Wednesday, November 16, 2016

2016 Family Photos

Two weekends ago, we got together with the amazing Meghan Ippoliti Photography for an amazing family photo session! We took these beauties at 88th street at the oceanfront. I knew I wanted to get photos around this time of the year for Christmas cards, but these are so much more than pictures for a Christmas card for us.  They are memories saves in hard copy.  I cannot get enough of these photos and cannot wait to print them and get them up in the house. Here are some of our favorites...




Harrison Cole at 7 months old.










 
It's hard having a 7 month old and a solid marriage.  I strive to make our marriage a priority every day and show D.J. that.  I hope that over the next few months he is home for the off season we can continue to grow in love for one another and show Harrison what it means to not only be mommy and daddy, but husband and wife.


Monday, November 7, 2016

7 Month || Harrison Cole

Well considering I've done three post since Harrison's last monthly update, here's to hoping I get some more blog posts together in the next month.  Anyways...


Harrison,
You continue to impress us each and every day.  You are learning so much - like a little sponge just taking everything in and storing it.  I love to see you look at something and understand what is happening. You love saying ma ma ma and I'm starting to think that you are figuring out that I am ma ma ma! Clinginess has set in this month and you only want me to hold you when I'm an option.  You cry when I leave to go to work and it just breaks my heart! I'm so thankful that you get to stay with daddy when I'm gone.


Weight and Length: Not quite sure on his actual weight and length, but little man sure is getting big! 

Diapers: Still in 3's and fitting fine. 

Clothes: You are mostly wearing all 9 month and some 12 month onesies and jammies scattered in there.  We try to squeeze you in 6 months outerwear because we have lot of hand-me-downs of that size, but they are looking small.  I continue to pack things up that don't fit anymore for future babies - I cannot believe how fast you grow. 

Sleep:  Jammies and sleep sacks are the go-to these days.  You like to sleep on your tummy or side, but whenever you wake up, you are almost pushing yourself up over the crib - time to lower it! Since your 6 month blog, we did a pretty good sleep training, aka, crying it out.  It took about two nights, but that really made a huge difference and now you sleep through the night!!!! My supply really tanked then and now I only make enough for exactly what you need during the day - no extra to store.  I'm simply replacing a frozen bag with a fresh bag every day. 


The past couple of weeks though, you have been an absolute terrible sleeper.  I'm almost positive you are cutting your top tooth or waking yourself up figuring out how to push up and crawl.  I hate that your little brain is trying to wake you up to learn! It's such a catch 22! You are still good at putting yourself back to sleep, but I think you are going through clingy phase and really just want mommy or daddy to hold you when you sleep.

You are a pretty solid napper. You take two naps a day ranging 1-2 hours.  You nap usually around 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.


Food: There hasn't been one food you don't like yet! Your schedule goes a little like this... 
Nurse when you wake up usually around 7 or 7:30 a.m.
Solid food for breakfast around 8:30-9 a.m.
Nap at 9:30 a.m.
Bottle at 11 a.m.
Solid food for lunch at 12 p.m.
Nap at 1 p.m.
Bottle at 3 p.m.
Solid food for dinner at 5 p.m.
Sometimes nurse when I get home around 5 or 5:30 p.m. and then one more nurse before bed around 7:15, 7:30 p.m.


Pacifier: Yes! You are loving the pacifier and it has been such a good distraction after you finish eating or nursing. 

Other 7 month memories:

You still love strolling around in the stroller.  You and daddy have spent lots of time on walks with Stryker and runs with mommy. 



You graduated from the Bumbo to the highchair for food! We have been giving you teething crackers and slices of fruit to chew on.  We are trying to get you to realize you can feed yourself too when you get some more teeth!


You went to your first pumpkin patch this month! You went on a hay ride, saw a bull and got to pretend you were a pumpkin with cousin Jayden!


Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Jayden, Stef and James came down for the day and we all had a blast!





As always, you are the most well behaved 7 month old.  You go with the flow, love being in the car, and really just are an overall happy little man. We went to Harrisonburg for JMU's Homecoming Weekend.  We stayed in Staunton with The Browns, and the soon-to-be Shabans.


You got to meet the sweetest little lady, Ella while we were tailgating before the game.


This special trip marked your first football game! We will add another state and football game to your list next weekend in Georgia, but for now, JMU it is!


This month you also took your first swing in the baby swing and haven't looked back yet! You love to swing and have gotten the hang of it.


This month you also cracked your first tooth and that was quickly followed by your second tooth! I finally realized why you were being such a crazy sleeper - TEETHING!! It was making you so miserable.  I haven't been able to snap a good picture where you can see them, but it was the bottom two teeth that came in literally days apart from each other. 


We took our first trip to O'Connor Brewery with you, and of course met Russell there.  #BabiesAtBreweries is the best. 


And what made it ever more exciting was the fact that we decided to go during the middle of a hurricane.  Oops.  Parenting fail. We survived and you got to experience your first hurricane - Matthew!


Mommy had a busy week at work in the middle of the month, so you and daddy came to see me at work! You wore your Norfolk Collegiate shirt and were just so stinken adorable.


Russell isn't your only buddy that we got to see this month. We saw Raleigh too! The weekends have been busy, so we haven't had much play time, but I love seeing you grow up with these friends!


And of course, we can't forget about your first Halloween! Cutest little fire fighter on the truck! 


And you got to go around the neighborhood in your awesome new wagon, thanks to one of mommy's friends!


But when I went to take your picture before I left for work on Halloween, you weren't to thrilled. 


You really make every day worth while and make me so proud to me your mommy.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Trick or Treating

First time carving a pumpkin...first time dressing up for Halloween...first time trick-or-treating...and first time in a wagon! Big boy had an awesome first Halloween experience and I cannot wait to experience this with him next year when he can run house to house saying "TRICK OR TREAT!!".

Sunday night we got together at my parents and carved pumpkins.  I went the classic route with a jack-o-lantern and D.J. went the baseball route in hopes that the Indians will win the World Series!


Harrison even got to explore the fun guts inside the pumpkins!


"What do you mean I can't eat this stuff?!"




Then little man didn't have a good night sleep, so this morning's picture was a little forced.  I see lots of these looks in our future, but hey...at least it happened!


But his day got better when he decided to start saving the world and put on his fire fighter hat! I mean, how adorable can these little munckins be?!!?! And what's even better is that it was $9 from Sams Club!



Little fire fighter with all three of our pumpkins!


Then we decided to throw together some "The Price is Right" costumes.  We literally put these together in a total of 30 minutes before trick-or-treating. I'm impressed with ourselves.



 Once we got situated in the wagon, we walked over to my cousins house and walked around their neighborhood. The best part about this was is that we were trick-or-treating on the same exact streets that I grew up on.  Pretty awesome experience to see life come full circle.


Here we have Charlie Brown, the best police officer in Norfolk, and their Greek goddess to keep an eye over them!




 And of course... dad won the FREE CAR!!!


The police officer with her favorite things - coffee and donuts!


Nancy and her Canadian friends that she carries with her! She looks a little terrified!


And of course, he was perfect the entire time. Just sat in the wagon, looked around and collected candy!


Happy 1st Halloween from this little firefighter.