Cole

One of the best snugglers!!!

Our litttle peanut!

"I love my Wubba Nub"

This is truely a fantastic invention.

I Love My Brother!

Back to work!

Well we were blessed with Wally being able to take 1 month off after Cole was born. It definitely helped us relax after our hospital adventure as well as help everyone get adjusted to life with a second child. We had time to relax, go to appoinments and of course have some fun. He went back 1 1/2 weeks ago so now we are all back to the grind! Doing well though. Parker has truely adjusted well and Cole is as cool and chill as they come.

I have a feeling he gets that from Wally :).

Cole was so sweet while Wally was out. He helped him on the computer so he could stay home longer.

I told you he was a good baby.

We all took a trip to the aquarium. Parker loves to go here so we decided to go before Wally went back. Cole, well he just slept.

What cute little crabs these two are!!

Aunt Susie also came to visit us. This was exceptionally fun because she is pregnant and due at the end of January. She was definietly a natural with Cole and well Parker thinks she's pretty fabulous. We are so glad she was able to come down which was actually a surprise. I was home with the boys while Wally was at an ECU football game (Go Pirates!!!) and I had a knock at the door (7pm I might add) and I thought who could that be. It was one of the best surprises. We enjoyed her all weekend and can't wait to see her again.

My Boys!

Parker has really taken to his new brother. He is intrigued by him and all the noises he makes and things we do with him. He naturally is wanting to help and is quite sweet on him. He will give him hugs, kisses and let us know that "he is hungry" when he makes the slightest peep, all without prompting. I couldn't have asked for a better transition for bringing a new baby into our house. He is such a good boy and Cole (or as Parker likes to call him, Cole Baby) is definitely lucky to have him as an older brother.

What great boys I have!!!

Here's a video of Parker singing to Cole. This melts my heart everytime I watch it!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Surprise it's a BOY!

Cole Timothy

Born 9-16-09 at 3:03 pm

6lbs 15oz and 20 1/2 inches long

We are so glad to finally be able to introduce our newest addition Cole Timothy. He arrived last Wednesday and lets just say we have been VERY busy since then. Blessed with a VERY fast labor and delivery posed a slight challenge for Cole initially. He had what they call delayed transition but they weren't convinced that was all it was initially. He initially was a little sluggish, not needing any assistance but just periods of rapid breathing and decreased muscle tone. Since it wasn't explained by infection the Dr.s decided Wednesday night (6 hours post delivery) that they would send him to Chapel Hill (on Thursday) to rule out any possible other problems. Luckily my ob discharged me (less than 24 hours post delivery - Yikes!) so that I could go with him. Therefore on Thursday afternoon we all headed up to Chapel Hill. Wally's parents were able to go with us so we could bring Parker. We are so thankful they were able to come and help out. To make a long several days and occuarrances brief he spent a night in the PICU and 2 on the pediatric floor at Chapel Hill. Luckily once we got to Chapel Hill they felt like they were looking at a different boy than our hospital was. All tests came back normal and they attributed everything to delayed transition from birth. I have never felt so much relief as when the geneticist told me that her conclusion was that my baby was normal and that we just go home and love him. Well we came home from Chapel Hill on Sunday night with high billirubin levels (jaundice) which is no surprise as we have a strong family history of this including Parker. We got his levels checked Monday morning and they were high enough that he needed to be admitted Monday night to Onslow Memorial for phototherapy. Make sure to check him out in his "personal tanning bed" just chilling in the photo slide show below. We were discharged Tuesday night and thank goodness we have been home ever since. Parker has been great and is enjoying learning all about Cole and why he does what he does and how he can help. Cole even gave Parker a leaf blower when he got out of the hospital. He loves it. Picture of him with it is also in the slide show.

We do want to thank everyone who helped us make this as easy as possible for us to be with Cole in Chapel Hill. Our parents for watching Parker and being with us for support. Our FANTASTIC neighbors, Ryan and Beth , who not only looked after our dogs and our house but also cleaned our house for a great surprise when we got home and have made us several delicious meals. We also appreciate all the texts and calls of care and concern as well as the prayers.

Our baby is truly an example of the miracle of prayer!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What a sweet little peanut!

Cieszko's come to visit!

This weekend Chris, Alison and their son Davis came to visit us. We have been trying to get the boys together so they can play for a while and it finally worked out this weekend. We had a great time! Of course Parker and Davis enjoyed playing with the toys while we all enjoyed catching up. Alison and I have once again timed being pregnant at the same time so it was fun sharing prego stories too. They sure have a sweet son. He is absolutely adorable and fun to play with. We hope they will come again soon!!! Parker has been talking about his buddy Davis since he left.

Parker and Davis

Like Father's like son!

Boys enjoying the sandbox

Mommies and their boys and of course the babies to be.

What we've been up to!

Well we are still working out some kinks with our new laptop and installing softwear to be able to have all of our videos and pictures accessable, so sorry it has been awhile since a post. I decided to pull just a few cute pics. from the past few weeks to show you what we've been up to.

We have definitely enjoyed the waterslides in Emerald Isle this summer. Parker even learned how to go down a few short ones by himself. We have a few videos of it so when I can get it uploaded I will share. He actually asks everytime he sees my camera if he can watch the waterslides. Too bad they are closed for the season.

Can you tell we've been in the water ALOT. It is one of the only ways I have been able to survive this summer heat. This is us at our gym pool. Parker loves for Wally to toss him up as high as he can. Man am I in trouble as he gets older.

Parker loved using his tools (Handy Manny of course) to help us put the crib in the nursery.

Parker as you can see has become quite the helper. He also loves his "construction worker hat". Put the two together and you get my little construction worker doing housework. I love this picture. He is so silly.

Parker was so worn out that he apparently woke up from his nap walked to his chair then as he climbed up I guess realized he wasn't quite done napping and well decided to finish his nap right there. I had heard him say something so I waited a minute and then went to check on him and this is how I found him. He slept like that another 45 minutes. Can you say uncomfortable?

Oh and last but certainly not least this fantastic little boy of mine is potty trained. Yes you read it right he is potty trained! I actually had no intention of this prior to baby's arrival but Parker showed some interest so I pursued with no pressure. Thank goodness for McQueen pull-ups and underwear because he was the driving force. We simply said "don't pee pee on McQueen, that's nasty" and he listened. He's been in underwear with no accidents for 2 weeks now. We still use pull-ups for nap and bedtime but wake time is all about the potty. We are so proud of him and praise him for his timing!

We're Back!!!

Well hello everyone. I'm sure you've been wondering where in the world we have been, and no Baby #2 didn't arrive early. Well we have been here, busy, but here. The problem is that since the first week of July our computer has been broken and out of commission. We thought we could get it running but well we were wrong. So this weekend we bought a new one (laptop this time) and we are back in business. Well we have had a BUSY July. Alot of things have happened in our family - all Great- so I figured I'd take our first post back as a catch you up to speed post. So, here we go!!!

1st - Aunt Bubba got engaged!!! She and her boyfriend Eric got engaged while visiting San Fransico and they are looking at a wedding next October (2010). We are soooooo excited for them both!

2nd - Parker turned 2!!!!

His birthday was on July 3rd and it was perfect because Wally was off that day because of the holiday. He got to go with us to gymnastics and then we all had a great day together playing and enjoying the weather outside - in the water of course. We celebrated his birthday with family and friends on the 5th. We of course had a construction theme as that is #1 in Parker's book these days. Anything with an excavator, front loader, dump truck, you name it and he is sold. We had the party outside and brought out the water gear again. It's too hot if you don't. The kids had fun on the water slide, in the sprinkler, trying out corn hole when the adults took a break and well pretty much just running around. It was a lot of fun and he got some great gifts. We had a lot of fun with all the family and all his friends that could come. I put a few pictures from the party below, of course there are tons more but I won't bore you with those.

As you all know, with the #2 comes "I do it myself". Well Parker enjoyed climbing the ladder by himself as much as he could but he wouldn't commit to getting to the top so he could slide down from the top. As you'll see below he loved the slide so what he would do is climb to the top, come back down and then want to be placed at the top of the slide to slide down. Good thing Daddy was there because mommy couldn't lift him like that as much as he wanted.

Lots of friends playing on the slide.

How funny that almost all the boys are over here and none of the girls are.

Guess the separation starts now.

Cooper and Parker playing with the big ball in the sprinkler. This was a lot of fun to kick around the yard and of course they found it even more fun to take through the sprinkler.

Getting ready for the singing and check out the cool excavator on top of that cake.

They are his favorite for in the tub now. He actually still talks about that cake. Isn't that cute.

The construction team!

Looking great in your hard hats boys!

Ok, and now for #3, bet you forgot we were counting!

#3 - Aunt Susie is PREGNANT!!!

She and Uncle Scott are expecting their first baby in January (1-27-10).

They had a really cute way of telling us. We all were at mom and dad's because they (Susie and Scott) were in town for the week after Parker's birthday. We made egg rolls - because mom has a fantastic recipe for them and then we ordered a few sides. After we were done we all got fortune cookies. We decided to read them 1 at a time to see how different they were (simply by chance). Well come to find out Susie and Scott had them specially made and they each made reference to a new arrival with special numbers being 1.27.10. Well you would think we would all get it right away but no. Guess doctorate degrees don't help with that. It took til the 4th person reading their message for us to catch on that something was going on. It was great. We absolutely can not wait for their new little one to arrive.

They are going to make Wonderful parents!!!!!

#4 - Mommy and baby are doing well. This picture is of me and baby at 32 weeks. Everything is going great. I'm now at the MD every 2 weeks and soon to be weekly - YIKES. We are getting close. This baby is a mover too and is all over the place while they are trying to get a heart beat. Parker was always like that too. I guess are kids get it honest, knowing us.

My mom and sisters also through a shower for me while Susie was still in town. It was wonderful. I got some much needed things to help with #2. We had fantastic food and played a few great games. Thank you girls for such a wonderful time!!!

5th - Aunt Kerry and Uncle Nick moved to Jacksonville, FL. We are so sad they are gone and Parker really misses his pool buddy (Kerry) and racquetball buddy (Nick). They will be there for ~3 years. Nick is going to begin law school there and it is a 3 year program. Aunt Kerry found a new job and will be teaching 1st grade at a local elementary school. Truley a blessing giving these times. We hope to visit some while they are there, but we expect them to come back no matter how great Fl. is. (You 2 hear that?)

And last but CERTAINLY not least the 6th thing that has happened in our family is that Aunt Bubba graduated with her doctorate in Physical Therapy from Chapel Hill. We are so proud of her. She is working now at Dunn Physical Therapy in Raleigh where she has been for the last year while completing her doctorate. She primarily works with kids and dancers.

What a perfect job for her.

So there you have it. That all happened in July for us. Crazy to think about what can happen in a month. Can't wait to see what comes next.

Well we are truely a blessed family and thank God everyday for that. We wouldn't be where we are as a family without him that is for sure.