Losing Letters...Have you seen me?

I am specifically speaking of the letters "m-y" and "d-y", as in the ends of the words Mom and Dad. This past weekend Cole graduated to calling Craig and I "dad" and "mom". No more cutesy mommy or daddy business. He has no particular explanation as to why. It is what it is. I simply stare in amazement and as usual wonder where did my little man go? Is 3.5 the new 20? I'm not ready to be mom! I suppose MOMS simply have to live in the past.....he was (okay he still is) so cute when he was little...........

A letter to Brooks

Dear Brooks,

I am very sorry for allowing you to fall off the bed today. There really is no excuse why I turned my back on you for even one second. I understand why you were so sensitive the rest of the day and needed to be held. I would have done anything just to make sure that you were alright. Your smiles and belly laughs at the end of the day made me know that you were alright and that you are still your jolly, happy self and I am so thankful. Good night sweet darling...may your dreams be filled with happy thoughts.

From the bottom of my heart,
Your Mommy Forever

All Smiles

Brooks has finally discovered that he can smile and coo and he seems to do them non-stop! The best morning so far has been one when he woke up and laid in the pack-n-play and talked to himself for over an hour (while Mommy and Daddy slept in a little!). What a good baby! I continue to attempt to capture just the right photo of him, and his adorable smile, but with the winter weather and the dark interior of our house, the right picture has escaped me thus far.

The last few days have been unseasonably warm. Since it was a gorgeous day, we took a really long walk into Old Town and packed our lunch to eat along the waterfront. Cole enjoyed feeding the ducks and seagulls his leftover PB&J and Craig and I sat and soaked in the warm sunshine.

Who is who?

as Brooks approaches 3 months old, I am continuously amazed about how similar he and Cole look! I decided to put 6 pics of each into a collage and see if even I could tell them apart. Let me say, even I question a couple of the photos and I am the one who took them (not to mention, the one who gave birth to them)! It's amazing how quickly you forget how "advanced" they are at just 3 months. Cole and Brooks' new cousin, Breon-Leigh, was born just a few days ago and Brooks looks like a giant next to her. He also holds his head up, smiles (oh so adorably )and is cooing. I'm not sure at what point babies exit the newborn stage but I feel like it has come and gone overnight.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Time continues to fly by as the holidays are over (I have to admit I'm a little happy to have them over) and the new year has begun. Two thousand and nine was a joyous year from the perspective of our second son's birth and a very sad year as we lost a very dear friend, Mark Papa, and a family member- my grandmother's brother, Aubrey Glass.

For the coming year we wish for the obvious things to be present in our lives such as health and happiness but honestly our biggest hope and prayer is to have a bigger house. Everything in our lives right now seems to revolve around the fact that our current house is TOO small (at 950 blessed square feet). There is no room for the ever expanding need for baby accessories despite Brooks being ready for them (~exersaucer). There is no room to hold on to toys that are outdated, although Brooks will need them eventually. There are a million other things that have now inhabited the living room, our bedroom, and Cole's room that I can't seem to find a place to put them away so I am left to feel as if the "stuff" is about to eat me alive! Not a good feeling...and so our wish...a bigger, better house where we can host family gatherings, have our parents sleep over when they visit, a place for the boys to play, closets to fit clothing-current and future, a kitchen where I can make cookies AND cook dinner at the same time, but mostly a home where we can be a family together and make LOTS of memories.

O where, O where...

…has my newborn gone? Time is a flyin lately. Brooks is already 8 weeks old and its nearly time for Tiff’s new little one, Breon-Leigh, to be here. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival and hoping that she’ll make her appearance before the end of the year.

Cole ended preschool for the year and so we have been at home filling our time with making holiday cookies, painting ornaments, and doing our holiday shopping. His preschool class put on one adorable show on the last day. Poor Emmy refused to even go up on the stage! Cole surprised us once again by not only participating but also belting out Christmas carols in the loudest voice he could muster.

We have also been to two breakfasts with Santa this season, one at Cole’s school and the other at DC’s Hard Rock Café. Both were chaotic but fun opportunities for Cole to tell the jolly ole’ guy what he wanted for Christmas, but Cole wouldn’t speak a word either time.

Six Weeks

Our little Brooksy hit the 6 week mark today! I'm amazed he has been in our lives for that long, it feels like yesterday that he was still in my belly :) Brooks is doing great and last week when I weighed him he was a whopping 9.5 lbs! Not that I want to make a habit of comparing our two boys but I don't remember Cole hitting the 10 lb mark until much much later! Brooks is much more awake to the world now, spending a lot of his time sitting or laying quietly and checking our his environment. He has a mellow, laid-back personality that I already love! I am hoping we can begin to space night time feedings apart a little but for now he's waking me up every 3 hours with a slight whimper (as if it were impolite to cry in the middle of the night!). Cole loves his little brother and is a huge help. He particularly likes to help with bath time, which Brooks seems to love. He lets out a big sigh everytime we put him in the water.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for this year. Family is the thing that sticks out most in my mind. I am thankful that everyone has been relatively healthy. I am thankful my dad has found happiness again. I am thankful that I have such a wonderful husband who has supported us financially for an entire year and although not by choice, that I have been able to stay home with Cole. I am thankful that Cole has loved preschool and has blossomed as a result of going. I am thankful to have experienced another pregnancy (with my sis at that!) and the end result was a beautiful, healthy little boy. I'm still not sure our family is complete but it sure feels good for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful day...with their family.

Better Late Than Never

Happy Halloween to all! I have the best intentions as far as the blog is concerned...well as far as everything is concerned...but it's been hard to get to it all lately. I cannot image why! What have we been up to? We spent half of our Halloween day standing in line to get the H1N1 vaccine and the other half decorating cookies, carving our pumpkin, and finally trick-or-treating. The weather didn't cooperate in the evening, so our door to door time was cut short but it was probably plenty for 3 year old Cole and honestly for me too!

Cole continues to be a good big brother. Last week was our first at home without Craig and Cole was a good helper...most of the time :) He had his fair share of tantrums as a result of not meeting his needs immediately!

Brooks seems to be growing by the second! He is slowly awakening out of his newborn slumber and testing out his lungs quite often now. Despite telling myself that its okay for him to cry, I run at every whimper. I think he's in the midst of his 3 week growth spurt because he seems to be doing nothing except eating! I'm wondering if he's going to be bigger than his big brother because he's already outgrown all of those newborn clothes (and I seem to remember Cole being in them for a long time!).

Lastly, we said a sad goodbye to our family pet, Flower, on Sunday. She took her last breath, or tweet, as we sat in the living room with her feeding Brooks. I cried as if she were my child (well she was!). We buried her in the backyard, under a stepping stone, so that she will always be with this house...a house where Craig and I began our family together. She's seen so much with me...college, grad school, marriage and the birth of both of my babies...I will miss her a lot.

Boys in my House

There are boys in my house – and Spiderman shoes
And 200 papers in various blues.
There's Bob (he's a builder) and Thomas the Train,
There's a fireman coat to wear in the rain.
They have cars on their shirts and frogs on their hats
There's a glove and a ball and a red plastic bat.
There's dirt on a face and a smudge on a nose;
Grass stains on knees and sand between toes.
There's bathtime at night with bodies to scrub,
And when we're all done there is dirt in the tub!
There's bandaids and bruises and curious bumps,
There's smiles and laughter and sometimes there's grumps.
There's odors most icky; there's boogers so green
There's more yucky things than I'll ever get clean.
There's piles of laundry; there's stories at night;
There's bedtime and bathtime and dinnertime fights.
There's cars and there's trains and there's books about trucks
There's Scoop, Lofty, Dizzy, and Travis, and Muck.
Sometimes there are bugs, and sometimes there are frogs;
Sometimes they are lions, or dinos, or dogs.
There are cute little vests and darling neckties
Dragged right through the mud – oh what a surprise!
There's running and climbing and jumping and falling
And laughing and crying and hugging and brawling
And rolling and losing and finding and creeping
And whining and stealing and sometimes there's sleeping.
There's tantrums and time outs and extra loud noise –
There's love in my house shaped like two little boys.

And Then There Were Two

Our family of three has officially expanded to a family of four! The birth of our second son, Brooks Logan, began on Saturday night shortly after Craig and I had finished watching a movie. In his usual fashion, the baby was very active that night and I wasn't quite sure if I was uncomfy due to his movement or something else! It became clearer as the night went on that although irregular, those were indeed contractions. I encouraged Craig to try and get some sleep, just in case! At about 3 a.m. the contractions got heavy enough to start breathing through them. I could still talk through them so I called the midwife on duty and she assured me that we still had lots of time and that I should try and get some rest until everything got really regular and really uncomfortable. It didn't take long! By 5 a.m. I was really sure "this was it" and called in my mom to care for Cole. Craig and I arrived at the hospital shortly after 6 a.m. and by that time contractions were every 2-3 minutes and intense. I think I had 5 while I tried to fill out the paperwork at the L&D counter! Once I finally got to a room, I was 8cm dilated and it was nearly showtime....too late for any Nubane and since I didn't want an epidural, things were only going to get more painful. Craig was a great coach and we found a position that got us both through the more painful contractions. Before I knew it, it was time to push and Brooks fought his way into the world in 10 minutes from the time I started pushing! He weighed a hefty 7lbs 7 oz and was 21" long. It was very surprising to me considering I only gained 15 lbs the entire pregnancy...where was he hiding?

Cole unfortunately had to meet his new brother the next day in the lobby of the hospital, due to very strict visitation policies caused by the H1N1 flu. In the car he commented how small his new brother was and how cute :) I think they got off to just the right start. Today, Tuesday, Cole got to tell his preschool class that he's a new big brother. We hear from his teacher that he told his friends with great enthusiasm and the typical Cole fluttering of hands and hopping up and down.

the Waiting Game

As we count down the days (wow!) until the next little man arrives, Cole and I have been hanging out and running last minute errands. He's asking some pretty funny questions lately about his little brother....like is he going to cry when I sleep and will he knock over my toys? We've also been painting pumpkins and attending as many fall festivals as we can. Cole is loving preschool and asks daily if it's a school day! I love to hear about his day, his snack and his new friends while there...even if I do miss him :) There isn't much on our future agenda, since we are waiting, but I'm sure it will be filled with fun, laughter and smiles as long as Cole is along.

Fall Fun

One of our fall activities so far has been a trip to Cox Farms in Centerville. This was our first trip there and boy was it worth it. It is still early fall so the weather is beautiful (actually hot!) but so nice to spend the day outdoors with the people you love. Erin, Carl and Ella accompanied us on our day of fun at the farm, where we rode the slides to our hearts content, went on a hayride and drank yummy apple cider. We are hoping that this is the first of many festivals that we will be attending this fall. With the upcoming arrival of the new little guy we are attempting to stay close to home...but just not too close.
Last weekend we hosted a party to welcome our new little guy, and aunt tiffy's new little girl. Our little pumpkin hasn't accepted the invite yet but he's still got another 2 weeks or so to "bake".

First day of Preschool

Cole's first day of preschool went without too much of a hitch. I was most concerned with getting him moving this morning but he seemed to understand that we had a place to be and that he would want to go to that place. I walked him into his class, after begging him to wear his backpack, and then he wouldn't take it off! He was quickly engrossed in playing and I was long forgotten. I stayed for a few minutes to watch him and when I decided to leave, I barely got a wave. It didn't hit me till after I left that this is the first time I've left him with a non-family member and I was a little afraid (for me and him).
At pick up time, one of his teachers let me know that he had a little collision on the playground and as a result cried. The first thing he said to me in the car was, "Mommy, I fell on the playground and I cried. Where were you?" I've never had to answer to him like that and I can't say that I liked it. Despite the minor incident, Cole told me he had lots of fun with storytime, where all the kids got in a circle and sat down to listen. They also had grapes, cookies and nice, cold water (according to Cole) for snack time. He was also excited to tell me that he sang the Happy Birthday song while he washed his hands and at the end he kissed his hands, just like the teacher told him to. I think Cole is going to learn lots of fun things at school.

Savoring the alone time

So this week, more than ever, it has hit me that the new one will be here very soon. While I am completely overjoyed by the prospect of another little boy in our home, I am so sad that Cole will no longer be an only child that I have begun to cry about it...on a daily basis! I'm sure he has no true idea of whats to come. Cole is merely excited at the prospect of having a friend to play with, watching movies with mommy and new baby on the couch, and running and jumping with his new brother, all things he has told me that he would like to do with the arrival of his baby brother.
While it has always been important to me to have quality time with Cole, at least as much as possible minus the cooking, cleaning, etc required to run a house, that quality time seems so much more important right now. Yesterday, we went to the library twice! Although there isn't much on our agenda today, I am going to be sure that we have lots of playtime, snuggling, and tickling before the day is over.

Winding down

..as the number of days before Cole is no longer an only child wind down, we are trying to cram in as much fun as we can. Last weekend we went on a family outing to Annapolis, where Cole spent the entire day hunting for Captain Richard (a story for another blog post). This weekend we caught up with some friends of ours...twice...for a weekend full of fun. On Saturday, Cole and I began our day at the Farmer's Market. We then headed up to Bethesda to meet up with our friends Erin and Ella for an afternoon at the spray jets in downtown Silver Spring. Cole was disinterested in running through the water but he was a trooper at watching Ella play :) The two of them were so cute conversing about their Disney experiences like two big people.
In the evening, Craig, Cole and I threw together a picnic dinner and ate in down by the river. Cole wanted to bring the play-doh along and I figured what the heck...much easier to clean up the mess. It was actually a lot of fun. There is also a playground close to where we were sitting so Cole got to play for a little while with his dad.
On Sunday evening we met up with Erin, Ella and Carl for some fun at Gravelly point, where the planes come into National Airport. We love going there to watch the planes and it was even more fun to do it with good friends. Cole and Ella romped around and played with Cole's stomp rocket while the adults stuffed their faces :)

The littlest snitch

Cole has reached the age where I cannot tell him anything nor let him be a part of anything that shall remain a secret. When I asked whether he'd like to take cupcakes to Daddy at work for his birthday, of course he said yes, and then he told Craig! It's a good thing I did the present purchasing and dessert selection for tonight without him :)

Summer Adventures

Our final adventure of the summer took us to Ocean City to spend a few days at the beach with our friends Scott and Allison. Scott's aunt hooked us up with an awesome beach front condo, which was totally key with Cole in tow. The waves were a little rough for Cole to manage so we spent most of the time playing in the sand. I read a book and relaxed, hoping to capture one last image of the beach before the birth of baby #2 (a must for relaxing during labor sans drugs!). We also went to the boardwalk and Cole rode some of the kiddie rides. Another evening he was co-pilot to Craig during a go-cart ride. Of course, the highlight of that adventure was the trip to Candy Kitchen afterward where he picked lego shaped sweetarts and a candy necklace as treats.

Road Tripin'

What an adventure we just returned from! Tiff and I decided since we both had the summer off we would pack up the kids, sans husbands, and road trip to Michigan to visit our extended family. Surprisingly the kids handled the 10+ hour car trip very well and we arrived safely and in one piece to our destination outside of Detroit. We spent 3 days hanging out and letting the kids play with each other, which they did beatifully. We will miss all the playmates now that we are home. We also ventured to a spray park, a dairy farm (yummy ice cream) and attended Hannah's 2nd birthday party complete with pinata, pool, hot tub and marshmallow roasting by the fire pit. It was wonderful to see our family once again and we look forward to the next time that we can meet up.

Baby bumps

It somehow seems weird to take photos of just me and my belly bump so I asked Cole to join in and he happily obliged! I love this pic and will cherish it forever :) It's amazing to imagine that in 82 days our next little man will arrive. Cole has taken to my pregnancy better than I expected. I can't help but get a giggle out of his reaction to my ever increasing belly and inquiring how the baby is going to get out. He knows a doctor will do it (well actually a midwife but close enough) and that the baby will be messy when it arrives. He also thinks we should name the baby Clifford or Dumbo or something along those lines! The one thing that he has had difficulty with is my inability to hold him. He is a very loving little boy and likes to be held or carried places....both being difficult with a basketball attached to my front!