Birthday Slideshow

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Cole

Thought I would devote this post to my little guy Cole in honor of the fact that in less than 2 weeks, he will be turning the big O-N-E year old! Man that is hard to believe! I swear that time goes into hyperdrive once you have kids. Anyways, my baby boy is growing so fast and changes every day. Right now, he is soooo close to walking. He takes about 3 or 4 steps before tumbling over, so I'd say its just a matter of weeks until he is strutting around like he has been doing it forever. He also babbles nearly all day long, but his only consistant words so far are "Mama" and "Dada". Oh and as of this week, we are offically bottle-free! He transitioned to sippy cups with no problem whatsoever. I tell ya, it is such a good feeling to know I'm never going to have to clean another bottle again! We are also just about done with baby food. Cole is eating mostly regular food now, with the exception of one or two jars of baby food a day. So as you can see, lots of changes are happening in my baby boy's life, and I'm looking forward to being there every step of the way.

A and J's Visit

So we had Ashley and Jerry here for a visit last week, and had such a good time. They got in Thursday night and stayed until Monday morning. They are both so easygoing and good with kids. Eve, in particular, was enchanted with them. She is such a people-person and was thrilled to have some new playmates! The poor girl started bawling the second they walked out the door to go home and has been drawing pictures of them on her magnadoodle since they left...LOL. Cole, however, didn't really come around until the last day they were here. He is at the age where he cries if you just look at him the wrong way...this applies to pretty much anyone that he does not see on a regular basis. But I will say that by Sunday, he was crying much less and seemed to have at least started warming up to Ashley. All in all, we had a great time and can't wait to see them again!

Don't Blink

Exactly 3 years ago....

Exactly 2 years ago....

Exactly one year ago...

Yesterday...

Two things immediately come to mind when I look back on these pictures. The first thing I thought of was why oh why I had to chop off all my hair that year...ugh! And the second thing I realized is just how quickly time goes by and your kids grow up. Eve is nearly 3 years old and Cole will be 1 next month. And yet I still remember as clear as a bell the first moment I held them in my arms. I remember bringing them home from the hospital and how they both would snooze away on our chests those first weeks. I remember staying up for hours each night trying to soothe them to sleep. Before I know it, they'll be going to school and won't need me the way they do now. It breaks my heart, because selfishly, I want them to be my little babies forever. I want to be able to shelter and protect them from any pain the world might throw at them. But I know that God gave me my sweet children to raise to be good, compassionate, God-loving people who will hopefully go out and make a difference in this world. All I can do is cherish these short-lived babyhood days lying before me and soak up every single second I get to spend being Eve and Cole's mama.

Oh Yeah...

Forgot to mention in my last post that Mister Cole is FINALLY sleeping through the night...woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life is good!

Eve's 2 1/2 Year Checkup and Bathroom Makeover

Craziness, but when you have two small children, it seems as if you are at the doctor for one thing or another monthly! Yesterday afternoon we had Eve's 2 1/2 year checkup. Eve had been looking forward to it all week...yes we have that rare child that looooooves going to the doctor...she does not get it from her parents! She absolutely loves her pediatrician, loves being examined, loves the sucker she gets at the end. Loves everything. No vaccinations were in order since she already got her flu shot last week. And thankfully, everything checked out perfectly. Here are our baby girl's current stats:

Height: 37 inches (65th percentile)

Weight: 29 lbs (45th percentile)

Now onto my next little room makeover in our "work in progress" house! I've recently started finishing up the kid's bathroom, and I gotta say that I am loving it! As you'll see in my makeover pics below, the room started out very country with wallpaper, border, and tons of red which I know I've already discussed before...ugh! I decided I wanted to go more clean and simple. And I've ALWAYS wanted to paint a room navy blue, so here was my opportunity. It is one of my favorite colors and I knew it would work with all the white that I was adding to the room as well. The bathroom still needs a few more finishing touches...the trim needs touched up and I'm still going to paint the ceiling white. But I thought it was worthy enough to at least post a few pics now.

Before:

After:

Cole's 10 month Checkup!

Last Thursday, we had our appointment for Cole's 10 month check-up. He did wonderfully and is staying consistant on the height/weight charts. Here are his current stats:

Height: 29 1/4 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 24 1/2 lbs. (95th percentile)
Head: 19 inches (95th percentile)

Thankfully, everything checked out well and Cole wasn't due for any vaccinations, but we went ahead and got him and Eve their flu shots while we were there. Eve was such a trooper and didn't cry at all for hers, but Cole screamed his little head off! Both kids are doing great and most definitely keeping me busy!

Eve and Cole

I've been writing so much about the new house that I've neglected to update on the namesakes of this blog. Life has been a bit of a blur lately with the two little ones. They are both at stages in their tiny lives where they are needing lots of one-on-one attention. So my days are spent best trying to balance my time between them and meet all their needs while still trying to preserve my sanity! Some days I feel as though I am moving non-stop from 6:30 am (when Cole wakes up) until 7:30 pm (when Eve goes to bed). Of course it is all worth it. I am so blessed to have the family that I do, and I thank God each and every day.

Let's start with little Miss Eve. Baby girl seems to think she is 2 going on 10 lately with the way she thinks she can do everything by herself. And I mean everything! This includes putting her shoes on, getting into her booster seat, turning on and off the lights, putting in her DVDs, picking out her clothes, etc. I'll admit it can be a bit frustrating when I know I can do everything twice as fast for her, but alas I'm trying to encourage her independence so I let her at least attempt to do most things herself. She is currently obsessed with the movie "Wall-E" and the TV show "Yo Gabba Gabba". And she is going through one of her many "I'd rather do anything but eat" phases.

Onto Mister Cole who has really been quite the handful lately. He turned 9 months old last week. Hard to believe my little guy will be one in less than 3 months! For reasons unknown to me, he has turned into quite the cranky baby as of lately. I'm hoping its just teething (he still has zero teeth!) and that it passes soon. If I'm not holding him and walking around, he is either crying or throwing a tantrum. It can make every day feel like the longest day ever when you spend every minute of it trying to soothe a grumpy baby. At the same time, I know how quickly the first year goes by, and that I probably won't even remember this in a few months. Cole is doing great with eating, and we are finally starting to get into eating some table foods. So far he's had yogurt, crackers, cheerios, bread, peas, and carrots...and he loves it all! I will be so happy when we are done with baby food and we can all sit down and enjoy the same meal together!

Both kids are due for check-ups and flu shots in the next month so I'll be updating again then. God bless!

Kitchen

When we first moved in this lovely house of ours, I was on a non-stop mission to get as much painting and decorating done as quickly as possible. Then life got in the way and I began slacking. But for some unknown reason, the bug has bit me again and I'm back to painting and decorating. So get ready for some more house makeover pictures in the coming weeks. I'm starting with some before/after pictures of our kitchen. Really all I did was paint it, but I think it makes a huge difference. Since we could not afford to replace the strange aqua-colored tile, I had to find a wall color that complemented it which left me with few choices. The previous owner had painted the walls nearly the same color as the tile, which I thought looked weird and blended too much. I wanted something with a lot more contrast. So we went with a deep chocolate brown, and I love it! The contrast between it and the white cupboards and the blue floors makes the room feel so much more inviting. See for yourself!


BEFORE:


AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Busy Week

Busy, busy, busy...story of my life...LOL. This past week has been a fun one, as we got to see my sister Allyson and my nephews, Patrick and Harrison. The last time we saw them was back in April, and it is just crazy how quickly kids change and grow even in the span of a few short months. Eve was in absolute heaven being around other kids close to her age! It makes me excited for the future once Cole is old enough to run around, and they can play with together. Fun times!

In other news, we are gearing up for a trip back to Ohio next week! It will be a short one, as we are leaving Thursday morning and coming back home on Sunday morning. We are having a get-together at my grandparent's house on Saturday and it will be the first time I've seen all the extended family in a long time! And the first time most of them will get to meet Mister Cole! It sounds crazy, but I'm already packing certain things and making my check-lists of what to bring along. Once I'm completely packed, a normal person would think we were going on at least a week-long trip! I'd much rather be over-prepared than need something and not have it. I'm sure we'll be taking lots of pictures so be sure to check back soon!