Cooper's own heaven...

Other than to occasionally eat or drink, Cooper hasn't seemed to leave his room much today. It is like his own slice of heaven on earth.

Santa came...

And boy did he spoil...

We had a very, very merry Christmas and hope you did too!

We've been filling our time with:

When the children are asleep...

Their daddy will play! Justin and Chloe started making an igloo yesterday afternoon and after the kids were in bed he headed back out to finish it up!

I never though that living here in the Seattle area, that I'd have a huge igloo in my front yard- but I do!

Lazy, relaxing Sunday

Due to the weather, church was cancelled today. That left us with nothing to do except hang out at home and enjoy (most of the time) each other's company!

The much anticipated Santa visit

Friday night, with chains on our tires, we trekked down to Factoria Mall to see Santa Claus. Chloe was sooo excited to visit Santa, though she did have a little performance anxiety while on 'the big guy's' lap. When he asked what she wanted for Christmas, all she could squeak out was, "I can't remember." With a little help from Justin, she was able to tell him what she was hoping he'd bring. Cooper was unsure of Santa, but did ok. He had a very serious look on his face for the entire encounter!

(a photo of the photo)

Afterwards, Chloe got to chose where we went to dinner. She chose the Old Country Buffet and we agreed it was time for our annual dining experience there!




Where else, other than a buffet, could you have both a taco and spaghetti for dinner?!

Tired of Snow Posts Yet?!

If the forecast holds any truth, there will be many more snow pictures and posts to come...

Tonight, playing in the snow with Justin:

Still Snowing...

With no end in sight!

Snow Update

Its actually been snowing this morning since about 5am and doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon! A justified "snow day," even the Microsoft Redmond Campus is closed today. We had plans to go visit Santa and out to dinner, but at this rate it doesn't look like it is gonna happen! We'll just have to make due with snowmen and snow angels, hot chocolate and some hot clam chowder... sounds like a perfect day to me!

Here is our yard this morning, in contrast to the picture I posted yesterday:

Chloe's Quote of the Day

Referring to the forecasted snow that canceled school, but failed to show up: "Maybe the news people just aren't as smart as they think they are."

Snow Day!!

Chloe is not a happy camper today... School was canceled due to snow, which means her gymnastics class is canceled as well. These conditions would normally make a child quite happy, but not today. The past two days, Chloe has gone to school with temperatures in the teens. Today, not only is there actually any snow (except for the frozen crud left in our yard from Saturday night), but it is 36 degrees outside which is 20 degrees warmer than yesterday morning.

So, Chloe is upset, no school, no gymnastics and no actual snow to play in. And me? Well, I'm not gonna get all my errands run today, I can guarantee you that!

My Utah friends and family will get a kick out of this picture I just took of our "snowy" yard and road. Please note- the road is completely clear.

It had better actually snow today and it had better snow a lot!

Its that time of the year... to get sick!

Last Sunday morning, we all woke up sick! Headcolds, sore throats, body aches... we were miserable! Chloe stayed home from school Monday and Tuesday, Cooper and I laid low most of the week and Justin wasn't fortunate enough to get much rest, so he is still not feeling so hot!

Life can't stop for illness, especially not this time of the year, so once I was sure we weren't contagious and I wasn't lightheaded from being upright, we plowed on with holiday activities and shopping! Justin and I went to his company Holiday party Thursday night and had a good time bowling and visiting with people. Tonight, we went to our ward (church congregation) Christmas party and enjoyed some good food, a Christmas sing a long, and had fun surrounded by our ward family! It even started snowing during the party.

Do you know what happens when you try to get a sick 22-month old boy to pose for pictures in front of the Christmas tree?! Let me show you:

Eavesdropping

"Hey Cooper, poke my belly button!"

I guess staying home sick from school two days in a row isn't entirely bad. You can have your little brother entertain your slightest whim... like when you feel the need to have your belly button poked.

Lets talk carseats...

Ok, so here I am, climbing on to my soapbox... but just for a moment, so hear me out!

Lets talk extended rear facing. Did you know that a child rearfacing in their carseat is FIVE times safer than a child forward facing in their carseat?! FIVE times- that is huge! 20lbs and one year is the bare minimum for turning your child forward facing in their carseat. It is not the recommended, just the absolute, bare minimum. It is now recommended by the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) that a child stays rear facing until they reach the weight limit (usually 33 or 35lbs) of their carseat or their head reaches the top of the carseat shell.

For more info and to see a crash test comparison of forward facing vs. rear facing, please watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8

I'll save my booster seat lecture for another day and I promise my next post will include pictures of my super-cute kiddos!

New CPSIA Law...

Will have a HUGE negative affect on all of us. At first, I thought this new law regarding lead testing would only affect businesses that manufacture childrens products (toys, clothing...), but as it turns out, it will have much further reaching affects. As the law stands now, after February 10th, 2009, all children's products will have to endure lead testing before being sold. That includes all used items. You will not be able to resell your children's outgrown clothing or toys that were manufactured before February 10th, 2009- to a consignment store/sale, on eBay or even at a garage sale. In that same regard, you won't be able to buy your children these used items either- no toys or kids clothing at the thrift store! All homemade children's items, clothing, hairbows, would have to endure expensive testing to be able to be sold. This new law will affect all of us.

You can read more about it here:

http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.html

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=32

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122696993087535701.html

Please, please, please write to your United States Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA.

There is an online petition here, also:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html

I love this guy...

Grubby face and all!

Ornaments

Its no secret around here that I love Christmas, especially Christmas trees. I always look forward to decorating our tree. I love unwrapping all the tissue-paper wrapped ornaments that have been stored away for eleven months- each ornament reminds me of another time, another person, or another place. It is a walk down memory lane and a trip I enjoy taking every year.

Some ornaments are still a personal favorite and have been since our first Christmas together (we have three fish like this and they are Justin's favorites)

Some are gifts from friends that we don't get to see nearly as often as we should.

Some remind us of our favorite holiday movie.

Some bring smiles to our faces and remind us of our first "children."

And, all together, the memories form a beautiful display.

Stuck-um

Stuck-um. That is how Cooper says 'stuck.' Stuck-um is exactly what Cooper was today.

Stuck.

In a matter of oh, 90 seconds, Cooper went from playing in the living room, decorating our little kid-sized tree, to shrieking in terror. I ran from his room, where I was grabbing a pair of pants to put on him so we could go pick Chloe up from school, into the living room. I looked around, panicked. And then I saw his little legs sticking out from under the entertainment armoire that we have our tv and components in.

Somehow, he managed to squeeze and stretch just enough to get under the edge of the cabinet while trying to retrieve an ornament he had dropped that rolled under there. After a few attempts, I realized I was not going to be able to get him out all by myself. His head was much, much to big to get back out and the cabinet was much, much to heavy for me to lift. I had two choices, either Justin rushing home from work or call 911 and have some firemen come remove my "stuck-um" child.

Fortunately, Justin was able to rush home. I calmed Cooper down by giving him his blankets and letting him drink a few juice boxes. He was only partially hysterical by the time Justin got home 15 minutes later. Justin lifted the armoire and I pulled Cooper out.

So today, more than ever, I'm thankful for a strong husband that was able to save the day.

Also, please note, he is clutching the "retrieved" ornament through the entire ordeal.

In search of the Wow Wow Wibble Woggle Wazzie Woodle Woo

Unless you grew up in Western Washington during the eighties, the title of this post makes no sense to you. However, if you did grow up in Western Washington during the eighties, the name Tim Noah immediately popped into your head! For those of you unfortunate enough to not know of Tim Noah and his greatness, he is a children's singer/performer. Last year, I was excited to find out that he still perfoms around the area and I took Chloe to see him "welcome" Santa Claus at the Factoria Mall. I bought Chloe a dvd and she has since become a Tim Noah mega-fan!

Tim Noah performed again this year and you can bet we were there! It was a great Christmas sing a long and Chloe was front and center for most of the show. In fact, she was picked up by Tim Noah and lifted to the stage to dance with him! She was beaming the entire time!

I wish I had captured her face on camera when Santa appeared, Chloe had the most magical, excited look on her face. It actually brought tears to my eyes to watch her and see the magic that Christmas is to a child. The line for Santa was super long, so we'll go back and visit him personally in the next week or two.

Here are some pictures, unfortunately our camera was having issues with the lighting, so the pictures didn't turn out very well at all.

Justin and Cooper joined us too! They enjoyed the show!

Although Cooper was much happier to be sitting in his stroller with popcorn and a juice box.

The Big Guy himself!

Thankful

For Family Home Evening this week, we made a Thankful Tree. We talked about our blessings and the things that we as individuals and as a family are thankful for and wrote them on leaves for our tree. It was fun to hear Chloe think of the things she was thankful for and it was nice to take some time to reflect and think of all the things I have in my life to be thankful for. I've kept the tree up on wall of our dining room all week, so we could be reminded of all that we have to be thankful for.