First Steps

Cole took his first steps this afternoon with the babysitter while I was at work. I left with a cruiser hanging on to furniture and came home 3 hours later to a little boy walking up to the door to greet me with his arms open wide.  What a way to come home!  He is 16 months old and his whole world just opened up.  I am so proud and excited for him!  Way to go Cole!  Mama is so proud of you!

This is a video of Cole with 2 days of walking practice. 

Uggg!

I took Cole to the Dr tonight and the boys were horrible.  Case would not stop talking VERY loudly and interrupting the Dr every time he opened his mouth to talk.  Cole screamed the entire time.  Not the ‘I’m sick, please help me cry’ which can at least draw some kind of sympathy from those around.  No his scream was more like ‘you just took something away from me and I am mad’ kind of scream.  This went on the e-n-t-i-r-e visit.  One Dr even came into the room and said, ‘I don’t mean to eavesdrop but you are handling this situation great.’  I took that to mean even strangers were surprised I was not beating my children.  Ugg.  Please let everyone sleep tonight.  I need an uninterrupted break.    

Artistic Hour

Genius at work.  Creative area.  Do not disturb.  Caution, wet paint.  Thank goodness Crayola products are all washable because paint and markers were everywhere after the fun we had.  :)

Cookie Monster

Who will be my first victim?  Will it be you Mr. Left Cookie?  Or maybe you Mr. Right Cookie?  Either way, you are both getting eaten because I am a cookie monster and I love cookies!  Mumble, mumble, chew, slobber mouth full of cookies = Yum!



Feeling Better

Cole has had over 7 ear infections in the past 7 months. After a gillion Dr appts, today he successfully had tubes put in his ears. Cole was a trooper. The trip to the surgery center was a nightmare. Cody was scheduled to fly home the night before but due to Colorado’s crazy blizzard winds in excess of 70+miles all the airports were closed. Panic. Where can I take Case? I don’t want to drive in this weather. Can I handle Cole on my own? I don't want to do this by myself!  Oh no, please help.

Help showed up. At 10pm in the evening a good friend Jen M, whom I met at the gym and who’s son is in Cases school class, stepped up to the plate and offered to watch Case in the morning. One obstacle down, several more to go. The evening before the surgery was rough because Cole was not allowed to drink anything past 12 pm. Needless to say getting someone to sleep who uses a bottle to calm down is not easy. And of course, Cole woke up at 12:23 wanting a bottle. Oh no, let the fun begin. Needless to say sleep was not something I enjoyed that night and 5 am came all too quickly. Obstacle two, check. Then, what should have been a 20 minute drive ended up taking over an hour and a half because of the icy roads. I was an hour late getting to the center. Pretty please, no more obstacles.

On the bright side, all the hustle and bustle surrounding the hospital kept Cole’s mind off being upset about no breakfast, no bottle and being woken up 2 1/2 hours early. Blessing one.  Next, I was allowed to go back into the surgery center and be with Cole during his prep. I was even allowed to go back and kiss his face, brush his hair with my fingers and whisper that I love him in his ear while he was placed under anesthesia. Big big blessing two.  Finally, apparently the sleeping gas can be hard on kids and they freak out while going under. But Cole kept totally still as they put on the mask and didn’t move a muscle as he drifted off. Blessing three.  Even as non-dramatic as the sleeping procedure was it was still hard to see his eyes just flutter off.

However the biggest blessing of them all is that the tubes have been a success. Even as little as an hour after the surgery Cole was playing hard core, joyfully screaming at the top of his lungs and chasing dogs and people alike. He definitely feels better. Now he is louder and even more ornery than ever (Lord help us all). I am looking forward to improved speech and language development now that he can hear. Cole tries to talk all the time and says the same nonsensical statements regularly. It will be interesting to see what he has been saying all along because the boy defiantly had an opinion. I am just glad he is feeling better.

Valentine Party

Case had his first Valentine's Day celebration at school this past week which means the parents were invited to observe part of the morning in class and share in the celebration.  First up, find your hook and come on inside.  Little teeny hats, coats, lunch boxes and work folders are always just so sweet to see.

 

Everyday everyone gets started with a chance to practice their penmanship.  In my opinion, not too shabby for 3 years old.  I would say each child is off to a great start.



Warning.  These pictures are of actual children in thier natural enviroment.  What in the world is everyone doing?!  Singing songs, identifying letters and matching colors of course.

Decorating and personalizing cookies was part of a special Valentine’s Day party snack.  Yummy chocolate cookies.  Case ate every bite and then finger licked the extra icing off the plate and his face.  Nom, nom, nom.  



What party would be complete without sharing Valentine cards with fellow classmates?  Overall the affair wasn't a huge celebration but it is always fun to sneak a peek at what the kids are doing in school and feel their excitement and fun while learning with their classmates in school. 

Kind Stranger

Cody was gone last week and of course it snowed here in Colorado. Not a light dusting but actual snow. In fact the weather was classified as blizzard weather which resulted in multiple inches of snow filling my driveway. Once the snow started falling I began dreading the shoveling process ahead of me. Case and Cole had both been sick with bronchitis. No one had slept which meant I had slept even less. Where was I going to get the energy and time during daylight hours to shovel 6-8” off the driveway when no one was napping, everyone was cranky and I had no one to watch the boys in the house? After a particularly hard night I decided I had to get out of the house. We had been sequestered inside due to illness and weather for almost 4 days and I was going bonkers. I needed to get to the gym which is the only place I can leave the kids and get an hour to myself. I didn’t know if I could even get my Corolla out of the driveway with all the snow, but gosh darn it, I was going to give it a good shot. I had the garage door open and was loading up the boys when a man came driving down the street on a 4 wheeler with a snow plow attachment. He saw that I was getting ready to leave and asked if he could shovel my driveway for me. Can you?! Oh please! It only took him about 4 minutes to completely clear the driveway but his generosity almost brought me to tears. Thank you kind stranger. Thank you. Thank you. Your 4 minutes of kindness will not be forgotten anytime soon.

Everyone (except me) was excited about the snow coming down.  Look it's snowing!

Several days later we ventured out and found some large drifts in the backyard.  Case decided to tackle the largest one by walking exactly in the center of the drift.  He was unsuccessful and needed rescuing.  Help!  I have fallen and I can't get up!

Although most of the yard had too much snow for Cole to walk around in we did manage to find a worn spot surrounding the playhouse he could shuffle around.  Cole loved the snow so much and he cried so hard after we went in that I ended up getting re-dressed and going back outside for for another 5-10 minutes.   

Pthhhhhh!

The other day Cole wanted a sucker right before bed.  He was already bathed and in clean pjs.  My answer was no.  Of course he disagreed with my decision and decided to vocalize it the only way he knew how.  But listen to the extensive lengths he went to vocalizes his displeasure.  His immediate first reaction was to reach for my ears to yank my ear rings out (little sh*^t).  I was not wearing ear rings so he reached for my hair to yank.  However my hair was pulled in a pony tail.  He painstakenly worked and worked and worked his little fingers into my pony tail until he had a satisfactory piece of hair and then yanked with all his might.  I reprimanded him and said, ‘We don’t pull hair.’  I sat him down on the ground and he spit at me.  Pthhhhh!  (have I mentioned the little sh*^t part)  Then he went into the bathroom and proceeded to pull toilet paper off the roll and throw it around in the bathroom.  I took the toilet paper off the roll and put it on the shelf.  He crawled over to the hat and glove basket and began throwing the contents over the bathroom. 

The pictures below are not of the actual incident but showcasing his love for the lollypop.  Double fisting and licking one then the other, back and forth until he is completly coated in sticky goodness. 

See why I said no?!  Suckers are not a clean candy to eat before bedtime. 

In order to survive the next 18 year, I am going to need all my therapist and parent friends coaching me all the way with this little stinker.      

Giddy Up

Recently Grandpa Bobby was in Denver for a team pining competition.  The family trekked up to see him and his horses.  Case immediately asked to ride his horse.  The boys had a great time checking out all the animals.  Cole, notoriously a mama’s boy, even let Grandpa Bobby hold him and walk all around the arena sans mom, while checking out horses.  I only snapped one or two photos before my camera battery puttered out on me.  Hopefully Grandpa Bobby will be back soon and we can get together again.   

  

Christmas 2011 Part II

What was supposed to be a small little Christmas somehow exploded!  Can anyone find the children amid all the presents?

Santa brought Case a huge box of airplanes which was exactly what he wanted.  Hooray for Santa!  Case also received a camera, more train pieces, board games, toy dinosaurs and books from Aunt C.C.

Cooking supplies were the perfect gift for Cole since he spends all of his free time cooking at Cases kitchen. Put something in a bowl, put the bowl in the oven, shut the oven, open the oven, take out the bowl, take out the food, put the food back in the bowl and repeat. He can play pretend cooking for hours.

Pape received a drill, bead rack, scrapbook, cologn and other goodies.

Santa brought Uncle Jason OU duds, a kindle fire, sheets, a crock pot and he even managed to find some books from Lele’s and Great Grandma Maxine’s childhood to pass on.

Cody scored some shoes, a jacket, jeans, signed OSU picture and a check for extras.

A sonic gift card, pots and pans, a necklas and a new camera were among Holly's favorites. 

Once Cole warmed up the paper was flying. He unwrapped Christmas ornaments, stuffed animals and a laugh and learn play center from Nana.

Lele took home a jogging suit, sheet set, food dehydrator, gravy boat, olive spoon and scarf to name a few.  

Christmas dinner was not a formal affair but delicious nonetheless. All the favorites were represented: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, noodles, corn casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry relish, olives, wine and cider. No one walked away hungry.  I forgot to take a picture of the before scene so all we have is a snapshot of the aftermath. 

The rest of the evening we spent playing with new gadgets and performing magic tricks. Uncle Jason ate at least 12 bottles of water and other various items. Cole was amazed each and every time.  Down the hatch and where did it go?!



The day was laid back, full of food, fun and laughter. I cherish these Christmas’s together. Merry Christmas 2011.