7 month old and loving life...

It is so hard to believe that it has been 7 months since our little Cole was born! What an awesome 7 months it has been. Looking back it seems like it has flown by. Cole is growing like crazy and doing so many things...including saying "da-da" and "ba-ba." Both are a nice change from the usual "Gee" that he used to say all of the time (although we loved hearing that too). We both freaked out when we heard "da-da" and now Cole says it all of the time! He is getting on his hands and knees and scooting around the house...backwards! As I type this he is scooting under our coffee table of all things. He just got his top 2 front teeth (that makes a total of 4). He loves eating his homemade baby food (which I love making for him). His favorite food at this point is Mangos or Mangos mixed with yogurt. He loves singing songs and going for walks. His favorite song is the VBS song "The Wise Man and The Foolish Man." He loves the hands gestures. We are working on sign language but so far he just laughs at us when we sign to him...maybe one day he will get it! As you can see it has been a very eventful month so far!!!! We say this all of the time, but we are so blessed to have Cole in our lives. Although everything about our life changed when we had him we could not be happier!

30, Flirty and Thriving...

So today marks a big day for me...my 30th birthday!!! I was lucky enough to get to celebrate it in 2 parts. The last night we were in Florida the girls and I watched the movie "13 Going on 30" - one of my favorites! The guys made a yummy lobster and shrimp dinner. Then we ended the night with a strawberry ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery (it was wonderful!). It was so much fun to celebrate a little early with friends. There was a horrible cold that was passed around our house in Florida and I was so thankful that I had not gotten it. Well, yesterday I woke up with it and today I felt horrible! I was bummed about being sick on my big day but we made the best of it. My boys took me to Eureka Springs where we visited Blue Springs Heritage Center...a place that would be beautiful and much appreciated in the Spring, however it was 100 degrees today so we made our stay there very quick. Once we came home we put Cole in the baby pool and played and then had dinner at Logan's Roadhouse...one of my favorite places. It was so nice to have a low key day with Rhonald and Cole. I cannot believe that I am 30 years old!!!! Rhonald and I watched the movie "The Bucket List" after Cole went to bed last night...it made me think about all of the things I have done in my life and all that I hope to do. It was a nice time of reflection and I can honestly say that looking back over the years I am happy with the person I have become. All I can say is...thank you boys for a wonderful day. I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you!

A Few Extras

Our camera broke the day after we got to Destin (of course!). So, as an early birthday gift to me, we bought a new one. These are 2 of my favorite pictures that we took using our new camera! I have always taken lots of pictures but I think I will be taking even more now!

To add to the excitement of our week Cole FINALLY rolled from his back to his tummy once we got home. We decided a while back that he was going to skip this milestone but I guess watching Audrie do it all week inspired him!

So Much Fun...In The Sun

We just got back from our amazing week in Destin, FL. It was so relaxing and fun to hang out with our friends in the sun! We went with 2 other couples and their babies, as well as Gloria and Terryn...2 girls that Cole totally fell in love with!
Our house had a great pool and a nice covered porch so many days were spent outside, however, we did bring the babies in during the heat of the day to play. Cole and Audrie are almost the same age so they had fun sharing toys. Ben is quite a bit younger but Cole had a blast tickling Ben's little feet and watching him play!

Rhonald, Cole and I walked to the beach every morning. That was my favorite time every day. It was so peaceful then - very few people were out and the sand was cool. We loved walking along the beach together. Every day we talked about how much fun it will be to bring Cole to the beach every summer. And I hope that we continue to take our morning walks every summer too!
Jim, Jamie and Rhonald spent one morning deep sea fishing and caught several King Mackerel. They had such a blast fishing and we all had such a blast eating!!! I must give a shout out to Jamie...it was his first time and he ended up catching the biggest fish!
This spider, called a Golden Orb Spider, became quite an obsession of Rhonald's. He checked on him each and every day to make sure he had not moved. I think it was around the 4th day when he and Gloria realized that our house was surrounded by these yucky things so they googled them only to find out that Destin is their main home and July-August is the main time that they can be found! Luckily they also learned that they are harmless.
(thank you Rachel, Rhonald LOVED this picture so much!)
(and I loved this one!)

Cole was not a big fan of the ocean! He loved the sand and enjoyed the ocean a little more every day but did not appreciate it when we stood him in the water. As you can see from the pictures above he never took his eyes off of the water when we were standing in it holding him. It was almost as if he thought the water might jump up and get him. When Rhonald would hold him he would simply stare, however, when I would hold him he would bury his face in my neck and slowly peek out every now and then!
Cole may not have liked the ocean but he LOVED the pool! We spent lots of time in the pool and he would laugh and play the entire time. The poor boy would be so worn out from swimming that he would go to bed by 7:30 pm every night. I am afraid that he will be so bored now that we are home. Rhonald and I had so much fun playing with him and watching him enjoy the trip so much. We were a little worried about taking a trip with 3 babies but they all did so well. They loved every minute of their vacation just as much as we did.

Daddy's Great Ideas

Hi guys! This is Cole. My mommy said that I could write an entry tonight...after all, I am 6 1/2 months old! I wanted to tell you all about the fun day that I had. Mommy and daddy have been busy getting ready to take me to the beach. They have packed so much that it looks like we are going to move to another house! This afternoon I heard mommy tell daddy that she had some things she needed to do and then I heard daddy say that he wanted to get out of the house and take me to the bookstore! I was so excited. I have been to the bookstore before and I love it!! Daddy and I had so much fun walking around and looking at things. First we looked at the magazines. Daddy picked out a magazine with a big fish on it. After that he took me to the baby section and let me pick out my own book. I picked out a book with a fish on the front so I could be just like my daddy! Then he even read my book to me right there in the store. I was so happy! Once we were back home I had to take a nap. When I woke up mommy and daddy took me out to dinner so that mommy would not have to cook right before we went out of town. And then you won't believe what we did. Daddy suggested that we go to the pet store and look at the animals. It was great!!! I saw a big black dog getting a haircut. He was much bigger than Mason and I really liked looking at him. Then I saw a few kittens that were sleeping and stretching. Kittens make really funny sounds. I also got to see hamsters, birds and turtles. Before we left we went to look at all of the fish - just like my book! They were so colorful and pretty and I stared at them for a long time. I was so worn out from my busy day that I came home, took a bath and went right to sleep. Before I fell asleep though I heard my mommy say, "Thank you God for our little fish (she calls me that because I like to be in the water so much.)." So, there you have it...that was my wonderful day. I hope you all had a good day too!

Mmmmm....Carrots

Cole's First Art Project

About a week ago Cole and I set out (along with a few other friends) to the paint your own pottery store here in town. We wanted to make something for Rhonald's new office and this is what we came up with ! I don't know about you but I think it turned out pretty well. Rhonald totally loved it and made such a big deal about it. I can't wait until Cole makes him something all by himself...I know Rhonald will go even more crazy for that. It was such a fun thing to do that the other Mommies and I decided we would like to go back...alone!