Memorial Day Weekend 2010

We headed up to the cabin for Memorial Day Weekend with the entire Wadley clan.

Mason had a blast with a water balloon fight (despite the accidental blow to the head with a plastic bat),

sprinkler fun,

swimming in the lake, making new friends,

and paddle boating with Dad.

Cooper had fun playing in the lake with Erik,

fishing for water balloons,

and driving the boat with Daddy.

An Afternoon Walk for a Good Cause

The Voth family took to the sidewalks of Lake Nokomis for the afternoon for the 2010 Take Steps for Crohn's & Colitis walk in support of Auntie Rachel who has diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 2009.

Chillaxin

Daddy's Little Helper

Great Grandma Holden gave Cooper a Bubble Mower for his birthday, which has proven to be his favorite outside toy, especially when Daddy is outside mowing the lawn.

The classic tongue out approach to hard work/concentration...a Wadley trait at its best!

Boys, Boys, Boys

I still find it funny that I am from a family of three (3) girls and the first three (3) Wadley grandchildren are all boys. Emily and I got the boys together to take some pictures for my mom for Mother's Day. It took a few shots, but in the end we got a good pic with all the boys sitting still and looking at the camera.

We like to party, we like, we like to party!

It was finally time for Cooper's big birthday party. His theme was inspired by the classic Hand Hand Fingers Thumb by Al Perkins, which is Cooper's favorite book. The planning and preparations of Cooper's party rivaled Mason's first birthday party (a Go Dog Go theme) with elaborate invitations and character cutting.

The day was perfect and we were thankful to share Cooper's first birthday with our family and friends. Cooper thoroughly enjoyed his party, cupcake and presents.

Thank you to everyone who helped make his birthday so special.

Cooper's 1 Year Stats

Height: 30 inches (51st percentile)

Weight: 23 pounds (49th percentile)

Head Circumference: 19 1/4 inches (96th percentile)

# of Teeth: 9 (which includes his first molar)

Words/Sounds: Dada, Mama, Dog, Duck, Quack, Moo, Woof

Likes: Animals, food (especially blueberries), brushing teeth, playing outside, remotes, dancing, being silly (Cooper thinks he is pretty funny), anything Mason is doing

Dislikes: Not being able to play with Mom's phone, sharing toys with Mason

Happy Birthday Cooper!!!

My baby is one, how is this possible? It feels like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. I had an extra emotional week with Cooper turning one and Mason going to Kindergarten Round Up. Everything with these boys goes by so fast.

Cooper started his birthday with his friends at Anna's Bananas, which even included a pizza lunch (they have pizza every Friday, so it was not really a special occasion, but Cooper loves pizza so it was special for him) and a birthday banner compliments of his teachers.

In honor of Cooper's birthday, Corey and I took an afternoon off of work and took the boys to zoo to see the farm babies. Cooper is fascinated with animals, so we couldn't have thought of a better way to spend time with him on his birthday. The weather was perfect to explore all of the outside animals at the zoo.

Later that afternoon while reading a book, Cooper surprised us by saying "duck" and "quack" in response to a big picture. He must know he is a big boy now that he is one.

For Cooper's birthday dinner, he was treated to pancakes and blueberries, along with some whipped topping, which he enjoyed very much.

Stay tuned next week for Cooper's birthday party!

Kindergarten Round Up

Much to my dismay, Mason will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and attending Meadowview Elementary in Farmington and after much debate, he will be attending Kindergarten full day through Farmington's Kinder Journey program in lieu of the traditional half day Farmington provides.

We had the opportunity to attend Kindergarten Round Up for our first official visit to the school (other than pre-K screening). Round up was complete with a group snack, a scavenger hunt around the school and practice on a school bus. Mason had quite the swagger as he strut around the school, I am pretty sure he is excited!

Happy Easter!

Our Easter weekend was very complete with lots of Easter related activities. Mason and I colored eggs together.

We woke up Easter morning to find that the Easter Bunny had made a visit to our house and filled the boys baskets with goodies.

Not only did the Easter Bunny fill the baskets, but he also hid all the eggs we colored. Good thing Mason and Cooper were able to find them all.

We ended our day at Grandma Geralyn and Grandpa Mike's house where not only did Grandma and Grandpa have baskets for the boys, but the Easter Bunny had stopped there too. The boys had two more egg hunts to make the day complete.

Fun with Friends

Mason, Cooper and I decided to join our friends for a morning at the Como Zoo. It is amazing how our group have friends have grown so quickly throughout the years. With 4 moms and 6 kids, we made it though the zoo and got in a picnic lunch before the rain started. I think this was a great way to spend a day off of work!

Mason (4 - not sure what this face is about), Henry (3), Addie (2), Jack (see back stroller - 6 weeks),

Ava (almost 2 - 23 months) and Cooper (almost 1 - 7 days before his big birthday)

Our Little Fishy Grows Up

Mason has been in a pool since he was 9 months old (thanks mostly to Grandma Geralyn and Grandpa Mike having a pool),

Mason's First Swim 05.26.06

but we as his parents have failed to ever get him into formal swimming lessons...until now. Mason started his first swim lessons at the Wise Swim School in Apple Valley. He was very excited to start as a Mini Dolphin and had an excellent first lesson. We are very much looking forward to seeing his swimming skills grow over the next twelve weeks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Cooper's First Haircut

After about a month of talking about it, I finally broke down and made an appointment at Kid's Hair (it's no Cool Cuts 4 Kids (shameless Regis plug), but was my only comparable option) for Cooper. I do not know why it was so hard for me to get his haircut, Mason had had 3 haircuts by the time he was Cooper's age, and he was definitely ready for a cut!

He did an amazing job for his first haircut and sat very nice most of the time. There were a couple tears with the razor and blow dryer, but besides that he was as content as can be. The finished product is...

Hawaiian Shirt Day

It was a beach week at Anna's Bananas that ended in Hawaiian Shirt Day. Luckily my mom had shirts in both the boys' sizes so I didn't even have to buy anything, which I would have, to participate in a fun day.

Love this Smile