Cole's Birth Announcement

Realized today that I had not uploaded Cole's birth announcement. Most everyone has seen it by now but for those who haven't. I was so pleased with how it turned out. Aren't my boys adorable?!

Weekend Fun

As usual, we tried to pack our weekend full of fun stuff. Friday night, we went out to dinner at Moe's and then a walk through REI. Eli was so funny in Moe's saying "Welcome to Moe's" when people walked by our table. We should go to Moe's every night as he eats like a champ when we go there!

Saturday morning, the boys and I went to the YMCA; I did an Aerobox class. I hurt today in places I didn't know you could hurt (like the bottom of my bicep / top of my elbow). We hung out at home for a while before lunch and naps. After nap, we went to Stem to Tim's work picnic. Eli had a great time outside acting like one of the big kids. He played Cornhole, blew bubbles, ate some Doritos and cookies, ran all over and learned a little about hockey from Tim's boss and his son. It was nice to see everyone and Tim scored two Best Buy gift cards in a drawing.

Today we had planned to go to Umstead for a hike but the rain kept that from happening. Instead, Eli & I made a quick trip to Target and then we had lots of family play time. This afternoon we met Carol & Ryan and walked to the lake to feed the ducks. We ended up feeding the turtles mostly. I've never seen so many turtles in one place, including a HUGE one. There were so many turtles that they kept the ducks away. Home for dinner and more train / play time then time for bed. Now it's quiet in the house and time to reset for the week ahead.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for another week. Make it a good one!

Eli playing Cornhole

Such a big boy - eating his Doritos

1st hockey lesson from Mr. Mike

Eli, Mr. Mike & Mike's son Keaton

Aren't we cute? =)

Sunday morning fashion show - link belt, the must have accessory this season

Giddy up (I love these dinosaur pjs on him)

Tim took this shot of my two cuties

Look at all the hungry turtles

Here's the huge one - Tim described its' shell as "big as a hub cap"

Feeding turtles and ducks with Daddy

This is how I seem to travel these days. Cole in stroller and Eli on my shoulders. I can make sure that Eli doesn't run away like this!

A sampling of our dinner time concert

Dinner time around our house is quite entertaining. Eli has learned how to say the blessing and sometimes does it quite dramatically. Then throughout dinner, we are treated to a concert of many songs that Eli knows. Thursday night I finally caught a few on camera - Eli usually clams up when the camera is around. Hopefully you'll enjoy these cute short videos as much as we enjoy him entertaining us.

God is great, God is good....

Ba Ba Black Sheep

ABC Song - "LMNOP" always cracks me up

Play Date with Noah

Behold, the play date - every Mother's life line to sanity. Some days it's hard to keep a crazy wild 2 year old occupied without destroying everything and driving you crazy. With Eli in school, we are sure to schedule lots of play dates on the weekend. But today was a special week day treat.

Today we went to Noah's house so he & Eli could play. Baby Cole went along for the ride but it won't be long before he's right there in the mix. Eli & Noah don't get to play together too often so it's great when they do. Eli surprised me on the drive over by asking if Stella Dot was going to be there. He hasn't seen her since his birthday party but associates her with Noah - aren't their little minds amazing? It was a lot of fun watching the boys play together. Robin commented about how it's different watching 2 boys play than watching girls and boys play together. And she was right: boys = more physical, girls = more squealing and screaming. Eli & Noah were all over the place and although we had a few sharing lessons, they played well together. Upstairs in Noah's room, they were a riot. Eli was climbing in Noah's bed hiding under the blankets, then they climbed in the toy basket together (totally unprompted) and then showed Cole how to work the play mat. It was such a fun time - thanks Robin and Noah for having us! With Kylie on the way, we're looking forward to many more play dates.

"Ok, so we put this here and this there.....almost got it"

"See Baby Cole, isn't this fun. Moms LOVE cameras and photo opportunities."

Sweet Baby Cole - oh what a world awaits you

Can I interest you in 2 boys in a basket?

Camera Fun with Cole

Sunday Airport and Airplanes

Today we loaded up in the truck and head out to the Observation Park to let Eli play and watch airplanes take off and land. Cole came along for the ride but wasn't too interested - soon enough!

Look Daddy, airplane!

Our little airplane

Climbing higher to get a better view

Daddy and Son - my cuties

Then and Now

Eli: December 11, 2007

Eli: today

So funny this afternoon - was in the driveway telling Carol & Ryan goodbye after a play date when I turned around and found Eli IN the Baby Einstein exersaucer. I have no idea how he got in there but it made me laugh out loud.

Another cute shot from today (after I did my last post). Eli grabbed his fire hat from Safety Day and put it on. He's not a big hat fan but occasionally we can get one on him.

Little Firefighter

Public Safety Day

This morning we, along with Grandma C who came to visit, walked down to Leesville High School to check out Public Safety Day. We had a great time walking around looking at all the fire trucks and other equipment that the local departments use responding to calls. There were also games and bounce houses / slide for the kids to enjoy and food provided by Cross Culture Church.Tim & I really enjoyed the time and we think Eli did too (next year he'll probably be more into it). As Tim commented to me, it's great to see what our tax dollars pay for and that our fire departments have nice equipment - hopefully we'll never need to see it in action first hand.

Fire Truck line up

Eli won a water bottle knocking over cans

"Look Daddy!" - Eli was all over checking it out

Down the slide - wheee

Chick-Fil-A plinko - Eli won a mini stuffed cow

Eli & Mommy on the Falls Fire Dept ATV - it was HUGE!

Family photo

This is what Cole did the entire time - unbelievable with all the sirens and noise

Headed home with a popcorn snack

Grandma C and Cole - thanks for coming to see us

Bath Boys

Last night we met Carol & Ryan at Chick-Fil-A for dinner and play time. After, both boys needed a bath so we decided to let them take one together - it gave Tim some training for when he'll bathe Eli & Cole together! A little Mr. Bubble and a lot of splashing later, the boys were clean and ready for bed. Who can resist cute bath pictures?

Sick

It's that time of year - ahh, my favorite....cold and flu season. This year it's much more fun with two little ones. Eli battled a little cold last week and quickly won (for now) but Cole is having a harder time. My sweet little boy is wheezing, sneezing, coughing very badly and just having a rough time. Through it all though, he's still super sweet, happy as can be and continues to smile at Momma. Nights, of course, are the roughest but now some of the symptoms are flowing into the daytime so this morning I took Cole to the doctor. (Side note here - Tim has been SUPER amazing at night. I haven't been dealing very well with it all and he has taken control and been Super Dad.) Verdict is a nasty head cold. His lungs and ears are clear (for now) and no fever but he has a lot of nasal congestion that is making it hard for him to breathe and the drainage is causing his horrible little cough. We'll continue trying to make him comfortable and let him try to sleep it off. We have an appt Monday to get the rest of his shots so if he's not doing better, they'll change the nurse appt to a doctor and check him again. It's just so pitiful....

Bathing little brother

Tonight Eli helped give Baby Cole a bath. He got his "ladder" - aka step stool - and was all excited to help. Such a sweet big brother.

He he he - learning how to torture my baby brother, uh I mean give him a bath

Such a great helper

What a wonderful weekend

As usual, things have been very busy around here! We had such a great weekend. Saturday morning, Eli & I went to the YMCA where he played in the childcare and I did a spin class. He seemed to have fun playing and making new friends. On the way home I told him that Grandpa & Grandma were coming to see him. His response "How 'bout Ryan?". I kept telling him Grandpa & Grandma but he was only concerned about his friend. Well, imagine our great surprise when Ryan was waiting for us when we got home! Eli was so excited to see his friend and they enjoyed some play time in the back yard. Tim's friends Preston & Maria stopped by to see us as they were up for the day for the NC State football game and had not met Cole or seen our house. It was great to visit with them. Just as they were leaving, Grandpa & Grandma N arrived. Whew - what a revolving door!! The afternoon was a treat for me as I was able to go to the fabric store alone. I felt guilty but admit I enjoyed the peace and quiet. Saturday night we had a great dinner of fresh Spanish Mackerel (caught Friday) and ended up going to bed early.

Sunday was another treat. Tim & I took Eli to Umstead for a bike ride while Grandma watched Cole and Grandpa worked in the yard. (A little side story here: I very much enjoyed riding with my boys but I did not enjoy the work of the ride. It was mentally tough. In my head, I'm still the same girl who raced mountain bikes and was pretty good at it. Now it's like starting over with 35+ extra pounds and my body can't do what I remember doing. That's hard. I know it takes time but that doesn't make it any easier and it definitely doesn't make me any more patient!) Tim, of course, pulled Eli in the trailer and we had such a great family ride. The first half was tough for me, the next 1/4 I really enjoyed and the last 1/4 was tough heading uphill back to the truck. Eli seemed to enjoy his Mommy / Daddy time and had fun riding in the trailer. Sunday after nap, we went on a family trip to Target and just hung out.

We really enjoyed our weekend. We had fun with Tim's parents and are very thankful for all their help. We were able to get things accomplished AND have a lot of fun!

Thursday going for a walk with Mommy - hanging in the stroller big boy style!

Preston & Maria

Eli and Grandma playing blocks - they were building a garage for his car

Grandpa & Cole

Family self portrait pre-ride Sunday

Eli and Belle - popcorn watching 'Cars' Sunday after nap

Such a sweet little face =)

Family of the Month

We have been chosen as Primrose's Family of the Month this month - kinda cool huh? Here's the write up that is on the board at Eli's school. It is surrounded by some of our favorite pictures.

We are so excited to be the “Family of the Month” - let us share a little about ourselves.

Our family got its’ start in 2002 when Tim and Evia met while mountain biking at Umstead State Park with friends. Tim never had to officially ask Evia out on a date as most of their dates were bike rides after work and road trips to go ride in the mountains. Pre-children, but with our dog Belle, we enjoyed road biking, mountain biking and hiking in the mountains. In October 2004 on one of these adventure trips, Tim proposed to Evia at the top of Mount Mitchell and they were married the following June in Little Switzerland. The Nelson family was established and celebrated with an adventurous honeymoon in Moah, Utah.

On Christmas Day 2006, we found out that our family was expanding - such a great Christmas surprise! Eli joined us in August 2007 and our lives were forever changed. We then joined the Primrose family in December 2007 and have enjoyed watching Eli grow into a toddler, full of energy and learning a lot along the way - there’s never a dull moment in our house. Eli became a big brother on July 4th this year and Cole will also join the Primrose family this October.

While the boys are at Primrose, Tim is busy working as an Industrial Designer for BFS Industries designing boiler feed systems and Evia is a Senior Project Manager for BE&K Building Group specializing in University construction projects. On weekends, we love to do as much outdoors as possible - bike rides, hikes, neighborhood walks, hanging out with friends. We’re adapting to life with two boys and making all of these adventures family affairs. It makes life so much more fun!

My boys today

Snapped a few pictures of my cute boys this morning. Even sick, they're cute as can be. Eli is doing better and went to school yesterday and today. Cole is so pitiful. He wakes up about 4am really wheezing and I end up holding him upright for a few hours trying to help him breathe. He still smiles at us and other than his wheezing and sneezing, you'd never know he is sick.

My Handsome Big Boy

Would you like a biscuit with that "cheese"?

Still happy - taken between sneezes!