Pumpkin Patch

 Coop is growing SO fast and he is SO much fun to be with. He has the best little personality in the entire world. He is already into his six month and six to nine month clothes!!

 A couple weeks ago we went to Swore farms, where they have a corn maze, little mazes and activities for kids, and the pumpkin patch. We went with our good friends Lauren, Ash, Jackson, and Kolty; when we got there the lady made us go through the corn maze, and we were really just wanting to go through the pumpkin patch. The corn maze had questions for the kids at every turn to help us find the way, but we still ended up getting lost a few times and took advantage of one of the emergency exits because the kids were about done and Coopy was REALLY done. 

 Exploring some of the farm equiptment...

 Looking at all the cute pumpkins in the pumpkin house!!! How fun would it be to be a pumpkin farmer!?!

 I just couldn't resist, it was the perfect little spot for a Cooper picture!

 A wheelbarrow full of baby pumpkins for my baby...SO cute!

 Love these chubby little hands and he's getting so good with them!

We are enjoying our October and all of the fun activities that come along with it. I am sad to see it coming to an end but excited for the upcoming season.

One Year Ago Today...

I can't believe a whole year has passed since those two pink lines showed up, that one word, "pregnant" turned our world upside down and turned "we" into "three". As unexpected as that was, it truly was the best thing that has happened to us to date. Even though we didn't think it wasn on our timeline right then, I know Heavenly Father knew better and I'm so happy he did. I'm so grateful for our little Cooper and cannot imagine living another day without him. He is such a blessing in our lives, and I would do anything for him. Even though I absolutely loathed being pregnant, (and i'm not looking forward to it for the next one,) I would do it all again if it meant getting such a sweet little spirit into our home. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who makes it possible for me to stay home with our little angel bug and soak up every second I can with him. I don't mean to be so lovey, dovey, mushy gooshy...but I love them both more than words can ever explain!!

Pumpkin Painting Party!

I know these pictures are all very similar, but I really couldn't choose the cutest one, so sorry for the overload. My girlfriend Lauren had a fun pumpkin painting party for all her kids' friends this past week. We had so much fun, and Cooper was such a little Picasso, obviously, hehe, no he did have fun seeing the other kids, he loves to people watch.

Cooper lights up when he sees Ashlyn, it is SO sweet, I look forward to seeing these little munchkins grow up together!

Perfect Evening for a Hike

Last Saturday we had the best day, it was one of those perfect days where we got to spend the entire day together, as a family, uninterrupted. That morning we went to the Farmer's Market, (like we do every Saturday) and picked up our box of fruit and veggies from our little farmer friends. While we were there we also picked out some super cute pumpkins to add to the collection on our porch. We had a nice, relaxing breakfast together and hung out at home for a few hours and then decided to take a drive. We have been thinking about buying a house for a while and want to find the perfect one; so one of our favorite activities is driving around looking at houses for sale, and getting ideas of what we like best. Today was a perfect day for that! We drove all around down and ended up out Mink Creek and Gibson Jack and we found a gorgeous house on the top of Mink Creek that had a 360 degree view. Ry and I wandered around looking in all the windows, and we could tell it had been for sale for a while because the yard was over-grown and shingles has started blowing off, so we thought to ourselves that maybe since it had been on the market for years and in was in need of repair that it could be a steal... The garage happened to be unlocked so we were looking in the garage when I decided to try the door into the house, it was unlocked! I walked in and told Ry to come with me and as soon as we started looking around I heard this tiny little "beep beep beep"---we're pretty sure it was an alarm, so we looked around super fast and ran to the truck, it was quite the adventure. After looking the house up on the broker's site we decided we A. don't need a house over 7,000 square feet and B. it maybe a bit out of our comfortable price range, we can still dream right? On our way back down we went up Gibson Jack and decided to go to the trailhead for a little evening hike, it was gorgeous!

 Our little sweetie ready to go, good thing we dressed him warm because it got chilly fast!

 My cute boys, the stroller didn't last long because the trail got too steep and way too bumpy for poor little Cooper, so we ditched the stroller off to the side and walked up.

 Notice the snow in the background...it was getting a bit too cold for Mommy and Coopy.

 This photo-op was way to precious to pass up. Ry didn't trust me hiking back down holding Coop so he took him and headed down. I was taking pictures of the mountains so I was back behind a bit and I could hear Ry just talking with Cooper and Coop loving every word and cooing and ahhhing back; it was just the sweetest moment. I treasure all of the moments like this and wish I could keep them on a video reel in my brain forever!

Our night finished off stopping at my parents' house and enjoying this gorgeous sunset, I wish we had more days like this.

Fall Love

Although our Fall seems to be flying past we are thoroughly enjoying it! Of course I had my Halloween decor up by the first of October, Coop loves when I walk him around the house and look at all the Halloween things. He loves when I make the sounds of whatever we are looking at, and he always responds with a "oooo" or "gooo" or a high pitched "ahhh" I LOVE it!!! He also enjoys all of his new Halloween books and his sensory books. He enjoys petting the animals in his touchy feely books and tries very hard to mimick the animal sounds we make for him, his favorite sounds are those of the cow, duck, ghosts, kitty, and puppy.

He's very good to sit on our bed while I get dressed, he is getting closer to sitting up, but I think his head is so heavy it's hard to keep himself stable. He has also started to notice his cute toes, he has grabbed them a few times, no oral exploration of them yet, that's still Momma's job.

My growing boy...he gets bigger and more fun  by the day!!

This is Cooper's new favorite thing to suck on, his bottom lip!!! We try to make him suck on his gummy toys or something other than his fingers and his lip, but he likes those best. Sometimes I wonder if he's starting to teeth because he loves chewing on things and drools like crazy, but I can't feel any litte teeth yet, which is not a bad thing.

My girlfriend, Alicia, and I have been going on morning walks down by the river by my house for a while. We decided since the leaves have been changing that we should take the kiddos up Cherry Springs before it gets any colder. Her daughter, Avery, is a couple weeks younger than Coop. We had a little photo shoot with them while we were up there, I think that us Moms had more fun than they did.

Look at those thighs and that buddah belly, isn't he a doll?! I just cannot get enough of this little man, he's the sweetest thing on earth!!!

I loved conference, as always, and really enjoyed all of the talks on families, it just made me feel even more blessed with my little family and all the love I have for them. While the boys went to the Priesthood session my Mom and I went shopping and then made our mummy latern craft, it was super easy and they turned out so cute!!

Coop is enjoying tummy time more and more, he can now roll from belly to back and back to belly, he's getting so strong! He holds his head up so high and kicks his little legs and will get tiny little scoots out of it, I don't think that he is intentionally moving himself, but it sure is fun to watch. He loves his "crinkle" toy as we call it (it has a papery/plastic crunchy sound,) and of course all of his toys go straight to that little mouth of his. Lately when Ry or I come to get him in the morning he has turned 90 degrees and is kicking at his bumpers and talking at his picture wall above his crib. This morning Ry found him with his legs between that slats of the crib, makes me a bit nervous, but I don't know how to get him to stop being such a rollie little wiggle worm.

September in a Nutshell

I absolutely love this time of year; the leaf changes, football, cool nights, the yummy fall smells, the overwhelming urge to cook and bake, it seems like a cozy feeling just comes along when fall rolls around, and of course ideas for my favorite holiday start dancing around in my head. September was extremely busy for us and I can hardly believe that we are already half way through October!

 Cooper and Grandpa watching Mareesa play volleyball, i'm sure his first word is going to involve some sort of ball, basketball, football, volleyball, golfball... it's bound to happen in this family. Mareesa made Varsity and is such a wonderful player. She brings so much team spirit and pride to the team, she's kind of like their own little built in cheerleader.

 We had a fabulous crop of vegetables from our little garden this year!! Tons and tons of zucchini, roma, grape, beef steak, cherry tomatoes, four cucumbers, and one spaghetti squash. We had so many tomatoes and we could only eat so much salsa and raw tomatoes, so my Mom taught me to can them. I felt so accomplished and canning is very nostalgic, not to mention, working with all the boiling water keeps your warm on the cold Fall nights. Didn't they turn out beautifully?!

 My little angel just keeps growing faster than I can even handle, he is the sweetest little baby and I cannot spend enough time with him. He's  been laughing more and more it's hilarious!!! He loves rolling over, he loves when we sing to him, he could read books for hours, he loves to sit in his bumbo while I cook or clean, he is very alert and seems very observant. He is getting very vocal too, he babbles alot and has started to mimick sounds that Ry and I make to him, it is the sweetest thing in the world!

 Ry is starting Coop out early...watching snowmobile videos. It's been cold enough for our mountains to be white tipped, so of course all Ry can think about right now is snowmobiling. Ry has already found a little snowmobile for Cooper... I am making him wait until Coop can actually drive it, or walk for that matter, before he purchases it.

 My cousin, Kirsten, returned from her mission in the Czech Republic. It was so great to see her and reunite with lots of family members that I haven't seen in a while. Her homecoming talk was wonderful and she had some really neat experiences while on her mission. We had a little luncheon up at my Grandparents after church. My mom and I relaxing in the back while people got there food. My mom has frozen almonds and ice on her poor knee and ankle, she tripped down the stairs while carrying food outside, Grace Kelly.

 Cooper meeting Kirsten, his great Aunt Judy and her husband, Jaq, cousin Karli and our Uncle Kurt, it was so great to be able to reminisce with everyone.

And of course it would not be fall in my family without Sunday night (and Monday night, and every other night) football!!! We usually go out to my parents every Sunday for dinner and the game. My Daddy is so in love with Coop, and Coop is pretty fond of his Grandpa as you can see in the pic.

Coop got to see his great Uncle David, he hasn't seen him since the day after he was born.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these little toes, I probably kiss them at least a thousand times a day!!! I have been playing around with my camera more because there are a millions settings and I feel like I should really learn how to use them. But I love this shot of his cute, chubby little toes, doesn't it make you want to kiss them!?

My little bug is already 3 months old, I can hardly believe he was in my belly such a short time ago. He gets more fun by the day, and I love getting him dressed, Ry makes fun of me and says he is just like a live baby doll, which in part is mildy true, but even better!

Mareesa went to her first school dance, Homecoming!!! She had a volleyball tournament in Twin Falls the weekend before the dance and still hadn't found a dress. I took her out and found the perfect dress. I did her hair and makeup and helped her get ready, it was SO fun, it made me miss those days!!

Her with her cute date, doesn't she look gorgeous!! My little sissy is growing up WAY too fast for her own good. I can't believe she'll be a Senior next year, how time flies!

My OLD MAN husband turned 26 on the 24th!!! Poor Ry had the worst Birthday weekend of his life, he got the flu. Ry never, ever gets sick, and he has never been so sick in the 4 1/2 years that i've known him. He lived in the bathroom and on the couch, it was sooo sad, especially because I love celebrating birthdays! I kept Coop away from Ry and kept sanitizing everything because I did not want a sick husband AND a sick baby. Ry loves snuggling Coop, so he was super sad that he couldnt' hold him or be around him for three days. I still made a cake, and Ry felt like he could hold down Chinese (ewe,) so I went and got take-out, for the first time in our marriage, and we watched a movie on separate couches for his birthday evening, it was quite pitiful.

Coop and I made Daddy a footprint birthday card...yes, I am obsessed with this little man's feet! Ry loved it!

To round my busy month off I went to the broadway show "Mary Poppins" in Salt Lake with my girlfriend, Lauren. Since Ry was still sick I left Coop with my parents and had anxiety the entire day, I called no less than twenty times to check on him. That was the longest I have ever been away from him, but of course he got spoiled and had a blast with Gammie, Grampie and Auntie Ween. Lauren and I had so much fun, the show was absolutely phenomenal!!! We ate some delicious Thai food, did some speed shopping and headed back home to our little babes.

Ry's Latest Toy

When we got back from Coeur d'alene Ry was ready to go back and thought we 'needed' a boat the next time we went up. His mom's friend's dad just happened to be selling their boat so of course, Ry had to go get the scoop. It ended up being a super good deal for a nice older boat, the kind of boat you want to learn things on so you don't mess up a really nice boat. Ry loves toys, ie. snowmobiles, jetskis, 4-wheelers, boats, etc....so of course he ended up buying it. It has been fun the few times we have been able to take it out, i'm sure it will gets tons of use next summer.

 As soon as we got out to the reservoir the clouds rolled it, so I stayed in sweats and a sweatshirt most of the time, but it was still fun to see Ry play with his new boat.

 Cooper's first boat ride...he slept the ENTIRE 4-5 hours, he must have loved the constant movement, it probably reminded him of being in my belly.

Ry won tickets to a comedy show up in Idaho Falls called the Water Coolers, a comedy group from New York, I highly recommend going to their show if they ever come to your town. It was our first official date together since we've had Coop, we left Cooper with Gammie and Grampie and they had a blast together at a tailgate and football game.

While we were up there we stopped at Sports Authority (we don't have one anymore, of course,) and got a big tube which Ry wanted to try before it got too cold.

Staying Busy

The remainder of the summer just flew right by and we stayed incredibly busy!! We played with our friends at the park, went to Book Babies at the library (one of our favorite activities), watched Daddy play softball and lots more!!! Cooper is growing so fast and is so fun to be with, he is constantly doing new things and he makes the cutest sounds i've ever heard.

This is a picture of Cooper and his friend Kolton (they are exactly 10 weeks apart) at the park when Coop was 3 weeks old and Kolty was 13 weeks...

Cooper and Kolty 10 weeks old and 20 weeks old... It's so fun to see them interact with each other. They love looking at each other, Kolton will reach for Cooper and Coop smiles and stares at Kolton. It will be so fun to see them grow up together!

This is one of Cooper's other friends, Maddux, he is 4 days younger than Cooper. Above is when they were about 3 weeks old. Justin (Mad's Dad) and Ryan have been bestfriends since highschool and are already planning which sports they will have our boys play together. I am sure these two will cause lots of mischief as they grow up together, especially with their two competitive fathers.

Here are Coop and Madd at 11 weeks old over at Justin's parents, they hung out with Maddux's Grandma Marcie while we all played volleyball!

Coop has enjoyed play dates at the park...me with two??? Ry is ready already, me, not so much.

 At the park with my girlfriend, Lauren, and her cute kids, Ashlyn, Jackson, and Kolton...they are all going to be such good buddies, it's so cute to see them interact with each other.

Cooper makes an array of funny faces, this is one of them, I hope I can capture all of them before he stops making them!

 Coop loves going on our morning walks, see his little grin?

Another one of his favorite things is his swing, he could literally spend hours swining, listening to the music, babbling at the bears and pushing the toys back and forth.

Coop also LOVES bathies, he could sit in there forever if the water would stay warm enough for him, he likes super warm baths and if it gets 2 degrees cooler than he likes, he lets us know that it's time for warm water or to get out!

We have started to go back to all three hours of church and Cooper has done surprisingly well considering it is right in the middle of morning nap time and his late morning feeding. We are loving having this sweet little spirit in our home, he is growing so fast and he is getting so smart, we LOVE him SOO much (I bet you couldn't tell)!!