Extreme Backyard Makeover

Stephen and I decided a few months ago it was time to get the backyard in shape (8 years later). Cole loves to play outside and we need a space for him that we can also enjoy. Stephen's brother owns a concrete company so first up was to pour a new patio. Stephen and John spent a Sunday afternoon jack hammering our old patio and John's crew showed up Monday morning to pour the new patio. It is colored concrete (Spring Beige) and has a diamond design pattern.

Here is a pic of the patio process. Stephen didn't think to get a before shot, but FYI...Our old patio was tiny.

The next step was filling in the drop off with sand and putting in new grass. Stephen worked on the grass for a few days.









Finishing touches.....(and purchases)

After sealing the cement

A new smoker (Happy Father's Day, Daddy)

New light fixtures

Daddy also decided to clean out the existing (nonexistent flowerbed)...it was a few cannons and lots of weeds...no bricks, mulch, etc. Here are some pics of the flowerbed in action.

Cole helping daddy with the sand

Finished product

We are now getting bids to build a cover. We want to install fans, speakers, etc. We had someone come out last week and another guy is coming out Tuesday. We hope to have this all done in a few weeks. Then on to furniture and decor. Maybe by the end of the summer we will have this all wrapped up. I will update more as we progress.

Reid Turned Three

Last Saturday we headed to birthday party. Stephen wanted to stay home and work on the back patio (blog to come) so I asked my friend, Holly, to join me. Cole is all over the place, and it takes more than one adult to chase him and carrying all his stuff. People were teasing me and saying that I brought my nanny. Holly was definitely lots of help. At one point she had her drink, my drink, Cole's cup, two plates, and Cole's shoes. I, on the other hand, had Cole. He didn't want to go in and cut the cake. He loves to play outside. The party was a Fire Truck theme. There were toys all over the yard including a slide, sand box, and a brand new, very big trampoline. Cole had a great time running from one thing to the next. Here are some pictures.

Cole and birthday boy, Reid, deep into conversation over the sand tools.

Sand Time over...on to the next thing.

Reid and his girlfriend, Kirstin

Cole and his "nanny", Holly

Jumping on the trampoline...Kirstin preferred to bounce with Cole..neither of their feet ever left the surface.

Cole checking out the cupcakes.

The cupcakes were in the shape of a three, but by the time I got over to take a picture some of the "3" was missing, so here is a shot of the rest of the table.

18 Month Check up

Cole went to his 18 month check up on Tuesday. He is doing great. The doc says he is on his way to being a beanpole. On the way to the appointment, he learned a new word...doctor...and of course he showed off in the office by using his new word.

Cole at 18 Months

Cole is getting into everything. He runs non-stop. We are constantly chasing him.

He loves to: turn off/on lights and night lights, give hugs, blow kisses, play in the sprinkler, "feed" his stuffed animals, watch Baby Einstein, pretend that he is going to give you a bite of food..eat it..then laugh, blow bubbles, dance to music, pick up and throw grass and mulch, put on your sunglasses, and brush his teeth with an electric toothbrush.

Words he can say: Ma-Ma, Da-Da, No-No, Na-Na, off, on, up, out, beans, banana, uh-oh, oh-no, Hello, Hi, Bye-Bye, Nite-Nite, Cracker, baby, thank you. He also likes to make animal sounds. You can ask him what sound the following animals make and he will respond with the coordinating noise...cow, sheep, duck, horse, cat. It cracks me up.

He has definitely found his attitude. He has only recently started throwing major fits. It usually stems from us taking something from him that he is not supposed to have. We can diffuse the situation by getting his attention on something else. He is usually o.k. with in a minute or so.

Just today I watch him stack blocks. It is not something I had seen him do before. He had a stack of three before it toppled over. We think he may grow up to be an engineer; he is always trying to figure out how things work, where the batteries go, how to turn things off and on, etc.

Mother's Day 2011

My mom had to work on Sunday so we decided to take her to Monument Inn on Saturday afternoon. We got there at 5 and had to wait an hour. Cole enjoyed the rolls, crackers, etc. He ate off my plate of seared tuna. He loved it. I made my mom a book on Snapfish. I liked it so much, I bought one for myself. Here is the link for the book.
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/projectshareewelcome/l=2869022025/p=917141305424655706/g=4554389025/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SPBKlink/

Me and my beautiful boy after dinner

Helping Nonnie open her book

On Sunday after church we went to eat at Pepper's with my in-laws. Cole and Jake were both getting a little cranky. It was way past nap time. After an afternoon nap, we took Cole to get a snow cone and then he played in the sprinkler. Cole gave me a letter and a new plant as well as a beautiful framed portrait of the two of us. It was so sweet.

Lunch on Mother's Day

Yummy snow cone

Letter from Cole

My gift from Cole/Daddy

He loves to run around in the sprinkler.

Easter Weekend

We started off Easter Weekend with a Saturday egg hunt at our church. Cole really wasn't into it. He picked up a few eggs and then I chased him almost all the way through a field. He was running towards the Walmart that backs up to our church. I guess he needed to go shopping.

Cole picked up about four eggs before he got bored and ran off.



Cole making the escape to Walmart.


Dying eggs after his nap




Later that night we headed to Valdo's for Grammie's birthday. As we walked in, we notice that part of the restaurant was set up for a reception. As six o'clock rolled around, we heard a CD rendition of "Here Comes the Bride." Little did we know it was a wedding/reception combination. I think they probably have a few of Cole and Jake's squeals in their wedding video.


Cole and Grammie



Cole and Mommy



Cole being a sweet boy




Sunday we went to the first service at church, then we headed to my mom's for a family get-together. After Cole's nap he ran around the yard with all of his cousins. We had a chubby bunny contest with bunny-shaped marshmallows and then headed to the church gazebo to have a family egg hunt. Cole still didn't care much for the eggs. He did like to sit down and throw a pile of his cousin's eggs all around.


Easter Morning

After Church Family Picture

Bubba, Mom, and Sissy

Chubby Bunny Contest

Jones-Pomeroy Family (with a few Bailey's)