September Vacation

Our vacation to visit family was a success! Cooper, CJ and I came home a little tired and ready to sleep in our own beds. Here's the perfect clip to explain how hard we played, enjoy:

Time to Relax

Thanks to all of you who gave me props for my race! I'm hoping to run another when I get back from vacation... speaking of vacation, this post will be short because we are leaving

TONIGHT!!

And Randy gets to come with us (for a little while)!

I'm hoping to get a little bit of this while we visit family in southern Utah:

And maybe a little WATER time as well.

I hope to minimize the crying time...

And enjoy our TOGETHER time:

When we get back I will post some FUN summer pictures and get CAUGHT UP with what we did these past few months.

Proof of my 8k

I HAD to post this to remember for the future that it is possible to run an 8k... in the rain.... with 2 kids in tow.... after staying up until after midnight.... and wakeboarding all afternoon.... 2 months after having a baby....

I know for some of you this would be a piece of CAKE but I only finished because RANDY kept PUSHING me (literally) and telling me to HAVE A LITTLE PRIDE. Thanks honey, I WILL sprint past you next year so I don't have to listen to it AGAIN.

Click on this link to see the pain on my face - enjoy!
brightroom event photography

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Randomness

Let me start by giving a shout out to my sweet husband of 8 years (yes honey, it HAS been 8 years of marriage already). The wind had blown our BBQ over numerous times so for Father's Day we got our chief grill master.... ta da - a new grill! Love to you and all you do!

We are taking advantage of playing outside while the weather is nice here. So much so that Cooper will fall asleep quickly in unusual places.

I'm learning that the reason 2 kids are difficult is because when one is asleep...

the other one is wide awake.

But how could you mind with a sweet face like that!

I've been feeling so great lately that I actually mowed the lawn! It's AWESOME to get out and work - I'm feeling the baby fat FINALLY begin to melt away. While I mowed the lawn Cooper enjoyed an ice pop (ok, 4 ice pops, but it was the only way I could keep him from wanting to HELP me mow).

Cooper is all about doing things "by meself, mommy" so this is the face he gave me when I tried to help him with his bike.

Love to all!

Dog Days

What do you get when a little boy who loves dogs has some great neighbors WITH dogs? The BEST of both worlds! He can play with a dog and YOU don't have to clean up after it. We are lucky to have such a situation... thanks to our neighbors Pat & Molly and their sweet lab, Darby.

C.J. is getting bigger! She has discovered her hands and will suck her thumb if I don't have a pacifier handy for her. Already she just goes with the flow.

We had a cook-out with a few friends before the days got too humid and sticky. Cooper couldn't get enough of the fire pit. By the time we left for home he was COVERED in a mess of chocolate, watermelon, marshmallow and ash. Below is a picture of the kids with Kyle telling Cooper to BACK AWAY (we all told him multiple times, he likes to test his limit aka: our limits).

And me with the girls left to right:

Erica, Darci, Rivka, Amy (still losing the baby weight)

And Randy convinced me it would be MUCH easier to buzz Coop for the summer. He and I were both against it at first, but the thought of not having to comb his hair or cut it ever two weeks won me over. Cooper was not so convinced.

When he realized he and Daddy were now twins, it made everything ok.

Not bad, not bad at all.
We hope you're enjoying your summer as much as we are. Love to all of you.

Catching Up

I don't know where anyone finds time to blog (or sleep) with a new baby and a toddler. I have so much to catch up with, but it's been LONG ENOUGH since my last post. CJ is already 9 weeks old and smiling. We had a few visitors in April-May because if you have a baby... they will come. (a little Iowa humor). First my mom came and graciously stayed for 2 weeks to help me - I needed more help with Cooper than anything. She was AWESOME to take him out and about which is no small task if you've seen his running skills.

Grandma McAffee & Caroline:

Then Randy's mom & dad came a few weeks later. Seriously, is this not the cutest picture?(below)

Grandpa Clark & Caroline:
We blessed CJ at church while they were here. She's in the dress my mom made for the occasion below.
Grandma Clark & Caroline:

Our expanding family:It's always so sad when family leaves. Thanks for coming to see us!

Now on to Cooper, he learned to usethe sprayer on the hose while Grandpa Clark was here. It was funny at the time but now you can't go outside without him trying to spray you down. And even if he doesn't get YOU, he soaks himself which means you get wet taking care of HIM anyways. But it's still pretty cute.
We were able to take a tour of the helicopter at the hospital last week. Cooper thought it was the coolest thing. I was able to get him to do anything I wanted for a few days prior by reminding him of how we were going to see the helicopter. When our big moment finally arrivedhe was so excited to sit inside, but then refused to get out until I went inside after him.

We're still talking about the "helicopter take off, mommy".
We had one more big thing last month - Cooper turned 2!!
My friend, Heather, gave me this idea for his cake and let me borrow her son's dump truck. It's a dirt cake with brownies, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, crushed oreos and worms all mixed together. Be sure to line the dump truck with plastic wrap if you try this. All the kids LOVED it and I loved the chocolate!
There are more pictures and stories to share of our adventures the past weeks, but both kids are asleep right now, so I'm going to RELAX with a good book.

I can't resist, one more picture: CJ in her bath tub.Love to all - can't wait to catch up on reading everyone's blogs!

Bring on the Bows

Our sweet baby girl is finally here!!! I can't TELL you how nice it is NOT to be pregnant any more. Can I just say that I am a fan of being induced - it went so well. We went to the hospital around 5:30 am and had her just before 2 pm, much faster than with Cooper. Plus I didn't feel like I had been hit by a truck when I came home from the hospital. My doctor says it's because my body knew what to do since it was my 2nd pregnancy.

Here's our first picture together after they took me to my room

Randy got some snuggle time in with her as well...

Cooper didn't want much to do with her in the hospital, but when we came home he decided he liked her after all and was probably a little too affectionate at first. He's been a wonderful big brother - minus the extra tantrums he's displayed which I think are attributed to not being the only focus in the home.

Here's a little clip of Cooper saying, " hi baby CJ". I'll post more when I'm not so TIRED.