Halloween

Cole had a great first Halloween. On Saturday we dressed up for our ward Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat. Our little lion (costume courtesy of G-Auntie) snoozed throughout the party, but woke up just in time for the candy. That’s my boy! Matthew and I donned our oober fancy safari getup, a.k.a. any khaki we could find in our closet and a kid’s safari hat that was maybe a bit too small for my trooper of a husband. Sunday we spent the afternoon visiting with Lolly, Pops, Auntie Chelsea and her beau Adam. I made chili and cornbread and we all watched Hocus Pocus and a little baseball too.

 

 

Don’t you just love that pirate booty? Haha! I crack myself up!

Happy Halloween from the Gamblins!

Growing, growing, growing!

Its time for a little update on my fabulous four month old. He really is just that. At his most recent check up, Cole weighed 16 lbs. 7 oz. and measured at 25 7/8 inches. He was such a trooper with his immunizations and only cried for a few minutes this time.

Cole is getting so strong. He loves to sit and stand on our laps. He can sit independently for a few seconds before he topples to the side or down to grab at his toes. He loves those toes. They are always in his hands now, and often in his mouth. His socks are frequently wet, as he enjoys sucking on them. Cole loves soft fabric and drifts off to sleepy land sucking on his blankies. It’s hilarious!

Baby boy is such a happy little guy. At home, he is mister chatter box, cooing and giggling at us. He will often mimic growling sounds (Lolly discovered that one). Out and about, he is mister observant. He hardly makes a peep and just stares at everything around him. That is, unless he is hungry :)

Today, I put him on the floor for his tummy time. He followed the edge of his blanket, scooting until he had rotated 270 degrees. And then he stopped to stare at himself in his little toy triangle mirror. Maybe he hears he is so pretty too often and its going to his head. But really, look at this face!

I can’t believe that this time a year ago I was spending all of my time hanging over the porcelain throne wondering if it was all going to be worth it. Let’s just say I would do it a thousand times over to have my little boy. He is perfect!

Visiting Uncle Chase

My favorite brother lives up in Washington. I only have one brother, but if I had more, I think he would still be my favorite. Anyway, Chase was heading out for some work overseas soon and we decided to go see him before he left. So Cole and I jumped on a plane with Auntie Chelsea to go see him (Lolly and Pops left a few days before us).

A plane ride with a 3 month old is rather unpredictable. But my sweet boy did so well. Aside from the blowout during the takeoff and resulting in a naked baby throughout the flight, all was peaceful. He was happy as can be and enjoyed a good long nap almost the whole time.

We spent the weekend viewing a few of the sites around Tacoma and Seattle,

 

eating lots of yummy foods,

laughing and enjoying the family time that is so hard to come by lately.

It was so nice to have time to spend with my big little brother. It has been a long time since we have really had a chance to visit, and I am so glad I was able to go. Matthew love, I missed you! Next time, you are coming too!

Happy Birthday Grandpa D!

Cole’s Great Grandpa D. turned 90 in September. That’s right, 9-0! We were lucky enough to spend his birthday weekend with him to celebrate the occasion. It was a great chance for Cole to meet a few more of his family members, and to snag a few generational photos.

Celebrating in style!

Cole (who consistently soils his clothes) and Great Grandpa D.

Grandpa kisses!

Great Grandma G. getting some baby time.

I am so happy that we were able to get these shots. They capture little moments that we too easily forget. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family, and to make happy memories together.  

Birthdays, Brides and Baseball

September is a busy month for the Gamblins. We have celebrated my birthday, Matt’s birthday, and there are still a couple more to come! My mom came down  and took me to lunch at my favorite Mediterranean spot, Casablanca’s Cafe. They have really yummy falafel sandwiches. Matt and I made our first attempt dining at a real restaurant and went to the Cheesecake Factory. The baby was fussy the whole time and I felt so overwhelmed. But hey, cheesecake makes everything better!

My sister was in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, so we went down to Oakdale to see it. She did a wonderful job and I was so proud of her. The curtains opened, I saw her on the stage, and I immediately started to cry. I guess I am a little hormonal…

Lolly watched Cole, and we had our first real date since the baby was born. It was so nice to be able to focus on some “us” time and not have any interruptions. I have really missed my husband. We celebrated our birthdays with my parents on our visit as well. My mom made a great dinner, and a decadent chocolate cake!

Last weekend we celebrated Matt’s birthday with his parents and went to the A’s game. We had a great time cheering, visiting, and eating (a lot!). Cole was such a good boy. He only cried (seriously, the only time he really cried) when he heard the loud “BOOOOO” as the Red Sox were introduced, and pretty much any other time that shout was made. No negative energy for that boy!

 

On Sunday I made blueberry pancakes for Matt’s birthday dinner (his request), and we had a couple people come over for dessert, blackberry cheesecake. We were on a real sugar high that night!

September has been a great month, and we are only halfway through. We have a few more fun things in store, it’s gonna be great!

The tale of the cricket

Over the past few nights I have been hearing some chirping outside our front door. Nothing terribly annoying, just your average crickets singing the sun to sleep. Sunday morning comes and everything changes. It’s 6am and the chirping is piercing. Its ridiculously loud and annoying and its six in the freaking morning. In case you can’t tell, I am so not a morning person.

My husband jumps out of bed to find the stupid thing. I am commanding “Kill it! Did you find it? When you do, KILL IT!” Really, I hate the mornings.

And then, it stops. We climb back into bed, only for it to start again. This goes on until we finally get up to ready ourselves for church.

Sunday evening, chirp, chirp, chirp. We pull apart our room searching for the darn thing. Silence. Clearly the cricket is afraid of his death.

Monday morning my husband says, “I found the cricket. I didn’t kill it, I just chucked it really far outside so it wouldn’t come back in.”

The moral of the story, there really isn’t one. Just a discovery that my husband is slightly more merciful than me. He won’t kill it, just hurt it real bad.

Two Months

Last week Cole went in for his two month check up. Surprise, surprise! We have a healthy, chubby kid. He weighed in at 13 lbs. 15 oz. That’s the ninetieth percentile for weight, in case you weren’t familiar with baby stats. Oh, and he was 23 7/8 inches long (eightieth percentile). His head circumference, luckily, was only in the fiftieth percentile (I am forgetting the measurement at the moment). Otherwise, he might not be able to lift it up…

Oh, but he can. Today he was demonstrating his great head lifting skills during tummy time. I was so amazed and enamored that I forgot to take any photos. Oops. Next time.

Cole loves to sit on my lap and look out at the world. He is so interested in everything around him, and I am starting to get the impression he thinks he is older than he actually is. And then there is Mommy, wishing he wouldn’t grow so fast!

This is his Papa Mark face, aka his concentration face, and sometimes even the poop face…

(Note the chubs…oh yeah!)

I just love my happy little man!

Nap time has been a rarity around here lately, especially since the EVIL vaccinations. It was so traumatic, I was crying, Cole was crying. Bad news. Anyway, he still sleeps through the night, and that makes up for his lack of sleep during the day. If naps do happen, lately they have been in the blessed swing. I seriously LOVE that thing! Thank you swing for gentle rock and rhythmic clicking that makes my son pass out.

I love mornings with him. When he wakes up, I bring him into bed with me to feed him, and then we fall back to sleep all snuggled up. It may not be the best practice, but I love it. Who wouldn’t want to snuggle with this little man?

I think those are all the updates for now. We have some fun adventures coming up in the next couple of months, so things may get a bit more interesting around here. Of course, I could talk about my kid all day, and I do!

Finally…

A blog post. Baby Cole is sleeping, so it’s the opportune moment for writing. Sleeping might be another option, but I should really do this instead.

Cole is now 8 weeks old, and is such an amazing little guy. He is growing like crazy and we go in next week for his 2 month check up. The last time we went in for a weight check, the nurse freaked out because he had gained so much weight. But he is just one healthy eater.

Aside from his excellent eating skills, he is becoming a skilled sleeper. He has two decent naps during the day, and is starting to sleep during the night. Mommy and Daddy have now had 4 nights of uninterrupted sleep and they have been pure bliss. Most nights he will only wake up once, maybe twice, and doesn’t fight when I put him back down. The trick…the blankie. He loves to grab it and curl it up close to his face. It freaks me out that he is going to suffocate, but it ends up falling down as he passes out for the night.

Cole is so alert, and has been from the day he arrived. He is always grinning and talking with us. I can’t wait to hear his little giggle. I know it’s coming. He is holding his head up quite well, and scoots around in a circle during tummy time. Its so funny to watch him follow my voice.

I love being a mommy, and love watching my husband with his little boy. We feel so blessed to have him in our little family. Every night I thank my Heavenly Father for such a wonderful gift. He brings so much joy to our lives and we love watching him grow!