we're home!

just a really quick update, since it might be a few days or so before we get photos posted and stuff- we are HOME!! we got to mom and dad's around noon on friday- cole did very well on the trip, better than we expected. that said, he was SO happy to be out of the truck and crawling around, he forgot all about being hungry! we also went over to the house to unload the trailer (everything is still in boxes, piled in the living room and dining room) with a little help from kelvin's parents, and then we went to tigerton to have supper with them. we're staying at mom and dad's for a few days, and kelvin's taking vacation this upcoming week so that the unpacking and cleaning won't be such a chore... he will have the chance to spend some one-on-one time with cole so i can get things done! we're so happy to see everyone, but are still missing our friends back in arizona... so to all our new friends out there, we miss you and are thinking of you! i've discovered that sometimes it's the small things that you miss the most- good beef, my kwik trip milk-in-a-bag, cool nights, the list is a bit longer, but it's almost time for lunch and i'm too tired to think, so that will have to be all... and i'd better run! all for now, but be assured that photos are coming. eventually.

out last arizona post!

sorry, folks, this one is posed! amazingly, cole never really attempted to climb into the empty cabinets. so- i had to put him in one to get a picture... after which, he promptly took a nosedive onto the linoleum while trying to get at the camera. he was fine- the tears stopped the second he saw his sippy cup, so there weren't any devastating injuries!

the last bath in arizona... love the classic cole-face.

cole ALMOST fell asleep with daddy! his eyelids were having some trouble staying propped open and he was playing with his ears- so off to bed he went. of course, since it was mommy who took him, it took longer for him to go to sleep. stinker!

during meeting yesterday, i discovered that the crankies that come with roseola is an understatement... cole's "crab level" was off the charts! he was out pretty much the whole meeting, with kelvin and i taking turns. but, when we went to olive garden with brad, angela and the girls, he did reasonably well. the service was REALLY slow (why are we surprised....)- we were told it would be a 25-minute wait for a table, since sunday is more busy. fine- no problem, except that we waited for at least half an hour, only to find that the table we were seated at was one of the ones that had been prepped and empty for the last 20 minutes. hmmm. then, it took about 10 minutes for our waitress to bring our drinks out, and we'd been seated for over an hour by the time we finally got our food. not like it was anything complicate- kid's mac-n-cheese, kid's pizza and a few simple pasta dishes, and a bowl of soup for angela. oh well- after all the frustration, we realized that it was a good thing after all, since it gave us more time together... lots of laughs around that table! of course, we were too full for supper so cole had his, then n his bath... and he was asleep around 8.30. perfect! ....not... he woke up at midnight, cried and fussed and refused to sleep, until i finally thought to get him a sippy-cup of warm milk. i'd have thought of it sooner, but between the packing, getting very little sleep the rest of the week and getting about 2 hours last night, my thought process was rather foggy and delayed. so- neither kelvin nor i got much sleep at all... he's working a half-day today, so if i were him, i'd just skip it altogether and sleep. but whatever. hopefully he'll get a good night tonight. we're travelling with nate as far as las cruces, new mexico- we'll all spend the night there and then we're taking a different route home, so we'll part ways in the morning. depending on how cole is taking the travel, kelvin might want to spend the night in nate's room so he can get a decent night's sleep... one of us has to, so it should be him. i can always sleep while he's driving. anyway, this will be our last post for a while- we have somebody buying our modem today (again, thanks to craigslist- where else can you sell a used modem so easily?) and he's coming at about 9.30... i have to get cole's breakfast and take a quick bath (showered last night, smart!) and there's the last-minute stuff to do and get rounded up. we are SO sad to be leaving our friends here, but words can't describe how anxious we are to be getting home again... wisconsin, here we come!!!

finally, an explanation!

i just had to post this- cole slept all the way home and into the house last night. he didn't even wake up when we turned on the light! he did, however, wake fully upon an attempted diaper change! so, normal bedtime routing ensued... we can't even get away with cheating on THAT!
it doesn't show up very well here, but our little guy has a rash all over his back and tummy, and a little near his hairline. i noticed it when we got home from phoenix, and it kind of worried me, so i called mom, thinking that if she got worried about it, then i could call a doctor. so- i ran through the runny nose and 2-day fever that he'd had recently, and mom asked if he was crankier than usual. OH YEAH! he's been a total bear! he's the definition of crabby, personified. mom's diagnosis is roseola; she told me that i'd had it when i was little and was pretty crabby... i looked it up on the mayo clinic website and sure enough, all his symptoms fit! apparently it's most common between the ages of 9 and 21 months, but it can still affect older kids and adults. we'll have to mention it tomorrow after meeting so that the other families can be on the lookout, just in case! according to mayo clinic, the symptoms disappear within a week of the onset of the fever (tuesday) so i'm expecting the first day or two of travel to be a bit scary, but by the time we are home, he should be back to normal. i just have to say, i am SO relieved to know that he's being cranky for a good reason- i was really getting stressed, having to pack and listen to constant screaming and crying for no apparent reason. once again, mom to the rescue! thanks mom...

adios...

first, thank you TONS to sandy for sharing pictures of the party last night! i forgot the camera, even though it was pretty much first on my list... ah, blame it on the hormones. anyway, we are so fortunate to have made some very wonderful friends down here, who were kind enough to have a little goodbye potluck! the pictures on the cake were courtesy of the renteria family... SO cute!
kelvin and cole with cory and kyla.

we enjoyed spending some time with the people we meet with, and sandy sent more photos, but i've only got time for a small post... one guess as to why, lol! kelvin was getting a major guilt-trip from the smit boys- they told him that if he would get a job working for their dad, we wouldn't have to move, and we could stay here. that's about the cutest thing we've heard! we are really going to miss everyone- they've become almost like family. it's harder leaving here, because when we left home, we knew that it was only temporary and that we'd be coming back eventually... it's not that way this time around. we won't be moving back in a little while, so the goodbyes are a bit more definite; but, we have people to come visit someday. so, while we're really anxious to get back home, we're dreading saying farewell to everyone down here... arizona friends, we love you and will really miss you!!!

mommy's little "helper"

with my little "helper", things are going more smoothly than i thought they would! i'm really glad that cole's able to play with his toys by himself for a significant amount of time- he's super good at keeping himself entertained! of course, when he's had enough of playing by himself, he lets me know. loudly. and that's my signal to take a break... lol!caught red-handed! he was attemtping to unpack the box for the third time... unfortunately for him, it's all taped up now, so it's no longer an irresistable attraction.

cole's trying to figure out just why in the world mommy would put everything in boxes...

anyway, like i said, things are going really well, even though a sick little boy kinda put things on hold for a day or two. today, i got the laundry room partially cleaned, the fridge emptied and cleaned, the bathroom is DEEP- cleaned... almost everything is in boxes. so- all that's left is vacuuming, spot-cleaning, packing up our clothes and last minute laundry. and a few other odds-n-ends, little piddly stuff. tonight there is a get-together at philip and jeanette's; it's a much-needed distraction for me, and cole will (hopefully) have fun playing with the big kids. and of course, there's the weekly friday grocery shopping, which will mostly consist of baby food, juice and snacks for cole for the rest of our time here and for our trip, more packing tape, oven cleaner, stuff like that. tomorrow we head to up to the phoenix area with nate- we're going to meet his cousin, jason, and his family for lunch. also, we sold the futon on craigslist, so we're dropping that off and then we'll swing over to glendale (a suburb of phoenix, not too far away) to pick up a crib and mattress i found (also on craigslist... thank you, craigslist!!!). it's white, a simple design, converts to toddler bed and full headboard, just over a year old, used twice... the lady is asking $75 for the whole thing. can't go wrong there! so- we'll have one crib down, one to go. i'm thinking we'll just get another one new, closer to when the baby is due or when we have the extra cash, whichever comes first. i scouted them out at walmart yesterday, and they have a really nice simplicity 4-in-1 for under $200, so i think we'll get that for cole later down the road. i thought about getting two white cribs, but since we don't want to have to buy another bed for when he gets older, we'll just do natural wood. more boyish, anyway. so- knowing that both our babies will have beds really puts my mind at ease! and now, since i've rambled enough, i am off to take a much-needed shower... me-time!!

on the mend again...

our silly little boy- his fever was about 103, but he was still goofing off, making faces... this one looks kind of like he's angry, but really, he was just letting out one of those from-the-bottom-of-his-toes happy screeches. love the expression!

"hey mom, didjya see that face? huh? didjya? mom? mom?"

and, back to his into-everything little self today... actually, that's a cd that got messed up when i tried to copy photos onto it... since he likes to get into everything that mommy and daddy "play" with, we decided that he could have his own cd to do what he wants with; we were just going to toss it anyway.

so serious... the way he studies things, we often wonder if he'll someday become an engineer. cole is so curious about everything, the way things work, all that... he really gets into trying to figure everything out. speaking of trying to figure things out, i would love any suggestions or tips on battling raunchy baby breath- this kid's breath is out of control... we brush his teeth every night, and he gets a little water after his milk, but nothing we do seems to make a difference. it's not pleasant, especially since he's still got teeth coming in and chews on his fingers... they smell pretty putrid too, and short of giving him a bath three times a day, i have no clue how to tame this situation! so- anyone have any ideas?

sick little peanut...

poor baby! cole woke up feeling slightly warm yesterday, and by the time he'd had lunch, he had a low-grade fever of 100.3. i gave him motrin, but it didn't seem to do a whole lot for the fever... made him a bit perkier though! it amazes me, how much energy kids have even when they're not feeling the best. of course, i remember when i was little (like, elementary school age), i still had enough perk to want to play when i had a fever. it seems that as we get older, the more awful we feel with even the low-grade fevers- i mean, if i get above 99, i feel positively awful... aches, chills, the whole shebang. man, kids are resilient!cole wanted to play with his ball AND rehydrate... he discovered that he only needs one hand for each! his eyes are kinda glazed and red... that would be the fever. he's less perky today- his temp this morning was 101.1, and that was with an armpit reading, so if i'm remembering correctly, you add a degree... making it 102.1. my baby is baking!!! he did eat a whole bowl of oatmeal, though, and he's already gone through an entire sippy cup of juice. normally, i limit his juice intake (sugar, yikes), but this is an exception. besides, milk is not very appealing when you're sick... juice is MUCH better! so- he's had a normal breakfast, but now would rather cuddle than anything. his little forehead and little neck are SO hot... and yes, he's had more motrin! at least he got a decent night's sleep- he was a bit restless, but i didn't have to get up with him, so hopefully that will get him on the mend a little sooner.

despite not feeling 100% yesterday, cole still had enough get-up-and-go to wait at the gate for daddy to get done in the shower. it's so funny- he will wait at the baby gate the ENTIRE time kelvin is in the bathroom- talk about the patience of a saint! if only he'd do that for me.... he gets so excited when kelvin gets home- it's so cute! that's the one time of the day that he'll stay in one place for more than a minute or so- when daddy's in the shower. and it's cute- he'll stand SO still, almost like he's afraid to move, but once that water stops running, he gets all excited and starts doing his little boogie-thing (he does a few squats and then wiggles from side to side... hard to explain, but way funny!), like he can hardly contain himself. what a daddy's boy...