Gingerbread houses

I love the whole christmas season, so I decided to have a gingerbread house making day with the girls from my playgroup.  We all brought our own candies to share and I supplied the graham crackers.  I was not about to go all out and make real gingerbread- there are only so many hours in the day!  We had a lot of fun, the kids got all sticky and ate too much candy, and Jenny realized that she is not an architect!  Her poor house kept falling down!  

Christmas time is near!!

The sunday after thanksgiving is our annual tree day.  We go to Bob's trees to cut our own.  They have maps that show you where the different types of trees are and they give you a saw to cut it yourself!  Good thing Rob is strong, the tree we picked had a really thick trunk!  This year we remembered to cut the bottom again when we got home.  No brown tree for us this year!  Just as we were driving there it began to snow- perfect!  Cole loved to be outside, he was a big help!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We took Cole on his first plane trip to St. Louis for thanksgiving this year.  He was great on the plane, despite having a nasty cold.  We had a wonderful time with my aunts, uncles and cousins!  It is always so nice to visit with everyone!  I ran a turkey trot with my cousin Emma and my Uncle Mark.  You will see a picture of what Rob and Uncle Rod did on Thanksgiving!  

BRRRRR!

It's getting really cold here - it snowed on monday, but it didn't stick.  Although, out hometown of Oswego, NY is getting slammed with snow this week!  Cole decided to try out his new jacket, hat and mittens.  He has snowpants and boots too, but that is a wrestling match all in itself!

Happy Halloween!

Cole was too little to do much of anything last year for Halloween, so this year was so much fun!! He looked so cute as the itsy bitsy spider!  We went to daddy's office to trick or treat, and then met Cole's buddies for a kids parade.  They all looked so cute!  In the evening we trick or treated at Grammies house and a few of the neighbors.  Cole did so well, and I think he even liked his costume!

We have a walker!

In the last 2 weeks Cole has realized that he can walk all by himself!  He actually runs more than he walks.  Now we are in trouble!!  The other day we went to our favorite park.  Cole loves climbing up the stairs and sliding with mommy down the slide!  I can't believe that he is 13 months old already!!

Pumpkins

We decided to carve our pumpkins early this year, 3 weeks ago, which now I realize was a bad idea.  They did look all pretty like so.....

But now - they are revolting to look at - all moldy and shriveled.  Oh well, live and learn.  Cole had a good time trying to eat pumpkin goo though!

Halloween Decor

First let me say that I am NOT crafty.  Not that I don't like to try, but it usually turns out looking like a preschooler did it - no offense to preschoolers!!  So, I tried a cool project that I saw in a magazine - to make a spider web out of christmas lights on my porch. It turned out so cool!!!  Since Cole is going to be a spider for Halloween, I thought it would be fun!!

Baptism Day!

Cole was baptized today, with 6 other children in a very nice ceremony at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Clifton Park, NY.  The priest was very relaxed and included all children present in the ceremony, allowing them to circle the baptismal font while he spoke.  He also had them hold the candles as he lit them from the church candle and then deliver them to the godparents to hold.  It was so neat to see it done this way - and how fitting, to have children help welcome new babies into the church!  

Cole did very well and looked very cute in his outfit!  He only cried at the end because he wanted to touch his candle while it was lit!  The baptismal water did not bother him at all!  Aunt Mup and Uncle Nate stood with him as his godparents.  Thank you so much for being such an important part of Cole's life!  He loves you both so very much!

The Big Party!!

Saturday was Cole's first birthday party!  We had it at Liberty Ridge Farms which is surprisingly not far from our house.  Rob and I had lunch there last year, the day before we went into the hospital for Cole's birth, so it was the perfect choice.  I remember saying that I wanted to have his party there - and the day turned out to be all that I imagined!  Earlier this week I was really nervous because the forecast said 55 and 80% chance of rain - YUCK!  However, there were only gray skies in the morning and then at the start of the party, the sun broke out and the temperature was in the 70's - amazing!  After the sad events of this week, I feel that God was really trying to cheer us up and help us to move on and focus on what is really important and special in our lives - our beautiful son Cole!  We really are so blessed!

We had 21 adults and 8 kids under 2 years old!  Everyone had a great time picking pumpkins, petting the animals and watching the pig races!  There really are so many fun things to do there!  They also have a huge corn maze - the stalks are 13 feet high after all the rain we have had this year - so neat!

Cole loved his special cupcake - all vanilla, since we found out he is allergic to orange food dye!  He dove right in!  Everyone else ate the pumpkin shaped cake from the Bread Basket - so yummy!  He loved hearing everyone sing to him too!  He had a great time with the presents - ripping paper and climbing on the boxes!  Thank you everyone for the great gifts!  Sarah made Cole a beautiful blanket with pictures of all of his playgroup buddies on it!  How thoughtful!!

Amazingly, Cole was in great spirits all day long and even skipped his afternoon nap so he could play with Carter a little longer back at the house!  It was such an amazing day, I really could not have asked for more!!  Thank you so much to Nani, Auntie Mup and Nana for all your help with everything!!  We love you all so much!

I don't know how I can top this party for b-day #2 - I may just have to have it there again, it was so much fun!

Cole's First Birthday!!

Yesterday, September 18th was Cole's first birthday!  I remember last year so well and it is hard to believe that helpless little 7lb 7oz little baby is now my big crazy boy!  What a year it has been!  Cole loved eating his cake - he was very dainty at first, just licking the frosting off his hands, and then he dove in with his whole face to take a big bite!  He loved his new PBK anywhere chair with his name on it!  He was so excited to sit in it like a big boy!  Aunt Natalie's gift arrived by fed ex during bath time so he got to play with his new Melissa and Doug puzzles too - what a great idea!! Thanks!  He has received so many wonderful gifts already - thank you everyone!  Happy birthday to our little man - we love you Cole!

new playset!

We finally have a nice green lawn, so we decided that Cole needed a playset to play on.  He loves it!  It has a "rock climbing wall" on one side and a slide on the other.  He is a master of the wall and climbing the slide the wrong way!  He is a little monkey - he loves to climb on everything!  He can climb our stairs without a problem - if an adult is behind him!  Walking is not far away- he already takes several steps here and there.  Time to put our running shoes on!

walking in the rain

Saturday was a nasty rainy day, so daddy and Cole made the best of it by playing in the puddles!  Cole is a true boy- he would rather be muddy and dirty!  They had a great time playing in the rain!

b-day emotion

Cole's friend Caleb (former babysitter and friend's son) is turning one on september 3rd.  We went to his birthday party this weekend, he had a cute jungle theme!  I didn't expect to, but it made me really emotional knowing that our boys are not little babies anymore.  Jenny and I have been through all the trials and tribulations of raising our first born together- starting with our pregnancies and then delivering 2 weeks apart.  She is a wonderful friend and I am so thankful to have had her to share this first year with!  Happy birthday Caleb, your buddy is right behind you!!

first family trip

Last week we decided to take a trip to Maine, just the 3 of us!  We had a great time!  We stopped in Freeport on the drive there and went to the LL Bean flagship store.  Of course Cole needed his own moose!  The next day we drove to Bar Harbor and stayed at the Harborside resort which was beautiful.  Cole did really well on the drive too!  We rented bikes and rode around Acadia National park- a lot like the adirondacks that we are used to, but with really nice carriage roads for the bikes.  Cole was not too thrilled with his bike helmet, but he did love the ride- he slept most of the time!  We stopped in Kennebunkport on the way home and Cole dipped his toes in the ocean!  

New at this

Okay, so I have decided to join the world of blogging after seeing my sister in law Julie's blog.  I think that it will be a neat way to share the goings on of the Newson family with all of our friends and family throughout the country.  Please bear with me as I figure this out!  Enjoy!