Finally Weather For A Wagon Ride

I'm ready...let's go!!! I don't need this cup holder.

I don't really want to read now either.

Let me back in!!!

We finally were able to break out Cole's Christmas present from his Ga and Pa...a flashy Radio Flyer. I was worried about him trying to pull-up or out of the wagon, but we strapped him in and he sat back and enjoyed the ride. We can't wait for more warm weather!!!

Breakfast Surprise

Cole was very interested in Tim today! Partying with the hood! Tricia, Maddie, Jy, Kristin, and Lina enjoying the birthday breakfast.

The birthday girl Linda and her hubby Frank.

This morning we hosted a surprise birthday breakfast for Linda Plano, one of our cul-de-sac neighbors. Everyone came over around 9:45am and I called Linda to tell her I needed help hemming a pair of Cole's pants...but not until 10:00. Not super creative, but it worked. She was very surprised and it was nice to see all of our cul-de-sac family, we have all been cooped up inside due to the weather. It makes your heart smile when you are able to do nice things for your friends!

My Valentine

After a few years of marriage, a new baby...you sometimes get busy with all of the "life" things - we forget about each other. Dan and I decided that we needed a weekend away together and it was worth it. We dropped Cole off at GaGa and PaPa's and headed to the WinStar Casino in Oklahoma. OK so most of you might think that isn't exactly romantic...but it was so much fun.

We went up to the casino the night before, got a hotel room for the night, and played poker together for hours. Dan and I also played in a Jack and Jill style poker tournament. We were partners that played with the same chips, same cards - each for 30 minute rounds. Out of 110 people we place 16th...only 5 places out of the money. We had a really good time.

I love my husband more today because he knows that I would be happy spending the day playing poker, drinking Bloody Marys, and spending time with him - baby free for 24 hours. We missed Cole and talked about him a lot, but the time together was perfect!

A Weekend at Home with Monkey

Loving Life (and laundry I guess)!!!

Laundry Day! Hey I think I see a Cheerio over there!

Looks so innocent!

Toys...I'd rather play in a box.Acting out "Way up high in the apple tree" with mommy.

We didn't really do a whole lot this weekend except enjoy our time with Monkey (his new name because he is EVERYWHERE and EVERYWHERE fast).

We did go buy Cole some new clothes at the outlet mall and 2 different families asked if they could take him home with them...he likes to flirt with cute girls :) And we found out he loves cheese enchiladas with deluxe tomatillo sauce from Chuys...who knew? A lazy weekend but oh so perfect!

Our Busy Boy

Always on the move!

I swear I didn't put the book like that.

He was really laying there "reading".

The tongue is ALWAYS out!

Cole turned 9 months old today...to say that outloud just shocks me...9 months old??? He is such a busy boy. Cole is NEVER still, in fact Ms. Debra says that sometimes she just picks him up so he will rest for a few minutes while he is with her. He is crawling everywhere, especially everywhere he is not supposed to be. He likes playing with door stops and antagonizing the dogs the most. When I cook dinner, he rolls around on the kitchen floor with the dogs and "fights" with them over his toys. He is still combat crawling except when he doesn't realize he is up on all fours and he wants to get to something that is up high.

He is pulling up on all of the furniture, baby gates, and even his crib. This morning when we looked into the video monitor he was standing up in his crib. Needless to say I haven't seen Dan move that fast in a VERY long time. When I took Cole to his doctor's appointment this morning, Dan stayed home and lowered his bed to the lowest level :)

Cole is calling me MAMA and Dan DADA...he said MAMA first by the way...smart, smart boy. He has 2 more top teeth and is gnawing on everything. He is eating more and more "real" food every single day. His favorite meal is pancakes and scrambled egg yolks, but he likes sliced turkey, frozen veggies, and of course Cheerios and Goldfish. He has started sweeping his food off of his tray and to his dogs...makes for a fun mess to clean up. I let him try everything we eat, but tend to stick to the easy, soft things so far.

Cole is a BIG boy. He is 26lbs 12oz and 32 1/4 inches long. He is just starting to wear 24 month clothes. Dr. Millar said he is the size of most 15 month olds - thank goodness he is a boy!

Dan is starting to really enjoy his time with Cole because he is so active now. He wrestles with his dad on the living room floor and plays his games with him. As soon as the weather gets warmer, we can't wait to take him to the zoo, park, and all of the fun places around Austin. He is so observant and constantly in everybody's "business". His new favorite game is hiding things from us. He takes his little toys and puts them in places - like on top of the TV speaker, under his toy box, through the baby gates to the dogs, and even in the DVD player. I caught him with his little pointy index finger opening and shutting the DVD player one night, and then his little piggy bank coin was laying in the middle of it when I went to clean up for the night. BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

I have a countdown ticker on my Facebook page that counts down the days until Cole's first birthday. It said 3 months today...how is that even possible?

Perspective

Yesterday Dan and I attended the memorial service of our friend's twelve year old daughter..if that doesn't put your life in perspective, I don't know what ever could. It was so touching, so sad to hear her middle school friends pay tribute to Shaylah. It was so tough to listen to her 3rd grade teacher talk of her former student, how so many students enter our lives each year and how sometimes we have to let them go - whether we want to or not.

Billy, Shaylah's dad, wrote a poem for his sweet girl and read it at her service...talk about tears...

I wanted to share it:

We cannot see you,

But we know you are here.

We cannot hold you,

Yet we hold you so dear.

You are our baby,

And always will be.

Now also an angel,

With your spirit set free.

There are no words

To describe how we feel.

How can this be?

Is it true? Is it real?

In our hearts and in our mind,

You will forever remain.

Rest in peace, we love you.

Shaylah Noel Dame.

Not that everything is about ME :), and what I have experienced, but when something like this does happen - it is only human to relate it to your own life. I think Billy took my thoughts and put them to words about our little girl that we lost almost 2 years ago...made me think of Brynn, made me kiss Cole, made me hold my husband's hand just a little longer last night.

And Yet...Another Month Older...

Eating apples and prunes...YUMMY! We often find him sleeping in this position when he first goes to bed (and yes...the flash woke him up...thanks Dad). Crawling in, out, under, over, and through EVERYTHING!

Cole is 8 months old this week...seriously...does it always go by this fast? Cole had a big month of firsts. In mid December, his two top teeth came in. The right one poked through first and the left one started to poke through not even a day later. He looks so cute when he smiles now - you can see all four of his teeth. Now that he has teeth and is able to pinch things better and better each day, we have started giving him more and more "real" food. While in Jackson Hole, he would hardly touch his baby food after he had pancakes, chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, rice and beans. He loves to sit in his highchair in the middle of our living room, eating Gerber puffs or veggie chips, while watching the Penguins of Madagascar. He plays, sings, does his dinosaur screeching, and laughs a lot. He is such a good boy.

In mid December he also started crawling. He had been scooching around a little for months...but I am talking full COMBAT crawl. I was in the kitchen cooking and all of the sudden I heard this boing, boing, boing noise and it was him playing with the little door stop by our pantry door. I turned and asked my mom if she moved him there and she said NOPE! It has been nonstop movement since...you should see how fast he goes on wood floors :) He has started to get up on all fours and rock, but he doesn't move. I never crawled on all fours, I just did the whole combat crawl thing until I walked (at 9 months)...maybe he will be the same - although I am hoping he isn't a super early walker like I was...

We didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, but we don't think he has gained much weight due to the moving around. He is a lot longer though - the 18 month clothes are now actually fitting him in both height and weight - they were soooooo long when we had to move him into the 18 month clothes because of his little belly, but not so much anymore.

He waves bye-bye and plays patty-cake when he wants to and he smiles and laughs ALL of the time. He is an easy baby to make smile and laugh. He loves it when his mommy and daddy read him books at bedtime and he still loves to be rocked to sleep. He sleeps from 7pm to 6am - not bad huh? We wish he would sleep just a bit later, especially on the weekends, but we can't complain. He wakes up, drinks a bottle, and then wants to go back to sleep. His new thing is going back to sleep with us in our bed for a while (or in his GaGa and PaPa's bed).

We celebrated Cole's first Christmas, he played in snow, he saw Old Faithful, and took 2 plane rides. A lot of things that grown people never get to do and he is a whopping 8 months old. I look forward to another month of firsts and an even better year with my boys. I am blessed.