Big Brother In Training

A few days ago we had "the boys" (Ben and Jackson) over to play. Jackson's mommy, Keisha, recently had another baby boy, Ethan, who came along to play as well. Cole is very interested in babies lately...all babies but especially babies that we know. When they arrived Cole had to check baby Ethan out and talk with him. He did eventually go play with his buddies...until he heard that it was time for Ethan to eat. Oh boy did he get excited! And Keisha was kind enough to let him help her not only feed but also burp baby Ethan! Keisha has no idea how much that meant to sweet Cole. He talked about that for days!!! Cole is even more excited to see his baby sister now and help Rhonald and I with her. He kept telling me that he would be a good helper because he knows how to make a baby burp! What sweet moments...I cannot wait to see him with Lily Kate!!!

"Pee Pee In The Potty"

I guess you can tell what we have been working on for the past week! I have had several goals for Cole over this summer...the 2 big ones being that he would sleep in a big boy bed and that he would be potty trained before Lily Kate was born. Moving to a big boy bed...easy! Potty training...not quite as easy. We started last Thursday following the 3 day potty training method as much as we could. We did not leave the house (even to play in the backyard) for 3 days...well, 4 really. I will say by day 3 there were no more "pee pee" accidents at our house. yeah! Cole started off on day one with many accidents and not telling us when he needed to go potty and very quickly learned to tell us and stopped having accidents. Rhonald and I have been so proud of him! He has no problem going in public...in fact he is fascinated with all of the different kinds of potties there are out there. Our only hold up is pooping. He stands to pee...that boy wants to be just like Daddy and refuses to sit which is just fine but he is very leery of sitting to poop. We have had a few poop accidents since we started this and are trying to bribe him into trying it on the potty just once to see that it is not a big deal. I know it will come. I know it is common. I know it is a learning process but boy do I wish he would start pooping in the potty! Yesterday he had an accident and told me his "body was upset." When I asked why he pointed to his bottom and said he was sorry. I couldn't help but hug that sweet boy! I mean, at least he is starting to realize that he shouldn't be doing that right? For now I am just going to be proud of the progress we have made and encourage him each and every day...they all learn sometime right?

A Saturday In NWA

We have always enjoyed going to the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings and it has become even more important to us now that we are eating so many more veggies (thanks to my new diet). This is the first summer that Cole has really gotten into going to the market. He loves to pick things out - his usual picks are corn on the cob, whatever fruit is in season and flowers for his mama (gotta love that boy!). A few weeks ago there were actual belly dancers at the market and my son ran over to them, sat down in the middle of the sidewalk and said "Mama, I want to see this!" After quite awhile I had to drag him away to finish our shopping but he kept looking over his shoulder at them. So cute. I guess he really is a ladies man!!!!

My LIttle Chef

Cole and I have been doing quite a bit of cooking lately. It is really so super hot outside that we are both trying to find things to do inside. He loves to cook...LOVES it so it is easy to keep him busy if I just mention making something together. One thing I had been meaning to try for awhile now is making our own Popsicles. It is not a surprise that Cole adores Popsicles so I was wanting to find a "healthier" alternative. Cole and I spent a few hours the other morning making all different kinds of Popsicles to try. His favorite...and mine too...were the strawberry lemonade Popsicles. I bought organic strawberry lemonade and added chopped up strawberries to the mix. They were so yummy! One nice thing is that the homemade Popsicles are bigger than the store bought kind so he would be totally full after just one (he only ever gets one by the way but he usually asks for more than that). It was so sweet to see him enjoying his treat and hearing him tell Rhonald how he made it. He was so very proud and that made the whole experience worth it!

30 Weeks

30 weeks and counting...I will admit that part of me is freaking out that our sweet Lily Kate will be here in 10 weeks and the other part is so excited that I can hardly stand it. We are getting ready slowly but surely. It is so much fun to see so much pink in our house...a house that has been overrun with blue for almost 3 years now. Cole is really getting in to the idea that pink is for his "baby sis" (that is what he has been calling her lately) and blue is for him. I am still feeling very well. The heat ... oh, the heat... is really getting to me as I have mentioned. I mean, 100 degrees, really?! It turns out that I do have gestational diabetes. Very borderline but still I am watching my diet very closely. To date my blood sugars have been excellent and Lily Kate is growing at a very normal rate so things are looking A-Ok. I did not have any trouble with Cole so we were a little shocked that I failed my glucose test but I know that every pregnancy is different. The diet, although annoying at times, has really not been too bad. I am seeing my doctor every 2 weeks now and love getting to hear my sweet girl's heart beat. Our friends, Keisha and Ryan, welcomed their second baby boy (Ethan) into the world last week and it was so fun to hold him and dream about holding my baby. I remember that with Cole too - the day dreaming and planning. As I was holding Ethan and talking with Keisha it hit me...hard...I am next!!!! Wow - I think I am starting to panic a little bit again :)

All Aboard The Choo Choo Train

A few weeks ago Emily called to invite Cole and I on a train ride!!! A real live train at that...not a toy or small little train but a real train! How could we say no to that? We were so excited to wake up this past Thursday and head to the Springdale train station to board the choo choo. It was kid's day so the train was filled with children of all ages. We rode for about 2 hours and the boys loved it!!! I was so shocked that Cole sat in his seat the whole ride unless he was in my lap or cuddled up with Miss Em. He took "the rules" very seriously. Emily was well prepared for the day and treated the boys to Thomas the Train juice boxes, Thomas suckers and Thomas Pez candy...all things that they rarely get. The boys loved looking out the windows at all of the sites we rode past and really loved hearing the whistle (while inside the train...when we were outside neither boy liked the whistle at all). It was a great morning...filled with fun for the boys and 2 hours of talking and catching up for Emily and I.

A White Water Adventure

A couple of weeks ago we ventured to White Water for the first time. What an experience that was. Cole loves to swim (as you know) but he hates any kind of sprinkler. The 2 little kid areas are huge sprinkler parks...huge. We walked over to one of them and Cole took one look at it and said "No thank you!" So, the three of us split our time between the lazy river and the wave pool. We all loved both of those areas. I think Cole's favorite part was when the waves would knock him over. We were right there of course but he thought he was super big by falling whenever a wave hit him. I think we spent about 5 hours there...non stop swimming except for one short ice cream break. We all had a blast. So much so that Rhonald suggested we purchase season passes next summer. I was shocked! My husband is not one for any kind of amusement park (unless it is Disney World) and so I told him I would hold him to it! I love the pictures above because I was able to take them when the boys could not see me. They had such a blast spending the day together. Rhonald had not seen Cole swim yet this year except for the short trip to the lake a few weeks ago and he was very impressed. Mostly at the amount of confidence that Cole had in the water. After several hours we were all pooped and decided to head home. Cole was asleep in about 5 seconds! It was a great day - one that I hope we can repeat at least one more time this summer and many more times next summer!!!!