DANCIN? ALLERGIC TO DANCIN?!?

When I was out of town in Kansas this week, all the grandkids were having a good time dancing to all kinds of music. Well, Chad put on a little rap and Boston went to town (rap is in his blood seeing how his father loves it so much)!

**Sorry this is sideways. I don't know what I was thinking when I was filming this...

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MY SPOUSE:

I was tagged to do this about Kent. So here goes.....

What is his name: Kent Matthew Hooper

How long have we been together? We have been married since Aug. 27, 2004 and started dating Jan 2004.

How old is he? 26

Who eats more? I feel like I eat alot but everytime I cook and there's a little bit left I always tell Kent to eat the last bit. We are SOO bad about eating leftovers and I don't want it to go to waste!

Who said I love you first? Kent said I love you first but coincidently it was the same day that I was trying to build up the courage to tell him! I was SO happy he said it first though because it made it ALOT easier for me to tell him after that.

Who is taller? KENT! By like a foot!

What's his favorite sport? Well he grew up playing baseball but lately he LOVES playing basketball. He says that's his sport right now. Favorite sport to watch---LSU FOOTBALL!

Who is smarter? I think we are both smarter in different areas...maybe this is why we're such a good match!

Who does the laundry? I have to give Kent credit on this one. I'm SOO bad about doing laundry. I wait and wait until I absolutely HAVE to do it and by then Kent has needed clothes and already has thrown them in the wash. I feel bad and I'm really trying harder to be better at this. I just HATE folding clothes which both of us are really bad at. We normally just leave it in a basket until the majority of the clothes have been dug out and then we fold the remaining little bit! BUT like I said I'm doing better!

Who does the dishes? If I cook, Kent does the dishes and if Kent cooks, I do the dishes!

Who pays the bills? This has gone back and forth our whole marriage, at first Kent did then I took over because I thought it would help me with my spending habits to take over and it has! For some reason I really enjoy doing it because I love organizing it all and having my specific routine of doing it every month!
Who cooks dinner?? WHEN we cook dinner, majority of the time it's me but Kent is known to make some killer pasta and if I haven't been grocery shopping in awhile Kent is VERY good about finding something that can be thrown together.

Who drives when you are together? Kent--although since Boston was born, I get very nervous when Kent drives and sometimes I wish I could be the one driving but Kent probably feels the same way about me.

Who is more stubborn? People who know us KNOW that I am DEFINATELY more stubborn but I do feel like I have loosened up ALOT since I've been married. Kent may not agree with that though but trust me I've gotten ALOT better. He was warned before we got married....HA!

Who kissed who first? I kissed Kent first. I was waiting and WAITING for him to kiss me and there were definately opportunities but he never took them, so finally I was tired of waiting and just did it! Glad I did!

Who proposed? Kent proposed

Who has more siblings? KENT! He has 5 and I have 3.

Who wears the pants in the family? This is hard. Kent says he is so "laid back" that I'm the one who wears the pants but if he feels strongly about something he stands his ground about it.

This was kinda fun! Now I get to tag: Kristin, Jamie, Kiers, Ciara. I'll be waiting....

CUTE THINGS BOSTON IS DOING!

Yes, Boston is covering up his boys so no one can see!

• He is OFFICIALLY sitting up all by himself. He's been doing this for awhile but he would fall over if he wasn't concentrating on something but it seems like all the sudden one day he just got it and has been sitting up all by himself ever since!


• He has started to crawl. He is getting better and better EVERYDAY! He's more of a scooter than crawler though. He gets his legs up under him but then just flings himself forward. It cracks me up!


• His SECOND tooth FINALLY broke! I feel like we were waiting FOREVER for it! He has had a runny nose for almost 3 weeks due to this and the day it broke last week his nose has been snot free--THANK GOODNESS because whipping his nose every 10 seconds was REALLY getting on my nerves!


• Boston LOVES to eat the baby graduate treats! The first time we gave them to him, he would concentrate SOO hard on getting one in his mouth and struggled a little bit. But just after a few days he's almost a PRO at feeding himself! I can't give him but more than one at a time because he'll put them ALL in his hands then shove them in his mouth and then start to choke! Yes, my son has a love for food!


• He LOVES to stand and hold onto the furniture. I was surprised at how good he is at this. He finally stands flat footed and holds himself up. On some occasions, if there is something on our ottoman he wants he'll take little steps towards it but we're still working on that!


• Boston is working on the whole "mama" thing! He'll say it (of course randomly and NOT addressing me) but not VERY often. He prefers "baba" or grunting noises! Kent is REALLY trying to get him to say "dada" but right now there's no sign of that in his vocabulary!


• Lastly, Boston has this thing where he always pats his highchair, the ground or whatever with his right hand. Well, lately I've been doing the same thing back at him after he does it. I think he thinks it's a game because then he'll do it and stop and wait for me to do it. We'll do it back and forth and he just laughs and smiles the whole time!

I just wanted to post mainly for my sake the things he is doing now. It's crazy how much he is developing at this stage. So far I would have to say this is my favorite stage since he's doing so much more now! I can't help but love the little guy!

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Boston is officially making the move to crawl! Okay so he's not 100% there but he IS getting it! The easiest way to get him to work on crawling is to put his baby snacks in front of him (is this surprising?!). On this occasion he was a little distracted by his ladybug toy that he loves BUT he finally made it to the treat! I'm so proud of this little guy!

IT'S 2008!!!!!

Okay, so I know that today is the middle of January but I never posted my New Year's resolutions OR pictures from our New Years celebration....so here they are!

New Year's Eve we went over to our good friend's the Richardson's and it's ALWAYS a BIG event! I like to say it's the south's Mormon way of ringing in the new year....close friends, family, jambalaya, gumbo, Mississippi mud pie, food, food, MORE food, bon fire, and probably about $1000 fire work show put on in their backyard by all the men! We always have the celebration a little bit earlier that midnight because everyone has little kids. So after the celebration was done there, we went back to my parents house and finished off the other fireworks daddy got this year for midnight! That was quite the show as well! It was a fun night and I LOVE doing this every year because EVERYONE has a great time!

Boston LOVED watching the fireworks go off--I don't think he made a peep or moved the whole 15 minutes they lasted!

Papa tryin on his BYU hat on Boston. Boston and Auntie Kristin!

Since it was dark I couldn't get a good shot of all the fireworks dad got but they were AMAZING!

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS:

1. Save more spend less.

2. Lose the remaining pregnancy weight and get back to my weight when I first got married.

3. Cook more and eat out less (some how I fell out of the cooking routine when I got pregnant and haven't gone back to my old cooking dinner ways).

Okay, so I only have 3 but in year's past I always make LOTS and can never fulfill them all or I make them too unrealistic but these I'm determined to do! WISH ME LUCK! Kent and I are determined to make 2008 a great year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

UPDATE!

So I'm jumping ahead a little bit and posting a picture of what our house now looks like! They started framing it while we were gone and we went a checked it out Friday and this is what we found!!! We didn't get to walk through though because workers were there but maybe this weekend we'll be able to get out there and see what else has been done! But this is it for now!

THE HOOPER PHOTOSHOOT!

I was terrible about taking my camera with us when we went places in Baton Rouge but I made SURE to bring my camera with us when we went to Kent's mom's house to take pictures of the grandkids. Carol wanted a picture of all her grandkids together and so we had a fun time trying to get a good picture of all the kids together happy, smiling and all looking at the camera! Here's a peek of the pics we got!

Jordan-the coolest, nicest, most kind hearted 12 year old you'll EVER meet!

Hillary and cute little Melia!!!

TAKE ONE

...And I think they're done!

We also celebrated Riley's 1ST birthday that night! HAPPY BIRTHDAY RILEY!

AND THE TIGERS WIN!!!!!!

LSU 38

Ohio 24

I have to post real quick about LSU's win last night! Even though I was laid up all day sick on the couch (and yes I even ended up getting pink eye yesterday to add to my sickness!) and saved up ALL my energy so I could scream at the TV all night with what little of a voice I have right now! Sad to say we didn't throw a big National Championship party or anything, we just called it a night with just us, ordered pizza (wasn't in the mood to make all the dips and food I usually do) and threw on our lucky LSU gear! I was absolutely THRILLED with the end result and are happy to say that we came out ON TOP this year...sorry Ohio!!!!! GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!!!!

CHUCK E CHEESE!!!!

While we were in Louisiana, we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese! We put him on a few rides which I really do think he enjoyed then Kent and I took over and competed against each other with the rest of Boston's tokens! By the end of it all, I think Boston was pooped!

CHRISTMAS ON THE BAYOU!!!

Okay, so I haven't been on here to blog in FOREVER it seems! I have alot to blog about so prepare yourselves! I just downloaded all the pictures from the past few weeks onto my computer and I KNOW I'm going to have to pick and choose which ones to put on here because it will take FOREVER to post AND I'm sure everyone will get COMPLETELY bored! But I decided to get started tonight while Kent is playing XBOX (I should be sleeping since I have been down and out sick for the past 4 days since we got home but OH WELL!!)

I guess I'll start from the beginning. Since both our families are in Louisiana we always go back there (for now) for Christmas. The whole family on both sides always get together this time of year. Can you image how busy we are?!? Let's just say it's NEVER a vacation for us when we go in town. We are just running back and forth visiting friends and family trying to satisfy everyone with not much of a break. But hey it's fun and it's worth it!

Every year on my mom's side of the family, instead of giving presents we all donate money and rotate finding a family in our hometown area to give a Christmas to. This year was our family's turn! I LOVE doing this because it's truly what Christmas is all about! It's so humbling to see a family with nothing get something well deserved. So on Christmas Eve we all went over and Chad and Kent acted as "Santa's Helpers" and brought in the gifts (we didn't want any of them to recongnize us). They didn't get to see them open the presents but they said the 6 kids were SO happy to have presents for Christmas! What a warm feeling this leaves you inside!

Leaving to go deliver the gifts--mom and dad wouldn't turn around!

The families little house

Christmas Eve it is a tradition in my house ever since I can remember to open ONE present under the tree. Mom ALWAYS got to pick which one and somehow it was ALWAYS pajamas! I LOVE this tradition and plan on carrying it out with my family--although Kent doesn't even wear pajama pants so we compromise and give him basketball shorts which he NEVER turns down! SO Boston got his FIRST SET of Christmas PJ's this year (it was also his FIRST PRESENT EVER to open!)

Christmas Eve we went over to Grandma Carol's house and enjoyed dinner and visiting with family. Jeff and Kelly and the kids flew in from Maryland too! It was fun to sit around and hang out with family and see all the grandkids play with each other!

"Santa" presents!

Look how HAPPY the lil guy is with all his new toys!

We spent Christmas morning at Mimi's and Papa's (my parents)! I was SOO excited to shop for Boston's first Christmas and Kent and I finally reached a compromise on how much to spoil him on his "Santa presents." I know he probably won't remember ANY of it BUT this IS my first child! Boss also of course got spoiled with lots of toys/outfits from family--he was laying down taking a nap through half of it.

Boston's FIRST football! Papa gave Boston this picture with his name in the LSU jersey (he tried to get BYU but I guess they don't make them)! I LOVE IT! Can you tell we want our son to be a football player..?!

Kent was in charge of stocking stuffers this year and thought this was SOO clever!

All the aunts and uncles pitched in when Kent and I came across this great find while shopping! It was a big surprise that we built up for about a month and hopefully the girls will enjoy this fun little toy...somehow Chad managed to fit everything INCLUDING THIS into their car!

This is Kent being Kent showing us how long one of the shirts my dad gave him was!

Later that afternoon, we went to Grandma Carol's for MORE presents where Boston got spoiled again! Sorry I don't have any pictures of this, I forgot my camera...I'M VERY UPSET ABOUT THIS! Anway, it's always fun for the grandkids to get together and play. On the Hooper side there are 3 grandkids close to Boston's age (all girls!). Boston is the youngest but it's fun to see how much they've grown and are developing and what I have to look forward with Boston in the next few months PLUS when the get to be a little bit older they can all play together!

Christmas was good to us this year and I'm always glad that we get to go back to Louisiana to spend this time of year with both sides of our family. I hope everyone else had as great of Christmas as we did!

CRAWLING?!?

Just a quick post before we head out to finish up our Christmas shopping for the day. I think Boston may just be on the verge of CRAWLING!!! YES CRAWLING! Monday, he got up on all fours with his belly off the ground and head up high! I thought that maybe it was a fluke but he has done it 3 or 4 times since then including this morning! But who knows, maybe I'm getting excited about nothing because maybe he will do this for 4 months! BUT MAYBE he'll be crawling anytime now! We'll see! I'll keep you updated FOR SURE! In the meantime, we're off to the stores to HOPEFULLY (for Kent's sake) finish up our Christmas shopping!

FHE!

Some of the Christmas treats!

It is that time of year again! I made my yearly treats for friends and neighbors yesterday. This is a tradition in our home that every Monday night before Christmas we take some sort of treat to our friends! Okay I will admit, last year NO treats went out because I was too sick to step foot in the kitchen and bake all day! This year I decided I didn't want to be in the kitchen baking ALL day (by the end of it all I'm usually uptight, stressed,and groutchy anyway) so I vetoed making an assortment of goodies this year! SO INSTEAD I decided on poppy seed bread (actually it was going to be banana nut bread but I forgot to buy bananas and let them ripen). I must say this was SOOO much easier than all that baking and MUCH LESS stressful! I will admit that I didn't give to as many people this year as we normally do. I was a little bit lazy in that department this year and I also decided to keep a loaf for ourselves (selfish?)---actually I don't really eat it so it's pretty much for Kent. It was a fun night though delievering it to our friends! We put the Christmas music on and had a great time! We started at 6:30 and didn't get home until 9:30 but hey that's okay, it was a great night anyway! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

See how excited Boston was to do this?!?

By the way, my Christmas cards ARE coming this year I PROMISE! Okay wait maybe not the THIS year but the first of NEXT year (it'll be a New Years card). I have been SO on top of Christmas shopping, treats, etc but have REALLY slacked in that department this year. We haven't taken our picture yet for it but we WILL and I WILL get it out..PROMISE!

GAMERS?!?

Ever since Kent got an XBOX 360, if he has any spare time he is playing it (this is okay with me because since he hasn't been busy this week EVERYDAY I've made him go Christmas shopping at EVERY mall in the Dallas area with me)! The other day, Kent had Boston on his lap while he playing. Well, Boston just thought the controller was the FUNNEST thing and kept pressing buttons and it was messing Kent up! Personally, I thought it was HILARIOUS! Finally Kent put him in his excersaucer and gave him the other controller. Somehow Boston hit the right button and turned it on and AGAIN started messing Kent up! TOO FUNNY! So Kent took it away from him and he just started SCREAMING! So Kent with his fast thinking removed the batteries and gave it back to Boston to play with. Not only is my husband becoming a gamer but does this mean Boston is headed down that road too?!?

UPGRADE!

Not too happy....

We have been feeding Boston in his baby bouncer since we started baby food. He HATED it! He would always try to push himself forward to eat sitting up all the way. If Kent was home and able to feed him he would put Boston on his lap instead. On top of Boston NOT liking sitting in his bouncer to eat, he would make the BIGGEST mess all over his clothes and it would DRIVE ME CRAZY especially if we were going somewhere that day (I have this weird pet peeve about my kids looking like white trash in public)! I thought about getting him naked but he HATES taking clothes on and off and would rather just stay naked all day! We started putting a towel over him when he ate instead but it just ended up being so much work! I was trying to hard to hold off until AFTER Christmas to purchase his highchair but FINALLY just gave in! We now have a happy family---happy baby, VERY happy mom and an EVEN MORE happy dad because MOM is happy!

THRILLED!

Look how happy the little guy is? Honestly I didn't think this would make that much of a difference but for him it DOES--He LOVES it!

P.S. Squash is Boston FAVORITE thing to eat right now! Everytime I have it in front of him he just starts shaking and grunting! My child has a thing for food...maybe that explains his chunkiness!

Hey it's progress.....

When Kent got back in town Saturday, we drove out to Keller to check out the progress on our house! Okay, to some this might not look like much but I was THRILLED to see it ready for the foundation to be poured! I couldn't really get a good picture because with every angle there were mounds of dirt they were pushing around from the pipes so oh well! I guess this just makes it feel REAL finally and that's it's actually happening!

WARM AND COZY?

Yesterday the temperature here dropped DRAMATICALLY! It was like in the 40's when we went to church! Although I HATE cold weather I was VERY excited to finally put Boston's coat to use that I bought him! Kent laughs at me because he doesn't think he needed it but HELLO 40 DEGREES IS A LITTLE COLD! The coat is a little big and looks even BIGGER whenever Boston is put in his carseat! I thought he looked cute but I don't know how much Boston liked it...I couldn't get him to break a smile until he was free from his coat!

ALL BY MYSELF!!!


Kent is out of town again this whole week in Utah/Idaho doing recruiting for work. I never look forward to him going out of town! Mainly because it means that I have to be alone at night! Maybe I just freak myself out but I HATE being alone at night! I'm so weird about it! I just can never feel 100% safe! I force myself to stay up as LATE as possible just because I feel like if I go to sleep something bad could happen. I also sleep out on the couch because I feel like if I'm in my room and someone breaks in I'll be trapped and they could steal Boston from me! I also HAVE to have the TV on ALL night-- no matter what I'm doing (the TV is on right now infact!)! At night I set the timer on the TV to shut off on its own. I also always leave a few lights on for safety reasons. I know I'm SOO weird and paroniod! But I do give myself props because last night I actually slept in my bed instead of on the couch--I also have plans on sleeping in there tonight! I didn't get much rest though because I woke up a few times to check on Boston to make sure no one broke in and stole him! My ears are always alert to any weird noises I here inside or out!

So what is my one comfort when Kent is gone? Like I said I always have to have the TV on and so after all the good shows are finished at night, I pop in my FRIENDS DVDS! There is just something about watching them that makes me feel a little safer---maybe its the laughter (I've watched them SO many times but still die laughing everytime!). It is the one thing that kind of settles me down at night.

Wish me luck tonight and the rest of the week being alone! Maybe the guy above us will chill out with his blaring music he tends to play from 11 pm-4 am (lucky Boston is a hard sleeper)!

P.S. I saw a guy who lives upstairs leave last night when Iwas out taking Stella to the bathroom and he had a police uniform on..that did make me feel a little safer knowing a cop is upstairs...although it does seem he has the night duty...

CHRISTMAS

Last night, as a family, we went over to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. I love going to this every year because I feel like it is such a great way to kick off the Christmas season. I couldn't help but tear up a few times during the broadcast. I couldn't stop thinking about how Mary felt holding the Christ child in her arms and thinking about what a huge blessing it was to give birth to the Son of God. What a huge responsibility she was given. All I could think about was how blessed I am to have such a happy, healthy, beautiful baby boy and how trusting my Heavenly Father is to bless me with one of his children. I want to do all I can to make sure he grows up to be the best he can. I know that last night he probably didn't understand a word that was spoken but everytime the choir sang, he just settled down and didn't make a peep. In fact, right before they sang "Sleep, sleep, sleep" (I think that's the name of the song) he started to get a little fussy but when the song started, he just curled up in my arms and fell asleep! Even though he is little, I'm convinced that he too can feel the spirit. I am so blessed in my life and Boston just adds so much more to my life.

I love the Christmas season. The spirit in the air is so different than any other time of year. I wish it was like that everyday of the year. I love reflecting on Christ's birth, seeing people's hearts open to others this time of year, the beautiful Christmas music, the lights, shopping for Christmas gifts, and spending time with family. It can't get much better than that. I left last night's devotional wanting to be a better person-a better mom, a better wife, a better sister, daughter, friend...-but then again when CAN you leave after hearing the First Presidency speak and NOT want to find ways to be better! I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and try not to lose sight of the TRUE meaning of Christmas! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HERE WE COME!!!!!!

I just had to post a quick update about what's going on January 7th....LSU IS GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN NEW ORLEANS!!!!! We were anxiously waiting the results yesterday--during the Christmas devotional Kent was watching his phone the WHOLE time waiting for espn.com to update their site and say who was going--I'm sure he got alot out of the devotional! I'm SO excited for them that they made it in! No one knew exactly what was going to happen and who they were going to vote in but LSU made it in! I'm SOO THRILLED! Now...if I could only get my hands on some tickets....

WE DID IT!

Some of you may know that we are VERY indecisive people sometimes. We have been back and forth about which builder to use FOREVER! Well yesterday we FINALLY sealed the deal and have officially started the process on our house! We should hopefully be in by mid March which seems so soon but since we took over some other guys house/lot the process had already been in progress. Kent is thrilled because we got a bigger lot in a col-de-sac and I'm happy that we went the builder we did! Our house isn't going to be HUGE or anything but it fits us for right now and for the next 3-5 years. So I'm completely happy with it! Updates on the progress are sure to come but for now all I've got is a picture of the dirt on which our house will sit!

It was getting dark when we got finished so it's not a real good picture.