Baby, it's cold outside!

Okay... I went a whole month without blogging... I was dying!  The truth is I love to blog, it is such a fun way to brag! :-)  So the next few days (maybe a week depending on my boys) I will try and catch up.  Because January was a BUSY month!

I am going to start with our New Years trip to Utah. 

When we first got to Utah (we flew up as a family this time and it was wonderful, I will never drive again!) The weather is what you would expect in Utah for being the end of December.  It was cold, everything looked dead and ugly and the snow was melting and brown.  Then, while we were there they had a HUGE storm.  It was cold and miserable... but Arlo loved it.  Here is a video of him playing(stomping) in the snow saying snow over, and over again.

Sorry about being sideways, I do not know how to fix that.

AND

Sorry about my voice, this is when I finally started getting it back, it was gone for a few weeks.

He also had a blast going sledding.  We went with Arlo's 2 cousins Katie and Brinton... It was so cold!

He was so cute all bundled up!

Dad and Arlo were buds... Mom was keeping Cohen warm.

Katie... yes she is always this beautiful.

It's go time!

Katie and Brinton.

It was hard for me to get their faces because I would have had to walk down the snowy hill with a baby and my camera, so I stayed at the top of the hill and got the backs of their heads.

Overall we had a wonderful time.  Here are a few more pics.

 Meet Darth Vader in Huggies!

Arlo and his Uncle "Sex" (his name is Rex, Arlo cannot say Rex)

Cohen and his favorite cousin Eli, who was born a few weeks earlier.  What Studs!

I have to say that the only bad thing about the trip was that stupid winter storm.  It brought in such cold weather that we didn't get to go snowboarding.  Tim went once with his nephews and it was so cold that Jordan got freezer burn on his face and wrist.  Tim did not want to go again because it was so miserable. And if Tim did not want to go again, I was not going to argue... I hate being cold.

SO, for Valentines day, we are going snowboarding... I will post about that later!

Inconvienence

I went to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer...


But it will not let me...


The memory is full.

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.