The Party!

As many of you know I started selling Stella & Dot jewelry. If you haven't heard of it, you have to check out my website: www.stelladot.com/staceynielsen. I always have such a hard time putting together my orders because I love everything! I had my first party a couple of weeks ago and it was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures for those of you that couldn't make it.

I love how everything ended up looking!

My little helper.

Halloween Fun

Our Trunk-or-treat was so much fun this year. There were tons of people, good food and of course lots of cute costumes. Cooper was a Transformer (Ironhide) and Kamryn was Alice (Alice in Wonderland). I actually made her costume! I am pretty proud that it not only got done before Haloween but that it fit too. Here are a couple of pictures from that night. The kids had a lot of fun!

Kamryn checking out ALL of the candy she gathered.

What would Halloween be without carving pumpkins? I love carving pumpkins but it was hard to get this kids into it this year. We made Cooper and Kamryn help us pull out the strings and seeds and Cooper thought it was disgusting. And Kamryn couldn't care less. She just shoved her hand in and got to work. She was only concerned after because she had dirty hands.

So cute! Can you tell how excited they are to go Trick-or-Treating? They were racing around the house and yard waiting for our friends to come over.

Another cute one.

The group! This year we went with our friends the Gray's. It was a lot of fun and of course the boys loved every minute. Kamryn was just content trying to keep up with them. Bumblebee is Cooper's preschool buddy, Carson and of course we had Optimus Prime, Brendan and their cute little sisters Sabrina and Whitney.

Baking with Mom

The other day we made some very delicious bread and the kids were dying to help. Here is a cute picture.

Book of Mormon

This is a really cute story! The other day I asked Cooper if he could hand me my scriptures to read. As he gave them to me I asked him if he knew what they were called. He told me they were scriptures and continued with "everybody just has some, but I don't"! His response caught me off guard. I asked him if he wanted his own and brought out a new Book of Mormon. He was so excited! He hugged it and thanked me and sat down and looked through it. I was shocked! I just had to grab my camera to remember this moment. What a sweet little spirit he has. This just goes to show you that your children are really watching everything that you do. Make sure it is something you want them to see!

Tom's Farm

While Mike's parents were visiting last month we went to Tom's Farm. It is just down the street and so much fun. The kids had a blast and didn't want to leave. In fact, Cooper is still telling us he wants to go back because he didn't get to ride a pony.

First stop: the petting zoo. While Kamryn was not to sure about the animals, Cooper loved petting and feeding them.

Second stop: the carousel. If you have ever tried to take a picture of someone riding one of these then you know how hard it is to get a good one!

Next stop: the train.

Finally, a treat before we went home.

Here is a picture of our little movie star getting ready to leave for the farm. I have to say I LOVE these sunglasses.

Troublemakers

As you can see, my children are still getting into trouble. Kamryn loves to climb right up the cabinets onto the counter in order to get a cup. We often find her just like this.

She also loves to go through every cupboard and drawer in the kitchen. She just happened to find the hot pads on this particular day . . . I guess she thought they would make nice slippers.

Cooper was at the table with Kamryn cutting a straw with his scissors. He has never done anything naughty with his scissors so I wasn't too worried about him. I heard a strange cutting sound and asked him what he had just cut. When he responded "Kamryn's hair" my heart skipped a beat. I thought for sure he was joking. When I went over to the table I found this . . .

and this! I guess it was bound to happen at some point. I am just glad it wasn't a very large section of hair. After a long time out, a long talk with Mommy and Daddy and losing his scissors, I think we got through to him. I hope we won't have to deal with this ever again.

Finally, the troublemaker! She has quite the little attitude these days. If things don't go her way you can often find her on the stairs in time-out. . . sometimes it is because we put her there and other times it's because she decided to go there herself.

More Preschool Pics

Here are a couple more pictures of Cooper right before we left for his FIRST day of preschool. I love his cute little face. You can really tell how excited he was!

1st Day of Preschool

Cooper started his second year of preschool last month and is loving it. I can really tell that preschool is starting to pay off! He finally knows his numbers by sight, he can count to 10 in Spanish (thanks Diego), he can spell his name and write it on his own. Now we are working on letter recognition and simple math. We are so proud of our smart boy!

Kamryn started her Mommy and Me Joy School last month as well. It is really cute! The ladies in my ward and their 2 year olds meet once a week to teach the kids how to share and play with others as well as teaching them their colors and shapes. It is very entertaining and the kids are starting to get used to the some what structured activites.

It's a GIRL!!!

We found out that we are having another GIRL! We are so excited. Here's to many more years of pink and glittery things:) Cooper was a little disappointed that it wasn't a boy . . . and isn't offering up his room for the baby to sleep in anymore. I am sure things will change once he sees her sweet little face. As for Kamryn, I'm not sure she really understands it all. Other than knowing there is a baby in Mommy's tummy she doen't quite understand boy vs. girl yet.

Cooper is 4!!!

Cooper turned 4 on August 26th. He was so excited for his birthday. It is all he would talk about for months. From a list of things he wanted to the many different themed parties he wanted it was all we heard. Finally, his birthday had arrived. Here is a little bit of a conversation I had with him that morning: Me: "Cooper, Happy Birthday!" "Guess how old you are today?" "You're 4 years old." Cooper: "No, I'm not big enough." It was so funny and very cute. He really didn't believe he was 4. I guess he expected to wake up a foot taller. Finally, after some convincing he realized that he was 4 and is now very proud of it.

This year, it happened that we would be driving to Arizona on Cooper's birthday. The first picture is of Cooper after opening his first present in the car. When we arrived at Grandpa and Grandma's house it was decorated for the occassion. After a yummy dinner, Jared, Christy, Zach and Connor came over to celebrate Cooper's birthday. It was a very fun day and we really enjoyed spending it with family.

Just a couple of things about Cooper: he is the best big brother a sister could ask for. He is always asking her how she is doing and helping her with things. He is always concerned about her and always excited to play with her. He is very helpful around the house. He loves to sing (when he doesn't think anyone is listening) and is 100% boy. He loves cars, trucks, dinosaurs and Transformers. He is caring and sweet, always telling Mike and I that he loves us and always surprising us with hugs and kisses. Cooper we love you and are so happy you are our boy!

Cooper waiting patiently for the present opening to begin.

Cooper surveying the goods.

Cooper and Daddy. (So Cute!!!)

Finally, present time!

The cake! Thank you Grandpa and Grandpa Nielsen for getting this awesome cake!

Cooper blowing out the candles with Connor's help.

A visit to Utah

Just last month my cousin blessed her baby in St. George (sorry no photos). We met my parents and sister for the occassion and had a lot of fun. It was so nice to able to see family we haven't seen in a very long time. The kids had a blast swimming and playing with extended cousins. After the quick weekend the kids and I drove up to Salt Lake with my parents while Mike made the drive back to California. It is beautiful this time of year and the kids loved spending their time outside hiking around my parent's house. Here are some of the photos. As you can see their views are pretty amazing!

Grandma, Cooper and Cody showing us the way to the creek.

What can I say about Kamryn . . . when she puts her mind to something, there is no changing it! We kept trying to tell her she could just go around, but she wanted to scale the fence.

Nothing like taking a hike with your Elmo backpack stuffed with Woody and Jessie toys.

I'm pretty sure this was the kids favorite part of the hike. They loved the water. Just as a note this is very cold water, as in just melted snow cold.

Of course Kamryn could't throw a small stone into the water, she had to find one of the biggest ones she could pick up.

Grandma teaching Kamryn all about the mountains.

Kamryn is 2!!!

Kamryn turned 2 on August 1st. She is getting so old and has pretty much decided that she is a little woman now. Gone are the toddler days. She is one tough cookie and very opinionated. She let's you know what she wants and most certainly what she doesn't. She is so funny and love, love, loves her Daddy and Cooper. She loves Mickey Mouse and surprisingly Dino Dan. Thanks to her brothers obsessions with dinosaurs she can now name 3-4 of them by name. I was shocked when she came downstairs with a dinosaur and said "brachiosaurus". Kamryn, we LOVE you so much and couldn't imagine life without your sweet little spirit and crazy personality!

After celebrating their birthdays in Phoenix before the big move, we decided to keep it simple. Just cake (the best Red Velvet EVER!!), ice cream and presents.

Kamryn's favorite present . . . the cozy coupe!

Disneyland

While Mike's family was here visiting in July, we went to Disneyland. The kids had SO MUCH FUN! (Although one day was not nearly enough time to see everything with all of the crowds.) Cooper is still talking about Big Thunder Mountain Roller Coaster and the Jungle Cruise and can't wait to go back. Luckily, he is now 42" tall which means he can ride everything at Disneyland except for Indiana Jones. He rode Big Thunder Mountain 3 times in a row and another roller coaster twice. He loved pretty much every ride . . . except Pirates of the Caribbean and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (I guess they were just too scary).

A family pic just before the Jungle Cruise.

Another Jungle Cruise pic.

Cooper and Kamryn playing Goofy's piano.

Kamryn checking out Goofy's house.

Kamryn and I waiting in line to see Mickey Mouse.

After waiting in line for awhile, we finally saw Mickey Mouse! As I am sure most of you know Kamryn loves Mickey and all of his buddies. She was very excited to see him and throughout the day she pointed out every character she saw by name.

We can't forget about the hats . . . the kids were able to pick a toy, etc. as a souvenir to take home. This is what Cooper chose:) He loved this hat and insisted on getting it. And honestly it was so funny, how could we resist?

Kamryn's choice . . . this is what started it all. How cute is she in this hat? And I kid you not, I tried and tried to get her to pick something else. But when a 1 year old keeps saying Donald Duck hat, how can you say no?