Cole's first Par-tay!!

Warning: Mega overload of photos ahead!!!!

Saturday we had Cole's 1st birthday party at our house. My parents were nice enough to make the trip down here and I sure appreciated having them here. They were such a huge help! The party was a great success and we all had such a great time! We needed to make sure that Cole was nice and rested for his big day, so here he is with Grandpa, getting in a little nap before his guests arrived.
Here are a few pictures of the decorations, food and cakes.
I actually made this banner, who knew I had a little bit of creativeness in me! It turned out better than I thought it would and maybe we can use it for more than his 1st birthday.

Here is one of his birthday cakes. This is the cake that everyone ate. It was a marble cake and extremely yummy!

Here is Cole's smash cake. It was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. He seemed to really enjoy it!! (Pictures to come)

Here is our kitchen table, we had drinks, snacks for the little kids, and a vase filled with M&M's with straws coming out of the vase for the root beer floats that we served.

Here is our dining room table with all the adult food. We served sloppy joes, a bean dish, queso, fruit, veggies, etc. My mom also got this nice flower arrangement made up for me.

Cole was having such a great time with all the kids and playing around, but then it was time for us to sing happy birthday and him to experience the greatness of cake! We took a few pictures before he got messy.

Here he is with both sets of grandparents

Our cute little family

We sang happy birthday and here is a little clip of his reaction. It was sorta like this...."why are all these people singing and looking at me AND taking so many pictures??".



He was not quite sure of the cake at first, probably because Nick took Cole's hand and dug it into the cake and pretty much tried to force-feed him...ha! Cole was not impressed. We were about to give up and get him out of his chair, but Nick tried one more time and finally got some in his mouth and he curled his nose up at first, but then once he realized that all this sugar tastes pretty good, he started to dig into the cake! He LOVED it!!!
Here is a video of him really enjoying the cake...we finally had to take it away from him because I didn't want him to get an upset tummy.

And here is what he looked like once he was done. Good thing the whole cake wasn't red, otherwise we would have been in big trouble!!

After a quick clothes change and some washing up, Cole opened up some of his presents and got some great stuff!!! He got all kinds of toys from a baseball set, his first tool kit, a tractor...all kinds of "boy" things.

Here is Cole and Kylynn playing with his tractor set. Kylynn is one of my friend Tracey's little girls and Kylynn also goes to the same sitter as Cole. Kylynn is such a little mother-hen, whenever I pick up Cole after school she comes up to him and says, "Bye Sugar". So cute!!

Some more present openings

The gift that we are most excited about is Cole's new wagon. Both sets of grandparents got this for Cole and I CANNOT wait for it to get warmer so we can go on wagon rides. I think he's starting to get a little bored with the stroller, so I hope he enjoys this. Our sitter takes the kids on wagon rides when it's nice outside, so he should be used to it.
I also think we got the Cadillac version of wagons, I mean, it has a canopy AND a cooler AND drink holders! What more do you need?
The cooler...crazy huh??

It truly was such a fun day and I am kind of sad it is over, but we have so much to look forward to. We are so blessed to have such a great kid who brings so much joy into our lives, we couldn't ask for anything better!

A Year ago today...continued

So there I am, all drugged, drowsy and feeling good when the doctor tells me that I am now half way there. What!?! It hasn't even been painful yet. I guess that is the good thing about sleeping aids, is that it numbs your body, ha! Don't get me wrong, I could feel the contractions, they were just about getting to the point where I couldn't talk through them. They weren't all that painful, just took my breath away.

This is about how I was feeling before the epidural...not too bad

I then asked if I could go ahead and just get my epidural, Nick left because he's a wussy :) and they came it, shot me up and next thing I know.....I'm feeling like this.....AHHHHH!!!!!

Pain free and listening to some tunes

I am then told that I am completely dilated, except one thing....Cole was upside down. Um ok, they could have told me he was coming out with two heads, I didn't care at that point. They informed me that I COULD get him out, it would just be harder. Heck, I was up for it. BUT, my doctor had a great idea to put my body in some acrobatic position to try to get him to flip over. So, with one leg practically over my head (ha, not really), I laid there for another hour and next thing we know, he flipped the right way and we were ready to go. My doctor is so smart! :)
Without going into too much detail.....an hour and a half later...Mr. Cole was born. 8:57am weighing 7lb 6oz.
Does anyone remember that scene from Men in Black when Will Smith is helping that lady deliver her baby in the car and the baby comes out as an octopus with all those tentacles?? That's what I swore came out of me when he came out...ha! Gross??

And here is a beautiful picture of me and Cole....yep, I'm still all drugged up and feeling good. Can't you tell by my eyes!!! Sheesh!And that's Cole's birthday story....couldn't have been a better experience and it truly has been the best year of our lives! We are so blessed to have such a sweet boy. We love you Cole!

One year ago today...

We had an ice storm. Schools were closed, everything was shut down....but it was the most exciting but scariest day of my life.

I went to get my nails and toenails done. The ladies there said to me, "ahhh, you are pregnant, when are you due?" I said, "Tonight!!"

Nick and I packed up the car and took one last picture.....(sorry Roxy that you didn't make it into the picture!!)

We headed to the airport to pick up my parents, then we all met up with Nick's parents at Celebrity Bakery for dinner. It was so weird sitting there with the grandparents, knowing that we were on our way to the hospital.

You just always have in your mind that "going into labor" is such a chaotic time and there is yelling and pain and frantic parents trying to get to the hospital. This was all BUT that. It was such a relaxed evening and we really enjoyed that last meal before d-day.

After dinner we said good-bye to Nick's parents, "we'll call you in the morning once they start inducing me". We drove to the hospital and walked in, knowing we'd be leaving with a baby, that truly is the craziest feeling ever!

Once they get me hooked up to the monitors, get my IV in, the nurse tells me that I'll only be a little crampy during the night and that first thing in the morning they will start the induction process...and I need to get comfortable...."so here, take 2 ambien to help you sleep tonight".

Ha! Little did anyone know...that little baby Cole did not want to wait that long. Literally, once I swallowed the Ambien and started to feel pretty drugged up, they informed that I was in full blown labor.....Really!?!

And....more to come tomorrow on what happend next!!! Happy ALMOST birthday Mr. Cole!!

Some new things....

Now that this cute face is close to a year and is SO close to walking....

...we finally decided to get him some real shoes. It bums me out so bad because we have had the cutest shoes given to us and Cole has not been able to fit in any of them!!! He has got the fattest and most wide foot and we couldn't stuff his foot in any of the cute shoes. It also doesn't help that he took after his father and curls his toes constantly which makes it doubly hard to get shoes on.
So....we made a trip to Stride Rite and got him fitted for his first pair of big boy shoes.

Here they are.....Size 5 and extra wide...that's my boy!!! :)

Wow Cole, how cute you look in those new shoes! It is pretty funny watching him tromp around in them. He's not used to wearing shoes so he is still a little clumsy in them. I wonder if he'll keep shoes on better than he keeps socks on...hmmmm

Ok, this picture I just couldn't resist. What a cute little rump....and do you see all the dimples? Here he is waiting for his bath to fill up. He loves to stand by the tub and help me put his toys in, he's such a good little helper!

If you look closely in this video, you can see what I mean about his fat feet, AND you can also see him curling his toes about halfway through. Funny!!

Mess

It has been quite entertaining and fun to watch Cole eat lately. However, not so fun when I have to soak his clothes for days after each meal....but since he's eating all table food now, he has become quite the messy eater!

Example #1:

"Can I PLEASE touch your face mom...please???"

Example #2

"Can I have the camera if not your face?"

Cole has also learned how to share his food. He's so sweet....he'll even chew up the food a bit, and THEN give it to you....yummy!

Last.....Cole has just learned how to drink from a straw. I know, the little things in life that excite a mom! He also is no longer using a bottle (except in the mornings when I'm running late and don't have a clean sippy cup). I feel like all of a sudden he is doing all these new things. I can't wait till his birthday to show everyone his tricks....."Cole...sit, roll over, walk to mom, laugh"....ah, I can't wait!!! :)

Oh Goodness....

Just all of a sudden....today....he decided to start walking. Oh gosh! 5 steps was the most he took, but wow!! Nick kept saying he'll be walking by his 1st birthday and I thought for sure it would be another month, but I may be wrong! Yikes! Where has this year gone?



Yes, this was during the Vikes/Cowboys game, so that's why we're all decked out in purple! Woohoo...go Vikings!!!

Our weekend...and how Cole hated me, for about 10 minutes

We had a pretty low-key weekend, Nick and I were pretty excited because Friday night we made steaks, potatoes, my apple salad, had a bottle of wine....dinner was great, but both of us falling asleep on the couch by 8:30 was not so great...ha! We are losers! AND, if we would have known that Cole was going to sleep till almost 8:00am both mornings, we would have stayed up a bit later.
Saturday we needed to do a little shopping so we packed up and headed out. We had a great day at the mall and then had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, thanks to Ellery and Briana for the gift card, and even enjoyed a free piece of cheesecake. That's my kind of lunch!

On Sunday, we tried cleaning up our house as it was a disaster. I wanted to clean it so bad, but it pretty much took me all day just to put things away and organize, so I didn't even get to the cleaning part. This is next on my list of "to do's"...does anyone think my closet needs a little attention???

In the mix of our Sunday tidy-up fest...I decided to go do something a little different to my hair. I have been debating on if I want bangs or not, literally, the last 2 times I've gotten hair cuts I hum and ha over it and then just can't pull the trigger, yesterday I just decided to do it.
Weeellllll....when I got home, Cole acted like he didn't even know me, he cried when I tried to take him and he just kept staring at this strange lady. Finally after about 20 minutes he started to warm up to me. I even walked out of our bedroom and Roxy barked at me like I was a stranger in their house...ha! I don't have a picture, but I will post one soon!

Side Note...yesterday Nick put these clothes on Cole (and I promised Nick I wouldn't take pictures or tell people what was on the front of his jersey), but after Cole's feet almost started turning purple because they were so tight, we decided to take them off. They were like capri sweat pants...ha!

I think Nick is pretty anxious for Cole to start walking, even though I think it will still be at least another month, however...Nick keeps trying As you can see by this video, he wants nothing to do with it.

10 for 2010

Some resolutions for 2010

1. Read more: I have so many good books that just keep stacking up in my room that I NEED to start reading. Now that I have read all the "Help me be a better parent" books and I sort of have a good handle on this parenting thing, I really want to start reading for pleasure now. Some books that I really want to get through are:

• Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult
• Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
• Kidnapped by Dee Henderson

2. Get Nick to read a book: Yes, "A" book....in the almost 9 years we have been together, Nick has yet to read a book for fun! Crazy! He has read tons of computer books, but it's my goal to get him to read a book and enjoy it. He says that as soon as he starts reading, he falls right to sleep....which leads me into my next resolution....

3. Quit Watching TV before we go to bed/Possibly get the TV out of our room: Over this past summer, I was on the road/vacation so much and never had a TV to help me get to sleep, and I just got used to that silence and really enjoyed not having the TV on. However, Nick says that he can't fall asleep if the TV is off. SO....this is why I want him to start reading. He says that reading puts him to sleep right?....so this works perfectly, he reads, falls asleep and we don't have to have the TV on! Now I just need to find a book that he might like. Hmmmm.....

4. Don't let the TV be my babysitter: Now, sometimes turning on Baby Einstein is necessary while trying to juggle a pot of boiling water and you don't want your child at your feet playing with the tupperwear, so it's probably in everyone's best interest to get him out of the kitchen and distracted with something else. However, I've always been so used to coming home from school, turning the TV on and keeping it on (mostly just for background noise) till we go to bed. I really want to try to do more outings or just play more with Cole. I don't want him to get used to having the TV on. A friend of mine that teaches kindergarten said that she can tell withing the first few minutes which kids watch a lot of tv and which ones don't. I feel like kids don't "play" as much these days, with all the video games and things on the computer and TV's. I want Cole to experience being a kid and just play.

5. Church: I want to get more involved at church. I don't want to just go on Sunday's and call it good. I really want to get involved with a small group. My brother and sister-in-law got a group of couples together and have a small group Bible study a couple times a month and I would love to do something like that.

6. Be Healthier in general: Now that Cole is on table foods and eating pretty much everything we eat, I need to start eating like how I feed Cole. I try to feed him mostly organic, whole foods...so why is Cole eating Chicken, broccoli, tofu, and beans, and Nick and I are eating store-bought pizza!?! We need to be eating what Cole's eating!

7. Stay with Dave: Nick and I started the Dave Ramsey plan awhile back and we've done great so far! It definitely has not been easy, but when we are completely debt free (besides our house) this coming year, it will be so worth it! Cashiers always look at me funny when I pull out my envelopes and pay for our $170 grocery bill with cash..ha! It works for us and we need to make sure we continue on with it. Our goal is that by the time baby #2 comes along, I will be able to stay home and not work.

8. Be a better Wife: Nick and I need to go on more dates! The first half of Cole's life, I just didn't feel comfortable leaving him, especially at night and having other people put him to bed. Probably b/c he's never been the greatest sleeper. But now....he's so easy to put to bed and is pretty easy to handle now. So...bring on the dates! Side note: Nick won a couple of his fantasy football leagues and won A LOT of $$$$....so I told him he has to take me to the Melting Pot, My fav!!!!!

9. Be more creative: With meals, decorating our house, adventures, projects....this is coming from a girl that doesn't have a creative bone in her body!

10. Pay more attention to our puppies: I knew this would happen...baby comes, dogs go to back burner. They are just starving for attention and I feel so bad when they look at me with those cute eyes and just want some love. We need to walk them more and love on them more!

Sadly...it's over!

Why is this cute baby all bundled up and ready for winter????

Probably because we just spent the last 12 days in Wisconsin and Minnesota and holy cow...it was COLD!!!!

This post is lengthy, so I'm going to split it up into 3 parts.....

Part 1: Christmas weekend in Rice Lake, WI.

We arrived in Rice Lake on Christmas Eve and spent the Christmas weekend with Mary and Don and their family. (This is Grandma Tracy's sister's family). It was so fun because as we were driving on Christmas Eve, the snow was falling and it was such a pretty snow fall. At this point it wasn't TOO cold, in the 30's maybe. We spent some good quality time with the Cuskey family and Cole got tons of presents! He got so many toys, and thank goodness because all the new toys kept him entertained while we were there.

Grandma Tracy showing Cole how to play the piano

Grandma was so anxious for Cole to open some of his presents, so here he is on Christmas Eve opening one of his presents.

Dad and Cole....ahhhh!!!

This picture cracks me up (and this is for you Grandma Betty!), Nick's grandparents sent Cole this cute bear for Christmas and as soon as he saw it, he gave it the biggest hug. So cute! He kept hugging it over and over.

Granddad showing Cole how to use his new airplane

Don and Mary had a firepit in their backyard and we spent part of the evening out there. (Yes, Cole was in bed at this point, I'm not that mean).

Nick and his Aunt Mary

Granddad and Grandma Seeman

Another present from Granddad and Grandma....a riding firetruck!!

Our time in Rice Lake went so fast, but we all had such a great time. Unfortunately, Cole did not sleep well the entire trip, he just does not like being away from his bed. To start off, he was getting 3 new teeth on top (yes, all at once) so those were bothering him so his sleep got interrupted from that, then the rest of the trip, he just wanted to sleep with mom and dad. Otherwise, he would wake up every 3 hours...ugh! So hopefully he will get back into his normal routine now that we are home.

Part 2: St. Paul and the Mall of America

After the Christmas weekend was over, we headed back to St. Paul and spent a few nights with Nick's parents at their condo. We obviously had to hit up the Mall of America since it's the greatest mall ever! We couldn't go too long because Mr. Cole got sleepy and this stroller is not the greatest to sleep in.

As you can see....Cole is so ecstatic to be at the Mall

Cole enjoying his lunch while at the Mall

Cole got this cute Viking outfit from Mary and Don so Nick wanted us to take a "Family Picture". Ok Nick....I'll put on this horrible purple sweatshirt of yours and take a picture...haha!!!

Me and Nick being silly

Part 3: Volk Wedding.....aka, the craziness begins!!!

My parents and brother Ross flew into St. Paul and they also spent a couple days hanging out with us and Nick's parents. Then, we went with my family to Elk River, MN to attend my cousins wedding. Now, my dad's side of the family is huge so when we all get together, it's pretty crazy! Just on my dad's side of the family, I have 38 cousins. We had a great time with all the wedding festivities and again, it was SO cold. Nick and I got into the car the night of the wedding and it was -18 degrees outside. Brrrrr!!!

This is Cole with Grandpa and Grammy Volk at my cousin Dana's rehearsal luncheon...he's being such a ham!

I love this picture of my dad and Cole, the both look like they are having so much fun.

Nick with my cousin Doug while at the wedding

Nick's parents were so generous that they came all the way out to Elk River and watched Cole while we stayed at the wedding. Cole came with us for most of it, but after dinner, I think both Nick and I were ready to have some fun. So, we took Cole back to the hotel and Nick's parents watched him the rest of the evening. We sure had a great time at the reception, there was lots of dancing, laughing and just being crazy. Cole with my little cousin Lauren at the wedding dinner

Let me explain the next couple pictures.....I have a crazy cousin named Garett. He's a little strange and well...you can tell by the pictures. He's always been crazy, but this was the first that I have seen him wear such a large amount of facial hair.

Rubbin the belly

While everyone was down eating breakfast at the hotel, Garrett decided to join us while wearing these awesome pajamas. Oh goodness.....he even had a butt flap in the back!

We flew home this morning, giving me most of the day to get things situated and organized, but I HATE going back to school the day after getting home. I wish so bad I could have one more day. As much fun as we had, we are glad to be home and be in our own beds. I know Cole is very excited about being back in his bed. Next thing on the agenda....start planning Cole's 1st birthday party!!!

This is a video we took this afternoon while Cole was eating lunch.....such a happy baby!