Other fun

The other night we had a fun night out with some of our friends at the Foo Fighters concert. They put on a really good show and we had a great time. Thanks Katie for the pictures and thanks to the Curtis family for doing some late night babysitting for us!

This is Jill wearing her "turtle shirt." They wear these the first Friday of the month at preschool. It was also "show and share" day where they were supposed to bring their favorite toy. She took Clifford and told them that she cuddles Clifford at night and shares him with Cooper. She was rehearsing ahead of time letting the other kids pet Clifford. I think she is super cute.

This is a picture she drew of Daddy.

Half the fun of dance seems to be wearing a different outfit every week

Catching up with Coop

I have so much catching up to do! I wanted to post some pictures of Cooper's antics to kind of capture his energy and the mischeviousness he has recently embraced. His personality is just exploding the last few months. He giggles all the time now and plays peek a boo. He loves to play hide and seek with us and Jill. He always gives away our hiding place if we hide together. He wants to do everything Jill does (he is particulary concerned about brushing teeth).
And did I mention he likes to climb on everything! Jill took this first picture : )

Jillian lately

Little Jill is growing up so fast. She remains so precocious. She is constantly amazing us and cracking us up. She is so funny, sweet, and smart. Right now she is really into playing games... her favorite is "Guess Who." Its actually pretty fun to play with her and she is good competition. She is so eager to grow up and learn everything. She asks a million questions and is trying to learn to write her letters. She still loves to read and boss her brother around.
The first picture is Jill on her first day of preschool. She is having a lot of fun going so far. I know she has been a little nervous about it because each morning she has a little tummy ache. I get the same nervous stomach. Also, in her prayers she asks to help remember the kids names and what she should do first (they are supposed to wash their hands when they first get there).
In other excitement for Jill a friend in our ward has started another dance class. She also happens to be the music leader in our ward. Jill went for the first time today and was so excited. Jill is really into singing too. I think she knows more songs than I do. She was nervous last night that she might have forgotten her dance moves but they seem to have come right back.






























She loves to mimic us in whatever we do. She started this habit after catching me reading to Cooper in the rocking chair.








Of course she wants to play guitar like daddy. Luckily, a garage sale on our street had a barbie guitar that she loves to give concerts with.









Last of all, Jill has started doing some basic drawings. This is her self portrait.

Random stuff

Tucker is ecstatic that BYU Football has begun again. Here are the kids harassing each other as usual in their Cougar garb.

Cooper had to get some blood drawn so they can test for lead and other stuff I guess since we live in such an old house/area. Everything was fine, but I thought this little bandage on his arm was the saddest (but strangely cute) thing ever.

I have been meaning to include this fun fort photo of Jill and Garrett. Exciting times.

Summer vacation

During Tuck's break we went to visit Hocking Hills in Southeast Ohio. Lots of people at my work had recommended it. It was kind of hard with the kids, but everything is : ). We went to the visitor's center and they pointed us to a few things we could do with our "little helpers" (she described them that way about 50 times). We saw two caves and one waterfall. We also did a death march to a rockbridge. It was the last hike of the day and probably in retrospect not a good idea but we made it!

The drive was Coopers first time riding forward in the car. Both kids were super excited but by the end of the drive that had worn off.

We stayed in a little cabin. Jill seemed kind of worried about the whole thing at first.

This is Tuck with the kids at "Old Man's Cave", it got its name because an actual old man used to live here with his dogs.

Coop loves to point. He doesn't say any words but he shrieks like nobody's business. He also smacks his lips when he wants to eat. In this picture he was very excited about a stuffed deer in the visitors center.

The before mentioned rockbridge.

Coop: A Year in Review

Cooper had his one year appointment the other day. He is staying around the same percentile in both height and weight. He is 32 inches tall and just about 22 pounds. He has a constant smile and unflinching happy demeanor- just as he has since birth. He has a fun little giggle and loves attention from his big sister (even when it is shoving him down). He is already pretty social and interested in other kids. He is into everything and is a very busy boy climbing, eating, chewing, destroying everything he can get his little chubby hands on. He eats more than Jill- no exaggerating.

I "borrowed" this idea from Kristine's blog of a picture a month for his 1st year. They are aproximations and I tried to pick pictures I might not have posted before.

Newborn Coop