I have a Toddler?!?

This week Cooper turned 2.

I wish I could say I was happy about that, but I was pretty sad.

Cooper must have known because I don't think he's ever given me that many hugs and cuddles during the day unless he was sick.

I don't know what it was about this birthday, but I haven't been looking forward to it as much as his 1st.

I guess maybe I'm a little sad to have his baby days done with.

He's a toddler now!

He may not be a baby anymore, but he'll always be MY baby.

Now he's a little boy with a BIG personality.

He has so much attitude!

I love how much he's been learning and growing. Looking back at his pictures I realize how much he's really changed. He's gone from a very chubby little baby to a tiny little boy.

Since I'm hoping someday he'll read this; Cooper I just want you to know how much mom and dad love you. I can easily say you're one of the best things to ever happen to us and we're so blessed to be your parents. I know there's a reason you were sent to us and I'm so happy you were. You make our family better because of your sweet spirit, and your fun personality can always make us laugh. We're so proud of the amazing little boy you've become and can't wait to continue watching you grow and learn. Thank you for the great little example you've been and the sweet spirit you bring to our home. We love you like crazy sweetie. Happy 2nd Birthday!

My almost 2 year old

In less than a month my baby's going to be 2!

I thought I'd give a little update on my sweet little Cooper

- He loves watching movies. I try not to let him watch more than 1 a day, but with how cold and windy it's been lately we've both been enjoying some classic Disney movies.

- He's obsessed with tractors and semi trucks just like his Daddy. Matt took him to haul grain in the semi this morning and I had one very sad little boy when I went to pick him up. I'm sure he would have been content just hanging out in the truck all day.

- Cooper is starting to talk more and more! He's very good at repeating what I say as long as I say it one word at a time. He loves to say his prayers at night and is very patient and waits until we're done to say amen. He's also learning to put a few words together. The other day he started stroking my hair and said "Awe, pretty mama" and he's been saying "Please help me" when he gets frustrated by not being able to do something by himself.

- He is the funniest dancer and will dance to anything. Even commercials on TV!

- He's down to 1 nap a day and it's usually only an hour and a half long if that. I'm really not ready for him to cut naps out of his schedule but we'll see I guess.

- Cooper loves babies! He is very concerned when he hears a baby crying and always wants to go give it his blanket. We have a doll from when I was a little girl and I frequently see Cooper rocking it and singing to it. He's going to be a great big brother some day! Trust me this isn't an announcement, but it is very sweet to watch him and makes me feel excited for when we do decide to expand our little family.

- He has a ton of teeth. There's too many for me to even want to try sticking my fingers in there to count, but I know he has all of his molars!

- He loves to sing! I wish I could get the video to upload on here because watching him sing is so funny! He closes his eyes and really gets into it!

- Cooper's not the best eater so I'm glad he likes having a big smoothie every morning at breakfast. I don't give him very many snacks during the day and he still barely eats anything at lunch or dinner most days. I just have to keep telling myself he won't starve himself and make sure that when he does eat it's fairly healthy.

- Cooper finally got his haircut! At 22 months he finally had enough hair to cut haha yay!

I feel like over night he changed from being my chubby little baby into this little boy running around our house! We love you Cooper!

It's been a while….

So it's been a few months…..

I was going to set a New Year's Resolution to blog twice a month, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it…..so I just didn't make a New Year's Resolution. Yay me! Haha 

I have a lot of catching up to do so this might be a little long. First off Halloween! (Yep it's been that long)

Cooper was a nerd for Halloween!

I can't believe how much he's changed from last year!

Halloween was also Grandma Barb's 50th birthday so we had a big party at the church. Cooper loved it! Especially because they had a popcorn machine and tons of candy to munch on! He was such a little moocher and pretty cute, if I do say so myself, and ended up getting treats from anyone he walked up to. Needless to say he slept pretty good after the sugar crash!

Then came November….I honestly don't remember a lot of what happened that month. Matt was working on a house in Burdett and took our camping trailer out there to sleep in during the week, but came home on the weekends. While he was gone I decided to switch Cooper over to a toddler bed since I'm the more *ahem* stern one. What can I say? I need my sleep! We bought Cooper a Monster's University bed set and wrapped it up so he could practice unwrapping presents for Christmas. Looking back I probably shouldn't have taught him to unwrap presents that early since multiple presents were taken from under the tree and unwrapped after that. Oh well, at least he was a pro by the time Christmas rolled around!

We also built a wind fence for our yard one weekend when Matt was home! It was a lot of work so it was a good thing we had Cooper there to help!

December was a busy month for us, as I'm sure it is for everyone.

Matt and I took a trip to Kalispell with some friends to watch some dirt biking and do some Christmas shopping. We left Cooper at home with my parents so it was a nice little weekend getaway just the two of us! And Matt bought me a pair of…..cowboy boots for my birthday! Yep, I'm becoming quite the little farm girl!

We also bought my dad's old snowmobile so we could play around on the farm! Since we "negotiated the deal" on my birthday I like to joke with Matt about what a great birthday present it is. It's been a great investment this winter and Cooper loves being pulled behind it on his sled! There are some serious perks to living in the middle of no where surrounded by empty fields haha

Then came Christmas! My favourite time of the year! I love being able to spend time with family, but my favourite part is finding the perfect present for everyone! Much to the irritation of my husband I do my Christmas shopping throughout the year. If I see something in March that would be perfect for someone, I buy it and save it till Christmas so I'm usually done shopping by the beginning of November and like to have everything wrapped before December 1st. I tell Matt it's so I forget what's in the present and I get just as surprised as the person receiving it, but really I'm just obsessed with Christmas.

My sister Shelby is in Ottawa going to school so for her present we switched her flight and brought her home a few days early to surprise my parents. Cooper loved going to the airport to pick her up and he was pretty entertaining to watch holding his sign! Everyone at the airport loved it!

Cooper got some new clothes for Christmas. They were definitely not his favourite thing to open Christmas morning, but I love dressing him up in them!

Matt's present this year was a new dirt biking helmet. Since he broke his leg in 2012 he hasn't been able to use his old helmet and has had to use my pink one. It was definitely time for an upgrade and Cooper loves walking around with it on. Honestly with how accident prone that kid is I don't think walking around with a helmet on is such a bad idea. 

We also spent a TON of time watching movies at Christmas. Cooper loves to watch his "V's" and he even does pretty good with the 3D glasses! His favourite movie by far is Monster's University. I can honestly say we've watched it over 100 times.

Date night with my Coopey Coop!

He had his first sleepover during Christmas with Matt's cousins!

More movies….

And his favourite way to watch movies. In his recliner Grandma and Grandpa got him for Christmas!

 Matt and I also got tickets to see The Band Perry for Christmas! We saw them in January and they were amazing! 

I love that Matt enjoys going to concerts just as much as I do! 

As you can tell from the concert picture Matt was in dire need of a haircut and he actually let me cut it again!

As for February things have slowed down a little bit. 

For Valentine's Day Matt and I went for dinner with a friend of his from high school that just moved back to Fort Macleod. 

The night before Valentine's Day Matt had to run to Lethbridge to quote a job and I reminded him that Costco was open until 8:30 and had some really pretty flowers. I also told him it would be thoughtful to  see if his dad or brother needed some flowers as well. Let's just say he returned home with 3 bouquets of flowers that night!

The next day we were getting my sister Maycee to babysit Cooper while we went for dinner. On my out to Magrath I got a phone call from my dad asking if I had time to pick up some flowers for my mom haha I think after buying 4 bouquets of flowers from Costco we should have got a serious discount!

Maycee had a sleepover that night at our house and the next day we made a craft together while Matt and Cooper played/worked outside. I love how it turned out! It'll look so cute with her jewelry hanging on it!

We took a little trip to Calgary for a friend's baby blessing and spent Saturday at Bass Pro Shops and swimming in the pool at our hotel. Cooper loved the waterslide and would even go down by himself!

We've had so much fun these past few months. I love having these two boys as part of my life! They make life so much more interesting!

Thanksgiving

I have to write a quick post for thanksgiving. 

I feel like we have so much to be thankful for!

I'm thankful for the opportunity we've had to move out to Fort Macleod and the great new experience that's been. 

I'm thankful for a roof over our heads (even if our furnace is currently out of service for the time being)

I'm thankful for the gospel and most recently nursery! 

I'm thankful for the family we have so close to us and the help they've always given us. 

And most importantly I'm thankful for my own little family. Matt works so hard for us and is such a great dad. He loves spending time with Cooper and teaching him things around the farm. It makes me so happy to watch them spending time together. Cooper is the light of my life. We're so blessed to have been entrusted to look after his sweet spirit. He's taught us so much in the short time he's been with us! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Nap Time

For those of you who don't know Cooper, he's a thumb sucker. 

Honestly I think its adorable. 

I know some people might think he's too old but I don't think he's hit that point yet. 

Anyways today at nap time he only slept for 20 minutes. 

Usually he goes to bed around 9 PM and gets up around 10 AM. 

Last night Matt had hockey and we watched for a bit so he didn't go to bed until 10:30 and for some reason woke up at 8.

So I was a little disappointed that his nap didn't last longer. 

I decided to try to have him lay down with me for a bit even though he hasn't slept with us since he was a few months old.

I would lay there with my eyes closed and just peek at him once in a while to see if he was settling down. 

He'd lay there and suck his thumb for a while but as soon as he saw me looking at him he'd get restless again so I decided to just keep my eyes closed. 

All of a sudden I felt something wet touching my lips. 

I opened my eyes to see Cooper sharing his thumb with me! 

I love how sweet that little boy is!!

He knew sucking his thumb helped him fall asleep so he was trying to share. 

Minus the slobber it was one of the sweetest things he's ever done. 

What a doll!

My Little Man All Grown Up!

Ok seriously I'm so in love with this kid!

I can't believe he's already 18 months!

Where did the time go?!?!

• Recently he's gotten all 4 of his molars in
• He jabbers away all the time especially when he has a phone
• He loves to push my coffee table around the living room
• He's started throwing tantrums :S
• He gets really frustrated when he tries to tell me something and I don't understand him. Hopefully this just motivates him to learn to talk sooner
• He loves walking around with his backpack on!
• He brings me a pair of his shoes when he wants to go outside and if I don't take him out right away he helps me out by finding mine too. He even usually gets a matching pair!
• He gives the best hugs and kisses and has the cutest smile!
• His favorite game to play is Peekaboo

All you have to do is say "Where's Cooper?" and he automatically hides his face.

It's been a pretty nostalgic day looking through all the pictures we have of him.

Happy 18 months Little Man!

We love you so much! 

XOXO 

Mom and Dad

August

With all the packing and moving going on we've had to pack most of our summer into the month of August. 

Here's a little recap of what we've spent the summer doing.

We went swimming with some family and Cooper loved the water! 

I've only taken him a handful of times this year but hopefully we can squeeze in a few more pool trips before summer's over.

Cooper got to spend the weekend with his Grandparents while Matt and I enjoyed a little weekend getaway to Edmonton. 

We got to do some shopping and go out for dinner.

It was kind of like a belated Anniversary trip.......at least that's what I told myself.

In reality we went up to pick up a truck......

Matt's dad was looking for a new semi for the farm so Matt found this sweet Pete up in Edmonton.

Matt, his dad, and his brother Brad went up to take a look at it together.

They decided it was exactly what they were looking for so they told the guy they'd take it!

Matt was so happy he said he was almost in tears....I had to remind him that even on our wedding day he wasn't that close to tears.

His response?

"I know, but buying this truck is my dream come true!"

I think Cooper takes after his dad because neither of them can get enough of that truck.

Although I don't quite understand their obsession I'm glad it makes them both so happy.

Here's my little man all dressed up in his new clothes.

I can't believe how big he is!

He's gotten so big I thought he'd like to color a picture for his Uncle Nathan who's on a mission in England right now.

Here's how he stared out....

And here's how it ended up....

It was probably a total of 5 minutes before he started eating the crayons.

Even though he's not big enough to color he is big enough that I thought I should build him a little table and chairs!

I still haven't finished it but he could care less. 

The only thing I won't let him eat at his table yet is berries. 

As you can tell he gets just a little too messy.

This past week was also Brittany, my sister, and Brandon, her husband,'s birthdays.

Oh yeah and it was their anniversary too!

All within a week!

So I made them some pies to celebrate.

The only other thing we've really done this summer is have family movie nights.

Cooper has eagerly embraced the tradition of dill pickle popcorn and peach juice for movie watching.

We're hoping to take Cooper on his first camping trip this weekend since we haven't had a chance to use our trailer for the past 2 summers!

I'm a little nervous since I didn't do much camping growing up but with how much Cooper likes being outside I'm sure we'll have a good time.