I promise....

I really do have plans to update our blog soon. Really. I have a few things to post...just not too much time. But I will...soon....I promise. :)

Welcome to Austin!

Well, we made it! We closed on our house on Tuesday morning, moved in Tuesday night and are still unpacking! We are very close to being settled, but no pictures just yet! We just got the Internet hooked up today (thank goodness!) and TV in 10 DAYS! 10!!

Cole has been awesome and is starting to recognize when we are getting close to home. But he asks for Grandma and Grandpa every single day. Makes me sad every time. Cole and I have quickly learned that it is better not to go outside during the day....or you melt.

We also have had our first Pest control spray. "After only 5 days?", you ask. Yes, after 2 scorpions, I made the call. Cute Cole jumped from couch to couch and only touched the ground if necessary after I lost track of one of them. They are fast little suckers.

Our neighbors that we have met have all been really nice. Lots of young families which is cool. We are going to church tomorrow and our Bishop's last name is Loadrup...so it has to be good right? :)

I had a lady ask me on the phone the other day why we would leave God's Country of Colorado to come to Austin. Good question really...but it is nice here. Hot, but nice. More to come soon!

Meanwhile, in Austin....

Jon has been playing Bachelor in Austin for the past week and a half. He is very happy that he has his new iPad and for the free trial for Netflix! He's tried out some restaurants and went and saw Cowboys and Aliens....I think someone drew the short stick. ME! :) But he took the time and effort to send a cute Miss-You card and come CARS stickers for Cole. He was super excited! What a cute Daddy.

Jon is enjoying his job so far. He likes the people he works with-which is super important. He stopped by our house the other day and they are coming along! Walk through will be next Tuesday! We are very nervous/excited! Here are a few updated pictures from inside. (Jon took them with his new iPad...so, they are a bit grainy)


He also attended our new ward on Sunday. They get at least one new family a week! Yikes! I guess that is what you get in a developing area! He said it seemed good and he even attended a Stake Priesthood meeting that night. What a good guy I married.

Cole and I miss him TONS. I wonder what Cole thinks of this whole situation. How confusing for a little guy! He has made a lot of progress in his speech since Jon has been gone. He is speaking in sentences now...understandable sentences. Like, "Oink Oink! I'm a pig!" and things like that. It is awesome. I think Jon will be surprised when he sees him again.

Just a little busy....

So, we have been busy bees over here at the Dunning household! Between seeing doctors for the last time before we go, packing, and still trying to live a semi-normal life for Cole's sake...I have had 4 photo sessions! Now, don't misunderstand, they have been fun! It just makes for an EXTRA busy single mom! THANK GOODNESS FOR LIVING WITH GRANDPA AND GRANDMA! There is NO WAY I could have shot this wedding without them.

Actually, the money made from these photos sessions has covered most of our moving costs. Seems like Heavenly Father knows how to take care of us and what we need. He knew I would be busy, but also knew it would work. I am thankful that he knows our needs and abilities so well.

Anywho, here is a sampling of the shoots.

Happy Birthday to the Best Mom!

We are so happy to celebrate Mom's birthday this year! We are so thankful she is here with us and pray that we will be able to celebrate MANY more with her!

Cole helped Grandma open every single gift...each time saying, "What in it? Car?" But he wasn't disappointed, just happy to give Grandma her gift! We had a fun day and are so thankful to have such a great Grandma and Mom.

We bought a house.....in Austin!!!

We had a quick weekend trip to Austin to buy a house of all things! Jon got a job with Charles Schwab there and he will start on August 8th. However, our house will not be ready until the end of the month, so Cole and I will join him then.

So, here are some pictures of our house! It is in a town called Leander which is growing quickly!

Ours had red brick and the door is on the other side of the garage. Like this:

It has 4 beds, game room, 2.5 baths. The builder includes all the appliances and all the landscaping. But since they are in a drought, they won't landscape until the drought breaks. So, we will have dirt for a while!

4th of July

We had a fun 4th this year! We just hung out around home, but we had fun. For dinner we had ribs, corn on the cob, German potato salad and Brazilian Lemonade (SO GOOD!).

Then, we had some fun doing some fireworks. The loud ones scared Cole...but he LOVED the snaps! Actually the sparklers scared him too...which was weird because her liked them last year...go figure.



Then it was time for the big fireworks! We have always had an awesome view from Mom and Dad's deck, but the trees are getting so big, it might not last much longer! But we were still able to see some fireworks. We also roasted marshmallows on the grill and made smores! So fun!

4th of July Craft

Here is our latest craft that my sisters and I did...however, I think I am the only one who has finished it so far (C'mon guys!) :) We found it on eighteen25 (fun blog). It was originally for Halloween, but we thought it would be great for the 4th of July too.


I love it! Not too cheesy or sparkly and pretty darn cute. I had some help arranging the "flowers" from Mom. She is the master arranger. So, I had her help me--and thank heavens, I am sure it would not have turned out so cute.

Happy 29th Jon!

Yup. 29. He's a youngin' folks.

We had a fun little celebration for Jon this year. On Sunday, we celebrated with the Dunnings. Jon and Robin (Jon's older brother) have close birthdays so, we celebrate together. We had an awesome dinner and equaly awesome desserts (Cream cheese browines for Jon and Banana Cream Pie for Robin).


Then on Tuesday (his actual birthday), we had dinner at Red Robin (I love that place, but it is REALLY loud) and I made a chocolate bundt cake for dessert. Cole was SOOO excited about the cake (who knows why...he's never tried any!) and kept wanting to see it by asking, "Cakey?" So, or course, Jon let Cole blow out the candles with him.

Then, at the playful urging of Grandma, he stuck his finger in the frosting...then all the way INTO the cake! He pulled out a chunk and ATE IT! He gagged a few times, but Jon was distracting him and he ate it! WITHOUT SPITTING IT OUT OR BARFING! Can you tell we are excited?!?!?!?!?


Jon got some fun gifts. We are so glad he was born 29 years ago!

Splash Park

We met some friends at the nearby splash park the other day. It was hot, and although Cole had never been to a splash park before and doesn't particularly like to be splashed per se, I thought he might like it because his friends were there.


Yeah...No. He loved being in his swimming suit. Be despite Henry, Ashlyn and Hayden trying to get him in there....he wouldn't. He preferred to hang out.

What a funny boy.

BUGGY!!!

Those of you who know Cole well, know that he has always said, "Deedle-eedle-eedle!" when he sees a bug or spider or insect of any kind. It is actually super cute. Even his speech therapist, Shanda, loves it!

But our "deedle-eedle" world ended today....he picked up a little ladybug figure thingy that Grandma has and said, "Mommy, bug! Mommy, BUGGY!"

We were really happy and cheered and made a big deal about it and he seemed pleased. He since has said it 4 or 5 times. I am so glad that he did it....but kinda sad that I won't hear his "deedles" anymore.

First Trip to the Museum

I was so nervous to take Cole to the Museum knowing that he would be all over the place. But he loved it and was soooo good! He loved the space portion and the dinosaurs, but most of all he loved being with his cousin Joseph. He held his hand most of the time and when he got crazy, Joseph would wrangle him in for me!

It was awesome! I love this picture of Cole and Joseph by the T-Rex...might have been the only time they were still!

Father's Day

We had a fun Father's day this year! We were able to see both families and everyone like their presents!

Cole and I gave Jon a book and a bow tie! They are getting popular and I thought handsome Jon could pull it off! He needs a little more practice tying it, but it looks good! I will post a picture when he wears it the first time.


I also made some fun treat boxes (found them here)and filled them with Peanut M&M's for Dad, Peanut Butter M&M's for Jon and Oreos and Cashews for Dad Dunning. As you can see, much has already been eaten...should have taken the picture before!

We fun day celebrating the best Dad's in the world!

Dough, Do, Dee, Bour, Bive!

Cole has been making lots of progress with his speech...meaning his vocabulary has grown a ton. His pronunciation is still behind. However, there have been improvements since he got his tubes!

His speech therapist is excited about some of his new discoveries; he is adding a 'y' to lots of words (i.e. hand-y, hot-y, hat-y) and that is part of development for a much younger child. He is also adding 't' to the end of words (park is part, etc.)

But, the most exciting development was the other night at dinner, he started lining up blueberries and he counted, "Dough, Do, Dee, Bour, Bive!" So, not only did he say it....but he ACTUALLY COUNTED to five! And then he ate the blueberries! Icing on the cake! Yay!

Welcome Home, Grandma!

The day before Cole's surgery Grandma returned from Texas! I was very interested to see Cole's reaction to her when she got home. He has been able to see Grandpa on and off, when he would come home every 2 weeks. But, he has only Skyped with Grandma.

When she walked in, Cole was eating and he said, "Ama?" and looked at her and then at Sandy (her sister) and then back at Grandma. It was almost like he was deciding whether it was real. Once he finished eating and got out of his high chair he realized that she was really here! He immediately took her hand and gave her a "tour" of all his toys.


Mom returned to clean home, with freshly washed, bright clean windows (thanks to the AWESOME Cleverly family) and a room draped with pretty paper flowers from the Westminster Ward Primary. She loved it.

So, now she is back home resting...as much as she lets herself....and as much as Cole lets her! She is doing soooo much better than I was expecting, but still gets very tired quickly. But her recovery has been fantastic so far. Thank you for all your prayers!

Cole's Myringotomy....aka Ear Tubes

Last Thursday, Cole went in to have a myringotomy...or ear tubes (for people like me!). We took Cole to a pediatric ENT and she as great. His surgery was done at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children (at PSL) and it was great. Here is Cole in his super cute gown and cap (he wanted to wear a cap like me!)


They let me go in with Cole until the anesthesia kicked in. It was crazy how fast it worked. And the surgery staff were all amazed at how good he was with the mask on his face. The nebulizer helped him be comfortable since he has done the whole mask thing before. He just sat on my lap and held the mask on until he fell asleep. The nurses were all prepared to hold him down, and all oooo-ed and Aahhhh-ed when he was so good.

They were done in about 6 minutes with the surgery and Cole was out of the anesthesia about 5 minutes after that. He was a little confused, but was really good and snuggly. He got sick on the car ride home...so we had to little detours to clean up some spit-ups (that was the nicest way to say it!). Otherwise, he has been great.

He is hearing things differently now and is putting the endings on words more too. For example...Buzz is Butt! :)

Hi?

For my birthday, Jon gave me a bike trailer so I can take Cole on rides! I am very excited about it! But that meant we had to take our bikes in to get tuned up (after sitting outside (and not used once!) for the past 2 years.

We took them over to Bicycle Village and when we went to pick them up, Cole saw....

(only had my phone...sorry for the tiny picture)
First he was awed by how tall he was. Then he noticed that he didn't have hands. Then he thought, "Bike shorts? Hmm...maybe I should rub them...all over." At last he said, "Hi?"

That's when I jumped in and tried to explain that he wasn't real (if he had been, I am sure the rubbing would have gotten a reaction!). Cole couldn't get his eyes off him until we left. :)

Uppey Part 2

My hair is still wet from the shower...and down. Cole bonked his eye while messing around with his basketball hoop. So, I go over and hold him and ask him what he bonked...He pulls away from my hug and through his tears, grabs my hair and say, "Uppey? Uppey? Uppey?"

Really? Let's just focus on the hurt eye......

Tubes

Cole is getting tubes in his ears! We had a consultation today and are having the surgery next week (June 2). We were very impressed with the pediatric ENT staff and are VERY excited for his tubes. Anything that can decrease his ear infections about 80% is a no-brainer!

Now I just have to prepare myself for Cole to have anesthesia. I know it will be fine....but I am nervous, you know?! We are also hoping (but trying not to get our hopes up too much!) that this will help him start talking better. The ENT suggested that it might help in his pronunciation. Cross your fingers!

Uppey?

So, Cole now says "Uppey?" to get us to pick him up. I think it is a combo of UP and PLEASE...either way it is pretty cute. But he has started to figure out that it will work for other situations too....which at first was great...but now...

HE DOESN'T LET ME WEAR MY HAIR DOWN!!!! EVER! If he sees me with my hair down he grabs parts of it and wraps it on top of my head and says, "Uppey?" Oy. So, I put it up.

Let's be honest, my hair typically ends up in a ponytail by the end of the day anyway, but this has become all the time. Even when I am putting him to bed at night and I have taken my hair down so I can comfortably lay down..."Uppey?"

Yeah. Its cute...but I am not! :)

Stake Conference

We had Stake Conference this weekend, which meant two things: 1) Dad was home for a visit from Houston and 2)I was NOT looking forward to wrangling Cole for 2 hours during the meeting with no promise of Nursery after.

But, as it turned out....COLE WAS AWESOME! We never had to take him out or really even tell him to be quiet or stop or anything! The only thing we had to control was his excited yelling of "PA PA!" when he would see Grandpa at the pulpit. He just looked at books, played with his cars and quiet book, colored and ate lots of popcorn!

Stake Conference was really good, by the way. One of the best ones I have been too in a while.

He has loved having Grandpa (his Pa Pa) home this weekend. Actually, I have had to take Cole out of the house in order for Dad to get anything done at all. Cole is pretty much glued to his Grandpa.

I can only imagine how he will be when Mom comes home in a few weeks! Considering he kisses the screen when we Skype....it will be interesting! :)

Crafty Sisters

So...my sisters are crafty. As in, they sew and make cute things for their kids and always have cute new decorations they have made...and then there is me. NOT CRAFTY. I am the person at the Relief Society craft nights that needs help with every step. Yeah, not crafty.

But here is the thing: I WANT to be crafty. So, my cute, supportive sisters decided that we could all be crafty together and do the same craft every month! When we have questions, we call or skype so we can see whats going on. We have been doing it for a few months now, and as life has it, we actually do a craft about every other month. You know, life and kids come before crafts sometimes....

Anyway, I have really enjoyed it and have started gaining some confidence and doing some on my own!! I am not a Micah or Tara yet, but maybe someday. :)

Here are some of our projects:

This was our first craft...Valentine's Day...obviously. Micah and her friend found it at The Idea Room. But it was super easy and turned out cute! I also made topiary balls from the same felt circles. My awesome husband, Jon, even helped me cut out the MILLIONS of circles while watching movies. Good guy!


Second was our Easter project. Super cute, right! We found in on the Michaels website. To show you how new I am to crafting, I didn't even know what glue dots were. Now that I do....I LOVE THEM! Also, Martha Stewart glitter? AWESOME!



So, this project was one I found on my own here.I was intimidated at first, but I thought it was really cool. So, I tried it on a much simpler scale. And I didn't find my stuff at Goodwill. I printed it as a 16x20 ay Costco, got it mounted on foam board at Hobby Lobby and will eventually get it framed. So, not a cheap as she did it...but easier!



I still need to frame it...but I think it turned out pretty sweet.

The cutest thing about all this crafting is that Cole is VERY proud of me. :) Anyone that comes over, he takes them to my newest creation, points and says, "Mom." I love it.

Cole's 2 Year Photos

I decided to take on the challenge of taking Cole's 2 year portraits. There is something hard about taking pictures of your own kids. Whenever I get the camera out, Cole just wants to get hold it. Like this:

I have SOOO many pictures that look like that! So,I did it on a day that Jon was able to help (thanks heavens...he did a lot of chasing!) and the results were pretty good. However, I won't mention how sweaty all 3 of us were by the end!



Turned out pretty good, eh? What a handsome 2 year old!

Cole's three new friends....His Therapists

It was recommended by our pediatrician that we have Cole assessed for some delays we have been noticing. So we had him go to Child Find to have an assessment. It was a crazy couple of hours, but it was concluded that Cole needed therapy as he has some autistic markers. I was told that he won't be diagnosed as autistic because his social development is on track. But his speech and his sensory motor development is behind.

So, Cole was assigned 3 therapists that come to our house every week; an Occupational Therapist (Janet), a Speech Therapist (Shanda) and an Early Childhood Educator (Sharla). It makes for busy weeks and a stressed Mama, but we have already seen some improvements.

Cole loves Janet his OT. She wrestles with him and plays rough and he LOVES it! He gives her hugs and gets excited when she comes. His Speech Therapist, Shanda, he hasn't clicked with as well. But I love her! He is warming up to her (we can tell because he tried to knock her over and hit her in the legs....that means he likes you!). Interestingly enough, the most progress we have seen has been in the speech. His vocabulary has increased a ton and he is trying to say more things....which makes Jon and me VERY happy.

Now if we could just get him to eat something.....

I am posting about this now, after accepting the idea that Cole is still my perfect boy even with these delays. It is really hard to be told that something is wrong with your child. But knowing that we are helping him and he is progressing makes it easier.

Cole's First Stock Show

We took Cole to the Stock Show this year...not the rodeo yet. I don't think he would have lasted that long. But he got a new hat....


went to his first petting zoo....

wanted to go on the pony ride, but the link was SUPER long. Maybe next year!

Cole's 2nd Birthday (So...I am a little behind on posts!)

I can't believe Cole is 2! It seems to have gone really fast (and sometimes really slow!) and he is getting so big! We had a little celebration with Oma, Gramps, Uncle Robin and Grandma and Grandpa complete with beef stroganoff (which cole didn't eat) and tossed salad (which cole didn't eat) and a YUMMY chocolate bundt cake (which Cole didn't eat)!. It was a great dinner, and Cole enjoyed his chicken nuggets and noodles....and the way I decorated the cake!


He got into opening his presents this year. He got some Toy Story guys and a little Leap Top Laptop and some darling clothes from Grandma and Grandpa Hickman. He also got some awesome HUGE stamp pads and stamps from Oma and Gramps Dunning and a puzzle. Robin won favorite Uncle by giving him 2 books about cars and trucks and the Worlseys gave Cole a stinkin' cute shirt. Basically, he scored!


He had a great time being the center of attention. We love our little 2-year-old!