apple picking & sauce making

what an absolutely beautiful fall day up here in blooming glen, pa.  wow.  it was in the 60s and breezy.  the perfect day for apple picking.  :-)  john, cole, and i went to Tabora Farms with sarah, justin, and ted.  here's photo documentation from the day.

 SO COOL!

 sarah and me

ted and cole (just took a nap on ted's chest)

 hehehehehe.

 a cole-size apple.

 making apple sauce.  using the crank.

 teamwork.

 the fruits of our labor.  :-)  all of this from $18 worth of apples.  will go in our freezer til cole can eat it.

 he enjoys licking apples.

 sweet sarah.

our weekend

cole continued to sleep through the night friday night and saturday night.  last night, however, he started crying at 1:45am, and i decided to ignore it hoping that he would go back to sleep. he started crying louder so i went in to check on him, and i'll be darned if that boy did not roll himself over from his belly to his back!  i was floored!  he does not and cannot sleep on his back for whatever reason, so i'm hoping that this doesn't become a regular occurrence in the middle of the night.  he, then, of course, wanted to eat, so...anyway, i'm just hoping we jump back on the 13 hour sleep train. 

saturday, cole went to a birthday party for the first time.  they had a space walk.  we are about a year too early for him to fully appreciate that.

sunday, we went to church.  cole does great in the nursery, thank goodness.  our friend, janelle, came over that night so that john and i could go to a friend's birthday dinner.  cole goes to bed between 6 & 7, so really it's just listening to the monitor to make sure he's okay while he sleeps.  we got this fantastic movement monitor that detects micro-movements (breathing) and will alarm if breathing stops for 20 seconds.  you know, doctors and books make you think your baby is going to die if they sleep on their belly, so i can rest easy knowing that we will know if something happens to him in the middle of the night. 

today, we did a whole bunch of nothing.  well, actually, i pulled all of the staples out of the kitchen ceiling (from the tiles that used be up there) in preparation for putting in a new ceiling.  all three of us ran to wawa just to get out of the house to get drinks and a warm chocolate chip cookie for me. 

cole is starting to suck on anything he can get his hands on...

 ...fist...

 ...toys...

 ...burp cloth...

i get a kick out of how he drifts around his pack 'n play/crib...

i <3 him.

12 weeks!

it felt incredible outside today with a nice breeze, so just before noon, we took a stroll down to the post office to mail livi's birthday present.  we strolled every inch of blooming glen's sidewalks & it only took us about 15 minutes.  :-(

around 2:15, we walked down to the park and did some swinging during which cole fell asleep.  said hi to our neighbor, ed, on the way home with cole still asleep.  ed just loves cole.  it's so sweet.  

he took a bunch of short naps today, which was a little frustrating because i couldn't get a good nap in (even though he slept through the night last night for the first time - you'd think i'd be well-rested).  he would sleep an hour, be awake an hour, sleep an hour, be awake an hour...over and over until we finally put him in the bed at 6:15.  it'll be interesting to see what happens tonight.

this was cole during his first nap this morning.  i laid him down with his head at the opposite end of the pack 'n play.  i got such a laugh when i went to check on him to see he had made a 180.  too funny.  that's the first time he did that.  when he woke up, he held up his head for such a long time.  i was really impressed at that neck strength of his.  when he fusses while he's trying to fall asleep, he just about hoists himself up on his knees and elbows.  he's getting to be a strong little man.

Cole

Tomorrow Cole will be 12 weeks old!  Craaaaazy!  Time has flown, but I feel like I'm appreciating each day I have with him.  :-)  Such a sweet, sweet boy.  Here's a progression of him from week to week...

 I can't wait til we come to Louisiana so everyone can meet him!  Fun fun!!

nursery!!!!!

before pics:

in progress pics:

after pics (room view):

each section individually:

 the "P" is up there only because i got it done before the "M"

i'm doing both so that i don't have to worry about painting it once i get home from the hospital