Pictures by Cole

Cole continues to impress with his snapshot ability. Here are some of his more recent works. He was playing with the camera, very carefully I must say, when our neighbor popped by for a moment. So he captured me making googly-eyes at their little boy Evan (he is ADORABLE.) I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant there, by the way if you're counting. I've sort of slacked on the belly documentation this time.....

And then a picture of his prized fire truck. He's done them out of focus for that artsy touch. :)

July 4

We spent July 4th week in Virginia Beach with the extended Mattix Family. Let me tell you, 17 people total is a lot. But it always seems to work itself out just fine. Dean & fam graciously stayed at their own house for their vacation, but we were able to still spend lots of time together. The Race on the 4th at the YMCA that Dean headed up was lots of fun (I was a bystander, not a participator), and that night we watched more fire works than I have ever seen before. We saw the ones being set off across the canal, as well as the ones on the beach and even the 'big ones' in town. It was really neat. Cole had a terrific time with his cousin's and Kevin and I had a good time relaxing. Cole wasn't a big fan of the beach, so we spent most of our time poolside in the blow up pool we brought, but that was fine by us.
Kevin thoroughly enjoyed challenging anyone to ping pong, but his favorite challenger was Dean. Dean's hockey skills have improved quite impressively, so Kevin takes a great amount of joy in beating him in anything else that he can.
It's already fun to think about next year's trip.
Note: technical difficulty withe the blog, so I'll try adding pictures again soon.

Parade

So there were several celebrations for our Hockey Champs (see previous post) and one was a downtown parade on tuesday. Cole and I decided to wing it in the heat and it turns out it worked out perfectly. We got a great parking spot near the beginning of the parade, then ate at Char-Grill while waiting for it all to start.

There were hellicopters circling above, which kept Cole fascinated until the parade began and a fire truck started the procession. He literally squealed with delight. It's so funny to see him get SO EXCITED when a fire truck is actually moving.

Just a few pics of some of the players, the goalie with his MVP award, and of course the Stanley Cup. We had a great view, and the best part was as soon as it was over we zipped out of there no traffic at all!

Stanley Cup Champions

Kevin and I had an exciting opportunity this year with the Hurricanes going to the playoff finals. We were able to go to all the home games during all 4 rounds and that of course included the finaly Game 7 in Raleigh on Monday. We had hoped they would finish the task at Game 6, but obviously now we're glad they finished it all at home. It was an absolute thrill. The game was exciting, and I had that 'good feeling' all night long.

We've been going to the games since they moved from Greensboro to Raleigh, and were there for the playoff finals in 2002 when they were beaten by the Red Wings, so it was even more exciting to see them finish the task.

With another kiddie due at the start of next season, we realized that this would be the 'last hoorah' for us to go to as many games as we did, and we enjoyed every minute of it. And thanks to mom and dad who watched Cole OFTEN as the playoffs started so we could enjoy this together.

Fathers Day

We went to visit Kevin's parents at their farm on fathers day. It was a beautiful day, and in the middle of the time with them, we took a little family trip on the Gator to see the goats. I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that Kevin is a great father. Cole literally lights up when he comes through the door. Not only is he fun and energetic, but he's also a solid leader and teacher raising this little boy.
We missed Fathers day with my dad, but had a little pre-fathers day celebration watching game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals here at the house. It was a fun evening, and time with both families during the weekend was a treat.

Big Boy Bed

After a dive from the crib last week, we decided to look into beds for Cole. We happened to find a great ikea bed for sale online and got a great deal on it. As of now, Cole hasn't actually slept in the bed yet. We were giving it a little time to lose its novelty, and go over the bed rules with him, particularly no Bouncing, which is what he loves to do on our bed. He's like a little gymnast. Anyway, Cole was fascinated with this new bed and "helped" Kevin put it together last Sunday. And finally a picture of the finished product, although with him climbing on and off of it, this picture is pretty much the only time the bed has been made.

Several New Posts..

Below.

5 Months and 5 1/2 weeks

Here's my blossoming belly. I am officially 5 months pregnant as of this week. Seems to have suddenly flown by. But October still feels like a long ways away, and that's fine as I have several projects planned and work on Cole / Baby Girl's room to be done.

And in the spirit of Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kevin is showing his support buy growing a playoff beard. He stopped shaving after the last regular season Hurricanes game. So here is the fruit of his labor. He did this last time we went to the playoffs, when we also happened to make it to the final round a few years ago and I don't remember being quite as annoyed by it......but we're in the finals again, so I'm going to zip it. :)

Blue Bath

We went through 2 pools Memorial Day weekend. Apparantely I have a knack for buying defective items. However, this did not stop us from having some fun. Summer has arrived here in NC, and it was hot and sticky for the long weekend. The pool in this picture is slowly deflating after multiple attempts to keep it up. But Cole had a great time playing in it. He calls pools a "blue bath" and he loves the freedom to splash, run, and fall down in the water. All those things we repeatedly discourage him from during his inside baths, where he can literally soak Kevin and I and the entire bathroom. So here he is in his saucy swim diapers, it was just too hot swim shorts.

Mini-Artists

A few weeks ago we went over to our friend Lizzie's house after nap time. Lizzie's mom is always on the ball with new and fun activities and she had just started finger painting with Lizzie. So Cole got to try his hand and some artful expression. As you can see, he was a little timid about putting his finger in blue paint and spreading it around. Cole is a moderately neat little boy, who in particular isn't too fond of getting his fingers all that dirty (unless it's chocolate). Lizzie, on the other hand was elbow-deep in self expression. She literally scooped out the paint and slopped it onto the paper. She did a series of 3 "studies in red" in the time it took for me to talk Cole into putting his now-blue pointer finger onto the paper.

It was lots of fun. And his very minimalistic masterpiece is hanging on the inside of the front door.

Newsflash: Sarah Updates Blog

LOTS of new posts below.

Separated at Birth?

One of our favorite players on the Hurricanes Team is named Mike Commodore. He has this huge red puffy mane. He cuts his hair at the beginning of every season, and then just lets it grow the entire season. We hope to bring Cole to a playoff game (assuming our 'Canes PICK IT UP and make it past the first round) because we saw a striking similarity in hair styles, and I was at the mall today when someone else also commented on looking like 'that hockey guy'. :)

2 Years Old

Cole turned two on April 20th, and we had a few little friends over to celebrate on his actual birthday. It was low-key but lots of fun. One funny thing, is that we had 5 2-year-olds, and 5 infants! Many of my friends are ahead of us on child #2 (one of my friends conveniently had #2 and #3 in the form of identical twin girls). So I took a picture of all the baby carries on the floor, some with the babies still in them. :)

He loved it when everyone sang happy birthday to him, and he blew out his little candle on the first try. After it was done, he looked at me and said "more, more happy birthday?" I think he wanted everyone to sing again.

We had his family party on saturday, with pictures of that to come soon.

Bas-keet-ball-poop

I'm not being vulgar, this is how Cole says Basketball hoop. I got him one this winter at a consignment sale and when it warmed up we put it outside. Well, he loves it. Every day the same thing, he wants to go outside and shoot the ball. He yells "yes!" (somewhat in-your-face...perhaps we shouldn't have taught him that) when he scores, and "close!" when he misses. He particularly enjoys asking you to miss on purpose ("Mama! close?") and then going in to score himself right after you.
but don't worry, its' not taking the place of Hockey. We have hockey net and sticks in the closet for him, but he was "cross checking" a little too much around the house, so we have confiscated his stick for a few months.

Surf's Up

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine tried to plan a playdate but it turns out everyone (and I'm not kidding) was going to be at the beach. So after a few emails back and forth, we decided that we'd go too! Lynn and her daughter Claire and Cole and I found the cutest little Inn across the street from the beach. We just stayed one night, and left mid morning as Cole had come down with a fever and cold. But we still enjoyed the sound and smells of the beach and the sun. It was a fun time away with fun friends! Here is a picture of Cole enjoying some breakfast on our balcony, and one of the two of us on the beach....he wasn't particularly thrilled about the waves this time. :)

Zoo Time

We went with Kevin's parents (Nana and Grandaddy to Cole) to the zoo about a month ago. The weather had just started turning warm. We spent the night in High Point at the Spillman's house and it was just about a 35 minute drive to the zoo so we were there when it opened. We beat the crowds and the heat and saw quite a few animals in action. Cole I think enjoyed it, although I'm not sure if he could figure out these super size versions of what he'd seen only in pictures. Here are just a few of the pictures we took.

Time to Update

I usually update in groups, so there are several new posts below. Enjoy!

Amateur Photographer

It's no secret Cole loves anything mechanical. So it comes as no surprise that he loves our digital camera. Unfortunately, many picture-moments have been ruined by simply trying to take a picture of it. The moment he sees the camera, he's up and going for it. But he knows which button to push, and out of the usually 25 pictures of a close-up of his chin(s), a few pop up that are actually not that bad. Here is a sampling. Or the beginning of his portfolio.....

Anything You can do I can do Better

I don't remember what movie that is from, no doubt one of the countless musicals my Mother exposed me to growing up (which I loved, by the way). But I do remember it was a battle-of-the-sexes type setting. So while Cole and Kevin were outside chopping wood, I put on my (pink) working boots and decided to get in on the action.

These are some serious action photos. And while I am really posing for them, not actually chopping, I think it's safe to say that while I'm honestly not doing it better, I certainly look better. :)

Working with Daddy

North Caroline weather is turning spring-like at least a couple days a week now, and we've been outside more and more. This also means that the juices start flowing in Kevin's head of the outside work he needs to do. Cole just loves being outside with him. He follows him around, chatting the entire time, usually bringing his wheelbarrow or wagon along just in case.

Here are a few pictures of the two of them working outside.


Leaf-Blowing is always a hit. Thank goodness Cole just happens to have his own toy version (which actually blows air) and he'll alternate blowing the leaves and then putting the blower up to his head to cool off the little sweat he worked up.


We had a tree taken down in the back yard, and here they are chopping it up for fire wood. Cole was into the ax at first, and then got a little hesitant to touch it, which suits me just fine.


Sometimes you need a break. Cole often will just want you to sit down on the deck next to him and listen to him jabber on about the 'big truck' that just passed by or the school bus that will soon be coming.

Cole's definately entering a Mama-stage, but there's no doubt he loves being with Daddy and laughing with him. They enjoy their time together without a doubt.