Happy 5 months!

It is strange how I didn't even know that I was missing something in my life. And that may not be the right way to put it, but I certainly did not know how having my son would complete me in a way that I didn't know I needed completing. He is exactly what our family needed. God knew. And, to steal from some of my other friends who have done the same, I want to let him know how precious he is.

Coley,

Your Daddy says that you will hate that nickname, but it was so sweetly given to you by your sister that I think you will grow to love it. Baby boy, you are 5 months old today. You are so sweet, and such a cuddle bug. You can be exhausted and hungry, but if Daddy or I pick you up, you give us that infectious ear-to-ear grin that makes me want to burst into tears. I can't explain why. Maybe it is because you look so much like your sister, and I know how fast these days fly by. Maybe it is because your mouth is the perfect miniture replica of your Daddy's. Maybe it is just because I never knew that I could love three other human beings as much as I love you, Mia, and your Daddy. I was worried, that since you were not the first child, you would suffer from a lack of one-on-one attention. I was wrong. :) You will not let us let you suffer from that. You love love LOVE to be held. Here are some other discoveries we have made in the past 5 months...

1. You love to be outside. If you are really upset about something, a trip to the front yard makes you forget all your worries.

2. You adore your big sister. In the mornings, when I have both of you laying on the blanket in the floor of Mia's room, you always roll to her and grab her arm. It is more precious than words.

3. Your little monkey toes are always grabbing each other. And your feet totally give away your mood.

4. You are happiest when you have your Daddy or me within your line of vision.

5. You are a snuggly boy, and you like to be face-to-face with me to fall asleep.

6. You can roll over from back to front and front to back now. Yesterday, you rolled completely off your blanket in the living room floor! I think you were trying to get to the kitchen and be with me and Mia.

7. You tolerate your pacificer, but you are not a paci baby like your sister was. In fact, you much prefer holding it, mesmerized, and sometimes attempting to put it in your mouth.

8. You prefer to awaken in the 4 am hour. But, sometimes, you can make it until the 6 am hour. When I do go in your room in the mornings, you squirm and kick and smile the instant that you see me - even if it is in the 4 o'clock hour. It makes it difficult to be upset that you are awake.

9. You laugh when Daddy or I do silly things...like sing songs, give kisses, or zerbert your tummy. And I love your laugh. It also brings tears to my eyes; it is so innocent and pure.

10. You are a CHUNK! Mia was such a little baby, and you have quite the rolly-polly body. It is perfectly round, just like your sweet face.

11. You want to grab everything! You definitely appear to be right-handed, and you reach for any and everything within your grasp.

12. You talk to yourself, especially when you are in your carseat. Mia did the same thing, but I had forgotten about it until you started it. It is like this little groaning moaning sound, and then you fall asleep.

13. You snort before you start to cry. It makes people laugh when they hear it for the first time.

14. You, just like your sister, have those precious ocean-blue (recessive trait) eyes.

15. Your meals are very scheduled - a person could know it was 6:30 am, 10 am, 1:30 pm, 5 pm, or 8:30 pm by your hunger cries.

16. You love to sit up, and can almost do it without help.

17. You love to stand up, and can't almost do that without help. But you do have very strong legs.

18. You have given me the chance to see how different daughters and sons are...and how similar too.

19. You have filled my life with more happiness than I knew was possible. Because I was already happy.

20. You have evened us out - 2 boys and 2 girls - and we would not be the same without you.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with my amazing son. Cole, happy 5 months. Thank you for making us complete.

Love, Mommy

Happy Father's Day!

Although it is a few days late, I want to honor my husband for his incredible job as a father of two! Since his father passed away and mine is not around, we spent the day just focused on him. We opened presents in the morning, went out to breakfast (sure, we were not able to go to our first or second choice, but we did get in at our third), spent a good amount of time and money at Lowe's (one of his favorite places), enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at home, and attended Life Group in the evening. It was a good day. Watching him as a daddy to our kids makes me love him even more as a husband. Whether he is making faces at Cole to get him to laugh or putting Mia's dress-up clothes on his head (only to have her say, in a frustrated manner, "No Daddy, it doesn't fit you"), he is an amazing father. One of my favorite times of each day is 8 pm when we all go upstairs. Each night, we alternate which kid we bathe. Once they are clean and Mia's teeth are brushed, we lay them both on a blanket in Cole's room. We lotion them up and put on their pajamas. After we read two books, we say our prayers and put Mia to bed. Then, I feed Cole and we put him to bed. It is always a team effort, and I love that time of the day with all four of us together, having fun. Mia gets extremely silly when she is tired, and she makes us laugh frequently. So, happy Father's Day to Daddy Pose! We couldn't be more blessed!!!

Summer in Full Swing

Mia started swimming lessons this week. She took them last summer, and did quite well. We thought we were off to a good start this year...

but don't let her smile fool you. It quickly turned a corner when she realized her ears would have to go in the water. When she came out of the pool on the first day, I asked her how it was. She answered, "tough." Chris had said to her something along the lines of "I know it's tough, but..." and she retained the tough part. Thursday's class did not go well. I have no pictures, but you can just imagine her crying and crying and clinging onto her Daddy.

We also went "swimming" with some friends - which meant that Mia threw the rings into the pool for the big girls to get them. The water was pretty cold, so Cole did not get to use his new whale float. When I stuck his toes in the water, he made his super-sad face.

The weekend excitement began on Friday morning at about midnight. We were up watching the weather because there was a tornado warning around us. However, it looked as if it was going to be south of us, so we had no cause for concern. Then, George told us (meaning those who live precisely where we live) that we should wake the kids and take cover. Apparently, another storm began to show signs of rotation. So, we went upstairs and got both kids. I sat in the pantry holding both of them while Chris watched the news/weather outside. We were down there for about 20 minutes or so, and then returned the kids to bed. The funny thing is that Cole did not wake up at all, and Mia claimed not to remember it the next morning - although she was a little awake, talking to me and such. Needless to say, we were not hit by a tornado.

The next morning came too quickly, as a result of the pantry-time. Mia spent some time dressing up in her princess outfits...Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Ariel, respectively.

And Cole enjoyed watching the fashion show.

I posed them together and took some pics.

Then, we went to lunch with Momo. Both kids were great. Once home, I put Mia down for a nap and Cole and I crashed while she was sleeping - for an hour and a half! It was refreshing.

That evening, Chris and I went out to eat to (finally) celebrate our anniversary.

It was wonderful! Friday night was another great night of sleep for the kids, and a momentous one for Mia. She officially gave up all her pacis. She "gave" them to Cole and fell asleep without one, just like a big girl. We were worried that she would not sleep well as a result, but both kids slept fabulously!

Saturday was fairly uneventful. Some errands, another nap for both children at the same time (which is definitely the exception and not the rule), dinner at Hideaway. Cole reverted back to his norm, however; waking up in the 4 o'clock hour. He is fairly easily put back to sleep, but it still makes for an early morning.

We went to church on Sunday. The current series is One Prayer, and it is pretty awesome. This afternoon has brought some napping struggles with both kids (currently Cole is asleep on our bed and Mia is going on an hour and a half in her bed, not sleeping). This evening, we have Life Group and that's about it for the weekend!

First Monday of Summer!

Let me start by saying that I am not complaining at all because I feel elated that it is summertime and I am home. But, this has been a slightly tiring day so far! The ninth graders have nothing on my two kids!!!

4:30 am - Cole wakes up. Now, he is sleeping upstairs in his own bed. And this was the first awakening of the night/morning. We are trying to break the habit of bringing him to our bed in the early morning hours, so I go upstairs and try to give him his paci without picking him up. It works, but I know it is temporary. I lay down on his floor to rest my eyes until he cries again. Believe me, laying on the floor is much better than trudging up and down the stairs four times. I re-paci him three times (I think - it becomes a little blurry in those wee hours of the morning), and finally head back downstairs to bed at 5:40 am.

5:50 am - Cole wakes up, and he is hungry. Since I always feed him between 6 and 6:30, I change him and bring him down to eat. Now, after the 6 am feeding, he does stay downstairs and hopefully sleep a little longer.

6:15-7:40 am - Cole, with a full tummy, is cooing and squirming and smiling and spitting up...and I am laying next to him trying to go back to sleep.

7:40 am - He gives in and falls back asleep.

7:50 am - Mia starts calling "Mommy! My tummy is sick!" Now, we think this simply means that she is hungry and her tummy is growling. Because she usually says it at meal times and she has yet to actually get sick.

7:50-8:30 am - Mia eats Cheerios and drinks her milk. She tells me that the milk makes her tummy better. :)

8:30 am - Cole is awake. Mia has her first meltdown because I will not let her eat fruit snacks so early in the morning. I offer her actual fruit, but she wants fruit snacks.

9:00 am - Talk to my dear zumthemum friend for the first time in a long time. I enjoy, again, the feeling of NO SCHOOL!

9:20 am - I shower, while Mia and Cole watch Max and Ruby on our bedroom TV. Cole intermittently cries, and Mia shoves his paci in his mouth. It is pretty funny, and Cole laughs at her when she does it.

9:45 am - Cole decides he does not want to wait until 10 am to eat. But he has to, so he is getting angrier by the minute. Mia has meltdown #2 because I will not let her use my actual makeup. I offer her a brush or two, but she wants to use the eyeshadow.

10:00 am - While feeding Cole, I get up three times to assist Mia with various things. First, she wants to color. Then, she wants to color with her colorwonder markers. Finally, she decides that she wants to eat the oranges that I offered her with breakfast. When I tell her she must sit at her table to eat the oranges, she has meltdown #3. She is really being two today!

10:50 am - We all go upstairs because I am determined to get Cole on a regular nap schedule in his bed.

11:10 am - Cole is asleep, so Mia and I come back downstairs. I feel very accomplished.

11:20 am - Momo calls and I ask her to come sit with sleeping Cole while Mia and I run to Target.

11:30 am - I feed Mia lunch - peanut butter and crackers and cheese. I know it is not much, which is why we desperately needed to go shopping.

11:50 am - Momo arrives and Cole wakes up. The two are not related, just coincidental. I, feeling sure that this is just a minor intrusion on his sleep, go upstairs to comfort him back to slumber. Wailing, screeching, and fit throwing ensues.

12:00 pm - While I am trying to calm a crazy Coley, Mia has meltdown #4 because I won't/can't "ring around the rosy" with her.

12:30 pm - Still throwing a fit, Cole finds a little comfort in sitting outside. At this point, I have missed my window of opportunity for the store, since 1:30 brings naptime for Mia and another meal for Cole. So, we stay outside for a bit while Mia golfs and draws on the sidewalk. She can almost draw an "M" and can draw an "I."

1:00 pm - We all come back inside and Momo leaves.

1:20 pm - The three of us go upstairs to read a book before Mia's nap. Since Cole is pretty hungry and unforgiving at this point, I am practically yelling the book so she can hear me. Mia (remarkably) goes immediately down for her nap.

1:30 pm - I feed the baby boy and both of us crash.

2:15 pm - He wakes up, but I am able to coax him back to sleep. I know that he is overly tired at this point. I watch "Bringing Home Baby" on TLC and say a prayer of thanks that we are not at that stage right now.

2:45 pm - Cole wakes up and is smiling and being super-sweet.

3:00 pm - I put him in his swing so he can watch Baby Einstein. He loves it! It will occupy his little brain for 30 tear-free minutes! I empty the dishwasher and start the dryer.

3:15 pm - I sit down to do this blog. Now, I know it is not terribly interesting, but it feels good to write it all down! :)

3:30 pm - Mia will be up any minute, and I think we are going to go look for a swim-float thing for Cole since we are going to the pool with some friends on Wednesday.

The rest of the evening's plans are to go find new cell phones (YEA!) and eat dinner at Momo's while Chris mows her lawn.

Tomorrow brings school and swimming lessons for Mia! She is really excited. Chris is taking her and Cole and I will observe. I am hoping to actually make it to the store with Cole while Mia is a school. We will see...