Category: Cole

Let’s Eat Cake!

This weekend concluded a series of birthday celebrations with family and friends, for Cole turning one, on May 22nd.

I have lots of pictures now to share of him enjoying his cakes and parties. The first set of pictures is from the BBQ at my dad’s house a few weeks ago:

The next batch of photos is from when we went to Joe’s parent’s house for cake:

Last but not least, we had a birthday party this weekend at a park, with a friend whose son, also just turned one- eight days after Cole. We had a lot of mutual friends come from our parenting group. Both birthday boys must of had a great time, because when it came time for their cake, they were BOTH fast asleep in their daddy’s arms.

We were going to have the brothers blow out the candles (this friend also has another son, just two months older than Ryan, so both our boys are very close in age), on their cakes, but it was rather windy, and we couldn’t get the candles lit, so they just pretended to blow out the candles. Here is the final picture of Cole from yesterday, which probably sums up how he feeling about all this birthday stuff! 🙂

Best Friends

Today I am under the weather with a stomach bug, and I told Ryan this morning, I needed him to be extra good today, because mama was sick.

He was just perfect, which was so nice. He played with Cole almost all day, with no hitting, biting, pushing, or other tactics usually employed to make Cole cry.

As I was struggling through, trying to make them lunch, Ryan was playing patty-cake with Cole, who was just adoring the attention his big brother was giving him. After they were done playing, Ryan said, “Mama, Coley is my best friend,” as he gave him a sweet little hug. Cole’s eyes lit up, and he was all smiles.

It doesn’t get much better than that, but when my dad stopped by for a short visit this afternoon, he told him as well, that Coley is his best friend.

Motherhood sure has a way of surprising you- I guess after a year of telling Ryan not to hurt his brother, and constantly hearing, “Mom, Cole has my toys,- you need to take Cole away,” something has clicked, and now this little baby, who had upset Ryan’s world so much, is now his “best friend.”

Even though I am sick and it has been a hard day, just these few little words, has made it one of the best days.

Cole Mothering

Cole’s First Birthday!

My baby is one year old today! Yesterday and on Sunday, I was kind of sentimental, because if I went by actual days, Cole was born on Monday, and that Sunday I was in labor. I kept looking at the clock thinking, ‘last year right now, I was in Ryan’s room, lying on the floor, breathing through the contractions’, or ‘this time last year, we were on the way to the hospital.’

Cole was born at 9:43 PM after 41 hours of labor (whew). He weighed 7lbs, 5 oz. and was 19 inches long. I was ecstatic I was able to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) birth with him. Labor was the most intense thing I have ever done, but also the greatest. I can honestly say, I have never felt more accomplished and fulfilled then those first few minutes after Cole had been born, and I realized I had done it- I had given birth to him!

I have truly loved every day I have had with Cole, despite some very challenging times, during the past year. We are SO lucky to have such a healthy, happy, and lovable baby boy. As Cole continues to grow, I know my love for him will continue to grow as well, and I am excited to see what the future holds for him.

We went grocery shopping today, and Ryan and Cole were riding in the double cart together, and they usually fight- each trying to get each other’s steering wheel. But today, Ryan reached over, out of the blue, and put his arm around Cole. Cole responded by leaning his head on Ryan’s shoulder, and they just sat that way for a good two minutes. I had tears in my eyes, and wished I had a camera. It is so neat to see not only my boys growing, but also seeing their relationship as brothers developing.

It seems like it really has been a year most of the time, and then at times, it seems like I just came home from the hospital with Cole. Ryan still talks about my ‘tummy being big when Coley lived in there’, so I think he still remembers too.

We are going to go over to Joe’s parent’s house on Wednesday night to have another cake, and then one of my friends and I are planning a little one year birthday celebration for Cole and her son, who was born just 8 days after Cole, sometime in June. So Cole’s milestone of turning one, will be well documented.

I have to include some pictures of one of the best days of my life- the day we got to meet Cole:

This was taken the day before I went into labor (May 20, 2006- I was 39 weeks and 2 days preggo with Cole).

Cole’s first picture- seconds after he was born.

Nursing for the first time, just minutes after he was born.

Ryan meeting his little brother for the first time, about 12 hours after he was born. (Ryan looks a little freaked out, doesn’t he? 🙂 )

Mama and Cole, resting in the hospital.

Cole, about 48 hours old.

Happy First Birthday, Cole! I love you with all my heart!

Activities Cole Family & Friends Ryan

First Summer BBQ

My dad and his wife, J. (technically my step-mom, but I don’t think of her as that, since they got married after I was already on my own), have a beautiful back-yard, and are very gracious and generous about hosting parties, BBQ’s, family dinners, engagement parties, baby showers, baby welcoming parties, and so on.

Yesterday they hosted the first BBQ of the summer for our family, which included my siblings, cousins, uncle, step-sister, and her husband. We had a lot of fun, and the weather was perfect. Their yard faces west, so sometimes when the sun is shining, it can get really hot, but yesterday there were clouds all afternoon and evening.

Ryan and Cole did great- Ryan was so busy running around and playing ball, frisbee and soccer, with his uncle and second cousins, that he barely even ate. He developed a “crush” on my cousin, E., who just turned 12. He was at her side all night, holding her hand, and basically looking at her with puppy dog eyes. Cole did very well too. He is comfortable with my dad, so he let him hold him for a while, and they played. Joe held Cole too, and he also sat in the grass and entertained himself with rocks in J.’s garden. This was the first bigger family event since Cole has been born, where if I didn’t hold him the entire time, he cried. So that was a nice change!

Even though this was a BBQ, I brought along a cake for Cole, so we could have an informal celebration of his first birthday that will be this week.

It was a chocolate Oreo Cookie cake. I cut a slice for him, and he was a little hesitant to eat it, but once he got started, there was no stopping him. He wasn’t content with just eating the cake that was in his bowl, he had to reach out, and start scooping hand-fulls of cake from the entire cake. He did his first cake proud.

Unfortunately, our camera ran out of memory, but we got some shots of him covered in cake, and icing, on my sister’s camera, and I’ll post them as soon as I get them from her. Joe taped him on our camcorder though, so I am glad we’ll have that to look back on. However, here are some other pictures of the BBQ.

Cole enjoying his dinner

Having fun playing with his foot

Me, with my darling boys 🙂

The B-Day Boy, checking out his cake (in the background, you can see my step-mom holding Maelin)

We all had a wonderful time, and a big thank you to my dad, J., and my sister for organizing the whole thing. Can’t wait for the next bash.

Activities Cole Household Ryan

I Just Couldn’t Stay Away

I ended up going back to the consignment sale on Monday for the last day, where almost everything was 50% off. (If a seller didn’t want to reduce the price, they marked the tag with a star, and then you knew the item wasn’t reduced.)

I got a few more shirts for Ryan, and a couple more rompers for Cole which ended up being $1 each- can’t beat that. I also found a little Baby Bjorn Potty for Cole that I had been wanting to get for him, for some time. I am hoping I can start potty training earlier with him, and these little potty’s are supposed to be pretty good. He has already started sitting on it. When I was checking out, an older lady saw it and said, “Oh, what a cute fire man hat.” It was upside down at the time, and kind of looked like one. I smiled to myself, and then her grown daughter said, “No mom- that’s not a hat- it’s a potty seat.” We all started laughing- it was pretty cute.

I think it is funny how excited I am on finding a good deal on boy’s shirts, shorts, and underwear. I remember the days, when I used to get that excited on finding something for me!

I got a few rompers for my neice as well. My sister said she didn’t have very many and now that it is getting hotter, she really wished she had a few more. They have been putting her in dresses, but they creep up, so the rompers are nice. I ended up getting 7 really cute ones- for $8!

Finally, as I was leaving, Cole needed to nurse, so I went back to the corner of the building where my sister nursed Maelin the other day. There was a table and chairs back there, and I noticed there was a little chair and ottoman from IKEA. I LOVE IKEA, and wished we had one in our state. My other sister has one near her, and we always go there and find great stuff when I visit. Anyway, this chair was there the other day, and Ryan wanted it then. He looked so cute sitting on it, and he does need a new chair for himself.

It was pretty dirty and kind of beat up, and after seeing how Ryan climbed around on it, I can only imagine how many other kids had been jumping around on it all weekend. BUT, it was 50% off, and I looked and saw that the covers could be taken off and washed, and I know IKEA makes good, quality furniture so I was sold.

When the covers were in the wash, I cleaned up the wood, removed the crayon marks, and polished it. I was happy with how it turned out, and the best part is Ryan just LOVES it. He is having a ball sitting on his “grown up chair,” and even wanted to take his nap on it. He grabbed one of Joe’s woodworking magazines yesterday, after I put the cover back on, and he got to sit in if for the first time. Of course, here are some pictures:

The chair ended up being $15, and I think it has already paid for itself. Ryan says, “I’m a hard working man,” before he flops down in it now to relax and read his magazine. 🙂