The Chap 2012 Recap...

2012 was a fun filled year for the Chap family!

We enjoyed watching Cohen go from baby to toddler.

We had a fantastic spring and summer season

camping with family and friends.

We bought a new camper this spring which

offers us much more space!

Our year was full of fun times and great memories!

...

Eric started a new job this past January

with JSH construction company.

The move for Eric has been a great one!

He loves working for JSH and the guys he works with.

Eric enjoyed a couple of fishing trips last winter

with his buddies.

...

I am in my eighth year of teaching 3rd grade

at Cokato Elementary School.

I feel fortunate to have a job so close to home.

I also continue to do an after school program

on Monday's called STARS.

I enjoyed a getaway to Las Vegas this summer

with some good friends!

...

Cohen turned two this fall.

It is hard to believe how fast he is growing.

Cohen has had a ton of milestones this year.

To name just a few... Cohen moved from a crib

to a big boy bed, he gave up his nuk,

he is talking lots and lots, and he has

recently taken interest in using the potty.

Cohen loves being outside, camping,

hanging out with his little buddies,

reading books, and playing with motorcycles.

 

 

As we say good bye to 2012,

we look back on all of the things

we have to be thankful for!

We are truly blessed

to have a healthy and happy family

and to be surrounded by the people we love.

 

We are excited for 2013 and all it has to offer!

Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas 2012

 We had a fabulous Christmas season!

Cohen was so much fun to celebrate with this year.

He started to understand what Christmas is...

Jesus' birthday,

spending time with family and friends,

Santa Claus,

Dash our House Elf,

yummy food,

and of course...presents!

...

Great Memories with Cohen from this year...

~Throughout the entire month of December

he walked around the house singing

"Happy Birthday" to Jesus...so cute!

~Every morning he woke up and the first thing

he would do was look for Dash.

~ We read Christmas stories every night before bed.

~ We sang Christmas songs in the car together.

~ And we had so much fun celebrating!

...

The day before Christmas Eve

we went to Erin and Josh's

to celebrate with my family.

Here are a few pictures from the Remme Christmas...

 

 Absolutely love this one!

He looks so handsome.

He didn't keep that tie on very long,

but we made it through church

and long enough to take a few pictures.

 The adorable little Reese!

 Such a cute picture of Carter.

And look...Carter had a matching tie to Cohen.

 Rocking out on the guitars!

 A big smile with Grandpa and Grandma.

 On Christmas Eve we spent the day and evening

with the Chap family!

It was another wonderful celebration.

Lots of fun with the kiddos running around

and playing together.

 I don't get many pictures with just me and Cohen.

I sure love this one!

 Ahhh...such a cute picture of Madi

with her beautiful new puppy, Ava!

Eating a candy cane with Grandma Julie!

 

 The weekend before Christmas

we got together with Eric's entire Chap family!

Here is a picture of Grandma Val and most

of her grandkids.

And Grandma Val with most of her great grandkids!

 On Christmas morning we opened presents

with Cohen  from Santa and from us.

Here he is hanging out in his

Christmas pajamas with his M & M's.

 And one last picture of Cohen

in his reindeer hat that he made at daycare.

...

I am sad to see Christmas come and go

so quickly (as always.)

We will look forward to Christmas again

next year!



Merry Christmas

With Love From The Chap's...

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

So excited for Santa...

Cohen was so excited to see Santa!

He talked about him all the way to the mall.

As we were walking into the mall,

we saw Santa and he got a huge smile

and gave him a wave.

As we walked up to where he was sitting

he suddenly went from excited to scared!

He wanted nothing to do with Santa!

Santa tried coaxing him with a mini football...

that didn't work.

We tried coaxing him with candy...

that didn't work!

So this is how we remember our visit

with Santa in 2012!

 Not quite sure...

Mad and ready to get down!

 

Maybe next year?!?!



No more nookie

Well I think it is safe to say

Cohen is officially "nookie free!"

Tonight marks the two week mark since we

have been without his nuk. 

Cutting the nuk out of Cohen's life was one

I wasn't sure I wanted to tackle

but as he grew to like it more and more each day,

I knew it was time to get rid of it!

...

We have a new friend at daycare.

William is the new baby at daycare

and he was a huge help in getting rid of the nuk.

We put all of Cohen's nuks in a baggie

and gave them to Baby William.

We told him that Baby William needed the nookies.

I was quite surprised that he handed them

over to him so easily.

...

The transition without a nuk went quite well!

The first night was a little rocky but once we got

past the first night it has been smooth sailing.

He has asked for it a few times

but never cried or got mad about not having it.

To be honest, I think it was harder for this mama

then it was for Cohen.

Taking the nuk away was just one more sign

that Cohen is growing up and FAST!

...

A few precious pictures with Cohen

and his beloved nuk!

 

 Love this one...so precious!

 And this one cracks me up...

trying to be a Harley dude,

yet has a nuk in his mouth...hehe!

 Another favorite picture of Cohen!

And a more recent one....

as you can see he isn't sucking on it,

just holding it in his mouth.

...

I am happy Cohen is done with the nuk!

Now on to the next task...

potty training!

All ready for Christmas...

The Chap household is all ready for Christmas!

Last weekend we set up the Christmas trees

and put up the decorations around the house.

Cohen was a good little helper...well sort of :)

He tried to help by bringing me the

ornaments for the trees.

He also attempted to hang them on the trees

but couldn't quite get them to stay.

After we had the tree all set up he found

a new spot to hang out...

 Cohen found another new hiding spot...

in the Christmas tree box.

 Here are a couple of pictures of him

checking out the lights

and hanging up the ornaments.

 We put up one tree one night

and one tree the next night.

Here he is putting up his ornaments

on the tree downstairs.

 Last year we got an adorable picture of Cohen

tangled up in lights.

Well I wanted to make it a tradition to get a picture

with him in the lights but he wasn't for it :)

I tried to get him in just his diaper and the lights

but he screamed.

The pictures I got didn't turn out real well so....

We settled for his clothes and a candy cane.

He has a mind of his own!

Still cute!

I got all of our Christmas presents bought today.

Now just to wrap them up!

We are ready for Christmas!

Cohen's two year pictures

Here are some of my favorites

from Cohen's 2 year photo shoot!

Love how they turned out!!

 

 And I love this pictue!

All of the things he loves right now!

 

Introducing "Dash"

Introducing the newest Chap family member...Dash!

Dash joined us last weekend for the first time.

For those of you who don't know,

Dash is a little elf who watches over Cohen

to make sure he is being good.

Each night he reports back to Santa

and then when Cohen wakes up the next morning

Dash has found a new place to watch Cohen.

Every morning Cohen has been excited to find him!

Here are some of the places we have found Dash...

 

 In the flowers

 On the window sill

 In the Christmas tree

 And on top of the wall hanging in the kitchen

 Cohen wanted to get a closer look at Dash

 He couldn't quite reach him

He thinks Dash is funny!

And the best part (knock on wood)

Cohen has been on his best behavior!!

We are having a lot of fun with Dash!

A new tradition for our family.