New Year's Resolutions

I'm generally not big on resolutions, but I LOVE the new year. It seems so refreshing. I was especially excited about this new year because 2010 was a rough year for us & I'm happy to have it done with so we can start over again. So I'm making resolutions this year. Or maybe they're just goals. Whatever. They are (in no particular order):

- Blog more often.
Because I enjoy it & maybe someone out there does too (hi John & Mom!).

- Take more pictures & write more.
John thinks my camera is permanently attached to my hand, but the boys are growing so fast & I love have pictures of as much as I can. I don't write nearly enough down (you'd think from looking at Cooper's baby book that he was the 14th child in our family instead of the first). Blogging more will help a little, but I'm going to try to write a little note about each kid every day in a planner. Just cute things they did or said, or milestones, that we can look back on when they're older.

- Appreciate my family & friends more, and let them know it.
I truly love & appreciate all my family & friends, but I don't do a great job of letting them know how much so that's a big goal for me this year (and for all the years to come!).

And, because you HAVE to have a weight loss resolution or it's just not New Year's:

- Lose 500 lbs.
Seriously. John and I actually did tremendous as far as weight loss goes in 2010. I returned to my pre-Dexter-pregnancy weight, which was significantly less than my pre-Cooper-pregnancy weight. And John lost more than 70 lbs this year. It's amazing & I'm so proud of him. He looks great & is so much healthier than before. But more on all that (with before & after pictures!) in a future post.
Our house, on the other hand, is morbidly obese. I plan to declutter (sell, donate, recyle, or throw out) 500 lbs this year. We've decluttered a lot this year, but have so much further to go. I came across this, & I love the idea. I'll keep you all updated on our progress.

Maybe I'll add a couple more goals, but I figure this is a good start.

Celebrating the Fourth

We spent out Fourth of July with Grandma & Grandpa.

There was swimming...

and playing at the park.

Dexter was a little confused. He crawled into the room with the dogs when my mom called them for dinner, & even crawled over to my dad for his "turn" to be petted like the dogs. Weirdo.

We went to a nearby lake for the fireworks display, but the bugs were so bad we had to move into the van to watch it.

(P.S. There are more photos of Dexter, but I promise I haven't forgotten about Cooper. He's just become much more difficult to photograph & even runs from the camera now. Unless it's a modeling job, & then he's a complete ham.)

Oh Spring, I've missed you so...

Welcome back Spring! I love you & I've missed you!
We visited Lake Catherine today for their St. Patrick's Day waterfall dyeing with the "nursing moms" (the moms I met at my breastfeeding group) for the second year in a row (see last year here). Since most of us had a second child this year, we had twice as many kids with us this year. Yikes. The babies spent most of their time in strollers or being worn by their mommies, but next year they'll all be walking so look out.

Cooper "smiling" for the camera

Then Cooper, Dexter, & I had a picnic.

Dexter did this to himself. I moved it off his face & he did it again. And smiled. Weirdo.

Christmas crafts

I had lots & lots of crafting to do for Christmas so I had to put Cooper to work. He painted birdhouses for Grandpa & Papa, & frame mats for both Grandma's & Daddy (and we framed a picture of Dexter & Cooper of course).




I made cloth doll diapers for my friend Joslyn's daughter (so she'd stop stealing her sister's disposable diapers),


a towel wrap for my dad,


a laptop case for John's sister's laptop,


a t-shirt for Pat (our future brother-in-law), who loves his van,


and a family tree wall hanging for my mom.


And since I know you've been holding your breath to see what this was (or you've completely forgotten about it), I made a card table felt playhouse for Cooper. There's felt mail for the mailbox & the fruit, vegetables, & birds are all attached with velcro so they can be moved around. (It's a really impressive idea that I completely stole from here.)

New Year

We sent Cooper to bed at his normal time on New Year's Eve, but woke him at 11:50. He was a little tired (so tired that he stumbled around like he was drunk).

Dexter did not go to bed. Mommy was even less happy about this than Dexter looks.

Don't worry - it's sparkling grape juice. Cooper loved the bubbles, but thought it burned.

Our only New Year's tradition - pigs in blankets

Cooper wasn't interested in banging on pots & pans or drums until we told him it was time to go back to bed. "No! I have to bang on pots & pans!"

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with John's family.

Cooper cuddling with Papa Fred

Most of the gang (trying not to fall into a post-feast coma)

Dexter, in a post-feast coma

Halloween (just in time for New Year's)

Dexter's first Halloween! He was a pea pod (& thrilled, as you can see),

so we decided Cooper should be a veggie too. Since corn on the cob is his favorite, that's what he dressed up as. Mommy sewed some felt on green pants for a stalk & husks & Daddy painted the shirt. (The robot hoodie doesn't exactly match, but it was a bit chilly.)

Cooper went trick-or-treating, but after encountering some motion sensor ghoolies, he decided he didn't like it so much. We went to two houses before turning around & coming home.

Cooper discovered "brown candy" (chocolate) & was on a sugar high for the night.

He definitely preferred handing out candy to trick-or-treating, and made sure to tell everyone, "Happy Ho'ween!"

Happy anniversary John!

We got married 8 years (yikes!) today.

Happy Memorial Day!
Thanks to all the veterans, especially my brother & all my other relatives who have served our country.

Easter

We spent Easter weekend with Grandma & Grandpa at their house. Their town holds an Easter egg hunt on Saturday so we headed over to the park and were surrounded by kids, parents, Easter baskets, & colorful Easter eggs. Unfortunately, we were about 5 minutes too late for Cooper's age group so he didn't get to hunt for eggs. Luckily, he didn't seem to mind & was happy walking around the park with his basket.

We also visited with some of Grandma & Grandpa's friends & Cooper got a cookie, which he held onto for about half an hour before taking a bite.

We walked through the park again & Cooper found a walking stick.

We even colored Easter eggs. Cooper was fascinated... by his puffs. Not so interested in the eggs. We got a couple of "Oooh"s, but they may have just been because we kept saying "oooh".

On Easter we went back toward the city for a giant breakfast with the whole family. Zak & Caycee were there & Cooper had tons of fun. It always seems like I don't manage to get the camera out when the three of them are together... I wonder why that is.

Then it was off to Granny Smith & Fred's for Easter dinner. Cooper enjoyed watching YouTube videos with John. Don't worry, that's just cherry jello on his collar.

Going green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
We celebrated with a brunch playdate followed by a trip to Lake Katherine to watch the waterfalls get dyed green.

Cooper's foot is obviously healing; he kept trying to climb into the water while I was taking pictures.