:: a date with my boyfriend ::

 {in our jammies all ready for bedtime}

Tonight was the Priesthood session of General Conference.

Brock went with all the boys in his extended family at his Grandpa's ward in Pleasant Grove. Cohen and I had the whole night to ourselves.

SO....

We decided to go get a HAPPY MEAL!

We had chicken nuggets, with "dip it" of course, french fries, 

HI-C to drink, ice cream and got a snoopy book for a toy.

Laura and Abs even joined us for ice cream at the end.

My boyfriend and I laughed and laughed and laughed tonight.

I think that's my favorite thing to do with him.

We played extra long in the tub until his toes were wrinkly.

Now he's sound asleep as I type, hopefully dreaming of our date tonight, 

because it was wonderful.

:: UPDATE ::

 {Cohen determined to reach the water to rinse his tooth brush}

UPDATE:

1. He is one heck of a tooth brusher. Has to do it on his own. 
He is getting pretty good, not great, at really scrubbing the teeth instead of just eating the paste. Making progress though.

2. His usual response to answering a yes or no question is "uh yeah" or "uh no" or sometimes "mmmm...yeah". He is also saying YES more when asked if he wants something or not, rather than just staring at smiling, which also means yes.

3. His prayers are getting more consistent. 
"Heav Fauder, bess food, dank you, uv dee, chyst, amen".

4. Knows about 10 words to my favorite primary song 
"I Am Like A Star" which we usually sing at night before bed.
5. I could watch him and Abigail outside for HOURS. 
Abs just follows him around. I love when they hide from each other and let out LOUD GIGGLES when they are found.   

 You crack me up buddy!

Thanks for keeping me up and running.

:: VISITORS ::

 We had visitors!

My gorgeous sister-in-law and my niece and nephew came and spent the morning with us on Tuesday. It was like a breath of fresh air being able to see them for a bit and let our little ones play.

They LOVE their cousins, that's for sure.

 There was nothing but laughs and running around playing.

 MUG SHOT

 I hear Cohen's laugh when I look at these two pics. He thought "Corbs" was the funniest boy alive. He just followed him around the whole time they were at our house.

 I LOVE Naomi in this pic. Sweet little innocent, which she is just that. This girl does not make a peep. Just smiles and is happy to be in her own world while the boys are CRAZY.

 THANK YOU Em, Corbs & Naoms!

You absolutely made our whole week.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE you.

Can't wait for more play date SOON.

 

:: take me out to the ball game ::

Cohen has REALLY been into sports lately.

Watching them on TV and playing them. We had a free saturday yesterday and decided to battle the cold and take our boy to the BYU baseball game. We quite enjoyed it.

The game kept Cohen's attention better than I thought.

When a batter was up ready to swing he would yell "SWING!". And whenever there was a ball flying through the air he would yell "MISS IT" or "GET IT" for the player to catch it or not.

 One funny thing was whenever the announcer got on the loud speaker Cohen's eyes would get wide and he would immediately look up at the GIANT speakers right above us, with a confused expression on his face.

Freezing cold or not, he loved it.

Maybe he'll be a ball player one day...

:: BLAH ::

Pregnancy hormones.
BLAH.
I do NOT remember feeling like crying for not 
much reason too many times when I was pregnant with Cohen.
Maybe it's because Cohen is here now, helping these feelings come.
Maybe it's because we are making HUGE decisions for our upcoming future.
Maybe it's because the near future is unknown in so many ways.
Or maybe it's JUST BECAUSE.

I had a mini "pregnancy hormone breakdown" this morning.

It was short-lived. Thankfully. They usually are.
All I needed was to hear my sweetheart's voice on the other end of the phone, and tell me to take a break from working on plans for our future, stay in my jammies, and eat a bowl of my favorite cereal {apple jacks}, a snack I usually crave at 10:30 pm.
So, that's exactly what I did, after I put Cohen down for a nap.
He kindly slept for a solid two hours.
After I snapped out of not being in control of my SILLY tears, 
I decided today I was done feeling overwhelmed for no reason at all.
Then I put some curls in my hair, that's in need of a color and trim BADLY, 
and I painted my nails RED. After they dried, I opedned 
a bag of chocolate chips and helped myself to them, happily.

Blah. Hormones. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

:: Cohen @ 21 months ::

 Cohen is now carrying on conversations.

It's great. Although, sometimes I'm the only one that can translate. And there are times when I can't even do so.

5 words that describe Cohen @ 21 months:

ACTIVE . LEARNER . TEASE . SENSITIVE . CHARMER

He is learning more and more about patients, and some days are better than others. I see his "sensitive side" coming out more and more. Active - enough said. He THRIVES on learning new things. Anything and everything he wants to know what it is, what it does, and how to do it himself. He is catching on to our jokes when we tease him, 

and even coming up with is own. 

 He is pretty creative at this point.

This morning he got these blankets out and walked around them in a figure 8 singing "ring around the rosies" and did so for about 10 mins.

 He is now starting to make funny poses for the camera, instead of saying "CHEESE" and looking at me for 1.5 seconds.

**side note: notice his zipper is down a little on his jammies. Most of the time it's all the way down. He loves zipping zippers and LOVES them unzipped.

 I'm not going to say he is the perfect child, because some days I feel I barely make it through without locking him in his room. But I will say that I have no complaints.

Parenting is a learning and growing experience, right?

I am definitely learning and growing on a daily basis 

and I give most the credit to my sweet Cohen.

GOOD or BAD or TERRIBLE day - I love him the same.

 Happy 21 months BIG BOY!

:: ST. PATRICK'S DAY ::

 I almost completely forgot about St. Pat's day.

Cohen wore red, I wore black, Brock wore blue.

Oops. But not one of us got pinched. {few!}

Our minds have been focused on quite a few other things these days.

Still...not an excuse for forgetting a fun holiday.

I told myself I was going to remember all holidays and make them super fun for Cohen. I will just blame it on my pregnancy MUSH brain - my favorite excuse these days.

I DID make green rice crispy treats though. YUM!

Cohen's face was classic when he stuck his hand to touch the green gooey stuff. Needless to say, he enjoyed the sugary treat.

After his treat, he was bouncing off the walls. Almost literally.

 {jumping on the couch and landing on his bum, and doing his STINKBUG move}

 Happy St. Patty's Day,

to my cute little leprechaun.

I love you.

P.S. Last night I went "walking" by myself while Brock studied for a test. I just couldn't sit on the couch and read another book, feeling like a BEACHED WHALE. I get those urges every now and then that I just need to get up and MOVE.

Maybe last night it has something to do with Brock and I eating the WHOLE pan of green rice crispy treats.

Oops. But they were just too good. 

:: weekend with grandpa and grandma ::

We feel spoiled and so loved when Grandpa and Grandma come visit!

This time when my parents left to go back home to St. George, Cohen cried and kept saying "Gamma, Gampa, Car ride!". Sad. He wanted to go with them. He is starting to realize what things mean, like when they said BYE to go home.

Friday we relaxed, played outside, went out to dinner, and of course, watched the BYU basketball game.

Saturday we went to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point and spent the day at Grandpa John's house in Salt Lake.

Cohen thought he was MUSCLE MAN trying to hang from the Thanksgiving Point tower.

He was ALL ABOUT petting every animal this time at the petting zoo.

Even if every thing there STINKS SO SO BADLY.

Boy did he think it was cool to be pulled on a ride by a real TRACTOR.

He is VERY into tractors these days.

It was OH SO GOOD to see all our family at Grandpa John's. I didn't get pictures, but we stopped by Brandee's house to check out her very cute craft sale, so we saw all of Ann's family too, which was so fun.

{my BEAUTIFUL mom, Co, and Grandpa John}

Grandpa John couldn't tell Cohen NO so he kept getting drug outside to play.

Cohen LOVED it. Especially the fast spinning sprinkler.

{Me . Brock . Grandma Ann}

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

Grandma and Grandpa for a WONDERFUL weekend.

Next time you're here to visit,

we will be moving back home with you.

WOO!

40 days.

But who's counting.

DRUMROLL PLEASE

.................................................

The sweet little baby inside 

me is a very active little:

We are all so excited!

We will have two little buddies.

 This VERY active boy went CRAZY during the 30 min long ultrasound. The technician just kept laughing. He posed very well for the camera! We saw him flex his arms, and make fists, and my absolute favorite part of the ultrasound was when he was opening and closing his mouth for about a whole minute, as if he was chewing gum. Technology is INCREDIBLE! He weights 1 pound and he couldn't be more healthy. He has all ten fingers and toes, and all his tiny organs are all working great.

RELIEF.

Thank heavens for another healthy baby boy!

 I think Cohen is VERY excited to have a baby "Brosser" as he would say.

We couldn't be more happy and excited!

Although....I'm am even more out numbered.

Me and my boys!

I love it.

:: BABY BUMP ::

5 months along

- still want sugar ALWAYS

- have had some back pains almost every day

- all my pants are starting to get VERY tight

- still sleeping well through the night

- this kid moves like CRAZY. A LOT.

- still feeling good, not TOO huge yet

- getting less patient as the days go by

In a nutshell, still feeling good. 

I'm grateful for a healthy body and a healthy baby.

:: COHEN UPDATE ::

 {imagination going wild...fighting in a boat I believe}

In the last couple weeks I feel like I have a big boy, more than ever. He has been saying the most funny things that I laugh at just thinking of. He is MR. INDEPENDENT in all his does, which I'm coming to find that he learns extremely fast by doing things himself the first time.

 He has been growing so much lately.

He is now as big as his best buddy Troy. They play together like little boys now. Running from room to room, gabbering to each other as if they know what they are saying, while Char and I sit back and CHAT. It's great.

 Believe it or not, we just took Cohen to McDonald's for the first time. We're not big on eating out {or more like we just can't afford it}. :) He enjoyed it! He ate his happy meal and thought it was SO cool he got a toy and his own juice box. He also has a new love for "DIP IT", any kind of dipping sauce. Ketchup seems to be his favorite as of now.

As I walked into the kitchen one day I heard Cohen say "TedBear, time out." {I love how he slurs the words TEDDY and BEAR together} And sure enough, he was putting Teddy Bear in time out. He even moved the rug like Brock and I do when Cohen goes to time out so he can't play with it. Hilarious!

Some NEW facts about my BIG BOY:

- runs fast ALWAYS and throws in a few skips while doing so.

- after starting some new eating techniques he is eating like a champ again! {Relief} I bought him some new plastic plates and utensils and he thinks he is so big. We dish him up a plate, and have at LEAST one food that we know he likes on it, and he can choose to eat all his food or not. It's been working great to give him a little more freedom.

- finally started eating eggs and liking them. 

Still loves toast and yogurt and fruit best for breakfast.

- He is trying to pray on his own when we bless the food. He has only done it a couple times but it goes something like this: 

"Heav Fa, Bess{bless}, Food, Dank ew{thank you}, Kyst{Christ}, AMEN!"

 

Funny stories from the past two weeks:

 While I was sitting down resting and Cohen was drinking his milk, he came to my belly and said "Hi. A Conah. Some?" Translation: Hi, it's Cohen. Want some milk? He is so soft to my belly and gives it kisses and says HI at least once a day.

We were getting our shoes on to go play outside, and before I let him run away from me and said "I need a kiss!" So he leaned in like he always does and right before we kissed he stuck his tongue out and then laughed! What a sticker. He is starting to be a tease, and I like it. Such a funny personality.

I was changing his diaper one day and he was just wet, and as I was putting a clean diaper on he said "Mama, no poopy, a peepee." He was just letting me know that he just went pee not poop.

As I was getting dressed and ready for the day {and wanting to strangle my sweet little boy at the moment} he came up to me after I was dressed and said "Mama, CUTE!". 

Now how could I strangle him after that compliment?!

 When Cohen comes to a new stage, and grows up a little more, 

I always say "OH THIS IS MY FAVORITE STAGE!".

Or in other words....I love being a Mom.

PERIOD.

:: emotions ::

*Pic has nothing to do with post. 
{Cohen and his "big boy" friends waiting at the gate for the garbage truck.}

EMOTIONS.
There are so many different emotions that we can feel.
Sometimes we feel only a few different emotions each day.
Other days....we feel almost all the emotions possible.

This past Saturday was a day FULL of every kind of emotion for Brock, myself and Cohen. You can only imagine, I'm sure. To start the day out, Cohen woke up 2 hours earlier than normal and Brock and I stayed up late the night before. Not a good pair. My pregnant self slept for maybe 5 hours Friday night, and that does not work for me these days. During Cohen's nap time we were over at our friends house. When I put him down for his normal 2 hour nap, he was a little freaked out I think and decided to cry HARD for an hour and 40 mins. {poor boy} Let's just say we, Brock, myself and Cohen, were ON EDGE the whole day. Not communicating well, very defensive, and counting down the minutes until it was bedtime. I cried a few times that day, in a quiet corner just to let it out and not cause more drama than needed. In the moment, I thought to myself "AHHHHH!" If tomorrow is similar, I might just snap.
Thank heavens Sunday was a WONDERFUL day.

These days I am finding I have less patients in a day.
{thank you pregnant hormones}
But you know, we all have a choice what we do with our emotions.
I normally consider myself a pretty patient person, even with an almost 2 year old little boy. But...lately is takes all the I have inside myself to make it through a day with a positive attitude and plenty of patients.

A blessing in disguise, I guess you could call our hard days. Learning experiences that make us stronger and recongnize good days happen more often than we realize.

Opposition is a wonderful thing, I suppose.
But I think I'll pass on having a day like Saturday for awhile.

:: patience is a virtue ::

 This little/big boy of mine is learning patience.
PATIENT is not a word that comes to mind when I think of Cohen.
He has the Kitchen temper, but is dealing with it well. ;)
One of Cohen's favorite things to do AND eat is POPCORN.
He loves our Stir Crazy popper, although I think he wishes
it could pop a little, or a lot, faster.
He waits patiently each time we pop corn.
And he is pretty dang cute doing so.

 WAIT FOR IT....

 LOOSING HOPE....

 WAIT SOME MORE....

 JUST ABOUT HAD ENOUGH WAITING....

 AND ENJOY!

 Lesson learned: Patience is a virtue.
Hard at times, but well worth it.