Memorial Day Werekend

Paul is on the home stretch for studying for his big test.  To give him lots of quiet time to study (his test is less than a week away!) I took the kids to my parents cabin over Memorial Day weekend.  We missed Paul soooo much, but it was great to catch up with family and have lots of loving help with the kiddos!    While at the cabin, Summer learned to drink from a "big girl" cup instead of a sippy cup, and Colton is now growing a lot more interactive and smiley.  Here are a few pictures of our weekend...

The cabin has a little basement that is too short to stand up in, so Grandpa keeps this rolling chair around to get around down there.  Summer and Grandpa went for a ride :)

We played croquet with Grandpa, Eric, and Kristin.  Colton was on my team and Summer was on Grandpa's team.

Cute couple :)

We girls took a ride in the tube

Colton found his thumb this weekend

Big boy!

Looking at pictures on Grandma's computer

Colton smiling!

Grandma got Summer a little picnic table and Summer LOVED it!

Colton

Grandma and Colton

Grandpa and Summer

Eric is an amazing skiier---so fun to watch!

Summer wearing Eric's hat

Colton and Auntie Kristin

Mommy and Summer on the boat

"Auntie" time

Summer LOVED pulling around Grandma's wagon and looking for rocks and sticks

Summer by Grandma and Grandpa's sign

Happy Memorial Day, and a HUGE thank you to ALL those who sacrifice so much for our country.

Saturday

My amazingly dedicated and hardworking hubby has two weeks left to prepare for his big test....so while he hit the books this morning, Mommy, Summer, and Colton went to Grandma Kirkwood's house.  It is sooo cute to see how excited Summer gets when she sees her grandparents!  Here are two quick pics....and then its naptime for me!!!!

Summer and Grandpa "talking on the phone" chair to chair!

Grandma bouncing a fussy Colton :)

Colton

Right after Colton wakes up we usually get about 10 minutes of "happy awake" Colton before his morning fussiness starts and he needs to be held or in the swing.  Here is a little video I took this morning of him moving his arms and legs.  I think he gets cuter every week :)  I also included a few pictures of Daddy and Colton we snapped really quick before he started to get fussy again! :)

Fire Trucks!

Summer was so excited to see a "fire en-jin-jin" today!  She talked about it all morning and made the "siren noise" each time.  We took a tour of the Apple Valley fire house this morning, and Summer's eyes were big the whole tour!  We got to see ambulances too, which she thought were pretty cool.  10am is usually one of Colton's fussiest times, so I was a little nervous he would scream through the tour, but constant bouncing with him in the Baby Bjorn put him to sleep about 10 minutes after the tour started--yay!

Here is a picture with half the group....by the time I took the picture the other half of the kiddos had walked away!  Summer wasn't too excited to wear the hat, which was unfortunate, because I would have loved to get a picture of her wearing one.  She is pretty opinionated sometimes ;)

All in all, it was a fun morning!  Thanks to all the firemen that keep us safe!

This week...

Summer had a lot of fun at a pool party at Addison's house with 5 other little toddler girls + Colton :)!  Here are a few pictures...  

Kiddie Pool

Sprinkler

Summer loved the "vehicles"

Her favorite was the car!

LaDonna (Addison's Mommy) made PBJ's for the kids and Turkey Fococia sandwiches for the Moms!

Thank you Addison for letting me come to your pool party!  Love, Summer

 Here are a few other updates from our week:

**Summer has been loving her little stool I got her at Walmart and likes climbing up to watch mommy cook, to reach the microwave in her "play kitchen", and to watch Colton's diaper changes.

**Mommy lost her voice yesterday from her cold, and Summer said, "Mommy's neck broken". :)

**Both kids are about ready to graduate diaper sizes once we finish their current packs... Colton is moving from NB to size 1, and Summer is moving from size 3 to size 4!

**Summer had her first hair cut!  She is so squirmy that it was tricky, but it is a little more evened out now!  I trimmed her bangs and evened out the back so it is all pretty close to chin length now (the sides need to grow a bit more to be completely even).

First haircut--front :)

First haircut--back :)

**Summer LOVES trucks of all kinds.  They did some road work on our street last week and Summer and I just sat and watched :)  She also loves pointing out mail trucks, garbage trucks, etc when we are walking/running/driving as well as looking for "orange cones" and "orange buckets" where they are doing construction.  We are pretty excited to tour the firehouse tomorrow with Apple Valley Mom's Club!  Here is her reading her new favorite truck book:  (FYI: I am whispering because I have no voice this week, silly cold!)

**Colton did his first (almost) 6 hour stretch at night!  He slept 8:15pm-2am!  He fed next at 5:45am.  The swaddle + hairdryer CD = amazing results!

**Colton is starting to follow voices with his eyes.  It is fun to watch him turn his head to try to find Daddy!

**Summer loves  doing everything I do with Colton with her babies and animals, including diaper changes, tummy time, burping baby, stroller rides, and putting them in and out of the carseat, bouncy chair, and playmat :)

Baby gets a ride in the carseat

Baby gets a pacifier in the jungle playmat

Taking her baby for an after dinner walk :)  (All sticks we see along the walk end up sitting with her baby in the stroller....!  Summer still loves picking up sticks!)

A Hairdryer!

Colton is sleeping on his own now at night (i.e. without someone holding him) !!!!!!!  YAY!  We have had two good nights in a row, and two out of three good afternoon naps!  The secret?!?!?  A hairdryer.

I noticed that he fell asleep while I was drying my hair one day, and remembered that we used to use a hairdryer to get Summer to go to sleep, so I tried it two nights ago with Colton.  He fell asleep right away!  He would wake after I turned it off so Paul helped me download a 6 minute clip of a hairdryer from i-tunes on Sunday night and put it on a CD 10 times....we now have an hours worth of hairdryer on CD....:-)

As I watched Colton sleep, I noticed that he would wake himself up with his arms during the night and then cry.  So, we put him in a velcro swaddler which kept his arms in (like a straight jacket!) and that sufficed to keep him asleep after he went to sleep on his own from the hairdryer.

Who knew a hairdryer would be my new best friend?!?

On another note, it is now warm enough in MN to get wet--yay!  Here is a picture of Summer and her friend Eli at the splash pad today.  They hadn't turned on the water yet, so we ended up playing in the fountain!

Celebrating Mom!

We celebrated my Mom for Mother's Day today by going out to eat!

Here are a few pictures from today....

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!!  I hope that I can be a mom as good as you!

I looked in Summer's and my closet to look for "matching" outfits!  While most of Summer's closet is "pink", and I don't have much "pink" I found that we each had a denim skirt and a white top!

 My two favorite kids!

Wish we could actually "see" this Mom on Mother's Day, but so glad we got to see her a few weeks ago!  Here is a "thumbs-up" for Mom and Grandma Tommerdahl!

 

Thanks, Mom T, for raising such an amazing guy in my husband!  I pray that I can raise Colton to turn out like Paul!!!

 

I am blessed with two VERY amazing moms!  My mom is a suuuper great amazing listener, is an amazing example of a godly mom and wife, and I feel like I can go to her for anything.  My other mom (aka my mother-in-law) is so great at welcoming me into the family, making me feel loved right from the start, and putting important things first!  Both moms make the BEST Grandmas, and I couldn't be more blessed with all the love they shower on my kids and us!  Happy Mother's Day to both Moms!  

Strawberries

Gee-Gee Sandy gave Summer this outfit the first time she met her...and now it fits!  This picture was taken the morning of the strawberry incident....!

 I've been meaning to write this story down so I don't forget it, and haven't gotten a chance until now!  We were at Walmart on Sunday afternoon, and Summer was in the back of the cart and Colton was in the front.  With Colton's big carseat, I can't see Summer unless I move to the side of the cart.  Anyway, as I was putting the groceries in the cart, there were two items that caught her attention, as usual....goldfish crackers and strawberries.  As I put each one in the cart, she started to open it and I told her she couldn't open it now but that we would have some later at home.....(this is common for me to say this on past shopping trips, and she has usually been a good listener....)

As we were nearing the end of our shopping trip, the back of the cart was pretty quiet.  All of the sudden, I heard a very loud "YUM" come from the back of the cart....the kind of voice that told me she was trying to get my attention.  As I peeked my head around Colton's carseat, I saw a little girl COVERED in red strawberry juice, half eaten strawberry in hand...!!!!!!!  My face must have been pretty horrified, as her face immediately turned guilty and she looked like she was going to cry.  That little face combined with the strawberry covered little girl sitting among the groceries made me have to duck back behind Colton's carseat to laugh--I couldn't keep it in!  I tried to remain serious as I told her what she did was wrong, but inside I was cracking up at the sight of her.  No further punishment was necessary in this case as her face told me she understood and it would not happen again!

In hindsight, her "YUM" to me seemed to be a cry to be "caught", as she didn't have the will power to say "no" to the strawberries, but she really didn't want to be disobeying.  She is such a sweetie, and I will always laugh when I remember this story!

Colton at 1 month

Hello, everyone!  I am one month old as of yesterday, and here is a little about me!

Eating: I usually eat at 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, 11pm, 2-3am, and 6am.  I am very good switching from nursing to bottles and visa versa, and am not picky about having my milk warm.  I usually eat between 2-4 oz at a feeding.

Sleeping: I am not very good at sleeping by myself!  I really want my Mommy or Daddy to be holding me when I sleep.  Mommy and Daddy usually put me down for bedtime at 8pm, but after several tries of rocking me and putting me swaddled in my crib, Mommy usually ends up holding me while she tutors, and then I sleep just fine!  Sometimes she can transfer me to the swing and I will sleep for a bit if I am in a deep sleep and don't notice that she put me down.  Most of my night time sleep is spent with Mommy or Daddy holding me, however, because I will frantically cry until they pick me up again!  Mommy says I have very good stamina, whatever that means.  I can be awake for 3-4+ hours at a time, exerting lots of fussy energy!!!

Personality: I am super cuddly and love being held all the time.  I make lots of funny faces!  

Fussy Times: I am pretty fussy any time I am set down, but especially in the morning between 8-11am, and then again in the evening between 8-11pm.  I am usually a pretty good sleeper in the afternoon.  Most of the time Mommy and Daddy can console me with rocking me and bouncing me up and down, but sometimes nothing helps, I just feel like being fussy!!  Mommy says its just part of being a baby and I will grow out of it :).

Favorites: I love being carried in the Baby Bjorn baby carrier and I love bath time.  I also like the sound of the vacuum cleaner, the hair dryer, the lawn mower, and a fan.  I like it when Daddy sings the MN Vikings song to me or Mommy sings Rock-a-Bye Baby :).

Stories: In church on Sunday during the pastor's sermon I had a loud, long bubbly/gurgley poop!  People's shoulders could be seen bouncing up and down within a 5 row radius of where I was sitting as they tried to keep in their laughter, and many people came up to Mommy and Daddy after the sermon to talk about it!  Also this week I set a record using 5 diapers in 10 minutes!!

Well, that is a little about me! What will this next month bring??? I can't wait to see! :-)

Until Then,
Colton Paul