The Christmas Post

We had an awesome Christmas. Low key is really the way to go. Unfortunately towards the afternoon we had a touch of the flu, but other then that we had a great time. Thank you to everyone who helped make our Christmas merry, we had such a fun time.

Cooper's bedhead...

Abby with her Abby Cadabby doll.

Cooper with one of his tents..horrible lighting, but such a fun moment for him.

Merry Christmas...here's to a happy New Year!

Santa Baby

This baby is so fun. She totally embodies the spirit of Christmas.

Love you Babby!

Christmas Island

Last night we all bundled up and headed out on the Santa Cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene. We had so much fun getting mittens and hats on and prepping the kids to see Santa. There were so many lights and fun things for the kids to see. As you can tell, Cooper almost couldn't handle himself.

Abby dealt with the excitement in a different way.

This was such a fun experience that I would totally recommend to anyone with little kids. It's not too long, and once you get out to Santa's Island, he reads off the "good" list, which has the names of all the kids on the boat. The kids were so excited to hear their names. What a fun time.

Merry Christmas!

Moments Like These...

I'm trying to learn about the whole "appreciate it while it's here" stage.

I know there will be a day when I miss the cacophony of crying, mystery diapers found by two year olds, (where were they and who put them there?!), the food they sit on and mush on their clothes...you know...that stuff.

But, today I see this picture and I see Steven's face. I saw this happen at our family pictures and I'm proud to say that we were all able to laugh. (Even our beatuimus photographer took it in stride.) So, in all the coming years when we see these family pictures, we'll remember that Daddy had to turn his shirt backwards and inside out, so we could try to capture this stage in our life.

Who Flipped The Crazy Switch?

It's official. She's crazy.

Babigail

Happy 9 Months babydoll!
You are an amazing little girl.

I love that you are exactly like your father.

Harley

The new fun thing around here is climbing.

The not fun thing is putting laundry away...apparently.

My Husband

The telemarketer.

Just kidding.

I'm so proud of Stevie. After his day at work, he comes home and plays with the kids, usually cleans up the kitchen from dinner, leads family scriptures and prayer, (most recently our Christmas story book from Grandma and Grandpa...thanks again!), Steve runs, and then lastly makes time to study Portuguese.

Isn't he cute? What a great guy.

I' m tao orgulhoso de voce boraccho!

Cooper. Oh Cooper.

Cooper's learned some stuff lately.

He no longer feels the need to stay in his bed at nap time or bedtime. He tries to get out of bed even in front of us. If we are lucky enough for him to stay in bed, don't worry, he takes care of it by stripping everything off. I mean everything.

It's cool.

He knows if he's real quiet getting out of bed he can probably hide for a while before we find him. (Shown here behind the shower curtain, standing in cat litter from when he kicked the litter box and gave himself away...)

But, then he has his moments too. He loves to give kisses. A lot.

He loves his family.

He LOVES his sister, even though she may not always be as receptive and pliable as he might like.

He's crazy, but we love him.

How could we not?!

We decorated for Christmas today. Early? Nah, not here. I love having the decorations up as long as possible, and I can't handle having them up after Christmas. It was pretty much a zoo today, trying to handle very breakable nativities, lights, and other not-so-kid-friendly stuff. I was so grateful to my in-laws for giving us a bunch of Christmas play-skool toys last year. The kids loved them, and it ended up being one of those days when you realize that one year before so much was different. We were watching Abby play with the toys, and we realized that last year Cooper was her age, and she wasn't even here.

I was sorting through pictures and I came to this one. How fun it was to see both our kids in the back seat in their little Halloween costumes. I hope that I treasure these crazy times the way that I should. Each experience is different, and usually a challenge, but each is definitely worth it. This year has taught us that life is not without challenges, and no one person can truly understand the challenges of others, but we can all be compassionate and loving.

Happy Thanksgiving and onto Christmas!

I'm Thankful

For Cooper

For Abby

For Our Marriage

For Hippo, he solves many of my issues each day.

Thank You Randi!

A Week Of Wordless Wednesdays, but with words.

New Moon, midnight opening. (Way to go Paul Mitchell Spokane!)

Costco took just a little too long for Abs.

Too cute.

Legging Patrol

No more hotels for Cooper. Ever.

More hotels for Abby.

More car rides for Cooper.

No more hamburgers for Hippo.

Sorry Miss Banana.

This makes up for it.

The End

Belated Halloween

Totally late. I know.

This year we dressed our kids up as Calvin and Hobbes. Not my best decision. No one knew who Calvin and Hobbes were (what the?), and also because when the babies got separated it looked like we hadn't bothered to dress Coop up. I straightened Coopers hair to achieve the spiky Calvin look, but I learned all too late that Coopers hair doesn't straighten.

Also, it wasn't in my mother handbook to take a picture at the beginning of the evening, rather then the end.

I'm learning!

I made Trooper trick or treat with us this year. Oh yeah, and wear a witch hat. He loved it. See his wild eyed look?

We had a great time at our Grandparents houses. Spoiled are we.

In the comic strip, Calvin is typically the crazy one, but not in our car. Someone forgot to inform Hobbes that they were supposed to be the calm collected one.

We did a little treating at Paul Mitchell, the boy loved it. Who wouldn't? Cute girls coming at you with candy? Heaven.

Later we went and did some real life trick or treating. It was so fun.

(Notice how at this point Coop just looks like some lost costume-less lumberjack...)

What a great Halloween.

Troopster

I love this dog. And so does Tori.

One Happy Boy

Thanks to everyone who was able to help us with our little boy while I was in Utah. It was so fun to come home to such a happy boy.

Love you guys.