Christmas with the Martin's

We wrapped up travel for the holidays by spending Christmas with Papa, Gigi and the rest of the Martin family in Grand Prairie. Cole got loved on by the grandparents and played with his aunt Jennifer and Jamie and uncle Chris. Papa and Gigi spoiled their grandson and A&J as well.

While in town, the family took a tour of the new Cowboy's Stadium. Cole managed to run around and play in about every square foot allowed during the tour. What an amazing place to see. Hopefully it will get a lot of use in the month of January.

Cole also picked out his locker on the offensive side of the Cowboy's locker room. Hey Jerry Jones...the early contract offer still stands at $4 million guarenteed. He is lightnening fast with a rocket arm and is excellent at the mat drills.

We also spent time with the Martin extended family at the lake in Waxahachie. There were grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins galore. Cole and Papa had some fun throwing sticks in the water.

What a fun and relaxing time with the family...we miss you all already! Here is one last picture with Cole and his favorite Christmas toy. I'm surprised that the batteries have not run out yet.

December Travel

Colden and I left JMart in Seattle for a few days while we visited some of my family. First stop was to see Renee & Dan's beautifully remodeled home in West Memorial. Colden and Lydia (just 5 months apart) were adorable playing together. Lydia better watch out next time we come to visit though, Colden may want to get her back for the pushing and kicking she did. Probably not though... he's so chill. Every time he fell, whether he tripped or was pushed, she thought it was hysterical. Like he was putting on some sort of clown comedy show for her. So silly! Cole did bring Lydia a nice cold just in time for Christmas... sorry about that! One of my favorite times watching them play was at Calico Corners... they only discovered the kids toys after 45 minutes of playing in the fabric racks. It was really cute.
The girls were spoiled by mom with dinner and tickets to the Sound of Music. It was a wonderful production and the best part of the night was the text from Dan saying that Colden was sound asleep... I really enjoyed our girls night out!

Then we celebrated Grandma's 80th birthday! It was a fun day and she was on top of the world! Steph (the history teacher) gave us all some fun facts to share about Grandma's 80 years and Grandma added in some of her memories of those years... pretty fun! She was especially blessed to see David (my cousin) and his family for the first time in many years.

Weekend Chores

The boys have a weekend routine that includes vacuuming the wood floors. Jeremy shortens the vacuum handle and Colden will go for 20 minutes or more. Pretty cute!

Christmas Festival

We went to our neighborhood Christmas Festival, despite the freezing temperatures, to see the live nativity. The 20 degree temp didn't keep Colden from wanting to stay and watch the band play! He liked the animals... too bad he couldn't pet them.

We went inside to warm up, but since the activities were a little too advanced for him, we thought we would try visiting Santa... well... that wasn't so successful ;)

Back outside, we lost a mitten! Sad... Poor Cole's hand was so red and cold even though we didn't stay out without it for more than 5-10 minutes. Jeremy eventually found it while Cole and I got warm in the car! I need to sew a string or add clips to his mittens so we don't lose them.

We're Having a...

My belly is a little bigger this time around! Colden has been so precious giving the baby belly kisses... I just had to share this picture!

Disclaimer: For all of you who do not like to find out the baby's gender until birth, do not read any further.

Today was our 20 week ultrasound. Colden is going to have a little brother to share all of his toys with. Our little guy is big and healthy! He is a well-rounded 90 percenter! Looks like Jeremy will be coaching some little league sports teams in a few years!

Best Buds

Allie (the cat) is such a good sport. She has learned to watch from a safe distance most of the time, but loves to play 'hide and seek' around the wall in the living room from time to time. Cole giggles until Allie is done playing.

As you can see here... she tolerates hugs and kisses from Cole as well ;)

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for many things, including you reading this... our family and friends! We are especially thankful for our second Thanksgiving with Colden and for the little one growing in my belly!

So sorry for the late Thanksgiving wishes to everyone! The day before Thanksgiving brought us terrible colds (actually, Colden got it over the weekend, then Jeremy and I caught it a few days later). So, we declined our invitations and stayed home. I still made a small turkey (9 lbs) and the must haves (yeast rolls, mashed potatoes & gravy, etc). There was just enough turkey for lunch, dinner and a double batch of Turkey Tetrazzini.

We ate at the island, no serving dishes, just straight from the various pots and pans... not even a butter dish! It was quite a site! No, that is not wine in our glasses... it was pomegranate juice. Thanks to Jeremy for cleaning, I couldn't have done any more.

We are finally feeling better today and managed to get out of the house for a little while... we trekked East to find some snow for Colden. We found plenty on the ground, but it was drizzling rain and Cole was sleeping in his car seat by that time... so we enjoyed the sights, but didn't get out to take any pictures!

Back in our neighborhood... where there is no sign of snow :)

Portland

We decided to make an overnight trip to Portland to visit my cousins, Serg and Tash, a couple days before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Aunt Patsy was sick and couldn't make it to Portland, otherwise we would have seen her too!

We had a gorgeous day in Portland for shopping downtown and managed to squeeze in a quick nap before heading out to meet Serg and Tash for dinner. They picked a Peruvian restaurant in the Pearl District and even had a reservation early enough that we enjoyed a 2 hour dinner and Colden wasn't tired!

We captured some cute pictures of Colden with Serg and Tash... and the dessert that Jeremy and I shared pictured below as well. It was as delicious as it was pretty!

What We've Been Up To

I know that I haven't blogged much lately. Colden and I are keeping busy each day and since we haven't had many pictures to post, I haven't kept you all up to date very well!

We are taking two Gymboree classes right now. On Mondays, we take a gym class where we play and learn concepts. On Wednesdays, we take a music class where we both play with instruments and learn songs that teach us signs, body parts, animals, etc. Since climbing is Colden's current favorite past time, we always play in the gym after music class! He can be a little shy during music, but he is absorbing it all and isn't shy to show me his new tricks when I sing the songs at home. For example, tonight he showed me how he can blink like we did in the frog song today.

We also have bible study every Tuesday and have been so blessed to stay healthy enough to go every week with only 1 exception this fall. He was probably fine to go that week, but I didn't want to be responsible for continuing to pass around 'hand foot and mouth disease' even though I'm sure that is exactly where he got it in the first place. Every week when I pick him up from the nursery, the girls tell me that he is the coolest baby ever. He just plays, eats lots of crackers and plays some more. It makes me feel good to know he is so happy even though this is the only day of the week that he doesn't get a morning nap! Bible study is my favorite class as I am learning so much... who knew that the fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23) could teach so much and we are just now finishing our lessons on Joy!

Thursdays and Fridays are left for play dates, lunch and coffee dates as well as shopping (which we have not had much time for lately!). So, for those of you who think that it would be boring to stay at home with a kiddo, trust me, its not boring at all!

I wish that I had a live video feed from our house so that you could all see Colden's new tricks. He isn't all that cooperative for the camera or you would see more. What a happy little guy and chatty. He copies everything that I say and do, to the extent that he can. And then 6:30 rolls around and Jeremy comes to the door... and then daddy is the center of Cole's attention until bedtime!

Bossing the Cat Around

Cole was practicing his big brother attitude today with our cat, Allie. She was just trying to drink some water from her bowl and he hovered over her saying "sit down!" several times over. All I could do is turn around and laugh!

Halloween Costumes...

For those awaiting a family pic. Here we are as...

Jessica Simpson (you can't see, but I'm wearing my cowboy boots), Pirate Cole and God's Gift to Women... oh my!

Yee Haw

During the Cowboy's game on Sunday, Jeremy taught Cole to say 'Yee Haw'... it was pretty entertaining! Here is a quick clip of him.

Firsts for the Whole Family

Jeremy and I don't usually 'celebrate' Halloween... but after several party invitations this year, we decided it would be fun to dress up! This may qualify as one of Jeremy's first times to ever dress up, since he says that wearing his soccer uniform (as a child) did not count! As for me, well, this was my first time dressing up as something other than a pilgrim ;)... Colden's first too!

I'm not sure that we really chose good inaugural costumes (Jeremy and I), but Cole was the cutest stinkin' pirate in town! He even wore his hat at both parties, with the exception of when Gracie would snag it from him.
Here is a picture of Cole in daddy's costume... I actually think 'God's gift to women' with Cole inside was more appropriate. What does this say about Jeremy anyway?Sorry, no pictures of Jeremy and I yet... they all ended up on Lynda's camera. I'm sure they will be good!

Sports

Yesterday morning, we spent a good 30 mins playing golf. I caught a little on video to share.

Then we moved onto hoops... he definitely has some hoosier blood in him!

Play Date

We'll use the term 'play date' loosely as Jack is only 6 weeks old and either ate or slept almost the entire time! It was so fun to see Colden interact with him... hugs, kisses and impressively gentle!

He was also excited to have Amy over so he could show off all of his balls and his dunking skills.

Winter Coat

I finally decided on a winter coat for Colden. I had him try it on at the store and he ran around with it on and entertained the staff. He also thought I was playing a game of hide and seek with him around the displays, but really I was just shopping.

This morning, he saw it on the counter and wanted it, so I put it on him and he smiled for the camera :)We put it to good use this morning on our walk... he was especially good to leave his hat on. The leaf was the trophy he collected on our walk!

Big Brother

We are so excited to share some big news with all of you... Colden is going to be a big brother! We are truly blessed to have another baby on the way. Colden will be 19 months old when his little brother or sister arrives in April.

Thanks to my sweet sisters, mom and dad for checking in on me and praying for me to get back to normal... keep praying ;) I've been feeling a little better, but am still waiting to get my energy and appetite back!

Ball or Apple?

Cole: "Ball!", pointing at my apple

Mommy: "No, apple, can you say apple?"

Cole: "apple... apple... apple" pointing and climbing to get the apple

Mommy: "OK, you can have the apple"He walked all around the house (and really didn't want me to take any pictures) eating that apple... then into the family room and says "Ball!" and dunked his apple!

What do mommy's know anyway?

Denver

Colden can add Colorado to the list of states that he has visited! We headed to Denver last weekend to visit our good friends from The Woodlands who moved shortly after we did. We had a great time! Colden was introduced to life with 3 girls! This meant dolls, doll houses and more dolls! He had fun in the play kitchen and loved Raegan and Addison's attention. He also enjoyed his spot in the car next to Gracyn, whose hand held any time he could reach (so cute!).

We made our first visit to the zoo in Colorado Springs with the Guess Family and what a zoo! As soon as we entered, we headed straight for the giraffe's where, we fed them crackers. Cole wasn't scared to let the giraffe eat from his hand and he even gave a little pet on the nose to one giraffe!


We had fun checking out the parks and pretty neighborhood where the Guess' live. Cole and the girls spent Sunday afternoon playing at their neighborhood pool while the guys went to the Broncos Vs. Cowboys game. Cole was oddly shy at the pool at first, but warmed up to the fountains and floating turtles before too long.

Another highlight of our trip was Chic-fil-A (poor Jeremy didn't get a whole nugget tray to himself) with plenty of nuggets, sandwiches, waffle fries and yummy lemonade! We are so deprived in Western WA! The guys drooled over the idea of Chic-fil-A for breakfast on Sunday morning until Kim reminded them that it was SUNDAY morning (so sad!).

It was such a fun visit and such a great memory to have... we're still hopeful that we'll all be neighbors again someday. Thanks Tom & Kim for everything!

Talking and Trouble

Colden loves to 'talk' on the phone. If you call and expect him to talk back, forget it... but a phone with no one on it is quite conducive to a lot of complicated baby babble! The funny thing is that he likes to walk and talk... not sure where he learned that since I'm usually sitting when I chat. He has learned voice inflections from us. So, usually, he sounds like me when I'm talking to one of my sisters.

This week, his vocabulary has been exploding! It started with him finally verbalizing 'light' which he points to and says "this?" and I reply "light"... I am writing to both brag and make sure that I capture the memories of this fun time! Also new this week are 'turtle' and 'button'. 2 syllable words... impressive! Today, we added 'baby' and 'bible' to the list.

Along with his speech growth spurt has come some new trouble! Doors are no longer barriers... they are now fun to open and close!

He's also intrigued with light switches and of course all other buttons he can reach.

boo boo

Colden got his first real boo boo yesterday... he took off (practically running) outside on the sidewalk and took a tumble. He only cried a little until I picked him up and then he didn't seem to be bothered again--even when I washed it off.

Nana & Paca's Visit

My parents make an annual visit to the Northwest in September each year. September is a great time of year, usually dry, although we did have some rain this Labor Day. They didn't mind at all because they get too much sun and dry in Corpus Christi all year.

Mom arrived in time to help us celebrate Colden's birthday by eating leftover cake from his party and she sang him 'Happy Birthday' ;) We also had a couple days to pick blackberries and go shopping before Dad arrived. The blackberries were dry this year, probably because of our very hot summer... so, we only picked enough for a blackberry crisp (yum!) and 1 1/2 dozen jars of jam. To put this in perspective... that is about 30% of the amount of dessert and jam that Mom made last year. This year however, she has her own label.

Upon Dad's arrival, we immediately walked to Cafe Ladro for our morning Lattes! Dad drinks a Ladro any chance he gets... in fact, he claimed that he couldn't find the coffee beans one morning... just an excuse to go pick up Ladro for everyone! We spent a day walking around Seattle, checking out some of our favorites spots at Pike Place, enjoying chowder for lunch and then a sweet treat at my favorite spot for a French pastry, Belle Epicurean. Then we headed East to the Yakima Valley for a day tour of Rattlesnake Hills Wine Country... this was our first visit to Washington wine country... not super impressive, but pretty to be out in the middle of the orchards and fun to see this part of the state. We found 2 memorable wineries... Portteus and Christopher Cellars. We also happened upon a group that was touring wineries on horseback. How fun! Most of the people that we talked to were staying in Teepee's overnight and said it was pretty plush! Check this out: Cherry Wood B&B. As you can see Colden was a good sport all day!

From Yakima, we headed by towards Cle Elum to stay at the Suncadia Resort for the night... Jeremy and I left Colden with Nana & Paca while we had dinner, then they were able to enjoy a nice dinner together. We did a little walking to explore the grounds at the resort... Mom and Dad want to go back and stay longer next time. Then it was back to Seattle for a rainy day and a game of Monopoly!

Thanks for coming to visit... we loved our time all together. (Sorry it took me so long to post this blog!)