Why Christmas will always be Extra Special to us...

It was last Christmas 2006

That we got a phone call waking us at 6:30 in the morning

Telling us to open the mysterious package that had been left on our doorstep.

Inside was a puzzle, as we put it together our hands started to shake and our eyes began to tear.

It announced that a birth mother had chosen us to raise a baby boy due in the spring.

Cooper was born May 1st , but it was on Christmas morning that we started to love him. So thanks to a loving birth mother, we have a second son and an extra special reason to love Christmas.

Breakfast Anyone?

I need your help! Our little family tradition is to have homemade coffee cake and hot cocoa on Christmas morning. Because of Corbin's new diet it's out and I can't think of anything yummy for Christmas morning that doesn't include a milk product or eggs. If anyone has an idea I would love to hear it. We need a new Christmas Breakfast and I don't have a single idea. Well, we could have oatmeal but where's the fun in that?

What a Man

What a great husband. He cleans, vacuums, does laundry, and helps with the kids. I'm sure he's not the only guy out there that does all of this, but I'm glad that I got one too. Now... his idea of helping with dinner may be take out, but sometimes that is just the kind of break I need. So here is to husbands that work all day (or night like Derek) and still have energy to be a great Dad.

Ta Dah!

He Sits!

Cooper is 7 months old and can finally sit on his own. He can't get there by himself but he can hold it there for a while before flopping to one side. Hooray for Cooper, one more baby step on the path to becoming a Kid!

The Pre-School Blues

Corbin is starting his 2nd week of pre-school and I still want to cry about it. I thought today I would be fine. He woke up and remembered that it was a school day. I had been a little worried that after the long weekend he wouldn't want to go back. So the morning started out fine, he got dressed and brushed his teeth. We got in the car...things are still great...we listened to Christmas music...he sipped on his breakfast drink... Then as we turned onto the street that takes us up to the school I got a familiar lump in my throat. I took a deep breath and it went away. As his teacher came to the car to get him he was fine, but as soon as she took his hand and walked away with him the tears came again. Not his, but mine. I cried down that hill wondering how all you moms who have done this before me felt. This is normal right? Even though we have some rough days around here, I miss him.

Our Little Indian

Yea! The last Indian tribe finally got their act together and now we just have to get the paperwork ready to go to court and make Cooper officially ours. We can't wait to have him blessed and sealed to us!

What a Week!

Disneyland and Halloween

Monday night we went to Disneyland. We had so much fun. The longest line was maybe 20 min and Corbin did a really good job waiting (that is a new side effect of his diet). Corbin is tall enough to go on just about everything. His first "big boy" ride was Star Tours, he was a little nervous, but thought is was pretty cool. Cooper was as easy as ever, no complaining, just sleeping and looking around. We look forward to going again. Corbin still talks about it, and loves to cuddle with his new Mickey Mouse that Daddy bought him.

Tonight was Halloween. Liz invited us to trick or treat with them and a bunch of friends. We had a great time. My mom came along too which was really fun for Corbin. Cooper was a cute little Yoda. Corbin was Superman, but only because he wouldn't wear any costume, he was only willing to leave the house in his jammies. So even though we bought a real Superman costume and a monkey and a lion, and made a Jedi costume, he would only go out into public in his jammies. Oh well, he had fun and did a great job saying "trick or treat". Thanks Liz for inviting over.

It Hurts Here and Here....and Here

Corbin pulled an Indiana Jones on me last night. I was putting him to bed and it was probably the 2nd or 3rd time that I had taken him back to his room. As he climbed in he bumped his knee on the bed rail. He whimpered a little and said "Knee owie. Mommy kiss it". So I did, but he didn't stop with his knee. He smiled and pointed to his elbow "Elbow owie kiss it". He went through all his body parts, all his fingers, both feet, ears, eyes, nose, lips, teeth, tummy, leg, chin. I finally said goodnight and he stayed in bed. I'm sure that Super Nanny would have frowned at me for letting him pull me into his game of Keep Mommy In the Room a Little Longer. But who could resist a chance to give so many kisses?

Was it a Pumpkin Patch or a Bounce House?

Corbin has loved spotting pumpkins around town. Derek and I made plans to go to a pumpkin patch today and let him pick out his very own pumpkin. Sounded like fun to us until we discovered that all the pumpkin patches are closed during the day. At least all 4 that we drove by were. So we ended up at Albertsons and bought these two there. Lots of fun huh? (well it does get better)

So this evening, as the boys and I were driving home from Corbin's speech appointment Corbin spotted one of the patches we had driven by earlier today. This time it was up and running. But did he have any idea that it was a pumpkin patch....I doubt it. All he could see was a parking lot full of bouncy houses and slides. He was really excited when I stopped and let him play.

He had the most fun hitting the baseball off the cone. And yes Cooper was there too.

He also rode a little train, ate a snow cone and hopped in and out of all the bouncy houses. After spending about an hour there I don't think he ever noticed the pumpkin patch. Oh well, after all that running around we took hamburgers to grandmas house. It was a fun night with my little boys.

Nursery Update From the Post Below!

He did it. Corbin went all two hours in nursery with out fighting with the other kids or banging his head or having a melt down. One of the leaders said that he and a little girl were pulling on the same toy. She hurried over to protect the little girl (that has been their normal routine) and Corbin just let go and played with something else! He still wanted to have Derek in there with him for the first hour, but what a major improvement. People in the ward kept coming up to me say "Corbin just ran to me and gave me the biggest hug". I just smiled and said "Well you are one of his favorite people". And that was that. Our little Corbin is being the darling boy that we enjoy so much. I am now a real believer, it is not just our imagination....Corbin has changed. He is not perfect (he's 3) but he has been so much easier. Yea!

Good Moos?

Some of you know that our little Corbin can be quite a handful. As we looked into the options we have to help us, help him...we started to suspect that food sensitivities may be affecting his behavior. Our regular pediatrician was really not much help, so we took him "out of network" to a Doctor that has helped some families we know diagnose this type of problem. She discovered that he is affected by all dairy products including eggs. Changing his diet has been a little harder than I thought it would be, I even had a hard time finding things he can eat at Trader Joe's. But I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon. We have a second visit this coming week. There is a chance that now dairy is out of his system that she will be able to detect another "allergy". We just cross our fingers that there will be something left that is safe for him to eat.

We have noticed a change in him. He is a lot more affectionate and seems to talk more. He is less aggressive and more cooperative, even the times we send him to time out he goes without a fight. That is just amazing to us. Sunday will be the biggest test. He hates going to nursery and isn't nice to the other children. So if things go better there we will really think we have found our miracle.

So if anyone comes across a good recipe that is dairy free we would love you to share it with us. One of Corbin's favorite things to do is help make cookies. I need to figure out how to do that with out eggs or butter (chocolate chips are out too, Derek is having a hard time that one (smile)).

Our Little Weekend Get-Away

We took our first little trip as a family this weekend. Usually when we leave town it's to visit family, this time it was just us and the boys. Derek was part of a K-9 show at Sea World and we decided to make a weekend out of it. We stayed at the Residence Inn in the La Jolla the room was great and they allowed pets so Renzo stayed in the room with us. Corbin loved that. Cooper was great! He took all the little changes in his schedule in stride. We spent all of Saturday at Sea World. I had the boys to myself for most of the day. That went much better than I imagined. Corbin loved all the animals. He especially enjoyed Shamu, the dolphins and the otters. Now that we are home he likes to look at the map and point out all the "amalls" he saw. We had a great time but it's always nice to be back home!

What a (Cute) Mess!

Cooper is 4 months old now. We started him on rice cereal right away. He already finishes off 8oz. bottles, and I don't think they make bigger ones?...so we are hoping that this will help fill him up.



This is Cooper waiting for his first meal in the high chair. Then Cooper after his first meal...He didn't actually eat anything, but he did like chewing on the spoon. I wish I could look this cute with food dripping down my chin (smile).




Cooper has begun to master eating from a spoon...well maybe "master" is exaggerating, but he has gotten good enough that we started feeding him real baby food. This is his first experience with flavor. I don't think he liked it very much....but he did finish off the whole serving.




When I left the kitchen one morning after feeding Cooper, I came back to see this... Corbin had put his dog "RENZO" in the highchair and was feeding him from his sippy cups. Guess he wanted to get in on the action too.

We'll Never Forget July 29th

This is what started it all....

Ever since Corbin's Birthday (which was about a month ago) he has become obsessed with "Happy Birthday". When he walks with a plate of food he pretends he is caring out a birthday cake, he walks very carefully, sings "Happy Birthday" and blows out the "candles" which could be anything from a straw to a fork or just plain imaginary. After the "candles" are out he celebrates with clapping hands a shouts of "yea!". You would think that with all the celebrating we're doing over here that Corbin would be able to remember that he is 3 now (smile). Here are a few of the meals we have caught him singing to.

This is pizza with a straw for a candle.

Singing to his yogurt (the spoon is the candle)

"Blowing out" the Mac-n-Cheese.

Waffles with straws for candles.

It makes me wonder what is really going on in that little head. Is he disappointed every morning when he wakes up a realizes that it's NOT his birthday is he thinking: "No presents again...man, guess I'll have to just sing to this boring breakfast once more....maybe tomorrow...." How fun it must have been to have birthdays when we were younger. Birthday cake is a pretty fun treat. He may be on to something.

Oh! How Cooper Has Grown

Cooper is a week away from being 4months old. It's funny how we can't remember what our home was like with out him. He is such a sweet, content, easy going baby. His newest tricks are rolling on to his tummy and grabbing to play with his toys. He has a smile that melts my heart. Man, do we love this kid!

Our Little Hero

Corbin is going through a super hero phase. He is always pretending to be Spider Man while humming the theme to Superman or Batman. At nursery while the other kids are playing with toys, Corbin tries to hang from the chalk board making web sounds (pwishh pwishh). He also loves Start Wars. Last night we ate otter pops in the front yard with some neighborhood kids. When they were all done, Corbin started a big light saber war using the empty wrappers as swords. Very cute.

Family Reunion

We had such a great time with all my family in St. George. We swam, played games, and visited. The kids went on a treasure hunt and Rebecca's family hosted the Children's Olympics. It was a long relaxing weekend. I'm so glad that everyone made it. Thanks Mom and Dad for putting that together.