Seven Weeks!

Seven weeks seems like both the blink of an eye and a lifetime.  I'm sitting here snuggling my sweet baby and waiting for him to fall into a deep enough sleep that he will stay in his cradle for longer than 3 minutes.  He's a pretty good baby, but being out of my arms is not one of his strengths!  Needless to say, things around the house are not quite happening like I prefer, but it is worth it.  I know that quicker than I'd like, this little guy won't be so little and I'll have to force him to give me a hug and cuddle with me.  So I'll soak this in while I can!

Basketball and Daddy Daughter Dance

Alli played basketball through the rec center in January and February.  She just had her last game on Saturday. I only made it to the first game before Cooper was born, but luckily Alex was available to take her the rest of the time.  She was pretty nervous at first because she didn't know all the rules, but conveniently they don't have many rules at this age.  She made a few baskets and really enjoyed the season!

 

 

 

Last Friday was the Daddy Daughter Dance at school.  They had a cowboy theme.  We didn't have anything, so I picked up a few things at Partyland.  Everything worked great except Alex's head, which apparently isn't quite one-size-fits-all when it comes to Stoddard-sized heads.  He wore it for the pictures then left it at home for Brynne and Tyson to play with.  The girls came home extremely hyper and Alex said they had so much fun. He got some cute videos of them dancing with their friends.  I am so unbelievably grateful for this neighborhood we live in.  Our kids have such cute friends. 

 

These kids are sure lucky to have that guy as their dad.



 

Brothers

I am beyond grateful that Tyson and Cooper have each other. I know they don't know it yet, but they are so lucky. I've watched my girls grow together and thought about my relationship with my sisters and don't know what I would do without them. One of the first things I thought about after we learned Tyson was a boy is that I hoped someday he would have a brother. Now that Cooper is here, I look forward to watching them become friends and tackle each other and tease each other and support each other.

 

 

Pictures

Sunday 10

1.  This was probably the busiest week I've had since Cooper was born...and it wasn't even too busy, which says a lot about how much we've been at home the last 6 weeks.

2.  My neighbor started a dance class in her basement, so Brynne and all her little friends in the neighborhood get to go there every Monday.  She loves it so much, and I'm more than happy for her to have something to do once a week that she enjoys.

3.  On Tuesday I registered Brynne for kindergarten.  Ack!  I can't believe I will have 3 kids in school next year.  This is going by too fast...

4.  Thursday was Valentine's Day.  Despite my sleeping in past my alarm, I managed to whip up a quick pink breakfast before the girls went to school.  They were so excited for their class parties, and came home with lots of goodies. 

5.  I took Tyson to an ENT that morning to see if his adenoid was a factor in why he hasn't quite grown out of his drooling yet.  His adenoid is apparently blocking 2/3 of his air flow, but the doctor wasn't convinced that removing it would solve the problem.  So we will wait it out for another year or two and see if there is any improvement.

6.  Alex surprised me that night and came home with pizza for the kids and a babysitter for us.  We took Cooper and went to Rib City for dinner.  It was a nice break to get away with Alex.  We seem to have a tag-team parenting method happening these days, and not as much time together, so it was refreshing to be able to sit and talk.  And Cooper chilled in the carseat the whole time. 

7.  Alli participated in her classroom storytelling festival a couple weeks ago.  She wrote her own story and brought props.  She advanced from her classroom contest to the grade level one on Friday.  Her teacher called me after school on Friday to say that Alli was one of the few 3rd graders that advanced to the school level contest.  She is soooo excited (and a little nervous!).  We will be able to go watch her next week.  I'm proud of her for not being afraid to do stuff like that (she didn't get that from me!).

8.  Saturday morning I went to a stake Relief Society meeting with Hilary Weeks.  Between my old nursery calling and having a baby, I haven't been to Relief Society in well over a year and a half, so it was amazing to sit among other women and feel uplifted.  I loved it.  Her message was about positive thinking, and using our thoughts for good.

9.  Alex is always the best dad, but he has truly taken on the role of superdad since Cooper was born.  He takes the older 4 kids every Saturday and runs himself ragged doing fun things with them.  We are all lucky to have such an active and fun guy around. 

10.   Up until 3 nights ago, Cooper was a fabulous sleeper, waking up only once each night.  The last few nights he has been so much harder.  He won't sleep in his cradle and his stretches are much shorter.  I'm hoping this is just a 6 week peak of difficulty, and things will settle back to normal after the next couple days!

Science Fair

Both Alli and Holly wanted to participate in the Science Fair this year.  Why I said yes to an optional project (x2!) with a 3.5 week old is beyond me.  But we got it done!  The girls were very proactive and got them all done with help from me.  I was really proud of them for doing such a great job.  Alli's project came in 5th place for third grade. 

 

Uno Attack!

Tyson's new favorite game!

 

Tyson Says

*"What's way way way way way way way way funny?  Yo face!"

*"Say cheese for Santa!" when he sits on a little chair he put on the couch.

*"Yatch out!"

*"I want to be happy!  Are you happy?"

*"I a baby" followed by climbing on my lap with his blankie and cuddling and fake crying.

*"I a puppy" followed by crawling around the floor, rolling over, picking a ball up with his teeth, and playing fetch.

This crazy funny kid keeps us laughing all day long. I sure love him.