Behind The Scenes

You may wonder why I post a hideous looking door on my blog. There is one word for that. MADISON. My child stays up, when she is supposed to be sleeping, for about an hour cleaning and organizing her room before she goes to sleep. (She is very OCD.) When we moved into our house there were air bubbles in the paintjob on the door. I think Madison thought she was fixing the problem, but actually made things worse. What is a mother to do?

The sad thing is that there is nothing I can do to stop her. I guess it all has to be sanded down and painted over eventually. Oh well...

Madison was very proud of the work she had done on her door. Little stinker!

In the past few weeks Hyrum has been interested in moving around. He can't crawl quite yet. But he is very excited to find out how.
Here is a picture of Hyrum taking a break from all the hard work!

Hyrum is so close to crawling! Here is a video of his progess. It's such a fun time for him to learn and grow. We're planning on his cousin, Carter, giving him lessons while we're in Utah! (Yah for Carter... he just started crawling!)

Happy Birthday To You

My mom is going to LA to see "Wicked" with my dad and my sister for her birthday. Since my mom is leaving on her birthday, I had to post this early to make sure she gets it on time.

This is a little message from Madi and Hyrum: We love you Grandma! We're your #1 fan. Thank you Grandma, for playing with us in the sand.Our wish for you is to have a Happy Birthday. Can you believe we get to come visit in only 10 more days?!!!

Madison's favorite song to sing and dance to is Happy Birthday. I tried get her to sing to "Grandma", but she's a little selfish. She likes to sing it for herself only.

My mom is the greatest! There are no words great enough to express the admiration I have for her. My mom has taught me so much. I love you, Mom! I hope you have a happy day!

"Mommy Paige Pooper"

Lately Cory and I have been teaching Madison about her name. People ask her name all the time and she never responds. So we have taught her that her name is Madison Paige Cooper. Now we have found out that she still doesn't tell people her name because she is a shy little girl.... yah right! (But that's what she acts like some times.)Madison goes around supposedly writing her name, she says its "Madison Paige Pooper". She is very proud of her name. I know, she can't pronounce the "C" yet.
Like most mothers do, when they are serious with their children, I say "Madison Paige Cooper!" The other day I was in the other room of our house and Madison didn't know where I was. She got in her serious tone and said, "Mommy Paige Pooper! Where are you?!" I started laughing so hard. That night I had to tell her that my name is Mommy Cooper, not Mommy Paige Pooper. She needs to claim her own name and be proud. Hahaha. Kids are so funny! :)

Newest Hairstyle

Ever since Madison had enough hair, she has twirled it when she got tired to put herself to sleep. We thought that was a great self calming technique. It was great until her hair grew to be really really long. Madison has put one too many knots in her hair. I have not had to cut them out, but I do spend lots of time trying to comb them out. I still think I'm damaging her hair. A lot of hair still comes out with the knot. Madison twirls her hair like a mad women when she's tired and going to sleep. She really goes to town. I've seen her in action! I had to take a picture to remember the wonderful hairstyle she has come up with for her hair.
I don't think Aunt Caitlyn, who is a hair dresser, would be very happy with that knot! Any tips to get them out?

I think this is a precious picture of Madison--too bad she has that big knot in her hair!

Napping Children:Happy Mommy

Every mother, I think, can attest to the fact that children's naps are neccessary for not only the child, but the mother. Hyrum, however, has not been napping very well for the past few weeks. And its driving me bonkers! I thought that maybe his napping schedule needs to be switched because he doesn't need as much newborn sleep as I was giving him. But he has decided on his own that napping is not what he wants to be spending his days doing. He will only sleep for 30 minutes and then wake up crying and will not go back to sleep. (Trust me, I've tried letting him cry himself back to sleep... not working!) When we went for his 6 month check up the doctor just told me that maybe he doesn't need as much sleep as most babies do. I don't like that thought. He gets grumpy during the day, I know he needs to nap, but he just refuses. I want to just blame it on the teething. But those teeth are just taking their sweet and precious time! What does a mother do? Hyrum sleeps great at night, I guess I should count my blessings for that. (He sleeps from 7pm-7am with no interruptions.) But I know he can be much more happier during the day if he would only take some decent naps. Madison's showing him up by napping longer during the day than he is and she's 2 years older than him. Any suggestions?

FOOD!

This boy loves food. Hyrum is eating us out of house and home and he's only 6.5 months old. Here he is enjoying a cracker. We give him a lot of crackers to hold him over until the next meal. What else is a mother to do?

Super Star...

This is a daily routine in our home. Who knew that dancing in front of the stove could be so fun? I came to find out that the stove acts as a mirror. She loves to put on her hat and dress up shoes and go to town. Too cute!

Midnight Snack

The other night Cory and I were helping Madison clean up the toys from the fun we had that day before she went to bed. I had put Hyrum on the couch. When I came back, this is what I found!
He was enjoying the taste of Madison's shoe just a little too much I think. Those shoes are always really stinky too! Gross!!!

What A Day...

Today we went to the doctor's office for a visit. Hyrum had his 6 month check up. (I can't believe he's already six months!) Madison went with us, of course, and she loves doctors. She started loving them once she didn't have to get shots anymore. Well, Hyrum didn't know what was coming to him today. I made sure he had a little snooze before we went to the doctor's, so he woke up nice and happy. He made sure to rip up all the paper covering on the patient bench before the Dr. even got in the room! He thought it tasted pretty good too. As soon as the Doctor came in the kids were both so happy. Madi started to "fake cough" to get the doctor's attention. (It worked!) I just shook my head. Madison then sang for the doctor the whole time she was checking Hyrum out. It was pretty comical. I am guessing she wanted more attention.
Madison is a very protective big sister and I didn't think beforehand about the whole shot situation. So, on the way to the doctor's office I told Madi that Hyrum was going to get some shots so he wouldn't get really sick. She was fine with that. But I think she forgot that shots are PAINFUL. As soon as the nurse started giving him his 1 out of 4 shots, Hyrum started crying. Then Madison started crying. She did not like seeing her brother getting those painful shots. I had to worry about calming Madi down before I could calm Hyrum down. Hyrum was actually a champ, he didn't scream bloody murder like he did last time. Don't get me wrong, you could tell it hurt, but he wasn't hysterical. Before the nurse left the room Madison made sure to give the nurse the dirtiest look ever. (She's really good at it too. Trust me, I've gotten plenty.) I felt so bad for the nurse, she said, " Oooh... that girl hates me!" Poor nurse.
Ever since we've gotten home Madison has reminded me that we need to be nice to Hyrum because he has "shots on his knees". (They're actually on his thighs, but Madison doesn't know the difference yet.)
I never knew that going to the doctor's could be so comical! I could have easily gotten so stressed. What a day....

Here are the stats, just for Grandma:

• Weight: 15.6 lbs (25th percentile)
• Height: 28 inches (25th percentile)
• Head circumference: 40-41? (Two nurses and the Doctor all measured, I guess he's not even on the charts! I had to remind Doctor how small Daddy's head is- but he's still a genius!)
• Perfectly healthy baby!!!! :)

Bonding...

Lately I've been reminiscing (sp?) the good ole days! I remember growing up in a home where all we do is spend time together as a family. I love my family and I cherish the memories that we have shared with one another. I hold close times that I've spent with my brothers and sister. I am so glad that we are as close as we are, and hope that the bond we have never changes. As I have a family of my own, I want the same thing for my children as I had. I want them to enjoy being with their siblings. It brings joy to my heart when I see Madison and Hyrum spending time with eachother.
Hyrum is a happy camper watching his older sister running and playing outside.

I love this picture! It shows how much fun these kids do have together most of the time. Madi is just being a goof ball and Hyrum is studying her every move. What a crazy sister!

Hyrum loves hair these days. He loves to tug and eat and do just about whatever he can with it. He really loves Madison's hair because its really long. She was being nice and letting him play with her hair until it started to hurt. This is the face she gave Hyrum telling him she was done with that game!

After Madi went away squealing, I was wondering what this boy was thinking with a face pulled like that! It doesn't look like a very apologetic face now does it?!

I have so much fun just watching my children play around. They both are so sweet and I love watching them together! I know that peace won't last very long between them, but its nice to enjoy it while it lasts!

Funny Girl

Madison is now putting together real sentences like an adult. Everyday she says something that cracks me up. I don't want to forget the things she says, so I figured I would record it here. So, I guess this post is for my own benefit than for you all. I just don't want to forget. So bare with me.

• One day we were heading out the door to get in the stroller to go on a walk and I noticed it was starting to rain. I said, "Oh darn, Madi, its raining. Let's go inside." As we were walking back in the door Madi said, "Oh darn, Mom, its raining!" (What a parrot.)


• Madison's new favorite phrase is "Oh my goodness!" I think I must overuse that phrase as I tend to be excited and exaggerate a bit on the accomplishments of Madi. She must say "Oh my goodness" ten times a day. (No joke!)


• Yesterday we were in the bathroom at church. She was washing her hands after she had gone, and her ties on the front of her dress got wet. She said, "Oh geez, Mom! My dress is wet."


• I was not here to witness this one, but Cory told me about it. We were at the adult session of stake conference and the kids were getting restless, so Cory took them to the primary room because you can still hear the speakers from there. Anyways, she was playing the piano and leading the music. And then Madi went up to the podium and pulled a serious face and started talking about church and Jesus. When she was finished she said, "Amen". I wish I was there to see it! (Sidenote: Madison saw a gluestick in the primary room and opened it up and started putting it one like chapstick.. There's a true girly girl for ya!)

I think that's all for now, but I'm sure there will be more to come. Thanks for reading this random post! OH, and I took this picture of Madi and my friend, Cat had made it all cute! I think she did such a good job. So, I had to post it!

Ant Stories...

People usually get scared by Ghost stories. In our family, Madison and I get scared by Ant stories. If you haven't ever heard of them, sit back, and read some good ones! Our family is full of them!
Yesterday we were out in the front yard and she found ANTS. Madison is watching very closely to make sure they don't bite her. She doesn't trust me that those are the "nice" ants. I don't know what they are actually called. But I know they're not the "mean" ones.

Ever since we've moved to Florida we have discovered Fire Ants. There have been a few mishaps at our home with Madison and the ants. One evening, a few weeks after we moved here we were playing outside and she was climbing in the bushes. I was excited that my little girl wanted to be adventurous and get dirty. UNTIL she started screaming her head off and I had no idea what was going on. I took her out of the bushes and she didn't stop screaming, and then I found that her legs were covered with fire ants. The best remedy I have found for ant bites (because they hurt like the dickens!) is to soak in cool water. So, I stripped Madi and put her in the bath. It doesn't take away the bites... her legs were COVERED. Lesson learned... don't be adventurous in Florida! After that incident Madi didn't go on the lawn to play for MONTHS. Very not like her!

The next week she came into the family room one morning complaining of an ant bite. "Mean ants get me" she kept on telling me, while pointing into the kitchen. I was thinking, she's just traumatized from the last incident. I ignored her and told her that there were no ants in the house. She came back complaining numerous times that morning, so I'd figured I go check it out for her. I go in the kitchen, and there are a trail of fire ants. I call my husband in a panic wanting the get the ants out of here. (Dish soap did the trick.)

Then one day I was pulling weeds in the little garden we have out back. Madison, being the big helper she is, volunteered to help me. We were pulling weeds, and then she starts screaming that she has ants biting her. And low and behold, she had them crawling all over her hands and up her arm. That ended that fun bonding moment.... thanks a lot ants!

Now every time Madison sees an ant, even when its not a fire ant, she smooshes it to death. I remind her that there are nice ants and mean ants. We don't need to kill the nice ones, but she doesn't believe me. She wants REVENGE on those fire ants by killing every single ant she sees!

Backyard Fun

I'm in love with my new digital camera my parents got me for Christmas. I love taking pictures of my kids during the day. It makes the mundane things of life more interesting. Today Madison and I played outside in our backyard while Hyrum was taking a nap.

We bought Madison a bike for her 2nd birthday. But does she ever use it? NO WAY! She likes the one the neighbors have instead. What a stinker!

Madison found a pole in the backyard that was used for horse-shoes once. She decided to ride it like a horse. This picture is dedicated to my cousin's husband, Nate. I took it just for him! (Long story.) It made me laugh!

The people that own the two houses behind us are brothers. Their names are Frank & Frank. Brothers, yes. Sorry, I just think that's hilarious. Anyways, they have this swing set that nobody uses anymore so they let Madi play on it whenever she wants. She loves it! (Our house is behind Madi in the picture.)

Hyrum was taking a nap while we were outside playing, so she was pretty happy to be swinging in the baby swing. It looks like she's having a little too much fun!

Dressing Up

One Sunday our family was hanging out in the family room. I hadn't put my makeup bag away from when I had brought it in the car to finish getting ready. (Mommy is always the last one to get ready for church, of course!) Madison found the makeup bag and started getting into it. She jumped up to Daddy's lap and put her hat on his head and wanted to play dress up. I usually let her put on the lip gloss and all that fun stuff. But Daddy thought otherwise.
To my surprise, Daddy was not against getting the makeup out, but he even put on the mascara for Madison. I had to tell him I don't let her play with that stuff, only the lip gloss. He told me, "C'mon, we're just having fun!" Madison thought she looked pretty cute. Daddy put on her mascara and she put on her lipstick. Not too shabby for a Daddy and a two year old!

The funniest part was after they were done playing Cory started giving me a talk about how Madison is not going to be allowed to wear makeup until she is 16. I told him he just set a perfectly good example there! He was starting early! I told Cory to give me a face that showed what he thought about makeup, and this is what he gave me! Oh, the adventures we will have when Madison is a teenager. But for now, we will just have fun!

"All By Myself"

I think every mother has the right to brag about their kids every once in a while. So this is my time. Madison I think has an incredible artistic talent. She loves to draw. All day long she just wants to draw. She has past the "coloring" stage and just wants to draw with pens and colored pencils. She has great skills with the pencil in her hand. (Better than any two year old I observed while working in a day care.) Her favorite thing to draw is happy faces. One day she was drawing at the table and she drew a happy face all on her own. Then I started to add some hair to it and she stopped me and said that she wanted to do it all by herself. And I have to admit, she did a pretty good job. So, this is a picture of Madison's own artwork with no help at all. Madison was very proud... and Mommy was too! :)

Splish Splash!

There is something magical about bath time for my children. It is their favorite part of the day. If the kids are grumpy, I'll just throw them in the bath and it usually solves the problem! It soothes the wild beast inside of them. One night Cory took Madi to Young Men's with him (he's the YM pres.) and Hyrum was able to take a bath all by himself. No interruptions! He was oh, SO happy about that! Don't worry, these pictures are all modest!

Eating his favorite bath toy... he could care less about all the other toys in the bath tub!

Hyrum is just like Daddy... he loves to sing in the tub! Here he is singing his little heart out!

I just love how his ears pop out. He's so darn cute!

My Little Hippy Girl

I had to post these pictures because I think Madison looks absolutely adorable in this ty-died shirt that Aunt Hilary made for her for Christmas. When Madi put on her bini that Aunt Caitlyn made for her it just completed the hippy look. I love it!
Last Saturday, after we got back from a walk, she emptied out all of her sidewalk chalk and filled the bucket full of bark from the flower bed. Afterwards she went skipping about using it as a purse. It is so fun to watch her happy expression on her face as she plays.

Oh, to be a child again!

Attack of the Big Sister...Part II

Yesterday morning I was in the laundry room getting started on my daily chores and I come back, and this is what I found. The funny thing was that Madison was no where in sight. She is a sly one she is. I don't know who gets the biggest kick out of these "attacks", me or the kids. SO fun! This is Hyrum's story:

"So here I was minding my own business after breakfast and SMACK! Madison comes in and dresses me up in her hat without permission. All of a sudden it goes pitch black. Where did everybody go?"

"Mommy thinks its funny and puts the hat on the right way. Why doesn't she just take it off?"

Awww Mommy, not the camera... how embarrassing!

"I demand that you take this hat off Mommy. I can't handle you girls anymore. Where is Daddy?"

Attack of the Big Sister...

Yesterday I watched this "attack" happen. I thought it was pretty darn funny. I had to take pictures of it all. Daddy wasn't very happy about this either. But I couldn't resist. Kids are just so fun! Here is how it all happened in the view of Hyrum Cooper:
"One day I was minding my own business playing with the curtains and SMACK! Big sister Madison comes and puts this head band on my head. To make it worse, it was PINK!!"

"Not only did she put a PINK head band on me, but she put her tutu right in my face too. I decided I might as well try to eat it away."

"See how happy Madison is about all this girly stuff? I just don't get it!"

"Now I remember why I like to stay behind these curtains. I'm never coming out again!"

Happy Hyrum

Hyrum is such a happy boy. His smiles and giggles always puts a smile on my face!

Favorite Family Outing

One "perk" about living in Florida is that the weather is always nice. Our family almost owns the city park. We go and play there almost every chance we get!

What a good-looking husband I have! I love to watch him push the kids on the swings. What a good Daddy!

Hyrum loves to swing on the swings. I don't know if he likes swinging or eating his hand better today.

Madison has now graduated to the big-kid playground and swings. Oh, what a proud mother am I! (I know Madison looks like such a rag-muffin here... but she's having so much fun!)

Put To Work...

Today I was putting laundry away in our room and Hyrum started playing with the socks. I was hoping... ok, more like DREAMING he would fold them up for me. He did have fun playing with them. Maybe he'll be in charge in the laundry when he gets older...
"And this is the fun you get to have several times a week? You're so lucky Mommy!"

"Mommy, this gets old real fast!" Tell me about it!

Chef Madison

Madison got this cute chef costume and a wooden baking set from her grandparents for Christmas. She loves to get dressed up and make some cookies!

Madison is getting ready to get to work!

Concentrating hard on making those cookies...

Madison and Elmo are pleased with the outcome of her work. Yummy cookies! After the taste test Madi and Elmo went to share with Cookie Monster.

Bath Tub Chaos

Tonight I decided to try to put Hyrum in the bathtub without his baby bath since he is now pretty steady sitting up independently. I usually put Madison and Hyrum in the bath at the same time. (Kill two birds with one stone, right?) Madison always thinks its funny to pour water on Hyrum's head. She sees me do it to both of them when I rinse them, so why can't she be the mommy for once and wash Hyrum? Usually I let her get away with it, as long as its not in his face. Its all in fun and games, right? But tonight she poured water on top of his head, he lost his balance and CRASH head first in the bath. Well, that ended the fun bath for that night.
I ended up putting his baby tub back in like usual so he could enjoy some of his bath tonight. Hyrum LOVES his bath, it is his relax time. He hates to be lotioned up afterwards, but tonight he soaked it up. I think his bath was too stressful with big sister Madison in there trying to "wash" him. Oh, the joys of two children!

Christmas

Sorry its taken me a while to post my Christmas pictures. Santa brought me a digital camera for Christmas (score!), but I still had to use the film I had in my old camera. But in any case, here they are!
We had a quiet Christmas at home this year. It was so fun to see the children's faces on Christmas morning! Well, Hyrum was still waking up, but Madison was so excited! There were so many presents for her she kind of got overwhelmed after the first 3 she opened. She just wanted to play with the presents that she had. Hyrum, of course, loved the wrapping paper, not the presents! The best part about Christmas is that we had all the time in the world that day as a family with no interruptions. It was a day of happiness!

Hyrum had just recently learned how to sit up on his own, so I thought he would love this toy. But I think he was more interested in watching his sister than playing with his new toy!

Madison loves to dance! She was just thrilled when she opened up her ballerina tutu from "Mama" and "Papa". She couldn't wait to put it on and put on a show for us!

Now, the best part about Christmas is the treats that you never ever get, except for on Christmas! Hyrum is close buds to Daddy now that he gets some of his root beer float.

"Nana" & "Papa Pete" got this mini tent for Madison. She loves that thing! It is always set up in her room now. At night, when she doesn't want to cooperate with the bed time routine, she just runs and "hides" in her tent. She thinks nobody can find her in there. Daddy has now taught her that it is a good hiding spot for her toys when she (or daddy) doesn't want to take the time to clean up... BUSTED! (Mommy fixed that problem!)

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Last night I finally finished putting down all my Christmas decorations. I was very sad to see them go, but it needed to happen. I decided to put the tree down last and while the kids were asleep. Madison is very attached to our Christmas tree. I didn't know how to break it to her that Christmas comes just once a year. So, I was sneaky and put the tree away last night after she went to bed. This morning when she woke up, she didn't say anything about the Christmas tree not being there. Normally, the first thing she does is go turn on the Christmas lights. I thought to myself, "Phew! I got away with it!" After she was awake for about an hour, she started saying, "Christmas tree go? Christmas lights go?". I tried to explain to her that they went away for a while until next time Christmas comes. She was very distraught about this. So, I decided to put lights on my ficas (sp?) tree that is in my family room. After we did so, Madi got very excited and plugged in the lights herself and starting going around the tree singing softly "Silent Night". This was a good lesson she taught me about the meaning of Christmas. Madison taught me that we shouldn't celebrate the true meaning of Christmas just once a year, but the whole year through. She is such a sweet child. And knows a lot more than I do. What a great lesson I learned from her today! Now, I just hope she's okay with having the ficas tree lit, or we might have to put the Christmas tree in her room all year round! :) That would be fun!

Happy New Year

Where in the world does the time go? I can't believe a year has come and gone again! This past year was a hectic one for me and my family. Especially with a new baby, graduation, and moving cross country to Florida. As this new year begins I have found lots that I need to improve on in so many ways. I have one resolution this year, and it is a biggie. I want to "embrace" life and all the happiness that is there. I need to remember that "happiness is the object of our existence." Moving to Florida has put me in some kind of temporary funk. And I want to snap out of it. So this year, I am going to be happy, no matter what. I need to count my blessings. Because I HAVE been given so much! Here are some things that I'm going to try to work on:
1.) Show my husband my love and support more often. (Doesn't sound very hard, but it is at the end of a long day with kids sometimes.)
2.) Work on patience as a mother.
3.) Keep a more organized (clean) home.
4.)Be more relaxed and easy going. I tend to get worked up very easily.

Camping in Florida

We brought in the New Year by going on a little camping trip. It was interesting, something I never thought of doing before. I know I know, you're probably thinking, "You can go camping in Florida?" and "On New Year's Eve?". I thought the same exact thing! The weather was perfect, but we were so sick of the bugs by the time we left! (And we were only there for one night!!!) We had a fun time, regardless. Madison had a blast! She loves camping!!