I never have time to write...

I can't believe how busy I am...all of the time! I know that it is almost Christmas, so I am doubly swamped and freaking out but having a full time job and a baby with you all day is NOT easy!!! The day goes by and I just think about everything I would be getting done if I were a SAHM. The best part though is that when I am feeling overwhelmed by all of the things I need to get done, I just go spend time with my boy on the floor and he takes my mind off of everything else. It's too bad that it is so hard for adults to just live in the moment. With a baby, you have no choice. They are only focused on what is right in front of them and I love that! I'm pretty sure that when I have another baby, I will need to quit my job. I honestly don't think I would be able to do it. But I'll worry about that day when it comes:)

The snow here was awesome and so much fun. It was Cole's first snow and he had the best time playing in it. He kept repeating "snow" over and over again (well, his version of snow..."nooonoowwoonnowowooo"). I'll post pictures of him in it when I get a chance. We still have snow in our backyard and were able to make a snowman yesterday! The night it snowed, he got freezing cold and soaking wet but he could care less. He got SO upset when we brought him inside to thaw out:)

Cole LOVES Santa!! He says his name on a daily basis and he runs to the Christmas tree EVERYDAY and finds the Santa ornaments and points to them and says Santa over and over again. He also loves snowmen. He waves to the one in our yard out the front window several times throughout the night and if he sees a snowman anywhere, he squeals, "NOMAN!!". I can't wait for him to be older and really understand who Santa is and what he does:) But I think he feels the magical appeal of Santa already. He is such a sweet boy.

Back to my Christmas freak out! I am scrambling to finish all of my shopping and homemade presents. The stress I feel resembles that of having a paper due in the morning for school and you are just starting it the night before. The good news is that I always got an A on papers like that (I think all of my papers in high school were written the night before)!! I know that all of this will work out in the end & I will be filled with nothing but joy on Christmas day. I just have to keep reminding myself of that:)

Cole 13 months:)

I'm just writing a little bit about Cole because I haven't in a while and since I am terrible about journaling, this way I can have something to record my brilliant spunky boy:) He has definitely mastered walking...he still trips over everything though:) He loves to ride his 4 wheeler but when he runs into a wall, he just sits there and spins out:) He LOVES to wear his shoes. When he gets up in the morning or wakes up from a nap, the first thing he wants to do is find his shoes and put them on. I definitely prefer that to him refusing to wear shoes. He knows how to sign more, all done, eat & wash hands. He says banana, mama, dada, shoes, nose, Bella, more and all done. He can point to your nose, ears, eyes and mouth. When he wants to give the dogs a treat, he clicks his tongue (not sure where that came from) and he does the same noise when he wants a cracker. He still refers to any motorized vehicle as a vroom vroom. When I ask him to sing he says la la la. He loves to hug Trambo and Wendy and give them kisses. Sometimes when he laughs, he throws back his head like a mad scientist:) He knows the sounds made by a lion (roar), monkey (ee, ee, oo, oo), cow (moooooo), dog (oof oof), pig (tries to oink but it comes out as a mix between the dog and lion), train (woo woo), Cole (lalala) and horse (he makes the neighing sound). His Gampa works on animal sounds with him every time he comes into work:) Cole has been having a problem with biting me when I won't let him do something or if I try to make him come with me by the hand and he doesn't want to. Sometimes it hurts my feelings but mostly I can empathize because I was like that when I was little. Fun, crazy, smart and happy but I had a TERRIBLE temper:) I'm sure I bit my fair share of people I loved. I just tell him no biting and that he is hurting mommy and then I ignore his fit or take him somewhere else and ignore his fit or invite him to do something else with me. He gets over whatever he is freaking out about pretty quick. I think we are making some head way though...yesterday he went to bite my hand because I wanted him to come inside and had asked him several times and when I told him not to bite me he stopped and dropped to the ground and threw a fit. I don't mind the fits but I cannot stand for him to bite me, so I think he might be getting the idea that it is not ok. Overall, he listens very well and understands things that I wouldn't think he could. He amazes me everyday with how smart he is and the things he says and does. Oh how I love that boy of mine. He is also starting to give closed mouth kisses, so that is nice and a little less wet for everyone:) He is a sweetheart.

HALLOWEEN!!!

One of my favorite holidays!! Since we are broke, we scrounged up stuff that we already had to put our costumes together for Halloween. Cole was a bear, I was a hunter dude and Travis was a werewolf. Travis and I usually try to be themed but since we were on a budget, we didn't worry about it. Although, I guess you could say we were themed, in that I could hunt both of them:) Here are some pics:

Cole is of course the most adorable bear ever:)


I told him to say cheese. He posed. I love him.


Here is Travis in his human form...


I know I look scary. Travis thought I was cool, so I felt good that I looked just like a dude:) The secret to looking like an authentic guy is to have big eyebrows and look completely bored and a little pissed off...I think I got it down.


Here I am with my kill...Travis the werewolf:) Yeah, that's right...I had a Red Ryder BB Gun:)



As it is almost never my goal to be skanky or beautiful on Halloween, I think I accomplished that with flying colors!! We went to Heather's ward's trunk or treat. It was fun to see all of the costumes. Cole had fun seeing all of the little kids. He had no interest in candy, which I found a relief. I'm sure next year, he'll go nuts trick or treating:)

Cole's 1st birtthday!

Cole just turned ONE!!! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I know that sounds cliche but DANG!! It seems like just yesterday they were slicing me open and yanking him out of me:) We ended up having his birthday party at Tomiyasu Elementary School. Funny huh? We intended on having it at a park but it was packed with people when it came time to have his party. I even joked earlier in the day and said we should just have it at the school because it is right around the corner and there is grass and a playground for the kids. Louisa's boyfriend's mom Debbie (got that?) is a teacher and has a master key to the school gate locks. How lucky are we! We were just squeezing through an opening until she showed up and saved the day! My sister Sarah and step sis Amber flew down for the occasion and they were SO MUCH HELP. I think Cole had some idea that the party was all about him. He gave a huge wave to everyone as they arrived. He played on the big kid playground with his dad and ate pizza and cake. He made out like a bandit with a ton of awesome toys and clothes. I think it was the greatest birthday of his life:) Here are some pictures:

Just being cute:)


Waving hello at everybody:)!


Eating Gampa's pizza.


Opening one of many presents. He was wearing a hat that says "first birthday".


He had his own mini bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cake. If you haven't had a bundt cake from here...YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY.


Here he is getting ready to tear it up!


Oh yeah...chocolate!


A Chocolate coma soon set in.


He shared his cake with Gampa.



Happy boy!!


Grandpa & Grandma Stanley giving birthday love & kisses.


Aunt Cassidy & Uncle Josh! They look like proud parents:) Look at his silly face.


Cousins Jordan & Andrew (Josh & Cassidy's kids)


Cousin Colton can hardly wait for HIS first birthday. Look at him looking at that cake!


Aunties Lou, Amber & Sarah!! They are the greatest!


Blogger is not letting me put any more pictures on this blog for some reason so that's all for now. I love my boy and he is AWESOME!! We had an amazing day and I am so thankful for all of the people who shared his big day with us!

Our first hug...

Last night Cole gave me a hug:) Usually, when he wants you to hug him, he will tuck his arms down by his sides (or even underneath his tummy) and lay against you. Last night he actually took his little chubby arms, wrapped them around my neck and squeezed. I almost died. He hugged me again this morning and let out a big "aahhhhhh". Then he played with the hairs on the back of my neck and rested his cheek against mine. I never realized how wonderful a hug from your child could be. He is so loving and sweet. I hope he never stops wanting to hug me (I know, I know... at some point I will have to force him to do it). I love him so much it makes me crazy. I have some new pics of him walking! He's getting better at it everyday.

Starting to toddle:)

Cole took a few steps on his own today! He was holding on to a filing cabinet at work and I sat down on the floor and held out my hands and told him to come to me. He edged his way toward me but he was still touching the cabinet with his fingertips. He finally let go, got his balance and took about 2 1/2 steps toward me. He dove head first into my lap. He still needs to get his balance down. He's leans forward with his head:) Later, we were at my dad's house and he wanted me to show him, so I stood Cole up and he walked right over to him. Falling into his lap of course but he got in a good 3-4 steps. I'm so excited for him!! I feel bad that Travis isn't here to see him take his first steps. I even joked with him before he left that Cole would start to walk while he was gone. I don't think there will be any stopping Cole now that he knows what he can do but I told Travis I'll try not to let him practice too much:)

Happy Birthday Big Girl!!

Jaden Clair Davis, my amazing niece, turned SEVEN today! I love that girl more than there are stars in the sky. She is the sweetest girl you will ever meet and she is super funny and beyond beautiful. I adore her. Her are some pics that were taken at her birthday party last Saturday.

Pretty girl...


Gotta love Starburst.


Hanna Montana Rules!!


Just started soccer...


Could you just...


Happy birthday, Jaden!!!!

Torn Cornea

Monday before last, Cole and I were at work. I had just finished feeding him his breakfast and was washing out his bowl. Next thing I know, he backed right up to a table behind him and pulled down a control board (a small circuit board that goes inside of the machines that we manufacture) onto his head . As much as I can figure, it 1st poked him in the head and then flipped over and slid down his face and some part of it poked him in the eye. He was screaming like a banshee and it worried me that he didn't stop crying when I picked him up. I looked at his face and he wouldn't (couldn't) open his right eye. I held him for a few minutes and eventually he calmed down and was able to open his eye. Here's what he looked like soon after (I just happened to bring my camera to work this day):


Since he was able to open his eye, I didn't take him to the doctor. Gampa helped make him feel better.


Nothing cheers my boy up like a ride on the forklift with Guy.



He tried to have fun:(



Sad little wave...he's a trooper.


He decide it would make him feel even better if he drove it himself.



That's more like it:)



Happy squinty boy.


I put him down for his first nap and when he woke up his eye was a little gooey. I didn't freak out because I figured his eye was just flushing itself out. After his second nap, his eye was practically glued shut. Time to go to the doctor. I called his ped's office and they said a nurse practitioner could see him. He couldn't keep his eyes open when we were outside in the sun, it was too sad. So we get to the office and they take him back pretty quick. A girl takes his vitals and jots down how and what happened. The nurse comes in soon after and is reading the chart. She starts talking to me like I am being an overreacting first time parent. She was nice but she was saying things like, "Sometimes when you get poked in the eye it hurts and I'm not sure if he was poked in the eye because it is not red.". I explain that I'm positive that something happened to his eye and explained again about the eye goo. She pretty much humors me and says she will heck for tears in the eye. They put flourescent drops in his eye, turned off the lights and held a black light up to his eye. The nurse says,"Uhhh...Ohh...well...he does have a tear in his cornea...huh.". Yeah, that's right...a mama knows. She put antibiotic drops and an antibiotic ointment into his eye. She said that tears heal very quickly, that he would feel better in 24 hours and it would be healed within a couple of days. I Googled it when I got homeand found out that corneal tears don't leave a scar. If they did, we would all be blind. Your corneas get scratched multiple times throughout the day and usually heal overnight. The sun bothered his eyes tremendously for a few days but he's all better now.

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Cole loves tractors and forklifts and any other vehicle that he can sit on and that goes bbbbbmbmbmbbbmbmbbbmbbbbbbbbbbmmmmmmmm. I'm sure you get the idea.




Here's the face that goes along with the sound. It cracks me up. Look at that bottom lip.


This is the face he makes when he is violently shaking something. He has to give everything the shake test. He does make another more intense face but this one is too funny.


BTW, Travis is in Alaska building a barrier rail for his company. He is supposed to be gone for 17 days, which means he won't be home for our 8th wedding anniversary. It's not too bad having him gone this time around. I think partially because he gave me the option of telling him no instead of telling me he was leaving no matter what and partially because Cole is easier nowadays. Don't get me wrong, work is brutal: he doesn't nap whatsoever and he seems anxious and frustrated most of the time. It's when we get home that he is SO much easier to please. I'm not sure what it is but he sleeps better, eats better (more focused) and just seems to overall have a better attitude when we are at home. It has made me sad a few times that when we get home, Cole just keeps repeating, "Dada Dada Dada". So, I miss Travis and I hope this time flies by. I'm playing blog catch up, so expect another one within a few minutes:)

Just have to tell you...

Travis CRACKS ME UP!! I have to go to bed because I'm tired as poo but I have to post this before I forget. I was in living room with Travis and Cole and we were playing on the floor. The tv was on and something caught my eye, so I started watching (I don't remember now what it was). Travis gets up and leaves the room (I figure he's going to the bathroom) and Cole follows him. Next thing I know, I'm hearing Cole happily screaming from the bedroom and I hear his little piano making music. I figure he is dancing and singing and I decide to go watch my boy being cute. I creep down the hallway, so I can catch him without seeing me, and as I round the corner I see...TRAVIS playing Cole's tiny piano. He's just sitting there with the thing between his legs and he is banging away on the keys like he is having the time of his life!! I continue to look into the room further and I see that Cole is on the other side of the room banging on the sliding glass door and looking outside, not even remotely interested in what Travis is doing. I start to laugh so hard that I can't even see straight and Travis looks up from the piano and starts to giggle. He knows he's been caught and he starts to laugh harder, which makes me laugh even harder. We laughed for a good while and he just kept asking, "What?!?!?". As if he didn't know. I wonder how long he would have played with that thing if I hadn't walked in. I wish I would have had my camera. Maybe next time:) Goodnight.

For my mom...

My mom is up in Oregon right now visiting family and I told her I would post some more recent pictures of Cole, so they could all see him. Sorry I couldn't get to it last night mom but here he is...

Enjoying cottage cheese:)



Enjoying toilet paper. This occurs EVERY TIME we forget to put the toilet paper up.



Wanting to share his yummy tp. Isn't he nice?



He loves the cool wood floor. It is especially nice in just a diaper:)



Standing on his own is his new thing that he is practicing. He does it best when his hands are full.

Well, I hope you are having a good time mama. I tried to call you but your cell gave me a weird message. Say hi to everyone from us! I love you!! See you next month!!!!

Just for fun...

Sarah, Erin, Me, Jill & Heather:) Ya just gotta love those peach hip hugging dresses we had to wear. Honestly...look at how shiny they were.


I like this picture because it reminds me of the day we took SO many pictures of us. We took some really funny "serious" close up pictures of us individually. If I can find those, I'll post them. They are too funny. In some of them we are holding our hands under our chins or are holding our hands on our faces. Very Glamour Shots! (Me, Erin, Sarah, Jill & Heather)


One summer...eating plums. I think I ate every plum at the Garrard's house. What can I say...they were good:)


Choir banquet...I think our Junior year. I look like I'm wearing a curtain. I was so self conscious of my body, I covered it up whenever possible. Seriously, you can only see my head and hand...how sad.


One of my birthdays. Don't remember how old I turned but I know it was a good one.


Jill & Heather in Hawaii after graduation. We went to our favorite place to eat:)


Jill & me in my room (before I started plucking my eyebrows). The two of us took many pictures of each other and also video taped ourselves doing nothing in my room all of the time. Good times:) Behind us on the wall there is a cut out quote from a magazine that says, "Once a month, I wish I were a guy."...deep...very deep.


Jill & Sarah...love those smiles:)


Not sure what we were doing but we look darn good! I know it was something church related...duh:) Gee I had some pretty friends.


Another picture from the "picture day". Palm trees are ugly.


Pay close attention to this picture and the next. Can you see what's different? :)


We had to do this alot because we would all want to be in the picture but then no one would be able to take it...so we just swapped someone out and took it again.


Here's another one...and look...surprise! I'm covered head to toe!


Heather did a good job holding her pose. I don't think Sarah was paying much attention. She was too busy talking to that BOY she met in Hawaii and had in our room!!!


This is Travis' older brother Josh. He's the BEST! He's so little and skinny!


Choir trip!! Jill, Adam's feet, me & Cal. I have a scrunchie on my wrist...awesome.


I just flat out LOVE this picture. Could she be more thrilled.


It's funny, when I think about high school (which is rare) I remember mostly hating it. But when I look back at all the pictures of the good times I had and what great friends I had, I am reminded that it wasn't all that bad. In fact it was pretty good. Thank you Sarah, Jill, Heather, Erin & Joshie ...you are my good memories.