Thank goodness…

for sweet moments like this!   They make me one proud momma!

And I really need them to survive the not so sweet moments.  Cole has definitely been testing the waters lately.  He will deliberately do the opposite of what we say, is WHINY!, won’t eat, throws fits, etc.  I love him, and I know my sweet boy is still in there somewhere!  Right?  Haha.  One of my friends said it best today when she said, “Thank goodness this is the cutest age because it is also the toughest!”  (We both just have 2 year olds so please let us go on naively thinking that 2 is the toughest.  )

Crazy Boy…

Cole is feeling much better and has been cracking us up again as usual. As you can see above, we have entered the “silly face” picture phase. This is what he was doing when I was trying really hard to get a picture for his passport.  Think they will let him on the plane with this one? Here are the other latest funny stories that I can remember.

The other day he accidentally bit his finger when we hit a bump in the car. Instead of saying he bit himself, he said “my mouth hurt me!”

We went on a walk outside the other morning, and we passed an elderly man that walks our neighborhood everyday. He asked Cole how he was doing to which Cole said “My doing good.” He then asked how Cole’s baby sister was doing. Cole said “Hers good too. Hers 3 months old.” Guess he thought that question was coming next so he went ahead and answered.

On the same walk we passed a jeep parked a few houses down. Cole looked at me and very matter of factly said “That’s a jeep right there Momma.” I laughed and told him that yeah it was. He then said “Got big wheels on it.” His Poppy is so proud that he is already noticing wheels…

After his second nap on Saturday, he woke up feeling much better. I asked him how he felt, and he said “My feel good. My not sick anymore this morning.” I guess he thought it was a new day since he had slept and woken up. Funny to see how their little minds think.

On the way home the other night, Murray told Cole that when we got home it would be time for B-E-D. (He spelled it out.) Cole quickly responded, “No, Daddy. It’s toys time at my house.”

Tonight I told him if he couldn’t be happy that we would not have play time we would go straight to bed time. He said “It’s not dark outside Momma.” He thinks he so smart…

After buckling him in his carseat, I always make him give me a kiss before I shut his door. Just habit. Yesterday I forgot, and, when I climbed in the front seat and started to back out of the driveway, Cole said “No, not drive Momma. Kiss!” Gotta admit it made me really happy to park the car and go give him a kiss.

Funniest Cole-Jordan story by far I think… yesterday when we got to church I went to put Jordan’s headband & bow on her before we walked in. As I did, I noticed a yellow color on top of her head. I asked Cole if he did anything to Jordan’s head. He told me he “drawed on it.” I asked him what he drew with, and he said “a marker.” I asked what marker, and he said “a yellow one.” I have no idea where he got a yellow marker or what he did with it afterwards, but apparently he tattooed Jordan before church.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well today is my 28th birthday… getting old!  Haha!  Thankfully Murray and I celebrated by going to the Lady Antebellum concert last week because today I’m celebrating by holding a bowl for my sweet boy while he throws up, taking a purell bath to try to disinfect myself, taking care of my sweet baby girl, and then repeat, repeat, repeat while poor Murray is on call and working all weekend!  Cole is finally sleeping some so why I am blogging instead of sleeping too- I don’t know!   

As easy as it would be to feel really sorry for myself today, I am actually just so grateful.  Yeah, our family has its bad days, sleepless nights, disappointments, etc., but in the grand scheme of things, I am SO BLESSED!  I have an amazing husband who is striving to know, love, and serve God more and more each day, who bends over backwards just to make my life easier, and who LOVES me and our 2 children incredibly.  I have the world’s 2 most beautiful & perfect kids (a mom’s supposed to think so- right?) who give the best smiles and snuggles and keep life full of laughter.  I have an awesome extended family that we are very close to despite the miles between us.  I have wonderful friends all across the country at this point, and I truly consider them as more extended family.  And then there are all our material blessings…

God has been so good to us and constantly provided for us!  This past year of my life has been blessed with growing… a growing relationship with God, a growing partnership and love with Murray, a growing toddler learning new things all the time with Cole, a growing family with the addition of Jordan, and growing friendships.  27 was a wonderful year, and (although it might be having a little bit of a rough start this morning) 28 is looking pretty promising! 

I don’t really need to celebrate my birthday anyway.  Like I told my mom this morning, getting to be the momma of such sweet babies is worth forgetting my birthday altogether if needed!  Thank you God for your good and perfect gifts!

Week of Firsts

This week has been exciting for our family… in some good ways, some bad ways, some big ways, and some little ways.  Just thought I’d share. 

First- Sunday night Jordan rolled over for the first time.  She rolled from belly to back!  Hasn’t happened again since, but we are super proud of her!  Hopefully, I will get a video soon! 

Also, that night, Cole bit one of his best buddies.  First and better be last time for that!  Definitely a downer for mom & dad (& poor little Gracie!)

We have also started putting Jordan in the Bumbo seat now, and she is doing awesome!  She seems so big sitting there by herself!  It’s really fun to have her sit at the table with us for meals now.  Here she is checking out this amazing toy cow!

This is the first time my busy boy ever brought his blanket out of his room and willingly laid down to rest in the middle of the floor… not watching tv or anything.  He also told me later that day that he needed to put his story up because it was naptime!!!  

This Wednesday was my first time to go back to the gym since Jordan was born.  I have been running outside because I wanted to wait for school to be back in session, and the bigger kids to not be in the playroom before I took Cole an Jordan.  They did great!  I worked out 45 minutes (without pushing a double jogging stroller!).  When I picked them up, Jordan had been good, and Cole said he had fun and played with the big girls.  Haha.

Cole also said his first really great unprompted prayer this week.  I loved hearing him thank god for all the people in the world, Elmo, Baby Jordan, food, and Jesus.  So sweet.

Finally, Jordan figured out a way to get a great nap!

Seasoned Travelers!

I have to brag on my kiddos because they are quite the little troopers when it comes to traveling.  Cole has always been great in the car, and Jordan is definitely following in his footsteps.  Thank goodness since all our family lives at least 4 1/2-5 hours or more away!  Murray is on Ortho Trauma again this month (but it’s his last time EVER!!!) so as usual, we made the trip to TN to see everyone.  This time we squeezed in Indianapolis, Memphis, Pickwick, Huntingdon, Milan, Medina, Nashville, and back to Louisville in less than 2 weeks time!  Whew…

First a couple random cute pictures of Cole and Jordan that I haven’t shared yet…

Cole insisted that he needed to be “covered up like baby sissy!”

Love these 2!

So first stop was Indiana.  My parents came up for the weekend, and we headed to see some of my dad’s family.  Cole didn’t mind swimming at my Aunt Mona’s and Uncle Darren’s house one bit!

My grandparents just moved into a new house so we wanted to see it.  This little guy has been around at least since I was Cole’s age… I think longer.  Cole thought he was pretty funny.

Somehow (truly unintentionally) my parents have been in town the weekend of the huge National Street Rod car show each year that we have lived here.  If you know my dad, you know that this makes him super excited!  I mean grandkids are great, but awesome cars too!  Haha.  Cole has been all 3 years, and this was Jordan’s first time.  Cole talked Poppy into buying him a pretty cool camaro this year.

Notice their matching shirts from last year’s show…

Dad took pictures of some of the cars he really liked, and luckily my mom had thought to throw Cole’s little camera in the bag.  He thought he was too cool taking pictures like Poppy!

That night Murray and I went out on a date, and Cole took Nonny, Poppy, and Neesha to Chuck E Cheese!

We headed to Memphis Sunday, and that week I was able to meet up with some of my friends from nursing school and their babies.  Our group is ever growing!  (Amanda… LOVE Kate’s face!  Haha!)

Stylin’ in their special “matching” Elmo shirts.

Our little wanna-be rocker!

At Pickwick we were mostly entertained with Logan’s duck that he has been raising.  Quackers would swim out in the lake with Logan and Neesha, and followed Logan around like he was the momma duck!

From Pickwick we headed to Huntingdon to spend time with Murray’s family.   Cole especially enjoyed his day with Maddox at Aunt Ju-Ju’s pool!

That night, Uncle Joseph and Uncle Thomas had their church league softball tournament.  Cole thought he was big stuff running the bases with them between games, and he even learned how to slide… sort of.

Playing with Easton and Maddox was pretty special too!

Milan is just a short drive from Huntingdon so we headed over to spend some time with Liz & Davis one day.  The boys always pick right back up where they left off and so do their mommas! 

Nothing like pizza after all that hard work driving and jumping!

From Milan, we headed to Medina to see my aunt and cousins.  They raise miniature donkeys and have 2 new baby ones.  Cole really enjoyed seeing them and having Aunt Debbie touch them.  Haha.  I have to give him some credit though because he did actually pet them some too.

On our way back to Louisville we were able to stop to see my forever friend Adrienne.  She lives in Nashville now so it was not only a convenient and much needed pit-stop for my crew, but it was her first time to meet Jordan so it worked out perfectly.  Our kids are stairsteps… 2, 1, NB.  Guess the next step is yours Adj. 

It was a wonderful trip, and as I said earlier, Cole and Jordan did so great.  I think we were all relieved to get back to our own house though and mostly back to our DADDY!!!  He says he missed us more, but I think it has to be a close call because I know we were all so excited to see him! 

(If Cole seems clumsy in this video, just know that he had on a pair of shoes that were 2 sizes too big for him, but he HAD to wear them because Davis gave them to him… haha.)

Sweet smiles and kisses for Daddy!

We celebrated being back together by a mommy/daddy date night and then a family day at the KY State Fair. 

Murray got me tickets to the Lady Antebellum concert for my birthday that is coming up, and our sweet friends babysat Cole & Jordan so that we could have a fun night out!  Thanks Dave & Sara!!!

Cole checking out some of the animals at the fair…

Our little nosy rosy would not lay her head back in the carseat! 

It’s exhausting trying not to miss anything!

Cole driving carefully through Safety Town with the help of Daddy… one day those legs will be long enough buddy! 

Can you tell Cole was really enjoying his humongous ice cream cone Daddy got him on this incredibly hot day?

Best attempt at a family photo.  The sun was really bright!  Haha.

And since I started with a random 2 pictures, I’ll end with a random 2…

They are too sweet!

And I can’t help it, I just think she is gorgeous!

I’ve been trying to catch up so don’t miss my 2 other new posts below!