the coopers

20 questions

2012-02-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post these as well, these were the 20 questions I asked Elias on his birthday. I am going to start making this a tradition, once my kids turn 3 I will ask these every year on their birthdays, it will be really fun to look back on.

1. What is your favorite color? Red

2. What is your favorite toy? Lego (ninja)

3. If you could go on a trip, where would you go? The cabin

4. What is your favorite tv show/movie? Star wars & Kung Fu Panda

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? PB & nutella sandwich

6. What is your favorite outfit? Star wars lego shirt

7. What is your favorite game? Hide & go seek in the dark with flashlights (FHE fave)

8. What is your favorite sport? Hockey & soccer

9. What is your favorite snack? pineapple

10. If you could have any superpower what would it be? Blow fire!

11. What is your favorite animal? Snake

10. What is your favorite song? Follow the prophet

11. What is your favorite book? Star wars lego

12. Who is your best friend/friends? Lliam, Brigham, Benson and Tyson

13. Who is the coolest person you know? Daddy

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike

15. What is your favorite drink? Smoothies

16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Spiderman blanket

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Egg McMuffin (homemade)

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Chicken nuggets

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Dentist or ninja

I see a trend here with the star wars and ninja.. my favorite answer was the "blow fire"..haha so cute! I love you Elias and YOU are the coolest person I Know!

luv mommy :)

Jedi Elias

2012-02-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

Sooo a few months behind, but at the end of November we celebrated Elias' 5th birthday party. He wanted a Star Wars party and it was seriously sweet! We decided that we were going to do a boys only party and just invite the kids from his school class. It gets hard though trying to decide what to do and who or not to invite. I always tell myself it's not a big deal but than a week before there birthdays I feel like I want to make it special since its only 1 day of the year. So last minute I had my mom help me whip up some Jedi robes and ties for all the little boys, they turned out pretty cute I thought, could have been longer but we ran out of fabric, anyhow the boys all loved them! I had light saber swords for all of them and we had a sweet obstacle course set up at the school gym. Jeremy and my brother Chad made a course and the boys were in heaven! First Jer did Jedi Training with them, showing them all some sweet Jedi moves then it was onto the course once they got through the course they fought Jeremy at the end to prepare to fight Darth Vader. So after playing on the course for awhile my brother dressed up as Darth Vader at the end and they all got to fight him individually, man were they pumped!!! Then they all teamed up and fought him to the death, they loved every minute. Then we had a Darth Vader piñata, once they all had turns and broke it open they collected their treats for their treat bags, we then headed back to our house for hotdogs, veggies and "Yoda Soda" ,(I forgot to take a picture) but it was green and frothy and the boys all loved it, they kept on asking for more "Yoda Soda" even Elias asks me to make it quite often.

Jedi Training

Jedi Obstacle Course

Jedi Fighter Training

Introducing Darth Vader

This was so fun to watch them all attack Darth Vader, they had a blast and didn't hold back anything!

Onto the cake..

I did ice-cream cake this year, so much easier and Elias loved it!

This is such a classic mother son photo, haha so typical of Elias.

Happy 5th Birthday buddy! You are such a sweet happy boy and I love you so much!

Mom

Nixon's Hernia Surgery

2011-12-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

Poor little Nixon had to go in for hernia surgery back in November and we were very blessed that everything turned out good. His surgery was scheduled for 10:50am but we had to arrive at 8:45am and he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything since the night before. I was thinking ya right, he is going to be starving. Jeremy gave him a blessing before we left for the hospital and we were thankful that he wasn't asking for something to eat every 5 minutes like he does at home. He did really well and we tried to keep him occupied with games or movies on our phone, but 10:50 came and went and they were really behind and at about 11:50 he began to get very upset, he was hungry and bored and well so was I. We finally made it into surgery at 12:40 and he was beyond ready to go, they had me take him into the surgery room, thank goodness, because he would have lost it if they would have taken him from me. I walked into a very shiny and clean room with bright lights and surgeons and nurses waiting, it was kind of scary, I really didn't want to leave him. I set him on the bed while they put him to sleep, Nixon was holding my arms for dear life and I couldn't help but tear up as his eyes rolled back and he fell asleep. Then the surgeon said, we'll take good care of him and asked me to leave. It was really hard, I mean trusting someone to take good care of your baby and hope that all goes well and you will see him awake shortly. I don't know how I was expecting to feel, but I was upset and praying that he would be okay. Soon enough the Doctor came out and said everything had gone very well, the surgery usually takes an hour so and he was out talking with us in less than a 1/2hr.. he said he had never had a hernia surgery go so perfectly, usually it takes a while to find the canal to close off, but it was right there when he made the incision, we were really blessed and very happy!
Then we got to see our Nixon and boy was he NOT happy, he was very scared and was crying uncontrollably for a while, he hated having the IV in his arm. Let's just say it was a very long day, we didn't leave the hospital until 4:00pm and then we stayed overnight in Calgary again. But seriously Nixon was back to himself in no time, only hours after his surgery he was jumping from bed to bed and we had to keep telling him not to be so wild because he could tear his stitches.
But that's Nixon for ya, he was a champ!

right before heading into surgery,
and seriously whats with the pants? I just kept on thinking of the little kids in the jewish camps, even though they wore blue stripes, it made me sad :(

Homeowners..

2011-11-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

We are now the proud owners of a home. Yes, a home. My grandma's house that we have been renting for the last 1.5 years to be exact.

The old, but cozy 3 bedroom bungalow style house, with lovely pink carpets, floral wallpaper border, white lace curtains, accordian style laundry door, country style light fixtures, and handicap handles in the bathrooms, actually surprisingly we use these quite often, especially when I was hugely prego trying to get out of the tub, haha and much more, aren't you jealous?? - you should be!
The house that is right across from the school, and right behind the church (I know I mention this often but it seriously has to be said again and possibly again if needed.)
The house that has the best little cul-de-sac filled with little boys, riding bikes, playing b-ball and street hockey.
The house that lives just down the street from Nana and Papa and cousins.
And yes the house that needs a lot of love..and really the house that will be our home, the house that we will fix up and live in for 3 years or so or maybe longer you never know.

When we first started ripping the wallpaper off I thought what have I gotten myself into...especially after just having a baby, it was taking forever.. maybe we should have just bought a NEW house, but as much as I want a brand new house, (really BAD) its just not the right time for us. this feels right.

We have already ripped all the wallpaper off in the two living rooms and in the kitchen, my boys have been great helpers too. And of course my mom has been there to help A LOT, its bad enough taking off wallpaper, but with three little kids it takes a lot more time. Jeremy took out the old over-grown horse-shoe pits out back and my Dad and brother Chad already drywalled two of the walls that needed it, so now I am trying to decide on paint colours, flooring and carpet. If I could only make a decision, this week for sure. I want the walls painted and the floors done before christmas.. so I better decide. It will be slow work in progress since we can't afford to do it all at once, but soon it will start to come together.

and hopefully, just hopefully I will get my dishwasher after all. :)
a kinda of half picture of the house.

Were ALL about CASH!

2011-11-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

Cash is over 2 months now, not quite 10 weeks and I can't believe how fast he is changing. He is growing so much, most of his 0-3 month clothes are snug now and it makes me sad. His last doctor appt he was in the 95% for both height and weight, just like my other boys, we sure now how to grow them! He is also smiling SO much all the time and sleeping pretty good at night, usually I am up once. He is such a good baby, I seriously LOVE having a baby in the house again, someone to cuddle and hold and another little person to love unconditionally. I forgot how amazingly good it felt and how I am defiantly not done having kids, if anything having another baby has made me realize how fast time flies and how much they grow. It's weird most people have their third baby and think man this is so busy and kinda crazy, and even though I feel that way, I think Heavenly Father has planted a strong feeling in me that I will have two more kids, I always knew I would have four, but it just feels right to want two more.. I know, I know, I just had a baby slow down, we will see though, maybe after the forth I will rethink this.. haha.
Here are some pics over the last few months of Cash, I can't believe how much he's changed.

Cash at 10 days old

Cash at 2 weeks

almost 1 month

Cash 1 month old

Cash at 5 weeks

Cash at 6 weeks

Cash at 7 weeks

Bathtime, Almost 2 months

Oh and a cute story I wanted to remember, my niece Addie (4yr) was asking her older sister Emily (9yr) what Aunt Rachelle and Uncle Jeremy's new baby was called... Emily thought for a moment and than said"Change". Her dad laughed and said "No, his name is Cash". "Oh, Emily said I knew it had something to do with money". haha I thought that was really cute.

It was also Cash's baby blessing a few weeks ago. He was about 7 weeks old. Jeremy gave such an amazing blessing, and we had all the Coopers and Hansens at the church for a little gathering. We are just so truly blessed to have most of our family live so close and were able to come.

I had a few pics taken with Cash outside the church, since I had no pictures with him and his momma.

And this was his birth announcement..

We love you sweet Cash, your sweet smiling face makes us oh so happy!

Halloween!!

2011-11-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well its that time of year again and we love halloween at our place. We try to make occasions like halloween special and we love decorating and getting our yard ready for fall and halloween and we love to dress up too! Elias wanted to be a Ninja yet again for the second year in a row but this time so did Nixon so they got matching ninja costumes and if you can't tell by the pictures they were really excited. I told Jeremy he should dress up too and so he found a cheap sweet costume to go with the boys and it was a hit, the boys especially Elias was so excited!! I can just see the pictures of my 3 ninjas in a wedding slideshow..haha. They had so much fun posing for all the pictures and had a blast trick or treating, and they got loads of treats. My little Cash didn't dress up, just a cute halloween shirt from his Aunt Ashley and he got to hang out with mom while I handed out candy to at least 100 kids. We also did the traditional carving pumpkins and Jeremy took the boys out to help him rake all the leaves and they had a lot of fun jumping in the huge pile.

My sweet Cash, I can't believe he is 2 months old. and we might need to retire his little toque..boo.

My 3 ninjas, I love Elias' poses, he is so into it, haha!

My boys, Elias almost 5yrs and Nixon 2.5yrs.

Look at all that candy, and whats with all the chips?? seriously is that the new trend.

having fun in the leaves...

Updates Elias & Nixon

2011-10-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

I've been so behind on everything lately, I guess that's what happens when you have your 3rd baby and so here is an update for my big boys. Elias started Kindergarten, and so far its been great! Elias has been such a BIG help to me, truly he is such a sweet boy and for the most part plays nicely with Nixon and helps mom with Cash. He does like to tease Nixon a lot as well, but I need to constantly remind myself that yes he is only 4, even though he tells everyone that he is 5 and has for the past couple months. Since he is one of the youngest in his class, (doesn't turn 5 until November) and most of the kids are 5 he thinks he is as well. He sure looks like he is 5 or 6 even. But as much as he wants to be older, and as much as I love having him go to Kindergarten 2 full days a week, it was hard letting him go, unlike him I am not in a hurry for him to be older. Kindergarten so far has been great for him and for me. He loves school and mostly just loves hanging out with his little friends, he barely wants to come home after a long day at school and is always asking to play with a friend. He loves learning as well, even though he doesn't have much to say about it, he enjoys it. It works out good for me too, since I don't get much sleep around here, its nice to be able to have a nap or run to Lethbridge with only 2 kids. What else is new with Elias, well he started skating again this year, he is getting much better and he can now skate across the rink, but he's still a little slow. He also started "Small Ball" here in Barnwell and loves it. what little boy doesn't like basketball? He loves playing with his legos, action figures, army stuff, castles and can play for hours by himself. He doesn't like Nixon in his room when he is playing and always has the door shut. Nixon can get very upset, but despite that they do play good together, the wrestling can sometimes get out of hand too, but for the most part there good little buddies.

1st Day of Kindergarten

off to school..(this is taken from my front yard, the perks of living across from the school).

Terry Fox Run, he was pretty excited about running in another so-called race.

Elias and his buddy Benson, matching shirts are cool.

Such a good big brother with Cash.

Nixon is our little clumsy guy.. he is always getting hurt, whether its from being too brave and jumping off of something or from just falling down. Seriously he trips and falls into things all the time, he constantly has bruises. He's already burned his hand and foot and gotten stitches on his chin from slipping at the pool. So last week we were at Costco and I had him buckled in the seat, but then I had to move him because I had no room for groceries because the carseat was taking up the whole cart, plus really once you get more than one kid it gets hard grocery shopping and someone has to sit in the cart. anyways, so I moved him to the inside of the cart and he is usually really good at sitting down, but just went he stood up I jerked the cart to get something I saw at the last minute and out he went right on top of his head on the concrete floor, the noise from his head hitting the ground was so loud, I thought when I went to pick him up he would be gushing blood or unconscious. I was really scared, and his head instantly had a HUGE goose egg and his eye was swollen. There were lots of people that stopped to ask for help and one guy went to get the first aid person. I was feeling soooooo guilty, just then Jeremy came back from the bathroom with Elias and was wondering what was with all the commotion .. the first aid guy checked him out and told us to take him to emergency, so we took him but there was a 3 or 4 hour wait, so we left and monitored him. I was worried he was going to be retarded or something, but an hour after being home he was jumping off the couches and running around. I am really mad I didn't get a picture of him, the few days after he fell he looked horrible. A HUGE goose egg and swollen bruise on his head and a really black and swollen eye. I guess I was feeling so bad about it that I didn't want a picture, but then a lot of people were telling me how their kids have fallen out of shopping carts and then I wasn't feeling quite as bad, really is it that common, this was a first for me.

Hopefully he will start to slow down, but with Jeremy as his father who knows, at least he hasn't knocked out his teeth like his Dad did twice before he was five.

Here are just a few pics of him in the last year, burned his foot and hand on separate occasions.

Besides all that Nixon is growing like a weed, he is not so little anymore, its funny how little you think they look until you have a new baby. He is becoming such a big boy and soon we will jump on the potty training wagon. He loves his baby Cash a lot and tries to snuggle him and loves giving him his soother. He climbs out of his crib and comes and wakes us up bright and early every morning. He's really into the colour pink, its his new thing - cups, plates whatever. He loves going on little errands trips with Daddy, that ones of his favourite things. He especially loves playing hockey and throwing anything, it seems like someone is always getting hit by something from Nixon and he LOVES jumping off anything and wrestling with Elias. They are constantly jumping and rolling, and giggling, and punching and kicking and having a grand old time until someone get hurts..thats my life with Boys! Watch out Cash :)

Nixon and Daddy just before heading to church, love this.

Cash's photoshoot

2011-10-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

So I decided I better post some newborn photos of my precious Cash. I posted some on facebook a while back so they might be old news to some. Cash was only a week old here, and so small. My boys did so good, trying to get a picture with the three of them was a challenge but they were such big boys and Very patient with me, I was doing it all by myself so that was a challenge too, trying to get them all to sit and take the pictures.. anyhow I am so happy how many turned out good. I edited these ones with in the first week after taking them and then lost motivation to do the rest, maybe soon, if I ever find the time. Anyways things are good around here, I love having a baby around again, I forgot how much I missed that.. soon to come- Updates on Elias, Nixon and our growing little Cash.

Color or BW, love them both.

My beautiful blue-eyed boys, Elias and Nixon look so old now sitting next to Cash.

Baby Cash is here!

2011-10-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

So I thought I should document Cash's birth story before its been too long and I have forgotten everything.
Cash was due on Friday, August 26 and on thursday the day before the doctor did her "magic"at the office, hoping I would go into labor soon, in the next 48 hrs. Well Friday came and I had been having consistent contractions all evening, not too strong but when I went to bed that night I thought for sure I would be going to the hospital, all through the night contractions but by 6:00 in the morning, nothing. We then went to Taber Cornfest on saturday and between all the walking and the blazing hot heat I thought this would get me into labor... the pressure was killing me. By Sunday morning the contractions started again and by noon we were on our way to the hospital in Lethbridge, but half way there the contractions weren't as strong anymore and were only 10 min apart so we decided to go get lunch and take a walk hoping that might help. By 3:00pm we were on our way home with still no baby. I was beyond frustrated, the pressure from getting stripped on thursday and all the contractions all weekend was enough!! I decided I wasn't going to the hospital until I was in ALOT of pain. Well Sunday evening came and by 7:00 the contractions were very consistent and pretty painful, but I was going to wait it out. Jeremy decided that I was NOT going to go into labor today since it had been happening all weekend and so he put a pie in the oven at 8:30 and invited my parents and aunt and uncle over..even though I kept telling him this is it! By the time we were all eating pie my contractions were 5 minutes apart and very painful. Finally everyone is like "Go to the hospital!" But I wanted to wait it out a little bit longer. By 10:00 Jeremy said " Let's go, I don't want to deliver this baby in my truck!"
So we headed out and I was dying, I had never had contractions this strong with my other baby's. I kept telling Jeremy to hurry. When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was 5-6cm dilated and they prepared the delivery room. I asked for an epidural and was sooo worried I wasn't going to be able to get one. But they called the guy and he took his sweet time getting there.. I was 8cm when I finally got the epidural and literally thought I was going to die! The nurse said I had the longest contractions and it sure felt like it. Once the epidural kicked in, I was in sweet heaven!!! I kept telling the guy how much I loved him and seriously could't imagine why someone wouldn't get the epidural if they could. I just kept saying "Best thing ever!!" We then watched "Friday Night Lights" on Jer's laptop and for the next 2 hrs waited for sweet baby Cash to come. I can't even begin to imagine how much that would have sucked to have been in all that pain for 2 more hours if I wasn't able to get the epidural, oh wait yes I can, remember Elias?? lets not think about that.
So about 1:50, Dr.Adolf said I think its time and just when I start pushing all the drugs are gone and I can feel everything, Yikes! Seriously beyond pain, but 20 minutes later we have a beautiful baby boy!

Cash Hansen Cooper
Born 2:13am, Sunday August 29th
8 pounds 9 ounces
22 inches long

And here he is:

Daddy with Cash

The boys were beyond excited and love having a baby brother.

Elias is a proud big brother, he is so good with him and such a great helper.

Proud Grandma Cooper

Summer Update 2

2011-08-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well onto more of our summer, middle of July Jeremy did the Magrath Triathalon with his friend Brad. I missed the swimming part in the freezing St. Mary river dam, but got pics of the rest. Jeremy said it was a lot of fun, was very tired but overall both him and Brad did really great and now he wants to make it an annual event.

the boys waiting for their dads

Good Job guys!

Then on July 24th we had Barnwell Days. It was super fun, my family along with aunts & uncles and cousins put together a softball team for the softball tourney. I wasn't able to play this year being 8 months prego, but Jeremy did and it was a great time, in the end our team WON!! They also had a 5km and 2km fun run, I was in charge of helping for this event. Elias was super excited to run and so Jeremy did the 2km with him. My mom also did the 2km and my Dad did the 5km. Elias got 2nd place for the youngest participate and my dad got 3rd for the 5km male category. Elias did so well and keeps asking when the next race is going to be.

There was also the annual parade.. and let me tell you my kids got more candy then they did on halloween. It was a really good turn out and of course my dad had to put in his "Bob the Builder" float and Elias and his cousin Joel threw out candy in the back. My mom was also honored by being the "Citizen of the Year" for all her work with helping beautify the village, good work mom!

Again in July, Nixon learned how to ride his 2 wheeler strider bike.. he was pretty timid at first.. but after lots of encouragement he finally started getting the hang of it and now is Mr.cruise. He especially loves it when he can find any kind of hill to go down so he can lift his feet up and coast and he loves going on family bike rides and keeps up to us really good. Seriously this little bike has been money well spent.

He would ride down this hill at my parents cabin and be just flying, while yelling" Watch out people"

Again we went to the cabin at the end of July. Just look at how high the water is?? normally we have a nice beach area, nope nothing. My grandparents came as well and my Aunt Susan for a little bit. Jeremy was only able to join us on the weekend.

a nice family tube ride

my sweet grandma hudson catching herself a fish

Can you tell how excited Nixon was to catch a fish and he really did! i just love that cute little fishing rod.

Now off to the Cooper cabin the first part of August.. I didn't take too many pics but had to snap a few of Nixon. When we are at the cabin Nixon sticks to me like glue and so inevitably more pictures of him and Elias on the other hand is gone always playing with his cousins and can barely look at me to get a picture.

He seriously looks so tall and is getting so big, what a cute boy.

Nixon 2.5yrs

Again check out all the water, those aren't bushes they are big trees. Elias and his cousins played in the paddle boats all day.

Nixon and Holli playing in the sand.

Summer Update part 1

2011-08-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

As usual soooo behind, but I am determined to keep this blog going for my family's sake. So a big update for summer. Here I am ready to pop this kid out, if you look to the side you can see only 1 day left!! yikes any moment now and I am trying to get this blog updated before it then turns into another 2 months. So here is part 1 of summer updates, mostly June and some of July.
Elias learned to ride his 2 wheeler in June and really it took only about 5 minutes before he was off cruising. I really think the strider bike helped him a lot for balance and control. He didn't fall at all and was soon flying in the crescent and wanting to go on a big bike ride 15 minutes later. Good Job Buddy!
Elias also played soccer this spring and near the start of June finished soccer.. it rained so much he barely had half of the games he was supposed to. He was determined to score a goal and after every game when I would say, "good job"he would say, "but mom I didn't score a goal again."
Well it wasn't until the final game in the last 5 min that he got a break away and scored a goal! I was so proud of him and he couldn't stop smiling. It seriously was the cutest thing ever and he got his first medal too.

Elias and Jeremy, Jeremy helped out being the Assistant coach.

Then close to the end of June Jeremy signed up for a 100 mile bike ride. He had just bought a road bike this year and was really loving it. He would ride to and from work quite a bit, which was good exercise and usually took him a good 25 min. The day of the 100 mile ride we met him at the finish line, it turned out to be a great day and the boys were patiently waiting to see their dad come in. He finished in 5 hrs 26mins.. Good job! I can't even imagine riding a bike for that long, seriously I would die and so would my butt. He said it was a challenge but really enjoyed it and will ride again next year.

the boys waiting patiently for dad.

coming into the finish line!

my boys, love this pic!

We also took some time and headed down to my parents cabin the first part of July. Kwynne and Molly joined us for a few days and it was fun to hang out like old times. Troy and Shawna and the kids came out from Colorado too and the boys all had a blast playing together.

me at 7.5mths prego

Jer and my dad spent some time building and putting the teepee together and the boys helped by finding rocks for the fire pit. Then they spent two nights sleeping in the teepee, Elias thought it was the coolest thing ever. It will be great memories for all the little boy grandkids to spend countless nights in their especially when there all a little older, there is 8 of them under the age of 7 so it will be fun.

The teepee seriously looked so sweet all done.

off gathering rocks together...

Oh and just one more of Nixon. Here he is later that night after burning his foot on the exhaust pipe of Jeremy's motorbike. We felt so bad and it was kind of my fault because Jeremy had just taken Elias for a ride and so the bike was hot. He came back to take Nixon and Jeremy told Nixon to go inside and get his shoes, when he came in the house I told him to go get on the bike with Daddy and I would find his shoes. Jer turned the bike off and went in the garage to find Nixon's helmet and Nixon tried to climb on the bike with no shoes on and Yes burned his foot, bad! It was so so sad, he was in a lot of pain, but once we got it all bandaged up and some aloe vera on it he felt a lot better, poor little dude.

Mexico Baby!!

2011-06-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well I can't believe its been a month since our trip to Puerto Varrata, Mexico. We went for 1 week with all my family, except for Chad and Ashley. It was defiently so much fun! ...

But getting there, well that was a whole other story. We almost didn't make it. While we were waiting at the Toronto Airport, we got called to the front desk and they informed us that the flight we thought we were taking home from Mexico had been cancelled, but yet no one had informed us, by phone or email. How does that happen right??
At first it seemed that we might not be going to Mexico since they didn't have any available flights going back home on that day, its a good thing we had a 3 hour wait until boarding to Mexico since we spent 2.5hr talking to all kinds of people, no lie I swear we walked a 10km in that airport, back and forth talking to different people. Finally after forever, it seemed we had a flight back, I was overjoyed! Being 6 months pregnant, flying the red eye the night before with literally 1/2hr of sleep and some tears added to the frustration and exhaustion. So they told us when we landed in Mexico to make sure that our tickets were there and everything was good to go.. well you can imagine how Upset we were when we found out that yes, Jeremy had a ticket but I didn't.. seriously?? They told us maybe it hadn't gone through the computer system yet and to check back in a few days.. REALLY so I again spent hours on the phone over the next few days talking to yes, different people every time I called and no one ever knowing what the heck was going on.. but finally 3 days before departure I had my ticket. Yea!!

So after all that, we settled into enjoying our vacation. I really missed the boys the first 3 days and worried if they were behaving, but after talking to Shirley and the boys and finding out they were being very good, I decided I better soak it all in and stop worrying because I wasn't going to be going anywhere without kids again for a long time, especially with the baby arriving in August.
So picture this, lounging by the cool blue water in the fabulous sunshine enjoying a pina colada or ice cold lemonade while reading a good book without interruption from children and hearing the waves roll in off the ocean.. nice, right? no AWESOME!! yup it sure was everyday. Besides lounging around, there was activities going on at the resort, water and beach volleyball were a lot of fun, everyone loved the boogie boarding and Jeremy enjoyed some beach soccer too. It was fun having some of my Aunts and Uncles and cousins there, (they have a timeshare with my parents as well) we just happened to all plan our vacations around the same time and so there was never ending entertainment.

The guys were doing synchronized swimming, it was hilarious!

We went out for dinner to some fun places, with amazing food. We rode the bus quite a bit, and a few times I thought I might go into preterm labor.. the drivers are a little crazy going so fast and the roads, well they aren't like here, and the shocks on the bus not like here either.. yikes. But it was an adventure to say the least. The markets were fun too, even in the blazing hot sun, got some fun stuff for the boys, jewellery, sunglasses and a really cute bag for so cheap. We couldn't ask for a better place to stay too.. it was beautiful and our rooms were right off the beach, with a little pool overlooking it. It was heaven.

We ate at this amazing restaurant, seriously the best food and service ever. It was so nice inside too. It was my mom's birthday that day and can you tell how surprised she was to get an Ipad2 from my dad. She has been wanting one for a long time.

Aren't they so cute!

oh those "not so sweet" bus rides

enjoying the last of the sun, we did this every night, relaxing, talking and playing games.

my sis, Renae loving the boogie boarding

Me at 6 months prego

Rowan and Saige

We also went on a day trip to do some snorkeling and scuba diving. Jeremy went scuba diving with my two brothers, sister and dad. And me, Ryan and Amanda went snorkeling. It wasn't the best visibility, not like Hawaii for sure, but the boat ride there and the island was really nice. Jeremy had a blast, being his first time and now he is hooked. Jeremy also went on a day trip up repelling with some of my family. I sooo wanted to go, but of course being pregnant it wasn't happening, so instead me and Shawna, my sister in law went to the spa at the resort. It was awesome, only $70.00 for a facial and a 1 hour full body massage, so cheap and so great!

Off Repeling

Enjoying some "real" mexican flavour!

My nephew, Ryan and the fiesta lady

All in all it was so nice to get away, couldn't have asked for a better vacation, well maybe except for getting there. haha. It's crazy how fast you get back to real life and than it feels like you need another vacation already.

So I'm having a..

2011-04-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

yup Another BOY!! could have fooled me, i was seriously hopeful it was a girl this time. But nope, even all the chinese tests, needle test, you name it, didnt work for me! I guess the boy swimmers are just too darn fast, we might have to change it up in the bedroom next time, haha or do something drastic next time around. I am not going to lie i was very disapointed when I found out it was a boy, but I know now that how can I be? I mean seriously I am so blessed to be able to even have kids, especially with so many people I know that are struggling with having children. I know this is only my 3rd and I could try for a few more, so we will see. KNOW that I am very excited about having another sweet little boy. Its funny how many comments I have had about raising little missionaries and about how the world needs them, more and more everyday. Maybe that is my calling, to teach and raise strong boys. If so I hope I can teach them right but I also hope the Lord knows I need a little girl too down the road.
So here's to having 3 boys and being slightly more crazy then I already am. Please help me out in the boy name department, we are running out of names we like. We have a few right now, but nothing we love. So if you dont mind sharing fill me in!!
And only a week left until we head out to Mexico, oh man sunshine here we come!!

March, an eventful month

2011-04-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

I seriously love this picture, LOVE!!

Well March has come and gone and typical me I am a whole month behind, but what else is knew. I have been procratinating, more and more lately. Its becoming such a chore to write, but I knew I wanted to write about my sweet Nixon turning 2 on March 4. I had a little firefighter party for him, since he loves firetrucks these days. I made a firetruck cake, well tried anyways, I am no baker here.. but I wanted something a little more special then my usual cupcakes. I had a few of his cousins and special friends over and it was a fun day for him.

The cake, dont look too close though, but Nixon loved it!

mesmerized by the candle, he wouldn't blow it out.

What can I say about my Nixon at 2 years? Well he continues to turn heads with his cuteness, everywhere I go it constant compliments about him and those eyes. He is a boy to the core, constant jumping, running and yelling. He is a BIG snuggler and sure loves his momma a lot. Most of the time he is constantly where ever I am, my little shadow. Nixon defiently likes want he likes, and wants what he wants, a little diva in the making. His favorites right now are: rubber boots and PJ's, oatmeal, yogurt, ranch dip and chicken nuggets, "Go Diego Go", balls, firetrucks, and books to name a few. We sure love him to the core and everyday i am so grateful for my sweet boy, the terrible two's and all!

It was also my 29th birthday on the 17th, crazy how old i am getting. I can't believe I will be 30 next year. I still feel like I am 23. It was also our 8th Anniversary on the 28th. Went out for Indian Food at "Baadshah Royal East Indian", which was divine. So glad we went and will have to go back for sure. Jer got me this awesome bracelet for my birthday and anniversary from Stella & Dot. I seriously love it! One of the girls at his work has it and I love wearing it, it's so timeless and beautiful on.

Jer got a new road bike, he has been wanting one for along time, ever since we lived in Saskatoon and he rode a old getto one to school. He plans to ride to Taber in the morning to the pool, and then go to work and ride home after. It takes him almost a 1/2hr to ride.

I am so proud of Jeremy, he has been working so so hard, eating Really healthy and doing weights, swimming, running, basketball, you name it to lose weight. So far he is down 25lbs and looks awesome. He is gone a lot at night doing something, or gone early in the morning to swim. He is training to do the Magrath Triathalon in July and has been working hard to get in shape for it. He is so eager to get riding his road bike, if the weather ever permits. His goal was 35-40lbs so more then half way there, its funny now, he's losing weight and I am gaining..haha.

What else is knew, well not much. The weather has been anything but pleasant and we have been staying home a lot these days, we even went out for a walk yesterday because I could not stand it any longer and we almost got blown off the road, Elias had to turn around and push his bike back so he could walk with us instead.. oh well, a quick walk to get the mail and back for 10 minutes out of the house was still worth the cold and wind.
On another note, I am feeling the baby kick now, very softly, but i love when the baby finally does. Until this last month I haven't felt pregnant really, so its nice when you really know there is a little person in there. The boys are really excited already, Elias especially. I have my Ultrasound next week, I am hoping I can find out the sex of the baby. Really, I want a girl bad, but I will still be really happy if its a boy, I just want to know at this point. And knowing my luck, the one and only time I will ever find out the sex of the baby, they will tell me "sorry we cant tell what it is". I am sooo dreading that, so hopefully i will know either way soon!!!

And soon to be in 3 weeks, we will be here, in Mexico!!! Yes! I can't even tell you how excited I am!! Its seems like its been forever since we booked our flights in November.. and now its almost here. We are going with my whole family, well my brother Chad and Ashley arent going to make it, but everyone else will be there and lots of my cousins, so it should be a blast! My parents have a timeshare in Puerto Varrata and we get to stay there for free, plus we used our aeroplan points to fly for free too (I guess there's one good thing about paying so much freakin $$ for dental school). So it should be a pretty cheap and sweet vacation! And yes the kids are staying home, well with Jeremy's mom for the week.. have fun Shirley, haha. No really I am so grateful for her, there is nothing like have someone you trust to take care of your kids for you, so hopefully I wont be worried too much about putting her out.
And thats that, the longest post ever! guess I need to get on the ball and be better about writing.. later!

We're EXPECTING!! and lately..

2011-02-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

So thats right! We are expecting September 1st and are both happy and eager. We both can't wait to see the sex of the baby and this is a 1st for me, but i am so wanting to know and at almost 3.5mths i still have a ways to go. We tried all the tricks we knew to get a girl, so i am REALLY hoping, but will be oh so fine with a healthy baby boy. It really doesn't seem like i am pregnant sometimes, except for the chub i already have, whats up with that so early?? kinda depressing.. it came so early this time, maybe its the 3rd kid that does it.
I'm not going to lie, I'm a little scared. #1 to be pregnant and huge at the End of August and dying of the heat, even without being prego i die of the heat, so watch out. And #2, 3 kids now.. will i go anywhere?
Do anything? will I have enough patience?, doubt it. Its a little scary, but too late now, right? haha. No i am excited and could't be more blessed than to have awesome pregnancy's, feeling great.. getting out of Zombie land, those first 2 months were horrible.. hoping to get back on the treadmill, maybe and have a little more energy.
Also I had to write this down, a few weeks ago after coming home from skating lessons.. Elias said this.
too funny.

Elias- "mom i have to go pee"

Me- "can you hold it?"

Elias- "no my hands are full"

Me - "what?" (confused)

Elias- " I have an Iron man in this hand and a Car in my other hand!!"

Me- " Oh, hahahaha!!

Me and Jeremy were laughing sooo hard.. it seriously was the funnest thing.. too cute!

Here are also some random pictures over the last month of the kids playing in the snow and the boys being buddies together. They really are starting to play good together and its a lot of fun.

The boys playing in the snow and building a snow fort with Daddy.

Nixon and Elias playing dress-up

I was calling after them and found them reading books together snuggled in Elias' room during the day.

not to be forgotten

2011-02-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

I know Christmas is so far gone, but i had to post this gem home video that I forgot about.

Jingle Bells from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

Just watch how hard it is for Nixon NOT to pick up those bells, it took some practise and Nixon trying to sing is so priceless! haha

*oh and for some reason it was freezing on me, if so just start it over again and it will work the whole way through.

Christmas, come and gone.

2011-02-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was by far the best one we have had for our little family. It was the 1st real Christmas that for once we weren't living out of suitcases and going back and forth between families. It was the 1st Christmas that we had with just our boys and us on Christmas morning and it was sooo nice. This was the 1st Christmas that Santa and the birth of the Savior was ever so present in our home too, Elias really believed this year in Santa and I had to be very careful and we really tried to focus on the birth of the Savior as well this year. We even had a little baby jesus in a manager under the tree and we would put a little bit of straw in the manager periodicallly as a constant reminder to the kids about why we celebrate Christmas and it worked really well. I remember when the home teachers came over a few weeks before Christmas and the 1st thing they asked Elias was, "Why do we celebrate Christmas?" I was thinking oh no whats he going to say, and ever so sweetly he said, " Its when we celebrate Jesus' birthday." I'm not going to lie I was a very proud momma and it was so cute. I remember thinking, I cant believe he didn't say anything about presents or santa. He is so innocent, I wish he would always stay that way, give me a few more years right, and then all he'll say is "presents", hopefully not.. i know that the little manager under our tree this year added to the spirit of Christmas in our home and gave my boys a greater understanding of why we have Christmas, defiently a new tradition in our home. Since this was our 1st official Christmas back home and the boys were a little older and more excited about Christmas i also ordered an advent calendar, it was sooo cute and the boys loved getting little treats, or stickers and so on everyday. We also had the 12 days of Christmas with christmas/winter books wrapped under the tree and every night I let the boys unwrap one and we would read it together.. this was A LOT of fun for them, Elias never forgot to remind me and was so excited everytime. Definite repeat.

1st year making gingerbread houses

Pre-K christmas concert

12 days of christmas books

Christmas morning

Oh and fave gifts this year were: Elias- Leapfrog Leapster explorer, seriously awesome educational game system, Elias LOVES it and learns so much from the games as well as having fun.
Nixon- Fisher price Stand and Go race car track, really great toy! And together they got this play castle that they love, we read books in it, have ball fights and really use our imagination, great purchase from Costco.

stocking stuffers

Overall such a great Christmas, can't wait for next year!

Swim Time and Banff Trip

2010-12-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

I'm playing catch up, Elias just finished swimming at the end of November. This was his 1st time in lessons and he loved every minute of it. There were only 4 of them in the class, so he got to know the other kids pretty good and received a lot of one on one attention. We spend much of our summers enjoying the lake at the cabin so Elias was very much used to jumping and playing in the water. He had no fear jumping off the ledge into the water and was always the 1st one to dive down and get the rings and bring them back up.. they even took them in the deep end with water noodles, overall a great time for him.

typical Elias

Nixon insisted on having a picture too!

We also got to go to Banff at the start of December with friends. I knew i wanted to go somewhere to celebrate Jeremy turning the big 30! So i decided Banff would be a fun time, I had never been there and it would make a good weekend, not too far and i knew Jeremy had been dying to get in some much needed snowboarding after all those winters living in Saskatoon and not being close to the mountains. Me and Jeremy left a day early, and that was sure nice. Just the two of us, I can't recall the last time we ever stayed overnight somewhere with just the two of us. The next morning we took the gondola ride up the mountain, enjoyed some hot drinks and beautiful views, but food at the top was oh soo nasty.

view from the top..

We also did some fun shopping, Jer got new snowboard boots, happy birthday Babe, and then we met everyone for dinner. My friend Karen's parents had a timeshare in Canmore a 1/2hr away from Banff. It worked out great, much cheaper than staying in Banff and some great memories were had. I'll never forget walking the Longest hallways ever in exsistence to our rooms, haha and trying to enjoy the hot tub and outdoor pools while being not so entertained by some very annoying and interesting people, some very drunk and some in their undies. yes, Dont ask... Hey its Banff, right. But besides all that, there were some nights of incredible food eaten, some fun shopping, late chats and game nights.. oh man. and some much anticipated snowboarding for all.. even though i think i broke my tailbone.. maybe the spa next time.

sorry these two were emailed pics, blurry but you get the drift.. loads of fun!

It was a great weekend, so happy to spend it with Jeremy especially, happy big 30 babe, I love you

Delicous Dinner Recipes!! yummo

2010-12-14T17:44:00.000-08:00

Okay so i had to post these two recipes that i have made in the last few weeks. I am big on changing things up in our dinner routine and i use food blogs a lot, you know they will most likely always be good if someone is blogging about them.

Anyhow here they are, Enjoy!!

French Dip Sandwiches.. seriously soooo good! I just kept wanting more!

Jer and my parents both said this was the BEST beef dip they had ever eaten.. make sure to serve with delicous fresh buns and a good piece of white cheese..

This recipe comes from the tried and true food blog Our best bites . Check it out all their stuff is awesome.

Chicken Tikka Masala ( similar to butter chicken)

We LOVE Indian food around here and so do my kids. I usually add a little less spice than recipes call for, so its not too spicy for them.. And this one did not dissapoint! It was seriously Awesome, probably the best recipe i have found. Even if you think you dont like Indian food you will like this. Nixon just kept on asking for more and more.

The recipe calls for a jalapeno pepper and 2 tsp of cayenne, but like the girl from the food blog i cut out the pepper completely and the cayenne down to 1/2tsp.. yummo, i could have some more right now.

Jer said he would have thought the cook was East Indian it was soo good! Hope you like it. Here's the recipe from another tried and true food blog, Mels Kitchen Cafe.. always good stuff over there too!
Oh and if possible serve with Naan bread, makes all the difference. If you have never tried it, its the bomb..haha really though. Its a Indian bread.. usually beside the pita bread. Just pop it in your oven on broiler for a minute to get warm and eat with the rice and sauce..so yummy soaking it all up!

Elias Turns 4!

2010-12-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

Elias turned 4 a few weeks ago and since he is really into dragons and loves the movie "How to Train your Dragon" I did a party for him with a dragon theme. It seems like this party was bound to never happen, due to weather and other annoyances.. but it did finally happen and it was alot of fun for him and all his little friends. We played lots of games, Pin the Tail on the dragon, dragon egg races, and the parachute was a HUGE hit!! I had the cutest little viking party hats and a cupcake dragon cake to top it off.. overall lots of fun and yes lots of work. Elias got a ton of fun presents and has been playing with for the past couple weeks.. we also got him 1 gift a Playmobile Dragon Castle.. its seriously the sweetest thing ever.. so much detail and such cool stuff.. i actually enjoy playing with him. I remember playing with Playmobile sets as a kid and loved them, so it was fun to get him his own. $$ for sure, but so well made and lots of fun for years to come.

do you think he was excited?

all his little buddies

His cousin Joel helping him out

Nixon pounding a cupcake

all the loot, someone's spoiled!

Elias at 4 yrs old is in prechool and swimming lessons this year. He loves both and is really into being creative and playing by himself now.. thankyou! he loves dragons (of course), superheros, army guys and tanks, anything he can build and Loves any kind of board game, we play a lot these days. He is really so sweet, always giving me compliments, whether its thanking me for being a "good cooker'(his words) haha or telling me how cute the house looks or how beautiful i look.. its all the time, its so cute. And Elias and Nixon are getting better at playing together and its fun to watch him help his brother or teach him a cool new trick. Nixon adores Elias and well we couldn't agree more.

I love you sweet boy, Happy 4th birthday!

Snow Days and a curious little boy

2010-11-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

Ever since all the snow in the last 2 weeks we have been playing inside a lot, but despite the cold weather Elias has been able to enjoy the abundance of snow we have. He loves shoveling the snow with Jeremy, (his shovel one of the best purchases ever) every night when he gets home from work and loves jumping in the huge piles we have in our front yard. Despite the cold weather, hey at least i'm not in saskatoon winters anymore..haha sorry guys. and with all this white its sure feeling like Christmas around here. Which i love.

i love his froggy touque, he insisted on having the googly eyes.

what's playing in the snow without a warm cup of cocoa??

This was Nixon the other night, (and the next night and the next)when i checked on him before bed, notice his diaper up by his head.. of course it was so funny, him being in the nude, but not so funny waking him up to wash him down, changing his peed sheets and clothes.

For the last week Nixon has been driving us crazy with taking his pj's off at night and inevitably his diaper. For the last week at bedtime and even naps we have gone in to find him with his clothes and diaper off and yes pee and even poo in his crib.. and him sound alseep ..ARGGG, after about 4 days of never ending washing his sheets and clothes, I remembered my friend having the same problem with her little girl.. and how they had to put her pajamas on backwards. well we tried it and problem solved, no more waking up to soiled sheets and clothes thank goodness. What a little stinker eh?

Superheroes and Nixon's Favorite

2010-11-15T15:12:00.000-08:00

if anyone knows my boys well, they know that they are very active and love to run and jump constantly.. therefore in our house running and jumping around in their capes and masks is the ultimate. Elias and Nixon are starting to play a lot better with each other.. and superheroes is one of their faves.. it's my go to game for them when i am making supper.. because they try to out jump and out run each other and i can cheer them on while keeping busy.

This one makes me laugh so hard.. nixon's face is too funny.

I would never think 2 little steps would be so entertaining for my boys, but every since we moved here they are constantly using these steps to jump over, roll down and play with cars and trains on; despite the nasty pink shag.. we love them.

and also if you know my Nixon, you know how very loud he can be.. he loves to yell.. whether its just for fun, or to drive mom crazy in the car or especially when he wants something he will let you know!! We call him our little drama queen.. good thing he is so cute because sometimes i swear..

Nixon Yelling, his Favorite thing to do. from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

i LOVE this video of him it so depicts what i hear from him on a daily basis.. and i love that he is just in shirt and socks.. too cute.

we love Halloween.

2010-11-08T11:58:00.000-08:00

my fave pic, too cute.

i thought it was about time to do an update.. and what better than to post about Halloween, one of my favorite holidays.. not only for my kids, but for me and Jer too. We love halloween at our house and this year was our best yet! It was the first time we have ever had a house since we've been married, always lived in a condo. So we've never been able to have trick or treaters or decorate a yard and have a real party since we never had the space.. so it was a fun time this year. The boys all craved pumpkins and again this was a first for our family.. and the boys loved it.. especially Jer, he was VERY picky about getting his pumpkin just right, and it seemed to take forever, but did look pretty sweet in the end.

Jer's finished product.. it looked pretty cool at night

We also had an adult halloween party.. it was alot of work, but soo fun. I loved getting the house all decorated and it was so fun to dress up. Me and Jer were both Vampires and Jer even bought me red contact lenses and made me REAL fangs at his office.. he had alot of fun with that and it really added to the costume. We then had to go into his office at 1:00am that night to drill them off.. oh well it was worth it for Jer anyways. Everyone else's costume were pretty sweet too, i was laughing all night at Karen and her awesome hair piece.. and we played some intense games of Werewolf too.. overall such fun, a must repeat.

you can't even really tell i had in red contacts.. they looked rad up close

Here are my fangs, that pic doesnt do it justice, you can barely tell, but they were awesome!

The crew.. sorry i missed out on Jeff and Raegan and Candice and Brandon, they left earlier.
and could i be laughing any harder??

Elias and Nixon had a lot of fun trick or treating.. this was Nixon's first time and he was the cutest little monkey EVER! I just loved watching him waddle down the street in his monkey costume carrying his little pumpkin bag like such a big boy.. we only made it to about 7 houses before he was done.. all he wanted to do was open the candy he got from each house so it was taking forever with the 2 boys and me.

Elias was a Ninja this year.. he kept on changing his mind but finally we agreed on this costume once he knew he could carry knifes and a sword.. he loved it and was pretty good at keeping his mask on too.
Once we dropped Nixon off with Jer, just the two of us went out on the town.. it was the Perfect night for trick or treating and the perfect halloween.. until next year.

so it begins.. preschool.

2010-09-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well its here.. Elias officially started preschool last week and has been loving it! He goes twice a week for 2.5yrs and those hours are sweet heaven..for both of us. I am not going to lie I wasn't sad at all, more excited for him.. maybe i could see kindergarten being a sad day, since they are gone all day.. but when its just a few hours a week its great! My house is so quiet and i can get a lot more done.. plus he loves the break from us too. And i love how excited he is too see both Me and Nixon when we pick him up.. we both always get big bear hugs and the best smile when we arrive..

lookin so grown up..

it was really neat, walking into Barnwell school with Elias,
reminiscing about all the good memories i had here as a child and hoping the best for him.

part 2, family photos & our new little "buddy"

2010-09-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Okay so after last post, i had a few wondering who the latest addition to our family is, and NO its not a baby, nor I'm i pregnant.. its just "buddy" our little dog. We got him in August from Jeremy's brother, his family moved to the Carribean for medical school and asked if we wanted him.. of course Jer said yes, he has been wanting a dog for as long as i can remember, even though its not a BIG dog like he wants, he'll take buddy for sure. I wasn't too keen on having a dog, but really buddy is so low maintenance its almost like he isn't even here half the time. Buddy is 9 yrs old, he look likes a puppy because he is so small, he is a yorkie terrie, but about half the size of a regular one. He really is the best, so small so you can take him anywhere, he doesn't shed hair- which is HUGE, he rarely barks (only shortly when he gets excited and wants to come with us), fully potty trained and you don't even have to walk him and he is soo good.. he listens and is great with the kids. All in all a great little dog and we have really grown fond of him already, especially the boys. Elias loves to take him for walks and Nixon is always following after, i think it would be hard to go from buddy to a big dog now..

Nixon and buddy enjoying a popsicle outside..

Also in August we got some family photos done, i finally got around to editing them and for the most part they turned out good.. couldn't get my boys to smile or really sit still.. but none the less i was happy.

I am going to put some on my wall and want a big one of the family, any comments would be great on which one you like the best..and bw or color. Oh ya and i keep forgetting cause it been a while for me but i finally went blonde and i really like it. i have been wanting to try it out forever and i am so glad i took the plunge and did it, there is something to be said about being a blonde, its fun and different.

i am thinking this one maybe, bw or color??

or this one??

and these two i love.

Summer come and Gone, part 1

2010-09-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

So summer for us was a little busy, but oh so fun. Especially July.. i was gone so much. It honestly felt like i was living out of a suitcase for a month. And then August and now were into September. It's been so long i dont even know what to write.. finally i have been able to upload some pics.. i have been having major problems with my photos changing color when i upload them onto my blog.. but i think i am good now that i have switched to flickr. cross my fingers.

For the most part our summer was spent at Echo Lake.. mostly at my parents cabin but also a week at the Cooper cabin and we also had Barnwell Days.

In July we spent a good couple weeks at my parents cabin in Montana. Most of my family all made it out, so it was ALOT of fun. Jer had to work so could only make it on the weekends. For the most part we just played, and played in the sun.Tubing, wakeboarding, boating and even Elias did the skiier for the first time, he loved it so much. He was such a show-off trying to turn and waving at everyone on the shore as he went by. He even jumped off in the middle of the lake, just because he wanted to.. i thought he fell, but no he is just our brave little guy. He even would go tubing with all the big kids.. and he loved it!! I also got in my one wakeboard run of the year, ya know just to see if i can still get up and move across the wake..haha. Tubing with all the gang was the best, and we all had sore necks to prove it. So fun and so worth it!
Nixon was a champ in the water, loving the slide and sandboxes, but still clinging to me for the most part. The guys did a lot of fishing as well, well mostly my diehard Dad, Elias caught quite a few fish and was in heaven.
My mom made us all family reunion t shirts that were so cute! And we had a mini Olympics tourney.. with obstacle courses and games.. Overall a great couple weeks.
We also had a ton of fun with the Coopers, Elias can't get enough of playing with his cousins.. i barely saw him all week. He actually gave us quite a scare when he followed after the "big boys" and then got lost and was 7 cabins down the lake.. we were searching everywhere.. i was kinda freaking out a bit.. and thank goodness a man stopped him when he noticed he was all alone and trying to climb his fence to get around to the other side of the lake.. he was so determined that his cousins were over there. Elias hadn't noticed that his cousins had only gone next door and then back again and his cousins hadn't even known Elias had been following him.. anyways to say the least it was a relief when we found him, beyond relief!! anyways here's some of the few bizzilion pics i had from these good times..

my fam, what a bunch a nerds, tubing it up.

Elias caught his 1st fish and he was beyond happy!

Elias went on the skiier for the 1st time and loved it!

Nixon and mommy

burying cousins in the sand, always fun.

Barnwell days was really alot of fun, the parade is small, but you get alot of candy and know everyone in it. My dad has a construction business and his name is Bob so he was "Bob the Builder" in the parade and Elias got to be his little "builder helper". Let's just say he couldnt have been happier dressing up and getting to throw candy to everyone passing by.. we also played in the family softball tourney and lost by 1 point in the finals.. went to the late night movie in the park and enjoyed the dinner and dance, overall great times!

so cute, elias and papa.

love this pic, i happened to catch elias mowing the lawn with his toy mower with Jer.

and lastly my cute monkey enjoying playing outside..

*More to come soon, Waterton, Cornfest days, our new little addition to the family and family photos.

Canada Day and my 1st Road Race!

2010-07-08T21:39:00.000-07:00

So last week of course we headed to Raymond for Canada Day and took in all the festivities. This was the 1st year we actually went to the Rodeo and it was really good, Elias loved it. We also had so much fun at the awesome parade, the boys were loving every minute. It was so fun to get together with everyone and have a big BBQ and let the kids play with all their cousins.

this has got to be my favorite photo of the boys together.. so CUTE! and looks how much they've grown since last year, aww, Nixon's so tiny.

I also did my 1st Race ever! I did the 10km road race with Karen and after 5 weeks of running I felt quite prepared.. it was my 1st one so i wasnt expecting to win by any means, i just didnt want to get last.. when the gun went off and everyone started sprinting away, me and Karen looked at each other and thought maybe we should have done the 5km instead..haha.
It was all good, i just didnt think everyone would be so hard core.. more training i guess. It turned out to be a nice day, despite the lovely, argg wind.. In the end, i was pretty tired, that last km was tough.. but i didn't get last and finished in 1:07:28. Not bad i guess for my 1st race.. overall it felt so awesome to have done it for someone that has never run.. i admire soooo much all those determined, ambitious runners out there (cough, laura). I really want to keep this up, i plan on doing the Taber race in August, but my plan all along was to just get my butt out of the door and get healthier and knowing that i have a race to run gets me going.

Overall great weekend, and now we are off to my parents cabin for 2 weeks.. yayaya!! Jer will just be coming on the weekends, but it should be awesome to see all my family together again -later :)

Graduation

2010-07-05T19:40:00.001-07:00

Better late than never is my blogging philosophy these days.

i love that Elias got to pop in with Jer for one..great picture for Elias to have.

And so here is Jeremy's graduation. A much needed post to blog about, since in fact this was a BIG day we have been waiting for 7 years to have.

Just before he recieved his certificate he spotted me far in the back and gave me one of his big grins, and honestly i have never been so PROUD and so HAPPY for HIM. It was a long day, but an eventful one.

It was fun to get all dressed up and go to the banquet to celebrate.. Jeremy was in charge of the slideshow of all the graduates.. and well he did an awesome job, what else could i expect. It was a fun night and a nice weekend..

classic grad pic on the park bench

Now that Jeremy has been working for 2 weeks and loving it, seriously he comes home everyday and says "man i love my job". I am sure it will become a "job" like anyother after awhile but for now it's fun to see him so happy and excited about working, and I can't wait for that first paycheck..haha

Awesome Father's Day gift Ideas, homemade and more

2010-06-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

So Father's Day is just around the corner, Sunday to be exact and i have been searching for a fun idea to make for Jer for father's day, something Elias could help out with too.

Thought i would share some of my finds, they all look super cute. Enjoy!

Here at simplekids they have some fun ideas.. i Love the D is for Dad card and making a whole fun day for father's day. I also love the photo shoot idea, dressing up like dad, so cute!

I also like the photo booth idea of going to the mall and getting some fun candids with the kids or having a family campout in the backyard.

Look-a-like photos of Dad, how cute would it be to dress up the kids someday like little dentists..haha

Here is a link to buy this card, but i thought how easy and cute it would be to just make it, check it out here

Here are some adorable ideas from living locurto, i love the "hero" package for dad of some of his fave treats. I also love the super cute "World's greatest Dad"labels from martha stewart, check out much much more ideas and all free printables here.

I want to do this "Super Dad, Hero" Package.

cute cupcake topppers

And for those that may just want to buy something for your husband or dad, here our some cool gift ideas from there 2010 Father's Day Gift Guide, lots of ideas from coolmompicks.

And these adorable frames for dad from homeworks.

Oh and lastly i bought this keychain for Jeremy from the boys, there $$ for a keychain, but something different. It's from the vintage pearl and has the boys names going around the sides and "i love you" printed in the between their names,

shhh don't tell him(hopefully he won't look on here before the big day)I think its super cute, hope he likes it. I know its too late to order this for Father's Day coming up, but i thought i would share anyways or future father's day ideas.

So go on ladies be creative and make something awesome for your husbands or dad, or get buying something fabulous. Either way they will think you rock even more when they see what you've done for them. Hope these ideas help!

Oh Sweet Arizona..

2010-06-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well we went to Mesa, Arizona like 3 weeks ago and lets just say its was awesome! We went with our good friends, Jubbers, Jahns and Bakers. I guess it was kind of our celebration for Finally graduating from Dental school.. and yes i mean all of us.. don't get me wrong our husbands did the studying and dental work.. but we put in alot of work too. After being in school together for 7 years, (our whole marriage), it was time for some fun and fun we had. Justin's parents graciously let us stay in their amazing place.. and we enjoyed every minute.
The backyard was awesome.. wicked pool and patio, playground, trampoline and on and on. The house was amazing inside and yes i am retarted and didnt get any pictures inside.. everything was so beautiful, like the master bedroom and the hallways with rock everywhere.. amazing.
Also in between all the pool time with the kids, us ladies got to enjoy some awesome shopping, i mean i have never seen so much shopping.. it was crazy, but oh so fun. The guys also got to enjoy some much needed golf, they all said they were amazing, unlike any other courses they have ever played on.

the ladies..

my brave little guy.. loved this all day long.

okay how cute are they all in the tub after a long day in the sun..

On Sunday we were able to go to the newly dedicated Mesa, Arizona Temple. It was so beautiful, the grounds were awesome.. but we didnt stay too long because of the deathly hot day, i swear 5 minutes longer and we all would have had sun stroke..

Elias and Lainey holding hands leaving the temple grounds.. so cute!

Off to the World Zoo and Aquarium.. this was alot of fun for the kids and really great for us too. So much to see, the aquarium was my favorite. I even touched a gross sting ray, Elias was loving them. Nixon was yelling as loud as could be at everything because he was so excited.. all in all great day.

all the kidlets lined up

love this, so typical of nixon yelling

log ride-Elias loved it and surprisingly it was fun

Adults only-time to Party

the guys boozing it up in the hot tub with orange creme pop

And lastly my 3 favorite photos of the kids enjoying their icecream.. SO CUTE!

Greta's face = priceless

All in all so much fun, good times, good friends and hopefully another trip down the road.

Getting Settled

2010-05-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

**This was from last week**
So we've been moved in now for a few weeks and its starting to feel right at home here in Barnwell.
Actually its been so great. I love having my family soo close and good friends as well. It's also been awesome having Jeremy around, i get to sleep in here and there and he helps out with the kids alot.. it's going to be hard getting used to not having him around as much once he starts work.
Elias is loving having so much more space, a big yard and he gets to ride his bike all the time down the drive way. Nixon has been teething this month and lets just say its been bad. The 1st week we moved in he was soo sick, the highest fevers ever, diaherra, throwing up-the works. He loved this bean bag chair -all. snuggled up with his soother and blanky.. He's also so needy.. and he scowls at everyone, that is his new thing. He used to not be able to contain himself from smiling at everyone, but now he just scowls and when he wants something he kinda grunts/yells soooo loud. everyone laughs, but its getting so annoying. I think with teething, all the new faces and new changes lately he having a hard time.. so hopefully we get our Nixon back sometime soon.
Since we've been here we've gone bowling with my family for my mom's birthday and also just got back from visiting the Cabin last weekend, always so nice to go there.

this is soo the scowl he gives all the time now.

sooo sick..poor little dude.

my mom might kill me for posting this one while she's talking, but its the only shot i got with the grandkids and its cute.

Happy Birthday, love you!

Saige and Nixon, and Yikes no more soother after tonight!

Also we just got home from an AWESOME week in Arizona with our friends the Jubbers, the Jahns and the Bakers. Our husbands all graduate this June for Dental school and so this was our big hooray for Finally being done!

It was so much fun, Lots of pics to come!

Photoshoot

2010-05-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Meant to post this before we left Saskatoon.. anyways Here's a photoshoot of the boys, Elias 3.5yrs. and Nixon 1yrs. These are from a few months ago, but with things being a bit crazy lately they got put on the backburner..
My sweet beautiful boys.

i love this one, typical Elias face.

classic 3 yr old smile..

man your cute.

So Long, Farewell..

2010-04-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

So its come to that, my last post officially living in Saskatoon. As of today we have 2 days left until we pack up for good. My parents are coming from Alberta with a big covered trailer on Friday and then after that we will be gone from Saskatoon and on to Barnwell. Yup, soon we'll be calling Barnwell our home. Jeremy will be working in Taber and Lethbridge at 2 practises owned by the same dentist. So its a good in between place, plus it's my hometown and well as much as we both weren't set on living there, we know its where were supposed to be and we are really thrilled now!! It will be so fun to have my mom and dad just around the corner and also 2 of my brothers live there too. Elias will have his cousin Joel to play with all the time and i will have a sweet babysitter whenever i need her, my neice Saige who will be 12 soon!

Amid all the boxes, and cleaning we've been able to enjoy a little of having Jeremy FINALLY DONE school forever!! We went out to celebrate on the weekend with friends at "John's Steakhouse" and seriously had the best steak of my life. We also went out for our last walk by the river yesterday.. we will

miss those walks.

Night out on the town to celebrate both being done school and Dyck's b-day.

Too bad Amy had to leave early.

our last stroll by the river.

As much as i am excited to move onto this next phase in our lives.. I will be sad to go, more sad i think when i am settled and looking back. I will miss so many of you that have been such good friends.. hopefully most of you i will see often enough. And i will miss this city a lot and this home, even if its a 753 sq foot, 2 brd condo with 3 flights of stairs and a balcony we call our "yard"haha. Its the home we have so many memories in, the home we brought both our babies from the hospital too, the home of birthdays shared and the home that we had "ups and downs" going through school in. I am grateful to this home, but i am also VERY grateful to be moving on and UP from this.

this garage literally saved us, storage wise and from the freezing COLD!

So Farewell Saskatoon, you have been good to us!! I better get back to packing...

Nixon loves the boxes and sat on this one for a good 20min without moving.. it was pretty funny. We would leave the room and come back and he would just be sitting so cute doing nothing.

how cute is that.

2010-04-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

One thing i know i will miss is Nixon sitting like this.

Seriously my favorite thing ever.

Whether he's playing with toys, enjoying a snack, watching baby einstein or just chilling.

I don't remember Elias kneeling like this very much, at least not all the time..

just one more of those sweet little baby things i will be holding onto very tightly.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter weekend with the kids. Went to the petting zoo and saw the "spring" baby animals, Elias had alot of fun petting and holding them. Then Sunday morning we woke up to see that the Easter bunny had stopped by. It was fun this year hiding the eggs and watching Elias run around finding them all. I made a little trail of mini eggs from his bed out into the living room, boy was he excited waking up to that...everytime he picked one up he got more and more excited.
We also got to enjoy watching General Conference. I so look forward to listening to the Prophets speak and as hard as it sometimes was to catch it all, in between kids, it was really great. It talked a lot especially in the last session about families, mothers and teaching our children about Jesus and his example. I am sooo grateful for my Savior and for the knowledge I have of this gospel. I am so grateful for eternal families and that because of his sacrifice for us we can all be together forever. What an amazing blessing.
And to finish off Easter weekend I took the kids to an easter egg hunt. There was ALOT of treats and the kids had soo much fun, playing on the playground, rolling down the big hill and playing with friends.
Overall a fun and spiritually uplifting Easter.

Okay, Elias looks like he's 8yr.

checking out the loot.

getting ready for the egg hunt

Nixon was in heaven! lovin the park.

getting all that energy out.

all you need is love.

2010-04-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

So it's been seven.

Seven years together.

All i can say is its been pretty wonderful. Lots of ups and downs, lots of happiness and some tears..but mostly just down right awesome. I've always told Jeremy we can get through anything after 3rd year dental school and a new baby, haha and lets hope thats the least of our worries, doubt it though.

I've never been very good at writing beautifully or writing how i feel. So i am going to leave it to this quote, one of my favorites from our wedding album.

"I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, love is feeling so comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you."

Love you baby, Happy 7th!

Rachelle

It's official, now i'm really in trouble

2010-04-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

its Nixon, and he's walking now. He took his 1st steps almost 2 weeks ago but had no interest in walking.. until yesterday and now he's doing it all by himself with out any coaxing. I was into enough trouble as it was with him crawling and getting into everything.. but now he's got a lot more height to reach and grab things now.. and now that the weather is warming up, he will be into exploring everything outside.

yes, can't wait.

Nixon walking from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

Best friends and kids crack me up!

2010-03-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

So this Winter we put Elias in Skating Lessons. He was pretty excited to be on his way to learning to skate, so that then he could play hockey. Elias really loved it and was probably one of the few in his class who had not had not been in skating before. so it was taking him a bit longer to get going.. he was actually getting a lot better and loving it..until we went home for 3 weeks and then came back for the last class, which was superhero day. Anyways by that point he had forgotten a lot and wasn't too interested anymore. Oh well, we got some cute pictures. And he got to have fun once a week skating with his buddy Jost.

best buddies

so cute, Owen joined in on the fun

Speaking of Jost.
okay so just the other day Jost and Owen were over playing and while they were here we played the game "Bingo". The boys would each take a card out of the bag and read what was on it and see if if matched up with their cards.. anyways Jost pulled out a Cat.. and i said "what do you got"? and Jost said a "Titty". I said what?? and he said a "Titty" (meaning Kitty). Once i realized what he meant i said "oh ya", laughing to myself. Then Elias piped up, "what's a Titty"? I said "he means Kitty". Then Elias says "No, that is a Cat Jost, not a Titty". Then they proceeded to argue back and forth, Jost saying, "No its a "Titty" and Elias saying "No, its a Cat".. i was laughing so hard. It was so darn cute.. that i didnt want to stop them from arguing because hearing Jost say "Titty" was about the funniest and cutest thing i have heard in a long time.

Besides the occasional arguing over toys and stuff, Elias has really grown to love his little friend Jost. I love how excited they get when they see each other and how they both can't run fast enough to give each other the biggest bear hugs. There's nothing like having a little buddy to yell with as loud as possible and to wrestle with as hard as they can. Boys will be boys and these two are defiently boys. I will miss that and we will be very very sad to say goodbye.

Another one of his best little friends is Greta. These two have literally grown up playing together at least a few times a week since they were babies. Here are some pictures from a little trip to the Zoo. Which just might be our last, since we are moving soon and ever since Winter decided to bring its ugly face back..

i love this pic of them

the cutest rubber boots

Ozzie and Nixon

nothing better than puddles

Also just yesterday i asked Elias if he wanted to see Kwynne and Molly for lunch and he said "No, Greta. Greta is better," Molly doesn't play."
Sorry Molly guess your not quite big enough yet to compete with Greta. He sure loves Greta and it will be fun that we will live close so they can still play together.

sooo Nixon

2010-03-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

this picture in so many ways is perfect of Nixon these days. Mostly his cute little smirk.
Those piercing blue eyes. And that he is moving up and down grooving to the music. You cant really tell but that was what he was doing when i snapped this picture. He loves dancing just like his momma and brother.

this picture just melts my heart.. love you little buddy.

This video cracks me up a bit, i love his little head banging going on.

Nixon's Dance Moves from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.
">Nixon's Dance Moves from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

twenty-eight and counting..

2010-03-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

So i'm 28, yup it was my birthday on St.Patricks Day (thats why my 1st name is Patricia).

And i just wanted to say it was wonderful. Seriously one of the best birthdays i've had, Thanks to my dear sweet husband.
Let's just say after arriving home late Tuesday night after co-doing the food for our enrichment night.. i was tired.. really tired and the last thing i was expecting was this:

could those cupcakes have anymore icing..haha

Yes Jer had took the kids with him and rounded up some beautiful flowers, sparkling juice (my fave), yummy goodies, and a balloon that Elias eagerly picked out, plus made a sweet little card to boot. All i can say is I LOVED IT! seriously i jumped up and down so excited.. i LOVE surprises and this was the most surprised ever, especially since it wasn't my birthday until the next day. Jer thought it was so funny how happy i was over something like this. But to me it meant everything. i love gifts like this.
Then we drank and ate the goodies while watching our fave show 24, all in all just great.

But thats not all.. i woke up after getting to sleep in until 7:45.. oh how nice is that extra 45 min. That in itself is a great birthday morning. But to top off the day Jeremy had made German Pancakes and everything and i mean everything was green. Yes green. because of course it was St. Patricks Day. The pancakes, the apple juice, the syrup and even the butter was all green, not to mention the dishes.. i couldnt figure it out at first wondering why there was green icing on the table.. then i realized it was green butter and i started laughing my head off, it was sooo funny!! He really out did himself this year, isnt that hilarious and so thoughtful.

I know he is so awesome, really i couldnt have asked for more. thanks babe for making me feel so special on my birthday. It was the best day ever!!

Oh and to top it off we had a girls night out last night for my birthday. It was so fun to get out, we went to Chili's had some good appetizers and dessert and a whole lotta laughs.
Thanks guys!

why i'm i the only one caught in the headlights here??

Nixon turns 1 and more.

2010-03-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

So we've been out of commission for awhile. Got back last week from Alberta for 3 weeks. Finally got a new van, 2009 Chevy Uplander, drives so nice, lots of features and i really like it a lot. Our van is white.

So while we were home visiting Nixon had his 1st birthday on Thursday March 4th. We had a little family party, nothing special. Hotdogs, cupcakes, DQ icecream cake and a few presents.

pretty excited about his candle and cupcake.

my mom and brother decided Nixon wasn't messy enough so they helped him out.

playing with his new toy with Uncle Scott

I still can't believe Nixon is 1 already. I know we all say that, but with Elias I wanted him to be older. I was eager for all his firsts. But with Nixon i am holding on so tight to him staying little longer. I don't want to give up his soother and i am way more of a softy with him. Nixon actually took his 1st Steps on Saturday! It was so stinkin cute, but at the same time i wasn't nearly as excited because he just looked so much older doing it.

Here's Nixon at 1 year old:

- taking 1st steps
- LOVES the stairs, whines for me to put him down so he can crawl them whenever we go out.

-says "mum" and "go".

- is into everything, dishwasher, drawers, toilet paper and mostly the Garbage..drives me crazy!!

- favorite toys: balls, walker/car toy, blocks and cars.

-is so in love with his soother, weaning it will be hard.

- weighs 22 pounds and his height is off the charts.

- size 12-18mths clothes. pretty average.
- is a very good sleeper
-has 7 teeth, 4 up and 3 on bottom.
-favorite foods: grapes, strawberries, yogurt, corn, spaghetti and P&J sandwiches. Hates potatoes.

- graduated to front sitting car seat and lovin it-especially nice for me!

Here a few more pics from our little visit. Lots of going on walks, soaking in the hot tub and playing with cousins.

Hot tubbing with Nana and Papa, could my parents be any more tanned??

The boys loved playing on Nana's piano while we were visiting.

a bummer, but-Exciting News!

2010-02-25T19:44:00.000-08:00

So as of right now i am still in Alberta. I came home to visit so Jeremy could study during reading break and then Jer went to do volunteer dental work at an Indian Reserve about 7 hours north of saskatoon for 2 weeks and i didn't want to be alone with the kids for 3 weeks. I don't get to talk to him too much since they don't really have a phone, but he is loving it up there. He says him and Dyck have sweet cabins, their own bathrooms and satelittle tv, but no phones. He gets to study hard without feeling guilty of not being home. He's loving the work and getting lots of experience. I miss him tons.
And ya the reason i am still here in Alberta is, ( i was supposed to be coming back to saskatoon today) but of course our Van had to break down on Sunday and after getting it looked at it would cost at least $2300.00 bucks to fix (i guess antifreeze got in the engine and other problems) and its only worth probably $2000.00. Even my brother in law Sheldon who is a mechanic, said its not worth it.. so now i am stuck without a vehicle. ARRGGG... just wish it could have lasted another 2 month until we were done. So annoying. So now i can't really leave until i get a vehicle, so this coming Wednesday i am going to the car auction in Calgary with Sheldon who is also a car dealer. We are hoping we can find something good, we will be able to check this weekend on what will be going through the auction and then hopefully i will have a vehicle. We've always bought through him and its been great.. But who knows, maybe i can borrow one of my parents vehicles when they get back from their trip. I am hoping to be home next Sunday.. still another week and a half to go i guess. At least Jer is gone working so i don't have anything to rush home to.

Oh and speaking of home and on a happier note. It's Official, WE SOLD OUR CONDO!!! yayaya!! So sweet eh? WE sold it the first day it was on the market.. so no more cleaning, organizing, showing the place.. aahhh such a HUGE relief. And we made sweet bank on it too! Oh and possesion date is April 27th..yikes soooo soon!!
Also to note we are pretty sure Jeremy has a job!!!! and we know where we are going, better not say any specifics yet officially, we haven't signed a written contract quite yet, but its pretty final. I am really excited to be going back to Southern Alberta, to be near family and close friends.

REALLY really sad though to be leaving already, i say already like we just got to Saskatoon even though it will be almost 6 years when were done in April. I am sooo going to miss all the dear friends i have here, all the mommy playdates, BBQ's, games nights and ladies night outs...boo ):

Life this month has been huge for us.. and hopefully we will be home sometime soon!

i'm hopeful, The best is yet to be.

2010-02-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

Well its been a bit busy with us these past few weeks..
Between heading back to Alberta twice in the last 2 weeks for job interviews (who knows if we'll ever get a job yet..arrgg.) and getting our place ready to sell its been busy. Plus poor Jeremy is pretty sick this week, probably the sickest i have ever seen him in our almost 7year marriage, so not much help and not the happiest camper either.
I have been busy trying to get this place in order as we are showing our condo this week and putting it on the market. I have been painting, organizing, cleaning, fixing things, you name it.. I swear the next place we have I KNOW i will be more organized.. it's so so much nicer.
I love being organized and living in this small, cramped place has been killing me over the years, because there is no room for anything!!!!
My closets are all cleaned and everything is in its place.. we have moved out ALOT of stuff either by taking it back to Alberta or into the garage and i Love having only what we need in the house. These past few days just seeing the rooms cleaner and less stuff makes me happy inside. As much as I am not 100% ready for this next big step in our lives (selling, finding a job, moving ect.) i am ready for more room.
And on the note of this next "big" step in our lives.. i wanted to say if you haven't read the article "The best is yet to be" by Jeffery R. Holland in the January ensign you must read it!! I think it is one of the best articles i have ever read. There is so many great quotes but here are a few that are applying to me in my life right now, "Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come” and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives".
Life in general right now is kinda on pause, it seems there are a lot of changes that are happening or are going to be happening very soon. It seems like there will be a whole new life opening up to us and i am not sure if i am ready yet. I have grown so accustomed to this life, don't get me wrong though i am ready for Jeremy to be done and to somewhat move on with our lives, but at the same time its a little scary.
I've been quite stressed out lately and I kinda wear it out there, life can be very discouraging sometimes and its hard to stay positive. And as much as i really don't understand why things happen the way they do and despite everything thats been going on in our lives i know that i need to believe that the Lord is really looking out for us and he will never lead us astray if we are doing what is right. I need to have more Faith that he knows what is best for us and never doubt the Lord's ability to give us something better than we already have.

I am hopeful that the best is yet to be. yes, hopeful

Besides all that here are a few photos of what we've been up to lately as well an an awesome cookie recipe to boot.

Craft day

This is Elias' marble track that he got from daddy for his birthday, it is pretty sweet and Elias could play with this all night!

Just a sweet one of my almost 1 year old baby boy.

and another typical day of Nixon in the laundry, and book shelfs and really enjoying it, i can't keep up with this kid!

And last but not least these cookies: Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from mykitchencafe.

They are seriously soo yummy, especially for having all whole wheat flour and oatmeal in them. This is my go to recipe now.. I also add ground flaxseed and you can't even tell. Yummo, i want some right now!!!

a little known fact.. about me

2010-01-29T08:40:00.000-08:00

okay so its a fact.. i am defiently known for putting my foot in my mouth, talking too much and often too loud and saying stuff before i really think about it.. thats me for sure. Growing up i was always one those girls in school who got in trouble for talking too much.. surprising right, not (me and kwynne often together) and my family still to this day bug me about how loud i talk and laugh..sorry its a "Hansen" thing, its not my fault.

So a while back, my friend Karen and I were discussing how we both do this same thing and we recalled many times between the two of us, (Karen's -Are you pregnant?? story is a pretty good one too, haha)...but nothing stands out more than the "New Moon" movie night with all the ladies.. well those of you that were there..you know how verbal i was, I mean who is this girl, does she get out of the house much??
especially when it was like "silence of the lambs" in the theatre and i was talking about how sweet Jacob's abs were.. oh man seriously Rachelle, your married get a life.. i was such an idiot. Don't worry i dont offend my husband usually, sorry babe, well he's kinda used to it by now, he knows i am pretty innocent and don't always mean what i say.
Back to "New Moon", I remember Jeremy coming home from school the next day saying "Hey Jacob has some sweet abs eh?" Literally I almost died of embarrassment.. like seriously i must have really embarrassed myself if my friends husbands were talking about it?? I mean come on Rachelle, get some control. I think my problem is i really don't fully think about what i am going to say, i just blurt it out, and then step back and play it in my head after, hours later.. and realize okay you sounded like such a moron.

I cannot even recall all the parties, baby showers and games nights (oh those are the worst), where i have come home after and been like why did i say that?? Or why did i have to talk so much about that-Holy way too much information?? Did i like totally offend someone?

Seriously i'm i the only one that does that??

People always say how funny or hilarious i am, but really i think its more them just laughing at me for the weird things i say that they might want to say but dont! And people that don't know me very well, might think i'm a little strange at times, but know that its just Rachelle.
I defiently know how to have a good time and having a good time always means socializing a lot, and that usually gets me putting my foot in my mouth.. so there you have it.

a little known fact about me. (like you didnt already all know that, right?)

Hopefully you all know that i always mean well- REALLY mean well and sometimes i get having a little too much fun and then my mouth takes over and i'm in trouble.. or so i realize..later.

I was again reminded of this incident the other night -by yes, putting my foot in my mouth..and i'll just leave it at that :)

why i miss Nursery

2010-01-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

I meant to upload this video FOREVER ago.. and while i was trying to organize some videos last night i stumbled upon it. This was from back in November just before he turned 3 and already Elias looks alot younger.
Elias loved Nursery and these were his few favorite songs that he learned. (thanks krystyn)
I love how he talks about Sister Kratz too, she is a senior in our ward and was one of Elias' Nursery leaders, i guess he was reminded of her when he was singing these primary songs.. so so cute!

so just a few little reasons why i miss nursery: much younger, more innocent and even his voice sounds sweeter.. love you little buddy.

Elias singing Primary songs from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

night time rituals

2010-01-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

Baths, storytime.. its the usual routine. My kids love baths, its defiently a nightly occurence around here before bed. And of course i couldn't help but take some pictures of Nixon standing by the tub with his cute little bum.. like seriously the cutest naked little boy ever!

The boys love being in the tub together and Elias is constantly picking on Nixon, poor little guy.. always getting soaked to death by his big brother. And Nixon just takes it, he's going to be one tough cookie since having Elias for a big brother. Also Nixon won't sit still, always standing up and trying to move about, especially in the tub, at least a few times he's almost slipped right out of the tub, good thing i was right there, about gave me a heart attack.

And furthermore Elias can't go to bed without his much needed story time, I've really been trying to have Jeremy read stories to Elias most nights when he can. He doesn't get to spend much time with the boys and Elias loves it when Daddy can read to him, especially if its Curious George.

nothing special, just a typical night for us.

Oh Frosty the Snowman..

2010-01-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

I was reminded of this video i wanted to share from Christmas, its of Elias singing "Frosty the Snowman" at the Cooper Family "mini" talent show on Christmas Eve. I was pleasantly surprised that Elias knew mostly the whole song, while we were at Coopers he started singing this and so Grandma Cooper asked if he would sing it at the party.. i had to help him a little throughout cuz he was a little shy with everyone watching but man is he so cute, i love his pronunciation of some of the words and his shy little smirk through out the song. This is by far his most favorite home video and asks to watch it all the time.

Elias singing Frosty the Snowman from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

sweet things..

2010-01-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

Elias is now a Sunbeam and in Primary. I couldn't have been more nervous about him having to go to Primary and having to sit still for soo long.. as anyone knows Elias is a very active little boy but he is actually doing really well. The first Sunday was a little hard, but he did excellent today, i got to peak in and see him sitting nicely in between all the girls singing songs. It was so so cute, i was a proud momma!

my boys just chilling

side note:

as loud and active as Elias is, he really is such a sweetheart and says some of the kindest things.. daily he tells me out of the blue "momma, you are beautiful" and is quite a protector of Nixon these days.
Over the Holidays, one night my parents watched the kids for us and so they put Elias in their bed and Nixon was in our room in the playpen.. Later my Dad went to go check on the kids and couldn't find Elias anywhere.. finally he looks in our room where Nixon was sleeping and Elias had gone into our bed.. My Dad said " How come your in here?" and Elias sweetly said " Papa, Nixon needed me".
aww.. that right little buddy, he does. just wanted to write that down for memory sake.

Christmas and a whole New Year has begun..

2010-01-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

It was really nice to get away for close to 3 weeks, lots of family, lots of fun times and lots of moving to and from.. but all worth it, mostly. Christmas is always kind of chaotic for us, so much to do and lots of family that live close together. Mine and Jer's parents live 40 minutes apart and we must have went back and forth at least 4 times not including my parents cabin as well.. depsite all the packing up and hauling, it was really nice to always be somewhere different, change of space and Elias was sure NEVER bored, always having different cousins and toys to play with.
Overall it was good times, my whole family was able to make it home for Christmas.. that was especially nice for me.. hanging out with my sister and brother's family that we don't see much. Jer's family was all around too, they all live so close together and it was especially fun on Christmas Eve.. we played games and the kids did the nativity.. Elias loved being a wise men.We also got to go to Montana to the cabin, man it is so beautiful in the winter, all the trees, mountains and snow.. awesome! The kids had some pretty fun times, sledding, quading and skating. Elias tried out his new skates for the first time (wish i had a pic), Jer said he looked pretty cute. I can't wait for him to start skating next week.. i know he will love it!
Here are some pics from the Cabin and Christmas morning.. (i wish i could figure out how to get the quality better with these mosiac collage)

As for Holidays its always especially nice to come Home after being gone so long, and just get back to a routine.. i love having routines, i like being spontaceous but i love having a schedule more. The kids are sleeping so much better now, and me for that matter. And well its nice to be home.
So glad we went.. and yikes only 3.5 more months until Jeremy is done school for good.. isn't that crazy. I mean seriously its making me nervous, really nervous so much to do and still unsure of our plans for the future..

And as for the New year.. I've never been much of a New Years Resolutions person, but decided i am really going to try to accomplish some of these goals, i know there's lots.

Health: get exercising, at least 2 times per week..i know kinda lame, but its something.
and get taking those vitamins everyday
Spiritual: Doing prayers and scriptures together every night (trying to improve from last year, so far so good)
Attend the temple MORE.. that should be a bit easier once we move back to Alberta.
Read most of the Ensign every month, (inspired from my mother-in-law who has read the Ensign cover to cover for 17 years, impressive..i know!!!)
Family: Date night once a month with Jer (hopefully). Special outing with Elias and Daddy once a month. Less TV and more uninterrupted and creative playtime with Elias and Nixon.
Personal: Get photos and videos organized, Be consistent in writing in my online journal, Learn to sew, Read more books, and finally get my Blog photo book done.

I figure if i write them down like this, just maybe i might accomplish some of them.

Also for the New Year, i am using this similar family routine.. twicked to my own liking of course.. I love all the ideas of activities and i just love having everything written down, like the simple things- getting actually dressed in the morning, tidying up the kids rooms before bed and so on...
seriously i have ours printed out and I refer to it all the time.. I have deleted some things and added tons and for some reason it has made life so much nicer..
life just seems simpler. and better.

Our Christmas Card and Letter

2009-12-12T17:41:00.000-08:00

So we are off to Alberta for christmas!!! yea i am so excited to be going home, can't wait to see all our family and spend lots of time doing, well nothing really.. but ain't that the best. I'm not officially leaving until Monday morning. Jeremy isn't done finals until Friday, so we are going early to give him some much needed study time. Here is the christmas card and letter that we sent out this year, well actually its our first christmas card ever and it turned out darn pretty cute so i think, it took some much needed tweaking in photoshop to get it to where i liked it..don't feel bad if you didn't receive one, its hard tracking down everyone's addresses and sending them in the mail, mostly just family and some close friends got them. But for everyone else, we hope you have the best christmas ever, and an awesome christmas holidays!! Luv, The Coopers

Open W i d e!

2009-12-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

Elias went to the Dentist for the 1st time last week, and guess who he got to see? Thats right, Daddy-soon to be "Dr".Cooper. He was pretty excited to go see dad, but since 2 students didnt show up to school and Jeremy had to work on their patients we ended up waiting an hour. By that time the excitement was over and it took some bribing to get Elias to even let Jer put anything near his mouth.. at first i had to get in the chair and have Elias sit on my lap, but eventually he did well and actually was happy in the end. It was also nice to see Jeremy in action, i have been wanting to get some pics of him for along time at the school, so it was fun to watch him working on patients and seeing what he does all day long while he's away from us.

Elias laughs his head off whenever he see this picture on the bottom right..he thinks he looks soo funny.

9 months..already

2009-12-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

LOVE this photo, love..

Nixon's 9 mths. officially was on the 4th.

and what's he up to at 9mths, well quite a bit.

-he is crawling everywhere.. well more like dragging himself, its faster. He especially likes the kitchen, under the christmas tree and of course the book shelfs. I am soooo in trouble.

- His top two teeth are coming in (that will be 4 in total).. so he hasnt been the happiest thing these days, well who am i kidding still pretty happy. The nights have been a little rough for the past few days though, not much sleep here.

-He is pulling himself up, started this week.

-He now officially sits up in the shopping cart, well kind of (some leaning going on and the belt really tight), but i love not having to take his car seat with me, it takes up the whole darn cart...

-He loves his big brother and loves even more-destroying anything Elias is playing with... haha, Elias gets pretty mad sometimes its funny.

-This month checkup he was 94% for height, 67% for weight and 70% for head.

he LOVES getting into the books ever chance he can

okay so the best pic ever, haha love his face!

i love this kid soo much, his smile just lights you up

i am so very blessed.

buddies

2009-12-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

all ready for church and looking so stinkin cute to boot!

man i love these boys. they are becoming such good brothers, laughing and playing together, i hope they will continue to be the best of buddies.

gymnastics

2009-12-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

so last week Elias finshed up his gymnastics class, officially called Tumbleweeds at the U of S. He was joined by his two little friends, Ben and Lainey as well.

i can't even begin to tell you how much he loved this class... to be able to run around, dance, jump on everything, swing and be silly. how much more can a boy want?

the rings were by far his favorite

lainey and elias racing

Chicken milk???

2009-11-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

or should i say egg nog. That is what Elias calls it, yes.. "chicken milk" thanks to his dad.

This was the first year elias has had egg nog or"chicken milk".

It all started because if you look on the back of the egg nog carton it says lait de poule, which of course means egg nog in french but it really seems like milk de chicken or chicken milk, (though chicken in french is actually poulet). Anyways..so that is what Jeremy told Elias its called and that is the only thing he will call it-the only thing. Even when i say egg nog he will correct me and say no mom its "chicken milk".

At first it sounded so disgusting and well still does, but now i am used to it these days. I never thought our christmas traditions would include the words "chicken milk" but now they do.
This week we put up the tree.. it was so fun to see how excited Elias was.. he was jumping up and down trying to help me with the lights. All night long, he kept saying, "That is the most beautiful tree i have ever seen", it was really cute! We watched "The Polar Express" while decorating. It was Elias' first time watching it and yes we had "chicken milk" too. It was such a fun Family Home Evening and a great night to start off with Christmas. I can't wait for christmas this year, can't wait to see our families, can't wait to see all the decorations at my mom's, can't wait to go to christmas parties and to go to the cabin.. but especially for Elias he is really into Christmas now, he knows who Santa is and baby jesus and is so excited about presents.. it will be fun to see him on christmas morning.

Elias 3yrs, Nixon 9mths

My man's 29!

2009-11-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

i know disgusting moustache.. read on.

happy birthday Babe.

It was Jeremy's birthday yesterday, he is the big 29! Wow so close to 30 that seems weird. To celebrate we were going to have a night on the town, just the two of us.. (finally) but Nixon wasn't feeling well and so the weekend was shot. Instead we just went out to Earls on Tuesday (with the kids) and had some delicious food, the gingerbread cake was awesome. The kids actually were really good and we had a nice time.

the best dessert ever, gingerbread cake with fried apples and icrecream.. but actually it looks like meatloaf, fries & mashed potatoes here ..haha

Overall i just want Jeremy to know how much we love him and how much we miss him everyday when he is gone.. Elias all day long is saying "i really miss Daddy" and i know exactly how he feels. School is already coming to a close so fast and then we will hopefully have alot more time with Jer once he is done.
Babe, we are so proud of you, u are the best husband and father we could ask for. You work so hard for us and treat us soo good.
Happy Birthday, we love you!

p.s oh and ya i know your thinking whats with the moustache.. well its for cancer i guess.. called Movember (moustaches for the month of November) all his buddies have them and they are pretty nasty, jeremy's is probably one of most half decent out of the guys because its so light.. oh i cant wait tell december so its gone.

Party time!!

2009-11-20T21:29:00.000-08:00

OKay so this year for Elias' 3rd birthday i decided i really wanted a PARTY!! Our place is soooo small and barely has enough room for friends over let alone lots of 2 and 3 year olds running around filled with sugar. So i ended up renting a preschool room at our civic centre for sooo cheap, i mean i spent more on the stinkin balloons..

It had plenty of space and indoor play stuff for the kids, endless entertainment.

Since this is our last year here, and most likely Elias wont see many of his little friends again, i really wanted to invite as many of them as i could.. well not knowing there was a limit of how many people i could have and forgetting that all his little friends have at least a sibling that would be coming as well.. i kind invited ALOT of people and in the end was ssooo stressed about leaving certain people out as well.. so if you weren't at this party know that i was feeling really bad that i couldn't invite everyone.. in the end it was alot of fun and i felt good about having the friends that Elias plays with and knows the most there to celebrate.

Overall i think the kids had a blast playing and Elias has never had so many gifts.. the pinata' was a big hit with the kids as well (thats what elias talked most about after).

*Check out this video: Elias gets whacked in the head by the pinata and at the very end Elias knocks Owen right in the face, its pretty funny, but poor little dude. sorry there's a lot going on and its hard to see.. so watch close. i so wish i could make this video bigger because owen's face is priceless ..

Elias turns 3!

2009-11-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

Well its here, i mean Elias' 3rd birthday.. i cant believe how fast its come.

I remember thinking when he was born, that when he was 3.5yrs we would be done dental school and now its almost here.

I remember thinking that i was going to try to not forget how small he was and not forget how he did and said certain things, and that he would always be my baby. Because i remember people always telling me, they grow so fast, take it all in.. but i never thought he would really go that fast.

I tried to take it all in and i tried to hold onto him being so small.. but its hard too when your little baby was never that little to begin with. One of my favorite children's books is "Let Me Hold You Longer" by Karen Kingsbury. It talks all about the "lasts" in a child's life, the little things we dont pay attention to because were so busy celebrating all the first's and wanting them to grow up. And as i was reading this book to Elias last night, i choked back the tears.. because really he has already had some of those lasts.

"The last time that i held a bottle to your baby lips.

The last time that i lifted you and held you on my hip.

The last night when you woke up crying, needing to be walked,

The last time when i got your soother and blankey and with you I rocked."

and as i helped Elias get into bed last night after a long day and a fun party (pics soon to come)..I realized that Elias is too big and too heavy for me to hold him like i wish i could still and that makes me a little sad as he turns three.

I hope to hold onto him just a little longer, at least until his next birthday..

and some things about Elias at age 3:
-he loves anything to do with sports, especially hockey and golf
-climbs and jumps off of everything
- loves to Dance, nickname "twinkle toes"
-is soooo loud!
-is a good helper
-is potty trained, even mostly at night
-loves superheros, favorite these days: Spiderman
-still loves having a sippycup
-likes to snuggle now
-can undress himself, but hates getting dressed by himself.
-prefers to wear comfy shorts ALL the time
-LOVES "backyardigans" the cartoon
-loves stickers, painting, playing in the sink
-is constantly opening the fridge for a drink or food (drives me crazy)
- loves his blue blankie and having a big boy ("cars")backpack like daddy.
-loves to compliment you, and loves getting compliments in return (he always says "sweet shirt" or "sweet pants".. and then waits or asks for you to return the favor, its so funny)
-must have his lamp on at night
-is turning into such a nice big brother..finally. He is so good to tell me when nixon has something in his mouth or is into something, they play silly games together and laugh i love watching them play.
- cannot sit still, sunbeams is going to be hard..
-Has the best and loudest welcomes and bear hugs when you walk in the door, i love it.
-is in 4T clothes and size 10 shoes.

i love you little buddy, Happy Birthday!

these seem like only yesterday...

Trooper

2009-11-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

poor little dude, first it was bronchitis for both my kids 1.5 wks ago and then after a rough night with Nixon and a temp peaking at 103.7 F (i was scared) we found out today that he has bad ear infections in both ears.. ya that would really suck.

despite it all he is still smiling.. what a little trooper.

"Just Dance"

2009-11-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

I love to dance so we get a lot practise (my daily exercise) and Elias in the process learns some pretty nice dance moves.

You'll notice Elias is just wearing shorts and no shirt, his favorite attire these days and displays some sweet dance moves-that i credit to myself-us Hansen's are know for some nice moves on the dance floor, they might possibly be a little nerdy at times, but still well known. On any given day we get our groove on, at least once, our song these days is "I've Got a Feeling"by Black Eye Peas. Whenever Elias hears it, when we are driving or out and about he says, "It's our song, mom" and starts dancing..

Needless to say Elias is know as twinkle toes, and is also known for some serious booty shaking. In the summer at a Family Dental BBQ/Dance the dance tunes came on and Elias took that opportunity to get up and dance with all the single ladies there, it was so hilarious, everyone was dying laughing-there in the circle of all the single ladies was Elias totally shaking it,

seriously so priceless.

my little skeleton & pirate

2009-11-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

Okay so it was halloween, and i love halloween.

i love dressing up and having sweets and well especially dressing the boys.
This year i found the best pirate costume for Elias, everywhere we went people were laughing at how cute he looked, especially with his sweet gold earring, ya that was my favorite part too. He was saying ARRRGG all week and especially loved that he got to have a sword too.
And then i happened upon this cute skeleton sleeper for Nixon, and didnt realize until after i bought it that they would totally be matching for halloween, and well you know anything that can make a picture cuter is right up my alley. (:
This year the boys got to dress up 3 times, which was pretty fun. We had a little kids church party, then a sweet halloween party by krysytn and laura, i swear krystyn should hire out for parties she did so awesome! And then trick or treating come saturday... all in all awesome halloween. I seriosuly can't wait until we are done school and i can have a sweet adult halloween party and get some fabulous decor.

So on with the pictures...

could quite possibly be my favorite picture ever!

gotta love this.

and of course a group pic

Elias & Greta (the cutest bumblebee ever)

Kwynne's little Molly

and off to trick& treat..finally!!!

Go Blades Go!!

2009-11-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

So we love hockey in our family and have been meaning to take Elias to a blades game in a long time.

Finally we decided to go and my cousin Tyler was playing for the opposing team, the Blazers as well.
We took Jost, Elias' little buddy and Dustin and Julia came as well.

Jost and Elias had SOOO much fun, they got sweet blades tattoos and makeup put on, they looked so cute.
They had fun cheering up the blades and eating popcorn.

We had to leave earlier cuz the boys got too tired, but overall it was fun to get out as a family, i know Elias is eager to start hockey and if its up to Jer he will be playing much to my dismay.

cheering on the blades!!

their sweet tattoos

Nixon, Jeremy and my cousin Julia

Yelling for the blades, they were sooo LOUD!

at last but not least this SWEET pic of Jost, who knows what he was doing..haha

Catchup... part 2

2009-11-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

Catchup... part 1

2009-10-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

So okay i know, sometimes i blog like 3 times a week, but for the most part it seems that i am always behind on blogging and yet again here we are.
So some pics and highlights of the Dental Banquet that was like almost a month ago.. i know, i know

I for sure wanted to post this time since it was our LAST dental banquet if you can believe it and it was also more special because Jeremy and Dyck were the MC's for the night.
It was alot of fun and the guys did such a good job, i was actually surprised at how much i laughed and people kept telling me all night that they didnt know Jeremy was that funny, well i didnt either..jks.

The wives club..haha

jeremy & dyck doing a fine MC job

the ladies...

the fellas..

Jeremy's soon to be Class of 2010

These pics are officially for my sister Renae, i knew she would get a good laugh out of my nerdy dance moves.

Besides the delicious meal and the great MC job by the guys, we ended the night off with some much needed dance moves on the dance floor. seriously i love to dance, it was so fun being silly and dancing it up with Karen, Krystyn & Dyck and also Ronna and Heather jumped in too.. it was really good to get out and get all dressed up.

Going Private!!..Leave your Email Please!!!

2009-09-29T22:09:00.000-07:00

So since the summer i have been meaning to make our blog private. To me its more of a online family journal that eventually i want to make into a book. I used to scrapbook but who has time for that..so this is my scrapbook.. and i find myself posting more and more personal info, pictures and memories from our life that i dont just want anyone on the web to see.

So Please leave your email address in the comments so i can invite you to our blog.

Thanks! Rachelle :)

Also I couldn't help myself and had to post some pics of the boys. I totally forgot about these photos, i did a small photoshoot of the boys right before we were headed out to Alberta for a few weeks back when Nixon was 3 mths old.. i cant believe he is more than doubled that now.. but anyways here are a few that i happened to get..

Waffles with Apple Cider Syrup and Pecans..mmm

2009-09-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well to start off the beginning of Fall, since we all know yesterday was probably the last warmest day of the year.. i wanted to make something very yummy and not so ordinary for breakfast and this recipe yelled out "Fall Time" so when i saw this i HAD to try it. www.good-life-eats.blogspot.com

Yes it was that good!

It actually was quite an easy recipe, i made the syrup, pecans & apples and Jeremy made the waffles.

I love cooking in the kitchen together.. seriously i can't wait to have a big kitchen and to just cook and bake to my hearts content.

what a great way to start our day. Enjoy!

p.s Make sure to use a belgian waffle maker, normally i like the flat ones with small holes better, but belgian waffles are a must for this. And also i used apple juice instead of cider and lemon juice instead of fresh lemons.. it probably would have been even better than.

Nixon these days..and Can you spot the difference??

2009-09-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

Well Nixon is growing so much these days, he will be 7 mths in 1.5 wks and this month he has had so many new things happen:

1st solids, rolling like a maniac all over the place, sitting up on his own, he even cut his first 2 bottom teeth this week and has been keeping me up all night between teething and being sick, poor little guy.

aww makes me sad to see him growing so fast, i almost need another one already....haha got ya!

Honestly i think he will be crawling soon, next month i swear. He just LOVES his tummyso much, as soon as you put him on his back he just flips right over and cant keep still, he even trys to flip over in his car seat its pretty funny. He has even tried getting his knees up under himself and scoot alittle so i think he will be crawling soon. YIKES.. i am in for it. hopefully not though, knock on wood.. Elias didnt crawl until 10.5mths so i was lucky.. heres to hoping.

Heres some pics of his 1sts over this last month:

i just LOVE this pic, his eyes, his little smirk..

shirtless, the best, loving the little man boobs

man, does he LOVE the jolly jumper

for real, this is how he falls asleep, cuddling his little horse

i thought this pic was so funny.. classic pic of Nixon

loves playing in the tub

sitting up like a big boy.. he's becoming a pro now.

And lastly, Can you spot the difference??

Elias at 4mths Nixon at 6mths

I sure can! I think for sure the biggest difference is that they both look so different, especially their stature.. just look at how much tightier that sleeper is on Elias and this is a 12mth sleeper from Costco.. we just make our boys big & tall! And also check out that head on Elias, why oh why could i have not had Nixon's head for my 1st baby..oh, just thinking about it..ouch!

But the one very similar thing about the two is how happy and easy going babies they have both been, Elias was always smiling all the time, and well we all know that Nixon never stops. Elias was a better sleeper, and Nixon is more of a mommas boy and a big cuddler.

It was so fun to come across this pic of Elias the other day and realize i had one of Nixon too.

The Potty Boot Camp..its works!!

2009-09-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

OKay so if anyone knows me, they know the troubles i have gone through potty-training Elias :(
Lets just say we attempted pottytraing back in May and after not much success at all.. do to lack of potty training methods and pullups that just confused him more i decided to take a break for the summer since he was refusing to go at all.

Well summer came and went in pullups and all summer i had been prepping Elias that we werent going to be in pullups anymore. I was bound and determined to find another method, i mean there had to be something better than just going blindly into pottytraining.. i mean there had to be. So i researched and found something i thought would work ALOT better.. and boy did it work better, it worked AMAZINGLY!
The program i did is called The Potty Boot Camp by Suzanne Riffel http://www.thepottybootcamp.com/ , the website is kinda ghetto, they are remodelling the site but this program works!!! Better than i could have even imagined! The book consists of the most time-tested, best known methods of pottytraining all put into a simple, short, cookbook style book. It is so easy to follow and consists of about 4 days of pottytraining, the 1st day is the big kahuna.. where 90% all the potty-training is done, the author says most children will initiate going to the potty by the end of the 1st day.. i couldnt believe it but by the afternoon of that 1st day, Elias told me he had to go pee. And for the 1-2 months of training before the summer he had never said that to me even once!! So i was beyond excited. And then from day 1 on, he was telling me he had to go potty, dont get me wrong he had some accidents, mostly outside the home (when he would be playing with friends and forget to tell me) but he was telling me!!! It has now been about 2.5 weeks and he is doing sooo good. It took almost about 1.5 weeks for him to tell me he had to go poo, and is now telling me all the time. He had major problem with going poo and would always run and hide, so it was the best day of my life when we were at the park and he told me he had to go (Karen & Krystyn can atest to that). Its a good thing i had my trusty "on the go potty" by Kalencom (the best invention ever, you can get it at "Cravings" here in saskatoon for $20 and its a potty that folds up and you can carry in your purse!). The author recommends this potty and it has saved many a poopy pants when we are out and about. And also one of the most amazing things is that Elias has never peed during his nap since starting, and has only wet the bed a few times at night, i still put a nighttime pullup on him but he rarely pees in it, unless he has had too much to drink before bed. Amazing eh??

So what else can i say but TRY THIS BOOK, i downloaded it for stinkin $5.00 and then printed it off (but the book would so be worth it to buy). I think the author Suzanne should get an award or something, because for real she is awesome. I was so stressed about this and she even insists on you emailing her if you have any questions or problems and so I did and she was sooo good at emailing me back and giving me advice and options.
I was sooo desperate and i cant even begin to tell you how amazing it feels when Elias now at only 2.5 weeks into it, rarely has accidents, tells me all the time when he has to go and mostly now goes to the potty all by himself.. Just look at that picture of him, its say it all..

Don't worry i am not naive enough to think he wont have any more accidents, because he has had plenty and probably still will have a few.. but i know that this program works better than anything i tried and i tried alot, i mean ALOT of techniques.

So thats my speel on the potty boot camp, i am all about doing things easier and about reading up on any issues, whether its sleeping problems, discipline, nursing, and yes pottytraining. All i know is that i wished someone would have recommended this to me before i went through all the trouble... so here it is my feed back, hopefully it will work out as well for you too!

Okay, sweetest pic ever! Can you tell how excited he is with that orange pop!!

The 1st day they get "special drinks" so they will drink lots of fluids and go potty tons, this was

a pop leftover from Jer's father and son campout and Elias was beyond happy to have it!