My (Close to) Naked Boy

I love pictures of naked babies - Ok, well almost naked babies. There is something so cute and precious about their soft, smooth skin and FAT ROLLS,-especially the dimples on their bottoms. When they are naked, there is no clothing to distract the beauty of the creation with God.

Cooper is no exception. He is a handsome boy and is getting more handsome everyday. I wish my camera could capture his beautiful blue eyes. I love his skin. I love to cuddle with him. He loves to cuddle and touch other people's skin. He is so warm and loving.

Babies have a magic that accompany them. The magic is that they just left God's presence and the spirit is so strong within them. They represent all that is good and right with life. Being a mother is an amazing experience. I am extremely grateful for the gift I have to be a wife and mother. Being a co-creator with God is absolutely incredible and divine. As I look at these pictures, my blessings are so visible. I love my family. I am blessed!

Isn't Cooper an amazing child of God? I am glad I got into this little "photo shoot" with him...even if I am not wearing make-up and am still in my pajamas.

Cooper Experiences A Trip To Grammy's

Now that Cooper is getting older and less fragile, he gets to experience the fun of Grammy's. I don't know how much longer my mom will live there (sadness of Mom selling my childhood home is starting to set in), so we have to let the kids get the most out of it while she is there. How I wish the kids could have as much fun in that backyard as I had growing up!!! Before now, Cooper just watched or slept through Cadence playing, but now he gets to enjoy the fun.

Cadence showed Cooper how to jump on the brand new trampoline. She jumped very softly so he could just feel a small bounce. He seemed to enjoy it!

Then we put him in the tire swing. Cadence wanted to show him how to do it, but he didn't like swinging with her. I think it was very uncomfortable for him.

So Cadence got out and we let Cooper swing by himself. He thoroughly enjoyed the large swing of the pendulum. Much better and larger than his baby swing at home.

Cooper has already been to Chuck E. Cheese, the aquarium and the usual places we go when we visit. We love Grammy and she loves us. It is fun that she lives in Sandy because we have mini-vacations everytime we see her. Grammy, Cadence and Cooper after church. Cooper in 2 of his cute outfits!!!

We Got The Cures!

Cadence really likes to put nail polish on her fingers and toes. Unfortunately for her, I am not very good at being feminine and don't own any nail polish (that I can think of.) So when we were at the dollar store, I saw a pack of two nail polishes and bought it. When we got to Grammy's house, she wanted to paint...fingernails and toenails. I was up for the challenge. Everybody like manicures and pedicures.

First, I painted Cadence's nails. She is very good at holding still while I paint. Then she wanted to paint my nails. I see no harm in that. Building confidence and exploring is an important part of growing older.

Even though I was making a funny face, she did a pretty good job of only painting my nails.

She only painted a little part of a few fingers and didn't quite get all the nail, but I think she did well for the first time!The next morning (notice no make up), we decided to paint our toe nails. I painted hers and then she painted mine.

Once again, she did a fairly well job - especially on my left foot.

We love our 'cures. It is fun being a girl...sometimes.

They look professional, don't they?

Now when we stick our feet in the water on our walks, we can do so in style!

McDonald's Playland Is NOT for Adult's

While at Grammy's house, we visited the near-by McDonald's for $1 hot fudge sundaes and playland fun! Cadence knows that if we are going to "Old McDonald had a farm" (as she refers to it), a hot fudge sundae we be ordered and she will eat more than half of it - and get a hot fudge mustache in the process. We both love ice cream!!!

Cooper, of course, just sits and watches us eat ice cream. Sometimes, he drools -like in this picture! He is already counting down the months until turns one and can eat ice cream.

When Cadence was finished with the ice cream, she entered the gigantic playland for some little people fun. (The McD's on 10600 S. and 13th E. in Sandy has a huge playland - much better than Logan or Smithfield.) She loved jumping on this round piece of plastic thing!

Since Cadence was the only kid in the playland, I decided to join her. I definitely don't want my daughter to be lonely. BIG MISTAKE!!! Every time I join in the "fun" I remember that it isn't fun for me and that I am much too BIG! We climbed through the maze. My knees ached with discomfort from the hard plastic. I don't know if it was the wear and tear from sports and running or if I am just getting OLD, but my knees hurt when I kneel. I talked Cadence into going down the very twisty slide with me. My body almost broke in two going around the curves and I got a nice, little plastic burn on elbow. I was too tall to sit all the way up and did not enjoy the ride!But, because I attempt to be a good sport, I forced myself to smile for this picture!!! I didn't want to spoil the excitement for Cadence.

After this ride, I just sat in the entrance and watched her be cute and crazy. Anyone, please do me a favor. Next time I decide to enter a McD's playland, remind me that it is for little people - NOT old, tall people like me!!!(We are still working on the sitting lady-like concept!!!)

Are You Ready To Rumble?

Chris traveled to California (Mt. Shasta) last Friday for his Impact LMT 3 trip. We drove him down to catch a ride with some of his buddies from Draper. While he was gone, we played in the Salt Lake area. What's the saying - "When the cats away, the mice will play." My next few posts will be about our playing!!!

While we stayed at Grammy's, I thought we should visit at least one friend of mine. I chose to call a religiously wild and crazy friend I lovingly refer to as RUMBLE. Eight years ago, I worked at Oakcrest, a LDS run summer girls camp, as a counselor. For 12 weeks, I was in charge of a group of 8-14 different girls between the ages of 12-13. We participated in outdoor sports, read scriptures, camped, hiked, floated down rivers on our bums, played pranks, and experienced the gospel of Jesus Christ through fun and spiritual activities. I loved it!!! One of the best parts of this job was the friendships I made with other counselors. My camp name was DISCO. RUMBLE was a fellow counselor who is very similar in personality to me. We are both outgoing, loud at times, looking to prank, and crazy. Yet, when we needed to be, we could be spiritual, sensitive and downright serious! Just thinking of some of the fun activities we created and the serious discussions we had make me smile!
Anyhow, I called Mindy (her real name) and invited myself over to her house. She hasn't changed much except she is married with a kid now. We had a great little chat and caught up on life while Cadence played with her son, Eli. Talking with her almost made me want to relive the best prank we played on each other while at camp. She tied HICCUP (another great friend) and me up to a fence and dumped syrup, pudding and other slimy consistencies over our heads. She and DIXIE got us good. We got them back better with a 8 course meal consisting of things like punch, pudding, spaghetti noodles, vegetables, cocoa powder and all sorts of other stuff dumped over their heads. The visit also made me want to play dress up and zipline down a hill. Oh, the memories!

She has a large front porch like us with a hammock. It made me want to leave a swing on one side and get a hammock for the other.

RUMBLE, thanks for the chat. You rock! And to all the other Oakcrest counselors that read this, I am still inspired by you all - especially the ones whose blog I know about. I love you girls!

For The Love of Laundry

At the current time, Cadence is my big helper. Whatever chore I am doing, she wants to do too. She loves to do the laundry -all parts of it!

We put a step ladder next to the washer. I take the clothes out of the laundry basket and she stuffs it in the washer. She absolutely loves it when I turn the water on and pour the detergent into the lid. She likes to pour the detergent from the measuring lid into the washer. After a few minutes of the washer going, she likes to open the top and see the bubbles!!! Wow!

When the washer is done, she likes to assist me in hanging it! We have a dryer that works, but during the summer we dried it inside to reduce the heat, energy usage and bills! Plus Chris says his clothes shrink in the dryer.

After the clothes have hung dry, she likes to "fold and roll" the items. I have to refold everything she does, but that's ok. Lastly, she helps me put the laundry back where it belongs. I hope that Cadence wants to still do laundry in 10 years!!!

"Mom, I want to Take A Picture!"

Cadence loves to take pictures with my camera. She's figured out how to turn the camera on and what button to push to take the picture. OFTEN, she will say, "Mom, I want to take a picture!" Then she will grab my camera and attempt to take an .....interesting picture. Her favorite subject to photograph is the lovely ME!!! These are a couple of pictures she has taken of me.

This is so ironic that I choose to write about this because as we were at the store today, she saw a toy camera and fell in love with it. She took pictures of everything as we walked around the store - people, towels, Halloween decorations, the floor. Other shoppers were laughung when she would say, "Smile. I'm taking a picture." Unfortunately, I was thinking about splurging and buying it for her, but there was no bar code and it was the only camera in the clearance that I could find. I took it to the cash register and they sold it to me for $1. Wahoo! She loves that there is a light/flash that goes on when she takes a picture! Now, she won't need to use my camera any more!!!

A New, Strange Hobby

Since Cadence started going to "school," she has developed a new, strange, scary (for me) hobby. She loves it!!! I am extremely nervous about it! She tells people, strangers, about her hobby!!! Cadence loves to use SCISSORS! She wants to cut paper for the fun of cutting paper. She asks, "Mom, can I use the scissors, Mom?" "Mom, can I cut paper, Mom?"
This is what her scissor cutting hobby looks like! Wish us luck in trying to ensure that the only thing she cuts with the scissors are paper!

Pre-school Play Group

I was asked by a girl in my ward if I wanted Cadence to be in a play group for the school year with some other kids who have older siblings. Due to their siblings being in school, they feel left out and want to go to "school" too. Our play group is their "pre-school." Every week, we do an activity with one letter of the alphabet and then let the kids play and socialize. I guess it is similar to Joy School. There are supposedly 5 2-yr-olds in the group, but only 3 have come the two weeks we've had it.
This is Lauren, Evan and Cadence. We take turns having the kids at our house for an hour and a half. Cadence is really enjoying it so far. I was in chargs of the group last week and the biggest thing I learned is that 2-yr-olds only have a 5 minute attention span. We probably did 20 different activities in the 90 minutes the kids were at our house!!! Ya gotta love it!

The Chunky Monkey's Two Month Appointment

Monday was Cooper's 2 month appointment. We were very excited to see how much he weighed. I knew he would be big. The scale said he weighed 14 lbs. 9oz. and that is only in the 75%. I expected the percentile to be larger. Cooper has gained 6 pounds in 2 months!!! He measured 24 1/2 inches tall and is in the 95%. The doctor says he is a healthy, growing boy.
Cooper is outgrowing his clothes too quickly and has cute fat rolls. He is now wearing size 2 diapers and is mostly wearing 3-6 month clothes. He is getting harder to carry around for long periods of time. (Thank goodness for the baby wrap I have.)
Cooper is a strong little guy. He holds his head up quite well when he is sitting on our laps. He lifts his head when he is on his belly. (Note: he doesn't like tummy time.)

Cooper loves his mommy. He is definitely a momma's boy at this time. He is starting to smile and always wants to be in the same room and within arms distance of someone. Cooper is a social little guy.Cooper is tracking objects and making eye contact very often with us. His cooing is so precious and he enjoys talking to me when I change his diapers. He likes to swing and bounce.
Cooper has a nice double chin. He is mild tempered and LOVES to be held and cuddled. We love our chunky monkey.