It's super official now...we have a walker!

The past two days Cooper has walked in little bits from one person to another. This morning he woke up and was on a mission, walking all around. Granted he often falls or slowly lowers himself to a crawl at some point in his adventure, but today he was walking. He was moving from one piece of furniture to another, letting go to walk for a toy and of course walking anywhere he could with someone to hold on to. I can't believe how fast time has gone by, he is so big!

In other news today, our house is still in the process of getting painted. There was more dust inside today, so we tried to keep the kids away until we were able to get it under control this evening. Tabitha had us over for dinner and play time, it is so great to have such wonderful neighbors. Kylie had preschool with Big Kylie this morning and learned about the letter "Q" and made a little quilt. Kylie and Portia put on dancing outfits and shoes and performed for us on Marjorie's front porch. Later in the evening, Uta and her dog Kisu came out to play with the kids. Kisu is such a sweet little dog, all the kids just love playing with him (more pictures soon to come).

PJ's on for evening play time with Kisu.

 They played really well together today, it's so fun to see the play evolve.

 Kylie likes to check to make sure her lip gloss is still on. She must have asked me 10 times "is my lip gloss still on?" "Yes, Ky it's still there, want to see?" "Yes! How much do I have on?" "Lots." "Like a ton?" "yes, Ky like a ton." biggest smile ever, oh this girl and her lip glass :o)

Just a quick update since it is bed time :o)
Good night,
Natalie

Coopie is walking!

Yesterday Auntie Marta came back to California to visit. Cooper must have felt like trying to impress her to encourage her to stay. After a family dinner to celebrate Marta's birthday, we were all sitting around my parents living room and Coopie started going back and forth between Craig and I. He started out wanting to hold a finger, then started simply throwing himself in the right direction, hoping his feet could keep up. But with a little practice he started walking, really walking between us. We were all so excited and cheered him on every step. He has done this a few times before, but last night he was really practicing and working hard. I think he probably did about 8 steps in a row, go Coopie go! Today he was not very eager to practice, but once Craig got home he walked back and forth a couple times. He is a VERY fast crawler, so I think he may continue to default to crawling for a little longer, but either way it was fun to see him working so hard and having so much fun. He is becoming such a little boy, it is all going by WAY to fast. He still loves to nurse, but boy Cooper loves his food, there are some meals where I think he actually eats more then Kylie does. He is also communicating more and more. Still no official words, but he is making lots of different sounds and often imitates different animal noises. He can identify all of us, but has yet to say "dada" or "mama." Cooper is a wild boy when he nurses (most of the time). He climbs all around, sticking his butt up in the air, then sitting down quickly, flopping his head back and forth, grabbing my armpit skin and working it between his fingers, then he pops off just to pull up my shirt and give me a zer-bert on my tummy, then he is back nursing. It is a little like a circus. Even more so when Kylie is nursing too. They poke at each other and try to get each other to pop off, kick at each other and sometimes if Kylie stops nursing to tell me something, Cooper tries to sneak in and take her side. Then there are times when they are super sweet and hold hands or gently touch each others faces. It's moments like this that make me happy I decided to tandem nurse them.

So here are a few photos from the past couple days...
 

 Mother's Day, the "kids" got me a Keurig, yay!!!

 This past Saturday I had to work at the hospital during the day and at the BI in the evening. Craig decided to take the kids to the beach to meet up with Doe, Lala, Stephanie and Papa David. They had lots of fun, but boy did I miss them.

 On Sunday we took a little trip to Target, Coopie got fancy.

 Auntie Marta had a candle in her ice-cream cone.

 Coopie at church.

 Cooper asked to wear his "my auntie rocks" shirt just for her party.

 "What? I don't know where my corn on the cob went!"

 Sunday afternoon we celebrated Misheel's 3rd Birthday.

And today, Memorial Day, Craig had to work so the kids and i spent time with the extended family, it was a great day. We are also in the middle of having the outside of our house painted! It is looking great!
Good night for now,
Natalie

We had a busy April, here is a quick run down...

Besides the wedding and Cooper turning 10 months, we had a few more fun events...

 Craig and I headed down to watch the bicycle races while our families pulled together a surprise party for him! I don't often get to surprise him, but I actually pulled this one off!

 The kids were very helpful with the decorating for our baseball themed party.

 Cooper is in the stage of open-mouth kisses, and I LOVE it!

 Some of Craig's family drove in to surprise him and even Roy made the trip down from Sac.

 Yummy, Red velvet cake from Michele's. I'm glad Craig liked it, I only felt a little lame when I didn't know what his favorite cake would be. When the party was over I asked him what his favorite cake is, I felt better when he himself didn't have a good answer.

 Surprise!!!

 A glass of champagne to celebrate his birthday weekend and catching a little mouse that we had been after for about 2 weeks!

 Cooper is starting to really enjoy SkyTown, especially when there are so many little donkeys!

 Last year ago Kylie would not go near the foam pit, now she loves holding hands and jumping in.

 Look at those boys go!

 After a big morning of jumping and lunch out with all the friends, it is nap time! I was in between nursing them, once they fall asleep, I sneak away. I came back to find them snuggled up, so sweet.

 Tea time.

 Kylie and Mish decided to go on an adventure and make a "home" in the meadow between our houses.

 When we were cleaning up later, we found a little baby lizard under the pillow, it only freaked them out a little bit.

 Kylie loves dressing Cooper up...

 Us too, and then she likes to take photos of us, wonder where she gets that from? ;o)

 Our little "Gus Gus" at the library.

 He is often very quiet, I worry and rush to find out what he is getting in to, 95% of the time he is doing this...just reading (or ripping the pages out of a book).

 Melissa moved to Albuquerque :o( we had a little going away party for her. 

 And the kids got icecream.

 Kylie likes to watch me do my make-up. One day she decided to do her own make-up with her sidewalk chalk.

 Rachel asked me to watch the girls while she went to the DMV. I decided that we should take a walk to Olive Market then play at the school. The girls did great! we all got a little drink and enjoyed a snack. Only one person said "so you just kept trying until you got a boy, huh?"

 Everyone was to tired to walk home, so I got my workout in and carried Cooper and Emerson and pulled the other 4 girls in the wagon, good times.

 Another sweet moment while I was making dinner. I would hear them quietly playing and snapped this shot. Although Kylie often gets frustrated with Coopie, sometimes they play very well together and it makes my heart happy.

 I started a necklace project for the breastfeeding group, it has been so fun encouraging women to continue to breastfeed, our group started with only 3 mommies and now has around 17 each week!

Michele's bridal shower...the flower girls :o)

 And the next day Olivia turned ONE!

 Julia turned one in March, 6 weeks later Olivia turned one, 6 more weeks and it will be Cooper's Birthday!

 Coopie loves to ride on Papas scooter.

 The queens.

 More from Olivia's Bear Birthday.

Well that was April! Now it is time to catch up for May :o)
-Natalie