Busy Busy Busy

  This month has had so much going on already and time is just flying by.  Taylor has had so much going on with school and cheer that I don't know how I'll get everything done when all 3 babes are in school.  First, she was in the Bakersfield Christmas Parade.

Daddy took her to McDonald's after

Then she was in another Christmas Parade.  It was a much smaller one than the first and it was also in the morning so Koty and Cooper were able to go to that one.

Cooper was so good and stayed in the stroller for over 2 hours.  Such a stud.  He loved all the drums in the marching bands.  There were some fun animals to watch too.

Dakota was a good girl too and did a great job staying close and not wandering off.

We let the kids pick out an ornament each year of their very own.  Then, when they move away from home, they will have their special ornaments to take with them.  This year, Tay picked out a ballerina Barbie, Koty picked Barbie as a muskateer, and Coop picked a fire truck.  After that, we picked out a Christmas tree.  It was decorated beautifully and now (after a few ornament casualties) all the ornaments from the bottom half of the tree are squeezed up to the top, just out of reach of little grabby hands.  I came out of the bathroom the other day to find that Cooper had unstrung a bunch of the lights, pulled them across the room, and was tugging on them.  Thank goodness the whole tree didn't fall over!

Everyone loves to help :)

Christmas crack

Cooper is a man's man.  He loves all things related to tools, engines, wheels, balls.  Anything that Daddy does, he wants to do too.  He had to wear these gloves after Rich did.  He's so funny.

The girls and I decorated a gingerbread house.  It was a lot of fun and now, sadly, it hardly has any candy left.  Whenever Cooper sees it, he passionately demands some "yum-yum."

  

The finished product

It's been so fun this Christmas season, the girls are both so excited and even Cooper has been able to enjoy some of the festivities.  Now, I have to get my act together and go Christmas shopping...AHHH!  Time is running out!

Here are some pics of the kids being their crazy selves.  They are such goof balls.

I love this pic of Koko (poor Taylor had just poked her own eye so she was straining to keep them open)

Dakota asked me to take this of her.

She has given up naps, but some days, she just can't keep her eyes open.  She was watching a cartoon and Mr. Sandman got the best of her.

Little man

This is my all time favorite picture.  Dakota was pretending that 2 rubber balls were her babies.  Well, those babies had to start out in her tummy.  She was very proud to show me how pregnant she was.  LOL!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

November

November has been a busy month and I cannot believe it's over!!!  We started off with my 25th b-day on the 5th which was a lot of fun!  My buddy, Kali, took me out for frozen yogurt and then she (and her hubby and little girl) brought over pizza for dinner later that day.  We enjoyed the pizza and a yummy cake and then the adults went to a church play that evening.  The play was a bit lame, but it was nice to get out without the kids for a brief moment.

Richard and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on the 16th of November.  Speaking of time flying!  We had a great day and even managed to go out to dinner (thanks again to Kali!!!).

Here is a classic shot the morning after we got engaged.  That was quite a night and we are lucky to be alive from the all night drive to Utah after I had already stayed up all night the night before for grad night and then had my graduation.  Crazy!!!

Taylor helped me bake some goodies for the YW presidency and showed off her great ability to look fabulous under any circumstances...

Dakota had to jump in the shot as usual :).

Taylor was involved in her school's Thanksgiving performance.  She looked so cute dressed up as a little pilgrim girl.  My plan was to record her performance but there were so many parents that decided to stand up and get in the aisles during their songs that I could hardly see my daughter to watch her, let alone record her.  But I did get some good pics afterwards.

Taylor and her good friend Timmy on the Mayflower.

Richard happened to have Thanksgiving off this year because it fell on his normal 'weekend'.  It was his first Thanksgiving with his family in about 4 years!  The morning of Thanksgiving I had my first 5K.  It was SO fun!  I worked really hard to get ready for it and it felt really good to set a goal and then actually accomplish it.  I am hooked and plan to do one every 3-4 months or so and then try to do a 10K next Thanksgiving.  Richard, Cooper, my Mom, and Dad came to support me.  It was great to see them at the finish line!

Waiting to get started.

Cooper was giving me a little hug, such a sweet boy, he definitely loves his mama!

Sprinting to the finish line!

My official time was 31:44 and I came in 289th place out of 480 people. :)

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and the kids had a blast running around with cousins!  We headed home Friday morning and the kiddos were pooped!

I think we are about a block away from Gene/Millie's in this shot!

Taylor decided to finally get sick so we have been lying low this weekend.  She gets a really nasty cough that hits her at night and she literally coughs for hours until it finally makes her throw up.  Then she/we can all get some sleep.  Cough medicine doesn't seem to help her at all.  She was pretty good last night and I kept her home from school today to give her one more day to recover.  Cooper's nose started running today and I feel like I have a pretty gnarly head cold coming on.  Hopefully it will quickly run its course and we will all be better in no time!  December here we come!!!

Halloween and Stuff

We've all been doing quite well lately.  Nothing crazy or really that exciting to report.  Mr. Cooper is walking all over the place and is the cutest little man ever.  Seriously, he's the best little dude I have ever met.  Such a joyful little fellow.  I can't get enough of his sweet little face!

We got Cooper a new pair of shoes since he is walking everywhere now, he LOVES them and literally wears them all day everyday (except for when he is sleeping).  He also REALLY likes hats.  Funny guy.

Halloween was really fun.  We went to our ward trunk or treat and the kids had a good old time.  The kids looked so cute in their costumes.  Taylor was a "Medieval times QUEEN" (please do not call her a princess, it is very upsetting).  Dakota was Supergirl but preferred to go by Super Dakota.  Cooper was The Hulk.

This is Taylor when she tried her costume on for the first time.

  

Here she is at school

Such a lady

Super Dakota to the rescue!!!

Definitely my favorite photo...so very Koty.

My best bud and I went as Ketchup and Mustard to the ward party.  Here is Cooper and I before we left.

Kali and me (I have to say that we were a big hit ;)!)

Carving pumpkins was very fun, although I am having a hard time convincing Dakota that it is time to throw them away.  It makes her very sad to think of her little friend in the garbage.

Halloween night, we hit up a few houses in our neighborhood in the traditional trick or treating fashion.  Kali and her little Ellie came with us and the girls cleaned up quite well.

Can you feel the enthusiasm?

You have to really love Disney to put Mickey Mouse concrete in your walkway...

Ellie's haul

Koty's goodies

The kids received popcorn balls as one of their treats and they didn't like them at all...Cooper, on the other hand thought they were a rare delicacy and enjoyed every bite.  I call these photos "The Popcornball Series"

Yum

See what I have!

Ohhhhhh that's gooooood...

So Halloween is over and we move on to the month of November...I cannot believe that this year is almost over.  Crazy!

A few more pictures for the road.  It's always nice to catch your kids loving each other.  So sweet.

Last but not least, Dakota was feeling very sad this evening so we took a picture so we could see her feelings.  Here is her sad face...

Well, seeing her sad face made her feel a little silly...

And then she got down right kooky...I love this nut.