Happy 1st Birthday, Cole!

Cole turned 1!

This year has flown by... I still can't believe he's already one and toddling around. When did he grow up?

We celebrated his Birthday up in Ashburn with our families on February 2nd. We drove up the night before and got to spend some time with my mom. She just became an official "empty-nester" with Jason and Stephen at college and Laura and Tyler moved to Winchester, so we both appreciated the company.

Teaching Lance how to play checkers.

I was up late that night making Cole's Birthday cake as usual. Amy had come over too and kept me company while I put the finishing touches on the cake.

If you know Cole, you know he LOVES anything with wheels, so I designed this little cake for him.

Chocolate and brownie cake with brownie wheels. I think it turned out pretty well!

And of course he needed his own little cake to eat as well.

We spent the next day with the Glass family celebrating Chinese New Year a week early (George was scheduled to work the following weekend) and then had a little party for Cole that afternoon at the Glass's house.

The Grandmas! And Jen. :)

The Birthday boy:

Cole was excited about the cake:

When we started to sing, he couldn't stop smiling and looking at everyone. I love that he knew this was something special for him.

Wasn't too sure what to do about that candle...

...so Daddy helped him out.

Present time!

Monster trucks!

A larger version of his favorite book.

This has become a favorite toy for all three boys lately...

Somebody was enjoying their cake. :)

Book from Uncle Nate.

A popper from Grandma!

Another monster truck! He got two of these great cars from Grandmom and PopPop and Jen and Eric. They have buttons that make them move or play music and Cole LOVES them! He'll push them around all day and play the music or honk the horn.

After presents, it was time for Cole to eat his cake!

Yep, you eat it, that's right!

I love this face he makes. It makes me laugh every time.

He loves to use utensils, so I gave him a fork to use.

Success! 

Happy Birthday, Cole! Thank you for being ours and being such a sweet baby. You bring us joy every day with your pleasant personality and mischievous antics. We love you with all our hearts and can't imagine our family without you! 

January--funny faces, a mission call and a baby!

Alright, let's finish off January so I can hurry and tackle February--which is already more than half over. Where is this year going?

Unfortunately, Jude has officially discovered technology. Long gone are the days where he would sit and watch whatever Lance was doing on the computer. He now has very strong opinions about what videos to watch and what games to play.

He's figured out how to access youTube and can navigate his way around fairly well. His current obsession is Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, but mostly Angry Birds. We're trying to figure out a family rule as to how much computer/TV/tablet time the boys get because it's getting out of control. I have to admit it's easy to give in since it's keeps them happy and occupied on these cold winter days, but it's getting ridiculous. Ah, the things they never told you about parenthood.


Cole is such a ham. He has this face he makes whenever he wants to make people smile. He opens his mouth as wide as he can and raises his eyebrows. It's hilarious in real life and I have yet to get a picture that does it justice, but here's one attempt:

Think mouth bigger and eyes wider. :)


January 16th, my little brother Jason got his mission call! For those of you who might not know, young men and women in our Church submit applications to serve a 18 month (for girls) or 24 month (for guys) mission. They are called to serve in different areas of the world and they don't know where they are going or when until they open their letter that comes in the mail.

We all conferenced called with Jason while he opened his letter. He's reporting to the Brazil MTC on June 12th to serve in the Brazil Curitiba Mission! Woo Hoo! I'm so excited for him, but we're going to miss him so much. He's such a huge part of our family--I don't know what we'll do without him for two long years.


Here's another attempt at capturing Cole's funny face:

We've started watching this cute little munchkin a couple days a week while her mama works.

This is Ellie, my good friend's baby girl. She is 4 months old and as cute as can be!

Cole thinks she's pretty neat, too and loves to "love" on her.

He has started reverting since she's been with us, though. He now prefers his bottle to his sippy and gets jealous when I'm holding her. 

Don't worry, Cole. You're still my number one baby!

And while he still wants me to view him as a baby, he's not one to be left behind his big brothers. 

"Anything they can do, I can do too!"


January has been a pretty bi-polar month, one day there's snow and three days later, it's warm enough for short sleeves. We took advantage of one of those warm days and got together with our friends at "The Park".

Snack time!



I love that we live close to all these awesome families.

We were so excited to break out the bikes!

This was Jude's first time riding his bike outside our apartment.

He did a great job! I had a hard time keeping up with him.

Cole had just learned to walk a few days before this and was happy to show off his new skills.

See those little monster trucks? They never left his hands the whole time we were there and when we had to give them back to the boy who brought them, he cried and cried. I know what I'm getting him for his Birthday!