They made me a momma!

I can't believe it's already mid-May. Seems like it was just Christmas and now we are making plans for Memorial Day weekend and celebrating Mother's Day. I feel like 2010 is flying by and considering the tough rest of the year ahead, that is kind of fine by me. Trying to enjoy the time as it comes, but ready to celebrate 2011 and a clean bill of health for my dad (who may get to go home from the hospital by this weekend!). Anyhoo...

It was a HOT weekend in the Valley of the Sun. On Saturday I took the kids to the park and learned a quick lesson. Just so we are all aware, the black rubber they use on the swings conducts a LOT of heat. Luckily mom always has a lightweight blanket in the stroller and was able to cover it for Cole. He had a ball at the park as always and as always, it was a challenge to get him to leave. Somehow telling him we had to go home for naps wasn't a big draw for him. Hmm...surprising?

Sis is still enjoying the park from the stroller. Thinking it's about time to let her out and enjoy some of the fun, no?
Weekends are usually centered around pool time these days. When do we go swimming? Where do we go swimming? What will we wear swimming? How much longer until we go swimming? These are all Cole questions. I got him new swim goggles and a new floaty ring last week, he was all ready to go swimming, but too bad it wasn't time. Sad little Coley.

Miss K turned 8 months old on Saturday. Trying to get the standard monthly picture, but a new mobile baby makes that kind of difficult. The 8 month shot is an "action" photo. BTW...she started fully crawling on Mother's Day. Funny, because when Cole was a baby he started crawling on Father's Day. Guess they know the perfect gifts to give us.

I put K to bed last night and about 3 minutes later I heard her crying. I looked on the video monitor and was shocked to see her standing up in her crib, holding onto the side looking like she was getting ready to jump the heck out of there. Within 30 minutes my baby girl's crib was transformed into a big girl version...no more cute bumper, no more cute crib skirt and the crib mattress is lowered all the way down. Sad -- growing up too fast!

I thought it would be fun to try and get a picture of the kids together on Mother's Day. Seriously, why is this so hard for me to accomplish? Been trying since K was a baby. Ugh. Best I could do...and somehow Dad ended up in the photo and it's out of focus. Oh well. That's why I pay Kacey to do fab photos for us once a year. ;)

Just had to throw this one in...looks like Cole is keeping watch over his pool. Don't ask about the owl in the background. I think it's supposed to scare birds away or something? Mostly it just scares me.

Like father, like son!

Cole is becoming such an independent little guy! He wants to help with everything and really wants to do things all on his own. He likes to announce, "I did it all by myself!"

In addition to independence, he also wants to be just like Daddy. Here he is on Saturday morning, shaving just like Daddy!

Between work and time with my dad I was away from the kids for 12 days. Wow -- never been gone that long! I am looking forward to a weekend together and to celebrating Mother's Day with family. It's really heating up down here...supposed to be almost 100 today. Ready or not, here comes summer.

For those following my dad: www.caringbridge.com/visit/billfromhold. We got great news yesterday! They have identified 200 matches for his stem cell transplant and they have been given the official go ahead by insurance to get going with all the preparations. Probably sometime in June he will start the transplant process. One step closer...keep the prayers going please!