Merry Christmas 2008

This is a little late but we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. This was the first year Randy and I have spent away from our families and just stayed in Iowa. It was different but Cooper made it so much fun! I'll post some pictures soon.

Sad News

As some of you already know, we found out that we lost one of the twins about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I've been a little sad so I didn't want to blog about it until I felt better. The doctor doesn't know what happened because both girls looked perfect on the ultrasound 2 weeks prior. I want to say how thankful I am for a kind, compassionate doctor who let me cry on his shoulder until Randy arrived; for a caring husband who dropped everything to be with me; and for wonderful friends and family who went out of their way to make certain I would be ok. It's hard to be sad when you feel the love of those around you and your Heavenly Father's protection.
We still have a healthy baby girl on the way who I am anxious to meet and so overjoyed to still be blessed with carrying.

Lots of love to everyone!

Growing up... and Out

I am doing a little victory dance in my head (and my kitchen when it's just me and Cooper) because Coop is FINALLY in Nursery!! No more roaming the halls and chasing him around for 2 WHOLE HOURS of blissful church attendance. I can even bring my scriptures again since I don't have to pack entertainment for an entire 3 hours.

And the other day I couldn't hear Coop banging around for a minute and got worried... this is what he was doing:

I thought, "I must be doing something right!" The belly watch is in full swing. I'm starting to feel the girls kick and push all over. It was exciting to finally feel them, though in the middle of the night I would be happy to have some sedentary time!

Cooper has found use out of his Mommy's belly:

Sad News - my Doctor put the hault on my ZUMBA classes (here's a youtube example if you don't know what Zumba is)! It's my favorite aerobics class to teach but a little too much shakin' for me to handle these days. I'm still teaching spin a few times a week (for now) so Zumba will have to wait until the spring :(

Giving Thanks

I absolutely LOVE this time of year. When you have an excuse to make treats, eat too much, and sit down with friends to share a meal. We had a FUN group at our house this year to celebrate Thanksgiving. I absolutely hated having to sit at the "kid table" when we went to my grandparent's house growing up, but here I am segregating the young and old.

(Adult Table - or is it?)
(Kid Table)

(Babies in-between)

I hope everyone else had as good a time as I did. My pregnant belly felt like it had STRETCHED 2 inches by the end of the night. I kept trying to find a comfortable position on the couch while Cooper had the best idea and just stripped down to his diaper.

Thanks to the Judd, Erekson, Maline & Henderson Families for joining us this year!

I have to end with my thankful list in no particular order:

1. For my family, including the 2 on the way

2. For good health

3. For the gospel of Jesus Christ

4. That my husband has a stable career and I'm able to stay at home with my sweet boy

5. For my friends that keep me smiling :)

A Family Affair

Cooper and I flew to Utah the first part of the month for 2 reasons: 1) I'm afraid my doctor will tell me I can't travel soon and I don't know when I'd get out again; and 2) my BABY brother was getting MARRIED!! That's right, Paul-E-Wog took the plunge before the other 3 boys.

And here's the HAPPY couple with my nephew, Trevor, as the ring bearer. He kept telling his mom he wanted to be the one to throw the flowers but he settled for the rings in the end.

Paul and Kelsie drove to Las Vegas after their big day for the honeymoon. My sister and I did the decorating for the luncheon so I had to put a pic in with how it turned out. Not bad for 2 girls with 4 kids between them (5, 3, 1 & 3 months) and NO husbands around to help! Poor Dad was our errand boy with half his finger (severed it the week before in a not-to-be mentioned wood splitting accident) - love you Dad!

But BEFORE the wedding... we had a little fun at the Hogle Zoo with the Clark Family. Here's Cooper with Aunt Jane:

And me with Sierra, Cooper with Grandma.

Of course after the Zoo it's good to wash the wonderful smells off. So Cooper had to jump in the tub with his cousin:

Then we were off to spend time with the Gray's - OF course I MADE them take me to Leatherby's, though the ice cream didn't taste the same with my temporary discerning palette (I can't wait until I LIKE chocolate and sweets again). Here's Cooper with cousin Tyler:

And Cindy with her littlest one, Megan:

At the end of our trip we headed back to SUNNY, BEAUTIFUL, wish I lived there RIGHT NOW Saint George. Cooper wouldn't leave Grandpa alone. He even "helped" him in his office.
Thanks to everyone for the wonderful time. We had too many adventures to blog about. I did drop in on my friends at Nu Skin, ahhh... back in the working days when I straightened my hair and put make-up on EVERY day. Thanks to Shan, Candice, Brian, Matt and everyone else who made time to chat with me for a while.

This scoop is for you!

Announcing...

I FINALLY went in for an ultrasound on Wednesday and we are SO HAPPY to let everyone know that both twins look GREAT and we are expecting...

Randy said, "There goes my football team!" (I don't know how many babies he thinks I'm going to have but I don't see THAT many in our future.) Soon the girls will outnumber the boys in our house - how weird!

Let's bring on the PINK!

Spooky Lion

I know it's sooo late, but couldn't NOT post a pic of Coop in his Halloween costume. My friend, Anna, saved me some $$ this year when she let me borrow this adorable LION costume that Cooper ADORED. In fact, I put it on him a few weeks before to make certain it fit and he did NOT want to take it off. I see superhero costumes in our future for sure. This is a pic of Randy, me and Coop at the Annual Medical Partners' Halloween Kids' Party.

We went trick-or-treating later that night and I think Randy had just as much fun as Cooper! It didn't take Coop long to figure out the routine, but if any of the houses had a dog inside he would run in (before I could stop him) so he could pet it - NO fear, I swear. Needless to say we saw many houses in our neighborhood, inside and out.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween as well!

Be Back Soon

Cooper and I are off on adventures in Utah - visiting family and attending my BABY brother's wedding!! (I can't even believe it.) So I'll have some fun pics and tales to tell when we get back next week.

Love to all!

Da Bears

We had an exciting weekend in CHICAGO - finally time to go to DA BEARS game!! Instead of staying downtown this year, we stopped in Naperville for the night (such a cute little town) and went to their Children's Museum. They have all kinds of cool exhibits, the one below is where Cooper had the most fun - in the water - followed closely by the bubble-making room. I think Randy had just as much fun as Cooper playing with all the toys.

The town has a cool riverwalk that we strolled in the evening. I took a TON of pictures of Cooper but he's in the stage where he has NO TIME to look at me and smile for the camera, so this was the best one...

And the next day we MADE IT to the game. AMAZINGLY Cooper lasted the ENTIRE time. He and I had a snack break during the 2nd quarter, but besides that he just chilled with us in our seats while we fed him every treat imaginable. Ironically, the next day was his first dentist appointment.

Couldn't have asked for better weather at 65 degrees and sunny, plus it was an EXCITING game against the Vikings. Next year I'm afraid Randy will have to find a buddy to take with him, so.... let me know if you're interested!!

Check out the HILARIOUS video fro SNL on DA BEARS and DA BULLS - makes me laugh EVERY TIME.

PS. Here's the Belly progress from last week...

Fall Brings in the NEW

We went a little crazy, with 3 kids soon in our future, and bought a new Honda Odyssey! Randy is laughing at me because I won't drive it (or insure it, why waste the $$) until we sell his car and are back down to 2 vehicles. It's a GREAT van, many of our friends have the same, but I NEVER thought my FIRST NEW vehicle would be a MINIVAN! Ahhh, to embrace motherhood and all its perks! Here are Cooper and I with our salesman, Patrick:

We REALLY lucked out because Aunt Beth and Aunt Ruth drove all the way from Utah to our neck of the woods on a little sightseeing adventure. They spent 2 days spoiling us with playmates for Cooper, goodies at the Kalona bakery, and more from Amana Colonies. We were all sad to see them leave. Thanks for the fun time!

We wrapped up the weekend with a day-trip to Dubuque - beautiful drive this time of year with the leaves changing. Our neighbor told us of the steepest railway west of the Mississippi, so I had to check it out. As luck would have it, the town was also hosting their annual Chili Cook-Off, not so good for my super-sensitive sniffer, but it came with games for the kids. Cooper LOVED the bouncy house. He threw a MAJOR fit when we had to DETACH him from the fun.

I HAD to take a pic of this chili booth for all you Chuck Norris fans, not sure how true their claim is, I'd bet my money on Chuck anyday:

And finally we made it to the railway. It was a little shorter than I thought - ok, a lot. So good thing for the chili or Randy would have been SOOO disappointed.

Sweet September

I've been lazy (and a little sick) so I've slacked on the highlights of our September. Here are a few things we did...

We started eating out A LOT because I can't get over the smells in the kitchen these days. Randy's been so good about this and Cooper's become a pro at coloring. THANKS BOYS!

I ran a 10k with a few friends. L to R : Jen, Heather, Katie, Amy. The race was fun, Katie whipped us all by a few minutes. I ran with Heather and Jen the whole race and then sprinted the last few blocks because I saw my boys cheering for me on the side and just couldn't help myself :) I can't wait for next year!

Not to be outdone by me... Randy participated in a sprint TRIATHALON. What a show-off! A big group of ortho residents/attendings participated. Let's just say there was plenty of trash-talking before the event. Here he is before the swim.

And now the bike...

and the BIG FINISH!

Great job RANDY!

Randy, Todd and Will all ran the ENTIRE triathalon.

We were lucky enough to get away for a weekend to travel to Dearborne, Michigan and attend the wedding of a good friend, Ryan Atkin. Of course we had to stop along the way so Cooper could play.

We spent time with a few southern Utah friends. Here is Randy with Tyler and Ben:

And me with Cicely and Heidi:

Thanks to the Goodman's and Truman's for such a fun time! I think Cooper's favorite part of the weekend was when we let him roam in his diaper after the reception - can you say Risky Business?

Coming Soon...

We can't believe it either, but that's right - we're getting TWO for one!! Randy and I are still trying to wrap our heads around this, but it's official. The babies should arrive SPRING 2009. Officially they're due April 11th (my little bro, Mike's, birthday) so if we last until mid to late MARCH we will be excited. What a great 30th birthday present that would be for me (March 23rd)! Any advice you have on multiples?? I'll take it all. And yes, they make great TRIPLE jogging strollers. Love to all!

Danes' Family Farm

We went to the ORTHO playgroup this month and got a little messy... ok, a LOT messy! Wet, freshly mowed grass does not work with little kids. But the humiliation was soon forgotten.And it was on to see the animals. Here is Hannah, Cooper and Katelyn waiting for us to get in.

Then Porter and Aspen showed up... and they got a little more restless. Coop didn't want to be left out so he tried to climb as well.

This lamb below had a little house it was hiding in and Cooper kept trying to go in and get it. No FEAR I tell you! I think he was prepped from our visit to the fair.

All animal poop and sprained ankles aside, a BIG thank you to Darci for planning such a fun outing! All you moms: If you haven't done this yet it is such fun with the kids and they give you FREE ice cream after the petting zoo at their dairy - yummy.

FAIR PLAY

We made it to the Iowa State Fair this year, it's suppose to be the best in the nations so, of course, we HAD to check it out. First thing was first: Randy had heard about the food so the boys went in search of the "good stuff".

And I think they found something...

A plethora of goodies were consumed this day - let's just say that Randy would gladly pay $10/each next year just for the chance to eat.

Then on to the animals where we saw the biggest SWINE and BULL of the fair:

Both were well over 2,000 pounds - now THAT is some SERIOUS Iowa dieting.

This little calf was adorable with Cooper. He started licking him all over his face and hands which honestly grossed me out, but what do you expect at the fair... can I say SHOWER TIME!

Yes, the fair was a big HIT. So to all of you who STILL have not come to visit us, yet another exciting attraction IOWA has to offer that will leave you saying, "Let's make Iowa our vacation destination EVERY year!"