Saying Goodbye To Grandpa Denny

The first few months of 2014 were some of the most trying for our family. Grandpa Denny became ill mid February and by the end of March he was moved to hospice. On April 3, 2014 Denny went up to heaven. Losing a father and grandfather is one of the hardest things we have ever dealt with. Brett spent time running from work, to the hospital, to home nonstop. I'm thankful that he had a job that allowed him to spend so much time with his dad during the last months of his life and to be by his mom's side through it all. I will never forget what it was like explaining to Riley that Grandpa Denny was sick and that he was going to go to heaven. She completely understood and to see grief in my five year old's face was so hard. Telling her that Grandpa was in heaven was by far the hardest thing Brett and I have ever done. She understands that he is in Heaven with God. In the time since his passing she will point to the sky and say hi to Grandpa and talks about him quite often. Harper, on the other hand, doesn't really understand. Although, just the other day, out of the blue, she became very exited and said "Grandpa Denny is coming back from heaven!!" With Cole, we've begun to notice just how similar he is to his Grandpa Denny. He looks so much like Denny it is unbelievable. He has his Grandpa Denny's hands and mouth. He's a constant reminder of the man we lost. As time has moved on we've planted five rose bushes in his honor and try to keep his presence alive in our kids. I can honestly say that I feel him around quite often. I'm a true believer that he is present in our lives and that he has a hand in where our family is going!

Cole Carlson: 1 Year, 4 Months

I am almost a month late with this, but here is what Cole was up to at the beginning of the month:
* He's wearing size 12 months clothes still. Some 18 months he wears, but swims in.
* He is climbing up and down the stairs now.
* we tried switching him back to whole milk, but it made him constipated again.
* He loves to be outside.
* He had a really bad ear infection that brought high temps. Poor little guy had to have a shot and was still sick for several days.
* he loves shoes and will put every pair he finds on his feet. Its normal to not find a matching pair of shoes for a couple days of he gets his hands on them.
* he loves balls and to chase his sisters around the house.
* he learned to walk backward and we often see Jim just walking backward across a room.
* He is working on another tooth.

Adventureland Inn

Over spring break we decided to take the kids to Adventureland Inn to swim and spend the night. It wasn't much compared to our original plans of traveling down to Texas to see Aunt Libby, but the kids had so much fun. There were several pools with a swim up bar. The kids loved the shallow pool where they could run around pretty independently.  Cole took a little while to decide that he liked the water, but did eventually play some. We only had one mishap while there. As we were walking to the van to leave poor Riley walked right into a pole.

Cole's First Haircut!

Brett took Cole to get his first haircut a few weeks back. He looks like such a handsome little boy now. It was sad to see his little curls go, but he sure does look cute!

March Madness

It has been such a crazy month around here. The weather has been both freezing and sunny and 50. We be made it out of the house a few times, but really we spent a lot of time at home. The girls have begun to play really well together and Cole just stomps around to make himself known. Here's what went down:

* Harper colored her nails and face in green marker...on several different occasions.
* Harper stuck pears up her nose and blamed Grandma Sheryl for teaching her how to do it. Grandma Sheryl denies the accusation.
* Cole tried to eat a black marker.
* Riley has worn her swimsuit around the house many times...pretending to swim, scuba dive, and hunt for sharks. Harp took her own take on wearing a swimsuit.
* Riley had Fifths Disease. Poor thing had a rash for over a week.
* Harper began drawing smiley faces. They are very detailed with sweet mohawks.
* Riley and I went to the play house with her preschool. It was a bunch of fun and something we may try to do more regularly.
* We hung a bird feeder and the kids love to watch the birds and squirrels. We even had a squirrel walk on the back deck right up to our window.

Makeup Girl!

Cole Carlson: 1 Year, 3 Months

Cole buddy just keeps growing! We've noticed a lot of fun changes this month. He sure has his own little personality. Here's what he's been up to:

* he weighs in at 18 lbs (and some change). Still in size 12 month clothes and has grown into a size 3 shoe.
* he will push over any block tower that he sees, laugh, and then give his sister a hug.
* he has started running. Its not fast or coordinated, but he's definitely running.
* his hair is out of control and he needs his first haircut. It is super thin and straight on top with some curls at his neck. Out.of.control!
* he is sleep sack obsessed! He loves his sleep sack. If he sees it he's wearing it like a cape with his feet out to walk around.
* he has 7 teeth and seems to be working on a few more now. They have literally grown in from left to right.
* he is still not sleeping through the night. Some nights he wants a paci at 3 and milk at 5. Other nights we are up every hour and a half.
* he knows where his head, hair, eyes, nose, and ears are.
* he's not saying any new words, but uses a lot of inflection in his voice.
* he is a bit of a hot head. He gets upset easily and has started swatting at stuff. 
* he is able to follow simple instructions like throwing something in the garbage for me.
* he is still a mama's boy.
* he has learned the "cheese face" for picture taking.
* his favorite foods: bananas, go-gurts, corn, carrots, peas, deli meat, pasta, honey nut Cheerios.
* he loves to play with his balls, cars, shoes, pots and pans, and kitchen utensils.
* we switched him to soy milk since he was so constipated and prune juice wasn't helping. Since the switch he is doing much better.