Happy Birthday Coy!

I can't believe it has already been 3 weeks ago that Coy turned 2. It was such a fun day! Looking back at the pictures just makes me smile. He knew it was his special day, and was such a little ham all day. He loved all of the attention and all of the sugar. He had the cutest way of saying "Happy Birthday" and "I Twoooo!" and knew exactly how to blow out the candles. In fact after he blew them out, he said "Mo! Mo!" (that's how he says "more") and so we lit them again and he blew them out again. We figured we might as well get our use out of the candles and he turned two so why not blow them out twice?

He is such a little nut and a stinker and a sweetheart all in one. He is my wildest kid, my pickiest kid, my latest talker, and my latest walker. He gives the cutest little kisses (always on both cheeks (or "cheech!" as he calls it), and is so smart--he knows how to get what he wants. He's already using the potty a bit (only #1 though, so I'm not crossing my fingers.) He can be so naughty, and yet be the sweetest little thing ever. He pretty much only wants Daddy when Daddy is around; it makes me a bit jealous, but it is OK when he insists Daddy changes him when he stinks! I could write a book all about him right now, but I am so tired, I think I will just leave it at that, and move on to the pictures.

Birthday morning: we started out with just one present, "Yee-Aww" (aka Woody).
We went to Noodles & Co. for lunch because this kid loves some Mac and Cheese.
I love this little boy so much! Why do they have to grow up so fast?
Here is my attempt at a circusy-carnivaly cake...Please don't think it looks like a Spider Man cake...Okay, Okay, that's the first thing I thought, too, after I did the "design" on top. Not my intention at all.


Picture on the left below = how he pretty much is every time we try to take a picture with him. That's where the Twizzlers came in.
See that face? He knew he was hot stuff on his birthday.
The "decor". My attempt at keeping it simple this year.
Clown nose "photo booth"...Not everyone was a fan of this--I'll let you guess who.




  Coy with Grandma.
Mylie handed out the popcorn to everyone and worked on her red mustache. You should have seen her after she had a red lollipop as well.
Playing some games.
Yummy!
With Grandma H.
More games.
Some cute guests!
Opening Presents! YAY! Coy was lucky to have his helpers.


Oh, Grandma and Grandpa H. brought the Spider Man chair. They must have had the wrong idea about the cake, too...Or maybe it was just a coincidence :)

Happy Birthday my little baby...I can still call you that, right?

Coy's Two Year Photo Shoot

I would rate Coy up there as one of the most naughty two-year-olds I have ever photographed. Don't let the "good photos" fool you. It took us almost two hours and a lot of acting extremely ridiculous, and a lot of chasing and replacing to get what we got. But in the end, they really show off just who he is. He is such a little nut and we wouldn't trade him for anything!

Here they are:




This kid is IN LOVE with books. I thought it would be fun to include some old books in his picture. I thought they would help him hold still.maybe...they didn't really.








Oh, I guess he held still for a second with the books...right in between clothing changes. I didn't really want pictures of him just in the green pants, but oh well. You get what you get with the little ones sometimes.




This is him blowing kisses...


















We got a lot of pictures like this. He wanted to put the hat on his own way, and DID NOT want us to put it on for him.






Rewind to Mylie's Two Year Old pics. They took a total of about 7 minutes, she was fabulous, posed perfectly, and I had lots of great pictures. Two and a half years later, she still loves to pose and is so easy to photograph. She wanted a quick pic in the hat. One shot and perfect. Too bad her hair wasn't combed and she was still in her dance t-shirt...

Our Fleeting Summer ~ {July}

Here is a recap of July now (and to be technically correct, a little bit of August as well.)

First off, the Fourth of July!

We started off with the annual 5K in our neighborhood. I did not run this year, but got to enjoy watching my little guy not only reach his goal of beating his time from last year, but SMASHING it! Bennett surprised us all (well in some ways I'm not surprised) and finished in 28 minutes 19 seconds! He is one competitive and driven six year old!

Here are the spectators:
Bennett's cousin, Franklin, ran with his Dad as well! He did amazing. I am so proud of these young boys making such big goals! I don't think I would have ever dreamed of running 3.1 miles at that age!

Bennett always gets his signature "red face" when he exercises hard.

The boys with their running partners (aka dads).
After, we headed to our annual breakfast and swim at my aunt and uncle's house. We love it so much! In fact, the kids say the 4th of July is their favorite holiday (right after Christmas, that is.)   Of course, the day wouldn't be complete without eating a pastry the size of your face. Mylie finished every last bite. Swimming makes you hungry!
It is almost impossible to get Coy to look the camera.
Bennett's floaties make me laugh in this picture. He for some reason got this terrible fear of deep water this year, even though last year he would jump off the diving board and swim to the side with nothing. His first round of swimming lessons was a fiasco this year...He was so terrified of where he "couldn't touch." Luckily, aunt Cheryl invited us over a little later in the month before Bennett' second round of swimming lessons. He finally got over his fear, and we couldn't get him to stop jumping off the diving board and swimming...with no help from any flotation device!
We discovered that in yet another way, Coy is so much like his brother. He found Bennett's container of cars, and with no help from anyone, this is how I found him. Bennett used to do the same thing: organize the cars. Look closely to see how he has grouped them all. Pretty clever.
We love Popsicles on the Swingset! Many days after dinner, we would finish up our day outside.
Coy tries to eat every last drop of popsicle, and is always mad when it is gone.
Mylie sporting her orange lips:
Here it is. Coy trying to lick off every drop. Look at his belly. That is why the shirt comes off first. I love his pout in the second picture. That is his signature pout.
He know right where to put the stick when he is done...
Remember the red face? He was playing hard again, so here it is! I think he tried to see how many times he could run up the ladder, go down the slide, run and touch the fence, then run back to the ladder and do it again until Dad got back with his ice cream.


Even though we already hit Disneyland this year, we still decided to go to our Stake Lagoon Day. We left Coy with a babysitter and missed him, but had a lot of fun with the older two. Mylie was such a good sport and went on whatever she could, and Bennett tried and loved all the thrill rides this year, although I still think his body is still a bit too little for some of them. (He bruised his head on Colossus.) His favorite ride of all was Wicked. We had fun taking turns taking him on that, and because he is so small, we always got on pretty fast because of the booster seat line!
The next day we headed up to a cabin Russell's grandpa built in Idaho. We spent the weekend there with the Harkness family. The kids had fun playing games, coloring, making cards, throwing water balloons, dancing, watching movies, and just having some fun relaxing. Mylie especially had fun playing with her cousin, Kaydence.
Here are those swimming lessons when Bennett was finally fearless..YEA! He did such a good job and hopefully we won't backtrack next year! And the last picture is just cute because the kids got to stay up and watch some fireworks from our bedroom window one night.


And that sums up our July and our first week in August! We just celebrated Coy's second birthday, so hopefully I will get all of that caught up and on here as well! And this past week, Russell and I reached our 11th anniversary! We haven't celebrated yet because we were camping, but will do so soon! And I just can't believe school starts again already this week! WHERE DID THE TIME GO??!!!