Learning the Ropes

Aly puts up with quite a bit from her brother these days. She has been jumped on, covered in pillows trying to play "where's aly", almost fed food several times(the only time Cole willingly shares), blankies stolen (with her wrapped in them) and the list goes on. She just lays there and tolerates all of this, actually smiling and him for lots of it. The one thing she doesn't tolerate is when he tries to pick her up. She IMMEDIATELY lets out this blood curdling scream that I only hear from her when he tries to pick her up. I of course quickly run to her aid (and to a guilty looking Cole who knows he did something he was not suppose to) and she will settle down and start to smile. This little girl is a lot smarter than I give her credit for. She will fit into our family nicely - and give her big brother a run for his money. :)

In the mind of a two year old

Conversation with Cole -

C: Mommy, I have a present for you.
E: Really? Where?
C: Come here. In the kitchen.
*followed him into the kitchen*
E:Where is it?
C: Umm, over there.
E: Where?
C: No where. I just want some chocolate.


Another conversation-
C: Where are the spiders and bugs?
E: I don't know. Where are they?
C: Well, the spiders went home and the bugs are in the spider webs.
E: Really? The bugs didn't go home too?
C: Nope. They are still in the spider webs.

Nuggy Nuggy

Cole's favorite thing to do with Alyson lately is to wait until she is eating and then he will come over, sit next to me, and then rub her head for several minutes, kinda like a loving nuggy. She just looks at him and tolerates it.

Wrestling with Cole

The other night Bret and Cole were wrestling and I was sitting on the couch with Alyson. Cole was trying to get me to save him from his Dad so he kept calling to have me grab his foot and drag him away from Bret. This was how the conversation went -

C: Mommy, grab my foot! Grab my foot!
E: I can't reach it Cole
C: (as Bret pins him in a scissor hold) It's too late!

*a couple minutes later*

C: Grab my foot mommy! Hurry, grab me!
E: (tries grabbing foot again but misses) Oh no, Cole!
C. Mommy!! Mommy!! (deep ragged sigh) I'm not gonna make it!!!!

Merry Christmas! OUrs was so much fun. On Christmas Eve, Bret got home early so we enjoyed playing around the house for little bit. We then had dinner which was very yummy. Steak, shrimp, mashed potatoes and grave, a couple of appetizers, and sprite with fresh lime. The steak was probably some of the best Bret has ever made. Mmmm. After dinner we made cookies for Santa, got into our new Christmas pj's and watch "Christmas at Mouse House" and part of "Muppets Christmas Carol". At some point we were able to "nestle the children all snug in their beds". The next morning we opened presents. It was so much fun to watch Cole this year. He was bouncing off the walls and was just so cute. He would say things like "wow" and "cool" to every gift he opened. We loved it. The two presents that took the cake for Cole was the tool set from Santa, and the handmade wood train from Uncle Lyle. He loved them. Aly made a haul too for being so little. She mostly got bows and accessories for her seriously lacking hair, among a few other items. Bret got a new computer as his big gift and I finally own a new pair of sexy boots. Later that day we headed to my Grandpa Jack and Grandma Connie's house to spend a couple of hours with them. It was so fun. We hope that everyone had a wonderful day too!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

This year has been such an amazing, and challenging year. Looking back we have so much to be thankful for, the Lord has truly blessed our family.

Bret continues working as the sports graphic designer for Nutraceutical and is just loving it. He has come up with some amazing things for his companies. He truly has such an amazing talent. He also continues to work in the young men's program as the First Councilor and loves it. We are so blessed so have such a great father and husband. Sadly, we lost his grandfather, Coly, just shortly after Aly was born. It was a very hard time for our whole family. Coly was an amazing example for our family and will be missed.

Coulson continues to grow rapidly and still keeps both of his parents VERY busy. He loves cooking, reading, trucks & tractors, airplanes, bugs, running, and so much more. He is quite the active little boy. He has such a creative imagination and we just love his little personality. He is also our little challenge with everything! He is constantly trying to out think us to get around being disciplined. We just love our happy little whirlwind.

Alyson Jo joined our family on October 14 after a very long and challenging nine months. She is such a joy and our most challenging baby yet. We love her so much. The most wonderful thing is the bond that her and her big brother already share. It never ceases to amaze me how they act together. No one can get her to smile and talk like Cole can. He is also very good at getting her to stop crying when she is fussy. In my heart I know that they were the best of friends in Heaven. What a miracle our kids are to our lives. Who ever knew you could love two little spirits so much.

As for myself, I am keeping busy with my two wonderful children. I just LOVE being a stay at home mom and can't imagine any other way. I continue to work with the Webelos in our ward and just love it.

We hope that your year has been as amazing as ours and we look forward to the upcoming year and everything it holds for us. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We love you all.

Love,
Bret, erin, Coulson (2 1/2), and Alyson (2 months)

"Uncle" Scott

A couple weeks ago, Bret's college roommate came over to celebrate his birthday with us. We call him Uncle Scott and Cole just loves him to death. It was a fun night. Bret and I (yes it was a team thing) made Better than Sex cake (Skor Cake, BTS ect) and made him blow at all 27 pink candles (Scott hates pink so we had to go with pink). Cole and Aly helped him with the candles. Happy Birthday Scott.

All Smiles for Cole

Nobody can get Aly to smile as much as Cole does. The video is kind blury and I caught them on the tail end of talking to each other but you can at least see several smiles from Aly.

Story Time

This morning while Bret was at early morning church meetings, and I was trying to get some stuff done I put Aly on the couch hoping she would stay happy for just 10 minutes for me. She started to fuss a little and then stopped suddenly. When I went to check on her I found my sweet, adorable son reading one of the books he has memorized to Aly to keep her happy. And it worked. As you can see she just loved listening to her brother. I just love small miracles of love.

PS. Yes, this was the book you sent him Tia.

I want...

When Cole goes to sleep without any problems(stays in bed, doesn't cry...etc) and by himself he gets to choose a reward. This is usually to have a treat (left over Halloween candy), watch an episode of He-man, or go to the store. Well, the other day after Bret had spent the day shoveling peoples drive ways after a really big snow storm, Cole's nap time request was to go out and shovel snow with daddy. So, when Bret got home that night I very happily sent both of them outside to shovel snow for his reward. They had the time of their lives building mini sled jumps for Cole. Oh how I love boys!!!

Oh, Christmas Tree

This year in our little apartment there was no way possible that we were going to fit our normal 7' Christmas tree into our apartment and still have room to live in it. So, thanks to my sweet mother-in-law, we got one that fit a little better. It is about 2' tall and just perfect. Now as for the presents going under it... we might have to become creative this year. :)

Talk about Bed Head

2 Months Stats - Alyson

Wow, I can't believe that my baby girl is already 2 months old!! She is such a sweetie and just loves to smile at us, but she is also quite the little firecracker. Her passions right now - eating and eating. But you would never guess that because she is still as tiny and petite as they come. She is very active and LOVES her brother. I'm glad the feelings are mutual. We did find out though that she has a bad case of acid reflux which makes her very fussy for a good portion of the day because the acid burns her little throat when she spits up (which is quite often). Thankfully, we now have her on meds to solve that problem.

Weight - 8lb 12 oz 20%
Height- still 21 inches 20%
Head Cir - 38inches 30%

We sure do love having her in our family!

Fun with Blocks

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

For any parent whose child is not a good sleeper I suggest reading this book! It was a life saver for us. Cole was going to bed at 9pm but not falling asleep (and after lots of tears) until almost 10, Waking up and coming into our room 3-4 times a night, naps were almost non existent, and Cole's bad behavior was off the charts. He was throwing temper tantrums all day! I was losing my mind. We even had a bed time routine that we stuck to pretty well. Well, a very good friend of mine brought me this book and after reading it I realized that my sweet son was acting that way because he was beyond exhausted! I picked some of the stuff the book suggests and we worked really hard doing what the book said to do and within 3 days I saw a HUGE difference. We used the 'Sleep Rules". Now Cole goes down for nap at 2 without a problem on most days, is in bed by 7:30 and asleep before 8. Temper tantrums are almost non existent now and the bad days are few and far between. Trust me, this book is really good. I gave it to a really good friend who was having the same problems with her 3 kids and she also read it and now her kids are better behaving and go to sleep faster and earlier. Anyways, it is up to you but I love this book.

Aly's Blessing

We blessed Aly today and it was a wonderful experience. I am so blessed to have a husband who worthily holds the priesthood. We were also blessed to have many many wonderful men - grandfathers, uncles, brothers, and friends - standing in the circle with Bret. Bret gave Aly a beautiful blessing and promised her many things. Thank you to everyone who came to join us on this wonderful day!

Free Photo Shoot

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Halloween so this was a must!

Alyson Jo was two weeks old for this photo shoot The cute photographer was trying so hard to get her to sleep so she could take more photos - but to no avail. She was took active to want to sleep. We sure love this little beauty.