A family visit!

Cooper and I got the opportunity to have dinner with Uncle Andrew while he was in town on business. We grilled him heatedly on when he and Erika would be moving to the greater Portland metro area... I don't think they have any plans for it any time soon... wah wah wah! (Although I'll never give up and never stop trying!)

It was nice to see family and I know Cooper enjoyed saying "oo-doo and-00h" for the rest of the evening and into the next morning... which really is an impressive memory for a two year old! Then again, everything Cooper does is impressive to me, I'm his mommy!

Lastly, attached is a photo of my ever blossoming baby belly- I've received some tongue lashings about not posting pics of myself... so here it is, no more griping from the peanut gallery!

Enjoy-

AMBER

Cooper's Birthday Pool Party!

Cooper doesn't actually turn "2" until Monday, the 24th... but today was his lil' birthday soiree. We decided to get together at the local community center for a pool party and then head back to our place for singing and cupcakes afterwards. We had lots of friends come to swim along with family who watched and waited too.

Cooper's most exciting gift had to be his helmet from Bapa and Nana, but a close second is his shopping equipment (from Grammie & Papa) to go along with his indoor/outdoor kitchen-grill that Mom & Dad got him.

Not that I was shocked, but while we were out swimming, Ripley (our yellow lab) helped himself to the bottom stack of cupcakes. Luckily they were set out on a 3 tiered type platter and only the bottom plate was a fatality! NAUGHTY DOG!

Anyway, it was much fun had by all, and Cooper would like to extend a big thank you for all his presents and all his friends and family coming to play with him for his birthday celebration... THANK YOU!

Talk to you soon-

Amber, Ryan & Cooper

Cafe Sip-n-play

Every Thursday Coop & I pack up and head over to a little 'kid' coffee shop called Cafe Sip-n-play. They have a completely fenced in play area with toys, blocks, a slide, a kitchen etc. At 10am on Thursdays is the puppet show we go to. Although, Cooper doesn't like to sit and listen to it, he is more interested in playing king of the slide. He monitors who does and does not slide down... very playfull mind you, no bossing around is allowed.

As some of these picture depict, my son likes to strip- first the socks, then he'll try and hide behind something and strip away his pants! (See 2nd picture...) My lil' exhibitionist! Awe...

Hope this finds you well and you're geared up for a great Easter!

Take Care-

CHEERS-

Amber

Welcome Back!

To the land of the living that is! No pics to present, and very few stories; except for those laced with mucus and near death choking episodes. Sadly, Cooper and I both have been pretty darn sick the last week! (And I mean all day every day for a whole friggin' week!) He seems to be on the mend and his spirits have been good for some time now, so that's really what counts. As for me, I'm happy to report I finally got my voice back this weekend- yah, me... no talking! WHAT HELL!

Anyway, I hope this is the last of things for me for a while. Seriously, I think during this pregnancy I have been more sick than I have been in my entire life combined... what's up with that? Kids are already sucking the life out of me... LOL!

We did get a lot done this weekend though- Ryan put together Cooper's big boy bunk bed, we ordered the firetrucks quilt to go atop, put together the outdoor wrought iron clock and pillar for climbing vines and set up our new dinner table. So alas, even though we were trapped indoors, it didn't stop us from finishing up some odd jobs and tidying up tasks.

Will post pics next time- Hope this finds you well-
AMBER

The joy of potty training-

I thought I'd give Cooper some 'privacy' while we worked on going potty in the big potty. All was well as I left the bathroom to give him his space. I mean truly, he may be two, but give the guy some space already!

Anyway... alas this is what I returned to, no potty but still a mess just the same. Which by the way, Cooper thought was too funny! Is this how it's supposed to go?... Chuckles-

ENJOY!

Concrete-crunchtime!

After a grueling 6 weeks for sale :), we've decided to take our home off the market! Instead we are going to just stay put and do a few upgrades that we've been wanting to do and enjoy the home we now have. A good friend gave some great advice, to just make a choice and run with it, but either way do not live in a state of indecision. PERFECT ADVICE! So, having said that we're decided on this route atleast until Chase is 2 or older. So we have a while at this here address!

As you can see, our first order of business was to pour an additional parking area to the left of our home. It's still wet and can't be parked on for a whole month (due to the time of year), but it looks so pretty I just had to share! Parking seems to be at a premium around our neighborhood (especially with our new neighbors having between 5 and 11 cars parked out front at any given time)- we've been wanting to do it for a while and there is no time like the present. We really lucked out on the weather as the nice warm sun will help it cure much nicer than if it were to rain!

I have to say I thought it would take a few days or even a week... but man oh man, I called to set the date on Tuesday morning, they were johnny on the spot to survey it in about 2 hours and the next morning they banged it out! Talk about crunchtime- I'm not complaining!

That's all for now- more to come!

CHEERS-

AMBER