HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY VAN

We celebrated 3 times last week for Van's 3rd Birthday.
Last Sunday we went to Las Vegas and celebrated Van's, Dee Dee and Aunt Cindy's birthdays. We had dinner with the family and ate cake and ice cream.
On Van's official birthday which was Tuesday, November 10th, he was song to all day long. Which he loved when his Aunt's, Uncle's, Grandma's and Grandpa sang, he would sing right along with them. We also sang to him at preschool two times and he brought cookies to share. Van was all done potty training on the day he turned 3, (now that's a celebration!)
On Friday we went to the park and had a party. We played games with the parachute, which the kids loved, we ate lunch, had cupcakes and opened presents.
I type all this with no birthday pictures! Not because I didn't take any, no, somehow only his birthday pictures have gotten erased off my camera. Is this possible? Really, if the kids did get a hold of my camera and erased some pictures it would have been by mistake they wouldn't know how to keep deleting one after another, right?
HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY VAN! We did celebrate all week long. You are not a forgotten child like Uncle Jeff likes to say. We love you and are so thankful for the joy you bring to our family!

1st Haircuts

Daisy and Walt got their 1st haircut last week!

Before their haircut
Walt getting all his baby fuzz and curls shaved off. I was afraid that if we shaved off his curls that he wouldn't have them any more. I was happy to see he still has some curl.
We didn't get a picture of trimming Daisy's hair because I was holding her.
They both did a great job. And their hair turned out just fine, for free that is.
Walt is officially walking! He started walking just after he turned 14 months.

Halloween 2009

Every year we go to my sister-in-laws Pumpkin Carving contest/Halloween party and we dress up as a family theme. Well, this year she had it a little early which worked out that my sister and Baxter could be there, yea! But Danny had to work (which was actually his birthday, by the way; Happy Birthday Danny, I love you)!
Anyway, so if Danny couldn't do it with us I didn't want to do it. The kids just dressed up; Max as army guy, Hanna as a "scary" witch (with black hair and all; I think I succeeded this year), Van as a sailor, and Walt as a Caterpillar and Daisy the butterfly. The kids always love being with their cousins and what a treat to have Baxter there too!
Last night we went to our Ward "Trunk-or-Treat" which I always love "trunk or treating" because it's quick, easy, safe, and fun seeing everyone you know and the kids are just excited to get those treats! Hanna decided to be a fairy princess for Halloween and Van Iron Man. Sadly this is the best picture I could get of all of the kids in there costumes, it was almost impossible.
Walt would not keep the hood of his Caterpillar costume on for nothing. As you can tell I wasn't too in the mood to get everyone all the way ready on Halloween, it really is a lot of work, good thing they didn't care either, all they were thinking of was CANDY!
Me with my preschool class. Do you see me? I'm the ghost in the back, ha!

Walt

I had to take Walt to the hospital (in Vegas) last Monday. We noticed he had a sore on his knee when it was already scabbed over and didn't think much of it; than, ouch (at the time I didn't know you can still treat a scabbed sore). Anyway, a few days after we did notice it, we realize it was infected and of course it was late Saturday night and so we decided to wait until Monday. I brought him into the doctors on Monday and my doctor is also a Quick Care doc., so she did everything right there for him in her office. She gave him a shoot in his knee, cut his knee open, drained his knee, gave him a tetanus, and a shoot of antibiotic in his bum. While me and a nurse had to hold him down, poor baby! Then my doc. said she couldn't drain it all the way and is afraid it's in the bone and ordered me to go straight to Sunrise Hospital in Vegas. (We do have a hospital, but a small one that really wouldn't have been able to do a bone test). So I went to Vegas and met Danny on his way home (from Vegas) on the road to give our little Walt a blessing. After hours of waiting (thankfully in our own room, besides the $) the Resident came in and looked, but told me they only will do an MRI on babies not an X-Ray to see if it's in the bone, but went to talk it over with her "team". The Doctor came in and without even looking at his knee said, nope it's not in the bone he just needs some antibiotics and you can go home. Of course I was very grateful all was well I was still like what? The Doc. said, "he is moving his leg and wanting to walk on it and doesn't look sick at all. If it was in the bone his leg would be stiff and he would be very sick." We arrived home at 11:30 pm with a nice hospital bill. Walt's been on his antibiotics since T and his knee looks great, just a little pink is all.

Max as Toy Soldier

Max was a toy soldier in the community play last week Pinocchio. I’m so glad he ended up wanting to be in it. I loved being a little part in the community plays when I was young. Here they just practice everyday for a week and then have 2 shows on Saturday, so it’s real fast and fun. He had a good time doing it with his friends. Max just hates having to wear face paint.

Keeping Me Busy

Daisy and Walt bring us so much joy, but they sure do keep me very busy!

I've never felt the need for child safety locks until now! One getting into the kitchen cupboards while cooking I could handle but two, makes me crazy!
Innocent Walt, got into the office closet.
Not so innocent Daisy, toilet papered my bathroom, and had a ball as you can see!

Daisy is officially walking and it's so cute because she is so little and her arms move up and down as she walks. She's already trying to run!

Walt is starting to stand on his own.

There is so Much to Talk About

Feeding the ducks on Daisy and Walt's birthday.
Max, Hanna and Van love climbing the trees.
Daisy and Walts first milkshake. Happy Birthday!
The kids had a great time at the Pahrump carnival.


Van
Hanna
Hanna's new haircut. It looks so cute on her and I can actually do her hair now! Hanna is such a wonderful big sister. I love that she loves Daisy and Walt so much, it sometimes makes me crazy because of how much she wants to "love" on them, but really she is so great with them. One morning Daisy was awake early and Hanna was up too so I asked Hanna if she could take her in the front room and play with her and I fell back to sleep. Well, about an hour later (oops) I woke up and jumped out of bed, ran to the front room and I see that Hanna had put Daisy in her highchair and had given her Cheerios. Daisy was as happy as could be and Hanna had the big sister role all taken care of. (That was about 5 months ago.) You would never guess how much help a 4 year old could be until you really need those extra little hands. Thank you Hanna for being such a wonderful helper to me and such a wonderful big sister! I love you.
We went to UT last weekend for my mission reunion and got to go to Temple Square during Sat. morning conference. We walked around temple square and watched part of conference in the old tabernacle. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring the kids there.
Hanna, Uncle Kurt and Van walking on Temple Square. We had a great time visiting with Kurt.

Pahrump Fall Festival Parade

My preschool was in the parade last Saturday! Thankfully a family from my school took over and did our float for us, they did an excellent job! There were 13 of us that rode on the float, the inside of the "bus" even had benches attached for us to sit on. The "bus" was donated to our school. The kids did a really good job during the parade, some got a little tired and grumpy during parts, but all in all they waved and cheered for "Pahrump Valley Preschool!"

All About Van

Van is officially weaned from his 24/7 pacifier! How did I do it? Well, the babies have been biting into his pacifier anytime they found one and I was determined not to buy anymore. But then he would like ones he hadn't liked before because they were better than the ones with holes. So we were down to 1 pacifier and we lost it last Sat. well, that night he did fine, Sun. night in the middle of the night he came in crying for a few minutes while I held him and then fell asleep. I was expecting Monday that he'd be over it. I got him dressed and a few minutes after he had his pacifier! He said, "I find it momma I find it!" I took it right away, he had found it in his shorts pocket, but now I had no excuse, he did find it, but there was no way I was going to start the whole thing over again! So I told him that we're not having it anymore, you're a big boy now. The saddest thing was he kept saying, "I find it momma, I find it." That was by hard the hardest day. It hasn't been all that easy, every time he's tired he cries for it, but I kept telling him Saturday we will go on a date together and he could get a toy and a treat, which would sometimes help. We went to Walmart yesterday and he got himself a toy gun. That night he still asked for his pacifier. Van carried his pacifiers around in handfuls, which means if he lost "one" he lost them all!
This is a very scary spider (a scorpion spider, which luckily can't bite) Van killed with his pacifier a few months ago. I guess it was good for something.
This is a dime Van swallowed when we went beach camping, which happily came out the very next day.
Here is a cute picture of Van that I just love and have never posted.
Van has also been my only child (thus far) to write on the walls, floor, furniture, table... it must be the new house's fault. Good thing for the magic eraser. No picture because I really don't want any encouragement of that sort what so ever!
We love you Van!

Daisy and Walt's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Daisy and Walt's birthday yesterday at my friend Shelly's house, we had a swim party and BBQ, which was so nice! All of Danny's siblings and their families were there (which I'm bummed I didn't get my camera out soon enough to get them all, it was his sister's birthday so she left early). Danny's mom Dee, his Aunt Laura, my dad and Debi, and a few friends and their families. It was great having everyone there to celebrate with us! This was of course the biggest 1st birthday party I've had for any of my kids, but there's TWO so it had to be big, right?!
Grandpa Ernie, Walt, Dee Dee, Uncle Jeff, Auntie Laura
Grandpa Ernie with Walt
Grandma Debi with Walt
Allison with baby Whitney (Autumn's baby), Dee Dee, Uncle Tom, Daisy, and Danny
Walt needed a little help from daddy to get started, but after tasting it he didn't mind getting a little dirty!
Daisy new just what to do. As you can see her hand is covered in Walt's frosting she kept stealing bites from his cake and anyone else that came too close!
Daisy and Walt digging in! YUMMY! I actually didn't let them dig in for very long just long enough for some pictures and video. They were still recovering from their colds.
A big thanks to my niece Taylor for making Daisy and Walt's own cakes!


Here is a video of Daisy and Walt eating their very own personal cake.

Labor Day

Danny, I and the 3 "big" kids went to Red Rock last Monday for Labor Day. My mom stayed home with the "little ones" and we enjoyed climbing and hiking together.


We drove through a small town called Blue Diamond on our way home and saw 4 donkeys just hanging around. One even came right up to our car window; neat!

First Day of School

Max all ready for first grade of school and Hanna ready for Pre-K. They are getting too big too fast.
Max started his first day of First Grade last Monday Aug. 24, 2009. I can't believe my baby is getting so big! He is soo funny about shoes and clothes we got some really nice hand me downs and it makes me crazy because a lot of the really nice stuff he won't wear. Like his GEOX shoes they are for babies he says because they have velcros. A cute truck shirt also for babies. I guess he sees his baby brothers in velcro shoes and truck shirts so that is where he must get it from. Also he will never wear sandals even if we are at the beach or going to go swimming he wears his tennis shoes and socks only. I asked him the other day what he thinks when he sees people in sandals and he said, "I just don't like toes."
Van's first day of preschool. Van's not quite old enough not until Nov., but since I have room and it's my school he's currently enrolled.
Hanna (being a little stinker) and Van with me (their teacher Mrs. Jensen).

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY DAISY & WALT

Daisy and Walt are 1 year old today! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Daisy and Walt have been such a joy in our lives. We feel so blessed to have you both in our family!

Daisy is much smaller than her "younger" brother, but is more mature than him in many ways. You will usually find Daisy crawling or climbing on anything she possibly can. We have to put all the kid chairs up out of reach or she is climbing from them unto the table. Daisy sleeps in her crib in Hanna's closet and one day Danny came in to get her and she had climbed from her crib onto the closet shelf.
Another time she was playing on Hanna's bed and she stated to scream and I turned around to find her hanging from the windowsill (I caught her in time). When we take a shower we put Daisy and Walt into the bath to play and use it like a play pin, well of course Daisy has figured out how to climb out of there as well.

Walt is a patient "big" mamma's boy! If anyone holds a baby it's always Daisy because everyone knows how much Walt just loves his momma.
You will usually find Walt sucking his thumb and taking it easy.
Walt is starting to become more brave with standing along furniture and he is starting to crawl a little more. (He still prefers his one arm army crawl most of the time).

Pahrump Valley Preschool

Our front desk. (Danny painted our logo on the wall).
I start my preschool up tomorrow. I currently have 5 children in my T/TH morning 3-4 preschool class from 8:30-11:00 and 5 children in my M-TH afternoon Pre-K class from 11:30-2:00. I will be teaching the classes until I have more enrolled. After 6 students per class I have to have 2 teachers in the classroom. We are licensed for 12 in each class.
Our calendar/lesson/play... room. (Danny also painted this fun coconut tree on the wall where I hang numbers 1-10 in each of the 10 coconuts.) What a talented husband I have!
Our art/writing area.
My mom has moved in and the missionaries have moved out. My mom will be watching my kids on T & TH and a friend will be coming to my house to watch them on M & W. Max will be starting 1st grade, Hanna will be in the Pre-K class and Van in the T/TH preschool class.
Oh ya, I'll be on the local NEWS at 3 different times tomorrow night, funny huh?!

Beach Camping August 2009

Sorry it's been so long since an update! Here is a quick over view of our beach camping trip we took at the 1st of the month... On Sunday we went to see the Newport temple and attended sacrament at the chapel across the street which ended up being the singles ward and Daisy was play screaming which sounded so load Danny had to take her out. The Newport Temple is so pretty, I guess they all are.

Me with my very sleepy children on the temple grounds.
Our typical set up; Daisy and Walt in the playpen, A child sleeping (Hanna) on the towels, some of us (Uncle Michael and Aunt Rebecca) just kickin' it. The water was so nice, I think we all went in everyday. If you didn't know I love body surfing and I do it pretty much every year we go. (Except for last year when I was 33 weeks pregnant with the twins, but the time I was 6 months pregnant with Van I did.)

Went to the beach house for the day. My sister took much better pictures than I but I haven't yet copied them onto my computer, so sorry, but these will have to do.

Hanna, Baxter, and Daisy filling the sand bucket.
I just love this picture of Daisy and Van fighting over the sand bucket. Even though she's little she already can hold her own!
Walt as happy as can be, even with a mouthful of sand! I was quite surprised how well the babies did, one night was a little hard but for the most part they did really well! I wish I took more pictures everyone was there; Mom, Kurt and Skye, Rebecca and Baxter (at the beach house 1 day; Kristine, my dad and Debi), Michael, Greg, me, Danny, and our 5 children. Even my cousins (The Webb's) and all of there kids, and a lot more one other day for a Cooper Family Reunion; really my pictures don't do justice! We all had a wonderful time despite the tired cranky moments. Thanks mom for a wonderful family vacation!

Happy 4th of July!

Today we drove to Vegas, saw UP, swam at Danny's mom's house, Hanna and Van did a few sparklers and then we put the kids to bed.(Max stayed the night at his cousin's). We were beat!
Van, Hanna and Max (Max needed to hold his gun). I love dressing my kids in 4th of July colors.
Daisy and Walt. I love this picture because it shows Daisy and Walt's full personalities. Daisy as Miss. Social and Walt as Mr. Chill.
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Last night we went to the park for some fun activities (Max climbing the rock well) then the older 3 stayed up and we watched fireworks from our house in the back of Danny's truck.
Daisy eating her toes at the park last night.

Fun Filled Weekend With the Batista's

My friends Melany, Diego, and their 5 kids came to visit last weekend. That means we had 10 kids and 6 adults at our house. Two of those adults are the missionaries (if you didn't know we host the missionaries).
Danny with Daisy and Diego with Lyla on Father's Day.
6 out of 10 kids at dinner.
3 more. Lyla (6 months and crawling and would like to pull herself up on furniture), Walt (almost 10 months still army crawling, no desire to pull himself up onto furniture, way too cautious) and Daisy (almost 10 months and would love to be running).
And last but not least, Ryan (with Van in picture) was sleeping during dinner.
Max with Jacob they got along so well. Max lost another front tooth the day they came to visit.
All of the kids had a friend and they all played so well together. We all had so much fun, we can't wait another 4 years before we see them again, our kids played way to well together and they've been board ever since they left!

All About Max

Max at his Kindergarten graduation. It's crazy to think that my baby is officially a first grader.
Max with his friend Ethan. They received awards at there school assembly on Monday. Max was awarded Student of the Quarter for his class. Way to go Max! I was a little surprised because at the beginning of the semester a note was sent home saying how Max has had a hard time following class rules... not talking and keeping his hands to himself. The teacher said no matter where I put him or who he sits by he's mister social and likes to talk to everyone. He gets this from his Grandpa Ernie! We talked to him about needing to listen to his teacher and follow his class rules; I take it it worked.
T-ball season is over, Max enjoyed playing this year. Now it's time for soccer. I think I might sign Hanna up as well.

Random

Today my little brother turns 30! Happy Birthday Uncle Greg!
My brother Michael's Birthday was last week, but we had him over last night for dinner and ice cream cake. This was the first time he's been over since we've moved in. It was great having him here!
Daisy is crawling everywhere sometimes I actually can't find her (did I really just admit to that), she is just so tiny. I think it's so cute!
Walt is "army" crawling, but you can almost always find him laying down with his thumb in his mouth. When you walk by him you just have to pick him up because he puts his arms straight out wanting you to pick him up.
When Daisy sees something she wants it doesn't matter who or what's in her way she'll get it. Sometimes Walt will just let her crawl over him with no fuss, but today he was done!
Daisy and Walt splashing in the bath together. I made Daisy sit for the picture but she is almost always on her knees trying to get her hands on something. We call Daisy our "crazy monkey" and Walt our "chunky monkey" they're so fun!
Here is a picture Hanna drew and she wrote the names as well. I asked her why Van was sad and she said he wants me and Max to hold him. I was pretty impressed!

Max Lost His Front Tooth

Max lost his 1st top tooth. He has already lost 4 bottom teeth, but this was his first big front tooth. I felt horrible I forgot to put money under his pillow the first night, which he had told his t-ball team, "I can't wait for tonight, because I lost my tooth." Then his coach asked if the tooth fairy was coming and he said, no my mom; whoops! The worse was he reminded me before he went to bed and I said don't you worry, now go to sleep. And I forgot! Well, since he knows that it's me anyway I guess there was no real trauma done.