Projects

I have been busy around here getting to some projects that have been on my to-do list. Some have been on there for years, literally! I don't know why I procrastinate so much, but I finally got to some of them and I am happy to cross them off.

I finally finished this wall in Cooper's room, and now I'm not sure I even like it. Isn't that great? :) I edged the blue and yellow with red and tried to make it kind of look sketched on instead of a perfectly straight line. After I did about half of it I realized I wasn't sure if I liked it, but, once you paint it there's no going back! So, I'll be living with it for awhile and trying to decide if I like it enough to keep it. At least it's done for now.


I finally made curtains for our master bath. The curtain rod has been hanging there since we moved in (almost 6 years!) so it's about time I put something there. I made it with fabric and fabric glue-no sewing. Woo hoo!

We then put curtains in the family room. Again, have been thinking about doing it for years and never got around to it. I actually bought the curtains back in October, so... more procrastinating! They were kind of a pain because I had to iron the hem into them which took me awhile to get correct (we got them at ikea and they don't come hemmed). But, one more thing off the list!

My friend Dixie gave me this idea. She made a canvas for Christmas with her kids' footprints made into reindeer and decorated it really cute so she can reuse it year after year. Since it was already Feb I decided to do that with hearts, and then I'm going to try to get going on the reindeer too. Yes, it'll be MONTHS after Christmas but I'd like to get it done while Jackson's feet are still relatively small. Another project!

(by the way, I used my new Cricut to cut out the C and J and the numbers. I'm so excited to have one! It's a very early b-day present from my parents, and I've already used it a ton. Yippee!!)

Another curtain project. Our house didn't have any curtains in it I realized! Very simple, and I used fabric glue again! I love that stuff!

Last project. Yes, they are ornaments. Again, a few months behind schedule! I was originally going to make them for grandparent gifts but seeing as it's now February, I decided to just make them for me for next year. I wanted to get Jackson's footprint when it was still small. Cooper painted the top left one. The bottom one is kind of weird, it's a mess up of Jackson's footprint that I made into a heart. I actually got a great footprint and then dropped the ornament, so I then had to somehow figure out how to make the mistake work. It's better than nothing and one more thing off my list. I love that!

Firsts

We recently got out our jumperoo for Jackson, so this is a pic of his first time in it!


The first time E fed Jackson, and the first time he ate peas. Loved them like he does all food!

Doesn't that look tasty? :)

Elizabeth holding Jackson (certainly not a first, but I thought E looked so cute in this pic!) Ooops, somebody needs to button this boy's pants!

More pics of Jackson-not "firsts" either..maybe that title wasn't entirely appropriate! We were taking pictures at my parents' house of Jackson and all of his chub. So cute!

I love this one

Playdates

My friend Emily who I know from college recently moved to the area, and I am so excited that she has moved so close! She has two little boys who are about the same age as Cooper and Jackson, so they had great fun playing together.

Cooper and Nikolas (he's a few months younger than Cooper)


Jackson and Nathan (he's a few months older than Jackson)

We also recently got together with Allison and Emily, along with Laura and the kids. Here are Jackson and Emily. She LOVED sitting with Jackson and was so gentle with him. I think she needs a sibling :)

Cooper and Ben being silly together

all four of the kids (elizabeth was at school)

Jackson and Emily posing

I was going through my pictures and I thought this one was so cute of the two of them!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Snow!

On Thursday it snowed here, I'm pretty sure it snowed more than a foot! (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) It went on and on and on. Cooper of course was very excited. It was the perfect snow to play in! It packed great and there was no breeze so it wasn't miserable to be outside.

But, it was a little exhausting for me. We of course don't have great winter gear here since it snows maybe once or twice a year. So it took FOREVER to get dressed with all of the layers and both boys. Then by the time we were ready, had been outside for probably 5 minutes, Jackson started crying. So we played outside for a few minutes with him crying and then went in to feed him and put him to bed. After that Cooper had a melt-down and had to go to time out, and by the time he was acting appropriately enough to go back outside Jackson had been sleeping for quite awhile. So of course, we get all dressed, get our wonderful target sacks around our feet to keep them dry (isn't that awful??), are literally stepping outside, and Jackson wakes up and cries. So again, we play outside a few minutes, come back in, take off the sacks and shoes... and he falls asleep! He did this one more time until we finally came in for good. It was exhausting! Luckily Ryan came home early that day and could go back out with Cooper that afternoon.

Jackson's all ready to go outside!


Not loving it.

With the snowman we made.

Cooper's first snow angel.

This is him making the snow angel. He just layed with his eyes closed so he wouldn't get snow in them!

Valentine Art Project and Outside Time

Cooper and I did this very easy V-day project last week. Not anything super cute but I liked it because on each heart we wrote a reason why he loved one of his family members. It was a good practice for "why" because when I asked him why he loved, say, daddy, he'd say "cause I love him." So I started giving him examples of reasons WHY to love someone and then he went back and forth for everyone saying either "they like to play with me" or "they're my friend." For all except one person. His beloved Auntie Laura. See her heart below.

Apparently she licks him??!! Ha Ha. I know that isn't true, I just thought that was hilarious.

Here's cutie pie Jackson and Lily. She forever is by him waiting for him to spit up..gross huh?

We played outside last week (we don't do it much in the winter) and I took a few pics of them.

Visit to Grandma and Grandpa's House

Last weekend Ryan went out of town so we decided it would be fun to spend the night at G & G's house. The boys had a fun time eating ice cream and watching movies (well, Cooper did. Jackson enjoyed watching him!)

First they cuddled with Grandma

Then Cooper enjoyed some tasty ice cream!

Yum!

and last a bubble bath. He had so much fun in bubbles up to his ears.

Thanks for letting us stay!

Ugh, Puzzles!

This is what Cooper did when he was supposed to be napping. A few of the puzzles were those 24 piece ones that have to be put together to store... yuck. We are now trying some new rules for naptime!


Just a few random pics of the boys

Cooper's washing his hands

One of the new things he does a lot-on his tummy he now does the "airplane". So funny. I love all the new things babies do!

Cooper and Jackson now can play together, kind of. Jackson loves his walker and is really good at walking in it now, and Cooper tries to get him to chase him around. It's so cute! It will be really fun as Jackson gets older I know, they're going to be playing together all of the time!