Cooper will be five in April and he is growing up way too fast. He is such a good little boy and Bryce and I feel blessed to have our boys. Cooper is a good helper to me and is very responsible for his things. He loves to help me cook. His favorite thing is cracking eggs and he is very good at it. Most nights, we read the scriptures with Cooper and if we forget, he reminds us. He always asks the most thoughtful questions and we are always excited to hear what he will say in his prayers at night. He told me the other night that, "I just want to learn more about Jesus." He also asked me when Jesus was going to come again. The other night his prayer went like this...."Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you could protect my family. Thank you that my family has healthy bodies. Thank you that the Spirit could be with us. Please bless that the bad guys could feel the Spirtit. Thank you for all you do. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." So cute. Had me in tears. He amazes me everyday and I am so blessed and grateful to be his mother.

Cooper loves for Bryce to make him a hideout with the blankets. It reminds me of when I was a kid...we made huge hideouts out of all the blankets and pillows in our house. It was so much fun. Cooper likes to watch movies on his little DVD player while he sits in his hideout.
Cooper got a DS for Christmas and he can't get enough of it. I have got to set some time limits on it. He likes to sit in Clayton's bumbo seat and play it while it is charging. His favorite games are Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Cooper is loving school and excelling in his letters and sounds. It is great that he is recognizing most letters and numbers now. And he can now write his first and last name all by himself. He seems to be catching on quickly and his teacher says he does a good job.

Another one of Cooper's past times is photography. He loves to take pictures with the camera I gave him and he does a great job. I love to see what he decides to take pictures of...random things most of the time. Here are a few of his shots:

Claytons 4 Month Check up

We went to the doctor this past Monday for Claytons appointment. He is almost 27 inches long, which is off the chart for his age and 15 lb 6 oz., which is in the 80%. He is doing well. We just started him on oatmeal and he's not quite sure what to think about it. It's funny to think that we started Cooper on oatmeal when he was 2 months.

Clayton is getting stronger everyday. We are giving him more and more tummy time. He also has a very flat head, so we are laying him on his stomach for his naps. Its been quite an adjustment for him, considering he has been wrapped up tight and on his back for the last 4 months.
Clayton adores Cooper. I always make Cooper talk to him throughout the day, and Clayton just smiles and gets so excited. We play a game where me, Cooper, and Bryce try to get Clayton to look at one of us and not the others. Cooper always wins because Clayton is just transfixed on his face. Its so cute to watch Cooper interact with him.

Brothers

Since Clayton was born, everyone has been trying to decide who he looks like....Bryce or Jenn? We get so many different opinions. Some think he has my eye stucture. Others think he has Bryce's lips. We know where the red hair came from...Grandma Douglas, Grandma Hatch, Grandma and Grandpa Cooper. We are still waiting to see what color his eyes will turn out to be...mine are brown and Bryce's are blue.
We definately have received many opinions that Clayton and Cooper look alot alike. Family and friends have been telling us that since the day he was born. Not so much that he looks like his parents, but that he looks alot like his older and handsome brother, Cooper!

So, I put some pictures of both Cooper and Clayton on here to see if you could tell who was who. It's kind of fun because they do resemble each other quite a bit. They are both cute little boys. Bryce and I like to call them our angels. They are great and we love them so much.

The New Year

As the first couple of weeks of 2010 have come and gone away, I have realized that already the new year has brought me some new things in my life:

1. A Flabby Stomach- now I can thank my beautiful son, Clayton, for my stomach (and maybe my parents for giving me the "short" gene, which caused my belly to grow straight out since there was so place else for it to go). I have come to understand that it will never go away because there is so much skin....oh, well...what can you do...and it was worth it....definately worth it!

2. This year I have had a better appreciation for the fact that Cooper was a really good baby and that we were probably spoiled with him. He ate when he was supposed to eat. He slept when he was supposed to sleep. He never spit up. Now, Clayton, on the other hand, has no set schedule and he is alot different than Cooper was as a baby. Bryce and I say there is no ryhme or reason with Clayton. I still think he is a good baby compared to some and I wouldn't have him any different. We are so blessed to have these two miracles in our life. 3. The New year has brought me some gray hair....10 to be exact that myself, Bryce and Jocelynn have pulled from my head. I feel like I am a little too young for gray hair, so I am going to continue to believe that the gray is from all the drugs I had to take last year!
4. A desire to set some personal goals...like working out 3 times a week (which I have been doing), eating healthier (also doing good so far), reading the scriptures and ensign articles, helping Cooper with his speech and letters, and being better about remembering birthdays.

5. Loss of Hair...and I mean alot of hair. It is falling out like crazy. I find mounds of it in my brush, pull out tons of it when I shower, and poor Clayton has it grasped between his fingers all the time. I have been given two theories as to why this is happening: a) Jocelynn says it is because I got an epidural b) my friend says it because I have stopped taking prenatals (which I have starting taking again this past week). I don't know, but is drives me nuts when I feel it on my arms or down between my boobs. Did I just say that? You know you women have all had that happen a time or two!

6. A love for P90X..I just started it last week and I really like it. Some of the workouts are extremely hard and I have been so sore I could hardly walk or sit, but hopefully they will be worth it. I even talked Bryce and Tyler into doing it one night!

7. A loss of time...I am not talking about my actual time because I actually have more of it since I got layed off my job and released from my young womens calling in our church. What I am talking about is the fact that I have been confused the last few weeks as to what the real time is. My watches, cell phone, clocks, etc are all off one another. For those of you who don't know this about me, I am very anal about the time being correct and exact and all my watches and clocks need to match. So, if anyone has a good idea on where to find the exact time, please let me know. This is the first time this has ever happened and it really bothers me. I like to be "on time" to events, but I can't if my clocks are wrong!
8. Blurp. I finally learned how to use blurp two nights ago. Blurp is a program used to make photo books from your blog. I stayed up entirely too late the other night and finished my 2008 book and now I am almost finished with my 2009 book. It's easy and its fun and I can't wait to see the end result when the book actually gets here. It gives me incentive to blog more and do better thought provoking posts so that I will have a record. This is just like a journal, except its better because it has pictures. Scrapbooking on the other hand is nice, but is mostly pictures with not alot of writing.

I am thankful for this New Year and I hope and pray that everyone will have a blessed year and be healthy and strong. I am thankful for the cute family that I have to enjoy every day and I hope to take advantage of the time I have with them each and every day. May God bless us all and watch over us this 2010!

Visit From Uncle Tyler

Tyler came to visit us for a week. Cooper loves to play with him and he told him he could sleep in his bed with him. We spent New Years Eve together over at Jacqui and Jared's playing the Wii and cards. We also played wally ball while he was here. It was good to be able to spend some time with Tyler before he heads off to his mission in Guatemala. He is such a good example to our boys and we hope and pray that they will follow in their Uncle Tyler's footsteps!
We went to grandma and grandpas while Tyler was here and it was fun to watch them interact with Clayton and play with him.

Tyler was very excited about the big icicles that were hanging in grandma's back yard.

Happy Anniversary

Bryce and I celebrated our ninth year of marriage on December 27. Thanks goes out to Jacqui for watching Cooper and Clayton, so we could enjoy our anniversary alone. Also, his boss, Chris, was nice enough to let us go and stay in his cabin over in Bear Lake. It took us a while to find the key to the cabin because it was hidden in the snow, but other than that, we had a great time. Bryce cooked me shrimp scampii, which was wonderful and we snacked on all sorts of junk food that night. The next day, we went back to Logan and went to the movie Invictus.

Bryce, thanks for the last 9 years. We have had our up and downs, just like any couple, but it has been a great journey so far....and I look forward to many more! We have grown so close over the years and I am so blessed to have you in my life. You are a wonderful husband and dad. Thanks for your love and support.