California!

After two long days at Disneyland, we decided to go to the Long Beach Aquarium on Saturday. He is at the perfect age for this, he loved every second of it!Kooper loved being able to touch all of the fish, starfish, little crawdads, and whatever else was in the water!At the Aquarium they have a huge bird area, you can buy nector for $3.00, which I though was kinda a rip off becuase its in the littlest cup you have ever seen, but let me tell you...it was worth every penny! Those birds love it, once they see that you have the little cup they flock to you! Kooper loved it, and as you can see Daddy was having a lot of fun too!While we were in CA, we took a little drive up to Pasadena where we used to live. We of course had to eat at my all time favorite restaurant Houstons. I have been craving their coconut shrimp roll for the longest time....it is the best ever, in fact just looking at the picture makes me want to go back! And then of course we topped it off with Pinkberry. Going to all of our favorite places really made us miss Pasadena, we had such a good times there!

Kooper loves hotels, for some reason he thinks its the greatest thing in the world when we get to stay at one. As you can tell he thinks he is sooo cool!
We had such a great time on our little family vacation, and Im so glad Kooper had so much fun! I love that kid more than anything in the world and bringing a new baby into our lives scares me a little because I would never want Kooper to feel bad in any way. Dont get me wrong I know it will be so good for him because the little stinker needs a sibling around to teach him how to share and all the other things siblings are good for. He has just been my world for the past 3 1/2 years, he has been my best friend while Wes has been busy at school and now work. I think Im just scared to see all that change but yet so excited to have another little precious child in our home to love and adore just like we do our little Koopy Koop!

Disneyland!

So we though we better get a little family vacation in with Kooper before our new little guy comes and turns Kooper's world upside down....So what better place than the "happiest place on earth"??
We love Disneyland, we have missed it so much since we moved from CA so it was so nice to go back. Kooper has been so excited for this trip, every night after books he likes us to tell him a story and usually it can be about anything but after we told him we were going to Disneyland we had to tell a story about that and it had to include Buzz Lightyear. When the day finally came that we were leaving he was so excited, he was so good on the plane and couldn't wait to just be at the park. Once we got there, he did his little happy dance and was the happiest kid in the world! It was a perfect day.... there were no lines and it was so warm and sunny!On our way....


Toy Story is one of our favorite rides, it by far had the longest line but to see Koop SOOO excited to go on it, it was worth the wait!
Kooper is going to be a thrill seeker like his Daddy, him and Wes went on this little roller coaster several times. Kooper wanted to go on the bigger ones but he wasn't tall enough....he was so disappointed!

Kooper LOVES this ride, he thinks his mission in life is to help Buzz fight the Evil Emperor Zerg, so this ride is so perfect for him. I cant tell you how many times a day that we spend searching (with our guns) looking for Zerg.:) Look at his eyes, he is SO into it!

Kooper loves animals, so the Jungle Safari is perfect for him. He kept wanting to know if they were real....
Monsters Inc.
Woody!
LOVES Mickey!!


Bumper cars, he thought he was so cool that he could drive!
This is what happens after a long day at the park, he was so wore out! Weston and I took full advantage of our sleeping child and had a nice quiet meal at Cheesecake Factory, he didnt even move a muscle the whole time we ate...we aren't use to that, we usual have to inhale our food because he is being naughty, not this time...it was great!

A three year old!

In Raising Healthy Children, Jolene L. Roehikepartain writes, "In our eagerness to teach our children, we may overlook what they are teaching us: compassion, conflict, resolution, and time management. They show us how to let loose, be spontaneous, rest when we need to, and become best friends with someone we were mad at moments ago. They help us to remember what its like to be a child, and they help us be better adults. Next time you learn a lesson from a preschooler, thank him or her. You might say, thank you for reminding me that yelling doesn't help. Adults forget sometimes."My sweet little 3 year old preschooler is teaching me more lessons in life than I ever though possible. I have learned more patience in the few short months since he has turned 3 than I have in my whole lifetime. Things that used to work as far as discipline don't even come close these days, he just has a mind of his own! Out of all the things that we have tried...and trust me we have tried just about everything! This chore chart has worked wonders! Its amazing how much better Kooper does with positive reinforcement but who doesnt right? Its just so easy to get mad, yell, and give a time out, and that's the last thing I want to be doing all day to somebody that I love so much.So I got this at Hobby Lobby and its so simple its perfect for his age, and the smiley face at the bottom works wonders, if he has all ready earned a smiley face for the day but then throws a major fit and trust me they are"major fits" before bed all we have to do is say we are going to erase his "smiley face" and 9 times out of 10 he stops.....its wonderful.
Im so thankful for all the lessons that Im learning being a Mom, I wouldn't change it for the world!

Desperate times call for desperate measures!!

So since I haven't been to Utah for awhile my poor hair color is definitely paying for it. Im not brave enough to go to some random person, especially here and I dont mind throwing a few blond foils in myself but man there is something about sitting in my good friend Marie's chair and relaxing, chatting and drinking a big fat diet coke!! We have been doing each others hair for over 11 years and all though I love my husband he just isn't her:) He tries his best, bless his heart but every foil I end up scraping so much blond off the other pieces so they dont turn orange...I mean how hard is it, he can put a human to sleep and keep them alive but he cant put 5 foils on top of my head without getting all over?? I do love the guy for trying, and its not his fault he has an overly picky wife. Needless to say it turned out great, well maybe not great but good enough till I see Marie! Thanks for your help Wes, you are one dedicated Hubby!Look at him concentrating so hard, I love it!
He wasnt so happy that I was taking pictures but I couldnt help it, I think he is so cute for doing this for me! Love ya babe!

Hide and Seek!

What do the following have in common?? Ill give you a hint....they are all great hiding places for keys, money, ect.
The past month or so Kooper really likes to hide things, and these are just a few of his famous places...pretty good huh?? NO, not when your the Mom looking frantically for the keys because your late to something, or when your ready to go on a cruise and you look in your wallet and there is $300.00 missing in cash(how did he get my wallet I have no idea)! So when the money came up missing I was actually on the plane with Kooper on our way to Vegas and we were meeting Weston there the next day. I got in my wallet to buy us a drink, (not the type of drink your thinking) they charge for sodas these days! Anyway when I got in my wallet I had no cash, I was dying! So when we landed in Vegas I called Wes to see if maybe he needed it worse than I did and he had no idea what I was talking about but he did mention that he saw Kooper playing with my wallet the other morning. I was thinking "oh great, that money could be anywhere!" So I thought well Ill ask him, never in a million years would I expect him to remember or even know what I was talking about...but I asked anyway and this was his reply..."niener niener niener, I hid your money haaa haaa" Is he serious right now, so trying not to laugh I said very sternly, "Kooper that is not nice you need to tell mommy where the money is, so he said," In the washer mommy, niener niener niener" (where did he get niener niener niener from)?? Sure enough I told Wes to look in the washer, or around the washer and there it was!!
What about the vent your asking....well let me just tell you, he prys the vents off and hides things in there!! What am I going to do with this kid?? The bad news is, he got a leapster for Christmas and we haven't been able to find it since January. I really think he hid it somewhere because we had never even taken it out of the house but we have looked everywhere for it and cant find it....so if you have any ideas we would be grateful:)

Once there was a snowman....

So last week we had quite a bit of snow, and everyday Kooper had been begging to go out and play in it but it has just been way too cold. So on Sunday when we got home from church it was so warm and all the snow was melting so Weston told him if he would hurry and go change his clothes and put his boots on they would build a snowman before all the snow melts...next thing we know we hear the front door shut and so we went running out to find this.......As you can see he was way excited..didnt even have time to put his pants on:)Yes his gloves are about 5 sizes too big but for some reason he LOVES them and wouldn't let us put on the gloves that fit...he has a mind of his own!So Proud! (Kind of a scary snowman...but look how proud they are, especially Daddy)
Daddy giving Kooper "5" for his first snowman!
I love these boys!

Happy Valentines Day!

Well we have kinda been celebrating Valentines Day all weekend, it has been great! We started off by Koop having a little Valentine Party with his friends, he loved it...How hard is it to get this kid to have a cute smile....apparently when I say "smile Koop" this is his version!Okay this smile is pretty cute, finally:)Yes..he has a mouth full of candies:)Daddy got breakfast in bed on Sunday, Kooper was such a big helper...he loves to surprise his Daddy!And what is Valentines Day without sugar cookies! Kooper made this cookie all by himself, its my kind of cookie...a little cookie, WAAYYY to much icing, and sprinkles to top it off!
Mommy got breakfast in bed today, with the cutest "love note" I have ever read, that's just one of the reasons Im so in love, my cute little hubby knows Im all about the "little things"! 8 years ago today I got engaged to the man of my dreams, he has actually been better than anything I could have ever dreamed of, he has it all....He is perfect, perfect for me!
Chocolate covered strawberries...yummy! I love my little helper!And to top the day off Koop and I made a special dinner for Daddy!
Happy Valentines Day!

Cruise!

This last week Weston and I were able to go on a cruise, thanks to Grandma Alene and a few friends that helped with Kooper. We went with Weston's parents and had such a good time. Its so different to travel once you have kids, before you just pick up and go not a worry in the world... now you can either take them with you, which is fun but if your looking for a relaxing/lay around vacation that just doesn't happen with a 3 year old! But then if you leave them home that's all you do is just worry, hoping that they are ok, and not sad, and being good...bla bla bla its just a no win situation! But despite missing Koop like crazy we had a blast! We ate way too much, layed around a lot, got a lot of sun and then ate some more! On about our 3rd night my ankles started swelling so bad, I think I just had way to much sun and not enough water plus a lot of salty food..not a good combo for a prego lady! By the end of the trip I had no ankles aka cankles and I couldn't even bend my poor toes, it was pretty sick! Luckily they are back to normal, but just a side note after looking at all our picts I think my whole body was swollen maybe I'm just in denial but lets just say I'm swollen for the record:)
This is the first beach we went to, it was on the Island of St. Martin. If you know anything about the island it is owned by the French and the Dutch so half the beach is where all the French hang out. On our way there they told us that the French side was a nude beach and I was just thinking topless.... I was TOTALLY wrong!
Wes and I had deiced to go on a little walk up the beach, we saw a few topless people here and there but then we came to a group of rocks you cross, you actually don't even realize you cross it until BAM... the..what we like to call "the greeter" says hello, trust me you CANT miss him! We took a few steps and realized we were in the middle of the nude beach. What a different culture, I cant even imagine..I mean they were old, (really old..sick), young, kids, pregnant women...you name it they were there. We obviously turned around and went right back but I was just amazed at how natural it was for all of them.
We had such a good time with Weston's parents, Im so lucky to have such good in laws! They have always made me feel so comfortable around them..all though Im sure at times they regret it:)
The formal nights were fun, Im sure it would be funner(is that a word) if I was about 30 lbs lighter...but at the same time I wouldn't trade my big belly and swollen body... remember Im just swollen:) for the world!
My cute little hubby! We had such a good time together! I love being able to go on trips and just spend time with my best friend in the whole world! I love that he still makes me laugh so hard I cry, I love that at night we could just have "pillow talk" for hours, and I love that he just loves me and doesn't hesitate a bit to show it. Im one lucky girl!
This is one of our Philippino waiters, there are so many Philippino's on the ship and Weston is in Heaven being able to speak to them all in their language. Its so fun to see there reaction, they instantly fall in love with him every time. A few of the Philippino's that we met even had chocolate covered strawberries sent to our room.
We could have never done this with our my family and friends that helped out so much! I had one tired Moma when I got home, I think she forgot how busy a 3year old boy was. But she did such a great job...so good that Im paying the consequences this week, to say the least he was SPOILED rotten, but then again what are Grandparents for?? Thanks again!