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!

Off to the Pumpkin Patch

We decided to take Cole and Isabella to the pumpkin patch in Harpersville today to pick out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween.  John's dad joined us, but we had no idea what to expect.  This thing was huge; there was a corn maze, booths and vendors, petting farm, civil war reenactment, and a hayride to the pumpkin patch.  We weren't prepared to spend the day there, and we didn't eat lunch before our trip.  So, we had some cranky kids by the time we found our pumpkins.  We came home with some great pumpkins though and ended the day with some pumpkin cookies.  

So Cute It's Scary

hayride

Race for the Cure

Every year since just before my mom passed I've run the race for the cure.  Most of them my sister and I've run together, and always my husband.  Some years I've been pregnant and some (like this one) I've just given birth.  This year we brought our daughters to "run" with us.  After all, this is why we run... to find a cure for our moms, daughters, and sisters.

Pre-race stretching

In Memory of Denise Owens

Lauren and Cody ready to run

Isabella having second thoughts about the race

It's football season!!!

And that means donut Saturdays!!  Isabella and Cole have to support their "chosen" teams.  And we all cheer for beautiful fall days and football!

2 months

Dear Cole,

How I've loved getting to know you these last 2 months.  I'm about to go back to work in a few days and I know I'm going to miss you so much.  I can't believe how this time has flown.  Your daddy and I have both been able to be home with you these past 2 months and have absolutely loved our time as a family.  You're still growing.  You had your first round of shots when you were six weeks old, and handled it like a big boy.  You're sleeping 2-3 hours now, so on occasion we'll go 3 1/2 hours before you eat at night.

You just started smiling recently and how my heart melts when you smile at me.  Sometimes you'll talk a little, well, you'll make sweet noises like you want to tell me something great.  You also make the sweetest pouty faces when you're unhappy.  When I put you down sometimes your lower lip will tremble like you might cry if I don't pick you back up immediately.

You love to lie on your back and kick your legs.  That's when you're most "talkative."  You've been sucking on your hands a lot; I think you like them better than a pacifier.  You drank your first bottle this month and I'm not sure you even noticed it wasn't me.  You had no problems with it, and since I'm heading back to work this week I'm very glad to know that.

We call you buddy a lot and your daddy calls you his little rascal, while Isabella still calls you Cold.   We all love you so much, little buddy!