Happy Birthday Coleman!

We went to the hospital late Monday night after I started contractions. They weren't all that strong, but pretty close together. Once we got there, contractions of course stopped...so we walked the halls for a while and were admitted, although I think they'd have sent us home had they not known us. Once we were admitted, labor did start for real, just slowly. I was about to get my epidural meds (they had already placed the cath and used some more temporary drugs), but it was too late, Cole was ready to make his entrance to the world. Matt told me I could push if I needed while my doctor got gowned and gloved etc. Well, that's all it took. Matt saw the head, told me to wait...hahaha...and then delivered Cole bare handed. (It's nice to have a husband with medical training that can step in like that.) Cole is absolutely perfect...he looks just like Jack did, but with even more red hair. He makes sweet like squeaking sounds, but when he gets upset he shrieks. He's the sweetest little thing and we love having him home!
We brought Cole home to meet his big brother on Thursday (no kids under 18 at the hospital right now). Jack did great...he thinks the baby is pretty great so far. He likes to bring Cole toys (especially the little elephant grandma helped him pick out especially for "the baby". He's been loving having grandma here (and so have we)!

This is a video I took not too long ago--Jack is really into "dancing" right now and is always making requests for his favorite songs with motions. As usual, you may want to tune out the singing--I hate listening to myself!



Last weekend we went to a local pumpkin patch to get Halloween pumpkins. They also have a petting zoo and some other fun things for the kids. Jack loved the animals, especially feeding the goats. He also loved going on the big blow up slide with Daddy.
We had our ward Halloween party earlier tonight and Jack went as a cute little elephant. I'm so excited that I got to see him wear his Halloween costume as I am likely to be in the hospital or home with a brand new baby when it is actually Halloween. I'm not sure I'll make costumes in the future as this one turned out to be a much bigger project than I had anticipated...we'll see, I do like how it turned out. By the end of the night he even stopped pulling the "elephant hat" off!"Parade"

Jack started saying "I love you" this week. Talk about melting a mama or daddy's heart! If we weren't wrapped around his little finger before....

Well it's been awhile since I posted and I know there are family members (especially grandmas) waiting to get a picture fix. July turned out to be an interesting month. I had planned to take Jack to visit Utah before my big belly prevented his sitting on my lap for a flight and before my sister moved to New Mexico. Our first evening there we went to visit my Grandma Mare. Unfortunately, she suffered a stroke while we were there from which she did not recover. I'm so glad we were there in time to spend a last few minutes with her while she was still herself. What was supposed to be a fun-filled visit turned into an emotional roller coaster with my mom spending the majority of the time at the hospital. We did manage to squeeze in some fun things for these two cute little boys.

We swam in the wading pool in the yard.

We took them to the aviary and the...water feature(?) at Liberty Park. It's basically a cement mini river/canyon system with little water falls and bridges and tunnels that kids can play in.
We spent lots of ime waiting for grandma and/or grandpa to come home.We also went to the zoo one day with some of my cousins and their little ones. We mostly spent lots of time just having fun watching these little guys interact.
We got back to Michigan just in time to start swimming lessons (the hair in this pic is the result of swimming plus air drying)
We got word the day after we returned that Grandma Mare had passed on and that the funeral would be 3 days later. I wasn't going to go back, but I'm really glad we did. Matt came with us this time. We attended the funeral and the next day was our annual 24th of July party. I can't remember the last time I was able to go to this, let alone the last time ALL the cousins were there. Grandma would have loved it! She was always the life of the party and loved to have her family around. I hope we are able to keep up this tradition for many years to come!
Jack got to attempt his first pinata--he actually made contact--pretty good for 17 months!
We also got out on the boat, something I've really missed since leaving Utah. Jack wasn't so sure at first...

...but really warmed up to it once grandpa let him drive!He also liked cooling off in the lake.
We came back to finish swimming lessons and it is setting in that summer is almost over, even though I really feel like it's just getting started. I can't believe our new little one will be here so soon! So we are busy preparing for that and gearing up for another Michigan winter.

The dog is holding a tennis ball that Jack has decided he wants. She is so good and puts up with little fingers in her eyes and ears and nose and pulling on her mouth without any protest. Jack apparently had this little setup in mind yesterday as he directed me to get his pillow and his frog out of the playpen, then asked for milk. While I was getting his milk he went and got himself a book and met me back at the pillow. It's like he set up a little baby lazy boy.
He tries to "help" when I am cleaning up. He saw this little broom at Target one day and was quite taken with it. It was only $.99 so I bought it for him. It's pretty funny to see what he thinks needs sweeping.
The dishwasher is his favorite part of the kitchen. If the door is down, he is generally trying to climb inside. (and he's fast! I hope the door holds up!)My mom got Jack this little wading pool last year, but I was too chicken to use it when he was so little. We got it out last week and he had a great time. He wasn't really into sitting in it, but he liked to put things in the water and splash. We'll have to try again when it gets warm again and I can let the water heat up a bit in the sun first...I think the main issue was that the water was just too cold.
This is Jack's latest "trick". He walks around all day making this sound. He doesn't do it great for the camera (as usual, he just wants to play with the camera), but you get the general idea.

Hawaii trip

We recently got to go to Hawaii to visit Matt's parents and relax. What a fun trip! Here are some of the highlights (at least those we have pictures of). We also got to catch up with some great friends and revisit some of our favorite places.

Jack had lots of fun with Grandma at the Honolulu Zoo!
He also liked to bring Grandpa books to read (or at least look at a picture or two)
Jack seemed to really like the sand at the beach. He also liked throwing coral chunks into the water, but he wasn't so sure about the waves. The first day we went to Castles (my favorite), but after that we went to Turtle Bay, which is more little kid friendly (very small/no waves).
Heiau above Punaluu.
Overlooking Waimea.
Matt had to jump Laie point of course! (I would have joined him, but probably not the best idea while almost 5 months pregnant.
Family picture at the puka rock on the point the day we left. We so wish we could have stayed longer!

The kids part of the zoo was probably Jack's favorite. He got to crawl through a fish tank full of koi and got to pet goats! Not the greatest video..oh well. In the fish tank he stopped at every window gasped, pointed and signed fish...very cute.