I so want to do this

This morning, just after we all woke up, Shelby pointed to my mouth and said ...

"That smells like poop."

I guess I had some pretty serious morning stank ...

Thank you Shelby for pointing it out!

Happy Camper

Shelby is seriously lovin' summer camp. She has been having a blast. She swims every day, which is of course her favorite part, and she's been going on some pretty cool field trips each Friday. This last Friday they went to the Colossal Cave.

This Friday she's going to the movies, another favorite activity of my girl.

These are some cute photos of Shelby before her trip to the Colossal Cave. She wears a camp shirt each Friday and this particular trip she had to take her backpack. I can't believe how big she's getting. It feels like just overnight she's grown up so much.

Isn't her backpack cute? It has a moose on it ... I got it on a trip to Toronto last year. There are also Canadian Maple Leaves all over it as well.

Getting bigger by the minute

Cooper had a checkup on Monday. He's just over 10 weeks old and is thriving (that's what his doctor said!). He has officially doubled his birth weight and he's not even three months old! My boy is one serious eater. His doctor said because of his weight and advanced development, we should be working on getting him to sleep through the night (that's the nice way of saying let him cry it out). We've start the whole crying it out process and guess what .... Cooper just goes to bed, sleeps about 8 hours and never fusses. I guess this is the easiest crying it out experience ever (knock on wood).

After a week of this, I'm gonna take it to the next level and try to out him to bed a little earlier. Right now he goes down between 9:30 and 10 p.m., but if he keeps sleeping so well I'm going to move his bed time to 8 p.m. It feels like we might actually be getting into a routine and Coop might just let us return to a normal sleep pattern!!! Woo-hoo for good sleepers!

Here's a sly little smile from our sweet boy. He's a really happy guy.

Here are his stats:

Weight: 15 lbs. 8.5 ozs.
Height: 24.5 inches
Head: 16.5 inches

At 10 weeks, Cooper is just an all around happy guy. He loves his sister best. He laughs and smiles all the time. He's super strong, and loves to show off his strength during tummy time. We are so blessed to have such a great baby (and a helpful big sister to go with him)!

Handsome Fella

Here's my handsome little guy. He's just so stinkin' cute. I love it when he smiles. It melts my heart.

Our Weekend

Shelby on the U of A campus after story time

It's Sunday afternoon. Both kids are napping. Mike's at the gym. And I'm updating our blog ... which has been neglected as of late. We've had a nice weekend. Yesterday I took Shelby to the U of A for the monthly character story time. Mike stayed home with Cooper, so we could have mommy/daughter time.

Shelby and Biscuit

This month's book/character was Biscuit. We don't read a lot Biscuit books, but Shelby loves books in general and loves story time. Plus, the opportunity to meet a character from the book of choice is pretty cool and memorable.

After story time, Shelby and I got our hair cut. Shelby just got a trim. But I cut off more than six inches. It's just too hot to have long hair. I needed something lighter and easier to take care of. I'm not sure I like my new cut, but Mike says it's cute so I'll believe him.

Here's what Shelby's hair looks like now that it's all trimmed up.

Last night we hosted a family dinner. It was a May/June birthday celebration, since most of Mike's family has birthdays in those months. Mike made pulled pork in a dutch oven and some of the best guacamole. Mike's mom made her tasty banana pudding for dessert. And Shelby got a cool present from her Uncle Kelly and Aunt Josie ... see below. It was a great dinner and we had lots of good family time.

Shelby on her hippity-hop as she calls it.

Today has been a slow and somewhat lazy day. We've read the newspaper, watched TV, worked on a puzzle, caught up on laundry ... and have just been hanging out as a family.

Daddy and Coop reading the newspaper together


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Tomorrow my maternity leave is over and I'm back to work, but I'm blessed to work from home most of the time ... so I just have to walk downstairs to my office. I'm also starting a boot camp exercise program in the morning to help me lose the baby weight and get into shape. We also joined the gym, so Mike can get into shape as well. Shelby starts summer camp tomorrow. She's excited to have something different to do and make new friends. Every Friday she goes on a field trip, so it should be a lot of fun for her. She'll be going to camp on and off for most of the summer and then in August she starts kindergarten (yikes!!!). Here's to a fun filled and happy summer.

The zoo and a Burrito Bus

Shelby feeding the ducks and the fish at the zoo


For playgroup yesterday, we went to the zoo. The Tucson Zoo is awesome. It's the perfect size (not too big, but just big enough) and it's only about 10 minutes from our house. It has a water play area for the kids, which is quite popular this time of year (not surprising). Shelby wore her swimsuit under her dress and got soaked three different times (she kept begging to go back to the water area). We also fed the giraffes, as well as the ducks, which is Shelb's favorite part of the zoo. Cooper slept the entire time. Seriously, my little guy is missing out on some cool things as he snoozes away!



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And now for our adventures at the Burrito Bus


Last night for dinner we ventured out the our local burrito bus, it's kind of like a taco stand ... but it's a bus. It's less than a mile from our has and serves the BEST carne asada burritos in town. Plus, we can all eat dinner for less than $10. How can that be wrong. This was Cooper's first trip to the burrito bus, but it won't be his last!

Here's Coop outside the burrito bus, waiting for our food. He may not seem all the impressed with his surroundings, but he is. I mean come on .. this was the baby's first trip to the burrito bus. What's more important than that? Nothing if you live in Southern Arizona.

And here's Shelby holding Coop as we wait for our food. Shelby loves the burrito bus and loves their quesadillas. Yummo!

Two Months Old

Cooper Rex Edward June 4, 2009 in his rocking chair

Cooper is 2 months old today. And he's growing like a weed. He eats ALL the time. Seriously, all the time. The best thing about Cooper right now is his smile. He smiles at all the people he loves ... me, Daddy, Shelby, Nana, Grandpa Big Mike. My heart melts when he smiles at me. It's especially adorable to watch Shelby with him, as she can really make him smile. He coos at her and just seems to love her the best.

We're not sure exactly how big Cooper is. He goes back to the doctor in a week. He had been gaining a pound a week and I'm sure he still is ... if not more! He's a hearty eater. We'll fill you in on his stats after his appointment.

And here's a bonus shot ... when we were taking Cooper's picture in his chair, Shelby wanted her picture taken. She kept saying we need a 5 picture of her. Meaning, we needed a picture of her as a five year old. So here she is.

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Happy 500th post! This post marks the 500th time I've shared with world what is going on my family. It's been a lot fun documenting our lives and sharing it with the people we love. Let's hope we have fun doing the next 500 posts!

Tahoe wrap up

The three amigos at Donner Memorial State Park

I have been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to post the rest of the pictures from our Tahoe trip. We went to the Donner Memorial State Park in Truckee while we where there. Took some nature walks. Looked at real estate. BBQ'd EVERY night. Biked around the lake. Went to NV and gambled a bit. Enjoyed some really wonderful family time with Chris and Bryan (and their families). I'm so glad we made the trip.

Me and Tawhnee (my sister-in-law)

I enjoyed seeing my brothers, Tawhnee, the kiddos, and meeting Jenny. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the second half of our trip.


Uncle Chris and Cooper sharing a moment

Uncle Bryan holding Coop

Shelby enjoying nature.

At the beach ... Lake Tahoe style

Rylan and Shelby

We all headed to the beach (Sand Harbor) yesterday (after our Emerald Bay adventure) and the kiddos played in the water, built sand castles and buried each other in the sand. It was lots of fun (I helped bury the kids, which was my personal highlight of the day). We settled on Sand Harbor for our day at the beach and it was perfect. The sun was shining. The water was COLD and refreshing. This was Cooper's first trip to the beach.

Daddy and Coop

For the most part, he slept. When he did wake up, we took him down to the water and put his little toes in. He didn't like it. Not one bit. He screamed bloody murder, so his lake experience lasted all of two seconds!

A very unhappy Cooper

The other kids didn't mind the cold water. Chase, Shelby and Rylan were in and out of the water all afternoon. They had a great time together. I had trouble narrowing down all the pictures I took ... so the slide below has a ton of photos. And these are just a fraction of what we took. Uncle Bryan got a new camera and took some of the best pictures of the whole weekend. I'll have to share those later.