Raquetball

Whenever I take the boys to the gym, they love to watch the basketball players shoot hoops. One day, we were watching the basketball players, and the boys went exploring further down the hall. They came across the raquetball courts and were very curious about this new sport they hadn't ever heard of before. We sat there and watched the raquetball players play for quite some time and I promised them that we would schedule a court for us next time we came to the gym. So thats what we did. We checked out 2 raquets and 2 balls from the fitness desk and got to play raquetball for 30 minutes. I didn't think they would really last that long, but they played hard and were hardly ready to quit after 30 minutes! I would bounce the ball for Jaxton to hit, and then bounce another ball for Cooper to hit, and we did this over and over and over while Baby Kaylee slept peacefully in her carseat in the corner of the court. (We turned her backwards so she wouldn't get hit with a ball). We had a blast. I was impressed with the determination both boys showed to hit that ball! After our 30 minutes, the boys were definitely worn out! It was a fun day!

Trip to the Dentist

Jaxton had a dentist appointment coming up and so I decided to squeeze in an appointment for Cooper too since he is 3 now. He was a bit nervous, so we read some books about the dentist and talked a lot about it for about a week. When the day arrived, we searched everywhere for 2 pairs of sunglasses to wear under the bright dentist light. Unfortunately we could only find 1 pair. So we had a dilemma, with 2 kids going to the dentist and only 1 pair of sunglasses, what was I to do? I presented the problem to the boys, and Jaxton surprised me by offering Cooper the glasses since it was his very first dentist appointment. Wow, that went much easier than I expected. And come to find out, the dentist had an extra orange pair of sunglasses for Jax to use. So Cooper was still nervous at first and wanted me to sit with him on the chair. But soon enough, he warmed right up and enjoyed the experience. The dental hygienists at our dentist are beyond amazing with little kids. They made all the difference for them!!

Cooper

Look at those pearly whites!

Jaxton

Kaylee's House

I was getting the boys ready for bed one evening. I can usually trust Jaxton with Baby Kaylee because he loves to talk with her and is very gentle with her most of the time. So I was in the bathroom helping Cooper go potty, get on his pullup and jammies and brush his teeth. In the meantime, I came back out into the boys' room and this is what I found:

Jaxton had built a house for Kaylee all the way around where she was laying. He even gave her her pacifier as well has his new bear he got a preschool. It was too precious not to take a picture of it!

Lego Club

We discovered a super fun activity at the library called Lego Club. Basically they pull out 20 big containers of legos, tiny ones, large ones, battery powered ones, and lego pieces of just about everything you can possibly think of. Then they just let the kids go to work. For Jaxton, this is what you would call "heaven on earth." He forgot I was even around and was in his own little world building his "California Spaceship" to display on the table. Cooper created a spaceship as well with ABC legos that were easier for his hands to handle. They both loved building and creating things out of their imagination! Once the kids complete their project, they get to display it on a long table and write the name of their creation next to it. Then, the Lego Man takes a picture of each kid with their lego creation. We had a blast and plan to go often!

Jaxton and David's creation

Valentine's Day 2011

Happy Valentines' Day! The boy's made these beautiful valentines with all the supplies that Grandma Hutchinson left with them before she flew back to Utah. I let them create their valentines however they wanted using the supplies and glue. Then I printed them a photo to put on their valentines too so the recipient would know who they were from. They loved it! We gave them out to family members who loved their creations!

Kaylee had her own special Valentine's Day tutu outfit that she got to wear on this special holiday. Isn't she adorable! Whenever I take her pictures, I usually take about 10 in the same outfit and I always have the hardest time trying to pick out which ones to post. So here are 2 in her Valentine's Day tutu!

First Dress

This is Kaylee's very first dress of her life. She got to wear it to church today. Isn't she absolutely adorable?! I had more fun than I have had in a long time just playing dress up with her. She didn't mind it too much...I wasn't sure whether tights go under or over her onsie. At church today, unfortunately she soiled her beautiful dress because her tights were pulling down on her diaper which then leaked out the back. (I put her tights on under her onsie so the onsie could help hold the tights up since they are too long). I guess next week I will put the tights on over her onsie so the onsie can hold her diaper together! So I am still learning! But I think that having a little girl to dress up all cute is going to be a whole lot of fun!! Nate is a bigger shopper than I am and comes home frequently from his favorite stores with new clothes. He can't wait to take Kaylee with him to go shopping!! We can let Nate deal with the modesty issues at the mall when Kaylee is 15! Just kidding, we won't ever have any modesty issues, will we?! Lets hope not!

Fort Wayne Blizzard

Fort Wayne had a blizzard. I have never seen a blizzard in my life, but this sure was a blizzard. It started snowing, and then just got heavier and heavier snow fall later in the evening. Then the wind picked up and it was howling all night long. The wind got so strong and lasted almost all night! We looked out the window around 10pm and it was a white mess outside, snow falling, and blowing every which way that you could hardly see a few feet in front of you. We could see almost nothing out the window, but whiteness and wind. Definitely wouldn't want to be out in that at night. It made me think of the pioneers and the dreadful weather they had to endure with no cover at night. How grateful I am for our warm, cozy home! These are pictures of the next morning, when the sun came out. We got lots of inches of snow!!

One Month Old

Kaylee is one month old! I can't believe 4 weeks have flown by! She is smiling all the time. When she is in the right mood, after a nap and a snack, she really can focus on faces and communicate through her little facial expressions and her smiles. When she focuses on my eyes, her little nostrils flare, and her lips kind of form an "o" and you can tell she is really "communicating." Then her little arms will wave around and she will smile back at me. Sometimes if I am lucky she will make a little sound with her new found voice, like "Ahh," or "Ohh." I love those little moments when we connect with our eyes. She will smile at all sorts of people though, even people she's never seen before. And she loves to "talk" with her brothers and enjoys the attention they give her when they try to get her to focus with them. It is adorable. Happy 1 month birthday, Kaylee!

Cooper's Family Party

On Sunday, we had a family birthday party for Cooper. We got to eat the head of his Mad Ant cake and spend some birthday fun with Grandma & Grandpa Routsong, Grandma Great, and Aunt Marion. Cooper got a Toy Story trash truck from Grandma & Grandpa for his birthday, which he loves! Thanks Grandma! He wanted pizza for his birthday dinner, so we had BBQ chicken pizza and garlic alfredo pizza. He was so proud to say he was 3!

Cooper's Birthday Party

Cooper had a Mad Ants birthday party, after the Fort Wayne Mad Ants basketball team. It was a complete party with Cooper's own Mad Ants T-shirt. The colored streamers were red and yellow like the team colors, and we had basketball concession food: hot dogs, chips, hot popcorn, fruit, and punch. Not the healthiest, but it went with the theme! He had his Mad Ants cake, and basketball games. He had been looking forward to this day for a very very long time! I told him his birthday was in the "snow time." Well, it snowed back in November and so he has been waiting all fall and winter long! Finally it was here and it was a fun time!! He invited his friends, Emerson Lewis, Joey Newhard, and the Stump boys, Coby, Kye, and Cameron, and of course his best brother, Jaxton.

Kye Stump

Coby Stump

Emerson Lewis

Cameron Stump

We played a basketball game to go along with the theme. Each kid began at the closest point from the basketball hoop and tried to make a basket. Then they would go backwards a pace and try to make baskets from farther and farther away from the hoop. This is a game that Cooper and Daddy play at home in our basement often. It was fun watching the kids play and have fun shooting hoops, Cooper's favorite pasttime.

Presents time! He got some great new toys and gifts from all his friends. He got some Toy Story games from the Coby Kye and Cameron, a brand new basketball from Joey, and a hot wheels race track from Emerson. What fun! Thank you friends!

Time for cake! This was the best part for Cooper! Sugar time! He has been waiting for this moment to blow out his candles and eat his very own Mad Ants cake for months!! This is definitely the highlight for him!

Cooper's Birthday Morning

Since Cooper's birthday was on Monday, and his party was scheduled for Saturday, we decided to wait till Saturday to celebrate his birthday at all. This way, if he knew his birthday was on Monday, but he couldn't eat his cake or open presents (which he associates with birthdays) till Saturday, it would feel like an eternity to the little guy. So we just waited till Saturday. So Saturday morning, he knew it was his birthday. He came downstairs to find the house all decorated in yellow and red streamers with orange basketball balloons all over the place. There were presents on the fireplace for him and a cake, which he requested, a Mad Ant cake. What a happy day!

Cooper got a scooter for his birthday, and a spiderman battery powered toothbrush. He has been jealous of Jaxton's battery powered race car toothbrush and was excited to open his very own from Mom & Dad. No doubt he loved his scooter and rides it all through the house all the time!!

So about 6 months ago, I asked Cooper what kind of birthday he wanted to have and what kind of cake. Without a question, he told me he wanted a Mad Ants birthday. That is the local basketball team mascot here in Fort Wayne. He never changed his mind on that ever since he first thought of it. So that is what he got, a Mad Ants birthday! It took quite a bit of thought to figure out how to make a Mad Ants cake, but I think it turned out pretty good. After opening his presents in the morning, he asked, "but where is my cake?" I took him to see it since I finished it late the night before and he never saw the final result. We captured this look of joy on his face when he saw that cake! What a cutie!!

Happy Birthday Cooper!!!

Cooper is 3 years old today! I can hardly believe it! He is just growing up so fast! Here are some fun things about Cooper at his 3rd Year Birthday!

1. Cooper IS Spiderman. I think part of him really truly believes that he is The Spiderman. He wears his costume around the house all the time, sometimes with his mask and sometimes without. He loves to jump off the 4th stair or off the ladder on the bunk bed, and when he lands, he assumes the spiderman squat and shoots out his web. He tells me that he is strong because he is spiderman, and he can jump like that because he is spiderman. Everything brave he does, is because he is spiderman. Jaxton can't stand that he says that, because he knows Cooper is not spiderman. But Cooper is pretty convinced that he is!

2. Cooper's favorite thing to eat is snacks, or sugar. He is the snack king! He will go to great means to get his hands on some kind of candy or chocolate. And I can try anything to get him to eat dinner, but all he really wants to eat are snacks!!

3. Cooper goes to Nursery at church. Just before Kaylee was born, he was loving Nursery. His favorite teacher was "Grandma Cathy," one of the Nursery workers. Over a year ago when Cooper would cry when we left him in Nursery, Grandma Cathy would take him and hold him pretty much the entire time. Eventually he realized that Nursery wasn't so bad. He still relied on Grandma Cathy but began participating and then he grew to love Nursery so much! Unfortunately, just recently Grandma Cathy got released from her nursery job, and Cooper has had a bit of a hard time adjusting without her. She was so good with him, and still today he talks about her. He would say that she is his favorite teacher. She definitely made an impact on his little life!

4. Cooper really likes karate. We watched The Karate Kid as a family recently, and he was enthralled with karate as a sport. Another time we watched The Three Ninjas as a family, and again, he was glued to the ninja's kicking and punching actions! Of course after the movies both times, he turned into the karate kid or a ninja and just ran all around the house kicking and punching in the air just like the characters in the movies. The boys have some karate outfits from their cousins and they love to dress up in them and "fight" one another. It's pretty funny when the outfits are size 8 and 10, so their sleeves and pants are rolled up 4 times to keep their hands and feet usable! Jaxton usually lets Cooper punch him down so Cooper always feels like he is winning the "battle!"

5. Cooper's favorite sports team (if you can have a favorite sports team at age 3) is the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. It is the D-League basketball team here, and since we have season tickets, we go often to watch them. Cooper loves to watch the game and eat concession popcorn. Its his favorite thing to do ever! He has made friends with the Mad Ant mascot this season and does not fear him anymore like he used to. He also loves to give high fives to the basketball players at the beginning of the 2nd half of each game!

6. Though he thinks he is Spiderman, he also believes his is a basketball player. Thus, he always has to wear basketball shorts everyday. Since it is snowing and winter here, I make him wear long pants or jeans when we leave the house of course, so he insists on wearing basketball shorts underneath his jeans. Sometimes when he is at other peoples' houses, they see him wearing 2 sets of pants and they always raise their eyebrows. But Cooper wouldn't have it any other way!

7. Cooper is cute about his nightly ritual. After jammies are on and teeth are brushed if we forget scriptures, he is sure to remind us. He also makes sure he wears big boy pants on top of his pull-up. Then we say "Cooper Prayers" and "Jaxton Prayers," their personal prayers together by each of their beds. Before leaving their room, Cooper always will say "Goodnight! I love you!" and blow 2 kisses to us from his bed. He cannot relax and cozy up in bed if we do not repeat back "Goodnight! I love you!" and blow 2 kisses back to him. If I forget, or I leave before he says it, he will start yelling it louder and louder and begin to get anxious and start to cry. So I always have to come back up the stairs to repeat back to him his phrase, "Goodnight! I love you!" It is a super cute little trademark of his own.

8. Cooper is super independent and stubborn. He always wants to do everything by himself and try to do adult things by himself. Though frustrating sometimes, it is a good quality to have. He likes to make his own toast. Jaxton would rather I just did it. Same with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He wants to spread the peanut butter and jelly. If he wants a snack that is up high in the pantry, he just pulls over a tall chair to reach it. Same with food in the fridge like yogurt. He will just get a tall chair or stool, climb all the way up on top of the freezer part to reach something. He wants to pour his own milk and applejuice, get his own plate, fork, cup, or bowl of his choice, and brush his teeth on his own. He never wants help. If its something i don't want him to do by himself, like pour milk from a full milk jug or brush his teeth at night he suggests, "together, together." So we both use our hands together and do the action together. It's a great compromise he came up with all by himself. Its another cute trademark phrase I don't want to ever forget!

9. Cooper loves swimming lessons. He is a master swimmer! His ambition and determination are in place in the pool just the same as anywhere else. But in the pool he also has joy. He just loves the anticipation of going under the water. He comes up with a huge grin after going under. His physical strength is apparent too when he swims, kicking his legs, and swimming his arms. He really does have a lot of strength. His favorite is the marshmellow stick that he can hold onto with his arms and it keeps him afloat. Then he kicks his legs and can swim across the pool with absolutely no help. He loves it! Now that he is 3 he is old enough for the preschool level classes without me in the pool with him. He will love it!

10. Just like his nightly rituals, he always makes Nate come kiss him before work. In fact, he always shows a frown when Nate is getting ready to leave and he pleads with Nate to stay home with him. Unfortunately, Nate has to work, so Cooper consents to have him leave, only on the condition that he gives him hugs and kisses before he leaves. If Nate forgets to give him kisses, he makes him come back inside to do so. It is very important to him. He loves his daddy so very much. Later, when he hears the garage overhead door opening, he will run and open the door to the garage to greet Nate when he comes home. A couple times he would go down into the garage as Nate is pulling in, just antsy with excitement. We've had to keep an eye on him and teach him to stay on the stairs platform so he doesn't get run over by Nate's truck. Even so, he is so excited when he sees his Daddy. He loves him so very much!

Jaxton & Mom Time

Jaxton and I have begun having some "Jaxton & Mommy Time" while Cooper is taking is occasional naps. Sometime Kaylee joins in with us if she is awake, but we especially focus on things that Jax and I can do together. First we made a picture list of all the things we could do together that would be fun, and then every time we get "Jaxton & Mom Time" Jax will pick something off of his list that he wants to do with just me. Today he chose to build a city out of blocks, one of his most favorite things to do. So we worked on this creation together. Another time we made fruit kabobs and Jax got to cut all the fruit with a sharp knife (with a little assistance) and we even shared our treat with Dad who was working in the office. I love spending time with Jax, and since he is in preschool, I don't often get any one-on-one time with him. So this has been a lot of fun for the both of us!

Best Friends

With the arrival of Kaylee, the boys have noticed that I am a bit more preoccupied and busy throughout the day. And somewhat unconsciously, they have turned to one another since I have been busy. Kaylee has definitely helped to bring the boys together. They have become such good friends! It is not to say that they don't fight; they do. But more than ever before, they have been playing and having loads of fun together. They love to wrestle with one another. They love to dress up as karate kids and wrestle each other to the ground. They have been coming up with silly ideas of fun things to do all by themselves. One day they decided to draw some pictures and then bind their pages together with paperclips to create a book. They were so proud of that creation. Another day, they went upstairs to play together for "quiet time" and when their "quiet time" was all done, I went up to check on them. They had blocked the door shut with the table and had created a "machine." So I let them be, and set 2 chocolate eggs outside the toy room door for them to find when they came out. I didn't want to disturb their fun! (or disturb my peace and quiet downstairs!). Sometimes they pull out blankets and pull each other around the hard wood floor on the blanket taking rides. Other times they get their slippers on and go "ice skating" on the hard wood. One time they created an obstacle course with pillows in a circle that they would jump from "lilly pad to lilly pad." They play hide and seek all the time. One will hide in the same place every time and the other will count to 10 and then go find them in the exact same place as last time! One time Jaxton hid in the upstairs hall closet where we keep all the pillows and blankets. Well, the first shelf got pushed out of place and fell down on him, so Cooper was working to pull him out of the collapsed hiding place with all his might. They have become a little team and it is so much fun for me to watch them play together and find joy in each others' company. That was our plan in having them close in age, was so they could have each other.

A Big Brother 2 Times!

Jaxton is so proud to say that he is a big brother 2 times now, since he is a big brother to Cooper and a big brother to Kaylee! Kaylee is the split image of Jaxton as a newborn baby. Even her little bit of hair is his copper color. Sometimes it is like de sha vu for me when I look at her. And Jaxton absolutely adores his little sister. He is very gentle with her and loves to "talk" to her. Sometimes I will lay Kaylee down on a blanket and let Jaxton sit with her, and he just talks to her, makes silly faces at her, sings in her ear, and holds her hands. She just takes it all in! She loves the attention he gives her. It is adorable to see her looking up at him, smiling at him, and cooing at him. I think the two of them already have a special bond of some kind. It is one of the most precious things ever!

Grandma Hutchinson

Grandma Hutchinson came to be here for Kaylee's arrival. We were sure that she would come a week or 2 early since both boys were 5 and 9 days early. So about Christmas time, we almost didn't go down to Lafayette for our family get-to-gether in fear that I would go into labor and be 3 hours from my doctor. So Grandma arrived the day after Christmas, also worrying that she would miss baby's arrival. So Christmas came and went, Grandma arrived, New Year's came and went, and still no sign of baby!! But we were lucky to have about 2 full weeks of fun with Grandma. Grandma got to have a mini vacation with us and spend time with me and the boys before we put her to work when baby came! We had a lot of fun doing fun artsy crafts, going to the library, out to lunch, and the boys got to have one-on-one dates with Grandma to the movies and the mall. Then, when Kaylee came finally, she got straight to work. She was super helpful with the boys and Nate and I didn't even have to think or worry if the boys were ok. She just took care of them and they loved every minute. It was very nice to have extra hands so I could focus on my new baby girl, getting to know her, figuring out nursing again, and learning what she needed. Thank you mom for all your help. We all love and appreciate you so very much!