Birthday Celebration!

This year I turned 26! Crazy to me. I know it must always feel like this no matter what stage of life you are in, but I still feel so young- even with a baby! I just remember thinking when I was younger that 26 year olds were grown up... Am I grown up? Haha. Anyway, I had a great birthday. Murray was able to talk a co-resident into being on call for him this past weekend so that we could go home to visit family and celebrate my birthday and Neesha's (who is 11 now... really makes me feel old!). We had the best time in Huntingdon with his family and at the lake with mine. The only person we didn't get to see was Logan since he was back at school already. We missed you bud!

Cole was such a good boy all weekend. Even went 6 hours between feedings a couple nights for his mommy! He loved playing at Mimi & PopPop's house, watching Easton, "swimming" in his whale pool Nonny & Poppy got him, and going fishing with Daddy! And of course he didn't mind all the extra cuddling he got either! I don't think that boy touched the bed for a single nap. =)

Kinda blurry, but SO EXCITED it's mommy's birthday!

Cole & Murray outside Mallard's restaurant in Huntingdon. Murray & I had our first date here before his highschool's homecoming football game! Cole slept right through dinner.

Cole & me on my birthday.

The happy family!

3 of Easton's favorite things... Uncle Murray, being naked, and setting up the dominos to knock them all down.

Happy to be in TN with family!

Playing with Mimi. Looks like he's in love!

Some snuggle time with some of the great grandparents.

Cole says, "I LOVE THE LAKE!" Cole & Murray had a great time fishing early Saturday morning down at the boathouse. Murray caught some real whoppers!

Daddy & Uncle Smith working hard on Cole's new whale pool.

He wasn't really sure what he thought about it, but there were no tears so we are thinking he must have liked it!

Murray practicing for hunting season... he was really tempted by some geese that swam up, but he was good and stuck with his target.

Going out on the boat... Cole stayed at the cabin for some quality time with Nonny while me & Murray enjoyed a little break.

Kels tearing it up out there!

Smith on 1 for the first time! He did awesome!

Me & Murray enjoying some couple time!

Dad wanted us to all learn to drive the boat & pull skiers so that we could do it ourselves in case we ever come up without him. This is me about to try to pull Murray... really nervous!

Somehow I did ok, and Murray did great! You would never know he only gets to ski about once a year!

And... 7 weeks post-baby, I still managed to get up too!

No matter how long we ski, how aggressive we are out there, or how hard we try... we will never outdo the master. Look at my dad go!

Murray jumping the wake on the kneeboard. We had so much fun with this! We were all out there jumping & trying to do 360s. Made for some pretty funny spills and some exciting accomplishments!

The newly-weds! (married almost 9 months now!)

Dad showing his sons-in-law who is boss and

despite their best efforts- the result...

Neesha and LaRae didn't want to let Cole leave! And he was obviously happy to stay in their arms!

We had so much fun and can't wait to see everyone again! Crazy that by next summer, Cole will be a year old and possibly walking around! That will make for a whole new experience at the lake!

Trip to the Windy City!

Murray had to go to Chicago Friday morning for a residency fair at his school. Basically residency programs from all across the nation go visit the school this day to try to get information out to students who could be potential residents in the future. Cole & I thought this would be a great way to let him meet some of the people who loved him and prayed for him while he was still growing in my tummy so we decided to tag along with Dad. =)

We had a great time seeing some of our friends (sorry to those we missed!) and visiting some fun spots! Cole loved his visit... well truthfully he slept through most of it. Haha. Anyway, here are some pictures of the trip highlights.

Cole in the king size bed in our hotel room... he looks so tiny! Also a close-up for his 6 weeks old picture! Can you believe it's been 6 weeks?!?!

Meeting Mr. Dave and Mrs. Peggy- 2 of our great friends from church. We really miss them!

All bundled up for our walk around Chicago. Cole didn't appreciate the wind too much! Also, a trip to Chicago wouldn't be complete without eating at Potbelly's- at least not for me! I'm sure Cole is as addicted to the cookies-n-cream milkshake there as his momma is since it was one of my regular cravings during pregnancy!

Down by the lake.

Cole & Daddy in right downtown! You can see the Hancock Building in the background.

Posing with Mickey & Goofy in the Disney store on Michigan Ave. Cole- "Seriously Mom? This is so embarrassing!"

Gina came after work to visit us. Cole couldn't quite wake up for the treat, but I sure enjoyed catching up!

Enjoying dinner at TGI Fridays with some of my girls from work. He should definitely recognize their voices from all the middle of the night talks we had!

Fun with Kels & Logan!

So I am one lucky sister... or Cole is one lucky nephew... I'm not naive enough to think they really came for me! Haha. Logan and Kelsey both made the drive this week to spend some quality one on one time with us. We didn't necessarily do anything really exciting, but it was nice to get to just hang out and watch them love on Cole! And of course, Kelsey's visit wouldn't be complete without her helping me decorate my house. =)

Cole & Kels got some good play time in!

Logan had the sleepy touch! Wish he could have stayed longer!

Cute signs Kelsey made me for the wall in the kitchen. They will run across the wall and say Faith, Family, Friends.

We hit the 50% off decor at Hobby Lobby and decorated the corner shelf in my dining room. I love it!


Headed back to Chicago this weekend for Murray to try to recruit some good future residents. Looking forward to seeing some of our friends and eating at some of our favorite places!

Cole's First Baseball Game!

Murray got some free tickets to the Louisville Bats game last night so we decided to officially introduce Cole to the game of baseball. As a Butler boy, he better learn to love it! =) So far it's looking good because he did great at the game. He was awake and happy the whole time we were there. The weather was so nice, and we all really enjoyed the night out. We had awesome seats right behind homeplate, and, of course, I enjoyed all the comments from people about how cute Cole was! All in all, it was a great night! And, the event wouldn't be complete if we didn't have a mini-photo shoot there. Haha. Here are the results...

Excited to go to the game!


Ready to watch the BATS!!!


Awesome seats!


Showing off his ticket.

Proud Daddy of his little baseball fan!

Pool Party!!!

Today was a fun day for Cole & Mommy! We headed to the pool with a couple of girls from our small group and their kiddos. Cole did great. He had fun with Momma in the pool and then took a good nap in the tent by the pool. His bathing suit and hat were a little too big, but that didn't stop us! Here are some cute pics of my waterbaby...

Other big news... Murray fed Cole his first bottle today! Both my boys did so good and were so happy! I am so glad that Murray will get to experience the sweetness of feeding our boy that I have been enjoying the last month.

One Month Old!

Cole was 1 month old yesterday! So hard to believe. Time is definitely flying by. Cole had his 1 month appt., and he is now 9 lbs 15 oz & 22 1/4 in long. He has already grown so much! I think that he is starting to see better now too because he really will follow the sound of your voice and seems to focus his eyes on you. Plus he is starting to smile a lot more (not just with burps & poots)! He loves to hold his head up and look around and really loves to sit in the "man seat" as Murray calls it on our couch. This first month has been so fun, and we know there is only more fun in the future.

Here are a few of the latest pictures we have taken of him.

Murray & Cole watching the Titans preseason game. I better have a girl one day so that I can have the slightest chance of watching something on TV other than sports! =)

Mommy is funny...

But Daddy is REALLY funny!

Meeting Adrienne for the first time! Crazy that we were babies together, and now here we are with my baby! So glad she and Mrs. Liz made the trip up here to visit!

Car Show Extravaganza

We had a great time at the National Street Rod Show this weekend. It was seriously unbelievable. Even if you know nothing about cars, this would impress you! There were at least 10,999 cars there because we heard that number announced, but I am sure that there were even more than that. Crazy cool old cars everywhere! We are starting Cole out right making sure that he appreciates the finer things in life. Haha. It was also fun to have time with Nonny and Poppy of course! My grandparents and aunt and uncle came down from Indiana for the show too so it was great to spend time with them as well. Here are some pictures from the car show.

Daddy and Cole in front of one of the cars that was for sale... only $180,000!!!

We liked this old race car.

Nonny & Poppy's dream car... 1958 Corvette!

Cole liked learning about all the cars from Poppy!

Cool dudes!

Cole by his hot rod.

An old tow truck.

Cole leaving his first big car show. He and Poppy got matching t-shirts. He will have to grow a little before his fits, but still. =)

Busy Baby!

Last weekend we decided to take a trip home to let Cole meet family. Everyone loved him of course, and he was totally adored at church Sunday morning. Who can blame them? He is pretty much perfect! Haha. Anyway, here are some pictures from his first trip to Tennessee! I wasn't as good about taking them as I meant to be, but oh well...

Cole got to meet some of my best friends from back home and the mommies of some of his best friends. =) Here he is with Amanda and her sweet Kate & Becca (Will didn't make the visit this time). Unfortunately by the time Reena came to see our sweet boy, he wasn't acting so sweet anymore. We didn't want to capture that on film so we will have to get a picture of those 2 later!

All the cars lined up of people waiting to meet Cole at the family lunch in Huntingdon!

5 generations!

Also, I had an exciting visitor this week! My great friend Katie from Chicago came to visit us! We had a fun time just relaxing, catching up, and doing a little shopping. Of course we had a lot of fun with Cole too!

And finally... here is Cole's 4 week old picture. I can't believe he is already 4 weeks old! He is so smart that he already smiles on command! Sometimes. =)

We are looking forward to this weekend because the National Street Rod show is in town. If you don't know, my family is super into fixed up cars. This show only allows cars from 1948 or earlier, and I have already seen many driving around town that have been restored and look awesome! More than the car show, we are excited because the car show is bringing Nonny & Poppy into town! It is supposed to be gorgeous weather so it should be a great weekend!