It's Deer Season...

13 weeks

...and for anyone who knows a hunter, you know what that means, many mornings and evenings without your hunting hubby at home!

Though the season has just begun, there have been many days of ritualistic preparation leading up to the main event (opening day) - including religiously checking the trail camera in hopes that a monster buck was frequenting the hunting spot, scaling trees while toting many pounds of metal, then mounting that metal contraption within the most pristine limbs of said tree, and scouting the surrounding area in the search of tracks - among other hunting rituals that I just don't understand.

So on opening day (Wednesday), Scott was more than prepared and did get to venture to his hunting grounds but didn't have any luck. His friend Tim did though, and got a nice six point in his back yard. Scott went over to his house after he was done hunting - to help track it down.

This weekend, Scott is up in Reed City with his hunting buddies, hoping to return with a prize buck. So this weekend was just me and little Owen, we had fun together! We went on a walk with the Sleepy Wrap on Friday and then in the stroller today. Had to get all bundled up though, here is my little man in all of his cuteness...



Owen spent some time with Grandma (my mom) yesterday while Al and I went shopping and then last night we went out to dinner with Emily (a fellow hunting widow) to Red Robin - yummy! Owen was a perfect little gentleman and we had a great time!

Today Owen has been very very talkative - I managed to catch some of it on film...Its amazing to see him try to communicate and watch his face while he does it, he's such a cutie!!



Well, tomorrow starts another week! Blah! Weekends go by way too fast!

The Happenings

12 weeks

So what's new?!

In the Kole household, its been eat, sleep, work, and do it all over again, it seems. Yet we try to squeeze in some much needed fun and relaxation when we can!

Here is my growing man having some fun cuddlin' with momma...



Tummy time, an absolute favorite (or not)...look at those cheeks!!



This weekend we headed north to Ludington again, the whole fam was up there! Somehow we weren't our normal picture fanatic selves so don't have much in the way of pics to show, however, we did have a great time!!

We all (Grandma, Grandpa, Scott, Owen, Jen, Paul, Kenize, Dylan, and I) took a pontoon ride to the state park and then watched all the fishermen fishing for salmon by the dam, then we all took a little hike too...

Here is our little fam on the foot bridge (the same bridge where we got engaged almost six years ago!)



Little O had to sport his Ludington gear, here he is smiling on the floor in his Ludington State Park t-shirt ...



Of course Scott had get some fishing time in, here is his prized catch of the day - a delicious bass....



Update...
As promised, here are a few other pics from the weekend...

little O w/ his cousin, Dylan...



All of the cousins: Kenzie, Dylan, Owen...

Random Cuteness...

11 weeks

So, since our lives pretty much revolve around Owen, this blog should too!! Here is some random cuteness involving none other than Mr. Owen...

This may be the last time he wears this little sleep and play outfit with the little bears on the feet - he's growing up so fast!




All smiles in his Boppy...even though he's been a little sick with a cold, he's still the same smiley boy as always!




Mom wearing Owen, he's been worn to the grocery store, making dinner and doing the laundry already!




We may need to invest in a saddle when he's older...



"Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool" Owen got comfortable during a nap today!

Baby Wearing...

almost 11 weeks

So I finally got something I feel comfortable with to carry Owen in! A month or so ago, I had a carrier I eventually returned - it had way too many clips and straps, and was too hard to get Owen comfortable in...But I still wanted to carry him (or 'wear' him) so I found a local business, The Sling Shack that specializes in 'Baby Wearing' and the owner had a little workshop last week that I went to and she was nice enough to explain everything I ever wanted to know about babywearing and let me try different things out...I ended up buying a Sleepy Wrap, and I LOVE it and so does Owen..we tried it out for the first time today when we took the dogs on a walk....

Time Flies

10 weeks

I can't believe Owen is over 10 weeks old now! He's getting sooo big!! At his 2 month appt last week he was 13 lbs 7.5 oz and 24.5 inches long!

Here he is at 2 months (with froggy buddy)...



and here is a pic from when he was 1 month...



He's changing so much and learning new things every day; he's starting to laugh and makes different noises when he's 'talking'! Yesterday he started blowing little bubbles...He is also grabing his hands together and will hold onto things now!! What a little man.

Last weekend we went up to the cottage again, even thought it rained all weekend, it was still a relaxing time...

Here's what Scott did while we were there...



Lots going on lately, it seems, life is just speeding right by! I finally went to the gym for the first time last week, sadly, I haven't been back since :(
Work is going great, although I do miss my little man more and more every day when I'm there...good thing is he is right across the street and I've been able to sneak in and visit him a few times during the day (helps a momma w/ a hurtin' heart! )

Oh, tomorrow I'm going to an get together to learn about the 'fine art' of babywearing! :) I'd love to get a sling, carrier, or wrap to wear Owen in but there is so much out there I need to try things out, so I stumbled upon info about this meeting online while researching and thought I'd go check it out!

Here are some pics of what little man has been up to lately...

Bathtime...



I love the post-bath baby burrito



Out like a light...




Smiling boy...



He's getting so strong !!



Check out that smile (notice the camo shorts, NICE...)

Going for the Gold

Seems records are meant to be broken...Owen slept 10, yes ten, hours straight! Needless to say, we are havin a great morning!! Way to go little champ! :)

The Motherload

almost 9 weeks

Hmmm...So..where to start? I haven't updated in a while so just a fair warning - this entry will have an over-abundance of information!

Last week Thursday my aunt Nancy and uncle Dennis came to visit and meet little Owen. They rode their motorcycles down from Manistique and were visiting their daughter (my cousing Jess)and her family down in White Pigeon so they decided to take an afternoon trip to come visit us. My mom and Tick came over and we all talked and had a little cookout - we haven't seen them since my wedding four years ago, so it was so nice to catch up! We definitely won't make the time between our next visit so long!!

Here is uncle Dennis with Owen (aunt Nancy refuses to be caught on film haha:) )...


Last Friday we headed up to the cottage again - as our last hurrah before I headed back to work. It was nice and relaxing, as always, except the fact that I had a killer cold that came out of nowhere! I was pretty miserable, but I guess if you're gonna have a cold - the cottage is the nicest place to relax and recuperate - and what do you know - magically on Sunday I recovered!! AND little Owen decided to sleep 8 hours straight!!

Here's how I spent my weekend - reading on the deck and checking out the lake. Can you tell I didn't want my pic taken? (I was so sick and looked hideous!!)


Here is how Scott spent his weekend...fishing (caught the mother of all perch) and chilling out with little Owen




This was a cool pic of Scott's parents and I hanging out on the deck (me reading, mom and dad macrameing a chair....)


When we got home from the cottage, Owen went to visit Grandma Ruth (only the second time at her house!!) but he loves it already! When we got back home, Owen produced the MOTHERLOAD in this pants....it was his first official blowout (I know, great thing to be blogging about, right?) but it was amazing that that much could come out of such a little guy! He was laying in my lap after he had gotten done eating and I ended up with a mess on my hands, in my lap and he had poo all the way up to his shoulderblades!!! All that pooing must have really tired him out, cuz he slept another 8 hours straight on Monday night, what a welcomed rest on the night before I was to return to work!!

Tuesday Owen spent the day with Kelly and had an awesome time (I think Kelly had a good time too!!) and it was so nice returning to work knowing that Owen was in good hands!! It was hard to leave him and yes, I did shed a tear or two, but once I got back to work it was actually good to be back in the swing of things and I truly can say I did miss it!! I think its the adult interaction and mental stimulation of it all! (And I've successfully completed a week of work and I'm here to write about it so it couldn't have been that bad, right??!:) )

Tuesday night I had book club and Scott did the bath, bed routine with Owen, who went down to sleep great for dad (even with a bottle)!!

Wed and Thurs Owen spent the day with his Grandma Kole - and had a great time!! and of course, so did Grandma!!!!

Wed night we had dinner with (our) Grandma Kole - where the whole Kole side of the family gets together for dinner (we do this each month)this month we all picked up dinner and ate at Kollen Park. It was kinda windy but nice to see everyone and be outside for our picnic!

Today, Owen stayed with Alyson's mom, Judy (aka juicy) - I think they had a fun day together and enjoyed eachother's company!!

Owen starts daycare on Tuesday (am working from home on Monday)....but this week, I don't know what I would have done with out the lifesavers in my friends and family who pitched in to help watch him! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

In other owen happenings... get ready for this one....he slept 9 hours straight on both Wed and Thurs nights - craziness - but so wonderful!!! His hobbies include: singing with mom, making eye contact, looking at shiny moving objects (loves the ceiling fan!), he has also been grabbing his shirt lately and pulling on it. He still loves his swing and he loves to TALK - we've caught it on tape a few times and its just so amazing, moves his little mouth around in a ton of different ways and makes so many noises!!!

Here he is during one of his talking episodes...





In a side of randomness, here is a link to an album with all my pregnancy pictures and journal - if you don't have a snapfish account, you'll have to create one to view this. :)

Well this has been the mother of all blog entries, so I've gotta stop...

...out