November's Ten Things

Wow!  November was a crazy busy month full of lots of fun and surprises!  Lots to smile about for sure.

1.  My sister showed up on my doorstep with her kids!  Flying across the country to visit without me even knowing the plans.  I stood there holding Cooper stunned and then I burst into happy tears.  Awesome!

2.  My brother and his family decided to come too since she was here.  Impromptu Family Reunion!

3.  My kids artwork

 4.  Cooper's Hair

 5.  Ethan's Parent Teacher Conference

6.  Thanksgiving with tons of family and fun!

7.  Celebrating my 9th Anniversary at The Roof.  To my hubby:  I love you forever - and I'm glad it's going to be for that long too!

 8.  Singing a Christmas Concert in Assembly Hall

9.  Going to Ethan's First Grade Christmas Program and seeing his excitement and hearing him sing and recite poems.

 10.  This picture:

Hugs and Kisses to You!

Thanksgiving and other things

My Thanksgiving was amazing!  So wonderful.  So many people I loved were in my home helping make the day so great!  They all pitched in in such incredible ways that I didn't even feel overwhelmed because of how helpful everyone was!  I wish I had taken more pictures.  This new me (where I don't take pictures very much) is driving me crazy, but oh well!  Here are a few I took with my phone:

My bro carving the turkey

 The girls waiting for the feast

 My cutie pie nephew

 Speaking of pie . . .

 Later that weekend, my sister drew Cooper these little faces which HE LOVES!  He "talks" to them and smiles and laughs.

 I also sang in a concert on Temple Square.  It was incredible!  I've been in such a crazy newborn land, that I think if I hadn't been kindly pressured into sticking with the choir, I would have dropped out.  Singing in the concert helped me feel the Christmas Spirit and made my heart happy.  I might have just missed that feeling all together this year without the music.

My sister and her kids came to hear us sing.

 My mom sings with me.  I love it!

 Then we enjoyed walking around the temple and seeing the lights!

Thanksgiving was also my NINTH ANNIVERSARY!  But Todd and I are celebrating that in a couple days, so more on that later.  :)

My Little Buddy and Grati-turkeys

I was able to do some good bathroom cleaning today while Cooper was asleep.  And a bunch of laundry too.  I even dusted!  It's a good thing he had a long nap today, because when he's awake he pretty much likes to be right here:

 as you can see though, I don't mind so much.  :)  My arms get a little tired holding him, but I haven't gotten tired of his little coos which are becoming more often.  So cute!  So fun!

We made Grati-turkeys last night for FHE.  We even traced Cooper's hand!  He didn't mind until finger three and then Todd had to trace really fast to finish because Cooper was NOT happy.  He forgot why he was crying pretty fast though so it was worth it!  He's grateful for all sorts of good baby stuff, like his family and bottles and diapers and Bruno Bear.  He LOVES his Bruno Bear - smiles and "talks" to him all the time.  It's really cute.

All day today I've been having this wonderful quote floating through my head.  Since it's Thanksgiving week, I'll end with it:

"To express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven."

-Thomas S. Monson

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Cooper Update and Comparisons

Cooper had his two month check yesterday.  He also had to endure three shots and a blood test!  He screamed and cried, as you might imagine, but calmed down quite well in my arms.  The results of the lab work showed that he still is very low in the red blood cell department and so he is now on an iron supplement once a day.  He has to have another blood test in a month to recheck.  I know he'll be fine, but I will sure be glad when he doesn't have to have blood draws all the time anymore!  As far as height, weight, and head size . . . all three landed smack dab in the middle, making him a very well proportioned babe.  :)  I've never had a kid that wasn't off the charts, so that's a little strange, but maybe he'll zoom ahead in height in the coming months.

And for fun, a little comparison of my three kids at two months old!

Cooper Grant, at 2 months

11 pounds, 13 ounces

23 1/4 inches

Ethan Todd, at 2 months

15 pounds

25 1/4 inches

Madeline Jean, at 2 months

10 pounds, 6 ounces

23 inches

Two Months Old

I always found a lot of joy in taking monthly photo shoots of my babies.  It started with Ethan, and I've done it ever since.  Always on the exact day.  Always lots of fun.  I think I went a little crazy with Cooper, taking pictures in various places all over the house.  Here are some of my favorites:

A good morning photo on the change pad

 checking out the rolls on his legs before getting dressed

 and a few others in his cute little clothes

 I sure love this little guy, sleepless nights and all!

 He's been kinda crabby today, but you'd never know it from this picture

These last two months have lasted one minute.  They have also lasted a lifetime.  They have been most wonderful and most difficult.  But I sure wouldn't trade them for the world.

I'm just so glad Cooper is in my life!

A December Birthday

When people found out I was expecting my first child in December, I got a lot of, "Why would you want a December baby" (as if that was my goal!) and lots of, "My birthday is in December, and it's awful, people always forget or combine my gifts or wrap them in CHRISTMAS paper!"

So I made a promise to myself that I would NEVER wrap Ethan's gifts in Christmas paper.  And I'd never let the Christmas festivities overshadow his special day.

Yesterday I asked Ethan what kind of birthday cake he wanted.  Do you know what he said?

"I want to have a CHRISTMAS BIRTHDAY.  Can I have a Christmas tree cake?  Can we play 'pin the star on the tree'?"

Hmmmm . . .

I guess it just depends on the person.  My son seems to think celebrating Christmas for his birthday is just fine!

Don't Faint!

My daughter is wearing pants!  And I don't know about you, but I think it makes her look older.  She might be wearing pants a little more often in the coming months out of necessity too (not that wearing pants more often than never is very hard).  Her cousin's hand-me-downs were mostly dress-less for this coming season.  We've been talking up pants.  She's not entirely convinced, but we'll see what happens.

 She also got a much needed haircut!  Two inches off, and it's still so long.  Now she looks more like someone cares for her!  :)

 And for fun, here's the face I get to see each morning . . .all smiles when he wakes up and sees me.

And since I have no pictures of Ethan, I'll end by saying that his parent teacher conference yesterday was a success.  His teacher loves him and is amazed at his reading and math skills!  Turns out he finishes his work first every time in first grade too.  Lots of the kids are still trying to figure out how to do the work, and Ethan's already done.  We just have to work on his handwriting for next term . . .lol!  He's so busy going fast, he sometimes gets sloppy.  But his teacher knows him well and is using her awesome animal drawing books as an incentive for better handwriting.  If he takes his time and does nice work, she'll let him draw out of her books when he's finished.  Because apparently, even if he goes slower, he'll still be the first one done.

And even though he's a little too chatty at times, it turns out his teacher thinks he's delightful.  Phew!  I was worried about that one.

Hooray!  Three cheers for three kids!

Pictures on my Fridge

It's easy for me to get overwhelmed with the amount of paper my kids go through.  Both kids use 10-30 pieces of paper a day - all pictures they give me and Todd and hope we'll keep or do something with.  The kitchen table has projects on it every second of the day, except during dinner, and there are markers and scraps of paper all over the floor all the time.

But last night, I suddenly realized how sad I would be when pictures like this are no longer on my fridge:

It turns out, it's gonna happen all too soon.  Time goes fast.  I know that one day I'll look around and wonder where all the paper went.  So today I'm going to enjoy it.  Because honestly, how can you not smile looking at a princess like that?

Halloween Pictures

We lucked out yet again with another year of perfect weather!

 A cute witch

 The amazing Spiderman

 Three kids - I don't see them all together that often, it still seems crazy that I have three!

 The goods!

It was fun times.  I loved watching all the kids run from door to door while I talked with all my neighbors as we followed them along.