(Forgive my typos and grammatical errors because, as always, there are a million and I don't care enough to fix them.)
OMG the kids are at such a cute, fun, (yet exhausting lol) age right now that there are so many things that I want to write down in here so that I will always remember the cuteness. There are so many things that I may forget something so I need to be doing this more often I think. It's just been a hell of a month (both good and bad). Anyway here we go! This time I decided to put the video at the end of the post.
By the way, do you like the new top photo? haha I loved our Santa pictures so much I had to make it part of the blog title this time. It's not going to be a permanent thing just a fun change to the look.
The end of AEP
We made it through AEP! So glad it's over.
This was Dallin's fortune cookie and I felt like it was fitting in his work community since he was working so hard. They did a throw back Thursday where every one posted pics of them as kids and when dallin did this one every one was saying woah you look exactly like your son and then dallin showed this picture to Cooper and asked who's that and he said it's Cooper lol
The last week was the hardest because we got the stomach flu (more on that later) but even after all that work they only get one day off at centerfield instead of the month off like at clear link! Oh well. he still loves center field.
The sickness chronicles
The kids and I got 5 bugs in a row. So we'd have one or two days of being good before the next one hit over and over again for a month. The last thing we got was the worst because it was a stomach flu and I got it so bad I couldn't take care of the kids and my mom and Katie helped a ton because Dallin was in the thick of it with AEP.
I was pretty frustrated we had to miss the Graff family thanksgiving and McKinley just wanted to be held standing up constantly and would cry and cry until you did. She had a hard time sleeping too. But all things considered we are still so lucky and we’re all strong and healthy.
One day we had been inside for so long we were going crazy so I put them both in the stroller and walked despite it being cold out. They were fine because we have a portable electric blanket! But it was sad because they were both still and silent the whole time (which is so unlike them) like zombies because they were both feeling so sick. But I think it helped us all. It was a welcome break from the crying and holding standing up (my back was so jacked up!)
I love all the walking trails in our neighborhood
This was the start of it all on Nov 14 and it was the first of many puke on the sheets
So much mucus and coughing
I was the one who started puking first and then that night dallin went into coopers room and the smell hit him and Cooper said in a teary fearful voice "Daddy I had an accident. Went bleh and pee pee came out my mouth" lol because he had never thrown up before. And he was probably feeling so crappy and was also so scared about what was happening and it was all over his room and pack n play and Cooper kept saying I'm sorry to dallin he kept saying it's okay it's called throwing up and tried to comfort him and Cooper said it's yucky gotta wash it and started helping put everything in the washing machine and then he was standing there naked and shaking while dallin was warming up the water to shower him off and dallin said you okay? and Cooper said "ya I'm strong and brave" lol but in a voice that said he was trying to convince himself. And then he got to sleep with mommy and daddy for 2 nights while we sorted out the pack n play situation and ended up borrowing Shanna and Matthew's. Katie came over the next morning and I kept Cooper in with me and she took care of kinder it was good because she didn't get it. And I was amazed that dallin and my mom didn't get it. But anyway the whole next day he got to just watch shows in bed with me. So he will still tell that story a lot now. His version of it is "I thow up in my cwib and went bleh and daddy wash it and give me cuddles and then I watch shows in mommy's bed and getta sleep with mommy daddy jakey and Sadie."
This picture was when he was still feverish the next night and still not really able to eat and just sitting there watching a show. I felt that way too it was crazy how bad it was-even just laying down not moving was painful. Anyway the dogs picked up on it and wanted to cuddle us because I think they could tell we were struggling. That whole experience really made me value my health and be grateful for it cuz not being able to take care of the kids or function at all was so hard.
Thanksgiving pics
Aren’t these nails to die for?! I got a bunch of thanksgiving and Christmas press ons and i love them it’s just kind of a bummer that they put the design on the end so when you make them shorter you’re cutting off half the pumpkin.
the kids got cute thanksgiving outfits
I was worn out at this point so thanksgiving was kind of a disappointment for me. I was hoping for a festive fun different experience and it turned out like the usual day. I don't know why I always expect thanksgiving to be different when it's really just the same thing we always do. we always eat so what s the difference? lol its a dumb holiday. Anyway I was worn out so when you're hoping for a break and to enjoy yourself and not have any fits and then its just more work and more fits it's like 'how was that a holiday?' lol but we did it way easier than most people do it because we just made regular dinner not the thanksgiving foods
This was us watching the parade on the tv that morning. The kids seemed to like it
After dinner I was putting the ornaments on and Cooper was climbing the ladder and dallin was majorly anxious about it. But it didn't bother me at all.
Lol McKinley's first picture holding a wine glass
This was what it looked like the next morning when we woke up
Cooper was so excited to play in the snow! and so was I so before kinder was even awake him and I had already gone out and made a mini snowman lol
This was at the dollar store. She wanted to keep it on the whole time we were shopping and then at the end I asked her if she wanted to keep it and she took it off and said no thank you all done. lol she is so smart its crazy.
I saw this on the left and decided to try it with me and trenden and clearly didn't do it as well lol
nature, sunset
shadow
animal
night
texture, favorite moment
ornament, bright
I was listening to this song on the beautiful drive overlooking the whole valley home from brunch and pedicure with Rachael and just feeling so grateful for the turn of events in my life. I have felt like my experiences over the years of my life have made me a better person. Especially just the experience of being a parent has transformed me into a better person because I have seen them modeling my behavior and its forced me to be better for them. (Like if I'm expecting them to have frustration tolerance I can't snap when I'm frustrated, etc.) So I liked this song because I was thinking back over the years and if you were to compare me to myself 15 years ago I am a completely different person. There aren't even similarities. And I'm proud of that and thankful for that.
It always melts my heart when they play together. They will play with the baby and take care of her and rock her in the rocking chair and give her a bottle and nap or Cooper says kinder its dinner time and she comes over and sits down with him at the kitchen and then she copies everything he does. It's adorable. And whenever I'm able to read my book I'm thankful for that.
I looooooove my new humidifier. I seriously can't sleep without one because the air is so dry here. I also get really bloodshot eyes here.
I put sparkle paint over black nails and Cooper said woah and I said ya I made my nails look like stars in the night sky! and he said "good job mommy!" lol 
This was when all the gear came
He was in heaven
He says knights wear boots so he needed those too. And he'd walk around saying gotta fight the danger in the dark forest.
Then some days he wants to go outside "on an adventure!" lol So he will wear his cape and we go hunting for fire hydrants. He's very good at spotting them and counting them.
When he sees them he says look! its right there he's getting away! gotta be quick! and then he runs up to it and starts beating the crap out of it with his sword. lol and then after a while he says "got him."
Kinder is happy to be along for the ride cuz she's got a new stroller muff (from shien that was so cheap) and an electric blanket on top. The electric blanket makes her so relaxed. She just looks zoned out and comfy.
We occasionally need to stop to fight the tree opponents as well of course. He's a very courageous knight and always willing to protect me from the vicious trees.
He loooooves Mickey Mouse so when I got him this outfit he was elated. It's so cute that he has preferences now with what he wears. He loves that it's mickey and red. Best of both worlds.
They have still been fighting over the bike a lot. Kinder is so obsessed with it every time she sees it in the garage she gets on. And Cooper gets so upset that it's his he will even burst into tears when we try taking turns.
The score gets into the upper hundreds sometimes with air quality. Its disgusting.
It's so cute I think he has a crush on his gymnastics teacher Raquel because he wants to hold her had as much as possible during class. And when it happens to be different teachers he never does that with them.
I miss having a fireplace so much 😢
kinder loves going in there too because the cars are fun to sit in
Dallin's dad wrote a book about the colors and parenting to that and I love the idea of that because so many times I've seen just the classic miscommunication of "love languages" being given and received differently. So I have been reading it and loving it. And I think (🤔 Its very hard for me to tell with either kid and I don't want to label them too firmly but....) that Cooper is a blue gold and there is a picture of the outside of his bedroom door because even though he was so into all his new knight stuff he had to put it outside the door before he could go to bed. "Because it doesn't go in here" was his reasoning. And he does that a lot. Anything that is a new different edition to his room he puts it in the hallway before he goes to bed. And all the clothes have to be in his closet and the closet door has to be shut and the books all have to be in the book box. And then he has his certain things that he always has in his crib with him and he will only use two specific blankets and one special pillow... etc. So I think he has a lot of gold. It's hard to tell at this age though so it's all just a guess for me.
I think it's funny that kinder has gotten into frozen now too and she sings the Elsa song and likes watching it. When it put it on this time she wanted to cuddle with Cooper and sat on him and he seemed annoyed but let her stay lol She calls her "Selsa"
That night it started snowing! and I was so happy. It was so magical. Such perfect timing! Like the universe was saying okay now the holiday season is beginning!
it was so gorgeous I was taking pictures everywhere we went
Back in the saddle again
After we were done being sick it was so nice to get back into the habit of things we usually do (gym, school, library, gymnastics, thanksgiving point, parks, etc.)
This is Cooper using his stick as a telescope in the bath. both kids fell asleep in the car
Went to dinner in salt lake with Michelle and Shanna and we had a really good time
It's always so amazing when they play by themselves or together and don't require me for any reason.
She loves reading so much. I will often catch her like this with books.
Racheal and I went for pedicure and brunch to celebrate her birthday and that was so nice!
OMG!!! first ever piggy tails!! Sooo cute!! 🥰
I have been dying to do this and so I was so excited when it was finally long enough! The hairs in the front are still so tiny but it kind of looks like she has bangs lol
adorable
November photo challenge
close up of both kids eyes
faceless self portrait, texture
reflection
These were for negative space
stairs, close up
movement
delicate, (the one on the right the prompt was 7 pm and that's our screen time lol )
texture, favorite moment
December photo challenge with the graff girls
I had so much fun doing that one that I suggested we start the same thing with Dallins family girls and we've had a lot of fun doing this holiday themed one
I love doing the photo challenges because it is something good to look forward to or some type of beauty to look for in the world around me or something to do to pull me out of any funk I might be in. So in this case, it was the first thing we did after being sick all month. The prompt of the day was shopping and it really helped us all have a morale boost to get out of the house. We went to the dollar tree and I love shopping with them. They both do so so well. If they want things as we go through the store I give them to them and they play with them in the cart and then when it's time to go they tell me what they want to keep. Cooper usually ends up putting most of it back and he's very logical about his decisions. For example when we drove to the store I asked him if there was anything he was looking for and he said a pink screw driver and an allosaurus. lol He is decisive and I love that. Anyway I said that's very specific so they might not have that and we need to be thankful even if they don't have it okay, and he said okay! So we went in and they had a blue screw driver and not a pink one and he said "yay screw driver!" and then he wanted to play with a cat toy in the cart and a few other things like a nutcracker and stuff and when we looked through the dinosaurs he grabbed a few and I looked at other things and what kinder likes to do is mostly ask what things are or she points out what she recognizes. Anyway at the end he only picked the brachiosaurus to keep and he explained it's because he already has a t rex toy at home. lol its just a mazing to me that he's only 3 and is already prudent enough to think that through and be that rational about it and not just expect us to buy it all. Anyway the other picture was of them in the back seat when we got our grocery pick up.
The prompt was red and I dressed the kids in red that day and it's perfect for Cooper because he has been wanting to wear red exclusively lately. (he especially loves sleeping in red basketball shorts.) Anyway I put kinder in front of the tree and said I'm going to take your picture smile and she immediately hits this "sorority squat" pose and holds it for a solid minute. lol she is hilarious. I love her cute underbite. Any time she sees me taking a picture she poses. Like she will tilt her head to the side and say cheese! Anyway the next picture is her saying "my turn" and coming to grab the phone so that she can take pictures. She loves taking pictures and videos so I often am deleting 20 pics at a time from her.
These are the types of gems she takes. (I was surprised she managed to turn this one black and white)
Anyway when it was coopers turn to take a picture he wanted his with his balloon from his haircut and I thought it was so cute how he made this face. He just loves red right now. Because he has been so annoyed with taking pictures lately.
Christmas tree, family
Life is good
I feel very lucky that I get to do the things I do so often and have the resources we have.
This day I noticed that I look gothic because I wear all black. lol I never intended to I just buy that thinking it will go with everything and then before I know it I have all black stuff lol
This is dallin asleep in cooper's bed while he is awake reading a book lol Dallin keeps thinking "if I cuddle with him in his bed then maybe he will get used to it and stop wanting to sleep in the pack n play" but so far it's not working. Cooper really likes routine and hates change (which makes sense because he's been through a lot of change in his life so far) so he's digging in his heels with the bed change. His crib has always been his comfort and his security. Whenever he feels scared or uncomfortable in any situation he asks to go ni night.
I have started putting my cute press ons on my toes too and I love it I get compliments in the barre classes. And this is a pic of kinder doing the "CHEEEESE!!!" smile when she saw me taking her picture lol
I love that our gym does fun events. They did a grinch day and we missed that but the next one was polar express day and it was so fun they got a ticket and a bell and then got to ride in a train in the parking lot and watch polar express and drink hot chocolate in kid care. I loved her "old lady" looking outfit on the right lol its festive too!
Kinder and I had a solo night when dallin and Cooper went to Disney on ice and it was her first time figuring out the zipper and she loves it now! It was also so cool because at the park I ran into Lindsey who was one of Dallins close friends in high school and she lives right here in our neighborhood! she is the nicest person!
Seeing this quote reminds me to slow down and let them explore.And we do a lot of the time actually.
Got my hair done, pretty Mountain View
Our thankful tree all filled up. Kinder will point and say nona pa! and want to carry around the picture or Gigi and want to carry that one or daddy and carry that one. It so cute
Made dallins favorite for him near the end of AEP, chicken bundles
She was taking all the ornaments off the tree so they're all up high now
We went to the tree lighting ceremony at bluffdale city park and got to count down to turn on the lights with Santa
They gave out free hot chocolate and cookies and you could go meet Santa if you wanted (ours were adamantly against that) and then there was a light parade and one was a truck with the Bluffdale royalty and Cooper said "hi girls!"
We have been enjoying doing festive things!
He wanted to wear his snow boots to school that day (its high fashion mom you wouldn't get it lol ) and he will often use his stick as a telescope and put it up to his eye like he's looking at something. Safe, I know.
He has become obsessed with being a knight. He said he needed a shield because of the danger. lol and he wouldn't stop talking about it so I finally ordered him a knight toy set thing but he couldn't wait for it to arrive so we made him a shield out of cardboard and he painted it and stuff and felt so cool. He was like "I got the shiny shield and and silver sword! Cooper's strong and brave. My knight shield for danger!" lol it was so cute. He said he needed a sheath for his sword and I told him to put it in his pants and then he was walking around with legs awkwardly wide lol and struggling to get it out when it went all the way down to his shoe, etc. It was so funny.
She wanted to wear a party hat she found lol 
Cooper said he was watching the show with his binoculars lol
She is obsessed with fruit snacks and popsicles and doesn't care for lollipops anymore. The weather has been pretty warm for a winter. There has been a lot of days in nov and dec where I could still have the sun roof open. I love when it's a clear blue sky day. My least favorite thing is the pollution and inversion.
reindeer nails
Santa's belt nails
She was taking all the ornaments off the tree so they're all up high now
Cooper randomly said he missed Luca so dallin was showing him pictures of Luca on his phone. (And yes, that was a no pants day for him lol )
His getup changes from day to day. This was another day with a different cape
Even after all the stuff we got him, he still picks the car dipstick as his sword and still prefers to put it down his pants instead of use the sheath thing. lol
So far I have loved watching them model me because I have seen good things and I take that as a high compliment. For example I've heard Cooper say "aww kinder! so cute!" or when he gets a snack or something he will say "aww thank you mommy! that's so nice of you" So I know he's learning this from me and its encouraging. So when I saw kinder in the play room "reading" my parenting books I thought it was the highest form of flattery that she wants to do what I do.
Utah smog
These are some pics to show how bad it can be. It can get even worse than this at times. Last night it was so foggy you couldn't even see and it was dangerous driving.
More life lately pics
Coopers haircut the lady said OMG he is the sweetest boy. Because he was obviously uncomfortable and didn't want to be doing this and kept moving but he would say "sorry I keep trying" when she would say hold still. And he would randomly say "thank you" and good job" lol even if it was in a teary voice. And I would say "you're doing great buddy just keep eating your lollipop and watching the show" and he would say "Okay I try my best" lol he's just adorable.
Then at the end he jumped up and down and said "I did it! got my hair cut!!!" lol and of all the colors of course he wanted the red balloon.
Boonmart sales are up!
My Etsy shop is doing great! I have been really interested in it and trying to do lots of different strategies to get more sales. I tried getting Etsy ads and making new products in different niches or more products that are like the ones that are selling. It's been really fun for me. It's exciting to think about the growth and money making and the untapped potential of this and it's also a creative outlet to make the designs. It's been really fun.
He is so funny. He likes to stand on the toilet and squat like a frog to pee.
Any time she hears the Elsa noise she makes this urgent face and says "I heard it!"
And kinder thinks the baby needs to come with to do things
One day we were driving to the gym and he brought his car dipstick with and was looking at it and randomly said "I love you sword." and then when we were getting out he knew he had to leave it there so he said "bye sword! love you!" lol
She likes vegetables, bread, and cheese, she throws up easy, she says every word there is I swear, she wants to be a part of everything everyone else is doing, she is already very interested in potty training, she is so nice and soft to the dogs, she hates her carseat, (I'm just rattling off facts because it scares me how much I have forgotten over the years and I want to remember them how they are now in the future.)
he wanted to ride it again, I reminded him it was broken, and he said I'll fix it with my screw driver. lol Its a mini one that came with a toy and I got it out to change the batteries in something and he said oh cool and was playing with it and then later he said where's my screw driver and I said oh I put it away in a drawer and he went right to it and new exactly where it was and got it one is own and said ya! I found it!!
This pic I caught them trying to teach everyone duck duck goose and it wasn't kinder's turn at all but she was standing up touching peoples heads and saying duck over and over lol
I thought the mountains looked pretty this day and the clouds
She says "mommy hold you" a lot. lol because she wants to be held a lot and doesn't know to say mommy hold me so she says you.
Found some sticky contact paper and the kids had fun sticking stuff to it
(Notice the wearing red thing? lol Cooper will sometimes come in with me when I put on Kinley's clothes and say she wants to wear red too lol ) He sticks up for her a lot which is cute. When she cries he will say Kinder wants a cracker or whatever
He has this one book that shows making cookies so he's gotten really into rolling out play dough with a rolling pin an pushing down cookie cutters just like in the book
When I lit the candle she said (and I am not exaggerating) "it's really pretty!" lol for 17 months how does she already have this vocabulary! And she would lean closer and say "its hot no touch" lol so smart I don't even have to say anything!
And then kinder figured out she could get herself stuck onto that contact paper..... lol
Santa Pictures
This was the best experience. It's cheap, it's quick, you get your photos edited and in 24 hrs. It was so fun and the photographer was great at getting the kids to laugh. We wanted pictures with Santa where the kids aren't screaming in fear so we went to this place called foto fly where Dallin could dress up in the Santa suit so the kids are comfortable.We got such cute shots! These are my fav pics of the kids by far!
There was an actual Santa there you could have in your photos if you wanted and kinder saw him and then saw dallin putting on the same outfit and said "that's silly" lol
and dallin likes the way he's looking at McKinley in this one
At the end the photographer said the kids could eat their cookie and kinder immediately stuffs hers into her mouth and Cooper says "No thank you" and gives it back to her. lol she was like "whaaaaaaat?! and you're 3!?!?" lol 😆 it was hilarious.
When you tell yourself "I'm not popping my pores anymore because it's bad for you and you're not supposed to do that so I'm going to practice restraint.".......
Dallin loves this picture because he loves how Cooper is always concerned if McKinley is ok
Baking
Cooper loves baking. Well both kids do. They're very interested in all things cooking and want to be a part of it. (especially because of this book he's into now where it shows the process of making cookies) so he was so excited to get to do this. And at the end we gave him 3 cookies and saved 3 for tomorrow but he was still heart broken that we were giving them away as a gift. lol gift giving is probably a hard concept for a 3 year old because he's thinking I made them and I want them so why on earth are we giving them away? lol
We tried to say "we give gifts to make our friends happy" and he said I don't want friends be happy I want Cooper be happy lol and we tried saying other things but essentially we ended up just agreeing to disagree and giving the cookies away. He says he no wanna give gifts lol The whole conversation was very funny.
This was another project to try and make apple cider donut tasting muffins that I found on Pinterest and it was still disappointing. so up till this point I have not found anything that measures up to the apple cider donuts we had in New Hampshire. I tried making gingerbread cake and didn't like that either. But something that all of us love is coffee cake and then there is this amazing pumpkin blondies recipe that I love soooooo much but it's just me and kinder on that one cuz the boys aren't fans. So I gave it away because I was eating all of it and I have no self control.
They're both so happy in the bath it has become very common for them to take hour long baths. They just play and play and they like their bubbles and toys and try splashing each other. One time Cooper said in the middle of the bath he needed to get out and poop so he was on the toilet so then that inspired Kinley to start pooping in the tub! So I got Cooper off the toilet and put her on and then she just screamed and Cooper was screaming he had more poo poo so then I put her on the floor and she proceeded to poop more on the floor. So by the end of that poop session I was wiping him, her, and cleaning Both floor and tub. lol gross.
and then 2 days later you look like this....
lol whoops. Once again, I have no self control. I just attack my face when there is anything to pop.
Dallin said a lot of the time his expression was just stunned because it was probably like sensory over load. But he could tell he was in heaven because his eyes were glued to what was going on.
Whenever it was emotional (like a love song or when the beast was yelling at belle to not go in the east wing or whatever and bell was scared) Cooper would seem to get emotional himself too. He is very empathetic
You should watch the video compilation to see the videos of the show it was so cool from what dallin said
crazy hair day
I got a new brush so that its not a hard comb that hurts them to use and Cooper said oh wow thank you mommy it feels better lol
Disney on ice!
Dallin said Cooper was in awe and so was he because the show had people flying around and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. They said it was really fun. Dallin told him about it a week prior and it was all Cooper talked about leading up to it so there was a lot of anticipation and I;m glad it lived up to the hype. We're going to all go in march I think because I bet kinder would be into it then. dallin let him pick out one thing in the gift shop and there were so many swords that did all sorts of things like sing and light up and Cooper picked the most simple, cheap one they had, no matter how much dallin tried to talk up the others. He just kept saying "this one please." and I love how polite he is.
Cooper talked about it for weeks after and he would pretend to skate around the kitchen and stuff. And at pre school they did an ice skating day and his teacher said he was sooooo into it.
More pics of cute stuff
One time she burped loudly at gymnastics and then said bless you! and all the other parents laughedShe has the funniest reaction to being offered candy lol she is like shaking with excitement and her mouth is open and her eyes are huge like this is the greatest moment of my life
She is a little prankster and loves to hide or run away from you when you're trying to get her. She has a great sense of humor and loves to joke and play. (They both do - dallin and I joke and play with them a lot too so it makes sense.) She's funny. One time I found her literally completely inside the cabinet under my bathroom sink hiding.
her facial expressions crack me up
Here's a very unflattering picture at our date at toscano. it was so refreshing and such a needed break after aep. We didn't see each other hardly ever and I felt like I was single parenting and he was working all the freaking time so this was the first time in a couple months that we went out and it was very nice.
Matthew and his friend make these cool art pieces
Here's the video this time around
We hope you have an amazing Christmas!-The graphs
