Halloween

We had so much fun for Halloween this year. We visited Anthem's fall festival and then went trick-or-treating with family and friends. The kids had tons of fun and we enjoyed ourselves as well. Here are some of the pictures.

Cooper riding a pony.

Cooper riding the train.

Cooper and I carving the pumpkin. As you can see he hated it and had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Kamryn Update

Kamryn is 3 months old now and it seems like the time is just flying by. She is getting so big and cuter every day! As many of you know, we recently discovered she was having problems with her eye and took her to the doctor. The doctor then sent us to see a pediatric ophthalmologist who in turn sent us to Phoenix Children's Hospital for an MRI. I took Kamryn to the ER on a Friday night and after a couple of hours in the waiting room we wer finally admitted. The next morning Kamryn had an MRI taken of her right eye. This was very scary for us as we had to put our sweet baby under anasthesia. Luckily, the MRI found that the mass pushing on her eye was a hemangeoma and not a tumor. That night they started her on a course of medications including a steroid to reduce the size of the growth. Thankfully, by the next morning the swelling of her eye had gone down tremendously. After a couple more days in the hospital for observation they released Kamryn. She is still taking medications but as you can see in the pictures below her eye is back to normal. We are so blessed that she is back to normal and thrilled that there will be no permanent damage to her eye.

Here is a 'before' picture of Kamryn. As you can see her right eye is swollen and even protruding.

Here is an 'after' picture of Kamryn. Look at that eye, you can't even tell anything was ever wrong.

As you can see, Cooper loves Kamryn. He is the best big brother. He is always asking to hold her and loves to give her kisses and take pictures with her.

Just last week Mike made Kamryn laugh. She has the cutest laugh I have ever heard. I know I am biased, but there is something about hearing your child laugh that just breaks your heart.

The most exciting thing that Kamryn has started to do . . . roll over. Look at her! If you put her on her back she just rolls all over the place and is happy to be on her tummy looking around. Look at that neck control. . . she is AMAZING!

Cooper and his Daddy

The other day Mike decided to fix our dining room chairs. The plastic stoppers on the bottom were falling off and needed to be replaced. Of course Cooper heard the hammering and came right over to lend Mike his help. It was so cute to see Mike working so patiently with Cooper. As you can tell, Cooper loved helping his daddy.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

This past weekend we went up to St. George, Utah to celebrate my grandpa's 89th Birthday. We packed the kids up Friday afternoon and they did GREAT in the car. While we were there we had a birthday party for my grandpa and we were able to visit with cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. It was so nice to see everyone and to introduce them all to Kamryn. On Sunday we visited my grandpa and his wife one last time before returning home. Grandpa we love you so much and had so much fun seeing you!

Cooper and Kamryn are already great buddies.

Kamryn enjoying her Grandma.

Cooper loving on his Papa.

A very happy Kamryn. (She is 7 weeks now.)

My mom, Grandpa (my mom's dad), Kamryn and I.

My mom, Kamryn and I. (I am so glad we remembered to take a picture together. I can't remember the last time I took a picture with my mom.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COOPER!!!

Cooper turned TWO last week!!! Can you believe it?!? The day before his birthday I made his cake and both he and Kamryn wanted to help me make the frosting. Baking is very messy when you are working with a two year old.



When Cooper woke up on this birthday he was very grumpy . . . luckily it only took balloons, presents and waffles to make him happy.

Cooper with Buzz and Woody . . . Cooper loves Toy Story and when Mike discovered that they sold these guys we knew what he would be getting for this birthday.

After opening presents, we picked up my nephews and took the kids to Pump it Up. They had so much fun bouncing around and sliding down this slide.

Kamryn enjoying herself at Pump it Up.

Zachary, Cooper and Connor pausing for a quick drink before returning to the slide.

Cooper and his birthday cake. Can you guess what it was . . . a surfboard.

For his birthday, Cooper received a water table from Grandpa and Grandma Nielsen. He loves it and plays with it daily. If you have been around Cooper recently then you know that he prefers to wear a diaper around the house (without clothes). However, when he is outside the diaper comes off especially if he gets wet. After playing with the water table for a day or two, Cooper decided that it would be much more fun if he just ditched the diaper and bathed in it instead. Here he is in all of this glory!

Here is a picture of the cupcakes I made for Cooper's party. My friend Brandy helped me make the cute sign and cupcake toppers. They turned out really cute!

Mike, Cooper and Cam swimming at the party.

Grandpa and Connor.

Cooper our little fish.

Kamryn was so cute at the party. She sprawled out on Grandma's lap and slept almost the entire time.

Cooper blowing out his birthday candle. Mike and I just can't believe that our little Cooper is finally TWO. The past couple of years have gone by so quickly. I just seems like yesterday when he was born and now he is a sweet, independent toddler. Cooper we love you so very much and are so proud of the boy you are becoming. We couldn't imagine life without you. You are always making us laugh and doing crazy things to keep us on our toes. We can't wait to see what is in store for you in the future.

Cooper & Kamryn

I will be the first person to admit that I am awful at updating our blog. Things are so crazy and it seems like whenever I go in another room, Cooper gets into things (which is why this posting will be quick). Exhibit #1: Cooper at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Apparently I shouldn't have left the entire box of cereal on the table because Cooper thought it would be funny if he emptied out the entire box. Let's just say I won't be doing that ever again!

Teri's first time seeing Kamryn.

Cooper is adjusting well to being a BIG BROTHER. He loves Kamryn and is always saying "hi baby" and giving her loves and kisses.

Kamryn and Grandpa sharing a sweet moment.

We just started propping Kamryn up in the corner of the couch and she seems to enjoy seeing what is going on and Cooper thinks it is pretty cool that she is sitting up.

Kamryn Kristen Nielsen

She is finally here!!! I went into the hospital on Saturday morning at 1:30 a.m. They induced me and after a few hours we had our beautiful baby girl. She was born at 10:43 a.m., weighing in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 21 inches long. We are so excited with our little bundle of joy. She is just so precious and we are loving every minute with her. Now that we have her in our lives, we can't imagine like without her. She is truly a blessing! Here are some pictures . . .enjoy!!!

New Rooms!!!

In preparation for the new baby, Mike and I decided we needed to take Cooper out of the crib and transition him into a big boy bed. It was a scary thought because Cooper was sleeping very well in the crib and had never attempted to climb out. Once we got his new bed set up we started putting him to sleep in it. He loves his bed and his new room. Although it is a bit difficult to get him to fall asleep in his bed, he will sleep through the night and come and get us in the morning. Cooper is becoming such a big boy and we can't wait for him to be a big brother.

With Cooper out of the crib and into a big boy bed it meant we had to start decorating the nursery for our sweet baby girl. I was so excited and couldn't start picking out cute, girly, PINK stuff. Here are some pictures of the nursery so far.

Of course the nursery wouldn't be complete without the beautiful bassinet Peg made me. Thank you!!! It looks amazing with the pink bow!