Cole's Visit

     At the beginning of April 2013 Will and Tif  wanted to take a trip back East to visit some friends and see the sites. They asked us to watch Cole for 10 days. Both of is were a bit apprehensive about this bit we knew it would be good experience for us in the future being parents.  

   He was fine the first few days and I took him to work with me and he played wth Jackson. They seemed to feed off of each other. Their personalities were different but they had lots of fun together.

Taking a walk with the boys and this is what they did.

Bathtime!!

Going to the library together side by side. When we got there this is how I found them.

Then on Saturday evening right before dinner Cole was watching a movie and all of a sudden started throwing up. He was scared because he hadn't really done this before. We calmed him down and cleaned it up and gave him a bath. Shortly thereafter it was his bed time and we put him in his pack an play. About an hour and a half later we heard him crying. We walked in and he had thrown up all over himself, his pillow, his blankets.  So we tossed it all in the wash.  We ended up calling Will & Tif as well as my Mom to get some advice. It was then that Sam stayed with Cole and I made a late night trip to Wal-Mart to get some pedialyte.  After I got home we decided that we would take shifts and watch him throughout the night. I took the first shift and we watched a Tinkerbell movie. After that it was close to midnight so we cuddled up together on the couch and he fell asleep. I didn't get much sleep because I was so anxious about it all. I also decided to let Sam sleep all night and I figured I could sleep in the morning. Plus my brother, Michael, was going to come over and take a turn too. Cole was acting fine and seemed to have lots o energy but couldn't seem to keep anything down. I also took the next few days off of work because I didn't want to expose Jackson to it. I took him back a bit early and my Mom watched him the last little bit. We later figured out it was probably all brought on by stress, a different environment and missing his parents. Although it did continue for a little bit after they came home he settled in and became the Cole we knew again. 

    This was more of a learning experience than we could have ever asked for bit through it all Sam was a trooper and I know one day he will be a great Dad.

Uncle Sam and Cole being cozy and catching a few more minutes of sleep as I got ready for the day.

He was so exhausted after all of this that he wa such a heavy sleeper during his naps and bedtime.

Cole's 2nd Birthday

On February 12th our nephew Cole turned 2. Will and Tif hosted a family party at their house and it was more exciting for him because he was able to interact and talk more than his first birthday. We got him a Mr. & Mrs. Potato head. We chose this gift because he loves Toy Story so much. He loved them!! We are dinner/cake and then we watched a slideshow of his last year. Then at the end it showed an ultrasound picture announcing that Cole was goof to be a big brother and that the baby was due in August.

Rebecca's 24th Birthday

    I could hardly believe that I was turning 24. I don't know where the time has gone. I tried to get the day off but with no luck. But Sam had the day off and so we decided to make the best of it. I wanted to go see a movie but the one I wanted to see was just showing one night at the theater near us. When we got there there were only 4 others in the theater. It made it super romantic. We chose to watch Romeo & Juliet.

      When the day came Sam was sick and it was a little bit of a damper. I spent the morning with Jackson and then we met up for lunch. I had ordered Cafe Rio and put a reservation on a Redbox DVD. Yummy!!                 

       Then after we all finished eating I put Jackson down for his nap. When I came back downstairs Sam and I cuddled up on the couch and watched Monsters University. After it was over Sam decided to go home and take a nap. When I got off work we had decided to go out for dinner. We chose Texas Roadhouse. It was so delicious and we ordered too much food that we had to take food home for the next day. 

    It was such an amazing day and I  glad I got to spend it with Sam.

Thanksgiving 2013

     So when Sam and I got married we decided on alternating families for the holidays since we all live relatively close to each other.

     This year we were supposed to be with my family. A few weeks before Thanksgiving my Mom told me that they might be going down to where my Grandparents live (Alton). They thought about it so they could take our exchange student at the time (Anders) down to see the sights. Sam and I wouldn't be able to go because of work so we told Sam's parents we may go with them. 

     Them finally, the weekend before, my parents decided to stay home and have a cozy Thanksgiving. My Mom assigned me to bring a veggie tray and 2 pumpkin pies. 

    The morning of Thanksgiving as tradition, we watched the Macy's parade and looked at all the Black Friday ads. When dinner was ready and the table set it was quite a sight to behold and we were all ready for the feast.

Here is Anders and Marietta working on a secret dinner project. Pictured below is their masterpiece....

The table all set.

The feast!!

Sam thoroughly enjoying the drumstick. 

     Later that evening as we were all trying to digest our food we settled in an started playing Phase 10 and having fun. We then decided to watch Secretariet and eat pie. After that somehow My brother, Steven, thought it would be fun to try on some of my Dad's old clothes.....these are the results....

     It was a fun day and I'm glad we got to spend it with family.