HappyBirthdayMerryChristmas...So Far Behind

It has come to my attention that I'm a little behind on blogging. So I'm trying catch up in one big blog. So buckle up it could be a long one!

Birthday Day started off with the traditional Daddy-made number pancakes. Daddy is pretty skilled, but he will admit that he might need to work on his technique a little. We then headed off to church, then home for a quick lunch and nap before it was party time!

Party time came pretty quickly. I had to leave to go set everything up before little man woke up from his nap. So when Daddy and Ike finally arrived, the poor little guy was still a little groggy. Thankfully his adoring fans were all patient while our little rock star warmed up to the crowd.

He wasn't too sure about the whole blowing out the candles thing, so we had to help him a bit. But he certainly had the eating the cake down to a science!

Present opening seemed to take a little while. Two reasons: 1. because there were soooo many presents (you are all too generous!) 2. Ike really enjoyed each one. It was a little surprising how much time he spent interacting with each present, with maybe the exception of the one KSU t-shirt! Note the wardrobe change from the start of the party to the middle of the party. He opened a WSU shirt and had to immediately put it on!

Overall I would say that he had a great day, and is enjoying every minute of being a two year-old. In fact, he is supposed to be taking a nap as I type, but I can hear him in there singing, throwing things out of his crib, and all around being stubborn about taking a nap! Here's to surviving the next year!

Now on to Christmas...

We celebrated Christmas Eve at the Saw House with the Cooper side of the family. This year we decided to only get the kiddos presents. So our celebration was a flurry of paper, packages, laughter, bows, and play. All because of these little blessings:

From left to right: Hudson, Garret, Carver, Mimi Gladys (great-grandma of all these little darlings) Tate, Isaac and Callista. Trying to make her way out of the picture on the left is Ashley.

We were all pretty worn out after all the activity so we headed home to get some sleep before Santa came for a visit. Apparently the ride home got I-man's little wheels turning...when we got home and got ready for bed I heard Isaac ask Daddy if Santa came in through the windows. Daddy explained that he would come in through the chimney, which seems to have satisfied Isaac. Then when Daddy tucked him in and was about to leave the room, Ike wanted to make sure that Daddy had closed his windows...I guess it was just a precaution!

By morning, he seemed to be just fine with the idea of Santa coming into the house! He came down the stairs with Daddy...all smiles and eagerness!

He found his soccer goal, soccer ball, Wildcat basketball, bat and t-ball stand. He enjoyed playing with all of them before it was time to head to Nana and Papa's for breakfast.

The Christmas tornado began shortly after breakfast. I suppose you can say it ain't Christmas until some one looses their pants!

After church we headed of to Mimi Hyla's for that Christmas celebration. Apparently we didn't get very many pictures of that celebration...I was "in charge" of I-man and we were otherwise engaged with play dough! I had my hands full for sure!

Next up on the Christmas adventure was the Graham Christmas. We drove around the extra long way to get to Grandma's house in hopes to catch a bit of a nap. It didn't really work...but we did survive the rest of the night.

Ava and Isaac had a great time...note Isaac was proving it was Christmas by losing his pants...again!

The dynamic duo also discovered Papa Jack's pool table. I think we definitely have some pool sharks in the making.

We'll I think that about catches me up. So let me get ahead of the game by wishing everyone a Happy New Year...a day and a half early!

A Chat

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Christmas Spirit

Isaac heard "Dominic the Donkey" for the first time this morning. It really put him in a dancin' mood! It probably didn't hurt that he had on Santa jammies too!

And yes, the jammies are pink. Ava came to town last night so we went over to play after going to look a Christmas lights. It was an unplanned visit...so when bathtime came around, and Ike wanted to join in...he had to borrow some jammies from Ava.

TyTy- Don't worry, they will be going back to Ava, so don't worry about seeing them on Christmas morning! ☺

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

I'm a little Santa short and fat,
Here is my beard and here is my sack,
On Christmas Eve I hop in my sleigh,
With a "Ho Ho ho" I'm on my way!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

So far it has been a great Thanksgiving weekend. We've been pretty busy, but we've been enjoying lots of time with family, yummy food and just plain old F-U-N!

We started off our turkey day with a little pre-turkey warm up. The weather was just too nice not to spend some time in the great outdoors working up an appetite!


Then after we stuffed ourselves silly, it was back outside to work off lunch. I really don't know what these two were doing...but they were having a blast.

Princess Callista even joined in the outdoor fun. I thought this picture was pretty cute...Justin's never had to adjust a princess slipper before, and it doesn't look like these boys were too sure of what needed to be done! ☺

Friday we worked on putting up the Christmas decorations. Justin decided to break out the train under the tree this year. Isaac woke up from his nap to the sounds of the train coming down the track! He is super excited, but I'm afraid he doesn't understand the concept of not touching it...yet!

We also went to Botanica's Illuminations with the Grahams and Howertons. Once again the weather was great and it was a beautiful walk around the grounds. We thankfully were able to get one shot of everyone looking somewhat in the right direction and somewhat still. Eden is really the only one who cooperated, then again she was sound asleep!

Isaac has really been enjoying the Christmas lights in the neighborhood, so we knew he would LOVE this outing. It was so cute to see his little eyes light up, his little feet just never stopped swing back and forth.

Isaac even had his first Hot Chocolate. Needless to say, he loved it! It sort of weirds me out to see him holding a coffee cup like that...it seems a little too natural. Hopefully I won't have to start making an extra little something for him in the morning!

I'm sure there is more fun to be had with the rest of our weekend. Stay tuned!

The Many Disguises of Isaac

It all started so innocently, cute cowboy hat...then cousin Callista got involved (possibly with a little help from Papa, though he'll never admit it!) This is what happens when you have one little girl with a desire to dance, a box of dresses and a young man who is in touch with his inner diva!

Fort Graham

It's official, we're in the fort business! Isaac has been really into hiding under blankets lately, so we thought the natural progression would be to move on to forts. So tonight was the night.

I'm not really sure where Dad got his fort building skills from, but it was a little touch and go to get started. I've never been in a tent that didn't include a few clothes pins and low spots...but I guess the architecture was getting the best of him!

Not to mention that his helper wasn't always the greatest of helpers! In fact, at one point Isaac was standing on the roof and BAM...the giraffe buttress came flying down and bumped Ike on the head. I was a little afraid we weren't going to get him to go in the fort again...

but thankfully he went right in! There were a few tears, an ice pack and some dirty looks, but we made it inside with a smile.

The fort definitely took some abuse. I think we only had to rebuild it three times and more or less make repairs every time he left it. But I'm pretty sure he had a great time!

Fashion Guru

Thursday evening I went upstairs to change out of my work clothes, my little shadow decided to follow. As I was standing at my closet, ready to pull down a comfy pair of jeans, my little fashion plate suggested that I try one of the sundresses that was hanging there. After much deliberation and failed persuasion...I decided that this was an argument that wasn't really worth winning. So a donned the sundress for the evening. But don't worry I got my reward in the end!

Daddy asked Isaac if I looked pretty and he replied "Momma prettiful!" and added one of those award winning smiles. So the sundress in November was totally worth it. I'm relatively sure that "prettiful" is 1,000 times more gorgeous than pretty and beautiful combined...well, at least in my little man's eyes!

Gobble, Gooble

This isn't just a turkey as anyone can see. I made it with my hand, which is a part of me. If come with lots of love, especially to say, I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Happy Halloween Eve

Enjoyed a Halloween eve at Night of the Living Zoo. This may be the first time I've actually gotten to walk the whole way round the Zoo with the fam!

We always knew these two guys were jokers and nothin' but clowns!

Papa and Isaac figuring out pumpkin bowling. He has quite the technique!

Baby Eden

We finally made it down to meet baby Eden! We were pretty excited to see Ava, Sherry and Kevin!

This is about as close to Eden as Isaac got. I think he may have tried to give her a kiss while I was holding her, but it happened so quickly I can't be entirely sure!

We had a great day just hanging out with the Howerton's, we can't wait to do it again! Though I think Isaac might argue that Eden isn't quite as much fun as Ava...yet! Whenever I was holding her he would tell me to "put baby down and come here!" He might have been a touch jealous, which surprised me a little!

We went to the park down the street from their house. They had a great time on the slides, on the swings and just playing with the rocks. Ava did have to ask him to exit the vehicle...but over all they got along great!

Even after getting kicked out of the car they still could be friends! They held hands almost the entire way around the little lake...too cute!

The Day After

Well, there it is. Not horrendous, but not good either.

Over the last few days we have made a few more snips and cuts trying to salvage the hair. The most daring was in a car, going 75 mph, while Ike was sleeping. When we arrived in Edmond, I'm happy to report that Isaac had both ears and no blood was shed!

The good news is that it will all grow out again and then we can try it again. I think the next time we will try the "some one he doesn't know" strategy and see if that works any better!

I Came, I Saw and I Conquered

Or maybe that should read butchered! Only the light of morning will allow us to see the full extent of the damage!



I'm not even sure what type of scissors I used...they may be nail trimmers...but I saw an opportunity, I took it. There was minimal push back from the assult, so I trudged ahead in sort of a blind snipping! I guarantee it's not straight, I guarantee we're gonna get a good laugh when we see it dry in the morning...but at least the boy can see now!

Oh, what have I done! Yikes!

Fail

For those of you who may not have seen Ike in awhile...his hair has gotten a little long.

Some of you may have even commented on how badly he needs a haircut (Uncle TyTy)...but I have been a little reluctant to do so. Mostly because it is a tortuous process, and partly because I just think its cute a little longer.

The last time he got a haircut (late spring, early summer...I've tried to block it out) GiGi ended up chasing a semi-naked Ike around the backyard with scissors. Let me clarify...he was running, not GiGi, we all know you shouldn't run with scissors! It was not fun. He screamed, squirmed and was all around uncooperative. GiGi was a angel and dealt with him and his crazy.

This time Mimi Mary was the brave soul who decided to give it a try. We had it all set-up...cartoons on the TV, ice cream bribe at the ready...but no go! Once again he squirmed, cried and whimpered "all done" whenever she touched a hair, yes a single hair! FAIL.

So if anyone has any great tips for cutting an almost-two-year-old's hair...I'm all ears! Oh, and by the way school pictures are on Nov. 3...so fast action maybe required, or maybe some barrettes!

Fall Fun

The first part of the video is a demonstration of some of the actions from one of his favorite books (which unfortunatley I can't think of the name, and I'm not risking waking him up to look!) There is a little bonus at the end...but it's a little hard to hear.

The second part is of some more basketball fun. Please note what happens when he hears that its time for dinner! No, he isn't food motivated at all! ☺

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Wooooooooo!

Ghost
I am a spooky ghost
Scaring people is what I do.
I like to sneak behind them
and whisper softly..."Wooooooo!"

September - A Month To Dislike

Normally one should LOVE the month of September; cooler temps, football, pumpkin patches are open, Halloween decorations need to be dusted off. What's not to love?

For me September has always meant Zoobilee, and way toooo much work to do. Just look at last year's September posts...2. Shameful! I'm pretty sure if Baby School hadn't done a calendar last year this would be the only post for the month!

Now to add to my dislike...Last weekend my car was broken into and my purse was stolen. Needless to say this has put a damper on my month. Just when I thought things work looking up and Zoobilee was behind me, BAM...purse, wallet, puppy, lion, camera, cell phone and a myriad of other little things gone in an instant!

There were, however, a few bright spots that help me try to forget the bad stuff. Here are a few of them (thankfully I did get some of the pictures downloaded before the bad guys struck!)

More animal "costumes" from Baby School! The best was trying to watch him walk while watching his feet! We never could get him to quack while in character!

First KSU game of the season! Now Isaac is a BIG fan of his Wildcats. Now his favorite thing to do is run around the house and yell " Go Wildcats!" or "Wildcat First down" or "Touchdown!"

A visit from cousin Ava and Aunt Sherry (Uncle Kevin came too, but a little later!)

Pink cowboy boots to parade around in. Thanks Callista for letting us borrow your super cool boots.

And last but not least...wheel burrow rides with Garret, courtesy of Papa!

I almost forgot...there was also an unexpected visit from the Duncan family, our friends who moved to Georgia last year.

Okay, so maybe September isn't so bad after all. Just a few days have been a little less than pleasant!

P.S. for those of you who may be worried about lion and puppy...a suitable replacement for both have been found. Next time you see Isaac, I'm sure he will introduce you to puppy (tan instead of black) and tiger.

The Leaves of the Trees

To the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus"

The leaves of the trees turn orange and red
orange and red, orange and red
The leaves on the trees turn orange and red all through the town.

The leaves on the trees come tumbling down
tumbling down, tumbling down
all through the town.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish,
swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish,
the leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish,
all through the town.

My Fuzzy-What-Was-He

They are just so crafty at Baby School! I'm quite surprised that we wore his bear mask long enough for us to take pictures! I know you won't believe me, his face is certainly telling a different story...but he actually got upset when we tried to take it off him! We need to work on his Grrr a little, but he's still awfully cute!

Squawk

Squawk is our neighborhood friend. He showed up one evening about two weeks ago as we were pulling into the driveway. He kept buzzing our heads as we walked in the driveway, and not the usual dive-bomb-because-I'm-mean way that blue jays are known for doing. This was more of a "Wotcha doin'?" kind of way. We noticed over the next few nights that he would come by and say hello whenever we were out. Then we also started hearing stories from our neighbor that he rides on her shoulder while she mows, or that she has been feeding him soggy dog food, or that she named him Squawk. He is one friendly bird...but never got too close...until today!

This morning while Isaac and I were drawing with chalk in the driveway he kept getting closer and closer, until he hopped right up on my leg and then to my head! Since it was just Isaac and I, I have no visual proof. So you'll just have to take our word for it.

Then this evening he got up close and personal again!


Justin gave him a little evening snack. I'm not sure that he really knows what to do with the corn...he just carries it around for a bit.

Isaac even got brave enough to try. He likes squawk as long as he doesn't move too much. Once he starts hopping around I-man gets a little nervous and makes the greatest face and does the best shoulder shrug, but alas I have not yet captured that! Isaac also loves looking for his little birdie friend. From the moment we walk outside you can usually hear Ike exclaim "Quawk, where are ooo?"


And then he got VERY friendly with me. He hopped right up in my lap. I was just sitting there minding my own business and then he was there. Apparently he was comfortable enough with me that he thought I would make a good store house for his seeds. He found the little pleat in my shirt and started tucking in seeds. Then he hopped around to my sleeve and tucked a few there too. When it was finally time for us to go in for dinner I stood up and half a dozen seeds came falling from who-knows-where!

Squawk has certainly added a little fun to our outdoor adventures. Now as a zoo person I know good and well that Squawk is a wild animal and really should be left alone. But he makes it pretty hard!

Rollin' With My Boys

To celebrate the end of summer and Garret's upcoming adventure to kindergarten, Ike, Garret and I took a little trip to Salina to visit the Rolling Hills Zoo. At first I wasn't really sure what I had gotten myself into...did I bite off more than I could chew? The answer is surprisingly...No! We had a great time, the boys got along so well (not that I'm too surprised) and the zoo was a big hit with G-man.


The Kids Corral was fun. We fed a cow and best of all played on the tractor...for a really long time. It was probably a good thing that some other kids came to play on the tractor, otherwise I'm pretty sure we would still be there right now!


The next big hit was the tunnel. Now, Isaac wasn't so sure about the whole thing. He got closer...


and closer. Garret tried and tried to persuade him to crawl in the tunnel.


But it took a little extra special convincing...Mom crawling in the tunnel first. Thankfully there are no photos of that...the camera was in the stroller on the other end of the tunnel! Since Ike was crawling in behind me, I was a little terrified that he would get spooked, back out and head for the other end of the zoo, all while Mom was stuck inside the tunnel! Thankfully that didn't happen. We all three made it to the highlight of the tunnel...you pop-up in a little glass box right in the middle of the coati exhibit. That was pretty cool, but a little on the hot side, so I turned tail and headed out. But before we moved on, I caught a few pics of G-man in the exhibit, or as he said "in the zoo!"


All in all it was a great day. The boys and I were pretty darn tired, and needless to say it was a really quiet ride home!