Father's Day Weekend

This weekend for Father's Day, we ignored all parenting wisdom and packed up our sick baby to head to Houston.  If you are going to be miserable and exhausted anyway, might as well be with people you love! We stayed at Matt and Rachel's and spent lots of time with Emily and her new handsome fellow, Chris. (We approved, by the way.  He is awesome!)

 

Cole ended up not getting a fever again that weekend, so we were glad we went!

 

 Cole played his maracas all the way to Houston, and Tom safely ate his favorite Whataburger sandwich. 

Late night playtime with Rachel.

Pass the pigs! Cole loved those little pink fellows.

Good job Matt!

Early morning snuggles. And wild hair.

LOVE my sweet friends. So thankful!

Pedicures!

Family. Again, so thankful.

 World's best game? Reverse Charades.  I haven't laughed that hard for that long...ever! I can't wait to play it again.

Steaks and corn on the cob! Delicious!

 Rachel and I did some crafting

 

Cole can't wait to play ball with the boys.

Happy Father's Day to Tom! We are so blessed, so thankful and so loved by him!

 

 And lastly, here are the pictures that made it on Tom's first Father's Day card. Tom asked me if I put the balls back in the boxes.  HA!

 

 

Cole: 10 Months

Cole is 10 months! And it has been one filled month of new skills, new foods, new teeth and new fevers.

Cole is officially on the move.  He started crawling and that led to pulling up and cruising all over the place.  It's crazy how fast that all happened.  In Cole's new found freedom, I am still trying to adjust to the whole "be careful, he could be trying to open the oven" mindset.  Or headed to the stairs.  Or has the vacuum cord in his mouth.  You just never know.  

                                     

We also caught Cole standing in the crib... down to the lowest level he went.  He can still stand up, but at least his chances of catapulting over the edge is much less.

Cole is also starting to learn words and act on them now..which is so fun! It puts some purpose to me talking to myself all day! He can "share," give hugs and kisses, rub noses, clean up and sit down.  I love seeing him learn.

Cole gained two more teeth this month.  (Four total). We also survived his first virus.  That was rough.  Turns out that taking baths at 3 am aren't as much fun as in the early evening.  We didn't sleep a whole lot this month.

Cole continues to eat like a champion.  He loves to be in control, so finger foods and giant carrots are his favorites.  It is a huge mess, but also entertaining. 

I was trying to encourage Tom with a Bible verse one day...but the only way to keep Cole from eating the paper was to give him a carrot!

This boy loves to be outside!

Cloth Diapers...what??

Ten months into disposable diapers...and I've switched over.  Joyfully in fact! I always wanted to use cloth diapers.  Mostly because all my friend do, but once you are in the disposables routine, its hard to give it up, and being trendy is not enough motivation.  My personal thoughts against it were...I hate laundry and avoid it for as long as possible. We had lots of gift cards to buy diapers.  It was easy.  We got comfortable.

Here are the events that slowly changed my mind...

• Cole's cloth swim diaper (above) is super cute and I started getting the itch.
•  We started looking at our budget and spending on Excel.  The grocery category (including diapers) was outrageous.
• A friend announced on Facebook that her home was diaper-free after 10 YEARS. Gross. 
• I now do laundry more frequently...like a big girl...without complaining.
• Cole's poop is always dumped into the toilet so it doesn't stink up the house.
• Tom was on board.

So we did it! I am 24 hours into it, and it has been smooth so far.  Cole pooped within 10 minutes of wearing his first diaper...haha!!! But it was so nice not having the thoughts of wasting another diaper. Love that! We spent just under $300 for 19 diapers, wet bags, detergent and a few extra accessories.  Not bad at all!

I should also mention that we are in this gig at about 80%.  I am not fully committed to nighttime diapers yet...I don't currently change Cole at night.  He is still a terrible sleeper.  And I don't want to throw wet diapers into the mix.  Maybe in a month or so.  I also have no plans to use cloth diapers on outings or with traveling. 

I used Young House Love's blog and my friend's blog from A&M to help me pick my loot.  So thankful for these extremely detailed updates on how cloth diapering is going for them, even after 1 and 2 years. 

Can you tell that Cole has a fever and was throwing up last night? Poor little one!

 

 

Baby Dedication Weekend

This weekend we got to dedicate our little Cole Henry in our church. We LOVE our church home, and were so eager and excited to have the body pray over us and for Cole and commit to raising him up in the Lord with us.  Such a sweet time.

 

 

We chose Psalm 1:1-6 to read during the service.

 

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

 

We pray that Cole would LOVE the Word.  Cling to it.  Memorize it.  Lean on it.  We desire him to be surrounded with godly friends, mentors and men who will disciple him.  We want him to produce fruit that is eternal.  We want him to be planted firmly in the Lord. 

 

We also had a great time celebrating with our parents.  Lots of great food and they got to watch Cole crawl around and explore with all his new tricks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grant comes to San Antonio!

This past weekend, George Strait was playing in San Antonio...which was enough reason for the Verhalen family to pack up and drive south for five six hours. We were super excited to see them and to reunite Cole with his cousin.  They were pretty darn cute. We ate way too much, had fun at the pool and park, took naps and enjoyed the company.

Cole isn't quite into hugs yet...

Grant is quite proficient at "CHEESE!!!!!"

Never leave home without your lawn mower

Took Grant to the park!

Also, never leave home without your screwdriver.

Cole isn't sure about another human in his jungle.

At Chipotle! Love all of these boys! (Notice the screwdriver)

Bath time is the best time.

Boys are more photogenic than their parents.  (Screwdriver)

Little boys swim trunks are made for NBA players. Aunt Jill can read a great story.

CHEEESE!!!!!!!!!

Pool time!

Grant eats his fruit via smoothie.

We babysat! Both boys were happy and had a great time :)

Also, Cole started crawling that weekend.  I started crying. HAHA!! This stuff is happening too fast!