Jimmy's 3rd birthday

I am so excited about Jimmy's birthday party! I have been stressing out about it for months trying to find an inexpensive option without having to have it at my house. I really wanted to have it at a playground but was having trouble finding a local one that would work, not be too crowded on a Saturday and have bathrooms. My solution: Skidaway Island State Park. It is convenient and inexpensive. I decided to rent one of the pavilions for a small fee but it definitely is not necessary. I also ordered his invitation from Tiny Prints as well as some thank you cards. I don't want to post an image of the invite yet since I haven't mailed them out yet. I LOVE Tiny Prints. I used them for Jimmy's birth announcement. I would have used them again this year but I am doing a combo Christmas card/birth announcement and having Christine Hall do the photography and design them.

I decided on a dinosaur theme. The theme is really just for the invites, cake and decorations. I also plan to have Jimmy wear something with a dinosaur on it for his birthday. I plan to get some iced sugar dinosaur cookies from Two Smart Cookies as favors. I did order this stationary for Jimmy:

Goals

A couple of years ago I decided that I needed to set some goals to work toward. Some short range some long range. One of the long range goals was to be debt free, besides mortgage and our car payment and I am happy to say that as of a few months ago we reached that goal! It made us think about the way that we spend money and it really has changed our lifestyle.

We set a goal to become more involved in our church and we have over the past several months. We attend regularly and give consistently. We have been going to Wednesday night supper. The church is right up the street so we can walk or drive in less than a minute. This is helpful in my weekly menu planning too! We see friends and meet new people.

I also made a goal to try and plan dinners for at least 4 nights a week. I try to make something on Sunday that can be leftover for Monday since I work all day. Tuesday is usually a sandwich day since I work all day too. Then I make something for Wed and Thursday. I am much more organized when it comes to grocery shopping. I always plan meals, make a list and shop once week, usually on Sundays. I sometimes have to run out on Thursday to get a few things that we might need. I have also gotten into freezing meals so I have a few things in the freezer when something quick but homemade is needed like spaghetti sauce or veggie soup. The weekends may consist of one night out (or ordering in) it just depends on what is going on. We try to sit down as a family and eat (though lately little JImmy hasn't been the best eater!) even if it is just for a few minutes. I think it is important to sit down and eat together as often as you can as a family. This has also considerable impacted our spending as we are not spending as much money eating out as compared to eating in.

Another goal I set for myself was graduate school. Now this one is long-range! I have no idea how long it will take me, hopefully no more than 5 years, as I balance work, family and school. I figured life will only get busier so now is a good a time as any. I have completed two courses, took this semester off and have registered for my class for the spring. Once I feel I have a good routine going with work and family I am going to attempt to take two classes next fall to make up for missing this fall.

I also wanted to get involved with something that would allow me to meet and interact with people beyond work and my own social circle. I have been hesitant to get too involved in something that would be too time consuming but recently I joined the Reunion Giving Committee for UVA Class of 2000 Reunion this summer. My friend Devon (hallmate first year and roommate second year) asked if I wanted to help out and thought this would be perfect for me. While I have no experience in asking people for money it is a great way to be involved in something with a dear friend who I don't see or talk to often enough as well as interact with some of my fellow classmates that I didn't even know while I was in school.

Lastly, I want to set a goal as far as fitness/weight control. I am in my thirties and it is time to begin some kind of routine. I really would like to set a goal and run a 5K so that is something I am thinking about.

Show us Your Life-Thanksgiving Traditions and Recipes

I had a few minutes so thought I would post about today's "Show us your Life" theme at Kelly's Korner. The days and weeks are running together that I almost forgot that it was Friday! Then I saw Kelly's post so thought I would share a little about our Thanksgivings.

We really don't have one particular tradition, besides turkey every year. Growing up Thanksgiving was just our family of four and for several years we went to Williamsburg for Thanksgiving and shopping. Jimmy grew up going to Newnan to visit all of his aunts, uncles and cousins. His mom is one of five so they would all get together every Thanksgiving. It is even bigger now that all of the cousins have kids too! It really is a lot of fun. They still get together every year, though now in West Point at his cousin's house. We have been going every other year for the most part. About 5 or 6 years ago I hosted Thanksgiving at my house when we lived on 52nd Street. We are staying home this year and looking forward to Thanksgiving with my parents and some family friends.

Here is a picture of the extended Cole family at Thanksgiving two years ago:



As for favorite recipes/food, it has to be my mom's dressing! So yummy! Sadly, I don't know how to make it or have the recipe! I always feel like food never tastes as good when I make it so I leave the dressing to my mom. For Jimmy's family Thanksgiving I make a layered casserole which is so easy and every loves!!

Layered Casserole

1 can of asparagus, drained
1 can of English early peas, drained (I use Leseur)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of mushrooms stems and pieces, drained
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

In a square pyrex dish layer asparagus on the bottom then layer the peas. Spread cream of mushroom soup on top of peas. Then layer mushrooms and top with cheddar cheese. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes or until warm and bubbly. I double the recipe at Thanksgiving and use a 9x12 pyrex.

Trick or Treat!!

We had so much fun on Halloween! The evening did not start out as we would have liked since Georgia was losing big time to Florida, but watching all of the kids trick or treat put everyone in a festive mood. A few of us from the neighborhood went over to the Tollison's and then we all piled on the golf carts and went trick or treating around the neighborhood and on the Bluff. We went a little early, while it was still light and then went back to the Tollison's for dinner. The Bluff was crazy! It is like a Halloween festival in itself. I guess when you live in million dollar plus homes everyone assumes you give out the best candy. Plus, I think all the residents like to out do each other! One house had a candy bar where the kids could pick and choose from all sorts of candies, cookies and treats.






Little Jimmy was dressed up like one of the monsters from Monster's Inc. He looked so cute!! He had a great time riding on the golf cart and going up to each of the houses for some candy. I had Cecilia with wrapped up in the Moby Wrap and she snoozed for most of the evening. No costume for her this year. I did buy a pumpkin sleeper but it was so hot on Saturday-80 degrees! She had on a cute Kissy Kissy halloween outfit that was Amelia's so she was dressed up a little bit.



One funny thing happened...One (or both) of the Tollison's dogs ate the "mummy dogs" (hotdogs wrapped in crescent rolls) off of the counter while we were trick or treating! Good thing Tracey was prepared and had extras!

LOTS of stuff!

This past week has been our first full week home with Cecilia and things are going really well. We are all getting some sleep which is good and settling into life as a family of four!

I didn't blog about last weekend because it was all I could do to get the post up about Cecilia's arrival, but one thing I did want to mention is that we moved little Jimmy's room upstairs. You are probably thinking we are crazy to have moved him just as we brought him a new little sister but there is never a good time so we went ahead and did it and it has worked out great! Jimmy spent the day and night at his Sissy and Papa's house last Saturday so that gave us (well, Jimmy) time to get everything together. Here is a pic of his new room and I wanted to point out the pictures above the bed because Jimmy drew them just for little Jimmy's room. So special! Little Jimmy loves his new room and hasn't missed a beat. Jimmy's parents got us a video monitor so we can keep an eye on him and it has been so funny to see what he does after we leave the room!



We also had a few more visitors! We love it when friends and family come to visit. Courtney and Amanda, two of my co-workers and friends came by to meet Cecilia.



This week Cecilia got her first "bath." It was just a little sponge bath since he umbilical cord hasn't fallen off yet, but still required the first bath photos. She actually didn't scream her head off as much as I thought she would. I think I learned my lesson with little Jimmy (the benefit of being #2) and put a warm towel in the seat/bath so that helped I think.



Georgia had a bye week this Saturday so we were able to get out of the house and head to the Fall Festival at the Bamboo Gardens. It was quite the outing and probably would have been more fun if it didn't start raining but it was nice to get out of the house for a little bit. Here are few pics of Jimmy and Cecilia dressed up in their Halloween best before heading out.

Jimmy is going to be a monster for Halloween and here he is practicing:


Our first family outing:


In the gown and hat my Aunt Gin Gin gave me:

Jimmy meets his little sister!

As you can tell from one of my previous entries little Jimmy pretty much slept through Cecilia's arrival in the waiting room. Though he looked pretty cute in his big brother t-shirt. We decided to wait until after school on Tuesday for him to come to the hospital and meet his little sister and it worked out great! When he came in the room he had his t-shirt on and came straight to my bed and gave me a big hug and lots of "I love you." He was so excited to meet and hold his little sister and he would hug and kiss her and tell her that he loved her. It was such a wonderful moment! The hospital brought us a little birthday cake for Cecilia's arrival and Jimmy was very excited to have some birthday cake and Cecilia also gave him a present. She gave him a big box of dinosaurs and Jimmy was very excited and started to play with them right away.

Now that we are home Jimmy continues to be a very loving big brother. The first time she cried pretty loudly he was a little bit startled but he hasn't asked us if she is staying or when we are going to take her back so I guess we are all settling in!

Here are a few pics of Jimmy meeting his little sister for the first time:

More Pics

Here are a few more pictures of friends and family that came to visit!

Jimmy and Josh


Ashley


Eliza (with Mary Margaret) and Catherine


Maria with the beautiful blanket that she monogrammed for Cecilia