Beach bum baby

Cooper loves the beach. He loves everything about it. I can barely keep up with this little beach bum. The minute we set him down, he heads straight for the water. I love watching him play in the sand and water...even though we end up bringing half the sand in Florida home with us.

Easter Sunday

Lopez children, Easter morning, ready to go to church. We had a really nice and quiet Easter. We had a fun Easter egg hunt and Easter bunny "stuff", on the Saturday before Easter, so that helped us to truly focus on the real meaning of Easter on Sunday. John and I were the speakers in church for the Easter program. We spoke on the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I truly felt the spirit strongly this Easter. I am so thankful for the atoning sacrifice of my Savior.
Daddy and all of his cute Easter Children.

Cute Brothers

Carver is such a good big brother to Cooper. He can make Cooper laugh harder than anyone, and he is constantly helping to take care of him, or make sure he is happy. I couldn't resist these cute shots of my boys on Easter Sunday.

38 is GREAT!

Well, I just turned 38 on the 19th of March. I always thought that I would feel and look much older on my 38th birthday. When I was younger, the thought of my "late 30's", conjured thoughts of "oldness" for sure, but my perspective has changed. Now my motto is "38 IS GREAT!" I'm happy, I am blessed, I feel good, I feel young, I am fit and healthy, I am accomplishing new goals, I have a great husband and family and wonderful friends...so this birthday was wonderful. I guess it all depends on our attitude and our lifestyle. My family made my birthday extra special (they always do) by making me breakfast in bed, and putting helium filled balloons all over the ceiling of the family room and kitchen...along with flowers and signs. What a fun start to my day.

Four of my best friends took me to lunch at Macaroni grill. Two of my favorite things. Friends and eating out. Sara Rose, Beckie Lowe, Amy Hillis, and Andrea Rediski (not pictured as she had to leave early with "nap ready" children). What a fun afternoon. I love these girls and all of my good friends. They are family to me.

Another thing that made my birthday fun, was having some family visiting. John's brother Mike was visiting with his kids Madi and Luke (all the way from Texas) for the week. We all had so much fun. We took all the kids to the pool the afternoon of my birthday, then my family made me a yummy dinner and my favorite cake (cinnamon bundt), and didn't let me lift a hand for dinner, clean-up, and bedtime activities. It was a wonderful birthday. On the week-end after Mike had gone home, John took me out to dinner and shopping for a little "post-birthday" celebration. I love spending time with my hubby, shopping, and eating, so it was perfect.

"Wildman Triathlon" March 2008

I just competed in my second sprint Triathlon (Wildmand Triathlon Festival). I competed with six of the girls from last time, and one new girl. The Triathlon was challenging, exciting, rewarding, and a lot of hours of training...but ultimately, I LOVED IT! I guess I am addicted.

My favorite part of the Triathlon was competing with JOHN! Most of the husbands committed to doing this triathlon back around Christmas, yet they dropped out one by one as the training went along (sounds like they were not up to the challenge of possibly being beaten by their wives:). John was the last man standing (and a little bothered with his friends for quiting) and he went ahead and competed with us. I am so proud of him. He did a great job, even with much less time to train that me. I beat my times from my first Tri, and came in 4th in my age division, and John met his goal of "finishing". He actually did a great job. I finished about three minutes ahead of him (passed him on the run with a nice little wave), but he was a great sport about it.

The men started the swim in a wave that was three minutes ahead of the women, so here we are watching them...getting ready to head out ourselves.


Me coming out of the water. Happy to be finished with my first event and trying to get to my bike as fast as I can.

Our photographer friends must have missed both me and John on the bike...but we did do it.

Almost to the finish line, though I can't seem to lose "speedo man".

John heading out for his run.

Little Blue Overalls

I have always thought that there could be nothing cuter than little blue denim overalls on a baby boy. I thought this picture of my sweet baby boy completely captured what I am talking about. Cooper has just started taking his first steps in the past few weeks and it is so fun to watch his progress. I know that years from now, I will see a pair of blue denim overalls on a baby, and it will take me right back to this time in my life watching my last baby boy learn to walk.

Grandma and Grandpa Fulks come to visit!

We had such a fun visit with my parents when they came to stay with us the end of January. They got to stay for almost two weeks so we were able to do so many fun things with them. It truly was a "perfect" visit. The kids loved every minute of their time with Grandma and Grandpa, and they were very sad to see them leave. It is hard living away from Grandparents...but we love having them all to ourselves when they come to visit. One night we rented a surrey and rode it around the Board Walk Hotel at Disney. What a fun memory. We were also able to go to the beach, go on a boat tour, do a lot of shopping, walk around Universal, and just enjoy our time together. We had perfect weather with sunshine and in the mid 70's. Nice considering it was dumping snow in Utah while they were here. Gotta love Florida.

My baby is a year old! How did this happen?

COOPER HAD HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY! Yes, my baby turned one a week ago on January 29th. Why did I not post this blog on his birthday...or even a few days later...like so many of my "on the ball" blogging friends"? Well, lets just say that I am not "on the ball" and feel lucky that I remember my name some days. But yes, my sweet baby Cooper, my last child, has turned one. How can this be? Though I love to watch the milestones of all my kids, I have to say that Coop's one year birthday was bittersweet. He is my last baby, and he is just growing up too fast. So many times this past year I just wanted to freeze Cooper in whatever stage he was at, and just enjoy him for as long as possible. I love doing "the baby thing" and I will sadly sadly miss it. But I also love the doing "the toddler thing", so I know there is fun to come but it all just goes too fast.

Cooper's birthday was an exciting day with many fun events. The best event of all was the arrival of his Fulks grandparents in the early afternoon. We have been so excited for this visit from my parents. They are visiting all the way from Utah and will stay with us almost two weeks. How fun that they arrived on Cooper's birthday, just in time for his party. That has got to be a perfect gift for a child (for all of my children actually). Cooper didn't take long to warm up to them, and they were enchanted by all of his new and exciting baby tricks (which consist mostly of clapping, shoving food in his mouth, and climbing on everything).

We had a fun little family party for Cooper. We invited one other family over, and we just did the cake and ice-cream thing. Usually when I give my babies their cake, they just play in the frosting for a bit. Not my Cooper. He dug in immediately, shoving large pieces into his mouth, and continued this for a good 15 minutes. He must have wondered why there was a crowd of people around him laughing at every move he made. Grandpa Fulks got a kick out of the "enthusiasm" that Cooper showed in his cake eating. He truly got "into it". It was very fun to watch. Cooper got lots of fun new toys for his birthday, and it turned out to be such a fun day. We loved having family here to celebrate our sweet boy. They were here a year ago when he was born, so it was very fitting that they be here again.



As I was pondering the magnitude of my last child turning one, I kept thinking back to a year ago when Cooper was born. I had such a hard pregnancy, and a hard recovery from my 4th c-section, yet the time I had in the hospital with that precious new baby was just priceless. All those feelings came rushing back today and I can't believe how much has happened this year. It is amazing how a baby can go from a tiny and fragile little thing, to a chunky, mobile, sweet and funny little boy with his very distinct personality and sense of humor. How blessed I feel to have this boy in my life. We didn't even think we would get a 4th child and tried for a long time for Coop. There were enough problems with getting pregnant, and problems during the pregnancy, that it truly seems like a miracle that we have a healthy and beautiful baby boy. Cooper makes everyone smile. He has such an engaging grin, a darling little language of his own, and lots of "super cute" tricks up his sleeve. He loves his family and lights up when the kids come home from school, or when Dad walks in the room. He wants to be right in the middle of everything and he is so fun to play with. He has been an easy baby and a wonderful sleeper. He eats anything (and everything) that we put in front of him. He loves the water, he loves going for walks in the stroller, and he loves playing swords with his brother (he really does this...and it is so funny). Happy Birthday Cooper. We love you so much.

Here are a few photos of Cooper during this last year.

Coo Coo for Cocoa Beach!

Last week-end the kids had two days off of school for Martin Luther King day. A co-worker of John's offered us his condo out at Cocoa beach. The offer came at a perfect time. A time when we just wanted to "get away". Cocoa is only about 35 or 40 minutes from our house, but it feels miles and miles away from "every day life". Those of you who know me know that the beach is one of my very favorite things in the whole world. I love the sounds and the smells and the beauty. We loved the beaches in Seattle so much and still miss them, and we love Florida beaches in a different way. I just can't even imagine not being able to live close to water now that I have had a taste of it. To me...it is paradise. I could just sit on a beach, stare out into the ocean for hours. I love taking walks on the beach, or playing with my kids in the surf. Most of all, reading a good book on the beach. I also just love the feel of the sand. In fact, John and I have collected sand from about 12 beaches that we have been to since we moved to Florida. I guess we are just "Beach people". So... our week-end was just perfect for us. We loved the great beach front condo. We loved leaving our windows open and hearing the surf all night long. We loved playing on the beach and the pool. The weather was a little cloudy and a little chilly a few of the days, but we just threw on some sweatshirts and continued to enjoy the beach. It reminded us of our beach combing days in Seattle. John and I loved running on the beach. We did lots of running and swimming preparing for our triathlon that is coming up in a couple months. We loved watching the cruise ships go out and come in. We played a lot of games, watched a lot of DVD's, ate yummy treats, went for walks, read books, wrote our names in the sand, played in the surf, and generally just enjoyed ourselves. Cooper could not get enough of the sand and couldn't resist eating a few handfuls. Kinsey was obsessed with writing her name in the sand or spelling it out with shells. Carver was all about the boogie boarding, and Kennedy was all about playing board games. Good memories for sure.