Christmas is Coming!!!

So I have been slacking on the posting, but here are my boys in action...or lack of it. :) Yes, Josh did fall asleep in front of the TV. It was so cute. He LOVES the puppy movie (101 Dalmatians). I try not to let him watch TV very much, but when he says "Mama, puppy, puppy Mama, please." It is really hard to say no. :) Caleb, on his 2 month birthday.

Josh and Caleb just love each other. It makes me so happy.

Trying on the cold weather clothes, because...

It is Christmas time, Santa is coming...

and it snowed, a TON. It doesn't really snow here much. The whole town completely shuts down. So, when we heard it was going to snow, we went and got gas and milk (and donuts, cuz you need donuts when it snows). Came back and were trapped. Tyson of course, being his perfectly adorable self wrote this is the snow for me when it first started.

And Josh LOVES the snow. It is so cute.

please take note of Tyson's 3 forts. He is very proud of them. It was so cute watching him play in the snow, it really brings out the kid in you. I was really excited church was cancelled, but then having a Sunday without church was sad, I really missed it. But it was really fun having Tyson with us all weekend.

So, just for your entertainment, this is the funniest thing ever:

So, I can't wait for Christmas. My whole family is on their way right now. My older brother Yance and his wife Kimmy stayed here last night and it was sooo much fun. I laughed and laughed. I feel like a little kid again with all the siblings and Mama and Dad coming. Huzza!

My Kid Loves Santa?

So thanks to Emilie and Logan's fabulous camera, we were able to get this fabulous photo. Josh has been saying "Tanta fly in da sky" but I don't think he really understands. He really is afraid of Santa. I felt so bad because I was laughing so hard and I didn't even take him off Santa's lap. Kenni was the great one and took over the mom role for me. She held him and comforted him. I couldn't stop laughing. Is that bad? :)

Happy Birthday My Little Boy!

My Darling Josh,
How are you two years old already? Yesterday was your birthday and it was a lot of fun. You were so tired all morning and really grouchy. We kept trying to tell you it was your birthday so it was a "happy" day. I don't think you really cared, you just wanted your "elmo happy cake." So after church, we opened your presents, talked to your Cooper grandparents on Webcam, ate piggies in a blanket, then had Aunt Cassie, Aunt Kenni and Uncle Chris, "Nommy" and his mom and dad, Ethnie and "Bebba" over for cake. It was so cute watching you try to blow out your candles. Sadly, you didn't even want your cake by then, you had way too much fun playing with Tommy. :) You are so sweet and adorable, and so much fun. You love to talk and make tons of noise. You love Elmo and Fish and your little brother. You get so excited when Daddy comes home and you just love people in general (unless you are tired, and then you are up and down). :) We love you so much! Happy birthday!
Love, Mama and Daddy and K-K-Bebe

The Past Little While

For Thanksgiving, we make oreo turkeys. This is Cassie making some fabulous creations. Tyson came home early from work on Tuesday and brought me these gorgeous flowers. Tragically, I wasn't home at the time, but the flowers are perfect. I love my husband!

Cute Caleb and his handsome blue eyes.

Josh loves to share with Caleb. :)

Daddy-son time. (Don't you love Josh's total cheese-smile? He is such a ham)

Halloween...a little late

First off, happy birthday Chanson! I cannot believe you are 18, and I still think you are lucky to have your birthday on a day where every house will give you candy. Totally not fair. :) We had a fun halloween. The Cooper family was with us and Grandma and Grandpa designed and carved Josh an Elmo pumpkin which was so cool. And Josh and Caleb were our own little pumpkins. We took them trick-or-treating downtown and then at the ward trunk-or-treat. It was a lot of fun and Josh was adorable with his little "trik-o-tet."

This last one has nothing to do with Halloween. I just wanted to put it up. This kid is hilarious. And yes, he put this on of his own accord and ran around the house with it, he looked like an astronaut. I have the craziest kid.

Happy One Month

My Darling Little Caleb,

How quickly the time flies. I still feel like it was just yesterday that I was in the hospital holding you for the first time and now you are already a month old. You are very quiet little person, especially when I am holding you. Josh loves to make you happy and he perches next to you when you are crying, poking at you, trying to make you better. It doesn't help much, but you like the company I think. Your eyes are still a fabulous blue with what looks to me like silver streams in the middle around the pupils. You smile when your dad and I rough you up. In that way, you are so much like Josh. I think both of you have pain receptor problems, you think fun has to hurt. I blame your dad completely for that. :) I was really scared to have you in our family. I didn't know if I could handle another one emotionally. Although I may not handle everything perfectly, your little face sure makes it easier. Thank you for being so cuddly and sweet. Your daddy and I love you so much. Everyone in both your daddy's family and mine loves you, and jeepers you have a lot of family. I look forward to watching you grow up, just please, don't grow too fast.

Love, Mama

November is for Gratitude

Tyson and I don't have many traditions yet, but in November we have a thankful list. Each day we write 10 things we are thankful for before we go to bed. We can't repeat anything throughout the whole month, so you would think you have to get creative. But it is amazing, it is so easy to think of a million and a half things I am thankful for.

What is really nice is that it instantly takes away all my gloominess. Being a mom of two is wonderful, the best job in the world, although exhausting and patience-trying. However, the hardest part for me is the lonliness. It is getting easier the older Josh is because he can kind of understand what I am saying (probably a lot more than he lets on), but it is so easy for me to feel alone. It is probably because I am so quick to be negative and to pity myself. So Tyson just left to go back to work and I was sad, then my sunny spot on my bed that is usually there at this time of day, was not, because it is too cloudy. The boys are both asleep, for which I am glad, but the lonliness just sunk in much too deep. So, for some reason, I picked up my journal and decided to write my 10 thankful things. Suddenly, I was smiling and thinking of the good things that have happened today. Let me share with you...

1. Caleb's little hand grip on my finger

2. Alone time

3. Blogging

4. Cold days like this that make me want to cook to keep warm

5. A washer and dryer right in my home

6. Photographs

7. Moments that make up my life (inspired by a quote on Kirsten's blog)

8. Garbage people, I just take my garbage to the big dumpster outside and on Monday morning they come take the stinkiness away

9. Oldies songs that I know by heart

10. Dancing to those songs as I sing the few phrases I know. Josh, Caleb, and I danced to "You are the Woman that I always Dreamed Of," it was so cute! Josh spun in circles and it made him happy when before he was so grouchy.

So, I am thankful for gratitude. Gratitude erases the gluminess. :)

So I just wanted to thank Chris for taking the above picture of our family hands. He and Kenni are always doing things for us and they are so nice. I also wanted to give credit to them for their talents, so thanks guys. I just love your pictures! And I just love you guys!

Welcome Little Caleb

Tyson was really sweet and wrote on here when we had the baby, but I thought I should write a little more and put up some pictures. We decided to name the little guy Caleb Benjamin. I am kind of biased, but I think he is pretty adorable. Josh is doing really well with him. He is always telling us to be quiet because of the "bebe." :) He loves to give him all of his toys and tries to jump on him, which is seriously terrifying, but I think they are getting used to each other. I didn't sleep much last night, but I am really glad I am able to get out of bed without it killing me so that is nice.

So in case anyone is curious, let me tell you a little about the delivery. I had a doctor's appointment on Friday to make sure the fluid levels were ok, and to check the heart beat and everything. So my mom came with me and Carmel stayed home with Josh. We didn't think it would take very long. :) So the heart beat, the stress test and everything went fine. Then they did an ultrasound to check the fluid and they were really low. So the doctor turns to me and said "congrats, you are having a baby this weekend." I thought he meant, it is a good sign, me going into labor was coming soon. Then he starts giving me paper work and telling me I needed to go check into the hospital and I was like "wait, I'm not going home?" And he says, "Not until you have a baby you don't." He left for a minute to go call the hospital and I broke down because seriously, I was not expecting that. I didn't even kiss little Josh goodbye, I didn't bring my bag, Tyson wasn't even there. Luckily, my mom was and she made me start laughing and she calmed me down fast. She made a few phone calls, postponed her flight, and took me to the hospital. Calling Tyson wasn't easy. "So um, honey, are you ready to have the kid this weekend? Can you come up here?" :) I don't think he was happy at first, it probably scared him, but he left right away.

At the hospital they broke my water and just a few minutes after that Tyson came. I tried to do it all natural, breathing and everything. But, since they had broken my water they didn't want me to stand up because they didn't want the umbilical cord to come first. Sitting on the bed in pain was not easy and soon I gave way and let them give me some pain meds through the IV. But then they told me it was the epidural or nothing, so I took the epidural. Sadly, the anesthesiologist couldn't come for 45 minutes. By some miracle, I made it that long, I thought I was going to die. I am such a wimp. My mom came back (she left a little after Tyson got there to go help Carmel and Kenni with Josh) a little before they gave me the epidural and she stayed the rest of the time. It was really neat having both Tyson and my mom there. They took turns being next to me and helping when I pushed.

Caleb's head was turned and so the doctor took forceps to turn him, then they had to vaccuum him out the rest of the way. I am so glad I was drugged because it ripped and then they had to cut. Yuck, but I would take that anyday over a c-section. It was so neat to be able to hold the little guy afterwards, to have Tyson stay with me, to be awake and alert for as long as I wanted to be. It really was a miracle, the doctor said I was really lucky, that I had "a foot and a half in the operating room." The Lord truly blessed us, thank you everyone for all your prayers. So now I have a wonderful husband and two darling boys. I am so glad. Thanks Mom, Carmel, Kenni and Chris, and all the family in California for letting Mom and Carmel stay longer. Thanks Tyson for doing so much for me, for staying home all week to take care of us.

Baby Geeb

I don't normally post on Cami's blog but she asked me to this morning. Yesterday afternoon she went to the doctor and they told her it was time to have the baby and that she couldn't wait any longer. She and her mom went over to the hospital, checked-in, and a few minutes later the doctor came and broke her water. Within minutes she was having some pretty good contractions. Little, baby Geeb was born VBAC about 11 hours later at 5:35am EDT. He is 19 inches long, weighs 7 lbs 14 ounces, and his head was 14 inches around (the doctor kept making comments about how big his head is, hopefully he is smart). Cami and the baby are doing well. We have not yet chosen his name. We will let everyone know when we do. Thanks for the prayers. Have a wonderful Saturday!

Due already

So today is my official due date. I never thought it would actually come, and I never thought I would actually get here without already having the baby. I'm not sure why because Josh was late, but I guess I just thought this baby would have to come early. We went to the doctor yesterday and all is well with the baby, my body is still not showing many signs of going into labor, but it was better than last week so they are giving me another week without doing a c-section. I am really glad because I was so nervous about that.

The only bad thing about this baby being delayed is that my mom and little sister are here to help out, but they go back on Saturday. I REALLY want to have the baby before they leave. So we went on a long walk yesterday, my mom has been massaging pressure points that are suppose to help, and now I guess I will have to eat spicy food by the spoonful. I hope it helps because I hate spicy food. :) But I am really happy, it has been sooooo much fun having my mom and Carmel here. Josh is loving it too. He wakes up in the morning and sits by my mom's bed and just stares at her until she wakes up. Kind of creepy, but absolutely hilarious.

Oh, yesterday, he put stickers all over my belly and started singing to the baby "bebe, bebe, bebe." It was really cute. I'm excited for this little guy to come!

Tag: Ten Honest Things

I have been in a really crummy mood today, so I was really glad when I saw that Kirsten had tagged me. Okay, so I list 10 honest things about myself and then tag 10 people who I think will be honest.

1. I am an English major, but am in fact, really bad at grammar, punctuation, spelling. It really bothers me that I am so bad at it but it only seems to be getting worse with age. I love to read and write, but without spell check, I'm no good. I think that is one of the things that makes me feel the worst, when someone points out a mistake I make, because I know it is something I am suppose to be good at, or at least my major claims me to be.

2. I LOVE to laugh, there is nothing in the world that seems to heal my foul moods as quickly. Luckily, Tyson knows this and is so good at getting me to laugh.

3. I miss my mom every day.

4. Being a mom has been my dream job all my life. I love it. But I had no idea how hard it would be. Not just the constant changing diapers, feeding, calming, disciplining stuff that emotionally and physically drains me. There is the lack of social interaction, the feeling of inadequacy especially when I have nothing to show for a hard days work, nothing tangible anyways.

5. I have nightmares almost every night. Sometimes I wake up and tell them to Tyson and I can't understand why they were nightmares to me, because honestly, most of the time they are hilarious.

6. I bite my nails something awful. Especially when I'm bored or nervous. So pretty much, they are bitter stubs right now.

7. Of all the Lord's creations, my favorites (besides my three boys: Tyson, Josh and Geeb) are rainstorms and hummingbirds.

8. I always pick the worst movies to watch. Whenever Tyson lets me pick, I think I pick a good and cute one and it always turns out to be awful, vulgar and degrading. I don't know why I still pick, but I keep thinking one day I will get a winner. Just like lines at the store, I always pick the worst check out line, the one that takes an eternity. :)

9. I wanted to be the President of the US for a really long time. Sometimes I still do, but then I think about how much people would hate me and how I would probably make awful mistakes and then I remember why I don't want that job.

10. The laundry is my favorite household chore. I want to do it everyday, but I make myself wait a week so the loads are actually full. Too bad dishes can't be done just once a week, I don't like that job so much.

I tag: Kenni, Emilie, Courtney, Carmel, Becca, Cassie, Kate, Zach, Jordan, and Renae. Thanks again for tagging me Kirsten, it was really nice to have something to do and think about. :)

Contractions

I still have two weeks until my due date, but for the past 3 days and nights I have been having contractions. None of them are really consistent but every so often and especially right before bed they get really hard. So I think "this is it" and I start freaking out and planning what I'm going to do with Josh, and thinking about everything I still need to do, and then about how tired I am. Then suddenly, I fall asleep and then I wake up in the middle of the night and the contractions are easy enough to sleep through. So it is really nice because hopefully this means my body is getting ready soon enough for the baby that a c-section won't be necessary, but still, it is exhausting, mostly emotionally. I am such a complainer. But I really have great neighbors and the best sister ever so I have so little to worry about.

Good news though, I have finished all the cleaning I wanted to get done today. Even the blinds! Huzza! I just need to keep thinking positive so I'm not an awful grouch for my cute little family.

Balloon

So this is what Josh does with balloons, so funny. I have no idea where he learned it. Sorry, I often film Josh while Tyson is on the phone with his parents, so you get to hear him as well. :)

The Battle

My Crazy Kid

So we just went for a drive on the Parkway on Monday. We pulled over because I thought I was going to hurl from getting carsick. Josh and Tyson found some sticks and had a duel, after playing pinecone baseball of course. They are so funny together. Tommy and Josh watching Sesame Street right before they went to sleep. It was their first sleepover and they had SO much fun!

Josh's new church shirt, he looks like such a little stud. I am so glad Tyson insisted that his little boy needs to have a white button up for church, it just couldn't be cuter!

Kenni's boss, Cari, gave Josh a little jock outfit. He loved it until he realized that the pants are too big for him to walk in so he started freaking out. But they will fit when it starts getting colder, so we are good. :)

My friend, Sister Dryden and her little girls were cleaning out their toy room. The girls wanted to give their toys to Josh, which I thought was so sweet. So did Josh and he is loving them. Little people are the coolest!

So yeah, there are photos of my little dude. Hopefully I will be able to put up some videos, but who knows if it will work. :)

Some Thoughts on My Other Half

Ok, so now that my doctors appointments are every week and the drive there is almost an hour, I have had a lot of time to just think lately. I guess I am kind of grateful we don't have very good radio stations around here, otherwise I would have been blasting the tunes (it is the only time I have without Josh in the car, so I kind go crazy) rather than thinking.

I was thinking about how all my posts are about my two little boys, rather than the main boy/man of my life. So I wanted to blog a little about my Hunny Bunches, mostly because I am just so thankful for him. This is what he does everyday: he snuggles with me every morning far longer than he probably should after his alarm goes off (the first time) because he knows I hate being in bed without him. Then he gets Josh out of his room, gets all of us breakfast (usually cereal, but that is what we love), and then after that he gets himself ready for the day. We works all day, usually long days, and then when he gets home he often makes dinner while I stand there pretending to help as I tell him all about my day chasing Josh. Then he attacks Josh and they play, yelling, screaming and tackling each other until Josh starts fussing because he is so worn out. Then he helps me put Josh to bed, then we spend the evening together doing whatever I want.

At work he has just recently become a boss. He is in charge of an office of three people. They are all really good friends and so since this is a new shift, I was afraid it would be hard for him. But he is very kind to them, I think they understand that he is in charge, but that they can also give their opinion and he will listen. He is in charge and leads their staff meetings, which has been really neat to watch. I have never been there for one, but he prepares agendas for them, and has goals. It is just weird to see him be a real leader. He has wanted that from the first day I met him, probably from the day he was born, to be a leader, to be a boss. But I have never seen him in charge of anyone, besides me and Josh, but he makes me feel like I'm in charge, so I never have seen this side of him. I feel like a mom, I am just so proud of him.

Tyson has never been a guy that needs or usually even wants a guys night out. He doesn't go do "guy stuff" like playing basketball or going to the gym. Not that he can't or isn't good at it, he is pretty athletic and creams me by far. He just doesn't care about that stuff. He loves being at home with boring old me. I don't really know why, and I just can't figure out how I got so lucky. I remember my high school buddies and I used to dream up our perfect man and one time I sent a letter in the wind from the roof of my house that described the guy I wanted to marry. I know, totally weird, but I was quite the romantic weirdo. And from the first date I went on with Tyson, I was hooked, he fit everything I wanted and more. It wasn't just physically, it was this bizarre emotional connection that I had never felt with anyone else before. It was like being with another part of myself, I didn't have to think about what to say or how to act, it just happened, and he always makes me want to be better at the same time. I know this is all just a lot of rambling, but it just makes me so happy, he makes me so happy. He promised me he would make me laugh every day, and he has kept that promise. It is so hard to be sad or mad around him. And for my emotional pyscho-ness, that is pretty impressive.

We were just sitting there talking last night and he looked at me and told me I looked old. He didn't mean it in a rude way, he was just saying it was weird that we are getting old. We were still very much kids when we got married, and we kind of still are. But life, responsibility, those things age you (my gray hair can attest to that). It is really neat to watch Josh take his first step, to start talking now, to grow up. But it is also really neat to watch Tyson grow up too. He is a leader at work and at home, but he serves at both those places too, which I can see humbles him. I don't know how to explain it, but he is changing and it is neat to see.

Sorry, I have never been one to be concise, especially when it comes to a subject I love. Besides the Lord, I can't think of anything I love more than my Hunny Bunches. So thank you Tyson, for being my best friend, for putting up with my cranky days/weeks/past 9 months. Thank you for making so many meals and spending so much money on milk so I can have cereal twice a day (at least). Thank you for being such a good dad for Josh. Thank you for paying hard earned money for me to take a writing class so I can live my dreams. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for praying for me. Thank you for giving me something I love to write about. Thank you for being my muse, my love, my everything. I love you.

A look at the past

So, a few months ago, our friends Emilie and Logan gave us a CD of pictures they took of Joshua right after he was born. I never got around to looking at them until just now, and they are so cute! Josh looks so different and like an old man, all wrinkly. :) It is so weird we are going to have another one. Josh kept saying "bebe, bebe!" at every picture. I wonder if he knows how much his world is going to change in a few weeks. I worry so much about him. But I am finally getting so excited to have this kid. Being a mom of two is going to be different, but so fun, I know it. Especially when they are both big enough to rough house and be crazy together.

P.S.- I am only able to write this because the screen is minimized and we are watching elmo at the same time. :) I woke up this morning to Josh standing at his door yelling "ELMO!" Hehe, and even though I vowed my kids would never watch TV, it still is pretty cute how much he loves the weird little red creature.

So I finally have a minute

So my son has become aware of TV. It is very weird and I'm not sure how to handle it. We don't have cable or anything like it, but we have the internet. Well, Tyson wanted to show Josh a little song from sesame street that he used to listen to as a kid. Josh usually will ignore anything we are watching, but for some reason, he saw Elmo and he was hooked. So every morning he will bang on his door until we come and get him and without much of a greeting he will run to the laptop saying "elmo, elmo." If we ignore him too long, he goes to "cookie, cookie" which sounds more like "cooka, cooka." Then if he gets really desperate he goes to Ernie's laugh, which I can't even type how that sounds. It is really cute and hilarious. So we watch little clips of sesame street on youtube while Tyson gets ready for work. So yeah, who would have thought that I would get an elmo obsessed child? He is for sure Tyson's kid, that is all I got to say. I don't ever think I liked sesame street. But I do however, love this one song, the link is on my side bar. It is by Feist, whoever that is. But it sure is catchy. So oh yeah, that is why I don't blog much anymore, if I go anywhere near the laptop Josh thinks I am getting Elmo for him, and well, there is only so much of it I can handle, so I just steer clear of the laptop these days. So perhaps I will get time during his naps, who knows. :)

Photos from July

Okay, so this whole post is going to be a little backwards in the timeline, but oh well. I have finally downloaded the pictures from the past month or so, so here are the highlights:

This is a picture of Josh's new sleeping accomidations. I actually just meant to take a picture of the bed, but Josh came running in and plopped himself down for the photo shoot. He is such a ham. But yeah, he no longer sleeps in his crib, he sleeps in his boat bed. True it takes him several hours to fall asleep rather than a few minutes now, but hopefully he will get used to it soon.

Josh's friend, Tommy, is in a lot of these pictures because whenever he comes over, that is when Josh is his funniest. And so for some reason, I always find reasons to pull the camera out when they are together. In these next two, I was trying to get them to smile, but both of them were completely serious, it was so funny. They wanted to put their faces right up in the camera and just stare. Crazy kids.

Josh actually took this picture, his Aunt Cassie taught him how to push the button and he has come to love it.

In the middle of July, my little (okay not so little anymore) brothers came to visit. We went to the drive-in (Chanson brought his friend), and it was a lot of fun. I miss them already.

We went on a little hike with them too, and this is the only picture I took from the whole thing. :)

Josh loves to be outside, especially when it is raining. We were out on our porch, and the railings get his little hands all black. So that mixed with the rain and he kept trying to get the water off his face, it turned his whole face a gray color. I was laughing so hard, but he wasn't very happy with me delaying getting him dry once we got inside. :)

Some more of Josh and Tommy in Josh's new tent. They loved this thing!

More photos of the brothers. They are so handsome and old! Both of them are taller than me now (although, that isn't really hard to do).

We call Josh "Puggles" sometimes and Chanson says we stole his nickname since that is what we called him when he was a kid. So, this is a picture of the two puggles. And yes, Josh is in a box.

Our friend, Dr. Mosser always goes all out for Tyson and my birthday. She is so cute. This year she got us the best cake I have ever eaten in my whole life. It was part white and part chocolate with rasperry filling and fudge frosting. Talk about amazing!

I love July because the first week is a sweet party for our family. Not only do Tyson and I both have our birthdays, but it is also our anniversary. This year we really splurged and stayed overnight at a hotel. I brought sparkling grape juice, we went and saw a Shakespeare play, and we ate the yummiest food. Not to mention it was the first and only night I have spent away from Josh. It was kind of hard for me, but at the same time, sooo nice. Thanks Bunk and Chris!

I love my Hunny Bunches!

This is Josh's cute outfit from Tyson's Aunt Judy. He loves it because it has dogs on it.

This is what happens when you give a kid a donut to eat all by themselves. Tyson and I are serious suckers for the clearance pastries at Walmart. And our poor child is going to have all of our bad, but very yummy, habits.

We like to take Josh to Boxerwood, and there is tons of fun stuff there. These are pictures from when Logan and Tommy met us there. Josh kept trying to put his fingers in the pond and the fish were trying to eat them, so Logan kept saving Josh for us.

Josh and Tommy, having way too much fun together. Tommy taught Josh the value of sticks and how much fun they are. This is them, chilling in the hammock together.