The Cole Journal: March 2011

Our days are so busy and life seems crazy. I feel like I should chronicle it now before I forget what it was like! So here goes...this is more for me than anyone else. We get up at 7 with Caroline playing in her playroom (sometimes starting at 6!) and Olivia rousing in her crib and playing her 'radio'. We stumble through breakfast where Caroline eats blueberries and Cheerios while I try to find something to make Olivia happy. (translation: both kids usually whine) That used to be oatmeal and fruit but now its banana pieces and Cheerios. Then the girls sit in the den while I run back and forth to the closet to throw on clothes and maybe eat a cereal bar while monioring their activities/screams. Then we are usually in a rush to get the girls dressed-one upstairs and one downstairs-and either take Caroline to school or ballet at 9 and rush home to get Olivia down around 9:15. Her nap lasts an hour. That's when the bed might get made and I can check my email and clean the Cheerios off the floor:) If Caroline is there we try to play or read. (or work on potty training-the most traumatic thing ever in our house). When Olivia wakes the girls eat snacks and we run errands. Target is our most frequent and favorite but we go everywhere. We eat out and come home (picking up Caroline if she was at school) just in time for nap. I pretty much run around during nap time like a crazy person-opening mail, uploading pictures, unloading/cleaning car, answering email, preparing dinner, unloading Caroline's school bag, etc. On a good day I light a candle and stay away from the computer. Once the girls nap about 2 hours, I wake them and we play until Jonathan gets home and we eat dinner. Olivia usually has to eat before we all sit down so just snacks on Cheerios while we eat. Caroline always has good stories for us and sometimes we have to stuff the broccoli in between sentences or she won't eat a thing. Then I take the kids for more playtime (by now we've played in every room in the house) and Jonathan cleans the kitchen and makes his sign out call for work-or gets ready for a call night. On a night without Junior League/church/anthing else then I bathe Olivia and give her another night time meal (cereal usually) before she waves good night to everyone and goes down. Caroline will play and watch some tv until her bath and she goes down around 8. Then I get my bath and get things organized for the next day. Jonathan and I usually watch tivo and talk until 10:30 and we fall like stones on our pillows, dead tired. Olivia wakes up at 1 and sometimes 5 to eat. No, she will not take no for an answer. If I don't feed her she will cry for hours, coming in and out of sleep briefly. We are working on this issue by not feeding her bottles just before sleep. Hopefully that will help! There's so much going on. It's so hard to write down all the sweet things that are happening. Caroline says something new everyday and it's just still precious to us. She likes to ask if her dress is 'beaufital' and now she says 'this could be tricky' alot. She listens to every word we say. If she hears me, in another room, say that I am going to the store that night she will run in and say, "NO! Don't leave me Mommy!" in her usual dramatic fashion. I don't know how she hears it all. And Olivia is pointing to everything and is doing her version of crawling. I'm not sure what to call it but she gets around somehow. Says 'hi', 'mama', 'dada' and 'bye'. Looks just like her daddy too. So funny to see. I am loving every minute. It is amazing to see how much children change in such a short time. My only selfish wish is that I could exercise more! I was able to do it alot more with one child than two but I feel like it will get better as Olivia gets older. Here are some pics from our 2011 so far.

Playing around the house.

My angel and her sweet cheeks are resting.

Caroline getting Olivia prepared for Disney World by showing her the Cinderella globe.

Dr. Cole to the rescue.

Olivia's first ride in Target outside of her carrier.

Sweet smile:)

Reading up before our trip.

Our playroom is a favorite these days.

Sitting up and playing on her own now.

The first week of February we went to DISNEY WORLD!!! Our favorite thing to do!!

First night we went to Magic Kingdom to eat dinner after a long drive.

Caroline was ready to go the next morning-up early and eating breakfast in her Cinderella gown.

Olivia took a few naps in the stroller. She was a trooper!

We dressed up alot and met most of the characters more than once. Favorite meals were at the Crystal Palace, Cinderella's Royal Table and Askerhaus (sp?).

Dressing up was really fun for the girls. Caroline was Minnie Mouse, Aurora and Cinderella. Olivia was Tinkerbell and Snow White. It was fun getting lots of attention from others.

Dumbo was the favorite ride, I think.

Caroline and Grammy ate at the Plaza before we had our date night.

Here we are at Epcot on our date after eating at Le Cellier steakhouse (Canada).

My favorite part was without a doubt the transformation into Princess Cinderella at the Bibbity Bobbidi Boutique. Watching her prance around the park as a princess was beyond what I ever imagined. Joy radiated from her and it was just magical. She went to bed saying, "I don't know how today could have been better."

Classic Disney shots:

Tea cups were great. Caroline loved them like I do!

Parade time! Caroline waved at all the characters. Belle blew her a kiss and Ariel remembered her from earlier!

Olivia liked playtime in the room too.

Caroline sat in the back of the van....alas, we had to go home:(

Who made this mess?

For Valentine's Day, we gave Caroline a Belle dress we found at WDW. She loved it and even got to wear it to a costume party a few weeks later. I am sure this dress will go with us to WDW next year.