cole's discovery

I try to put the plants in an out-of-the-way location. I used to make Colton refrain from digging in the plant pots, and for a while, he was very good at leaving them alone. But the more he discovered the fun of dirt outside, the more he wanted to play in the pots inside. So, I moved them to a place where he rarely plays, so he wouldn't be tempted to dig in and throw dirt around the house. I got Colton up from his nap, and I let him wander through the house to his usual play area. He's usually pretty hungry and yells, "breakfast" all of the way to the dining room. I'll correct him and tell him that we're about to have lunch, and then he'll change his tune to "lunch, lunch, lunch" as he runs to his high chair. Today, he wandered through the house slowly. I didn't think much of it. There were a few things different about his walk through the house today. During his nap, I removed one of the two baby gates, because our garage door is down for the count ... I have to put his stroller in the house to take in and out of the front door until we fix it. It's much easier to get in and out with the gate removed. He loved walking through the hallway where the gate usually stands, so I let him play there while I folded some laundry. When I hadn't heard anything for a while, I called to him. He came around the corner and smiled at me. It seemed like things were going okay, so I let him keep playing. A little bit later, I realized that I hadn't heard anything for a while. I called, "Colton, where are you?" He came running, but I could see something wrong with him. His little hands were black, and I could see something on his shirt. He had been digging and throwing dirt from the plant pots all around the family room. Little Colton feet had spread dirt in a trail through the kitchen, and he was having a grand 'ole time. I quick wiped his hands and brushed the dirt off of his shirt and sent him packing into the living room. I went to assess the damage, and here's what I found.


Now, let me tell you a little bit about my non-green thumb. I kill all living house plants. I am lucky to have plants survive outside ... I think I'm even killing my grass somehow. I don't know what my issue is, but plants die in my house. I have tried ... note the three pots ... two empty and one deathly sick aloe plant. What you can't see is another dead plant on the other side of the room. I guess Colton gave me a little boost to try again. We had to go to Home Depot today anyway to get some other items, so I talked to the lady in the nursery and asked her about plants that do well inside the home ... and are a hearty breed! Thanks to Cole's dirt digging day 'o fun, I decided to spruce up the house a bit and turn those ugly, dead, dirt-filled pots into something beautiful--for now. I sure hope they stay like this and only get more beautiful. But I'm not holding my breath ... as I haven't seen too much promise for me as a gardner.


Today, I have gotten a lot done around the house. I have done several loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen for Sabbath, gone through all of my clothes and gotten rid of TWO bags full of clothing and shoes, cleaned the bathrooms for Sabbath, taken care of the pool, organized my dresser drawers, swept the floor (twice), and picked the weeds out in our front yard flower beds. It has been a great day! When I look at the bags of clothing--some of which I haven't been able to part with for YEARS, I am excited to see myself de-cluttering, and I am sad to see some things that I have traveled in, gone to high school in, played sports in, etc. being given away. It's a good thing, though. I've needed to de-clutter my clothing for a long time.


Unfortunately, this doesn't mean I won't be shopping to replace some of my lost items. I did, however, find my lost maternity shorts ... so there's a little less shopping for me to do!

times, they are a changin'

I'm sad to report that last week was my final week watching Mei Li. I'm sure I will pick up a day or two here and there with her, and I know I'll hang out with Mellie on her days off sometimes. But ... it's different. Colton and I had really come to love little Mei Mei, and we enjoyed having her here 3 days a week to play. Now that I'm having another baby, I think about the last times I get to do "this" or "that" with Colton, and it makes me sad. I'm excited to have another little one to love and adore, but I'm sad that the Cole-ster and I will be 'party of 3' instead of the 'dynamic duo'. I think that's one big reason I was ready to say "goodbye" to Mei Li ... even though, I was terribly sad to see her go. I knew that these were the last moments with my little peanut to bond--just the two of us. So, to say 'goodbye', we love you, and we'll miss you to Miss Mei Mei, I made her a little gift.

This is the blanket I made for her.

It's the first time I have ever done an applique or hand quilted anything! I was very satisfied with the results of my first try. I also finally learned to embroider correctly. Thank you, YOUTUBE. I had no idea I was doing it the hard way before!

Mitered corners ... well, I have a little bit of learning to do here, but not bad for my first try.

This is the front view. It's my first disappearing nine patch quilt. I had a lot of fun making it!

This is the back view. I really like this fabric! I'm glad Steph helped me find it.

And sweet Mellie was so kind to give me a little goodbye gift, too. Isn't this hydrangea beautiful!?! I love it! I'm going to try to plant it ... I tend to kill things, but I have high hopes.


On another note, I have been really enjoying letting Colton try all kinds of new foods. He used to hate blueberries. Well, I don't know if he hated them, but he spit them out unless I cut them in half. Usually he spit them out. Now, he gobbles them up! I'm sure he'll end up with blue poo. He just loves to eat holding his spoon or fork, as it may be. He won't use it ... just holds it. I'm hoping eventually he will use it ... we practice, but I still find him holding it in one hand and eating with the other hand. But don't try to take it away from him! He wants to hold the 'spOOOOOn"!

I love his smile!

And this face just cracked me up, so I had to include it!

I'm very excited!!!!! In less than a week, we are going to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Little Wally (short for Walnut) is quite active and growing very well. I feel like it's a boy, but I think there are others involved that hope it's a girl. I guess, either way, I will just be happy to have a healthy little one to love and for Colton to play with. I just can't imagine what life will be like with two. I see lots of exhaustion. I'm nervous that I will never leave my house for fear of two kids ganging up on me. I have the hang of Colton, but will I have the hang of Colton with Wally? I know billions of people do it every day, and my own mother mastered the two-kid family ... my mother-in-law even mastered the four-kid family. I know God will lead me, and He will help me figure it all out ... but being on the outside of a two-kid family makes me really respect mothers of multiple children. Here's what 'Wally' looks like now (I will post next Monday's sonogram for you to guess the gender):

Waving 'hi' to all of you!

Arms and legs a-kickin'!

Hopefully, I won't crack under the pressure of waiting ... I'm so impatient!

camping adventures

We took Colton on his first camping adventure this weekend to Tomoka Springs National Park just north of Daytona, FL in Ormond Beach. To say he had a great time would be an understatement. Colton loves the great outdoors! He can't get enough of the backyard, park, and our evening walks. As soon as we got to the campsite, he found a "broom" to keep himself busy with as Billy and I set up the camp. He swept and swept the whole campsite. What a good little helper!



Colton loved the tent. He wanted to go inside of it or lay on top of it from the outside. He thought it was so funny when I got in the tent and peeked at him through the windows! He would smash his face on the screen and lean in to peek at me. Our sleeping situation was a family combo. We snuggled up really nicely together!

Billy made a nice big fire, and Cole was careful to listen to us and not get too close. Plus, it was raging hot! He did, however, want to put the wood in the "basket" and kept picking up pieces and taking them to the fire to throw in. What a good assistant to the fire maker he was!



Before dark, we went on a walk to the Halifax River. It was such a great evening to be outside! There was a nice breeze, and we really enjoyed walking around the park.








After our walk, we had dinner, and we enjoyed the fire a bit before we took Colton into the tent to get ready for bed. Colton enjoyed sitting by the fire and eating a little meal. He was a very good boy, and he stayed in our campsite the whole time!




Colton also got to try his first toasted marshmallow! He wasn't too sure at first, but he decided that a warm ball of sugar hit the spot and gobbled it up!




....... Colton cheesing at the camera .......

....... Playing around with Dad before bed .......

...... Such a big smile! .......

As soon as we put Colton down to sleep and stepped out of the tent, we heard a little voice ask, "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Daddy? Mommy?" There was some small whimpering and then ... silence ... we peeked into the tent to see Colton sprawled out in the middle of the bed, face down, sound asleep.

The middle of the night is another story. I wake up to the sound of Colton's voice yelling, "Plane!" I hear it, too. A plane flies over heading somewhere and the pilot having no idea that a small, 16-month old boy has roused from his sleep to announce to his parents that this plane is flying by ... and we should know about it! (I do have to mention that since I have been pregnant again, I can't go a night without getting up at least once, if not twice, to use the restroom. I did get up, unzip the tent, zip it again and head out into the night ... just to make all of that noise again getting back into the tent. I thought Colton had slept through it, but of course, a gaggle of girls, staying up late into the wee hours of the night raised their voices high into the night as they, also, headed to the bathroom. We stayed a little too close to the restrooms, for this is what finally got Colton to wake up ... his Mommy and the girl gaggle.) After he announced the flight of the airplane, Colton leaned on Daddy and peeked into his face to see if he was awake. No luck. So he patted his side and peeked again ... still no luck. I quickly closed my eyes as he headed toward me. Through a slice of opening in my eyelids, I see his head nearly smashed into mine to see if I am awake. After figuring no one was up, he stands up and yells, "PUPPY!" (I had to bring his puppy pillow camping.) "PUPPY, PUPPY!" And when that doesn't work, he flops down between us and says, "Blanket! Oh, blanket!" Finally, I hear Billy say, "Shhhh, Colton. Nigh-Night." Billy informed me that it was 2:47 a.m. I, finally, sat up and laid him down with his blanket. He laid there quietly for a while, but I could tell he wasn't sleeping. After what seemed like 30 minutes of me waiting for him to fall asleep again, so I could escape on another bathroom break, I hear him say, "Feet. Feeeeet. Feet." I just decided to quit waiting and left the tent. As I walked away, I could hear a small cry ... Colton didn't know where I was going. When I got back, he was still laying there, chewing on his blanket ... talking about his feet. I finally couldn't stay awake any longer, and I fell asleep. I thought he would be up for the rest of the morning, but sometime while it was still dark, I woke up and saw he was out like a light, so I scooted him close to Billy and went back to bed. The next morning, we woke up to Colton too excited to have Mommy and Daddy right there with him. He got us up around 7:45 a.m. Billy told me that Colton had been laying SO close to him that he had to roll him away, so he could use the blanket, and sometime during the night, Colton's head was on me, but his feet were on Billy ... kicking away with all his might into Billy's side. What a nut! Needless to say, he was exhausted all day long! But he enjoyed his breakfast outside and a morning walk to the park.



I think we'll be doing this again ... but as it's April and we're already having 92 degree days, it may have to be next camping season. Tomorrow, we're off to Tampa to visit friends for the day. No rest for the weary! :)

the woes of home ownership

Well ... it could be worse. I could be writing this while sitting in a foot of water, but I'm not--luckily, I am writing this with a brand new water heater installed yesterday morning. On Sunday, I went to start up a load of laundry. When I stepped on the rug in front of the washer, it was soaking wet! I thought 'oh, man! the washer is broken!'. It was not. In fact, I traced the puddle of water to the water heater ... just beside the washing machine. And there I saw it ... small streaks of dried water down the side of the heater ... and when I put my finger next to the lid, I could feel a slow, but steady, stream trickling down to the floor. I mopped up the small mess, and I called my Dad.
"Dad, how much do you know about water heaters?"
He cornily replies, "They supply your house with hot water." Thanks, Dad.
"Can I fix a small leak?" I ask.
"From the pipes?" he inquires.
"Uh ... no ... from the top," I reply.
"Looks like you'll have to get yourself a new water heater," he informs me. Ugh! Just what we need. Well, on the bright side of it all, the water heater didn't explode everywhere, and we were never without hot water. I also found a super nice plumber, and after checking around to many places, also found that he had the best price. So, he came and installed a new water heater ... and even replaced my copper piping with PVC for no extra charge. Although, we weren't planning on spending that money on a new water heater ... I guess, it could be worse. On the plus side, the whole thing made me clean up my entire laundry room ... under the washer and dryer, too. Wow! A lot of lint gets thrown around in there. Now, it's spic-and-span ... spring cleaning has hit the laundry room.



On another note, Colton has been LOVING a pink stroller that Rosie left for him when she visited a few weeks ago. He's really into pushing things around right now. He wants to push his stroller when we go on walks ... no riding in it ... just pushing it along the trail. Anyway, he loves this little stroller, because it's so light-weight. He can turn it and move it with ease. He's been putting everything in it to push around ... his milk cup, water cup, toys, books ... Billy even "misplaced" the TV remote--only to find out that Colton had decided that it was a good thing to push around in the stroller. We found it tucked neatly in the chair for a go around the house. I guess he's ready for a baby brother or sister.