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)!!

Boise Weekend

Ry played in the Idaho Men's Mid Amateur up in Boise two weeks ago and Coop and I decided to tag along. Ry placed 26th overall, which wasn't too bad considering he took an 8 on hole 16. While Ry golfed Coop and I went shopping...Cooper did not make a very good shopping partner this trip. He loved walking around in the stroller but anytime I stopped to look at clothes he would start fussing, so it was a very unsuccessful shopping weekend. While we were up there we met up with our good friends Holly and Lucas, saw there new house and found out they are pregnant!!! We couldn't be more excited for them, and of course we are happy our kids will be close in age. We went to a yummy Mexican restaurant, while the boys reminisced about mission stories Holly and I caught up with each other on everything that has been going on and of course, talked all things baby!

Cooper enjoying his new swing, it's his new favorite thing to do!



Taking a nap on the hotel bed, what an angel.





Cooper snuggling with Daddy before his golf tournament. I didn't intentionally pack them matching outfits, but it totally works!



Two Months!

I can hardly believe that Cooper has turned two months old, time is flying faster than I ever imagined!!! He had is two month check-up, and was a little champ. He weighed in at 12 pounds 8 ounces, 85th percentile, was 24 inches long, 80th percentile, and he was 75th percentile in head circumference. He had four shots and the rotavirus which was an oral vaccine, he screamed when the nurse gave him the shots but as soon as I picked him up and cuddled him he calmed down. (Note to self, don't wear a light yellow shirt, blood doesn't come out very easily.) The rest of that day Coop was worn out and slept more than he normally does, which was nice, I accomplished lots as well as had lots of nice cuddle time with my snuggle bug.
He has started to bat at his toys that are on his playmat, tummy mat, bouncer and swing and he will sometimes grab them, I don't think he has complete motor control with his grabbing action, but he's definitely getting close. He is so strong and likes when Ry and I plant his feet and tell him to push, he scoots on his back and absolutely loves it. He loves sitting in is Bumbo, he can't hold himself up by himself but he does love looking around while he's sitting in his Bumbo. He will sit for hours while I read to him and he looks like he is thinking and concentrating so hard on the pictures and words, it's SO cute!! We have been going to "Book Babies" at the library, where they read children's books and sing songs, he recognizes the songs that we sing at home and is enthralled by the other kids there.  He loves going on walks and is so interested in new environments, he loves looking at other kids and animals. Coop is growing out of some of his 3 month clothes already and into some of his 3-6 month clothes. He smiles a ton and is SO close to laughing and I can't wait for that! He babbles and coo's lots and has the CUTEST little voice I have ever heard, he also responds well when we talk or sing to him. He is still sleeping through the night and he's starting to stay awake more during the day, which has been really fun, despite not accomplishing as much...but it doesn't matter because I don't want to miss a thing.

 Playing on his tummy time mat, practicing rolling over, he's getting there.

His 2 month pic..he's getting HUGE!!!

LOVE!

Relaxing in his bouncer after his shots...

Coeur d' Alene Trip

We had a family trip planned to go up to Coeur d' Alene with my family for the middle of July. Marcus is working up in the oil fields in North Dakota and ended up not being able to come and Mareesa had two-a-days for volleyball and opted to stay home, so it basically turned into a couples trip with my parents and of course, Cooper. We drove up Sunday afternoon to Missoula Montana and stayed the night there, (we weren't sure how Coop was going to do with that long of drive,) but he was an absolute angel. He slept most of the drive and we only had to stop twice on the way up to Coeur d'Alene to feed our little Chunky. The drive up was beautiful and we took the scenic route through Montana and made a few stops at some scenic places as well as some historical sites.

 Here is our little man at one of our feeding stops, he is really the best traveler, which makes me think that we should plan more trips while he is still in this stage.

 While we were driving we pulled off by this beautiful river and wandered around for a bit, we both wished that we would have packed our fishing gear,  because this would have been a perfect little fishing spot.

 Cooper enjoyed his first stay in a hotel, he slept in his bouncer while we were in Montana because we hadn't unpacked his pack and play yet and to be honest, didn't realize how easy it was to set up and take down; but no surprise, he slept on schedule and woke up at his normal time to nurse. I am amazed by how lucky we got with this little guy, he truly is perfect.

 When we got to the resort in Coeur d'Alene we were too early to check in and we both forgot about the time change from Southern to Northern Idaho so we were really early. We were both tired and really just wanted a nap and to get settled in after our long drive. Our resort was on the opposite side of the lake, which was a mild inconvenience considering we had to drive all the way around to go to any sort of store. We decided to kill the time by getting our groceries for the week and grabbed a bite to eat while we were in town. When we got back to the resort they had just finished cleaning our room so we checked in, got settled in and waited for my parents to arrive. Our room was on the corner, so we had a perfect view of the lake and had lots of windows to enjoy our view and lots of room to spare since Marcus and Mareesa didn't come. Once my parents arrived and unpacked, we all ate some dinner together and went on a walk down to the lake, it was so nice!

 Walking down by the marina, it was a pretty night, perfect temperature and beautiful sunset!!!

 Some lodge pole pines that I could not resist capturing, aren't they pretty?!

 Cooper's first time in his pack and play...It has a set up for a bassinet for when they are this small, and Coop thoroughly enjoyed it, he LOVED the bear mobile. He would lay there and babble and smile at the bears as they spun, it really was the cutest thing in the world! Despite his sleep environment he slept through the night and woke up just as happy as always.

 Ready for the beach... our second day we headed down to a little spot on the beach we had discovered while driving around the lake. We packed some lunches, beach chairs and headed down for a day at the beach.

 I would daresay that Gampie is one of Coop's biggest fans, he really is a baby-hog and would've held Cooper all day if we would have let him. It was so fun to be on vacation with my parents, they both really needed a relaxing weekend away.

 My handsome boys at the beach. We had a great time soaking up some sun and enjoying the perfect weather. Ry bought some snorkel gear and did lots of snorkeling, he found lots of fish, a golf ball from the resort, some cool rocks and got toasted (he was not very good at re-applying his sunscreen).

 We ate dinner almost every night out our the deck, the view was gorgeous and the temperature was SO nice.

 Wednesday we went to the amusement park, Silverwood, not something I would advise with a seven week old baby. We had fun, but probably went on a total of 4 rides all day and didn't find out that they did "baby-switch" until our last ride. By the time we made it to the water park it was getting too cold to enjoy. Ry and I went around the lazy river once and decided that was enough. For some reason the day we chose to go was abnormally busy, at least that's what people were telling us, and I haven't mastered the art of being discrete while I nurse, plus Cooper detests anything covering his head while he eats, which was another drawbackl. So it was a long and tiring day to say the least. I think next time we go we will go to the water park first and finish the day off with a few rides.

 Ah...heavenly.

 My parents watching Coop while Ry and I went on the craziest rollercoaster ever; it was similiar to the one in Six Flags that takes you up straight and then drops your through some loops and turns and then does the whole thing in reverse...I must be getting old because I was shaking when I got off.

 I can't believe my baby turned 8 weeks, he is growing up WAY too fast for me!!!

 Enjoying our last night in Coeur d'Alene, we spent the entire day at the beach and came back for a relaxing evening while my parents went into town and walked around the little shops and down the boardwalk. We had such a fun trip and can't wait to plan another trip to Northern Idaho.

We came home to a garden full of giant zucchini, lots of delicious tomatoes, and big juicy onions. We have been enjoying lots of grilled zucchini, zucchini bread and cake, homemade salsa, grilled onions and mushrooms and much more!!!