't mean anything to the people not in them. But each one is a memory from our trip and I want to remember everything!
We miss you California!

Well hello

2008-07-21T22:24:00.000-06:00

Don't get me wrong, I hate when Dave works late...but I can't deny the love affair I have with chewing ice and watching Sex and the City on TBS. Two things he will not tolerate when he is around. Any other (previously) pregnant women feel me with the ice chewing? I crave it, I need it.

This week we are heading to sunny california, back to our homeland...well kind of...3 1/2 years of homeland. I'm not going to lie, we cannot wait. Mostly to take advantage of the beach, and a little shopping. Oh yea, and I have a maternity massage scheduled for Friday morning at the prestigious balboa bay club. Don't be fooled, I am not a member, and never was. Thanks to a generous friend down there, I'll be able to enjoy one hour of bliss. I have NEVER received a full body massage in my life, but I assume it will be quite heavenly. Anyone want to join me?

Here are a few pics from our wknd. Friday night Cooper and I met Dave at Gateway for a couple hours. He works right next to it and happened to be working super late that night, so we took a trip up to see him and walked over. We ate at Thaifoon (for the first time....mmmmm) and then stripped Cooper down to play in the fountain for a bit.

Since the pool was finished in Daybreak a few weeks ago, we have been frequent attenders. I just actually brought my camera this time.

He loves to swim.

Gals night

2008-07-17T09:17:00.000-06:00

Thanks for an awesome time Tuesday night! Dinner at Biaggis + dessert at Flemmings + being with two of my favorite people = one happy me.

On another note, I finally scrapbooked this week! I haven't in so long, so it was fun to get my stuff out again. And finish my first "girl" page! I love the ultrasound pics...they just make me happy. The latest Heidi Swapp papers do too..

Awesome!

2008-07-15T10:07:00.001-06:00

Lately, everything to this kid is "awesome!"

He is such a fun person to be with each day. He fills our home with so much joy and happiness. I have really come to appreciate his mellow side. He has been a very easy-going "two year old" and it has been so nice...especially being sick with this pregnancy. I like to say I paid my dues when he was a tough baby...constantly bouncing him on our exercise ball to stop him from crying. Tough baby=easy toddler??? HA. I'm sure that ain't the case. But I'll keep hoping...the two's haven't been so terrible!

Way more pictures than any of you would like to see

2008-07-09T10:02:00.000-06:00

My sister couldn't have said it better on her blog: "This one week a year makes life worth living." The Gibb reunions are nothing but chaos and a bunch of undecided people who want nothing but food and good company. I miss you all already and can't wait for next year!!!

Here is "Fat City" the lodge a bunch of us stayed in. There are about 98 of us, so we are all scattered around different homes. This place had 12 bedrooms! Loved it.

The greatest parade on earth. It's about 5 minutes long and it actually turns around and comes back for another round.

Beef and beans at the park. I don't think I've ever had so much jello salad in my life. I'm gonna go ahead and say Utah ain't the jello capitol of the world....it's Hillspring.

I couldn't have asked for a better traveler at night, but Cooper woke up a lot during the night on the way there. As a result, he was like this most of the first day. Then after his 4 hour nap that day, he was ready to party the rest of the week.

Cliff jumping. I was so proud of my brother Carson. He's only 9 and jumped off that 40 foot bridge! He and Brad were the only ones that jumped.

Raymond parade. But this picture has nothing to do with the parade. Just us. I finally got a point and shoot camera for easy access and I went nuts with the "take your own head shot"

My favorite...Waterton! He had a weenie roast. Notice what Dave put in front of Cooper to eat? About 5 pounds of chips.

Me and Tracie all big and pregnant...mocking maternity pictures. How are those gankles Tracie? I can't wait for mine to swell up to the size of tree trunks....it's so fun.

The drive home. We're a hideous bunch of freaks. We got bored waiting at the border for an hour.

We miss you....our home and native land.

sup.

2008-06-26T07:44:00.001-06:00

Well today we are off to the great white north. aka...the little town of Hillspring, Alberta, Canada. aka...the greatest place on earth. Since I can remember we have been driving up there every year to celebrate Canada Day on July 1st. All of my mom's side of the family meets up there and it's pretty much a 24/7 party. There's nothing I don't love about going to the farm: the parade, races, beans/beef, barn dance, tubing, weinie roasts, waterton, fireworks, etc, etc. Its' been three long years since we've been so I am pretty geared up to be back there!

Last weekend some friends in our ward were nice enough to invite us up to Zermatt, in Midway, for a night last weekend. It was a whole lotta fun...

we golfed/putted...or threw rocks into the pond

we swam

and rode the crap out of the carousel

It was totally fun and I can't wait to go back again. Oh yes...and I tried, for the first time in my life, gelato ice cream. MMMMMM.

Anyway, things around here are good. Just busy and trying to get packed. Poor Cooper has been battling something....I think he's teething. I thought he had all his teeth but apparently there are two year molars? Didn't have a clue. We came home from church on sunday and he had a fever up until tuesday night. He's been drooling more than I've ever seen him drool. And the past couple days he hasn't eaten hardly anything. Not to mention his breath is borderline deadly. On Tuesday he would cry and scream when something went in his mouth. Poor little guy...I'm guessing he's getting those molars in, but I could be wrong. I'm just praying he feels better on our trip, or things could get interesting.

Alright, must go pack. Wish us luck on the 12 hour (yikes) drive!

The big t-w-o

2008-06-09T23:05:00.000-06:00

I can't believe my BABY is two. TWO?? Uh uh. Despite my wish for him to stop growing, we still celebrated. Nothing big, but it was a fun day. My b-day was the day before so we did little combined bbq with my family. Earlier that day I took him swimming for an entire 20 minutes, before it started to rain. We've got the greatest little splash pool here that Cooper loves, and I love, because I can sit on my ever-growing butt while I watch him swim.

We went to my folks' house that night to play and eat. My brother happened to have all his friends there. Cooper just thinks they are the coolest and tags along with them as much as possible.

Man, we love him.

I requested my mom's pineapple strawberry shortcake, and second year in a row....Coop made out with his cake. Here's the big man...blowing out his candle

A couple trucks...all a boy needs

And last but not least...the birthday girl. This night I discovered I can't jump on the tramp without fully peeing my pants.

It's raining

2008-05-29T10:23:00.001-06:00

and thundering and lightning outside. Yet another beautiful day followed by piss weather. I'm only bummed because we bought a bunch of flowers last night that I was so excited to plant today. All is well...we will do it soon. But seriously, aren't you proud I actually have ambition again? Yes, it's true...I think I'm pretty much back to normal. I'm getting excited for the "nesting" phase of my pregnancy when I want to scrub the house spotless. Please bless that happens.

Speaking of ambition, we are finally trying to get our empty living room done. We picked out couches and I'm slowly looking around for stuff to make it complete. I'm sure it will take forever for it to look done, but I'm just thrilled I actually have a desire to furnish our home. I found some cute pillows at Target....I'm ready for color in my house. Aren't they pretty?

Cooper has discovered the world of rocks since we've moved here. There is a lot of construction going on in our neighborhood and endless piles of dirt and rocks. He, of course, spotted this pile right down the street and now it has become a frequently visited spot. He makes me sit down on the curb right next to him so I can watch him throw rocks.

So my kid isn't photogenic. Like father and mother, like son. Do any other mom's of two year olds find it impossible to get a picture of your kids face? I only get his back, running far away from me.

Have you ever woke up from a dream feeling uncomfortable because it felt so dang real? Well my dream consisted of me and Steve Nash (for those of you who don't know him, he plays b-ball for the Pheonix Suns) Not only were we a couple in my dream, I remember joining him for a meeting with the quorum of the twelve apostles...since he was a member. I also remember telling him how attracted I was to him. This can be number two on my list of weird dreams...my number one would be the time I had a dream that I was intimate with Cosmo Kramer. Please tell me this is normal.

"I toot"

2008-05-14T08:38:00.000-06:00

Our child is obsessed with tooting. All day long he tries to fart and you can tell in his expression. And when he does, it's truly the biggest accomplishment. He looks at me with huge, excited eyes and says, "I toot!" or "big toot!" and then laughs. What have we done. We have got to stop teaching him crude things just for a good laugh.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and mother's day. I felt spoiled all weekend. I was able to go to Park City last Thursday with some of my favorite people. Allie and Kate, Jessie and her girls, and Erin. Jessie and Erin are moving away this summer, so we wanted to do something fun before they leave. It was so nice to be able to shop for longer than 10 minutes without Cooper. It was such a fun day.

On Saturday I got my mother's day gift: a pedicure with my sister and mom. But not just any pedicure, we said yes to everything those ladies had to offer. Aaaaahhh...it was heavenly. Then we did lunch at Mimi's after with our aunts and cousins.

Early Saturday morning we went downtown for the Race for the Cure. We met up with a bunch of his co-workers and got a picture beforehand, then he ran with Cooper in the jogger . Wow, it was insane how many people were there, the announcers said around 17,000. It was very emotional for me to see everyone running for a cause. There was an old woman wearing a shirt that said "We're runners for April's knockers" Loved that.

Last night we dropped Cooper off at my house and went to the Boondocks for Dave's company party. It was way fun. We had dinner and just rode the race cars a couple times. The highlight was watching Dave get hit and spun around then getting hit head-on by some teenage girl. I laughed at him the 3 times I went around before he got turned around. I hope your neck is feeling better Dave :) Ok, so that wasn't the biggest highlight of the night. They played a big bingo game with prizes like ipods, wii's, and plasma t.v.s. Well believe it or not, me and Dave BOTH got bingo and both won ipod touches. Can you believe it??? I don't win stuff! It was surely a sign of the times. As you can imagine, we were both extremely happy.

It's just one of those things

2008-05-02T13:34:00.000-06:00

Ya know how some women are passionate about epidurals? You might think the use of epidurals was a religion to some. You either have the die hard "say no to drugs" or the "hook me up in the parking lot" kinda gal. Well I have discovered that women are like that also with finding out the sex of your baby before the baby is born. Well, I'm the kinda girl who loves to find out ASAP. Only because I physically cannot wait until 40 weeks....way too excited. To me, it's a surprise either way. I find out at 20 weeks, or I find out at 40 weeks. Whatev. Anyway, this morning we found out what the little nugget is inside my tum. Drum roll.....

It's a girl!!

We are having a girl....and to my surprise I am absolutely ecstatic. The thought of raising girls always made me nervous (since I don't know how to do hair and I hate nailpolish) But I have changed. I actually have been thinking it's a girl for a while now. I'm constantly drawn towards girl stuff, which I never was with Cooper. I guess I kinda knew. And I couldn't be more happy. Seeing her in the ultrasound was just as exciting as seeing my first. It was incredible and I instantly fell head over heals in love with her. Anyway, here's a little pic of our sweet baby. The whole time she had her arm up to her mouth...hmm...thumb sucker? Who knows, she was just cute as can be.

And here's me at 20 weeks. This picture will hopefully put to rest the crazy theories out there that I am not showing yet. I sure am. And I feel bigger than I did with Cooper at this time...and more uncomfortable. Sorry the picture is so tacky, I just keep forgetting to have Dave take it, so I took it upon myself in front of the bathroom mirror.

Take it off. Take it all off.

2008-04-22T20:22:00.000-06:00

That is pretty much what we told the hairdresser when we brought Cooper in to get his woman mane butched off. I'm quite pleased with the results. And the fact that I haven't used a brush on that hair since Saturday...Aaaahhhhh.

Last weekend was perfect. Dave took Wed, Thurs, and Fri off so we headed to Park City for a night which was great. For some reason I have been dying to stay in a hotel lately so that was surely a cherry on top. We pretty much ate, swam, shopped and relaxed. Friday we went to the zoo, finally. It was great weather and fun for Cooper to see the animals. Other than that we just hung out and did whatever we felt like. Cooper became insanely attached to Dave, to the point of insanity, because he was around so much. I went to drop him off at nursery, and sure enough, he cried until I went and got Dave to do the job. Still, I love these guys so much:

Have you ever heard of a child who ONLY eats the crust off the bread? Me neither.

Just watched Idol...go David Cook...he never fails to impress me.

Gimme the loops

2008-04-15T09:57:00.000-06:00

All I want to eat all day is fruit loops. I gave in to temptation last week at the grocery store and bought a 10 pound bag of fruit loops. Since then, I have consumed an average of 2-3 bowls a day. Sickening.

So this morning, while laying in bed, I was quite sure I felt the little babe swimming around in there. I thought I have felt him/her in there lately but wasn't sure...this morning I was sure...and I loved it. We find out in less than 3 weeks what we're having! May 2nd to be exact. I sure can't wait. And something else I found to get me excited...the Dwell Studio line at Target. Cute bedding, cute clothes.

Cooper has been such a joy to be around. No one would know, since he is the shyest boy in the world, but he truly is such a happy and giggly boy. He laughs with me and smiles at the drop of a hat all day long. He is talking so much, he surprises me every day. The other night for dinner Dave's parents brought us a wonderful dinner, which consisted of broccoli....something I have never made. He kept asking for the "broccocli" the whole time. We were both like "what in the world, how does he know what broccoli is?" Anyway, it was cute.
However, because of the glorious weather Saturday and Sunday (and me and Dave spending most of it outside with him) he now thinks we should be outside every waking moment. It's 9am right now and he's got his shoes in hand begging to go outside.

Here are some happy pics of our sweet little guy

So today is the big tax day, which means Dave will finally be free of working 20 hour days. WOOOOOOOOOOO! We are celebrating. Dave is taking off the rest of the week to enjoy some much needed time with us. We were debating on taking a trip to California to use our Disney passes one last time before they expire, but instead we decided to go balls out and drive to Park City to stay a night. I know, we're animals. We're really excited though....we love that place.

A whole lotta this...

2008-04-08T12:51:00.000-06:00

going on this week. Sunday afternoon I was positive I was getting a sunburn while sitting out on my parents' tramp....and then Monday morning I wake up to this...

I would say 'poor Cooper', but I know how much he enjoys staring blankly into the television set. So that sums up a lot of what we've been doing. But despite the bi-polar weather, we've enjoyed ourselves thanks to the South Jordan rec center for their fun kiddie pool, my parents' home 5 minutes away, and getting together with friends. As much as we miss California, I must say Utah has been an easy adjustment...thanks to all the fun people we know here.

Anyway, as I was blog stalking some of my fave photographers, I came across this cute website on Maggie's blog. I am in love with these onesies! Too bad they are about $13 more than I would pay for one...but it got me excited for the little peanut growing rapidly inside my tum. There's nothing I love more than fresh little baby clothes.

Isn't this cute??

Oh, and while I'm at it, I also found these CUTE announcements on Blonde-designs.com. I'll go ahead and add them to my wish list. My faves for a boy, then a girl. Actually the first one might not be boyish, I can't tell, I just love it:

Hmmmmm...I wonder what "it" will be?? I have an inkling, but we'll have to see if I'm right. I will be finding out I think in the next few weeks....WOOOO! I seriously can't wait.

If anyone still reads this....

2008-03-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

I promise I am alive. The more I put stuff off, the more I despise the thought of doing it. The "it" being blogging. So how about I just pretend that I haven't disappeared for more than a month.

We are here in Utah. We've been here for almost 3 weeks but if you were to step foot into our home, you would think moving day was maybe tomorrow. It is naked, buck naked. People warned me that moving from an apt. to a house would be hard because half the house would be empty. It's true. So the only job my husband has given me since we've moved here is to fill it up. Well, normally I would be clicking my heels to begin that job. But as most of you know I am PREGNANT! (I'm pretending to sound excited but really all of you I have talked to know that my pregnancies are hell. Don't worry, I WILL be excited, really excited, but just as soon as my body regains feeling) Good news though....this pregnancy has been a ton easier than Cooper. With Cooper I didn't discover the wonderful world of prescription drugs until 4-5 months along, so I threw up about every 20 minutes of every day (no exaggeration) during that time. This time, the minute I got sick I called the doc and threatened his life if he didn't give me the drugs right away. So anyway, I starting taking them but for some reason, still barfed my brains out...but only off and on....not every minute like with Cooper. SO OK...where am I getting at? I am in my 13th week (I know, still brand spanking new) and feeling a TON better than I did 1-2 weeks ago. But the only thing that still sucks is that I have absolutely NOTHING in me....no desire, no wants, no worries, not a care in the world. I don't clean, I hardly get ready, I haven't decorated, blogged, scrapbooked, or taken a SINGLE picture, nothing. It's really like the life has been sucked out of me. So my goal is to just hang one bloody picture on the wall before I have this child. I will get there!

Holy shnite, I have talked way too much. This is what happens when I don't have any pictures to show. I apologize to all you who hate long run-on paragraphs like the one above. But I promise I will be back to normal! I'm going to get back into the groove of things, and I will be a better blogger.

As for the house, we LOVE it! It's totally beautiful and we feel lucky to be here. We have loved being in Utah, seeing our friends, and living close by family. Oh yea, and having Cafe Rio nearby. Daybreak is a beautiful place, and I can't wait to see it in the summer when the grass is green and we can play outside! I think Cooper is getting severe cabin fever being inside so much.

Work has been good for Dave here in SLC. Although he has been working, what seems like, 90 hour days since starting, because of wondeful tax season. The plus side of tax season here in Utah is that I can just conveniently show up at my parents house right around dinner time...almost every night. It's been nice to have people to be with when me and Coop get lonely at nights.

Alright, I am truly sorry I talked for so long. For some reason, I felt like I had to fill you in with every small detail of my life. I will get back to normal blogging, with pictures and stuff, I promise.

Well frick

2008-02-07T14:11:00.001-07:00

Aren't there times when you just don't feel like blogging? Well...that's been me the past couple weeks, and to tell you the truth I sure as heck still don't. But the people-pleaser in me must. I have no pictures, nothing fun to share from the past little bit, but I'll fill you in with what I know. The funny thing is that there is actually a lot going in our lives right now...here's what I know....

There has been a little change of plans with our move. Dave was called in at work last work and it turns out SLC needs him bad this dreaded tax season....and OC, not so much. So for the love of Grant Thornton (and saving a bunch of money) we are moving up to Utah at the end of this month. To say the least, I'm a bit stressed...just me though....Dave of course isn't, stress isn't an emotion his body feels. So anyway, there is another reason why is makes sense to move up earlier....

We bought a house! I know what you're thinking, and I totally agree...I also think we are still children and don't know how to own a home. But what the hey....if our mortgage will be the same as the junky two bedroom apartment down the street, why not? We are totally pumped. Two reasons in particular: doing laundry without having to run to the grocery store 5 minutes before to beg the clerk for some quarters. And also for having a vertical blind-free home...with curtains. Truly a dream come true. Anyway, we discovered our little dream community in South Jordan a while ago and fell in love. It's called Daybreak....or as we like to call it...our little Newport Beach in Utah. We were sold on the parks, swimming pools, tennis courts, lake....pretty much everything we love about this place....including the non-existent yards. So here we are now, almost home owners (we close at the end of the month) and pretty excited for our adventure. We have lived our dream life here and it's been the greatest 3 1/2 years of our lives. We've met some of the greatest people we know here, and who knows, maybe one day we can scrounge up a few million dollars and move back into a dumpy little fixer-upper.

Well dang it...sorry to all of you who are like me and despise reading...this is a ridiculously long post. I will try to keep them short and sweet in the future. And being the nerd I am, I can't post without a picture. Here's the little love of our lives...

Book Crack

2008-01-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm hooked. I decided to follow the crowd and start reading the Twilight series and now I can't stop. I'm not going to share with you how fast I'm reading them because it's quite un-natural. I physically can't put them down. Now I can say I know what all the fuss is about...and man I haven't been disappointed.

On sunday it took everything out of me to put my book down and head to the beach. We went to beautiful Corona Del Mar, and of course, I couldn't get away without getting lots of pictures, and for some reason almost all of Cooper's feet. There are so many things we will miss dearly being in Utah. I need to start documenting everything about California we love. There's plenty.

Ok, I'm out. I'll get the shakes if I don't get my hands on that book soon ;)

Rental sweet rental

2008-01-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

We are officially home...and it's wonderful...especially according to Cooper. We had the greatest time in Utah. We did a lot of fun things including: Christmas eve/morning with Dave's family up in Idaho at his sisters home, went sledding behind a four-wheeler, played clue, ate so much fetching food that I feel physically sick when I think about it, ate at Cafe Rio a couple times, met up with friends, Dave went skiing, went to the children's museum ( LOVE that place!), saw my new favorite movie in the world, Juno. It's absolutely fantastic. We shopped, went to Erin and Johns wedding (still ticked I forgot my camera), went to Erin's bridal shower and got to see some of my favorite people, celebrated our 5 year anniversary, went on a carriage ride downtown and well...that's what comes to mind. We had such a great time. It was so wonderful that Dave was able to be there the entire time. Oh ya and the best part was that it snowed a bunch...and it stuck around the whole time we were there.

Here are some pics I snapped playing outside in the snow. My dream now is to buy a farm in Idaho and raise all sorts of animals that I would never be able to take care of. I love the country.

Children's Museum. Greatest place to take kids in the winter...

Five years?! Has it really been that long? We both agreed it gets better with each year :) I would post pictures of our wedding day like everyone else, but being cheap the digital photogs just weren't a possibility. Nothin but film.

We're a pretty scandalous pair

Some other fun news...we are moving to SLC this spring. It's very bittersweet. The timing just worked out with Dave's work and everything so we're going to do it! He is still going to be with Grant Thornton, just in the Salt Lake office. There's just no way we'd ever be able to afford anything bigger than a two bedroom here (anytime soon), so we are looking forward to expanding our family and space! The hard part now is finding a home...wish us luck.

Now to the important stuff...the two hour premiere of One Tree Hill is on tonight. Is anyone else peeing their pants with excitement?

Have a holly jolly christmas

2007-12-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

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!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

2007-11-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

summer. Can you believe this 85 degree weather? I was loving the cool fall air...but this week we were hit with a heat wave. What better way to enjoy it than the beach? I LOVE this time of year for the beach because no one is there. Just surfers. And there's great parking. Coop couldn't get enough of the sand, seagulls and beach toys. I know I take far too many photos of him but I love it...what can I say.

Nothing too much is going on here. We are stoked to fly out to St. Louis next Tuesday for Thanksgiving. Dave's brother, his wife, and their two kids live out there and his parents are flying there from Utah. It will be like a mini reunion! They came out here the past two years for Thanksgiving, so it's our turn to travel. I can't wait to be in REAL fall weather! Just dreading the 5 1/2 hour plane ride...with one layover...and one Cooper. Oh man.

Dave surprised me with the Sarah McLachlan Wintersong cd. Totally love it...and recommend it :)

Does anyone feel like the holidays are coming too fast? I don't know why I am stressing. I don't usually, but this year I am. I am not the creative gift giver and it's hard for me to think of gifts! Especially during the holidays. I really want to do a Christmas card this year (picture included)...but will it actually happen?? This intention has always been beat. Speaking of paper...

Found something that makes me happy...these beautiful calenders from a company called Cecily Ink. Wow. I saw an entry on yourheartout.com that introduced me to this company. It was love at first sight. And I must say, that site makes me really appreciate SLC and all it's goodness.

Emergency room: Part Two

2007-11-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Yes that is right. I have been to the emergency room twice now in two weeks for Cooper. I told you about the sad story of me shutting his finger in the door a couple weeks ago leaving his finger nail in two pieces glued together. Well Monday Cooper managed to fall down (nothing new) and bang the crap out of his head on a pile of brick-type stones. We went to the ER and gratefully it wasn't busy. They ended up giving him 4 stitches right on his forehead. And don't be deceived, the purple goose egg directly above his stitches wasn't from that fall. No, that was from another fall two days after that. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think it's safe to say this is a sign of things to come. He is a bit crazy. He is a boy.

Do you think the band-aid is really noticeable? umm