3 month check up

Cole had his 3 month doctor's appointment last Thursday. We are proud to report that he is a healthy, growing boy!!! At birth, Cole was in the <1 percentile for weight at 5 lbs, 12 oz. At his appointment, he was 13 lbs, 10.5 ounces, which put him in the 76th percentile for weight!! Quite an improvement! He measures 24 and 1/4 inches long, which puts him in the 78th percentile. We were relieved to know that he has had no trouble catching up in his growth despite giving us quite a scare when he was born!

Cole's First Vacation (Part 3)

We've been back from our trip for a week now, and I'm finally getting around to blogging! Last Tuesday, we drove 19 hours straight from Jacksonville back to Corpus. We had the most wonderful time meeting up with old and very dear friends, and introducing Cole to some new buddies and his great-grandparents. The highlight of the trip was Jessica and Chris's wedding! This post will consist mostly of pictures, since I'm short on time and falling behind!

Anyway, here is an account of the last week of our trip...


Meeting Great Grandma and Great Grandpa for the first time in Ponte Vedra Beach.

We spent two nights with Ben and Trichelle Petermann and their beautiful daughter, Norah (7 months). Jeff and I grew very close with these two while we lived in Jacksonville, and that friendship only strengthened during our 3 years in Maine. We have missed living near them so much, especially since we would love to be sharing the joys of parenthood together. The great thing is, I know we will always keep our friendship going across the miles!

Apparently, Norah and Cole would like to keep their friendship going as well!

On Thursday evening, we attended a cocktail party in honor of Chris and Jessica. We got to meet up with several friends, including Erica Moore and Kristin Rueckel. Here we are with Erica and Charlotte, Kristin's daughter.



On Friday, we attended the bridal party luncheon at the beach. Here is the happy couple...

Saturday morning, we took Cole to the beach to visit our friends the Tuckers, the Hards, and the Rueckels. Cole chilled in his tent for about 10 minutes until he got hungry, which meant Mommy's beach time came to an abrupt end!

Later that afternoon, I met some of the other bridesmaids and Jessica to get our hair done for the wedding. It was fun to have a little girl time with Jess before the wedding craziness started!

Uncle Jason and Cousin Jack

The Johnson ladies

The happy couple

Jeff and JD at the reception

On Sunday, we finally had some down time, so Ben and Trichelle joined us at the hotel pool. This was Norah's first time in the water, and she loved it! Cole didn't go in, but he enjoyed getting his feet wet.


On Monday, we got to meet up with Terra and Andrew Morrow and their twin boys, Logan and Will. Ironically, Terra's cousin was getting married in Ponte Vedra the next weekend, so our trips overlapped! We stayed an extra night so that we could visit with them, and I am so happy that we did! Terra and I have been friends since the 6th grade (how could we not be friends with names like Sarah and Terra Langston?) We were thrilled to find out we were both pregnant at the same time with due dates just days apart! Her boys are just 3 weeks older than Cole, and I can tell they're already going to be great buddies!


It has definitely been tough to get back to our daily routine at home after two wonderful weeks with our family and friends. We are already looking forward to our next trip in two weeks...Cole and I will be going to Dallas to meet up with more old (and new) friends...stay tuned!

Cole's First Vacation (Part 2)

Cutie Pie

So...After the ceremony in Pensacola on Friday, we hopped back in the truck and headed up to Sugar Hill, GA to stay with Melanie and Cory (my sister and brother-in-law). This leg of the trip took 6 and 1/2 hours, and again, Cole was wonderful! They teased us because we brought EVERYTHING with us...I think the entire contents of Cole's nursery were in the back of the truck! Anyway...I was so excited to be able to introduce Cole to his Aunt Mel, Uncle Cory, and cousins Caleigh and Jake!

The next morning, my mom and dad arrived to spend the day with their newest grandbaby (#5!). At the last minute, Jeff and I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon at Lake Lanier with Mel and Cory and their friends. My mom offered to take Cole home with her and keep him overnight so that Jeff and I could have a relaxing time at the lake AND get an entire night's sleep!!! I really struggled over parting with Cole for such a long time, but in the end, I couldn't pass up the offer!!! After all, we don't have a free overnight babysitter in Corpus! Jeff and I had a blast at the lake riding jet skis and hanging out, but I was most looking forward to getting home to Mel's and sleeping in as long as I wanted!! Knowing Cole was in great hands, I wasn't the least bit worried about him. However, at 5:30 a.m. I woke up MISSING him terribly!!! I couldn't wait until it got late enough to call my mom just so I could hear about every single thing he had done since I last talked to her. (Of course, I'd already called 3 times from the lake.) By 7:00 a.m. I was already driving up to Dahlonega to see him! So much for sleeping in!


Jeff and Caleigh on the Jet Skis... I can't believe Caleigh's 12 years old!


Melanie and Cory

Sunday was my first Mother's Day! It was wonderful to be able to celebrate the day WITH my mom and AS a mom! This day was so special because it was the first time our entire family has been together in one house in years (maybe ever?)!!! It was touching to see Cole with all of his cousins, aunts, and uncles! So many people love him!

The Whole Family!

Shelby's son, Nathanael, 5 years old. We discovered Nathanael's baby pics look exactly like Cole! This is a photo of Nathanael at 3 months old. What do you think?

Noriko helping Leo hold Cole (Leo is 3, and no longer the baby of the family!)

On Tuesday my mom and I got to have lunch with my dear friend Amy!! I was so excited for her to meet Cole as well, but of course he slept through the entire lunch! Finally, I just had to get him out of his car seat right before we left the restaurant, which is why he looks a bit groggy in the picture! Sorry, Amy, hopefully next time you see him he'll be a little more alert!

So, as I'm writing this, I can't believe that this phase of our trip is already over! Tomorrow morning we are leaving for Ponte Vedra, Florida for Jessica's wedding! We are SO excited about this and we have a HUGE weekend planned! Wednesday and Thursday night we are staying with Ben and Trichelle Petermann, our BFFs from Maine who now live in Jacksonville. We can't wait to see them and meet their baby girl, Norah, who was born last October. The wedding festivities begin on Thursday evening and the big day is on Saturday! Jessica and Chris are such an awesome couple and we couldn't be more excited for them! We'll be staying in Ponte Vedra through Monday, and then we have to make the 2 day trek back to Texas.

So far, this trip has been wonderful and we wish it didn't have to end. I know it's going to be VERY tough getting back to reality in Corpus Christi!

Cole's First Vacation (Part 1)

"Look out Florida, here I come!"

We left Thursday morning for our 2 week excursion to Florida and Georgia. We have been looking forward to this trip since before Cole was born, and agonizing over all of the details and preparations for weeks! There is so much to plan when traveling with an 11 week old baby, but I think we did a pretty good job. So far, everything has been great! I'm going to try to blog little by little over the duration of the trip so that I won't have so much to post when we get home.

Thursday morning we left Corpus at 6:30 a.m. and drove all the way to Pensacola, Florida! The entire trip took about 13 hours, including the stops. Cole was a trooper! He slept almost the entire trip and didn't even seem to get restless in his car seat for all of those hours. We got him out a couple of times for diaper changes and feedings, but mostly he took bottles in the car so we could minimize the number of times we had to stop. When we got to our hotel that evening, I was certain he would never fall asleep, but sure enough, he went to bed right after his bath and slept about 6 hours before waking again.

The next morning, Cole met his Aunt Jessica and Uncle Jason (Jeff's sister and brother) for the first time and got re-acquainted with Grandpa and Gigi!



For those of you who don't know, the reason we went to Pensacola was to attend a ceremony at the Museum of Aviation. The very plane that Jeff's dad flew in Vietnam was being moved to the museum, and my father-in-law was asked to speak at the dedication. His dad was the co-pilot of this OV-10 when Lt. Pete Russell, the pilot, was shot and killed during a combat mission. My father-in-law was able to pull the plane out of a nosedive at 35 feet off the water and land it safely. Lt. Russell's family was able to locate the plane a few years back and began a mission to have it restored and moved to its rightful place at the museum. The dedication was a wonderful tribute to Lt. Russell and Jeff's dad did a fantastic job with his speech! Jeff and I were so proud and thrilled that we could be a part of this momentous occasion. If you've never been to the museum, it is a really awe-inspiring, incredible place, and we just couldn't believe his dad's plane was going to be a part of history for visitors to appreciate for years to come!

Lazy Mornings

We've been having a hard time getting going in the mornings...at least I have anyway! As you can see, Cole wakes up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Ever since his surgery his sleep pattern has been "off." Also, I think he has hit the 3 month growth spurt a couple of weeks early, so he is waking up several times in the night to eat. The other morning I was not quite ready to get up, so I brought Cole into the bed with me while I drank my coffee. Before long, the whole family had joined us...dogs and all! Even Duke isn't getting enough sleep these days!

Too many cute pics to choose just one...