Sum It Up Sunday!

I slacked last week, so I have a lot to update you on over the last two weeks!!

Week of 12/8:

We brought in the Christmas spirit with a tree lighting ceremony and a holiday Bazaar at our local SuperGym. Santa came to town to help light the tree. Cooper was not sure about him as he passed through the crowds. Our lovely babysitter holds date night once a month, so after the tree lighting, she took Cooper and Andy and I were able to go out to dinner. It was wondering enjoying dinner without picking up food off the floor or constantly making sure there is nothing in a two foot radius for little fingers to grab.

Throughout the weekend we visited the Holiday Bazaar. There were over 50 vendors including Korean and American home based businesses. It was a great opportunity to do some Korean shopping without having to go outside of base. Some of the business can be difficult to find on our own!

This is a sample of one of the vendors with their Korean pottery. It was so gorgeous!

The rest of the week was pretty routine as daddy was still working his 12 hour shifts and mommy was on her 2^nd to last full week of school before break. Cooper and mommy were able to play Santa Claus while Daddy worked so much!
 

Cooper telling Santa Claus how good of a boy he has been :)

Andy was so kind to let me get away over that weekend for a little girls time in Osan. The Air Base is in Osan and is a bit larger than Humphreys right now, so we ventured there for some additional shopping and food! One of my colleagues and friend is originally from India and craves traditional Indian food. I said I would be willing to try it if she found a place here. There is a tiny little restaurant out in the Osan Ville that served as “close to home” as she could get. We did our shopping and then went to eat. I can say I tried the food, I can’t say I loved the food! Haha. The chicken was good, but they LOVE their spices! It was a good experience and I’m glad I learned some of the history behind the culture!

Week of 12/15:

What an exciting week!!! It was Birthday Week! This was also my last week of school until January 6^th, so the kids were wild! I can’t say I blame them, I was ready to get out of that building and on to the new school as well!

We heard our Christmas card made it to all of our friends and family. In reality, I had completely forgotten about the fact that I would need to get a picture, get the card made, have them mailed to me and then have to send them out! I was scrounging to get a picture taken in time. I realized I needed to get things done on a Saturday morning, by Saturday afternoon I had gotten the props together and dressed Cooper up. With Daddy’s help we attempted our first photo session. These were the ONLY two pictures where he is smiling. He did NOT like being a snowman! Although I had to use black and white to make it look decent, I think it was well worth it! For those readers who didn’t receive one – here you go J

 

Wednesday was Cooper’s FIRST birthday! I can’t believe an entire year has flown by! I’m sure I am the 10,000^th parent to say this, but I just can’t believe how fast time flies. Cooper has had quite the year. He has lived in Kansas, Ohio, and South Korea! I’m not sure of too many one year olds who can say that! He has been such a trooper through the transition of moving all around! He has truly changed Andy and I’s lives forever and makes us smile each and every day. He is full of energy these days and “talks” from sun-up to sun-down. He loves to scoot around on his walker and finds it hilarious to take a few steps and then go flying into mom or dad’s arms. He is also really starting to come into his personality! He gets very angry when he doesn’t get his way and is having a hard time learning he can’t have everything. He knows when he is doing something wrong and enjoys giving us a stinker grin after he’s done it! I think we will have a climber on our hands. He loves to get on top of boxes or anything he can get on to get to what he wants. We have had so much fun getting to love on this little boy over his first year and can’t wait to continue on this journey with him!

On his actual birthday we opened gifts from all his aunts, uncles and grandparents. He started out just wanting to climb on top of all the boxes and didn’t care much about the gifts. But, by the end he began understanding the concept and enjoyed ripping off the wrapping paper and playing with his toys. We have loved seeing him interact with these new toys and try to figure out how they work. We LOVE our family for getting everything together and sending gifts to him even when we are half a world away!

 

Saturday we had his first birthday party! "Down on the farm it's lots of fun, 'cuz Baby Cooper is turning ONE!" This was our theme and even though all of my decorations, party favors, and games did not come in, in time for the party, we made everything work and had a great time! We have been blessed to have met some friends through work and child care. They were all able to make it and made my "sad" emotions about not having a party at home with our family go away! It truly amazes me, with each place we go, how much of a family you can create in such a short time with the Army! Andy and I are so thankful and feel so fortunate to have had people be there to help celebrate such a milestone for our little family!

 

Our craft for all the older kids!

 

After the party, we packed our bags and are ready to head to the big city - Seoul, South Korea! There was a holiday special at the hotel on base and we took it up! We will be in the city Sunday the 22nd- until Christmas Eve. We hope to get lots of pictures to add to our post next weekend :) We don't have too much time to explore the city, but hope to be able to get as much done as can while we are here. We look forward to spending some time away from the Hump, and keep ourselves busy as Christmas approaches.

 

Merry Christmas readers!!!