This and That

Here's a little bit of a picture happy taking mother on display for you. Like I've mentioned before, I spend a lot of time trying to just get a good picture of Parker smiling. Luckily I had a little more success in March!

For some reason I just had to get a picture of him sleeping this day. He looks so precious to me.

I realized I was on the brink of being a bad mother, since I have never had Cohen play with play-doh. One of my friends with a daughter Cohen's age had us over and let us take home a little tiny size can of it a couple weeks before this. Cohen loved it, and it was only like an ounce. So... in order to restore the possibility of being a good mother I went out and bought this from Target. It came with four cans of play-doh, a rolling pin, scissors, a garlic press that makes spaghetti, and a whole bunch of other little toys. I'm amazed at how long Cohen can stay entertained with this activity. Now, Cohen and I both like play-doh... a lot!

I don't think I even realized I had these somewhat matching outfits for the boys for church until I was getting them ready this day. Aren't they cute?!! (If you think Cohen looks a little funny... he does. He was coming down with the virus form of pink-eye, but I hadn't realized it yet.)

My mom has a smiling picture of my big brother Mike when he was a baby and I think Parker looks so similar. If Parker turns out as handsome as his daddy and Mike I think he's in luck.

The Troutdale Rail Depot (an exciting day)

At the very beginning of March I was fed up with the same old, same old. It had been since before Parker was born that I went out with Cohen during the mid-morning to do something he would enjoy, and something different from our regular routine. When we went to the Rail Depot (a very small train station museum) my house was a bit of a mess, and I had many tasks to do to keep up on life, but we just needed to do something different! I'm so glad we did. Housework can wait.... right? With that said, Cohen and I loved the trip to learn about trains, cabooses, and train stops. We got a private (simply because we were the only ones there) tour of the caboose pictured below. Cohen had to run around and check it out and sit in every place available in the whole thing.

This is the caboose from the back to the front.

This is looking upward from the middle of the caboose. There are chairs up there for the workers to observe or signal or something.

We learned that they stopped using cabooses in 1976 because of technology (that's the short answer). This one was built in 1975 and so was hardly used. It still smelled like diesel inside.

I think I didn't realize how big train wheels are.

Cohen was fascinated by this caboose and "old trains." He asked me over and over to tell him everything I knew about cabooses, why they weren't moving anymore, old trains vs. new trains, what cabooses are for, etc. Then guess what movie he wanted to watch when we got home.... Frosty the Snowman. If you recall, Frosty, Karen, and Hocus Pocus take a train to the North Pole. They have to go to the train station to buy tickets (just like the one we visited) and there is a caboose on that train (just like this one.)

I wish I could provide enriching field trips like this for Cohen daily. He loves to learn. I'm so glad we went. I'll be honest though, after making sure we were all ready to go, and yielding all of my cute Cohen's questions I was a little exhausted mentally. We sure had fun!

Cohen's Prayer

My sister-in-law, Teresa, inspired me to do this one. Here's Cohen's prayer tonight....

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this day.

Thank you for my green motorcycle

and thank you for my red bike.

Jesus and Heavenly Father protect me from the fire alarm.

In the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.

He says his own good-night prayers each night. We often hear some of the same things, about his motorcycle and bike, but sometimes he throws in something new like the last phrase tonight. Oh, so sweet to think of what he wants our Father in Heaven to bless him with. He knows he can ask for protection from his ultimate fear.... the fire alarm.

I love my sweet Cohen soooo much.

We like Valentine's day!

I decided that I really like holidays. It makes the day something different and unique and I get to teach Cohen all about it. Cohen is like a sponge, and anything new I teach him about he talks about for days. I also liked Valentine's day this year because our special romantic dinner was at Shari's Restaurant (similar to Dee's in Utah) with the 2 kids on a very short time schedule with Parker's nursing demands. Really though.... it was great! We never get to do stuff like this, so even going out to a restaurant like this with our 2 kids was wonderful. I love my little family of four.

This is Cohen last year on Valentine's day....

and this is him this year. I didn't get as cute of a smile, but it's fun to see how he's changed! It's officially a tradition now at our house to make chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day.

Cohen really likes chocolate, me too!

February Update on the Boys

Here are some of the every-day type pictures of my cuties from February.

I can't get over Parker's face here, and how it fits so well with his monkey onsie!

I think he's totally posing for this one.

At the beginning of February Parker noticed and wanted to play with his animals dangling from his bouncy chair. It was so cute to sit him in there and watch him swing at them, and make faces and giggle.

I admit it. One of the reasons I like having a baby is to dress him up kind of like a doll, with shoes and everything.

Do you like the mohawk? Please ignore the finger. He's a baby. :)

Here is the most handsome 2 year old I know. I love it when I can catch one of his cute little moments on camera!

Wish this picture was a little clearer.

I took this picture because I have one with Cohen in this same outfit on the same week of life. Too bad it's not a digital, otherwise I'd share. Anyway... let's just say, Parker's a lot bigger than Cohen was at this age, but I can't believe how similar they are looking to me. When Parker was first born they looked nothing alike (in my opinion) and now they totally look like brothers.

This is what bedtime looks like at our house most nights. Josh has been SOOO busy with studying for his 11 finals and 6 board exam tests (all in one week) that I have both boys most of the night. I think it's good for Parker to start to get a little routine. He's usually a pretty good sport while we do our rituals with Cohen. By the way, I'm glad we have Cohen's soothing item now documented... my hair!

Our weekly trip to Walmart is sometimes the event of the week... as sad as that sounds. I guess it's getting a little better now that we're near the end of March, but it sure is hard to get out and do fun things with Cohen now. The Walmart near us has a huge grocery store section and everything else we need, so that's where we go, purely because I can't pass up the idea to have one-stop shopping. If Cohen is a good boy for the trip he gets the reward of riding this $.50 little train ride at the front of the store... as long as Parker isn't screaming. He loves it and I think it's a very good investment.

Near the end of the month Parker learned how to support himself on his elbows while on his tummy. This makes him happier for a little longer while not on his back. He's a strong little boy!

a little cuteness

This is a pretty cute video of Parker. Just try to ignore my silly baby voice.

Parker's baby blessing

Parker was blessed by Josh on February 6th. It was just our little family at our ward, in Portland.... but that's all we needed. Everyone did great. Parker didn't cry at all during the blessing. Josh said he even gave a big smile to the little circle of men right before the blessing started. It was a special day.

And after it was over, right after I slipped off his adorable outfit he had a huge blowout. I'm thankful for a mother's instinct on that one!