happy halloween!

happy halloween!
cole was a cowboy this year for halloween and we went to our church for the 
festival that they put on instead of trick or treating in the neighborhood.  
here is a picture i snapped with my phone before getting in the car.  

 and here are some  from my camera.

 here is a a picture of cole's favorite activity from the church- a large inflatable slide. 
to say he loved this was an understatement.  we had to pull him away from it crying.

and here is the video!

hope your halloween was just as fun!

an unusual day.

don't you love lazy saturday mornings where you don't have to be anywhere and you can just lounge around in your pajamas?  

we did that today.  starting at 5:30 am.  

not cool, kid. 

cole had a nightmare and woke up at this unnatural weekend hour. 

brenner was in houston yesterday and today for a conference on creationism

so i slept down in the guest room to be closer to cole.  after he woke up, 

i tried to get him to go back to sleep with me in the bed but after a very long hour of no one sleeping and lots wrangling, we got up.  

ugh.  

for this reason, cole took two naps today instead of the usual one but each time i put him down, he screamed and cried.  this NEVER happens in our house.  cole has always been a great sleeper

and he goes down to bed so easily, always has.  but i think maybe he missed brenner (he is very aware of when brenner is gone overnight) and was maybe scared of having another bad dream. 

all that to say, i got to hold my baby as he went to sleep twice today.  we both squished onto the couch in his room and i held him until he was out, which was not even 5 minutes.  

it really was such a sweet time.  for each nap i ended up just holding him for over 30 minutes.  

i mean, this kid never slows down, and really the only time he is still-ish is when we are reading books.

he gives lots of hugs and kisses but always on the go.  

i cherished those minutes holding him, knowing that they are so limited.

and i would have stayed there the whole time if my pregnant body would have stood it.

oh yeah, and cole also learned how to climb out of his crib today.  i am kind of surprised that it took him this long, but am very thankful too.  he did it at the beginning of his first nap when he was crying before i went in and held him.  and he tried to climb back in when i walked in the room.  

this better not become a regular thing. 

with brenner gone, i wanted to do something fun, so we went to a local CSA, the world hunger relief farm, where they were having their farm day today.  when we were going to do cole's birthday party today i was sad to miss this, but obviously things worked out.  and it wasn't as big as i thought so it was easy for us to get around and not too crowded.  

cole got to pet some animals and he really loved the goats.  he also liked the turkeys but

kept calling them flamingos, since they did not look like the turkey in our thanksgiving book.

they also had world map with containers of rice and beans as well as little wooden people.  

it was designed to be educational, but cole just liked to play and stack the container up to build towers.

it has been a long day and we are glad that brenner got home earlier than expected!

color love.

i few weeks ago i bought some markers for cole.  

up to that point, he had only been coloring with crayons or colored pencils because 

i did not want to have to deal with marker clean up. 

but seeing as the boy loves to color, draw and imitate what we draw, 

i thought i should explore a new medium. 

enter the pipsqueaks (crayola's small, toddler friendly markers).

once i showed cole how to put the lids on the back while you color and then to cover them up 

when you are finished, he has done an amazingly good job and concentrates hard when doing it.

then i told him he had 5 more minutes and he began hoarding.

 trying to leave the kitchen without me noticing.
(the kid thinks if he closes his eyes i can't see him)

finished work of art.  cole also LOVES stickers, as you can see his pumpkin stickers here, and we have to limit his daily sticker consumption.

i love my little artist. 

 i also love that i can drag a pillow into the kitchen and lay down with him while he colors for 30 minutes.  it is a preggo-mommy friendly activity.

21 weeks

here is my 21 week photo.  

 we had another check up this morning and the girls are still looking good!  they are holding out at the same fluid levels and are continuing to grow and move a lot!  they are SO active, every ultrasound technician comments on it, and that is not only a great sign, i love feeling those movements all the time.  

at one of my appointments this week, i talked with the doctor about delivery.  he said that with or without any procedures done, if things go well, he will be happy if i can make it and deliver at 30-32 weeks.  this is another really scary scenario to think about.  30 weeks is so early!  i know that survival rates are fairly high at that point, especially for twins since they develop faster in the womb than a single baby, but it is still another overwhelming thought.  

so right now, i am focusing on each day and enjoying each baby kick!  i am even trying to embrace my back pain and sleepless nights, knowing that they will not be forever and that they are for two great causes.