Long Time No Write

I know, I know. Many of you have been wondering why I haven't been blogging. I really don't have a good excuse. Most nights I just end up falling asleep before I can blog anything and then I do put it off because I am soo far behind. Writing about things that happened months ago just doesn't seem as fun. I thought maybe Pete would take over.....guess not. I really do love documenting the events of my family and since I don't have a single photo album from after high school, I must continue! Enough excuses and complaining. I vow to not disappoint anymore! No more friendly nudges or questioning conversations. I'm back.

Many thanks to Meredith for my blogging "award" to get me back into the game. It worked. More on that later.

The Beach- September

We decided on the spur of the moment to go to the beach for Labor Day weekend in September. Like, we left 4 hours after we decided to go. One of my friends at school has a beach house in Amelia Island and let us have the weekend super cheap after she had a cancellation. We jumped on the opportunity and took some friends with us.

We had a great time and if you've been to the beach in September, then you know it is the absolute best time to go! No crowds and just hot enough. The highlight of the trip for me was seeing Cohen's reaction to it all. He was absolutely hilarious! Cohen has apparently been waiting his whole life (the whole year) for the beach. They were made for each other!

Our first morning at the beach I was sitting with Cohen taking pictures of Annie (who is a whole 40 minutes older than Cohen). I was snapping away when Josh, Annie's daddy, said something about Cohen really taking off...

I turned and looked, expecting to see him just a few feet away and this is what I saw!

I know!!! I panicked and ran over to him. I remembered to take a photo before I got too close when I realized he wasn't in any danger. I am still shocked. Kent hated the sand the first time he went to the beach. He hated it so much he stood in a bucket so the sand wouldn't touch him! I'll post that picture later to prove it. Cohen just took off. Not that this should surprise me, he never was much for being still.

Exploring...

I caught Cohen right before a wave splashed right up in his face. Yes, he crawled straight out to the ocean and continued right into the water. He was not surprised or afraid one bit. The sand was very shelly in some areas and crawling through it all never seemed to phase him. He didn't ask to be picked up once.

Cohen was so comfortable with the sand and surf, he took naps out there each day! I even got to read a little, imagine that!

Kent had a great time too! He was all about making sand castles and caking sand all over Cohen who didn't mind one bit.

We had a great time. Now, I am a Gulf gal, but out of all of the Atlantic beach places I have been, I like Amelia Island the best!

Late Afternoon Naps

Oh, the time change! How it messes up our schedule! It is not uncommon for the boys to take a nap on Sunday afternoons. Sometimes this nap can last extra long especially if we were late getting home from lunch, like today. With it getting dark so much earlier, it makes it especially hard for the boys to wake up. Today, both boys were still asleep at 6 pm. It was dark outside and I considered, for a moment, to just let them sleep. I mean, maybe they would think it was night and just keep sleeping, but then I thought they should eat dinner. Second guessing myself, I thought about the "never wake a sleeping baby" rule. But, would Cohen wake up wide eyed and bushy tailed at 3 am?? Very likely. Kent would probably sleep all the way through...but he may be so deeply asleep that he might have an accident. When did he go the bathroom last? I HATE changing sheets in the middle of the night. I argued in my mind for 15 minutes!

Well, I ended up getting them both up and they ate and were back asleep by 8:45. I know, I'm lucky.

We did have one minor situation. When you wake Kent up, he is VERY disoriented. He takes a long time to wake up and sometimes he refuses and just goes limp with his eyes rolling back in his head. Today, he woke up okay and while I was holding him in the living room he said he had to go to the bathroom. He stumbled down the hall to the restroom. A few minutes later, I walked back to check on him and he was standing on his stool at the sink with his pants and underwear around his ankles. He was just standing there looking in the mirror. I asked him if he was okay and he said, "I was going to wash my hands, but I forgot to go potty first!" I looked closer and realized that he had in fact gone potty, just at the sink instead of the toilet!!! Pee covered the cabinet under the sink and formed a puddle under the stool. When I opened the door of the cabinet, you guessed it, pee ALL over the first aid supplies under the sink. Surprisingly, band aids and their wrappers are very absorbent! Kent and his clothes were all dry thankfully and I still don't think he realizes he peed all over the sink... He just kept asking me why I was laughing. :) I'm so glad he didn't get upset, it was just tooooo funny!

Brotherly Love

Cohen absolutely loves his brother. Here is what happens when Cohen finds Kent asleep...

Fun with Nana

Pete's mom came to visit for a week before school started. We had a great time going to the park, playing "Cars" and watching movies. We all love it when Nana vists. She is an excellent cook and one of Kent's favorite playmates!

Chicago

I have been such a bad poster lately and I really do apologize. I have not been allowing myself to put anything recent up until I finish the highlights of the last four months. You will all just have to bear with me as I recap our activities. So, I will pick up where I left off, our trip to Illinois in July, JULY...I know, I'm terrible!

While we were visiting family in Illinois, we took a side trip up to Chicago with my parents. None of us had ever been there and I had wanted to go to the Art Institute for quite a while, so we were all pretty excitied- especially me! I mean, I don't get to go to the second largest museum in the United States everyday!

The first place we went after we checked into our hotel was the museum. I dragged my family all over that place, telling them all kinds of information that they probably didn't care to know. We definitely overstayed our welcome with the two crabby kids we had with us. Cohen even managed to pee all over the floor in the sculpture garden in the Art of the American West gallery!

We decided to take some pictures right outside of the museum. Everyone was fine with this plan except for Kent. There were many Kentless photos on our little trip.

Here was Kent's reaction when we tried to get him to take a family photo with us.

I even tried to make Kent jealous by showing him how much fun Cohen and I were having. He didn't care.

We made our way to Grant Park next along with a million other people because Taste of Chicago also happened to be going on. We made our way through a sea of people and took a few photos in front of the Buckingham Fountain.

Pete's main request of Chicago was real Chicago style deep dish pizza. We found a great place and after a VERY long, standing wait with two overtired children, we were able to sit down and eat. All were excited, especially Cohen and Pete.

After dinner, Pete and I went up the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) to look at the city from the new sky decks that opened the same weekend. Here is the view from the street.

This is the view of the city at night from the 108th floor.

And, this is the view from the sky deck looking down 108 stories. My knees feel weak again just looking at this picture. We were literally standing in a plexiglass box suspended from the side of the sky scraper!!!

We spent the next morning at Navy Pier. The weather and the view were beautiful.

It's always a happy day for Cohen.

So much money was spent riding this carousel. Kent loved it and Pete was able to get all of us in one shot. Pretty talented! It was a quick trip, but we definitely had a great time.

TEETH!!!

For the first time ever, I am pleased to announce that Cohen has two teeth coming in! We have been waiting for this day for months. Honestly, I was beginning to wonder if there were teeth in there at all! Cohen is a little over 1 year and 1 month old, but has been eating strictly solid food for about two months. Apparently no teeth was no big worry to him! You can't really see them well right now, so I'll put up a picture a little later, but he has one top front tooth and one bottom front tooth making their way in!

Wheat Free Play Dough

While watching one of our favorite shows, Shark Tank, we heard about Soy-Yer Dough. It is wheat free play dough!!! This mom is so excited! Kent can now play with play dough that is safe for him. Homemade versions worked, but were sticky and just didn't hold up the same as regular play doh. You can fundraise with it and put customized labels on it. So cool!!! Yay for Soy-Yer Dough!

Kent's Fish

Kent loves to go fishing in my Aunt Susan's pond. While we were in Illinois this summer, Dad, Pete and Kent spent one morning seeing what they could catch. Dad caught zero, Pete caught two and Kent caught NINE! The older boys may have been a little distracted with helping Kent, but nine!?! Wow- all with that Spiderman pole too!

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Summer Flashbacks

Well, I've not been very good at keeping up with our blog the past couple of months. I've heard from a lot of you and all I can say is that I'm sorry and I will do better!

July was such a fun and crazy month for us; I was instantly overwhelmed with how to report all the day to day happenings.

We spent the first part of the month in Illinois with my family. It was so great seeing everyone and spending the fourth with them. Kent absolutely loves to go vist Great-Grandma, Great-Grandpa, Aunt Susan and Aunt Peggy. He asks every few days if we can go back- that 11 hour drive fades from his memory pretty fast! Kent is quick to remind everyone how easy it is to get to Aunt Susan's house. His directions-- "Make the turn, go up the hill, go on the straight-a-way, around the bend and that's it!" We didn't really know what he was talking about, until we were driving down the driveway/road to Susan's house. Pete and I heard Kent repeating the directions as we were driving and we both realized he had it right! He was describing the driveway!

Cohen went on his first swim! It was a little cold for me, but Cohen didn't seem to mind at all. I had a bunch of pictures of other family members from this day, but everyone was in their swimsuits, so I didn't post them. I have a no swimsuit policy for those over 20. ;)

Here are the boys on the fourth of July. Everyone came to Aunt Susan's for fireworks. Kent HELPED set off some of the fireworks--(I was told it was a guy thing...). We'll just say that part of the evening was extremely stressfull for me...

Cohen loves to watch fireworks; the sound doesn't bother him a bit. Kent fell ASLEEP before the firework show was finished. He can fall asleep under any circumstances if he is tired enough.

Kent and his cousin Beckett had fun running through the sprinkler.

We had a picnic at the park. Cohen loved swinging. Kent had a very eventful evening. First, he pulled his pants down and tried to pee right in front of the slide. I caught him just in time and drug him to the edge of the park, but I'm pretty sure the woman across the street was looking out her window watching the whole thing. Later he got hauled off the playground for continuing to climb up the slide the wrong way. He then spent a good 20 minutes in the car in time out for calling me "stupid mommy"!!!!! Thanks again Toy Story! There were consequences, tears, and a long discussion, but I'm glad to report that the episode has yet to be repeated.

Happier times of Cohen swinging before the drama.

Here is Cohen with his Great-Grandma Jean.

Kent and Pete had a great time playing baseball with our cousins.

This is part of the peaceful ride home. Note the flat, wide openness seen out of the window. No claustrophobia inducing trees or space choking kudzu here!!!

11 Months Old!

Cohen is 11 months old today and I just cannot believe it! It has been almost a year! Hands down the fastest year of my life.

I could just eat up my baby boy! He is such a lover, always giving kisses. Despite his early months, he is super happy most of the time, except when we are at church. What can I say, he just misses me those three hours! Besides church, smiles all day long.

Right now Cohen likes:

• Any solid food I will give him- having ZERO teeth doesn't stop him one bit!
• Drinking out of a glass
• Laughing at his big brother
• Moving any way he can- he took his first steps yesterday! Yep! Walked about three steps from the couch to daddy!
• Bath time with his brother
• His crib- part of the problem with church...his bed is not there.
• Any electronic device- put away your computers! Whenever he goes near mine keys go flying. I don't know how he does it, but he touches the keyboard in such a way that breaks the keys right off.

Cohen does not like:

• Red lights
• Holding still
• Letting go of things
• Helping you when you hold him- he prefers to hang limp as you struggle to keep him on your hip

I love my tough guy!

Unbelievable!!

If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have believed it myself! I promise this is 100% true, not exaggerated, and I really really wish that I had videotaped it so we could've won $25,000 from America's Funniest Home Videos....

We were all in the living room last night, just hanging out. Kent, Cohen and I were playing on the floor and Pete was laughing at us on the couch. I was laying on the floor exhausted from being climbed all over, with Kent still on top of me. Cohen was all wound up and doing his little hopping thing- he will either get on his knees and hop up and down, throwing his arms up in the air or get his feet up underneath him like he's squatting and hop like a frog. He was doing the first version and laughing pretty hard so we were watching him, entertained by all his cuteness. All the sudden, mid hop, Cohen got his feet underneath him and jumped up to a STANDING position. He stood up, completely unassisted from a sitting position, in the middle of the room. We were all in a state of shock, expecially Cohen. He stood there for about 4 full seconds with his arms flung out and his knees wobbling, laughing hysterically. He looked like he was surfing! A little 10 month old surfer. We all had our mouths wide open- Kent included. Then, Cohen tried to take a step forward and fell to his knees.

Who is this crazy kid!?

Summer Photos

Here are the photos we had taken of the boys by our good friend and photographer Elizabeth. Check her out at elizabethduvallphotography.com

The Dog Returns

So, we had another run in with the dog last week. Of course, he came by the same day we were getting our new roof, so it was absolute chaos all around. I opened the front door with both kids about to head out to my mom's house, when I see the dog in our front yard bounding towards our open door. Pete was home (thankfully!) monitoring the roofers and I called for him to come help me. I did not want to repeat my last crazy run in with the dog...me, two kids, way too many bags, running and screaming around the yard, getting jumped on- all around 7 am in the morning!

I carried Kent, who was screaming, and Pete carried Cohen, who was laughing. We started down the steps, dodging the shingles being thrown off the roof and I noticed a ball in the yard. The dog did not come alone; he brought a toy with him. It was at this moment that I realized that this crazy, energetic dog was not trying to terrorize my family. I think he is just neglected and comes by every so often to "play". Pete grabbed the ball and threw it as far as he could out of the cul de sac and told me to run. The dog took off with his broken leash dragging behind him.

I was strapping Kent in and I could hear the dog coming back towards me really fast. All I can remember thinking about was how bad it was going to hurt when the dog jumped on me and his nails scratched my legs. Can you tell that I'm not what you would call an animal lover? Thankfully, the dog brought the ball straight back to Pete who threw it off again so I could strap in Cohen. As we drove away, I waited for Kent to quote the part of Toy Story that I heard him say over and over a few weeks ago, "Stupid Dog!". I was so proud when he didn't say that, but he did choose some Toy Story inspired words. Reminding me of one of the final scenes in the movie he said, "Mommy, I want to jump on that dog's back, spank his hiney and pull on his eyelids!"

I'm glad it didn't come to that!

9 month checkup...a month late

I realize that Cohen is now actually 10 months old, but I wanted to go ahead and post the stats from his nine month check up. I mean I remembered to take a picture at the doctor's office and everything!!!! He had a great visit and we are all really excited about how clear Cohen's skin has been lately. Maybe the eczema is going away! His blood test came back with him not allergic to milk, (the mystery continues), but positive allergies to eggs and peanuts. We are now headed to the allergist for his opinion on the milk issue and skin testing to help verify the other allergies.

Cohen is a really happy baby who loves to play and crawl everywhere. He is pulling up on all the furniture and walks along the couch and tables with one hand. He still can't make it up the step from our living room to our kitchen, which keeps me a happy mommy. ;) I know my days are numbered with this though and he will soon be roaming the house. He is just starting to babble and dance and is still flashing those big smiles all the time. Such a joy, Cohen is always so fun to be around. Kent loves having his brother to play and laugh with. Cohen's laugh is so cute, but he gets the hiccups everytime you get him laughing.

Here are Cohen's stats:

Height- 28 1/2 inches

Weight- 19 lbs 8 oz

Kent at 9 months:

Height- 30 1/4 inches

Weight- 22 lbs 7.5 oz