Cole's New Favorite Toy

Who would have thought a balloon could be so much fun?!

Melt Your Heart Moments...

One thing I love about being a mom is that there are moments each and every day where Cole does something that melts my heart. Today is no different and although it is only 8:15 in the morning I have already had 2 "melt your hearts moments" with my son. We have really started clapping and cheering when Cole does something new or super cute and he loves it! I start my day watching the Today show and, if you have ever watched it, you know there is a lot of cheering when the camera focuses on the audience. Today when Cole and I were playing on the floor he heard the cheering and suddenly looked at me and then at the TV and then started bouncing and laughing! It was so obvious that he thought they were all cheering for him! And, of course, it melted my heart. The second moment happened when I was putting him down for his nap a few minutes ago. We read a book and rocked for a minute listening to his music. When I stood up to lay him in his crib he threw his arms around my neck and gave me a big snuggle. He kept his head on my shoulder and giggled. I could not help but giggle too! If I did not need to get in the shower and clean up the house I would have snuggled him like that all day long! That really melted my heart! I hope you all find some moments in your day today that melt your heart too...there is nothing like it!

Happy Birthday Mya

Ben, Cole and Owen

Cole and Laney

Miss Mya enjoying her first taste of cake

Today Cole and I attended his second birthday party....Mya turned one!!!! As I was watching her gobble up her cake I could not help but think of the day she was born. We had just found out that we were having a little boy and as I held her in the hospital Cole started kicking her. Some things never change because those 2 are always taking toys from each other and taking sippy cups from each other. It was so cute to watch Cole playing with his friends. He seems to learn so much from watching the bigger kids. What is so amazing to me is that except for 2 of the boys I have known each of these children since the day they were born. I was not able to get a picture but the thing that Cole loved the most was hitting the balloons! He would sit and hit them over and over. I guess I know what he'll be getting for his birthday!!!

A Sad Day...

Before

After

If you have talked to me in the past few days you know there has been one thing on my mind...should I let my son sleep on his tummy like he wants? Being a nurse, with a doctor for a husband, we teach (or taught in my case) people all of the time that "back is best" for sleep with babies. Well, that has worked well for us until now. Rhonald and I have been working very hard with Cole to get him to start putting himself to sleep and, most importantly, to stop waking up so much at night. We knew the wake ups were out of habit (like every hour wake ups) and it just didn't seem healthy for him or me. Cole is so smart and he caught on very quickly and is doing SO WELL with the sleep thing, however, he has found that sleeping on his tummy is the way to go. I think I have asked every mom I have run into their opinion and even went so far as to call our pedi about it (thank goodness she is a friend). The answer that each and every person gave me...if he rolls himself onto his tummy then let him stay. He rolls around all day and I know he can roll back over so I am becoming ok with that. Our pedi did recommend taking my cute bumper pad out of the crib though because he does get very close to it when he is sleeping. I love that crib set and I was so sad tonight when I had to take it down. Maybe I will get to use it again sometime....oh well....safety must come first!

My Messy, Messy Man

After a fun day of playing in the pool, going for walks and playing with toys it was time for dinner. Since Cole was needing a bath I stripped him down and sat him in his highchair to eat. We hardly ever let him go without a bib but I simply forgot and this was the mess that I got to clean up! Cole has recently learned to blow bubbles and decided to do so while eating his squash. As you can imagine squash was everywhere. I could not help but laugh because he was having so much fun and was so proud of his new trick!

Cole's First Party

Cole loved banging the balls together!
Cole and Marla playing on the slide
What big boys!!!! Cole and Ethan balancing on the ball.
Cole and Mya playing with the balls. Mya liked taking them away from Cole when he wasn't looking.

Today was a fun new experience for us. Cole and I headed to Gymboree Play and Music to help Keira celebrate her 3rd birthday. I cannot believe she is already 3 years old!!! We had such a great time. I wasn't sure what Cole would be able to do but he found a lot of neat things to play with. Mostly he loved watching the big kids play games and sing songs. I could not help but think about how big my little guy is getting. It seems like only yesterday he was born and here he is at a birthday party playing with other kids! I love seeing him make friends and develop relationships. He and Ethan sat by each other and shared toys which was really special since Ethan's mom, Margaret, and I grew up together. Overall, we had a fantastic time and I am so glad that we were included in Keira's big day! I loved playing with Cole so much that I even signed us up for "mommy and me" gym classes....I am sure you will be on the edge of your seat waiting for pictures!

Rhonald's New Hobby

Recently Rhonald has really become interested in photoshop! He has always been the artistic one in our family and he has been looking for new ways to share his creativity. While he had a few weeks off this summer he began learning about photoshop. These are just a couple of the pictures that he has been working on. It is so much fun to take pictures and then hand them over to him to see what he can create! I may be biased but I think he is doing a great job.