A Fun 4th of July!

We had a very festive and fun 4th of July this year! Our neighborhood had our annual parade in the morning, so we decorated our scooter, trike, & stroller the day before to participate in the fun. 

Cutie Cole enjoying his ride in his "1st 4th" decorated stroller!!

All 3 of my patriotic cuties!

On our way to the start.

A fire truck came to lead our parade, and the kids enjoyed checking it out before hand

 Such a sweet picture!

 Happy baby boy!

Ella and her friend Maddie

Cute boys

A quick family shot

Carter and Greg

Boys hanging out

Cole attracted a lot of attention from the young girls! They all just love him.

Ella has made friends with some of the "big girls" in our neighborhood this summer. Here she is going to talk to some of her friends with one of the girls.

They are so sweet to take her in and pay attention to her, and she thinks the world of them! We have some great families in our neighborhood!

Showing off his new clapping skills to the ladies! HA!

Another family shot.

Fun morning celebrating our freedoms with wonderful friends and neighbors!

After the parade, we went straight up to the Beckmans to enjoy some time with family and shoot fireworks.

They were excited to be there!!

Wouldn't be 4th of July without some yummy watermelon! (Ha! to the pink bib!)

Grandma had lots of yummy treats there for us, too!

After lunch we hopped in the car to go pick out some fireworks.....

Hmmm. Decisions, decisions! But rest assured, we left with more than enough!

After some rest time for all of us, we played in the water outside

 We took the big kids out on a quick boat ride.

 She rarely smiles for the camera anymore. I promise she wasn't crying!

 Love this big guy

 <3 p="">

 The kids got a kick out of watching Eric jump off the pier. They made it in too, but were in and out fast.

 Cole's first mule ride!

 All 5 of us!

 We did a few small fireworks after dinner because the kids COULD NOT WAIT. They were so excited for fireworks!

 Fun with smoke bombs

 Grandma and the boys

 Cole smiles at the camera more than any baby I've ever seen! (I think he was just happy to see me)

 More smiles from that cute boy! We put him to bed at normal time, so he slept through all the late night festivities. We missed him, but know he had sweet dreams of lots of pretty fireworks.

 Getting ready to watch!! They've been waiting for this all day!

 Loved snuggling my girl. She was nervous so lap snuggles it was.

 Finished it off with sparklers.

And then it was off to bed.... we were ALL tired! That wrapped up a great holiday for us! Hope you all enjoyed the 4th with your family and friends. :)

Cole at 9 months!

Cole is now 9 months old as of last week! We went for a check up, and again, everything is going wonderfully with him! He's a happy, healthy, and very active little 9 month old, and we're so thankful for that and for him!

Here is a glimpse into a doctor's visit with 3 busy kiddos. Gets a little crowded in those rooms! But everyone did great. Cole did have to get a shot, and the big kids were really concerned and scared for him. Carter, bless his heart, chose to wait out in the hallway while the nurse came in to give it to him. He just didn't even want to be a part of it at all, and wasn't sure he could handle seeing Cole's tears. And I'm pretty sure Ella wanted to stay in with us because she was just sure that he would be too upset for even Mommy to console, and that I'd next the extra help from her. ;) They sure love their baby brother. Good news is it went just fine, and everyone was over it in just a couple of minutes!

Cole now weighs 18 pounds, 8 ounces, and is 28 inches. That's around the 30th % for both. He's a little smaller than average at this point, but Dr. Nail said to expect a major growth spurt soon!

So here is what Cole is up to now, at 9 months.

• Takes two naps a day. First on around 9 or 9:30am and again around 2:00pm. Both are usually an hour and a half or so long, if we don't have to get him up to be somewhere. He doesn't usually nap on the go anymore, but it does happen from time to time. He goes to be around 7:30 or 8:00pm, and sleeps until 6:30 or 7am, without even a peep during the night! He's still a great sleeper!
• He no longer eats purees, he just wants all the yummy table food, so that is what he gets! He loves everything we give him. Favorites are meats, beans, and all fruits! He throws so much food down, and sometimes I'm not quite sure where it all goes! 
• He's basically doing everything but walking! He can stand for a few seconds at a time, if we force him, but not voluntarily just yet. He loves to be walked around by his hands, one of Carter's favorite things to do with him. He would really love to climb steps and things like that, but of course, he's not allowed, and he knows that. :) He can push his walker toy, and slowly cruise around furniture.
•  He babbles several sounds, and loves to mimic what he hears. We hear "babababa," "dadadada," or "yayayayaya" the most. "Mamamama" when he's upset.... of course! You can tell he really is understanding us when we speak to him, too. Basic phrases like "Are you hungry?", "Want some milk?", "Are you tired?" Etc. His facial expressions and sounds he makes are definitely responses to these types of questions! And he definitely understands the word "No" also. Mostly we have to use this when it comes to the stairs or the pulg-in night lights. We're pretty baby proofed around here, so that's about the extent of "No".... but he gets it! 
• He still LOVES his big brother and sister, and watches them constantly. He loves to interactively play with them now too, at his little crawl through house or upstairs in the playroom. And they're pretty good about each taking the time to play with him too. Carter is actually a huge help to me, as he can pick Cole up and redirect him if he's getting close to something/somewhere he shouldn't be if I'm occupied. Happens a lot. :)
• He's overall still just the most easy going and happiest baby! We all love him to death. Hard to believe he'll be 1 at the end of the summer!

And with that, I'll leave you with a few adorable pictures of our littlest guy on our vacation, right when he turned 9 months!(more to come on that, soon!)

 The life.

 Too cute!