I wish I had something important to say but I don't. Really, life feels like a giant spinning wheel and some days I'm in control and others - ok, so fine, most days - I'm just holding on for dear life. My "transition back to work" period is up. At least that's how I've been feeling the last week. I can't seem to get out of there before 5 and I'm only supposed to be there part time. Ugg. It's rush, rush, rush and I hate it. I feel like I'm on the verge of an anxiety attack most days.
So... I need your help. Yes, I'm begging, pleading with you to vote for Cole. No offense, but the kids who are winning this contest are definitely not as memorable as Cole! It's all about pride at this point. I'm prideful. I want to show off that wild blond hair! And the $500 savings bond and $500 gift certificate to an Associated Foods store doesn't hurt my desire to win either.
You can vote once a day (unless you register under two different email addresses, then you can vote twice) until October. We are getting our butts kicked so start voting! Vote here: http://fox13now.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=20074&s=4922998&i=1&r=828735. If everyone I knew voted even once, we might have a chance of winning this thing.
And if you need some more incentive to help this kid win the Beautiful Baby contest (and lessen my anxiety level), check out these pictures.
Last weekend we went to Bear Lake, one last time before summer ends. It was sad seeing my Dad pull the trailer off the property until next year. I really thought my mom was going to cry. She loves Bear Lake.
It was pretty windy again. Seems to be a running theme on the weekends up there. And a little cold. Ok, so a lot cold... at night anyway. The first night there, it was just our little family. I nearly froze to death! I think I grabbed the smallest quilt in the whole place and my feet stuck out the end. I woke up at least a dozen times shivering! But everyone else seemed to be warm. It wasn't until morning when I kicked Pearl out of the bed with Jeff (I slept on the couch so I could be close to Cole in case he happened to get cold) so I could crawl in and get warm, that I realized the sleeping bags - yes, the sub-zero temperature ones - were right by me the entire night! Arghhhh! I never recovered from that first night and was freezing the entire weekend. Poor Cole. I couldn't figure out if he was too hot, cold, or just right the entire time. He couldn't hardly move at night, bundled up in a long-sleeved onesie, socks, fleece jammies, a "dress" as Jeff calls his sleep sack, and more socks on his hands. Not to mention the blankets on top of him. He must not have been at the right temperature because that twirp was attached to me at the boob the entire weekend. Thank heavens for Emily, Kurtis, and my mom because a few times I was about to lose my mind when they swooped in and took Cole. And he refused to nap unless my mom was holding him! As my mom said to me on our last day there, "vacations aren't really a vacation for moms." No kidding! Not my favorite trip to Bear Lake but I guess if I had to nurse Cole 7 billion times over the course of three days, it might as well be somewhere other than our house, surrounded by family and good food.
We did a lot of 4-wheeling up there. Well, by we, I mean Jeff, Kurtis, and Pearl. Jeff took Pearl up the mountains and they saw four wild turkeys and a couple of deer - aka reindeer as Pearl told me. She didn't stop talking about it, or begging to go again, for days! Jeff and Kurt went on a six-hour ride to Old Ephraim's grave and who knows were else. They came back covered in dust, running on fumes. Jeff really thought at one point they wouldn't make it back because Nick's 4-wheeler wasn't running right and his was almost out of gas. Oh and they didn't pack a lunch!
We waited all day for them to get back to drive us down to the beach. Yes, we are THAT lazy now! But when they got back we couldn't get the other 4-wheeler started again, plus it was windy, and Cole was hungry and fussy so I just bagged going to beach at all. Every time I wanted to go down, Cole would start freaking out. But I did sneak away with Jeff for a quick ride up the mountain before we left. It was nice to get away, kid-free, even if was just for a couple of hours. And I've realized I have turned into a big chicken. Before kids I'd let Jeff drive me all over the place on a 4-wheeler, no helmet too, at speeds I don't even want to remember! Now, I'm like the safety police and terrified to get killed on those things. I guess that's why my Grandma said I could drive her down to the beach on it. She knew I wouldn't drive crazy. Even my Grandpa rode on the 4-wheeler and regretted not bidding on a side-by-side the day before at some auction after he had puttered around the property at breck-neck speeds of 5 mph.
And I found a few minutes to finish my "trailer trash" pictures. Pearl helped me with the project. We called it our adventure walk.
My grandparents are so funny... my Grandma can't part with anything, not even a branch we cut down. So Jeff planted it for her. She was thrilled! They were also so happy to see progress on the shed, which is now going to have a real (hopefully gasoline smell free) bedroom in it thanks to my Dad's hard work.
So with a heavy heart, I say goodbye Bear Lake until next summer.
You've all told me at one time or another to get Cole in a baby contest. Well... I did and now I need your help to win! Really, he is the cutest ever isn't he? I mean a kid who gets two inches of blond hair cut off at 3 months should definitely win this thing, don't you think?
Anyway, I'm shamelessly begging, pleading with you to vote for Cole! Go here:
http://fox13now.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=20074&s=4922998&i=1&r=828735 or if this doesn't work, go to fox13now.com and look under the "win" tab for the baby contest link. Then search "rock star" and Cole's picture should come up
I think you might have to register to vote, which is stupid I know. But, please, please, please vote for Cole!
And just to warn you, I will be blasting Facebook and again on my blog until Cole is the winner! You have until October to vote.
I knew eventually we had to give in. We haven't ever seen Cole's ear or the back of his neck. It was time. Cole and I both cried. I'm still crying.
Please tell me it will grow back and stand up as crazy as it did before... and that you all still think my baby is the cutest thing you've ever seen.
Here's what started it all. Jeff hates, hates, hates having his hair touch his ears. So to look at Cole's and realize it was actually touching his shoulders and covering his entire earlobe drove Jeff mad. He said it was time to cut it!
We attempted to trim things up ourselves first. I cried, freaked out, and yelled at Jeff to STOP! I couldn't bear it!
So Jeff said we were taking him to Cookie Cutters (yes, we go to the ridiculously expensive kids-only place... but my girl is hard to get in to at the last minute) and we were going RIGHT NOW! It's a good thing we got there with a minute to spare before closing time because I might not have been able to go back. I think the girl was super excited to cut his hair. She said she'd never seen a baby with that much blond hair before. She wanted to mohawk it.
My thoughts exactly, Cole.... only I couldn't bawl hysterically without looking like an idiot.
A small part of me died when I saw two inches of his hair all over the floor, me, Jeff, and his clothes. Seriously, she took almost two inches off the top and sides. I am praying it doesn't fall out now and that it grows back. It looks a ton thicker than before and even blonder now! It sort of reminds me of what it was like when he was born.
He needed some lovin' from his mamma afterwards. It was traumatic for the both of us. But today he is happy as can be. Apparently he is like his father and hates having his hair touch his ears and neck. That or he feels 2 lbs. lighter. I hope I can figure out how to style this new do because I'm not sure I can take the rejection of total strangers NOT stopping to comment on how adorable he is. Although the benefit of that would be getting through the grocery store 20 minutes sooner. 
Cole was too busy sucking on his fingers and watching cartoons with his sister this morning to let me get a good picture of his haircut. I thought he looked like Jeff before but now... well, let's just say I am freaked out with how much he looks like his dad! Heaven help us! But what handsome little devils they both are!
Cole seemed bored this afternoon. To keep him entertained for a few minutes I pulled out all of Pearl's old baby toys. He'd been grabbing at the rings on his car seat for couple of weeks so I knew he could probably hold on to them for a few seconds before knocking himself in the face.
Every rattle, ball, and pull-string-animal-thingy I shook in front of Cole drew a big smile on his face. His chubby hands reached out for everything he saw, followed by those same chubby hands trying to shove the toys in his mouth. I sort of wish that kid would just figure out how to suck his thumb, like his sister did, rather than throw things around in frustration that they don't fit in his mouth. 
Pearl was really excited to show Cole how to properly play with the toys. It gave me a glimpse of the peaceful sharing to come... a parent can dream right? 
Don't you just love this last picture? I'm so glad we had a good 45 minutes of fun before the screaming began. That, and the fact I can put all of Cole's toys in a single basket. Ah... if only Pearl's room was this easy to clean up!
