apple picking

Cole, Aunt Colette, Pops, Cora and I trekked out for our annual apple picking adventure yesterday. Cole had a much better time than last year.

Here are some pictures of the day:

at the car wash

Happy 100th post!

Funny that there's been that much (well, to me anyway!) to post about Cole in the last year or so that we've made it to 100. Funnier still that you're reading it. . .

Not much going on this week over here. Nighttime has gotten a bit better (except for last night). Cole has settled down into a routine and Bill and I are thankful.

Some nights, when no amount of cuddling and rocking helped to settle him down for long, Bill would go back into his room and lay him down, saying "it's time for bed now." And Cole would take a deep breath and sniffle and go back to sleep. So, unfortunately, being stern and telling Cole it's time of knock it off is our last defense. . .and it seems to work.

These pictures are small because they are cell pictures. . .but here is a picture of Cole eating a peach that he somehow helped himself to in the fruit bowl on the kitchen table. Luckily neither Bill nor I saw exactly how this maneuver happened. Cole just came into the living room snacking on a peach and sat on his chair like it was no big deal.

I also took him through the car wash yesterday. Saying he loved it would be an understatement. He laughed and pointed at the water and the brushes. I tried to get a picture but it's getting tougher and tougher for me to turn at the waist. . .especially from the front seat of the car to the back. . . but you get the picture.

And speaking of being thick around the middle. . .everything with baby #2 is going just fine and uneventful. I've already received a few presents and the new tiny pink things are strange to get used to.

We also might have decided on a name. . .but don't ask. . .we're not telling.

As a test, I told some pesky coworkers a fake name to see if they'd be nice. . .and the first thing out of their mouths was. . . "oh, I don't like that" or "I knew a girl by that name and she was a . . ."

So our decision to keep it quiet has been validated. ;-) We figure by the time you're laying your eyes on that little girl. . .you'll forget how much you didn't like the name Viola in the first place.

Just kidding - it's not Viola. . .but seriously. . .don't ask.

fainting spells for labor day!

If it's from the Disney movie 'Cars'. . .it's probably made it's way into our home. . .sigh. Cole is relaxing on his new beanbag. . .

In all my excitement to tell you about the kitchen heist. . .I forgot to let you know about my fiasco at the park last week! I know, I know. . .the park and I don't seem to mix.

The quick version is that Cole and I went to the park last Friday afternoon to try and release some of this pent up energy this kid constantly has stored up. . .and I passed out! I actually fainted.

It wasn't overly warm, and yes, I had eaten (albeit a doughnut and a piece of cherry pie) and I wasn't chasing him all over because we were the only two at the park for most of our time there. Luckily for me a woman with a couple of kids showed up just in time. . .

Cole was at the top of a slide and I was waiting next to him. . . and I got dizzy, and prickly (I'm sure those of you that have fainted might understand that description) and knew I should sit quick. I hollered for the woman and asked for help watching Cole and as soon as I slumped on the ground, I woke up. Bizarre, huh?

After I sat for a few minutes and drank most of Cole's water, I felt fine. Doc says it's related to the pregnancy and blood pressure, etc. Oh. . .and that it could happen again, at any time and anywhere. Awesome.

Talk about scary, though! I knew I was going down and knew Cole was at the top of a slide and couldn't do anything about it. I might have had a panic attack on top of the fainting spell if the park was busier and I was worried about someone taking off with him, too! I was smart enough to ask for help and the woman was very willing and kind not to giggle. ;-)

I'm fine now and my dad was very helpful and rushed up to play with Cole for the rest of the day so I could keep my feet up and rest. Thank goodness for retired grandpas.

In other news. . .we met up with the Goguens on Labor Day at Kimball's Farm in Jaffrey for a lobster roll binge. Well. . .I was the only one technically "binging". . .

Cole with Uncle Jack while waiting for our food.

I managed to eat a cheeseburger, half of Cole's hot dog, a lobster roll, some of my sister's coleslaw, and polished off a pumpkin ice cream in the hour and a half I was at the farm. And yes, I made room for dinner a couple of hours later.

One of the neat things about Kimball's is that it is next to a tiny airport. Cole loved watching the planes take off directly overhead. He patiently waited for each to take off . . . here he is with Bill as they're waiting for the next plane. . .

Pretty neat picture.

a kitchen heist

So I'm browsing my usual coupon/money-saving baby sites yesterday afternoon. You know. . the babycheapskate.com, coupons.com, dealsformoms.com, etc. and I see a post to remind me that the Toys R Us Labor Day Sale is going on. So I click on the flyer. . .because I need absolutely nothing from Toys R Us. . .

And I see it. The play kitchen. The kitchen I've been scouring countless craiglists ads and yardsales for. . .for months. . .and it's 50% off! I was hoping to get one used and in good condition. . .not only to give a toy a little more life, but to save my wallet the pain of these new toy kitchen prices. Which, let me tell you aren't really an option for a one-income family and run in the hundreds of dollars for a decent, wooden kitchen. . .without the accessories.

So back to the kitchen because I know you're on the edge of your seat. . .

At 50% off, this tiny (a necessity in our living space), wooden (score!), non-pink or pastel colored kitchen (you mean they come in boy colors, too?!?) is about 50 dollars! Must be a mistake! Must jump on this immediately! I get online immediately and figure the extra cost of shipping it is worth getting one at this price. . .I find it on the website, click "order me". . .and a picture of a onesie comes on the screen and says "thank you for your order."

No! I don't need a purple polka dotted onesie! I'm panicked and getting angry at this point and decide to brave the hold time and call customer service.

A friendly young man named Jason tells me that they are in the process of removing the kitchen deal from the website because in Toys R Us online land. . .they are indeed sold out. Darn! Oh, and I cancelled my order for the onesie.

I sit back on the couch and start watching some silly PBS cooking show and think, maybe there's one at my local store, still? Just maybe. . .

And don't you know. . . 35 minutes on hold and after asking four separate associates. . .someone tells me there are 4 in Nashua. . .yesssssss. . .

Are you bored with this story yet? I promise this is where it gets good. . .

But how big is the box? I drive a Subaru Impreza. . . Is it heavy? I'm 40 minutes away from my Toys R Us. . .will there still be any left? And I have to work in 2 hours and haven't ironed my clothes. . .argh. . .what to do? Does Cole really need this kitchen? Yes. Absolutely. So I give Bill the baby monitor (luckily Cole was napping), slam a cold piece of pizza down my throat and take off. . .

The car doesn't have a lot of gas but I'll make it there, at least. I'm speeding, tailgating. . .trying to gain some ground on my drive. I have to drive down this busy commercial street with a ton of lights and I'm hitting every red. . .I switch lanes to get in front of the pokey old people. . .run a few yellow lights. . .and I realize. . .I'm getting stressed out. My heart is beating fast, my jaw is clenched and I'm actually sweating a little. And the baby starts kicking (let's not forget about her!) and I start laughing out loud in the car!

I can't remember the last time I got myself all fired up for something like this. Probably the last thing I found for Cole that I really wanted to get him. . .maybe the day we got the Britax in the mail! ;-) I tell the kicking baby that it's amazing what her mother has turned into. . .and get to Toys R Us in record time.

I grab a carriage and am almost running to the "pretend play" section. Which is not really where moms of boys hang out, I'll admit. But this is important. . .and he's going to love it. . .and I do have a girl on the way. . .so I remind myself this will be a good purchase.

I run down the play kitchen aisle and scan the shelves. . .at least ten different models of huge, plastic kitchens. . .at least $100 each. . .ugh. . .they must be gone. I turn the corner and there it is. . .on display in the middle of the aisle for everyone to grab before me. . .and I see only 2 boxes left!!

There's a man (sort of big, too) literally holding one of the 2 boxes. The box he is holding is new, unopened and in good condition. The only box left on the display is torn open, dented and dirty. Oh man. And the guy says under his breath that he'll need a carriage to carry the kitchen. . .puts the box down and leaves.

I'm not going to spell out in black and white what happened at that point. . .but here's a stock photo of Cole's new (in an unopened box) play kitchen that he'll be getting this Christmas from Santa:

And come on. . .try to tell me honestly that you wouldn't have done the same thing!?! I mean, it's blue and everything!

I got it home and with this triumphant smile I said to Bill, "So. . .so. . .what do you think?" Without missing a beat he said "Cole is going to love it just as much as those little girls on the box."

He was right. . .the boxes were covered with little girls.

on the phone

Here's a very grainy video I took tonight of Cole on the phone with my mom. . .I can't imagine what he has to say!

deep breaths. . .

I'm very disorganized lately and I apologize.

I haven't been very good about updating the blog and I know that some of you check back often to see our goings-on. So I'll try to be better about that. Quite a bit of family is now on Facebook and that's become an easy, up-to-the-minute way to connect and share little daily tid bits. So if you're not on already. . .ask Aunt Pat. . .she'll teach you how! ;-)

I thought of coming on here at 4:00 a.m. this morning when Cole was screaming in his bed to give you my full effect of emotion. . . but decided against it at the last minute. I can't figure out what the problem is with us lately, but it seems every 3-5 months we hit this patch where he won't sleep through the night. He's up super late, and will wake up crying. . .and he doesn't want anything. . .just to be held and rocked. . .for hours. It's awful.

We thought it might be his teeth (which are still bothering him!), or another growth spurt (as seen by the clothing that all of a sudden is too small, again). . .but we're not sure. Bill and I (I'm not going to lie here. . . it's mostly Bill) deal with his antics and rock him until he's sleeping again. . .tip toe to the crib and lay him down ever-so gently. . .tip toe out of the room and hold our breaths downstairs for about 15 minutes until we know he's asleep.

Anyway. . .it didn't take long for me to string this together with the impending arrival of another child to have a panic attack. How are we going to have two sleeping children, ever? Certainly not in one room. . .and then it hit us. . .we will no longer have our own room. Sigh. I pictured myself holding a screaming baby and listening to another screaming baby through the monitor and wished I could have a drink. At 4:00 a.m.

Eventually I went back to sleep and so did Cole. . .but that thought of "oh no. . what did we do?" is still in my head. Which, I then realized. . .is probably why I haven't updated in a bit. My update is basically that I'm having daily panic attacks trying to visualize in my head how I will deal with two kids. Putting them to bed. . .feeding them both. . .keeping them both entertained for hours a day. . .just transporting them from point A to B. . .it's all very daunting.

Deep breaths. . .

Anyway. . . besides his sleep habits, Cole is certainly displaying acts of independence. Sometimes it's yelling at the grocery store and laughing when I tell him to stop. Sometimes it's throwing blueberries at the window. And other times it's as simple and running away from me for 30 minutes when I say it's time to put shoes on. Everyday it's something new and usually centers around him telling me he's not going to do what I've asked him to do. So this'll last for what. . the next 12 or so years? Fantastic.

Here he is eating breakfast this week. He wouldn't eat his breakfast in his highchair. . .but it was apparently just fine if I let him sit at the table himself. And so it begins. . .