Remember this guy?

He just turned 2!!

Where have the last 2 years gone? Every time I look at this amazing smile I just remember how much I love this little guy.  He makes me want to be a better person and inspires me to take the time to enjoy life. 

Here are a few little nuggets about my "baby":

• Cooper is my BOYfriend (anyone who sees him around me will attest to this...sometimes I think he loves me a little too much
• This little guy can talk! I always say that he gets this from his Daddy but someone reminded me the other day that I do actually talk for a living so I guess he gets it from both of us
• He LOVES animals
• His current favorite toys include any and all letters, balls of every kind, books, puzzles, and of course Gabba toys.  
• His new skills are knowing all his letters and helping me "read" his books
• Cooper loves people...he is always so curious about other kids and loves to try and get them to play with him
• He loves to sing and dance, I'm the primary chorister so he is always learning the songs with me when I go into Nursery
• Loves the Beach...his new favorite thing is to "ride" the waves when they come on shore

Here are some pictures from his Birthday party. We combined it with one of our neighbors and had a giant slip-n-slide for all the neighbor kids to play on.

This was my attempt at a train cake...next time I'll remember that everything melts in Hawaii

I definitely feel so blessed to be a mother. I KNOW I'm a better person because of him :)

The things my husband does...

A Few Days ago I woke up to this... 

Kind of reminds me of this....

And this....

Maybe he should become a hairstylist??

Some of our Wildlife

This last week we were at out favorite beach when a HUGE monk (sp?) seal swam up on shore. I took some video and pictures before getting creeped out by it's beady red eyes staring me down. It was really surreal to be watching him so close in nature and to have Cooper be able to experience it as well.

 (Sorry I'm not quite sure how to make it bigger)

A couple days later I found a sea-cucumber

This is me being brave to try and get Coop to touch it...

It didn't work...

Life's Simple Pleasures

I've been doing A LOT of complaining lately. Saying moving out to Hawaii was a big change would be an understatement for me. I miss my home and my friends so bad sometimes my whole body aches. I know, I know, everyone says, "how can you be bummed when it is a gorgeous 78 outside and you can go to the beach whenever you want?" While this is true it still is taking me some time to adjust and learn to love where I am and the experience we are having. I was having one of these days this week when my sweet son came in wearing my shoes to make me feel better.

(Sorry for the picture quality, my phone was the only thing handy)

Who could be bummed looking at a face like that?

The next day I drove to this place so we could both taste a little joy. It was WAY worth the hour+ drive :)...

What do you do without AM/PM or 7-Eleven?

(*sorry for the picture quality...Mossi and I were trying to be sneaky)
So we went on a date for some ice-cream and were pleasantly surprised by a local tradition. The closest thing anyone has around here to get drinks with friends is the Foodland. So why not get 1/2 gallons of Meadowland Fruit Punch with a straw to go?

(You can't tell by the picture but they all had one...and as we left we noticed this was a common trend with all the teens but had no balls to take more pictures)

the BEACH

I've recently been training to be an expert in taking Cooper to the beach. So far I've learned a few things.

1)Pick the right spot, every beach in Hawaii is different no matter how close they are so this can be a little tricky.
2)Learn to dig a good hole. My friend Alicia taught me this :) This is actually a lot harder than your think.
3)Bring beach toys.
4)Always have snacks and invite friends.

Here are some pictures from my two favorite spots (Turtle Bay baby pool and Hukilau)

Yes those are my knees....

This is beach is perfect because it's deep enough to wade
but not deep enough to worry

(best beach bag ever! Thanks Nana!)

Hukilau

Cute Son

Life is good.

My Quiet Book Failed.

So, I had this wonderful idea while Mossi was on tour to make a quiet book for Cooper to keep me busy and save some of my sanity at church. It totally failed. Let me show you why.

He only loves the Gabba Page! I can't take it to Sacrament because he is constantly yelling out Gabba songs and I'm too paranoid to let him play with it at home because of all the small parts he might lose. Hence, fail. Maybe when he gets a little older?






At least I can show off all my mad skills....here are the rest of the pages.

(Front and Back)

Here is where I came up with all my ideas, Here, Here, and here.