Happy Birthday, my sweet Cooper!

Well, my oldest turned six today. I can't hardly believe it. Cooper is six years old. It seems like a second ago I was in the delivery room at Lakeside Women's Hospital with my sweet little boy. I was reflecting back at my thoughts and emotions as I held Cooper those first few days. There were so many thoughts. I was so excited to be a mother, and so apprehensive at my own abilities...those thoughts, I have found, don't change. I thought my little one was so beautiful, he had so much hair and was a whopping 8.8 lbs.! Of all the things that I remember, I wanted to "meet" Cooper. That is how I have felt every time my babies have blessed my home. I wanted to see what his personality is, what he loves and dislikes. What his talents are, what he gets excited about. Since that cold, clear January day six years ago I have found that Cooper has been a blessing to me and everyone he meets. I have also learned that he is a sweet boy who loves the color yellow, he loves to sing and just loves music in general. He is able to pick up songs very quickly and memorize things quite easily. Cooper loves to draw and color. He enjoys "crafting". One of his favorite pastimes is playing "Phillip and Stephanie". He loves is doll, "Ella". She has been nearly inseperable from him since I found out I was pregnant with my Ella. Cooper is very compassionate. He thinks about how others feel. He absolutely loves is baby sister and is a very good brother to Greyson, who in turn loves him very much and looks up to him. He is a very active little guy. Something funny about Cooper, I have found, is that Cooper likes his rest. When it is bedtime, his head will hit the pillow and he will be out like a light. Coop is a natural born leader and is quite stubborn, as well. That character trait can serve him well, if he is stubborn for the right. I have also found that I have a little perfectionist on my hands. As a mother, I have seen myself reflected in my oldest many times. Cooper has been a blessing to me since the moment I found out I was pregnant with him. I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be a mother, the greatest calling. Happy birthday my sweet, Cooper!

We had a great day. Cooper started the day bright and early. I was groggily nursing Ella around 6:00 this morning when I hear "I'm 6!", "I'm 6 years old today!". At fist I thought Cooper yelled, "I'm sick", but then I quickly figured out what he said and it made both me and Phillip chuckle. Phillip got up with Cooper, who wasn't going to go back to sleep, after all, "he's 6"! Cooper was able to pry me out of bed a little after 7:00 (Ella's been keeping me up), and open presents. He was very excited about what he got and it was fun to watch him open his presents. He headed off to school shortly after the presents with the promise that I would come to school with cupcakes that afternoon. Well, I got a call a little after 1:00 telling me that Cooper that thrown-up (yikes). So, I rushed to school to go get him. Cooper had had a coughing fit during rest-time and had thrown-up. It is the school's policy that if the student throws up then they need to go home. So, Coop got out a little early...he loved that. I talked to the teacher and we are going to do cupcakes tomorrow. We headed to my mom's house to finish a craft I have been working on and Cooper was surprised by a call. My sweet sister called Cooper and sang "Happy Birthday" to him (with the help of her little boys) and he loved every second of it. He got the biggest smile and he smiled until his eyes twinkled. It was so cute. Later, Cooper got to pick out where he wanted to go out to dinner this evening. He chose New China. It's a buffet and he said that he didn't want to wait for his food, so that is why he chose there. Hmmm... Anyway, we ate there and then off to Wal-Mart to choose his cake and ice cream. He chose a white cake with yellow and white frosting. He was even able to choose the color the frosting for his name and he requested an orange balloon,as well. We then came back to our house and my parents and Whit and her family came over and there were more presents to open (yay) and cake and ice cream. Cooper had a lot of fun. He got a Fisher Price digital camera and enjoyed snapping pictures of everything from the dog to his cousin eating while everyone was there. Very cute. Thank you everyone who spoiled my little one...who I guess isn't very little anymore. Happy birthday, sweet Coop!Cooper is opening is Tinker Toys from Auntie Lib. Thank you, Auntie !!

The sibilings usually get a small gift to open. Greyson opened a couple of books and he was very excited and happy about them.

Cooper got a couple of Leapster games. He loves them!

Yay for Fisher Price!

Happy Birthday, Cooper!!

Weddings, Tupperware and Veggie Tales

Okay, okay so those things might not neccesarily go together, but that is what my family and I have been up to. Those things are also the reason that I haven't been posting much lately. Last week I spent a good portion of time doing something related to my sister-in-law, Emily's, wedding. Emily asked me if I would do the flowers for her wedding. With help from my mother, we did my other sister-in-law's flowers for her wedding. So, I suppose that Emily thought that I could do hers, as well. Emily's wedding flowers tended to be a bit more difficult for me to do. There were actually quite a bit less flowers, but it was the type of flowers that I had to work with that was the problem. Since Emily had a winter wedding, she chose blue flowers with crystals. It was something that neither myself, or my mom had worked with. We were able to muddle through, but the flowers ended up being exactly what Emily had wanted. *Whew*! I didn't take pictures of the flowers, I ment to, but never got around to it. When we get pictures of the wedding maybe I can figure out how to post them. On Thursday afternoon we headed down to the City to help decorate for Emily's reception. She had it at the Capitol building. It was free to rent (can you believe that?!!) and I recommend that EVERYONE that comes to Oklahoma should tour it. The Capitol building where they built the dome is gorgeous. I was breathtaken by the murals. Long story short, we finally started decorating around 7:00 that night. I tied many bows on the back of chair covers and Phillip put up a flocked Christmas tree, then we left for home. We had to be at the Oklahoma City Temple at 10:40 the next morning. Can I say early?! My parents were superstars and drove down to the City to watch my kids while Phillip and I were in the temple. The temple president performed the ceremony and then it was outside for pictures. It was so cold. Poor Emily was in a beautiful dress that my mother-in-law made (!), but it was short sleeved and she looked so cold. After the pictures my parents and my family went to lunch and then they took my boys while Phillip and I went back to the Capitol to help finish decorating. It was beautiful. Everything really came together. One of the highlights of the evening, for me, was seeing Cooper show how mature he can act. My nephew, Nick, was asked to sit at a front table to ask those who came to the reception to write down some advice, get a package with some Grandpa Cookies and get their pictures taken for their guest book entry. Cooper saw that Nick was sitting there and wanted to join him. We explained to Cooper what Nick was doing so, he wanted to help. Nick would sometimes wander off, as boys tend to do, but Cooper for the most part stayed sitting at the table. He took the job really seriously. When Phillip took Cooper to get some food across the room, Cooper saw some people come in and he was so worried that "the people wouldn't know what to do!". It was nice to see Cooper show a more mature side, it gives a mom hope. :)

Greyson, Aunt Emily and Cooper at the reception.

Greyson, Grandma with Cousin Ivy and Cooper (oh! note the corsage) at the reception.
Grey, Grandpa, Coop and Cousin Ivy.

The next day was Saturday and Phillip and I faced a perplexing problem. We wanted to get out of Dodge, but responsibility was calling. I have been, let's just say...avoiding...getting down the huge tupperwares and going through the boy's clothes. Putting laundry away is a daunting task when you still have Summer clothes (yikes!) still in the drawers. Enough was enough and so Phillip got the bins out of the attic. It is an ugly job, but we were already doing laundry, and if you ask me, there is never a good time to go through the tupperwares. So, I took the job head-on. Phillip and I didn't get the job done fully on Saturday, but we knew that Monday was a holiday, and we could finish it then. So, sure enough today came and we finished up the job, mostly, today. We still need to put the tupperwares up in the attic, but at least we can put this seasons clothes in the drawers.
The boys were climbing the walls this afternoon, so we decided to go and do something fun. We looked up on the internet some fun places to go and visit, we found some fun ones, but they were either closed due to the holiday, or just didn't stay open that late. So, we decided to go to "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything". It is a Veggie Tales movie. We don't go to the theatre that often, so it was quite a treat for my boys. It was a pretty cute movie, something that parents can stand to sit through. I was really impressed how clean it was. You just never know what you are gonna' get even with "G" movies these days. So, in a nutshell that is what the Humphrey clan has been up to. It has been busy, but fun. We have a really fun week coming up. Cooper's 6th birthday is this Thursday and Phillip's birthday is next Monday and my sister, Whitney, is Sunday. Birthday central!! Also, my mom, my sister, Whitney, and her kids and me, Grey and Ella are going to Alabama to visit my sister, Liberty, while her husband is away this Friday. So, it is going to be a fun, but very busy week getting ready for birthdays and our trip. I'll keep 'ya posted... :)

Thank you, Auntie Lib!

Look at that bottom!

I have been putting Ella in the cutest clothes since she was born and I am just so grateful. We have been able to dress Ella like a little fashion plate thanks almost entirely to one person...Auntie Lib! I bathed Ella this morning after a huge blowout (yikes!) and went to go get her dressed. I love putting on new clothes (who doesn't??) and this love doesn't end with me. I love dressing my kids in new clothes...I get the same satisfaction. Anyway, Ella is getting really close to her 3 mo. mark so I have started pulling out the 3 mo. outfits and she is mostly fitting them. Low and behold when I pulled out the clothes, I mostly can't remember the exact outfits that are in there, I was wonderfully surprised at this outfit waiting to be worn. I was so excited. I love this outfit. Little did my sweet sis know how excited I would be to see it (again!). Also, little did she know that purple and green would look the best on her. So, with lots of hugs and kisses and thank you, thank you all around...we wanted to say thank you, Auntie Lib!! The outfits are a symbol, to us, of your love and thoughtfulness! We love you!!

Jean Shopping

All I can say is icky, icky, icky. I hate jean shopping. I have the particular body shape that needs a short length, flared width, some stretch to them and a dark wash. I have found some jeans that I actually can stand on me post-baby. If anyone is looking for some fairly inexpensive jeans---as far as that goes---and any of my above criteria, NY and Company jeans fit my bill. It is much more fun shopping w/o baby weight still clinging for dear life under my skin. I think in my head that I don't have the extra "curves" but shopping for jeans this past weekend as truly opened my eyes. So, horray for NY and Company jeans that allow me to go into public and fitting my post-baby body!!

Phillip's Celebrity Look Alikes

Not sure about those look alikes. I'm thinking more like John Candy, Chris Farley, Kevin James (King of Queens) or Peter Griffin (The Family Guy). Guess there is a little truth to the whole fat guy, hot wife story line on the TV sitcoms.

Stephanie's Celebrity Look Alikes

I came across this on a friends blog and thought that it would be fun to do. First I had to try it on Steph. I knew that I married a beauty!!! Just look at her look alikes. I personally think that Faith Hill is her best match, but then I always have.

These shoes are made for walkin'-or at least being carried!

I introduced Ella to the wonderful world of shoes yesterday. I was at Old Navy the day before and found some really cute shoes. I was so excited to see some shoes that fit Ella. I don't love the tights w/o shoes look, so I have been meaning to look for some shoes for her. I found these and I think that they are casual enough to wear during the week and for church too. So, I was excited. May this be the first of many!!

Baby Harrison

Ella and Harrison.

Phillip's mom is holding Ella and Harrison. She is empathatically
"crying" with her grandbabies.

We were able to attend Harrison's blessing yesterday down in Norman, Oklahoma. We had a really great time and we are grateful we live close enough to attend these neat family events. John gave a beautiful blessing for Harrison. He is truly a special little boy. John and Julie's ward was a lot of fun, as I found out. When I had to go to the nursing room twice during church I met some really fun women. It was wonderful feeling accepted into a ward as a visitor! There were a lot of women in their ward that are in the same place in life as I am. I met a really cute mom that blessed her daughter yesterday, as well. Her daughter is about a week older than Ella and that is her third baby. As I found out, her sister-in-law works in Young Women with my mom and my sister. It was a fun coincidence...a small world. :) After church we headed to Phillip's parent's home and worked on some wedding things. (Phillip's sister is getting married on the 18th) I worked on "fluffing" some pine garland that will go around the railing in the rotunda in the Capital (that is where her reception will be). After a while John, Julie and her kids came and we had dinner. Then I decided to take some pictures of the little ones. It is remarkable that they are both Humphrey babies because they look quite different. Little Harrison has really dark hair and a cute dimpled chin. Ella practically looks transparent next to Harrison! :) They are both beautiful, in my opinion, in their own ways. Thanks for the wonderful day, Humphrey's!

Ella's Two Month Check-Up

I took Ella in for her two month checkup today. She is growing great. That is always nice to hear. Her stats are: 5o% for height, nearly 75% for weight (big girl! :), and nearly 75% for her head (thanks Humphrey's! :). I talked to the doctor about her Refux and she uped Ella's dose of her medication. Hopefully it will keep some of that milk in her tummy. Well, I guess she is getting enough down...I would just like it if so much didn't end up on her shirt...and mine and the couch, down her neck, and mine....should I go on? :) She also had three shots. Ouch!! Poor little girl. I hate it. If they weren't necessary I wouldn't have them do it. They are sitting there so peaceful and whammo-shots. I hate it. She seems to be okay, though. We got her some Tylanol. Also, they gave her another immunization orally...yay! Whoever invented that is brilliant. She didn't even spit it out. We're just glad she is healthy, happy and ours.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Okay, so long time no post. Sorry folks. We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We started Christmas with a super-fun Christmas Eve. I think that that has to be my favorite day out of Christmas and Christmas Eve. Wierd, I know, but there is so much excitment and enchantment and the traditions...yay, I love 'em. For Christmas Eve, we decided to have a hot dog cook-out in my parents back yard. It was so fun. It was cold, but the fire was so warm and we were in coats and had blankets, so it was alright. The boys (Cooper, Greyson and my nephew, Ezra) actually played most of the day with my Dad, while he was tending to the fire. My sister, my mom and myself were inside baking and baking and baking. For some reason, I decided to reserve all of my holiday baking for that one day. I have learned to spread it out in the years to come. :S So, when evening came, we all went out back and ate smores' and hot dogs.

The whole family during the Christmas Eve cook-out.

The boys having fun.
My sister, Whitney and her cutie little daughter, Georgia. Aren't they so darn cute?!!

Greyson, Ezra and Cooper during the cook-out.

Ella all bundled up during the cook-out.
Me and my boys.

Then, we came in when it got too dark and Santa Elves delivered the kids' jammies. It was great. The kids came outside and saw the presents on the front steps. Then they ran outsideto see if they could see the elves. It was so fun. Then they all sprinkled Reindeer Dust on the front lawn. We then trooped back inside and started our annual FHE with the kiddos in their new jammies. We played our bells, my mom read her new Christmas book, we watched the Nativity put out by the church, (FYI if you play the Nativity w/o any sound and Celine Dion's O Holy Night to it it matches up perfect and is really neat. I highly recommed it) and my sister, Whitney, made food that Jesus could've eaten. There were dried dates, grape juice, fruit you could dip in honey, hummas and pitas, olives and an olive oil with seasoning that you could dip in and some veggies. It was quite yummy. Then we laid out Santa's cookies and milk and food for the reindeer. Cooper even wrote a thank-you note to the elves for his jammies and a note to Santa, as well. All in all it was a great evening. The boys' even went to bed quite easily. Yay!! You can't beat that.

Cooper finding the gifts Santa's elves left for the kids.

My babies all ready for Santa!

Then the real fun began-according to my boys..bright and early at 7:00 in the morning. Cooper got an Imaginext castle and Greyson got an Imaginext pirate ship from Santa. They love them. Ella recieved a Boppy bouncie seat. Smart Santa!! It is as girlie as you can get. All of the baby equipment that I have is boy or neutral, so I was excited for this gift. There were so many great gifts. Thank you to all that spoiled us!! We were also blessed to be able to hear (!) my brother who is serving in Bolivia. Jesse has been down in Bolivia for only a few days since he has been at both the MTC in Provo and then in Peru. He was able to talk to all of us from a calling type center. He is doing well, has a bit of a culture shock, but learning a lot. He is the only American within at least four hours. His companion is Spanish, and they are the only companionship in his area. So, Jess told me he reads his scriptures out loud in English to hear English. It was wonderful to hear from him. Definetly one of my biggest highlights of Christmas.

Santa left Greyson a "Bob Umbrella". He loves it!! Whenever we had seen Santa this is what he had asked for.

Ella playing with her brand-new vacuum.Phillip and his fun camping presents.Cooper showing off his new chef costume.

A few days after Christmas we headed down to Noble to be with Phillip's family. I was able to go to my sis-in-law's wedding shower and see my newest nephew, Harrison. He is too cute. I wish I had brought my camera to show you him. He is being blessed this upcoming Sunday, so I'll take pictures then. But, the highlight of the trip was a train ride for my boys and their cousins. Grandma gave my boys a train-ride to Paul's Valley for Christmas. They loved it, especially Cooper. Grey got a little bored after about 15 mins. but it still left an impression on him. He will start talking about it out of the blue. Thank you Grandma!! Then came New Year. We spent New Year's Eve also at my parents with my sister, Whitney and her family. It was lots of fun. I had been battling a bout of stomache flu during the day, so I was glad to be able feel good enough to enjoy the festivties. We spent the evening eating, talking and playing games. Then we came back over New Year's and spent the day making our first (on our own) shrimp boil. We enjoyed our first shrimp boil in Alabama last Spring Break at my sister, Liberty's home. So, we decided to boil it up in celebration of the New Year. My sister, Whitney, also made some yummy coconut shrimp. Then we sat down and played some games. So, for all the friends and family we were not able to be with to ring in the New Year--we wish you all the best in the coming new year.