Pete and Repeat

2 am this morning Cole wakes up crying.  I get up to pee like usual.  Cole met me in the hallway and I brought him into the bathroom.  He stood and waited patiently until he saw his Burts Bees Body Wash.  He grabbed for it and I let him hold it until I was finished.  Then I made the mistake of taking it away from him.  He flipped out and spent the next 20 minutes melting down just like he did earlier in the day.  Mike had to wrap him up and confine him on the couch because if we let him down he would head butt anything in site.  Cole finally calmed down after Mike turned the TV on and he got distracted from choking himself with screams.

Should I have just let him sleep with the body wash?????  Where does one draw the line on what toddlers can get away with?

Aquarium by the Bay

We had been planning this trip to the aquarium on Pier 39 with our friends the Petersens for months now.  Our third attempt at going and it was finally happening.  We got up early this morning and were out the door by 7 am.  It was going to be a beautiful day in the city.  We took BART from North Berkeley in to San Francisco.  We figured that avoiding the Bay Bridge during a weekday morning along with rush hour traffic and paying $30 for a parking spot by the Pier was worth the $14 round trip ticket for 3 on BART.  Mike and Cole had never been on BART so it was going to a be a day of firsts for us all....

Cole did pretty well on the ride down to BART considering he has been flipping out on car rides after the long trip to Fresno two weekends back.  We were able to even get him in the stroller.  He was excited to see the fish!  We had to wait for the train since we missed the one when we got there because some one had to pee (I wonder who that was??? - which by the way is a whole other topic I will get to in a minute...).  So we had about 13 minutes to kill while waiting for the train.  Cole of course got impatient and had to be removed from the stroller due to his shrill shrieks and the stares of others waiting for the train.  

The train finally arrives and we load up, giant jogger stroller and all.  Thank goodness for the wheelchair seating.  Cole did fairly well at first but then he got bored and his boredom consists of trying to run away, putting his hands down my shirt and head butting Mike.  23 long minutes later we arrived at Embarcadero.  Finally we were on the last leg to Pier 39.  The easy part, all we had to do was walk about 1 1/2 miles....

We carried Cole out to the street and then loaded him in the stroller.  Big mistake on our part.  Let the melt down of his life begin.  Cole began screaming.  And by screaming I mean acting like we were killing him.  We buckled him in and started walking doing out best to ignore him figuring he would eventually tire out and be quite.  Boy were we wrong.  Mike got Cole out of the stroller.  He got a pretty good slap in the face right off the bat.  I took Cole and tried carrying him but he began doing the wet noodle and sliding down my body.  There is no way I could keep a handle on him at that point with out pushing the baby out.  So Mike got tantrum duty and was it special.  

From Embarcadero to Pier 27 Cole screamed, head butted, laid on the nasty ground, split his lip, and slapped us.  He finally got so tired he gave up.  Mind you this was after about 1 mile of walking and the 30 minutes it took to walk that mile.  I have never had so many people walk past me and give dirty looks.  One lady even covered her ears and she walked past.  I am glad no one said anything to us because I would have laid in to them.  One bum did ask us for money and I gave him the look of "you've got to be kidding me, are you seriously asking us for money right now????"

We were beside ourselves.  Never had I imagined that a kid could act this way.  I've seen kids throw tantrums but this was unbelievable.  Had we been any where other than on a busy street I would have just let him scream it out on the ground but that was not really an option. Cole finally was so exhausted from his performance that he let Mike carry him all the way to the aquarium.  He would not let me anywhere near him except for one kiss.  

We finally arrived at the aquarium and met up with our friends who had to wait for our slow butts and melt down (thanks guys!).  When Cole saw them he was waving, smiling, talking basically making what just happened a distant memory.  He pretty much only wanted Lindsey to carry him and basically ignored me unless her hands were full.  In fact he really did not want much to do with me all day.  I actually got to eat a meal at lunch with out being climbed on, Mike on the other hand did not.... The kids loved all the fish.  They were so excited about the first room that we probably could have spent the entire time in there and they would have been happy campers.  The Nemo tank was a huge hit for them.

After about an hour of fish watching and starfish and sting ray touching we decided it was time for the adults to get some food.  We chose the Hard Rock Cafe - loud and perfect for 3 toddlers to act up in.  Lunch pretty much consisted of all the kids being taken for walks to avoid melt downs.  Surprisingly only one glass item met it's death today - the sugar holder.  After a very quick lunch it was time to leave.  Drew had turned in to a piranha or maybe he was just imitating the sharks we saw so they had to leave.  The twins were ready for a nap!  Cole on the other hand was bright eyed and bushy tailed so we took him around the Pier and over to see the sea lions.  They were pretty far away so he really didn't get a good look at them.  But he loved looking through the wooden beams at the ocean.  He even broke the rules and chucked his bagel to the sea gulls.  

Around 1:30 pm we decided it was time to head back home.  Cole fell asleep at Pier 29 and slept in his stroller until we got back to Berkeley.  I am so surprised his did not wake up from the awful noises on the BART train.  To end the day we had a 3 hour car ride home because of traffic.  Had we not been able to use the carpool lane it would probably have taken 4 hours.  I can not understand how or why people would want to drive that every day.

Cole was a trooper.  Minus the meltdown of a life time he actually did well the rest of the day.  He had a little nap and stayed awake the rest of the ride home.  He got restless and I don't blame him one bit, I was also.  Over all I think we are glad that we took him to the aquarium because he really enjoyed it, but for us we really considered turning back.  Mike is surprised I did not go in to labor today with all the stress.  I don't think we will be taking him any where for awhile.  Sorry to any one who wants us to visit.  No long car rides for a long time.

Ok so about the toilets.  I used some of the most DISGUSTING bathrooms I have ever been in today.  Being 8 months pregnant you have to pee all the time so stopping to complain about one is not an option.  But I do have to say that the absolute worst one was the mens bathroom at the BART station in Berkeley.  Yes I used the men's room.  When you gotta go, you gotta go! Ugh, glad to be home to a clean pot.

Guessing game

We have two guessing games going on in our house at the moment.  

The first one is called:  What will Cole greet me with tonight at 2am?  Last night it was with the alligator that is larger than him.  It was pretty funny trying to figure out what is was carrying in the pitch black.  Every night it is something different.

The second is called: what will I find in the sub woofer?  When putting the christmas decorations away I decided to check in the speaker again.  I was not expecting all this to come out!

32 weeks - 7 weeks to go!

I feel so full these days, yet I can't seem to keep my portions small.  Why is that?  I can barely move some times.  This past week has been hell on my back with the circulation being cut off frequently.  On occasion I am now having my legs or feet go numb which sucks!

I feel like I have gained 10 more pounds.  As you can tell from the photos bellow I am smaller than I was with Cole - yet I have gained more weight!  Doesn't seem right.

Getting closer....Cole arrived 5 weeks from now!

Baby Bump Watch

32 weeks prego with Cole

It's Official!

Every night before bath time we have Cole sit on his big boy potty.  He knows what he is supposed to do on it and every night he tries to trick us into thinking he peed on it just so he can get that m & m.  We almost always end up putting the toilet in the tub because we know he will pee once his feet hit the water.  That way he recognizes what he is supposed to do on the potty.

Tonight like any other night I asked Cole if he needed to go pee and he willingly said "oh ya ya ya".  Into the bathroom we went, diaper off, clothes off and Cole's cute little butt on to the potty.  He usually spends at least 30 seconds on it before jumping up and exclaiming "I did it" and pointing to the invisible pee in the potty.  So after 5 seconds of Cole being on the pot he jumps up and points to the potty.  Of course I am thinking "sure you did kid, after 5 seconds?" But when I looked in the potty, there was urine!  Cole had the biggest smile on his face, we high fived and he got 2 m & m's for that one!  Then while I was cleaning out the pot he proceeded to pick up the remaining part of the toilet and put it in the bath tub.  I asked him if he still needed to pee and he said "oh ya ya".  So I put it back together and he sat down and popped up with in 5 seconds again exclaiming "I did it".  Sure enough he had peed again.  

Our little guy is growing up!

A boy and his dog

From the very beginning I knew Onyx and Cole would be buddies for life.  Watching their relationship grow has been amusing at times and also sad at times.  When we brought Cole home from the hospital we had been gone for 3 days.  Onyx was so excited to see us that she didn't even notice Cole.  About 30 minutes later she finally realized that there was some one new around here.  She would walk up and sniff him and then walk away and go lay down as if to pout for our attention.  She would do a "drive by" lick almost hourly just to say "hey your not too bad"  She was a trooper when Cole got mobile and climbed all over her.  He used her for everything and she put up with it all.  Even when Cole "discovered" her tail she never once raised a lip to him when he would tug.

Lately Cole hasn't been too nice to Onyx.  He stomps her feet, pokes at her butt, and hits her on the head with random toys.  So when I saw this photo opportunity I just had to capture it.  He was so comfy, but I do think she was a little more cautious than comfy....

Christmas Day

Cole discovering what Santa brought him.  It took him a minute or two to even notice it which was kind of funny.  But when he did see it, boy was he happy!

He was not exactly sure how it was to be rode at first.

But then he got the hang of it.  What is really nice about it, is that a long pole attaches to the back of it so we can push him around on it.

Instead of eating breakfast.... we were watching the weather - hoping for snow.... did we get a white Christmas????  Does snowing for 2 minutes count?

Over at Grandpa Glenn's and Grandma Carole's house.  Cole got even more fun toys!

He had himself tucked away from everyone while we opened presents.  He concentrated very hard on his lap top games.
Mike was pretty excited about his gift. I got a few fun gifts too!  A wide angle lens for my camera and a white skin rug (not sure who it belonged to) for photos and a 16G memory card! I am a happy camper!

This is how I feel every day now.  Tonight I was especially large - I felt like I would deflate if some one were to pop my belly.  I was kind of hoping that would happen...
After Christmas dinner.  Our wonderful neighbors joined us for the day along with Claire from Ireland who is here for a few days.

And of course we had one more special present for Cole.  We had no idea it was this big.  Boy does he has fun in this.  I had no idea this kid could jump so high and he was doing body slams over and over.  What a great way to get a kid sleepy before bed time.

Christmas Eve

Today we did a lot of things that involved preparing for Santa's arrival.  First we went to visit Santa and Cole got to tell him what he wanted for Christmas.  Cole screamed it to him...

When we got home Cole and I made cookies for Santa.  Cole really enjoys cooking with me.  He also enjoys the cookie dough.  Every time I turned my back he was stuffing it in his mouth.

Decorating cookie was an adventure also.  He is not at the age where he can frost them but he is a very good sprinkler!

Cole also composed a letter to Santa reminding him of what he asked for earlier in the day.

That night we went to my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner.  When a pregnant lady is allowed to choose dinner then it can be quite the combo.  Fresh Crab and homemade French Onion soup.  For dessert we had Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake from this months issue of Cooking Light!  So yummy and low in calories!
Cole enjoying one of his many presents of the night.  He also got mega blocks (kind of like legos), a homemade apron courtesy of Grandma Terri and cooking utensils, Thomas the Train accessories to go with the train set, and some books.

All of us full from dinner and very happy!

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Just wanted to wish every one a Merry Christmas!  Hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow.  Hopefully we will have a white Christmas...it is in the forecast!  What I have learned about Christmas Eve is that those who wait until then to shop have the right idea!  Went to the mall at 7:45 this fine rainy morning to get Cole's picture taken with Santa.  What a great time to go.  Up front parking by Nordstrom, a ten minute wait for Santa, awesome deals at stores - all christmas stuff at Pottery Barn 50% off!!!, the cutest little girl clothes at Pumpkin Patch and Children's Place - 50% plus an extra 20% today!  And I got the cutest little pair of pink low top Converse for $1.44.  Gotta love Nordstrom Notes!

Just a few Holiday photos for everyone to enjoy.

Santa Cole

The Fredy's

As most of you know we have been having major problems getting Cole dressed these days. He wants nothing to do with clothes unless they are pj's. Well he was not about to get his picture taken with Santa in his pj's so last night I debated on putting him in his clothes and letting him sleep in them but then decided he would probably just pee on them anyways so I just told him that tomorrow he was going to see Santa with Dylan. He smiled and went on his way. So this morning I am getting ready go to battle and I tell him that it is time to change his diaper and get dressed so we can go see Santa. I think a Christmas miracle occurred! Cole walked over to his changing table waited to be picked up and let me CHANGE his diaper, get him DRESSED, and WASH his face with out the slightest screech. In fact he was so excited about seeing Santa that every time I mentioned it he would say "oh ya ya".  I don't think he realized what exactly it meant when I said we were going to go see Santa...

Merry Christmas from Dylan and Cole

Can't you tell how much Cole loved meeting Santa?  

He gave Santa Pooh Bear.

Sharing

There once was a little boy named Cole who like to feed his fuzzy guys. He shared almost everything with them, from cereal to humus.  Each meal the fuzzy guys lined up, waiting to be chosen for that meal.  This morning  the green and white fuzzy guy got to indulge in some Honey Nut Joe's O's.  Cole tipped his head in the bowl and waited 3 seconds and the lifted him up, looked at him, I am guessing to make sure he has finished his first bite, and then offered him some more to eat.

31 weeks - 8 weeks to go!

So today marks an important day for me in this pregnancy.  A day that I had hoped would come and go with out any problems....

At 31 weeks to the day with Cole I ended up in Labor and Delivery with contractions 4 1/2 minutes apart.  I spent about 3 hours hooked up to machines and then I was given a shot and sent on my way.  So to me, making it through today with out any problems would be great.  Well that is not the case...

No I am not in the hospital, nor do I need to be, but I really wish I was having the same problem I did with Cole because it lasted one day...what started last night will last for the next 8 weeks....

Cole was never head down during the later part of my pregnancy.  He was breech and wasn't moving.  Well this little one is head down, and far down.  I am now experiencing what most everyone else feels during the third trimester - the feeling like the baby is going to fall out.  Her (I am sure cute as a button) little head is jammed so far down that it is causing swelling and what I discovered last night - varicose veins - in a place I did not know you could get them.  

Talked with the Dr. today and unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to prevent it, make it go away or help.  The only thing I can do it not sit too long at any one time and do pelvic tilts.  Exercising is also ok, so I can continue at Curves 5 days a week!  The worst thing to do is not move at all.

So now I have mixed feelings.  I am happy there is no other major problem that could have occurred today but I now will be pretty uncomfortable for the next 8 weeks!  Maybe the baby will come early like Cole did - 6 weeks from now.  If she does then it would be the day before I turn 30!  Two before 30????  We will see.....

Baby Bump Watch

Annual Family Christmas Party

It's that time of year!  The annual Mesple Family Christmas party.  It is always so much fun.  Good food, good times, good friends and family.  

I made these amazing appetizers.

Click here for the recipe

Another decent family photo!

Remind me next time not to sit like that.

Is Cole actually smiling?

Cole got to spend a lot of time with his cousins who absolutely adore him.

We need to get him together with them more often.  That little guy ran till he was practically passed out.  He took a few 5 second siestas in the guitar case.

Cole - don't even think about asking Santa for one of those!

I attempted to give Cole his first taste at cow tongue.  Cole's a smart guy.  Avoid the cow tongue at all cost.  Give it to Grandpa Dale, he will eat it for sure!

We celebrated my grandpa's 90th birthday!

You would never guess by looking at him that he was 90.

Guitar playing in the back ground. 

Cole is of course involved in every situation.

Four generations.  Cole, me, my dad and my grandaunt Bertha.

My sister and her boyfriend are back from Mexico.

They sailed around Baja for 2 months.

(sorry Lennis - not the most flattering photo, but the only one I got)

Little guy on the way home.  He was so beat after running around all day Saturday.