Finally...

When Nick and I took Cole in for his 9 month appointment a couple months ago, the doctor asked us if Cole was clapping or waving bye-bye yet. Um......nope, but he gives high fives!!! ha! I really wasn't worried that he hadn't achieved those milestones yet, but this weekend, he finally did both! We even got him waving on video. We were so excited when he started waving and then last night we were over at Ryan and Casey's playing around with their karaoke machine and Cole started clapping. Yay!!!!


We are finally out for over 2 weeks for Christmas break! I am SO excited! We leave Wednesday for Minnesota so I'm spending the next 2 days getting packed.
I'm just hoping we are all completely healthy by the time we leave. I swear I've been battling a cold for over a month now...as soon as it starts to clear up, it all comes back. My head literally felt like it was going to explode last night, so at 4:30am, I made a trip to Walmart to get some Sudafed. I was absolutely miserable.
Then to add to my awesome luck, last Friday I woke up with my eye plastered shut. I went to the doctor that morning to find out I had a scratch on my cornea which then got infected, which is "technically" Pink eye. Luckily, I didn't pass it off to Nick or Cole...but my chapped, dry, cracked hands are a result of my obsessive washing. :)

We can't wait to get up to Minnesota to see family...let's just hope we don't freeze up there!!! Brrrr!!!

Rough couple of weeks

As much as I love winter, the cold air, snow (well, not so much in Texas), warm drinks, fire places....this cold air has been rough on all of us! I feel like I've been battling a cold for a month now and poor Cole has been dealing with the same. Cole has been sneezing, coughing, runny nose and a super chapped face. He just has not been his normal happy self and it's so sad to see. Plus, he's getting one of his top fangs (not sure what that tooth is ACTUALLY called) so he's been drooling, cranky and really clingy with his momma, which I love but can get tiring after awhile. Plus, it hurts Nick's feelings :(

I'm ready for our bubbly, loud and social baby to be back to his normal self, so I can't believe I'm about to say this...but I'm ready for warm weather!!

Another interesting thing that has happend to us this past weekend....our son has all of a sudden decided that he doesn't want baby food. At first I thought it was the whole teething thing and he just wasn't in the mood to eat, but after many attempts and food being flung across the room, we just gave him table food and he ate that fine. Last night I made a chicken, potatoes, green bean dish and he ate everything with us. He loved it! Since I've never done this whole parenting thing before, I really didn't know when babies stop eating baby food. I assumed that since he's only getting his 3rd tooth, that he wouldn't be quite ready. I guess they let you know what they are ready for.

I'm about to order Cole's 1st birthday party invites.....I can't believe it's almost been a year! We haven't thrown too many birthday parties in our day, so I'm starting to realize all that goes into it. I think after his 1st birthday, I may hire a party planner for the rest of his parties...ha! Good thing I'm a boy mom, b/c if I had a daughter, she would thoroughly be disappointed in my decorating abilities. :)

How's this for a cute face!?!

Poor little Max (Tracy's dog) is now an only child.....Sterling went to doggie heaven last week. It will be sad not having Sterling around and as Tracy said tonight..."who's going to clean Max's face now?".....we nominated Dennis (father in law)...ha! :)

Cole....you are LOUD!!!!

The other night we were just hanging out at home and had to take some video of our child being obnoxiously loud!!!! It was quite hilarious...even the dogs don't quite know what to do with him.



This video was from tonight...it's amazing what makes babies laugh.

Birthdays, Christmas lights and family

With this past weekend being my birthday weekend, we got to do a lot of fun things! Friday night we just hung out at home and played with Cole. I'm always so exhausted on Friday's so being at home was fine with me! We gave Cole a bath and took a few pictures...we had to get a few shots in before he started screaming because we torture him and make him wear clothes to bed. Sheesh, what mean parents we are!

This is a shot AFTER we got him dressed and was in a better mood.

Saturday, I wanted to do a little bit of shopping. My parents gave me $$ for my birthday and I have not been shopping for myself in several months mainly because Nick and I are doing the Dave Ramsey stuff and sometimes that fun stuff just doesn't fit into our new budget. Anyhow...I think my family new I'd been itching to do some shopping so I really appreciated the money and gift cards!!! We wanted to go shopping after Cole took his mid-morning nap....and as you can see, he decided to take his nap on me! :) ha! I didn't care, Nick and I watched a movie while he napped, and that was nice because we don't get to watch a lot of movies these days.
We headed out and did some shopping, ate lunch together, watched Cole flirt with a little girl and then we headed home so Cole could take his afternoon nap before we headed out for dinner with Nick's family.
Here I am with my birthday nachos :) Actually, Dennis really wanted these and even though I was completely stuffed from dinner, we humored him and got them anyway...ha!
Here is Grandma Tracy playing with Cole during dinner. It was kind of nice because usually when we go out to dinner, I have a hard time "enjoying" the meal because I'm having to tend to my son, but I sat on the opposite side of the table and Tracy and Emily pretty much watched him during dinner and I was able to just sit and enjoy my meal.
After dinner, we decided to walk around for a bit because Frisco Square was having their big tree lighting event and there were tons of people and fun things going on. Frisco Square has an amazing light show during the holidays so those were fun to see. We didn't stay out too long because it was COLD!!!

Sunday we went to Nick's parents house and watched football, ate chili and most of all, we went because Nick's family dog, Sterling, is not doing too well and is probably going to be put down this week so we wanted to make sure Benson and Roxy could see Sterling and play with him one last time....sniff sniff!! He's such a sweet dog and will be missed so much! He and Benson were buddies since Benson was a puppy, so I'm sure Benson will miss him!
Here is a picture we took of Cole with Sterling so that Cole can see who he is when he's older.Here is a video of Cole playing with his new music table that Grandma and Granddad got him. He absolutely loves it and has been "dancing" like crazy.

Bound to happen sometime...

It's been 10 months and Cole has been absolutely sick-free, no fever, cold...nothing. Well, I guess it was bound to happen sometime. Cole got his first bug. He started getting congested before Thanksgiving and I think flying and being in a different climate (Colorado) did not make him get any better. I absolutely LOVE Colorado, but that dry air was killing us! Then a few days later he started getting a cough and the cough has just gotten worse and worse. Since it had been going on for quite awhile I decided to call our pediatrician and see what they say. I was a little reluctant to call at first because I know that they can't do much for babies under 1 year. I talked to the nurse and she actually recommended 2 homeopathic medicines. I had never heard of them before but these are what a lot of the holistic, homeopathic doctors recommend using. She told me to get Lithy Tree and Briar Rose. I guess it's actually good for anyone to use during the cold/flu season to boost your immune system and she recommended us using it before we travel since flying sometimes gets people sick. ALSO, it is something that is good to take before kids get vaccines to boost their immune systems because if kids are sick or their immune system is compromised and then they get vaccines, that is when they can have bad side effects.

I really appreciate these types of doctors that don't just push drugs on their patients because that is what the pharmaceutical companies tell them to prescribe. I know it does not benefit our doctor to recommend these remedies and not get any proceeds from prescribing drugs, so that shows that they really are doing what they think is best for our kids. Ok ok, I know all this stuff is a controversial, but it's my blog and I can write what I want! :-)

I ended up taking him into the doctor anyway because he was sounding very raspy and kind of weezy so she checked him for RSV and to make sure he wasn't contageous. He does not have RSV and he should be getting better in the next day or two. I think being back in our climate should help....but by the time he gets back to normal, it will be time for us to pack up and head off to Minnesota for Christmas. Whew....what a busy time of year!
I guess I can't complain about him being sick, I mean, it's definitely not fun...especially when he was waking up for several hours during the night, but going this long without being sick is pretty good right!?!

Thanksgiving in Colorado

Cole and I flew to Colorado for Thanksgiving. Unfortunetely Nick stayed home and we are missing him SO much this week!!! This trip would be even better if he was here...at least we'll be together for Christmas. I was a little nervous about flying with a nearly 10 month old by myself but he did really good. The poor gentleman that sat next to us was surrounded by babies and kids, but he was a good sport. Cole talked to him and even tried to play on his laptop. ha!
We have pretty much been laying low, just spending time with Grandpa and Grammy and Uncle Ross, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Rachel. However, first item on our agenda....haircut!!!!!

This is the before shot. His bangs were literally hanging in his eyes, hair over the ears, it was just a flat out mess! While Cole played with some toys after dinner, Grammy started cutting away and it looks great!

This is the after-shot...now we can actually see his eyes!

Cole has been having so fun and just playing and playing. My parents pulled out all my old toys and he's enjoying playing with new "old" stuff. We have also had to do a quick baby-proofing of the house but I guess my parents will have to get used to that since there will be a new grand baby in the family come February.

Here is a picture of Cole after he passed out on the couch

Another picture of his new haircut....what a handsome boy!

Today my mom and I went over to some good friends house so Cole could play with Henry. It's also an excuse for us ladies to get together and catch up. Cole and Henry had a great time playing with all the toys. Henry is 4 months older and is walking, but as you can see in the pictures, Cole is significantly bigger than Henry!!! It was fun watching them play.

We will be heading back to Texas on Sunday morning and I'm sure we will be ready to see Dad by then! Let's just hope Cole does as well on the plane as he did on the way here! Oh, and can I just say I am LOVING the weather here!!! It's been amazing so far...if you like cold weather.

Naked Baby = Whoops!!!

Even though Cole loves taking his baths and he is no longer taking baths with the "duck", he has never been a fan of putting his diaper and clothes on after the bath!! When he was smaller it wasn't so bad because he couldn't go anywhere, he couldn't do anything...but cry. NOW...it's a battle that is pure torture for him each time we bathe. Tonight we decided that instead of fighting it, we would let him run around naked for awhile....here are some photos.

Look, he even gracefully covered himself up!!

Cute little tooshie!!!

Oh wait!!!!! What happens when little boys have their diaper off for too long?? You guessed it....can you see that "stream" coming out of him? Now, you must be thinking that I am one quick photographer, however, I was just trying to get him to smile and then next thing you know, he was watering the carpet.

Do you see the stream??? ha! It's official, he's going to HATE me when he's a teenager!

And, here is the final product...apparently it's a boy thing to mark your territory. Now I'm wondering if Benson is going to come pee in the same spot to claim his spot back.

9 Month Appointment

Cole finally had his 9 month well check this morning and besides the fact that he was super tired, cranky and pretty much cried his way through the appointment......he's great! ha! (note to self....next time schedule his appointment for AFTER his morning nap!).
He's still a chunky monkey, but has definitely slowed down. Here are his stats:
Weight: 25lbs - 91%
Height: 30 in - 94%
Head: Don't remember, but it's in the 86%

He has not gained any weight since his 6 month appointment but that's totally normal now that he's crawling and moving around so much more.

We asked her about the whole dairy thing....since he seemed to be bothered by the dairy last time we tried it, she said that we can try some cheese, but when it comes to getting him only regular "milk", she suggests we do rice milk. She's not a huge fan of cow's milk to begin with so she thinks rice milk is the way to go. Then, once he's closer to 18 months and he can have nuts, she wants us to try almond milk!!! Whaaaa!!! I've never even heard of almond milk. But, we'll do what the doctor says and I'm sure he'll love anything we give him.

He got his one shot this month and the doctor said that for most of his appointments, we can just do one shot at a time. We talked about giving him his polio shot also today but after talking with the doctor we decided against it for a couple reasons. One, there are no cases of polio in the U.S right now and he has already had the first round of polio so he's 90% protected and two, he was already crabby to begin with so why make him more mad with a second shot!?! haha! So he has one band-aid today instead of two.

We get to try some more foods now....cheeses, black beans, fun stuff like that. However, she said we should still be doing pureed foods for a couple more months till he gets faster with the finger foods. Gosh, otherwise we'd be sitting at the table for 2 hours to try to get him to eat enough food!

I love the look on his face in the picture....he sure loves his walks, I think we go on a walk every evening and he loves to just look around at everything. However, last night he fell asleep on our walk and when I took him into the house, he just slept on my shoulder and snuggled with me for awhile...it was so great because it's hard to get that snuggle time now that he's on the move so much more. So, I'll take advantage of it when I can!

Oh, and update on Stellan....they did one last procedure on him this morning, basically they tried to get his heart into the irregular, high rates (to make sure what they did on Monday truly did work) and after trying many many times, they could not get his heart rate to go back into SVT.....so everything was a success, he's completely SVT free. Wow!!! My mother-in-law said that they have been on the news quite a bit up in the Minneapolis area (that is where they are from) so she has been able to follow his story through that as well. Pretty amazing!!

Again, if you want to read some of her blog, here is the link.

A different kind of post....

Over the past week or so, I've had this family on my mind and yesterday proved to me what a great God we serve!!! I've read this ladies blog for such a long time, some of you may have heard of her...I mean, she has like 20,000 followers and is such an amazing woman of God. Her littliest guy Stellan has had heart troubles from the get-go and this past week he was in pretty rough shape. They flew to Boston to do a procedure to try to rid him of his irregular heart rhythms and yesterday she watched her little guy flat line right in front of her and lose blood pressure. They shocked him back to life, did the procedure and as MckMama says, it was a Home Run!!! The procedure was a complete success and they are looking at a little guy who should no longer have heart problems the rest of his life. He still has a lot of hurdles to jump, but in the big picture he should be fine. If you get a chance, go to her website and read a little bit of her blog, her pictures are amazing and she definitely tells you like it is and it's just amazing how she can capture your attention. It's such an awesome story, while she was pregnant, the doctors told her that Stellan would surely die (probably in utero) but they chose life and to give it over to God and look where he is now! Talk about faith!
Click here to view her page.....it's a pretty amazing blog, I encourage you to just read her last few posts!!!
I'm not the type of person that gets caught up in this whole Twitter thing, but literally yesterday, I sat with my phone just waiting for updates on little Stellan. It's amazing what technology can do these days!!! I felt like I was sitting right there with her, feeling her pain and sorrow. I've never even met this woman, but I guess as a mother you can feel that pain of possibly losing a child.
This typically isn't like me.....to be sharing my "feelings" like this, but yesterday I had such a heavy heart and when she posted that the surgery was a success and her little guy would live, it was such an amazing feeling!!! So many people were praying for Stellan yesterday and it shows what prayer can do!

Snoop Dog and the Park...and Walmart bathrooms

What does this post have anything to do with Snoop Dogg??? Well, as I sit here typing this up, my hubby is off with his buddies enjoying the Snoop Dogg concert. This isn't his first time going to his concert, I think it's his 4th or 5th time. What a groupie!
So because Nick was leaving us tonight, we made him go to the park with us this afternoon. The weather here has been perfect so we thought we'd go out and enjoy it. He's finally big enough to put in the swing, but he doesn't seem to really know what's going on yet so he seemed kind of bored with it. Oh well, in time!

I've posted about this before, but literally, Cole has been so "fun" to feed lately. It has gotten to be so challenging that seriously, Nick and I pretty much do paper-rock-scissors to see who gets to feed him. We always end up having to strip him out of his clothes because they are caked with food and as you can see in this first picture, he gets the food all over his hair. Sometimes there are minuses to having lots of hair! Even though he's a complete mess, he sure is a cute mess!!!

(Can you see the food in the hair??)

CHEESE!!!!!!!!!

We had a pretty laid back weekend which was nice. We got a lot of cleaning done. We had to do a real deep clean because Cole is all over the place now and why is it that babies can find the smallest morsels and pick it up and eat it?? So we thought we should get a good cleaning in so he's not filthy after crawling around the house :)
Sunday morning was pretty eventful...we get everything ready to head out to church (We haven't been in a couple weeks, mind you). We are in the car and shoot! I realize I forgot to bring a bottle and he needs one b/c he'll be hungry in the middle of service. We are too far to go back home so we have to stop at Walmart. I buy a bottle, bottle washer and some dish soap. I head into the Walmart bathroom which if you can imagine, isn't the cleanest bathroom out there. I sort of clean this bottle and off to church we go. We get to church, Nick drops me off so I can re-rinse the bottle since it still smells like dish soap then he was going to bring Cole in with him. We walk in, only to realize they changed service times....grrrr!!!! So what do we do??? We go to Dunkin Donuts and hide our frustrations with donuts! :) What good parents we are! It's funny how much more interesting our lives are with a baby!