10/11/10
Cooper Preston James turned 2 today! I cannot believe it! Time flies so fast. It seems like months ago we were in the hospital holding him for the first time. Cooper is such a wonderful blessing. He smiles all the time, loves to hug, and loves to play. He also loves to help. He helps put groceries away, separate laundry and put them in the wash and dryer, and helps put toys away. He will cry if you don't let him help! I hope it keeps up, haha! He will say, "Mama, help, I help." It is very sweet. He is starting to count to ten with some assistance, knows most of his colors, and knows a few shapes. He will call out letters (whether they are right or not) when he sees big letters. He understands so well. When you ask him to do something or ask him a question, he gets it! He all of a sudden is talking much more. He sometimes gets a little aggrevated when you can't figure out what he is trying to tell you. He loves Mama's hip and hanging on her all day long but boy does he love when Daddy comes home and it's time to play!!! His favorite thing to do is play on the bed with Daddy! They hide, flip, wrestle, and are wild!!! He really looks up to his Daddy. They are big buddies. I think it is wonderful! And he loves sister!!! That is what he calls her but it sounds like "Siser". He wants to do most anything she is doing. They play well together most of the time but like all siblings they have their moments. Night time comes around it's time for milk and rocking with Mama. We will snuggle up under covers and rock until he falls asleep. I love this time with him. He will pat me or rub my face, it is so sweet. I will rock him as long as he wants, even if he is 16! Ha! He is such a sweet little boy......starting to become more mischevious.....but sweet :) We are the luckiest parents in the world to have loving, healthy, smart children. I love every minute I can spend with them! Can't believe two years have passed but we look forward to all the years to come with our special little man.

For Cooper's birthday, Cooper and I stayed outside from 8-12 in the morning playing hard! We had the best time. Got some funny videos on the trampoline and played in the pool of balls for a long time. It was so nice outside and it was a perfect morning for his birthday!

He is puckering his lips to give me a kiss here, so sweet :)

Our usual tradition - Dinner at Tokyo for a birthday!!! Cooper is eating his baby sushi Mr. Kim always makes the kids when we go as a special treat. He is so good to the kids and they love getting to see him. Cooper is really cheesin' it up here!

Big Sister :)

He loved the attention!!!

A great end to Cooper's birthday! I am so blessed!!!

On October 10th I took the kids to CHOM to play for a while and then went to get winter shoes. On the way home we got milkshakes and french fries from Sonic. It was such a fun day!!

They always have to fish at CHOM...

Cooper would climb up on this bridge and say, "I'm tall!" He would do it over and over again.

LG loved playing with these eggs! She carried them around for the longest.

Cooper picking carrots.....

Peek-a-boo!

LG on the boat. Don't forget your life vest!

Cooper filling up!

About 3 feet tall at 2 years old!

LG getting her hair cut.....

My little model :-)

We have so much fun in this thing! The air blows all around you and balls fly around. You try to catch them and put them in a net. It's a lot of fun and makes cute pictures, too!

I can't explain how excited Marty is that Cooper is starting to get "big boy" toys! He has been waiting for this ever since we found out we were having a boy! This was the day after his party and Daddy and the kids put together this big train track! All three of them were so proud and insisted on taking a picture of it!!

October 10th we had Cooper's 2nd Birthday Party. It was all about TRAINS!!! Cooper loves trains! Or what he calls "Choo-Choo". He loves the tracks, watching the trains go around and around, the sounds.....really anything about trains. So of course, that is what kind of party we had to have! We had so many of our close family and friends at the party. It was wonderful! We had it in our backyard and it was a beautiful, perfect day for my little man.

Here was his Birthday Invite :-)

The little set up with the trains going around the track and the party favor trains in the middle. And a big, blue C for Cooper in the center!

Cooper's birthday cake! This was all a joint effort. Grandmommy made the cake and iced it. Aunt Kirsten made the icing. I made the cake train and decorated it with candies. It thought it turned out really cute.

I loved the smoke coming from the train :-)

The train party favors...

Personalized Party Cups :-)

Grandmommy got this name train for Cooper and it was perfect to use for the party! He loves to take it apart and put it back together again.

The food table - We had teriyaki chicken, grilled and fried, from the Sawmeal. We had chips, cheese puff, dip, veggies and apples, pretzel logs, and cheeze-its. And Grandmama made her yummy brownies and peanut butter stacks that everyone always loves!

One view of the back yard....

Another view of the backyard.....

I really wanted a train for the kids to ride but we just couldn't make it happen. So I had to improvise! I made my own!! The kids seemed to really enjoy it even if it didn't ride :-) You can see part of it but I also laid down a track with black duck tape.

I put out the crayon table and the kids were able to decorate the train with crayons, markers, and chalk. It was a big hit!

Here is LG, Tucker and Braiden in the train....

I can't believe my sweet, baby boy is 2 now! He is such a joy in my life and boys are so special! I am so lucky to have him!

Some of our friends during the party.....

There is Tuck-Tuck!

The Birthday Boy cheesin' it up while eating cheese puffs :-)

Cousin, Tucker....

Big Sis, Lily Grace....

Cousin, Danni Kate.....

Friend from church, Canyon.....

I have been wanting to make a banner for a long time by using my cricut. It was so much fun to make! And I loved how it turned out. Also, here is the gift table....

Daddy lighting the candles.....

Cooper blowing the candles out.....

Some of the kids playing in the train. Cooper was the caboose again cheesin' it up!

Here are some pictures of Cooper opening gifts. Maybe next year he will tear into them! This year Mommy still had to open most of them because he would get distracted by each gift he opened up :-)

Cooper loved his Dino Train from Uncle Pat, Aunt Brandi, Brennon, Madi, and Braiden! It was the first toy we had to play with when we got inside!!

Lily Grace decorating the train....

Braiden decorating the train......

Some of the big boys playing on the trampoline.....

Madilyn set this all up. It was such a nice presentation :-) Let's just say, Cooper got lots of train stuff and he loves it all!!!