Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!
Levi really loved Christmas this year. Everything was entralling for him, from the "kwismas ites", to the tree, the presents "more pwesents...pweeease". Christmas definitely is more fun when you have kids. Levi's favorite toy was a race track that he can race up to 4 cars at a time, even though he tries to do all 10 at the same time.


Jace LOVES his exersaucer (a regift since it was Levi's hand-me-down)


Rick and I enjoyed our stocking stuffers and revelled in how we have been blessed during the past year. We decided that we had enough gifts this past year with buying a home, a new van, and most recently a new washer/dryer.
On the 23rd of December we got a lot of snow during the night so Levi and I played in the snow while Jace took a morning nap and before I had to go to work.

My favorite pic of Levi in the snow.

Our pitiful attempt at a snowman. It was too powdery to stick together so our snowman was all of about 10 inches high.

In reflecting on the past year, we have been extremely blessed, we have 2 handsome boys, (I have to digress for a moment, last Sunday as I got Levi ready for church I told him a couple times he was very handsome. While Rick and I were getting dressed, Levi went into our room, tilted the full length mirror so he could see himself and cocking his head to the side said "handsome", what a hoot!) we have a nice home and wonderful friends and neighbors, a loving, supportive family and our most important blessing of all is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which binds us together eternally and brings so much peace, joy and love into our home. I am grateful for the experiences that we have had recently that have increased my testimony. I hope that others have been as blessed as we have been.

Christmas Village

Last night we took the boys to Christmas Village in Ogden. We originally planned to go the night before but due to weather we took them to see the mall Santa for FHE and then went to the lights the next night. Levi was very excited to see the "kwismas lights".

We lucked out and there wasn't much of a crowd there. We were able to let Levi walk around and run ahead without worrying. He loved looking in the little houses with Christmas scenes in them. He was especially enamored with the Elementary kids that were singing Christmas carols in the amphitheater.

Jace was in the Snugli front pack and slept a good portion of the time. With a blanket covering him, he was probably the warmest one. He is growing leaps and bounds. He rolled over from front to back on Monday night. I had put him down for tummy time and Rick was sitting with him downstairs and all of a sudden he was on his back. Of course we didn't see it but no one turned him over. He is also a very happy baby and loves to smile!

Family Photos

We had our family photos taken 2 weeks ago and got them back today. I'm excited to get them printed and on the walls. They were taken by © Melissa Seamons 2008. She did an AWESOME job. If anyone wants her info just let me know. She was fabulous.

Decorating

The first ornament of 2008

We usually decorate the tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving but since we were out of town we got around to it yesterday. I actually set up the tree Monday, put the lights on Tuesday during naptime and we decorated after I got home from work we decorated. Levi had a grand time decorating and now wants to redecorate the tree every chance he gets. In fact, this morning he pulled the tree over trying to get an ornament. Rick picked it up before I could snap a pic. Any ideas on how to keep him from pulling it over again???

Later that night Rick had scouts so the boys and I went Christmas shopping and Levi picked out ornaments for himself and Jace.

Family Vacation

This past weekend Rick and I took the boys down to Moab. Rick only had to work 1/2 day on Fri. so we left shortly after. We first stopped at the Living Aquarium down in south Salt Lake, had lunch then headed to Moab. We stayed until Sunday and then headed home. We spent our time at Arches National Park. What a beautiful place that Heavenly Father created for our wonderment. I'm always amazed at how many beautiful places there are on this earth. I'll post more pics later but we're low on sleep (the boys didn't do too great at the hotel). We had a GREAT time!!!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Rick is quite proud that he has taught Levi not to bang on the piano but rather play 1 key at a time. Levi loves to sing Twinkle, twinkle little star, at bedtime, naptime and frequently in between. He also loves to sing his ABCs and recently started singing I Am A Child of God. We love to hear him sing. Any time there is a musical number during sacrament or when the hymns are being played he is very reverent. During musical numbers he is captivated by the singers. I am really glad that he enjoys music and hope that his appreciation will carry throughout his life.

I actually hope that Rick's musical abilities will carry over to his children. I didn't know how musically talented he was until after we were married. He plays the piano, guitar and drums! He actually was in a scholarship competition for piano (he lost, a very sore subject secondary to the circumstances surrounding it). I really LOVE my husband and appreciate all he does and what a devoted father he is. I just sit back and smile when I watch him play with the boys and you can tell how much our boys love him.

Happy Thanksgiving. The above and many other things I am so very thankful for.

Rest

I am taking a little rest today, the boys are down for naps. Well... Jace is asleep and Levi is having "quiet time" which lasts from about the end of lunch till 4-4:30. He usually doesn't actually fall asleep until 2, after I've reminded him, usually with a lot of emphasis, okay I raise my voice, no shouting yet, that he needs to be quiet, not sleep but be QUIET.

I went walking with my friend Angie this morning, Levi in the stroller and Jace in the snugglie. I'm going to miss walking every day now that the weather is getting colder and I'm headed back to work.

During my siesta I plan to make a grocery list for the week and get preparations for Thanksgiving thought of. I'm hosting my side of the family this year. Not a lot of people compared to Rick's side, but I think that my mom is quite relieved to not have to do all the cooking this year. She did however buy a lot of the food. The turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, I now just have to do the cooking.

The house is mostly clean, don't look too close because it's just a surface clean, I'll save the deep cleaning until later this week, probably next Tuesday to be honest.

I may even start wrapping Christmas presents so that they are done and hid away. Levi is all over the place, except for in the crawl space so that is where we will be hiding the gifts. I don't think they'll even get put out until Christmas Eve or Levi will unwrap them.

Levi has been loving to climb in Jace's bed in the mornings while I feed Jace. Keeps him occupied. He is really starting to like his little brother a lot.

Life as we know it

Life as we know it is about to change (that is the past few months of life). I'm about to head back to work and that means taking the boys to a sitter. Levi never had a sitter until he was 10 1/2 months old, Rick just watched him until Levi started being able to get into everything.

Jace gets to start much earlier. Luckily I have a fabulous sitter, my friend Erin, who has a 4 & 2 year old. Levi loves it there. Every time we drive by he points and says "Abbie houawse" and we have to tell him not now but maybe later.

We are still working on the finishing touches of the house, minor paint spots, sealing the trim, etc. Levi's vocabulary is expanding daily. He recently began coming up to me and saying "monkey says ooo,ooo, aaa" and "rooster says cock-a-dooooo" not cock-a-doodle-do, just cock-a-doooo. He would make the animal sounds before but now likes to bring them to us and tell us.

Jace is also growing so much. He is a very happy baby and likes to grin all the time. He likes us to hold him but is happy to just be hanging out with us. Levi has been "helping" by shoving a binky in Jace's mouth. I love when he is laying on my chest and wrinkles up his forehead and lifts his head to look around.

Our baby blessing and trip

On October 12th was Jace's blessing. Sacrament attendance was increased by probably 1/3 mostly Rick's side of the family. I always joke with him that our families are like those in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", Rick's side being the loud over the top family and mine being quite a bit more reserved (not as reserved as in the movie though). With all joking aside we are really blessed to have so much family near us and to be so supportive.

We thought that we would get the house completely finished by the time we had the blessing and put in long days and nights for that to happen. We were close. We realized that we were running out of time and then the weather turned for the worse so we had to cancel the carpet installation due to the forecast of rain and snow all weekend. Good thing too as we had 6 inches of snow at our house and everyone had to eat inside the house and garage.

The next day I took the boys to St. George on a week long trip with my mom to go visit my grandparents. It was the first time either of my boys met their great-grandparents (the only ones they have). We don't get down to St. George often so we thought it was important to get the boys down there as my grandpa will soon be 91 and my grandma turns 90 in December. The week was full of naps, visiting my aunts and great-aunts and chasing after the boys. All in all it was a good trip. I'm a little insane to take the boys on a trip and wouldn't have been able to do it alone. Good thing my mom was there, especially since it was her idea.

This past week I have been working on the boys Halloween costumes, trying to get them done by Saturday for the ward Trunk-r-Treat. They are a monkey and his banana. I was sewing during nap time every day and after I put Levi to bed in order to get them done. I actually finished on Thursday (that was a relief as we finally got our carpet on Sat and had to move everything out on Fri). The monkey outfit was from a pattern but I made up the pattern for the banana. I think they turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

This was taken at the Trunk-r-Treat, the day that Levi was being a typical 2 year old and I wanted to ring his neck!!! I need to learn not to mess with nap time. Speaking of which, Levi needs to go to bed now, he's actually being very quiet in the kitchen, never a good sign.

The Zoo

Today the boys and I went to the Hogle Zoo with our friends the Blass family. Erin watches Levi when I am working. In fact he likes to name off names of people he knows. It usually goes: momma, dadda, gran-ma, gran-pa, anti (Aunt Tee), Ewin (Erin), Abbie, Skywer (Skyler), Erin's kids, Nate (her husband) and then a few others. They rank right up at the top.

We had a great time, it was Levi's and Jace's first time at the zoo. Jace pretty much slept the entire time and Levi was enthralled with all there was to see, and maybe a little overwhelmed.

He especially loved the "raffs" (giraffes) and "elwafan" (elephants). The albino crocodile also held his attention for a while. I thought he was about ready to jump in with the penguins. We were all pretty tired by the time we got home.

Soon after we returned from Salt Lake, Rick took off to go to the U of U football game with his brother Jon and nephew Isaac. The U pulled off a last minute victory over Oregon, GO UTES!!! I was glad he was able to get out of the house and relax finally. He's been working really hard on getting the house remodelled and all the stress that comes with that. We're still not finished but getting close. Hopefully we'll get everything done before the baby blessing. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Our newest family member

Introducing the newest member of our family: Jace Richard Cook. He was born last Wed Sept 3rd at 12:31 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long. He is such a sweet baby and we are really enjoying him.

Levi is adjusting pretty well. The first time he saw him I held Levi in one arm and Jace in the other. Levi said "baby", reached down and tried to bite Jace's foot. Since then he has done pretty well, he's very concerned if the baby is crying, likes playing with the baby's toys and only tries to hit him about 5-10 times a day.

For those of you who actually read this blog, I've been working on Jace's baby announcement and need your opinion on which layout I like better. I just can't decide. I've got Levi in bed and Rick has Jace but I'd better log off and get back to my family. Thanks to everyone who has helped us this past week with babysitting and meals. Especially my mom who has come the last 3 days to help me with the boys. Today was the first day on our own and Levi was sure missing Grandma's attention.

"No"

Levi has now learned the use of the word "NO". Which is fabulous that it is now "NO" to getting dressed, eating all of his food, etc. It's been awhile since I have posted. Mainly because we have been extremely busy and I am exhausted most nights. Since my last post we have been in the process of buying the house we currently live in and remodel it at the same time. We are buying the house from Rick's sister and brother-in-law. Jurgen came the week of July 4th and did a bunch of the remodeling that needed to be done upstairs. We have really enjoyed finally having a bath tub, Levi especially loves it!!! Levi has been helping us out also from trying to paint, to climbing the ladder, and mostly just getting into things.

For now we are done from the main floor up, still have a wall and window bench to move, finish a bathroom and new flooring to do. But until the home loan closes we are at a stand still and are just hoping that can be done before the baby gets here. You know for not moving, we are sure moving a lot!

Levi's fascintation with trucks still continues. We cannot leave the house without one in tow and he always wants to eat with ALL of them at the table. We are currently trying to curb that.

Levi also accompanied me to Girl's Camp up in the Uintah's. The girls were really good and we all had a good time. My camp directors were fabulous, all I had to do was show up and do what they needed me to do. My parents came along with their tent trailer to help me with Levi. That was such a big help, I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

For now we have been enjoying watching the Olympics and I have be crazily trying to get baby stuff rewashed, cleaned, found, etc. I just finished making the baby's new bedding, curtains and boppy cover and am now working on getting his blessing outfit done. Hopefully I'll get everything finished, only 2 more weeks to go from tomorrow!

Little what's his name (we still have absolutely no idea what to name him, haven't even narrowed it down to a couple) is scheduled to be born Wed. Sept 3rd at noon at McKay Dee hospital. I doubt that I will have time to post before then so that is the plan. I'll try to get some pics up as soon as I can.

Camp, camp and more camp

This past month has been extremely busy for our family. Jun 9-12 I took Levi with me to Youth Conference at Lake Lyman. It was such a beautiful place, however VERY cold. It was also Levi's first camping trip. He was such a trooper. He loved playing in the dirt and loved the attention from the kids. Because it was so cold at night, I tried to have him sleep in my sleeping bag. There was plenty of room and it was toasty but not very restful. Levi spent the night trying to climb out (while asleep) and I tried to keep him in and warm. The next night he spent in the pack-n-play with a lot of blankets. Levi liked seeing the chipmunks and even spent 5 minutes trying to catch one to give it a kiss.

The next weekend was the Cook family reunion, it was held up in Lava Hot Springs. Being so prego I couldn't do much but everyone had a good time. We got there Thurs afternoon and just relaxed. Friday was spent on the river and a family dinner/games that evening. After Levi's nap we went to the pool. Sat was the day for the pool but Rick didn't really want to go and so we took our time and headed home. As we were leaving we realized we'd forgot to pray for safety so we had a quick prayer and continued on our way. After a series of mishaps including getting gas but forgetting to buy ourselves lunch (remembered Levi but not ourselves), then stopping for lunch as I got carsick, getting back on the road, having the engine check coolant light come on, pulling over to check that out, getting back on the road, deciding at the last possible second to stop in

Brigham City to look at real estate, we were only about an hour behind schedule. As we got back on the freeway we were really grateful for those mishaps that were put in our way as we passed the cleaning stages of an extremely bad accident. By our estimations we would have been either involved or very near when the accident occurred. We are very grateful that we remembered to pray and that Heavenly Father was looking out for us by placing small obstacles in our path to slow us down and the rest of the family was much farther behind us.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

So I haven't posted for a while. Mostly due to a very busy work schedule. Once I get home, we have dinner, bedtime for Levi and then paperwork. Next thing I know... it's after 10 p.m. and all I want to do is sleep.
Levi has been setting up boobie-traps for us. It doesn't matter if it's across the room, the bottom of the stairs, or up and down the stairs. We can always find his toys lined up, sometimes even by size. My sister-in-law assures me that the child development books attribute that to early math skills and that her son did it too. That's a relief as Rick is sure that it's an OCD indicator.
It's actually pretty cute. He also is having a lot of fun learning his shapes. He can even verbalize several of the shapes and I rarely have to point out which shape goes in which slot. His vocabulary is growing rapidly.
We are about to transfer Levi to a toddler bed to get ready for the new baby. Any ideas/suggestions would be helpful...

Shoes and Hats

Life has been quite busy for us, hence the lack of blogging. Levi continues to love to put our shoes on and now has discovered Rick's hats. He never wears them correctly but likes to sport the "bush leager" look (no idea what that means, one of Rick's vocabulary words).
I think that he's going through a growth spurt, none of his pajamas (24 month) fit anymore. I'll have to measure him soon.
We have started looking for a new house but the search is slow and with all our commitments this summer we probably won't be moving until early August or late September. Perfect timing to be expecting/having a new baby.
The baby is starting to move a lot more and doesn't kick as much as Levi did but likes to push up under one of my ribs and hang out. I've bought most of the material for his bedding but haven't done anything with it yet. I should probably get that done before I can no longer bend at the waist.

The Shoe Craze Continues

Levi's favorite thing to do the past 2 days is put on Rick or my shoes and waddle around. It's actually pretty funny because he can't take very big steps or he'll fall right over, which he's done a few times. I think that there are about 10 pairs of shoes out around the house to satisfy this new obsession. We may have to start hiding our shoes!
However this is not the only thing that he likes. How many 19 month olds LOVE to have their shoes on, like getting his teeth brushed and LOVES bedtime. All we have to say is that it's bedtime (no matter what time of day) and he drops his toys and runs/crawls up the stairs to get to bed.
Once there I wish I could say he goes to sleep, but no, he looks out his window, throws blankets out of the crib and 45 min later screams for us. We tried moving his bedtime back to 8 p.m. thinking that it was due to the sun being up later, it worked last night. Tonight, bed at 8, it's now 9:52 and I can still hear him in the other room. At least he's not screaming. I on the other hand would have loved to be asleep 2 hours ago!!!

A Milestone Met

Levi turned 18 months old two weeks ago, and along with that comes going to the nursery at church. A major milestone for moms and dads throughout the LDS church. With that comes the odd feeling that you are missing something, your child, and being okay with it because you can now finally listen and participate in Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society (in my case Young Women's) and not try to entertain/quiet a toddler.
I always hear from my friends how their child just cried when they left, just clung to the parent or how it broke their heart. Well, I took Levi to his first nursery time 2 weeks ago and he about jumped out of my arms trying to get to the toys. He first chose a baby buggy to push around, his dad would be so proud, made a lap around the room and then grabbed a truck also. So he walked past me again, baby buggy pushed with one hand and the truck in the other, looked up and smiled and kept walking. He didn't care if I was there or not.
One of the nursery leaders had just finished taking a child to a parent in between classes and stopped and said "I hate to tell you this, but Levi is doing just fabulous". Rick went to pick him up and they said he sat there very happy during the lesson and treat also. Although I did hear later that he snaked a couple of treats from in front of the boy sitting next to him.
Today was the same thing, Rick dropped him off and we were able to go to class childless. He's growing up so fast. I am glad he likes nursery and it's not a fight for him to go, I'm sure he'll have his days but I'll take it for now. He sure is an independant little boy!

Not so creative titles

Not a lot has happened during the past week for our little family so I thought that I'd write about why this blog has the name it does. First off, I spoke to my sister-in-law to figure out how to get started and she gave me some hints about protecting identity and such. So then I tried every creative thing I could think of (obviously not a lot to choose from) and they were all taken. So then I got thinking about some of my favorite books. So hopefully I'm not plagerizing by using part of the titles, I don't think so.
The title "If Life Was Easy" comes from the title of a book written by Sheri Dew, an LDS author, the full title is "If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard". I just think that she is a great writer and has a lot of great insights into life, spirituality and our purpose here on earth.
The blog title "Because You Are Special" comes from a book given to me by my friend Kertsi while I was serving an LDS mission. Since then I have come to love and search for books written by the author Max Lucado. This book "You Are Special" is all about the Wemmicks and their search for acceptance in life. It's really a children's book but I think that it applies to each of us from childhood into adulthood. It talks about how each of us are different, we look different, have different talents and the labels that are attached to people by others. But it also talks about how our creator, God, made us different on purpose and how he loves us no matter what, even if we are a little bit rough around the edges.
After grad-school I've had difficulty picking up many books to read and my book reading for personal growth/entertainment average has dropped radically after having Levi (usually we are reading board books) but I feel that reading is a terrific way to escape and let your imagination take over for awhile. Hopefully I'll be able to read a bit more for myself in the near future.
So that's why this blog is named the way it is.

Another BOY!!!

We went to the doctor yesterday and then had the "Big" ultrasound. This little one wasn't nearly as cooperative at letting us see the gender (Levi was spread eagle) but after a little prodding we discovered that Levi is going to have a little brother! He wasn't too interested in the whole ordeal.
Today Levi and I went to the Teddy Bear Factory and made his new brother a teddy bear. If I can ever figure out how to download from my phone I'll post a picture. Levi didn't want to let the new bear go. Finally he was so tired he dropped it. Now I'm going to have to hide it till the baby arrives.

The Dreaded First Kiss

Levi gave a girl his first kiss today!!! Now, in all fairness, we have been working on Levi giving mommy and daddy kisses goodnight. This morning Levi started making smacking sounds during breakfast and I was excited he finally wanted to give more than an open mouth kiss.
We go exercise a few days a week with my friend Angie and her daughter Addison. We usually strap the kids in our strollers and take off to the park. Today the weather was so nice that when we got back to her house we let the kids run around for awhile.
As we were chatting and keeping the kids away from the street, we looked up just in time to see Addie sitting on the ground and Levi bending over to give her a kiss. I'm not sure if he actually made contact but Addie sure had a look of disgust on her face as she pushed him away.
We're going to have to keep an eye on our little Casanova.

More!!!

Yesterday Levi and I ran to "The WalMart" intending to purchase a package of diapers to add to a baby shower gift and left $41 later. What did I spend that much money on (the diapers were $10), my child of course. First there were a couple summer shirts, with the warm weather lately I've noticed a huge lack of short sleeve tops for him. Then it was a bin for his mass of toys that seem to stretch from one end of the house, down the stairs, up again and into his bedroom, next the Gerber Toddler snacks caught my eye. I've been wanting to try the fruit snacks in comparison to the sugar filled ones I buy for myself. Anyway, as we were headed to the car I gave Levi one and he of course scarfed it down and wanted more. I told him (and demonstrated) that he needed to point to his mouth and say "more". To my suprise, he did, and it was a very clear "more". I decided to try again and make sure it wasn't a fluke. We tried and tried, all the way through a whole pouch of snacks, there were quite a few in there suprisingly, as we drove home. Each time he would happily say "more", that is until we reached home and tried to show daddy. Then of course, he wouldn't perform. He since however has shown his dad his new found word and motion to indicate he would like more food. We may be in trouble as he LOVES to eat!

The Start

Well, I've been debating for weeks about whether to start a blog or not. I've been inspired by friends and family; although I doubt that I will be nearly as entertaining. Mostly I just hope to keep family updated on our life and make myself write down some of the many memories that we are creating