Worm Sitting

Last week's snow is gone and the sun is out! The warm weather and moist soil made for a perfect day to work in our garden. Yep, I'm getting an early start this year. I have a little work to do before I can plant and I want beans and greens A.S.A.P!

Cohen was excited to get outside, too. We dragged out a few of his outside toys that had been stored away for the winter--his lawnmower, baseballs and bat, dump truck and slide. These things kept him interested for quite awhile, until he discovered all the worms wiggling around in the dirt. Then he wanted to share his toys with the worms. He came up with the darling idea of taking one of them for a ride on his lawnmower. 

Oh, one more thing. Cohen's found a new hat.

Little Climber

I'm a little behind in getting to his post, but better late than never, right? We spent Labor Day weekend with Sam's family at his sister Marci's house. We enjoyed a lot of the same things we did on the 4th of July with a few additions: Sam's sister Charlsia who lives in Colorado and her family joined us this time, giving us a total head count of 24; we actually drove the four-wheelers this time; we set up a projector outside and watched a late night movie under the stars; and we went hiking and rock climbing. We brought our camera with us but didn't take a single photo the entire time. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and take it all in without thinking about the lighting or which lens to use. 

Charlsia took a few pictures of our climbing adventure, which is a good thing since it was Cohen's first climbing experience (not including the climbing wall in our garage). 

All ready to take on the wall. Notice the tape around his hands--that was his idea.

Taking a breather and enjoying the three foot view. 

Gotta love the juxtaposition of his taped left hand and diaper peeking out the top of his pants. 

A Day On the Farm

Yesterday we went to Wheeler Farm. Cohen used to go there regularly with my dad, but it's been a while since he's been. We invited one of his best friends from our neighborhood to come along and they had a great time chasing chickens, climbing the tree house, riding the hay ride, and their favorite, "driving" the tractors--they seriously could have done that ALL day. 

While I was driving out of the parking lot, Cohen said, "Go farm, again!" Understood, Buddy! We'll go back very soon.

TWO!

Time flies when you're having fun!  Most who don't know Cohen think he's at least three because he's so tall. But I can't believe he's already two! By the time you're my age, not much changes between birthdays. But Cohen has learned a lot since last year: he can walk (and run!), count to 10+, pedal his tricycle, shoot a basket, name ALL of his cousins, aunts, uncles grandparents and friends, dance, sing, and he can finish the sentences and lines to his favorite books and songs.

To celebrate we had a casual dinner party at our house yesterday. I debated whether or not to have a family party AND a friend party, but opted for "just" a family party. Most of his closest friends are cousins anyway, so we'll save the friend thing for later. We had a houseful and yardful with just family anyway.

Dinner included Cohen's favorite foods: hot dogs & sausages, french fries, veggies & ranch dip, and ice cream. Of course we had cake, too. Last year's cake was an aesthetic disaster, but all the kids loved it. So this year I used the same idea with a few changes and it turned out much prettier.

Cohen was ecstatic about the "balls" on his cake.

I wonder what he wished for??

Only the birthday boy could get away with this.

Great grandmas, grandparents, great uncle, aunts, uncles, cousins and Katrina's family. A pretty big crowd for a two year old! The more the merrier, I say!!

When buying Cohen b-day presents, Sam and I need to remember other people will get him gifts, too. He got a lot of stuff: stuffed animals, books, cars, clothes, puzzles, chocolate milk, candy, balls, a power drill, and his favorite, a lawnmower that blows bubbles. I think it's time get rid of some of his "old" toys. They are starting to take over the house! 

Happy Birthday Bub-o. We love you!

Homemaker

Here's something I never thought I'd see:

Homemade bread and jam ... made by me. 

Until the last little while, the thought of making homemade bread was about as appealing as drywalling. Sure, I like the finished product, but who would ever WANT to spend the time and effort on it? I've always enjoyed cooking, but baking has never interested me. For some reason I've changed. Maybe it's because I like having control over the ingredients in my family's food, maybe it's maturing hormones, maybe its a miracle--ha, ha. 

On a totally unrelated note, Cohen LOVES shoes. By the end of the day shoes are scattered all over the house. He'll try on everything from my high hills to Sam's flip flops. Today he ventured outside in a pair of Sam's shoes. 

Mr GQ

Last week Sam and I went to a local high school to do adoption education presentations in the health classes. We've done this before, but this time was extra cool because Katrina was able to come with us. We didn't bring Cohen, of course (what toddler would enjoy sitting through seven hours of high school classes?), but since he's the main man of our story, and because he's so darn cute, I wanted to show him off.  So the day before our presentation I lifted Cohen up into our backyard cherry tree and snapped some pics. He loved sitting in the tree and cooperated like a champ.

Here are some of my favs.

After the photo shoot he gave our seedlings a "dwink." I really need to get these things in the ground.

This shot was the winner. Holy shmoley he's cute!

Caught!

Today I caught Cohen doing something very grown up ...

I hope he doesn't mind if I still read to him now and then.

Cheese

Tonight while I was making dinner, Cohen got ahold of the cheese and decided to help himself. I had a choice to make--either get get upset or laugh. I decided to laugh--at least he didn't grab it off the grocery store shelf and take a bite out of it like my older sister used to do when she was his age (she was notorious for doing this so that my mom would have to buy whatever it was she bit). I also decided to take a picture so that I would remember to laugh about it again later. 

I sliced off a piece for him to snack on while I finished cooking. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Go figure!

Dress Up

Tonight Sam shot some pics of Cohen dressing up and I had to share a couple of them.

This hat was a Christmas present from Katrina. I've always loved huskies, but this one's my favorite. 

He could make zillions from this pathetic look. Usually wearing Daddy's hat makes him laugh, but apparently he wasn't too happy for the split second this picture was taken.

Happy Halloween!

Definitely the cutest Charlie Brown ever!

He Walks!

Yesterday was a pretty big day for my niece, Ellie.  Not only did she turn 8 years old, she also chose to be baptized and confirmed a member of the the LDS Church.  Yeah, Ellie!  We are so proud of you!!

Yesterday was also a pretty big day for Cohen!  Ellie was posing for pictures with her grandparents when Cohen totally stole her thunder (sorry, Ellie!) by taking his very first steps right into the frame of the picture being taken.  He's had very good balance for quite sometime, but he's never even tried to walk.  Then suddenly THREE perfect steps.  Unfortunately, Sam was helping out in the kitchen, so I excitedly screamed for him to come see (and scared him half to death) and luckily Cohen repeated his moves for his dad and the photo below.  Yeah, Cohen!  We are so proud of you!!  

He already gets around so fast and gets into EVERYTHING, so I'm just bracing myself for when he masters walking.  He knows how to keep me busy!

1 Year Old!

Cohen had quite the birthday experience.  Sam's family had a family reunion in Arizona the weekend of Cohen's big day, so we were able to celebrate with much of Sam's extended family and then we had an official birthday party for him after we got back.

Cohen and his cousin Tristan the first night of the family reunion.  Tristan is two months older than Cohen and he acts two months older, but Cohen definitely looks like the older one.  (At Cohen's 12-month doctor appt., he measured the size of an average 18-month old!)  They kept trying to play with this tractor all night, but their second-cousin did not want to share.

Luckily Sam's sister gave him the perfect birthday present the next day--his very own tractor.  He played with this thing for HOURS!  However, he had no problem sharing with all of his cousins--I was so proud!

       

We spend most of Cohen's birthday at the lake.  He LOVED it!

Cohen met his Great Grandma B for the first time.  I'm so grateful they could finally meet.  She lives on the Navajo reservation, about 4-5 hours away from Sam's parents, so we don't get to see her as often as we'd like.  Cohen went right up to her, tapped her on the leg to get her attention, and and then went right for her necklace!  They were so sweet with each other.  

***

For Cohen's party, I made him his very own cake.  The idea was to have several layers of chocolate cake stacked on top of each other, then covered in beautiful wisps of whipped cream and topped multi-colored sprinkles.  I wanted it to be cute, yummy and messy!  I froze the cake to make it easier to cut and frost, but it was about a zillion degrees, so the cake defrosted too fast and little cake crumbs got into the whipped cream as I was frosting it.  The whipped cream also didn't stand up to the heat very well.  It ended up being the ugliest cake I have ever seen!  However, Cohen loved it, and that was my ultimate goal.  Several of his cousins couldn't help themselves either and joined in the fun of devouring the chocolate & whipped cream mess!  I was grateful to the zillion degree weather afterward because we could just hose him off!

Katrina and her brother came to the party, too.  I'm so glad they could share this special day with us!  Katrina had just gotten back from Costa Rica and gave Cohen a really cool drum.  Here you can see where Cohen gets his good looks!

It used to bother me when adults would say something about kids growing up too fast.  As a kid, growing up seemed to crawl by.  But now I'm one of those annoying adults.  I can't believe how fast the past year has flown by!  I am so grateful that I get to have this little guy in my life.  I love getting to know him.  He teaches me something and makes me giggle every day.  I can't imagine my life without him!

Happy Valentine's Day

It's Legit!

Cohen is finally legally our son.  What a relief!  In Utah (where we live) adoptions aren't made final until at least 6 months after placement.  Of course Cohen has felt like our son since we first brought him home, but it's nice to know that the law now sees it that way.

Our legit family outside the court room with
our adoption attorney and adoption worker. 

The very next day (which also happened to be Megan’s birthday—talk about THE BEST birthday present ever!) we went to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity.  This experience was truly a sacred event that will stay with us forever. 

Then, the day after that, Cohen had his baby blessing at church.  Below is a picture of him with Katrina at our house after the blessing. 

What an amazing few days!  We are truly blessed!!!