Cutie Pa-Tootie

My little dolly

Big girl practicing her sitting

I'm sure she'll be able to do this on her own very soon!

Big Changes

I really feel like Cole grew up this month and I realized that I sure don't have a baby boy anymore.
We got down and dirty and finally got him daytime potty trained. We're still working on naps and haven't even attempted bedtime yet, but during the day he now wears big boy undies and it's so stinking cute!

Cole also started preschool! Yay! He's attending TRACE Academy two days a week in the mornings and he loves it.

1st Day of Preschool
September 26, 2011

I also love it as it gives me time to focus on my new business...yes, you heard me right, as of today, I'm officially a business owner. I've started a company called Creative Kids Dance. Instead of working at a studio, I'm going into preschools and daycares and teaching classes. So far, I have two schools interested and that's probably the most I'll personally teach at and the others I'll hire teachers for. I'm really looking forward to running my own dance program. So far, I'm getting really great feed back and the school directors are very interested so hopefully it'll be a big success! So, needless to say, it's been a big, busy month around here, but that's nothing really new. Life would be so boring if I didn't have a million and a half things I was trying to do, right?

4 months

Yesterday Alaina had her 4 month check up. She's doing fabulous. She's super strong and has great head support. She's in the 40th% for her weight, height and head and other than that there's not much else to report from the visit. She got her vaccines and did better this time. Cole got his flu shot yesterday as well. I asked him if he wanted to get a shot after lunch and he said yes. When they stuck him he said very calmly, "Ouch" and then he was fine. The nurse said, "Oh, you're such a big boy you didn't even cry!" and he replied, "Nope, I just said ouch." and that was that. He's a strange child, but it makes me feel a lot better when he's not screaming from his shot.

Here's Alaina's 4 month stats:

Weight - 13lbs 8.5oz
Height - 24.5" long
Clothes - 3-6 month; Diapers - size 2
New tricks - rolling from back to tummy and sometimes from tummy to back. Laughing out loud. She recently started to do a crunch while laying down like she's trying to get up to sitting. This little girl needs to slow down...she's growing up way too quickly :-(
Sleeping - waking 1-2 times a night to eat. (I should look at what I wrote here for Cole, I'm sure it was like 4-5 times!)
Eating - nursing every 4-5 hours, sometimes 6 hours at night. No solid foods yet.

Fun on the playground

1st time at the pool

Sweet smiley girl


Can he do it?

Yes he can!

I look over and this is what I find...Cole strapped into
Alaina's seat. Note, he does not even have a diaper on
because he was working on going on the potty today!

Are You Ready For Some...

FOOTBALL?!?! These cuties are!

Geaux Saints!

Packers vs. Saints tomorrow night :-)

Rainbow Pigeons

I'm so excited to be writing this post because I now have proof of the rainbow pigeons. Yes, you heard me right, rainbow pigeons. It all started about 6 months ago...
I was driving in the car with Cole and I looked up in the sky and there was a huge flock of birds above us. Ok, what's so strange about a flock of birds you ask, well, there were pink birds and purple birds, some were green, some orange and some blue, and it took me a minute to realize that birds don't naturally come in those colors. They looked like they flew out of an Easter basket. I will admit, I really thought I was hallucinating. I asked Cole if he saw the colored birds and he said, "yes" but you can't really rely on a 2 year old. Another strange thing about this flock was that they were flying around in a circle just over one part of the neighborhood. When Ben got home that night I told him what I saw and he reacted the way I suspected he would. He thought I was high and then I told him Cole saw them too and he still didn't believe me.
Well, a couple of days later there were the birds again. I wasn't crazy! But, again, it was only Cole and myself in the car so Ben still didn't believe me. Later that week while driving past where the flock was flying I saw a little sign hidden in the trees. "Rainbow Pigeons" and then it had a phone number under it. I've driven on this road every day since we moved to Hawaii and I had never before seen that sign. So, somebody somehow took pigeons and colored them these strange colors and trained them to fly around and then come back.
I've told many people, including my mom, Rick, Linda, and Jim about these birds and no one believes me because so far Cole and I are the only people who have ever seen them. Well I'm happy to report that the birds were out the other day and I happened to have my camera sitting in the front seat next to me and I was sitting in traffic. So, for all of you haters and disbelievers here are my Rainbow Pigeons!

Maybe I'll have to rent them for Ben's graduation so everyone can see them up close :-)

End of "Summer"

I can't believe it's Sept. 1st already. But, what I really can't believe is that a year ago today I was shocked actually, I should say, !!!!!SHOCKED!!!!! when I took a pregnancy test all because Ben had a dream two nights earlier that I was pregnant and it turned out to be positive! It's been a crazy, wonderful, busy year, but I wouldn't change it for anything.
Now we're entering my favorite season of fall. One thing I absolutely hate about Hawaii is that I miss fall. I'd love nothing more than to put a cute little sweater on and slip into my Uggs and walk around outside with the leaves falling in the nice crisp air. But, instead, I'm going to plug in my new scentsy sent "pumpkin marshmallow" and pretend until I get to do those things in Spokane the end of Oct.
In other news, in all of my pregnancy shock last year, I guess I should have been signing Cole up for preschool, but I wasn't. There are apparently only two schools on this side of the island that will take him part-time and he's on the wait list for both. This kid is ready for a little school so please say a prayer that he'll get into one soon! Oh, and while you're praying, you might as well say a potty training prayer too. On an exciting note, Ben got word yesterday that he was selected to attend the national radiology conference in Chicago the week after Thanksgiving all expenses paid! Very few people are selected for this and he's really excited. He was trying to tell me all of the different talks he could go to, but they mean nothing to me, but he's excited so that's all that matters.
Alright, on to the cute pictures!

3 months!

Someone decided to share a dinosaur with his sister

Party Girl ready for Tutu and Gpaw's
40th Anniversary Dinner

Family shot before anniversary dinner.
Notice how Cole is in his jammies...he wasn't invited!
He got to go play with a friend, which was much more
fun for him and made a more relaxing dinner for us.

Sleeping Beauty

Cole showing Alaina how her new toy works

She loves it!

Summer 2011 Mainland Trip

Ben received 10 days of paternity leave to use within 90 days of Alaina's birth, so we chose to use it and go to Spokane and Portland. Since it's such a long and expensive trip, Cole, Alaina and I flew back to Portland with Katie, Wade and Tilly so we could stay for longer than 10 days. We were there for almost 3 weeks and it went by so quickly! Of course our trip was busy visiting visiting and introducing Miss Lainey to everyone. Cole had a blast with everyone. He followed grandpa around the house like a little puppy and he loved playing with all of his cousins. The older he gets the harder it is to get on that plane and to head back home. He loves all of his family so much and now he's at the age where he's asking to go to people's houses back in Spokane. Yesterday while driving home he asked if Andrew could come to our house to play dinosaurs with him. If only it was that easy...
But, we are happy to announce that we'll be coming back for another visit in late October and early November. It'll be a quick 10 days, but I've got to get my family and fall fix!

Meeting Aunt Viv

Playing Golf aka "Dino Hockey" with Grandpa


Meeting Aunt Holly

Snuggle time in the morning with Isaiah

We love aunt Viv!

All the crazy cousins love being together

Gea, Grandpa and all the grandkids!

This was the best pic of this group out of about 10.
It's impossible to get a good picture of all of these people!

Meeting Aunt Jill and Aunt Patti

Getting to know Nana and Papa

Cousin Chelsea

Lovin on Auntie Jojo and Uncle Adam

Aunt Trudi & Uncle Bill

Cousins Erin & Lindsay with
Rylan & Alaina

Connie & Denny

Grandpa and Grandma

Alaina, Debbi, Eve & Alaina
Yup! That's where I got her name from :-)

checking out the blocks

He liked riding the tiger that did not move
better than the moving horses

Whee!

Cuddles with Bette

Visiting at PJ's house

College friends = used to party at the bars,
now we're wearing babies at the zoo and we wouldn't
change it for a second!

Dinosaurs at the Portland Zoo

T-Rex!

Meeting Auntie Trish and her fiance, Matt