Halloween 2012

Our cute Dragon and Burger

Last year Halloween was one of the most fun "parenting" nights of my life. Cooper was only a week old, and the weather was great. Hudson's addiction to candy and excitement for life made it such a great and memorable night.

This year, now that they boys are a year older I knew we were in for another fun evening.  The only problem we had, was something completely out of our control-Mother Nature. It was a typical Canadian Halloween-making it stinkin cold! It was -10 to-15 and a bit windy, keeping out trick or treating short.

"Mom, it is freezing out here"

So excited getting his Candy

Look at his eyes! Bring on the stomach ache!

Today I really wanted to spend the whole day doing Halloweeny things with Hudson. I am guilty of allowing Hudson to watch way to much TV, which, I do feel teaches him a lot, but I know that I need to be better at DOING more things with him. He loves to be a helper, and do crafts. That being said, this morning we made Halloween "Masterpieces" and then made necklaces and finished carving Cooper's pumpkin. After craft time, we had a quick nap, and got ready for Trick or Treating, and handing out candy. Hudson was so happy and so excited. He has made a few friends around our neighborhood, so it was really cute seeing him be social with his pals. I also was amazed at what a super festive street I live on. I only went to a couple of the doors, but so many of the adults who handed out candy were dressed up, and so many people went ALL out decorating their homes.

Some of our Halloween Crafts and Activities

One of our awesome neighbors!

Here is a super creepy picture of Shane as the Big Bad Wolf.(3 of his co-workers dressed up as the 3 little pigs)

Halloween came and went quickly. I sure hope that my boys had as much fun as I did! These special nights really are rewards for some of the more difficult times.

Cooper is ONE!!

This has to be the fastest year of my life.

Cooper turned one this week. My baby is now a toddler. I can't believe it. He truly is perfection packaged as a child. He has been a blessing since the moment he was born.

A minute old. No crying, just looking around checking things out

Our family. What a happy day!

Sleepy

 So much is changing in his little world. In fact, today he started walking. He was been "working on it" for some time, but now can pretty much walk the length of our home. All of us clap and cheer as he takes off, and you can see his confidence grow. It is so cute to see Hudson get so excited for his brother.

 
Here is a little video of our proud little walking boy.

Until this point in Cooper's life he has not shown ANY aggression or assertion. He was happy playing second fiddle. Things are beginning to change. Cooper now likes a little bit of attention, and understands that in order to receive any he is going to have to fight for it. He is making his presence known. He will bum scooch his way around until he is in the action.  He has even figured out how to climb up onto the kitchen table chairs, and then onto the table.

Cooper's personality has really started to shine. It started when my Sister's Leanne and Rudi came to visit. He would pretend to be shy, and hide on them. He also flirted with them and was just being so funny. He would bury his head in the carpet, then look up smiling, then bury his head again. He has also really taken to my Mom. I find it so interesting how much he likes her, being that she lives so far away. He will crawl follow Gram around and even walk over to her.

 Cooper has been getting his 2 upper molars this week, and has been a bit sad/sick. I love that he is so sensitive when he is not feeling 100%. He will just come and lay his head on my shoulder, and snuggle. Both Shane and I have been rocking him in his rocking chair before bed each night to help him feel our immense love for him.

Aside from ANY attention from his brother, Cooper's FAVORITE thing is an Iphone or Ipad. He can't get enough of the touch screens. If there is a phone anywhere in sight, he will do almost anything to get it. Nothing can distract him. So many little things are making him seem so grown up. He loves his sippy cups, and whenever he is thirsty he will find his little cup and take a drink.

We have to be pretty careful with Cooper around because he loves himself a nasty toilet/toilet paper/and plant dirt.  Hudson has been trained well to make sure to keep the bathroom doors shut, and we currently have a chair guarding our larger floor plants. If we let our guards down at all, he fully takes advantage. He has a radar that allows him to determine whether the bathroom door is open or not I am sure.

 My sweet Cooper really has been the perfect baby. He is so smiley, cuddly, sweet and he has such an amazing personality. He is extremely easy going and he just fits in our family so well. We are all so taken by him. When I ask Hudson who his best friend is, he always responds, Mamma, Dad and Coops. Cooper is so patient with his rowdy brother. I can hardly describe the pure joy that is illuminated from Cooper when Hudson dances for him, hugs him, carries him, talks to him or gives him kisses. My favorite thing in the world is watching my two sweet boys play together, and love each other. I can not even imagine my life without my kids. It really feels like Cooper has always been with us. He is an absolute joy and the greatest goal in my life is to help my boys have the best lives they can, and to teach them properly.

Playing with some fun toys together.

"Look Mom, I am carrying Coops"

I love you so much Cooper! You are adored by  all who have ever laid eyes on you. Your cousins, Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents and of course me, your Dad and Hudson, are so proud of you and are so thankful you are part of our family.
Love you sweetie,
XOXOXO
Momma

Halloween Decorations

Okay, last post today, I promise. I usually have my posts already written, but getting the pictures placed takes me forever, so when I get around to it, I usually have multiple posts:)

Last week my assistant(Hudson) and I decorated for Halloween. Hudson loved telling me where to put things(even though his type A Mama rarely listened). I think the best part of the decorations was when Shane came home and Hudson screamed with excitement and spun around on the floor telling his Dad about the transformation.

I love decorating for holidays, So much so that I have even asked Shane "if I die, will you still make sure to decorate for the holidays?"

I am cheap, and like to switch things up often, so I never spend a lot of money. I usually DIY or else buy decorations from Dollarama. This year I printed off a cute banner I found on Pinterest, costing me nothing.

So here is our spooky house!

Now one quick one of my Halloween cutie.

Birthday Party/Temple Open House

I should have had a much better post title, but right now I am truly recovering from a fun but BUSY weekend, so that was the best that I could do. That being stated, I can't promise that this post will make a lot of sense. Here goes....

This weekend we had the pleasure of having all of our cousins come over, and then we drove down to the new Calgary Mormon Temple Open House.

Friday night I figured since all of Cooper's Leishman cousins were in town that we could have a little birthday party for him. It was wild and loud, but mostly a lot of fun. I love my sisters, and they have great kids. I am so glad we could spend some time together.

For Coop's party I was planning on doing a cute monkey theme. I had a little shirt picked out from etsy with a 1 on it, and bought some decorations from Target this summer when we were in the states. Then as per my norm things got crazy and I had to settle with just doing what I could, and there was not too much of a theme-ha! Sorry Coops!

My adorable Birthday Boy!

I used the decorations I bought this summer, and made some cupcakes, but never managed to order the #1 shirt, and I couldn't even find my streamers or balloons.  I am not a baker or a cake decorator, but I found THE easiest little monkey cupcakes, that literally my 10 year old niece could do on her own. They were cute, and most importantly they tasted good. Here is a link to the picture. All that is needed is vanilla wafer cookies, some sprinkles and icing(I used store bought-ha).

Cooper was in an awesome mood,(as usual) and he was happy to get loves and attention from his many older cousins. We visited and ate pizza and Cooper(with a great deal of help from his brother) loved opening a few presents, and blowing out his birthday candle.

Blowing out his birthday candle.

Enjoying his birthday cupcake.

Playing on a fun toy from his cousins

One of my favorite birthday party memories came when each of his cousins made him a homemade card. They were so sweet. Cooper's cousin Porter lost a tooth on Thursday night and got a toonie from the tooth fairy. Porter included his toonie in Cooper's card, as a gift. I thought that was pretty special from a seven year old.

Porter hard at work on Cooper's card

After the party we all went swimming and since it had been a while(due to Hudson's finger) Cooper and Hudson had a total blast. I loved watching Hudson, Seth and Porter just be total boys and roughhouse and cackle. Cooper discovered his splashing arms and giggled with glee the whole time.

Saturday morning Shane had to work, so my Mom, Leanne, Jodie, (all of their kids) and Seth, and me and my kids drove down to Calgary. We had to play musical cars a little bit, but we were blessed with safe driving conditions despite Mother Natures best efforts. I started off driving with Leanne, and one of the funniest moments was when I put Griffin's Halloween mask (a chicken head) on and started waving to cars driving past us. One guy had a particularly hilarious reaction and we howled for minutes. It was great.

Griffin sporting his Chicken head mask

 When we arrived in Calgary, the snow and wind were both strong. It was so so cold. We watched a short film regarding the history of the Mormon church in Alberta and then we were able to take the tour of the temple. The Temple was magnificant. Inside and Out. I am always blown away with the detail in the temples. No expense is ever spared, and the quality of workmanship is outstanding(as it should be). There were hundreds and hundreds of people there, so I do admit I felt a bit rushed, and having Hudson there inhibited me from having a super spiritual experience, but I am so glad I was able to go and take my boys. I hope they will always know how important and special temples are.At one point all of my family was in the Celestial Room of the temple, and I did have such a hopeful and nice feeling. It is a remarkable place and so many people will be blessed by having the temple so close to them.

Grandma and all 9 of her grandkids, plus Leanne, and Jodie. It was soooo cold!

The picturesque temple!

We stopped at a mall for dinner and a little bit of shopping, then headed home. I am so glad that Shane was able to go see the temple when he was in Calgary a few weeks ago, and that I was able to go with all of my family. It was a great weekend.

Family Pictures 2012

I feel like my life has been spinning a bit out of control. So many things have been happening and I am doing my best at documenting them. While I am back at work, Hudson and Cooper are at a friends house. Things have been going really well and they love "playing"  at Fernanda's. Hudson is in love with his new friends, Valentina, Joaquin, and Lorenzo! The mornings he goes to Fernanda's he can barley control himself, he is just so excited.

 One thing that I wanted to quickly post about is our new family pictures. We had a friend, Leah do them, and we are so happy with them. We had to go out a couple times, and shockingly Cooper did not want to cooperate the first night. We found an old abandoned farm house one night last month and had a great time.

Here are some of my fav's!

I love them all. I think it is because I love these guys so much! I hope I can get on the ball enough to get pictures done every year! I guess we'll have to see!

Back to work

This week I headed back to work. Things went really well. It was interesting, to see how dusty my brain has gotten. I love working. I think this may not be the case if circumstances were different, but I work with the NICEST group of girls, with similar temperament, and interests. I have to be honest, being back at work has given me a boost and actually made me feel like I have friends again. It was great. Shane took the week off work and was able to stay home with the boys this week. It was so nice not to have to worry about how the boys were doing, and I have to be honest, I think Shane is a better "stay at home mom than me". My house has been so clean, laundry done and put away and Shane is much more consistent with Hudson. Maybe I should head back FT and Shane should stay home? haha

Workin Mama.

Little Machy has turned 11 months old. His little personality shines more everyday. Proudly he bum skooches around and gingerly waves or claps his hands. I think the biggest change we have seen in our little baby this month has been Coopers obsession with music. Even if her hears just one beat, he is dancing. It is so cute. He loves TV, especially if the programs have music. It is so different than Hudson, who had NO interest at all in TV, until he was over 2.5. Cooper loves his new ability to crawl up and down the stairs and will often crawl up to the playroom and sit quietly and play with toys. He also proudly can crawl up onto the couch and ottoman. I can't believe now how when I look at my little guy, he is looking more little boy, and much less baby.

My sweet Cooper snuggling with me after work. He didn't let me out of his site when I came home. The best reward any Mama could ever ask for!

Hudson is still my little hurricane. He keeps himself busy reading, watching Dora, playing outside, and asking me lots of questions. We are really trying to clamp down on Hudson and try to get him to control his energy. He is the funnest kid I know, but has so much energy, so we are really working on using his manners, and asking us questions in the form of a sentence. He has been working on his letters and usually when Cooper has his first morning nap, we will sit down and have"school time". He loves to play computer games on starfall.com. Hudson's vocabulary still continues to amaze me. If he hears me say something to him once, he will never forget it, and generally will use the word in proper context. This weekend Shane has been in Calgary at a conference, and Hudson was been walking around telling me that he is so disappointed that Daddy is not here. He will tell me that Cooper's diapers are disgusting, he will inform me when he is getting frustrated, ect ect. Another thing that really amazes me, (and may just be a common thing 3.5 year olds do-who knows), but Hudson always knows where we are when we are driving. He can direct me to Costco, the church, the hospital and many other places. He knows how to get home and if we are close to home. It is always amazing to me when we are driving along, and he will say, Mom right behind those trees is.... He is always right.

Hudson with his new treat chart. Yet another attempt in disciplining our sweet boy!

Happy Brothers!

Another new skill Hudson has mastered is getting all dressed by himself. Usually after breakfast Hudson will take off to his room and be gone for a few minutes. When he is all done getting dressed he comes down stairs and announces what he was just doing and says Ta Da. I love seeing the outfits that he comes up with. They are hilarious. I don't know why, but I love it when he dresses himself. It makes me so proud of him. I just love him so much!