Pumpkin Patchin'

For one of our family fall festivities, we went to a local pumpkin patch/corn maze. Maddix had fun climbing around on the haystacks, looking at the goats, playing with dump trucks, and getting consumed in the little house full of dried corn kernals. It was a fun little family outing. Of course Carter enjoyed being a spectator and got all decked out in appropriate pumpkin patch appearal wearing little overalls and cowboy boots! Later we bought some pumpkins and enjoyed carving them. Maddix is excited for Halloween and is going to be going "real" trick-or-treating (not just going to the relatives homes) for the first time!

Carter's Blessing...

Carter was blessed on October 12th. It was such a special day. We had our family and friends there to support us. Ben gave him a special blessing asking that he grow in health and strength; have a strong body, mind, spirit; that he be a joy to his parents; that he have a fun childhood; that he have a desire to learn and study in school, the scriptures, the gospel; that he get as much education as he can; that he serve a mission, find a worthy companion to take to the temple, and find a good career to support his family. Carter was really good and didn't cry at all during the whole sacrament meeting. I found the courage to bear my testimony, which is a challenge for me. I almost didn't have the chance because in our ward if you snooze, you lose. We have a very active ward and someone always has the desire to share their testimony.

I can't believe how the time flies. Carter is getting so big. He is at such a fun stage. He loves to smile and be talked to. He's starting to be really social. He is such a blessing in our lives. I heard this saying and really liked it. "We didn't give you the gift of life, life gave us the gift of you." That's so true and I'm so thankful for my little boys. They are truly the light of our lives!

Early Arrival!!

Our little boy arrived on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008. He was 3 1/2 weeks early. I was hoping/expecting him to come early, but not that early. However, he was very good sized for being almost a month early. He weighed 6 lbs 15oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long. At my 36 week check-up on Monday, I was dilated to a 4. I however, anticipated making it to my next check-up...shows how much I know. On Wednesday evening, I was just relaxing at home and lo and behold my water broke at about 5:45 and by the time I had him it was 8:13 pm. It was a whirlwind delivery and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get an epidural in time (since I was a 9 by the time I got it!!) Needless to say, I did get it in time thanks to a good anesthesiologist. Then about 5 or 6 pushes later, our little angel was born. His name came along a few days later since we had a hard time deciding, especially on a middle name. We named him Carter Graham Glines. He had Jaundice and had to stay an extra day in the hospital...and we still had to have him under the lights at home too. I just want to say a big thanks to those who sent us beautiful flowers. The bright mixed bouquet is from my good friend Natalie Rawlings, the purple bouquet is from Ben's Uncle Mervyn and Aunt Julie and their girls. The balloons are from Nana Connie. And the beautiful bouquet in the pitcher was from my sweetheart Ben. I loved all the flowers and well wishes, so thanks to everyone for your kindness and support.

Carter has a good amount of dark hair. His hair is darker than Maddix's was and he has more of it. He even weighed more than Maddix and was a week earlier. He also had sort of an olive skin tone, even before he went tanning in the photo therapy lights. So, I hope his dark hair and olive skin stays, but we'll just have to wait and see. We are so happy our little graham cracker is here and that he is healthy

Summer Projects

This summer, my main project has been trying to get Maddix potty trained. And let's just say it stinks, both literally and figuratively. We've definitely had our ups and downs. We started in early June and we're pretty much back to square one. He did well at first, especially with #1. It's been a different story with #2. I think the poor kid has pooh anxiety. He just can't go on the potty. We were ambitious in the beginning...from the advice of our pediatrician, we dived right into big boy underpants and bypassed the whole pull-ups thing. Like I said he did well with #1 if I was frequently reminding him and taking him into the potty. So, I was pretty hopeful. I probably could have stuck with it if we didn't have such issues with #2. I'll just say that I got so tired of dealing with poopy underwear. It's not like you can just throw them away like a diaper. So, then I thought, we'll try pull-ups so I can dispose of them. For a while he did even better in them with #1. Now he's regressed and is basically wearing diapers again like a baby. I decided to just back off and let him learn it when he's more ready. I still try to have him go on the potty 3 times a day, to keep the hang of it. Every now and then he'll tell me he needs to go and we'll run to the potty. Yesterday he had a breakthrough moment with #2. He told his dad he needed to go and then sat on the potty and did a little bit. It was better than he's done before in this department, still I'd liked to have seen a bigger deposit if you know what I mean. But, he finally got the toy I'd been bribing him with and he really enjoyed it. That was our big excitement for the day. Oh, the things that will amuse a stay-at-home mom! Anyhow, I hope he'll just one day decided he wants to go potty like a big boy and we'll move past all this. As long as he's potty trained by his 3rd birthday, I'll be happy....that's six months away.

Chantilly Place Summer '08 Weddings

Chantilly Place had two weddings scheduled this summer and they both came off without a problem. The first wedding was on June 14th and the second was on July 12th. The weather was great for both...a little windy for the first and definitely hot for the second, but no rain or clouds in sight. They both were very pretty weddings. The first was kind of a shabby chic style with the colors being soft peach, pink, cream, and white. They had rented the nice white folding chairs which gave it a very weddingish feel. The second wedding style was more modern and her colors were brown and blue. They had brown folding chairs that went perfectly with the blue sashes they rented. They both had their ceremonies here and then had receptions to follow. It was so much fun to be able to help out and to offer someplace nice for these cute couples to have a pretty wedding. I was only able to get a picture of the second couple, Stephanie Taylor and Chris Carter, but they were adorable and so fun to work with. Stephanie's mom Chris is the biggest sweetheart and was so great to work with as well. She gave Pam and I thank you gifts, cute Scentsy candles and wax, which was totally unexpected and really sweet. And in addition to that, we couldn't even believe it, but she tipped us both $100. We were so grateful but felt we couldn't accept it. We tried to return it, but she wouldn't take it back. Some people are sooo generous!! There is a lot of work involved, but we both enjoy seeing how things turn out. Hopefully next year we'll get a few more weddings!

The Big Five!!

On June 18th, it was our first big milestone anniversary of 5 years! I look back and wonder where the time has gone? It's crazy, it seems like yesterday we were just getting married. We've lived in three places since we got married, in an apartment in Logan, in our first house in North Ogden, and in our current house in Roosevelt. Within these five years, we've had one child and have one on the way. I will recap the past anniversary's just so that I remember what we've done to commemorate them. For our first anniversary, we went to my parent's cabin in Farmington Canyon. The next year, we went to Jackson Hole and saw the Bar J Wranglers and stayed in a Teton Mountain Resort. The third year, we went to Salt Lake and stayed in the Hilton Hotel and ate at Olive Garden. Last year, we went out to Salt Lake and watched a movie at the IMAX theatre and went to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. This was actually a treat because there were no nice theatres or restaurants around here. Ben started the tradition of getting me two dozen roses. This year was low key, due to busy schedules traveling somewhere was out of the question. So we just went to a nice dinner at the Hollow Moon Cafe (yes, they finally got a nice restaurant nearby) and we went to see the Incredible Hulk. When we got married 5 years ago, that movie had just come out and we saw it on our honeymoon, so it only seemed fitting to see it again.

As I reflect on the past five years, we've had a lot of good times and we've had our share of disagreements too. It hasn't been all rosy, but I suppose it would be naive to expect any marriage to be. All in all, things have been pretty good. So, here's to many more!

Mommy & Me Swim Class

This week, Maddix and I have been going to a Mommy & Me swimming class at the pool. It has been fun, except for a couple of days with cold weather. Maddix seems to like the water and his favorite thing to do is to stand on the side of the pool and wait for me to count to three and then jump into my arms. Except, he sometimes doesn't wait for me to get to three. And after doing this a couple of days, he's gotten really brave. On Friday, he just wanted to jump in and did not want me to catch him! I didn't let him do it, because I know he'll freak out when his whole head goes under...crazy little Kamikaze. As for the second picture, we were starting to get ready to go to swimming lessons and Maddix spotted his Grandpa Larry outside and just insisted on trying to get out there. He knows he has to put on shoes and a hat, so he improvised. He had his swimming diaper in hand and put that on his head and slipped his shoes on. Who cares about pants when you've got underwear on? Next thing I know, I see him trying to escape out the front door looking like this! He just kept saying, "I ready Grandpa" over and over. Who knows, maybe he'll be starting a new fashion trend for toddler boys?!?

Chantilly Place

I have always wanted to be an event planner or a wedding planner. I love everything about weddings and have many ideas. I don't really consider myself a creative person, but when it comes to weddings or parties I really feel like I found my creative niche. My mother and father-in-law have a beautiful blue Victorian home with a gorgeous yard. They've had their kids wedding receptions there and various nieces as well. In Roosevelt, there is nowhere nice to have a reception/wedding. Since Pam has had several weddings at her house, all of them I've been around for and helped plan, we really got thinking last summer. My brother-in-law Beau was getting married and we were helping with that wedding. I mentioned many of my ideas and also told Pam how I'd love to be a wedding planner. She said that since she always puts a lot of work into her yard regardless if there is a wedding that summer or not, that I could establish a wedding business and offer it to the public. So, I got to thinking about a name and came up with 'Chantilly Place'...which is a sort of pun on Chantilly Lace a special lace used for wedding dresses. I think it sounds so quaint and weddingish. Then I began designing brochures and distributing them around town to floral departments, hair/tanning salons, etc. Well, it got off to a slow start with no paying customers last year, but we still did two weddings (Beau & Nicole and Pam's niece Laury & Johnny). Well this year I decided to take a chance and put some more money into my advertising. I made up a radio ad and had it played on X94, the young/hip radio station. It went as follows with the classical song that is played at many weddings now by Pachbel, titled 'Canon in D' playing softly in the background. "Nestled on the grounds of a grand Victorian estate, is a beautiful location to have the garden wedding or reception you've always dreamed of. Chantilly Place is a naturally beautiful outdoor area adorned with fountains, pergolas, gazebos, and flower gardens. This a beautiful place to have a wedding from late spring thru early fall. For more information call Lisa at 725-0577. Book your wedding today at Chantilly Place where they say something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...we'll be your something blue. Located in Roosevelt at the "Blue Victorian." The 'blue Victorian' is the unofficial name people in town use to refer to the Glines' residence. Pam and I are partners. I am in charge of advertising, getting business and being the one with whom the brides work. Pam is in charge of keeping the yard up. Then we both pitch in on the wedding day for set-up, etc. Well, the good news is that this summer we have two bona fide weddings booked that are not pro bono. Both brides are having their wedding and reception with us. Now we just have to pray for good weather on those two dates since we are an outdoor facility only. I am really excited to see how both weddings turn out. I think both brides have great taste and it will be fun to see how things turn out. It has been something to keep me a little busy and has been nice to put some of the things I learned in college to use as far as advertising, PR, etc. Now if we could just get brides with substantial budgets and could decorate very extravagantly, my wedding planning dreams would be complete. My next venture in further establishing this business is creating a website or a blog.

Happy 30th Birthday Ben!

On May 30th, Ben turned 30 years old. We had a small get together at his parent's house with his brother and sister-in-law, Beau and Nicole, and Granny Helen. We had yummy cake and ice cream! Maddix is such a good little helper, trying to contribute to the blowing out of the candles. He thought the cake was for him. I can't believe Ben is 30, and I'm almost 29! Time really flies when you get older. I remember being little and always waiting to get older. I couldn't wait until I was a teenager, then sixteen, then eighteen, then twenty-one. Twenty-one however seems like the last birthday I was anticipating!

Hallelujah!...Nana Connie, Grandma Pam, Grandpa Lou, Grandpa Larry

This is a little tribute to my funny Maddix. He was at his Grandma Pam and Grandpa Larry's house one day. Larry likes to watch old westerns and had one on the television. On the show, the people were sitting around a fire and singing a song that said "Hallelujah" a lot. Grandma and Grandpa started singing it and clapping their hands over their heads like on the movie, they told Maddix to do it too. So, he did and it has really caught on. At first he was a little shy about doing it, but now not so much. One day we were out working in the yard and Maddix was just off by himself not talking to either of us and out of the blue I heard him singing "hal-lou-la!" And that's how he says it. I thought it was so funny! I just wonder what's going this his little mind?!? Which brings me to the next little thing he's picked up. He now knows the first names of all his Grandma's and Grandpa's and Mom and Dad. And just out of the blue, he'll start rattling them off. He'll say Nana Connie, Grandma Pam, Grandpa Lou, and then he sometimes gets a little confused with the other Grandpa's name probably because they both are called grandpa and their names both start with L's. But he does know who his Grandpa Larry is. Well, then he used to call Ben, Ben...except he'd always shout it. Then one day, he started calling Ben the nickname he had when he was a kid, Benji. No one really calls him this, except for me and maybe his mom every once in a while. So, now he always calls him Benji. One day in nursery they gave the kids a little booklet about their bodies. There is a picture of a boys face and they are wanting the children to realize that it is the head. Well, I was reading it to him and asked him what this was called and he says, "Benji." Well, as you can see in the picture above, there is certainly a resemblance. For a while he would never say my name. When asked what my name was, he'd say Mama or Mommy. Well, now he's knows my name and is not afraid to use it. If he's trying to get my attention he'll say Mama and if I don't respond right away, he'll start saying Lisa over and over again. And then, in the middle of the night he wakes up often and he'll call out for me. He'll usually say mom for a while, which I can try to ignore and then if that doesn't work he'll call Lisa which I can't resist any longer and I'll usually go get him...he really knows how to tug on my heartstrings.

New Baby

As I stated in my previous entry, I am pregnant. I am due on September 15th. I am currently 21 weeks along. I was not able to find out what I was having until I was 19 weeks. I was very impatient and wanted to know right then because friends that I know who are pregnant and due around the same time as me already knew what they were having. Well, I found this website that claimed they could predict the gender of your baby with nearly 100% accuracy based off the husband and wife's birth dates and the due date. Well, since they were only charging $18 and they claim they'll reimburse you if they are incorrect, I thought what the heck? So I gave it a try. You can imagine my excitement when the results said it was a girl! Well, upon further review of the information I put in, I realized that I had put Ben's birth year in wrong. He was born in '78 and I put it down as '79. Well, I emailed them immediately and asked if this would change the results. They didn't respond right away, in fact I had to email them three times and finally about 2 weeks later, they finally responded saying that now my results were that I was having a boy! Well, a week later, sure enough the big hospital ultrasound revealed it was in fact a boy! I am fine with the fact that it's a boy. I hope he and Maddix will be good little buddies and they'll always have a friend to play with. So, although it does put a dampener on my decorating plans, we will save a lot of money on clothes, bedding, etc. So, we are excited to have another boy in the family. I just hope that I will get one girl, that's all I ask. All our friends that have little girls say that boys are much easier and that we're lucky! So far, we've been really lucky with Maddix since he's been a very mild tempered child. We couldn't ask for a better kid, he's all boy, but not too wild and crazy (yet, at least)! Another plus to having a boy is that it will probably be easier to find a name. He will probably be named Cooper, which is my maiden name. I do like that name for a boy, but I'm just a little worried that I could get tired of it easily since it was attached to my name for 23 years. We'll see what happens. Unless we find another name that...

A. we absolutely love and

B. that we both agree upon

it will be most likely Cooper. The rest of the good news from the ultrasound was that everything looks healthy and that's what matters most. And although I'm not sure Maddix quite understands the whole thing, I'll tell him to talk to the baby, and he says, "Hi brother". But sometimes he thinks that he has a baby in his tummy!

Catching Up

As I stated before I'm going to start by catching up where I left off in my journal. My last entry was in May 2007, and only that recent because I gave a lesson in Young Women's on journal keeping and felt like a hypocrite, so I made a catch up entry. So, I'll just touch on the main events to get caught up. I went to girl's camp in June. It was the first time I'd spent the night away from Maddix let alone four nights!! I missed him a lot, but I'm glad I got to experience girl's camp again. You don't get to have those week long spiritual highs as an adult, so it was really rewarding. Plus our girl's our truly the best! They are all great, sweet, spiritual, fun girls and just a blast to be around. Also, I made a great friend in the process. I was the assistant camp leader, and the camp leader was the cutest, nicest lady named Vicki Jenkins. Despite our age differences, I sort of felt like we are kindred spirits. We had a lot in common and just loved to talk! I think of Vicki as my favorite new acquaintance in Roosevelt. She actually doesn't live here anymore. She was lucky enough to find love again since her husband passed away and remarried and moved back to where she was from originally. I'm so happy for her, she deserves the best!

Other main events of the summer...there were a lot of firsts for Maddix. It was his first time going to Lagoon, Hogle Zoo, Bear Lake, etc. Ben's little brother Beau got married in July to the sweetest girl name Nicole. Maddix just adores her, as we all do. I couldn't have picked someone better even if I'd chosen her myself. It was a nice wedding in the Vernal temple and the reception was especially nice at "Chantilly Place" aka the Glines' residence. It was nice to have extended family in town for the wedding. Maddix especially enjoyed playing with Aunt Malissa, Uncle Charles, and Amelia. Maddix stole the show when he was dancing!

The rest of the summer flew by of course, and we didn't get to go on vacation until late fall. Ben's family all decided to go back east to visit Malissa's family. We went shortly after Thanksgiving. It was a really fun trip. We got to stay in New Canaan, CT at the Schwart's gorgeous house. We visited the Atlantic Ocean. We also went to NYC. We visited Ellis Island and took a ferry ride past the Statue of Liberty. We went shopping in China Town. Later that weekend we were actually able to stay in the city at Hotel QT right off of Times Square, where Malissa worked. It was fun to stay right down town once. We went to "The Lion King" on Broadway which was wonderful! Thanks to Malissa and Charles, the hotel stay and Broadway tickets were our Christmas gift. That's one we'll always remember! It was fun to be there at that time of year because the city was decorated for Christmas. We got to see the huge tree at Rockefeller center. We got to see all the cute Christmas window displays at Macy's. The city seemed magical at this time of year. Malissa and I took a quick trip into Macy's. It was humongous... like seven floors. There was a whole floor just for women's shoes...heaven! We took a stroll through Central Park, and made a special stop at FAO Schwarz toy store for Maddix. It was a very enjoyable trip. Maddix experienced his first time on an airplane (that was Granny Helen's first plane ride too!), train, subway, ferry, and taxi. Good times.

At this time, Ben decided to quit his job at Newfield, the oil company. He decided to pursue construction full time. He actually joined up with another general contractor, Matt Neilsen. So far so good. They've combined work and have been very busy! Ben is a great provider for our family and I'm thankful that he works hard so that I can stay home.

Also at this time, there was a new addition in the Cooper family. My little brother Derek and his wife Betty had a beautiful baby girl. Her name is Kaitlyn Lucy. She's a doll!! It was a fun time of year because Betty is from Mexico City and her parent's have never been to the United States. So, they were able to come and stay for about a month over Christmas time to see the new baby. We got to celebrate Christmas with her parents, Mario and Lucilla. We all love them and enjoyed having them here.

Although it was Maddix's second Christmas, it was the first one where he kind of got the concept of Santa Clause. Well, he at least could recognize him. He would refer to him as "Ho Ho"! He even got to visit him at the Christmas Village in Ogden. That was fun, he was a little scared, but did pretty well with sitting on a stranger's lap. Maddix had fun opening his presents on Christmas morning. He also went sledding for the first time on Christmas Eve at the park by our house. It was a memorable Christmas!

A few weeks later, Ben and I found out that I am pregnant! We waited to tell our families until I was 12 weeks along. That was tough! Meanwhile, Maddix turned 2 and had a birthday party! He got spoiled as usual by all the relatives. It was a "sports" themed party with a birthday cake that looked like a basketball jersey, and Ben and I got him his first basketball hoop. At first he just liked to knock it over and ride on it like a horse. But now, he is actually good at making baskets.

When we finally broke the news to our families, we had Maddix do it with a message on a specially made t-shirt. It has a little turtle on the front that says, "SHHH I have a secret... then on the the back it says, "I'm going to be a big brother!" Maddix will be the best big brother. He has been carrying a baby boy doll around for a several months now. He loves babies, especially baby girls! Maddix has been growing up so fast. He is suddenly speaking really well. He'll try to say almost anything now. He is so much fun to have around.

Well, I think I've hit the main points in a nutshell. That's a relief to be caught up to the present time.

Bloggin' Bandwagon

I am jumping on the blogging bandwagon and starting one for our family. My main reason for doing this, is that I want to turn over a new leaf and really make a good effort at the whole journal thing. I've never been successful at keeping a journal, but do understand the importance of them. I am going to be playing catch up from where I left off at in my last journal entry. I will mainly do updates of significant events that happen to our family, with an occasional day-to-day moment that I will want to remember and cherish. Well, here goes nothing!