Snow Day

The best way to describe today is amazing! The snow storm was beautiful...so happy that we got to play outside with Cole and have tons of fun :)

Thanksgiving 2009

Today was such a beautiful day to celebrate Thanksgiving! Turkey, ham, and pie...my tummy looks forward to this day all year! I can't help but think today about all the blessings we have...family, health, home, job, freedom to worship our God...my list could go on and on. Sometimes we get so caught up in the material things that we forget about what is most important. Looking at this picture that was taken today reminded me how lucky I am to have this beautiful family. My little boy's smile and the laughter of my husband are priceless....from our home to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Here Come's Santa!

Cole is so excited about Christmas! All he talks about is Ho Ho.  When you ask him what he wants Ho Ho to bring him, he will tell you a blue truck! We are definately in the mood for Christmas...we watched The Polar Express, drank hot chocolate, and put up our Christmas tree last night!

Flashback Friday

Wordless Wednesday

Halloween Memories

Halloween was so much fun this year! Cole was a train engineer and if you asked him what he was he would tell you "I'm a choo choo train!" I couldn't help but think how much he has changed since his first Halloween. So I am posting a pic for each wonderful Halloween we have spent with Cole. Hope you all enjoy :)

Fall Pics

Fall is my favorite time of year! I love the cool weather, yards full of leaves, and the beautiful fall days. Here are a few pics of my lil man outside enjoying a fall day :)

Happy Fall

Fair 2009

Cole had a great time at the fair this year! He rode more rides this year and was such a big boy! I have to say the highlight for Cole was riding with Chloe and Carter and COTTON CANDY! Mommy liked the cotton candy too :)

Bath Time Fun!

Cole loves bath time! So I took a few pics this weekend. He is such a ham...enjoying every minute watching him grow :)

Another Summer Gone

Wow! I can't believe that school has already started. It seems like we just went home for the summer and now we are already back! I really enjoyed my summer break. It was so nice to kick back, relax, and not worry about anything. I know at the beginning of the summer I made a list of things I hoped to accomplish. I can't say I accomplished that many, but I tried :)

* I read all of the Twilight books and I am reading them again! Talk about addicting...all I could think about was Edward Cullen for the two weeks it took me to read them! My hubby did get tired of watching Twilight and hearing me talk about Edward Cullen, but I am super excited about New Moon. I know where I will be November 20 :)

* I was able to spend lots and lots of time with my Cole baby! He has grown and matured so much over the past 2 months. I am sad to say he lost that baby look over the summer and now looks like a little boy :( He is one cool kid...even if he is a daddy's boy! Thats ok...he's gonna realize I'm much cooler than his daddy one of these days!

* Potty training wasn't that successful, but we tried. Cole is cool with the potty until you make him wear him potty pants! He screamed the whole time he was wearing them. I really thought he was ready, but I don't want his potty experience to be traumatizing so we decided to wait a few months. But, I will say Paul and I have mastered the "potty dance" for when he does use the potty :)

* I unpacked a few boxes, but didn't accomplish my goal of cleaning out my guest room. I will admit I am lazy and cleaning was the last thing on my mind this summer. I really wish my hubby would let me hire a housekeeper...just to do the odds and end jobs I hate doing around the house.

* I dearly hoped to end the summer with the news of pregnancy. But, after two unsuccessful fertility cycles this summer, God has another plan for us. All I can do is to continue to pray and ask for guidance. I can't explain how much my heart breaks as we go through this. But, I have faith that one day we will get to experience the joy of a new baby again.

Summer was great, but now fall is here. Looking forward to football games, cool mornings, and watching my baby grow :) Hope everyone has a great school year!

Baby Girls are Here!

Callie and Talyor Merritt arrived this afternoon...2 pds 8 oz and 2 pds 11 oz. Mom and babies are doing great. One of the babies is having some minor respiratory problems and the other is breathing on her own. They are looking at a 2 month stay in NICU at Cabrini. Christene and Jim will be staying in guest lodging so they can watch their baby girls grow and get healthy! Please keep the prayers coming :)

Prayers Needed

Please pray for Jim and Christene Merritt. Christene is 27 weeks with twin girls. She went into premature labor on Thursday. They were able to stop her contractions. As they were wheeling her to her car this morning she had a major contraction and when checked, she was 4 cm. She was taken by ambulance to Cabrini for a possible delivery. Cabrini has a awesome NICU. I will update when we hear more.

Celebrating 5 Years

On July 10 Paul and I will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary! Its hard to describe how it feels when you meet "the one", but I knew it on our first date. He caught my eye with his smile and how we could spend hours talking about anything. One thing I loved about him was how much he loved his Chloe! His whole face would light up talking about her. Being that I loved kids, I knew that he would be such a great dad someday. So I was sold...hook, line, and sinker! I was so happy when after a year of dating he asked me to marry him!

Five years later, I am truely blessed and so happy. Our family started out with two dogs and now we have a beautiful baby boy! Our Cole man is the center of our world. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family! Life is wonderful :)

We are taking a trip to San Antonio this week. I am a little nervous because it will be our first trip without Cole. But, we decided when we got married that we would take a trip every 5 years. Someone once told me that you have to make memories. So, here we go!

Wordless Wednesday

Flashback Friday

Last June we took Cole on his first vacation to Destin, Florida! We had such a good time with him even though he was scared of the beach and the ocean! Destin will always be a special place for me: family vacations, honeymoon, and our first vacation with Cole!

My Crazy Kiddo!

Ok, Cole all of a sudden has a fetish with his nose. About two weeks ago, he shoved 5 peas up his nose. Scared us all to death, but they all finally came out! This evening at Nana and Paw-Paw's, Cole decided to shove a piece of cucumber up his nose! How grose is that??? Luckily, with the assistance of tweezers, Paul was able to get it out! I'm scared to let him out of my sight for fear of what he will shove up his nose next!

Diamond Grill

We had dinner at the Diamond Grill last night in Alexandria. This was our first time to eat here so I was really excited! The meal was wonderful...filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes with the brown butter sauce on the side! And, cheesecake for dessert! I have to admit the meal is very pricey, but you definately get your moneys worth! I love trying new restaurants. Expensive for a typical night out, but definatley a great place for a special occasion :) www.thediamondgrill.com

Flashback Friday

This ultrasound picture was taken on December 20, 2006. This was the most beautiful picture I had ever seen....to see this miracle that God was blessing us with was breathtaking! Its hard to believe that my sweet little red-haired boy today was once that tiny! I hope that God will bless us again very soon and Cole will get the title of "big brother"!

My Sweet Boy

I had to share these pics with all of you because my baby just looks so sweet! He loves being outside and loves to swing!

Summer Agenda

Yay for summer! I always make a list of things that I plan to accomplish during summer break. Now, I will say, I don't always accomplish a whole lot, but I have great intentions! I thought I would share these with all of you and we will see at the end of summer break how I did!

* Unpack boxes in my guest room.

* Clean out closets.

* Get a fitness routine. I don't want to lose weight, just tone!

* Landscape my yard.

* Read all the Twilight books!

* Potty train Cole...this one should be interesting!

* Spend lots and lots of time with Cole

* Take a trip somewhere fun with Paul and Cole.

* Take some time out for me!!!

* Add to the Cryer Family!!!! :)

Happy Summer Friends!!!

Complete Chaos into Meaning

I think today was my breaking point. For those who don't know, Cole has been sick all week. I was hoping for a fever free day, but he woke up with over 100 again. After 3 days of being home with a sick baby my patience is thin. So, once his fever broke I decided to take him with me to work for a few hours...crazy I know! But, I am so behind with end of the year paperwork I have to do whatever I can. While I was getting dressed Cole poured my coke down the front of his shirt. Then, I accidently dropped money in water. Mad and stressed as I was, I thought what else can happen? Backing out of the garage I noticed that somebody's dog had been in our trash and it was strowed everywhere! So, as I am washing my hands from picking up trash I said "God, I'm listening!" This was God's way of telling me to take a deep breath and calm down. Sometimes we get so caught up in the craziness of life we lose sight of what's most important. Thank you lord for opening my eyes this morning!

Cole's New Swing Set

For Cole's birthday, we decided to build him a swing set...actually there is no we, Paul did all the building! We are pretty sure he would live outside if we let him and he loves to swing so we though it would be the perfect birthday present. Nothing makes me smile more than to hear him say "wing momma!" Sometimes he will let you swing beside him, but most of the time he is saying "push momma". His slide is really cool. It's a wavy slide and you actually go pretty fast down. He was a little timid of the slide at first; he would only go down if you were holding him. Tonight I managed to get him to slide down by himself. And, ofcourse, being the proud mom that I am, I clapped and told him good job! So, I totaly cracked up when I came down after him and he clapped his hands and said "yey mommy!" Now we look forward to our backyard fun every night!

Cole's 2nd Birthday

I cannot believe that my baby is turning 2! It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital and now he is celebrating his 2nd birthday. The theme for the party was "trains"....as he would say, "choo choo train mommy"! His nana made him a special train shirt to wear with his engineer striped shorts. We had the party at our house. Paul and I rented a space jump for the backyard. Plus, the kiddos had a new swing set to play on that Paul built. However, the weather wasn't as accommodating. It rained the first hour of the party. But, we still had a great time. Cole and his buddy LeeAnn had more fun playing in the rain....ofcourse you know they had to find a big puddle and fall in it! We had good food, great cake, and lots of fun! Cole got some really cool gifts...so many that he can't decide what to play with first! I do have to say that the train rubber boots and the spider man motorized car has been a hit!

My First Blog

I have recently discovered that everyone has a blog but me! So, I thought I would give it a try. I'm still trying to figure out this whole blog thing, but it seems really fun and a good way to share my thoughts.