Ism

Cooper finally said something cute that I can blog about! Okay, on the way home from church I was trying to keep Cooper awake so I was asking him what he wanted for lunch:
M- Cooper, what do you want for lunch? Do you want chickens?
C-No
M-Do you want hot dog?
C-No
M-Do you want a cheese tilla?
C-No
M-Do you want some of Daddy's bum?
C-(with great enthusiasm) YEAH!
M-Do you want barbecue sauce on it, too?
C-YEAH!
M-Okay, sounds good.

It's Ethan __________

Since we went and got a 3D Ultrasound of Ethan, we're feeling much more close to him and it's all becoming more of a reality. It was so fun to see him moving like he was outside of my tummy. Anyhow, now we're trying to decide on middle names for him. Here are our choices: Anderson, Holbrook, Samuel, Jacob, Elliot. What do you think??? They are all family names so it's really just one sounds best. Let us know!

Monkeys, Cows, and Hayrides...Oh My!!

Just another pre-Halloween celebration. We are seriously optimizing on Cooper's Trick-or Treating opportunities this year. He is going at least 4 times this year...which means all the more candy for me and Jake! I'll admit that we've eaten more than he has. I used to hate it when my mom would sort through my candy so now I'm taking out all of my pent up anger for the past 20 years on Cooper's candy. Finally it's my turn to take the candy away!! Haha! Anyways...we really did have fun at the community pumpkin walk and Luke's little monkey was a HUGE hit. Everyone who passed us commented on his little outfit. It was too fun. We went on a hayride and collected candy galore. Until the next pre-Halloween event....

Our Boys in Action

For those of you who couldn't quite picture what Lukey looked like when I described him as a "beached whale"...well, here you go! Do you agree or disagree?

Yeah, Cooper talks...maybe it's more just sounds, but that's talking, right?

Pumpcasso

We had so much fun carving pumpkins this year. I'm calling Jake my little Pumpkin Picasso because in his "list of skills", besides a master choo-choo bed carpenter, he can definitely put Pumpkin Artist. Just check out his sweet skull. Check out the evil red that the skull put into Jake's sweet eyes. Though I do realize that Cooper is holding a knife in these pictures, I promise that no blood came out at any point of the pumpking carving. Last of all, behold Luke's sweet pumpkin face. Is that a face only a mother can love? No, I don't think so...I think that's pretty universally loveable. Happy Future Halloween to all you bloggers!

Cooper's Birth"week"

Well, it's official, Cooper is 2...and weirdly I have actually noticed a change in temperment (but that's another story). He had a very special week. On Tuesday we brought cupcakes to playgroup and everyone sang to him as he shyly hung his head. Then Wednesday, his actual birthday, I made him a fabulous breakfast he hardly touched because he was so excited about the balloons I had put out and then took him to lunch at Chic-fil-A and let him play for a while. He didn't even get to see Jake on Wednesday so we decided to celebrate his actual birthday on Saturday. On Friday we took him to the good 'ol county fair and managed to have tons of fun amidst the greasy, scary, slightly odd workers that always seem to accompany a mobile fair. His eyes lit up the second we walked in but our wallets could only afford to take him on 3 rides. You know the economy is bad when every ride at the county fair is $5! Jake took him on the merry-go round, a train, and an elephant ride while Luke and I waited on the sidelines since pregnant woman are forbidden to ride the 2 MPH rides for fear of danger! It was actually really, really fun and to top it off we enjoyed the world's best corn dogs! But...no funnel cakes for us! This was an excruciatingly difficult "no sweets" day. I mean, how often do you come across funnel cakes?? Then Saturday was spent getting ready for the family party. Jake and I barely finished putting the final polyurethane coat on the train bed--for those of you who don't know, Jake constructed the bed from scratch and I painted it--truly, it was a work of love and we think it turned out fabulous! Then we went a little overboard on his train cake which took us about 2 hours. Some people may call us dorks for all of this, but we really enjoy doing stuff like that. Finally, everyone arrived at 6 and we threw water balloons, played "pin the smoke stack on the choo-choo" and had a great BBQ. The train cake was a hit with all of the kids, especially the massive pieces we dished out. After we opened all of Cooper's great gifts (my garage sale finds were definitely his least favorite) we "unveiled" the bed. The moment was priceless! He gasped and put his hands to his mouth and then said "wow!". It was so cute! He immediately proceeded to jump on the bed, realized he couldn't jump too high after he hit his head, and then jumped with a hunchback. It was such a fun, fun night and we really appreciate everyone who gave/sent/mailed Cooper gifts and cards. He had a wonderful birth"week"!

Daddy Dear We Love You So

Last week Jake and I were suddenly awakened at 3 AM by a sharp knock on our door. I thought my kids were dying! No, my dad needed to be rushed to the emergency room for reasons that are to be withheld. I waited there for 4 hours, very angry from lack of service...but that's another story. When we got back dad graciously offered to watch the kids while Jake and I went to run some errands. Admittedly, this was a bit of a nerve-racking experience for me especially since he had to feed them both also. But, we let him do it. While we were gone Lukey had a poopy! Dad changed his bum which was so gracious of him and rather unexpected. Well, when we got back and changed his bum again we just had to LAUGH at the strange, strange way the diaper was put on by dad and marvel at the miracle that it held anything in at all! We love you, Dad!

OFFICIAL Revision

Many of you will remember that I wrote a post several months ago about how I thought I was smarter than Jake. Well, this is my official "I was so wrong and I apologize from the bottom of my heart." Yes, I am dumber than Jake. It's official! He's started taking classes and has had amazing success! He got a 94 on his first test and a 97 of his even harder test. He's having classmates call him and request him as a tutor. Who is this man I married and why in the world didn't he perform like that with his undergrad???!! It's official: Jake is smarter than Emily!!

LaLaLa-So Happy Together...and apart!

Okay, I know this is cheesy but I really fall in love with my boys over and over again every day. I think they are the cutest little bundles of love. They are learning to love each other and play together and of course, they're learning to love me...on most days that is, except when I deprive them of "treats" as just punishment.

TODAY, I am an amazing mother!

So, I decided to be crafty and put some effort into teaching my child. So we painted paper plates and then made them into a tamborine with some beans. It was so, so much fun and I could literally see the wheels of creativity turning in Cooper's head. I felt like such a good Mom. I mean, write me up in Martha Stewart's magazine! I made a commitment to do a craft a day from then on. That was almost 2 weeks ago and I haven't done a single craft since! Martha, I'm not worth the space in your magazine!!:)