Christmas Overload

I don't want to overwhelm anyone but Christmas is such a wonderful time and I wanted to fit it all in,    in one post.  So here it goes....

Arlo is absolutely obsessed with Christmas lights.  I have no idea what he is going to do when they are all taken down.  To make Arlo happy, we went through the drive through Christmas Light Show, which he LOVED!  There is also a video while we were going through the show, and you can hear Arlo saying lights... pretty funny stuff.

I thought it was wonderful that at the light show they had a time line of Jesus' life here on this earth.  After all, that is what the season is all about.  I am so grateful for my Savior who lived on this earth as an example to me and who died so I can return and live with my Heavenly Father once again!  

This was our Christmas morning.  Well... part of it.  Arlo had a kitchen, train and chair set up on the other side of the room.

Here is the train...

the kitchen,

and the chair (that folds out into a couch with a sleeping bag).

He also received...

A bike helmet and seat (which you can't see)!  And I got a new fossil wallet with matching bags.

Electric play tools... that everybody enjoyed!

And Tim's favorite... Nerf Guns!

This toy took a few minutes to understand and learn... but once he got it... he loves taking it all over the house!

And for Cohen...

A brand new play mat!

And the boys both received Christmas PJ's!

Arlo was at the stage this year where he loved the lights, he loves to see snowman and santa everywhere he looked, he also does a great job of yelling ho! ho! ho!  At the same time he did not understand much of everything else.  I am going to be super excited next year when Arlo will be old enough to participate and understand more of our Christmas traditions and Cohen will be almost where Arlo was this year.

This year we spent Christmas here in good, old AZ.  And this was the 1st year in a while where we spent Christmas with my entire family.

This is my brother Bryce cuddling with Cohen on his new 'Super Sack'.

Bryce with my Mom.  And my mom with Darel or "PaPa" which is what Arlo calls his Grandpa.

Levie, my brother with his wife Megan and their son Lani.  And Niki, my sister with my Dad or Grampy.

Christmas is always wonderful when you get to spend it with Family as great as mine!

Here is a picture of my favorite present that I got for Christmas.  My big, boy Arlo going poop on the toilet for the very first time.  He was so proud of himself.  And then when he got off the toilet and had to flush his poop down the toilet he almost started crying because he wanted to stand there looking at it and clapping for himself.

These next pictures are just fun pictures that Tim created. Because we ran out of time and never got to see Santa this year. :-(

 

  These last pictures I want to warn you I am just bragging here.  For Christmas my mom and my husband got me five new pairs of shoes.  I was so spoiled and got many other things as well, but these made my Christmas!

So that just about sums up our Christmas!  I absolutely love Christmas.  It really is the BEST time of the year.  But when you have a family as great as mine, with two of the cutest and sweetest boys and a wonderful husband... I couldn't be happier!

Little Boys Growing Bigger

I have to spend a minute complaining about how fast time flies by!  In just 1 day my little Cohen is already going to be 1 month old!  Have I really gone a whole month with no sleep?  Maybe that is why time has gone so fast!  Well, before it goes by without me remembering anything I of course need to brag about my two beautiful, wonderful boys!

At Cohens 2 week checkup (which was really two weeks and 4 days) I found out that like Arlo, my boys are big boys.  Even though Cohen was born small at 8 lbs 11 oz (because he was a week early), he was in a hurry to catch up with his older brother.  Like most newborns Cohen's weight went down after his birth.  When we left the hospital he was 8 lbs. 4 oz. but at his checkup he weighed 10 lbs. 9 oz!  Which puts him in the 85th percentile for his weight.  His height has gone from 20 and 1/2 inches to 22 inches, which is in the 82nd percentile.  And his head is now 38.5 cm which is the 71st percentile.  I guess whatever I am feeding him is working! 

Cohen may want to be big like his brother, but he has also let me know these past few weeks that he has a completely different personality than his brother.  Arlo was the perfect baby.  He never cried, he was sleeping 4 hours or more at a time (by this age), he was perfect!  Cohen on the other hand has to be held constantly or he cries, spits up all over the place and will not sleep longer than 3 hours at a time (and I am lucky when I get that!)  Also, Cohen is a grunter.  I need to get it on video, because he grunts all the time... it's so weird.
But, even though he is a harder baby, I think he knows he has to be because his older brother takes up so much time, if Cohen did not demand my attention, or get his attention throughout his many night feedings he would never get any attention!  Poor kid!  I do love him though!  So here are some updated pics of my beautiful baby boy!

When Cohen came home from the hospital, I was watching Arlo with Cohen and I was so surprised to see how big Arlo has become.  Not only in size, but in how he acts as well.  He is so sweet, with Cohen.  He calls him Toe Toe, because he cannot say the 'C' sound and he loves him so much.  He wants to hold him and sing to him and love him all the time.  BUT he does get jealous as well.  He gets very jealous mostly when I am feeding and burping Cohen.  I truly enjoy having my boys!  I love them so much.  

Arlo is also growing up because lately he has been telling us when he is going to the bathroom.  So Tim and I decided to get the things he needs to potty train.  We got him Elmo's Potty Time Video which he calls Elmo Poo, a little toilet seat that goes on the toilet and a stool to get on the toilet.  The second time he sat on his toilet, he sat there for a few minutes, and he never tinkled.  When I took him off the potty he ran to his room, sat on the stool we got him and proceeded to pee on his stool.  So, although he is growing up he is still, and will always be a stinker!  

Pardon his outfit here... I had him in jeans but when he goes down for his nap I like to change him into his pj pants so he is more comfortable and this was right after his nap.

Here are some more pictures of my big boy.  And although he is talking all the time, starting the potty training process, learning to ride a trike, and so many other big boy things... look at his shirt... he is still drooling to the point where he needs a bib.  I would like to blame it on teething but he has had all of his teeth including his 18 month molars since he was 12 months!

Bye Bye Bronco

Today was a sad day.  Today I gave our loyal, family dog away.  Bronco was such a good dog.  He was Arlo's best friend, one of the few dogs that Tim has actually liked, and my royal pain (but I still loved him!).  Ever since we moved, he has not been getting the attention he deserved, and he had to become an outside dog... which he did not like.  Also, with me not getting the sleep I need and dealing with two children everyday, I could not give him the love he deserves.  So, my only solution was to give him to a family who would love him more than us.  We found that family.  He was the Christmas present for a seventeen year old boy, who wanted a tough dog that he could have fun with... and that is Bronco!  So this is my post in honor of a great family dog.

Won't do that Again!!!

Family Pictures....  A great time of year when we dress in our best and show ourselves off.  This year was a little hectic.  Since I did not know exactly when Cohen would be born I did not hire a photographer like I should have.   Instead I spent tons of time and money picking out perfect outfits and getting ready to go to Target Picture studios.  Yes, you read correctly... target picture studios.  The whole experience was HORRIBLE!  Why did I do it... I was desperate for Christmas pictures, and I got what I deserved.  So now I am calling in backup and getting real pictures done but they wont be here in time for our Christmas cards so we will have to make due with what we have.  Here are the few shots we got... and in all of them I can name a thing or two I do not like about them... so do not judge too harshly, I am well aware that they are not perfect.  I will say that the Target people did try their best with my children, but trying to pose a 1 year old for family pictures in 15 minutes is not as easy as it may seem. (HA!)

The 1 family picture that everybody looked decent!

 The only picture of Cohen alone.  I wanted naked pics, but Cohen was crying the entire session.  This pic was snapped as soon as I took the binki out of his mouth.

 My boys... Cohen's face... need I say more?

 Bad pic... I know... but this sums up my life right now.  A crazy 19 month old and a screaming baby...  Actually Cohen is wonderful during the day, but night time is a different story.

Can you say prom pose?  But we look good together!

Just wanted to show this one, because this is what happened in 60% of the pictures... they cut Tim's head off.  And it frustrates me because I loved my entire outfit, but you cannot see my cute mustard yellow shoes and black tights in any of these shots.

Supposed to be the sweet, Oh look at our cute baby picture, but look at our cute baby... Are you as frustrated as me yet?

Cohen is!

Sorry to be so negative... I am so grateful to get pictures of my beautiful family, but next time I will get the photographer and just send out belated Christmas cards.

Bringing Home Baby!

While I was pregnant, I would sometimes watch the show Bringing Home Baby.  Although, I would never want my whole story video recorded and put on television for all to see, I always though how great it was that these parents had every detail on video for them to show their baby one day.

With this entry, it will be more of a journal for Cohen and for me to always remember everything about his wonderful journey into this life.

Ever since Tim and I have been dating we were in agreeance that we wanted our children to be close.  Tim and his sister are around 16 months apart and my sister and I are only 15 months apart and we both LOVED growing up close to a sibling.  Right after we had Arlo we began making plans for Gooch number 2.  Luckily for us, after only a few months of trying, we were blessed with another healthy pregnancy.   With Arlo I had a horrible pregnancy.  I was miserable!  I was in no way looking forward to getting pregnant again, but we wanted to stick with our plan.  On, finding out I was pregnant I will have to admit that I was more nervous than excited.  But this is where I truley believe that my Heavenly Father stepped in and calmed my nerves beause like I have mentioned before, this pregnancy was a peice of cake compared with Arlo.

The next big step was in finding out the sex of the baby.  Tim and I both wanted another little boy.  We were both so excited that instead of waiting for week 18, Tim and I went  to a ultrasound place to find out the sex at week 13.  And we were both so relieved to know that our plans were working out perfectly.  The rest of the pregnancy was pretty univentful.  No major complains, and I have Arlo to thank for that.  He kept me so busy!

When I was 36 weeks pregnant my Dr. and I started talking about plans for the delivery.  I did not go into labor with Arlo, I was induced, so with Cohen I wanted to go into labor on my own.  But there was a discrepancy between me and the Dr. about when my due date actually was.  Because we were planning Cohen, I KNOW that my due date was Nov. 21.  But with one of my ultrasounds Cohen's measurements were dating November 29th.  So, that is the date that my Dr. kept as my due date.  Needless to say I was not very happy with his decision.  Based on his due date, I decided it would be best to go ahead and plan the induction.

On November 23 Tim and I woke up early, I called Arlo's babysitter to make sure she was ready and we prepared to go to the hospital.  About 15 minutes before we had to leave my phone started ringing.  It was the hospital.  They wanted to postpone my induction for a later time.  I was relieved to find out that it was only to postpone and not to cancel.  Well, I was supposed to go in at 9:00 AM and I did not get the call to go in until 7:00 PM.  Yes, I had to wait 10 hours.  Waiting was so much worse than a cancellation.  Tim wanted to go to a movie, dinner and shopping but I was so worried that the hospital would call during these activities we spent most of the day doing nothing.  Yet, at the same time it was so nice to have a day with Tim.  It had been to long since our last kid free day together.

Well, the rest of the story I will make quick.  We got to the hospital around 7:30.  They got me on pitossin around 9:30.  I got my epidural around midnight.  And Cohen was born at 1:59 AM.  Everything went so well.  My epidural was perfect.  I could feel no pain but I could still move my legs.  And my labor was fast.  I really could not have asked for a better delivery.  My Doctor I also want to mention was great.  He was not on call with either one of my children, but he was there for both of their deliveries.  I was so grateful to have a doctor who cares and who goes out of his way to be there for his patients.

Now that Cohen is finally here and I have had a week to adjust, I have to say that I love my boys!  I will be honest and say that I was so worried about loving Cohen as much as Arlo, but it is possible.  Heavenly Father has blessed me with 2 beautiful boys and a loving husband.  I really couldn't ask for a better life!

After such a long post here are some pictures of my new babe.  (These are the pictures that are taken in the hospital and a few of my Arlo!)