Is our precious baby 4 months already?

He grasps everything put near his hand and touches and feels many objects. If he can, and they look tasty, he will try to get objects in his mouth. He favorite of which is a shark "rubber ducky". If he can get one of those fins in his mouth and go to town he will.
He is a very happy baby, but he tires quickly and his mood deteriorates.
Look at the cute little blue jeans...so adorable.
By the way, did you notice his faux hawk?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Cole wanted to pose with his festive onesie that somehow survived the day with light spit-ups and spit out Zantac.
It was just the three of us. Cole sat in his high chair, but he didn't eat:). He just watched. We had a turkey breast, mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin trifle. Jonathan and I were quite stuffed afterward, but we still had to eat again around 7 or so. The gym membership has been really good for us to maintain our metabolisms, so I guess that is the plus side.

Cole this morning...he watched me eat my french toast and was very interested in it:).

17 Weeks!

He is really starting to hold and examine stuff. Here's a picture of him with his lamb. It is so cute.

I have to crop some of these, but one of them will probably be in our Christmas card. We took a good family picture, too. Stuffed animals compliments of friend from my old work named John Feldmann. He and his wife sent us these from Delaware!
Snow Pals.
Ho Ho Ho! I am Adorable.

Big Smiles! Boy, I am tired, though.

I like to hold my own hands.

Cole is 17 weeks old today! It was a rough last week, but he slept 11.5 hours last night straight (I seriously went in and checked to make sure he was ok at about 6:30am) and then was up for 45 minutes and got very cranky like he wanted to go back to sleep. Then he got up at 9 and ate and fell back asleep at 10am....crazy kid.

We are getting our Christmas newsletters together, so I did his 17 week photo shoot in his Santa suit that my mother got him. What a doll!

On another note, I made AWESOME pumpkin bread for this Thanksgiving (and more...the recipe yields about 3-4 loaves). I made it with whole wheat flour only and with hawaiian turbinado sugar and it was very good and you couldn't tell it was whole grain. I got the recipe out of Jonathan's home town's cookbook. His hometown is Circleville, Ohio and is known for their Pumpkin show in October every year.

Pumpkin Bread

1 cup shortening

Large can of Pumpkin

5 cups whole wheat flour

4 cups Sugar (sugar in the raw is what I used)

6 eggs

1 cup water

3 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp cloves

2 1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350. Grease 3 (8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2") loaf pans (I used a bunch of different sizes and filled them half full). In very large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Stir in eggs, pumpkin, and water. Blend in flour, soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Pour in pans and bake about 70 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Big Blue Eyes

Everyone comments on Cole's big blue eyes. They are so much like his Daddy's. He hasn't been feeling the greatest (or at least he is acting like it) since last Thursday. I took him in today and it is most likely reflux getting worse (he's been spitting up a lot more). We have Zantac for him and I think it will be a wrestling match to get him to take it so I hope it doesn't take too long to get better. Maybe when we start solids:).
He weighs around 14 lbs 12 ozs with his clothes on today. Our 4 month appointment is December 2nd, so we will get an accurate weight count and make sure he is doing well otherwise. I thought it would drive me crazy he has acted so miserable the past several days. His pain/discomfort/unhappiness amplifies itself 10x at least in me. Of course, I realize sometimes he will be uncomfortable or unhappy with many things throughout our raising him, but right now it is especially hard because I have no idea why he is uncomfortable...I think that is the hardest thing about having an infant.
Oh, Cole rolled front to back today, but I am not officially counting it because I had rolled him from his back to his front and his arms were at advantageous angles to allow him to roll back (in other words he still needs to figure out how to situate his arms to roll to his back if they aren't in a good position originally).

Errands

This is Cole's new hat for running errands. He got pretty mad at it because it fell over his eyes in the car.
Before we left he was happy, though. His feet won't fit in these size 1 shoes very long. I hardly ever put him in shoes, but I want to at least get a picture of his cute little clothes.

Happy 16 Weeks, Cole!

Haha, Mommy, I will smile because I know you aren't looking through the camera and you don't see this is going to be off center!
Told you so!
I need to talk to you about our business plan this year.

...And our stocks will rise high! (Seinfeld reference)

Yes, I clipped his finger while trying to clip his nail:(. I have done it only twice. I hate clipping his nails. He doesn't make a fuss, but he doesn't sit still either. I can't leave them grow or he will cut up his face. I guess I have to return to nibbling them off until we can get it sorted out. By the way, have you ever seen a child laugh when a nasal aspirator is used on them. This strange little guy thinks it's hilarious when I say "Boogies, boogies, boogies" and suck his boogies out.

" Let's talk straight here about your work performance this year..."

Cole is now grabbing his knees when I change him and he is starting to try to sit up straight from a reclined position. Yesterday I thought he would roll from tummy to back, but he didn't. He is still working it all out, but I see it coming in the next few weeks. It seems like sitting may follow...hopefully by Christmas:).

It snowed today...it's hard to see, though. Any white dots in the picture...assume they are snow.

Cole needed to be bundled to run errands. I thought these pictures would be all blurry I was laughing so hard while taking them because he is so cute:).

Bona Fide Thumbsucker

Well, Cole found his mouth with his thumb and he hasn't looked back since. The only time he has fallen asleep like that so far was yesterday as far as I could see, but he seems to really like sucking his thumb. Here e are watching football today.
He fell asleep in his swing sucking his thumb last night. It was so cute.

I can't believe how fast they change! He is a thumbsucker now and he doesn't hate tummy time. These things were totally nonexistent a few weeks ago!

Tummy Time Woes Over?

Look at those chubby thighs! He is rivaling mommy:).

Ok, I am really starting to love evenings with Cole. He has gotten a lot less fussy, even when he is tired. Maybe this happened over the past month and we have been so busy surviving without a routine that we didn't notice. He's really getting the thumb sucking down, too. I honestly don't care because he is becoming more and more happy. He's still sleepy, though:).

I used to absolutely DREAD making him do tummy time. Nothing made him content with it, and I would get upset. I tried the boppy, I tried a rolled towel, what have you. It is like he is so glad to not be on the road and having his world turned upside down now that he has decided "hey, this isn't so bad." He does it for a little while and I make a game out of it, rolling him from his back to his belly to his back again (imagine a little kid rolling down a hill). He really seems to enjoy the actual rolling part. He used to splay his arms out and just cry. Now he holds them in. I am not sure what happened, but I am glad. I enjoy putting him on his tummy now for about 5-10 minutes. He still gets frustrated after a bit, but he seems content for a few minutes.

On another note, I had my first swim at the gym tonight. I only did a half mile, but it felt good. I already feel ripped (or maybe that's just soreness from being out of shape - who knew you could pull your inner-thigh muscles doing the breaststroke?). Cole and Daddy had a fun night of reading Snoopy books. It only took me a half hour to swim, but I knew if I did a mile it would be pushing it. I used to swim several miles a week when I was into running (now if I only liked biking like Jonathan does I could have been a triathelete). I came home to a smiley, but tired, little guy and his awesome Daddy. Jonathan's 29th birthday is next Friday. I couldn't wait to give him his gifts. I gave him an Oklahoma City Thunder shirt (I got one for Cole, too, for next winter/spring) and Cole and I made him a "Daddy & Me" book on Snapfish. It's really cute. Jonathan saw it and the last page cracked him up "Me & My Daddy. I want salad, too, someday." Funny that we got the picture of Cole looking at Daddy's salad last weekend. I thank Tonya Tuggle for the tip that Oprah had Snapfish books for free right now:). It made for an inexpensive birthday gift:).

Sleepy Angel Boy!!!

After a very hard week for both of us, Cole is back on track and seems to be doing just what he did when we moved...sleeping:). He NEEDS tons of sleep. if his little body starts getting stiff or he blows bunches of spit bubbles, he is tired. He was doing this constantly in Ohio and when we got back (and when we moved). I know the poor kid was just exhausted. He is making up for it now. I think he has been awake for aboout 2.5 hours today! That is how he used to be...very pleasant when he wakes and then he starts getting stiff, rubbing eyes, yawning, blowing bubbles, etc. At least we got to read a couple of books and giggle together today. I wish I could get his giggle recorded. It is so cute.
Look at that patch of hair he is growing! Crazy!

Pros and Cons of the new situation

Well, we have been here a couple of weeks and we both had thoughts ping ponging through our minds about our new situation and our old one. Here is a summary of mine:

Oklahoma is sunny most days. It is very windy, though. When it rains, it absolutely pours and is very all or nothing about it. It doesn't have very colorful falls. It has VERY hot summers. The bermuda grass is very pokey to walk on barefoot. The sunrise/sunsets are beautiful. I felt like I couldn't go outside half the time because of the heat (only in July/August) or the dust or the wind. Oklahoma is a very conservative state so almost no one spoke about politics. You don't have to when everyone agrees. When we moved to Oklahoma one of the first things I noticed was that I never heard about politics, but usually I knew what church someone went to. It was such a sheltered life for us in that way.

North Carolina has far more overcast days (could be the time of year we moved) and is more drizzly than Oklahoma. There isn't a lot of wind. The fall colors were fabulous. It has VERY humid summers. The grass is nice and soft. I haven't seen a sunrise yet, either because there are SO many trees or because I haven't been awake and paying attention since we are trying to get back to routine with Cole. NC is more like the Northeast and where we came from. People talk politics and it can be uncomfortable.

Our house in Oklahoma is one thing I will miss for a while. I had visualized doing projects at the kitchen table with Cole. It was 300 sq. feet bigger almost and we had a 4 bedroom. We built that house and it had everything we wanted. We even had a workout room that would eventually be a child's room. It had two sinks in the master bath and real tile floors. The house was definitely well made. Our kitchen cabinets were beautiful and custom. Huge garage. Good attic space. Our neighbors were awesome (I suppose over time we may feel that way about some neighbors here) aside from the ones that we had a few altercations with (only one actually).

The house in NC has its advantages, though. It is more cozy feeling. It is a two story, which feels more comfortable in a lot of ways. It has a smaller yard to care for. The master bedroom is big and the house has dimmers throughout. It doesn't have a fireplace, though, which is the saddest thing (not too sad, though). Linoleum flooring in upstairs baths and laundry room instead of real tile. It does have a laundry room which is rare in NC (every other house the laundry was in a closet under the stairs!). We have gotten a gym membership since the weight bench doesn't have a place and I can start swimming again at the gym (yay...it's my favorite exercise). The two car garage here is nice and it is rare to have one, but the truck barely fits in it. We weren't going to park it in there anyway, but it is crazy how much bigger our garage was in OK. We don't have much storage in NC, but I suppose it is encouraging us to not keep too much stuff. We have cable tv here, not that we even watch it. It was not much more to add basic cable to our plan and I really think Cox was missing out in OK for not offering that package.

Obviously we have not made friends in NC yet aside from the people we bought our home from here. We are supposed to have dinner sometime. I miss our friends in Oklahoma.

We also haven't met Cole's new pediatrician yet. I miss Dr. Stephens. He claims he has stolen a lot of his child development and raising material, but I think in some ways he is too modest. I have read books and not been able to implement them.

Those are just a few things that are different. The people are all nice in both states and I am sure we will be happy here.

First Day at Home with Mommy

Anyone else reminded of a Christmas story? We went out for a walk today and it said it was 40 degrees out. So I got out the Randy Parker snowsuit. He was quite warm and content.
Proof that he can do tummy time without being angry (it didn't take long for him to get to anger, though).

Getting slightly less happy. He spreads his arms so far out that he can't get into position to roll over when his legs are ready to roll. I don't know if he will learn to roll front to back first. If I let him get angry he will just lay with his face in the bed/floor/whatever he is laying on and cry.

Proof that he is happy:). I live for these smiles when it is just me and him at home. When he cries it just tears me up, so the smiles keep me even keel.

More smiles. He likes his train.

Look at those dimples!!:)

15 Weeks!

Cole looking cute. We are really working at adjusting from all of the crazy past month. I feel sorry for him. We were in a good routine before the househunting trip and then it got all messed up again just a few short weeks later as the move got closer and we had more and more social events/the actual move:(.
He's so cute, though:).
After a bath and Grandma and Pop-pop's.

During his bath. He went #2 on the sling the night before we left and we figured out that we don't need it anymore, anyway! He is now taking "real" baths in his little tub.

Responding to Pop-pop.

One more of his 15 week pictures. He was not in a good mood yesterday so I didn't get very good ones. Today is much the same with the mood so far. He's just tired.

Cole's First Trip to Ohio

The fall colors were out in full force in Raleigh.
Pilot Mountain. This is near Mount Airy where Andy Griffith grew up. There was a town called Mount Pilot in the show.

Jonathan and Cole when we entered Virginia.

Me and Cole.

Grandma and Pop-pop meet Cole for the first time.

Three generations of Forte boys.

Cole and Grandma.

Reading a book about Sea Creatures (his nursery theme).

Jonathan and I setting up for Matthew's rehearsal dinner. For those of you who don't know, Matthew, Jonathan's brother, got married to a wonderful woman last weekend and that was the point of the trip.

Uncle Matthew (the groom) and Cole before the wedding rehearsal.

Jonathan and Matthew.

The three of us before the wedding. Cole looks thrilled. It was a frazzling week for him.

Daddy and Cole. What cuties!!!

I had to take pictures of me and Cole since I actually look nice for once!

Here comes the bride! Krista is my new sister-in-law! I am so excited to have a "sister".

Praying over Matthew and Krista's marriage.

The grand exit from the church. The guy just to the right of Krista actually went to high school with me and we were friends. Matthew met him in college (random since Matthew and Jonathan are from central Ohio and myself and the guy in the picture are from northern Ohio).

The getaway car.

The whole family...Fortes and Tylers (Jonathan's Mother's maiden name). Cole spit up down my dress right before this picture. I ran, wiped off, ran back:).

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Forte.

Cole was absolutely wiped out after this weekend. This picture shows it! He started freaking out at the reception. Between being held by tons and tons of strangers and then the music being loud the poor kid couldn't wind down to sleep. I had to walk with him under a blanket and he promptly snoozed. Here is is asleep as we are leaving the reception.

My parents came on Sunday. It was the first time they ever came to the Forte's house. Cole was SO tired, though, that it wasn't a great visit with him. Here is my mom and Cole.

Cole's eyeing the salad. He is his father's son!

Grandma and Cole. He was not in good spirits by this time.

My mom, Cole, my brother, dad and me in the background.

We got home yesterday night around 6:30. Cole is not having a great day so his 15 weeks pictures are not fantastic. He is just SO tired he can barely stay awake longer than a half hour and then he takes horrible naps:(. Well, I give it a week to readjust.