Kev, Linds & Coop

Coopers Yo Gabba Gabba Party

2012-01-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

We have had an excellent week! Our little guy turned two on Wednesday. We spent the day enjoying time together. I had a doctors appointment and afterwards we went to Chic-Fil-A for some breakfast and ice cream. Afterwards we thought it would be fun to take Cooper to Target and let him pick out a toy. We spent about 45 minutes in the toy isles as he picked toy after toy, he didn't hold interest in any one in particular for very long. Right now he is most drawn to Disney Cars toys and the Leap Frog computers. We ended up picking out a Sit and Spin for him, I thought he would love it if he knew what it did, well he is still trying to figure it out but for now he thinks it makes a nice stool.
On Friday we had lots of friends over for a Yo Gabba Gabba Birtday Party! Yo Gabba is a pretty weird show but we love it. Cooper is very interactive when he watches the show, he dances, makes faces and mimicks the characters. Every morning he says to me "me mant babba momma" which translates to I want to watch Yo Gabba mom. So in deciding to do the Gabba party I decided to make a Pinata in the shape of pink Foofa's head, do a pin the eye on Muno game and make DJ Lance cupcakes, Chocolate with and orange frosting hat and yellow star. I had a few other games to tie in Brobie, TooDee and Plex but I was too tired to go through with those games so I borrowed a bounce house from my friend and it was a blast. We had about 20 kids and 12 adults, we thought it could be a crying chaotic mess but everyone had lots of fun and the kids all played well together! One of my favorite parts of the party was watching Cooper try to pin the eye on Muno and the Pinata was fun because since I made it and made it a little thick it was tough to break, the kids were able to dent it a little but in the end Kev had to stomp on it to crack it open.
After the party we relaxed a little then went to launch a rocket with some friends by the church. The rocket landed on the roof of the church and when Kevin was boosting our friend onto the roof to get it some guy got mad at them so we retrieved the rocket and decided to do the rest of the launches another day. We ended the party night by blowing up the bounce house again and playing with Coop. It's been a fun time!

Cooper Man

2011-12-28T15:15:00.001-08:00

Cooper is turning into a little boy so fast. I can't believe that in 5 weeks there will be a little baby girl and Cooper won't be my baby any more. He is so fun right now but he is also so naughty sometimes! He loves to take baths now and several times a day will come up to me with all his bath cars in hand and say mommy bath? Bath? As soon as we get him dressed for the day he runs into the bathroom saying Hair, Hair? He loves getting the pomade in his hair and sometimes when we aren't careful he gets into it himself and tries to do his own hair. I just wish he was as excited about having his hair cut as he is about having it styled. He hates to have his diaper changed and runs away and wiggles and squirms, it's often a two man job now that he is bigger and so am I, I have just been so grateful Kev has had so much time off to help me keep up with him. He loves to yell and sing and dance and can get pretty wild on the dance floor. His vocabulary is exploding right now and it is so nice to be able to communicate though there is still quite a bit of mystery language going on. He seems to be starting early with the tantrums and will lay flat on the ground when he doesn't get his way, we are learning how to best deal with this problem. He isn't a big eater but has his favorites, milk being the first still. He does like eggs, noodles, steak, popcorn, edamame, oranges, yogurt and cheese most of the time. Occasionally corn dogs and chicken nuggets will float his boat. He doesn't like chocolate milk or chocolate candies which I think is awesome except for when he does eat it and then spits out a slimy chocolaty drooly blob on my carpet. He does enjoy helping me in the kitchen and though it often makes us nervous or makes a bigger mess it is fun to have a cooking buddy.
We sure are having fun with this little monster, and even though I can't wait for our little girl to be here I sure am enjoying my time with Cooper, most the time...

Christmas Festivities

2011-12-28T14:51:00.000-08:00

We have had a fabulous week of Christmas celebrations. We started out the week by going to Six Flags and Sea World with some friends. We have loved having passes and living so close to these amusement parks. Kev loved all the roller coasters, Coop loved to dance during all the Christmas musical shows and I loved all the lights and the hot chocolate at Six Flags. On Friday we had some friends over for a Christmas party we had delicious food and a fun white elephant but the highlight was a snowball fight using wadded up pieces of paper. Originally I thought it would be five minutes of fun for the kids,but the grown ups got into it and for about 15 minutes there was screaming and laughing and wads of paper whizzing through the air non stop. It was a hit!
We had a lovely relaxing Christmas Eve, enjoyed some Mexican food and light seeing with some good friends and then we headed home to get Cooper to bed and set up the presents. It was fun staying up with Kevin and getting Christmas ready for Cooper. We got him a train table and we couldn't wait to see his face Christmas morning.
Christmas morning I woke up early with excitement and had to wait nearly an hour for Cooper to get up. Once he did we changed him and got him ready to see his gift. He was very confused and cautious as he approached the train table and mini chair. He stared at it for a little bit before he started to grab trains. He was great though, once he realized there were fun toys under the wrapping paper and that all this stuff was for him he was loving it. He would come open a present, then say help me and we would open it for him, he'd admire it for a minute or two and then go back to the train table or sit in his chair and look at a book. All presents were opened within an hour and then we had a delicious breakfast. I loved being able to go to church on Christmas Day. We had a wonderful Sacrament meeting and came home to relax a little before Kate and Jed joined us for dinner and some Wii Sports.
It was a lovely day, I wish I had taken more pictures throughout the week but I know that it will still be a memorable Christmas forever.

Most Delicious Easy Fudge

2011-12-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I made some extra delicious old fashioned fudge. It was amazing and though it was a lot of work, it was worth it and I was proud. I took it home to my family and several of them said oh it's good but have you had Collynn's fudge!? I was a little offended but then I had Collynn's fudge and wowzers, it was awesome. So I now save myself the hassle of old fashioned fudge and I make my sisters super easy fudge recipe.

Easy Fudge
4 Symphony bars, I like to use the toffee and almond kind
2 sticks butter
1 can evaporated milk
4 cups sugar

Break up the chocolate bars and cut the butter into smaller pieces and dump into you mixer.
Bring sugar and evaporated milk to a boil in a large sauce pan on medium high heat, it bubbles up a lot. Stir constantly and boil for 10 minutes, it will turn a light brown color.
Pour boiling mixture into mixer over chocolate and butter and mix till smooth.
If you want to add a couple handfuls of marshmallows that's cool.
Pour into a sheet pan lined with parchment or pipe into individual mini cupcake wrappers.
Chill for a few hours. YUM

Utah Fun

2011-12-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

After 7 weeks in Utah we have returned to San Antonio. We had a great time in Utah, I think we will miss all the cousins the most. It was so fun to see Cooper play with all his cousins.

My Sister Leann and her boys Max and Scout. For a few days we a full house with 3 of my sisters and 5 kids and my parents upstairs and Kev Coop and I downstairs.

Sometimes it was hard to get Cooper to pose for pictures

But he loved being with cousins, especially Ruthie who is 3 every morning they would be so excited to see each other it was so cute.

My little sister Collynn got married on Saturday. It was awesome to be there for it. Her and Owen are so happy and they can all live together now with all the kids. I made the cake and cupcakes. It was disastrous because I didn't have enough fondant or energy to make it look proper so we covered it in flowers and it turned out quite nice!

Just a little update...

2011-11-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

We love how fun Coop has been lately, he is talking so much more and he is usually happy and fun to be around. He is having so much fun in Utah being around grandparents and cousins. We are staying at my parents house and my sister and her 3 kids are here too. Ruthie is 3 and she and Cooper have so much fun. He loves to imitate all her actions and they just giggle and have lots of fun together. I think its good for him to be around cousins because it toughens him up and teaches him to share. He is an all star dancer and busts out some of the silliest moves. He is super into cars and loves Cars 2. He has collected so many little cars for him to line up and play with.
We are having fun in Utah. We got sick the first part but are feeling good now. I am a little homesick for my house and friends in SA but we have some fun things planned for this trip. Kev is having a good time at the University of Utah but I can not wait for him to be done so we can relax and have fun.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:48:00.001-07:00

We had a blast this weekend. My family had the annual Halloween party on Saturday. My mom treated us with the Viva Las Vegas dance from Just Dance on the wii. She was an excellent Bandito. Kev pulled together a last minute costume, and we had a great time all dressed up. Sunday we carved some pumpkins and Coop got right in there to help out. Halloween was a little sad because Kevin was on call and so he couldn't come trick or treating with us. Cooper loved it though, he would stand right up to the door and knock until they answered and then carefully pick out a treat. He kept his dragon tail and hood on the whole time and sometimes did jumping tricks for the the treats. He is cute and fun. I like it a lot.

Our Little Cupcake

2011-09-27T17:18:00.001-07:00

Its a girl! I am thrilled! I initially wanted a boy so Coop could have a little buddy, but when I was feeling so sick I thought perhaps it may be a girl. Then I started to get super excited looking at girlie things and thinking of girlie names. In the past few days I started to try and get excited for having either. We would definitely save money on clothes and toys if it were a boy! I kept saying we would be so excited either way, but when she said it was a girl there was no ounce of disappointment, just excitement and happiness. I can't wait!

Half Way

2011-09-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

One thing we have discovered out here in Minnesota is that Cooper is a warm weather fella. He doesn't like to wear pants or socks very much, and he really hates long sleeve shirts. Its a shame because I have bought him some really cute ones, but when I put them on he seems to find a way to get it off half way. I think its cute and funny. Kevin doesn't like it.

It was a cold weekend and now Cooper is sick. Last night was rough, we put him in our bed and Kevin slept in the left top corner, I was in the bottom left and Cooper tossed and turned on the rest of the king sized bed. It makes me so sad when he is stuffed up and coughing and there isn't anything I can do. Today we are taking it easy in the hotel room, its going to be a long day.

On a brighter half way note. I am 20 weeks along with this cutie. Being pregnant this time around was pretty rough the first 16 weeks, but I feel good now, aside from feeling fat. We find out a week from tomorrow what the gender is. At first I really hoped for a boy but now I wonder if its a girl and I find myself getting excited over pink frills and bows. An old wives tale states that if the mother is especially beautiful during pregnancy then the baby is a boy because a baby girl steals the mothers beauty. If this is true I am certain that not only is this baby a girl but she is going to be the most beautiful baby. My hair is dull. I have had at least one zit on my face for the past 3 months, and I never have zits. I feel pasty and puffy. I keep waiting for the beautiful pregnancy glow and the cute little belly but I just don't know that it's going to happen. Oh well because I am super excited boy or girl. Hurry up February 7th, come soon!

Week 3 in Rochester

2011-09-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the banks of the Mississippi

I can't believe we have just one week left here! Time has flown by and we have actually loved it here. Cooper and I went with a friend from church to pick fresh raspberries, it was so fun and I got three overflowing pints of delicious berries for only $4.50! We mixed them in ice cream and it was heavenly. Last weekend we had a few outings, we went to Winona to see the Mississippi River. When I looked online there were some fun restaurants, parks and some paddle boat rentals, when we got there I realized I must have been looking at a different river city because Winona was a flop and all along the river was industrial stuff. There were some cool old buildings and it was a pretty drive to get there but once there it was two thumbs down.
The next day we went to Harmony to experience the Niagra Caves. There was supposedly a waterfall in the cave that reminded the men who discovered the cave of Niagra Falls so that's how they named the cave. I don't think they had ever seen Niagra Falls, or the waterfall has reduced significantly because it was tiny. But the cave was actually really cool. I would have taken some rad pictures but I can't for the life of me get a clear picture from my fancy camera unless it is a brilliantly bright day outside and Cooper stands perfectly still. Maybe one day I will read the manual and learn.
My dad came to Minneapolis for a meeting and I got to hang out with him Monday night and Tuesday morning, it was so fun! He took us to a delicious restaurant and I indulged on Lobster Mac, it was fantastic. I have gained like ten pounds here.
We are having a great time, Cooper loves being outside and playing. At the parks he could sit in a swing while I push him for over an hour. It is lots of fun for me :)
There are some things that have been new to me. At the restaurants there are hooks at each of the booths, I commented to Kevin how nice that was so you can hang your purse or your to go bag. He laughed because he had to explain that the hooks were for big winter coats. At church half of the long hallway was dedicated to the longest coat rack I have ever seen. I have never worn a coat to church unless it was part of my outfit. Crazy stuff going on up here!

Bu-Bye Binky

2011-09-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

This was Cooper two weeks ago. He was a binky boy. He love love LOVED his binky and blanky. If he was crying, the binky stopped him. If he was grumpy, the binky cheered him. If he was bored, the binky entertained him. I always had at least one binky on hand. He loved putting the binky in his mouth and then getting super close to my face so I could bite it out and tease him as he tried to get it back. The binky was all sorts of fun, so I dreaded the time when I would need to ween him from the binky. I planned to wait until he was two. Well in the past week or so I don't know why but Cooper now hates his binky and wont take it at all. I think that either he has allergies up here so the binky makes it hard for him to breathe or since he has been chewing on his binkies and there are now teeth holes in a few of them, maybe his nasty spit settled into a binky too long and grossed him out and turned him off from all binkies. I think the latter is what happened. At first I was pretty excited that he gave it up on his own, but I am realizing there were many benefits of the binky. Cooper used to be a champion napper and sleeper. If he woke up too early from either he found his binky and went right back to sleep. Now when he wakes up after only an hour of napping, too bad, he is up and grouchy. When he wakes up at 6:00am, too bad, he is up and grouchy. Instead of just lying down and falling asleep, he cries and yells, and screams. Instead of sucking and chewing on his binky, he chews and sucks on his blanky or sleeves and it stinks so bad! When we drove up to Minnesota and he got cranky in the car the binky solved the problem 75% of the time, now after driving an hour he gets grouchy and its quite difficult to make him happy. Normally this would just be something we dealt with as part of the weening process, but living in a hotel room with a long drive awaiting us in less than two weeks, its driving me crazy, we are much more tired and grouchy than is necessary. It was a rough weekend, however he slept in until nearly nine this morning! Maybe he is adjusting, we will see on our 3 hour round trip drive to Minneapolis today. My dad is in town for business and gets to spend a day with us, Yay!!

Duck, Duck, Goose!

2011-09-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

I have been so excited to take Cooper to feed the ducks. In San Antonio not only is it too hot to go feed the ducks, I don't even know where to go, I don't think I have seen ducks in San Antonio. So for a few weeks I have been so excited to take Cooper to feed the ducks. I was excited to see him chase them and laugh and I hoped he would quack at them.
Well they have lots of ducks here, but where there are ducks there are three times as many geese. I knew geese could be more aggressive and mean but I thought we'd be okay and take our chances. It wasn't at all like I had hoped it would be!
When we first got to the park there were a ton of geese sitting near the parking lot. We got out some bread and threw it to them and they just sat there, they weren't hungry at all! Then we noticed tons of bread, chips, popcorn and to-go containers filled with leftovers all over the grass, apparently feeding the geese is a popular activity in this small town. We went and ate our lunch and played on the playground. Then I saw a dover of ducks near the lake and I took Cooper to go feed them. They were hungry and for the first minute Cooper was having so much fun, but when the gaggle of geese saw the ducks eating they came in and took over. It wasn't too bad, Cooper and I were throwing the bread and the geese were honking and eating. But then the geese grew impatient, and it takes Cooper a little bit of time to decide where to throw the bread. A goose came right up and snatched the bread from Coopers hand! It totally scared him but he calmed down and fed some more, but then it happened again! And suddenly geese were everywhere, and they began hissing at us! I know its probably wrong to kick a goose, but I wanted to, and had I not been wearing flip flops I may have. Anyways, we quickly threw out the bread and got out of there and I don't think we will be back.
I was disappointed that it wasn't the charming experience I had hoped for, and there was no time to get a good picture because I was trying to keep the geese away from Cooper's fingers, but in the end Cooper did chase a goose and that was cute.

Rochester: Week Two

2011-09-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

Here is Cooper trying to escape from being close to statues, they freak him out, its pretty funny!
Week two here has been pretty fun! We are loving the parks, but it can be exhausting following a little kid around the park! But still I am always happy to be outside in such nice weather and such green surroundings. I feel like I have been in such a drought that when I see anything green or wet I fall in love and want to take pictures of it, and its everywhere! So while I can't deny that it is gorgeous here, parts of it remind me a little of Texas Hill Country in the spring. we have enjoyed several drives looking at the homes and scenery.
Hotel living isn't too bad, before I was determined to learn to cook in a hotel room. I thought I'd learn to hard boil eggs in the coffee maker, but the coffee maker is very confusing, it looks like an electric can opener. I brought my George Foreman but learned that cooking meats in a hotel room gets too smokey, thankfully no alarms went off but I was super scared. So now we eat cereal, sandwiches-which I can grill, microwave meals from Trader Joes, protein shakes, or we mostly eat out. Thankfully soup weather is around the corner.

For Labor Day we went to a little Zoo and had a picnic. The weather was perfect, the Zoo was cute and Cooper got to feed the goats and cows and he loved it! This little boy loves to moo at most animals it is pretty cute.

We went to Minneapolis over the weekend as well and we weren't quite sure what to do. We discovered this cool park around a lake and rented a fun bike to ride around. It was about 3 1/2 mile around the lake and it was such a fun ride, Cooper was in heaven, especially when I let him sit on my lap and steer the fake wheel. Kev was an awesome pedaller as well.

We hit up Mall of America which had an impressive Lego display and we explored the amusement park and some stores. I was excited they had an H&M and there is no sales tax on clothes, but still I was good and bought just one shirt. The mall was super duper crowded so we split before we saw it all but my dad comes to town next week, maybe I will sneak by before I get him from the airport :)

Overall things are going well. Kevin is loving the program here and will have a few interviews this week. Coop and I have fun, but I hate to admit we hang out in the room a little more than he may like but this week I am hoping to get out more! It is fun to spend so much time with just Cooper, I feel like he does new things everyday. He is saying more words and is getting to be so helpful when I tell him to do something, especially if it involves throwing things away, he loves putting things in the garbage can!
We miss our friends back home and we hope our house doesn't burn down but we are also having a great time here!

Minnesota Adventure: Week One

2011-08-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

A week ago today we woke up at 3:45am and began our journey to Kansas City. It was about a 14 hour drive and Cooper is a road trippin boy! He did great for the first 11 hours, then he started to have a little bit of a break down, I can't blame him, I was feelin it too! We pulled over and let him just play in the car for about 10 minutes. Then we forced him back into his seat and about 5 minutes later he calmed down and we made it the rest of the way okay. Not too bad!
We got to Kansas City and stayed with our friends Scooter and Jessica for a couple of days. We always have a great time with them and they introduced us to Sheridan's Frozen Custard. It is absolutely delicious, maybe the best ice cream ever! I loved the raspberry cement, so thick and creamy when you dump the cup upside down nothing spills. Mmmmmmmm.....
On Saturday we left Kansas City and drove a little over 7 hours to get to Rochester. It is gorgeous here. The trees are thick and lush and there are little ponds and small lakes everywhere. About 40 minutes outside Rochester is a Spam Mmmmmuseum. We are definitely hitting that! As we drove near our Hotel I was pretty excited to see a Trader Joe's just kiddie corner from our hotel. I have never been to Trader Joe's but I got some delicious food suggestions went, loaded up on yummy snacks and microwaveable meals and was stoked to discover they accept Texas EBT!!! Trader Joe you and I are going to be best friends!!!
Anyways back to Saturdays arrival, we headed straight to the clinic to check it out. Downtown Rochester reminds me of a smaller Salt Lake. Super tall buildings, crammed together, but very clean and not intimidating at all. We ate at a Jimmy Johns and then strolled around. The Mayo Clinic is amazing, gorgeous on the outside. I got a good picture of Kev and Coop by the Mayo brothers statue, but I can't find my camera right now. It turns out Cooper is really afraid of statues! We walked around for a while, the weather was beautiful but I am embarrassed to say that in the 72 degrees I kind of wanted a jacket! Around 8:00 we headed to the hotel. It is located about 2.5 miles from the hospital but Kevin wanted to maybe find something a little closer so he could just walk. However once I got in the hotel I decided I did not want to change. There is a big water park that we will have tons of fun at, our room is huge and clean and there is a separate room with a mini fridge, microwave, and closet that is perfect for Cooper. Then Sunday morning when we went to the continental breakfast I was further convinced that this was the place for us, every morning they have the typical oatmeal, cereal, fruit and pastries along with some sort of breakfast potato, meat, eggs and a make your own waffles station. It is delicious!
Sunday church was nice and we went to a park near our hotel, Soldiers Field and Memorial is a beautiful park and we discovered two great playgrounds there. Cooper is in heaven running around in the grass and playing outside. Also Sunday we went to burger king and talked to a true Minnesotan, she kept saying Okey dokes and you betchya with the best accent, good thing it was a drive thru because I was all grins and giggles!
Kevin had orientation yesterday and of course loved it. This is going to be an excellent learning opportunity and at the end of the rotation he has a formal interview which is super awesome because it will be his first residency interview and he won't have to fly back up here in the winter to do it! This is going to be a great few weeks. I already have a list of things to do, going apple picking, going to the Amish Village, hitting up the mall of America, I sure am excited!

Goodbye Dear Car

2011-08-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Six and a half years ago I purchased my first grown up car. When I returned from my mission my parents surprised me with a Mini Cooper, it was so much fun, but after a year of speeding around my dad said I could either take up payments on the Mini Cooper or get my own car. As much as I loved the Mini I felt like I needed an adult car, a car I could drive for the next 15 years and fill with car seats and gold fish crumbs. Being single I wasn't about to get a mini-van, but I loved the look of the Nissan Altimas. My dad found me just what I wanted complete with a sun roof and seat warmers, it was in Oregon, but we didn't care we flew up and drove it home. This car has taken me all across the Western USA.
My first road trip in this car was actually with Kevin before we even dated. My friend Jenna and I were going to go visit our friend Lilo in Monterrey CA and also attend a wedding of a mission friend in Fresno. Since Kev was also a mission friend I invited him along. Jenna ended up flying home for a family emergency so it was going to be just Kevin and I on the way home and I was nervous, I didn't know him very well. We had a great time driving home seeing who could last the longest with the seat warmers on and the heat blasting, he told me stories about himself that weren't true, and we drove through a crazy blizzardy snow storm. As we drove I kept thinking that Kevin was just the kind of guy I wanted to marry. At this point I never thought Kevin would be interested in me, but I got home and broke up with my boyfriend anyways.
That summer we drove my car to 29 Palms, we hiked to the tops of giant rock formations in Joshua Tree. We Drove to Orange County and enjoyed the beach, Magic Mountain and the Newport Temple open house. We made several trips to Vegas and each road trip Kevin and I became better and better friends.
When we were in our flirting but not dating stages every weekend we would wash our cars together and have little water fights.
Once we started dating we took a few more road trips to Vegas. Once we were married we took the road trips continued. One trip to Vegas it was just Kevin's dad and me because Marv and I both worked so we met up with the rest of the family a day later. I had worked the night before until 4:00 am and so Marv offered to drive while I slept in the back seat. I woke up about 5 hours later and Marv told me he was so hot even though the air was blasting. I had accidentally turned his seat warmer on full blast and he had be blazing for hours! Ooops.
Since we have been married we have driven from Provo to Couer D'Alene ID, from Provo to Texas. A round trip from San Antonio to Provo for Christmas straight through no stopping each way. We went from San Antonio to Orange County, to Palo Alto. While in Palo Alto we went to San Fransisco, Montery, Napa, and Yosemite, that was while I was pregnant with Cooper. From Palo Alto we went to Vegas then to Provo and then back to San Antonio. We took a trip from San Antonio to Kansas City to see our friends Scooter and Jessica. And while in Texas we have visited Del Rio several times, Austin more times than I can count and we enjoyed a fun day at the Beach in Port Aransas.
We buckled Cooper into the backseat and brought him home from the hospital in that car. I road tripped to Mesa AZ with my friend Melissa and her daughter Lexi so that I could visit my grandma before she had heart surgery. On the way home Melissa and I got stuck in a terrible traffic jam and she kicked open a fence so we could detour and off road almost to Mexico just to get around the freeway accident.
Speaking of accidents. I got in my first accident in this car. I rear ended someone in a round about two days after Christmas as I was going to return Christmas gifts. I loved this car. It was comfortable. It had a huge trunk, one time two friends and I all climbed into the trunk and closed it, we told some stories then pulled the glow in the dark handles to pop the trunk and get out.
Despite all the good times the car did have some troubles, which is why I am reminiscing and gushing right now. About a year after getting the car the check engine light turned on. We took it in several times but they could never detect a problem. It was frustrating because I could never pass Utah safety inspections until I took the car in to be reset, then I had anywhere from a few hours to a few days to a few weeks before the light turned on again. Just before the move to Texas they discovered a small fissure along the top of the gas tank, but said it wouldn't cause problems and probably wasn't worth fixing, but it would keep our light on. Once in Texas we had some clutch problems but when we took it in they found no problem. When it got worse we took it in again and they found a problem in the slave drive but the man told us it was minor and if it was his car he wouldn't worry about it because it was expensive. Well last May my car started making bad noise, we took it in and they said it was burning through oil even though they changed the oil a month ago. We thought maybe they just forgot to put oil in so we watched it for a while. Sure enough it was burning through oil.
With a big road trip to Minnesota a week away we took the car into the dealership last Monday. The verdict, the catalytic converter needed replacing. The engine seals were basically ruined and the engine needed replacing. The slave driver was in terrible shape and needed replacing and there were a few other problems. Basically it was the beginning of the end and the value of the car had plummeted and not worth fixing and probably not safe to take to Minnesota. I was depressed. I was also angry and sad. It made me sad to think that Kevin's dumpy 94' Accord was in better shape than my car. Well a few stressful days later my car is traded in at full trade in value (shocking!) and we are in a beautiful NEW Hyundai Santa Fe.
Minnesota here we come!!

18 1/2 Months

2011-08-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

There have been so many things I have been wanting to post about Cooper so that when I get around to making his photo book I can refer to my blog, but I just have not been in a blogging mood. But now we are in Austin house sitting and I don't have a list of to do chores so I feel okay blogging.
Cooper has been such a goof lately, I don't know where he picks up some of the things he does. Recently he has decided he likes to eat his food off the floor, with no hands, just licking it up, we never eat like that so I don't know where he gets it! One time there were some spilled gold fish on the kitchen floor but I left them because we were getting ready to leave so we were just trying to get him to run to the garage. When he ran through the kitchen and saw the goldfish, he got down on his belly and was trying to suck up all the goldfish. He couldn't get the last one so he picked it up and threw it across the kitchen. It made me laugh for days because he can be such a goon!
He isn't saying too much but he picked up the word shoe and he loves shoes, especially mine or Kev's. He also says Moo when he plays with his cow car or cow puzzle piece. Right now we are taking care of our friends big dog that is white and black and a few times I have heard him mooing at the dog!
A few little tid bits on Coop right now, his favorite thing to eat is my chap stick, I would love to own a chap stick that doesn't have a hole gouged in it. His favorite toy is the cupcake stand, he likes to put a toy in each spot. His favorite accessory is a tie between his binky and his blanky, he is a little too attached, I need to start weening him from those. His favorite sign is to put his hands above his head whenever the answer to a question is so big or so much, for example if we say Cooper how big are you, he puts his hands up high and we say soo big! or how much do I love you, So Much!!
Cooper loves piggy backs, he is a super fast runner- especially when his diaper comes off, he is generally happy and fun and this handsome little guy makes us so happy!!

Wedding Cake!

2011-07-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

This was a busy week. I baked and baked and did a lot of dishes, but the end result turned out beautifully.

I agreed to do the wedding cake for two of Kevin's friends from school.

I wasn't sure about the flower topper, because it was so big, but the colors were so nice.

I also made 8 cheese cakes for the grooms cake. I don't know what I was thinking taking it all on. It made for a super stressful week! I am so relieved its over and that everything made it to the wedding safely! I was glad I got to do this though, I love having an excuse to make a cake and though this one was challenging it was rewarding and it was for such a great couple that I was excited to be able to be a part of their wedding.
Now I am excited to relax and spend time with my boys who were so great this week even though I neglected them all week!

Austin July 2011

2011-07-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Austin dog sitting Zorro. It was a great time we spent the week

swimming several times a day...

Chillin out....

And relaxing....

When it was super hot at the park we got Popsicles and Cooper devoured an entire Popsicle all by himself. He was pretty patient in the heat while Kev and I played Bocci Ball with Kate and Jed.We took a little stroll to the river.

Cooper had fun climbing on the rocks.

And as always blankers and binky are always with us.

We went out to see the bats. Kate and Jed took this from the top of the bridge while Kev, Coop and I were below the bridge and the bats peed or guanoed all over us.

Cooper loved to wear Jed's or Kev's hat during this trip.

For the fourth of July the neighborhood had a bike parade for the kids.

All of us rode or walked or pushed along behind a snow cone truck that was playing fun patriotic music.

Cooper didn't last on his bike for long, he was too slow.

And we all enjoyed delicious snow cones at the end! It was really fun!

We invited a bunch of friends up to Austin to swim and BBQ since there were no fireworks allowed this year.

Coop loves Uncle Jed and Aunt Kate and we were glad they came up for a few days.

Coop is a pool animal!

Our friends brought up a delicious cake and home made ice cream, thats why we invited them :)

It was a fun week but its also nice to be home. I worry about Cooper breaking things or getting into things in other peoples homes. I was so worried that in trying to baby proof the house I accidentally broke some wine and shot glasses. Ooopsies!

My Little Helper

2011-07-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

Cooper has been such a fun helper lately. It is so funny to me the things he picks up and likes to do! He loves to help me throw out the recycling or his diapers. He loves to turn off the lights when we leave a room. Lately he has been very good about wiping the table or couch after he spills something or drools. A few weeks ago we were at the Student Health Center waiting for Kevin to get some papers. Cooper was just playing on a chair and I saw him walk over to a table and grab a couple of tissues, he walked back to his chair and started wiping the seat. I hadn't noticed but he had spit up a little and was cleaning it up all by himself!

The other day he was eating a sucker and I was occasionally wiping his mouth and hands so he wouldn't get the couch all sticky. After wiping him a few time he took the wipe from me and wiped his own mouth and tongue after each lick of his sucker. He catches on so quick!

The other day Kevin and I were laughing because Cooper was trying to get into the package of wipes and Kevin wouldn't let him because normally Cooper would just pull out all the wipes for fun. When Kev took them away Cooper threw a fit! I told Kev that lately Coop just likes to clean stuff so Kev gave him a wipe and Cooper ran over to the couch and started to wipe up his drool. He is such a silly kid. If only he could start folding laundry!!

Then there are other times when he isn't so helpful :)

Summer Treats

2011-06-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

A girl in my ward asked if I could make a treat for girls camp. Since camping and s'mores go hand in hand, but sitting next to a campfire in this Texas heat sounds like torture, I decided to do these s'more like cones. Super easy. Make a pan of brownies. Use half the brownie batch and spoon a chunk into the bottom of the cone- makes 12. Smash it in pretty good. Next sprinkle in chocolate chips or your choice of candy, I also made these with M&M's and Reese's. Lay out 12 marshmallows on a sheet pan and broil, watch them closely so they don't get charred- unless that's the way you like em. Place a toasty marshmallow on top. Next cut the remaining brownies into 12 squares and space them out on the sheet pan. Place chocolate chips or candy on top of each brownie and top with a marshmallow. Sometimes if the marshmallow is rolling off I split it half way and stick it on. Broil these until they are toasty and melty and then push each one into the cone while they are still hot so that everything in the cone is gooey and melty. That's it, EASY!
And yummy!
My little buddy digs it!

Small Projects

2011-06-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

With all the house projects I have slacked on the little projects. A friend of mine wanted to make some growing sticks around Christmas time. I bought half the stuff but put off getting the board and actually doing it. Well I FiNalLy got around to it and it looks great in Coops room.

I actually used an extra scrap of base board that we had in the garage and I painted it the back of it black, then painted the sloping side white and with a Sharpie wrote all the inches along the side. Then I put a car at every foot marker (I made this thing 6 feet tall so we can measure Coop all through High School). After the cars were on I painted white lines on it. I thought it would be tricky to hand since the back of it was not flat but had curves, but I got the Command Brand Damage Free Hanging Reclosable Adhesive Strips and it hung up no problem and no holes!

When Cooper sits he is 1 1/2 feet tall :)

May Update

2011-06-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

It has been an eventful couple of weeks, and I feel like I never take enough picture so I am forgetting it already. First up I turned 30. Kevin and I went to a super delicious restaurant called Dough. It was amazing! Pizza even better than my favorite Provo spot Terra Mia. If it wasn't so pricy we would go once a month. After an incredible dinner and some super delicious frozen yogurt Kev surprised me with an iPad, now I can live my thirties trying to be organized and compact. After the Birthday celebrations we flew out to Utah for my sister Kate's wedding. I am mad at myself a little because I was so busy working on the cake and getting things organized for the wedding set up that I didn't take a single picture! I am hoping that the photographer took tons of adorable pictures of Cooper and his studly little suit and red tie, and all the cute things he did through out the reception, but I am guessing she focused more on Kate and Jed...

The wedding day turned out gorgeous. Kate wanted to have a picnic feel at the reception. We were going to do it in the beautiful backyard of a family friend and J-dogs was catering. We had bottled root beers and lots of burlap, the only problem was that it rained everyday for a week before the wedding. Thankfully the sun came out for Saturday only and the day was so pretty! Perfect weather, perfect food, perfect couple.

After we got home from the wedding I took Cooper to the Doctor. At 16 months he weighed in at 23 lbs 7oz and is 31 3/4 inches tall. Still hanging in the 50th percentile. He is so fun right now as he is learning new words and doing more things. He now says car, tren (train), bayba (baby), uh-oh, hi (as he is waving to everyone), Mama-Mama, yum yum yum, dad, no, and makes animal sounds like a monkey, a dog and sometimes a cow and he loves to make car and motorcycle noises. This weekend he had an ear infection and his fang teeth are coming in so he has been grouchy this week but still has his fun moments. He loves riding to the mailbox in his car with Kev. His favorite food right now is probably popcorn but he also loves random foods like olives and salt and pepper chips. He is starting to throw more tantrums which is lots of fun :) but they aren't too bad yet. He still makes us laugh everyday and we love love love this crazy kid!

Book Club

2011-05-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have been in the best little book club the past three years! I love reading and we have come across some really great books, but book club isn't really about the books. It's about making friends, pigging out, sharing stories and dreams, laughing to the point of tears, receiving and giving advice, staying up way to late, venting, and learning about relationships and each other; at book club there is no such thing as TMI!

These girls and those nights have changed my life and made it better! In the next few weeks half of them are moving on to residency programs (sniff, sniff, tear) and I just wanted to Blog proclaim my love to them. You girls are FABULOUS, and I will miss you all!

Last night we had a farewell dinner and gorged on pasta so delicious I dreamed about it.

I will have to get the recipes soon. In the mean time, here is the recipe for the Panna Cotta I made.

I forgot how much I loved Panna Cotta when I worked at Sundance. Its like a fool proof custard.

Yummers!

Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries

2 tsp Unflavored Gelatin (1 packet)

3 Tbsp Cold Water

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt

1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Tsp Vanilla or 1 -2 Vanilla Beans

(I used Tahitian Vanilla Bean I got from a friend- AmAZinG!)

Sprinkle Gelatin over water and let it soften for about ten minutes.

In a sauce pan mix 1 cup cream, sugar and vanilla bean. Bring to a simmer.

In a bowl mix 1 cup cream and yogurt.

Once the cream and sugar are simmering, remove from heat and stir in gelatin until it has dissolved. Add mixture to the yogurt and mix well. Pour into 6 ramekins and chill for at least 6 hours.

For the Strawberries

Slice up 1 lb. Strawberries

Add 3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar

1/2 tsp. Freshly Ground Pepper-

(Sounds weird, but it was subtle and delightful)

Stir together and let it sit for 30 minutes before serving.

Serve the Panna Cotta in the dish or put the ramekin in hot water for 30 seconds, turn it upside down on a plate and shake it to release it. Top it with Strawberries and enjoy!!

Spoiled

2011-05-08T19:18:00.001-07:00

I am one spoiled Mama!Today I didn't change a single diaper, wash a single dish or pick up anything off the floor! I slept in and got breakfast in bed, and I got my first voluntary kiss from Cooper- It was kinda gross, his nose was super runny and he lingered a little too long, but he never gives me kisses so I was a happy HaPpY Mama! I also got a photo book filled with my favorite pictures of my favorite boys. My husband rocks! He is one handsome stud!

And like father like son, here is this little handsome stud. He is on a date with little Miss Sophie Jane.

I can't tell if he loves her or fears her, but they seem to have a fun time, usually.

Mud Run

2011-05-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Some friends and I ran in the Hell Run Mud Run yesterday.

It was the hardest "run" I have ever done. I think I walked 2.5 of the 3.5 miles!

I hadn't trained well because I figured I could run 3.5 miles and the obstacles would break it up a little. I didn't know that the majority of the run would be up steep mountain trails!!!

The obstacles were a little dinky but the terrain was treacherous!

Jumping over the fire was the best moment of the day- it meant we were done!!!

There were some pretty sweet costumes... Nachooooooo!

I started out with these sweet socks, but saw a girl on the trail who lost her shoes in the first mud pit and was trying to still run on the sharp rocky trail.
I gave her my wet and muddy socks.
Spandex one pieces, poor guys, it was so HOT out!

Victory!!! I survived, it was Hell and I survived!!!

2011-04-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Four years ago I married this dream boat.

He makes me smile and laugh everyday and I am so blessed to have him as my man!

Now we have a house, a wild little boy and 3/4 of a MD degree,

We are living happily ever after!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

It has been an eventful month! We flew to Las Vegas to babysit my nephews Max and Scout. It was quite the adventure. I remember feeling so anxious to fly when Cooper was just a few months, it is much more difficult now! My favorite part of the plane ride was when he decided to share his fruit bar snack with the man next to us by shoving the chewed up bar right into the mans cheek! I did warn the man that Cooper loved to share, and he was a good sport about it, but I still felt embarrassed! Once in Vegas we had a fun day shopping with my sister and then got ready to take the road trip to Provo. Driving to Vegas with three boys, by myself, was not as bad as I expected, however the way back there was bit of a barfing fiasco when Scout started throwing up and the smell and sound made Max throw up all over too. Needless to say I am so happy to be home with one child right now. We did have a lot of fun going to the Bean Museum, Kangaroo Zoo, Provo Beach Resort and hanging out with all my family. My mom did a little Easter egg hunt for the boys before we left and it reminded me how much I love being home around the holidays. After we got back Cooper got a little stomach bug, but was feeling better by Monday and we went to a fun Easter egg hunt with our friends out here. He wasn't excited about picking up the eggs but was excited when I gave him candy. He is a little needy right now but is starting to do so many fun things. Look at all the eggs we found for him!

Forcing eggs into his hands so he could put them in the basket

All of the kids here in Texas, Cooper was not happy at this point!

Easter egg hunt at my Mom's house.

The giant rocking chair in Beaver, Cooper thought this was so funny!

Family Zoo Day

2011-04-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

Kevin had to work all weekend, which was a bummer on Saturday, but great today. Today he got the day off and we enjoyed a lovely un-crowded day at the zoo. Cooper is fun at the zoo because he just walks around pointing at everything. He was showing off his rock climbing abilities on the river banks. He got to pet the mini goats and poke the weird chickens. He walked most of the time while I pushed the empty stroller! He is even drinking out of sippy cups all day, no more bottles!!-but I do usually give him a bottle with water at night, I don't think he needs it as much as me, I think it comforts me to still give my baby a bottle at night. Anyways overall a great day at the zoo. It is so much fun with the river open for kids to play in and we are going to need to get the use out of our pass before it gets too hot.

14 Months

2011-03-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

My little cutie is not so little anymore! He is getting so big too fast. He walks everywhere and is getting pretty fast. He loves to play "catch" or chase the ball and throw it only to chase it again and when we play keep away he laughs and laughs! He is a climber and loves to climb on top of the table, the small shelf in his room and all over the couches. He has no fear, luckily there have been no injuries yet. He usually climbs up until he is stuck and then just yells for his rescue squad.

I love his chubby little feet and I love them even more when I can squeeze them into sandals, he hates them but is getting better at wearing them.

He loves playing in the backyard and opens the screen door and sneaks out as he pleases. I can't wait until we get him a little pool and play table, he is going to be in backyard heaven!!

He is taller and heavier than last month but I don't know how much...

He loves to eat yogurt, fruit, sausage patties, hot dogs, pb&j's and fruit snacks- super healthy I know! He started to say Uh-Oh in the right context and it is so cute. The first time we heard it we were eating dinner outside and he threw his food on the ground, looked at us and said uh-Oh! like he thought he could trick us into thinking it was an accident! My little buddy makes me laugh so much and I love him for it! He is still a dancing machine and is mesmerized by the High School Musical movies.

While my parents were in town we went on a hike and at the top we sat down to enjoy the pools. Cooper was fascinated by the running water and tried everything he could to try and get in despite the freezing water temperature!

Also while my parents were here he was in a store with his soon to be Uncle Jed and they were playing with a car. While Jed was distracted Cooper snuck a little car and pulled it into is armpit for safe hiding. After leaving the store Coop pulled out his stolen goods and dropped it, blowing his cover. They went and returned the car but we laughed at our sneaky little kid!

Bathroom Remodel

2011-03-09T04:59:00.001-08:00

Well hopefully our expensive visits to Home Depot are in the past. We finally finished up the master bathroom remodel (aside from installing drawer pulls and a little bit of caulking). I HATED our bathroom before, but it was one of those projects that even though I really wanted to take it on, I didn't know what I wanted, and we didn't have a good time to do it, and the funds were low, etc. Well we used our Christmas money and planned to knock it out the week we got back from break, (I think we had 5 days before Kevin had to go back to school). This project was a pain in the neck! The pre-fabbed counter was 6 inches to deep, the sinks were not easy to install and the faucets kept leaking, the side splash was not working for me and so on and so on.... but two months later- ta da No before pictures but before this the light fixture was the cheap gold rectangle with seven round lights, there was no frame around the mirror, no bead board, the counters were cream with a few dark orange flat iron burn marks added by me, and the sinks were the seashell shape with cracks and bad faucets, and the cabinets were a muddy brown color. It feels much brighter, cleaner and bigger now. I like it a lot. Okay, I love it!

Funny Kid

2011-02-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

I just need to make note of some of the funny things Coop has been doing so that when I get around to making his memory book in a year or so I will remember these goofy little things.

Yesterday I was in the yard pulling weeds, I was using a mini chisel to dig them up and Coop wanted to play with the chisel so bad and he followed me around the yard reaching and whining for it. After I had said no enough he decided to go play with the rocks. A few minutes later he crawls up to me and shows me a rock and says ooooeeeehh? So I told him what a nice rock it was and this conversation went back and forth a few times. Then he crawls up to me and puts the rock on my chest so I grab it and say thank you, he then grabs my chisel because apparently we had just made a trade.

Cooper has been very good at sharing his things. On the airplane last week he kept trying to give people around us his cheese and spoons. Yesterday I gave him a fruit snack and he was starting to swallow it when Kev asked me for a fruit snack. Cooper watches me give Kev a fruit snack and he decides to share too. He coughs up his fruit snack and offers it to Kev, then to me, after we told him no thanks he decided to eat it, again.

We have been playing with the shapes blocks more and working on getting the right shapes in the right holes. Now he loves putting any toy in any hole or slot. He keeps choking the toy giraffe ball roller coaster toy with legos, binkeys, toy tools, lids and anything else he can fit in the giraffes mouth. I also keep finding DVDs and other items shoved into the VCR, sometimes its frustrating but mostly I think its funny to find all the hidden surprises!

Classy

2011-02-24T11:04:00.000-08:00

When we spent the summer in Palo Alto two years ago I didn't care for it much, I was pregnant and spent most of the time feeling sick and laying around in the stuffy apartment above the garage. This past weekend I fell in love a little. My sister lives in a cute little house about 2 miles from downtown Palo Alto. We were surrounded by delicious restaurants, cupcakeries, and Pinkberry. Just around the corner from Amy's is the most delicious and cute sandwich coffee shop where we ate paninis filled with brie, ham and pears, swiss, cheddar, brie and parmesan, turkey, cranberries, and spicy mustard and the last one had mozzarella, tomato and pesto. All sandwiches were amazing! After church we stopped by a fantastic little farmers market and got delicious berries and fun flowers. One of the best parts of Palo Alto is all the wonderful little houses. We walked around Sunday afternoon admiring all the million dollar cottages, we laughed when we saw this unfortunate yard, and it was unfortunate that the umbrella in the corner displays the Texas flag.

Our Trip

2011-02-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

We have been in Vegas and Palo Alto the past 15 days. A lot has happened, we had fun, and we ate too many cupcakes and a had a very happy amount of frozen yogurt from Yogurtland and Pinkberry. And we were so excited to come home to Kevin

The biggest event of the trip was when Cooper took five steps towards me on Friday morning. The first week we were gone he started to push himself up and stand on his own in the middle of the room, he had never done that before. Then he started to take a step or two here and there. I debated whether or not I should gently push him down and discourage the walking until we got back. I really felt bad for Kevin to miss it. I didn't push him down, but he stopped trying, for about a week there were no steps and barely any standing. Then Friday morning he pushed himself up and started walking to me, he took five steps! I was so excited and even more excited that night after we got him pumped up on Pinkberry he took eight steps and I was able to get it on video to send to Kev! He isn't "walking" but he is getting there and it is so fun, right now he takes as many steps as he can until he tips forward with excitement!

So now at 13 months here are some of the things I am loving about this little stud. He has the best smile and has mastered the toothy cheeser and it makes me happy. He loves music, I turn on the music on my phone and he holds it right up to his ear and he just bobs and sways and bounces; my sister in law says he has an internal soundtrack because often when there is no music he is boppin away! He is pointing to everything and makes little squeaks and grunts that end in question marks until he can hold or touch what he is pointing to. Sometimes when I clap he says Yay! and he will sometimes say or repeat Da Da or la la la and every so often Ma Ma.

I feel like he learns new things everyday, and he gets cuter and funnier day by day as well! Life is good!

The Big ONE!

2011-01-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

Coopers First Birthday! I am struggling with Blogger right now and so this post begins with a ton of pictures for our families sake, and then the story of the day is at the end...

Yesterday my little baby turned one! This year has flown by despite the days that seemed to never end. Cooper turned one weighing in at 22lbs and 12oz and standing 29 3/4 inches tall, remaining in the 50th percentile in both categories. The night before his birthday he had a rough night and ended up sleeping in our bed, even a king sized bed isn't big enough for the 3 of us, our little man is a bed hog! We all woke up early and I started getting ready for the party. We were having a Toy Story party with some of his playgroup friends and I made a Mr. Potato Head pinata and a giant puzzle of Woody. I hid the puzzle pieces around the yard and scattered toys all over. I told the kids that I didn't have time to pick up all the toys and so we needed to round up all the puzzle pieces, after they found all the pieces we put the puzzle together and then played pin the badge on the sheriff. After lunch we did the pinata. Home made pinatas are really hard to break open. As I was lowering the pinata so Cooper could push it around the string broke and the pinata fell and cracked which ended up helping the kids quite a bit, otherwise the pinata game could have lasted all afternoon! The party was fun, I had lots of fun getting everything together even though Cooper won't remember it.

When Kev got home we gave Coop his little Cozy Coup and took him for a walk. He loves this car and it is so fun to see him excited over it. After dinner we played in balloons and had more cupcakes. It was a long day for all of us and by the end of the fun we were ready for bed, especially him! Thanks to little Coop its been the best year yet!

Here are some of the fun things he does now.He is a climber and climbs all over the chairs, couches, and me. He says hi and mama and sometimes dada. His favorite foods are string cheese and mandarin oranges. He is starting to throw tantrums and makes a cute grouchy puckered face when I say no. He still loves all cars and now uses them as phones. He loves other kids and especially the kid in the mirror. He is developing some new dance moves and shows them off all the time, even in the car. Everyday is fun with him, he has the best laugh and always can cheer me up, especially when he puts his cute little face right in front of mine, says hi and laughs. We love our little boy!!

Picture Recap...

2011-01-14T08:07:00.000-08:00

This is a major catch up post. Mostly pics. And also my commitment to blog more so that I cant count it as my journal and have less stress when I am trying to put my photo/journal albums together.
Coop is a delight.He loves to carry little things in his mouth, it makes me laugh.

This little man has awesome hair.

Cooper has been into climbing and will use anything and everything as a stool to get to where he wants to be. He loves his new push toy because it is a portable stool for him.

Just before we went to Utah I made my first start to finish wedding cake for a girl from Kevin's school. It took me all night to decorate, but it was really fun for me.

Cooper helped me do some of the packing, he thought it was so funny to throw stuff out of the suitcase to make room for himself.While in Utah we went to my Grandpas for some fun sledding.

He didn't cry when we went down the hill...

but Cooper was happiest just sitting and eating the snow.

Cooper and his cousins Braxton and Shyloh all went to see Santa.

Cooper played the part of the camel in the nativity, he was perfect he just crawled and sat around the whole time.

We had a fun Christmas morning at the Christensen house, Coop got a bunch of fun and noisy toys.

We had a fun and a little freezing New Year's Eve at my parents. We did fireworks in the snow, puzzles and danced along with Michael Jackson on the wii. I was so good at Thriller my parents sent us home with the game and a wii!

Coop had so much fun playing and laughing with all the cousins!

Coop-date

2010-12-06T06:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a little update on Coop. I have been working on his photo album journal book and it has been so helpful to me to go back and read posts from this year. I have been in a blogger slump and I don't like to post as much, probably because I can't I can't keep Cooper from sneaking up on me and reaching his hand around to push what ever buttons he can. Anyways it has motivated me to get back to blogging about him more often for my my benefit. It may be six months to a year before I make it to the December 2010 of his album.
This little man loves to make noise, around Halloween he was making a lot of mama mama noises which was fun. He doesn't say any words though, we tried to teach him to wave and say Hi, but it was easier to teach him to wave and scream. He always plays with cars and make rumbling car noises, it's so cute!
He has 6 sharp teeth, 4 on top and 2 on the bottom and around Thanksgiving he got another one on the bottom and a week later his 8th tooth broke through, the new teeth aren't dangerous yet but they are getting close! Coop loves to bite everything, my shoulders, blankets, shoes, and toys. He still loves to have something to carry in his mouth, his blanket, his shoe, cars, giant craft eyes; whatever he can find goes right in his mouth and then its back to crawling around. He is getting to be a better eater. He doesn't care for baby food much anymore but eats bagels or mini pancakes for breakfast, quesadillas or chicken nuggets for lunch and whatever we are eating for dinner. He is good about eating vegetables too. He loves yogurt and pudding of course and the other day we fed him jello and he started laughing so much, he thought it was the funniest food and he would slurp it in and out of his little mouth!
He loves to bounce to music. If a commercial with a fun song comes on he stops whatever he is doing, waves one hand in the air and bounces up and down. He loves any toy that makes noise and often dances to the music of the toy. He is in a fun mimicking stage so anything I do he tries. Sometimes I bellow into an empty bottle or a pipe and he takes it from me and makes noise into it as well. He has started to clap and now if we ask him to clap he understands and usually does it, if he isn't grouchy.
He loves being outside so we have been taking more trips to the park or the outdoor mall to do some window shopping.
He is getting better at walking with his push toys but still makes no attempt to even stand on his own. I had been anxious for him to walk, but he is into everything right now so I don't mind a crawler for a little while more. He is fast when he crawls and every time I change his diaper he likes to play a game where as soon as I try to put the new diaper on he wiggles away and crawls out of the room. Then he peeks his cute little face in and gives me the come and get me look and I have to chase him down while he laughs and laughs. It is cute and thankfully he does pretty good about not peeing without a diaper!
This is such a fun time, even though he seems to be extra needy for my attention, I like to give it to him because we actually play together and its really fun!

Our Calendar!!

2010-11-24T19:11:00.000-08:00

As many of you know my friend Melissa and I have been working on a little cupcake calendar project. It has been a fun and delicious time and we are done! We recieved our test calendar today and it is YUMMY!! We will be placing a large order this weekend and you can order it now! We came up with yummy flavors that are fitting for each month. Enjoy chocolate covered strawberry in February, root beer floats in June and caramel apple in October. All of these cupcakes are so easy to make, my friend Lilo and my little sister Kate who both are not bakers have impressed many with thier cupcake skills using these recipes! Sooo if you want to order a calendar go here
http://www.pieceofcakecalendars.blogspot.com/
If you are on facebook and want to check out all the pictures go here and become a fan
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/San-Antonio-TX/Piece-of-Cake/160968603935110

We had lots of fun doing this and if you like cupcakes and you need a 2011 calendar that is cute as can be, buy one!

Trendy

2010-11-23T18:15:00.000-08:00

I am on a hunt for the perfect shirt. Something flattering and fun since I have been feeling a little drab lately. Today I took my sister lunch while she was working; She works at Anthropologie. This was only my second time in the store, and I did a little browsing in the clearance room to see if there was something cute and affordable that I could be excited about. There were a lot of cute sweaters and cardigans but I kept questioning myself wondering if these clothes were really cute or if I thought they were supposed to be cute because they are from "Anthropologie" and I didn't know better. I kept thinking about outfits from my childhood that I thought were awesome, I planned them out for days, even weeks sometimes, so that I could dress to impress. I kept laughing to myself thinking 'what was I thinking?!' and hoping that I am no longer such a fashionista flop!
Here are a few of my fashion fiascos...
6th Grade: Girbaud Jeans were hot. The tapered legs, the ginormous behind pockets, the dagger shaped pocket at the knee and most importantly, the little white tag on the fly. For my birthday I wanted nothing more than some Girbauds (pronounced jir-bo's for you younger readers). My mom let me get a pair of shorts just before my birthday so that I could wear them on my special day. They had blue and white horizontal one inch stripes and they were awesome. The night before my birthday I laid my shorts with a white square neck shirt (complete with shoulder pads) and my gladiator sandals, on the bathroom floor so they would be ready for me when I got out of the shower. Apparently that night my youngest sister slept walked into our room, thinking it was the bathroom, and went to the bathroom on my other younger sister. At least that is what my younger sister told me when I asked her why her urine soaked pajamas were lying on my birthday outfit. Needless to say I had to hold off my perfect birthday outfit one more day, but I am sure I still looked awesome because even a day late they were still Girbauds.
7th Grade: I really lucked out in my Jr. High school clothes shopping because I found a mustard yellow pair of Girbauds and a fuschia pair for only $17 dollars each. Later on that year everyone was wearing v-neck sweater vests from The Limited and they were stylin to the max, but a little out of my price range. Instead I found a sweater vest that buttoned up the front and had small multi-colored stripes. It went great with my fuschia jeans or my yellow jeans! When I asked my older sister how I looked she told me I didn't have the chest for the vest and that I should let her wear it instead. Not a chance, I took care of it. Unfortunately the next day at school when I sat down in third period I noticed my stuffing had come loose and had to make a mad dash to the girls room.
8th Grade: Thank goodness flannel shirts and baggy frayed bottom jeans were in style because I was at an "awkward" stage, as my Grandma put it, and I didn't have to worry about skinny jeans or belly shirts. One day I thought I would look awesome with my black baggy carpenter jeans, my striped converse double soled platform shoes, my black velvet choker with a silver star and my extra long black and white striped cone shaped beanie (the ones that looked like night caps with knots tied at the end). All I needed was the shirt. I wasn't confident enought to pull off the bodysuit so I decided to go with a Mossimo T-shirt, only I didn't have one. I headed down to the Quicksilver store and went to the sales rack. It didn't take me long to find one I liked, it was tan and had a cute little cartoon man smiling and waving. Thankfully the sales cashier was obligated to tell naive youngsters that the smiling cartoon was actually a popular form of contraceptive. Humiliated, I ran out of the store. I ended up borrowing my sisters stayin alive Mossimo shirt and started the day dressed and feeling awesome. It didn't take long for me to feel a little uncomfortable and awkward in my get up but I hadn't showered so I had to keep the hat on and there wasn't much I could do to save my outfit.
I would like to think I have outgrown my fashion follies but today I looked in my closet and all I could think is 'why did I buy that?' and my only explanation is that it was on sale at Target. So now I am determined to go to real live clothing stores and try some new things without trying so hard to be trendy. Wish me luck. I need it.

Half Marathon Highlights

2010-11-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

I questioned whether or not it was appropriate to put half marathon and highlights in the same sentence. This was hard and I didn't do as well as I had hoped for, but I did better than expected. In training one day I did 8 miles in 80 minutes, something I had never thought possible, but that day I thought that I may actually reach my goal of running the 13.1 miles in 2 hours 15 minutes. Thursday night I got the stomach bug and could not stop throwing up. Friday night Cooper had symptoms of croup that kept me up all night. Saturday I felt nauseous all day and I didn't know if it was from the flu, the lack of sleep, or race nerves; regardless of what it was it was not how I hoped my pre-race day would feel. But Sunday morning I felt good. I felt pretty good up until mile 7, then I started to feel not good. I spent 2.5 miles debating whether or not to keep running in misery, or to take it easy and enjoy myself. I chose to take it easy and I slowed down, I stopped and stretched when I wanted to and I even walked some. So I didn't finish in my goal time, and I didn't run the entire distance, but when I crossed the finish line I almost cried because I felt great, like a winner and I didn't want to die or pass out, I was just happy! Happy that I did it, and happy it was over.
Afterwards my sister and I were talking about some of the things we liked most during the race. Here are my Half Highlights.
5. As we were waiting to start the race we looked around at all the people from their hotel balconies watching the crowd, then we started laughing because one guy was up there in his undies watching us. It was funny!
4. I saw a real sweet looking old man, like really old and wrinkly with glasses and an old man hat on, he was cheering us on and holding a sign. The sign said I LOVE FAST WOMEN it was super funny.
3. Just after mile 5 I heard some one yelling "come on Lindsey, you can do it! Looking good!" it felt so nice to hear someone cheering for me! I just ignored the girl to the right of me waving to him.
2. I didn't see this girl but my sister told me she was running behind someone wearing a shirt that said "does this shirt make my butt look fast" Clever, I love it!
1. Crossing that finish line! With 30,000 runners even this late in the race the finish line was crammed so it wasn't as fun as the Moab 1/2 that I had done before, but I was so emotional for some reason and it just felt great!
I am glad I slowed down and as much as I would like to say it was because of the stomach bug, the biggest part was that my body just wasn't ready for 13 miles. I am getting old and I hadn't trained as well as I needed to, but it was a good experience. I don't know if I will do a 1/2 marathon again, but I do love running and look forward to running for fun and not for fear!

Utah!

2010-10-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Cooper and I arrived in Utah today and it is beautiful here. I was so worried about the cold weather that I wasn't too excited to see the leaves but as we drove through town and the trees were bright yellows and oranges I felt so happy! We pulled in the neighborhood and every ones yards and sidewalks were blanketed in fall leaves. The first thing we did when we got here was sit in the grass and leaves, it was lovely!

We came to Utah this weekend for my little brothers mission farewell, he is going to the Tampa Florida Spanish speaking mission and leaves Wednesday. I am so proud of him, he is such a cool dude!

My Swollen Baby

2010-10-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

Last week was a little traumatic for Cooper and me. Tuesday morning as I was going about my to do list I kept thinking I should close our bedroom window. Since our window spring is broken we prop it open with a stick and with Cooper being so mobile I kept thinking I ought to close it. But there was a nice breeze out, and I closed the drapes, and I was in the room with him and he wasn't going near the window. A few hours later I was changing my clothes and getting ready for the day. I ran into the bathroom and about a minute later I heard the sickening slam of the window! I ran out there and pulled back the drapes and saw my little baby's hand crushed in the window. The screaming started as I lifted the window and the indentation mark from the window quickly disappeared as his had swelled into a puffy, bruised fist. I was able to soothe and calm him, but I was a mess. Thankfully my wonderful visiting teacher came and helped me so I could get things together to take him to the doctors. I knew that little baby bones don't easily break, but the force of the slamming window is terrifying and we decided it best to get things checked out.

Nothing was broken but his little hand seemed so sore and he kept trying to crawl or grab things and then he would realize he was still hurt and cry. But Cooper is a tough little guy and the next day started crawling on it and now, though it is still a bit swollen and bruised, he only cries if someone grabs him too hard.
It was so scary and I am committing to be better in child proofing my house. Even though I would never want anything like this to happen again, I am glad it was the back of his hand and not his fingers! And I am really glad it wasn't his head, otherwise it may have swelled like this...

Happy Haircut Cooper!

2010-10-04T21:35:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, on impulse, I cut Cooper's hair. Afterwards my eyes stung with tears. I couldn't tell if it was from the giant onion I had diced earlier or from seeing my little baby look like a little boy. He is changing too fast and sometimes I miss the days when he would just lay there and not squirm all over and crawl away when I change a nasty diaper...

Eight Months Today!

2010-09-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today is September 18, 8 months ago we welcomed little Cooper and time is going too fast! At eight months he is now eating almost anything we put in front of him- crackers, popcorn, shoes, fruits, cupcakes, napkins, pretty much anything but green beans! He has started crawling like a big boy except when he wants speed he goes back to the scoot. He has started to pull himself up onto everything and is starting to walk along the edges of the couches and tables. Overall he is just happy and fun! He is sleeping through most nights and just a curious, fun little cutie through the day!

This week he has been sick and its been so sad! We went to Walgreen's last night to pick up some medicine for him and while we were waiting for them to fill the prescription we were looking at Halloween decorations. Kev turned him to look at a scary mask and as soon as Coop saw it his eyes got big and he just screamed and started crying! He was so scared!! It was one of those funny/sad moments as a parent, we felt bad for making him sad but we couldn't help but laugh!!

The Fastest Thing...

2010-09-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend I decided to do a little bedroom makeover. I have been wanting to do something to our room for two years but didn't know what to do so I decided to start with new curtains and bed cover with pillows. I knew in my head what I wanted but couldn't find the right stuff so I headed to the fabric store. I haven't sewed in a while and have never been very good, and Saturday evening I was ready to throw the machine through the window.
Years a go a friend told me a joke about the fastest thing. Because of its potty nature I won't post the joke but if you see me I will tell it to you because it's so funny eight years later I am still laughing! Anyways in the joke people are saying what the believe is the fastest thing, thoughts, lights, blinking etc. Well I have discovered the fastest thing... Sewing machine thread! I don't understand how in two seconds of sewing half a spool of thread can be knotted and tangled on the underside of the fabric. It was so frustrating!! But I persisted and ended up with these

I also got around to decorating some letters for Cooper that I have had for over six months and hanging a wire display that I have had for years. It feels good to get things done that I have been putting aside for so long.

And here are some pics of my little cutie he is so fun right now!

Baking

2010-08-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

This week we had a baby shower for my friend. I made cupcakes. As you know, I love cupcakes and I was excited to make some cute girly cupcakes! They turned out delicious, I will put the recipes on my food blog.

Then my friends were having a birthday party for their two little girls turning 3 and I told them I would make them some cakes. I wanted to try something new since I don't often have an excuse to make cakes. I decided to try a miniature topsy turvy cake.

It was kind of hard but so fun. I didn't want to try to color the fondant in lots of shades of pink so I used starbursts and it worked great so if you ever want to make like a dozen little flowers for a batch of cupcakes just pick up some starbursts so you don't have to make fondant!
I often don't bake because I don't want to make a big mess, or I don't want to get stuck with a ton of junk that only I am going to eat, but the mess really wasn't a big deal and I was happy for the excuse to bake fun things!!

7 months!!

2010-08-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

Our little monster is 7 months, and he's not a little monster anymore!! He is delightful! I am having so much fun with him! He is smiley and happy and bouncy and is sleeping through the night!! We love this little man baby!

Some of the things he started doing this past month:
He is getting to be a pretty fast crawler and likes to play hide and seek, sometimes I will put him in his room to play and then go to the kitchen to clean or make something and in a few minutes I see his big grinning face peek around the corner, or when he plays in the room that's next to the kitchen I will duck down and call to him and pretty soon he finds me and laughs and laughs!
He weighs 19 pounds now and he is getting some strong yet chubby little legs that he loves to jump with, he loves bouncing anytime he can.
He just recently started trying to crawl up our legs to pull himself up into a standing position.
His bottom two teeth are getting so sharp and he likes to bite my toes and any shoe he can get his hands on.
I recently got an iPhone that can take video of him and he loves to watch videos of himself and laugh and laugh.
He is making a lot of new noises, babbling and growling and he has about five different laughs that make me laugh every time too.
He is eating a lot of different foods now and likes most everything except for chicken and vegetables mixed, he spit that out at us last night.
He loves the water whether it's bath time, hanging out in the little pool out back or the water park at 6 flags he loves to splash and kick.

His pack and play has mesh sides and when I go to get him in the mornings he smashes his face into the mesh to try to get out, it's totally funny but hard to get a picture of...

I just feel like he is getting so grown up so fast, I love it every time he does something new but also want him to slow down a little to make these moments last! He is so stinkin fun!

Enjoying the Summer

2010-08-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

It's been hot out. Coop is staying cool. We went to Six Flags and enjoyed the warm kiddie pool, I also enjoyed the giant funnel water slide. We went to a friends birthday pool party and Coop enjoyed some delicious cupcake. We went up to Gruene and ate at the most delicious Gristmill and will be returning more often. We got Coop this fun little pool to enjoy and he has been. Then today I put Coop in his little china cow romper outfit that he his Aunt Kate brought him from China. I have been so excited for him to fit into this, I think its so cute in a funny way. Kevin hates it. He made fun of Cooper all day. I still like it though!

Stop!

2010-07-31T15:42:00.000-07:00

I am trying to figure out how to freeze time for a little bit because Coop is at such a fun stage! Here he is with his little bath beard...

Sometimes he gets this crazy look in his eyes...

And my favorite was the other day this little fella was so tuckered out he fell asleep in his jumperoo. He was literally jumping like crazy, then it was quiet for about thirty seconds and I look over and he was out. I had to check to make sure he was breathing, then I just laughed. This boy is so silly!

Yummies

2010-07-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

Why are cupcakes so good! I love them and I made and ate WAAAYYY too many this week!! Sometimes I forget that I have to run 13.1 miles in 3 1/2 months! For recipes go to my food blog at mmm-mmm-food.blogspot.com

Fondant...

2010-07-22T06:33:00.001-07:00

I am trying to learn to make better fondant cakes. After getting some tips from my culinary friends with mad skills I offered to teach some of my friends here how to use fondant. It was a great learning time for me and it was so fun to get together with all the girls and decorate, everyone did awesome!!

This was my practice cake and experimenting with different flowers...

Practicing my squiggles. I didn't finish this one because I was tired and going out of town...
Here are all the girls with their cake, Thanks for coming over ladies it was a blast!!

6 Months... Already!!

2010-07-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well the end of this week is 6 months for the little Coopie-Coop! He is changing so much its crazy! About two weeks ago he started crawling around forwards (its kind of a crawl launch, but it counts ), on Sunday he sat up for about 10 minutes unsupported, and yesterday I felt and saw a little tooth had broken through his gums!! All the changes are fun but sometimes I just want him to slow down because he has been so fun. He has slept through the night from 8-7 once, and usually just gets up once, so we are all sleeping better and feeling happy! He is usually very happy and smiley and laughy and really doesn't cry unless he is hungry which is a huge HUGE difference from 3 months ago!
So here is Coop at 6 months, just under 18 pounds, and about 27 inches long...

He loves to watch TV...

His favorite chew toy is the dirty rug...

He sits up and laughs

He can almost swallow his fist...

He crawls around- he has the leg part down, now he just needs how to use his arms...

He IS a little Lady's Man!

Some of my favorite moments from the past few weeks...
He crawls over to the ipod dock and always manages to turn it on to either the ipod or the radio, the music comes on blaring and he just cries and cries, its that kind of funny-sad that makes you laugh even though you feel a little bad...
When I change his diaper or clothes he grabs my arm and gives me zurberts! Also when I change his diaper and wipe his bum it always makes him laugh...
He is so cuddly in the mornings and he will just make sounds and faces while he lets me cuddle him...
It is so fun to have him recognize me and Kev and give us giant smiles when he sees us...
He has this jumperoo toy and he sits in it and jumps like crazy, sometimes if he is hungry or wants to get out he jumps like crazy and cries, then stops and laughs, then jumps and cries but stops and smiles... So weird and I laugh so hard every time he does it, and I know I should take him out but I usually wait a little (am I a horrible mom? it is just so funny!)
Ah we love our little monster!

And so it begins...

2010-07-06T15:16:00.000-07:00

Kev started his first rotation yesterday, I didn't really know what to expect but since his first rotation is surgery and it is supposed to be the most time consuming I expect to not see much of him for the next while... Yesterday after orientation they asked if anyone wanted to fly to Arkansas to pick up a lung. Kev jumped on it! He didn't get home till about 9:30 but had a most exciting day.
Coop has been so much fun and now that he naps better and happily plays on the floor I can get more done around the house and be a little more domestic :)
We had a fun 4th watching fireworks and hanging out with friends...

Mariley I stole this pic from you, hope you don't mind. The fireworks at Six Flags were awesome, we were right underneath and even though it was crazy loud and it was a short show, it was awesome!!!
Coop was mezmerized by them, as long as I kept his ears covered...

Cafe Rio in Texas

2010-06-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Don't get too excited you Texans, there still is nothing like Cafe Rio here, but yesterday I made the Cafe Rio recipes from this blog and it was pretty legit. Most of you may already have recipes you like, but I have tried several and these were the most delicious... Sorry no pics, I ate the yumminess before I thought to take a picture...

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2007/11/jared-and-i-love-cafe-rio.html

Also I am kind of Blogtarded and apparently I don't know how to link this with a click, so you have to copy and paste...

Coop + Camera

2010-06-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

This week we have just been trying to get back into the swing of things. We moved Coops crib out of our room and into the nursery- it is so nice! He is sleeping much better and we usually get a nice 6 hour stretch in the middle of the night. Kev started his third year of medical school and we can't believe how fast time is going by. I have been cleaning and organizing the house and it feels good to cross some of these things off my list. It seems like I only post pics of Coop lately, but I can't help it, he has been so cute and happy lately!! He started back scooting quite a bit lately and it is funny to walk in the room and find him backed underneath a table or chair :)

Carrots...

2010-06-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yes PLEASE!!!!

Ticks

2010-06-16T09:24:00.001-07:00

Brad Paisley sings a funny, flirty little song called Ticks and for the past week I can't seem to get it out of my head!! He sings...
'Cause I'd like to see you out in the moonlight
I'd like to kiss you way back in the sticks
I'd like to walk you through a field of wildflowers
And I'd like to check you for ticks
I don't think he realizes how sick and creepy ticks really are...

When I was younger my friend Anne and I would just sit on our fence and talk. We spent hours on this fence and she would tell me to watch out for ticks, cause they live in wood and we didn't want to get lyme disease. Though I never had seen a tick, I was so afraid of them. What could be worse that a little blood sucking bug with teeth so strong when you try to pull them off their bodies detatch and they keep sucking while they grow a new body. Sounds like the worst bug ever!! Last week I saw my first tick! I saw tons of them!!!

We were on an RV trip with Kev's family on our way to Merced for his Grandpa's 90th birthday party. We stopped at a KOA near Pismo Beach to camp for the night. I was paranoid about waking everyone in the RV when Cooper got up multiple times in the night so they got us a cabin. It was a nice campground with cute little cabins; log porch swings, a log framed bed and log framed bunkbeds, and a room heater which I was excited about because it was really cold. We got settled into our cabin and we were beat. We killed a bug or two before going to bed, hit the lights and got in bed. I was reading a chapter from the scriptures using a flashlight. Halfway through the chapter Kev stopped me and asked to see the flashlight. He had been feeling tickly... He shined the light on the bed frame and ticks were crawling all over the bed post!!! When you shined light on them they scrambled to crawl back into the cracks, but they were EVERYWHERE, all over Kevs pillow, he swept them off his arm and neck, there were a bunch on the sheets, it was horrible!!! To think that had we not decided to read our scriptures we would have konked out, pulled Cooper into our bed in the middle of the night, and woken up covered in ticks!!! It was so gross! So we gathered up Coop and our bags and crowded in the RV. Kev put the sheets and blankets underneath the RV in a storage bin because we couldn't risk using them. We had to check Kev for ticks layer by layer. We all kinda gasped and screamed when we found one on his back, but luckily it hadn't burrowed and neither Coop or I had any. We tried to sleep but I felt so itchy and icky I didn't get much in, oh well, makes for an adventure!! But Brad Paisley should try singing about ponies or puppies because offering to take a girl out so he can check her for ticks is not romantic...

It is Summer!

2010-05-31T22:04:00.000-07:00

Well it warmed up this weekend and has been a nice couple of days! Yesterday Kev brought out the hot rod and Coop actually seemed to enjoy a little spin around the neighborhood.
Today we went on a hike to Battlecreek Falls with most my family, it was so fun!

Cooper is gaining lots of weight and getting cuter! He recently discovered happy screams and he loves them and screams all the time, sometimes it's funny, other times not so much...
Kev takes his Boards on Friday, it will be such a relief to have those behind him!! Mean while I am having fun with my sisters!

Coldness.

2010-05-24T09:06:00.001-07:00

Just this weekend we were in Lake Powell relaxing...

And we woke up today to this...

BOOOO!

Cup Cake Wars

2010-05-17T17:48:00.001-07:00

I have a fascination with delicious cupcakes. I love to make them, decorate them, look at them, dream about them, and of course eat them. It seems right now everyone shares the fascination and little cupcake shops are popping up everywhere. My sister Collynn and I went out to find the most delicious cupcake.

.

The first stop was Cocoa Bean located in Brigham's Landing in Provo. I have tried seven flavors there. Red Velvet, Dirty Turtle (mint oreo), Ultimate Brownie, Better Than Anything, Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Cheesecake Marble, and Peanut Butter Cup. They have a ton of flavors that rotate throughout the week. Their cupcakes are jumbo and topped with a big swirl of smooth delicious Frosting. The Ultimate Brownie was absolutely divine, its brownie, cheesecake, toasted marshmallows and fluffy sweet delicious chocolate butter cream frosting. I crave this delightful dessert many times a day. The shop is cool because they also serve fun drinks hot and cold. They make their frappes and lattes with cocoa beans not coffee beans so its a hit in P-town. I got the peaches and cream frappe and I still have dreams about its tasty-ness. The down side about this place is the actual cake for the cupcakes is just ordinary. They put a delicious flavored frosting on a generic chocolate or vanilla somewhat dry cupcake

Our next stop was The Sweet Tooth Fairy in the Draper Pointe shopping center right behind In-n-Out. We got a half dozen cupcakes here and tried out the Strawberry Shortcake, Raspberry Lemonade, Red Velvet Cake, Coconut, Cheesecake, and Peanut Butter Cup. These cupcakes are the normal sized cupcakes, but the cake and frosting are both phenomenal so together it makes for an absolutely delicious cupcake. As much as I hate the word moist, it is an important word in the description of the cake. Not only is it super moist but it tastes homemade, and the cake is flavored to coordinate with the frosting. I could have eaten six of the coconut cupcakes easy, and the cheesecake was extra delicious.The frosting here was so smooth and light and fluffy and flavored just right. Well done Sweet Tooth Fairy.

Our last stop was Dippidee in American Fork, also near the In-n-Out. Their cupcakes are really big, but instead of being served in a cupcake wrapper they are served in what can be best described as a super jumbo sacrament cup. This makes the cupcake difficult to bite into. There we tried Creamsicle, Strawberry Cream, Devils Food, Toffee Bits, PB & J, and Churro. Collynn was excited about this place because they put filling in the cupcakes, but in all the cupcakes we tried the filling was either vanilla frosting or the frosting used to frost the cake. Now I love frosting but the frosting here is so stiff and heavy and it doesn't go down smooth and its overpowers the cake. I was a little disappointed in the quality, they keep the cupcakes refrigerated so they have a bit of a stale texture.
Each shop was similar in price. A cupcake is about $2.25-$2.75 or $13-$14 per half dozen. Even though Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcakes were smaller than the others, the cake and frosting were the best and made up for the size. But the overall winner for best Cupcake was the Ultimate Brownie at Cocoa Bean, it is scrumptious!
We wanted to try out a cute new little place on State Street in Orem in front of the Skating Rink called The Chocolate, my sister says their cupcakes have really yummy fillings, but unfortunately I have started a diet that prohibits, cupcakes, left over red velvet birthday cake and any sort of delightful treasure that might be found inside The Chocolate. It was fun while it lasted....

Happy Mother's Day!!

2010-05-09T12:32:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's day to all the wonderful Mom's! Being a mom is much more difficult than I had anticipated but much much more fun and rewarding as well!! Way to go Moms!! Keep it up!! Try and relax and enjoy the day like I did!!

Snowy Day...

2010-04-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

Coop and I are in Utah while Kev is busy studying. Utah is gorgeous right now, the grass is green and soft, the trees are blossoming and everything is bright and clean. However this morning was so cold and there were flurries throughout the day. So I grabbed my mom's snuggie and Kindle and cuddled with Coop all afternoon.

Three!

2010-04-28T09:13:00.001-07:00

Happy Three to us! I can't believe all we have done in just three years! It has been the most fun and we are more in love now than ever...Just wish we could spend today together...Sorry Love that I left the day before our anniversary!

Spring Time!

2010-04-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

I am in love with San Antonio this spring! The wild flowers have been amazing and the weather has been lovely!! I recently discovered a great trail less than a mile from my home and have been taking Cooper on walks to try out my new Sketcher Shape Ups. Yes I own Shape Ups, it is dorky, but I love them. Anyways. Kev and I went on a wonderful little walk yesterday.

The trail is covered with flowers! And also water. We have had so much rain here the past week!

Cooper turned 3 months yesterday and has been so fun lateley. He is smiling and laughing and has been much easier to take care of. He still doesn't love to sleep in his crib, but that is because I always pull him into my bed, for now we both sleep better that way. This picture is disgusting of me, and I don't know why Kev loves to take pictures of me sleeping, but I do love this picture because we konked out for a nap together and I think we look alike- we have the same floppy necks!

Man VS Food...

2010-04-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Last night our friends introduced us to Big Lou's home of the 42" 30lb pizza. They saw the place on Man VS Food. We took it on. We lost. The pizza lady told us that the deal was 2 people, 2 toppings, 2 hours and if they finish they get $200! She said she has never seen it done. I did 2 pieces in about 2 hours and gave up. But it was a fun night!!!

Lately I have neglected the food network and the travel channel food shows that I normally love. I have been too wrapped up in HGTV. But after last night I committed to devote some t.v time to food shows again :) this morning on Man VS Food he went to 3 baseball stadiums to get the best ballpark burgers, dogs and nachos. One burger caught my eye. One patty, 3 strips of bacon, 1 piece of cheese all on a grilled Crispy Cream Donut of a bun. HMMMMmmmmm. The part of me that wants to fit into my old clothes feels like this is absolutely disgusting how could someone eat that!!! The Fatty in me can't wait to try it!!! I don't know what to do!! Chances are this will be dinner next Sunday, let me know if you want to come ;)

Captain Awesome

2010-04-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

Cooper went swimming for the first time Easter weekend. He loved it! Most the time he had his very serious yet relaxed face, but we got a few cheeser smiles too!

10 Weeks...

2010-04-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

Cooper had his 2 month appointment last Tuesday. I was a little worried he was getting sick because I had been sick but the doctor assured me that babies this age don't get sick easily and Cooper was just fine. In fact he gave Cooper an A+ in health and Kev was so proud!
*So at 10 weeks he weighed in at 11lbs 14oz and 22.5 inches. The doctor said babies should gain about an ounce a day and in 56 days he gained 60 oz, right on!
*He is starting to smile so much! Things that make him smile most: a full belly and clean diaper, bouncing on the exercise ball, being held, the hungry caterpillar toy.

*He has a lot of names so aside from all the silly little terms of endearment we most often refer to him as: Coop, Super Cooper, Pooper, Monster- happy monster, sleepy monster, little monster, the monster etc.)
*He likes to raise his left arm in the air, and sleep with his arms close to his head

*Today he rolled from his belly to his back.
*He doesn't take a binky unless he is falling asleep, but he does suck his fist, or arm when he wants something to suck on. He can't quite find his thumb because it's tucked in his fist, I tried to show him where it was but he didn't remember.
*He loves mobiles and his bouncy chair he just stares and smiles and on the playmat he is getting so good at batting the swinging animals and kicking them
*He loves baths, and having his back rubbed and laying on his belly. He also loves sleeping next to me- this is one we are working on changing...
*His belly button pops out
*He didn't like his shots, but was brave after and quickly stopped crying.

*He is starting to have a pretty reliable 3 hour schedule of eating, smiling and playing, and sleeping!
*Last night we discovered he really likes watching TV, today we discovered that shopping at the outlets isn't his favorite- like father like son!
He is being so fun lately I am love, LoVe, LOVING it!!

Crazy Dreams

2010-03-31T03:24:00.000-07:00

I don't really feel like my baby is the devil. This week however,being sick and a mom has taken its toll on me, and I have the dream to prove it. I typically am a quiet sleeper, no talking, yelling and minimal snoring. However when I am stressed out I tend to have crazier dreams and sometimes I yell out or do strange things (some of you have heard the Bacon Dream story...)
Well last night I don't know if it was the meds or the sickness and fever, but I had the weirdest dream....
We were at an Easter function and our friends the Johnsons brought a 6 foot round pinata. Their son came after me with a bat so I helped him hit the pinata. It was filled with Easter eggs and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, the big ones. There were a ton of kids, a bunch from my primary, and they took all the candy before I could get some. While the kids watched an Easter show I told my book club friends I would go steal us some peanut butter eggs. I snuck behind the kids and stole their candy. I was so excited to eat my peanut butter egg but when I bit into it I couldn't, it was rubber. So I tried again. Nope still rubber. This is the part where I woke up and realized I was chewing on my nipple shield!!!
Where do dreams come from!!! I laughed about it all day and even though I was sick it made me feel a little better during the hard parts of the day.

The Devil Wears Osh-Kosh

2010-03-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I was really really hoping for a happy peaceful sleepy baby. I needed it. I think the monster sensed that and just wanted to be a needy wiggly worm. He isn't falling for any of the sleeping tricks! But he is finally calm in the swing and his eyes are getting heavy though he tries to fight it...
Please monster, sleep for a long long time...

Twilight Nerd

2010-03-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

I have never felt like my neck belonged to Edward, I do not own a Team Jacob T-shirt, and I have never been to a Twilight at Midnight party; However I am somewhat of a Twilight nerd. Yesterday I was talking to my sister and we were sharing our excitement as New Moon owners. Last week my sister in law bought me the New Moon movie and I have watched it a couple times but was a little disappointed in the extras, there is a bonus disc but its boring. My Sister got a special edition New Moon and apparently the bonus disc has a feature that has clips of Bella and Jacob that play over and over, or if you want to watch Bella and Edward you can watch that over and over as well. She loves Edward. He is disgusting, so I told her she was gross. She defended herself and explained to me that people who fall in love at first sight tend to team up with Edward, people who fall in love with their best friends tend to team up with Jacob. My sister can be so insightful at times! When she first spotted her husband in Sunday School she had a Saturday Night Warrior moment where she felt she had seen his face somewhere before. No wonder she loves Edward, this has nothing to do with Robert Pattinson or the beautiful Taylor Lautner, this is between the characters of Edward and Jacob. Kevin and I were good friends for a year and a half before we dated, I am 100% team Jacob, even before Taylor entered the scene.
As Leann and I continued discussing Jacob vs Edward I joked that I ought to take a blog poll to see if otheres love for the character reflected their type of love. I wasn't joking, here I am blogging it. I am a nerd.

Kitchen Reveal

2010-03-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Before...

Now, after tiling over the laminate floors, painting the cabinets, buying new hardware, appliances, counter top and sink, tiling the back splash adding crown molding to the cabinets and the ceiling, scraping the popcorn off the ceiling, removing the fluorescent light and installing recessed lighting and under cabinet lighting, and painting the walls we are done!!

While my sister in law was here she helped us get the finishing touches in the three main rooms. We got a bookshelf for the front room

Hung pictures on the walls, at the proper height, apparently I had been hanging all our pictures way too high, they should be eye level to the average person.

And we got curtains to replace our vertical blinds, with the leftover curtain fabric I recovered some pillows

Sometimes I can be obsessed with home projects, over spring break we knocked a lot of them out, but no worries I still have the nursery and some other little odds and ends to work on...
And as I was uploading pics I fell in love with this one

The Shuffle

2010-03-23T06:05:00.001-07:00

We have been super duper busy here with Kev's spring break and my sister in law here and finishing up some home projects. Everyday I think oh I should blog this, but usually the monster keeps me away from the computer so real quick here is my ipod shuffle post. A friend "popcorned" me to to the ipod shuffle, put my ipod on shuffle and name the first five songs...
1. I Put Your Picture Away- Sheryl Crow & Kid Rock, the first time I heard this song was at a catering event and two peopled kareokied it, they were wasted, it was hilarious, loved the song ever since!
2. More than Fine- Switchfoot
3. Yellow- Coldplay
4. No Good Deed- Wicked. It never fails that a wicked song always seems to pop up in the first few, I wonder if it's because it's the most played album...
5. Honkey Tonk Badonkey Donk- Trace Adkins. Originally HATED this song, it's so stupid, but I once was singing it to irritate Kev and he locked me out of the car... It became "our song" :)

So now I popcorn people to do this- How about anyone who hasn't posted in two weeks or more... It will give you a reason to get back in the blog world!!

Next post will be pics of the final Kitchen Reveal!!!! I Can't believe after a year and a half it is finally FINALLY done!!
For now here is a picture of the monster...

Lately he has been a happy monster, but he sure has his moments...

Spring!

2010-03-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

Spring is here and it is nice, I got all the weeds in the back yard pulled and can't wait to plant flowers!! We are also getting ready for some painting and yard sprucing, just two more days until Kev is officially on spring break and the projects begin... However I don't know how much we'll get done because little Coop is getting bigger and more fun, and he is much more fun than yard work! He is smiling and playing and getting the most squeezy, chubby little arms and legs!!! I love it!!

This past week we started going for family jogs and Cooper loves the Jogger,

And today he enjoyed the Bumbo...

for about five minutes

We love taking pictures every time we see him wearing something new, sleeping cute, doing something new, pretty much everything he does we want a picture so here are just a few...

Floppiness

2010-02-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today I took Cooper to church for the first time. I brought him into my primary class, I teach the seven year olds. One girl asked me who Cooper looked like so I turned the question back to them. One of the boys in my class said
"Well he has a lot of floppy skin like you, but he has the baby face of brother Christensen..."
I had been wondering where all that floppiness came from ;)

Dear Weeds,

2010-02-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

You are no longer welcome here.

Please.PLeAsE.PLEASE don't come back!

One Month!

2010-02-19T17:07:00.000-08:00

Well we have survived the first month. Cooper is getting meaty, his little hands used to be so thin and now they are so chubs! It is crazy because he still seems small but I remember him smaller and it's fun to see him grow, he outgrew some outfits already!
He is eating so much now and starting to sleep more too, I am no longer sleeping in one hour increments!! Although he likes to sleep best when he should be eating or if he is being held.

He hates bath time

But calms down afterwards

and he loves a good back rub!

This is his sad face, I think he is so cute even when he is sad :)

Valentines Blessing

2010-02-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

We had the opportunity to bless Cooper at our home valentines afternoon. It was a great day! Cooper was so well behaved! Kev's parents were here and many of our great friends came, my only regret is that I didn't get pictures with our friends who were here for the special day, however we did get some good ones with Cooper, he looked so cute in his little white outfit!!

And of course what is Valentines day without my favorite sugar cookies, these taste like Granny B's giant pink sugar cookies, to get the recipe go to mmm-mmm-food.blogspot.com

Soda BuBBles...

2010-02-06T15:02:00.000-08:00

Last night while feeding Cooper I started to read a book called I Hate It When Exercise Is The Answer, it is a fitness program for the soul book. The first exercise was about releasing pressure. She used an example of opening soda too fast and creating a messy explosion, or opening it slowly and releasing some of the soda bubbles a little at a time to avoid the big mess. The past week I have been so frustrated that at times I full on explode!
Being a mom thus far has been overwhelming at times, and instead of getting easier, it seems to get harder. Week one I was so excited and loved to just hold and stare at our little Cooper. But by the end of the week I had a major breakdown. Why wouldn't he eat? Why was he crying? Why was breastfeeding so hard? What to I do? I can't do this!!! After hours of crying, some answers to prayers and some wonderful friends my confidence was back and my mom came the next day. Week two was great, Cooper was sleeping, I was sleeping, we had both caught on to feeding and I felt like this was something I could handle once my mom left, I had this mom thing under control. But week three has been the most trying. The breakdowns come on more frequently and I found myself just trying to get through the day so it would be over and he would be that much closer to two months- which I hear is when they get easier but I don't believe it anymore.
While reading last night I realized that having a baby is going to be all sorts of hard times, if its not the feeding its the sleeping or the teething or whatever else there might be. I felt like I was beginning to waste my days wallowing in frustrations and numbing myself in front of the t.v and waiting for this hard stage to just be over with. But I don't want this stage to be over! I wouldn't mind if during this stage Cooper decided to sleep for longer than an hour at a time, but I didn't want to keep letting the frustations build up to explosions day after day without enjoying the precious times.
I am trying to relax, to be okay letting him cry so I can eat or go to the bathroom or go in another room and scream a little. I am trying to laugh more and enjoy the moments when he makes a face like this

Or when he falls asleep in my lap like this

So here is to week four... and hopefully no explosions!

Sleepy...

2010-01-30T09:13:00.001-08:00

Too tired for words, just a few pics of Coopers photoshoot with Melissa... I love these!

Welcome Home Cooper!

2010-01-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

We are home from the Hospital! Finally. We spent a full 72 hours there and it felt like F-O-R-E-V-E-R! I am sorry to all those who called and left messages that I never called back, or for those I talked to and had to cut off because nurses kept coming in and out. It is still pretty easy to get interrupted or distracted at home so I am going to give the story of Coopers arrival since I may not be returning calls as easy as I had anticipated...
My "Birth Plan" was to tough out the contractions as long as possible at home in the comfort of my home and tub. I didn't plan to go to the hospital till my water broke or I couldn't bear the pain. I thought I'd attempt to go Natural if I progressed quickly, I could handle a few hours of pain. I only wanted the epidural if it would be a long long labor...
Things don't usually go as planned...
I ended up working Monday from 7 to 2:30 At about 10:00 I started having painful contractions. By eleven thirty I was noticing them about every 7-10 minutes but lunch hour had started so I worked through the pain. By 2 they were really hurting so I finished cleaning the best I could and asked if I could just go home. I got home and took a bath to relieve some of the pain. I cleaned up and tried to relax but I was getting really uncomfortable. I called my boss and told him I didn't think I would make it to work the next day, I was pretty sure this was labor by about 4:30 I was so uncomfortable and contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. I told Kev I was ready, and I hoped I was dilated to a 4 or a 5 because it was way worse than I had anticipated.
5:30 arrive at hospital and sign in. Contractions suck and turns out my blood pressure was pretty high.
6:00ish Discover I am only dilated to a 3 (I want to cry) and 90% effaced, they admit me and begin checking my blood pressure every 15 minutes. Still high.
7:00 Get into my room. The Bachelor is just starting. This is how I gauge time the next two hours... I am still just dilated to a 3! Why am I not progressing!
8:00ish The girls are getting ready for their group date with Jake while I am squirming and groaning and still at a 3! Looks like it will be a long night, send in the epidural!
8:50 The epidural is being administered. I wish the anesthesiologist would not talk so much to Kev so he can focus on the large needle going into my spine and I could at least hear who the bachelor is giving roses to.
9:30ish The doctor checks me, still at a 3, She breaks my water and discovers the baby is stressed due to the amount of meconium in the water. My blood pressure, still high. The next hour and a half they are monitoring the baby's heart rate and it keeps dropping and rising, they put me on oxygen and have me lie only on my right side. My contractions have stopped so they put me on pitocin. Kev is getting hungry. I am grateful for the epidural, my catheter, my super nice nurse and the nice conversation Kev and I are able to have. I am comfortable even if it means a looong night.
11:10ish The nurse comes in to up the pitocin. I tell Kev to go get something to eat, it may be a while. The nurse backs me up and tells him the cafeteria closes at one so he may want to get something. He doesn't want to but I push him to go
11:15-11:20 My contractions get stronger and Coopers heart rate drops and drops down in the 50s. This is bad.
11:20-11:23 I am moving from side to side trying to get his heart rate up, They check me quickly, only dilated to a 5, six nurses are scrambling everywhere, they are telling me to call Kev and tell him to get here ASAP, I have no idea what is going on and I can't call long distance from the hospital phone to call Kev. I am panicked and my nurse whips out her cell phone and calls Kevin and tells him we are headed in for a C-Section and he needs to run.
11:23 Kev begins running. The nurses unplug all my bed stuff and start running me down the hall. We get into the operation room and Kev is not there, I am stressed and crying, I don't know what is wrong, there are about a dozen doctors and nurses scrambling to get a sheet up in front of my face, some drugs in me and the baby out. I feel lots of pulling and tugging as they remove the baby. It feels like some one is vigorously washing clothes on a washboard in my belly. I want to puke. Kev is not there.
Meanwhile Kev has sprinted into the area but they won't let him in. He pulls on some scrubs and a hat and mask and a nurse runs with him to the room.
11:28 (5 minutes after phone call to Kev) I hear a baby cry and they say "Congratulations, it's a boy" I look to the left and see a doctor that looks like Kev... It was him, he came in right as Cooper came out.
Kev came and sat by me and I was so happy but still scared. The nurse comes and explains that the cord was wrapped twice around his neck, as they started the pitocin the contractions were causing his heart rate to drop and it got so low they had to act fast to get him out.
It was the scariest 5 minutes of my life but we feel so blessed that everything was okay. Cooper is healthy and I am healing well.

Cooper Henrie

2010-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Cooper arrived on January 18th at 11:38 PM. He was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 20" long. Lindsey and Cooper are both doing well. Lindsey will write one of her funny and creative posts when she gets home but she sent me home to post some pictures for everyone.

Somebody Pop Me...

2010-01-09T04:59:00.000-08:00

Last night Kev and I had a little movie/dinner date night. I stashed my purse with skittles and water and we hit up the dollar theater. After the movie we headed over to Pei Wei. On the drive I had a strange sensation that my legs were getting wet. I figured it was just because it was cold outside and my jeans and legs were thawing. As we continued to drive the wet sensation grew. Could my water be slowly breaking? This is not how I expected it to feel. I thought maybe the seat warmer was just making my lap area feel wet. As we continued to drive there was no denying that the wet sensation was more than a sensation, I was definitely getting wet. I lifted up my purse to see if I was wet, the whole time terrified that maybe my water broke and I am just to clueless to know what is going on... Well turns out my lap was wet, but it was because the lid on my water bottle wasn't on and my purse had filled with water!! No signs of baby yet...
Also I have created a food blog, nothing special yet but I hope to try new recipes, create new recipes and post regularly... Check it out mmm-mmm-food.blogspot.com

Yum YuM YUMMY!

2010-01-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

We ended 2009 with a feast! On the 30 we went to see our friends the Kerchers up in Austin for a Rib Fest. Karl makes the absolute most delicious cherry cola ribs in the world and accompanies the ribs with Dirty Noodles- isn't that just the best name! They planned to have 12-15 people there so we arrived two hours early so we could have time to visit. When we walked in the first thing I saw was at least 18 racks of ribs ready to be glazed with a little bit of heaven. About 30 minutes after we arrived a package containing fresh Alaskan King Crab Legs also arrived. Every year the Kerchers order in Fresh Crab from Alaska, overnighted, to celebrate the holidays. This is a meal I have only heard about for the past 6 years, but since we wouldn't be up for New Years Eve Karl whipped up a generous batch for Kev and I to hold us over till Rib Fest began. It was a binging bliss, we feasted on these ginormous crab legs and I still managed to down 5 ribs and some noodles and ended the night with some raspberry bread pudding with delicious cream sauce. Ooohh It was divine!!!

As for our actual New Years we had a great time, we invited some friends over and had a smorgasbord of snacks and just hung out. It was so great to be around friends and enjoy the evening, we did the river walk and dinner last year and it was sooo crowded, I don't like that.

I am super excited for this next year! One thing I plan to do is create a food blog of recipes I love and recipes I create, since my Get Fit Blog only lasted about 2 months last year before I gave up and got pregnant I may rename and start posting healthy recipes on there again, who knows. I am super excited to transition to being a stay at home mom and more of a homemaker.

Also as a random addition to this post, I got some pictures of Kevin's fishing trip with the young men. They went down to Port Aransas earlier this month and fished a little off the Pier... Look at what they caught...

A GROSS STING RAY!! And not just one, they caught two and the group next to them caught two... right off the pier! I am never going swimming in that water! Ocean life freaks me out!

HONEY DO...

2009-12-29T08:34:00.000-08:00

Grout the back splash.

Caulk around the tile edges.

Install the under cabinet lighting.

Scrape the gross popcorn ceilings.

Paint the new smooth ceilings.

Clean the Garage.

Texture the bathroom wall

Change the oil.

Patch the crack in the ceiling

Take out the fluorescent lighting.

Install recessed lighting.

Put handles and cabinets on the baby's dresser.

Finish painting Kitchen cabinets.

The list goes on...

I LOVE CHRISTMAS BREAK!!

AND I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE AND ADORE MY GO-GET-EM HUSBAND!

Kev you rock the KAZ-BOX! ;)

36 and Counting...

2009-12-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

I am ready to see an end of the Charlie Horses, Congestion, and having to heave myself out of bed every two hours to go to the bathroom.
I am going to miss feeling him wiggle around and watching my alien belly move. I will also miss being able to stick my belly out for picture time instead of feeling like I need to suck in or stand at an angle :)
Can't wait to see what little Cooper looks like!!!

Family Time

2009-12-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

We had such a great November spending time with family and I finally am getting around to posting a few pics of the good times... Here is Kev and I downtown at the giant Christmas tree by the Alamo. We went down to the river walk after Thanksgiving to see all the lights... It is by no means Temple Square, but we had a good time :)

Here I am with my Sis in laws and niece and nephew, for future reference avoid downtown the weekend after Thanksgiving, so crowded!

Thanksgiving Dinner Round One. While in Utah we did a Thanksgiving with all the family around... This is the most family I got together in a pic

Here I am at my family baby shower with all my Sisters- Love you all!!!

Let it SnowLet it SnowLet it Snow

2009-12-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

I had been dreading this week at work for nearly a month now... Several Christmas parties all in a row, which meant lots of long days and short nights. I remember thinking before I was pregnant that my job was too strenuous and there was no way I could be six months pregnant and still push my heavy cart and set up all the caterings. However here I am nearing eight months and I just pulled a 60 hour week, including a 15 hour day with a short nights sleep followed with another 12 hour day. I Survived!
Everyday driving to and from work I listened to the two all Christmas Songs radio stations to cheer me up and almost every time I heard a different version of my favorite winter song Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow. Hearing that song always makes me want to cozy up by the Christmas tree, drink hot chocolate, watch the snowflakes fall and make out with my honey. All week I was so sad that instead of relaxing by the tree I had to work. Last night I almost cried when I realized I had no work today, my sweet husband has done all the laundry and cleaning this week and today I can just kick up my feet and relax!!!
So even though the weather outside is not so Frightful, and a Fire may not be so Delightful, my plan for today is to curl up by the tree with a good book, some hot chocolate and maybe Kev will take some breaks from his studies to come make out with me ;)

Pregnancy...

2009-12-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

At 33 Weeks...

Yesterday in our work meeting they referred to me as WIDELOAD...

I have lots of fun Thanksgiving pics to come...

Gettin Ready!

2009-11-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

This has been a great month! I went to Utah for about a week and not only got to see my wonderful family and best friends, but I had FOUR baby showers. It was awesome! Sadly I didn't take many pictures but I had the best time. The weather was amazing, my sister Leann came down and it was so fun staying up late with my sisters. My BF was in town from Virginia and we had all sorts of fun and I got so much stuff and great advice! I had been feeling very overwhelmed and freaked out to have a baby, but I feel more prepared and confident now.
I had a fantastic time but was so excited to come back and see Kev. Also the weekend I got back my awesome friends here in San Antonio threw this cute pumpkin shower and it was so fun. I really have great friends here and I miss them when I am gone too. It sure is hard having two homes, but I feel very blessed to have such wonderful friends where ever I go. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!
ps, my cute friend Mariley put this collage together for me, I am jealous of her skills, I am excited to learn how to be cuter and craftier!

Our Monster Mash...

2009-11-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

We had a most excellent weekend! My friend Melissa and I threw a Halloween Party and had so much fun decorating and getting ready for the party. The house looked great, the food was delicious, and the guests were awesome. lots of people dressed up and we had some fun games and good times. I didn't get around to taking many pictures but Melissa is an awesome photographer so I snatched a few from her to show off our skills.

Here is the walkway to our house...
... and here are some of the delicious treats.

Mike and Steph eating donuts...

Group Photo after Fear Factor...

Clark Kent and Waldo

I thought I would get a picture of my Belly since I just did my 28 week appointment. Our little baby is getting big!

For the Halloween Dinner we had Chili and Cornbread...

Since I didn't make a pumpkin treat this week I thought I would post this delicious recipe for amazing cornbread I got from my Sister.

Corn Bread:

2 Cups Bisquick

6 Tbsp Cornmeal

1 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Butter

Mix and pour into a 9x9 pan bake at 350 30-40 minutes

I usually make cornbread from a kit, but this was so amazingly delicious! Try it!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding Brulee

2009-10-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

Two of my most favorite desserts are bread pudding and crem brulee. Since this month pumpkin has been making everything better I have been searching for recipes for pumpkin brulee and pumpkin bread pudding. Pumpkin brulee isn't looking too promising since Crem Brulee is most delicious because of the creamy smooth texture with the crunchy sugar top, reviews all say the pumpkin texture takes away from the deliciousness. However I found this recipe for Bread pudding and combined it with another recipe to make it Pumpkin Bread Pudding Brulee

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING BRULEE:
2 Cups 1/2 & 1/2
1 Cup 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 15oz Can Pumpkin
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Spice
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
Cubed Bread- I used 6 croissants and 6 butter kaisers
Make the custard and pour over the bread, mixture should be very soggy but not soupy so add more bread if needed. This says to bake at 350 for 40 minutes in a 9x13. I put mine in greased muffin tins and it baked for about 30 minutes
After baking I removed from the muffin tin and placed in a 9x13 pan. I brushed each top with cream and covered in brown sugar. I put them under the broiler just until the sugar was beginning to burn.
I was pretty happy with the turn out, not as pumpkiny as I had hoped but I didn't have enough pumpkin spice. I still may play with this recipe- but overall it was tasty and has a nice crunchy top that is different.

Also this week I tried out the Krusteaz Pumpkin Bread that I got from Costco, I had heard it wasn't extra pumpkiny so I added 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, I think it helped but still was no Great Harvest, However topped with the pumpkin cream that I used on waffles it was still quite yummy. Just more of a spice bread than a pumpkin bread, but a delicious quick bread none the less :) This weekend was my husbands friends wedding. Our friend Scooter came down and the two were Groomsmen. Aren't they so handsome!

PUMP-CORN

2009-10-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

After lasts weeks purchase and disappointment of the Pumpkin Hershey Kisses I have been trying to figure out a way to make them better. I thought about chocolate covered popcorn and figured I could just melt down the kisses and drizzle it over the popcorn, which is just what I did, and it turned out pretty good... but I still didn't love the pumpkin flavor.

I then created my own pumpkin chocolate recipe and was super happy with how it turned out- it is more pumpkin spicy than sweet sugary pumpkin and it went great with the salty popcorn... And it is easier to make than searching for the pumpkin kisses.

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE:

16 oz. White Chocolate Discs

1/2 Cup Canned Pumpkin

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Pumpkin Spice

1 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

In my popper I popped two batches of popcorn and salted it.

In a double boiler melt chocolate, Or melt chocolate in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water.

Stir in pumpkin and spices.

This was plenty of chocolate to cover two batches of popcorn, 1/2 cup popcorn kernels in each batch. Fill a large bowl with popcorn a little over half way, Pour a little bit of chocolate over Popcorn, cover bowl with plate or pan and shake till popcorn is covered. Chocolate goes a long way on popcorn. Spread out on Cookie Sheet and let it set up for a couple hours for best result.

The only downer to the chocolate is that it doesn't harden up as quickly or as firmly as regular chocolate. I actually let the popcorn sit out overnight and it was so delicious in the morning!

This chocolate could also be used for caramel apples, or on pretzels or on anything else you want really, its yummy!

Today was our Relief Society Super Saturday and I made these cute little outfits for our little baby. It was very fun!

PUMPCAKES

2009-10-11T15:29:00.001-07:00

This weekend pumpkin treat was pumpkin cupcakes and they turned out oh so delicious!!

They were really easy to- Thanks Martha Stewart for a delicious recipe...

2 Cups Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Ground Ginger

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

1/4 tsp. Allspice - I didn't have any so I used pumpkin spice

* mix all dry ingredients in a bowl

In separate bowl mix the following:

2 Sticks Melted Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

4 Eggs

*Stir the wet into the dry and add

1 15oz Can Pumpkin

Mix well. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

Makes 24 cupcakes

I whipped up a cream cheese frosting with Cream Cheese, Butter, Powder Sugar and a tiny bit of Milk. I drizzled with chocolate and topped with the Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kiss, Which by the way I finally found at target and was disappointed they are sooo sweet and not as delicious as I had anticipated, but they make a cute finishing touch on all pumpkin desserts :)

Pumpkin Waffles

2009-10-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

The PuMPkin TreAts Have BeGun!...

Well its officially pumpkin season here and for the first October weekend we had a conference brunch and I made Pumpkin Waffles with a Pumpkin Cream and Buttermilk Syrup. They turned out extra delicious.

Pumpkin Waffles:

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

2 1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt- Ooops I actually forgot to use salt but it calls for unsalted butter which I didn't have so it balanced out...

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Ground Ginger

1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

* Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl, in separate bowl mix following wet ingredients

4 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Buttermilk

1 Cup Canned Pumpkin

3/4 Stick Unsalted Butter

* Add wet ingredients to dry, stir well and make your waffles!

Pumpkin Cream Topping-

1 small pkg Instant Vanilla Pudding

1 15 oz can Pumpkin

1 tsp Pumpkin Spice

* Mix ingredients well, fold in 1 16 oz tub Cool Whip

Buttermilk Syrup-

1 Cup Sugar

1 Stick Butter

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Vanilla

*Add all ingredients except vanilla to large pot and bring to boil- this gets very foamy and quadruples in size- Boil for one minute, remove from heat and add vanilla.

We had another Doctors appointment this week, I'm getting bigger! 24 weeks now...

Fiesta!

2009-09-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Valero Family Day at Six Flags. I was happy to have my little brother in town so he and Kev could ride all the roller coasters. Being 5 months pregnant I only went on the swings and the log ride. We all had the best time, while they were on the roller coasters I helped myself to the free cotton candy, fried mushrooms, dip and dots, french fries, funnel cakes, pretzels, popcorn, Popsicles and drinks. I am surprised I was able to walk out of the park! One of the great things they did this year was run a special for season passes for only $25, I was so excited, we will be back many more times!

And I would like to give a little shout out to my Nike Deschutz... A few of you may remember these shoes, I got them 16 years ago when I was in 6th grade and they are still going strong. There is a little rough spot on the tip of the right shoe where they melted a little at PHASE camp and I once took them into the shoe maker to fix the back straps, other than that they are still sturdy and very comfortable for a fun filled and wet day at Fiesta Texas! And surprisingly they don't smell too bad :)

All Things Punkin...

2009-09-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

October is in a week and I am so excited to eat all things pumpkin! I love it. I heard about these pumpkin Hershey Kisses, but I have yet to find them. In the meantime I will settle for the Pumpkin Ice Cream. I think I developed a real love for pumpkin when I worked at Maggie Moos and in the morning when I was opening the store I would make my breakfast "burrito" consisting of pumpkin ice cream, cheesecake ice cream, teddy grahams and marshmallows mixed together and rolled in an undercooked soft and chewy waffle cone. It was so stinkin good, I miss the days of ice cream breakfasts!
I plan to make a delicious pumpkin treat each weekend in October and November so stay tuned for pics and recipes for pumpkin waffles, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin cheesecakes, pumpkin milkshakes, dinner in a pumpkin and more...

Half Way!

2009-09-06T17:48:00.001-07:00

Well I am half way, according to baby center my baby should be about 10 1/2 ounces and as long as a banana... a few days ago at the ultrasound they said the baby weighed 12 ounces, the doctor said he is keeping the due date Jan. 25 but if I go full term I could end up having a 9 to 10 pound baby... I hope he comes a little early. The past couple weeks I have really popped out and I haven't felt like taking any pics, but I have had several requests from family and friends to see a belly pic. Here it is.

It's a Little Baby...

2009-09-03T15:59:00.001-07:00

BOY!!!!

Ha Ha

2009-09-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to post You Tube videos but I saw the funniest video today and couldn't stop laughing, just watch the little kid in the red!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn9mE-VvOwo&feature=related#watch-main-area

Also we got our new counter tops in the Kitchen today, so pretty but I am not posting pics until we put up the back splash...

Also again, tune into tomorrow to find out... Boy or Girl!!

Today was a great day!

Calling All Moms!

2009-08-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today my mother in law sent me this cute little teddy bear for the nursery and I started getting super excited to buy baby stuff, register, decorate etc. I started looking on line and realized I don't even know what to look for there is so much stuff and I don't want to be over the top. I am looking for every ones opinion on their baby must haves and preferences. I plan to get the bumbo and boppy and jogger stroller/car seat, but cant decide between a glider, a rocker or a recliner- any opinions. Also what is important in a baby monitor, what kind of changing table accessories are practical, what kind of bottles are good, the list goes on and on. Any input would be great! Thanks everyone!

Best Part of the Summer...

2009-08-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

We really did have a great summer and we got to go to and see a lot of places but the best part of the summer by far was when I flew into San Francisco and surprised Kev with this- Pardon the immodest picture, it's a little embarrassing but the memory is worth it...

I held of on the blog announcement because I wanted to go to the doctor and make sure all was well. Because of all the traveling I wasn't able to see the doctor until yesterday- But we heard the heartbeat and it was very exciting and sometime around January 25 there will be a little baby that I will need to figure out how to take of :)

We are super duper excited!