New House and more Family

The next week it was our turn to move. We moved more out into the country. Here is our new house (still renting for a few more years...don't want to give the impression we bought our first home yet)...These are pictures from the rental listing. I was so busy packing, cleaning, and moving that I forgot to take pictures of the move!
Backyard patio

Kitchen/dining
Kitchen

Master bathroom

Backyard is woods. Only one side of the house has neighbors, all there rest is open fields/woods.

That weekend was the 4th of July weekend, and my Dad and youngest sister, Cassady, were super nice and flew back to Charlotte to help us move and spend the weekend with us. Sure we could have "handled" the move on our own, but Oh My Goodness!!!--I was SO glad to have them here! Cassady spent much of the time watching Cooper for me. He loved her so much and had so much fun that after they left he wandered around the house calling her name for on and off for several days. "Ca-Dee!"

I'd say, "Coop, Cassady had to go home." One day he looked at me, sighed and then said, "Ca-Dee home," in a very sad voice with a forlorn look, and then looked at the floor and almost cried. He sure loves his Aunt Ca-Dee! Cooper also had LOTS of fun with PaPa, who he called and continues to call "Grammie." PaPa showed him all kinds of fun things. My Dad helped so much with the move.

By the time these two left, they had us nearly unpacked and nearly all our pictures and everything hung on the walls. We couldn't have done it without you!!! Thank you so much!!

Besides, it was so fun to spend a weekend with just the two of you! :)

Happy and Sad Father's Day Weekend

June was full of last-minute attempts to spend as much time with our family as possible before they moved. My brother and his family moved to another state, and my sister, Chelsey, moved back home to Utah to finish school.
Mom and Cassady (my youngest sister) came out the week before and spent Father's Day weekend with us. It was so fun to see them!
We had a fun bar-b-que at our house...

Grammie, Cooper and Ellie had fun playing in the backyard

Cassady and Kate were content hanging out.

Cooper and Mom
We sure miss our Ellie!

Since it was Father's Day, a photo of Father and Son was appropriate.
We had lots of fun while family was here. The day before the move, I took a few hours off work and went home to go swimming with everyone one last time... Can you tell we're sisters? ;-)
We all enjoyed being in the pool.

Cooper enjoyed swimming with Dad.But when he saw the camera, he was out of the water and wanting to push the buttons on the "tamra"!Some other kids at the pool shared their cool pool toys, which Cooper couldn't get enough of.
That night we went out to dinner. Nanny Chelsey and Cooper...
Grammie and Papa came too.
This was the last time the cousins were together before they moved the next day...

That night Chelsey came by for one last snuggle with Cooper, and a few last sister moments together.
We sure miss you guys!!!

My First Sewing Machine

For Mother's Day Nathan and Cooper gave me a sewing machine, my first NEW sewing machine. I'm not counting the one Mom and Dad bought at an auction when I was a kid. Nope, this one was purchased espeially for me. Thinking I'd be waiting until Christmas for such a gift, I had borrowed a friend's to start a sewing project.

Now, those of you who know me well are probably wondering whether you are reading the right blog because for years I've really not liked anything to do with sewing, and said why make something when you can buy it for less and pay someone else to do it. I just never had that desire to sew.

It wasn't the birth of my own first child, or the birth of six other neices and nephews that spurred my desire to sew. It was my 4th neice, my sister's first daughter that finally was my muse. Without a pattern to follow, not having really sewn anything significant (requiring more than a few straight stitches) in about 10 years, I decided to attempt to make a quilt for my neice. My sister made a BEAUTIFUL quilt for Cooper, and so although this was her second child, I really wanted to do this for her.

Six weeks later, spending ALL my spare time on it, I finally finished this quilt in June just days before Jaisie was born. There was no blogging during this time. In fact, there was very little else every night after Cooper went to bed, and on the weekends. As Nathan liked to point out to me every night, I spent more time unpicking than actually sewing. I was so pleased to be finished. It didn't turn out perfect, and I was a little embarrassed to give this first attempt to someone outside my own household, but as I said when I finished, "It is what it is."

So here is the first reason I haven't blogged in a very long time--at least 6 weeks of it....

My next project...hem the bottom of a dress I bought that's too long for me, and then I might attempt some curtains for our living room....we'll see how brave I get.

Father's Day

I know this post is a day late, but just didn't have a chance yesterday to upload a big video. This is a video of Cooper "signing" Father's Day cards for his Grandpas and Great-Grandpas. We love you!

Cooper's 2011 Father's Day Video

Goodbyes are Never Easy

I'm finding it hard to focus on work today, probably because today is the last day I will have family living in the same city as us. I've been dreading this day for months. What am I going to do without having my sister there nearly every morning and every night to talk to? Cooper started daycare a few weeks ago to transition him from Chelsey to daycare. He's taking it about as hard as I am. This morning as I was putting him in his carseat, he said, "Tetshey?" I knew he thought I was taking him to play with Chelsey and Ellie. "No, Coop," I said. "No, Chelsey. You're going to go have fun at school today with all the kids!" He cried, "No, no, no!" and shook his head. I could relate.

It's been a really great year having family so close. I mean, REALLY close, like within a mile or two from our house. We've had such fun times with my sister, my brother, my sister-in-law, and Cooper's cousins. We've had time to make a lot of really great memories.

Chelsey and I spent hours upon hours probably just talking. We also spent a lot of money at TCBY, and liked to talk while enjoying our sorbet. Liz and I had fun watching some of our favorite TV shows together after we both got our kids to bed, and sharing family meals together. Once she brought us over dinner just because. Does it get any better than that?! The kids had fun going places together and playing at home together. Cooper certaily learned a lot of things from Ellie, like how to imagine and pretend. My brother worked most of the year, but when he wasn't working we did have fun playing Carcasonne, Wacky 6, and Farkle.

Of course, when family is moving away, you always wish you'd spent more time together. That' just life, I guess. So today I'm leaving work a few hours early to try to squeeze in one last night of fun before they move away. It makes me sad to know that life will intervene, and we'll not be as close as we have this last year. But boy, we sure have some great memories! (And thank goodness for phones, email, and Skype!) I GOTTA go buy a webcam like today.

While only a small part of my family has lived close this year, it has helped stave away the feelings of longing for my other family members. But now...nothing is holding any of that back any more. How did I do this before they were here?! You do what you have to do, but part of my heart is leaving today, and part of it has always been in Utah with my other siblings and my parents. This just sucks.

Anyway, we made this photo book as a going away present for Chelsey. I was worried it wouldn't arrive before she left, so I wanted to blog it. Thankfully it did arrive in plenty of time, but here it is again for the rest of you to see what a fun year we had.

Love you Chelsey, Bryt, Liz, Ellie and Kate!!! We will miss you so much!!!!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Easter Fun

Easter celebrations started Friday night for Cooper, coloring eggs with Chelsey, Ellie, Bryt and Liz while Mom and Dad went on a date. He clearly enjoyed it!

Saturday morning Cooper and Ellie had an egg hunt (it was too wet outside, so the bunny hid them in the house). Cooper was interested a first in finding the eggs....

...until he discovered what was inside. Candy! Then he just wanted to sit and open them, forget about finding more.

He continued to dump his loot.

Sunday morning the Easter Bunny dropped off a few things.

Sunday afternoon Aunt Denise and Uncle Jim came for dinner and a nice visit. Cooper and Aunt Denise tried in vain to catch some bugs in his new net and bug cage. Apparently right now our yard is pretty bug free!

So they went out front to play with Easter eggs and enjoy the beautiful Easter weather.

It was such a fun day! After our guests left, Cooper decided it was time to rock out with his new guitar before bed.

Cooper 19 Months

Cooper turned 19 months old today. His most favorite thing to do is play outside. I think he'd stay outside all day if we let him. He begs to go outside, and verbalizes that word very well.He is in the throes of separation anxiety, normal for toddlers to go through, but still not easy on any of us. He screams and cries for me at night if anyone but me puts him to bed. Leaving for work in the morning is getting harder and harder on both of us. Thank goodness the light is at the end of that tunnel...6 more months or so.
Cooper loves our dog, Brody, and has finally learned how to pet nicely without giving Brody an anxiety attack. Brody is learning that Cooper can now give affection, not just toddler abuse.

The other night I was putting Cooper to bed, and two things happened that were significant to me, so I'd like to get them written down. First, we were having his bedtime prayers, and he started repeating the last word of every phrase. If we tell him it's time for a prayer, he will fold his arms for about 20 seconds. He hasn't yet mastered closing eyes AND folding arms. It's one or the other with him. :o)

The other significant thing that happened was that I felt like I had my first real conversation with him where he brought up a subject, and we discussed it in a back and forth dialogue. We were sitting in the rocking chair, looking out the window at dusk. He was calm and quiet, when suddenly he worriedly shouted, ".... (elipses being severl words I couldn't decipher)...bee!" "Mommy! Bee!" "Mommy, bee sting!" Knowing that earlier that day there had been a bee in the house, and his cousin, Ellie, had been very worried about it, I understood that he had picked up on her concern, which she shared with me as "something very important to tell you" when I got home from work that day.

Understanding where this was coming from, I validated his fear, "Cooper, I know there was a bee in the house today. Were you worried it was going to sting you?"

"Bee sting!"

"Yes, sometimes bees get mad and sting. But not usually. They just buzz around looking for food to take home. All the bees have gone night-night now at their beehive house. There are no more bees to worry about today."

He gave me a look of relief. "Bees all gone?"

"Yes, Cooper, bees all gone."

"Oh. Bees all gone."

That was the end of our first little conversation, after which he fell asleep a few minutes later.