Totally Loving Summer

Mini photo session from June 14th. A local photographer,
Jenni Hosey, was doing these to raise money for the
Oklahoma disaster relief after the devastating tornado
a few weeks ago. They turned out cute!

So we have made it to July, it's hard to believe. Now that we go back to school so early; when July hits I get a little sad that it is almost over. I am so grateful for a job that gives me the opportunity to enjoy this time off for rest and lots of family time. Although it is getting less and less. I am going to enjoy everyday that I have. We have not had any "real" plans for the majority of the summer, but some how everyday has filled up with things to do. Almost too much! I feel like I am not able to do some things that I had planned to do, but oh well this is more fun and more important. We are making memories! The zoo has been on our weekly outings, usually a friend play date with some one, and of course the pool. We have been lucky to have lots of pool dates this summer. Cole is a big fan of the pool and I can tell each time we go he gets a little more brave about being in the water.

It has actually been a cooler summer. Today is July 3rd and the high is 81. In the mornings it is in the 60's. It has been so nice. I will take the high 70's and 80's any day. The other day at the pool it was actually almost cool after being wet and then getting out of the pool. I couldn't believe it, TN is usually high 90's, maybe even 100 degrees in July with terrible humidity. Thank you God for this beautiful weather.
Cole's vocabulary has increased SO much! It really blows our mind the things he says and understands. We just look at each other and say "where did that come from?" or just laugh. It is really hard not to laugh some times. Like the other night he wanted a snack. I gave him a spoon of peanut butter (a fav). He went into the living room and came back within about 1-2 mins. Casey and I were in the kitchen and he walked in and said "Mom, that was so delicious!" we just laughed and said "it was SO delicious?" and he just smiled really big and shook his head yes. "Awesome" is another word that he has just started using. We were driving to the zoo and he said "mommy, the zoo is awesome". I said you think so? he just looked at me with that sweet smile and said "yeah". I LOVE IT!! and cherish these sweet little moments.
Another funny story was...Cole and I were in the car just driving along and Cole says "Mommy, daddy drives fast" I laughed and said he does? and he said "yeah, he drives really fast". I just laughed. I told Casey and he about fell out of his chair, he said how does he even know what fast is?? I think I figured out why he said it though, a few weeks later. Casey's air has gone out in his truck so he has the windows down all the time, interstate too! SO the other day I had the windows down and when we got going a little faster, Cole said "Mommy drives fast". So I guess the loud and hard wind means you drive fast?? I love to see his little mind at work. Cole is all about helping and independence. All day long I hear "Cole do it", "Cole help", and "Me do it". I am trying to find the balance in it. Like this morning I was folding clothes, I had folded about half of the clothes. I was doing it on the bed. Cole bounced over on the bed, messing up my piles and then said "Cole help, Cole do it". Well, how do you say no to that? I want him to know that he needs to help and fold clothes, but he is so little to be able to fold. So I gave him the task of finding mommy and daddy's underwear, which he referred to as "mommy's diaper and daddy's diaper". He was doing good, but then I was putting the folded clothes back in the laundry basket, folded, to take upstairs. He wanted to help and he mixed up the underwear he had just sorted and then mixed them with Casey's shirts that HAD been folded. :( Little life lessons I guess. We will figure it out. I want him to know that all to soon this will be his full responsibility to do!! I am not raising a man who thinks it is the women's job. His daddy knows that and so will he! His daddy had a great teacher (as well as me from my mom) and I want to make sure I do just as good a job.

Kids pic from Alabama cookout June 22

Enjoying his DVD player on a long trip

Sleeping in his "nest"

So this summer I have had Cole sleeping downstairs in our bed. His room is upstairs and it just gets SO hot. So in order to save money and not turn the air WAY down I have just had him take his nap in our room. He was watching a tv show and they were talking about birds and nest building, so that has been his thing. He takes all the pillows and makes a nest to sleep in! He is such a mess, but whatever works! This day I was doing laundry and washing out sheets, that is why there is no linens on any of the pillow cases! :)

This past week we went to the zoo with our new neighbors, Sarah and Gray. Gray and Cole are 3 weeks apart (Gray is March 19). It is always fun to watch these kiddos interact and have so much fun at the zoo. Gray introduced Cole to the carousel at the zoo. He seemed a little nervous at first, but it turned out to be a hit.

 We also ran into our friend, Annabelle. Cole and Annabelle were at Madison's Creators Kids school together from 4 months-13 months. She is such a little sweetheart.

I cant resist a good sleeping picture. I always love to watch this cutie sleep and see what kind of positions he gets into as well as how much stuff he will pull into his bed.

Cole is totally enjoying summer. As you see him all relaxed and laid back. I have a feeling that going back to school 5 days a week is going to be a rude awakening for the little guy. I have totally loved sleeping in and being lazy with him too!

We had a play date with Nicholas last week. Cole and Nicholas are 11 weeks apart. Cole's mom, Janet, and I have been friends since we were 5 years old. It is so fun to still be such good friends and now see our little ones growing up together.

Swim date with Ella. Ella lives in a subdivision that has a pool. It is so nice. They have a wonderful kiddie pool as well. Cole and I went one afternoon around 4pm and played until 8pm. It was wonderful and a good way to wear the kids out. Looking forward to more swim dates with Ella and Julia.

 We also enjoy Mrs. Sandy's pool every Wednesday. That is an outstanding date that we try to keep if at all possible. We really look forward to it every week.

This year we have been able to enjoy Aunt Tisha's pool. Aunt Tisha moved here in October from Atlanta. It has been so nice having her local and being able to hang out with her.

First week of Summer Break

Happy Fathers Day Dad!!

The Zoo with Nicholas and Channing

My anniversary date at Bobbie's

...at home. Our first week was at the beach. Our second was not officially a full week. I had to work 2 days, so Cole went to school. It is really nice that his school is so flexible and able to take him on days I have to work. Casey and I also decided to keep him in school one day a week (Thursday's) for consistency, plus hopefully I can get some things done around the house. We just bought land in Mt. Juliet. It's exciting but a little crazy since we have not sold our house or in my opinion are we anywhere near having it ready, but Casey assures me we are!! So if all goes as planned we will be living in a new house a year or less from now. :) Ok, back to our week...So I had to work Monday and Wednesday. So Tuesday Cole and I went to the downtown library for the first time (well, Cole's first time). It was something I did as a nanny, weekly, four years ago. The regulars (the everyday puppeteers and story tellers) were doing something else so it wasn't as great as it normally is, but we had a good time. We will be back for many visits. Wednesday after school and work we met The Wray's and the Greer's at Madison for a special event they had that night. They had the movie Cars, a jumpy house, food trucks and popcorn. It was a fun night for sure. On Thursday we met some friends at the zoo! It was a beautiful day, a little hot with a great breeze. We met up with Janet and Nicholas, and our new friends Candace and Channing. We had a great time. It was so fun watching the kids together. They are all 2, Nicholas was 2 in January and Channing was 2 in February. We hope to have more visits to the zoo with our friends. Friday was a laid back day, that night at 5:30 I had scheduled to get Cole's pictures taken. A friend of mine from work told me about this girl and she was doing mini sessions to raise money for the victims of the Oklahoma tornado. She took them at Sevier Park. I had posted about it on facebook, but didn't know until we were done that Amy (a mom from Cole's daycare) had seen my post and signed up her daughter Lily Kate for pictures too! So we ran into them. LK and Cole are SO funny together. They are best buds at school. The look on there face and reaction was quite priceless. I can't wait to see the rest of the pics that Jenni took. Friday was also mine and Casey's 10 year anniversary. Our present was the beach, but poor Casey had been working late all week trying to catch up after being off the previous week so Cole and I went to visit Aunt Tisha and ate dinner at Bobbie's, one of our new favorite summer spots. Saturday was a great day of just us three. We spent a lot of it outdoors. We grilled for the first time this summer. It was so yummy. We also went to visit Papa and give him his Fathers Day gift and hang out with him for a while. Mom and Brad are still in Australia, so besides Cole his best friends are all gone. I think he is a little lonely, but Cole was able to cheer him right up. Sunday was Fathers Day and it was just a nice relaxing day at home and more grilling with our favorite dad. After Casey's mom died and we were cleaning out her house we (Tisha and I) ran across an old cross-stitch about Fathers that she had done. So I cleaned it up, got a new mat and re-framed it for Casey for Fathers Day. He had no idea about it and absolutely loved it! It was a great way to end a wonderful week. Looking forward to more summer adventures.

Casey's Fathers Day gift.

more Zoo pics

Happy Fathers Day to our Daddy

Hanging out with Channing and Ella at church

Bounce house fun at church

Just a nightly stroll

Papa and Cole checking out his new book.

Family Beach Trip!!!

We had our first family beach trip and it was great!! It was originally going to be a split week of family/anniversary trip, but our plans fell through with our sister-in-law watching Cole, but it was wonderful and I wouldn't of changed it for the world. Cole LOVED it!!
Casey and I both have old cars so we were going to rent a car to take down there, then out of curiosity I looked up flights and found $79 dollar flights to Pananma City, which is only 40 miles from where we stayed in Miramar Beach/Destin. Casey was not a fan of flying, not that it bothered him but he didn't understand why I would want to fly. I told him it would take us at least 10 hours with Cole if not more (a friend of mine had gone recently and with traffic in AL it took them 14 hours). Cole is not the best traveler, Casey has very little patience, so therefore I did not want to be in the middle of a long ride with the two of them! As soon as we landed and got on our car, Casey said "that was the way to go for sure! I will probably never want to drive again :)" It was an hour flight. Cole loved the plane and did such a good job. Like I mentioned early it was suppose to be a split trip, so now Casey was a little worried about what we were going to do for a week? He was saying things like "do people go to the beach for a full week? I have never been to the beach for a week, etc..." I thought he is going to drive me nuts! He assured me that he wanted me to relax and that he would go in with Cole everyday for his nap. So I thought hopefully I will at least get that quiet time! hehehe... and I did. We had a really good balance and break with family time and break time. I told Casey that I didn't mean this ugly but he has decided he likes being lazy since the last few times we went to the beach which was about 7-8 years ago. I guess I should have said he has gotten better at relaxing and enjoying our time together. He completely agreed regardless of how I said it.
The first night we went out to dinner. It was SO disappointing. I decided against crab legs (my favorite), but because they are time intensive and with a 2 year old I opted against them. I cant even remember what Casey got, but he was not happy either, then with our $61 dollar bill we decided that we were going to cook at the condo. Best idea! I went to a fresh market and got some shrimp and then we just made some easy dinners like spaghetti, burgers and hot dogs, and then we got something from the downstairs restaurant. Since we did not go out again we did not get a very good family picture of all of us, but we got a sweaty, no make-up, bathing suits and t-shirt one instead! :)
We also had some visitors for a few days, cousin Caroline and Greg. Greg was offered a coaching job down in Crestview which is about 40 miles from where we stayed, so they came down to check everything out, meet everyone and have his interview. So that was nice being with them for a few days.
Well, like I said I would not have changed anything. It went better than we could have imagined. Casey loved being there a whole week. On Tuesday he said, " I am really glad we are staying the week, it is just so relaxing and I do not feel rushed to do everything." He also asked me Thursday night if we could change our flight to a later date!! So needless to say he really enjoyed it as well. We are looking forward to another beach trip soon!!

one of his favorite spots this week

He did this 75% of the time :)

Our only family pic :(

It was National Donut day we had to celebrate!

The boy knows how to relax

He is ready!

One morning was rainy, Caroline and I got toes done, Cole napped!

1st Plane Ride!! Success!!

Memorial Day weekend

Ending the weekend snuggled with mommy

So Casey went out of town to Alabama with Brad for the long weekend. I decided it was too much for Cole and I since we are leaving for FL on Friday, so we just chilled in Nashville. Saturday morning I woke up and realized it was going to be a beautiful day, but it was to late to go to the zoo so I decided we would go after Cole's nap since they stayed open in the summer later. Well, they do stay open later, but I had my times off. I thought they closed at 8pm, but it was 6pm (typically 4pm). So we got there at 5:20pm and did a quick run through. We have a zoo membership thanks to KK and Papa so we will have plenty of times to go back. Uncle Ben came to the zoo with us. Then we decided since we were already out we were going to run by Aunt Tisha's house (Tisha's building as Cole calls it). She has been there since February and Cole and I had not seen it. It is a work in progress, but it has super cute potential. It is off of West End right by MBA. While we were at Aunt T's she asked us if we wanted to go to Bobbie's dairy dip. It has been in Nashville since 1951 and I heard lots of great things about it, so we went. It did not disappoint. We got corn dogs and a hot fudge cake sundae. We played outside and just enjoyed the day. Sunday we went to the park and feed the ducks. Then Monday we had a block party on our street "Come eat with the BIRDS" is what they call our block parties since we live on Birdsall St. It was nice and i met a few neighbors that I did not know, one being a young girl and her little boy Grey who is 3 weeks older than Cole. So it will be fun to hang out with them and get to know them better. Daddy and Brad came home Monday afternoon and I had one little boy who was very excited to see them. All in all we had a great weekend. Thanks to all the men and women who fought so that we could. God Bless!

Finally went to Bobbie's Dairy Dip

Feeding the ducks

Going to find those ducks

Hot fudge cake sundae with mommy

Quick Zoo trip with Uncle Ben

Block party fun for Memorial Day picnic

Night Terrors, Bedtime and Mr. Opinion :)

My sweet little boy on Mothers Day

So we have been having some issues with these 3 topics. I had mentioned before Cole having nightmares, but after reading about them we realized he was having terrors, which you treat differently. The one thing it said was that night terrors were quicker, but worse for the person watching it, than the person going through it. That is the truth! Poor mommy and daddy. I am hoping these are going to pass soon. They are already better. Bedtime is something that is almost comical. The minute Cole senses that bedtime is coming he starts saying things like "no night night mommy", "eat!", "fruit snacks? pee-kles?". Anything to get out of going to bed. Fruit snacks have become part of the nightly routine. The boy LOVES them!! He also loves "pee-kles". He is so funny wanting them all the time. Especially when ever he goes to Uncle Brad's house. They are almost a must when walking in the door at his house. For the last month I have had to lay on the floor beside Cole's crib in order for him to go to sleep, but I am crossing my fingers that is going away too! The last few nights he has done better and I have been able to slip out. The first few nights I told him I had to check on daddy :) he fell for it, so that was good. Tonight he was back to wanting the flash light and books. So hopefully he is back to going to bed without any problems, well for now. The actual bed time is something that we have been going back and forth with as well. There are things that I really miss about him going to bed at 7:00pm, well the mommy time is what I miss. It is nice to stay up a little later and hang out and not feel so rushed if we are out with friends or doing something special and thinking he is about to fall apart and be a big mess because he is so tired. Recently though it has gotten later and later. So by the time I get him down and then come down stairs and pick up a little, then take a shower, I am pooped and ready for bed as well. My house is suffering! I have NO time to get anything done. Oh well, they are only little for a small amount of time, right? That is what I tell myself when I start to stress about getting things done. I am going to work on bedtime and really work on 8:00pm bedtime, but with summer starting next week I think it might only be harder to get to bed earlier. 8:30 at the latest!!

My little man :)

Mr. Opinion! he gets it from his daddy! It was funny, the other day Casey said, "Are all 2 year old like this?" I just smiled and said what? opinionated? he said yeah, I said yeah pretty much, but this may be his personality and I have no idea where he gets it? Casey smirked and said, "what from me? then laughed and said I have no idea what you are talking about??" HAHAHAHA....
His little voice right now just melts my heart. I want to remember him like this forever! I really need to video and record more. That is a plan this summer for sure. His current sayings are "what you doing?", "NO WAY" with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed, "I try it", and "ok mommy". School will be done next week, then the beach for us!! 7 more days until we are at the beach!!! So excited! I can't wait to see what Cole thinks of it.

2 is a little like Jekyll and Hyde

Well, maybe not that much, but it sure is different. From the day he turned two he has changed things up a bit. He has always been a little dramatic (which he gets from his daddy! ) but it has bumped up a notch. He has this great pout, where he crosses his arms, furrows his brow and says "no way!" Literally woke up the days of his birthday saying this. Where does he gets this stuff from? He amazes us and blows our mind. On the flip side he can really go from the furrow brow to "momma I hold you! love you" and then start hugging my neck and kissing me like crazy!! Cole really is a sweet boy. I hope he stays this way. He gets upset about some things but I think for the most part he is pretty laid back. I was laughing just today thinking that I am not sure I am ready to do this again right now to Cole is doing things that tells me he does not need to be an only child. I had really hoped or thought that after Cole turned 2 I would be ready to have another baby. I try not to think too much about it only because I am not even sure if it is possible. Casey and I have decided that we are not going the fertility route again, but if it happens it happens! I have had so many people tell me that after you have been pregnant before your body knows what to do and you are more likely to be able to get pregnant again without going through what we did. Especially since mine and Casey's issue was never truly determined. The problems that we did have were supposedly resolved through surgery's and medicine. Casey still had an issue that came back inconclusive so who knows. The only thing we can do is put it in God's hand.
New things in the life of my 2 year old...
1. Cole has definitely had more fear and separation anxiety. He has always been the super chill and laid back baby/toddler. He was known at church for being the only baby that didn't cry in the nursery, until now. This little girl at church (on the 14th) a few weeks ago said "Cole cried today!" she had this shocked look on her face, she then said "he never cries". That was his last week in the nursery. Now he is in the children's church class. It is a class for 2-5 year olds. The idea is great and they get any help that they can to support the class, but unfortunately it is sometime older (60 yr old) couple who seem to think that they are just going to sit in these chairs and listen for like 30 mins. So needless to say Cole threw a fit when I tried to leave and no one said anything like "I got him mom, he will be fine", so I had to sit in there with him and he acted terrible with me. He would have done fine if they just would have let me leave. So I am not sure what the best thing to do is? I guess we will have to see week to week.
2. He talks all the time. His favorites are "what's that", "I try it?", "hold you mommy", "dance__?___ whoever is standing there when the music comes on", "again!". He also is the most polite child. I feel like Casey and I are polite, but I really do try hard for Cole to be polite and it seems to be working. I hope he keeps it up. He says "thank you" and "pease". Even when he is mad and will tell me "no", I will say, "Cole, that is not nice" and he will say "no thank you mommy" with such sass. He loves to sing. I will catch him trying to sing songs he knows, he says about every other word. Some favorite songs are...The itsy bitsy spider, you are my sunshine, the wheels on the bus and the ABC song.

Helping daddy blow out his candles-April 30th

3. Bed time issues and nightmares. Cole was a 12 hour sleeper, 7pm-7am (or longer, I would have to wake him up), starting around Christmas he fought it and we had some issues for about 1-2 weeks, which is when I bumped his bedtime back a little. He went to bed much easier at 7:45pm. Then came the week of his birthday. He screamed, kicked, cried and acted just crazy. I had no idea who this child was. There were some long night getting him to go to sleep. Then I figured out if I put him in his crib and laid beside the crib he would lay down and go to sleep. If he is not asleep and he realizes that I have snuck out it is a pure meltdown. Ridiculous I know, but I have no idea what to do? I know people said let him cry but that has never worked for Cole. He gets so worked up to where he will throw up and cannot even catch his breath. This is working for now, but I sure am missing my mommy time. I barely have it anymore. After he finally goes to sleep and I pick up downstairs and take a shower I am ready for bed too! I just remind myself I am going to miss these days and tell myself how blessed I am to have a happy healthy child to take care of and put to bed every night. He has also started waking up sooner :( He is more of a 8:30-ish pm-6:30-ish am sleeper. Some morning he will sleep a little longer.
So I am assuming Cole is having nightmares. I read that this is typically the age kids start having them (since they are aware of fear and danger). It has happened about 5 times now in the last 3 weeks. He wakes up screaming and crying. He seems very much awake but acts as though he is terrified and trying to get away from something/someone. He is also very aggressive. He wants me but will kick, scream and hit. It is very bizarre and does not last long, thank goodness. The other night he had slapped me then aggressively rolled over and was dead asleep. It was so strange. I really wish I knew what it was and how to prevent it. Hopefully just "a phase" that is the coin phrase you hear all the time after having a child, so maybe that is what this is.
4. Sweet tooth-He got this honest. I am a candy person and Casey is a cookies and cakes type of person. He loves "choc-it". He ask for it often which he does not get, but I think he may dream about it too! A favorite is Reese's. One morning I got out of the shower and he had chocolate on his mouth. I said "Ummm..did daddy give you chocolate? he said "uh huh" I looked at Casey with not a happy face. He said " I left it out and he wanted it, but I just gave him one". I know this may be a problem. Casey has no boundaries for eating chocolate. He is known for eating chocolate cake and candy bars for breakfast. I am in trouble!
Seriously the best is his sweet little voice, the way he wraps those sweet little arms around my neck and kisses me with those sloppy kisses everyday. He is an amazing little boy. I am looking forward to the summer with him, 16 more school days, but who is counting?!?! and our first family trip to the beach in June. As Phil the Duck Commander would say, " I am happy happy happy"