25 Days of Christmas

We made a calendar this year with  something "Christmasy" to do each day.  So far, we've made a paper chain to count down to Christmas, decorated a gingerbread house, had hot cocoa and watched "The Polar Express," and put up our Christmas tree.

Isabella has hot (not too hot) cocoa in her sippy cup

We couldn't help but eat it right away!

An elf from Santa's workshop has come to stay with us for the holiday season.  He reports to Santa every night on whether Isabella and Cole have been good or bad each day.  He appears in different places around the house each morning.  Isabella jumps out of the bed excitedly to see where he is.  She'll pick up her toys before bed each night and look at the elf to be sure he's paying attention.  She's also told the elf what she wants for Christmas so he can tell Santa.  She wants a dinosaur.

my S'more tree (a tradition my mom started)

Cole's first solid food

I can't believe my baby is this big...

4 months

Dear sweet boy, 

You are still such an angel.  These pictures depict your smiling, happy personality perfectly.  You love to smile and especially at your daddy.  When you see him, your face lights up.  I know he really enjoys playing with you all day.  You're making it a little easier on us since you've started sleeping longer at night.  Some nights we'll get a full 8-9 hours!  Yay for you (and me!)  

You've started chewing on your fingers even more often now and drooling all the time, so I'm watching for some little teeth to pop through any day.  I just can't believe you're old enough to start eating baby food. And I realize how silly that sounds, but you are changing so fast.  You've really started grabbing things lately, my sweater or hair or your blanket, for instance.  You don't roll over completely yet, but you're trying.  You'll go from your back to your side and back.  

The doctor says you're growing so much.  You're 98th percentile for height and 75th for weight.  You are almost too big for your 6 month clothes already.  My big boy, I love you so much!  I think about what you'll be like and what you'll want to be.  You already make your dad and me so happy.  We're so glad to have you as part of our family this Christmas!  

Merry Christmas!

Love,

your mommy

So thankful for...

My Family!  I'm so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life.

Isabella helping to make lunch

Grandma Marga with her grandchildren

Lauren reading to Isabella

PawPaw holding Cole

Happy Iron Bowl!

Just to make you laugh...

Here are Isabella and Cole in their pajamas.  Just thought it would make you laugh!

Big Girl Bed

Isabella has been able to climb into her crib for a while, but has finally started trying to climb out.  She would get to the top and sit, but has been too scared to jump down.  So, we've turned her bed into a toddler bed.  The night she first saw it, she jumped up and down saying, "Yay, yay, yay!  My big girl bed."  She was so excited that John thought we should have waited until Christmas to give it to her.  I'm so proud of her, but my little girl is growing up so fast.

I miss you

It's been 3 years since I've talked to you and I just want to say that I miss you, mom.

The Big Wedding Day

My dad got married this weekend.  It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful day, very cold if you're in a sleeveless dress, but very pretty.  I've had a lot of people ask me how I feel about my dad getting married.  I'm very happy for him and Karen and couldn't have picked a more wonderful, thoughtful and generous woman to bring into his life after the loss of my mom.  Karen has helped him to live again, and I think she's just what he needs.  So, congratulations, dad and Karen!

Isabella at the rehearsal dinner

Dillon, Dad, Karen, and Chris (my new step brothers)

Everleigh and Isabella

3 months

Dear Cole, 

You are 3 months old today.  How fast the time is going by!  Your personality is becoming more apparent every day.  You are so fun to play with now because you squeal with joy so easily.  You are quite ticklish, which is funny because you started to laugh around the middle of October.  Your giggles are pretty cute. You're such a happy boy.  You are a people person for sure.  You give smiles away to anyone who talks to you.  And I've noticed that you don't like to be alone for long.  If we're all eating dinner and you're in your swing, you'll cry out and I'll bring you to the table to sit with us.  Then you're as happy as can be.  You hate loud noises.  I've scared you a couple of times when I was reading a book to Isabella and got carried away with the sound effects.  And when you went to the zoo this week you would cry every time a kid would scream on the train.

I love getting to know you.  You are so sweet and easy going.  When you see me or your daddy, your eyes light up and you give a huge grin.  You're getting so much stronger, holding your head up longer when you are on your tummy.  You chew on your fingers all the time, which makes me wonder if you're soothing yourself or cutting teeth.  I think you might be teething, but it's not obvious yet.  Your sleep patterns haven't changed much this month.  You still get up every 2-3 hours at night, and I continue to hope we're getting ready to go a little longer.  I'm definitely ready!  But I enjoy our quiet time together in the middle of the night.  I love you so much, my sweet, precious boy.

Love,

your mommy

Cole chews his fingers all the time... He may be teething already?! 

Happy Halloween!

To celebrate Halloween, we carved pumpkins as is our annual tradition, but this year Isabella really got into it.  She loved every step, from cleaning out the inside to the carving.  She'd tell me, "Get out Mommy!  It's my turn!"  So, cleaning the seeds out took a little longer than usual.  She also decided we should carve a ghost and a spider.  Isabella enjoys talking about ghosts right now.  She'll say, "My daddy will get that ghost.  The ghost can't get me."  I'm not actually sure where she got the idea that a ghost might get her.  Maybe John's been letting her watch some scary Halloween movies.

Isabella talked about dressing up for weeks before Halloween and was pretty excited about being a cat and Cole being a "punkin."  She wasn't too sure about me drawing whiskers on her face but I think she enjoyed the dress up part.  I'm glad she liked her costume since I bought it a year ago on sale after Halloween!  She was pretty adorable all dressed up, but I guess I'm partial.

We took Cole and Isabella to Boo at the Zoo and had a great time.  Isabella found out that there are magic words, a.k.a. "trick-or-treat" and when you say them, people hand you candy.  We went down Candy Cane Lane and she trick-or-treated and got so into it that she started saying trick-or-treat to people walking around the zoo.  That was definitely her favorite part, although she did enjoy the train and the carousel too.  She kept a tight grip on her trick-or-treat bag all night.  

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween and enjoyed trick-or-treating as much as Isabella did!

John and Cole ready to ride the train at the zoo

Cole got bored pretty quickly

Isabella loved trick-or-treating!