Soccer Star

Cole had his first soccer game on Saturday, and it was so adorable! He looked so cute in his little uniform, complete with shin guards and soccer shoes. The game was hilarious, of course the kids went the wrong way and kicked the ball out of bounds plenty of times. Cole cracked us up because he kept running, stopping, and doing silly poses at us; he definitely loves being the center of attention. Cole scored a goal, of course after taking the ball away from a team mate, but he was so proud after he scored. He raised his hand in the air and had the hugest smile on his face. It is going to take a while for him to understand the whole concept of the game.
On the drive home he kept asking why the "yellow guys" were trying to take the ball away. He really had a fun time, and it was so funny for us to watch.

The State Fair

Friday was discounted admission to the fair, so Mom, Dad, and I decided to take Cole for the first time. I am not a fan of the fair and I don't think I have gone since I was a kid, but it was fun to take Cole for the first time. Of course he loved seeing the animals. Since grandma and grandpa have their own little farm, he wasn't too impressed with the sheep and cows, but he loved the petting zoo. They had some pretty exotic animals to see such as a kangaroo, water buffalo, ostrich, giraffe, camel and zebra. Cole was so excited to pet a real zebra, but he would not go near the camel. I don't blame him, I had not idea that camels could be so big, but it was actually really sweet. They had another little play area set up for kids with a big lego area, tumbling area, and some other toy stations. Clint and Michelle met up with us there and tried to build a lego house with Cole, but he kept knocking it down.
Cole chose the tea cups to ride on, and we got pretty dizzy. It was pretty hilarious, Dad decided to wear his buffalo skin sandals that he made for the pioneer trek, pretty glamorous:) It was pretty hot that afternoon, but we had a really fun time!

Zoo-palooza

As Cole puts it, he is "a very lucky boy" because he went to the zoo two times this week, I guess were making up for the past few months. We went on Tuesday with his friends Cameron and Aiden, and then we went yesterday with Grandma and Caden. I can't even say how much Cole loves the zoo, he has our route memorized and pretty much runs the entire way from animal to animal. Yesterday he was excited to see his favorite animal, the tiger, awake and climbing high up in a tree. I think his favorite part of the day was digging for worms at the petting zoo, pretty gross boy fun. Of course Caden loved driving the tractor and petting the goats. Cole didn't want to go in the splash pad yesterday, instead he played in the little stream under the treehouse. The boys had so much fun, and I am so excited that the weather is getting cooler so we can have more outdoor adventures!

Scorpion Attack!!

Mitch and Lexie went to Disneyland this week before Mitch officially starts his new job, and my mom has been watching Caden. Thursday we decided to take the boys to Tumbleweed Park since the weather has been a little cooler. Caden had spilled all over his shirt, so my mom changed him when we arrived. Then he just started screaming and she knew something was wrong. She lifted up his shirt and flicked away a scorpion! We quickly undressed him and saw three little welts on his back. Poor guy was stung three times on his back. My parents have a major scorpion problem at their house and almost everyone has been stung multiple times, but our biggest fear was one of the kids getting stung. She had taken the shirt out of the bag that Lexie packed and didn't think anything of it. By the time we hung up with poison control who reassured us that there wasn't a risk of a major reaction, Caden had completely stopped crying and was chasing after Cole to the park.
After we redressed him I had to chuckle when I saw he had a picture of a giant scorpion on his shirt, a wierd coincidence; he was the scorpion king for the day. All I can say is he is one tough kid, I think I would have cried more than him:) The boys had a fun time playing at the park. Afterwards we took them to McDonalds for lunch, and Caden was a little ketchup monster. That kid loves his ketchup, and he was completely covered. After his chicken nuggets were gone he decided to drink the ketchup. He is such a cute kid!

Baby Fever

Cole cracked Derek and I up today. We were eating at Costco and he saw a really cute baby who was about nine months old. Cole informed us that he "wanted to take the baby home." I told him that her mommy and daddy loved her and would miss her and he told us that he loved her too! He said "I want a brother and a sister just like her." I told him he would be getting a brother in March and he said, "I want a brother in March and a sister in July!" Cole is so looking forward to having a little playmate, but hopefully he won't be disappointed that the baby won't really do anything for months. . Sometimes I feel really guilty that Cole doesn't have a sibling yet I especially felt that way last night when we watched "baby" Caden for a few hours. Caden is Cole's "bestest buddy" and he loves playing with him so much. Caden is eighteen months now and he is the cutest, most good natured little guy.They had so much fun playing together, and they even put on a syncronized performance to Dancing with the Stars.
It was adorable! Cole was so sad when I told him that Mitch and Lexie were coming to get Caden, he decided that he was going to hide him. We kept the lookout and they hid behind the couch. It was a really fun night.

I can do it myself!

Cole has adopted the three year old motto of "I can do it myself." He insists on trying everything from pushing the shopping cart to buckling his seatbelt completely by himself, not always successfully. This does come in handy when it comes to housework. This age is so wonderful because he thinks the most mundane chore is exciting. Last week I bought some new sponges in bright colors, and he was so excited to try the different colors and help me scrub the baseboards. A new swiffer duster is an amazing toy that keeps him quite entertained. Today I bought a cheap, light vaccuum from Walmart, and he was so excited to clean his rug by himself. We'll see how long this lasts, but for now I will exploit the free child labor:)

I did it!!

Cole totally amazed me today and passed the intermediate survival level in swim lessons. I was not even prepared with my camera, so unlike me, because I thought this would not happen for months. Since he passed the beginning level last month, he has cried from the moment he wakes up on swim lesson day until he gets into the pool. It broke my heart and I was contemplating just quitting. He would lay on his bed and just sob because he was scared. He even had a screaming breakdown two weeks ago when it was time to get into the pool. He just had this terrible anxiety about jumping into the pool, which is a major part of this level. He even took to making up silly excuses for not jumping in, like last week he faked a cough and said he couldn't jump in because he had a cough in his throat. I guess today everything just clicked because he just jumped right in and turned around and swam to the side, and then when it was time he jumped in and went right over to "airplane" and just floated. After the drama of the last month, I was so proud of him I almost cried, pregnancy hormones wrecking havock. Now he is a Bronze Jr, and the goal is to teach him to swim the length of the pool by himself, and he will have to pass it off totally clothed. I was so proud of my little guy today!

New Pics

Today I finally got around to having Cole's pictures taken. I know I take a million on my own, but haven't had them done professionally since 18 months, slacker mom. We went to Portrait Innovations again, and I was really happy with them. The photographer was so good with kids, Cole was cracking up the entire time. Cole wasn't having a very good hair day;), but I think they turned out cute. He made a new best friend with a little girl there, and was so sad when we had to leave. Cole had such a good experience there; I know he is going to be excited to go again!

Poor Cody

Our one-year old golden retriever Cody is one of the sweetest dogs ever. He has been so easy, practically potty training himself and he has never chewed up anything. Like any golden retriever he is so loyal and lives for affection; I can't take a step anywhere without him right next to me. He has really itchy, sensitive skin, and lately he has developed the vice of licking and chewing on his legs until they have raw patches on him. Today I had the bright idea of getting a collar for him to keep him from licking; I did not realize how traumatic that would be. I have never seen a more depressed dog. He couldn't really walk anywhere without bumping into the walls or furniture and couldn't fit out the doggy door, so he resorted to laying on the floor with his head down. He would not get up for anything, it was such a sad sight. I think the moment I took that collar of was the happiest moment in Cody's life; to say he was excited would be an understatement. I think it would have worked, but I felt like I was commiting dog abuse!

Baby Carlos

Well, according to Cole we have another baby Carlos in the family, but Cole says he is still naming his baby brother Carlos. Today at grandma's house we were suprised with another little batch of baby chicks.
They are still in their cute, fluffy stage and oh so adorable. Cole managed to catch one unlucky little chick, who is now named Carlos, and gave him the complete tour of grandma's house. He tried to hold it so gently, but I think little Carlos had quite a bumpy ride. Cole was so sweet, holding it up to his face and saying "It's ok babes, I have you." I don't think that reassured the chick any, and after a while little Carlos just gave up and layed on his back in Cole's hands. Cole showed the chick around grandma's house and he played Carlos a little concert on the piano. Cole said he loved him so much; I don't think Carlos returns the sentiment!

Hall of Flames Museum

Today Cole had his first preschool fieldtrip to the Hall of Flames Museum. He now says "It was awesome", but he was a little grump most of the time. He was really excited to go, but it was a bit of a let-down. The museum was so hot and not really catered to three-year olds, but I think he enjoyed parts of it. Caden came too and enjoyed riding on the old firetruck. They learned about firesafety, they tried on fireman clothes and they played on an antique firetruck. It was fun for me to see all of his little friends from school, especially the ones that he always talks about. He was so excited to see his best little buddy Jude and it was cute to see them walk around together and play like little buds. He's growing up too fast!

It's a . . .!

Well word is out, we are expecting our second little edition in the spring around 3/5/09. I am fifteen weeks now, and I'm starting to feel a lot better, boy weeks 8-12 were tough; I just felt like I was hit by a bus all day, but hopefully that is long behind me. I told everyone at work on Friday, and I lucked out with a sneek peek U/S. It was still too early to be absolutely certain, but there is no denying the obvious little boy parts. It is so amazing how fast they grow, he already looked so much bigger than the 12wk u/s, and it was amazing to see him moving around so much. He even tried to practice his breathing movements a few times, little overachiever. We are so excited to welcome another little boy into our home, now I am definitely outnumbered. Cole always said he was having a brother because he is a boy, and he was right, except he is not so right about the baby's name. Derek asked him what we should name the baby and he quickly blurted out "Carlos". Definitely not the name for us, but Cole is still telling everyone that name. Boy names are so hard; we went through the whole book, skipping 'C', and only came up with 3 or 4 possibles. We had to skip 'c' because we would never hear the end of it from my family. I think every child born in the past 10yrs has a 'c' name, so that narrows our options. Derek is so excited, the minute he found out he started reading all of our pregnancy and baby books again. His favorite is "From Conception to Birth," and has followed the baby's growth from the very beginning, pretty sweet. It is so wierd, I have been through this all before, but it still doesn't seem real. I just can't wait to hold our new little guy, but in the meantime I am excited to begin my absolute favorite part of preparing for a baby-decorating the nursery. Luckily I have all the furniture, so I just need to decide on a new color scheme and get to work. Now the fun begins!!

Game Time

Cole is really loving board games right now, and his latest favorite is Sequence, where the object is to get four chips in a row. It seems as if he can play that game forever and never get board. Derek completely cracks me up when he is home and plays with us. His competitive side shines through while playing board games with a three year old. He thinks out his strategy with every play, and is totally determined to win, even though he has yet to win a game. He seems to think that I deal myself the good cards, and he has taken to shuffling them himself. It is so funny to see his determination to win, and then his total shock when Cole or I end up winning. I think we should let him win a game soon so he doesn't quit playing with us!!

The Masterpiece

Cole found my bin of Valentine's Day cake pans and sprinkles on Friday and was so excited to make a cake. I had to work Friday night, so I reluctantly left the task in the hands of Derek. I was expecting to come home to an absolute disaster, but I was suprised Saturday morning with a cute cake and a clean kitchen. I think the cake is going to be a tad bit crunchy because it is completely covered in sprinkles; Cole definitely had a blast. This was Dereks first cake, and he actually admitted that baking can be fun. Look out Lexie, he may challenge you to a bake off soon!

Garage Sale Finds

So anyone who knows my mom knows that she is a garage sale fanatic. She has gone "garage saleing" every Friday for probably the past 20yrs, and she finds the greatest finds for the cheapest prices. I think every toy in their toy room has come from a garage sale, and it is packed to the brim. Lately she has found the cutest toys, so I have decided that I should take up the sport! Today Cole and I went garage saleing together, and found some great stuff. We didn't find as many toys as I expected, but Cole did find an animal alphabet puzzle at our first stop, and he was so excited after that to go home and play. We did have to do a few "drive bys"; it is amazing sometimes at the junk that people try to sell. I was so excited to find a designer having a garage sale and I bought four lamps new in package for $20. I was pretty excited because I was just looking for new bedside lamps yesterday at the store, and these will be absolutely perfect and a fraction of the cost. Cole is already getting an eye for the bright garage sale signs and seemed to enjoy the hunt! I think a new Friday morning tradition has been born.

Little Tumbler

Today Cole had his first tumbling class and he absolutely loved it. He has been checking out the tumbling area at SwimKids for a few months now, and he was so excited to take his first class. I was so proud of him, he listened so well to the teacher and is a pretty athletic little guy. They started out doing stretches, which was pretty cute, and then he took turns with the two other kids on the equipment. He worked on forward and backward summersaults, doing various different walks down the mat, walking on the beam, pulling up on the poles, and doing flips on the rings. I couldn't believe that he did a flip holding on to the rings all by himself. He had tumbling for thirty minutes and then he had swim lessons for another thirty, which made for one exhausted boy.

Movin' Up

I was so proud of Cole today-he passed his beginning survival level in swimming! He can now float on his back alone and "swim" underwater about three or four feet to the side of the pool and pull himself out. After he passed it off he got to ring a big bell in the pool area and everyone cheered for him; he looked to proud. He also stood on a little step and they put his ribbon over his neck while everyone cheered. He had the cutest smile on his face when he heard everyone clap for him. After his lessons he likes to play in the practice pool, a smaller circular pool with a step that goes all the way around. I told him he had to stay on the step or on his noodle, so he was swimming around on the noodle until he saw another kid go into the middle of the pool by himself. I totally saw a determined look in his eyes and told him no, but he proceeded to walk off the step into the deeper part of the pool. I ran over to get him, but luckily one of the swim teachers pulled him up first. He was unphased, but he totally freaked me out. I had a feeling he would try to pull something like that because he is getting a little overly confident. When I took him swimming earlier this week he totally cracked me up and told me, "I am a big boy and can swim by myself. You go over there and I will swim over here" pointing to the other side of the pool. He really wanted to just go off and swim by himself. He does the most hilarious "swan" dives from the steps where he just falls forward with his arms to the side and the hugest smile on his face. He loves swimming to me from the steps and then swimming the four feet back to the steps. He used to be so cautious, but now he gets mad when I catch him. He just floats forward on his stomach with his little toosh in the air or tries to do a little dog paddle to me. Now he is moving up the the intermediate survival and will work on rolling from his back to stomach and diving into the water. Definitely a huge step up from where he was three months ago; hopefully by next summer he will be swimming the pool completely by himself.

Mini-mom

This week Cole discovered a diaper bag I had gotten from work; the kind that has all the coupons and samples in it. He was pretty intrigued, and decided to try everything out on his monkey Cheryl. Yes, he has a monkey named Cheryl. He is so into "wild" animals right now, and we name all of the new additions to his collection. I don't know where he ever heard the name Cheryl, but when I asked him what his monkey's name should be he quickly blurted out "Cheryl". So anyways, Cole decided that he was going to diaper, feed and burp, and read to Cheryl. It was pretty cute to see him try to put the diaper on; pretty hard for a three year old, but he was successful with some assistance. After Cheryl finished her bottle, I told Cole he had to burp her. He melted my heart when he leaned the monkey up against his shoulder and gently patted her back. I think he is going to be a good helper when he finally gets to be a big brother.

First Day of School

Yesterday was an exciting day for us, the first day of school for Cole and Derek! Cole is going to Happy Apple Preschool two days a week for 2 1/2 hours, and he really seemed to love his first day. He looked so cute with his backpack on, which is wider than him! Little twerp wasn't even nervous when he went, just took the teachers hand and strutted right in. He is going to love having so many new friends, especially girlfriends, little flirt. He was so proud of his projects when I picked him up. Aterwards we went to Costco with my mom, and he was prancing around quite pleased with himself. I just wish his school were closer, it is about 25min away, but I have heard so many good things about it we decided to give it a try. Derek started orientation today but its too early yet to get a feel for things. UPS just delivered his books to the door, so the marathon of studying will officially begin.

San Antonio

Since we had driven so far, it would be crazy not to tour San Antonio before heading back to Az. We were determined to see The Riverwalk, the Alamo, and of course the zoo for Cole. The Riverwalk is a very pretty area downtown along the San Antonio river lined with hotels and shopping. We ate breakfast at the Westin on the Riverwalk, and then did some exploring. Cole was so excited to take his first boat ride along the river, but it was a little long and hot to hold his attention the entire time. We had a very enjoyable morning at the Riverwalk, but wow it is humid in San Antonio.
I didn't realize how many historic buildings are in downtown San Antonio and they are quite beautiful, and of course we had to visit the Alamo. I am definitely not a history buff, but it was interesting to learn how the sacrifice of those at the Alamo inspired so many changes in our nation. Since I was busy chasing an active three year old who wasn't too impressed, I didn't get to read as much as I would have liked. Regretfully I had made a promise to Cole that morning that we would go to the zoo before I realized how hot and miserable it was going to be. Of course he did not forget, and he had been so good the entire trip he definitely needed a little treat. Luckily the San Antonio Zoo is only a fraction of the size of the Phoenix zoo, so we were able to see all the animals pretty quickly. Cole was excited to see a real snow leopard like in Kung Foo Panda and was excited to see a "smellican" (pelican). Cole loves maps, especially zoo maps, and he had to make sure we had seen every animal on the map. When we told him it was time to leave he said, "Let me see the map, Well we didn't see the big horn sheep." He had to make sure we really saw all the animals. By the time we left the zoo we were so ready to head back to the valley. One thing I have to say about Texans is they definitely have pride in their state. Texas flags are everywhere, we were suprised to even find Texas flags on the back of our fast food wrappers and I was served waffles in the shape of Texas. I think we could use a little more state pride here because of course Az is the best! After another 14 hours of driving and 1000 miles we happily arrived back in the valley this afternoon.
What a long and exciting week. I just have to say how proud I am of Cole. It was such a long drive, and he had such a good attitude and was such a trooper. The entire long trip he didn't complain once, he was patient in the back reading books, playing with the hoards of toys we brought and watching his favorite DVDs. He is such a sweetheart and his great attitude made this long week even easier.