At Grandma and Grandpa's house

On Saturday we got together with the Allred clan and had a wonderful lunch and afternoon! It was fun to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house and I wish I had gotten pictures of Cole with them together...BUT when you're chasing your little son around making sure that he doesn't fall down the stairs or get into anything he's not supposed to, it's kind of hard to get all the pictures you want. So I'm actually proud I even got these pictures! Cole had a blast with his little cousin Lachlan making a MESS with the chalk! And I got a sweet picture with my Grandpa Gordon. I love him and Grandma Kay so much! Thank you Tiff and Treena for putting together this wonderful lunch! We love all of you guys!

A graduation and a wedding!

This weekend has been nothing less than CRAZY! But also so so so much fun!

*My mom graduated from BYU with a bachelor's in Family Life! We are SO proud of her! Even my grandma Minnie came down to be at her graduation :)

*And my best friend growing up got married!!! I am so happy for her and her wedding was absolutely amazing!!

Here are some pictures and there will be many many more. This trip has only just started! :)

sandal days + kisses

It's been sandal-wearing weather for quite a while here now but remember how my cute peace-sign sandals fell out of our stroller when it fell into the canal and then floated down the canal?! It was sad but it meant I needed to get new ones which is always fun. And yes, I needed new ones. It's impossible to not have sandals when it gets crazy hot here. I was on the look-out for the perfect sandals. I needed some that could be worn to the pool and just out and about as well. I don't think I ever thought I'd find what I was looking for at the dollar store! That's right. I got those at the dollar store and they're perfect and I love them. Aren't they cute? :)

I'd also been on the look-out for the perfect sandals for Cole. He has his cute Robeez shoes which I love, but they're not exactly the best when it's hot outside because they make his feet sweat. You probably can't find decent baby sandals for less than $20. (crazy, right?! These are baby feet we're talking about!) But last week I was just rummaging through one of Cole's drawers and those cute sandals above were in there like magic! I'd forgotten that Bekah had given me her nephew's old sandals a while back. His feet fit them perfectly for now which makes me a happy mama knowing I won't have to buy new ones just yet and he won't have sweaty feet haha :)

Anyway, I thought I'd mention that Cole now gives us kisses! He just started on Friday and it's my favorite thing ever! Forever now I've always asked him "Hey, can mama have a kiss?!" He never understood but I'd give him a kiss anyway. But on Friday it finally registered with him! Steve and I were on the couch talking and he was playing with a toy across the room and I said to him "Can mama have a kiss?!" He stopped what he was doing, walked across the room and planted one on me. It was so adorable. Then he walked back to his toy and started playing with it again :) Steve wanted a kiss too, so he asked him if he could get a kiss too and then he did the same thing! He walked across the room and gave Steve a kiss! We are just so smitten with him. He is too cute. And tonight, Jordan was over to study for finals with Steve and Cole even wanted to give Jordan a kiss goodnight! We were shocked!! Because Jordan didn't even ask for it!

He's actually been doing so many cute things lately which I'll have to tell about later :)

They came and they went.

Mom and Lissie were able to fly through Dallas on their way to Utah and so they got to spend the night at our house on Wednesday! It was so much fun to see them and I can't wait to see them again in just a couple days when we head up there for my mom's graduation from BYU :)

When we picked them up at the airport and then up until the next morning, Cole was just super shy and wouldn't let them hold him. He'd give them little smiles but he wasn't ready to be held! 

We moved Cole's bed into our room while mom and Lissie were staying in his room. Just because the bed was in a different spot, he had the hardest time falling asleep! (which makes me think this up-coming trip might be a little bit of a nightmare in that sense.) Thursday morning, he wasn't going down for his morning nap so I finally just let him get up and I thought I would try to sit him with my mom who was sitting on the couch even though he previously wouldn't have done it. But this time he was all about it! Grandma let him play with her lipsticks and I think that won him over :) As he played with her lipsticks, my mom whispered to me: "Get me a book!" So I did. Cole loved it. I think my mom did too :) And we just brought book after book. And then I got those pictures and I think they're so cute :)

I also got to take Lissie's dance pictures! It was so much fun :) Lissie got off the plane, got ready and then we headed out and did one of the funnest photoshoots ever!

This one was my favorite:

You can see all of them here!

Celebrating Easter + a little video

The Easter bunny actually came to our house this year :) And I'm glad he did!

On Thursday, I was skyping with my mom and she reminded me that I should probably do something for Cole for Easter this year. I'm so glad she reminded me because I don't think I would have if it weren't for her! I don't know why these things don't cross my mind!

Anyway, the Easter bunny brought Cole a sand pail and shovel, pool toys (floaties), a pool noodle and some new summer clothes!! This will all be perfect because I have a feeling that Cole and I will be living at the pool this summer. We've already been to the pool twice and it's only April! I can only imagine how hot it's going to get when the real summer starts.

Easter morning, it was SO fun to watch Cole as he went on his "Easter egg hunt."  I had no idea it would be so much fun for both me and Steve to watch. I think Cole thought that our living room had turned into some kind of kid heaven. You can see it on the video, but he kept calling the colorful eggs "da" which to him means "ball" :) And once he realized that the eggs were full of little treats (chocolate cheerios and organic puffs ;) he was so excited!! I didn't get it on camera, but he finally figured out that if he threw his eggs on the ground and stepped on them, he could open up the eggs and get the treats out :)

Later in the day, we went to church and Steve and I filled in for our friends and taught the 4 year old sunbeams. I thought Steve did a good job drawing pictures on the board to help them understand the true meaning of Easter. If Christ hadn't died for us, there wouldn't be any Easter which would mean no Easter baskets, no candy, no eggs. And I think the kids actually got it. They were so cute :)

Even Cole had a blast being in primary and singing the songs with the big kids. I think he's going to love nursery...in just 2 short months!! Can't even believe it.

Well, this week I have lots to do...scouts, pictures, cleaning the house. But most importantly, mom and Lissie are coming on Wednesday!!!!! So excited to see them and take Lissie's senior pictures. And lots of cute pictures of them with Cole. I don't have enough of those :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

(oh, and by the way, I tried uploading my video to Vimeo but it has been an absolute nightmare lately. So youtube it is.)

the good and the bad

I love living in Texas.. I really do! It's become our home. We love our friends, we love where we live. I love the spring wild flowers. But as much as I love it, today made me glad that one day we will move away from this place!

We survived our first tornado warning today. Well, it was my first. Let me tell you about it.

Cole was SO grouchy today. He got sick again (fever/throwing up) and today after his nap he was an absolute mess. He didn't want to be held, he didn't want to be put down, he didn't want his pacifier or his water or any food and he just kept arching his back. I'd never seen him like that before and I was worried that something was seriously wrong with him. Looking back, I think he was just throwing his first major temper tantrum, he was on edge since he wasn't feeling well because I finally figured out how to calm him down: it started to rain outside.

So, we watched the rain from the window as it started to come down and Cole was luckily fascinated by this. But then he wanted to go outside into it. I decided to just open the front door and to just sit right outside the front door, feel the fresh air and watch the rain. And then as we were sitting there, completely content, that's when we heard them: the sirens.

No way, I thought. We are not going to have a tornado right now!!! It wasn't even raining that hard yet. I immediately panicked and went straight to our bathroom where there are no windows and shut the doors. And we sat there for a little bit, on the floor. And then I thought maybe I was being a little ridiculous and should check the weather forecast to see what it said exactly. Sure enough, a tornado had been spotted in the area. Cole had started throwing a temper tantrum again by this point and I knew that I couldn't just hang out in the bathroom for very long with him acting like that.

Turns out he was tired. Probably achy too. I don't know but I can't wait for him to talk so he can TELL me exactly what is wrong because the guessing game is wearing on me! So I just put him to bed. And wished that Steve were home so that we could just be together. The school wouldn't let him leave since it was dangerous on the roads and our phones weren't working so google chat saved the day since we were only able to communicate that way.

I felt bad for keeping Cole in his crib, I knew I needed to move him to the bathroom but I knew that he really needed his sleep too so it was hard for me to wake him up. He eventually just woke up on his own, we moved into the bathroom and camped out there for a bit. I had gathered some things together including little snacks for him to much on which he did while I listened to the weather report on my computer.

We feel so lucky and blessed because although the weather report said that the tornado would be going right over our house and Steve's school too, the storm never got bad for us! There wasn't any hail, no high winds, only rain and we could hear thunder but it didn't even seem too close! Everyone else I've talked to who lives super close has said that it was really bad for them.

Finally, the storm passed completely and Steve came home and we were reunited!! It feels so good to all be together after a rough day. Please please don't let there be any more tornadoes!! But if there is I at least hope that Cole won't be sick at the same time. And that Steve can at least be with us so that we won't have to worry about each other as much.

I love Texas. I hate tornadoes. But I'm grateful that we're safe, together and I'm so grateful that by this evening Cole was already quite a bit better. Thank goodness. Hopefully there won't be any more temper tantrums either ;)