Our New Pad

A few months ago my job contacted me with an offer to move to a new complex. It offered a lot more money and a huge fenced in back yard for the kids, but a much smaller apartment. It was a very hard decision for us to make. But in the end we decided the pros outweighed the cons and made the big move. It was the right decision for sure. The kids are so much happier here. Talan has made so many friends and they get to run around and play all day long instead of being cramped inside all the time.
So here it is: Our New Home!!!!

Living Room:



Our couch set was too big so we sold it and got this brand new one:



Kitchen, which is actually much better than the one in the last place.



Bathroom:



Boys room:



See this dresser? It used to be an ugly old beige thing with gold knobs. I repainted it and did those cute baseball knobs.



See the name plates? I made them



See the cool balls on the walls? Those are actually floor mats. I found them in the dollar bin at Target and decided they'd be awesome for their wall.



Why is there only one bed when we have two kids?? Andy and his dad are building toddler bunk beds for them to use, so until that time Cohen is sleeping with us. *sigh* not my favorite thing.

And finally the best part of the house... the back yard!!!!

Our Halloween... ooh... scary...

Did you have a fun Halloween? We sure did! Let me just say Halloween isn't really my cup o' tea. BUT with kids it's a totally different game and now I love it.
So here's a run down of our many Halloween activities:

1. Pumpkin Carving

Talan getting the guts out


Andy doing all the real work


Mine - he's winking


Talan's (carved by Andy in the likeness of Curious George... see the resemblance???)


And I don't know what happened with this one... Andy did it


Why are there 3 pumpkins when there are 4 of us??? Well Talan decided that was all we could get... literally. He threw a fit at the store and made us put the 4th one back.

2. We had a kitchen fire



We had to pull out the extinguisher and everything... but we still had time for pictures of course



3. We went to Wheeler Farm for:

A hay maze



A Wagon Ride


And Talan's first pony ride!!!


4. We got all dressed up

Talan the train


Cohen the Dragon


Daddy the cook (ok he really WAS a cook... he had to work)


5. We met up with the cousins and went trick or treating!!!


Best Halloween ever! Talan really got into it and had a blast running from house to house getting candy. Makes me a fan of Halloween... maybe next year I'll even dress up... maybe.

Your kids sleep where?!?!??!

Talan, like most two year olds, is a little nutty. For the past two months he'll randomally decide he wants to sleep on the floor or in the crib:



So if the two year old is in the crib then where is the baby going to sleep???



In the big boy bed of course!!! I was a nervous wreak the first time he slept in there, I'm not really sure why cause he sleeps in our giant adult size high above the ground bed all the time. But he loves it in there and actually sleeps better. Whatever works for my nutty kids!!

Cohen's 1st Birthday!!

Like all my blogs this is a little late. :)

On August 26th our little man turned 1! What a great year we've had with our little man. He is such a joy and brings smiles to everyone he meets. He loves to make faces so that people will laugh and gives the best (and most painful) hugs and kisses ever.

On his actual birthday Andy had school and work all day. So to celebrate we met up with daddy during his short lunch break at the Sargent's favorite family friendly restaurant Noodles!!! Our rule is no sugar for the first year so Cohen was very happy to get a giant rice crispy treat all to himself!







Then we went to the park for Cohen's favorite past time... swinging!!!



Then that Sunday we had a family party for him in the park. The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time!

Mommy with the birthday boy before the party started



The smash cake... before the smash



Talan was very interested in the cake... and snuck a taste



But... he wasn't very sneaky...



Cohen didn't eat much of the cake, he had a bite or two and was done, but he did have fun smashing it!!



But that's a big cake for such a little guy!!



It was a great day! I love you little man!

5 years... and forever to go

5 years ago Andy and I met and began dating pretty much immediately. He and I met after I taught an lesson in Elder's Quorum. Yep you read that right. The Elder's Quorum president thought it would be hilarious for me to come in as a surprise and teach, just your normal single's ward craziness.
After church that day we had a linger longer. Andy came up to me and told me he enjoyed my lesson. However in the middle of talking to me he ditched me to talk to another girl he had been trying to go out with. Good for him I somehow ignored that and still invited him over for our weekly pot luck at my place.
This picture was taken that night, it's not the best of me! (it looks weird cause I scanned it in from my scrapbook, yep that's right I actually made a scrapbook once!)

Andy stayed late at the pot luck and from that night we began dating










and... 1 year later we were engaged!





Andy is amazing, I don't tell him that enough. He works so hard, goes to school full time AND works full time all while being an amazing father and husband. I love you babe... and I can't wait to spend forever with you!

California Trip!!!

Thanks to state holidays and just plain good luck Andy had a whopping four days with no school or work... for Andy that is a huge vacation. We decided to seize the opportunity and make a fast dash to California. Andy has an aunt that was nice enough to let us stay in her home (even though they were not there). It was a wonderful family vacation, and really gave us the chance to make awesome memories. The car ride was long but thanks to a copy of Kung Fu Panda I was able to buy at the gas station in Nephi for $15 the kids did pretty good.
We spent every second we could at the beach. Talan was a little scared of the waves, he loves swimming but he's only used to pools! But he got in a few times if Andy held him and would let the waves crash into them. He laughed and had a great time.



Talan really just wanted to dig in the sand and fly kites.



Cohen loved the sand, and he did a pretty good job not eating it... but at times the temptation was just too much!


A main reason we went was to eat at Cafe Firenze. The owner was our favorite contestant on Top Chef. It was the BEST meal I've ever had. Andy had the chance to talk to the head chef afterwards and told him he was finishing school next year. The chef was really nice and said he was opening 3 new places this next year, so if Andy's willing to move out there after school he'd love to hire him!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW! Obviously that is a year away so we're trying to remember the offer may not still stand. But it would still be an AMAZING opportunity and it really gave Andy a confidence booster to know his dreams can really become a reality, and soon.

The kids had a harder time on the way home. Our normal rule is no sugar before age 1, but poor Cohen was so sad I let him have a red vine... and this was the result:


That's what vacations are for right?!?!?!

Brothers

Talan and Cohen are finally starting to play together... kinda. Cohen has always adored Talan, he can make him laugh more than anyone. Talan has always liked Cohen... but from a distance. That was fine by me because at least I didn't have to worry about him injuring the new baby by "loving" him too much.
Now that Cohen is bigger and can "do stuff" Talan has taken more of an interest. He almost always calls him "Cohen James" and will tell him "I love you Cohen James... so much". They love taking baths or playing ball together. It is such a huge joy to watch them become real friends. I know they are going to be great friends.
Some pictures of my boys hanging out together.







We just recently got a new bed. We had to put the old mattress in the living room for a few hours till we moved it to it's new home. Talan IMMEDIATELY climbed up to the top so he could slide down, and of course Cohen was following close behind.



I have no idea why both of them do these "picture faces", but they both do it in almost every single picture. So funny!!