A try at Family Pictures

Any with kids know how difficult it is to try and get a decent family picture with a 2 year old and a newborn. Let's just say we tried and they turned out okay.

All in a Day's Work

It started out with Carter's blessing. Caleb did a marvelous job and Carter didn't make a peep although he was awake the whole time. We had a plethera of family and friends there to support us and we couldn't be more grateful for the effort they took to be there!

We then got to have a little pre-celebration for our big 2 year old since we will be in Indianapolis for his real birthday on the 29th. Coop blew out his 2 candles all by himself and I think he really liked his "vrum, vrum" cake (I sure enjoyed making it). This was his, "Don't even think about taking my cupcake" look. I guess he thought one of his cousins was eyeing it.

And last but definitely not least, we celebrated Easter with some egg coloring, egg hunting, ham dinner, family, baskets, lots of candy, and of course, my favorite, Easter outfits!

Happy Easter!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa, you are awesome! Thanks for the wonderful swim suits. Can't wait till you can see them on the kids in person!

Hey he's sitting up!

Six and a half months old and he conquers the next milestone. He can sit by himself. At least long enough for a picture!

Aubrey's Birthday Tea Party

Every girl needs at least one tea-party in her life. Complete with spring dresses, tiny tea-cups, white gloves and spring hats and purses. Of course Aubrey had to add in a pinata and Hannah Montana as well. Anything for the birthday girl. This was so much fun for mom to plan! I had a blast desiging a party around at Spring Tea theme. The cake was a ton of fun to make and turned out great (no sagging masts or sinking pirate ships this time). It was great to have Garrett and Dalyn involved as the well-mannered servers and Aubrey was full of generous thanks and praise for all the work that her family put into her special day. "Mom, you are the best maker (cake maker) ever!" "this is the greatest birthday I've ever had in my whole entire life." "Daddy, you are the best pinata holder ever." With that kind of thanks she'll be getting a party every year!
She had 9 friends, including her cousin Jade who drove all the way from Wenatchee with Tyler to help Aubrey celebrate. She was showered with love, and she deserves every ounce. We made lace covered fans, decorated our personalized tea cups and hats, did a purse walk and a pinata, then ate a yummy lunch with our best tea-party manners. It was such fun.

Daddy-Cooper Swimming Time

For the last 4 weeks Caleb and Cooper have been going to parent-tot swim class twice a week. I signed them up for it months ago as a special time that Cooper could have with his daddy after the baby was born. Coop and I participated in this class last year and we had a great time. This year was even better. He looked forward to that special Daddy-Cooper time so much! He did really well too. He loves to blow bubbles, float on his back, be thrown in the air, splash, & kick. The only down side is that he now has an aversion to the song 'Ring around the Rosie' due to the fact that at the end of that song, he went under water. But as you can see, he was all smiles during swimming lessons and we can't wait for summer!

Ladies & Gentleman...

...we have a smile!

Where'd it go?

I swear, he used to have hair!

Proof that it was initially there.

Now we just call him our little monk.

The many faces...

...of Cooper.

(with the help of a little chili :-)

True Blue, through & through

One of the things we enjoy doing as a family is attending the BYU sports games. Our favorites include football, volleyball, baseball, and basketball. It really is nice to be so close to so many fun activities.

Baseball



Basketball


Football

Sweet Brother

Maybe when they're older and fighting I can show them this and prove how cute they were :-)

Carter Anthony Pope

Carter Anthony Pope was born Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 5:47 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 1 oz (a whole 2 pounds bigger than his brother) and 21 inches long. I would have to say that by the way I felt in the last days of having him inside of me, I just knew he was a big kid! As for the labor story, for those who are interested, my water was leaking early Tuesday morning (although at the time I wasn't quite sure what it was since there were no contractions with it). Caleb had left really early that morning to go skiing since it had snowed 11 inches the night before. I already had a doctor's appointment that day at 12:20 so I figured I'd just fillin the doctor when I went and then give Caleb a call when I found out more. As soon as he checked me he told me my water had broken and that he was sending me straight over to the hospital. At that point I called Caleb, who was already heading home, and he told me that the canyon road had been closed up until that time (so luckily I hadn't gone into labor before then or else he would have been stuck!) Caleb got to the hospital around 2:00 pm and they started the pitocin at 2:08 pm. They had to up it 4 times before I started to feel any contractions and around 3:30 pm my water really broke and immediately following, my contractions got hard! After enduring the hard contractions for a while, I decided to try out some IV drugs which helped to relax me during the break between contractions but did nothing during the actual contractions. Shortly after that I decided I might as well just get the epidural. Well, should have decided that a bit sooner since by the time I got my epidural, I was already dilated to a 9 and it didn’t ever “catch up” like it was supposed to. I unfortunately for a short 15 minutes got to feel all the pain of pushing out a 9 pound baby, but of course it was worth it. Here’s our new baby boy!

Cooper did great when he came to see his new brother. He wanted to hold him and he says Baby Carter very well ("bebe tarter"). Let's hope this good streak lasts!

Kisses!

After a while he leaned into me almost as if to say, "You're still my mom right?" Such sweet boys!

That last post was supposed to have a video to it!!

Laughing at Bret's Post

We told Beckham what Bret had wrote in his e-mail to us and this is what he had to say...

Proudest Day in This Dad's Life

As many of you may know, I (Caleb) have a borderline addiction to skiing. Lets just say that Cassi is the number 2 on my speed dial, and Alta is number 3. Cooper has been able to share a few Alta ski experiences with me while he rides in a backpack. With a recent increase in his "YEE-HAW's" and "WOO-HOO's" as we skied down the mountain, I knew that it was time; Time to get him on his own skis. And Saturday, the 7th of February, this historic event took place.

At 21 months old, Coop buckled into a pair of ski boots that were a little too big (they didn't have a smaller size), clicked into a tiny pair of Head skis, and set off to the bunny hill at Alta. His balance was amazing, his understanding of the skis was well beyond his years, and his desire to go "adin, adin" was a soulful chant that encouraged me to surmount the burning in my legs and arms to take Cooper up the rope tow time and time again.

After a few runs, Cooper and I had both had enough to be satisfied with the day's accomplishment,

so we went to the restaurant to bask in the warmth

that only a snowy day at Alta could offer for a dad and his son.

Oh the joys

He is so much fun!

Beckham Love's His Bath