Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Get Well Pampers!!

Today is Pam's big surgery day. So far all is going well. For updates, check out her blog. Ryan is doing a great job of updating. Get well soon Pampers!!!!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Happy 1st Birthday Cole!!!

Wow! I don't even know how it is possible that a year has passed since Cole became part of our family, but today is our baby's 1st birthday!

Cole came into the world under somewhat stressful circumstances. We were waiting and waiting to find a match for my blood and in the afternoon of July 15th I got a call saying Jen was a match. I think at that point Cole knew he was safe to come and I went into labor on my own, rather than waiting for my 3rd scheduled c-section date of the week. I will never forget waking up in the middle of the night trying to figure out if I was having contractions, then leaving for the hospital at 5:30 in the morning (thank you Sarah and Mom!!), only to have Cole arrive very quickly there after at 7:00 a.m. exactly. He was pretty big at 8 pounds, 10 ounces and 20 inches long. It was fun to take a walk down memory lane and read about his arrival here.

Happy birthday Cole!! More pictures and milestones from throughout his first year to come soon!

Sweet Baby Cole

Our first picture as a family of 4
And now-big and on the move!

Patriotic Pictures

Here are some late patriotic pictures that I wanted to post earlier, but they were a surprise. My grandpa recently was chosen participate in Honor Flight Chicago. This organization helps take WWII vets to Washington DC free of charge, so that they can see the WWII memorial, along with other DC sights. It is a really amazing thing and our family was so excited that my grandpa was chosen (and that my cousin Mike was able to accompany him). I think it is such a great way to honor his and other veterans' service to our country.

On the flight home, they do a "mail call" like they used to do back during the war. We were all invited to write letters and I thought it would be fun that the kids' card had their pictures. It was right around 4th of July time, so I was able to raid the Target Dollar Spot (love it!!!) and get some fun props.

Today was the day my grandpa took his honor flight and from what I have heard so far, it was a great experience.

Here are the pics (I used the first 2 for his card)....






Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Crazy

It is crazy to think that this was the day that was picked last year for Cole to come into the world. As we know, things changed and we had to wait 2 more days to meet our little guy.

2 more days until Cole's 1st birthday!!!! The countdown is on! I can't believe it. :)

Monday, July 13, 2009

Just one for now...

I am so tired and have so many pictures to go through from our busy weekend. Mia was in a wedding this weekend, so on Friday we had the rehearsal, Saturday the ceremony and reception, and then on Sunday we celebrated my grandparents 60th anniversary-wow!!

Anyhow, we are still recovering from all the excitement and I will hopefully get through the pictures this week, but here is just one for now.
Joy and Mia

Mike and Nic's BBQ

A couple of weeks ago, Mike and Nic hosted the whole Bolingbrook crew over at their house for a BBQ. There was a jumpy, good food and drinks, and popsicles-what else can you ask for?? Thanks Mike and Nic for your hospitality!

A couple of Cole-look how big he is getting!!
How big is Cole? SO BIG!
Cole's future girlfriend-Ali
Mia rolling out of the jumpy
Mia and Sam loving the popsicles!
Cole was not as big of a fan of the popsicles-yet
Pam and Ryan
Our family

Friday, July 10, 2009

Mom's Birthday

On June 16th we headed to my aunt's to surprise my mom for her birthday. She thought she was just going out to dinner with my aunt, but my family, Jen's family, and my grandparents were all there. It turned out to be a VERY rainy day so Noah and Mia were able to get decked out in their rain gear.

Happy Birthday Mom! She was reading her card with Noah and Mia's voices recorded saying "Happy Birthday"

Mia and Noah helping Grammy blow out her candles
What life would be like with twins-Cort with Claire and Cole
Grandma and Papa Noah and Mia in their rain coats (thanks mom for Mia's cute jacket and boots!)

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Mia's First Movie

Back in June we took Mia to see her first movie. We had been wanting to take her for awhile, but just never got the chance. We saw that Earth was playing at the Ogden Theater (which I still like to think of as the $1 theater, even though it is now $3) and figured that we be a safe bet in case it didn't go so well. :) Plus it had animals which is always a bonus for Mia. Cort's parents watched Cole and we started the night by having a quick dinner at Panera. After that we headed to the theater. You can see the excitement clearly on Mia's face. :)


She was so excited, it was so cute. Overall she did great. She got squirmy the last half an hour of the movie and took turns on both of our laps, but other than that she sat through the whole thing. The candy and popcorn helped too. :)

Here is Mia watching the preview for Night at the Museum 2-I think she was a little freaked out by the dinosaurs

A quick picture before the movie was starting
This past week Cort also took Mia to see Kung Fu Panda for free at the theater in town-they do free movies in the summer. It is so fun that she is getting big enough to do these kinds of things. :)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

4th of July-Part 4

After leaving Erica's birthday party, we headed over to Sarah and Ian's house to join them, the Dasbachs, Smiths, Andersons, and Kate and Rich. Sarah was the grillmaster and all the kids had fun playing while the adults had fun eating. :) The weather was still pretty bad at this point, but by 8ish started to clear up. Despite the pouring rain all day, we were still able to watch the fireworks. We went across the street and sat in the backyard of Sarah and Ian's neighbors. We live close enough to the golf course that we had a pretty decent view of the fireworks, not to mention the neighbors' fireworks are always pretty impressive too.

We had put Cole down earlier in the night and woke him up to go. We weren't sure how he would do, especially since he really didn't used to be a big fan of loud noises, but he actually did awesome. For the first part he just snuggled with me and watched the bright lights, but after he woke up a bit, he was on the move! Just like last year, Mia loved them. In fact, she really wasn't too interested in sitting by me. I kept asking her, but she was doing just fine in her camp chair by herself. :)

Here are some more pictures.

Family picture-Cole looks thrilled, doesn't he? :)
Mia and Ryan
Alli
Cole on the move-I love this picture even though it is blurry-he was coming at me too fast!
I had several sad attempts to get a picture of the two kids together (this one is the best if that says anything). This may go down in history as the worst picture ever-I totally overexposed them and it's blurry-oops!
Mia and Ava showing their patriotic "flair"
Getting ready to watch the fireworks-all the big kids in their camp chairs
So excited
Cole still waking up
Waiting...
Let me just add here that I was never allowed to do sparklers as a child. Hopefully my family will not freak out too much when they see this picture. :) Cort was nearby-I promise!!!
Sarah and Ava doing sparklers
Fireworks shot

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

4th of July-Part 3

The fourth of July ended up being a rainy, rainy day as those of you who live in Illinois know! First we headed off to Erica's 2nd birthday party since her birthday actually falls on the 4th of July. I cannot believe Erica is already 2! It was also funny being there, remembering being so pregnant with Cole at her 1st birthday party last year. The kids had a great time playing with all the toys (it is always more fun to play with someone else's things!!) and enjoyed the yummy food and cake. Here are a couple of pictures...

The birthday girl-I had to work hard for this eye contact, I think she knew I was the crazy lady with the camera :)

Playing "put the princess in the castle"

Our patriotic girl
Venessa and Aaron

Cort and Cole
Cake time!

I love the Elvis lip :)