Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Cole
My boy is 1 year old! It is a very bittersweet day. For some reason Brooke seemed so much bigger and older at one. I don't know if it is becaues I was already 3 months pregnant or just because she was my first. Anyhow... I can't believe Cole is already a year. It really seems like just yesterday he was a newborn. He is still my baby!!

Facts about Cole at 1 year:

• He started walking a couple days ago
• He says mama, dada, grandpa, grandma, bubble, baby, more, hi, bye-bye, Brody, Blair, and ball
• He taught himself how to go up and down stairs (or Mindy did, still not sure on that one -- but I think he learned just from watching the other kids)
• He clicks his tongue for a horse noise, barks like a dog, says quack-quack, makes truck noises, and 4-wheeler noises
• He LOVES any sort of food, I haven't found anything he doesn't like. Most of the time he out-eats Brooke. (and anything that is not food too -- like the dog food and rocks :))
• Even though all he does is eat, he only weighs about 19 lbs.
• He is a very cuddly baby, he loves to be rocked and sung to and give big, wet, slobbery kisses
• He loves to pull hair, especially Brooke's
• If Brooke is sleeping and he finds her, he will poke at her eyes until she wakes up or swats him
• He has big feet- he wears a size 5, soon to be a 6
• He has 4 teeth on top and 4 teeth on bottom
• He loves to dance in the car to Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood
• He loves dirt-- playing in it, eating it, whatever!
• He loves to throw rocks
• He gets into everything! One of his favorite things to do is open the cupboards and drawers and pull everything out.

We had a big party at our house with all his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins Sunday night. He really enjoyed being the center of attention for a change. The first present he opened was a ball and he had no interest in anything after that, even though he got LOTS of other fun things. As soon as he realized we weren't going to get mad at him for making a mess with his cake he was all over it! It was a great night.

House Pictures

Outside View

Kids' Playroom Downstairs

Master Bathroom & Bedroom

Kids' Rooms & Bathroom

Family Room/Dining Room/Kitchen

Front Living Room... someday I'll have furniture to put in here :)

Thats pretty much everything... we love it though!

Meet...

HURRICANE BROOKE!!!

The words "terrible two's" now have a whole new meaning. I thought she was into everthing when she was about 1, and that perhaps she was just going through her terrible two's early. Oh no!! I cannot keep up with this child and I don't know what I'm going to do with her! She has this new little attitude that she is the mother and she knows everything and can do anything. When I'm not paying enough attention of giving her what she wants, she shouts as loud as she can "MODER!!" (mother).

In the 3 hours since we have been home this afternoon this is what she has done:

• tore up some swingset catalog she found in the truck all over the living room floor
• found my Christmas decorations and got them all out. Gave them to Cole, who thought they were balls and threw and broke them
• Got the beef jerky out of food storage, opened it, ate one piece, gave one piece to Cole, and emptied the rest on the floor.
• Moved all of the food storage that she could lift all over the basement
• Took the lids off her markers and threw them on the floor
• Poured the dog's food in her water and then poured that on the floor
• found the easter baskets and pulled out all the grass
• opened a bottle of ranch and poured most of it on her dinner plate and the rest on Cole's tray and in the dog's food bowl
• gave Cole a piece of his own pizza which he tore up and threw on the floor
• poured several glasses of water on the floor and on Cole's head
• turned the bath water on scalding hot and screamed because it was burning her
• took her panties off and left them on the bathroom floor then took her pants off and left them on the living room floor
• used a whole roll of toilet paper to wipe and most of it ended up on the bathroom floor
• got out a bag of chips... which ended up on the floor (2 days ago she poured another bag of chips in her shopping basket)
• tried to put Cole in the toy box
• tried to give her golf club a ride on the treadmill...while I was running
• tried to brush the dog... with her toothbrush

Wow, I could go on and on. Where was her mother during all of this you ask? Most of this happened in the 15 minutes I was in the shower (Matt had to stay late at a KPMG thing tonight) and the rest was while I was on the treadmill. Seriously... it's 7:30 and she's going to bed because I can't take anymore! And bedtime... thats a story for another day. All I'm going to say is that she now has a lock on her bedroom door.

Finally

The last few weeks have been absolutely crazy! BUT... we are finally settled in our house, we finally got our internet up and running and things seem to be going pretty good. Our neighbors are all very friendly and our new ward seems to be awesome, we've already been asked to speak ;)

After much searching and praying, I finally found an awesome baby sitter a couple miles from my house. Brooke and Cole are still going through that fun adjusting period, but I'm sure it will get better soon.

This is my 2nd week back at school... and I have to say not having to commute is HEAVEN!! It only takes me 20 minutes to get here now. I moved to a new school this year and it seems to be MUCH better. The teachers and principal are much nicer and although I miss my students, I'm sure the new ones will be just as good.

As for Matt... I guess he probably wouldn't be as happy as me... he has the dreaded commute everyday now, but he seems to be doing ok with it. Just one year and it will be over.

My sister borrowed my camera and seems to have forgotten to give it back so pictures will be coming soon.