Determination

A few days ago we purchased a child bike seat for the back of my bike. I've been wanting one forever it seems like. I remember having one when I was a kid. Kohen loves riding in his stroller and his wagon, so I knew he would just love riding with mommy on a bike! Jason assembled the seat (which took forever) a few nights ago for me to use the next day. I took Kohen on a very short test run that night to make sure I could handle putting him in the seat and taking him out by myself while balancing the bike. He cried when we took him off the bike because he wanted a longer ride! I was so excited to take him on a real bike trail the next day!

The next day finally came and I loaded Kohen up in the Xterra. Then I attempted to load the bike....OMG, it doesn't fit! I thought after taking out part of the backseat it would surely fit. Nope. Wasn't gonna fit. I was DETERMINED. I had waited this long, I was GOING to make it fit. So, I thought, well maybe I can just take off the front wheel. I figured out how to slide the bar out after fiddling with it forever. But I couldn't slide it all the way off because of the brakes. Really??? There has to be an easier way.... I tried and tried and tried to figure it out. Meanwhile, my poor baby was waiting for me in his car seat. I ran inside, grabbed my laptop and brought it out to the car. I searched online on how to take off the front wheel of a mountain bike. Finally, I found a video that explained how to do it. After watching and pausing, watching and pausing, I FINALLY got the front wheel off!!! I was so excited! I crammed that dang bike and front wheel in the Xterra and we were on our way! When we got there, I opened the hatch and I thought, crap, now I have to put it back together! After reassembling the tire, I tried it out before I put Kohen on the back. The front wheel wouldn't turn! Once again, I was determined to figure this out! With no internet access at the trail, I figured it out. Trial and Error. The bike was working perfectly! I got my baby, put his helmet on and we were on our way! He loved the ride. I loved the people smiling at us :) Kohen's new thing to say is "What's that?". He said it over and over throughout the ride. After about 30-40 minutes, I could tell it was close to nap time so we headed back to the Xterra. I successfully got Kohen off the back of the bike and in his car seat. And then, of course, I had to take the front wheel off again (this time with an audience of fellow walkers/bikers) and load it in the car... determination.

Surprise!

Kohen has been really good about going back and forth between playing in the living room then walking to his room to play, then back to the living room, back to his room, etc.... I was in the living room and I could hear laughter coming from the direction of his room. SO, I assumed everything was ok and I continued doing what I was doing. After about a minute, I decided to go check on him (and to see what he was laughing at). This is what I found....

I wasn't fast enough with the camera to actually catch him playing with his toy in the toilet water, so this picture will have to do :) We usually have the bathroom door closed for obvious reasons.... but Kohen found it wide open this morning and decided he would take advantage of the opportunity!

Blog Books

I read online where you can turn your blog into a book. I thought this would be a great way to sum up Kohen's first year. I love to scrapbook, but I just don't have time to drag out all my glue, letters, cricket machine, stickers, sticker maker, ribbon, other embellishments, TONS of decorative paper, order prints online, go pick the prints up, cut them down to fit, layer and layer backgrounds, etc.... I started Kohen a scrapbook when he was born and I haven't even finished the pictures from the hospital yet! SO, blogging, to me, is much easier and definitely faster! I uploaded my entire blog to a website and they turned it into a book! Actually, two books :) After uploading the pictures, the website said that it only allowed 2,140 pictures per book and I had enough for TWO! So, I split the books into Kohen's first 6 months and 6 months to 1 year. I got the books in and I absolutely love them. I was VERY pleased with how they turned out. It is so much fun to flip the pages and read all the blog entires from the past year. Here are just a few pictures of Kohen's Blog Books :)

(btw, they are hard back and have a picture on the front and a different picture on the back. You can't really see the detail of the green book, but it's not just plain green)

Shelley, this post is just for you :)

My sister has made fun of me for holding Kohen's bottles for him while he drinks. Now that he is a year old... I've finally given in and let him hold it :) It just drives me crazy when he turns it upside down and chews on the bottom and milk drips out! When I hold it for him, THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN!!! But, my sister made fun of me just enough that I listened :)

Speaking of bottles...when do you stop giving a baby/toddler a bottle? Kohen hasn't had his 1 year check up yet and I have so many questions. He just now is able to use a sippy cup (kind-of). And I'm still giving him formula just because I don't know the rules about real milk. Can anyone help me? What have your pediatricians said to you? His 1 year check up won't be until he's almost 13 months old, so I'm just continuing with what I've been doing until I hear differently! (Oh, and you can see in the pictures the big bruise on his head is MUCH better!)

Emergency Room

All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the potted plant come crashing down on my baby. It was like it was in slow motion. Kohen had somehow pulled this plant on top of him and he was pinned between it and the concrete floor. Jason jumped up and grabbed Kohen. I SCREAMED "His HEAD, His HEAD- Let's GO!!!!!!" Kohen had a huge, blue hematoma on his forehead. We were in the car with the flashers on within a minute. We FLEW to the hospital. Luckily it's only about 3 miles from our house. We were speeding and passing cars like crazy. I rode in the back with Kohen, trying to put an ice pack on his forehead. Jason called Christie (my aunt) to see if she knew who might be on duty in the ER. Christie called the hospital and sure enough, we got bumped to the front of the line. The waiting room was FULL, but thanks to Christie's phone call we were in in no time. The nurses were very nice and told us we did the right thing to bring him in. We told them that we were not over protective parents, that Kohen seems to always have a bruise on his head, but NOTHING like this huge knot! Dr. Hudson came in and checked the dilation of his eyes and checked to see if he had blood behind the ear drum. Both were fine, thank you Lord! Since Kohen had not thrown up, that was a good indication that his brain was not swelling. The doctor told us to monitor his behavior to see if anything changed. We also have to wake him up at 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.

Here is a picture of the plant/plant stand that fell on him:

Seriously, this picture does not do the knot justice! We should have taken a side view picture! It looks flush in this picture, but it's not! He also has a big knot between his eyes (don't know if you can tell from this pic).

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

One year ago, we took Kohen out for the very first time. He was one week old. We went out to eat. I called my mom when we were on our way home and she just about died! She couldn't believe we took our 1 week old to a restaurant! I remember I cried because I didn't know you weren't supposed to do that! Now, I would NEVER take a 1 week old out, especially with all this H1N1 craziness! So don't worry mom, when we have another baby, I'll wait two weeks, haha :)

These are a few pictures of Kohen on his first Halloween:

And this is Kohen on his 2nd Halloween! He's so grown up! I can't believe how much he has changed in a year! We went to Bryant to Trick or Treat with my sister's family and my Mom and Dad came too! We had such a great time Trick or Treating, watching the Hogs and eating pizza. Next year hopefully Scott and Kristin can join us!

We got Asa a little Lobster costume so he and Kohen could be crustaceans together!!! :)

Mimi and Poppy's grandbabies! I LOVE these next few pictures. They made me laugh SOOO hard (Jason too). It was hilarious trying to get all 4 kids to pose for the camera. I just kept taking pictures throughout the whole ordeal...so funny...

Trick or Treat! Max's costume cracked me up. This is a costume Shelley wore years ago when she had to wear a costume to work. Max and Maddie play in this costume all the time, so Max decided that's what he was going to wear for Halloween. He decided against his dinosaur, superman and football player costumes! Dad kept calling him a cantaloupe! HA!

Baby Asa and Kohen trick or treating in the wagon

Kohen didn't understand what baby Asa had in his mouth... Kohen kept stealing Asa's passy from him!

GOT IT! Kohen didn't know what to think about this passy! He was never really a passy baby. He hasn't had one since he was 3 months old.

Football pros #11, #13 and #80
Dad

Maddie can always make Kohen laugh :)

My little man :)

Maddie, Kohen and Laura

12 months

At 12 months Kohen is/has:

• Started walking 10 days before his 1st birthday
• eating all solids for breakfast, lunch and dinner
• finally holding his own bottle
• taking a 3 oz bottle around 11 am ad 4 pm
• taking a 6 oz bottle around 9:30pm
• Sleeping about 10 hours a night
• wearing size 12-18 clothes
• wearing size 4 diaper
• Loves carrots
• Loves chicken nuggets
• Loves strawberries
• recognizes the words ghost and spider :)
• Loves his kitty cats
• Loves things that are not toys
• Loves Mommy and Daddy reading to him
• Loves rides in his wagon
• Loves watching his DVD player in the car
• Loves Madagascar and Open Season
• Loves his cousins
• Can entertain himself just walking around our house looking at things and playing
• Can make his mommy belly laugh at just about anything he does
• LOVES when his Daddy comes home for lunch and after work
• Loves playing and laughing with his Daddy
• Loves playing in his crib when he wakes up in the mornings and after his naps
• Loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Imagination Movers, and Manny (whatever show that is)
• Loves going on car rides around town when Mommy has had enough
• Is very shy when strangers or pretty girls talk to him
• Is very photogenic, we are always taking pictures and video :)
• Loves his grandparents. Both sides. He just lights up when he sees my parents or Jason's parents. He is SO lucky to have grandparents that love him so much :)
• Has a mom that loves buying things for him :)
• Is the love of mine and Jason's life.

I can't even explain how much fun it is to have such a sweet baby. Jason and I feel like we are the luckiest people in the world. We love our sweet Kohen so much. We can just look at each other and see the love in our eyes for our baby. One of my favorite things is when Jason and I kiss or play around with each other in front of Kohen and he sees that and just smiles and laughs. He LOVES it when Mommy and Daddy are laughing together! We are such the happy family. I wouldn't change it for anything.