A White December 18th!

Hoping the title will catch your attention. So, yes we saw snow last night...okay no, not the real kind. Not like our friends in Washington are getting.

My dad is in town and we decided to take Cole to go see it snow. Every night at 7pm one of the outdoor malls makes it snow for 15 minutes. They have a beautiful tree set up, they play Christmas music and the flakes fall.

Cole was a hit with the crowd running around trying to catch the snow in his hand. It was at that point we realized, wait...this isn't even fake snow. In fact, why are we coughing so much? The snow was some sort of foamy snow, making us cough, made of a cancer causing chemical I am sure. All the same, it was beautiful, festive and we had a great time!

Amazing Chandler Toddler Potty Trains at 1 Year Old!

Not really, this was just the fun tonight before the bath. I know the day will come when I am not allowed (or it's just inappropriate) for me to photograph these buns. Until then, I'll capture them every chance I get!

How DO you hang Christmas lights with a 1 year old?

We survived Thanksgiving weekend. How wonderful to have 4 days home together, how not wonderful to be sick the entire time. I got the not wonderful part of that deal, by the way. Regardless, we pressed on with the bird, stuffing and holiday decor that truly make it Thanksgiving weekend!

Thursday we enjoyed a quiet dinner with just the 3 of us. During the day our friend Kent came over to visit. Kent was a groomsman in our wedding and a favorite in the Blubaum house. He lives in Idaho, so we don't get to see him that often. Here are Shawn and Cole enjoying Kent's company!

We were determined to get the house decorated this weekend. While we didn't get it all done, we made a good effort. It is our first Christmas in this house, so it's always a learning experience of where the outlets are, what looks good where, etc. Luckily a speedy trip to the Dollar Store saved the day to purchase a few must have items. Who knew $1 bows could look so good? Sure, they might not last until December 25th, but hey...

The big dilema is how do you hang Christmas lights with your 1 year old son, who can't sit still for 2 minutes, around? First you would think...nap time, right? Well, of course all the good football games are on during nap time...so what do we do? That's right, set up a pack & play in the driveway, throw some toys in there and voila...we can hang the lights. I can only imagine what the neighbors think about us...who puts their kid in a portable crib, in his jammies, in the driveway? Oh well, the lights got hung and look fabulous! You might wonder why it takes 2 of us to hang the lights. 30 foot palm trees, lights wrapped around the trunk from top to bottom. This required a staple gun, a very tall ladder, a very brave husband and a wife on hand to wrap lights and be there "just in case."

Sunday's with Coley

Our weekend family tradition on Saturday's and Sunday's is to get up in the morning for some family exercise. Let's face it we all need it (okay, mom and dad more than Cole) and it's good family time together. The new neighborhood is very active and we have familiar faces we see each morning. Usually Starbucks is the motivator to keep us going (it's about a 2 miles from our house), but hey...whatever works! This past weekend it was chilly! Everyone had to bundle up for the excursion (this is a rare occurance in AZ).

A few updates since the last post. We had Cole's 1 year doctor appointment. The latest stats are:

Weight 22lb 11 1/2oz (50th percentile)

Height 29 3/4" (50th percentile)

He's doing all the things they want him to be doing at this point. He's learned a few new words in the last couple of weeks. My favorite is "uh oh" which comes out as "uh oooooh." It's pretty cute and he says it at the just the perfect moments to make us laugh. He's getting pretty quick and I anticipate the running child is a comin'! His new favorite thing to do is walk himself out the front door to the car and wait by the door for you to put him in his carseat. He doesn't always wait, sometimes I end up chasing him around the front yard. It's fun to see him acting more and more like a big boy each day.

Here is Cole in with his first set of wheels! Cole's cousin Lukas LOVES the car-cart. I anticipate our boy is going to like them just as much. Any of you mother's out there know the one thing about those carts is they are IMPOSSIBLE to steer. People seem to understand and I just shout "wide load" as we walk through the aisles of Fry's.

Despite how bad they stink, the Blubaum's continue to cheer on the Seahawks each and every Sunday. Cole is finally big enough to fit into his Matt Hasselbeck jersey (thank you Amanda!) and looks adorable. Here is our big fan before the game.

Catching up!

It's been a long time since our last post. I have gotten semi-addicted to Facebook and have been putting all my pictures up there, realizing that my little blog has probably gotten lonely. We were also very busy in the month of October. I guess I'll recap in order...

On October 11th, Cole and I boarded a plane to Boise, ID. We were so excited to meet our new niece/cousin, who was due to arrive the very next day. Not scheduled to arrive, due to arrive. We would quickly learn the difference between those 2 statements. Boise was beautiful (I am secretly in love with it and would move there tomorrow if Shawn would let us!) and we had a great time watching the boys, Cole & Lukas, play together. I should translate what "play together" really meant...Lukas had a toy and Cole would come take it away from him. Yes, my son is a bully at age 1...so sad. Regardless, we had a great week!

We were scheduled to leave Boise on October 19th, but when the day came and we still didn't have a new niece/cousin, we had to extend our trip. The very next day, little miss Autumn Lyn came into the world. She is a beautiful baby girl, weighing in at 8lb 1oz and a FULL head of dark hair. I am so proud that we share the same middle name (thank you Judd & Kristie)!

So Cole and I returned from our 10 day vacation in Boise and I tried to return to working. I really got used to sleeping in until 8am all that time! We arrived home just in time for Halloween and to put the finishing touches on Cole's 1st Birthday Party.

Here is our dragon!

Saturday we had Cole's party at the house. He was a super trooper and was all smiles, all day. He loved the attention, the presents, oh and especially the cake. He is going to give his cousin Lukas lessons on how to devour cake on his 3rd birthday. ;)

So, now...Cole is 1! I am of course in denial and still refer to him as the "baby." Shawn walks around saying, "I want another one, I want another one." 12 months ago he couldn't have grown up quick enough, now I just want that little snuggly baby boy back. He walks, he is starting to talk, he feeds himself, I mean really what am I good for these days besides poopy diaper clean up? Regardless, he'll always be my "baby."

Last night for his actual birthday we took him to Red Robin. He loves mac & cheese and ate enough for a 10 year old. Piggy! They sang him Happy Birthday and brought him an ice cream sundae, which he wouldn't touch. I think he has officially over dosed on sweets!

Clap on, clap off...the Clapper!

Cole has finally mastered clapping. The mystery still remains, why he will only clap in the bathtub. We were out at dinner tonight and a couple next to us were trying to get Cole to do his "tricks" (clapping, waving, peekaboo, etc.). Wouldn't you know the child refused to perform, yet the minute those precious buns hit the water, he resumed clapping. Who knows! Enjoy...

Drunken Sailor...

The long anticipated (well, in our minds) video of proof that the Cole man is walking. True, it's not a stable walk, hence the drunken sailor title...but we give the boy credit all the same, he's only 11 months old!

This new bathroom rocks!

Not only do Mom and Dad love the extra space in the new house, Cole is loving it as well! We had a relatively uneventful move (thank you Karla!) over the weekend, and Cole's first night in the house he slept over 12 hours...which we were thankful for!

Here are a few pictures of Cole enjoying the new master bathroom. He's never had this much room before...exploring the bathtub, toilet, etc. Also included are pictures of his first "bubble bath"...you will see from the pictures he tried to EAT the bubbles. YUMMY!

The last swim on Caroline Lane...

We are having a lot of "lasts" here on Caroline Lane. The movers are coming on Friday to pack us up and move us out of our first home. We've been a bit more emotional than we would have expected thinking about all the things that have happened at 508 W Caroline Lane.

1) We got engaged here...in our master bedroom - December 2005
2) We had 75 of our closest friends & family here to celebrate before our wedding - April 2006
3) I sprained my foot 2 days before our wedding in our pool (great story!) - April 2006
4) We made Cole here (too much information??) - January 2007
5) We brought Cole home here...to his room, in his first house - November 2007
6) Cole took his first steps here - Still waiting...child, you have 5 days to accomplish this!!

Regardless, it is time to move on. In honor of our last weekend in the house, we had the final

swim in our pool. While it's still at least 100 degrees here, those that don't live in Arizona are always surprised that this time of year your pool just gets too chilly to be in. We braved one final chilly water Sunday for old time sake.

We also decided to feed Cole dinner outside tonight. He was so distracted by everything happening outside, but manged to eat all his green beans. The kid LOVES green beans! We aren't complaining! :)

I suppose you know you have packed too many of your child's toys when you walk in and find this. He really was this surprised when I walked in and caught him making this mess. Tearing up tissue kept him as quiet and content as could be!

Here today...gone tomorrow (well, September 29th actually)!

I don't have any pictures to post, but wanted to at least update the blog sometime in September 2008!

We've been busy at the Blubaum House! On September 5th we put our house on the market. We were in no rush to move, but the way the housing market is here we figured we should get the process started as it was going to take several months.

To our surprise we had a lot of showings of the house within the first 24 hours and amazingly an actual offer came during that 24 hour period as well! We accepted the full price offer and are scheduled to close on September 29th.

Now...where do we go? We are on the hunt for a rental house and have found some great prospects. We're not able to sign a lease until we know our house is truly going to close, which won't be until just a few days before the 29th. This means we could be homeless for a few days. So if you see us come knocking on your door with the baby in tow, please answer...

For now we are buried in boxes, tape and Goodwill piles. Imagine all this while chasing around a 10 month old who is getting ready to walk. No doubt we will age 10 years by the time September 29th comes around.

More to come soon...!

Hey Cole, wait up!

I spent last weekend in Seattle for my sister's baby shower. While I was away, Cole decided he had enough of just crawling around the house. He found his push cart, pulled himself up on it and took off walking! You can imagine my surprise to come home to a much more mobile little boy!

Cole is all over the place. He pushes the cart around the whole house, taking corners and everything! I am not sure if this means walking (on his own) is imminent?

Cole also got another tooth while I was away. We are up to 3 now! 2 bottom teeth and 1 on top. This morning when I peeked it looked like we may have 2 top teeth before the weekend is over. Our little man is growing up!

I've been trying to get good pictures of Cole walking with his cart, but haven't gotten the perfect one yet. In the meantime these will have to do!

Have a safe holiday weekend!

Seriously, you want me to feed myself?

Even though the look on his face doesn't say it...I secretly think Cole loves to feed himself. We're working on all kinds of fun foods...bananas, cheese, pineapple and he even had taco's! Well, not really taco's, but as close as he can get. He had the meat, cheese, tomato and even a little bit of mama's famous guacamole!

Cole is getting ready for another Daddy Weekend! I am flying to Seattle on Thursday night to host a baby shower for my sister on Saturday. Let's hope Shawn doesn't try to feed Cole beer and brats while I am away!

Daddy Weekend!

Well I am off to Vegas this morning for a part girls weekend with Amy and part work conference. We have today and tomorrow to play and then tomorrow evening I have to start working. This is my first play time away from Cole and I miss him already!

We learned the phrase "Daddy Weekend" from the Cresswell's. Whenever I spend time with Amy and the kids have a Daddy Weekend, we usually end up receiving text messages of the kids running around with no clothes on and endure stories of McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can only hope that my dear Shawn does in fact dress the baby and feed him properly. I left a very detailed list for daddy and look forward to rave reviews upon my return.

Here are a couple of pictures of what morning wake up is like with Cole these days. He greets me standing up in his crib holding the slats as if he's saying "Momma, let me out of this prison..." His other trick that drives Momma crazy is the minute I lay him down on the changing pad he is rolling over, sitting up and immediately going for the wipes warmer. I feel like struggling with him on the changing table is my part time job. Thank god for Daddy Weekends, maybe Shawn can break him of the habit.

Have a great weekend...and Viva Las Vegas!

Accepting it's okay to be average at 9 months old...

Yesterday we had Cole's 9 month check up. As expected, he is doing just great. I have accepted that "average" is an okay word to use to describe his size at this point in life. I am just shocked that he continues to fall in the 50th percentile for his height and weight. I compared notes with my sister yesterday and Cole is, at 9 months, the same size Lukas was at 6 months. The latest joke in the Blubaum house is that Cole got the Fromhold temper and Lukas got the Fromhold height. Only time will tell...

Here are the 9 month stats:

Weight: 21lb 2 oz (50th percentile)

Height: 28" (50th percentile)

Cole's tricks still include saying words like Dada, Mama, Baba. On Sunday he actually looked right at Shawn and said Dada! We were so excited to think he actually knew what he was saying. Since them he has resumed saying Dada to and about anything he can find. He is pulling himself up on everything and starting to take steps while holding onto objects. One of his favorite things is to stand up and hold onto the ottoman and pound on it like it's a set of drums. Grandpa Blubaum is calling him Ringo for now.

Here are some pictures of Cole from his morning, he had just woken up, that is why he looks so sleepy. The last one is referred to as independence. My mornings have gotten a bit easier in that now I can make Cole a bottle and hand it to him and he will feed himself. This free's up about 10 minutes for me in the morning. This can be the difference between finished hair and a ponytail!

Yo Baby!

It seems every day Cole is experiencing a new "first." Today's first was yogurt! His 9 month birthday is tomorrow, so I jumped the gun by one day introducing him to dairy. Today he got to try banana yogurt courtesy of YoBaby Yogurt. He LOVED it! I had a hard time getting him to eat the Spinach & Potatoes he was also having for lunch after he had bites of the yogurt. Cole has his 9 month check up on Monday morning and we'll report back on his new stats!

Something else fun that Cole has learned to do is how to turn the light on the fan on and off...and on...and off...and on...you get the picture. I snapped a quick picture of him and Shawn as he was demonstrating his new trick to Daddy.

Bathtime Fun!

I feel like most of the pictures I take of Cole are in the bath. I am starting to resent what I think this really means...that I don't have nearly enough time with my child, because the only time I can get pictures of him are during bathtime...the 25 minutes we can just play, play, play. The other time we have together (during the week), I run a tight ship. We are always racing out the door to daycare, racing home from daycare and it can be pretty hectic. Bathtime is nothing but fun! Here are a few pictures from tonight. He really does love being a big boy in the bathtub...tons of space. He discovered my big loofah brush and just like the cell phone, it is now his toy. You will notice that Cole now realizes when I am taking his picture and is this is his "cheese!" I like the last one because it shows off his 2 big teeth (look close)!

I have been working with Cole on self feeding for about 2 months. I spend the money on "puffs" for him, only to put them on his high chair tray and discover later that all 12 of them are in the chair and on the floor...but still, I press on. This weekend, while I was getting his lunch ready, I put puffs on his tray. Wouldn't you know the child just grabbed one (with his RIGHT hand of course) and just popped it in his mouth. He then repeated it over and over again with great precision! A big day Cole...momma is so PROUD!