Happy Easter! Happy Easter!

I was proud of that one:)

A family tradition I have tried to keep going:)

Every Easter (or the Saturday before, I believe) I would wake up to the house lined (literally) with candy eggs.  

Every ledge, every corner, every door frame.  

We would race to find our baskets and then frantically scoop as MUCH candy as possible into them.  The funniest thing about this, is that after all our baskets were full we would declare a basket filling winner, and then immediately dump the entire contents of our baskets onto the kitchen table and evenly distribute each piece back into everyone's baskets. By COLOR! When I say even, I mean even:)  Why?  Well, my oldest sister declared this the new rule when my second oldest sister would always win the candy scooping contest and then have more candy than she did:)  

I loved this tradition and have done it in my college apartments with my roommates and now with my own family.

Please notice the candy drool!  She did not even need to be prompted for that one!

She got the candy scooping down pretty good.

The Easter Dress.

My mom made this for her.

I helped...

I made the bows-lol

She calls it her Rapunzel dress and demanded Eugene (aka Flynn Rider...aka Targhee) be by her side for picture taking. 

The happy family... *kinda

*Please see next picture.

THIS is actually what we were dealing with ALL DAY!!

I find humor in the picture only because it's the day after...and all my mom wanted was a cute picture with Leilani in the dress she had made.  Do you think she was going to cooperate?  Nope!

Egg hunt at Grandma Cole's

She lost interest in finding more eggs.  All she needed was a squishy rubber bunny:)

Finding Easter eggs is very serious business to the Cole men.

Or not:)

The booty

This is how TJ searched for eggs.

A Tinker Bell dress.

It was worn the rest of the day.

Dinner at Grandma Bishop's

Egg hunt at Grandma Bishops

(Easter is just another word for candy overload!) 

Leilani with Myriah, one of the little girls my sister is fostering right now.

I feel like this picture needs to go in a magazine or something.

Little girl in a Tinker Bell dress, with a mouth full of candy, counting Easter eggs with her dad.

Love it!

I love holidays and the family traditions they bring mostly because it brings families together.

But among all the festivities, we did not forget the real person who brings families together.

Our Savior Jesus Christ.

Because of Him, our families can be sealed together for eternity.  We will be able to see those loved ones who have passed on again and we will be able to return to live with our Father in Heaven again.  I am truly grateful for the life of our Savior and his sacrifice for us.  It was a world wide sacrifice and yet personal to every one of us. 

He Lives!

Photo Opp

My mom and I played dress up the other day and took a few pictures of TJ.  They're obviously not professional but don't hate the photographer:)

p.s. his hair is NOT red.  I don't know why it looks that way here.

I got one on camera!!

I can't help but love it:)

I have such a hard time with infant pictures because they always seem to have the wrong angle or just look awkward, but this one looks the most like him, to me, of all the pictures I've taken.  Even so, he's much cuter in person:)

Since I've had two kids

Man this two kid thing is exhausting!

My time is completely eaten up with feedings, rockings, bum changings, clean ups, and consoling melt downs (including my own).

I have actually really enjoyed having two kids.

I can't believe three weeks have already flown by.

I can tell it's going to be a lot harder to keep track of happenings.

I'm going to have to keep a notebook right by the rocking chair to write little things down.

So here's a few things we've done since becoming a family of four.

Our first family walk.

We don't have a double stroller yet so we both had to push one:)

I went for a walk on my own while Targhee was at work and I had to strap Leilani to the handle of the single stroller with my Dad's tie so that I could push them both- lol.

Ya, a little white trash, but it was nice outside and TJ needed an outing.  I guess you lose a little "so whatness" when you don't sleep much:)

Grandma and Grandpa Fuzzy (aka Grandma and Grandpa Cole) have come to visit a few times.  They love their Grandparents!

Helping out with the dishes.

Just a regular day.

Me showing Leilani pictures of when she was a baby and my Dad (who just retired Friday- woohoo! Go Dad!) rocking TJ.

Flying a kite.

Grandma Fuzzy brought Leilani a Cinderella kite.  So, here she is wearing her Cinderella dress flying a Cinderella kite.  Talk about 2 year old bliss.

This was an adventure!

Leilani decided she didn't need to take a nap (she's been doing that lately...little stinker!) so I brought out the finger paints to keep her busy.  Well, of course TJ had to wake up JUST as we were getting our hands dirty.  So I left Leilani to go at it while I fed TJ.  Needless to say, she had paint EVERYWHERE and I was strapped to the chair with a baby connected to me so there wasn't much I could do about it.  I finish feeding him, then go to clean up Leilani.  I had to put her in the bath, then go back and scrub the bathroom (where she was painting) then TJ started screaming.  I had to change him then he pooped everywhere (a favorite trick of his), so I had to change his clothes and clean up his mess, then I had to go back and finish washing Leilani.  

After it was all done, I was so tired and just laughed at myself at how silly I was for pulling out the finger paint. I thought, "Oh!  This is what it's like to have two kids.  I'm going to learn a lot!" :)

He's starting to focus on us more.  The cuddly infant stage is sweet, but they're much more fun when they can interact with you. 

Leilani's been spending a lot of time outside lately.

She loves getting all dressed up in princess dresses, but then wants to go play in the mud:)

p.s. She also took another trip to the ER a few weeks ago.

She tripped and hit her head on the corner of the fireplace.

I tell ya, this girl is going to be lucky to stay in one piece.

Gratefully all they needed to do was glue it shut so hopefully the scar isn't too big.  If it is, I guess it will just match the other two...

We went and visited some baby bunnies and chicks.

Lately TJ has been throwing these full on colicky fits.  His sweet, easy going attitude lasted about 2 weeks, then BAM, on comes the screaming.  I don't know what it is.  Leilani was a screamer too.  I stopped eating dairy, which seemed to help with Leilani so hopefully it helps with him too.  

At least with TJ I know that it doesn't last forever.

I remember thinking that this was going to be my curse for the rest of my life when Leilani was a baby, but it wasn't.  She got over it and became the sweetest, happiest child.  So I have hope that TJ will do same and can deal much better with his episodes than I did before.

In fact, he's having one right now which is why I am sitting here writing this because Targhee is taking a turn.  We're great at taking turns:)

He also has his clock turned backwards.  "And I'm thinkin'... that's gotta stop." (that's a quote from a movie- candy bar for whoever can guess it- hint: it's one of my favorites)  He sleeps all day and then is up all night.

The no sleep thing is starting to wear on me.

I really am not a pleasant person when I don't get enough sleep, so we're hoping to turn this kid around fast!

Saturday night he slept from 11pm-6am.  It felt so good but I couldn't keep from feeling guilty that he went so long without eating... he was up til 4am the next night, so it must have just been a tiny present for mom.

Well, I think that's all I have for now. I've already taken too long...time to feed the babes again:)

The Story

Some people love birthing stories and some would rather walk hot burning coals than hear the details of birth, so if you consider yourself a member of the second category then I suggest you stop reading here:)

I was five days past my due date and feeling pretty hopeless that a baby would ever be born and seriously doubting the fact that there was even one inside me at all.
Not my finest week.  

I had been sitting at 4cm for almost 2 weeks which I thought was completely ridiculous.

Finally Friday morning around 9:30 I started feeling contractions!

I was so excited.

I had never really felt contractions before, so the whole month prior I would ask myself if every jolt, pressure, or movement was one, but I knew as soon as they started that morning that these were for real.

I happily went about my day feeling contractions through the whole thing but never anything that I couldn't handle.

We cleaned the house, went to the park, visited Targhee's parents, went out to eat with my parents, (they had just received their mission call to Johannesburg, South Africa the day before and wanted to celebrate:)

The Park

Targhee went down this slide about 10 times lol:)

 

My attempt at the teeter-totter.

You know all those old wive's tales of how to go into labor?  I guess you can add this one:) I was trying to bounce him out!

Texas Road House.

Targhee and I also ate here right before I went to the hospital with Leilani.

I guess this too can be added to the old wive's list. 

There really is nothing like steak when you know you're about to go through the pain of labor.

We came home, put Leilani to bed and then started a game of Pinochle with my parents (a favorite pass time of ours).
I had been watching the clock for a few hours now and noticed that the contractions were getting harder and more predictable (a perfect 4-5 minutes apart).
At about 9:45pm I told Targhee it was time to go to the hospital.
He rushed me there, but I assured him we had plenty of time.  He gets a little stressed out during this part of the parenting process:)  I was the one who was reassuring him that everything was just fine.  In fact, as I sat at the table playing games with my parents I told them I could labor like this any time.  I would much rather be up and around doing things than laying restricted to the most uncomfortable bed known to man (aka- the delivery bed).
It is so unnatural to me that they would make you LAY in a bed without moving because you just might mess up the monitor while you are experiencing strong consistent spurts of pain.
Even when you stub your toe you don't just sit there.  You jump around, fall to the ground, grab your toe screaming OUCH!!! No one just lays motionless in pain.
Dumb! Dumb!
Well when we got to the hospital they of course strapped me to the above mentioned bed.
By this time the contractions were harder and much more uncomfortable so I was getting a little testy.
Rightfully so, I think.
Especially since when I got there, they checked me and I was still only at a 4.
That was the most disappointing news I had heard all day.
I was angry they made me lay in the stupid bed and angry they made me stay strapped to a monitor.  I didn't need a monitor to tell me when I was having a contraction!!  I could tell ya!!
Finally about 11:20pm I had had enough!
I ripped the monitors off (literally...) jumped out of the bed and walked to the bathroom (to make it look like  I had a good reason for getting out of my bed of containment:)
When I got back the nurse came in and told me I needed to lay back down.
I refused.
Again, not one of my finest moments lol.
She assured me it would only be for 10 more minutes.  BUT...if I hadn't progressed any more after those ten minutes they would have to send me back home.
I was furious!
How could they send me home?
I was obviously in labor.
Their stupid monitor proved it!
So I grudgingly got back in the bed and no sooner had one more contraction passed that my water broke!
HA!
Take that you nasty nurses!
(Actually, they were quite sweet- I feel bad that they have to deal with ornery pregnant women all day).
That was one of the weirdest feelings I have ever felt.
I told Targhee either my water just broke or I just peed my pants about 2 gallons worth.
He went and got the nurses who said, "Well, looks like you're staying here after all."
"Ya think!"
(I think I accidentally said that one out loud and Targhee gave me the "don't do it Monica" head shake).

Now despite how this all may sound, I cannot tell you how much better this was for me than my first baby.
I felt peace instead of fear. I felt prepared instead of anxiety.
I was so grateful the whole time for those feelings because I had prayed for them.  I knew that my prayers were heard and answered and that everything would be ok.

They took me to a delivery room and gave me an epidural.

I went from a 6 to a 10 in a little over an hour.
I could still feel the contractions but the epidural had taken the edge off so I was a bit more amiable.
I could even enjoy the sweet nurses a little bit more, but this cracked me up...
The nurse who had been working with me thus far checked me right before her shift change and decided I was at 9 and 3/4.
Really?
You can tell 3/4 of a centimeter with your fingers??
I think she had just been reading Harry Potter at her little nurses desk and had "platform nine and three quarters" on her mind OR she just really wanted to go home and actually voicing that I had reached a 10 would delay her departure time.
Either way we had to wait forever for the new nurse to make her rounds and when she came in she was just going to check my monitors etc and leave.
I said, "Um wait, the last nurse said I was at 9 and 3/4.  Aren't you going to check me?"
She turned and looked surprised, "Oh.  You want me to check you?"
UH YA!!
Let's get this show on the road lady.
So she checked me and sure enough I was full on ready to go.  To this she replies.  "Ok, I'll go call the doctor."
Call the doctor??
You mean the doctor was not called at "nine and three quarters!!" (sorry, this must be said with an English accent)
How ridiculous!
So again, we waited.
Targhee says it wasn't really that long but to me it felt like an eternity.
Finally it was time to push.
I pushed for 30-45 minutes.  When his head came out the doctor said, "Woah!  BIG boy!" lol  She and all the nurses immediately started making guesses on how much he'd weigh.
Usually the head is the hard part and then the rest of the body just kinda falls out with it, but not this little guy.  Nope!  Apparently he has his dad's broad shoulders.  So the most difficult part was getting his shoulders through.  But, I did it with no rips or tears. (Only a woman who has born a child can truly appreciate that I think).
It is such a euphoric feeling to finally get that big body out and see your baby for the first time.
They are all squishy and purple and yet the most beautiful thing you've ever seen and then when you hear them cry you can't help but smile.

So at 2:17am on March 10, 2012, Baby TJ was born.
9lbs 5oz and 22 inches long.
(All the nurses guessed too low:)

About an hour after he was born.  My adrenaline was still running.

The first time he opened his eyes.  About 24 hours after he was born.  He was so content.  We just sat and enjoyed each other's company.  It was such a sweet time and he has been just as sweet since we brought him home.  He has some fussy times but for the most part is a relaxed baby, something that is totally new to me.

Leilani wasn't allowed to come to the hospital because of their visiting rules right now.

I felt really good so we went home a day early to try to get some sleep.  Hospitals are not in the business of giving their patients sleep.  Every 30 minutes someone is coming in to check...I don't know...something.

Leilani meeting TJ for the first time.

The first time she asked to hold him.

I feel extremely blessed right now.  It has been so fun transitioning into a family of four.  I have really enjoyed these past few weeks.  I haven't even minded the middle of the night lack of sleep, which if you know anything about me and how I feel about sleep, is a really big deal, so for that I am very grateful.  Targhee has been an amazing companion.  He is always available to help where ever he is needed.  He was able to take the first week off of work and I think having him with me made a huge difference.  My mom and dad have helped a lot too.  So all in all this has been a much better experience for me.  I'm grateful for a God who knows our desires and is willing to bless us when he sees fit.

Welcome to the family TJ!

On My Due Date

I don't often read horoscopes.

Ok, let me rephrase that,

I never read horoscopes.

But for some reason at breakfast today I was perusing the newspaper and saw them so I read it.

I first read Targhee's:

"You can make it look easy today, whatever it is- but rest assured it will be something that you have been looking forward to doing."

It made me laugh, so I read mine:

"Forward motion is likely to cure what ails you today- and you'll realize that you've been preventing your own progress as of late."

LOL

Well, let's see.

Last night at 11pm, I asked Targhee to go for a walk.

Being the sweet man that he is, he acquiesced my request:)

We walked about 1.5 miles.

Probably more than I have walked in the last two months combined.

But still...no baby.

So I went outside today and raked leaves with my Mom for about an hour.

What's it gonna do, put me in labor?

Ha ha!

So, thus far, forward motion has done nothing but bring disappointment and sore muscles.

And to think, it's been me preventing my own progress all along!

Oh, bless your hearts horoscope writers.