Spring is here! But it feels like summer.  Either way, it is beautiful here and we are enjoying it.  We actually went swimming at my Uncle's home here in College Station last week and both Cole and Lyla LOVED it.  Neither really wanted to get out of the water except they got cold. Once they got warm they wanted right back in.

I didn't get a picture of the swim but here are some recent pics of playing outside (before they got dirty).  They were just too cute not to share.

We had a multi-day Easter Celebration. Easter morning the kids awoke to a trail of jelly beans leading to their Easter baskets. Once Lyla realized she could eat the beans she followed that track stuffing her face with all she could keep in there. It was a lot of fun to do a real holiday tradition now that the children are getting older and can enjoy it. Later than evening we went to my Aunt and Uncle's for dinner. We got some pictures of the family - well, we TRIED to get a picture of the family together. This is about as good as it gets.

Lyla was already tired by this point. But we did get some cute ones of her playing with the flowers. She loves flowers. It's one of the words she says often.

Cole wasn't quite as cooperative but we managed with what he gave us.

Rick has Mondays off work so we invited some friends over and we had an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard. The kids loved it. And we had a visitor! (Too bad Lyla didn't know who that really was.)

(Her blue lips are from a ring pop. She is a lollipop fanatic!  Just loves 'em! 

Oh, and Thanks Aunt Natalie for my dress!)

Easter always makes me feel so much gratitude.  I love the green coming back,the flowers and the sun (though the sun doesn't really leave in Texas).  This year, I felt especially blessed to have these healthy and beautiful children as part of our family.

We may have our moments of freakish health scares. For example, we found out a couple of weeks ago that Cole is allergic to the sunscreen I used on him all last year. (weird) He broke out in red bumps all over. His skin looked a little swollen for the first day or so. It has been nearly two weeks and he still has bumps on his arms and legs. Poor guy. Why is he allergic to everything?

Yesterday, Lyla woke from her nap with a red mark on the side of her face. I thought it was from sleeping on her hand, but after 45 minutes it had not even slightly faded and was hot to the touch.

I sent this picture to my mother and Rick and asked their opinion. Well, I called the doctor and the nurse said it sounded like heat rash, but if it got worse to go to the doctor. About an hour later it had filled in and was really red - turning purplish.  When she started crying a lot, wanting me to hold her and asking for milk, I knew something was wrong. We took her to urgent care (because the docs where then closed).  They said it was a good thing we brought her in because it was an infection in the soft tissue of her skin. They couldn't say for sure what kind, but that she just needed some antibiotics.  We searched all over for a bite, scratch or other opening where the infection could have started but found nothing - except for what appeared to be dried food by her ear.  The doctor said it could have been an inner ear infection that spread but that was just a guess too.  Odd thing is after waiting for her prescription the redness had faded again and she was getting back to her playful self.  We are giving her the meds all the same. 

Still with all these minor ailments I feel very fortunate. A friend of ours just found out their 3 year old has leukemia and will spend the next six months in Houston at the children's hospital there. I can't imagine.  Upon hearing this I became extremely grateful for temporary skin rashes and little fevers.  We are truly a blessed family.

Well, Cole's potty training didn't last very long. After 2 days he did NOT want to go to the bathroom and would say "NO!" then go in the other room and pee.  He wasn't ready but thought it was fun to try it for a day or two I guess.  So we are back to diapers. Oh well.

Lyla is walking now. She isn't totally steady but she can manage about half way across the room before she falls. I think she gets nervous because she will start to lock her knees and try to walk like Frankenstein and then of course, falls.  Last week she was an absolute different person. She was definitely not feeling well. She slept poorly, was teething and had a rash on the back of her neck.  She cried a lot, didn't even try to walk or talk and wanted to be held.  She isn't completely through with it because she is still teething and back to two naps.  We had been doing one nap for about a month I guess.  I miss my cheery Lyla and worried that since it was going on for so long that she suddenly was going to turn into this beast of a toddler. But slowly she is getting back to herself. I don't know what it was, but it was bad. Trust me. She didn't even want to play outside.  She didn't even try to play in the dirt. Yes, this girl can't wait to get into dirt.  She even loves to rub food all over her.  What a nightmare to clean.  Cole was always so neat and liked to be clean. He rarely needed baths - once a week was good for him.  She needs one almost every day.  Somehow she is always a mess.  A cute mess. But a mess.

While we were in Austin a couple of weekends ago, Lyla crawled into the toy closet, climbed up onto a chair and played "work".  I found her in there like that. I wonder what she was going to do to get down.  She loves to climb.

I think Cole was nearly two before he even attempted to get up this ladder.  Not her!  She could do it before she could walk. This picture is funny because she is pushing out her belly and making silly faces. She was so excited to get up there and eat!

Cole watched a "Thomas & Friends" video with Cannon while we were in Austin. Guess what? Now he is hooked. We use Netflix to watch them on our Xbox. I actually thought they were SO BORING, but what I realized is the old ones using toys with eyes that move are boring. The new ones with computer animated faces are very, very cool.  We watch "Thomas and the Kite" mostly.  He loves the song and gets really excited when the words come up at the end.  He still loves Toy Story and Cars but now we have a new love.  He was always calling all the blue trains "Thomas" so when I pointed out there is a number on the train associated with each name his eyes grew big and wide.  I can tell he is already starting to memorize them.  Love this kid! He is all boy but with the cuddles, hugs, kisses and gentleness to endear him to your heart forever. For example, last night at dinner he was stroking my left arm as he ate.  At first I thought I didn't really notice, but then it went on and on until he practically leapt out of his chair to press his head to my chest and squeeze the life out of me.  Is there anything better than that?!

After dinner, it was time for baths and BOY were they on something. Cole swam and spewed water everywhere.  Lyla was on a giggle fest and kept falling in the water from laughter.  Blood shot eyes to prove it!

And finally, I also took some videos of them

PLAYING

KISSING

and SAYING HELLO

Oh my cuties! I just love them!

Today Lyla had her first nail polish. Aunt "B" watches Lyla on Wednesdays while Cole and I go to Kindermusik.  When I returned to pick her up she had some pretty toesies!

I love it! I probably would have painted them even before now but Cole has a fascination with polishes in the grocery store so I've avoided him seeing them like the plague at home. 

Cole has showed so many signs of being ready to potty train for awhile now. It has been me that has lagged behind. I just thought the entire process was going to be challenging and messy.  But in hearing other moms talk about their experiences over the past couple of weeks, I realized it may not be so bad.  So we picked up plenty of pairs of underwear at the store yesterday. I didn't wake up this morning thinking this was the day, but somehow I asked him if he wanted to wear his "Superwhy" underwear after I took his bedtime diaper off and he was thrilled.  We made it through music class without any problems. We had a little accident at my aunt's house but I was expecting it.  On the way to her house from class I told him we would go when we got to Aunt "B's"  and he said "NooooPE!" Meaning, this is a foreign toilet, no thanks.

The biggest shock was when he actually went poo on the potty!  Whoa! I expected some big tadoo but he said he needed to go so we went. He sat there and I asked him if he wanted mom to sing some songs. He said yes. We sang "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window" and "Elmo's Song".  Then Lyla joined us and I asked him if he would rather we leave. He said, "Yes, Mom, Lyla, leave."  After a few minutes and talking through doors (and peeking through the door...sorry I just couldn't resist as he was being such a darling and so modest...he is going to kill me later, right?)

He said he was done and he was! YEA!!!!  We did have another tiny accident later but he managed to stop and come get me (I was upstairs with Lyla) to go potty and finish.   Oh I am so relieved! This doesn't feel like work at all!  Cross your fingers this keeps up and we will be down to nighttime diapers only!  (Oh yea, I put a diaper on him for his nap but it was dry after the nap. Yeehaw!)

This week has been jam packed full of fun.  Grandma and Grandpa Poling came on Sunday and stayed until Thursday evening. Cole had been looking forward to their visit and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  They took him to his favorite places...twice...and spoiled him rotten (trucks, airplanes, fire engines, oh my!)  I don't think it took even a half hour before Lyla was squeezing both of their necks like she had known them all her life.  Even Aunt Ashley made a trip up to see the kids.  I wish we had more time with her but we loved what we got!  Each day was full of so much play I think everyone was worn out by the time evening came.  Now that things have quieted down here I suddenly feel like my little toddler turned into a little boy all while they were here.  He just seems to act older. He even smiled on cue.  

Grandma Poling taught Cole how to play "Hide & Seek". Believe it or not, Cole seems to prefer seeking because even when it is his turn to hide he starts counting and jumps out at "10".  Here are some fun clips of him playing.

Lyla has incredible verbal skills for a one year old in my opinion.  She signs and speaks "ball" (baw baw), "bubbles" (buhhls), and "outside" (oust or outs).  She signs "milk", "eat" and "drink".  She can also say "da da" (and knows it's Dad but sometimes uses it for Grandpa too).  We have heard her repeat after us on a couple occasions "toy" and "book" too.  Wow.  She is very good at copying sounds her daddy makes and tries to make the animal and tractor noises in a farm book we read together.  She even mimics the vampire laugh in a Halloween book we have - I actually think it's sort of a creepy book but both of our kids have LOVED this book year round.  I know I've got to get her "speaking" on video or no one is going to believe me.  I guess we'll start with her vampire laugh.

Love my dumplings!

On our afternoon walk today, Cole decided to explore the piles of dirt nearby our house where they are preparing to make new roads and build homes.  When the workers are not there I will let him touch the "feet" of the tractors if they are easily and safely reachable. Well, today he wanted to touch one that was over a rough terrain so I didn't want to take the stroller there but it was still close to me.  Cole decided to walk there by himself.  I warned him that if he wasn't careful he would fall and maybe get hurt.  He made it there safely but got really excited on the way back to the stroller and yes, tripped.  He got up, dusted his knees off and looked at me and said, "Told you, fall. Told you, fall.  Told you, fall."  All the while shaking his head and raising his eyebrows looking down. I laughed but inside I was thinking, "Do I ever say that! If so, I must have said it one too many times if that's what he thinks right after he falls!"  Eek!  Still it was funny to watch him basically reprimand himself. 

Have a mentioned how much I love springtime?  Today is the perfect reason why.  It's sunny but not too hot with a great breeze.  We picked up some soil from Wal-mart and planted some flower seeds. Cole and I filled up water pitchers and watered the soil and then we flew a kite.  Dad taught him how the other day and man is he a pro. It went REALLY high today.  I don't remember flying a kite when I was little but I'm sure I probably did. I have to say I really enjoy it.

Breaking News! I guess that exhausting day of going back and forth with walkers convinced Lyla she was ready for the next step. Yesterday and today she has attempted to walk before she crawls.

I give her a week before it can officially be said that she walks.

The kids were eating strawberries with their lunch today. Cole prefers to just bite off pieces of the strawberry and obviously I was cutting them up for Lyla. Well, she didn't like that one bit. She kept signing "ball" and saying "ba..ba". When she got really upset, I finally gave her a whole one to see what she would do. She handled it just fine! She sucked on it until pieces fell off. When she finished that one she asked for another "ball". Silly girl.

Lyla's first birthday came and went without a really big tadoo but we did have cake and presents with the kids. Cole vividly remembers presents from Christmas so he was VERY excited to open those gifts!

I really thought Lyla would be walking by her first birthday but she hasn't seemed very interested in it for the past couple of months, but boy was she into it yesterday.  For literally an hour she ran back and forth through the house with any walker she could find.

My trip to Florida with Rick was so fun and SO NEEDED. We felt like newlyweds again without the kids to worry about. Knowing they were having a great time with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents definitely made things easier. I was thrilled to hear that they didn't even complain while we were away. When Rick left on Wednesday, I explained to Cole that dad was on a trip and he would come back. So the day before I left, I told him I was going on a trip to see dad and that I would be back too. My mother said Cole completely understood and would say, "Mom, trip, dad, come back." Awesome. I love that he didn't worry because he totally knew everything was fine.  One thing we did do at Grandma's house is finally give this boy a haircut.  Going from this:

to this:

He was a pretty good sport about it all considering he hates his hair cut which is why I had let it go so long.  His reward was a piece of gum which he is chomping on in the pic above.  (Although I hate giving him gum because he ALWAYS swallows it. His intestines must be full of the stuff by now.)

We mostly went out for dinners as Rick was in meetings on and off throughout the day. I enjoyed the time to read books and bask in the sun. I'm so glad it was warm and beautiful. We went to a Hibachi grill at the resort the first night, pirates adventure dinner the second night and a murder mystery dinner the final night. All dinners were good with the most fun being the mystery dinner. Rick actually was asked to take part in it which made it even more fun. The acting and quick improve of the group was outstanding.

Here are a few other shots. After the pirate dinner we walked around and found this massive carousel ride. I thought I was pretty good with scary rides and considering that this is swing carousel which I love (and is NOT scary), I was super excited. Let me tell you this was HIGH. I had to shut my eyes when it was at the very top but would open them if they dropped even a few feet from there. For some reason my eyes just would NOT open at the very top. It was thrilling.

It's good to be back home again too though.  We are enjoying the warm weather and spending a lot of time outside. These videos are from before we left but we Rick took them to the park to fly a kite so I'll try to post those videos soon.

Cole is still very into animals. While we were outside he was so hyper that his animal sounds all came out as yells. I thought it was so funny.

Lyla officially loves slides now and both she and Cole prefer to do them on their tummy. She loves to explore the dirt and grass outside. She knows the sign for outside and uses it ALL THE TIME. The little thing could live outside and probably be very happy. I don't mind it except for the very dirty clothes and scruffed up shoes and knees in the pants. Learn to walk baby girl and you will love it even more!

Yesterday, it was rainy and gray all morning so I pulled out a pop-up tent I bought at Wal-mart after Christmas when they were on clearance. The kids LOVED it!

Cole does a lot of singing now too. I've got to get this on video. I don't know why I haven't yet really. He will start singing to most things he has heard before. He just makes noises and tries to follow along. It is so cute to hear him just start singing. I hope he always sings. It makes me happy.  I feel so blessed to be his mother.


Little Princess went to her one-year checkup yesterday and weighed in at 19lb 5oz. That is actually 5 ounces less that Cole weighed at age 1, but she is 2 1/2 inches shorter than he was! Our little girl is still only 5th percentile for height and is 25th percentile for weight. The doctor said he thought I was rightly justified in taking her off whole milk and giving her 2% instead because her weight gain is still really good. She is just a shorty (27 inches to be exact).  She is so much fun to be with. After her shots she was not very happy but she still seemed to make the best of it.  I feel so blessed to be her mother.

So it's been nearly a month since I posted and yet I feel I have nothing to say. We've been visiting parks, libraries and stores this month. We have basically been out and I've been well, lazy, about anything else really.

We are celebrating Lyla's birthday tonight since we leave for Austin tomorrow to put Rick on a plane for a business conference in Orlando for a week.  The kids and I will stay at my moms until Friday when I will join Rick in Florida for a few days.  I am sure the kids will have a good time with their cousins and grandparents but still it is the first time I will be leaving them overnight with the exception of the night Lyla was born.  I am not worried about me. I am worried about them wondering where mom went. But they probably won't even notice with so much going on at grandma's house.

But alas here are pics of the kids - I haven't been taking many but here are a few!

She is still cute when she is mad...

Last Sunday as soon as we got home from church I threw on some pants or shorts over their onesies and we enjoyed the sunny warm weather.  Lyla enjoyed her fruit.  Thoroughly.

Cole ran around with a little flag he pulled up marking where the gas line was for the construction going on in front of our house. Hope they didn't need that!

I was trying to get Lyla on video making funny noises. It didn't work but this is still cute.

She loves the slide...

And has learned TO slide...

They are enjoying the weather and want to go outside RIGHT AWAY. Hence they are still in their pj's.

Lyla is so ready to walk. She climbs very well now (as evidenced above). She stands all by herself. She can go from sitting to standing without holding onto anything. She has even taken a step or two here and there but then just decides she prefers to crawl. I'm actually ready for her to walk. Most moms dread it but I think she will love playing with Cole more. I won't worry about her knees or feet (shoes) getting scuffed by crawling and she can follow me better!

Cole is talking so much now. He is still quiet in public places but he is a little chatter box at home.  Odd for the boy who would make a peep.  But I love it.  He also enjoys singing.  His favorite is Elmo's Song. He sings the ABC's to whatever tune it's playing and joins in for most songs on the CD's we have. We have him in Kindermusik again this semester because he just loves it. If you were in class with him you wouldn't think so because he mostly observes but we play the songs and games at home and he get so excited every time. I love to hear him sing.  He has such a sweet voice. I hope this continues.

Oh yes, and Lyla is doing very well with sign language but she definitely has a mind and will of her own so I'm pretty sure it won't take her long to figure out how to get exactly what she wants!  She is really good at repeating gestures and hand movements. For example, A lady sitting behind us at church taught her how to blow kisses after 2 minutes.  She has been doing it ever since.