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.

Thankful

I am so thankful for my life. I have an amazing family...both immediate and extended:) If I ever needed anything, I know that I would have at least 10 people waiting in the wings to spring into action. Travis' family has always made me feel like one of the family. For the last FIFTEEN years, they have been a part of my life and I am so grateful for each and every one of them. I am so happy that Travis and I got to live near (and even with) Heather a John:) We became so close and it was such an experience to live with Jaden for the first 10 months of her life. I love that I have been around for so long to see the Stanley kids find love and get married and have babies. Josh, Travis' older brother was my very best friend in high school and I am so lucky that I will have him in my life forever as my brother. He is one of the greatest men and friends I know:)

I am so grateful for my beautiful sisters. Sarah has always been someone I could look up to and I appreciate her example of strength and her unending compassion for all of those around her. Louisa has grown into such a strong and independent woman. I am amazed by all of her accomplishments and how she always keeps her feet on the ground:) For those of you who don't know:)...she recently became BETTE MIDLER'S Pilates instructor!! Yeah, she's awesome:) Go Lou! She has been such a support with Coley since the day he was born. She was especially amazingly helpful while Travis was in Wyoming...I honestly don't think I would have made it without her. My sisters are my best friends. Both are so dear to me and are honestly the only people in the world that I can tell ANYTHING to. I wouldn't be the person I am without my sisters. They brighten my days with their silliness and beautiful spirits.

My husband is one of the most wonderful people I have ever known. He is always willing to do anything and everything that is asked of him by almost anyone. He is a major pain in my behind sometimes but even when I am fuming, he finds a way to make me giggle. He is my best friend and I love him. I love that we always say to each other, "I'm so glad that I'm married to you because you are the ONLY person that I can spend tons of time with and NEVER get sick of:)". Oh how I love that man of mine.

I have come to the realization lately that I have become my father:) I bought his house, I run his business & I look just like him:)!! I honestly don't mind it a bit though:) I love hanging out with my dad because he always makes me think and he always makes me laugh. He is always very supportive and encouraging. I know how much he loves me and my sisters and that makes me love him even more.

My mama is a tough little cookie that I adore. She likes to be called "spry", which always cracks me up. She impresses me constantly with her strength and determination. And I admire her constant effort to be a better person and rise above:) She is a wonderful mother and I am so lucky to have her advice when it comes to my boy. Oh my boy...

Cole is hands down the greatest thing to have ever happened to me. I thank God for him every day. I am so thankful that I live in a time where I was able to receive help in getting pregnant with him. He is the light of my life and he impresses me daily. He is so strong and so smart and it is amazing to me how much he changes day by day. I love his hugs and slobbery kisses. I love his chunky arms, legs, tummy, butt and cheeks. I love that he growls and screams at the dogs. I love that he is so excited to see our dog Trambo and says "Cambo" every time he sees him in the morning and when we get home from work. He is such a wonderful baby. He is so full of love and life and he is honestly the cutest thing I have ever seen. I love his laugh and his toothy smile. I could go on and on about the things I love about this boy. Most of all...I love that he loves me more than anybody else on the planet:)

I am also incredibly thankful for my dogs Trambo and Wendy. Trambo was my first baby and I can't believe he just turned NINE. My baby Wendy came to me when I was having trouble getting pregnant and she helped fill a growing hole. I am so thankful for her floppy eared tv watching self. She is so cuddly and she loves me so much. I have been very lucky in my life to have had 4 amazing dogs...Josie, Charley, Trambo and Wendy. There's nothing like the unconditional love of a puppy:)

So, I am full of thankfulness for so many people and for the experiences that I have had that have made me who I am. Please excuse this long winded blant (blogging rant) but I just needed to get it out. I know I haven't talked about everybody that I am thankful for but I am sure you all know who you are and I desperately need to go to bed:) I am so grateful for my life and for everything that I have been blessed with. My family & friends fill me up daily and I appreciate them all so much. Thank you thank you thank you. Goodnight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER JAMI TOMORROW!!!!

PICTURES!!

Here are a few pics of Cole with my sister Sarah and my mom. They were here visiting at the beginning of June.

He just loves them to pieces!!


He was shaking my mom's suitcase like a mad man. I think he didn't want her to leave:)


Gram is SO fun!!


I love this picture of the two of them...they look too cool to be hanging out with me:)

It is agreed upon by everyone in my family that Cole is the cutest baby in the world!

I'm still here:)

Too much to write about and not enough time! Cole has been keeping me very busy lately. His top 4 teeth have been busting through for about 3 weeks now and this last week, he got really sick. I consider myself pretty lucky that this was really his first time being sick with anything and he is 9 months old. I can't believe he is already 9 months old!!! He is saying dada and mama pretty regularly now and he busts out with ball, Trambo, Bella and Gampa every now and then. Such a smart little cookie! He has an awesome little belly laugh now that CRACKS ME UP!! He has stood by himself just a handful of times but I think he is starting to realize that he doesn't have to hold on to something to stay standing. He hates wearing clothes but I fight him into them everyday:) Once we get home from work, I strip him and he is as happy as a clam (how do you know if a clam is happy?). Anyway, I'm at work by myself for the next 4 working days and I'm probably going to have to drive the fork lift and unload some shipments!! It's freaking me out a bit but Guy (my co-worker) showed me how to operate it before he left and I did pretty well. My main goal will be to not destroy anything while I am driving the fork lift around. My dad and Gail went to their 40 year high school reunion and they are driving around visiting family up in Oregon for the next 2 weeks. Guy left for Kansas this morning and won't be back until Wednesday of next week. So, it's just me and Cole kickin' it at work for the next few days. If anybody wants to swing by and hang out...feel free:)


Oh...I forgot to talk about Cole being sick. He started off with a cough and a stuffy nose. He had that for about 3 days and then he added a fever and diarrhea, so I took him to his doctor. He said that Cole was had an early stage of an ear infection, so he started him on an antibiotic, told me to give him pedialyte and give him some children's cold medicine. If he didn't get better, I was supposed to bring him back in. He woke up the next morning still coughing but happy. Same the next day. Then on the morning of the 4th, he woke up screaming and crying and hacking and puking. Needless to say, we took him to a quick care and they listened to his lungs and thought he might have pneumonia, so they took and x-ray. Luckily, his lungs were clear and they doc gave us a prescription for some cold medicine that would help break up all of his phlegm. My fourth of July was pretty much spent rocking a sick and miserable boy. After I put him to bed for the night, we set off some fireworks and that was fun. By Monday, he was feeling much better and now he is back to his happy little self. Sick babies are NOT FUN:) But we made it through.

Travis' birthday was on the 3rd of July and we ate dinner at my dad's house. The Saturday before, we had a party at my house with all of Travis' family. We barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs and swam. It was super fun! So, that pretty much wraps up my last few weeks. I actually have some work to do:)

FLAGDAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!

So, yesterday, the 14th, was my birthday:) You were right Josh M.:) I just wrote about my Wii on Friday because I figured I wouldn't have time on my actual birthday to write anything. My birthday was probably one of the best I've had in a REALLY long time. Thank you to Cassidy, Heather, Jami & Mama Shelley for my beautiful crepe breakfast, it was AWESOME!! Thanks to all SEVEN of my nieces & nephews for coming over and swimming and playing my Wii!! Thanks to Travis for my Wii:) Thanks to all of the other contributors to my Wii game fund:) Haha...I'm a nerd:)!!

We went out to all you can eat sushi for dinner and then went back to my dad's for a little Wii action and some red velvet chocolate chip bundt cake (yummy!!)

Cole took 3 amazingly long naps on my birthday and was in very good spirits for the festivities:) I love my family!! So far, 31 aint so bad:)

Happy Birthday to Mii!!!

Travis bought me a Nintendo Wii for my birthday and gave it to me early. It is the most awesome wonderful present I have received for my birthday in a VERY long time!!! It is seriously the most fun video game I have ever played. He also got me Wii Fit because I have wanting to lose my baby weight (eight months later!!) now that he is home for good and I can actually have an hour of time to do something for myself:) We have been having SO MUCH fun playing it everyday. My lil sis Lou has come over almost every day (wait...maybe it has been EVERY day:)) to play it with us. Who knew I would enjoy playing baseball and GOLF so much??!! Wii fit is awesome because you are getting your heart rate up a bit while playing a game!!! It even has Yoga and Strength Training! How fun is that!!! I highly recommend the purchase of one (even if you have to save your pennies for a few months). I love my honey!!! My sisters bought me some additional controllers and a few other games to with it, which I should be getting UPS today!! Thanks sisters!! I love you all! Turning 31 is FABULOUS!!