A (LONG) Quick Update

 

So lately my posts haven’t been too terribly structured or exciting, just lots of random happenings with LOTS of pics….And this post is no exception….

So what’s been happening with the Koles lately?  Well Tulip time has come and gone and we really didn’t get into it at ALL this year, no costumes for the kids, no junk food at the junk wagons (with the exception of one bag of cotton candy that only had a small bit eaten out of it when I finally threw it away three days after we bought it), no parades, etc…We didn’t really even do it intentionally, we’ve just been so busy, Tulip Time kind of just happened before we could even do anything!  But we did take the kiddos down to Kinderplaats and they both had a pretty good time…

Owen got to hit a ball with Papa (he thought he was sooo cool!)

Syd and Owen got to look at and pet some fun animals (it was Syd’s favorite part)

Owen got to sit in a plow truck and a Fire truck (he doesn’t look proud of himself or anything, does he?!)

Here he is in awe of the big trucks….

and showing off all his ‘badges’

We’ve also been enjoying the weather a lot lately! 

Syd is LOVING the outdoors, she will just sit in the yard forever and play with the grass or watch owen play!

       

Since its been nice out a few days here and there – we’ve gotten some water toys out….I think Owen likes his water table!!

And syd got to sit out on the deck and eat dinner while she watched her bro play in the water that night…she loved the entertainment!!!

we also put the swing up on the deck…they both LOVE to swing!!!

  

Syd gets sooo excited about almost everything when she’s outside….

coloring together with chalk! sooo sweet….sydney even had to try a bite, since she has to put EVERYTHING in her mouth!

So what else is going on?? ah yes, quite old news but how could we forget the mega event of the ‘Royal wedding’ ?  Owen LOVES it! he watched parts of it with Katy and Travis and couldn’t stop talking about it and the funny hats and he would show me how the ‘royal princess’ and the ‘royal queen’ wave and then he would say ‘hello’ with a little british accent….super cute….here he is reading about the ‘royal wedding’ in a star magazine with papa….LOL!

Another of Owen’s favorite pass times is that he LOVES to jam with Papa lately!  he is so proud of himself for playing along with papa…he looks like a natural, dontcha think?

Crazy haired boy!

And a little goober faced girl!    

These two babies are so stinkin fun and cute! and growing up wayyyyyy to fast!!!

So as a ‘status update’ of sorts on the kiddos….here we go….

Owen is…

about 37 lbs

wears a size 8 shoe and 3T clothes

starting to dress himself! 

Sayin the cutest things….when you tell him to remember to behave - he says "i am being have" ; says 'pirate tractor' for chiropractor; says "pop a skol' for popsicle; the other day was standing with one foot on each chair at the kitchen table - and said "look - i am a bridge"

always putting his flip flops on first thing in the am after he wakes up on weekends with his pjs still on….he loves them

so excited to tell you how old he is….when you ask him - he holds up two fingers and when you ask him how old he will be, he holds up three fingers, and says ‘my birthday is july 7, i be three’

starting to do better with potty training…finally purposely pooped on the potty (had to hold my hand and have me read him a story and it was just one small little turd, but at least it was something) and he was SO proud of himself!

sleeps with LOTS of things in his crib, two frogs, alligator, elephant stuffed animals, 6 blankets - which you must put on him with both hands one by one and count them, a couple plastic frogs, a water bottle, a couple big wheel / four wheelers, and his fishing bobber

holds his fingers up when trying to convey something important - ex:  gran was getting him jelly beans the other day and with fingers up "ma, i don't want no gunky beans"

Has the most scary-good memory EVER

He has started transitioning to the preschool room at daycare and is doing awesome, he’s just in there for a few hours each afternoon this week, but gradually over the next few weeks he’ll get to being in there ALL DAY…how did my little man grow up so fast?  He loves it in the preschool room and has been talking about being able to go in there for quite a while now! He listens so well in there and is having a ball! 

Another big milestone for Owen is that he is now in a BIG BOY bed!  We have been talking about it with him for awhile now and told him last night that it was his last night in this crib…so when i went to get him up this morning, the first thing he said to me was ‘mama i sleep in my big boy bed tonight!’ 

here he is jumping on his bed with his menagerie of blankets and toys that he insists upon sleeping with

….And Little miss Sydney is….

weighing in at about 22 lbs

wearing size 2 or 3 shoe and size 12 mo clothes

starting to get her molars

getting over what was her fifth or sixth ear infection recently but is scheduled for TUBES on June 7

starting to try to say more words, but typically its just dog, ball, walk, mama, and papa

starting to do some animal noises…if you ask her what a kitty says - she screeches, a cow: moooooo, a dog; bow wow

quite the little diva still – everyone knows when she’s not happy!! she LOVES to throw her food over the edge of her tray when she’s mad during meal times! 

pointing with her finger – started just first week of april- up until that, her point was the ‘politician  point’ with her hand in a fist with the thumb down

loving all music and songs!  her fave song  is the itsy bitsy spider – she started doing  the climbing motion the other day and some of the other motions when i sang it to her

signing a lot more, she does more, all done, eat, and please

all done with swimming class this month - she loved her lessons -  her fave  thing was sitting on the ledge and falling into my arms

And…I saved the best for last….

I haven’t really blogged about it, but little miss Syd is just taking her own sweet time in using her legs, so much so that we called Early On and set up an eval…we were referred for PT and syd had her first appt two weeks ago…she has come SO far! As of about a month ago, she hadn’t even begun pulling herself to standing; in fact she hadn’t really put any weight on her legs at all – even as an infant – for any longer than a few seconds….and over the course of this past month, she is not only pulling herself up, but she can now be found standing in her crib….or even standing up just checking out fun things…

she also will hold onto our hands and move her feet forward like she wants to start walking!  We’re getting there slowly but surely!! I think that little diva just has a mind of her own and is doing things on her own terms! :)  We are just so thankful that its looking like that’s all it is, she had us worried for a while there! 

so thats all for now…until the next time my camera’s memory card is full….. :)

What’s New?

 

So this post is LONG overdue – its been well over a month since my last post.  We’ve been busy; especially since the weather has been getting nicer.  So here’s what we’ve been up to…

A few weeks ago, we had a nice sunny day just out of the blue – in between frigid days – so we took advantage of it and went on a walk together!  we headed to  some trails and broke out the baby backpack and syd had a blast!

Owen started out in the stroller but soon escaped so he could get some of that energy out…check out how he runs…love.it.he holds his little arms up and close to his chest and swings them back and forth…. :)

this pic is so cute, syd just looks like she is checking something out pretty intently – but in the opposite direction of everyone else.  I think Owen, gran and papa were checking out a swan’s nest they spotted.

mama and her boy…

the kole fam…

gran and Owie

Another thing we’ve started doing are swimming lessons with syd…i tried to get owen into a class too, but the one for his age group was full…syd really seems to enjoy it!  she even puts her face in the water…no fear from that little girl! This is the only pic we have that didn’t turn out super blurry, but you get the point!  Scott even her one week and they had  so much fun too! :)

Grandma’s annual Easter egg hunt was on the Sat before Easter…Grandma had us all over for the egg hunt and also a fantastic dinner…the kids had a lot of fun finding their goodies…Grandma assigns each kiddo a different color ‘ribbon’ and each of their ‘hidden’ eggs/treats is marked with that color – owen had so much fun trying to find his colored treats....

there was also much chasing each other around and running  down hills and just being kids….

All the kiddos after their hunt….

Syd and Kenz …so sweet  

After all the fun someone was soooooo tired so got some cuddle time in with Grandma….

On Sunday, Owen, Scott and I headed off to church…Syd wasn’t feeling well so she stayed home with Gran….

check out my little stud muffin…. :)

 

cousins @ church…owen was having some issues with the sun in his face, so this is the best I  got of them…

also with his cousins, Owen realized his LOVE for riding a bike….he had a little tiny bike with training wheels, but when he was with his cousins and their ‘big’ bikes, we realized it was time to break out the ‘big boy’ bike for Owen – which used to be dylan’s bike – so that make it all the more ‘cool’ for owen and he talks about riding his ‘new bike’ just about every day….here he is out enjoying the weather and his bike with gran…

gran got a little jealous…get your own bike, gran!!! :)

so serious about helping papa fix his bike…notice the play chainsaw on the bottom left?  as soon as owen saw papa start to get his tools out owen ran inside yelling “i gotta go get my tools too” and that is what he came back with….

At the end of last month, I went away to Nashville for a conference for four days– it was the longest I’ve ever been away from my babies, but we were so busy that time went by so fast…..my sweet, sweet hubby sent me an edible arrangement while I was there – and it worked out great because I had a fridge in my room so had some fruit to snack on instead of eating junk….see, I started the ‘couch to 5k’ program a few weeks ago and have been trying to eat good and just change into some healthier habits.  12 lbs down so far!!! yay…

Also,  while at my conference, I stayed in the Gaylord Opryland Resort – the place was HUGE, it was at least 1/4 mile from my room to the conference area…i don’t even think we walked through the whole place while we were there….here is a view from my balcony…craziness….

While we were there they also had a special show at the Grand Ole Opry set up for us to see for all the conference attendees (there were about 2000 of us) – and it was a very cool experience…

and now back to the crazy weather we’ve been having… i had to share a pic of some hail i picked up off the deck from a week or so ago

but then of course, Michigan gave us some sunshine and we were able to get out and have some fun…getting ready for sydney’s first bike ride – I’d say she’s pretty excited!

but what else do we do for fun?  play dress up, of course…here’s our future tennis player with her mini racket... not so sure of it at first…

but then she warmed up to it…..

‘mr wizard’ and his lightsaber…

our little diva in her ‘diva hat’ (when she sees it she points and freaks out until you put it on her and then she just crawls around like she’s the coolest thing ever)

our little pricess….

in our spare time we also learn new tricks….

and play fun games

here’s syd playing a fun game with papa….she just laughs and makes faces and goes crazy

then all of a sudden collapses on his shoulder for a quick hug…so sweet

we’ve also been playing with friends….al and the babes came over one day to play when i stayed home once day when the kids’ daycare was closed …they’re all getting so big!!! 

our attempt at a pic of all four of them…syd just wasn’t having it! i love how loretta has her little arm around syd….

and how here she’s trying to give her a pep talk, and owen is like come on babies lets get this over with….henry is just not  so sure of it all!!! :)

also with all the fun weather we’ve been having, we’ve broken out the ‘summer’ toys and now owen has to share his stuff with his sister this year…surprisingly enough, he doesn’t mind (most of the time)  

i know i’ve overlooked so many things going on lately,but I had to get something out here and update this blog!!!

I’m definitely planning to update more later with some kid milestones….but until then – here’s a quick milestone for syd…her first sink bath – at 13 months old

owen was splashin it up in the sink since he was 7 mo old – but its just too easy with two, to give them both a bath together so syd never got to enjoy the fun until recently – when her diaper somehow came undone on one side inside her pjs one afternoon (yes, she was still in her pjs in the afternoon, we all love to relax a little on the weekends and syd is no exception) and she was soaking wet before we noticed.

She LOVED the sink!

       Owen thought it was pretty cool too! this is her little goober face…what a stinker!