Oct 22, 2010

We cut Cooper's hair.  It wasn't supposed to be this short but it is and all of his curls are now gone. It has traumatized me. Kent doesn't quite understand why I am so upset and I am slowly coming to realize why myself.
Let me share. First of all he looks like he is now 5 years old. I feel like I have lost 3 1/2 years of his life. Which means he is that much closer to hating his parents and thinking we are the worst people in the world. That much closer to the first time he yells at me and tells me he hates me. That much closer to him leaving for his mission and me being with out him for 2 years. That much closer to him getting married and me loosing him to his wife. He is growing so fast and I just want to keep him forever. I want him to always love being with me, to want up to see what I am doing, to cuddle me when he gets hurt. I am scared to loose all that.
My Mom always called me her baby girl. It annoyed me. She did it during my preteen years, my teenage years and I think probably would still if she had the opportunity to introduce me to someone new. I get it now, or at least am starting to. She, like me, wanted to hold on to her children.
I went in to do my usual good night ritual with Cooper just now. I go in after he is asleep and before I go to bed to look at him and tell him I love him one last time for the day. Lately I am surprised at how much bigger he is than I remember him being. He takes up so much more of the crib than I remember him doing the night before. It is another reminder that he is growing so fast and that I need to cherish him everyday. I have the worst memory and I find unless I have journaled or scrapbooked memories that I don't remember them. I hope I have done well enough in writing things down so that I will be able to remember what he was like through all his stages of life.
My baby is growing up.

Before cut. You can really see how much hair he had from this view. 

Another before picture.

(Sorry for the red eye) A few days before we cut his hair in his new PJ's.

After his hair cut.

During his hair cut. This one should be before the last pic but I can't figure out how to change the oder of pics once they are downloaded. (Can somone shed some light on how to?)



Another after hair cut.



Oct 15, 2010

It's our last day at the hotel. I am surprised this is a bitter sweet day. I thought I would leave the hotel and never look back but we have become friends with some of the staff and they have been really good to us. Not to mention it is nice being cleaned up after and not preparing meals. Our cleaning lady Paula, has been stupendous. I feel bad for doing it but when Cooper made a mess with his toys I just left them as it is hard for me to bend over and pick them up with my prego belly. Cooper does not keep his toys contained either. They are everywhere. However, everyday they were back in the box after she had been in to clean. We have had some good chats and Paula was the first person we met and became friends with in NL.

The house is all painted now except for the trim/moulding. We just ran out of time. As the movers were unpacking I was still painting Bugs room. I just had to get the last coat of paint on. Our kitchen reno is the first week of November and I can't wait. I am super excited. We have lots to do before then.

Unpacking went well. Or should I say the start of it went well. Our basement that I thought was so big doesn't look so big anymore. It is really full of boxes and stuff. I am embarrassed by how much stuff we have. In fact we have too much stuff and I feel that not only do we need to simplify but we need to do as Elder Faust said "use up, wear out and make do" (or at least it was close to that). We have so much as North American's and we take so much for granted.
I am with out Internet for a while until it is hooked up on the 21st. So I will be off line. Hopefully I will be far enough along in getting things done around the house that I will be able to show you before and after pictures soon.
Luvs,
M

Shaving with Daddy

October 2010
Kent loves being a Dad, inparticular a Father to Cooper. He is a fabulous Father and Daddy I must say. I enjoy watching them together and seeing their interactions. One of my favorites was recently. Cooper is at a stage where he loves to do what we do. It is so cool and funny to watch.
Kent recently got an electric shaver. Of course because Dad was doing it (and it was an electronic, which he loves) he had to as well. So I took a few pictures of Cooper and Kent shaving together. Cooper insists on being independent so he wanted to hold it all to himself and do it. It was a little concerning that he was actually shaving his face. Who knows what that will do to his skin and future hair??? He may have to start shaving when he is 3 if he keeps it up!
I love the tender moments my boys have together. It makes me . . . well happy isn't the word, I can't think of it but I feel like I am doing what Mary did in the scripture Luke 2:19 "Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." It just warms the coccles of my heart.
(I apologize for the red eye. I don't have my photo editing software yet.)

Comment from Kent:
I thought I would add my two cents since this post was about me.  I have looked forward to this moment for a long time, the classic father and son pretend shaving moment.  One of my favourtie memories from my childhood was shaving with with my Dad.  Although back then it was with shaving cream not an electric razor.  This moment between Cooper and I was a real quality bonding moment for me, and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.  I love my son, and am very grateful that he is a Daddy's boy because it gives me one more reason to hurry home at the end of the day.

Yellow room

This post is really for my brilliant sister. We are moving into our new place this week and have a few days to clean and put some fresh paint on the walls (one of my fav things to do). I watched this show on the W channel and they did this room. I love it. It took some convincing to get Kent's approval but once he saw this makeover he was ok with the yellow. Obviously my room won't look exactly like this but something along these lines.

So Carda,
I am not going to do the lines with the yellow like it is shown here. In fact I was hoping to do all the walls in a solid yellow. Is that a bad idea? Should I stick with just one wall yellow (the wall with the head of the bed) and do say white on the rest of the walls? Our room is quite samll and will probably barely fit our bed in it and 2 dressers. Let me know what you think.
Also has anyone out there who reads this blog had any experience with dyeing fabric? I have some brown curtains that I want to make black. Buying more curtains isn't an option so I have to figure out how to dye them.

Blueberry Picking

October 17th, 2010
We went wild blueberry picking with our friends up on Signal Hill. We had a good time and the view was amazing. The actual bushes were a lot shorter and smaller than I expected. They were only 6 inches off the ground if that.
To explain the piece of Kleenex on Cooper's forehead. He had a scab from a previous injury and according to Kent it was falling off so he pulled it off. As a result it bled like crazy and it wouldn't stop. So we put a bit of Kleenex on it to hopefully stop the bleeding.

Dad and Cooper walking on the path together.

Sporting his cool Kleenex look!



I love these boys. I am a lucky woman.



A sampling of the blueberry patch.



A panoramic of where we were with Signal hill in the background. NL is beautiful. Very unique but yet a lot like the Alberta mountains. All I need is a sandy beach and warm water to have it all!




One of the biggest blueberries we found. They were small but very tasty.



Looking the other direction toward the city of St. John's.



Hanging upside down. One of Cooper's favorite things to do.




The actual picking of the blueberries complete with our bums up in the air!



Sunday Oct 3, 2010

Conference was awesome. I love how it gives me renewed faith and motivation to do better.
Just a quick post. Cooper's arm is healing and doing better but looks worse than it did on Thursday. I think I will just keep the pictures to myself this time. Burns are like that but looks are deceiving.
Kent has been sick with a cold all weekend so we all vegged as a family. It was nice to catch up on some Z's.
Only 4 more sleeps until we take possession. Cleaning party on Friday and painting party on Saturday which may extend to Monday, possibly Tuesday. If anyone wants to come feel free!
Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and I find I am feeling family sick (kind of like home sick but instead I miss my family). I love you my family and wish we could enjoy in the festivities with you. Thank you for all you have done for me and my little family. We are thinking of you lots.

Prayers Answered Sep 30, 2010

We took Cooper back to ER for reassessment. I was expecting the worst but hoping for the best. My youngest brother burnt himself really, really bad and I thought Coopers arm was going to look like my brothers burns. However, our prayers were answered. His burns were healing well and the burn to his chest didn't need to have a dressing/bandage. His arm was much better than I could have imagined and although it still has a ways to go before it is healed I am happy about how good it looked.
We are grateful for the prayers on his behalf. We feel very blessed. Thank you.

Once Kent showed Cooper how the bed went up and down he loved it and wanted to do it himself.

Cooper being so good and still. He was amazing. He didn't move while having the dressings removed and put on. We gave him mini Rolo's to keep him preoccupied but I don't think he really needed them. He just kept his arm out and watched the nurse but the bandage one.

His chest after three days. It was fine and didn't need a dressing.

The burn to his left arm after 3 days. I was still oozing and bleeding a bit. It looks great though. I thought it would be worse.

Cheezie grin! The first dressings just before they took them off.

Daddy and Cooper playing around. (Clearly this is much harder on Mom then on Cooper).