Cole and the "Sprinkle"

I am quickly learning that life is much more, um, eventful with 2 children! Just the simple task of getting out of the house takes hours, and I'm not exaggerating! 2 baths to give, 2 outfits to put on, several diaper changes and feedings, oh yeah, and I have to get ready somewhere in the midst of it all...it's exhausting! But, always fun and adventurous. I really needed to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some things today, so we all got ready to go. As I'm walking out of the house carrying Raleigh in her car seat and diaper bag over my shoulder, I tell Cole, "Do NOT run to the side of the house!" You see, he has discovered the water hose is over there and boy is it fun to play in!! He calls it the "sprinkle;" it's his word for sprinkler. Well, of course he does not listen; he's 2 1/2 and doesn't listen to anything! :) Now, naive as I am, I think to myself there's no way he can turn the water hose on, right?! WRONG!!! I hear him yell as I am getting Raleigh in the car, and look over to my son who is soaking wet!!! He laughs and says, "Momma, I'm all wet!!" Yes, so I noticed! So, back in the house we all go to change Cole's outfit.

So, we did make it to Wal-Mart eventually. I needed to get him out of the house; he gets very stir crazy, especially now that I have to spend a lot of time taking care of Raleigh. So, we went outside this afternoon and let him and the "sprinkle" have at it. Very cute, I must say. Even though he tried several times to soak me and Forrest (poor dog, he was traumatized!) it was fun to watch him just be a 2 year old. Enjoy this video!

She's not happy to be outside!!!

She's 2 months!!!

It seems as though yesterday I was pregnant with her, and now we have already reached 2 months! She was 9 weeks on Tuesday and went for her 2 month check-up. The doctor gave her an A+! She weighs 11 pounds 11.5 ounces and is 23 inches long. She is growing like a weed and is in the 75% for both height and weight. They gave her 3 shots, though, and an oral medication, all of which she hated very much. I cannot stand when they give Cole or Raleigh shots; it's horrible for us as parents to know that our kids are in pain and there's nothing we can do about it. It's especially hard when they are young like Raleigh. But, they are all necessary. She is smiling a lot now and making those precious baby noises. I swear it's like she is trying to tell me something! She is definitely "Daddy's Little Girl!" Everytime she hears Eric's voice or sees him, she starts grinning. And you know Eric is in Heaven. She already has him wrapped around her tiny little finger.
Cole is still fascinated with her. She is beginning to really pay attention to him, and he loves it. He will yell, "Momma, she's looking at me!" or "She just smiled at me, Momma, she's so cute!" They are adorable together. I still pinch myself everyday, because I can't believe how lucky I am to have these two beautiful children as my own. I feel very blessed.
My mom and I took the kids to Sesqui today and had a picnic. After we ate, Cole played on the playground. He is such a big boy! He was just climbing up the playset like it was nothing and going down the tallest slide there was. Of course, he made sure I was waiting at the bottom of the slide for him! I loved it; even though he is growing up, he still kinda needs me. Here are two of my favorite pictures of him at the park. How handsome is he?!

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter. We really enjoyed ours with our families, and it was fun to have Raleigh here with us this year. Cole and Raleigh both looked adorable as usual. We bought Cole a dress shirt and matching tie to wear, but we just assumed that everything would be fine. Well, Easter morning we were getting them dressed for church, and to our surprise, the tie was made for possibly an infant!! The dumb thing stopped at about midway down Cole's chest! You would think a 4T shirt would have a tie to accommodate the length. It looked ridiculous, and of course, we went into panic mode because we had no idea what to do. Fortunately, we still have his tie he wore last year and it matched just fine, so he wore that. Raleigh had on a beautiful white dress with embrodiered pink roses on the sides, matching shoes, a sweater and a headwrap which she hated with a passion. But did she ever look so cute! Of course, she spit up on the front of her dress before we could even get out of the house!!! Luckily, it wasn't that bad, so we threw a bib on her and hoped she wouldn't poop up her back, especially with the dress being white! Oh, the joy of dressing up your kids!

Cole had so much fun on his multiple Easter egg hunts. He hunted eggs three times at PopPop and Nana's, and then again with John-Michael at GiGi and Grandaddy's house. He was so cute; everytime he saw one he would get really excited at shout, "Another Easter Egg!" It was so fun to watch he and John-Michael chase after them. Eric hid one on a tree branch they could not reach, and it was just histerical to watch them both jump up trying to get it. In the end, Eric picked Cole up to knock it down and John-Michael picked it up. It was a wonderful day with our families, especially being able to celebrate it's true meaning. I can't wait to teach Cole and Raleigh that Easter is not just about the Easter bunny and hunting Easter eggs; it's about celebrating the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the fact that He is risen. Here are some of our favorite pictures of the day.

Cole's first fish

Eric was upset that I did not post Cole's first fish on here, so here it is!!! Cole caught his first fish a few weeks ago; a catfish that weighed close to a pound. Eric said Cole was so excited...he was yelling the entire time they reeled it in! Cole still tells everyone he meets about his fish. It is really cute.

About a week later, Eric got brave and decided to go fishing in the boat with his dad and Cole. He had high hopes that Cole would enjoy this trip and sit still, because as you know, all 2 year olds are calm and can sit perfectly still. :) HaHa!!! Apparently, Cole was less than perfect and Eric says that will be his last fishing trip in a boat for awhile. My father-in-law is missing several things that were in his boat. I guess they took a dive over the side of the boat into the river thanks to Cole. You can tell by his face in the picture with "PopPop" that he was very tired and cranky at this point. And he insists on telling me that his second fish was scary because it was too big!

Cole and "Chunky Monkey"

She is absolutely growing like a weed!! We took her to the doctor yesterday and she weighs 10 pounds 6 ounces!!! And she just turned 6 weeks yesterday! Do you think she is eating enough?! I love the picture where she is smiling and you can see her white tongue! You can see the rolls on her arms too. She is wonderful and we are all enjoying her, especially her big brother, Cole. He always wants to be with her. Precious!

Eric's "work of art"

Look at what he did to my child's hair!!! This is how it started.

Eric has been begging for weeks to cut Cole's hair. I will admit; it was a bit long. California boy long as Eric says. But, super cute because Cole's hair is curly and it he had beautiful curls in the back. So finally, I gave in yesterday and tried to trim it myself. But those of you who know Cole know that is an impossible task because he is 2 1/2 and VERY active! So, when I got done, it looked terrible and all uneven. I had no choice but to resort to "hair stylist Daddy." He proceeded to take clippers to our son's beautiful hair, even though he assured me it wouldn't be "that short." Yeah right! His head is buzzed just Eric's. I don't plan on having it this short ever again as long as I have a say so, but I must admit, it is kinda cute. He looks like a four year old.