Monday, June 28, 2010

First and Last

Saturday was going to be a"getting things done around the house" day with Russell at work and alot of my family and friends out of town. I had bought Cole some organic baby yogurt but hadn't given him any yet as we have been busy with this or that and was nervous it might give him a tummy ache. I have been suspicious of a milk allergy since whenever I drink milk or eat ice cream, it seems to effect my breastmilk (yes, I used the "b" word on my blog) and he has extra yucky diapers, an irritated bum and even a little blood in his diaper. I have cut back on my dairy consumption and have found eating cheese or yogurt doesn't seem to bother Cole as they are considered the least allergenic dairy products. Since he isn't a big fan of meat products, I thought I would try the yogurt to give him another source of protein. Well, his first (and last) try of yogurt resulted in hives after 5-6 bites. I didn't notice them at first as there were only a few where yogurt had touched his chin and chest but saw them when I took a picture with my phone to show Russell that he seemed to like yogurt (ironic I know). Honestly, I thought it was just a drool rash because he has been drooling alot and chewing on everything to cut his molars. But as I watched him eat some cheerios, the redness spread and then he rubbed his eye (he was getting ready for his morning nap and was tired) with a yogurt covered hand and that eye turned red. After a few more minutes (despite me cleaning him off), his face and chest were covered with hives and his red eye was swelling. I called Russell, then the nurse hotline with our insurance who asked if he had facial swelling and by then his mouth area was a little swollen but he was playing like nothing was wrong. She was very helpful and encouraged me to do contact my dr. and do what I thought I needed to after that. I was trying to stay calm but when he started rubbing his throat and coughing a little I panicked (did the hives on his throat itch or was it swelling shut?!), and we made our first (and hopefully last) trip to the emergency room. They admitted us and gave him a good look over very quickly and didn't laugh at me for being an over-paranoid first-time mom bringing in a naked child (why let a 1 yr old eat who uses his food as hair gel eat in more than a diaper?) dressed in her house clothes with no make-up on and a 1980's blue fabric scrunchy in her hair and saying things like "I thought yogurt was supposed to be healthy". Luckily, he wasn't swelling anywhere else and an oral dose of Benadryl (which he spit back at the nurse despite her telling me how to get him to swallow it after me telling her he always spits medicine up) cleared him up and he has been fine since. We have his one year check-up this Wednesday where I'm sure my doctor is going to love my 8.2 million questions I have lined up to ask her on top of my other questions (such as "I read children outgrow milk allergies, so when should we try milk again?" and "I read children allergic to one thing are morely likely to be allergic to other foods so should we try soy, eggs, strawberries?" and "Do we need an epi-pen" and my favorite, "How much alcohol can a 150 lb (give or take 15-20 lbs) 28 yr old woman consume without it affecting her breastmilk to calm her nerves after experiencing a mild child-induced heart attack?"). I will end with a few pictures of Cole looking adorable to let ya'll know he is ok before I go make me a margarita!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Water fun

While the guys watched golf after celebrating Father's Day last weekend, us girls took Cole outside to play with his pool. He has been a little afraid of his pool, just like the big boy bathtub, so we have been taking things slow. He really loves just playing with the water hose and "water toys" (my mom's tupperware container and measuring cups)!
This picture was really cute, I thought:)
Auntie Em being awesome and showing me the crab pool is ok while mama laughs hysterically.
Finally got into the pool without tears! And yes, those are my white, glowing legs you are having to shield your eyes from!
Simple things in life are so much fun!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Father's Day 2010

What a busy and wonderful weekend! We celebrated Father's Day with Russell's family on Saturday and my family on Sunday plus had our own celebration. All the dad's/granddad's got some nice gifts and we all ate delicious food. Happy Father's Day again to my dad, father-in-law, my wonderful husband and all the other dads out there!

Cole and cousin with Grandpa

"Here Dada, I'll open that for you"

My handsome boys

Cole and Pop

Cole trying out Pop's new garden cart

Friday, June 18, 2010

Birthday boy

We were remembering all the events that happened around this time last year and it feels like yesterday that we were going to the hospital at 41 1/2 weeks pregnant to be induced and meet our mystery baby. Here is a walk down memory lane:
I went from this at 6 weeks pregnant...
To this the day before we induced! I am finally back to the previous picture and so can say "holy shamu!" at this one and not do too much psychological damage:)
And we met this little 10 lb 9 oz guy for the first time....
Who is now close to 30 lbs and constantly on the move and into everything... (this is the only recent picture of him smiling at the camera!)

Regardless of how many times he tries to "organize" the closet, we love this little guy so much and thank God every day for blessing us so much! Happy First Birthday Cole!

PS-Happy First Birthday to our cousin twin Holden too:)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Wedding weekend

This past weekend we travelled to San Antonio for Russell's cousin Jay and his fiance Becca's wedding. It was nice to be somewhere that had lower humidity but it was still hot! The historical Sunset Station area where the wedding and reception was held was very nice (church below) and the food was delicious....really glad we walked the couple blocks from the hotel to the church to burn off the extra calories! Cole did really at the wedding and reception as well as in the car on the way down there but the ride home was pretty rough so I'm glad we don't have any more long trips anytime soon. Congratulations Jay and Becca!
Cole with Grandma, Grandpa and cousin

What kind of redneck would bring their child to a wedding without shoes...oh wait, that is my child! We were running late and his shoes were in the car in the parking lot that was the opposite direction of the church plus he doesn't walk yet and it's hot outside so we'll just be rednecks for a little while longer:)


Cole enjoying the bubbles with his second cousin

Friday, June 11, 2010

Thank God I'm a Country Boy!

Russell had off Monday since he is going to start working weekends so we headed out to the country. Cole had been out there a few times but it had been several months since our last visit so it was like a whole new world to him! He liked watching the cows and really liked riding in the tractor with Grandpa. Even though the sultry heat of summer is upon us, I think we'll definitely be making more frequent visits to the country now that Cole is older and has alot of things to point at!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Engineer Day

Once a year, the US Army Corps of Engineers where Russell works (not to be mistaken with the Aggie Corps) holds an Engineer Day where they provide lunch and games for employees and their families. For whatever reason (school, work, pregnancy), I have never been able to attend but could go this year since I am still at home with Cole. I was a little nervous as we have not been outside in the sun for that long with Cole yet so he had a bucket hat on and two applications of sunscreen (I didn't want him to get burnt period but especially not the day before his birthday party!). Luckily we stayed under the pavillion most of the time so no sunburns for us! Cole did really well on the trip to and from Stillhouse Hollow Lake in Belton (the water was beautiful!) which is a trend I hope will continue as we travel to San Antonio this weekend for Russell's cousin's wedding. I hope we can go with Russell again next year and Cole can enjoy some of the games that were set up for smaller kiddos!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Kids at party

We had several little ones at the party on Saturday which was lots of fun especially since Cole hadn't gotten to meet some of Russell and mine's friends little ones yet. Plus, they all showed Cole how to use his new toys as he watched intently (allowing us more time to open presents!). FYI, if you need a gift for a child under 3 years old, there was one that was a big hit (see pics below)!

Monday, June 7, 2010

First Birthday Party

Well Cole isn't technically one until next week but we decided to have his birthday this past Saturday due to a wedding this weekend and Russell having to work weekends the rest of the summer. I was a little stressed out (who would have thought planning a one year old's birthday party would be stressful?!) but everything turned out well. The room looked good, the food tasted good and I think/hope everyone had a great time. There are a ton of pictures so this is post one of two of the party. We definitely have a very blessed little boy!
I made this cake...yeah right! Amen for the awsome ladies at Kroger's bakery!
Mommy and Daddy with the birthday boy
MMM....processed sugar product (aka cake). I wonder why my weirdo health nut mama doesn't let me eat this more often?! (Actually Cole didn't eat very much of the cake so I guess he is a health nut too:)).
Clapping my hands to tell everyone thank you for all my gifts and making my party special!
Picture with my Mom-ma and Pop-pa (Cole's great granparents)

Picture with my Grandma and Grandpa (Cole's other great-grandparents). Need to get an updated picture with Cole's grandparents as we forgot at the party....need to make a mental note to have a list of pictures I want to take before the next big event!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Random phrases

Ok so a few weeks ago, I posted about the dolphin in the toilet. And not that anyone else finds humor in these, but I wanted to blog about a few more phrases just so that I have it documented somewhere for future reference! I started giving Cole bites of goldfish crackers last week and when going to put the bag up in the kitchen, I picked him up and he took a cracker out of his mouth and laid it on me (he takes almost all food out of his mouth and then eats it like he is a gourmet and has to taste it to make sure it is up to his standards first!). This resulted in my saying the very intelligent line of "I have a goldfish on my shoulder" like it was something exciting. And another saying I have been using frequently deals with the fact that our teething child (number 8 poked through today!) is part goat/woodchuck/cannibal (he bit my shoulder!) and chews on everything. Instead of saying "no" 8.4 million times a day, I have started saying things like "that isn't Cole's" or "Baxter isn't going to play with you anymore if you pull his tail" or "Thank you, I'll take that" or when he tries to bite on the coffee table (my favorite) "We don't eat wood in this family". I'll leave you with a picture of the boy looking angelic and not ntutritionally deprived to the point of gnawing on wood.

Cousins

For Mother's Day, we got my mother-in-law a Grandma picture frame and promised to fill it with a picture of her grandchildren soon. At my birthday last weekend, I tried to get a picture of them BOTH looking at the camera and failed...miserably. Here are a few examples:
And in case you are wondering what was so interesting at the window...