The Coop!

Chris says I say this every week, but since it is true regardless, Cooper has become even more alive and fun this week. He is happy, smiley, rolly, sleepy, drooly. He grunts, growls, coos. He is a joy! He has been such a good boy, since our move, which has been a huge blessing for me. I am seriously in love with this kid!
Cooper's first time in his swimsuit, well, entire swim outfit, I guess! We have no idea where we got this (sorry if you remember giving it to us; we think we had it from when Ian was little...but it is super cool. We're thinking it is pre-training for his SCUBA gear.) Gotta love that cute tongue too!
Cooper discovered his thumb this week! And I am one happy mommy!! He is now able to put himself down for naps and bedtime. And if he wakes up crying mid-nap or like he did last night about 11 p.m. he sucks his thumb and puts himself back to sleep. I know I am probably supporting habits that will be hard to break later. But hey, I figure I'll live it up in the meantime. Plus it is so dang cute to see him sucking on his thumb. I know. I'm weird. But ask Val, she'd agree with me on this one. :)
Again, the many adorable smiles of the Cooper!

Wide open

Cooper's signature smile
Cooper and Val
I'm starting to see a pattern here--I don't think anyone around
Cooper can help but open their mouth wide like he does. :)
Cooper and Bryce (Ya gotta love the look on Cooper's face?
It's like he's thinking, "Why is he opening his mouth like that?
Doesn't he know how strange he looks..."
Learning to tolerate tummy time.

Oh my gosh! I seriously cannot get enough of that open-mouthed grin!
And another one! I don't know if that open mouth can get any cuter!!

. . . and we're back!

Whew! It's been a long couple weeks. Here is what I have learned so far since moving from Happy Valley to Sin City. . . . Some of which I have learned personally and others through the people they call Vegans; I'll let you try to figure out which ones are from personal experience. :)

1. Don't put your cell phone in the front pocket of your cargo shorts.
2. Don't lose your cell phone in a public library (or anywhere else, for that matter), because it just may be subsequently stolen.
3. If your cell phone gets lost and there is a chance it could have been stolen, suspend your line as quickly as you can . . . or you could end up having lots of surprises when you get your monthly bill.
4. You don't have to give money to homeless in the grocery store parking lot.
5. Some old women don't perspire, they sweat. Or maybe they glisten.
6. A two-year old can sweat so much during the night that they grow green mold on their forehead that their mom has to scrub off every morning.
7. Wearing a purple moo moo and white Crocs to church on Sunday is a fashion faux pas.
8. You meet all kinds of people at public parks, including white-haired, tattooed, gruff grandpas who give you more information than you ever wanted about their opinions on child-rearing and spanking.
9. If the air conditioning gets too cold in your house at night, and a sweatshirt and blankets aren't helping, just go outside; you'll warm right up.
10. Don't answer your cell phone and carry on a conversation (no matter how short) while the Primary children are singing Mother's Day songs during sacrament meeting.
11. Don't answer your cell phone and walk out of sacrament meeting to continue your conversation (even if you answered it on your bluetooth headset).
12. Don't answer your cell phone and carry on a conversation (again, no matter how short) during the closing prayer in sacrament meeting.
13. Don't wear your bluetooth headset during Sunday school.
14. Don't answer your cell phone during Sunday school and continue to talk as you leave the room.
15. Don't put your sunglasses in the back pocket of your cargo shorts while walking on Hoover Dam (darn those cargo pants!!).
16. Don't sing your testimony over the pulpit during fast and testimony meeting in sacrament meeting.
17. If you are looking for misplaced, chicken bouillon, check the freezer, it just might be there.
18. If you like hot weather, it should hit 100 degrees by this Sunday, May 18th.
19. Don't put a television on top of the dresser in your bedroom; it could be knocked off and hit one or both of your children.
20. Butterfly. fruit and sunflower decals on your bathroom, dining room, and kitchen walls (respectively) are tacky no matter how it is done.
21. The library worker helping you get a library card will try to convince you to go clubbing at least once while you are here, even if you tell him you are not really into the "clubbing scene."
22. When you ask where the bathroom is to go change your two-year-olds diaper, you may want to clarify which one; the female employee will probably assume mom, not dad, is going to change the diaper.
23. Don't be confused or offended when the female employee at the outlet mall gives you kind of a funny look as you are making your purchases, holding your 5-month-old baby, and asks you how old your other baby is. ("You mean the 30 lb. one who just left with his dad? [With a sad expression] He has an overactive hypothalamus which leads to hypersecretion of growth hormones; [pointing to the 5-month-old] They are actually twins." Hello? No. That would be my almost 3 years old little boy, thanks.)
24. Moving is a traumatic experience for a two-year-old.
25. The cupboard next to the oven makes a great playhouse for a two-year-old.
26. Having a pool in your "front yard"and being able to go swimming whenever you want is super cool.
27. Don't drive 50 mph down Howard Hughes Parkway, even if the car behind you is totally tailgating you.

Update on the update of the... nevermind

So.... We're back offline again. Somehow our modem (which happens to be Jenny's phone) did not make it home with Jenny from the Clark County library yesterday. We've torn apart the house and the car, searched the library and the parking lot (twice) and have seen no sign of the little red culprit. We have insurance on her phone, and the new one should be here on Tuesday, but until then you will need to call my phone to get a hold of her. (I'll leave my phone with her when I go into the office on monday.)

We went to Hoover Dam today and have some pictures to post when we get our internet back up and running. Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

Home Depot Project Days

Okay, I promised that I would get the Home Depot pictures posted today, so here goes.

We got down to the Home Depot just off of Sunset on Marks Road and the folks there were a little confused as to what time the whole shindig was supposed to start. They got things off the ground about 9:45 and we got there just after 10:00. This month the project was a little pencil box with flowers, and Ian was excited that there were so many pieces.

The first step we had to do was to actually get back to where they were doing the project. In Provo, there are so many kids that all of the legitimate customers avoid the area in order to keep from being trodden by toddlers or having the meat stripped from their bones by piranha parents worn thin by trying to manage eight kids with hammers, screwdrivers and glue all at the same time.

In Vegas, however, cute kids must be at a premium, because there were only about ten kids who showed up the whole time we were there. We got stopped at every turn by people commenting on how adorable Ian is and how cute his apron, hat and tools were. (We don't mind the attention. We're doting parents and we know it!)



Here is Ian with his project kit, ready to go!


First we laid out all of the parts and got them ready to assemble. The instructions on this one were not exactly rocket science (I mean, that flower box we had to assemble last month was brutal!!)
Next, we pounded the nails into the sides of the box. We discovered that the nails go in a lot better if you are actually pounding on a hard surface (like the floor) rather than one that rebounds and absorbs a lot of the blow (like the plastic folding tables). Ian got his thumb whacked with the first project that we did a few months ago and has been a little skittish around the hammer ever since, but he got over it a little bit and was doing a good job by the time we got into it on Saturday.

Then it was time to put the base of the box on.

Then we stuck the tops on the flowers and just had to put all of the stickers on for the petals and the centers of the flowers. Ian was the Executive Engineer for Adhesive Aesthetic Homologation (or EEAAH, which is, incidentally, the same sound daddy makes when struck by the hammer)

It took longer than I thought to put all of the stickers on- each of the flowers had a center plus five petals front and back. Ian put me in charge of those while he applied leaves, flowers, "peas" (they were little green dots... go figure), ladybugs, butterflies and a "Happy Mother's Day" sticker to the box. I thought that Ian would have wanted to spread them all out, but he was adamant that all of the stickers go on the same side of the box. Funny kid!


Here we are with the completed pencil box! Ian was so proud and was excited to give it to Mommy when we got home. She loved it, and though he hasn't said anything, I can tell that Cooper is trying to figure out how he can get it down off of the counter to drool all over it. He was very impressed with his big brother's work.

New Poll

Sorry it has taken me so long to get a new poll posted-- that other one was up for an embarrassing 7 weeks. Eeek. Anydangway, we would like to see at least one of the shows while we are here in Las Vegas, and we would love some input on what it is that you think we should go and see. Zumanity is out because it is too fleshy, and we have already seen "O" at the Bellagio three years ago courtesy of my Dad (he won some tickets that we, Robyn and Caleb ended up with). I only listed a couple on the poll; if you have other suggestions or justifications for your choices, please leave them as comments to this post. Thanks!

An Old Adventure in a New Place

It is getting late and I need to get to bed-- strange that I have a job (you know, like a real job) that I have to be to in the morning-- one more picture before I go to bed, though. Saturday was the first Saturday of the month, and that means that it was time for Project Days at Home Depot! We called up the local Home Depot and Ian and I wandered down there-- I'll post the pictures of that tomorrow, but on the way out the door we snapped this picture of Ian in his Project Days gear in our new apartment complex. I thought everyone might want to see both Ian and a little bit of our new home.


You can see that the area is beautiful, and Ian loves that we are close enough to the airport that he gets to see lots of planes and helicopters (I like that we are just far enough away that we can't really hear them with the windows closed). The balcony/porch you can see on the bottom floor to the left of Ian is ours; it opens off of the little dining area next to our kitchen. We will get some more pictures of our new place taken and get them up so that you can all have an idea of what it is like here. Spring in Vegas is beautiful, and all the flowers in our complex are already in full bloom. We have doves and some sort of little finch or sparrow living in the trees and bushes all around, so we wake up to the sound of birds and get to hear the doves cooing during the cooler hours in the evening. It is a fun place to be.

Dinner at the Infangers'

Mark called me up just as I was finishing my finals (has that really been less than two weeks!?) and invited Jenny, the boys and I over for dinner at his house with he and Xiomara before we left. We managed to wrangle some time with them last Tuesday night and we are really glad that we were invited-- it was a lot of fun to spend some time with them.

Xiomy fixed some wonderful stuff which I cannot remember or pronounce correctly, but it means "chicken with rice." It was the first time that either Jenny or I can ever remember Ian asking for seconds... and thirds... and fourths... and he asked Xiomy if we could take some home. It was good stuff. We loved going down just to hang out with Mark and Xiomara and will be glad when we get to spend some more time with them. They are gracious and kind and our boys just love them! Here are a couple of pictures from when we were there. Mark got a couple with Xiomy's camera of us throwing the blanket at Ian (at his repeated request) that I need to get and post because they are priceless!

Okay, so techically this is not a picture that has anything to do with Mark and Xiomy other than that is happened at their house, but it is one of my favorites of me and Cooper-- he is chubbing out and is so much fun to play with!
Xiomy with the boys-- she is so cute with them and they just adore her. Cooper has taken to her really well and it is fun to hear Ian talk about Xiomara and to hear him pronounce her name. We had baked chicken with rice for dinner last night and when we told Ian what we were having he was excited; "Rice like Xiomara? In the rice cooker?" He thinks she is pretty cool and we agree.

Update on the Updated Update

Okay, so here is the deal-- I went to work at Jones Vargas for the first time today and had a ball-- it was a really, really cool place to be and everyone treated me very well. We'll see how tomorrow goes now that they have some idea of what they are in for, but today was a neat experience. It was strange how things there just kind of seemed to fit much better than I could have expected or anticipated. I am glad that we are here.

Anydangway, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do about the lappy with the broken power jack and all, and I ended up talking to our hardware IT guy, Eric Weller, who told me to bring it in for him to just check on it (I was asking him for an opinion as to where I should take it to be repaired). He applied his tech wizardry skills and did some black-belt diagnostics with a screwdriver, a flashlight and his fingertips and determined that the DC jack on the lappy was fine, but that I had managed to break yet another power cord. He loaned me a universal that he had in a drawer until the one I ordered off of eBay can get here and we are back up and running (and for much less than it would have otherwise cost!) Thanks, Eric!

Updated Update

Okay- we got a couple of atrocious bids for repairing the lappy (like 300 bucks and two weeks or more) and finally found a place just down the street from us that says they can re-solder the charging port in a couple of days for about forty dollars. Bad news is that until then we have no real internet-just my smartphone- so we will be a little out of the loop. If you need to get a hold of us, just give us a call or email us at my byulaw.net address (or text either of us). We'll get back up and running asap.