The countdown is on...

The countdown is officially on! 

Christmas is just around the corner and I am EXCITED!!

And I'm not sure if this is funny or sad...but THREE different people sent this to me on Pinterest! HA! 

And in all honesty...they aren't wrong!! 

One of the reasons why I LOVE Christmas so much is that I LOVE traditions! Growing up we had a ton of traditions around our home, but at Christmas it seemed like they were extra special. One of my favourite traditions was our advent calenders! Each year we would be SO excited for our little cardboard advent calenders filled with the little chocolate square! My parents would always buy them mid November and it was PAINFUL to have to look at it and wait until December 1st to open the first day!! As we got older my parents switched to one of those 'fill it yourselves' advent calenders and we were pleasantly surprised each morning with a chocolate, candy, a small toy, and sometimes money! And as crazy as it may sound...My parents JUST stopped doing that advent calender for us a few years ago!! Ha! What can I say?! We love a good tradition!! 

Sooooo...Now that I have a daughter of my own, it has become VERY important to me to start some of these traditions with her! Will she remember them this year?? Absolutely not! But that does not matter to me! I still think its important to start these traditions now, so that one day we can look back and tell her that we have been doing these special things with her since she was just a baby. 

That brings us to Sophia's first advent Calender!

Since she is too little for chocolate and small toys I opted to make her a book advent calender this year! Because in my opinion, you can NEVER have too many books. Especially when you are a baby!! 

It was VERY simple to make and only cost about $20! 

I bought 2 sets of mini board books from Chapters ($10 each) and wrapped them up. Then I numbered them 1-24, alternating between a Christmas book and a Baby Einstein book for some variety! I only needed 24 books, as I have a special Christmas book for Sophia to open on Christmas day! I decorated a mini Christmas tree for her bedroom and I stuck all of the 'gifts' under her tree. I look forward to opening a book up each morning with her and reading the book! Even though she is more interest in eating books these days than reading them! 

And since we don't want anyone to feel left out with this special tradition...

This is Damian's advent Calender!

And this is mine!

Get those advent calendars ready!!

 It's almost DECEMBER!!

A Poppin' Popcorn Party!

Last weekend we celebrated my Mom's birthday! My Dad hosted the dinner at their house, however I was in charge of the decorating! Which was fine by me, as that's my MOST favourite part!! And because I am a firm believer that a party needs some kind of theme, I began to brainstorm what a good theme for my Mom's birthday party would be. And I came up with POPCORN!! Now this may seem a little bit random, but there are two things that my Mom loves only SLIGHTLY less then US and COOPER...And that would be 1. Black Licorice and 2. POPCORN! (this is where I get my LOVE for popcorn as well!!)

So I took my Poppin' Popcorn theme and ran with it...

We played a little 'Guess the popcorn flavour' game which was a hit! I went to Kernels earlier in the day and bought five different flavours for everyone to sample and make a guess! Some of the guesses were fairly creative!! Ha! 

After dinner my Mom and Sophia had some playtime!

 My Mom bought this black and white book for Sophia to play with at their house and she LOVES it!

Sophia loves her some Grandma snuggles!!

But then she got a little too warm and ended up in just her undershirt and tights! Ha!

My Mom requested a butter pecan birthday cake, so that is exactly what I made for her! 

The birthday girl!!

Mom, Me, and Sophia!

Sophia was more concerned with figuring out how to eat the cake...

So instead she just stuck her entire hand into the icing! 

And then licked icing off my my hands! Crazy girl!!

Present time!! 

It was a wonderful evening celebrating my Mom's special day!!

 She LOVED her popcorn theme so I was thrilled! 

Happy Birthday Ma!! 

We hope you have the most wonderful year!! 

Rolo Rice Krispy Squares!

Looking for a quick and easy treat for the upcoming holiday season?! 

I whipped up these tasty lil rice krispy squares for my Tupperware party last weekend and they were a BIG hit!! I have always been a fan of the 'plain' rice krispy squares, but every now and then I like to throw something else into the mix to change it up. And these were YUMMY!! I will definitely be making this recipe a few times over the Christmas season that's for sure! 

What you need:

5 packages of Rolo's

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

40 large marshmallows

6 cups Rice Krispy cereal

Melt the butter in a large microwavable container (about 30 seconds)

Add the marshmallows, stir until coated.

  Melt marshmallow mixture in microwave (about 2 minutes)

When melted, add the vanilla and all of the Rolo pieces.

Give a quick stir, but not TOO much as you don't want all of the Rolo to completely melt away!

Add in the Rice Krispies and mix well.

Pour into greased baking pan.

Let sit for about an hour.

Cut, serve and ENJOY!!

Sophia Jo {Six months}

Well it's official... I am in complete denial!! 

HOW IN THE WORLD IS SHE 6 MONTHS ALREADY!?! 

Don't get me wrong...I am thrilled that she is getting older and smarter and cuter and more independent...but what I can't believe, is that this beautiful little girl has already been a part of our lives for HALF A YEAR!! That just boggles my mind!! It may also be because she is the size of a 9 month old! Ha! Our little Sophia is definitely thriving...and is still in the 98 percentile for height and weight! She is still as smiley as ever and loves to 'talk' to anyone who will listen. She has also learned how to SCREAM! And I am NOT talking about a cute baby shriek...I am talking EAR PIERCING TOP OF THE LUNGS SCREAMING. It was cute for about 5 seconds and now it just makes me want to pop a bottle of Advil every time she starts. Ha!  Sophia loves to cuddle, but also loves to be constantly jumping and moving and kicking! She had a fun time at Halloween, though the whole 'dressing up' thing was not her favourite part! It was another wonderful month with our lil peanut girl!! Now I just need to figure out how to slow down time...

Highlights from this month

*You have started eating solid foods!! Sometimes you feed yourself and sometimes you want to be fed. So far you like everything you have tried! Applesauce, sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots, avocado, honeydew melon, banana and rice crackers!

*You LOVE your feet! You get very confused when you have slippers or socks on and work really hard at getting them off so you can see your toes! 

*You are turning into quite the little fishy at the swimming pool! We take you swimming once a week and you have started to kick and splash and grab for all the water toys!

*You celebrated your first Thanksgiving and Halloween!

*You are sitting!! You are still a little bit wobbly but you are getting better at it each day!

*You still have no teeth but we are certain they must be on the way! You are a drool monster and will CHEW on ANYTHING!!!

*You had your first cold!! It was heartbreaking for Mommy and Daddy because you couldn't breathe and you didn`t know why! Luckily it only lasted a few days!

*You are still not sleeping great at night BUT have turned into a WAY better napper!! Yahoo!!

*You have experienced winter weather for the first time and its taking some adjusting to getting used to wearing hats and hoodies and your car seat snuggle bag! I don`t think your a fan of winter...just like your Mama!

*You are wearing a size 3 diaper and 9 and 12 month clothing! You are a TALL baby!! 

*You are really starting to `play` with your toys and love anything that makes noise! You also LOVE staring at your self in any mirror! 

*Your hair is really starting to grow and I am having lots of fun with all of your headbands and clips!

*Your little personality is shining through more and more each day and we just LOVE it!!!! Though I am pretty sure you are going to give me a run for my money as soon as you figure out how to move...and talk!!