The Moser Family

Happy Halloween! 2011

2012-01-30T10:50:00.001-08:00

October is always pretty busy around our house, mainly because I view halloween as a month long holiday. Like Christmas, but more creepy : ). It's always full of Cookie parties with play group, The Corn Maze, the Pumpkin Patch, the Ward Trunk-or -Treat, ACTUAL trick or treating :), gatherings.....and what not :). Again I'm a pretty hard core Halloween Extremist. This year I was dead set on having a family theme for Costumes, and how could we NOT be The Flinstones!!! Have you MET our kids!?!?! Okay, I realize that Bam Bam was actually a Rubble, but if you know COHEN he doesn't have to try that hard to be perfect for the part :). Plus a Dino costume would have been WAY to hot for our Florida October! Anyways, it was good fun. I always take way too many pictures this time of year. Enjoy :)

1 and 3 Year Pictures!

2011-09-10T20:07:00.001-07:00

Pictures are in, and so are the updates!

Updates:

Brinley took her first steps on August 20th (Almost 13 months). She took her steps, and then refused to do it again till 2 days later...and she is OFF now!!! She gets more and more stable everyday...However she did bump her mouth on the chair today...and sliced her gums...little bloody....poor baby, and she's teething too, so it was kind of a tough day. She loves saying "Hi" to everyone in the grocery store as long as it's in passing ...if they come up to her she turns her head :)...little tease. She loves the song "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam" When we sing it to her she throws her hands in the air on "BEAM"! Cohen put sunglasses on her the other day and she thought she was hot stuff....kept walkin, laughin and clappin :). She loves my phone and the remote control more than any toy in her bedroom, and becomes quite frustrated when they are taken away. Girl STILL loves to eat. Likes storytime.....however she LOVES ripping the pages out of her books even more. EVEN the hardcover books...don't ask me how. She loves to play little games that she makes up...like for instance...she puts her finger out...I make a buzzer sound and she laughs...this will go on for at least a half hour. I will sit on the floor with her...she will laugh and crawl away, look behind her to see if I'm coming , when she realizes i AM she laughs and crawls towards me and lays on her back so I can tickle her :)....She's hillarious. Love her to peices.

Cohen is becoming, as you can see, a little stud muffin. Loves the girls....especially between the ages 0 to ...100. :) One time we were at Jerry's softball game...there were some women that we have never seen before cheering for the other team...Cohen sat right next to one of them, smiled the same smile as you see in this picture and put his head on her shoulder. I know...I'm pretty sure I'll have to lock him in the closet when he is a teenager. We need to work on the "Stranger Danger" concept. I work 12 hours a week at an assisted living home and there is a woman there named Birtha, who also goes to my church...she sits with us sometimes during sacrament meeting, and Cohen gave her a hug the first day he met her. She has not stopped talking about it since. He is a tender hearted kid...I mean how many 3 year olds do you know, that will go up to an 85 year old woman (On his own accord) that is NOT his grandma? When he visits my work he looks for her. We have started a little Joy School with 3 other girls in my ward that have 3 year olds that missed the deadline for VPK (VPK is free pre school in Florida. Everybody gets it the year before kindergarten..You have to be 4 by sept.). Anyway we do it twice a week and each of us teach twice a month. just 2 and half hours,but it gives them some social time and some learning structure...I think it will be good for him. He has lots and LOTS of energy and we are really trying to take advantage of things like Joy School and Story Time at the library to get him used to having to sit, listen and learn....It's a challenge...but I feel we are making slow but SURE progress. He loves to be tickled, to play at the park, to visit friends, to swim, to go on turtle hunts, and to dance. He LOVES story time with me....tolerates it at the library :) (baby steps). He loves to be the first one in Brinleys room when he hears her wake up. He loves to help me cook...and by cook , I mean bake...and by bake I mean....he licks the spoon , the bowl, and sneaks a spoonful or two of whatever deliciousness that is in said bowl. He is still my snuggle bug. If I am sitting on the couch, he is snuggled up next to me. Always giving out hugs and kisses. Anyway, it's never boring at our house! Love my kiddies.

Kids say the Darndest Things

2011-09-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

So we were at Turkey Creek the other day and there are two places where you go over a bridge and you can see like a dozen turtles....big ones with little ones on their backs...well Cohen and I were watching them and there was one on the shore.. while the rest were swimming in the water...Cohen calls to that little lone turtle "Come in for DINNER, with your family!!!" :)

Brinley was screaming at the dinner table...and Cohen yells "BIIIIIN-LEY!!! Shush! I'm TRYING to EAT!!!!!"

I was having a mild emotional moment one day, Cohen came and sat on my lap and said "It's okay mommy, I am here." :)Amazingly, it really DID make me feel better!!!!! :) He does the same thing when Brinley cries...he persist to try to bring her a sippy...or a toy....or his snack. He is such a sweet big brother. He's very protective of her in public.....HE'S the only one that's alloud to mess with her!!!!

And the next picture is just because I love it:) Precious moment with Dad :)

Brinley's 1st Birthday!

2011-09-10T18:16:00.001-07:00

Oh how fast a year goes. Hard to believe she was just 6 lbs 12 months ago....she is now 20lbs, and is just little miss personality!

Her party was quaint...
Just our family,

Grandma Skinner

and her best buddy, cousin LaRae.

They had balloons to play with , music to dance to,

her favorite (RAVIOLI) for dinner,

and Birthday cup cakes.

Oh, and who can forget presents...

her favorite was her baby Aurora doll. So cute to watch her.

It was a good night with our little princess. My heart is full. Happy Birthday Brinley Bug!!!!

Las Vegas

2011-08-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

So Vision Airlines opened a new flight going from Fort Walton Beach to Las Vegas, and there was a deal going on where you could get 39 dollar one way tickets.....um, I couldn't afford NOT to do that...considering we are usually dropping 350 bucks a PEICE to go out there....and thats having to CONNECT somewhere...this was a non stop flight for 80 bucks round trip. Jerry had to work, so I ventured by myself with the kiddos. They had a great time being with cousins!!! And I had a great time seeing family and friends. Soooo greatful we could do it!
Not to mention my newest little nephew Dean was born :) just a little guy at 4lbs. SOOOO glad I got to be around for the excitement! We also had a little celebration for Brinleys EARLY birthday, had a super fun girls night,visited with Jerry's Grandparents, as well as old work friends and of course lovin' on my neices and nephews!!! SUPER FUN!!! Enjoy the pics!

Wild Day Out and 4th of July

2011-07-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

Henderson Beach had a "Wild Day Out" where they had a sand castle building activity on the beach...

They also had the Wild life refugee employees from Fort Walton Beach come and bring a bunch of wild animals...Cohen LOVED it!!! They had squirrels and turtles and snakes......It was a good time.

The 4th of July came and went, we took the kids to the park in the morning followed by some ice cream at McDonalds Play place......we then spent lunch at a bbq.....follwed by naps...Dinner at Pepitos....Then Jerry got SICK after pepitos....that was kind of a bummer...so he dropped Cohen and I off at the fireworks while he took Brinley home. Cohen and I watched the fireworks over the bay....it was fun..... till the fireworks started!!! lol :)Cohen is kind of freaked out by loud noises...he cried the whole time , we had to leave early....good times :) Here are some pics of the kids during the day

Brinley 11 Months

2011-07-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

Oh My little chickadee is growing up way too fast, and she is WAY too funny these days!!! She is clapping,waving, playing peak-a-boo, Saying "Hi" "Uh-oh!" "Mama" and "Dada", she has 3 teeth two on the bottom and one funny one on top that just makes that smile tickle your heart even more! She LOVES her brother....

she completely lights, up when he enters the room, Cohen he is wild but is so good wth her, at play group he makes sure that no other babies take her toys....(He of course is the only one alloud to do that ..lol.)And when he wakes up in the morning, his first question is "milk?" the next is..."Go get Brinley?"

She hasn't taken her first steps yet...she will walk along the couch, and holding my hands...and even will push things around the house....but the second you let go she sits down :) She just doesn't feel like it!

Loves stories, and making faces at the people behind us in church.....still loves to eat :) and she loves to laugh.

She loves Anything electronic.....from cell phones to remotes to well...EVERYTHING we don't want her to touch :) , she loves bath time...and she still sings/talks herself to sleep. After story and bottle time we lay her in her crib and she grabs onto her blanket and pulls it on top of her as she rolls to her side. When she wakes up in the morning...she is always SO excited when you walk through the door!Her smile will melt your heart, just as her cry will break it...

We just love her so much...I can't believe she is going to be one so soon!

5 Year Anniversary

2011-06-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

Oh my oh my 5 years sure does fly!!! Seems like we were just dating, and now, 5 years, 2 kids, and a huge move later......here we are livin and lovin'. We figured with all that has gone on in the last year, Jerry and I earned a trip for ourselves. So we flew Jenny (Jerry's mom) out here to stay with the kids, and Jerry and I went to Atlanta!!! It was so much fun to play all weekend! We drove up on Thursday,Stayed with some great family friends the first two nights...(So good to see them) then on Friday we hit up 6 Flags and went to the Shakespeare Tavern, where we ate from a brittish pub style menu and saw The Complete Works of William Shakespear Unabridged (performed by 3 guys, and probably one of the funniest shows I've ever EVER seen!).

Saturday, we slept in, and then went to the Atlanta Temple followed by Braves vs. Rangers game....which was AWESOME!!! Jerry is a mondo Braves fan, so it was pretty big deal to go see them play at Turner Field for the first time. They lost by 1 in the 10th inning, but it was a great game though.....there was a storm that blew through in the middle of the game which made it a 2 hour delay...but it was kinda fun to walk around the stadium and watch the storm.....Then that night we stayed in a cool hotel with an AMAZING view of the city.

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It was a really fun weekend.....We came home on Father's day to our kids and Jerry's mom where she had dinner waiting for us, and they were of course loving Grandma time....luckily she got to stay till Tuesday so...Monday we took her to the beach and to go see the alligators at Fudpuckers.

It was great to see her!

Kid Update

2011-06-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Cohen 3- Brinley 10 Months

The other day I was on the phone with my mother in law and i came into the kitchen and saw that Cohen had gotten into the refrigerator, gotten a hold of the EGGS and proceeded to drop themn on the floor.....I found Brinley Sucking the raw egg out of one of the shells. She liked it a little too much.

Brinley is 10 months and is finally cutting her 3rd tooth (top middle). She Loves to play in her brothers room, and she will stand up every now and then by herself! She likes to sing herself to sleep and gets very VERY excited when she sees you take the Cheerios out of the pantry.

We have a wonderfully busy house....and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Pictures are In!

2011-06-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

Cohen 3 Years Old- Brinley 9 Months Old

Measles Scare

2011-06-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

• Well Cohen has landed himself in the hospital for the 3rd time in his short 3 year jaunt on this earth.....
So this wicked cough/runny nose came, he battled a tiny temperature around 100. (But that is super normal for him) then his eyes got really blood shot.....the rash appeared Saturday morning (at first it looked a lot like Roseola, which is extremely common (most kids get it before kindergarten) so I wasn't extremely worried....I noticed it on him first (I mean I wasn't really looking for it) on his legs. I went about the day getting ready for the Scout/Girls Camp fundraiser for our ward .....went to the fundraiser-without him and Jerry-because though roseola is common, it is still contagious....Well after the fundraiser, Jerry had called me asking if I could help find someone to come give him a blessing, because he took a turn for the worse...his fever spiked to 104, his rash had spread and it was a lot more red and clumpy than in the morning and the thing that made me question if it was roseola....he was itching pretty bad....well roseola is not an uncomfortable rash...you don't itch. He was also wheezing, seemed like breathing was very difficult….I finally got home.....and Cohen's eyes were completely blood shot and the rash looked out of control. And the fever didn't make me feel warm and fuzzy inside either...I knew I would not be able to sleep if I didn't take him in...so I brought him to the E.R. The second they saw him they said "that is NOT roseola....they thought it was a reaction to the Amoxicillan that he was on for the ear infections.
But then they realized that the bumps were all over the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet as well as in his mouth (I was told that was unusual for an allergic reaction.....All of his symptoms fit with Rubeola- which is the diagnosis on PAPER.....
however the blood work was not going to be back until 3 days later...I was told to tell anyone that I had been in contact and quarantine him in our house (obviously try my hardest to keep him away from Brinley) Cohen is up to date on all of his shots,so it made me question if the diagnosis was correct....but he also has a gift for defying the odds....so it was a waiting game...I got flooded with emails from worried parents...felt like a lepper...:)....I gave everyone the following information:

The infection is spread by contact with droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat of an infected person. So, Sneezing and coughing . I'm convinced he probably got it from when we went to the pediatricians office for his ear infection. His immune system sucks ever since he had pnemonia at 11 months old. In the last 6 weeks it has been The crud, the croupe, 2 ear infections...and then a wicked cough (that required him to have breathing treatments because his lungs have a hard time). For rubeola they say that you contract the virus 10-14 days before symptoms manifest....then the symptoms are (which Brinley shows absolutely ZERO)
•Bloodshot eyes

•Cough

•Fever

•Light sensitivity (photophobia)

•Muscle pain

•Rash

Usually appears 3 - 5 days after the first signs of being sick

May last 4 - 7 days

Usually starts on the head and spreads to other areas, moving down the body

Rash may appear as flat, discolored areas (macules) and solid, red, raised areas (papules) that later join together

•Itchy

•Redness and irritation of the eyes (conjunctivitis)

•Runny nose

•Sore throat

•Tiny white spots inside the mouth (Koplik's spots)

I then called on Wednesday morning for the blood work results, The nurse on duty found his name...said "Rubeola is positive" then she said anything else? I said "No, that's all I needed to know" I proceeded to get the FINAL word out for safety sake, so any unvaccinated kids could maybe get vaccinated before symptoms manifested., I then called my pediatrician to try and get Brinley in as soon as possible to be vaccinated....As I was waiting for him to get back to me, I got a call from the nurse that was in the ER attending Cohen on Saturday. The night her, a nurse practitioner and 2 doctors saw him and were convinced of Rubeola. She called to actually discuss the results with me, apparently the nurse practitioner ordered the wrong test....she ordered a titer (have no idea if I spelled that right) which shows if there are antibodies for both Rubeola and Rubella ......well of course there WOULD be because he has been vaccinated...so though the test is positive, it didn't tell us for SURE if he had measles.the test she should of ordered was an IGG (I think that's what she said) which would see if he actually HAD the measles right NOW. She told me that she called the testing place and they were going to run his blood through that test....and I'd know by Friday for sure. I asked her if I should get Brinley Vaccinated, she spoke with the pediatrician on duty and he said that probably not because if she has already been exposed and she DOES have it, the vaccination could make things worse.....plus if she DOESNT have it, it may put her through unecessary side effects, due to being too young. So he recommended NO. Then we hung up I cancelled her apt. Then recieved a call back later saying that the lab testing fascility for some reason or another would notbe able to do the IGG test. They gave us the option to get Cohen's blood taken AGAIN just so we would know...but by then Brinley would have it....or not have it....and regardless, sounded like the vaccine would either make things worse,...So basically...if Brinley gets it, (She could be tested because she's never been vaccinated) but we will know that Cohen had it....If she doesn't....Cohen most likely had something else, (I was told a strong rash virus was going around my pediatricians office, or it could have been an extreme allergic reaction to something, I'm hoping for the virus, so I don't have to stress on what he's allergic to!) So basically time was supposed to tell. Well time went by, Brinley did not ever manifest any symptoms....and when I brought the pictures into my pediatricians office....they seem pretty set on the Amoxicillan reaction theory. However they aren't sure because of the reasons that made them doubt that in the beginning...the rash in his mouth, on the souls of his feet, hands....blood shot eyes and respiratory distress....so....We pretty much didn't figure it out, they were confident that if it was measles that Brinley would have gotten it. So they advised me not to give him amoxicillan anymore just in case...and hope for the best that he never goes through this again. So yeah....good times.

We Love The Things That Spring Brings!

2011-06-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

Kid Update

2011-04-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

I'll do the boy first :). Cohen is a very rambunctious little boy at the present time. He is still a cuddly sweetie,just mixed with some very Dennis the Menice tendencies :). 3 is hard. Let me give you some examples.

*A few weeks ago, he flushed Jesse (from toy story) down our toilet....it got stuck in the pipes, and water started spurting out from the base of the toilet....it flooded our bathroom, then spread to our hallway.

*Just last week I couldn't find my phone anywhere, I tore my place up for 2 hours. I looked to Cohen "Cohen, do you know where mommy's phone is?" he says "Where mommy's phone is?" then would laugh and run away....He does that often, we ask a question and instead of answering, he copies the question, so I didn't really think he knew where it was. Well I sat down to the computer and started chatting with my brother on facebook (telling him to call Jerry and let him know I couldn't find my phone and what not.) well, Cohen comes in and says "Mommy, go bye bye?" I said "We can't go bye bye Cohen because I can't find my phone...go get it" (I mainly said that to buy me some time to finish my conversation...I didn't really think he knew where it was....well 30 seconds later he walks in with my phone in his hand saying "Go bye bye?" THAT LITTLE BOOGER watched me tear up this house for 2 hours....I STILL don't know where his hiding place is, I felt like I searched every inch of the place....obviously not :). He' just smiled his cheeky little smile, and how can you be mad.? I laughed and he laughed......and then we went bye bye :).

Time out- seems to be a place we have to visit often, throwing EVERYTHING in the house either in the bay , or at the fan, or towards his sister or the tv. whether its torturing his sister (Which she actually likes for the first 5 minutes, then he becomes to rough) or still throwing his food all over the kitchen....or the tantrums....lol...again....3 is hard :), harder than 2 in his case, but he has his moments that also make it completely worth it. I'll give you some of those examples too , just in case you single readers need reasons to have kids lol.

*He loves to "dance", my mom and my sisters (and the kids) went out to eat the other night and we were walking to the car, and we heard music playing next door, this guy was singing and playing guitar, Cohen ran up front and center and started "Dancing" ok, by dancing I mean he likes to run in circles to music :). He continued to try and get everyone else to join him. He is just fun. He does that at the end of movies too when the music starts playing for the credits. LOVES IT.

*He loves to make his sister laugh. Sometimes so much that she ends up crying in his attempts :)

*He loves to snuggle with his mama. After his nap is "Cohen and Mommy time" where he gets my undivided attention and he just snuggles on my lap. Brinley woke up during that time once....and Cohen was not having it. :) He said..."MOM! Put Binley down!!!!" and I do, because it's his time. :)

*He has gone through a few phases during Story time...he used to love it, then he hated it, because he knew he had to go to bed after, but now he loves it again, but only when we read one of five books, and they are......Go Dog Go., Dr. Seuss's ABC's, (Those are the-If I don't get to read then I'll throw a tantrum-MUST reads),The Hungry Catapillar, Elmer plays Hide and Seek, and Love you Forever. Sometimes Elmo is ok too. But he pretty much has all of these books completely memorized. I looked in on him one day when he was supposed to be "napping" and he was "reading" Go dog Go to his stuffed Buzz Light Year. It's cute.

* His favorite movies right now are "Frog" (He calls it frog, it's really The Leap Frog Series, Letter and Talking Words Factory) Ice Age, Thomas the Train, and of course the big one......TOY STORY ( 1 and 2 that is, 3 scares him because of that freaky monkey.) (Veggietales, Cars, and Bugslife are yesterday.....Elmo, is last week! He's growing up too fast :(. EVERY now and then he'll want to re-visit one of these though)

*He loves to play at the park and to "See Friends" and LOVES to play with Daddy.

*He has got his letters and their sounds down pat. Working on Colors...WHICH brings me to another cute thing...

*We were dying Easter Eggs at my moms house on Easter and he pointed to a blue one and he said "Blue" and then "Green" and then Pink.....THEN he pointed to an orange yellowish redish one and I asked him what color that was and his said "GRANDMA!!!" lol. My mom's hair was the color of the egg. It was so funny. :) He kept doing it too...all the other eggs had color names and that one was Grandma.

*My parents got him a T-Ball set for his Birthday a couple months ago, and boy does he like to play baseball. He has to play it every day...he has a little basketball hoop in the back yard and that is a close second :). Although he does love to throw his football at the beach...or to throw it in the water so the waves will bring it back to him. :) Then again...he likes to throw any and EVERYTHING in the water....One of the more frustrating habits.

Now the GIRL! Brinley is 8 Months:

She is little miss personality.

She finally has 2 teeth , she loves bath time with her brother, and she loves to be entertained. I am beginning to wean her so she is both formula fed and nursed at the present time. My goal is to have her done by May. She loves Cheerios and attention :). When she is a little grouchy and needs such attention, she will follow me around the house pathetically fussin for it :), If she's hungry it's not as much of a fuss as it is a demand. She is also starting to stand herself up. Her and her cousin La Rae get so excited when they first see each other in the mornings (I watch La Rae 3 times a week). She really likes the beach.....something about the handfuls of sand that tastes so good. :) I've said this before but I have yet to find a baby food she doesn't eat and goble up. She's not as much of a cuddler as Cohen was and is....When you are holding her (Unless you are FEEDING her) she is all curiosity and play. There is no resting snuggle :) which is okay :).

All in all both Cohen and Brinley are doing wonderfully, I couldn't have hoped for better kids. My heart is so full and I count myself so blessed to be trusted with them.

Brinley is 7 Months

2011-03-09T13:48:00.001-08:00

7 months and we have gotten MOBILE!!!!!!!! She has been getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth for the last week or so.....and today there was bullseye (the horse from toy story) sitting in our living room minding his own business....then Brinley spotted him....she stared him down...got on all fours....rocked once.....twice....and she was gone with her eye on the prize she crawled over to him so quick and gave him a total slobber bath.
She seemed SO pleased with herself...Daddy got her to do it again........it is now operation "baby proof" the house all over again. Because to be honest......she was into everything when she could roll over......it's only goingto get better! :) she is so cute.

She has developed what we lovingly refer to as the "Stink eye"
She also thinks her brother is like the funniest person on earth. Which he probably is :) but it's cute that she thinks so. She laughs at him all the time, even when he's not TRYING to MAKE her laugh :)

She has also out grown her bumbo and is now sitting in her new chair! She loves it, well it's like she knows the second that she's put into it that she is getting something delicious to eat!

You can tell she is developing quite the little personality...and it seems like those big blue eyes just get bigger and brighter every day. she is a joy to have in our little family.

Tyler and Ashley's Wedding

2011-03-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

Highlights:
*Condom shopping with Tyler. LOL...so stinking hillarious. They ended up being up at the front of the store in a glass case right in front of a check out line :)...
*Hanging out with the Sisters.

*The Groom's dinner

Where he received the following from his sisters:
-A nightlight from me, because I scared him pretty bad when we were little and just in case they watch a scary movie it will be on hand.
-A harmonica from Jackie, because he hums when he is mad, she thought him and Ashley can have a jam session when they got mad at each other.
-A bunch of pink razors from Dani, because Tyler seemed to like to use her razors all the time.
-And a Calendar from Hannah so he wouldn't forget things that he tends to forget.... :) like birthdays....special holidays and what not.

*The sealing in the Twin Falls temple. I was so so proud of my brother and so excited to have Ashley added to our family for eternity.

*Watching Tyler's eyes get wide when they said it was time for the ring exchange...(luckily we brought it :) lol.

*Visiting with family that I hadn't seen in awhile.

*Oh I almost forgot Ashley's bachelorrette party, where a very mormon stripper (only went down to his undershirt and took off his belt....) made a surprise appearance....Ashley almost cried. It was hillarious. Wish I had a video camera.

*Celebrating Hannah's birthday at TGI Fridays.

*Hotel Hopping

*Catching up with Tyler's old High school and college friends. He had several people who came from very long distances and it was a ball to see them.

*The reception in Boise. They had it in this beautiful little coffee shop, it had Art all over the walls and yummy deserts. Very beautiful.

*Visiting with my Uncle Ben and Aunt Jill and my cute cousins in Salt Lake while waiting for my flight.

All in all, we had a very busy ball of a time. Welcome to the family Ashley!

Moser Family Pics 2010

2011-03-03T13:04:00.000-08:00

These were taken when we were in Vegas during Thanksgiving, I'm a little late in posting them obviously!!! Enjoy!

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Cohen is 3!

2011-02-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

Oh my my, my little boy is growing up way way WAY to fast. Here are a couple of priceless moments mixed with some pictures of his birthday party with Grandma and Grandpa Skinner as well as Aunt Dani and LaRae.

Cohen was in the kitchen putting the chair up to the counter, so as to reach his "potty treats", I walked in and said "COOOOOOHEN????" he looked at me and said..."Just turn around mom". :)

My sister in law Jody nailed it on the head when she said that he is an orange on a toothpick! lol

Another day we just put Cohen down for a nap, and Jerry was about to close the door but saw something adorable and told me to come take a look, I watched my sweet little boy talking to his Thomas the Train, he gave it a kiss and then tucked it in right next to him. I thought...AWEE he is the cutest kid in the world, I am so lucky, I then walked into the bathroom and found my wedding picture in the toilet.

A couple days later he took a ball point pen to my TAN microfiber couch...., followed by putting my wedding ring inside the couch (there is a hole behind the cushion where he likes to put all of our treasures.) It took me two weeks to find it :). lol. I still think he is the cutest kid in the world and i AM lucky...but shoot.....3 is hard! lol.

A run down of milestones:

I would love to add potty training to this list....and we were doing really well for like a week....and well...he's back to not caring....that is unless it is bed time (when he uses it to stay up for an extra half hour). However he has stopped taking off his clothes and pooping on the floor....yes we went through that every day, twice a day, for 2 weeks. and not just pooping, but then playing in it and getting it all over his clothes and toys (he would only do it at nap or bedtime...AFTER he sat on the potty for 45 minutes. He didn't go a DROP in his diapers so it was NOT an accident) I finally started getting fed up and started giving him cold baths to clean him up. I know it sounds mean, but It only took two and he stopped....sometimes he will tell us and it is very exciting, and sometimes he'll go in his pull-up...but he is NOT going on the floor, I count THAT as a small success I guess. :) baby steps.

He is still such a lover. Loves to snuggle and any hurt feelings or tantrums or scraped knee is cured with 5 minutes of being hugged and loved.

He is quite the negotiater these days the other day he came up and said "mom....watch buzz?(toy story)"

I said Cohen "You already watched a movie today lets go outside and play." He then returned to the movie shelf and picked out 2 different movies and said "mom, wich one? You pick!" :) He's hillarious.

He knows his abc's (has for awhile) but he can also recognize the letters by looking at them now. He also knows all the letter sounds as well.

He gets very very giggly and silly when he is tired.

We think he has an imaginary friend. He'll be in his bedroom by himself and then just start LAUGHING...and then we hear a bunch of toddler babble....we go in and he is staring at the ceiling in bed. It's weird. :)

All in all Cohen is a love bug disguised as Dennis the Menice who loves to laugh and play. He is stubborn and cheeky at times but one look at those big blue curious eyes you can't help but love him...... And I DO love him so so very much.

Brinley is 6 Months

2011-02-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

Oh how time flies. Brinley is just a little bundle of pure joy. She is sitting up now...loves to smile, laugh, roll over...and is even doing some scooting. You can definitely see the seeds of her personality, she is funny, bossy, and very curious. She loves to smile and to make YOU smile! The constant spitting up has yet to stop....so she is going through 3 or 4 soaked outfits a day. As am I. She is eating solids now and she LOVES to eat....cohen always pulled faces with something new....she just gobbles down anything you put in front of her. Even the veggies. I don't know how she is so big considering she spends the next hour spitting everything up!!!! I won't be sad when she stops that, I won't lie. I watch my neice LaRae 3 times a week and these two little chickadees love to play, they are starting to interact now, it is adorable.

She loves to bounce in her jumper and loves it when all eyes are on her. She has an infectious smile and her head seemes to be turned toward her dad whenever he is in the room. We have had some struggles with a rash on her neck (mainly because she's chubby, and therefore doesn't HAVE much of a neck)......the constant spit up and drool and the fact that no air gets to it.....it's been a struggle to keep that under control. I feel bad for her. You can tell it irritates her. When we put her down to bed she likes to wedge her self into a corner of the crib, I have no idea why...it doesn't seem that comfortable...but every morning without fail, her head is crammed up against it. And she is as peaceful as can be :)

New Years Resolution

2011-01-10T12:52:00.001-08:00

GET THIS KID POTTY TRAINED!!!

He will be 3 at the beginning of Feb. and the kid can care less :). I'm getting aggressive now!!! I thought for sure when I had Brinley that he would be done.....well Brinley is 5months old and there is no end in site!!! lol :) He does get excited when he does go in the potty ....but not excited enough to ever tell us...he could spend all day in his wet poopy diaper.... ugh. Baby steps....but again...

BRINLEY IS 5 MONTHS OLD:

She is just the happiest thing on earth. As I said last month...MAJOR chatter box....we hardly last 10 minutes in sacrament meeting because she just wants to hear her voice....

SHE LOVES the JUMPER....and she is getting good at it! She gets so excited when you look at her and start to bounce too.

She is rolling over and doing well at lifting herself up on her tummy. She scoots on her back...she will end up across the room and her little bald spot on the back of her head is evidence of it. she does it in her crib....to the point that she pushes her head into the crib and then she is frustrated and cries :)

She has taken to Rice cereal like a champ...I remember my son pulling the worst faces, like it was the nastiest thing on earth...not her...even the first time...she gobbled it right up :).

She is still a constant spitter upper.....Not gonna lie, I'm not gonna be sad when that phase is over :).

Her brother has been climbing into her crib to show her the music box that she got from Santa...you push a button and it plays music and the animals move and what not....he loves to tell her about it.

The other day Brinley and her cousin La Rae were on tummy time on the play matt and I had put two toys in front of them and LaRae started to be interested in Brinley's ......Cohen saw what was happening and was NOT having it...he went over and took it out of LaRae's hand and said..."Dat BINLEYS!!!!!!!" "DIS RAE's" :) it was so so cute. Being a protective older brother already...ya know when he's not putting mud on her face....(see old post). Anyway, they are fun. I'm lucky.

Happy New Year

New Years Photo Shoot on the Beach

2011-01-10T12:27:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2010

2011-01-10T09:48:00.001-08:00

Well we had Christmas with my side of the family this year...all of my siblings came to Florida so that was fun.We had Christmas Eve at our new place and decorated cookies, played games and read book called "God Bless your way". We then ate our yummy traditional breakfast at my moms place and opened up family gifts with my mom and my dad. Then had Christmas Dinner at my dads. Too much yummy food and lots of love to go around. I'm blessed to be born into the family I was and so blessed that I got to create one of my own. I love my husband and my wonderful kiddies. Here is a run down of the week in pictures!

This was taken the Sunday before Christmas, just before church.

The girls loved their Uncle Ty

The Whole Familia

Yummy Cookies!

This picture was taken after Christmas actually. We got to meet Tyler's fiance Ashley finally, she came a couple days after Christmas and stayed till New Years. She's a terrific addition and so good for Tyler. They are getting married in February in Idaho.
Cohen was very excited when he got his trains and cars and all sorts of fun things....
but when he opened this....NOTHING else existed :) He LOVES Toystory, and took Buzz and Woody everywhere we went!!!
My little beauty got spoiled as all little beauties should! lol :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Everyday Kids

2010-12-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I take a shot of them, it has nothing to do with how old they are, or if it is a special holiday...really just the every day things that make me smile. I am so blessed to be there mom. I wouldn't trade it for anything on the planet. Enjoy!

Cohen is a playful little dude. You think he is tired of the camera? :) lol!

Keeping secrets from Mom already!
BUSTED!!!!! Not only with chocolate on his mouth that did NOT come from me :), but he likes to pretend he is Brinley and play in her walker!
Okay I have a story about this little turkey. I was watching a girl from our ward who's parents were moving...she is 3, I figured she could play with Cohen. And they did...I let them go outside for a little bit....(in the back yard)...I left the door open so they could come in and out.....well she decided to come back in and read stories to Brinley...while Cohen stayed outside...(I was making lunch and everyone was happy.....Well Cohen was going in and out, in and out.....and at one point the little girl comes up to me and says "He is making a mess!!" , I was thinking it's probably toys (this wasn't the first time she was telling him on him...I didn't pay too much attention) I just said, it's okay he can bring his toys out...She shrugged and went back to read to Brinley....5 minutes later I walked into the room and what did I find? Cohen had been bringing dirt, sand and mud from outside and layingit on Brinley's blanket (who was having tummy time) He apparently wanted Brinley to enjoy it and she kept rubbing her face in it...when I walked in she had it caked all over her face...up her nose, in her ears....and she was as happy as can be. I however, WAS NOT!!!!! It's funny now but he got in trouble and the girl I was babysitting just kept saying.."I told you" to me and turned to him and said "Not spose to do that!!!" lol. Little girls are little mommies aren't they!!! I wish so much that I got a picture of it before I cleaned it up.....lol I was so mad I cleaned it up too fast. :) Next time I'll take a breath first :) Later he came and cuddled on the couch and I said I was sorry , I know you were trying to share but no more dirt in the house.... he said "okay mommy" :)
He is my little Dennis the Menice! And I love him!

Brinley is 4 Months

2010-12-30T12:20:00.001-08:00

Brinley is still waking up in the middle of the night but just once. Usually around 3 or 4 to eat, but she goes right to sleep. It is getting BETTER. Her eye lashes are getting long and thick as you can see which keeps mommy and daddy wrapped tightly around her slobbery fingers :)
She spits up non stop for about an hour after she eats...but it doesn't seem to bother her :). No outfit is sacred. When she is not spitting up she is druling all over clothes and still needs to be changed :) We go through about 4 outfits a day.

She is turning into a chatterbox.

And we love her big cheesy grin. She uses it often :) She loves attention.

Family Pictures

2010-12-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving in Vegas

2010-12-30T07:16:00.001-08:00

Well we have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, most notably....JERRY GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!! He is working at Hunt Engineering Services Inc. (It's a software engineering firm). They come up with Security software for many government fascilities....military bases that sort of thing.....well they are trying to break into the commercial market (banks, schools that sort of thing) and they have hired Jerry to help head that up. So it's a marketing/business development type position. And he's loving it. This has given us the ability to get out on our own again! We have moved into a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom duplex about 10 minutes away from my parents in Niceville (Florida, for those of you that don't know). We are so so greatful for both Jerry and My parent's for taking us in for the last 19 months.....We are very very blessed to have such amazing family. Anyway, because we were moving into our own place we decided it was time to go get our things in our storage unit in Las Vegas....and we wanted to put it around a holiday so we could see Jerry's family...so we did :) Except we were sneaky and didn't tell Jerry's parents. How we were able to keep that kind of secret is amazing for us!!!! :) lol. As you can see it WAS a suprise.

This is how it went down! We got into town and his parents were at church...so we went to Jerry's Aunt Susan's house up the street to shower and look half way presentable.....then we came down to the house called them on the phone to "Skype" for my birthday (it was my birthday...I'm an old lady) they were confused because they didn't see us on line.........meanwhile we had cohen go into the room and the rest you can see from our pictures!

It was an awesome surprise! Jerry's side of the family had not met Brinley yet.

Cohen was SOOOOOOOO excited to see his cousins!

The kids got some quality Grandma and Grandpa Moser time.

I got some quality sista time!

And Jerry Jerry and the men caught up on some , i guess, much needed xbox time :) lol.
It was so fun to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Waters.

All in all it was a really great, and needed trip. We managed to get most of our stuff on the truck and we went home to move into our new place. :) Busy busy!

Halloween and the Corn Maze

2010-12-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

Halloween seemed like a week long event, from the pumpkin patch to the corn maze, the ward trunk or treat, trick or treating at Baytown wharf and then with Grandma Skinner....we have got saying "trick or treat" down, in fact he has replaced saying "snack?" with it. :) Every day..."Can i have trick or treat?" :)

And he is out for the count!

Because it is too cute not to post!

2010-12-29T13:22:00.000-08:00

Brinley 3 1/2 months, just before church

Pumpkin Patch

2010-12-16T08:34:00.001-08:00

Here is our princess at 3 months old!

She is all smiles and just all the sugar and spice you can think of! Nights are still rough. She wakes up often.....but she seems much MUCH more comfortable these days. We are so blessed!

Brinley's Blessing Day

2010-09-30T19:09:00.001-07:00

Brinley got blessed on September 26th. Grandma Moser made her the most beautiful dress ever. And she looked (as you can see) gorgeous! It was sad that she couldn't be there to see her in it, we missed ALL of Jerry's family terribly that day.. but we were so blessed however to have my two sisters (Jackie and Dani) and my parents there so that helped.....Jerry gave her a beautiful blessing and even bore his testimony, he sure is an amazing husband and father. How did I get so lucky? Anyways, we were going to go outside afterwards to take pictures but it was POURING so we took a few inside the church and a few at home (hence Cohen's wet mop on his head) Anyways, enjoy the pictures of my princess. :)

2 Months!

2010-09-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well my baby girl is already 2 months old and things are going well-ish. She is still a little gassy, shes always grunting like something needs to come out but it is significantly better than the last month. Nights are still not that awesome :) but again, getting better :). Her eyes are getting very blue and she is really starting to become a lot more alert. She weighs 10 lbs now, and is 23 inches.

Jerry will hold her and she just stares and.....even starting to get a few smiles out of her. She is just our little beauty and we fall more and more in love with her every day!
Cohen is really starting to take more notice of her. Loves to kiss her, and says "Good morning Burly" every morning :) It's cute.

Okay, I can't forget big brother who is changing and growing every day!!!!!

He is just a total character and more energy than one could possibly bottle in one lifetime!!

All in all :) things are pretty fun at the Moser Casa :) Stay tuned.

First Month with 2 Kids!

2010-08-24T19:16:00.001-07:00

Well, so far so good! Sort of :). Brinley is a very different experience than Cohen was. Nights at the moment are not very fun. Nursing is taking forever because she seriously has to belch like a frat boy every 3 minutes or so.....followed by puking everything we just got in her. Her coloring is usually pretty red and her tummy is always tight,
even in her sleep it seems like she's pushing and is just uncomfortable as can be which has meant a lot of sleepless nights on our part due to her sad uncomfortable cries.

Yesterday my sister in law told me about an herbal supliment called Gripe Water. And can I just say, she has only had 2 doses and she is a completely different child!!!!
We are just hoping and praying it stays that way and hopefully we'll get a LITTLE more sleep tonight. Her coloring has calmed down and she just seems to be able to relax finally. Thank you Christy!!!

Now Cohen is doing very well with her, at first I thought, does he get or care about her? Well I went to go pick him up from nursery on Sunday and I had Brinley in my arms and all the little girls came up to look at her and Cohen ran over stepped between them and Brinley and said "MY BABY!!!!" , huh, I guess he does care..... but since she has been born we've noticed a significant increase in the tantrums and the attention getting.
He has certainly mastered the art of testing our patience, funny around the same time we started praying for some (Patience that is)! Be careful what you wish for! :) But ya know, in the same breath he can be the sweetest little boy on the planet. He is learning so many songs, he has a toy microphone that he carries around and sings "I hope they call me on a mission" and "I kneel to Pray" at the top of his lungs. He won't do it if i ASK him too...only on his terms :). He loves to snuggle and make you laugh. He's really into drawing on the walls, much to OUR dismay. We're working on limiting the art work to paper. He loves to stick things in the vents, chase Dexter (my parents chihuahua)all over the house, go on golf cart rides with Daddy, and hang on my leg wherever I go asking "snack?" "Snack?" "SNACK?".

I also get the pleasure of watching my sweet little neice Emma LaRae during the day while my sister goes to school. She is so so sweet, about three months now and is all smiles. She is the one in the stroller with Cohen. It's a little bit of a challenge going from 1 kid to 3 kids and a dog during the day :) but I love it. It's fun to have babies at the same time with my lil sis. Here is a picture of her and Brinley.

The Kiddies

2010-08-09T12:10:00.001-07:00

Brinley 2 Days Old

Brinley is now 2 weeks old :) She is super alert for how young she is...love those big eyes....she has a pretty strong neck too. Very slow eater.....probably because she has to burp like three times after just 5 minutes...she's a puker. She hasn't been as kind to her mom and Dad at night as her older brother was :).....but we are working on it. She doesn't cry all night just squeaks and grunts it's funny (when we're not feeling sleep deprived :) ) We took her to the doctors office last week, her blood sugars are right on track and she only lost 3 oz. putting her 5 lbs 15 oz. She is just a little thing and we love love love her. It's amazing how personality comes through even in those first days...heck in the womb!!!!!!

Cohen 2 1/2 Years Old

We can't forget big brother Cohen who is 2 and half now!!!! I can't even believe how fast it has gone.. I was really really hoping that he would be potty trained at this point....but not so much. He's really good at telling me AFTER he has gone "stinky" but we are having a a heck of a time getting him to tell us before!!!! We will let him sit on the potty right before bed.....he won't go...then he will go to bed and 10 minutes later "MOM!!! STIIIINKYYYY!!!" Pray for us! lol :) He is such a lover....always wanting to give me kisses....that's actually how he wakes me up in the morning...he walks into my room puts his hand on my face and kisses my cheek.....then says "Watch Cars?" or "Watch Nemo" he is OBSESSED with these two movies. I have never let Cohen watch very much TV, then he broke his arm....and in the middle ofa hot humid Florida summer when I was 9 months pregnant and he couldn't get wet, then I had Brinley, and was trying to heal myself.....so .....I resorted to movies, coloring and toys. Well...he asks like 50 times a day to watch one of them! I'm anxious to get him active outside again.....we have a kiddie pool which has been nice and he loves to ride his mini 4 wheeler, I'm just anxious to get him around kids again (play group and what not).

He LOVES nursery.....Sacrament Meeting is interesting...because he's 2, and just likes to say "nursery?" we tell him AFTER.....then he demands "NURSERY!!!" we say LATER.....then pending on the day there is either a tantrum, or a change in subject..."Snack?" "SNACK!!!!" "Snack pease?" :) He's funny. He is really talking quite well, loves story time...loves to sing. His favorite song of late is "I hope they call me on a Mission" He wants to sing it like 3 times before bed....He has known the alphabet and how to count to 15 for awhile...but he is now RECOGNIZING what letter is what...which is fun. He has letters he plays with in the bath tub....and he'll hold one up and say "B" or "4" and 85 percent of the time he's right! My little genious :) I was nervous how he would be when Brinley came along....because he has gotten my undivided attention since March......but he's not really that phased by it...he'll give her a kiss from time to time or if she is crying....he'll say "Why crying?" But he hasn't been too for or against her really, surprisingly. He likes to steal her binkies and tries to climb in her swing....but he's just fine with her. I'm glad. He is a good good kid. And just getting sweeter and cuter with every day (of course I'm the mama and a little biased). I just feel so blessed to be the mommie of these two wonderful, beautiful kids.

This is my cute Niece Emma LaRae and of course my Brinley :) 2 peas in a pod. It is fun watching them grow!

Meet Our Little Princess!

2010-08-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Brinley Eve Moser

Born July 26, 2010
5:52 pm

6lbs 2oz.- 19 inches

This is my sweet daughter Brinley. Brinley came into this world on HER terms!.

My due date was August 1st. She was born on July 26th. The week previous to the 26th I had had a doctors apt, where I was dialated to a 3. I thought AWESOME! She is going to be here before I know it! That doctors apt ended up being like 2 hours long hooked up to a monitor measuring her heart rate....seems my little girl did not want to wake up...they brought me juice to see if anything had changed....her heart wasn't doing what they wanted it to, so after being hooked up to that thing for 2 hours they gave me an ultra sound...she was just lazy lazy girl, but everything seemed to check out. The doctor did express some concern about a possible umbilical chord problem that wouldn't be detected on the ultra sound, she told me that if I don't feel 10 kicks in 2 hours to go to call, if it was after clinic hours to call the labor and delivery wing of the hospital. I said okay.

So I went home ate lunch, went on a much needed date with the hubba, saw a movie.....I was distracted, because I hadn't felt her all day, not once since the doctors office, We went to dinner and I drank like 3 cokes hoping that would hype her up so I could sleep that night......nothing. I went home feeling a little uneasy. It was 10pm (my apt that morning was 10:30 am) I had hardly felt a thing, I didn't want to be one of those crazy moms that just goes to the hospital just to get sent home...but I was starting to worry a little, so I called the nurse told me to go drink a huge glass of juice and lay in my room for 1 hour and if I don't feel at least 6 kicks to call her.
So I did, in the course of that hour I felt one kick and one shift, so I called her back, and she told me to come in right away. I got to the hospital, they hooked me up to that machine again, same story as my apt. my girl was being lazy, so they brought in 4 grape juices, and a sierra mist (okay, mind you I have had 3 cokes and huge cup of apple juice before I got there.....and when they brought all that in.....I was about to puke) I drink all of it......I was practically in a sugar coma! But going to the monitor, still NOTHING...they had me get in a couple different positions, this made it so we could here her shifting (thank heavens) but her heart rate was still not doing what it should, so they brought in the ultra sound technician.
He spent the next half hour inputing little codes in the computer...but his whole guide line was try to get her to move twice in a half hour. well the first 20 minutes, nothing, they would zoom up one of her legs, and he would press to try and get her to move it....she wouldn't he pushed harder.....nothing, harder...(HURTING) nothing...after 20 minutes he did it really hard again, and she budged like a centimeter.........she did move one more time in the last couple minutes....so they were satisfied with that.....at 2:30 in the morning they let me go home with instructions to call my doctors office in the morning, well the next morning I felt her all over the place! Just tired I guess!
Well a week goes by and July 26th I went to my doctors apt, fully hoping/praying/expecting, to be dialated more and hopefully have him send me on my way! Well at 10:30 am he checked me, and I was still at a 3 and she was still pretty high up there (no change from the week before) I went home super bummed out. Just ready to get this girl out ya know!? at 11:30 we walked out of the doctors office, went to Subway, got home at around 12:30.....well at about 2:00 I started feeling some contractions like 20 minutes apart I shrugged them off...I had contractions really early on in my pregnancy with Cohen so I wasn't expecting anything....well by 3:20 my contractions were averaging 5 minutes apart.....my doctor told me that it needed to be that way for about an hour or hour and a half and then to call and go to the hospital...
well they were fluctuating between 5 minutes and 8 minutes for over an hour at like 4:40 though they wern't getting CLOSER together the contractions were getting significantly stronger. Jerry called the hospital. They said "We typically like to see those contractions closer together before coming in...but if they really are getting stronger, bring her in and we'll check her" We get in the car.....still timing....but I really did not want to go just to be sent home....on the way there I had contractions that were 15 MINUTES apart....um...Im thinking...they are gonna send me home...lets just turn around.....(but the contractions I WAS having were so strong, so we kept going) I got to the hospital....I'm in tears as we go to the E.R. Jerry got the wheel chair and they brought me up to labor and delivery...I had a contraction in front of the nurse and she said "Sounds like labor to me!"
She gave me my clothes, to change in the bathroom, by the time I was dressed and put into the hospital bed it was 5:20pm. The nurse started going through some paper work....my contractions were getting ridiculous, she checked me right then and she goe.s.."oh......you are at an 8. Excuse me" and she ran out of the room. What she said was "you are at an 8" what I HEARD was "You are not getting the epidural" I was doing pretty well with my contractions till that realization....I had not mentally prepared for having this baby naturally let alone finding out in the full throws of labor....I panicked......the nurse came in with a few other people, one of them the doctor (my doctors partner actually) she got there lickity split....impressive.....the contractions were on top of each other lasting what felt like forever it wasn't my finest half hour I will tell you that....I was not so nice and not so calm and collected. They were all rushing to get my IV in which they didn't even have time to do anything that way..they put an oxygen mask on and that frustrated me....i took it off and they put it on saying the baby's heart rate was dropping.....It was time to push, I was freaking out...and finally the nurse on my right got right in my face and was like "Shannon....STOP screaming and look at me" she was very blunt very forceful and very much EXACTLY what I needed to concentrate on.
I can't remember everything she said but I was able to concentrate over the pain, and I was able to get that baby out in 2 pushes. Like I said I got in that hospital bed at 5:20, she was born at 5:52. She came out with her umbilical chord wrapped around her neck twice (hence the heart rate issues the week before) She didn't cry when she came out and that scared me. They didn't put her on my lap like they did when my son was born....they took her away, The doctor assured me that she was fine- that some baby's are just stunned at first, that I was lucky because had this not been a fast labor or even had I done the epidural I would have most likely had to end up having an emergency c-section because the umbilical chord was not only wrapped around her but it was a short chord and if it had happened differently she would have been stuck in the birth canal longer with her heart rate dropping quickly. So I guess that experience was a huge blessing in disguise. Anyways, I had ripped (not an episiotomy but inside and up into where I pee- I know you wanted that visual) and after the baby was born...they gave me some drug through my IV that put me on a different planet completely. It was weird. but they had to sew me up which was not so pleasant...but eventually the experience was over...my mom and my sister got there and were like....are you kidding? We missed it?

I'm just glad I didn't get stuck in traffic. That could have been interesting in the car. People ask me now that I've had one with the epidural and one without which I prefer.....and well....I was definitely a lot calmer with the epidural....labor was a breeze, but it took longer for me to recover from the drugs.....I think had i been EXPECTING to go natural, and not just go in and find out when i'm 20 minutes away from having the baby....I think I could have focused easier and not panicked as much if I had to do it again at least I know I could and how to get in my zone a little better....but I think I still prefer the epidural....yeah....definitely :)......Jerry was so sweet....listening to him recount it now is funny...he was telling someone the other day.."Man, with Cohen...I thought I was like the best labor coach in the world. But this one, she kept saying "it hurts" I'd say I know I know...and she'd go "YOU DON"T KNOW!!!!" lol....he was like...."Thank goodness for the nurse!!!!" She hardly wanted me to touch her! I can hardly even remember.....

I passed out going to the bathroom for the first time....drugs and lots of blood loss...I guess not an awesome combination.....
But they moved me into the post partum wing and after 4 hours they finally brought in my new baby girl. I know this next picture is really hot of me....it was the only one I'd let Jerry take of me through the ordeal :)lol. YOU CAN SEE WHY!!!!! I was pretty drugged at THIS point and had been put through the ringer!

Her blood sugar was low along with her temperature...so they told me I would have to supplement with formula till my milk came in. But Jerry and I got some quality time with our new precious addition. She has so much hair!!!! Her and Cohen don't look a single thing alike!!! It's pretty funny.

She is our little angel.

All in all we are both healthy...all happy and were so excited to take her home on Wednesday the 28th.

Nap Time Gone Wrong

2010-08-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

So I put Cohen down for a nap, He has been in a big boy bed since Feb. and has been fine, sure he gets out of bed occassionally no big whoop, all and all he's taken to the change really well. Well....Again, I put him down for a nap, and I heard him messin around up there, then I heard a big thud....he started screaming...I ran upstairs and found him on the floor at the foot of the bed crying and holding his arm....there was a big mass above his elbow and his arm was completely limp, I called his pediatrician while my sister Dani held him , to find out what they wanted me to do, they said take him to the E.R. So we got in the car, drove to the hospital...got right in...they took an x-ray and it was definitely broken above the elbow, within the hour they were prepping him for surgery...he got 2 pins in his arm and we had to spend the night in the hospital. It was sad...but he was a champ....we watched Elmo and Disney movies all night. He had his splint on for 4 weeks....they didn't want to do the hard cast because he's so young and I guess can be kind of tramatic to get taken off....so we did our best with the splint...he kept trying to unwrap everything....so we resorted to wrapping it in packing tape. :).

36 Weeks

2010-08-03T20:08:00.001-07:00

Emma LaRae Skinner

2010-08-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

My sister Dani gave birth to my new sweet little neice!

Born June 9th @ 7:34 PM
6lbs 9oz -21 Inches

Preggie Progress

2010-08-03T19:31:00.001-07:00

30 weeks

Shannon 32 Weeks- Dani 39 Weeks

Reunited and it feels so good!!!

2010-08-03T15:01:00.001-07:00

After Jerry's graduation we got on a plane and headed back to Florida, where Jerry and Cohen were reunited after 2 months (Jerry got a whole 3 weeks before he had to go back to Vegas for summer term) Cohen was so cute he just kept saying "This MY DADDY!!!" My parents let us use their time share for a week. We stayed in Destin because lets be real I still needed to work and what not but it was nice to be on our own for a week to just focus on our little family.

It was tough to see him go again, but at least the longest part is over. And we had a wonderful 3 weeks together. I love my little family.

Grad/Baby Brinley Party

2010-06-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

My sweet Sister in Law Jody threw Jerry and I a Graduation/ Baby Bash, It turned out so cute, and it was so good to see everyone that was able to make it. We are truely blessed with amazing friends and family.

Jerry's Graduation

2010-06-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

I got to fly out to Vegas to see my amazing man graduate! I landed at the airport and he was waiting for me pink gerber daisies in hand like a perfect hubby. :) He's lost 13 pounds since we've been apart. He looked so good. :). Anyway, graduation is a bit emotional for us....It's been a long time coming (granted he still has a class to tie up in June) I couldn't help but get a little lump in my throat. He works so hard for our family and I'm so so SOOOO proud of him

Akers of Strawberries

2010-06-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

Cohen has a play group that we go to every wednesday and this was about a month and a half ago, we went to the Strawberry Patch!!! It was fun.....Cohen as you can see thought it was yummy. Afterwards we had strawberry sundays!

Air Show

2010-04-12T12:21:00.001-07:00

My Dad, Cohen and I decided to check out the Airshow at Eglin Airforce base! It was a pain getting there but so worth it for the time we got to spend there. Cohen loved to see the planes far in the air doing tricks (when we were in line for the shuttle every time one would fly over he'd get so excited and just start yellin baby jib jab at it. It was cute) however when they brought the big, crazy loud jets out that flew real close he freaked out. He was way scared, and wouldn't stop crying. But BEFORE that, he got to sit in a mini STEALTH FIGHTER,

it was fun trying to get him out of that thing...he did NOT want to give anyone else a turn. He loved it. And Grandpa even bought him a toy one. He's a spoiled boy. It was a fun day with 2 out of the 4 best guys in my life! (miss my number one hubby of course and my bro)

Good Times.

Easter

2010-04-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Easter was kind of a bitter sweet experience this year....bitter in the sense that holidays are NOT the same when your hubby's across the country, but sweet in the sense that I got to be here for my dad's birthday for the first time in a LONG LONG time. So that was really cool.

And bitter sweet in the sense that Cohen is starting to understand holidays a little more so it is so fun to watch him (this of course is sad too because Jerry is missing it. Though as you can see we died easter eggs together via skype!!!aka the best invention in the world.)

I was a little bummed because we thought we had the BYU channel and we don't, so I missed conference (well I saw the last three talks -Monson included on the live internet broadcast) but I'm looking forward to catching up in the ensign. I hear it was amazing I cannot wait. Anyways, here are a few pictures of the morning.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Changes

2010-03-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know Cohen and I have moved to Florida,

and are anxiously awaiting the day when Jerry can join us!!!! We came early to save some money and so I can be home with Cohen during the day (I'll be waiting tables at night....yay! It's like being 18 again!lol. But it gives me the flexibility to be home with Cohen in the day and to get back to Vegas to see my man graduate at the beginning of may. Then Jerry will come back to Florida with me for 2 weeks and then have to go back to Vegas for 1 more month to tie up a class. Then hopefully he will have found a job by then..but if not then we will be with my parents until he finds one. It's hard to be without him, but we are making the best of it...I work 4 nights a week and I try to shoot for the weekends so I don't sit and pout :). And I love having my days with Cohen. It has made me oh so much more decisive that I want to make being home with my kids my goal and priority till they are in school.

We go to the park and play group and the library for story time and when I'm feeling super ambitious the beach (It's so fun but not as relaxing with a 2 year old that wants to be by the water the whole time!! And when he's not doing that he's talking to a million strangers!!!! plus it's been windy and not THAT warm...he doesn't mind...but if you notice most of our pics I'm wearing a sweatshirt. Cohen isn't in one because he's already drenched it before the picture is even taken!!!! He LOVES the water and the birds and the sand and everything!)

I have also taken up a new Saturday morning hobby of Garage Sale hunting. I'm border line obsessed :).Let's see what else, Our ward is good....Sundays are by FAR the hardest day of the week for me, I ache for Jerry that day...but I've made a few friends in the ward through play group and relief society, there is a heavy military influence out here with Eglin Airforce Base, so there are a lot of women that feel my pain as far as being apart from their men so it's nice to have some people to relate to on some level.

Cohen has made the transition amazingly well. My parents have a chihuahua named Dexter and Cohen LOVES LOVES LOVES him. They chase each other around here all day long. Cohen loves to go on walks if Dexter can come because he gets to hold the leash. He is also sleeping in the big boy bed now! So there is a milestone. He's been getting out of bed the last couple nights but we're starting to get it under control :). He loves to wake my sister Dani up every morning and explore her room with Dexter.... He loves to ride in the golf cart. And all the attention from Grandma and Grandpa Skinner. So that's a relief.

He does ask about Grandma and Grandpa Moser, and his cousins and Aunt Susan from time to time...I tell him "They are in VEGAS" and he says "BeGAS!!!!"....thank heavens for skype. It really has been such a blessing....Especially for Jerry and us.

As for my pregnancy, it's going well, I'm 22 weeks and feeling good. I havn't really told my work yet...I decided to just let them figure it out. It wasn't something I wanted to spring on them right when I got the job. But it's hard work but, bright side is I'm exercising right? :) lol. It's a restaurant right on the water, you can see all the boats come in from fishing and what not.

Jerry meanwhile is plugging away at school, and applying for jobs and working out like a maniac!!! He's already lost 13 pounds since I left. I'm so proud of him in all those respects, he sure works hard and is so so good to me. I don't know what I did to get so lucky as to land someone like him. I thank God every night.

And that is our nutshell! Hope all is well for everyone!
Oh!!! And Jerry and I finally decided on a name for Cohen's baby sister. She will be Brinley Eve Moser. We are so excited to add her to our family!!!!

The Results are In!!!!

2010-02-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

My 2 year old...Can't even believe it!

2010-02-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

This blog is a couple weeks late, Cohen's 2nd birthday has come and gone and I get some of the sniffles about it :). Here are some things of late, the pictures mixed in between are from his birthday party. It was supposed to be at the park but one of the 3 times a year that it actually rains in this city just happened to be on that day, so we moved it into the gym of the church!!! The highlight of the party was definitely the the puppet show that Jerry put on with Elmo (Cohen LOVES Elmo) and Cookie Monster! The kids went nuts!!!

Anyway, here is the run down of life with Cohen:

Cohen likes to brush his teeth more than any kid I've ever met. All day long..."Mom! Toof brus?"

He LOVES to talk on the phone and is getting pretty good at it. You can't help but smile when your watchin' him or get the excitement of being the other end.

We bought a little bowling set (plastic pins and a mini ball) for his birthday party, and he is OBSESSED with them. He LOVES to make them fall down...or to use them as baseball bats, or maraccas...you name it....He does not get tired of them.

He's a copy cat.....He here's my neices and nephews call me "Aunt Shannon" so he does...he hears Jerry call me "Baby" so he does.....But when he is not under peer influence...it is "Mommie" He calls Jerry either "Daddy" or "Honey" (Cause he hears me call him that....It's funny.

He can count to 13 with help and 10 by himself.

He knows his ABC's (though he gets tripped up at HIJK)

He loves to sing....Jerry and I sing him primary songs after his story before bed time every night and he is starting to sing along!!!! It's adorable.

He is talking a lot more and putting a few words together as opposed to just one. Like "Show me" "This is Phone...or this is sock...or this is book..." He likes to educate you on what everything is in the room.

He is such a lover. He loves to kiss....It's cute for now :) but we may have to have that talk on who it's appropriate to kiss and how.....My neice Ashley came to church with us and she is 8 and Cohen LOVES her...and he wouldn't stop trying to kiss her on the lips, on the ear, all over her face over and over again, Jerry was like uh huh. He loves to kiss his cousin Madelyn who is like 18 months or something. And I went to pick him up at the babysitter's house and her husband was like caught our sons kissing today!!! lol! (they are only 2 and Again it's cute when they are little but when do you say you don't have to kiss EVERYONE!!?!??! :) lol. He's a tender boy, I want him to stop growing RIGHT NOW!!!!

He is a show off, I take him to work with me on Friday's and whenever someone comes in especially girls.....there's like a switch that goes off...he is such a flirt (probably gonna have to lock him in the closet during the teenage yearS!!!!!) but the whole time they are there...its' "Look what I can do!" time.

He loves to dance....we took him to a wedding recently and they had dancing...cohen did not want us to hold him and merely twirl around, no he wanted to be on the floor in the middle of the dance floor in the middle of all the grown ups, showing them how it is done!!!!He danced and danced.....there was one point that he was in the middle of a circle doing it while everyone cheered and he was slidin on his knees, and raisin' the roof and twistin' and turnin' and laughin'....it was ADORABLE.

He's obsessed with my stomach since I've been trying to tell him there's a baby in there.....he puts his ear up to it....and then kisses it...and pats it and says "hi baby" I would love to know how he is really processing that information :).

He loves the park

And loves to be with other kids, whether it is nursery, at his babysitters , his friends or his cousins.....he is a social butterfly.

He runs to the door everytime it rings always saying "Susan?!?!?" (Susan is Jerry's aunt that lives up the street, so no matter who it is he thinks the door bell means Aunt Susan is coming.)

When he wakes up in the morning he drinks his sippy cup full of milk in bed with us then when he's done, he goes and makes sure Grandma and Grandpa are ready to entertain him :). He loves to be in the bathroom with Grandma Moser while she gets ready for work. Oh he has finally learned to say Grandma and Grandpa.....well actually it's more like Ga-maaa and Ga-paaa :) but we will take it!

I was holding him while he was drinking his milk one day at the computer, and going through pictures and we came across one of my parents (who at the moment we don't live around so Cohen doesn't see them as often) and , I didn't even think he was paying attention but he took his sippy out of his mouth and said..."Hi G-Maaaa , Hi G-Paaaaa" It almost made me cry!!! Silly maybe....but again, we live with Jerry's parents right now and i just figured that's proabably what he associates with the word and remembers....but nope he new exactly who Grandma and Grandpa Skinner were! :) it made me happy.

He's definitely a lot more independent these days...a little more (okay a lot more) vocal about what he wants and doesn't want....We see him testing our rules everyday....He loves to climb, which has given us some frustration....we turn our head for one minute he's on the bathroom counter, or the kitchen table or on the trash can trying to reach the phone.....etc. etc. The other day he was playing with his cars and he dropped one and he said "CO-hen!!!!!!" The same way we do when he's in trouble...it was hillarious.

Anyways if your still reading....that's impressive!!! But I love this little guy, we can't wait to find out if he is going to be a Big Brother of a girl or a boy :) we'd be stoked for either. We sure do love being his mommie and daddie!

Big Horn Sheep in Boulder City!

2010-01-29T12:10:00.001-08:00

We took a KFC Picnic to the Hemingway Park in Boulder City to see these Big Horn Sheep that people spoke of...and wow....they just hang out right next to the playground where kids are playing!! It freaked me out for a little bit.....but they were obviously very used to being there and everyone was very used to having them there...it was pretty cool!!! Cohen kept saying "Hi Doggie!!! Hi Doggie!!!" We have some work to do apparently :) We took his sweet mini quad that he got from Santa and he cruised. It was a fun day. A good memory with Grandma Moser too. We won't have as many opportunities here in the future and we want to cherish what we get!! :). If you ever have an opportunity to get up there it is awesome!

Christmas Morning (sickness)!

2009-12-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

Oh Christmas Morning started with morning sickness :) Everyone woke up to the sounds of me throwing up in the bathroom :) Merry Christmas one and all!!!!! lol. I am a pregnant person, I am 9 weeks along with our 2nd child and couldn't be more thrilled! This time around has been a TON easier than with Cohen with whom I was throwing up at least 6 times a day for 16 weeks. I havn't been near as sick this time around but the last couple days I have had some moments...and I think all the Christmas Eve excitement and staying up till a ridiculous hour into the night played a roll on the morning :) But after my little episode, everyone was up and I felt a little better and it was time to go see what Santa brought!!!!!!

Cohen and Maddie were stoked for their sweet new rides!!!!!

Okay, let's just talk about how nearly impossible it is for Jerry and I to surprise each other. We have not had a Christmas yet to where we didn't know exactly what was coming to us....until NOW!!!! Jerry has talked about wanting to take up golfing for awhile now...but it has always been in the "When we can afford it" distant future type deal...well I got a steal on these brand new clubs...It wasn't even something he thought of to ask for which made it even better. He was going nuts all week trying to get it out of me. He was so excited in the morning :) It was almost a gift for me to see him that happy :)
Now I'm kind of mad that I put my camera down during the unwrapping...because Jerry's parents were there and Josh , Jody and Maddie were there....and oh...I was there!! lol :) and it was fun......Jody was taking a few pictures so hopefully she will give me some so I can post them...but anyway...this is the result of Cohen's spoiled Christmas :)..... He had a ball playing all day!!!!! He got lots of noisy toys too!!! :) good times!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

Rockin Christmas Eve!

2009-12-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

This year we stayed in Vegas with Jerry's family for Christmas. Christmas Eve was our big party with his whole family, and then Josh and Jody spent the night. It was a really good time. Cohen was absolutely spoiled rotten and it was nice to be off work and just be alloud to party! :) Here is a photo run down!

We had the Nativity in which Cohen was a shepherd and Jerry had a "Starring" role :)

It was everything that we love Christmas Eve to be!!! As I said before Josh and Jody spent the night that night so that was fun.....

Turkey Weekend!

2009-12-28T11:48:00.000-08:00

We went to Phoenix for Thanksgiving to spend some time with my (Shannon's) side of the family. We ate at my Uncle John's house and then the day after we spent the rest of the time in Sierra Vista where my Grandpa (My dad's dad) lives. It was good to see a lot of extended family that I havn't seen in awhile and a few relatives Jerry and Cohen havn't EVER seen, so it was nice.

This is Skinner Family Fun Day :) The picture was taken at an outdoor mall where we saw Side Line. We started the day out with breakfast at IHOP and then went bowling and then to a movie and then dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Cohen was descent during MOST of the movie but got a little antsy towards the end. His bowling skills are superior, he was so thorough that he chased the ball down the lane with his crazy mom chasin and slippin behind him! Coming out of dinner was interesting, the mall was hosting a rock concert right outside our restaurant...and trying to get Cohen out of there with a stroller was an experience.....I got all these dirty looks like "Who would bring a toddler to a rock concert!!!" And I looked back at them thinking (it's not like the concert was going on when i went IN to the restaurant!!! :) It was classic. It was fun to spend time with the whole fam-dam-ily :)

We then had good ol' Turkey Dinner with Uncle John and Aunt Barb and my cute cousins Kimmy, Katie and Scott!. As well as my Grandpa Skinner. It was delicious. Cohen however fed most of his to their dog.

After all the Turkey Goodness we were off to Sierra Vista, while staying with Gramps out there we went to Tombstone which Jerry had never been so it was kind of a fun thing to do.

We then went to Bisbee which is a town close to the border of Mexico, my grandmother was raised there and my dad spent a lot of his childhood there. It's a sweet hippy town.

A lot of people back in the day were employed in the mines.

This is the house that my Grandma along with the 13 OTHER kids in her family were raised. Can you even believe they fit all those people in there?
Standing on her porch

This is what most of the streets look like there....small, narrow and on wrong move, your off the mountain!

And the rest of our trip was catching up with family. Below are a few of my Grandma's sisters.
My Dad's cousins, aunt and uncle!

We were invited for Menudo....I ate Chili :) I don't eat menudo :).

At Grandpa's house, Beaux's (his dog) bed seemed to be Cohen's favorite place to be!

Gramps!

And finally, we went to my Grandma Skinner's grave. It was weird to be at her house with her not there. I miss her like crazy.

All in all it was a really good 5 days. I love my family.

22 Months

2009-12-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

This is my sweet little man who is growing up too fast. We put this suit on him and he went all around the house going "Dad!!! Dad!!!!" with his arms outstretched, like he was hot stuff.

He is talking all sorts of nonsense, I love listening to all his jibber jabber that makes utter sense to him :). When ever I call his name he responds "YEAH!?!?!?" He has broken 4 christmas tree ornaments and a santa decoration as of this point.

Still loves balls more than any toy out there, but his monkey is a close 2nd.

The other night he had a bad dream, woke up screaming I went in there and he said "monkey! monkey!" I gave him his monkey, he then picked up his blanket and handed it to me and put his arms outstretched for me to take him and snuggle with him. He is a sweet heart.

He's definitely gotten very independent, he wants to do everything himself...(i.e.- eating, brushing his teeth etc.) He hates it when I give him a piece of a snack...he wants to hold the whole thing. The other day I broke in half a Nutrigrain bar, (half for him and half for me) you would think the world as he knows it crumbled!!!!!!!

He loves "snacks" mainly gummy snacks, popcorn, crackers, gold fish, that sort of thing, we can't keep him out of the pantry.

He knows how to open all the doors in the house now so we have to be pretty careful.

Nursery has been a challenge...he loved it the first couple weeks, and now he has complete emotional breakdowns when we get there. weird. Once we get him distracted he's okay, but he knows when he goes there that we are trying to leave...and he does NOT like that....so ...anyway, baby steps I guess.

He's obsessed with peoples ears. Loves to pull on them kiss them...whatever. kinda funny. When we are reading stories that's always the body part he points out in the picture.

He roars like a lion when he wants you to tickle or chase him.

And his smile completely lights up the room.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2009-11-06T11:57:00.001-08:00

Halloween was so fun this year!!! My mom had Cohen the week prior to Halloween....It was definitely tougher for me than him :) ha ha.. It was nice to have some down time but come Thursday I was ready to have my little guy back. He had a GREAT time with Grandma Skinner she brought him home on Friday and he was so cute! We got right back in the car and went to my sister in laws trunk-or -treat, Cohen didn't QUITE grasp the concept of trick-or- treating there , he just ran around chasing people in costumes and following cars...it was hillarious. He was an ELEPHANT and the most adorable thing on the planet (I'm a little biased) It was funny because the padding in the front and in the back made him waddle. HILLARIOUS!

Then on Saturday morning we went Christmas shopping with my mom (yes, already...CRAZINESS) and we went to lunch...then she took off back to AZ and Cohen and I went home, he took a nap...he woke up...we did a little pumpkin carvin' and we got him dressed up and were off for our real trick or treating!!!

Got pulled over on the way there but I got so so sOOOOOOO lucky...because my sister in law's brother in law is a cop and he totally got me out of it......THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU CLINT!!! YOu and Michelle have a little surprise coming! Anyways....The neighborhood we trick or treated in was a MAD house!!! I've never seen so many people on the same block in my life. Cohen finally grasped the "going to get candy" concept . HE LOVED IT> the only thing he WASNT lovin....was when anyone with a scary mask got real close to him...he got kind of scared. All in all it was a good time :).

Hannah's Soccer Game in Mesa!

2009-11-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

We took a little road trip to visit my youngest sister Hannah at college. She plays soccer for Mesa Community and we got to go to her last game of the season. Of course Hannah tore it up and we were oh so proud. Most of my family was able to make it (with the exception of my dad and little sister Dani) so it was fun to catch up with almost everyone :). Here are a few pictures. It was pretty cute at the game, there was like this 4 or 5 year old girl that was trying to teach him how to ride her tricycle and at the end planted a smoocher on him....the people in the stands started cheering. It was so cute and so funny :).
GO AUNT HANNAH!!!

Labor Day Camping Trip!

2009-10-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

We went camping on Labor Day and boy was it chilly and so so fun! We found creative ways to keep Cohen Warm, and he LOVED being outside so much. He was passed out the whole way there and when we got out of the car he was the energizer bunny! He was very good at staying away from the fire....he always looked at us and said "HOT", as if HE was reminding US to not touch! He was so dirty at the end of every day which is as it should be... We went fishing...ate smore's and enjoyed some much needed nature relaxin'....and Cohen chasin of course :).

Cohen is also now 20 Months!!!
His new phrase is "OH NO!"

He is obsessed with his spider man slippers. He follows me around the house wanting me to put them on.

He LOVES sesame street. I think I may have said that before.

He likes to kiss me on the forehead so he'll hear me say "AWWWWWWWE" Then he giggles and does it again....and again....and AGAIN :).

He is fascinated with buckles...whether it be on his high chair, stroller, or carseat...He could sit there forever figuring out how to buckle them.

He loves to laugh and dance.

We just bought him a book called "I am a child of god" and he has learned which picture has Jesus or how he would say it "eh-sus" It's cute.

FLORIDA

2009-09-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

I'm FINALLY getting around to updating my blog about our Destin,Florida trip!..We were there August 13-23rd. And it was WONDERFUL!!! It was SO hard to come back. My parents live there now and they are a hop skip and a jump literally from the bay. And then 8-10 minutes from the most beautiful white sand beaches ever. Anyways this will be a big picture one I had a TON of pictures but don't worry I'm just picking out the highlights!

The first couple days there was talk of a Hurricane....NO BUENO!!!! :) But we got a tropical storm instead and the Hurricane missed THANK GOODNESS!!!lol.

SO we spent our fair share of time at the beach.

With the alligators.... On the Boat...
Tubing

Kayaking....The Sunset from the golf cart...

Playing "tourist" in Seaside! (This is the town that The Truman Show was filmed)

Watching dolphins from our jet ski's

Playing with the family

Floating down Turkey Creek

Enjoyed the amazing scenery
It was amazing and so hard to leave. We are so stoked that it will be our home for at LEAST a little while...Hopefully Jerry will be able to find a job there. We'll see :) Stay tuned.

Cohen is also now 19 months.

He is all smiles and just a joy. He certainly didn't hurt for attention from the Skinner Family that is for sure. He's finally starting to say the word please....before he just signed it all the time...it was like the only word he wouldn't TRY to use.

He loves to be outside.

He is starting to show some signs of that supposed "Terrible two's" mainly tantrums when he doesn't get exactly what he wants. But they are few and far between.

He's pretty accident prone...he cut his head open a couple hours before our flight home from FL....he had gotten on a park bench and right when I saw him , he lost his footing hit his head on the corner of the bench followed by slamming the back of his head on the pavement. This is the bench....

IT was so scary because there was so much blood. NO BUENO!! We concerned about a cuncussion but he's fine...

He loved playing in the back yard with my mom they made up a game that consisted of throwing golf balls at a wind chime. He loved it.

His favorite snack is fruit snacks for sure. He gets so excited just to see the wrapper.

His favortie toy by far is any kind of Ball. He loves to throw it, roll it, or just keep it tucked under his arm. Jerry is very proud, being that he has high hopes for sports!! lol :). He still runs on his toes so his calves are crazy for such a little guy!! Very defined.

LOVE HIM!

Cohen's 1st Day of Nursery!

2009-08-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

Oh my little boy was so handsome today, ready for the first day of his Nursery career :). There were no tears just joy of all the toys, and songs, and snacks and BUBBLES being his favorite :). I wish I could have gotten a picture in the actual class but I decided to cool it :) ha ha. Here is right before church!

I peaked in in the middle of singing time and snack time and he looked like such a big boy on his seat and just seemed to be taking it all in :) It was adorable. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall the whole time :)!!!

18 Months!!!!

2009-08-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

Where is the pause button!?!?!?! We've hit out 18 month milestone and I'm sure Cohen is going to LOVE going to nursery on Sunday. People ask me "Do you think he'll be okay?" and my response is...."Absolutley!" Cohen LOVES to play with other kids....it will be like "Mom who?" I'm sure. So.....Here is the rundown!

Cohen is now taking just one nap a day.

LOVES to dance. I've been getting in the habit of turning music on when I get home from work and we both dance like nobody's watchin!!! He loves it and that makes me LOVE it! :).

My mother in law bought a little baby pool for him and you should have seen him when they were blowning it up!!! He was jumpin up and down so excited!

They also invested in a bench swing and he absolutely loves to rock. It's one of the few times I can get him to sit still and snuggle with me.

Jerry has taught him to cheer for The Braves. Jerry is obsessed with baseball and watches it all the time and is always cheering at the TV well Cohen has caught on, the other day I walked in the house and he was cheering and yelling baby nonsense at the T.V. It was hillarious.

He has learned to open the doors in the house. I went to the bathroom and closed the door behind me, all of the sudden there he was grinnin' that cheeky grin like he was so proud of himself. Today I was getting ready to go to costco, I had just got his shoes on and went into the kitchen to get my phone...I came back out and the front door was open and he was out! Scared me to death (mainly it just scares me because he likes to go into the street.) But he was just eating rocks in the yard don't worry. Oh wait STOP EATING ROCKS COHEN!!!! :).

I got to take him to work with me yesterday and this short, cute mexican man came in...now Cohen is not such a shy kid...he goes up to random people all the time....I think it's curiosity...but man it was like Cohen new this guy in the pre existance or something!!! He went up to him right when he walked in the door put his arms up for him to pick him up and then just started laughing and playing with his face! The guy was so cute with him...he put him down and they started throwing a bouncy ball back and forth and everytime cohen would throw it to him he would pretend to drop it really dramatically and Cohen was laughing so hard I know his stomach had to hurt. The ladies that I work with were all coming out of their offices to see what he was laughing at. Well it came time for the man to leave and Cohen gave the saddest most pathetic puppy lip face and then just bawlled. The man came back to make sure he was okay.....then left and Cohen seriously looked like someone ran over his puppy. It was so sad. I was amazed. He's done that with Jerry and I before or like when he's forced to come inside...but I've never seen him instigate to that extent to a stranger. Makes you wonder :) They must be kindred spirits :) Or maybe Cohen was getting in touch with his Mexican roots :) I don't know.

His new thing is standing on the arm of the couch. Drives me crazy because I know he's going to fall off it one of these days. He knows he's not supposed to but he always seems to do it the second we turn our head. Little turkey. He's doing a funny thing though when we reprimand him....We'll say "no" and like tap his nose or something (I don't know why) but he'll look at us and then hit himself in the head, like he's Dobby from Harry Potter punishing himself or something...He always does it when we talk firm to him. Funny kid.

We are going to Florida to visit my parents in a week and we're gettin kind of freaked out about the plane ride...mainly because it is a red eye and we have a 4 hour layover in North Carolina. And if Cohen was a little older and a little younger it might not be so bad.....but hopefully it being a red eye will cause him to want to sleep the whole time and not cause him to FIGHT sleep and just be grouchy the whole time...we just don't want to be "those people" on the plane. :). We figure we'll let him run around crazy to tire himself out at the airport so HOPEFULLY he'll crash on the plane. Wish us luck. We have a little buddy to help us out...it's a harness :) Yes I'm putting my kid on a leash...I swore I'd never do it....but at least it's a cute leash that subs as his friend and backpack :).

He's definitely knowing what he wants and how to get it these days....If your not paying attention and he wants you to pick him up or something he'll get between you and the counter and push you out so you'll look at him and pick him up. He's a smarty that's for sure.

He is still full of kisses and singing and book loving.

He loves to play with other kids (Especially his cousins).

This kid raising is sure a fun ride :) Stay tuned.

SUMMER TIME!!!!

2009-07-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated my 2 nephew's birthdays...Ian (7) and Gage (6).

It was at the Whitney Ranch pool...so fun for families...has fun waterfalls and toys for kids and water slides and a deep end for people that wish they were still kids! It was fun stuff!

Okay, here is also a catch up of a couple fun summer memories.

For the 4th of July we went to Logandale. I described a little of what we did in my previous blog...but here are some pictures from right before the fireworks! It was a pretty full day and Cohen got like an hour nap so he was PRETTY tired at this point if you can't tell!

The next set of pictures are from Grandpa Moser's Birthday party. They took all the kids to the park and as you can see had some water fun! Cohen was freakin hillarious. His pants were fallin off the whole time but no matter he just had a ball.

Though it's been a crazy busy summer with me workin' full time and Jerry schoolin' full time we have tried to take some time to play :) so important! We have fun. We are going to get a bit of a vacation here in 3 weeks...we're going to Florida for 10 days to visit my family and we can't wait to just chill before the CRAZINESS that will be fall. The countdown begins!

17 Months Old!

2009-07-10T13:11:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of Cohen at our "4th of July" Celebrations. The volunteer fire department had like 4 trucks there and were sprayin everyone with hoses. I wasn't so sure how Cohen would like it...being that at the park near us there is a fun water spot where it shoots out of the ground and there are things that spray at you, he loved to go close...but once he saw the water was about to touch him, he ran away laughing. Well this time....he was runnin through that hose so fast!! He was drenched and loving every second of the chaos around him! I wish we got more shots of that...but trust me it was the cutest and funniest thing you have ever seen in your life!

Things Cohen Says:

Mom, Dada, Mama, Diaper, Soft, Shoes , "guck" (meaning "TRUCK), Up,"a-meh" (meaning "Amen"), Hi, Bye, Hot, Stop, "un" (meaning "One") and Ouch...His Grandpa Moser said that he heard him say "ni-night" last night. I didn't hear it, DANG IT!

It is funny because we have been teaching Cohen to be "Soft" so when we remind him...he takes his hand and rubs your cheek lightly and says "ssooooooooft" He was doing it to Madelyn last night and he just warms my lil heart!!

Grandma Skinner was trying to teach Cohen how old he is via Skype, For those of you that don't know it's a free way to call someone through your computer...but you can talk face to face to the person you are speaking to...so being that my side of the family lives forever away in Fl., we chat that way so they can see Cohen from time to time......Well....she would as "Cohen, How old are you?" and she'd yell "ONE" and raise her finger....well a few days later I asked him , just curious if he remembered or was payin attention....sure enough he put his one finger up and said "UN!" at the top of his lungs :) it was cute.

Songs Cohen Sings:

Since Jerry was in the Wizard of Oz, all throughout the house, all we here is "Oh-EEE-Oh, oOOOooh" It's so funny. He loves the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" And loves to make my hands clap in the Monkey and Aligator song.

Cohen has gone a whole month without getting SICK!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!

We did have a bit of scary experience though....Cohen went down for a nap, and managed to get to one of the picture frames and it shattered in his crib. My father in law found him and there was blood soaked through the sheets and on his toy that sings him to sleep.....Ran to grab my husband...and so so sad. We were SO lucky that it only took a little chunk of his finger and a little cut on his foot and not a chunk of an ARTERY or that he didn't try to swallow it...but he is okay now....we just felt super bad because we wern't sure if it happened before or after his nap...because he fusses before he goes to sleep anyway....I felt so sick.

He has learned to climb on things to get to OTHER things that he wants. He's a mischievious little guy that is for sure.

I found him in the bathroom one day putting the roll of toilet paper along with like 5 toys in the toilet!

He will point to his nose, eyes, mouth, ears, head, and toes on request (We're workin on the belly button!)

His favorite books- Bubbles Bubbles (Elmo)

Does a Kangaroo have a Mother Too?

Goodnight Moon

Buzz Buzz Busy Bees

Good Morning , Good Night

Likes to watch "Sesame Street" and "So you think you can dance" with mom. He will dance right along with them! Twirlin and whirlin! ha ha..He LOVES music.

Loves to give kisses...especially to his little cousin Madelyn. Pretty funny stuff...it's cute now....we'll lay down the law about cousin lovin' later :) oye.

He has 10 teeth

He also went on his first walk without his stroller today, he got to walk like a big boy around the whole block.....and loved every second of his freedom...especially the firehydrines.

An infectious grin and adorable laugh. And the best thing....ONE MORE MONTH TILL NURSERY!!! ha ha :)