growing up way too fast

I never added it to my post about Noah's birthday, but his Grandpa Hall sent him a Thomas the Train set. It arrived just before he was to take a nap and not thinking about it, I let him open it. Big mistake. Noah loves it and is constantly pushing it around the track. It usually goes on it's own, but he ran the batteries out and I'm not going to replace them for a while. So mean, huh?! Thanks, Grandpa Hall!Noah definitely knows what he likes and wants to do. Lately he "fixes" everything, well anything that moves. He has his tools from his Little Tikes tool bench and he pretends to fix his trucks, bike, and sometimes Cooper. He is obsessed with cars, trucks, planes, and trains. Such a boy! He loves for me to spread his blanket out on the floor in front of the TV so he can lay there and watch Thomas on TV. He has a new love for bananas, but he will only eat them if I peel the peel down and the peel is still on it...like a monkey. We aren't sure why but he doesn't call Brett daddy. Instead he calls him Brett. It makes me laugh, but I think it really annoys Brett. Noah will walk around the house calling out "Bett, Bett, Bett..." So funny!
Cooper is growing up too fast. I can't believe he will be ONE in less than a month. Where did the time go? He is improving his walking skills and is now learning how to walk in shoes. Some words of advice: put your child in shoes at least once before he begins walking. I think he wore shoes once, but I never saw the point in it because he always took them off. He hates it when I put shoes on him. Until I put squeaky shoes on him. Oh, does he love those! He gets so excited when he hears the squeak. Unfortunately, his big feet barely fit in the last pair I have.

He is extremely active and into everything. He loves to scream, all-the-time. He screams when he's happy and when he's upset. And it is LOUD.

post full of {random} stuff

It is finally done. It has been almost 8 months and I finally finished it! I planned on making this clock for my brother's wedding gift. I had all the stuff and was ready to make it before their wedding in December, but it was a very busy time. I just got around to finishing it. Happy 1 year, I guess. :) Now you have to come and visit if you want it. Just kidding. We'll get it to you somehow.

I've had my blog for my cards and announcements going for a while now, but just haven't taken the time to "announce" it on this blog. I am slowly working on Christmas cards and adding them as I finish each one. It is never too early to start thinking about Christmas cards. Anyway, you can click on the button on the left of my blog to get to it or go here. Hopefully I will add some more things soon.

My cute Mom has started a blog and I am pretty excited she did. And just because I am a total nerd and love playing around on Photoshop I asked her if I could make her a blog header. I love this picture of Italy.

These are the flowers Brett got me for our anniversary. Definitely not the best picture, but aren't they pretty?

{four years}

Today is our four year anniversary. At times I can't believe it has been that long. It seems like it has just flown by, but then I think of all we've been through together. I am a lucky girl and I realize that more and more each day I am married to Brett. He treats me so much better than I could have ever hoped for. I am so grateful for the strong relationship we have. Sometimes I cannot believe how well we fit each other and the strength of our friendship. Happy Anniversary, Brett! I love you!

{walking, walking, walking}

Cooper has technically been walking for about a week or so but that was only a few steps at a time, but he has now gotten braver. He is walking much more, from one end of a room to the other. He is still pretty wobbly, but doing really well. He is so proud of himself when he is walking and has a big grin on his face. He surprised us by already being able to stand up from sitting without using anything to help him up and by being able to bend over, pick something up, and stand back up to walk. It kills me how quickly he is growing up!

Oh, Noah was ok. That was him falling off his bike in the background, but he didn't even cry.

{super-N}

My Mom made Noah this awesome superhero cape for his birthday. I saw them online and wanted one for Noah, so of course I asked my Mom to make it for him. She did an awesome job, made it exactly how I wanted it, and made it and sent it in about a day. It would have taken me forever if I had tried to do it myself. She IS amazing! Thanks Mom! And look at how cute he looks:



I guess we will have to wait and see what kind of superhero powers he has! My Dad and I were laughing tonight about how funny it will be when he decides he has to wear it everywhere.

noah's birthday: opening presents

Noah received some fun gifts for his birthday and had a blast playing with them tonight. He even went to bed with his new Thomas the Train. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the gifts you sent. Noah loves them.

noah's birthday: blowing out the candles

I was looking for train cakes to make for Noah's birthday, but saw these cupcakes, and since we all know how much Noah loves monkeys, I had to make them. They were so much easier than a cake. We have a lot of them, so if you live nearby, stop by for a monkey cupcake! Noah saw them this morning when I was getting breakfast for him and he kept asking for one, so I gave in and let him eat one for breakfast. What kind of mom am I?! :) It is his birthday, though!

noah's 2nd birthday: the zoo

For Noah's birthday this year we decided to do something as a family instead of have a party, so we went to the zoo. Noah is a pro at going to the zoo and loved every minute of it. Of course, we saw all the typical zoo animals. When we got home Noah found one of his board books about animals and showed Brett all the ones we saw today. We think Noah's favorite might have been the elephants. He might even make the elephant noise for you sometime. He is quite good at it.

Riding on Daddy's shoulders is the best way to get around.

BUT...Noah's favorite part of the whole day had to be the ride on the train. He loves trains and we knew we couldn't leave the zoo without a ride.

What a fun and exhausting day! Happy birthday, Noah!

teeny tiny twins

My brother, Matthew, and my sister in law, Katie had their twins on Tuesday. I stole these pictures from their blog. They are so sweet, don't look a whole lot alike, and are doing great. I'm so glad everything went well. The one on the left looks just like my brother. I thought that the minute I saw his picture. I can't wait to meet them. Congratulations Matt and Katie! Welcome to the world of parenting (x2)! :)

future firefighter?

Why is it that when I try to take a picture of Noah he wants nothing to do with it? But when his nursery teacher is taking pictures of her own son Noah goes over to her, says cheese, and wants his picture taken?

Speaking of nursery, I am now the new nursery coordinator in our ward. From what I understand, I plan the lesson, activity and snacks for the 2 nurseries our ward has. Oh, and I find the substitutes too, or I have to teach. I had a few people at church today comment on how hard it is to be in nursery but I'm kind of excited. We'll see.

And what a crazy day it was at church today! I must say, though, any Sunday we make it through the whole Sacrament meeting without going out in the foyer is a good Sunday!

{love 'em}

Quite possibly the cutest I've seen. :) The rest is pretty cute too.

{baby steps}

Since all my posts seem to be about Cooper today (not on purpose) I thought I'd share this one as well. I was going to wait until he was truly walking, but these pictures make me smile. He is a madman with this toy. He gets very serious about pushing this around. Best garage sale purchase I've ever made. He has become a pro at pushing it all over the place. He can manuever it really well to change directions and turn around. He has started to stand for longer periods of time without help. He gets so excited and claps for himself. He has taken about 2-3 steps, so it won't be too long.

{bully}

We have a bully at our house. He likes to push down, tackle, steal pacifiers, pull on clothing, poke eyes, scream, pull hair and even sometimes bite. He thinks he is pretty funny and does it all with a smile. And when he is reprimanded for his behavior he just giggles. You would think I am talking about the two year old. I'm not. Cooper is our bully. Well, mostly he just bullies Noah. It is hard to be upset with him when he just giggles about it.

Here is an example of Noah being attacked. Whenever Noah is on the floor Cooper automatically heads towards him. He usually lays on him or crawls over him. Noah is pretty good about it and thinks it is funny.

Cooper frequently tries to stand up holding on to Noah and ends up pushing him over. If I change Noah's diaper on the floor Cooper is immediately pulling Noah's hair or poking his eyes. Poor Noah can't even get away.


Cooper is showing us how tough he is. He thinks he is such a big boy and can do whatever Noah does. It just cracks us up sometimes how big he thinks he is. If Noah is singing a song with or without actions Cooper jumps right in, even trying to do the same actions. Funny boy!

{jewelry}

Thought I'd just pass it on that my sister in law, Katie, has started a jewelry making business. I think she does a great job making the jewelry and I loved many of the pieces she was wearing or that she showed me when I visited in the last weeks. Check out her jewelry blog here. She is also willing to customize pieces. I think the sets she is selling are well priced, too.

our trip: part two

After spending some time in Colorado, Noah, Cooper, and I rode with my parents back to Nebraska where we spent a week. Once again, the DVD player saved us. Unfortunately, Noah was sick for the first few days while we were there, so we spent a lot of time at home. It was good, though, for the boys to have some time to rest without going anywhere. Cooper immediately attempted going up the stairs in my parents' house, which was really scary, but he made it up them all on his own. He had a lot of falls, too. Even when we put the gate up on the stairs he would climb up, hold on to the gate with one hand and squeal. I'm a little concerned about the coming year since he has no fear and he is already climbing on things.

Even with all the craziness that came with this trip, I really enjoyed being able to spend some time with my family. It is hard living so far from family and I am grateful for the times that I get to see them. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for everything! We appreciate everything you did for us during this trip and for making it possible. We love you and miss you already. Hopefully your drive home will be less eventful. :)

playing outside

Noah was spoiled while visiting my family. He got to play outside much more than he gets to at home. It helps to have a fenced in yard. It rained a couple of times while we were in Colorado and my dad took Noah outside to play in the rain. Of course, Noah loved it.

Noah also got to "help" my dad in the yard at my parents' house by watering the plants. And he played some croquet outside in the yard, too. Lucky kid. :)

cheyenne mountain zoo

We went to the zoo in Colorado Springs. This zoo is cool because it is set up against the mountainside so the zoo winds up the side of the mountain, which requires a lot of walking uphill. My sister in law, Katie, was always ahead of all of us and she was 33 weeks pregnant with twins! I was impressed.

Noah has been to a zoo before but it has been a while since we went.He was very interested in the animals and loved showing them to the rest of us. We all thought the part with the giraffes was really cool because we were standing on a platform where the giraffes were within arms reach and we could also feed them. Giraffes have the longest tongues! Of course Noah was scared of them. We also saw a lot of other animals as well. I will try not to overload my post with pictures, but here are some of my favorites. Cooper was pretty good considering he had two teeth coming in. He still wanted to be held instead of in the stroller.

colorado springs

We are home from our trip and I want to blog about it, but I'm not entirely sure where to start. It has been 2 1/2 weeks and pretty crazy. We had everything from a cranky, teething baby who wouldn't sleep unless he was in his mom's bed, food poisoning, fevers, colds, other weird ailments, one of the biggest storms in Nebraska's history, and some of the longest hours (close to 30 hours of traveling) trapped in the backseat of the car with my children. It was an adventure.

Noah, Cooper and I started out by flying to my brother's home in Colorado Springs, where my parents had also driven to. I thought it was only an hour flight, but it turned out to be closer to an hour and 45 mins. plus a lot of time waiting to take off. Luckily, Brett was able to get a gate pass and help me to the gate and then a really nice lady helped me to my seat by carrying my bags. The flight wasn't too bad. We bought a portable DVD player and that is probably the best purchase we have ever made. It got to be a little frustrating towards the end when Noah figured out how to take off his seatbelt, so I had to use one arm to hold him down and buckle the seatbelt while also holding Cooper on my lap. Then some turbulance scared Noah and he had a meltdown for the last 15 minutes of the trip. But we made it, even before my family was there to pick us up! :) haha! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of our flight. I meant to, but I needed more than 2 hands to handle just the 2 kids!

While we were visiting Matthew and Katie we went to the zoo in Colorado Springs, did some shopping, went to some good restaraunts, celebrated my dad's birthday, visited with my cousin Sharalyn, and just spent time hanging out. Eric and Joy even dropped by during their long layover on their way to Florida.
Noah loved having a backyard to play in. It was really nice outside so we all sat on their patio and let Noah run around. I really want a backyard now. (Someday...) I also fell in love with the climate in Colorado Springs. It was so nice. It is going on my list of possibilities. Probably not on Brett's list, though. ;)Cooper spent much of his time crying and wanting to be held by me and only me. He was getting two teeth and wouldn't sleep much. If I walked away from him he got very upset. Matthew quickly became one of Cooper's favorite people. He will be a great dad when his two boys get here. It won't be too long!
I also got to see my cousin, Sharalyn, who I miss very much. It was fun to see her, although it was too short of a visit. I even got to go see her gorgeous house. You can only see a little of it in the picture, but believe me, it was beautiful. I wouldn't expect anything less! :) Miss ya', Shar, and it was good to see you!

{tagged}

This picture has nothing to do with this tag. I stole it from my brother's blog. I'm still on vacation, don't have my camera cord, so I have no pictures to share. This is one of the giraffes we saw at the zoo. We were close enough that we could touch them and feed them. I will share more pictures later, but I'll just say that it has been an eventful trip and we still have 16 hours in the car to look forward to!

Tag:

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.

C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and post their names, then go to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? I just graduated from high school, was taking an online English class from Ricks College, working to save for college, and spending the summer with my friends and family before I moved away.

2. What was on my to-do list for today? Well, I am still on "vacation" at my parents' house. Although, it is never really a vacation when the kids are there too. :) So, pretty much the same as every other day! Change diapers, feed kids, baths, figure out what Noah stuck up his nose, etc.

3. What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire? Pay off school debt, buy new cars, buy a house, save and invest

4. 3 Bad habits... 1. waiting until the last minute to make dinner 2. setting the alarm for 6am to go to the gym and then getting back in bed and going back to sleep after turning the alarm off 3. drinking a soda for breakfast (I know...it's bad!)

5. Places I have lived..... Nebraska, California, Idaho, Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota

6. Places I have worked... department store sales clerk, afterschool program at an elementary school, mail fulfillment for an online stock brokerage, payroll auditor for Pamida corporate, assistant sales manager at Z-Bag, CSR at Convergys (yuck!), office manager for carpet cleaners, office manager at NPS, fourth grade teacher (whew, those were all in 10 years!)

3 Things people don't know about me....1. I love to clean and organize and usually when I get started I can't stop until I've cleaned everything, which doesn't happen so much anymore now that I have kids. 2. I am addicted to Pepsi, which everyone knows about me, but I hate to drink it from the bottle or can. I prefer it from the fountain. 3. I want to learn to play the violin. I own one, took lessons for about a year while I was in college and then quit because of other events in my life at the time. I still want to learn and hopefully I will get to take lessons again soon.

tagging:

Becky

Shar

Kristin

{9 months}

Cooper turned 9 months on the 14th. Like I say every time, I can't believe how quickly time has passed and how quickly he has grown. Here is a little info. on Cooper.
*measurements-
height: 29 inches/ 75th percentile
weight: 19 lbs. 9 oz./ 40th percentile
head: 46 3/4 cm./ 80th percentile
*has been crawling since about 7 1/2 months
*still only has the bottom two teeth
*loves to feed himself
*gets mad if he isn't eating what the rest of the family is
*screams just because he likes to and when he is excited
*stands holding on to furniture and slowly moves around while holding on
*completely a mama's boy
*scared of just about everyone besides his mom and dad and cries when held by anyone else
*an early riser-usually wakes up between 6 and 7
*wears size 3 diapers and mostly 9 month clothes
*gets into more things than we thought possible and has been injured a few times
*waves bye bye, says dada, and loves to clap

can never be too careful

Last week I had a guy knock on our door to ask me about our Dish Network service. He asked me how much we paid and then offered me a better deal. Like a $20 less/month good deal. I was very interested in the offer. He asked me if we had good credit and said that we would need a credit check done to sign up with the new company. No problem, but I said I needed to check with my husband first. He asked me when he would be home and I lied and told him he is in and out all the time. (Like I'm going to tell you when my husband isn't home!) He told me he was only going to be in "the area" for the day and that if I was interested in the offer to call him by 8 pm and he would come by and hook up the new receiver. He left me with his first name and phone number on a corner torn off of a pamphlet.

I went back to what I was doing but realized I should check to make sure he actually works for the company he claimed he worked for before I called him back. I called and no, he doesn't work there. They have never heard of him. They called the number he gave me and the guy on the phone said he was his nephew but that he didn't think he worked for them and he acted really weird. I ended up calling the police because the company I called didn't want to do anything. So, I gave my story to a policeman and he said he would check into it. It sounds like this happens often. Kind of scary!

Oh, and Brett said he is impressed with my fraud evasion skills. haha :)

{update}

The batteries in our camera are dead so I have not taken any pictures in quite some time, so unfortunately that means no pictures for this post. I feel like it has been awhile since I've updated with something real, not just the boys' pictures. So, this is what is happening with us lately:

*Both boys were sick in the last two weeks with really high fevers. (I had no idea a temp. up to 105 is ok. Yikes.) This resulted in Brett and I getting about three hours of sleep for several nights in a row two weeks in row. Fun. Everything is back to normal now. Thank goodness!

*Brett took some of his vacation time this week and is spending it studying hard to take the DAT. I am grateful for all of his hard work and I'm sure it will pay off when he takes the test. I think it is a bit overwhelming for us both right now.

*I have become obsessed lately with food storage. I spent some time last week at the cannery. I got a little carried away and spent double what I had planned. We need it, though, and there is still much more I need to buy. I have spent the last few years making excuses, like we don't have much room, but I'm sure I will be so grateful to have it if I ever need it. I found this blog (I am jealous of all her food storage!) with some info. on it and the church website providentliving.org. I love feeling prepared.

*I am preparing for my first flight next week alone with both kids. This may be interesting. Luckily the flight is only about an hour long. I'm still trying to figure out how I will be doing it. As embarassed I would be by it, maybe I need to buy one of those harness/leash things for Noah. haha. I'll have to make sure I have batteries in my camera to document the craziness. Also, I found out that you can get a gate pass to have someone help you to the gate and also meet you at the gate where you arrive.

cooper {8 months}

noah {21 months}

Noah would not cooperate from the very beginning for these pictures so that is why he has kind of crazy hair and he isn't smiling. But this is the real Noah, always on the go and a little stubborn, so we are grateful for what we did get!

{farm country}

I have been holding onto a coupon for Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country since last fall and we have been waiting for the right time to go now that the weather is warmer. We were finally able to go tonight and we really enjoyed getting out of the house and doing an activity as a family. I wasn't too sure what Noah would do around the animals. He was scared of pretty much everything, including the chickens. He liked to keep his distance.

He was even scared to sit on the fake cow, but Cooper wasn't.

I was surprised by how excited Cooper would get whenever he saw an animal, although you can't tell by this picture. He was about to hyperventilate and jump out of our arms.

My favorite part was definitely letting Noah lead the way as he pointed to all the animals. Even though he was so scared of getting close to the animals he loved it and said some of the animal noises when he saw them.

He finally overcame one of his fears when he rode on one of the ponies. It took us one failed attempt, Noah watching some older kids riding, and then coaxing him into doing it before he was ok with it. If you can see his face you can tell he still wasn't too sure of the ride. In fact, as I took this picture I was saying hi to him and he yelled "I love you." to me. I think he wanted me to know just in case.

a little update

We haven't had much to blog about lately, but I thought I'd share a few pictures and an update of what has been going on here. I'm sure our families would love to see some new pictures. :)

Noah is loving the nicer weather because he gets to spend so much more time outside. He just got a new trike and loves it. He still needs to figure out how to pedal. He loves to sing and he does it all the time. His favorite song to sing is "Do As I'm Doing" as he does some of the actions. Actually, these actions also work for "Wheels On the Bus" so I'm not always certain which one he is singing! We've tried to teach him others with actions but he always tells us no. I'm still trying to get video of him singing. His vocabulary is increasing so quickly. It makes us laugh when he copies some of the funniest things we say but then he won't say words we want him to.

Cooper is getting big too fast and I get sad thinking about it. He is crawling everywhere and pulling himself up to everything. It scares me because he is still so wobbly, so he falls all the time. He seems too little to be doing those things. I had to lower the mattress in his crib yesterday, which forced me to take the bins of the boys' clothes we had stored under it to storage. I ended up going through everything and getting all the baby items ready to go as well. Kind of crazy that we are putting those away already, but he is only interested in all the toys and things Noah plays with anyway.

in case anyone is interested...

I guess this would only apply to anyone who lives in this area. I am lame and watch Good Things Utah (well, have it on my DVR and watch it when I can) most days. Tomorrow they will have Stephenie Meyer on as a guest. I thought it would be interesting to watch. So, if you are interested, it is on ABC 4 at 10:00 am.

happy mother's day!

This Mother's Day, I thought I'd share some reasons why I love and am grateful for my Mom.

*As we were growing up she taught us how to work hard. I think I learned this mostly from my Mom's example. I remember her making crafts for a craft show in order to make money to buy a new sofa.

*I love my memories of the fun things my Mom made sure we did as a family. Those memories are the ones I cherish. The family vacations, the Sunday drives, going to the movies together, etc. I think our family was made stronger by these times spent together.

*Through my Mom's example I learned how to treat others. She is so patient and kind. I especially appreciate how patient she was with me while growing up. I now try to remember that while dealing with my children.

*My Mom would do anything for her children and she does frequently. Working at jobs she doesn't enjoy to help support us when in college or coming to help take care of my 1 year old and 1 month old when I had surgery. She received my call as I was being taken into the prep area for my surgery and immediately made plans to be there the next day.

*She was always willing to help us with anything, from staying up all night to finish an assignment, planning a wedding reception all by herself, or simply answering my ridiculous cooking or parenting questions.

*While growing up there were many times she'd stay up late into the night sewing my new dress so that I would have it to wear the next day to church.

*She is an extremely talented woman. She can sew just about anything. She is a good cook. She is a talented artist and can draw anything. She is very creative and I would frequently ask for her ideas when teaching.

*My Mom and I have a great relationship. I am grateful to her for her patience with me as I call her so often. After I left for college most of my calls were because I was so homesick, but as time went on it was about my classes, or boys, or cooking questions, or boys, or lesson plans, or just to talk about the ridiculousness of college life. Of course, now I call more often to ask questions about my kids. What should I do if...?

I am grateful for her example and for all the sacrifices she has made for me. Love you, Mom.

{motherhood}

I love this picture of my boys with their Daddy.

I am so blessed to be the mother of these two sweet boys. They bring so much joy into my life and I am grateful for every day I get to be with them. Somedays can be very difficult but there is definitely good in every day. I love being able to watch them learn and grow. I love that I am able to be a part of that process by teaching them. I love the little smiles, hugs, and kisses I get from them. I am grateful for this day that I can reflect on what motherhood means to me and spend my day with my little family.

splish, splash

I know this kind of picture is so cheesy but I couldn't resist posting this. We started bathing both kids at the same time a while ago and we finally got a picture. They are so funny together. Cooper loves to be where Noah is and Noah definitely treats him like his younger brother. They interact more when playing in the tub. Noah enjoys pouring water on Cooper's head, but Cooper doesn't seem to mind.

I love watching these two starting to play together and I really love it when we hear their squeals and giggles. If we do not close their bedroom door all the way when we put Cooper to bed Noah will often run in, pull down the crib bumper pad, and they both start giggling. They just laugh and laugh until we come in and ruin their fun. If we ever try to put them in bed close to the same time they play peek a boo from their cribs and squeal and giggle. I love it and it cracks me up every time. Sometimes I don't want to go in and stop it.

the host

While at Costco yesterday I saw that Stephenie Meyer's new book, "The Host" was out. In my state of constant and complete obliviousness to anything but what happens in my little home, I did not know when the actual release date was. Curious and not sure if I wanted to spend the money, I picked one up to read over it a little. As I was checking it out, an obviously excited Twilight Series fan told me about her search for a copy and that Costco was the cheapest. She also informed me that it was the day of the book's release. I knew I couldn't get it from the library for months so I bought it. As I left the store I had several people get excited when they saw it in my hands and race back to the books to pick one up. Really made me laugh.

So I ended up buying the book and it is currently being read by Brett. Not too long ago he said that he wanted me to buy the rest of the Twilight series (I only have Eclipse) so he could read them. I was very surprised. He has been looking for a book to read so I offered to let him read this one first. I am interested to see what this book is like. I already have Brett giving me his critique. :) And driving me crazy by laughing at what he reads and then telling me that I'd have to read it to understand!

minor expenses

Among all our other expenses, twenty dollars a month is automatically withdrawn from our checking account once for Brett and once for me. Brett pointed out to me last night the stark difference in what our twenty dollars is used for. Mine is for my gym membership, which does not get used as often as it should, or ever actually. :/ And for what does Brett spend that twenty dollars so frivolously? Life insurance. I suppose that would benefit me not him. technically.

busy, busy, busy...

noah is a busy, busy almost 2 year old. on