Welcome back to the Graff Blog, folks. We've been doing really well. Life is flying by faster than a freight train and I'm just trying to soak it all in since I know I can't get it back. Raising kids and being an adult really is starting to remind me of that Kenny Chesney song, "Don't Blink." If you haven't heard it, here it is. I fully conquer with the message of the song because that's exactly how I've been feeling as of late.
Here is a compilation of all the videos Dallin and I have taken over the last 3 weeks or so.
Girls Day Sunday Funday Brunch Day!!!
Had so much fun meeting Shayle and trying out a new place. It was a really good time!
Is this real life?! Utah scenery is like a post card!
We went to tibblefork reservoir with tara and Shilo and had a blast! I had a headache and was feeling kind crappy and tired overall but even though all of that was happening I couldn't help but still have a great time because the beauty completely distracted me from how I was feeling. The kids seemed to have the same experience. They hated being in the car so when we got there they were in a bad mood but that quickly turned around because you can't be in a place like that and not enjoy yourself. It was a great day and I kept thinking "how did I take this for granted growing up with this all my life?" It's like I truly never realized that Utah is actually pretty amazing until I left and came back.
I got this for 15$ on amazon and the kids were elated. They're so easy to please at this age which is fun. They kept saying "yay boat! yay boat yay boat" and jumping on it and climbing out and in. Cooper stood up in the middle with a wide stance and said "Moana." lol Nona and Pa took coop to float on it in the pool at their RV park and had a good time. Anyway it was money well spent.
How is she already 13 and a half months?!?!
This is what I mean by, "Don't blink" because I cannot believe how kinder is now days. She says more words than I can count, she climbs, runs, jumps, and practically just does and says everything that Cooper does. She understands everything that's happening and everything that we say. She's soaking in everything around her like a sponge right now because about every 10 seconds she's pointing at something and saying "what's that?" (Which sounds more like "ahh sat") It's amazing. I feel like she grew up over night and she's not a baby anymore she's a full-blown toddler.
She is such a girly-girl. She loves shoes and bows. She will grab them and try to balance them on her head or put them on her feet. And she will go get two shoes (she always grabs Both and matching) and brings them to me saying "shoe shoe shoe shoe" until I put them on her. So even around the house she loves to just strut back and forth wearing her shoes. She will also hold her play purse with her chin high and her butt out and strut with her purse back and forth. I really have no idea where she gets it because I am never wearing shoes and I don't carry a purse at all anymore just the diaper bag or my phone. She definitely knows what she wants and won't take no for an answer lol She loves reading books and wants to do anything Cooper does so she is into climbing the play kitchen (which is not my favorite) and she tries to play swords with him and dinosaurs and go in the tent with him and stuff. Coop likes playing with her for the most part too which is so cute. When she cries in the car he will hand her stuff or say "no scream kinder" and say boo and try to make her laugh and usually succeeds.
I thought this pose was an adorable way to sleep. I once read in a magazine that if you sleep on your back with both hands behind your head it means you're a really confident person. Which she definitely is. lol
I am loving getting to dress up with the girl clothes. I swear there is nothing cuter than the dresses, ruffle butts, bows on everything, etc. It's taking everything in my power to not buy everything I see on amazon for fall. (I am so excited for fall and fall fashion is my favorite and if you pair all of that with toddler stuff it's a recipe for money being spent.lol it's unavoidable.)
I thought it was so cute that I watched her figure out that magnets stick to the fridge and she could take them on and off and then she walked to the oven and dishwasher to see if they would stick on there and then went back to the fridge to keep doing it since it didn't work on either of those. It occupied her attention for a long time so I made her more magnets out of stickers and magnetic backing and she loves it. She is clearly so smart.
Dates
It has been my favorite thing about moving back to Utah that we have been able to be so social and get out more and easily go on dates. It makes us both so happy to get out on a kid-free evening and truly be able to just relax. Here's some pics from some of our dates we've had.
Double with Selena and Jaxson to Las Botellas (see the video of the fire dancer and the drink that was smoking)
The wild rose in soho is absolutely mouthwateringly delectable. We had 6 courses and I was in food heaven every single one of them.
To celebrate the big 9 year anniversary I looked up what the traditional thing to give was and it said pottery. So I booked us a pottery class at this little place in herriman and we had such a blast! We made 2 mugs and a bowl and it was so fun because it was social, creative, different, challenging, new, etc. I am so looking forward to getting our stuff back from. being glazed in a few weeks. I remembered loving that in middle school and it made me want to get back into it again.
It's such a rewarding feeling when it took time and concentration and effort and it came out like you wanted!
We are so grateful that Jaxson and Selena and my mom are always willing to babysit so that we can get out. I love it when they get pictures. The kids seem so happy with them so it's awesome that I don't have to feel guilty like I'm having a good time but they're not.
Our date with Rachael and Todd to an amazing pizza place & brewery in Sandy (forgot what it was called) but they're always such a good time of course.
I'm not crying, you're crying! ....... My little Cooper is a preschooler!
Can you believe it!? He was 6 months old and then I blinked and he's going to school. I am not exaggerating, he took it like a champ. He walked right in with no tears at all and was excited about it and has loved it ever since. I was not expecting to be emotional about it but walking away I couldn't believe it and I got teary-eyed. It's so weird to drop him off and then only have Kinder. But I have loved it so far because his teachers clearly love him and he loves them and talks about them and there's only 4 kids in the class total and the teacher does all sorts of fun things and no screen time and is super communicative about what they're doing and sends pictures. It's so cute and it's been such a good experience so far.
They even got him left-handed scissors!!!
This was on our way to the first day. (I think it's so cute they wear uniforms. He goes to the same school that I first taught at my first year of teaching)
We went to meet the teacher the day before and there was a little get-to-know-you sheet they had parents fill out about their kids and one of them was what do you like and I asked him and he said "tickles and gymnastics" lol he's so dang cute. (Of course I wrote dinosaurs, climbing, spider man, swings and running too.) I thought it was funny on the first day of school that when I took a pic of him with the teachers he wanted to do a silly face and stuck his tongue out.
He calls them miss "shiny" and miss "Omma " lol One day we were at the park because it was a Wednesday and he doesn't go to school on that day so they were on the other side of the fence at the school taking the other class out to play on the playground and he could see them clear from across the feild and got all excited and said "omma shiny!" and was pointing and grabbed my hand and started pulling me over there to say hi to him and I thought it was amazing that after only 2 days with him they knew him from across the field and said "Cooper!" haha so cute. And when we walk by he says "that's cooper's school" and I think its so cute that he loves his school
Fashion Faux-Pas
It happens to all of us. Whether it's a food stain, ill-fitting clothing, wrinkly, a hole, etc. I happen to embrace my fashion faux pas now days and have decided to stop caring about stuff like that. One of them happens to be my very intricate tan lines on my feet from my favorite (probably also a fashion faux pas) orthotic sandals lol 😂 You know you're old when you find yourself saying "I need some sandals with some support!" lol but check that out! I'm kind of proud of it if I'm being honest.
Another fashion faux pas happened to Sadie with a dye-job gone wrong. The die said brown on the bottle, so I gave it to the groomer hoping it would bring back that gorgeous chocolate brown she was as a puppy. But it clearly turned a purplish red and so she stopped at the feet and now it looks like she is wearing boots. lol The dogs got home from the appointment after Cooper had gone to bed (and when I first saw her I laughed for like a solid 30 mins about it) so when coop woke up the next morning he said "wow!! Sadie cut!! foot purple!!!" lol (meaning Sadie haircut and her feet are purple) and then he was petting her feet and saying "wow is niiiicccccee." hahahaha So at least somebody likes her fancy feet hahaha
Ahh.... Parenthood.
They say it's the best thing you'll ever do and the hardest thing you'll ever do. I was telling Dallin that nothing else in my life has been as motivating to be a better person than this because you realize that they model everything you do so it has made me better and I'm so grateful for it. I have never been more frustrated, annoyed, mad, tired, depressed, etc. in my life than I have in moments with parenting, but even with all of that I am so glad we did it because my life feels happier and more fulfilling and the good moments are even better than they were. So I think even though there are still hard moments here and there, I have really come to appreciate this experience so much because it has taught me so much and they teach me things every day. I thought this quote was so true.⇩I feel lucky to be here for it and soak it in every day and lucky I got such cute, smart, sweet kids. When we're around people who don't have kids you'd think I'd be jealous of that freedom but I really don't miss it at all and I'm so glad we did it.
One day I was having a hard day and we were busy and I was frustrated at how much dallin is having to work nowadays and feeling like I have to do it all by myself. We got in the car to go somewhere (I don't remember where) and it was quiet and then all of a sudden Cooper takes this huge sigh and says, "Ahhhh WOW! The sky! It's so big! It's blue and pretty. oooh I see flowers! Ahh it's nice." There were sunflowers growing wild on the side of the road and I looked and thought wow he's right! It's a beautiful day, sunflowers are beautiful, we have our health, wealth, happiness, friends, family, safety, etc. We have so much to be grateful for and so much good that I was missing that day and Cooper helped me to see it. I think maybe seeing the negative side of things is easier to do as we age, and it's been so inspiring to be around a little human who sees the positive 95% of the time. He gets so excited when he sees these and he can blow and make a wish.
It's also made me less focused on stupid, superficial stuff. I think my worry to always look good is based in insecurity and I read a quote (I write a quote of the day on a little white board in the kitchen so that's why I'm always full of quotes) that said you vaccinate your kids against low self esteem when you exude confidence yourself. Yet another one of the ways parenting has made me better. So anyways, the point here is that I feel fine about not wearing makeup or doing my hair. I'm less dependent on that. I used to feel ashamed to even show my face in society without makeup, and now I think it's easier to just wear a tinted moisturizer so I have less to take off at night. I still like to get dressed up and do my hair and stuff but I still feel confident when I don't and I think that is a major step for me. (Yet another quote 😂) "Happy girls are the prettiest girls," and that's the example I'd wanna set for kinder instead of "your worth is directly correlated to your looks." (Which we all know is messed up.) Speaking of the idea of worth, I heard a story on a podcast I was listening to where the mom had a teenager come home completely devastated because they didn't make the team they tried out for. She got out a 20 dollar bill and said do you want this. He of course said yes. Then she crumpled it up, stomped on it, spit on it, dunked it in water, wiped it on garbage, etc. and asked him again, "do you still want this?" and he still said yes. She said that is what you have to remember when you have experiences in life that make you feel less-than. Remember that your worth does not depend on making that team and you will always matter in the world the same amount regardless. That 20 dollar bill is still worth 20 dollars whether it's been stepped on or not. I thought that was such a powerful lesson and it's good for anyone in life to remember but especially in those tricky teen years.
Having the grandparents visit frequently has been so nice because it breaks up the monotony and they clearly make the kids so happy (and me too because it's another social outlet for me.)
In the pic on the left we were laughing because coop grabbed kin kin and said "she's my baby!" and pulled her close to him and then he fell back. lol
It was so foggy one day that the mountains were just a silhouette instead of being able to really see them like usual and it was another time where I first thought "oh gross is that all pollution?" and then after really looking at it my mindset changed to a more positive one and I thought, "wow that's actually incredibly beautiful and I want to take a picture of it." I joined a gym and so now we've gotten into the habit of going to the gym every morning and gotten past the hard part of getting used to it (everything at first is an adjustment for all of us). So now it's nice. It's kind of a relaxing drive and we all seem to just look around and listen to music and I love it. I really have been so much happier since going to the gym every day. I have always loved being active.
More of the not-so-fun stuff.... I clearly need to be glueing on my nails constantly because when I try to take a break I chew them clean off my fingers and even the skin. It's disgusting. One morning I woke up with an eruption of 8 cold sores all on my upper lip. Cooper kept saying "mommy owie lip" and pointing to it. I looked into the ingredients of the stuff I was putting on it and it really doesn't help it go away quicker it just numbs it. So I took kinder to the Walgreens during cooper's nap and got a different thing and it went away within 2 days! (I love that dallin works from home again because when one is sleeping I'm not stuck until they're Both awake to leave. She still naps twice a day so their naps are staggered (from what I hear I'm lucky coop still naps) so it ends up being a huge chunk of the day that there is someone sleeping. So like from 10:30-4 there is probably someone sleeping. If I was stuck at home that whole time every day that would feel pretty limiting I'm sure. But since dallin is home it's nice because when she is sleeping I can take Cooper to the park or on a walk to go the store etc. It's so nice to get one on one time with each kid too. I know they appreciate the attention and it's made me feel so much closer to each of them and really appreciate that relationship 10 times more.
When Justin was here for the Warhammer tournament Cooper was playing with his neck pillow thing and when dallin texted back that he shouldn't Cooper was so sad. Then I showed him that our memory books that I made (like 2 years late because it took me a while to realize that I never made them) came in the mail and he was distracted from the sadness and moved on completely. lol
It actually didn't take me that long to make those books. I was procrastinating making them because I remembered it being such an arduous process before but now that I can airdrop from my phone to the computer and I still had all the pics on there I was able to do it pretty quickly. Double bonus was I found sales on photo books on different sites so I got really good deals. I made three books, 2020, 2021, and 2022 all in a matter of like 3 days. and they turned out cute. We love having those books for each year so I'm glad I remembered and did them. Those were some big years for our family with a lot going on so it's no wonder I forgot!
Anyway picture on the right is Cooper climbing! He is such a good little climber it's amazing how one day he's scared of it and the next he goes all the way to the top by himself! It's very tall. You can't tell in the picture but it's like as tall as a house. He has also gotten over the fear of the zipper and he loves doing that now back and forth pretty fast! See the videos for that!
Pics from Cooper's haircut
We love sharkey's! Dallin said he did great! He's really getting used to a lot of things now that he used to hate. He used to fight washing in the bath, brushing teeth, cutting nails, haircuts, and now none of those seem to bother him at all.
I know every parent thinks this- But I swear we have the cutest kids in the world. Does it get any cuter?!
OMG this pic of them in the bath is hilarious and adorable. I'm sure they'll love that I took this picture when they're teenagers lol
This was one of the times she insisted I put that certain pair of shoes on her. She then proceeded to happily strut back and forth in them for about an hour. (see video 😂)
They like to do the "cooper's hiding" or "kinder's hiding" game. Over and over. and sometimes that is just them covering their eyes with their hands lol but he says it in a higher voice that's so cute.
Sadie gives me cuddles every night after the kids are in bed and it isn't even close to same level of what I had with Josie but it's similar and I appreciate the sentiment. She is really such a nice dog to the kids because they're hard on her and she does try her best to please. She has been getting a lot better with barking now too which I love because that used to drive me crazy. It's nice to have a little buddy because Jake is so independent.
Dallin's Warhammer tournament
Justin flew up for the Warhammer tournament and it's 3 straight days of full on Warhammer and nothing else in this convention center in salt lake. They both knew they're novices compared to some so they weren't expecting to win, but they still had a lot of fun. I liked talking to Justin again he's such a good guy and a good friend to dallin. I liked how happy it made dallin because I was seeing him relax after being in a stressful new job right now.
Tyler's 2nd birthday party
We went to a splash pad in Lehi to celebrate Michael and sari's son Tyler turning 2 and it was fun because it has a little river and they did it spider man themed and coop loves that.
I couldn't get over how cute she was lol
This mask was one of the party favors and he loves it. I think its so funny how he does the smolder when he puts it on like "I'm tough because I am no spider man" lol
"I be up in da gym jus' workin' on ma fitness- he's my witness."- Fergie
So like I mentioned earlier I committed to my fitness again and just the idea of "me time" in general and let me tell you- IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE. I have so much energy again and feel amazing. I have to pay an arm and leg for it but it is worth it because the classes are top notch and the childcare is consistent. I started going at least 5 days a week on 8/8 and have not quit or looked back once! I am proud of myself but also it hasn't been hard, I actually look forward to it every day. (The soreness was hard at first. and just getting ready and out the door when I'm tired in the morning was hard at first. But I told myself the kids need consistency to get used to going to the childcare and being away from me so I need to stick with this and go every day and that was probably the best thing I did for all of us. There have been some tears from both kids at times but nothing compared to the vasa experience where they both screamed bloody murder for a solid hour. Even on day 1! Can you believe it?!) Treehouse is PERFECTION. Every class you go to feels like you're with a world-class trainer and it's a party and they have an amazing playlist and all this equipment and a black light and disco balls and fancy lights and glow sticks and stuff. And the daycare has tons of amazing stuff not just a box of toys. They also have a separate area for ages 4-11 and that area is huge too. The workers are so nice and read to them and play with them and it's adorable. This pic is me in the hot tub in the locker room. They have sooooo many class options! I've done barre, cycling, dance club cardio, runners express, pure strength, metcon, pilates, high fitness, Zumba, etc. (That's not even all of them. they have personal training, aqua, kettle bell, trx, reformer, and stuff too.) They have a pool outside with the zero entry for the kids and a playground outside and they enclose the pool in the winter and it's heated. There is also a spa there and the locker room is full of all the soap deodorant and conditioner they use in the spa. I cannot do it justice, I just love it with all my heart. I think maybe it's made a bigger difference for me in my current phase of life than it would for other people because I just needed a break from the kids and time to just truly focus on myself and my health and this has been it for me. I feel a 180 degree difference in myself from who I was before. (I also stopped drinking coffee. I will allow myself to have it on the weekends because I miss it and I love the taste. But I noticed my teeth were turning yellowish dark and so I switched to Celsius energy drinks because I finally found an energy drink that I like. I drink it around 8 usually and the energy sticks with me until like3 or 4. And with coffee I was having to make a second one every afternoon because I was dragging.)
So the other thing I started doing is during Cooper's gymnastics I go running with kinder. I found this jogger on offer up for 30 bucks and it's amazing the difference it makes with running! It flies! I feel like I'm not even pushing anything at all. All I had before was that huge clunky double stroller so the difference is immense. I started off just using that and walking, then I realized I could run without peeing myself (thanks to emsella at Matthew's clinic-life changing let me tell you) and so then I decided to just commit and I'm going to track my runs on strata and do it with the right kind of stroller. It's been so fun to get back to something I used to love but haven't done in years! It's like after the baby phase I'm finally becoming me again! lol
Family Pics Inspiration!!
I am so beyond excited for fall I cannot even express it. Fall and I have a special bond. lol I love fall fashion, leaves, colors, weather, pumpkins, scents, just everything about it. So I want to take some family pics (cheap style- You know me lol I'm not paying someone to do it I talked my mom into coming with us and she can just use my phone.) and do it with the beautiful Utah scenery. At first I thought about alpine loop, there's tons of places to do it here that are beautiful honestly. Another thing I want to do this fall is go to harder village- see pics below. It's adorbs, and I wanna do a pumpkin patch and corn belly's.
Book Worm
Cooper and Kinder understand I play with them for a while and then I read my book while they play. It's cute they say okay and understand and go get my book for me and I read on the ground with my pillow and blanket. lol it's the best. So I'm reading these two still from the mortal instruments series that is never ending lol
BBQ at todd and rachael's
AKA "funcle t-bone" lol
Bluffdale Parade and Fair
Omg. Maybe it's the miss orem in me, but I love a good parade and fair. lol This was so fun. I literally looked forward to it for about a month.
Kinder danced every time she heard music! and She waved as well. This was her first time having a lollipop and she was obsessed.
After we went to the park and did some shopping at the booths. It was a really good day.
Dancing it up (or trying to)
I heard about this adult dance class from Shanna and this lady does it out of her RV garage so I've been going on Mondays to jazz. Tried tap once, not my thing. It's a lot of hip hop in the jazz class and I don't really want to be out doing things so late at night so I'm actually quitting now, but it was fun while it lasted. I just don't feel like I need that as an outlet now that I'm going to classes every morning at treehouse.
Both kids getting to pet the baby stegosaurus.
I thought it was cute he wanted to try out riding on the back for a bit instead of up front with dad . I think he also loved all the one on one attention with daddy because dallin is working a lot nowadays.
DID YOU THINK THERE WOULD BE A BLOG POST WITHOUT A DINOSAUR SECTION?! 😂
this was my last time at the gardens with the kids to see the dinosaurs. We really have gotten our money's worth out of that TP pass.
As you can see they're back to back and one of them doesn't have a seat back to it and the other one leans so far back against the other that they both fight over who gets the front seat. I think they both want to be able to see where we're going too. So I went on offer up and found this beaut for 30$. It's a cheap light umbrella stroller but for two. I think it will be perfect for traveling to Arkansas in a few weeks.
Dallin took coop on a special dad-son date to the gardens on the morning of the last day with the Dino's. I'd imagine we won't be going back and we'll do other things at TP now because if we try to go to the gardens coop will just be bummed that the Dinos are gone. To make it extra special dallin got a golf cart and on the way home nuggets! It was like the best day of coopers life ! lol he was in heaven.
Visiting Grama
We went over to Davis' to see my gramma one night and had dinner with her and saw Miki and my mom. It was really fun. Cooper loved their trampoline and they both loved that we ate pizza and cake. I always have liked being with my gramma alot. I like to hear her stories about how it used to be and stuff. She is always positive and encouraging and accepting as well. It was funny to explain to Cooper that everyone (even his own mom) has a gramma and so the name of Gramma doesn't just apply to Shelly lol But he liked being with her too he talked about her the next day and he was really happy with her and gave her a hug and stuff.
The Long Awaited Luke Bryan Concert!
We finally got to see him after the last one being cancelled. It was so fun! I'm so glad we went. We had a blast and he was really good live! I didn't think I was going to know as many songs as I knew but I guess I'm just a country fan through and through lol It was nice of my mom to babysit and good to see Tara and Shilo again. There were a ton of people there! We left early like old people but I don't care- it was just enough fun for me and I need my sleep.
Cooper remembered the horses he rode last time we were there and asked to ride those two specifically again! His memory is astounding. (It was big momma and luna.) He did great and did it by himself. Had the time of his life. Kinder didn't have any interest this time for some reason. I think she was teething because she just didn't seem happy overall.
That's all I know for now! See you next time!! (Looking forward to dwts starting, visiting Arkansas, and my birthday gouda pickle!!)
Going to the farm with Nona
This was in the morning after getting them up and dressed and about to leave in the car. How cute are they both eating their pouches?! It's like this every morning. They're not big morning eaters.
Looked at all the animals and kinder can say chicken and bock bock bock lol
We went over to Selena's for dinner one night and had so much fun I forgot to take pictures so this was all dallin got lol
Cooper was running around like crazy and kinder was just trying to keep up lol Jaxson and Selena are both so good with kids they got them toys and coloring and stuff too. Coop got in the hammock outside and called it his swing lol
We'll leave you with a funny pic 😁⇩(Comparing him to the cheerleader guy from the longest yard lol)
