Father's Day

Yes I know it's been over a month since Father's Day but I still wanted to post about it. I was so excited for Father's Day this year. Brad is such a good daddy to Cooper and I couldn't wait to make him know it! I wanted Cooper to make something for Brad now that he is older and actually can. I had seen these magnet board stands on Pick Your Plum awhile before Father's Day and knew right then I was going to do it for Brad and my dad. I painted the wood and cut the vinyl with my Cricut. I then had Cooper write a note to them on the bottom. I got the great idea from my friend Jenni to have Cooper make magnets. I let him color on a piece a paper. Then I glued them and turned them into magnets. I was really happy with how they turned out. I know they look great on both of their desks at work.

Cooper writing his notes....Cooper with a permanent marker is terrifying!

The finished product......who knew scribble could be so cute!

On Brad's desk at work
Close up of the magnets

Last year I got Brad some books for Cooper about he and dad. I figured I would keep with this tradition. These are the 3 I got. I also got one on why boys needs dads but that wasn't a picture book. Lately these are Cooper's favorite books to read at bedtime.




I am so happy that Brad is the father of my children. He really is an amazing daddy. Cooper loves him more than anything. He loves when he gets home from work and they play hard until bedtime. Brad is the fun one but also knows when to discipline. We both completely agree on how to parent and it makes it easy. We work as a team. I couldn't ask for a better daddy for Cooper!

Pickles

Brad and I have never canned anything! Brad grew up with his mom doing it so has seen it done a few times, but really neither of us had a clue what we were doing. We had been talking about canning for probably over a year. So when I was grocery shopping at Walmart I bought all the supplies we needed (not the pickles though). Brad was really excited when I came home with it all. I even bought a pressure cooker/canner. But the jars I bought were too big! So we had to go back and get smaller jars. After having the stuff for about a week we finally decided to just do it! We were terrified the entire time that we were going to screw it up. I just bought this dill pickling mix so we really just had to follow the instructions. It was still scary though. Well after was all said and done we worried for nothing. The pickles turned out delicious!!!! I was so excited! We have been going through them really quick so we are going to have to pickle some more soon! I love that we are figuring things out like this and can actually make our own things for food storage! I also love that Brad enjoys doing this kind of stuff with me.

The supplies

Cut and ready to start

Half way done

This was the scary part...didn't know if we were doing it right. We didn't even end up using the pressure cooker/canner I bought. We are going to get a bigger one that will fit all the jars.

All finished! Had to wait 24 hours but it was well worth the wait!

Coop and His Bike

So Cooper got his bike for Christmas from my parents. It is one of the balancing ones without petals. This is supposed to help them learn balance earlier than when using training wheels. They are amazing! It has been crazy to see him go from not being able to touch the ground to being able to walk the bike around by himself in just 6 months. It is crazy how fast they really grow. We have been letting Cooper ride his bike more now that it's summer. He still hasn't gotten the hang of it completely but he is catching on. He likes you to push him more than he wants to do it on his own. But the more he does it the more comfortable he gets. He will be riding around in no time!!!

Lately....in pics

I have been soooo bad at blogging for like the past month. Summer just got crazy and we were too busy having a good time. So here are some pics of what we have been up to!

hanging with daddy
playing with Holden
City Creek
good ole naps
lacrosse and soccer games
took of pajamas and diaper one morning in crib
bath time
found own sense of style
trying to get used to sitting on the potty
found a girlfriend
mischievous
helping out around the house
loving the treats summer brings with it

My Little Fish

We have been going to the pool quite often these past few weeks. It is so nice to have something that is fun and free and gets us out of the house. We have the pool in our neighborhood so all I have to do is walk across my driveway and I'm there. Then we also have the Pass of All Passes so we can go to Seven Peaks as much as we want. It is awesome. I LOVE the pool. I grew up living at the pool everyday in the summer. So I just assumed that is how my kids would grow up. Cooper enjoyed the pool last year but I wouldn't say LOVED it! He didn't like getting his face wet and wanted to be held most of the time. I was terrified he was going to be like his dad and not like the water. This year it couldn't be more different! He is obsessed with the pool. You say lets go swimming and he lights up. He asks to go swimming and to put on his suit. He has no fear what so ever. He will jump in, put his face under, you name it! My mom got him a puddle jumper life jacket and it is the best thing EVER!!! Cooper loves wearing it. He has so much freedom with it on. He can totally swim by himself with that thing. At Seven Peaks he will float around and around the lazy river all by himself. He doesn't like when you try to hold onto him. I am a little worried because he has no fear. He will jump off anything, dive into waves in the wave pool, and go down all the slides on his own....even without his life jacket on. It is so much fun taking him to the pool. It is so easy too! He is so independent and just loves playing. It makes for good nap times as well. I am completely in love with my little swimmer and couldn't be happier. I love that we can go have fun days like this together and make all of these memories! I must admit I am glad he got my water loving genes and not his dads! I don't know what I would do if my children didn't like the water!!!!!!!

Here is a video of Cooper jumping in...ignore my talking
(Sorry Nikki hopefully you don't mind)

Here is another one of him just floating around.....again ignore me and the wind!!!!



These videos were a couple of weeks ago. It is amazing how much he has already improved from then!

Bike and Bike Trailer

So when I decided to do the Triathamom I had one big hold up. I didn't own a bike! So I thought long and hard about if it would be worth doing because I would need to buy a bike and a bike trailer. Because lets be honest....if I was going to be riding my bike I would most likely have to do it with Cooper. So Brad gave me the go and encouraged me so I started looking for a bike and bike trailer. Okay well I started looking for a bike trailer and I put my dad in charge of finding me a bike! My dad is very into biking and has done it my entire life. So he was the perfect person to get the job. He was quite estatic when I called him and told him. I don't think it was two days until he had found me my bike. I got a Fuji 2.0 Absolute. It is a hybrid. So I can use it for not only road biking but as a mountain bike as well. I felt it was the best decision since I will be using it mostly for rides with Cooper and I did want to limit myself on what I could do. I ended up getting it from Performance Bicycle. I met my dad there one day with Cooper and came home with my bike. I was soooo excited! My next big decision was the bike trailer. I researched and shopped around and was having the hardest time deciding. I could go a cheaper route and maybe not get something so great or go really expensive and know I was getting something good and something that could convert into a double stroller. After thinking long and hard and doing all the research I decided on the Burley D'Lite. It was one of the most expensive but it had everything we were looking for! I am 100% satisfied with my decision. I absolutely LOVE my trailer. I love all the features and accessory options, how comfortable it is for Cooper, but one big plus is that I could get it in GREEN. If you know me I am obsessed with the color green! If there is an option for anything I always choose green. But most importantly Cooper loves it!

Biking is not a cheap sport to get into to. You need the bike, bike trailer, back rack for the car, helmets, bike pump (gift from my dad), bike tools, bike tubes, and water bottles just to start. I bought my helmet when I got my bike but I got Cooper's at the law firm Robert J. Debry. They have this amazing thing they do. They feel helmet safety is so important they sell children's helmets for $5 and adult helmets for $10. But I wasn't the only one without a bike. Brad didn't have one either. Luckily my dad has like 8 bikes so was kind enough to let Brad borrow one of his cycle cross bikes and helmet. My dad has been trying to get Brad to ride for years. Little did Brad know how much he would love it. Brad is now the one asking to go on bike rides and he even takes Cooper out by himself when I'm not home. This melts my heart by the way! With Brad so into it we decided we need to invest in a few more essentials. Padded bike shorts and gloves. These are a must if you are going to be riding very often. Sore biker butt isn't pleasant. So the other day we went out and bought shorts and gloves for Brad. Best purchases! My awesome friend Nikki gave me gloves for my birthday. We did a 20 miler this past weekend and riding with the shorts and gloves made it so much more pleasant! Our next investment is clip in pedals and shoes. But we will wait a bit for those. Also we are going to have to look into getting Brad his own bike. He is going to need one with all the riding we are going to be doing! :)

Riding in Tyson's trailer....we rode to the park and he just wanted to play in the trailer.
This is when I knew he needed one of his own!

LOVES the helmets.....even if it is mine!

Future biker....wearing Papa's bike shorts that I had to fix

Little stroll around our neighborhood....no dad I don't normally ride with flip flops!

Our set up in the garage.....Cooper's bike had to be with ours!

Coop's helmet.....can't believe they were only $5

20 miler on the Legacy trail

My triathlon is going to be a breeze after pulling Cooper around. It is noticeably way more difficult pulling a bike trailer! We bought an extra hitch for Brad's bike so we can easily switch the trailer between our bikes during long rides. I can honestly say that family bike rides are one of the funnest things we have ever done as a family!

Painting

I had wanted to get Cooper some dot paints. We used them all the time when I taught preschool. The Easter bunny brought them in Cooper's basket. It took me awhile to get them out but when I did Cooper loved them. He had a blast. They are so much nicer than finger painting because it doesn't not make nearly as big of a mess. We had to take them away however when Cooper started eating the paint. Yes he dyed his mouth blue and green. Maybe that is why they are for ages 3+. Oh well that doesn't stop us!

(We did this like 2 months ago and some how this never got posted)