2013...a Recap

2013 was a great year! We welcomed our sweet, little boy to our family! Gracyn loves being a big sister....she is great with him! Cole is such a happy boy....always a smile on his face. He can psyche you out by crying, then the minute you come in the room he starts smiling. I can't wait to see what adventures 2014 has for us!

JANUARY

We started off the year by doing our gift exchange with Caroline! They look too sweet in their robes and slippers!

 

 

FEBRUARY

We found we would be having a little brother!!!!

Gracyn made Cole a puppy at Build a Bear!

 

 

MARCH

Gracyn enjoyed meeting Ribby the Razorback!

 

 

APRIL

We spent the day at Devil's Den. This girl LOVES the outdoors!

We got to see our little boy!!! Sweet cheeks!!!

 

 

MAY

Gracyn's first dance recital!!!

At the zoo!!!

 

 

JUNE

Our sweet boy was born!!!! 

Cole Matthew Thomas

June 22, 2013

9 lbs 11oz

22.25 in long.

Gracyn loves being a big sister!!!

 

 

JULY

 All four kiddos together.

We enjoyed a trip to White River.

 

 

AUGUST

We had two scares that involved Cole staying in the hospital 2 days each time. Thankfully, he is a healthy boy!!!

 

 

SEPTEMBER

Our first walk in the stroller!

 

 

OCTOBER

An outing with our Best Friend! 

 My beautiful blue butterfly!

 

My little football!

 

 

NOVEMBER

 A Rainbow Birthday!!!!

A surprise trip to the indoor water park!!!

 

 

DECEMBER

 Santa brought Gracyn a bike!!!

 

Cole's first Christmas!

A fun family trip to the Oklahoma Aquarium!

 

 



Christmas 2013....Cole's First Christmas!

I am so far behind in the blogging world. I just can't find the time! So this will be another short and to the point.

Christmas with my family! Gracyn and Myla loved playing with each other!

 

Christmas Eve...Gracyn was just trying to love on Cole. He as not thrilled with that. They both got to open two present...their Christmas PJ's and their ornament for that year.

Santa brought Gracyn a big girl bike!!!! She was thrilled!

Santa brought Cole a basketball goal!

 

 

Christmas at Ma and Pepaw's was a success!

 

The next weekend we spent with the Bunzels. Cole looks like such a big boy here!

Pretty soon, the boys will be bigger than the girls!

Pretty Girls!

Best Buddies!

Cole is 6 Months Old!



Cole is already half a year old!!!! Where has the time gone?!!! His birthday is going to be here before we know it! Cole weighs 16 lbs and 15 ounces. Cole has been sitting up for several weeks now. He LOVES to sit in his bug mat and play with all his toys. A lot of times at night, I will just feed him his cereal while he is sitting in the floor in his mat. Otherwise, if he is sitting on the table in the bumbo he tries to lean out and grab anything he can. The other day, he leaned over and grabbed a handful of Gracyn's spaghetti!!! I think he is trying to tell me that he is ready to eat big people food! I bought some peas yesterday and will be attempting making my own baby food! I know he will enjoy....I can't really mess up steamed and purees peas, right?! Well, we made 6 months exclusively breastfeeding! I am so proud of both of us!!!! Now, to make it 6 more months! Although, I think I'm going to have to start supplementing 1 bottle a day with formula. I just can't keep up with this growing boy! I have a little anxiety towards it, but I'm sure once he gets that first formula bottle then I will be ok. I can't wait to see all of Cole's upcoming milestone's in the next 6 months. Next up...crawling!!!

Thanksgiving and the Water Park

This post is going to be short, but picture heavy. This was Cole's 1st Thanksgiving! We went to Bristow to visit Clint's parent's on Wednesday. We had a delicious Thanksgiving lunch then headed home Friday.

My little turkey!

Making some yummy dressing!

Gracyn had been going on and on the past few weeks about going to the water park. Clint actually drove her out to the water park in Prairie Grove to prove to her that it was closed. We decided we would make a trip to Branson to take her to the indoor water park there....after some shopping, of course! We left early Saturday morning and met Heather and Bubba for lunch at Fudruckers. After lunch, we headed to Tanger for some great sales! We bought lots of clothes for the kiddos for Christmas. Halfway through my shopping spree, Clint and the kids went to the car for a nap! They just couldn't hang! Later that afternoon we finally headed to the indoor water park! We didn't tell Gracyn what we were doing. I secretly packed her and our bathing suits. She was so excited when we walked in! She couldn't believe it! She loved the lazy river and the hot tub the most. Cole even got to swim! I had some Lil'Swimmers saved from when Gracyn was little. He hung out in a baby swing for a little bit then decided he would rather eat and snuggle! After swimming, we headed to Springfield to eat dinner at Lamberts! I love Lamberts!!! Gracyn was super excited about her daddy catching her rolls for her! Overall, we had a great weekend. I think I would like to make the trip to Branson again next year after Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time!

Gracyn had to ride every ride we passed by at the mall.

Little Fish!

Swimming is exhausting!

Gracyn was so proud to be doing it by herself!

Having a blast!

She was upset that she didn't get to take her mug with her.

Cole is 5 Months Old!

Cole is 5 months old! He is getting to be such a big boy!!! He weighs 16.1 lbs and has the meatiest little thighs! He started cereal just a few days before he turned 5 months old. He is enjoying it and is actually somewhat of a clean eater! We'll see how long that lasts. He is rolling all over the place and is so close to sitting up! He will stay put for a few seconds if you prop him up just right. It's just a matter of time! Cole attended his first birthday party this month....his big sister's! He had a blast watching her from the observation deck. He has got to be the happiest baby I've ever met! He literally wakes up with a big grin on his face and will go to bed with a big grin! When you walk into a room his little face just lights up! I love this little guy and am so glad we have him!!!





Happy 4th Birthday My Sweet Girl!

Gracyn is 4 years old now!!!! Where has the time gone?! So when I asked her what kind of party she wanted several months ago she said a rainbow and star party.She LOVED watching Tom and Jerry Wizard of Oz and the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." So, I decided to just go with a rainbow theme. I had a lot of fun planning this party!

These cake pops were delicious!!!

I was pretty proud of my rainbow wands!

 

 

It's always fun watching all the little kids run around and play in the gym. Last year, the majority of the kids stayed in the toddler area, however, this year they all wanted to play in the "Big Blocks" foam pit and on the big trampolines.

 

 I love her sweet face!!!

 

For some reason, Gracyn has been talking about roller skates and skate boards for the last several weeks. So what did she want for her birthday? Skates and a skateboard! We talked her into asking for a scooter instead. I told her it was like a skateboard, only with handles. She accepted that. We got her a hello kitty skates, a hello kitty helmet and pads, and Aunt Janaca got her a Hello Kitty scooter!

 



Super Excited!!!

 

The day after her party was her actually birthday so Clint and I took her to her favorite place for brunch...The Castle (Briar Rose.) After brunch, we stopped by the park so she could try out her skates and scooter. She had a blast!!!! We are so blessed to have such a sweet, little girl. I just love her so much! Oh, and for her 5th birthday party, she informed me that she wanted a STAR party! I guess she realized I took the star part out of her "Rainbow/Star party." OOPS!

 

 

Blowing out her "4" candle in her monkey bread.

She's a Pro!

 Little Cole enjoying his day at the park.

 

 

 



Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet!

I've heard a lot of parents say how they didn't care much for Halloween until they had kids. It's absolutely true! It is so fun to watch my sweet girl get so excited about her Halloween costume and to have so much fun trick or treating! She loves it! This year, Gracyn was a blue butterfly. The cutest thing about this is her saying she was going to drink out of her flower. I wish I would have gotten it on video! Since Cole is so little, I decided to just put him in a football onesie and have him be a football. I have to admit...he was the cutest football I have ever seen! I told Clint he needed to put his Hog jersey on and hut hut Cole. He didn't think it was a good idea. I'm still going to make him do this!

Clint taught Gracyn "Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet." While we were trick or treating at G-rise's house Gracyn said, "Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care. I'll punch you in the face!" We all got a kick out of this. No idea where she came up with punching someone in the face!

 

 Isn't she such a beautiful butterfly?!

 

 He loves his Mummy toy!