Last Day of November

We tried taking Kyle to see Santa today; he wanted no part of it. I was hoping to beat the crowds and get a nice photo with St. Nick, per tradition, but Kyle just didn't seem to warm up to the jolly, old soul. It surprised me because he seemed SO excited about our Santa Christmas decorations, especially Santa's hat. I guess he wasn't quite ready for the real thing. We tried letting him run around, bring a toy to Santa, sit on Mommy's lap while Mommy sat next to Santa, and even a family photo, but it just wasn't happening. I guess we'll just have to wait for another day and try again.

Until then, maybe a little practice will help. I know it's no where near a real Santa, but Kyle likes this Santa decoration we have. He's been shaking his hand, giving him a kiss, and even trying to share his drink. Maybe next time we venture to the North Pole--or, the mall-- he'll be ready.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Kyle had a great time at church today, once nursery started, that is. I love peeking in through the windows of the nursery room and seeing him play and interact with the other kids. There were 3 different groups of kids playing with toys and Kyle was moving from group to group, working the crowd, mingling. He still has his little fits every now and then, but it's amazing to see how much he's improving and how he enjoys playing with other kids. (He does NOT like to color, though. His picture had 2 scribbles on it--that's it. Crayon is not his top choice of expression.)

We got home from church, and I started to plug in the camera. Kyle immediately started posing and wanted me to take pictures. He likes being able to see the pictures on the digital camera after I take them, and asks to take more. I guess I haven't pushed him away from the camera, even with my obsessive blogging. (That's good for all the family out there who happens to be reading this!)

Happy Sunday, Everyone!

P.S. It's a GOOD thing we're having another boy. I pulled out the boxes and boxes of Kyle's old clothes today to start going through and organizing them for the new baby. The magnitude of this wardrobe is stunning, and I'd hate to have it go to waste!

Saturday is a Special Day

A husband and wife walk into a nail salon. "How can we help you?", someone asks.
"We would like pedicures, please."
"How many?" (Apparently, at "Magic Nail," the term "we" when there are 2 people necessitates a question of how many pedicures are required.)
After making sure there are no Oompa Loompas in their pockets, the couple decides to stick with two pedicures for two people.


Stephen and I had a wonderful afternoon, going on a date. We watched The Blind Side, which is now one of my favorite sports-related movies of all time. It was fantastic. Then, we were that couple getting two pedicures. The nail techs asked us three times how many pedicures we wanted, as if "we" left too much for the imagination. Maybe Stephen's size 14 feet should have counted as an extra pedicure. The tech was laughing and commenting about his "big feet" the entire time.

A good movie and a relaxing spa pedicure.....What a special day!

Black Friday

The alarm sounded at 4:30 a.m. I rolled out of bed, threw on a short-sleeved dress and flip-flops, and ventured out on my first "real" Black Friday shopping experience. I decided to start slowly this year, with an easy store--Sam's Club. The total possible shoppers was already cut down simply by the need to have a membership.

I'm obviously an amateur at this craziness because I didn't show up hours ahead of store-opening time. As I drove past the Wal-Mart parking lot, which is connected to the Sam's Club, I saw the crowd and no open packing spaces, and started to get nervous. Luckily, Sam's only had about 40 people in line when I pulled up at 4:50. My inexperience hit again, however, when I stepped out into the 57 degree, windy weather in my summer-weather wear, needing to stand outside in that line.

Shortly after I arrived, a few people from the crowd ahead of me started leaving. The employees in charge of scanning membership cards also handed out tickets for hot items, and people were being informed that their desired product (mostly HP notebooks or TV's) was already taken. The Wii Family Bundle--the only reason I came out shopping--was still available when they scanned my card! I ended up being #32 in line, the second group entering the store, shopped around for a few minutes to make sure I wasn't missing any other amazing deals, and went straight to the check-out.

(Funny story: While I was waiting to check out, a woman in the line next to me was getting SO frustrated about the wait time. Every time someone had to have a runner go collect their merchandise from customer service, her temper would flare. I scanned over to see why she was in such a hurry--was she afraid her desired item would run out, that the store would close before she made it to the front of the line, that the world would end while she was in Sam's??? What was she purchasing that was SO important?? A flat of Gatorade, two HUGE bags of Doritos, 2 packages of Red Baron mini pizzas, and a case of water. That's it---no electronics or other Black Friday deals at all! She got up for the early-bird specials to get some a few random grocery items and was getting upset over having to wait in line for 10 minutes!!! People are funny!)

My first Black Friday early-bird experience was successful. I got in and out with my desired deal and even got free breakfast out of the deal! I even got home in time to go back to bed.

Thanks to my willingness to take one for the team, we spent the afternoon at the Wii resort, already putting our "Christmas" gift into play. Even Kyle got into the action. What fun!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Sadly, we had to drop off Auntie Deb--or "T-Debba," as Kyle would say--at the airport this morning, so the rest of our Thanksgiving was spent without any extended family around, unless you count friends as part of an extended family.
The Fabianos invited us over to eat Thanksgiving dinner at their home, along with a few other friends. I think we had about as much food as they had at the first Thanksgiving dinner--enough for an entire colony!!! (This picture doesn't even include the mashed potatoes & gravy or the dessert/appetizer/bread table!!!)


Here's the whole crowd. Kyle LOVED that salad, of all things! Salad, carrots, green bean casserole, corn casserole, and rolls--he had the veggie platter!


It didn't take him long to get tired of sitting at the adult table, and he ran to the kitchen to find a good hiding place.


Happy Thanksgiving to all! We are having a hard time believing that it's already the end of November. Maybe it's the hot weather or maybe it's just that we miss being close to family. We truly realize the importance of all of our loved ones and are so thankful for the blessings we receive each day. We look forward to a time when it's not quite so hard to get together with all of you who are so far away!


P.S. TWO people at our Thanksgiving dinner asked, "What is that?"~in reference to my green bean casserole. Green Bean Casserole!!! Who doesn't know about "bean-bean casserole???" Is it just me or is green bean casserole kind of a Thanksgiving staple?????

I'm Thankful for This Time of Year

Thanksgiving gets the short end of the stick as far as holidays go. In our commercial society, the stores seem to push us straight from Halloween into Christmas--or the Christmas/Hanukkah "Holiday Combo" around here. Poor Thanksgiving! The only place where you seemed to be cherished is on the neighborhood grocery store's isle 12.

I love Thanksgiving--not for the food, though. I don't care so much for turkey. I love that this time of year allows us to slow down and reflect on the important things, the things in our life that really matter. We are so blessed, and I cherish this reminder to celebrate and show gratitude for my many blessings.

(Especially these important guys in my life!)

I'm Thankful for Nature

This earth has so much beauty--we try to get out and enjoy it as much as possible. Why wouldn't you when this is just a 30-minute drive away?


It's still warm enough to enjoy a swim in the ocean--for Kyle, anyway. He got this new body glove suit from Auntie Deb, so we had to try it out. I think he took on an alter super power ego when he put it on because he was flexing and doing all kinds of fearless stunts, diving into the waves, belly flopping on the sand, etc. We were cracking up....the father of the girl who tried to copy Kyle's wild man stunts wasn't quite as thrilled! Super Kyle had a great time until we noticed that several huge jelly fish were starting to appear on the shore and decided we'd had enough ocean fun.




Another place you just have to visit in Florida is the Everglades. One of our favorite places to go is Shark Valley because it has some great trails and you usually see tons of gators in their natural habitats. Yesterday did not disappoint at all. In fact, we saw the biggest gator we've seen out there, just sunning himself on the shore!


We also got quite the display by this guy--another gator was swimming up into his territory, so he jumped right up and got back in the other gator's grizz-ill to show him who was boss. The invader gator wasn't easily frightened and opened his mouth up wide and growled right back. Kyle was roaring like the gators all the way home! He loved it.


Kyle loves to run and explore outdoors, and I'm so thankful we are living in a place with so many opportunities to enjoy the beautiful world we live in!

I'm Thankful for Modern Medicine

I recently finished reading a novel set in the 1950's in rural Arkansas. The family's grandmother was the local "expert" on medicine, home remedies, and birthin' babies. Reading some of the lengthy descriptions of her form of practicing medicine made me quite grateful for the medical advances since then, which I am lucky enough to receive, even if these services are through my Obamacare Clinic. Not only does modern medicine provide an amazing career opportunity for Stephen, it also allows us to get an early look at Mini Cooper 2010. I am so thankful to have another chance for a sure knowledge of the health of our baby and a glimpse of the next member of our family. How amazing it is to see the tiny heart beating--not just hearing it. I am awed as we get to measure the head/spine/other bones, scan through the brain and other organs, see the blood flowing in this tiny human, and watch the movement of hands and feet. Medicine has come a long way in the last 50 years, and I get to benefit greatly from these advances!

3 Profile Shots
(The first one almost looks like blowing underwater bubbles,
and I love seeing a hand in the second one.)

Hand, Foot, & Penis
(In the top photo, you see a tiny high-five! This is amazing that we captured such a good image of the fingers, spread out, which I'm always interested to see--because of my genetic history. It looks like everything's normal in that area. A little foot can be seen in the upper left corner of the second photo, and I think it's more of a front view of the head. The third photo confirms--there's not doubt about it--what nearly 70% of you predicted. We are having another boy!!!)

I'm Thankful for Friends

How grateful I am to have true friends. Some of those are friends I've trusted and loved for many, many years, and some I've grown to know and love just since living in Florida. Whether we've been friends since childhood, or they helped buoy me up through jr. high and beyond, or had my back against 5th graders and their parents, or helped me deal with living in Northern South America, each of my true friends adds great value to my life. I am not the type of person to want a million friends; I'd rather have a few amazing, true amigos than a plethora of acquaintances. It also takes me awhile to warm up to people and trust their friendship, but once I do, I can be a friend for life. I'm so thankful to have so many true friends, old and new, who love me and support me, even when I act like a total nerd.



Oh, yeah! Stephen and I went to his annual school party last night--as NERDS!!! We weren't the only dorks there, though--thank goodness!

We had such a fun time--chatting, dancing, rocking, karaoking, and hanging out with Stephen's classmates who have become his (and my) friends. It's good to have friends!!!






P.S. What do you think of this as our family Christmas photo???

I'm Thankful for Family

Isn't it nice to feel loved? Even though we are so far away from our families, we know they love us and are comforted by the happy thoughts they send our way~happy thoughts and packages! Yesterday there were TWO boxes waiting for us in the mail, one from Texas and the other from Utah. We are so blessed with wonderful families and little things like packages truly help close the distance gap between us.

Maybe it's that we are just so awesome or maybe it's the south Florida weather, but we've also had many visitors to our humble abode in the last year. The latest guest at Casa Cooper is Auntie Deb, who's staying with us for the week. How nice it is to have family closer, if even for a short time!

Today we went down to Key Biscayne and Bill Baggs State Park. Kyle couldn't wait to get to the lighthouse! He loves being outside, running free.

Auntie Deb and I made the climb up to the top to see the gorgeous view. (Stephen stayed at the bottom with Kyle.)


The weather actually ended up being warmer than I had expected---bordering HOT--and there was only one of us who could get away with stripping down and enjoying the refreshing water. The remaining three just got to enjoy sweating in the hot sun while we watched Kyle play in the sand and sea.


Family is a wonderful thing. How thankful I am for the families we came from and for our own little family, which makes my life complete!

I'm Thankful for Humor

I love to laugh....loud, and long, and clear! (*Bonus to anyone who can name the movie.)

I think I've been blessed with a pretty good sense of humor and a husband who gets my jokes and knows how to make me laugh.

Kyle seems to be following right along in his father's footsteps. He sure can get a smile out of me. Maybe I've been watching too much Project Runway/American's Next Top Model or something because I swear Kyle tried to design his own collection yesterday AND modeled it down the stairs/runway. He only had a few minutes to create his design and seemed to take inspiration from an unconventional material. He called this look, Charmin'.


It only took an entire roll of toilet paper to make a fabulous neck piece, cascading all the way down the stairs.


I'm so thankful for a good sense of humor that helps me laugh at all the funny things my son does. Laughter is a wonderful thing.

I'm Thankful to be a Mom

I have always wanted to be a mom. It sounds old-fashioned and totally domestic, but--other than a brief fantasy about being a marine biologist--I never really knew what else I wanted to be when I grew up. Teaching was honestly just in the same realm and something that came naturally.
I distinctly remember a lesson in my Young Women class at church, given during my senior year in high school, about goals for the future. We went around the room and everyone talked about college and careers and other plans of what seemed important in their life. As the conversation drifted to me, my mind raced as to what I wanted to do with my life and I decided to just be honest. I talked about how I really just wanted to be a mom. Sure, I would go to college and probably do something--not sure what--but more than anything, I wanted to be a wife and a mom.

*Side note to this story: Through the grapevine, this little comment actually somehow made it back to my at-the-time-sorta boyfriend's mom--who wasn't even in our ward or stake, for that matter! She happened to get very nervous about her baby boy and had a very serious talk with that son to watch out for me because I was just some crazy girl with no ambition who would probably hold him back from serving a mission because I just wanted to get married and have babies. Yes, my goal to be a mom somehow morphed into being promiscuous and willing to do anything to snag a man and have his children. This was also quite ironic because--at the time--said boyfriend was actually known to smoke a little pot, which would, if I'm not mistaken, also hold him back from serving an LDS mission--this was not discussed in the serious mother/son lecture.


I tell this story to remind myself about how being a mom was always important to me and how far I think people have taken the liberation of women that it can actually be viewed as something negative for a woman's number one life goal to be becoming a wife and mom. I truly believe the most important thing I can do as a woman is to be a good wife and mother, and if that gets the femi-nazis all fired up, I'm sure there's a bra around to burn.

Flash forward a few years. I did not hold that high school boy back from serving a mission AND I met and married Stephen in the meantime. One goal down. As many of you know, the mothering thing didn't come along quite as easily or quickly. But, how grateful I am for those years of struggle and questioning and trial because they help me appreciate that much more what I now have.

That gratitude comes in quite handy on certain days--like yesterday--when I feel like Kyle's umbilical cord was never cut. I have a little shadow who doesn't want to leave my side and even refused to let Stephen read him a book last night--it had to be Mom. He wants to "help" a little too much sometimes. I actually had to lock him out of the room just so I could clean the bathrooms without him trying to sit in my lap or get into the cleaning products! Kyle is a momma's boy, through-and-through.

Some days, I--like every mom, I'm sure--long for a bit of the child-free days. It sure was easier to run errands, clean house, sleep, work out, and pretty much do everything before you had to include a child in the planning and execution of such things.

For today's post, I'll spotlight the task of working out. Thankfully, I have my very own elliptical trainer and do not have to leave the house to break a sweat. I try to get on my elliptical for at least 30 minutes every morning. I feel better through the day and don't quite feel so guilty for giving into some of my pregnancy cravings. Kyle, however, does not seem to grasp the benefit of letting his mom get in her daily exercise. More often than not, my aerobic activity is interrupted to solve some life-or-death crisis, like an over-turned car or stuck toy. Also, I guess my work-out time coincides with Kyle's bowel movements. It's not that crucial most mornings because I simply change and bathe him as soon as I'm done and we both go on with our day. However, this week has added a new reason to totally halt my ellipticalling~the poop has started to leave the diaper!!! On Monday, Kyle came down stairs, both hands in the air, saying "yuck, yuck, yuck." Yuck is right! He had poop all over his hands!!!! Then, this morning, he raced up stairs, only to come back down with a bare-bottom, holding a poopy diaper in his hands! At least he kept it contained. My work-out ended right there, and we headed straight for the tub. Oh, the joys of motherhood! What a little stinker!



I love being a mom and am so thankful to be given the awesome responsibility. Even the crazy, poopy moments make me smile.

*And because I can't help it, here's one last photo: proof I have a constant shadow. I ran downstairs to grab the camera to document Kyle's bathtime fun, and was followed by this cute, clean, bare-bottomed boy!

I'm Thankful for the Little Things

• Being able to curl up in a nice, big bed with a sippy cup, a Mickey blanket, and Monsters, Inc.
  

• Being able to watch a movie at 3:00 in the morning when I just can't sleep--I'm so glad I'm not forced to stare at static or test patterns---or, worse yet, read a book! (I had a headache.)
  

• Finding a missing sock: Stephen only has one or two pairs of dress socks that match khaki pants. (Sadly, one of those pairs is a bit discolored--my fault-- since one of the socks decided to jump in with a white load and change colors in the bleach!) Then, I lost the match to one of the good pairs a couple of weeks ago doing laundry. Hating to throw it away and hoping the missing sock would surface, I tucked the lone ranger into a drawer. I found his partner today in the strangest of places: stuck to the bottom of one of the guest bathroom rugs! It was a small thing that made me very happy.
  

• Lists: I am a list maker. I love writing down both short and long-term goals to organize my thoughts and form a plan of action. I also LOVE crossing completed tasks off my lists, and I've been able to get a lot of little things done this week--organizing my scrapbook box, finding a place to put away costumes, reorganizing and straightening my purses, throwing out old cosmetics from that pile of half-used products, ordering pictures, and getting caught up on my scrapbook through the 4th of July.
  

Today, I'm quite happy being thankful for the little things.

I'm Thankful to be Me

Last night's Family Home Evening lesson was all about being thankful for who we are, our talents, and knowing that our Father in Heaven loves each of us and knows that each of our souls is of great worth. We sang a couple of songs, read some scriptures, and talked about the talents that each member of our family has.

One of Kyle's talents is making us laugh. While we were trying to read and be serious, he, of course, was running around with a blanket on his head and jumping off the coffee table. I think he did listen to a bit of the lesson because he seems to know his own worth and loves himself enough to give himself plenty of kisses.

Boy or Girl?

We find out if Mini Cooper 2010 is going to be pink or blue next Monday. I can't wait!!! It's such a surprise for me because I just have no feelings either way of what it is. I didn't lean towards boy with Kyle and I go back-and-forth on this one. Plus, I honestly don't have a preference either way. Weird, I know, but another boy would be great and a girl would be something different. I'm excited about both options.

Stephen thinks it's a girl. He wants it to be a boy, but he thinks it's a girl. He told me we were having a boy first, and that prediction was correct. It will be interesting to see if he is 2 for 2 on his guesses.

Now, it's your turn. What do you think our next Mini Cooper will be?

A Bad Hair Day

I try to wait until the last minute before we head out for church to do Kyle's hair. I get him fed, bathed, teeth brushed, and dressed--all while trying to get myself ready--and then comb, gel, and spray his hair, trying to cut out time for him to mess it all up before we get in the car for church. That plan didn't work too well today.

I finished his hair and went in the other room to get my shoes and come back to find him running around with a blanket on his head, totally negating any effort I just put in to make him presentable. I fixed his hair again, resprayed it, and grabbed our stuff to head out the door. That was just enough time for the blanket to find its way to the head again.



There were several problems now. 1) We were running out of time before we were really going to be late for church. 2) Kyle was crying over me messing with his hair. 3) He did his own messy style just at the point where the gel and hair spray are still pliable enough to be styled and kind of stuck it in the messy state for good.

Even though I tried to fix it, Kyle's hair kept wanting to drift into its messy state at church. I guess he's got a good enough personality for people to see past a bad hair day every now and then!