Big boys

Grant got a new car seat for Cole's birthday! We had been talking about it for months. Cole was a little tall for his infant carrier, but he had to stay backward facing until 1 year, so we kept him in the carrier far longer than we wanted to. As soon as Cole hit 1 year, we moved him into Grant's car seat and faced it forward, and bought Grant a new booster! Here are my big boys in their new car seats for the first time!

Cole's stats

On Cole's first birthday, June 14th, he visited the doctor for his one year appointment. He had to have shots, of course. I told a friend this and she said, "How sad that he had shots on his birthday!" Well, Cole didn't know it was his birthday!

Anyway, here is the update:

Weight - He is now ON the chart! He weighs almost 21 pounds (he gained almost 5 pounds in 3 months!) and is in the 25th percentile.

Height - He is 31 inches long, a gain of 2 1/2 inches. He is in the 85th percentile.

Head Circumference - 15th percentile - what did you expect with pin-head parents?

By the way, Cole started OFFICIALLY walking (meeting all of my strict criteria) about 3 days before his birthday. Today (a week later), he is walking all over the place across long distances. Of course, the quickest way to get around is still the bear crawl!

The real birthday cake pictures

"Cake" at home

Mitch bought some Ding Dongs for Cole's birthday cake. We are celebrating his birthday with the rest of the Ratzlaff family on Sunday. I promise, he'll get a real cake with lots more frosting!

How big is Cole? So big!!

Happy Birthday my baby!

Cole's Birthday Dinner

We went to Mira Mar for dinner. Cole was given the special birthday boy treatment!

One year ago today . . .

Mitch and I dropped big brother off at his grandparent's house and drove across the bridge toward the hospital. The bridge was lined with American flags, and it occurred to me that my baby would be born on Flag Day. June 14th also happens to be my older sister's anniversary! In my huge family it is always good when a birthday matches up with another important date on the calendar.

When I was 34 weeks pregnant, I went to the doctor's office and found out that I was 3 cm. dilated. They put me on bed rest - Kelleigh style. (I did most of my regular outside activities, but was just too pooped to cook anything or clean anything or go shopping. Strong Braxton Hicks all the time.) By 36 weeks (which is when Grant was born), I was 4 cm. and we were just sure my water was going to break like it did with Grant. I took it very easy. By 38 weeks, I was 5 cm. and getting really tired of wondering when this baby was going to make his appearance. By 40 weeks I was pretty fed up. At 41 weeks, they decided to induce. Crazy.

Our original induction date was June 13th. Although I was excited for this baby to come, I was not excited about celebrating future birthdays on Friday the 13th. Thankfully, the hospital called that morning and rescheduled us for the next day because there weren't enough beds. Mitch took me out to Olive Garden that night and we stopped by the mall to buy some yummy shower gel for the hospital. Our one last hurrah!

We arrived at the hospital early in the morning on June 14th and were quickly checked into our delivery room. My midwife started Pitocen right away and we just waited for the contractions to get stronger, longer and closer together. The midwife kept increasing the Pitocen every 15 minutes or so. I was curious to see how much pain I could take. Of course, I have been told over and over that Pitocen makes the contractions so much worse than "natural" contractions, but what was I to do? I wanted this baby out!

After about an hour of contractions, my water broke. That is when the pain skyrocketed. Wow!! I tried to brave it out for a while, but then my midwife suggested that maybe I should think about an epidural. I love epidurals and was planning to have one, but I wanted to tough it out as long as I could. Still . . . we called the anesthesiologist. In the meantime, the midwife gave me something to take the edge off. Oh, blessed relief! My wonderful painkiller lasted about 20 minutes, then SLAM. I could hardly breathe, the contractions hurt so bad. The epidural was administered and I started pushing the little button. Again, I wanted to be brave, so I didn't push the button as often as I could have. My midwife encouraged me to push the darn thing! By the time I was ready, though, it was too late. The baby was coming!!

I will spare you all of the details, but let me just say that it was very painful and totally worth it. I would not change a single thing. I got to actually pull my baby out (sounds gross, but it isn't) and they put him on my chest right away. I couldn't control the tears as I held my beautiful baby boy. I was totally overwhelmed with love for him from the very beginning. I still marvel . . .

Anyway, Mitch went out to tell his parents the good news and while he was gone, they weighed Cole Robert Ratzlaff. He was 9 pounds, 4 ounces!! My goodness! I had no idea I could have a baby that big! I was very proud.

What a wonderful, exciting year it has been. I can't believe how quickly the months have gone by. I feel so blessed to have two such beautiful little boys and an amazing husband. One year ago today, my family was completed (unless, of course, I change my mind, but that is not likely!).

Frustration . . . my opinion

Time for me to express my opinion here, so bear with me.

I have a drop down menu on my browser toolbar titled "Blogs." I like to look at my friends' blogs every once in a while. I enjoy getting caught up on their lives and feeling connected even though we may be thousands of miles apart. Maybe we live in the same town, but I don't get to spend much chit-chat time with them. Whatever. I just like knowing what is happening in their lives.

Opinion time. I think I really dislike MySpace. Why? It takes FOREVER to load. People put obnoxious wall paper on their blogs so you can't even read the print. There are all kinds of blinkies that take FOREVER to load, and if they have music, it has to load that, too! But here's the thing: I have a brand spankin' new computer with tons of memory and super-fast DSL. WHY does it take so long to load these pages? Because they are obnoxious, that's why.

For those of you who have MySpace, please don't be offended. Just know that I would LOVE to get caught up on your life, but I am a busy mom who can't wait around for all of your blinkies to load. (And, Tootsie, just so you know, yours is the only one I really bother with anyway!!)

"Once a time ago . . . "

Grant has been telling stories lately and they just crack me up! He starts out with, "Once a time ago . . . " and starts listing the characters. Sometimes the characters are dinosaurs (his current interest) named Squeezasauraus (Mitch), Kissasauraus (Me), Grantasauraus (Grant) and Poopasauraus (Cole). Sometimes the character is a boy named Grant who is also a pirate who "swings his sword around!" Grant demonstrates this by swinging his turkey-baster-sword. Usually he includes Katie, Grandpa and Grandma and his friend Patrick. He is so stinking cute!! Speaking of stinking . . . typically the story ends with "and they pooped!" Is that Freudian or what!?

Reptile Man

Last night we went to Lyle School to see the Reptile Man. I knew it was going to be an awesome show because I remember this guy from last summer when he came to the park. Anyway, I took Grant and Cole (the little tornado) to see lots of snakes, lizards, turtles, a tortoise, and an alligator. It was seriously cool. Parents enjoyed the show as much as the kids. Grant watched most of it with his hands over his ears (he does this when he is a little scared), while Cole twirled and whirled on my lap. Obnoxious. He kept kicking the kids seated within range. Anyway, it was one of those fun memories that will stick with me for quite some time!!

Walking?

I decided I had better record this event. I am a scrapbooker, not a baby booker, if you know what I mean. I don't like the pressure of filling in all the lines in the baby book, and since I never received one as a baby shower gift, I don't do the baby book thing. I do, however, record major milestones (complete with pictures) in my scrapbooks.

Yesterday, Cole took 4-5 steps in a row and repeated this wonderful, amazing feat about 5 times. It was cool. I was just reminded of this event because just a moment ago he did the same thing! Now, he hasn't repeated this for Daddy, and since I don't have another adult's witness, I cannot say that Cole is walking. (I'm pretty strict with this stuff, huh?) I plan on recording this event as "Walking??" in his scrapbook. I will announce the official "Cole is walking" date soon!

On a different note: My brother Rob called yesterday while I was shopping with ONLY Cole (Grant was playing/spending the night with T&B: Thank you!!!). Rob was in Portland, so I invited him to come on down for dinner and to spend the night. It was so much fun catching up with Rob without a ton of distraction (ie. Grant, other family members, etc.). Rob and Rachel just moved up to Seattle after completing grad school (Rob with his MBA, Rachel with . . . Masters in Accounting? She is a CPA and has a cool job with a very prestigious company.) Anyway, I got to meet Jackson (their "little boy") and we had a great time just chatting away about life. Thanks for visiting Rob!

Beach pics

We went to the beach on Saturday afternoon. It was nice and sunny in Dallas, and overcast and windy at the beach. We still had a great time! This is the little beach by Mo's in Taft (Lincoln City area). Of course, we stopped for clam chowder. Cole ended up eating most of Grant's lunch, and Grant eventually fell asleep stretched across the bench with his head on my lap! Everyone thought our little tow heads were adorable (of course!).

Sunny days

It has been a while since I posted last, but I have a really good excuse. The weather has just been WAY too nice to sit inside typing on the computer. But, alas, for the sake of my audience, I am finally letting the guilt get to me. Here is a quick update:

Grant's first round of swim lessons is over. He has perfected bobbing under the water, putting his face in the water while blowing bubbles and recklessly splashing his classmates. He still "practices" in the bathtub, though, just to keep up his skills. Cole is getting used to being squirted in the face by the turkey baster. On Grant's last day, he got to go on the big, indoor water slide with his instructor . . . twice. There are perks to being in swim lessons! We hope to sign him up for swim lessons for the end of June/July. I'll keep you updated!

Cole will be One Year Old in only 13 days. Crazy. I still think of him as my baby and have a hard time visualizing him as a one-year-old. Maybe the long-awaited haircut will make him look a little more mature. (And just so I don't get TONS of hate-mail about that last comment: We have not even "officially" talked about cutting his hair. Of course, if I had my way he would get a nice, little trim . . . )

Mitch just returned from Oklahoma after attending his grandfather's funeral. Grandpa's death was a sad, yet expected, event. Mitch has been having mixed emotions about the death of his two paternal grandparents so close together. He wishes that he had been closer to them (emotionally and in proximity), and feels guilty that he didn't make more of an effort to call or write. It's kind of sad to think about the time we missed out on with them. Thankfully they both got to meet Grant a couple of times, but neither of them ever met Cole. We have some fun, cherished memories with them and we are so thankful that both Grandma and Grandpa are with the Lord!

On a less serious note, Grant has been sleeping on our floor again. Interestingly, our nocturnal visitor only shows up when Daddy is present. Seriously. It's weird. The whole time Mitch was gone I kept listening for Grant's little feet on the hardwood floor. I LONGED to have him jump into bed with me to keep me company. In fact, I kept him up super late and made him watch my shows just so he would fall asleep in my bed. Unfortunately, he always announced that he was going to go to bed in his bed, now. The second night I BEGGED him to stay with me. He said, "Okay, Mom, I will. I'll stay with you for a little while and then go to my bed." After much cajoling, I finally convinced Grant to at least sleep on the floor next to me. Thankfully, he complied. Well, now that Mitch is back, Grant won't sleep in his own bed. I'm sure that if we were awake enough to walk him across the house to his bed, he would stay. Unfortunately, we are so absolutely beat at the end of the day that neither one of us has the energy to do more than grab some blankets and a pillow and pile them on top of our son. Grant doesn't mind!

As for me, I am 22 days away from my 31st birthday. I am getting a tan on my shoulders and should be welcoming my summertime freckles any day now. I am totally enjoying these beautiful days and am NOT looking forward to losing Katie for the summer (both of her parents are teachers!). I can't wait to create summertime memories with my little family. Our first big trip this summer will be to California right after 4th of July to attend Quaker Meadow Family Camp where my parents are the speakers. (Now that it is in "print" it is official. Mitch, you can't change your mind!!) In August, we plan to go up to Washington to visit my Uncle Les, Aunt Gail and cousins at Camp Casey. My grandparents, parents and littlest sisters will be there. Rob and Rachel have just moved to Washington and should be joining us. I think Tim and Sara will be coming, too! We had a great time a couple of years ago and have been looking forward to visiting them again!

Well, my sweet little baby with the fuzzy hair just woke up. Gotta go! Thanks for reading my blog! Check back soon. I'll be posting pics!