Chef Cole Boudreaux

Cole helped me cook dinner last night. We had chicken stuffed with rice and shrimp and cream style corn. ( I realize there's no green....sometimes you just have to go without it.) I was highly impressed at what our now 7 month old could do. I can't wait to see what he'll cook up when he's one. ;)

What a Week!

I just love this picture.

This past week has been a super busy one. I was a Vacation Bible School (VBS) volunteer. My duties were to encourage Pre-K and Kindergarten kids and show them how to decorate a flower pot. You may be asking "why a flower pot?". Let me explain. Each day we had an "I AM" statement and a Bible verse that went along with it. For mine it was "I AM THE VINE" from John 15:5, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." Makes more sense now, huh. Volunteering at VBS was one of the most rewarding things I've done. I think next year I'll be a shepherd for a small group of kids. That's where you really get to know the kids. I look forward to next year's VBS.

Anyhow, my niece Taylor got to spend the entire week with us. It was so nice to have her visit. She is in high school so during the school year it is hard to get to see her. Here are some of the fun things she and Cole did.

Aunt Nell bought Cole a walker and he loves it. He is wearing ruts in the tile of our entry hallway. Thank you Aunt Nell (and Taylor for helping to pick it out).

Cole showed Taylor his wrestling moves.

Taylor showed Cole how to blow bubbles.

We met up with, Aunt Nell, Taylor's Mom on Friday. We ate lunch together and strolled around the mall for a few hours. You should have seen Cole. He sat in his stroller and took in all of his surroundings. Taylor took him to every mirror in Macy's. I think she got a kick out of him laughing every time he saw himself in the mirror.

We went to Target and let him play in an exersaucer that was on display. He had a lot of fun. I think Taylor and Aunt Nell got their Cole fix for a little while. I know Cole will miss all of the attention.

Surprise Birthday Party

Sunday was my nephew's 18th birthday. Most of the Boudreaux family was there. It was a surprise birthday party and my nephew had no idea what he was in for when he went to see Taunt and Uncle David's new pool. It was great. We all had a great time swimming and eating the hugest hot dogs I've ever seen. I mean they were HUGE; I should have taken a picture of them. Of course Cole was the center of attention and got even more spoiled by all his loved ones and their friends.

Cole and his Daddy play in the pool fountain. I love to see My Love adore our son.

Aunt Nell lets Cole drink out of a "big-boy" cup and he loves it. So cute.

Here Cole is being loved on by some of his cousins.

A Home on the Range

Cole and I have been visiting Pa and Grammy this past week. They are in the middle of building a house and it's coming along quite nicely. While we were there we got to do many fun things like ride my 23 year old horse that I've had since I was a child. He's semi-retired but is still young at heart.
We also got to swim in my Aunt and Uncle's pool with a few cousins. Cole and Ben are only 6 months apart and had a great time.

Cole never misses a chance to play or snuggle with Grammy or Pa. Boy is he spoiled rotten now that we're back at home. Great-Grandmommie was part to blame for the spoilage too. Cole loved every minute and it makes my heart warm to know so many people cherish my son.

My baby has a bo-bo.

My heart broke into a million pieces this morning when my baby fell on his head. I was not the brightest Mama on the block when I sat my son on a chair by himself on our back porch. It all started when I decided to sweep off the back porch and play ball with April while carrying Cole on my hip. My arm started to cramp so I put him in the chair. BIG mistake! WHAT WAS I THINKING? I wasn't. Anyhow, Cole was doing great until April nudged a ball in his direction. He dove off the end of the chair after it. I couldn't move fast enough to catch him. I saw the entire thing happen in slow motion. My poor baby. I think I was more hurt and devastated by it than he was. He cried, of course but was ok as soon as I washed and doctored his face and held him for a long long while. I on the other hand was shaking and had nausea from the thought of hurting (or not preventing my child from being hurt) my child. After tending to Cole I called his Daddy to let him know all that happened. He was wonderful. He comforted me over the phone and reassured me that I was still a good parent. He said, "Our job is to pick him up when he falls, not prevent him from it." Thanks Love, you have no idea how that lifted my spirit.

Here are some pictures of Cole's bo-bo after he received some TLC from his previously not so wise Mama. He's such a "ham". I love this boy so much.

A Father's Love

For Father's Day we spent the entire day together as a family. We started the day off by praising our Heavenly Father. The church service was full of joy, passion and love for the Lord. I myself felt as if I had an audience of One this morning. I'm not usually one of those people who feel deeply connected to God while in church. I'm one of those people who like to be one-on-one with my Savior in the quiet of my private home. But today was different and I'm so glad and thankful that it was. The whole day I kept thinking about how God loves us like a father loves his child. As I watched Donny interact with Cole, being so proud of each little thing Cole did. It reminded me that God finds joy in us too. He loves us with that unconditional kind of love that only a Father could. Boy am I glad.

After church, we ate lunch, relaxed and played in Cole's kiddie pool. I imagine we were all a sight to see. Donny, Cole, April (our JRT) and myself all sat in a pool that had a diameter no greater than 5 feet (I'm guessing). It was so much fun.

Donny and Cole splashed it up. There's nothing that makes me fall in love with My Love more than to see him with our son. I truly love this man.


I am so very blessed!

Blueberries

Cole and I went to a blueberry farm to pick blueberries this morning. We had so much fun.

Cole sat in his stroller while I picked a little over a pound of blueberries (not counting the ones we...uh...I ate while I was picking). He was so good. He watched my every move and took it all in.

It was getting late in the morning and the heat was beginning to get to us, so I decided to take Cole out of the stroller and walk him through an isle of blueberry bushes to see what he'd do. He was so cute. As I picked a few more blueberries, Cole picked a few hand-fulls of leaves. Of course he tried to eat the leaves but with guidance from Mama he dropped them on the ground and decided against eating them.

We only stayed at the blueberry farm for about an hour because it was getting so hot. Next time we'll get there much earlier so we can enjoy eating....I mean picking more blueberries.

Here are a few additional pictures of Cole, taken when we got home from the blueberry farm.

My little Escape Artist

Nothing is safe anymore. My little Houdini can figure out a way to get out of anything now. I sat Cole in his bouncer for no more than 5 minutes while I went to the restroom. I came back to find my baby had jumped overboard. My camera was right there so of course I had to catch him in the act. I can't believe he wasn't crying or anything. Even still, I had to hold on to him for a few minutes before I sat him on the floor.

He immediately wanted to play ball with April. How could he resist really with April pushing the ball to him and whining about it every second. These two are going to be quite the team when Cole can throw the ball. Right now he just wants to chew on it. Gross.

Practicing "The Crawl"

Cole and I got back from our morning stroller ride and sat in the middle of our living room floor to do some stretching. Cole likes to participate in Mama's floor routine.

Today he went from sitting on his bottom to a pretzel. I cracked up because he got stuck like this for a few seconds. He's such a good sport, he laughed with me.

In all seriousness though, he went from sitting with his legs out in front of him to bending one leg behind himself while pushing forward onto his arms. It looked like he almost had the crawling stance until his arms gave way and his leg got stuck underneath him. He works so hard and wants to be on the go so bad.

What do I have to do to take a shower?

Since I've become a full-time domestic engineer, Cole starts each day with a stroller ride after breakfast. If there is no other sweaty work to be done, I head for the shower as soon as we get home. (Anyone who knows me very well knows my pores are cleansed after a workout. I really don't even have to be doing anything; if it's hot, I'll sweat. Ok, enough about that.)

Cole usually sits nicely in his rocking chair and plays with the toys that are attached to the chair while I take a quick shower. That is, until today.

My little explorer and adventurist thinks that he's ready for the world. At six months of age, he thinks he can leap out of the chair and walk.

Thank goodness for the restraints in the chair. (Thank goodness that I actually use them.)

Needless to say, he won't be playing in that chair again for a while. (It was great when he was younger and the toys held his attention. I imagine he'll use it tons when he's a little older and can get in and out of the chair as he desires.) I stuck him in the jump-a-roo to play while I showered today. He seemed to have much more fun going wild jumping from one room to the next and spinning himself silly. This gave me the 5 to 10 minute window that I needed to smell like a lady again.

Shopping in Style

The last few times we've been shopping Cole just can't wait to get out of his carrier and check things out. He starts practicing to be an opera singer by screaming his way down the grocery isles. Needless to say, I end up holding him in order to finish our shopping trip quickly. Since he has been sitting up by himself pretty well lately I decided to let him sit in the shopping cart. Cole is stylin' in his brightly colored cart cover, thanks to our friend Sarah. :) He really enjoyed our shopping trip this time.

LapSit and Jump-a-roo

My friend Tiffany picked up a Jump-a-roo (I don't know what they are really called but this sounded fun) for Cole because she knew how much Cole LOVES to stand and jump. I couldn't decide where to hang it (it hangs from a door frame) for the longest time. That is, until today. I hung it in our bathroom doorway so Cole could jump while I got ready for our LapSit time at the library. Cole LOVES his new toy. He went wild. He jumped, squealed, giggled, laughed and jumped some more. He jumped himself in circles, leaping and bounding from our bedroom back to our bathroom, over and over again. He had so much fun.




This afternoon we decided to go to our local library and join in on their LapSit class for the first time. We were one of the first ones there (of course) and it looked like there was only going to be 4 babies (about Cole's age) in the class. I was excited because I thought it would be fun to get to know the other moms and their little ones in a small class. But about 5 minutes before the class was to begin about 30 other moms (I'm not kidding) and their children show up. There were about 40 kids and moms in a room the size of my living room. YIKES! There were kids from 5 months old to 2 years old. That is a huge gap at this age. There were kids running, screaming, banging on toys, and yes, crying. The structure of the class is fun and full of learning though. We started out by singing songs with hand or body movements. The second half of the class was pure fun time. They put a bunch of toys on the floor for a free-for-all play time. In the midst of all the ciaos, Cole had a great time watching the other kids and playing. I guess we'll give it another try next week.