Computer Craze

Cole recently learned to work the mouse on the computer. We would sit together and play "Thomas and Friends", where I would help him with the mouse part and he was thrilled. One day left the computer on and ran upstairs and when I got back Cole was maneuvering the mouse like a pro and could play the games I had previously been helping him with. I know this might not seem like a big event, but I was so impressed with Cole and that a 2 1/2 year old is capable of maneuvering around a website -- I didn't learn how to do that until high school!

thomasandfriend.com -- a favorite site at our house!!


I can't believe that his little hand can do so much!

Wrestle Mania

Russ and I were able to go to a wrestling dual -- #1 Iowa vs #2 Iowa State. It as so great! It is the only date that we have been on alone (besides the graduation festivities) since Garrett was born. Cole's nursery teacher and her family watched the boys and Cole had so much fun that when we went to pick him up he told us to "go away" because he wanted to stay! It was nice to have a little time alone, even if it was watching men roll around on the mat. Seriously, I love wrestling and was thrilled to be there. All of my brothers wrestled and I respect the sport and those that participate. The whole crowd was decked out in black and gold (Go Hawkeyes) and Russ and I were no exception. Russ got his hoodie for graduation from his sister Katie and I got mine on one of those early morning deals the day after Thanksgiving. So, we fit in and looked like real fans. Hawkeye gear is a wardrobe requirement in Iowa City and you can wear anything as long as there is a Hawkeye somewhere on the clothing. There were 15,595 people in attendance - a new record for Iowa.

One of the funniest comments of the night was when the announcer said, "One point red for grabbing the equipment." Russ leaned over to me and said, "Is that what they call it now days?" He was a little confused if the announcer was talking about the athletic equipment (knee pad) or the other type of equipment that is easy to grab as well! Too funny! Hee, Hee!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of November

THE GOOD: I love playing and walking in the leaves -- the smell, the sound of them crunching underneath my feet, the autumn colors -- it just isn't fall without it! This year we took advantage of a warm day outside and even got a few cute pictures. Oh, I love the Fall!!

Cole loved being buried in the leaves

Garrett in his beanie -- I just love beanies on babies!


THE BAD: When I say bad, I mean tough, not really "bad". Russ' Uncle Myron came for a visit and we had a fantastic time! He came to lecture at the Ortho school, but we took advantage of every second while he was here. He played with the boys non-stop (Cole crawled all over him any chance he could!), reviewed some cases with Russ, took us grocery shopping (thanks for the diapers, formula and baby food!), and even had time to fit in a morning of pheasant hunting. It was a fun weekend and were were so glad for his visit!

The "bad" boys


THE UGLY: The night Mryon arrived Garrett had an ear infection, so we started him on Amoxicilin. It was a ten day treatment and throughout the next week he continued to be fevered. Finally his fever broke and then next day he was covered in a rash. When I say covered I mean it was on every inch of his little body -- his scalp, his fingers, his bum, and everywhere in between. He had an allergic reaction to the amoxicilin. We stopped the medicine on Saturday and figured the rash would go away and we would wait it out. But, after his morning nap on Sunday morning the rash had gotten worse and he also had hives. I decided we should get it checked out and took Garrett to the Quick-Care, just to be safe (I know I'm a little paranoid, but when it comes to my kids I don't take risks). Our neighbors took Cole to church (Cole was a champ and went by himself, not to mention that he didn't even wet his pull-up the whole three hours of church because there was no one there to take him to the potty!) The only person working at the Quick Care was a nurse practitioner (heaven forbid we actually see a doctor) and she took one look at Garrett and told us it was out of her scope and that we should take him straight to the ER. We arrived at the ER and they looked at us like, "Are you serious?" They gave him a dose of Benadryl and sent us on our way. It was expensive Benadryl -- I could've bought the whole supply at Walgreens and still been money ahead for all we spent of the visits. Oh, well -- better safe than sorry! I felt so bad for Garrett and there was nothing I could do but wait until it went away.




What an exciting few weeks! I hope Thanksgiving isn't quite as eventful as the first few weeks of November. But, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly are all pretty cute if you ask me!!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the orange and black colors, dressing-up and trick-or-treating, pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, and candy and more candy. I love it!! This year was no exception and we had so much fun the week of Halloween. We water colored pumpkins that I later hid for Cole to collect and put from largest to smallest, made a Dracula box that we put a few treats in, made pumpkin sugar cookies, decorated them and took them to Russ at school, made a seven layer dip that looked like a spider web (for book club) complete with a tootsie roll spider, sang Halloween songs, carved pumpkins, went to the ward's trunk-or-treat (Wednesday night) and trick-or-treating. I think I enjoyed myself more than Cole and Garrett did.

Trick-or-treating was so much fun. We went to an older part of town that had the most beautiful old houses that have been restored and taken care of. Russ' program director, a professor, and classmate live in the area so we were able to visit all of them and show off our little guys. Cole was so darling and polite. He said "thank you" and "Happy Halloween" at almost every house, without having to be prompted by his parents. Garrett was mesmerized by the lights, sounds, and costumes. He just observed everything and didn't make a peep the entire night.

As for the costumes -- it was a drama this year! I was trying to be so frugal, so I waited and waited to find costumes. We found Garrett's cow costume at a second hand store for $5 -- what a deal! Cole was going to be a spider that a girl in our ward was going to loan us. I even had Cole learn a Halloween song called "The Very Scary Spider" to go with the outfit. Well, when I got the outfit it was black crushed velvet with purple satin and black lace on it. Not quite what I pictured my little guy wearing. My cute friend, Traci, saved the day and sent us the fire fighter costume. It arrived the day before the trunk-or-treat. Thanks, Traci! I would hate to have to explain to Cole in years to come why he was draped in a crushed velvet costume!! After all the drama and stress, they sure looked cute!! I think next year I will start a little earlier and be a little more prepared...

Darling kids! Aren't their costumes so cute?!


Decorating sugar cookies (and eating them too!)



Carving pumpkins -- what a great jack-o-lantern

Pumpkin Fun

This year we decided to continue our tradition of going to the pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin. We headed towards the patch and ended up missing the exit and going twenty miles further than needed. We turned around and went back and the exit we needed was the first one after leaving the city. We spent an extra forty minutes in the car -- a little bonding time I guess. Once we made it to the patch, we found out that the pumpkin patches had been flooded in the huge flood, so there weren't any pumpkins to pick. They did have pumpkins there to buy -- I'm sure they were just shipped in like every where else, but it still was fun to buy them there. So, we got two pumpkins, one for each boy and headed home. It was an ironic pumpkin picking (or not picking) experience.

Grandma Guymon sent the boys a really fun Halloween package and included was some money for pumpkins and some decorations for the pumpkins that reminded me of the pieces of Mr. Potatoe Head. Cole and Garrett loved sticking them in the pumpkin. There were so many fun things to choose from that we couldn't just use one of them -- we put all of them in the pumpkin. It was so much fun! Thanks, Grandma for the fun!

My pumpkins with their pumpkins at the "patch"


Russ and Garrett -- can you see his red nose? The wind was blowing like crazy!


Sitting in the tractor for a hayride that we never actually took (lunch and naps were too much of a priority...)


The boys decorating their pumpkins

TWO OF A KIND -- or not so much!

I am constantly amazed at how different Cole and Garrett are. When I was pregnant with Garrett my mom warned me that each baby is so different and I didn't believe her (sorry Mom!). I was sure that I had it all figured out from going through it with Cole. Was I ever wrong!! Even though my labor was the same, they broke my water at the same time, I started pushing at the same time, and they were born only a minute apart, that was about all that was the same!! For starters, they look nothing alike - Cole is a mini-Russ and we aren't quite sure who Garrett looks like (but he can't look that much like Russ because he looks nothing like Cole). Both are darling, just different. Cole loved to be held all the time and Garrett is content to play by himself. Cole wanted to be cuddled while he wound down for naps and bed time, while Garrett wants to be put in his bed (he arches his back and fusses until he is put down).

And then there is the size difference... just take a look at the pictures and it will say it all. Even though they were born in the same season (only two weeks difference), I have had to buy Garrett new 6-9 month clothes because Cole seemed to skip that size and move right into 12 month stuff. Cole took forever to roll because he couldn't get his chub to roll over, while Garrett rolls like crazy. Cole outgrew his infant carrier at five months because of his weight. Garrett is eight months old and is still in it. Cole was off the charts for both height and weight and Garrett is in the 60th percentile for height and only the 39th percentile for weight. I took Gar to the doctor this week and I am having to add rice cereal to all of his baby food just to add a few extra calories and I am to feed him until he doesn't want anymore. He isn't really interested in nursing and if I can get him to eat, he is only eating about 3 ounces at each feed (and he won't take a bottle - I've even tried sippy cups without success - and he hates formula and throws it up). Cole on the other hand was a hoover and would eat anything that was put in his path. He used to be so loud when he ate that I wouldn't nurse in public because I was so embarassed. He would take a bottle from anyone, as long as it had milk in it. I looked through Cole's medical records when we moved and the doctor's comments were, "huge, cheerful" (4 months), "enormous, happy" (6 months), and "chunky" (9 months). Garrett on the other hand is a peanut. Even though he is "normal", he seems so small to me. And the fact that he isn't eating stresses me out. I never worried if Cole missed a meal because he had plenty to spare, but I feel like Garrett is going to starve if he misses a meal.

I'm sure that as they both continue to grow I will notice even more differences between the two of them. I think it is part of what makes each stage so much fun. I love their differences and the unique things about each of them. How did I get so lucky?!

Garrett - September 2008 - 8 months


Cole - September 2006 - 8 months

Survival Tips...

How does any one survive having a two-year-old? I need some survival tips - or really Cole needs some survival tips so he will see his third birthday. Cole is either the most darling, sweet little guy or an absolute terror. He has started saying to me, "You knock it off", which I know he has heard me saw more than once, but it sounds three times more obnoxious coming out of his mouth. He already has developed selective listening - something I thought males didn't get until after they were married (or get as teenagers according to my mom). There are days that I am certain that there will be no more children born into this family because I don't know how many two-year-olds I can handle. When you keep having kids it assures you that there will always be a two-year-old in the house. I don't think my sanity (or insanity) can handle it!!

Now, I am not saying that I don't adore Cole and love him more than I can express, but I just need advice on how to turn his tantrums, attitude and naughtiness into the darling Cole that I know is in there somewhere. Timeout, spankings (yes, I admit I do it sometimes) and explanations don't seem to be working. I give choices (Love & Logic) and that seems to help at times, but not always. I keep hearing that it is all part of being two, but I've never had a two-year-old before, so I don't know if his behavior of normal or not. I also think part of the problem is that he is so smart (he started sounding out words and can read simple words) - I think he outsmarts me most of the time.

I think the most frustrating thing is that I feel like I am a horrible mom on days when Cole is so difficult. I feel like I have ruined him and wonder if he will turn out in spite of my weaknesses. When I do spank him I feel like a horrible, out of control mother and want to just lock myself in my room. I get flustered so quickly, especially when it is one thing after another and then I am short with him, which only compounds the problem. Why can't I be a calm, collected mom that never seems to have her feathers ruffled?

So, I would welcome any survival tips that you have and any words of encouragement so I know that it will get better (please, tell me it will get better!). Cole will thank you!!