Finally home- at least for a while

Cole and I spent another weekend in Phoenix (Abe went to the Ranch). We were very fortunate to attend a family friend's wedding, which was absolutely beautiful, and spend some more time with Grandma, Grandpa, and Cole's Favorite- Uncle David. Cole even got to "hang out" with David and his two friends Sunday night, and thought he was just the coolest!

Here was Cole boogying down at the wedding. I had a better picture of him, but accidentally erased it while trying to rid my poor camera of the ridiculous pictures my sister took of herself and her husband. Oops!
I also just had to throw in another of Cole's awesome activities. Thursday, while I was working on packing so we could leave Friday, Cole thought it a good idea to get into my mascara. It took me a second to realize what he'd gotten into from across the room, and I was even more excited to realize he had smeared it into the bench cushion and carpet!!!
Doesn't he look pretty? So, then Friday, as I was piling stuff up next to the door to be loaded into the car, he went through my bag, pulled out my tooth paste, and proceeded to squeeze the tube allover himself, the now naked bench cushion (I had taken the cover off to wash out the mascara), and in the beds of some of his construction trucks!!! Oh well!

It's been raining a lot in Prescott lately. The late afternoon showers that roll through, dropping the temperature 10-15 degrees and has Dozer running for cover (poor dog hates storms). Its great weather (better than the 100+ temps of Phoenix) although I'm hoping the lightning stays away this year!

I also had all my MOMS Club info turned over to me today. Basically 20-30 lbs of papers (half of which, I'm told, I will probably never look at) and 4 totes of supplies (at least its in totes!) So I guess its officially official, and I am the new President. I have some ideas that I hope people will like (I've never been one to do things the easy way!) and am just really hoping that this won't be a time sucking mistake. All in all, I am looking forward to a good year!

I am also heading into crunch time for Cole's birthday. I've finally got an idea pinned down, now I'm just hoping to get everything in motion!

So like I said, we're back, for now, and hopefully I will be able to post more often, since this 3 foot tornado in my house is doing something new everyday!


This is a video of Cole doing Itsy Bitsy Spider with me. It was not his best performance, but you'll get the idea. I sing songs like this to him while getting ready for bed, hoping he may hold still, if even for a moment. Last week, he actually started doing the motions with me! I was shocked! Enjoy!

Fun fun fun!!!

Like I said, it was a busy weekend- so here's a little slideshow of what went on. Cole had a fantastic time, getting all the attention he could want and more! I also made Cole his own blanket, with the help of my grandma, and my mom even helped, too! We watched David graduate high school (which made me feel super old!), and went to our friend's birthday party, where Cole jumped his heart out! It was a great weekend overall, and we are looking forward to our trek down there this weekend, too, for a wedding and some more grandparent/aunt/uncle attention!

Here's a video of Cole in the jumping castle! He was having so much fun and we were having to fight with him, trying to get him inside to cool down a bit (it was so stinkin' hot!) However, Cole's resourceful, and would sneak back outside, with out our knowledge, with all the people going in and out of the house. Next thing we would know, he was back up in the castle, jumping up a storm! He would crash so hard into the floor, and just get up laughing! Abe finally went in after him at one point! Cole, of course, loved that even more!

Oh, this kid!

It's been a while since I've posted, and we had so much go on! Here's just a few pics and a video of my goofy kid!

Doing his face for the camera!

And here he was goofing around in his "fort"

Here is Cole's new favorite past time- removing his pants! He usually just takes them off and runs around sans pants, but this day, he decided they belonged on his head instead!

Here's the video of his "pants-head". He did this completely on his own! How do boys come up with this stuff? By the way- this is how he ran outside to greet Abe when he got home- one shoe and no pants!

Mother's Day

We had a fantastic weekend, and a beautiful Mother's Day, making our quick little day trip to the Valley. We started off Sunday with brunch up at Desert Mountain with the Geupel's (at the clubhouse we were married at, which is always nostalgic) at the best table in the house. We were at the end of the dining room, with essentially our own private balcony. We looked over the golf course, and Cole was thoroughly entertained watching the greens keepers, and then the golfers. We couldn't have asked for better entertainment, or view, and will hopefully be able to score this table on future visits, since Cole was so entranced and enabled us to enjoy our meal. (I forgot to take pictures while at the club, so hopefully I will be able to get some from my FIL!)

We headed down to my parent's for dinner, for my dad's annual Mother's Day feast. He made his spinach&cheese stuffed chicken wrapped in fillo and roasted vegetables. He kind of cheated this year and bought a cheesecake rather than baking dessert, but he did make a homemade strawberry sauce to go with it. My dad has always gone all out on Mother's Day, by cooking some fancy meal. He has started to just make my mom's favorites now, but when we were growing up, he would study cookbooks for weeks, planning out his perfect menu. The food was delicious, as always, and we timed out the day to where we were able to make it home well before dark, which was a fabulous first. We even made a quick detour and drove by our Anthem house on the way home. It made me kind of sad, it was such a great little house. It looked fantastic! (someone's been taking good care of it)

While my dad prepped dinner, everyone played with Cole, of course. He did everything from shooting baskets outside (not for too long, since it was a nice 104+ degree day!) to playing grocery store with Grandma and Great Grandma. Uncle David then pulled out his "newly customized" scooter (oh the things an eighteen year old will do with spray paint), to Cole's utter delight. Cole even managed to hitch a ride.

My brother then remembered his other scooter, which he lowered the handle on, and then Cole was in complete heaven. Everyone tried to show Cole how to ride it himself, but I think he figured- why do all that work when David can just push me around? Smart kid! We are heading back to my folks this weekend for David's HS graduation, and to spend some QT with my other brother and his wife, who'll be visiting from Texas.

Of course, Cole had to make sure to "smile" for the camera!

Like I said, fantastic weekend, and Cole and I are looking forward to our very busy social calendar over the next few weeks (graduation, birthday party, hair appointment, wedding, MC election, MC banquet, and hopefully some speech therapy before too long!)

Smile!

Cole has started "smiling" for the camera, when asked. Here's what I get when he does:

Should make our next family photo session interesting!

Cole at 22 Months

This post is really just so I can remember all that this little person does... for right now!

Things have been pretty boring around here, unless you count the constant screaming/crying/whining/laughing that comes with having a 22 month old.

Cole is definitely coming into his own lately. He is still only saying his three words (Dad, Dozer and no) and has greatly perfected his use of 'no'. For a long time, he would just yell no at the dog (we must yell at the dog a lot, poor guy!), but lately he says no to everything! Ask any question and you will more than likely hear some intonation of no- from soft and defeated to loud and protestable. He is definitely getting his use out of this word, and making us laugh all the while. He also recently started saying uh-oh, so if he is not saying no, he is saying uh-oh (he's still working on the correct usage of uh-oh, but sometimes gets it right!)

He makes me laugh about a hundred times a day, and yet has me wanting to rip my hair out at about the same rate. He loves to try to help with everything (getting dressed (he will actually bring me underwear, shirts, and shoes while I'm getting ready in the morning), dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning, feeding the dog, refilling our drinks (he helps me push the buttons at the gas station and helps Dad by "pouring" his sippy cup into his if its empty), placing groceries on the counter at check out, "organizing" the groceries in the cart- although this usually causes me more headaches than not, and helping Dad with whatever he can get his little hands on), though he typically causes more work in the end. He loves- and is obsessed- with everything "Dad"! At the grocery store today, in fact, as we walked past the liquor section he just started (and kept) screaming for his "Dad". I have to remind him constantly that Dad's at work, to the point that when we read books at night that mention work, he says "Dad?"

He is very clever and seems to pick up on everything! We have become very careful about what we do in front of him, because even though he won't repeat what we say, he definitely copies our actions! He has to imitate everything his Dad does, most of what I do, and he has even taken to going out on the deck with Dozer, popping a squat, and pretending to do his 'business' alongside him (even looking between his legs and around his backside to see if anything has 'happened'!) This is actually a very hysterically funny event, that I will really try to get on video! He loves going on the deck with Dad and his very own binoculars to glass for animals (though he has no clue that's what he's doing) and just spending every minute he can with him. He also becomes a completely emotional wreck anytime he watches Abe drive away from the house, which breaks my heart, and becomes equally excited upon his return. He is also Abe's "biggest fan". Sometimes he is mine, but he is super impressed with all his dad does, and applauds every action. He is also a huge fan of himself, clapping enthusiastically at all he does.

He also loves to "dance." His signature move is a stamping of his right foot and then he will occasionally sway side to side, and follow that with a pivoting on his left foot. He will also rub his fingers together saying "tch-tch-tch" in place of snapping his fingers (again, a funny moment I need to get on video!) He especially loves to dance to "Handy Manny" songs and will even try to "da da-da da-da" to the music, and also mimics sounds he hears in other songs. He is also a jumping fiend, and is either jumping on (and off) the air mattress in his room (long story) or jumping/galloping around the house, laughing all the way!

He is also obsessed with all things cars/trucks! He plays with his cars the majority of the day and especially loves to use Abe's and my legs as his roadways. He thoroughly enjoys Abe playing trucks with him and the two of them will drive trucks and make operating sounds for hours! He has certainly developed quite the motor sound repertoire, if nothing else, and loves nothing more than getting new cars! He is also obsessed with garbage cans. Not the ones in the house, but the big ones on the street. He spends his Fridays in a state of panic in the window of his play room, staring at the cans in what he feels to be a precarious spot on the curb.

All in all, he is the joy of our lives and the purpose of my existence. I melt every time I look in those incredible, blue eyes (screaming or not) and am so grateful he is all mine (and, I guess, Abe's too!)

Random Happenings of the Week

Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal, with not much going on, so Cole and I did a little shopping and laundry, you know, the usual. With the addition of Cole doing this:

Now anyone who's a papercrafter knows that those are Glue Dots. For those who aren't papercrafters- those are Glue Dots. Glue Dots are one of the best, strongest adhesives for crafting on the market, and Cole thought it a good idea to roll my Glue Dots across the wood floors! (I guess I should just be grateful that he opted for wood and not carpet again!)

Here's my gathered ball of expired Glue Dots. They weren't too bad to pick off the floor, although my fingers were pretty raw after from the constant pulling off the glue.

Cole also developed a love of corn on the cob this week. Here he had finally picked it up, but before this and before I could grab my camera, of course, he was eating it with no hands off of his high chair tray.

I had asked him to smile for the camera and this is what I got- goofy kid!

He wouldn't smile anymore, but I just thought that this was a cute picture, plus you can really see the spices from the corn allover his face!

We also had our first Mini Mozarts playgroup this week. It's a class that my MOMS Club is basing on a music class offered in town (which costs about $140 for 6 wks, but ours is free, of course ) where the kids get together and bang on instruments, sing songs and dance/march around. It was a lot of fun and now that we have our official CD with all the songs on it, we can't wait to learn them for the next class. I also went overboard with my lyric book (of course!) and basically scrapbooked the whole thing (they had just asked us to print them out and maybe tie the pages together with ribbons!) I'll have to post pics of that another time.

After the class, in a temporarily unstable frame of mind (J/K), I volunteered to be the President of the MOMS Club. They had been looking for volunteers/nominations for the different positions for about 2 months, and I had considered inquiring about the VP positions, but thought if I just waited, others would step up and then I could just volunteer next year (after all, I've only been in the group a few months!). I overheard them talking about how no one had stepped up for VP or Pres, and so I started asking questions and next thing I know, they were all telling me to go for Pres!!! It should all work out great though, the other ladies that are up for the other positions, I get along with great, and a lady I've become friends with (who had planned on just being Treasurer) said she would do the VP job if I did Pres. So, the middle of May are 'elections' and thus far I'm unopposed, so it should be a sure thing- although that would be pretty sad if I somehow didn't get it (like if everyone voted against me), but I don't know if that's possible. Overall, I'm pretty excited, and can't wait to get to know all the moms better and to see what we, as a new board, can bring to the group this year!

Today at playgroup, (sadly I don't have any pics of this story, but I don't know that one would have wanted to see them!) we went to a park in PV that is basically a giant pond with some grass and ducks and fish. We were hoping to feed the ducks, but it appears that the ducks have all headed north again, because there were none there. Fortunately, we all had little boys and they were perfectly content with just throwing rocks into the water. After repeatedly telling Cole to stay away from the water, he took a digger off a mossy rock into the nastiest, slimiest, schmutz-y water ever! Two of the other boys thought it fun to just sit in the bank of the pond, so needless to say, we all sat stripping our children before putting them in car seats to go home. While we were all sitting there watching our disgustingly dirty boys having a rock throwing blast, some guy with a little boy came over and was letting the boy play around ours'. Next thing we knew the boy was face down in the pond, and the man was just standing there! My friend (future Miss VP) said you need to get him! and then the man looked at the little boy (who had to be younger than Cole) flailing in the water, realized he wasn't going to recover from his fall into the water, and proceeded to take his shoes off before finally going in to get him!!!! We just all sat there in stunned silence for a while, as the man scooped up his possessions, and headed back to where the rest of his family were. Once out of ear shot, we let loose!! We could not believe this man just sat and watched this little boy drowning, and then had the nerve to make him splash a few moments longer so he could remove his less than impressive shoes!!! We were all ready to go diving in after the boy, but were so in shock over the whole ordeal, and that this man was so slow to take action! It was very disturbing to witness! Cole even came up to me right after, and tried to hold on to me as best he could, though I was trying to keep him and his slimy,nasty, smelly self off me. I think the incident seriously traumatized him too, actually all the little boys were in shock. We determined (and later confirmed) that this could not be the boy's father, and heard him chatting it up later as that the boy decided to go "swim", and conveniently left out the part about the poor thing nearly drowning to death!

So that's what we've been up to. Abe has a meeting all day Saturday- which is okay since it is supposed to rain. Hopefully we will be able to come up with something fun to do Sunday.