All Grown Up

Lately Kevin and I have been in disbelief over how big our boys have gotten. I remember when they were just little bitty and just fresh from the hospital. I can't believe that they are two and have grown so much in just a short amount of time! They have gone through all of the adorable baby phases (little babies, little old men, baby/toddler) and are now just little boys. Thats all I can say to describe them. So, since they are no longer babies we have decided they must dress like big boys for church. While at the grand opening of a new Good Will I picked them up some white button ups ($2) and my friend bought them little clip on ties (for their birthday) ($2). I then was in search of some dress pants. Did you know that little kids clothes are just as expensive as adult clothing? I think its silly. However, Kohls was having a sale and I picked up some pants ($8) and found some shoes on clearance at WalMart ($5). When it was all put together yesterday morning I couldn't have been a prouder parent. The boys were just beaming with excitement of their spiffy new outfits and the fact that they looked just like daddy. Of course, I tried to do an impromptu photo shoot in our backyard before church and was not able to capture the picture I wanted... but these turned out super cute still.

Cooper is a ham for the camera. 

Saturday Steals: Birthday Bargain

So, the boys turned two on Thursday. These past couple of days have been kinda crazy! I can't believe that they are two already! Seriously, where did the time go? Anyways, this post really isn't about their birthday or the festivities that we did. It is about a super cute cake that I made by myself without anyone's help (except the internet's). 

You see, A & C are obsessed with Woody & Buzz so I figured we would have a fun rocket ship shaped cake. I Googled rocket cakes and saw a whole bunch of ideas. So basically, I decided I would do it myself. I baked a 13X9 in greased foil so it would be easily removed. Once it was all cooled down I cut the rocket shape and then took the corners flipped them upside down and placed them on the opposite side of the cake. That sound's kinda confusing, but it was really easy. The end result was a super cute cake that I decorated with homemade cream cheese frosting and sprinkles that were in my pantry because I didn't get any piping icing and don't own any piping tips. I know, I need to get on the train and purchase those things but I just havent yet. So, with out further ado: here is the cake!

I even decorated with cardboard stars and a moon that I covered in tin foil. I'm a genius, I know. 

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This post is in conjunction with Camille over at Archives of Our Lives. Click HERE to see other Saturday Steals and HERE to enter her giveaway for some super cute handmade flowers :)

little boys are made of:

{how precious are these little faces?}

aiden in back, cooper in front

Kevin's best friend from forever Brad came and visited us a couple of weekends ago. He ended up bringing along his two dogs because the trip to our house was a test road trip for their long drive out to California later this year. However, none of that is important except for the fact that our kids have a fascination with dog kennels. Ever since the boys were big enough to crawl we have always likened them to puppies. I don't know if its because they rub their faces on the carpet, crawl on their hands and knees while yelping, or just the fact that they are adorable and give us that warm fuzzy feeling inside, but they remind us of dogs sometimes. So I guess it is no surprise that they loved our friend's dog kennel.  They saw it in our guest room and couldn't get enough of it. Aiden was the first one to venture into the kennel and discovered quickly that the gate was fun to open and close. Once Cooper saw how fun it was decided to join his brother. They thought it was the funnest thing ever. The crawled around and were so silly. I realize now that I should have video recorded them as well as pictures, but oh well. It was a fun couple of minutes to play with something new and exciting.

busy busy busy...

Holy Cow! I cannot believe it has been almost a whole month since I have posted! We have been so busy here lately that I can't even think straight.  I'll try to do a brief catch-up and more posts tonight/this weekend.

Aiden & Cooper:

These two little boys are keeping me so busy! Their favorite movie(s) are Woody & Buzz or Toy Story 1 & 2. Everyday we discuss Boody & Buzz. They have expanded their vocab of characters to include Pig (Hamm), Doggie (Slinky), Yee Haw (Jessie), and Rawr (Rex). They crack me up. We seriously watch a Toy Story film almost every other day. I try not to watch it every day so I can keep my sanity. But, they have become so aware of what happens in the films that they say "OH NO" before something happens. They even know when Buzz arrives in the first one. As the camera pans up his little space ship box Cooper screams out "BUZZ!"

They have learned to climb and push anything they want to get anything they need. This has made for "child proofing" my house super difficult. Almost all chairs are removed to rooms that are unaccessible to them. One day they figured out how to move my antique yellow chair and since then it has been sequestered to my bedroom. Sometimes, they even go in there and move it out to the living room so they can get their movies off of the bookshelf. This is a serious problem. I have no idea how to stop them. If you have ideas, please enlighten me. They are stubborn little boys. While we are on the topic of climbing, Cooper had another accident! Thankfully it wasn't as serious as the "staple incident" but still, the kid will not learn that climbing = ouchies. This past time it happened on Sunday. He decided he wanted to dance on Kevin's bed side table (which is very unstable = reason for bedroom) and it kicked out from underneath him. He scratched up his face pretty good but it wasn't serious. It's practically gone now and by Tuesday it just looked like he had some chocolate on his face. Trust me when I say that TWO is all we can handle at the moment!

Kevin:

He has been super busy with work. He is the only employee now and has taken on so much responsibility! He's such a good mechanic and can fix pretty much anything that is broken. I'm so proud of him! He is looking in going back to school in the Spring which will be nice to have a break from paying on student loans! I know that he will do great in whatever he decides to pursue. He still is the 2nd Counselor in YM's and it keeps us both pretty busy on Wednesday nights. I think he really enjoys the Deacons even though they are a handful and more and more seem to be piling into his class. If anything, it'll be good preparation for when our kids get that old.

Jacque:

Well, we have taken a leap of faith and decided that I should still go to school. I know you are thinking, "Wait, didn't you announce you weren't going to school?" Why yes, yes I did. However, my AMAZING advisor was able to get me 3 night classes and an online class. This means I can still stay home with the kiddos and go to school. I'm really happy about it. My classes are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday which is awesome so Kevin can still go to mutual. Plus, I think it'll be a good opportunity for Kevin to spend more time with our kids. He has been so busy this summer working pretty much non-stop that he's missed out on so many special memories I have with the boys. Besides school, I'm still trying to adjust my schedule to being as productive as possible during the day. I'm currently looking into ideas and ways to educate my kiddos. I want them to start their alphabet and numbers. I know they won't go into Kindergarten until they are six because of their birthday, but I still want them to be the smartest little ones around. So, if you have any ideas {Andrea} that you would like to share, please send them my way! Oh, and I had aspirations to open an etsy shop. That is still in the work, I just haven't found the time to develop my products. So, don't worry it will debut eventually.


That is all I can think of at the moment. I'll be back with some cute pics of the boys from when some friends came to visit.

Night Time Protocol

We have been steadily trekking on with our night time routine now for a week almost. So far it seems that the most difficult thing for the boys to do is to just sit down and be reverent while we say our family prayer. Last night I had an ingenious ideal! I decided to make them a prayer book. I came up with the idea because they love love love to read books. It's pretty much all we did yesterday. We read books, ate, took a nap, then read some more books. I love how interested they are in reading. Plus, my kids are pretty dang smart. They can spot out {almost} anything in our books that we read. It makes me proud to be their mama!

Anyways... I decided that if they had a book they could read and follow along with maybe they would be more interested in sitting and saying prayer at night. So, today I put one together, rather quickly, when we came into work.

I think it turned out pretty cute. {The pages are out of order because of how you fold it once its printed...} I had Aiden look through his with me after I made it. He pointed to every page and said what it was. It totally melted my heart.

I am so happy that I get to spend so much time with Mr. A & C. They bring so much joy and happiness to my life and everyday they do something that makes me well up with happy tears. Being a mom is the greatest present ever!

Tough Decisions

Sometimes we have to made really hard decisions as adults. Its one of my least favorite things of being a "grown up." However, this past week Kevin and I made a big decision... one that affects not only us but our kids as well. What is it you ask?

I have decided to stay home with the boys and not work, not go to school, not do anything but raise them to be the most amazing kids they can be.

It has been a very long and drawn out process. Something that I've prayed about. Something that we discussed in detail. I know its not going to be easy. I know it's going to be difficult {it already has been}. But I also know that it is the best thing we can do for our little ones right now. They need guidance, structure, and to know that their parents love them. I would love to be in school and finish  up my degree,  but the thought of them being with a stranger more hours of the day than being with me saddens me. I should raise them, not someone else.

And so I start my journey as a stay at home mom...

Project Apron: Complete

Today was a fun filled day of sleeping in, swimming, and sewing. We woke up late (always a plus) and then headed over to Grandma's for a swim in the pool. The boys love it and are obsessed with water which always makes for a fun time.

Once we came home and put them down for a nap I decided I was going to conquer my apron project that has been sitting around forever... seriously since March. I did have someone teaching me how to sew, but she is busy and so I figured I could do it. I followed a pattern and am pleasantly pleased with my final outcome. Of course, it is not perfect. My seams are not straight and i'm sure it is not exactly as the pattern calls for, but I am proud of it!

{in case you are wondering: no i am not preggers, just slouchy and a little pudgy in the midsection}

Trauma-rama!

**Due to the Graphic Nature of some of this post please be warned **

Please brace yourself for the intense amount of updating that will be going on here.

First and foremost, I bought us a new camera!! YAY! Our old one is still lost, but at least we have one now right? Plus, its totally awesome. Its the Samsung Dual View.

Why is it awesome you ask? It has a front screen that you can easily turn on. My kiddos love to look at themselves whenever I get my camera out so it makes taking pictures easier. It also has a "kid" setting where a clown dances around and music plays to entice little ones to look at you. We are in love with it and I have been making sure that I keep a good eye on where it is at all times. (pic here)

Moving on... Last Tuesday we had our first "Emergency" situation. Scary, Yes? Did my little man handle it like a trooper? Yes. I am pretty sure I was the worst out of Cooper, Aiden, and myself. The details of what really happened are still unknown to me and probably will be forever, but what I can conclude is that Cooper fell off a table. How? Well, him and his brother like to climb like little monkeys. They will push, pull, drag, flip over, do whatever necessary to the objects in the room to help enable themselves to achieve a greater distance vertically. They had pushed over their table over to the big table where the TV is setting at work. They like to get up there and push buttons. I was in the other room around the corner doing some work when all of the sudden I heard a loud THUD followed by screaming. I bolted out of the little room I call an "office" to find Aiden screaming and Cooper laying on the ground face first. I thought he had just tripped and fell like normal. I scooped Aiden off of the table and picked up Cooper. Cooper was screaming so hard no sounds were coming out, yes I started to panic a little. I sat down with them and attempted to get them to calm. After getting everyone to an okay place I looked down and saw blood streaming down Cooper's head. Me, freaking out, held him like a football, ran to the back shop yelled at Kevin to come because Cooper was bleeding and began to totally freak! Kevin came running, cleaned up Cooper with soap, water, and peroxide and then consoled him while I calmed down Aiden. After Cooper had calmed down to a good point and we were able to keep him still we looked at his head. I even asked Linda if she thought he needed to go to the doctor. She said no, that he would be fine but Kevin and I felt that he deserved to be looked at. It would only cost me $10 anyways so, wheres the harm in that? All of this scenario took place in a matter of like 5-7 mins. It felt way longer to me! But, we went to the doctor, and he said that he was gonna need one, just one, staple and that he didn't need to be numbed because it would just hurt more. I agreed and we proceeded. Cooper was great. He cried for just a little bit after he got the staple inserted into the top of his head. I am so proud of my little Coop! It was such a traumatic experience for both Cooper and Aiden, and I am fearful of what we will experience next on this little adventure down Growing-Up Lane. But as they say "Boys will be Boys" right?

Traumatic Experience #2, well really it was the first traumatic experience in the week of first time experiences for the boys. We were headed up to Missouri for Father's Day weekend and both boys were a little feverish in the morning, but seemed okay once we started our venture. We stopped and got something to eat at the KFC in Clinton, bad idea if you ever take Hwy 65 North -- just sayin. Now, if you have ever taken Hwy 65 to Missouri you know that the road gets a little curvy, there's lots of twists and turns and after St. Joe there is nothing for a while. Well, right as we approached St.Joe is when Aiden did one of the funniest and most disgusting things I have witnessed first hand... he threw up. Not like any adult would do because they know the feeling and would try to avoid it at any cost, no no no... he just started spewing and crying. Once it happened the first time, Cooper started crying. I felt so bad for the both of them! Aiden didn't know what to do and was covered in disgusting and continued to heave a couple more times. Fortunately we stopped at a service station, the unfortunate thing was that it was closed. WHO CLOSES A SERVICE STATION? Apparently the people who own Jimmy's in St. Joe, thats who. Anyways, we stopped and cleaned him up to the best of our ability with baby wipes. There was a hose sitting out that we used to clean off his clothes and car seat. Once he was "clean" and had new clothes on I put a blanket down for him to sit on top of in his carseat which was gross. We did what we had to do to make it work. Thankfully he fell asleep not too long after we started out on the road again. All I can say is that I'm thankful I packed their blankets for this trip and glad that carseat covers can be easily washed! I am crossing my fingers we don't have to experience anymore traumatic events for a while.

As promised:

I cannot believe how quickly they have grown up.

Cha Cha Cha Chages...

Ugh! Seriously it has been forever since I have posted on my blog. I would like to offer you a sincere apology because I have been super busy and with out a camera :(

First, lets address this camera issue. When Kevin and I got married we got this super awesome point and shoot camera. It was like our baby. We took it everywhere, recorded videos of our kiddos, used it all the time. Well, One day we cleaned our house. Probably because we had guests coming over or something... and it was misplaced. This happened back in April according to the last picture that was taken on my memory card, which thankfully we still have. So, the only camera I have at the moment is the one that is on my cell phone. Sure, it works great for random picture but no where as good or awesome as our real camera. I am currently on the hunt for a new camera and am seriously considering getting an Elph. I would get a dslr but I think it would be too fancy and I'm scared of breaking something that fancy.

Now... Here is what we have been up to...

I got bangs.

Liked them but wasn't loving them.
So I got my hair cut again.

I am currently LOVING this hair. cut, color, everything = perfection!

I also found these sweet aviators after my children broke all of my sunglasses.

What makes these even better is that Kevin got them on his mission in California 10 years ago. Can you say FREE?!!!

I have also been debating paining my kitchen....

I have decided after a evening of design discussion with my friend Kara that I am going to leave it tan. This kind of depresses me because I really want to paint because I am bored with the tan color that consumes my  house. However, there is no way I can paint my kitchen. I have a weird wall that makes it difficult and it would look silly. I have discovered what inspires me and how I would like to decorate my house. So my new mission is finding the perfect accessories to make it awesome.

Right now I am taking a break from school. Apparently the school I go to costs a lot of money to do summer school and that doesn't really fit our budget at the moment. So, I am taking a break. I did however fair very well this semester!

I currently have a 3.76 GPA. We will see what happens once they factor in my transfer credits. But I am keeping in my goal of a 3.5 GPA. In the fall I am going to be taking 18 credit hours. EEP! Yeah it's a lot but I have to do it in order to graduate in a fair amount of time. I'm currently debating a full week schedule versus a three day a week schedule. Either way we go Kevin and I have decided that daycare is a requirement for our kids. Which, unfortunately, is just another cost to our budge. But, its what is best for our kids and us.

Speaking of the boys, no post would be complete with out pictures of them.

I cannot believe how big they are getting. They will be TWO in September and I am in no way prepared to deal with that. They are so much fun. Cooper loves to drum on any and everything and Aiden loves to sing. He sings along to every TV show that they watch. Just this morning Kevin and I were listening to him sing the theme song to Sesame Street. I love them so much.

I know that there is more that has happened or that is going on but that is all I can process at the moment.

Two Spring Breaks

I did not intentially plan on having two weeks off of school. And to be quite honest, I did go to school on Tuesday of this week. However, on Tuesday my little Cooper man woke up with a fever. When I took his temp it was low like 99 so we gave him some tylenol and I sent him on his merry way with his dad. I went to school had a GREAT day and then went home to find a still feverish kiddo. I don't think it helped that we ran like 3 errands before going home for the evening, but when else are we suppose to get stuff done? By the time we got home his fever was a whopping 103.1! Yikes! So I gave him some tylenol, Kevin gave him a Priesthood Blessing, and we calmed him as much as possible. It was not a pleasant night for anyone except Aiden who slept like a log. When we awoke in the morning, well 5:30 and then 8:30, Cooper was still sailing with a fever above 100. I called the Doctors office told them whats going on and they said ok we will see ya at 2:30. REALLY? I had to wait ALL DAY until this poor guy could get in to the doctor? So we waited and I held poor Mr. Cooper all day until it was time to go. By the time we got to the doctor Cooper was even worse. His little neck was hurting and he was just a wreck. :( Poor guy. 

{mr cooper at the doctor}

The good news is that nothing is wrong with his throat, ears, or chest just enlarged lymph nodes. Seeing how there is no way to really decipher what is wrong there he decided either Mr. Cooper has a viral or bacterial infection. He sent us on our way with antibiotics in hand and we headed home. I was hoping that by morning he would be feeling better... to no avail he still had a fever. So, today I stayed home and nursed a poor baby back to health. By lunch time he was better, and by tonight he was back to normal. 

{nothing like teamwork to get the job done}

{getting ready for bed}

I am thankful that he is feeling better but boy is my house a mess and am I covered up with homework... At least my baby is better and my teachers are understanding. Time for me to hit the books!

{me & mr. c saying cheese}

{mr. a saying cheese}

Christmas Past

I know that this is a little late, but honestly I think that our Christmas this year was our best Christmas as a family. My morning started out with finishing my beautiful cream cheese braid, which has become a new tradition in our family because it was AMAZING and super easy. I decided to just half the dough roll it out and really braid it instead of how the recipe said to do it, and it turned out really pretty and delicious! While I was waiting for the dough to rise Aiden woke up and decided to join me in the kitchen. Then he noticed that something was different... there were packages under our tree. He slowly walked over picked up a bag and handed it to me. I told him "Yep, thats a present and it's for you. Go ahead and open it." He was just beaming with light and slowly took out the paper, set it down, then pulled out the toy. He loved it. He sat and played with it for at least 10 minutes. While he sat quietly and played I woke up Kevin and told him we should get Cooper up too to open presents. Kevin, being the amazing husband he is, suprised me with probably the greatest present this year. I woke up to two brand new and assembled bookshelves flanking my tv. I have been wanting bookshelves for a really long time to fill up some space on our empty wall and they look quite esquisite. I will post pictures once I find things to fill them with, because they look boring now. Opening presents was an all day adventure at our house for the simple fact that the boys enjoyed opening each gift and playing with it. We didn't have that big wrapping paper mess that usually is affiliated with Christmas morning and it was a nice suprise. I let Kevin be our camera man on Christmas day because he got us a new tripod. I thought he would be better... but he just shot a couple of videos and totally missed my first Christmas dinner that I prepared all by myself! I made a bacon "wrapped" turkey with sage butter and a maple glaze, sweet potatoe cassarole, garlic mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, and fresh cranberry sauce. I atttempted to make gravy and was horrible at it so Linda fixed it and she made homemade rolls. Our dinner was a feast full of goodness and fullness. We were so full we couldn't even eat dessert. We had cherry, apple, pecan, and pumpkin pie! All of which was delicious as well! I was so proud of myself and my yummy and moist turkey. After we ate I realized that my Christmas glory was never photographed! Again I blame Kevin for this. But none the less, it was a wonderful day spent with family and friends and we enjoyed all that it brought us. Here are some pictures of what they got from Grandma and some videos of Christmas day :)

Aiden opening this cool car that plays music.

Cooper and Aiden's sweet dance moves.

The Night Before Christmas

Christmas Eve this year was by far one of the most stressful Christmas Eve's I have ever experienced. It had been raining for 2-3 days straight in Arkansas and all of the roads were FLOODED! Kevin decided to go to work and left the house around 10ish. Later, his whole family (mom & brother) called me stating that he needed to go to work get the truck and rescue them from their house. They only had a Jeep and a little Honda. Needless to say, Kevin was off rescuing people all day until about 5:30. During that I had made dough for my Christmas morning cream cheese braid, baked two pumpkin pies & a cherry pie, cleaned the entire kitchen, all whilst taking care of the kiddos. It was a lot of work and I was tired, but I was more frustrated with the fact that Kevin was gone all day. It was Christmas Eve and I was expecting him to be home all day having fun and making memories. However, our Christmas Eve had a beautiful new tradition added to it!


Our friends the Well's invited us over for some home made clam chowder and a night full of fun and games. It was some of the most delicious chowder I have ever had! The boys even had lots of fun "playing" their piano. It was a wonderful evening full of good times and good food!

When we got home we put the boys in their Christmas jammies and then tucked them in for the night.

Photo Shoot

I TOTALLY forgot about these darling pictures of my kids that my friend Kara took for their 1st birthday! She is AMAZING and I love when she takes their picture because they turn out way better than anything that I could ever do! She only sent me a couple because she wasn't very pleased with the way they turned out {she didn't feel well the day she took them} but you can obviously see how great they turned out!

Aiden is waving and Cooper is contemplating something?

I can't remember who's bum is whose, but I loved this picture!

She wanted to enter it into a Hallmark Card contest, I think it would totally win!

Mischief and Mayhem! OH MY!

Ugh I know it has been FOREVER since I posted about my little boogers, but I feel that this is appropriate to share. Now that the boys are bigger and can walk and climb and run they have figured out how to sneak out of their playpen at work. They both get together, pull it in on themselves, climb over, and then pull it back into an upright position. I only know this because I had to put them back in to figure out how they got out. {maybe I should record them breaking out of jail!} We had to break apart the play pen into two smaller ones for nap time and now "time out."Anyways, they have been nothing but mischevious since that day. They can now open doors. ie: the pantry door, the bathroom door, my bedroom door. All of which are places I would prefer for them not to go. So we have started locking doors and using the good ol' string trick to keep them from opening doors without locks. Also, they have learned to play with the water fountain at work and think its fun to make a mess. All of these things have made watching them a little more difficult, but it is always hilarious.

Little Moments

Last night I decided to bring the boys home while Kevin stayed and worked late. I set up our Halloween decorations in the yard, made dinner, bathed them, and played with them all before Kevin got home at the nice hour of um...9pm? Yeah, it was a late night for him but I am glad he worked. We had so much fun! They helped me in the kitchen, by constanly grabbing on my to my legs and not letting go. We had a splash zone in the bath tub. I ended up being soaked by the end of their bath but it was all worth it. Then we played in their room. I let them just run around and be free sans diapers! I had so much fun with all the time that we spent together just the three of us. I am grateful for the little moments in time when I get to spend time with my boys and be silly and fun. I look forward to the many more memories we will be sharing as they grow up.

My awesome Dollar Store decorations and yes, those are Christmas lights.

An upclose look at one of my different tombstones

They really enjoyed the lights and the decorations as a whole. I am super excited for Christmas time!! :)

A Year Has Past...

Since these cute little boogers were born!

As you can probably tell, I haven't taken very many pictures of them since Kevin cleared off our camera for their  birthday extravaganza! But, I cannot believe my little babies are a year old already. Its so crazy to look back on the past year and see how much they have grown and changed and become their own little people. They both definately have their own personalities and things that they do and I could not love it more. Even today I told Kevin I want another baby, which I say everyday so its nothing new. We had a nice family birthday get together. We took the boys to Larry's our favorite pizza joint to get the most fantastic pizza ever! Plus they are free until their 5th or 6th birthday? So, who doesn't love free food? Anyways, afterwards we gave them their own little cupcake mosters to celebrate their special day. I got them at Harps which is probably my favorite grocery store but we rarely go there since its on the other side of the highway. Aiden enjoyed digging into the frosting and making the biggest mess ever. Cooper, on the other hand, was scared of the way that it felt and that it was cold and was just not having it. Bud tried to force Cooper to touch it and it just made him upset so he cried even harder :( Eventually he came around to it and enjoyed making a mess with is brother. It was so nice to spend the evening with our family outside of work and focus on the babies and how awesome they are. Please enjoy the pictures of their mess making mayhem.

Aiden is the one who has the frosting up on the side of his face and covered in green goo. Cooper is the one who is a little bit cleaner. I tried to group them together but bloggers new editor is weird and I'm not used to it. I had a video of it but don't know how to upload it now. :(