Our Big Month of December!

Yea, yea its a little late, but who cares about time lines anyway :)

December of course started with our trip to Las Vegas for daddy's birthday.  We had a blast and the rest of December certainly didn't disappoint. 

Coen is very fortunate to have 4 sets of Great Grandparents to celebrate the holidays with as well as 4 sets of grandparents, plus mommy and daddy :)  This however does cause for many scheduling conflict's and at times hurt feelings.  We started our Christmas celebration the weekend before with my aunt and uncle from Dayton, OH.  We had a great time of course LOTS of delicious food! 

The next day following church we celebrated with Broc's grandparents on his mother's side.  Do to the twins not being there he was the only baby so he was toted around like a handbag by all of the girls.  He LOVED it!  When it came time to open gifts Granny insisted that Coen set on top of the dining room table and have everyone stand around and watch him.  He felt like a king! 

The following weekend we started on Thursday evening with Broc's dad and stepmother.  We had yummy chili (which was a very nice change to the typical "holiday" food).  Broc's brother had made it in from South Carolina so we were able to all have a great time visiting. 

Friday we went to Broc's grandmother's on his father's side.  We enjoyed more food and a lot of family that we don't see other than the holidays. 

We had to leave early from his grandmother's due to Coen's baptism.  We scheduled it to be on Christmas Eve because the service is candlelight and is the perfect time to celebrate new life.  We asked Tracee and Nick earlier in the month if they would want to have the twins baptised at the same time, they agreed.  It was a beautiful service.  Coen did a wonderful job he even let Dale Green carry him around the congregation.  One of the most special parts of the baptism was the baptismal itself.  My father handcrafted the beautiful stand that held a commissioned glass bowl, my parents dedicated the bowl in honor of my grandfather who passed away in May.  Coen was the first baby/person to be baptised from the bowl.

After church Friday night we had Christmas with my grandmother on my mother's side.  We spent some more time with my sister and brother-in-law.  And finally went to bed to wait for Santa!

Santa certainly didn't disappoint!  Coen woke up to a tent filled with balls to crawl around in.  He also found a wooden train, books, and a "chuck the truck".  Of course many other gifts of clothes and puzzles were under the tree too. 

My grandmother from my father's side, aunt, uncle, and cousins all came over for Christmas dinner.  We spent time playing games and having a great time! 

The following day, Sunday, we went to Broc's mom's house.  Coen had a wagon and a tractor waiting on him there.  Because we spread the celebrations out over the week/end we were able to spend a good amount of time with each family.  Later that evening the twins, Tracee, Nick and Shane (another of Broc's cousins) came over to hang out for a little bit.  Poor Broc had to work the next day so he went to bed early.  It wasn't exactly planned but all of the babies fell asleep so we started playing games.  Around 4 am we realized Broc would be getting up soon for work so we greeted him with a wonderful breakfast and all ran off to bed as he left for work..  It was certainly a great time...I am sure pulling an all nighter every year might not work, but I hope our "game" night becomes a tradition! 

Coen had a great first Christmas and Broc and I both enjoyed our first Christmas as a family more than we could have imagined!

I will add photos later!

So I think its quite obvious that I am not the best at updating this blog...

We are coming up on 1 year with little Bug.  I think every mom says this but I really can't believe it.  We have been looking at pictures trying to get them ready for a slideshow or photobook and it crazy how much he has changed in just one year!  Since I last updated we have had some of the biggest changes in our lives, we have been to new places, and of course Coen is experiencing and doing all new things! 

To start off...we found out in October that Broc had gotten a new job back in the area that we are from.  So we immediately put our house on the market and realized that with me staying at home we were to scared to take on a second mortgage or rent.  We are VERY blessed because my parents were gracious enough to allow us to live with them until our house sells.  Here is a photo of moving day....

The first two months after we moved back we were extremely busy.  Thanksgiving was shortly after the move then of course Christmas SOON followed...in between the holidays we celebrated Broc's 30th birthday!  I had intentions of surprising him with a trip to Las Vegas but I am really bad at keeping things from him.  I get so excited and can't wait to tell him...although I will say I did keep it from him for nearly 6 months.  :)  

We are very blessed to have awesome friends and family because they were more than happy to make the journey to Vegas to help us celebrate.  Broc's brother Bret and their cousin Tracee and husband Nick joined us along with his long time best friend Corey and wife Sara.  Of course I was nervous to leave Coen for the 5 days we would be gone so my parents agreed to come and take him around when we wanted adult time.  Tracee had the same thoughts as I did and wanted to bring the twins with them.  My parents were more than willing to take on all 3 babies...   

Coen did awesome on the plane...he snuggled up on daddy with Frogger.

YAY all 3 of us can attack the dishwasher at the same time!!!

Whew, all this walking around is wearing me out!

Our group, minus Corey and Sara...

Our trip was an absolute blast and wouldn't have been as great if it wasn't for our family and friends..

Slowly I promise I will get this blog all caught up.  I still have Christmas left to fill you in on and SO much more!

 

Here comes Fall!

One of the things I love the most about living in the Midwest is the changes in seasons. Ok, so winter I could do without so much of, however, I do enjoy a little snow. It just doesn't have to drag on for months. We are finally experiencing a cool down in the evenings and it isn't getting BLAZING hot during the day. This type of weather is absolutely perfect for walks, sitting in the yard with the dogs, and my personal favorite, fires! I haven't roasted a marshmallow yet, but trust I will soon....very soon!

This past weekend we took advantage of actually being at home for the entire weekend, first weekend for that in months. Unfortunately, Coen had strep so he wasn't feeling the best but we managed. He refused to nap and was only calm when mommy or daddy was holding him, so we walked around the house a lot inside and out.

Even with him being sick I still managed to take these sweet pictures of him hanging out with Tuco. (To tell the honest truth, the bibs were ones B wore as a kid so I had been meaning to get them on him before he grew out of them. I had no intentions of Tuco being in the pics, but when I sat Coen down Tuco came right over and laid down right beside him.. )

Coen looks like he isn't too sure about Tuco in the top picture, but actually he gets EXTREMELY excited when he sees Tuco.
You can tell by his droopy eyes that he wasn't feeling the best, but the warm sunshine kind of helped.
Daddy kissing/tickling him.

Our little salior boy!

My parents have a ski boat and for as long as I have been alive they have been avid boaters. Now that I think about it I think my father probably had a boat before he had his driver’s license. So boating has been a big part of my “summer” life. If the boat wasn’t miles away zooming up and down the gulf coast it was running about in a local lake. The majority of my favorite childhood memories were made because of boating. As you can tell, it was a very big part of my life so in turn I couldn’t wait to get Coen out on the water! Because of when he was born he was a little older for his first trip, 3 months, I was half that and my first trip was the Gulf of Mexico whereas, Coen’s was in Hardy Lake.


The trip was rather short and was mainly to get the boat out on the water to see how Coen would do. Unfortunately, our batteries died on our camera that day (I know a mother’s worst fear), but my parents did have their camera. I haven’t gotten the photos from them but I will get them soon.

I do, however, have pictures from his 2nd trip on the boat. Our family got together for dad’s birthday. AND…..our camera was ready to go!!

Feeling the wind blowing in his long locks

B and Coen: he preferred the shirt to the jacket. So much so he thought he would chew on it.

Coen and I: he loves the water!

After a quick nap on the boat he was ready to boogie!

Back in the water with Papaw and Gammy

We had a great day with the family! Hopefully dad had a good birthday, I know he loved sharing one of his favorite hobbies with his grandson.

Posting will get added into my weekly schedule

Well I thought when I began blogging, that I would be committed to updating…wrong! Since my last post B and I have decided for me to stay home full time with Coen. We have had quite a summer, next weekend will mark 5 months since I started the best job I have ever had.


Coen has been rolling over from back to belly for a few weeks now. He recently found his toes and in case you didn’t know he has the best feet in the world, he will tell you so.

His favorite thing to do when he wakes up is blow raspberries and roll around in his crib holding his left foot. We aren’t sure if the left foot is easier to grab or if he is going to be left handed like his momma  :)


Over the past few weeks we have been pretty busy with finishing some projects at home, visitors, and a few small trips here and there. A few weeks ago B's cousin, Tracee came up from South Carolina to visit with all of her family and introduce their new twins to a lot of their family that hasn't made it down to visit them yet.  So we took the opportunity to get the babies all together again.  Fortunately, B & Tracee's high school class is still pretty close 11 yrs out, (Yea, they are old) :), so we went to dinner with the Biltz's who had their daughter one day after Tracee and Nick's twins (NOTE: They all shared the same due date March 26th, whereas B & I were March 30th, so yes if you are guessing the twins and Eliza Biltz were all 8 wks early.)  Here are some pictures of our fabulous dinner! 

(From Left to Right: Jeremiah & 2yr daughter Brylee, BJ & 5 month daughter Eliza, B & Coen (not so happy, he was VERY hungry, Tracee & 5 month Hadlee, Josh & borrowed twin Owen Kooper)

Of course with a group this size we insisted on a couple of takes, actually I was hoping Coen would hold off a few more seconds and smile..

 

(Yay! We were able to distract him a little bit..but if you notice he is still frowning.)

This is the entire group! (Minus Nick, Tracee's husband & twins papa...he has a crazy work schedule and wasn't able to come up for the visit until the end of their stay.)

It was such a great evening!  We were all really happy we were able to get together.  I will admit I know on-lookers were very interested in the 4 car seats and 2 yr old.  Even with all of the adults someone still asked me if all of the babies were quads. 

Hopefully, we will be able to continue this dinner in the future!! 

First Week

Once we had settled in, B and I found out this whole parenting thing was a pretty good gig.  Because Coen had some jaundice he had to be parked in the sunlight a lot of the time.  However, it did make for some pretty good pictures. 

If you remember Coen decided it was time to make his entrance during the Purdue game the week before and I had promised when I thought it was labor that he could stay up and watch the game with daddy if he actually came then.  Of course, he was going to take me up on the offer, so I had to keep my end.  He put on his PU sleeper and hat and watched the game with daddy.

He of course slept through the game and as you might know, Purdue lost that game. :( 

Broc really enjoyed his week off with Booger.

Uncle Bret came to visit the Friday after we were home and I think he really enjoyed getting to spend time with Coen and Broc.

Current news:  Coen LOVES to be tickled, he cracks up everytime.  I know I am a nut when I talk to him but there is nothing better in the world than watching him laugh his butt off at me. 

Home Sweet Home

At 1:15pm on March 24, we were finally on our way home! We had been released earlier in the morning, but Coen had a few tests that had to be ran for his billirubin levels. Everything came back within the normal range so we were out the door!

Of course, B and I were both terrified of driving with Coen but I think every parent has that "first car ride" fear. I sat in the back seat just incase he woke up during the 45 min drive. Before we pulled out of the parking lot I will never forget B's comment, he turned to me and looked at the car seat and said, "Ugh, we have to get on the interstate and go 70 miles an hour." It was his first 'fatherly' comment that made me realize how different a mother and father's roles can be.

While we both have the same fears and concerns we view everything differently. B's biggest concern was protecting Coen from the outside world. (Yep, all of you :) ) He hated the idea of him being on the interstate and being vunerable to the semi's and other vehicles. My biggest concern with car ride was Coen waking up and being terrified because he wouldn't know where he was or waking up and being hungry. I knew B was driving so I wasn't worried about the dangers of the road. It was at that moment that I realized we both played the parent part pretty well, B could handle the protection part and me well I could take on making sure Coen was happy. Of course over the next few days we would both learn all of the different avenues to Coen's well being.