Today is Little Man's birthday!  He slept in this morning until almost 9:30 am!  SO crazy!  He usually wakes up at 7:30 am!  It was nice for me.  When I got him up, I made the kids waffles and Taylor and Is sang to him and lit a candle on his waffles.  Taylor blew it out for him.  Although I am sure he has no idea what is going on, he really liked the extra attention. He clapped and had a big smile on his face! 




After breakfast, I got Taylor and Cohen ready and we met our good friends and neighbors, Holly and her cute little boy, Miles outside.  Holly invited us to go to story time at the library yesterday so we loaded the kids in the car and followed each other there.  Taylor and Cohen liked it a lot when they sang songs.  Taylor had a hard time sitting the whole time, but she is a wiggly 3 year old, so, what do you expect?  It was a lot of fun to see her enjoy herself so much.  We'll have to go back again soon. Maybe next time I will bring the stroller though, so I can help keep Taylor from running around!

When we got home from the library we ate lunch and then I put Cohen down for a nap, and he took a pretty good one.  Which was nice, since it was the only one he got today.  He was so happy when I went and go him when he woke up.

I had to go to the store to get some things for dinner, so after Cohen's nap, I loaded the kids up in the car and we went to Smith's.  They both were pretty good at the store, which doesn't always happen, so that was really nice.  I love that Smith's has the carts with the cars in the front so I can put Taylor down there and Cohen up in the cart.  It helps them not pick on each other and keeps them happier.  After that we came home and the kids played while I made dinner.  We had taco soup, because it is one of Cohen's favorites.  After dinner, I took the kids outside to play for a little while.

When Derek got home we had cupcakes that I had picked up from The Sweet Tooth Factory last night.  SO good!  Taylor loved listening to us sing to him and she equally enjoyed blowing out his candle.  She is really getting the hang of it.  We even sung to him and lit the candle twice.  Cohen really liked his cupcake, and so did Taylor.  It was Cohen's first time having a dessert.  He kept picking up the cupcake and sucking on it.  It was pretty cute!  He really didn't even end up making that big of a mess.

 After cupcakes, we took the kids back outside to play, since it's one of Cohen's favorite things to do.  They had a lot of fun playing in the big grass area behind out house with some balls.  It was just the perfect ending to our day.

We didn't do any presents because we are having a birthday party for him on Saturday, so we are saving them for then.

I am SO sad that my little baby boy is turning one today.  This past year went by too fast for my liking.  It seems like it might have been six months since he was born, but twelve? Not so much!  However, I am thoroughly enjoying watching him learn and grow.  He is a ball full of fun. I just wished it was happening a tad bit slower.

I can't believe how much changes in just a year.  Here is Cohen a year ago today:


And here he is now! Such a big difference... he is turning into a little boy!

Here are the new things about Little Man over the past month:

• He is stating to stand for a few seconds without holding on to anything.
• He loves to watch T.V. already.  He gets SO glued to it.  Which, is nice when I need to clean the kitchen really quick, or shower.  His favorites are "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and "My Friends, Tigger and Pooh."  Could have something to do  with those are Taylor's favorites so they are the ones he has been exposed to.  (Don't worry I don't let him watch more than a show or two a day.)
• He is starting to sleep through the night again.  Once in a while he will wake up one or two times during the night, but will go back to sleep pretty fast.  SO nice! It is surprising that he can sleep through Taylor being so noisy, when he'd wake up to Derek snoring or smaller noises when he was in our room.  So great though, I was really worried about moving him into Taylor's room.
• He usually takes two naps a day.  I usually put him down between 9:00 am and 10:00 am and he'll sleep until 1:00 pm or 1:30 pm.  Then he goes back down for another nap around 3:30 pm and will sleep until 5:30 pm.  He is then ready for bed at 8:00 pm. 
• He loves to eat!  His current favorite foods are: fresh peaches, taco soup, cheese crackers, graham crackers, green beans, and bananas. He does not like canned peaches or pears, cantaloupe, and tomatoes.
• He is still a super cuddly baby.  I just eat it up!  I love how much he hugs and snuggles on me. I hope he continues to do this for a long time!
• He sucks on his bottom lip and grabs a hold of his hair for comfort. It's really quite adorable!
• He loves to crawl up the stairs and usually won't let us take him upstairs anymore.  He wiggles around in our arms until we put him down so he can do it by himself. 
• He loves climbing things.  He is such a little monkey.
• He also loves to sit in little chairs. 
• He is starting to be a little copy cat.  For example, I put my hands on my face and he puts his hands on his face. 
• He loves music and almost always starts bouncing up and down when he hears a song start. 
• He loves to have his belly tickled.  He loves to be spun around and tossed up in the air.
• He is still wearing size 3 diapers, is in size 2 shoes, and wears mostly 6-9 months clothes, but can wear some 12 month.

Dear Cohen,

You are one year old today!  It has been such an amazing year!  I can't express how much having you in our little family has blessed our lives incredibly!  You are such a happy little boy and your happiness is so contagious.  Whenever I am having a bad day, I just have to spend a little bit of time with you and see your big smiles and hear your giggles and I am immediately cheered up.  You are such a sweetheart and cuddle with me often.  I love it when you crawl over to me to pick you up and you wrap your tiny little arms around my neck and give me squeezes for several minutes.  Melts my heart!  I love watching you grow and learn and explore.

You are so chill!  I love how relaxed about everything you are.  You can be a little sensitive about some things, but I think it's just because you're so tender-hearted and you get that from your momma.  I love watching your face light up when your daddy comes home every night.  It's adorable!  You crawl over to him as fast as you can and want him to pick you up right away.  He then gets the same incredible hugs that you give me.  It makes me so happy to see that you love your daddy so much!  You are starting to give kisses and once you give one to me, you insist that daddy needs one from you too. 

It is hard for me to see you turn one.  It doesn't feel that long ago that I was snuggling you in my arms all day long and now you hardly hold still.  You just love to go and go and go.

You are friendly to people that we meet, but, you are such a momma's boy.  You will let them talk to you and touch you, but if they take you from me, you immediately want to come back to me.  I love how much you love me, but sometimes this makes Relief Society hard when people want to hold you so badly and you just won't let them.

I feel so blessed that I get to be your momma. It has been such a incredible blessing to get to stay home with you and watch you grow.  I can't imagine my life without you and don't know what we did before you came along. It will be exciting to watch you to continue to grow.  But please, quit growing up so fast!

Happy Birthday Little Man, I love you so, so, much! Don't ever forget that!

Love, your momma

 Yesterday, after church, while Cohen was taking a nap.  Taylor was being so silly.  She loves to climb all over her daddy and "wrestle" with him.  It's so cute!  She is so much fun. It's nice when we are able to spend one on one time with her. She eats it up!

Cohen is such a happy little boy.  He is so pleased with himself that he can cruise around the furniture now.  He giggles about it every time.  He also giggles when Derek or I hold his hands and walk him back and forth in the living room.  He thinks he is such a big boy.  He is growing up way to stinkin' fast, but he sure is fun.

Yesterday, I took Taylor outside again to play in the sprinklers while I watered the lawn to keep her entertained.  She was getting a little bored and bored equals ornery. Especially when she is exhausted from being to preschool earlier in the day.  It cheered her right up. 

Well, Cohen came crawling toward to back door as fast as he could so I took him outside with us and he kept acting like he wanted in the water too, so I stripped him down to his diaper.  He loved holding my hands and walking into the water.  After a while he just sat down and then crawled right into the stream.  He sat in the water for quite a while and just clapped and squealed and played.  So cute!  I am so sad that the warm weather will be going away soon.  I'm just not ready for cold weather yet. 

Today I went outside to water the tomatoes and bell peppers and Taylor followed me.  I noticed that lawn needed to be watered, actually that's an understatement.  It hadn't been mowed in quite a while because we've been gone so much this summer.  We finally did it last Saturday, but the grass is a little yellow because of it.  I decided since it was a little cooler today, to get the sprinklers going while I was thinking about it, because otherwise I probably wouldn't remember and it would never get done.

As soon as I got it set up and turned the water on, Taylor was out trying to walk through them.  So, I brought her inside and got her in her swimsuit.  She had a lot of fun for about a half an hour until she decided she was cold and came back inside.  It is probably one of the last time we'll have outdoor water fun this year, as it is getting cooler all the time.

Taylor went to her first day of preschool today.  They are moved out of the old Oakridge building she attended last year and in the new Provo Peaks Elementary.  It is really nice, but I miss the convenience of the little school.  It was so fast to run in and grab her at the end of school every day, now it's kind of a pain, but her classroom has all brand new stuff in it, so it makes up for it.

I tried to explain to her that she was going back to school today, and I think she kind of got it, but not fully until we were in her classroom.  She was so excited to be there and didn't care at all when I told her goodbye.  She just waved at me and say, "go bye!"  I am so glad that she enjoys it so much.  She is lucky, because she still has Ms. Jamie, and we like her a lot.  There also are more girls in her class this year, so that's a plus too.

She was so exhausted, that when I picked her up from school, she fell asleep as soon as I put her in the car.  I hadn't even buckled her in her car seat yet.  It sure wears her out, but she loves it!

I am excited to see what Taylor learns at preschool this year.  She really thrives there.  This morning I wrote down all the words that Taylor knows how to say and I came up with about 90!  I had just told someone a few days ago that she knew 30, haha, I totally underestimated her!  She is doing wonderful!

We got season passes to Seven Peaks this year.  We went a lot of times, but managed to only take one pictures, whoops!  We'll have to be better next year!  Taylor loved going down the little slides in the kiddy area.  I would take her down it and she would clap and yell, "yay!" Then she would say "slide" and get made if we didn't go back down it immediately.  She also was super impatient if we got to the top and she had to wait her turn.  She just didn't understand why we were at the top and not going down.

Taylor, Cohen and I went on Friday, the 2nd, with my brother, Aaron's family and my other brother, Eric.  Taylor had so much fun with her cousins and Cohen loved crawling around in the wave pool.  I swear that kid has no fear, he'd keep going even with the water was at his mouth, I'd have to grab him and turn him around the other way.   We also went Saturday, the 3rd, with everyone again, only this time Derek, my parents, and my sister, Crystal joined us.  That day I took Taylor down the Flash Flood slide with me.  I'm not sure what she thought about it.  She'd love it one second and be whining about the next, but she never cried.  I am sure if she weren't so tired she would've like it better.

We were going to go today also, but it was overcast and  a little chilly and we were doing house organizing instead.  It was a fun Seven Peaks season.  I can't wait for the next one to start, I am so not ready for summer to be over with!

Today, I decided to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies because, well, we wanted some, and Taylor was bored and I thought that she would have fun watching me make them and trying to help me.  I put a chair up to counter next to me and she stood there the entire time I was mixing them and putting them on the cookie sheets.  She kept saying "cookie, yum!"  She had a big smile on her face the entire time and kept stealing a lick or two of the cookie dough.  It was so much fun.  She loves feeling like she is involved and that she is helping.

Today Cohen was playing in the Cozy Coupe when he realized there was a door on the side.  He was having a blast opening and closing the door.  It was so cute!

We have been working with Taylor feeding herself.  She is pretty good most of the time with a fork, although she still would rather someone do it for her.  She hasn't been able to figure out a spoon much at all though. Today, I was feeding her a yogurt at the same time I was feeding something else to Cohen.  I turned back to give her another bite and found her successfully, but messily, feeding herself!  I was so proud I had to take a video of it!  Hooray for Taylor!