Ugly Sweaters.......Yes Please!

This year for our ward Christmas party I decided that I wanted us to wear ugly sweaters. We have always wanted to do an ugly sweater Christmas party but have never gotten around to it. So I figured this would be fun instead. The adventure started out with a trip to the D.I. My friend Nikki had already made she and her husband ugly sweaters so she joined me on my quest. I found my sweater almost as soon as we got there. It was AMAZING!!!!!! Brad and Cooper on the other hand were a lot harder. I found an okay one for Cooper but then decided I would make Brads completely from scratch. My initial plan was to find ugly sweaters and bring them home and give them a little spin and make them even uglier. Mine however didn't need a thing added to it. Cooper's I just added some bells to make it a little more Christmasy and added an awesome turtle neck!

After hitting up the D.I., the dollar store, and Walmart we headed home to get started. Nikki needed to add some things to their sweaters so we made a day out of it.

Here is Nikki and Me crafting away

We had to make two lasagnas and breadsticks for the Christmas party so I put Brad in charge of the breadsticks because I ran out of time :)

Here is Cooper helping daddy mix the dough. I bought Cooper this baking set form Tupperware so he has a little spatula and whisk just like daddy!
Such good little cooks!

I bought Cooper this snowman headband for him to wear to the party. He absolutely loves headbands and hats so it was right down his alley. He just hung out around the house with it on.

Once the lasagnas, breadsticks, and sweaters were done we got ready to head out. Well so I thought. As we were getting ready to go I got my blurry vision and started getting a migraine. I was so bummed! I had looked forward to the Christmas party all week long. I decided just to go anyways and see how I felt. Well needless to say we didn't stay very long. I got so nauseous and couldn't eat anything! Cooper was crazy and Brad was having to chase him around with no help. We left after being there not even an hour. My whole day of shopping and crafting didn't really pay off because we didn't even get to show them off at all. We came home and I died on the couch and Brad being the AMAZING husband and daddy he is, got Cooper ready and put down for bed. After sleeping for a little bit I woke up and felt much better. I was starving at this point so Brad went out and got me a hot dog from the gas station, chips, and a V-8 splash. Weird cravings but they sounded delicious!


You can tell I am starting to not feel well here. I even bought me a white turtle neck but didn't feel good enough to deal with it. The best part about the picture is that Cooper's mouth is full with a breadstick!


The best part of my sweater is the back.....It has a pie sitting in the window seal with lace as the curtain. Priceless! I lent it out and haven't gotten it back yet or I would post a picture! Oh and it has a metal spoon and fork on the front near the top!

First Sleep Over

So ready to stay at Grandmom's and Papa's house

A couple of weekends ago Brad and I left Cooper for the first time. I have gone out of town a couple of times and Brad has once since Cooper was born. But one of us was always home with Cooper. This was Cooper's first time sleeping away from both of us and at my parents. My parents were so excited to have him. I was a little nervous on how he would do when it came to naps and bedtime. Past experience hasn't been great with trying to get Cooper to sleep anywhere but at home in his crib. But Cooper was perfect for my parents! He was a happy baby and went down for his naps and to bed the first night perfectly! My parents put him in his pack n' play in their bedroom. I took his sound machine, blanky, binky, and pillow and he was content!

Saturday my dad took Cooper to the mall. First, is was the weekend before Christmas so was crazy busy! Second, Cooper hasn't been liking his stroller lately and has just wanted to run around. So I was a little worried on how Coop would do for my dad. He was an angel. He stayed in his stroller perfectly (he wasn't even buckled in and didn't try getting out). The best part is that my dad got half way to the mall and realized he forgot the diaper bag. The real diaper bag was left at his house when he went ot my house to get the stroller. So he had to put a second diaper bag together. Ha ha he's a bit out of practice but he went back and got what he needed and all was well. Saturday night my mom stayed at our house because it was hard trying not to wake Cooper up in the middle of the night so it was just easier. Cooper had a harder night this time. He is getting his eye teeth so woke up in pain a few times. I was just glad that he did so well the first night at their house and in his pack n' play so that I know he is getting better at sleeping away from home.

Brad and I were in Idaho Falls for his cousin Megan's wedding. We went up Friday and did a session in the Rexburg Temple, then the wedding was in the Idaho Falls temple so that is where we stayed. We didn't really do much other than the wedding stuff. We did a little bit of shopping and lots of eating! We missed Cooper like crazy. I was so tempted to come home Saturday night because I was missing Cooper. But we headed home early Sunday morning because my family was having a Christmas party that we needed to get back for.

Although we missed Cooper like crazy it was good to get away and know that he was in good hands and was having a good time.

Let's Decorate!

I am finally getting around to posting about this! We LOVE Christmas around our house and when it comes to decorating we pull out all of the stops. One of the many things that I really love about Brad is that he gets really in to decorating for the holidays! It doesn't matter the holiday but I think Christmas is his favorite. Our first Christmas being married we went out and bought our tree, all the ornaments and tons of decorations. Brad wanted to theme our tree blues and whites and silvers so that is what we did. I love our tree! It doesn't look as great this year however because someone keeps taking ornaments off so we keep having to move them around and the top of the tree is getting very cluttered :)

We always decorate the house the day after Thanksgiving. We have lots of decorations so it is a full day affair. This year Brad got stuck with one job.....the lights on the tree. We have a pre-lit tree and this year it decided to be difficult. There were some lights out so Brad went around and changed probably 20. Then some of the fuses needed to be replaced. He ended up having to go out and buy a tool to do something to the shunts or something. WAY too confusing for me. It took him 5 hours so I spent this time doing all of the other decorations. He got the tree all fixed and looking great. Then we decorated it together.

Growing up I got a new Christmas tree ornament each year. We have decided we are going to do this with our kids. Cooper got one when I was pregnant, last year and then this year.

2009: It says "Good Things Come in Tiny Little Packages, and ours is coming in July"
2010: A typical Baby's First Christmas. It was so hard finding a decent one last year. I wrote a little note to Cooper on the back of the white tile.
2011: Cooper's Halloween costume looked almost exactly like this ornament. It was too perfect!!!


This year we let Cooper put his ornament on the tree.



Cooper surprisingly took a really long nap so he slept thru most of the decorating which was amazing! There is no way we could have gotten anything done with him being awake. He did however help Brad hang up his window clings a few days after we decorated. Cooper is obsessed with the mirror and window clings. We hang them up for every holiday. They don't go on perfect because they just get taken down and moved around by Cooper.

Here is Brad and Cooper putting up the window clings together. Cooper felt soooo big doing it by himself! My favorite!!!!


Here is just a little taste of Christmas at the Harline home......there were even decorations we didn't put up this year! I have some fun Christmas projects to come as well!



The nativity scene we have is one of the things my mom gave Cooper on Thanksgiving. She gave one to each of her children and got one for her house. She wanted each of us to have one for our houses. They are kid friendly so we don't have to worry about them getting broken. Perfect nativity scene for a house with small children! They are so adorable and Cooper loves to play with them. He even will rock and kiss baby Jesus. So cute!

We are so excited and ready for Christmas to be here. But not too quickly because the Christmas season is so magical and fun!

Here is one of Cooper's FAVORITE things to do since the tree has been put up. Little Stinker!!!



Cooper has definitely had a hard time learning to not touch the ornaments on the tree and pulling them off. Many time-outs have occurred! The only loss we have had so far was when Cooper decided to throw and shatter a snow globe :) I love my little guy even if he is a terror!

My Little Musician

The other day I pulled out some pots and pans for Cooper to play some music on. I hadn't ever done this before. I had no idea what Cooper would do. I had to prepare myself for the noise as well. Once Cooper discovered what he should do he went to town! He loved it. Of course Cooper wanted mom to join in :) We had these out for a couple of hours and just played some music. These are the little memories that I just love!

The many faces of Coop

Cooper has so many different faces he makes and crazy things that he does with his mouth. He was in a crazy mood and was being so silly. I could just sit and watch him be silly and he loves showing off. Being the mom I am I of course had to pull out the camera and capture it all!

Mellowed out for a minute with dad but was still being a cheeser :)

Look at those amazing eyes!

Waffles

So I recently introduced Cooper to waffles and syrup. He has had waffles and pancakes before but never with syrup. Surprising right??? For how much sugar I give my child you would think he would get syrup all of the time :) It was just too messy for my liking considering everything that gets put on his tray ends of all over him and the floor. But the other morning I gave him a cup of syrup to dip in. He has discovered dipping things into sauces and feels so big doing it. He did awesome and didn't make too big of a mess. He finished his whole waffle he loved it so much! I just can't believe how big and independent he is getting.

CrAzY bAbY

Cooper is quite the crazy baby. He never holds still and is always on the go. Here are a few of his crazy moments that I have caught in the last little bit.

When I got him up from his nap this is what he looked like. As you can see he didn't sleep long enough and was still grumpy!

Coop and Buddy best buds ever

No obstacle is too big for Cooper

Always toppling over because he has no fear of anything and gets a
little crazy and of course he loves to make messes!

Is pro at throwing fits! He learned this right around when he turned one. He does the whole lay on the ground flailing thing with a little hitting involved.

Loves stickers

He is still a little monkey and crawls up anything.
The second the fridge opens he attacks!

Still is completely content wearing no clothes. If he could go around in just shoes and socks all day he would be happy!

Turn Baby Turn

Cooper has learned how to twirl around in circles. It is so funny to watch. He will just start doing it and it makes him giggle so hard and he loves it. Brad will even spin around with him and Cooper loves it! Here is a video I caught of Coop twirling.

November in Pictures and Videos

I have had so many things to post about this past month but I have gotten so busy and haven't had a chance. So here is November in Pictures and Videos.

Still obsessed with the kennel and this is Cooper's new way of eating. He just holds it in his mouth as he eats it. He can't be kept from playing just to eat.......no way!
My mom brought this in while she was watching Cooper a few weeks ago and we can't put it back in the garage.
He sits in it and will just hang out and asks to be pushed around the house all day long!

Lounging

He found the oven mitt drawer. They are his favorite toy. He carries them around and puts them on his own hands. It's hilarious!
Oven Mitts!



Hanging with daddy
He brought me his shoes and made me put them over his footie pajamas. He walked around for hours like this. Only Cooper reads and rides his car at the same time.
Hanging in his favorite chair........with his shoes :)

Just shows a little of Cooper's crazy side


Tunnel fun
Cake pops at Emmett's 1st birthday

So the water line in our freezer froze so wouldn't make ice or dispense water. This is how Brad tried fixing it. He taped cardboard to keep the cold in but let the door thaw. I was dying laughing and needless to say it didn't work :)

Buddy and Cooper are still best buds

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving went really well this year. It all started off with Brad having an extra long weekend. He has a lot of vacation days that he has to take before the end of the year or he loses them. So we are going to have Brad home a lot for the rest of the year. He had last Wednesday thru Monday off of work. It was so fun having him home! Cooper loves when daddy is home because he is so fun! I had a lot of errands and appointments so it was perfect because Cooper had a lot of daddy time!

We went to Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma and grandpa's house. We were in charge of bringing a pie so Brad made his famous pumpkin cheesecake. It is so yummy!

Helping Daddy cook

Thanksgiving was much different then last year. Cooper is no longer the only baby in the family. There are now 3 little boys. It is so much fun!

Holden, Asher and Cooper

My mom got Cooper this shirt so we had to get a picture of him with my grandma.
It says "My grandma makes the best turkey".

Cooper figured out to turn this old radio on and then he kept turning it all the way up.
We didn't even know that it still worked!

After Thanksgiving dinner my family all came back to my house. My mom had some stuff to give Cooper and Holden. They each got a couple pairs of Christmas pajamas, they got some Christmas window clings, a reindeer stuffed animal, and each family got a nativity scene. Opening presents made it officially feel like the Christmas season.

I have so many things to be thankful this year! Here just a few because my list could go on forever!

• an amazing family
• the most adorable little boy who is perfect in every way
• a husband who is so helpful and provides an amazing life for me and Cooper
• The chance to be a mom
  
• a comfortable home of our own
• I get to be a stay at home mom
• great friends
• a really fun calling
• great neighbors
• I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• the cutest little puppy
• a very comfortable life

Sometimes I think to much about what I want or I don't have and forget to remember all the things I do have in my life. I love this time of year because I get to think and be reminded of all of my blessings.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Let's Play in the Snow

Two Saturdays ago we had our first real snow of the year. I was so excited to take Cooper out to play in it. He was way too little last year to be able to go out in the snow. We all got bundled up and headed out. I did not like snow or dirt or anything on me when I was little. If any snow even got on my boot I would freak out. I was hoping that Cooper didn't get that from me. Luckily he is ALL boy!!!

He was so funny all dressed in his snow gear. He loves having his gloves on and shoes on so I knew those wouldn't be a problem.


Here is a hilarious video of how he walked in his get up. Sorry it's sideways. I will try to fix it but wanted to get this posted.



When we got out there Indiana started going nuts. He LOVES to run and pounce in the snow. He always has. He gets this big burst of energy when he gets out in the snow. It was funny watching Cooper just take in Indiana's craziness.


Here you can see Indiana being a spaz!



He couldn't really walk around by himself because one the snow was too deep and two he could barely move in his snowsuit ha ha.


I was surprised at how much he loved being out in the snow. We made snow balls and threw them, we ate the snow, and we sat in the snow.


I am so excited for our next big snow storm. They are more enjoyable when I am not having to leave and drive in them if I don't want to :)

After we came inside Cooper got donuts and milk. What a treat after playing hard.

Bring on the snow!!!!!