Birthday month approaching

We'll be in Denver May 19-24!  We found great prices on flights (only $143 per ticket!!!).  We can't wait!  We plan to have the celebration on the 23rd...so I'll send out an Evite with all of the details.

We made Crescent Chicken Pockets from Stephanie Cooks blog and they were so good!  Super easy 30 minute meal!  I added fresh diced tomato and substituted spicy ranch for regular ranch.  I will definitely be making these again!

It's my birthday on Thursday!  I'm going to be 29!  I plan to take a half day off work to spend time with the family.  We'll probably go out to dinner, but we are very low key when it comes to birthdays.  I want a new purse so we are going shopping at the outlets maybe this weekend.

I need to plan Cooper's first birthday, but I want to keep it small like Charlotte's.  We loved the simplicity of her party.  We'll probably have it the day before Easter so I really need to get going on it!  I'm thinking about an 'Under Construction' or 'I Dig Being One' theme...we'll see what I can find.  I need to find a place to have it though...our house is too small if we invite more than one person over.

I also need to figure out what to do for Chris' birthday on the 16th.  Dinner, golfing, a movie??  Not sure what he'll be up for!

I bought all the Easter stuff for Easter baskets!  We only celebrate the Easter bunny tradition since we aren't religious.  I have fond memories of Easter egg hunts, baskets, and dinner with family.  It will be fun to pass on that tradition to the kids.  I need to go shopping for some cute clothes to take some pictures.  We already have bunny ears. 

Photo Entry

Full pigtails!

Crazy hair after bath.

Cooper's not sure about being kissed.

Lounging on mommy.

Charlotte's not the only one who wears hats! 

Baby guac = Hitler style green mustache

Yogurt painting and learning to use spoons.

Less mess this way.

Taking pictures with the old car seat (we are working on selling it on Craigslist since we were able to get rid of the jumpers so quickly).

Messy hair Cooper.

Baby proofing isn't so baby proof anymore.  

Reading a book in the morning.

March pictures are uploaded to Shutterfly.

Aggressor vs. Opportunist

Object:  Any toy that the other one has

Charlotte's method:

Whack! Whack! Thump! (pounds on Cooper until he submits)

Scream!  Yell!  Cry! (till mommy and daddy pay attention)

Hurry, quick yank the toy out of his hands.  Hit him upside the head. 

(Now he's crying, but tries to grab it.)  Baby butt spin away.

Smile, laugh, play.  It's mine, all mine.

Cooper's method:

Attempt to grab it. Dodge the oncoming slap.

Attempt to grab it. Dodge the oncoming slap.

Pretend like I don't want it (she's yelling trying to get mommy and daddy's attention).

Go get her other favorite toy and then sit next to her and pretend to play with it.

Yes! She stole it from me.  This plan is going well.

Don't fight her, just let her take it.  (Charlotte drops the other toy).

Be sly and quiet like a mouse.  Take the toy I really want. 

Uh-oh, she noticed.  And baby butt spin away.  Reach my arm up higher where she can't reach.

Go, go, go!  Get outta dodge while I still can!

Painted Babies

Today was a busy day!  I went to Jessica's baby shower in Menifee (she's due May 31 with a baby boy she plans to name Jacob Thomas).  It took 1.5 hours to get there and another 1.5 hours to get back, so I was gone for about 6 hours today.  Then it was a rush to get dinner done before Chris had his guitar lesson.  That left me to do bath and bedtime by myself.

I took advantage of being alone with the kids and let them get messy (Chris hates craft time...he gets really anxious when they get messy or make a mess).  I took my friend Emmy's advice and used the bathtub as a safe place to finger paint.  Easy cleanup!  They seemed to have fun.  Again they were more interested in eating the crafts than actual painting, so I'm glad Crayola makes non-toxic paint.  They got bored after about 10 minutes and didn't understand why their toys where outside of the tub and why there wasn't any water.  So I wrapped it up and started the water.  Here are some cute pictures:

We got three works of art:

First Haircut

Cooper had his first haircut today!  It's been a little unruly, but I wasn't sure I was ready to cut his baby curls off.  I really love how it turned out and surprisingly I'm not sad at all!  We took him to Sports Cuts where Chris gets his hair cut. 

They played on the seats while we waited.

Then it was time to sit in the chair with daddy.

He got his hair sprayed wet.

And the cutting began!  He was very good and sat mostly still.  

He even got to eat a comb while getting his hair cut!

Look how handsome!

Side view:

We should dance more

Liverpool Street Station ( London ) was an energized place to be at recently while T-Mobile filmed a new advertisement during rush hour!  It took 8 weeks of planning, 8 sound tracks of 60s thru 90s music, 10,000 who auditioned, 400 chosen, 10 hidden cameras, and a terminal full of unsuspecting commuters... some of whom obviously missed their trains! 

Handy Manny

We have started letting the kids sit down and watch tv for a total of an hour a day (30 min in morning, 30 min in the afternoon).  We are still searching for shows we think are okay, but we have found one - Handy Manny.  They LOVE it...and I'm a little embarrassed to admit how much I like the show too! 

They like the music and will watch intently for 5 min then play for 10 with their toys or walk around the house, then come back and watch for 5 min.  Today at Target, Chris said they heard a Handy Manny toy and kept looking around for it.  Guess they know the music too!

The characters are all really cute, the animation is simple, the stories teach a lesson, plus it even teaches some Spanish!   The 'tools' are all characters...could they be any more creative with the names?

Hammer - Pat

Screwdriver - Turner

Phillips Screwdriver - Felipe

Tape Measure - Stretch

Pliers - Squeeze

Saw - Dusty

Wrench - Rusty

Flashlight - Flicker

Ball Machine

We had a lot of fun over the weekend.  Jason  and Erin came up to visit.  They brought the kids big bouncy balls and some cute bunny ears.  The kids had fun being all crazy and entertaining our guests.  We also tried to do some crafts this weekend.  Mostly they just ate the markers and the chalk.  I want to try paint next weekend...I love that they have more awake time!

We dropped their second nap and wow what a difference!   Charlotte used to play for 40 min and sleep for 20 min and then want to get up, so we knew she was ready.  Cooper was starting to fight us to fall asleep and then would take longer and longer to put to bed at night because he just wasn't tired.  They are still transitioning (and so are we), but they both go to bed so much easier.  It takes 20 minutes to put Cooper to bed now!

Cooper is sleeping very well and only wakes once to eat and then goes right back to sleep.  He prefers to be in his crib because he can move around all over, but I make him lay next to me when we co-sleep.  I think he'll drop that last waking in another month or two (or at least I'm hoping). 

Video:

The ball machine they got for Christmas from Grandpa Walter and Grandma Toni.  They have always liked playing with it, but they finally understand the concept of the balls fly out and then they chase the balls to put them back in.  Notice how much Charlotte likes the wind in her hair and the head shake afterwards.

Charlotte gets frustrated easily when something doesn't work or she doesn't know what to do next.  She will just sit and yell until we come help her.  Sometimes we help, sometimes we talk her through it, and sometimes we let her figure out how to calm herself down then let her try again.  Head stuck in couch was no exception.

Hats provide tons of entertainment in our house.  They love to try them on, take them off and steal them from each other.  This winter hat was in the dollar bin and it was the best dollar spent on a toy.

Dash to the bath.  You can see the kids walking/running.  They yell 'Dat' over and over until they are in the bathroom.  We love watching them do it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A lesson (or two) from a baby, er, almost toddler

Gagging.  It's the new 'All Done'.  Every baby (named Cooper) is doing it these days.  It's all the rage.  Insert finger, gag, almost throw up.  Voila, mommy and daddy come running.  Repeat until they learn that gagging actually means the baby is done eating and would like to get down.  Why can't he mimic Charlotte on this one thing??

Charlotte's head is HARD!  Chris and I have suffered nearly broken noses.  She has taken to flinging her head back right into us when we don't give her what she wants.  Ouch.

Cooper has learned that pulling someone's hair gets their head to move the way he wants it to.  We are practicing 'gentle'.  Over, and over, and over, and over, and over....

I didn't know that being a parent required me to choose between discipline and entertainment.  We have to work very hard not to laugh at their antics.  We bought this baby proofing item to protect the buttons on the tv.  It lasted less than 24 hours.  Cooper snapped it in two and then smiled his devious smile because he could touch the buttons again.  He thinks everything is a game.  When we tell him no, he will push us away (or sometimes run away) and laugh. 

May 20th!

We have a new date for the adoption finalization:  May 20th at 8:30 am!  All of the social workers tell us that they don't see this date slipping.  We really hope it stays in May since we want to move out of this apartment in June, but we can't move until the adoption is finalized otherwise we have to start over with the homestudy process.  No more delays!  (I guess our CO adoption worker quit suddenly so it delayed everything and that's why we couldn't finalize in March.)

We plan to have a celebration for the adoption finalization while we're in town...we need to work out where to have it though.  We figure it will be around 30 people including children.  We want to keep it casual and low key, so I'm looking forward to planning it!  If you have any recommendations let me know!

Now and Then

August 2008:

March 2009:

Little Leprechauns

We didn't do anything special with the kids and Chris forgot to take pictures of the kids before they ate avocado for dinner, so these show their messy clothes.  At least we found these bibs that they can't take off, so it helps some.  They were quite hysterical today, though.  Lots of mischief and wrestling.  Great way to end my day.

Cooper has moved from the couch to the end table.

He's obsessed with the lamp.

Again with the lamp, but this time he has a partner in crime.

Being cute for the camera.  She's such a ham.  

Cooper sitting on Charlotte.

 

Cooper is learning where people's eyes are.

He also LOVES to put his fingers in Charlotte's mouth.  She's usually pretty good about only nibbling a bit and then sucking on his fingers.  He laughs when she does it.  I can't say the same for Cooper being gentle when Charlotte decides to put her toes in his mouth.

This is one way to get your brother off of you.

Cooper 'eating' Charlotte.

My favorite for St. Patty's Day.

Daddy just came in from walking the dog.

Cooper has decided that the Laugh and Learn table is a lot more fun when it's used as a sled/rocking horse.  Somewhere along the way he lost his pants and Charlotte spent the remainder of the evening trying to put them on herself (see her in the upper right corner).

 

This is video of them watching the dog run back and forth.  I love their little heads just turning back and forth.

Make a Smilebox greeting

10 years!

On March 7, Christopher and I went on our first date to Macaroni Grill and then bowling.  A week later we began dating exclusively.  Today on March 14th we have been together for 10 years!  That's over 1/3 of my life!  It hardly feels like it's been that long, but at the same time it feels like we've always been together.

In celebration of our anniversary, here's our story.

Christopher and I met when I was a junior in high school (Fall 1996) and he was a freshman in college.  His best friend Mikael (see their blog here) was the drum major and I was in the marching band.  Christopher got a job (because of Mikael) as the color guard instructor.  We dated briefly (he was my first boyfriend and my first kiss at age 16!) and we even went to my junior year homecoming dance (he made me pay for dinner at the Denver Buffalo Company!). 

Things didn't work out, which at the time was for the best for each of us.  We lost touch for a couple years and when I went to college we reconnected.  (He came to my high school graduation, but did not come say hi to me).  We hung out a few times, but both of us were seeing other people so it was just friends at that point.

In the spring of my freshman year at college (March 1999) is when we began dating.  We went to various sorority and ROTC formals during college.  I spent every weekend in Boulder with Christopher and his room mates. 

During my senior year of college after I came back from my super fun trip with Heather and Camille to New Orleans, Christopher took me back to Macaroni Grill for our 3 year anniversary and proposed to me!!  After graduation a few months later (June 2002), we moved to California for my job.

I was incredibly homesick for about 6 months after moving here, but Christopher who is the adventurous risk taker in our relationship couldn't get enough of our new life and soon his excitement rubbed off on me.  After living here for a year, we went back to Colorado in August 2003 and got married!  It was a beautiful brunch wedding and the day was amazing.  We honeymooned in Negril, Jamaica and Couples Swept Away Negril. 

We began branching out and building a life in California.  Some old friends and some new friends.  I have joined several organizations and then went back to school to get my MBA in 2005 and graduated in 2007.   We have vacationed throughout California and gone back to Colorado for several ski trips.

After 4 years of marriage, we decided in 2007 that  it was time to have a family of our own and along came Cooper and Charlotte within 1 year! 

Honestly, these have been the best 10 years of my life.  We have been together through death and birth, sadness and  joy.   We've learned how to communicate better, how to set and achieve goals, and how to save money.  We've learned more about ourselves than we ever thought possible.  We are better people because we are together.  I am so thankful to have a partner to bear witness to my life.  I have never felt more in love with my husband than I do now.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Couch Monsters

We're teaching them how to get down safely from the couch.  Really, it's our only option.  There aren't any baby gates for couches.

Proud babies (She looks so much like a little girl! And check out Cooper with the remote...the both point the remote at the tv and proceed to push every button on it.)

This just doesn't look safe

And check out the miss Cooper made since he was able to pull down Scout's dog bags off the desk:

But how can you resist this cute face:

Tormenting the dog: