Coleman

My sister-in-law writes her children a letter every year for their birthday. I love this and have looked forward to doing the same for my children when the time came. Well the time has come and gone and I haven't done it! Coleman has been 1 for months now. I think it's time I get on it so here it goes. (Events in letter take place before first birthday.)

Coleman,

This year has really flown by! It's been one of the greatest years of my life. A year ago I became your mother. You were born on Sunday, December 26th, 2010 a 8:44 p.m. Giving birth to you was an amazing and fairly quick experience. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. You were so little to me. You weighed 6 lbs 6 oz and were 19 in. long. You had fuzzy red hair. You still have the fuzzy hair but it's not quite so red now.  We named you Coleman Jonas Beynon.  Coleman means "man of war".  That's what we hope you to be; a warrior of righteousness. Jonas means "dove" which also means peace. So far you have been a peaceful and easy baby and you didn't cry much. You have always been a good sleeper. About the time you turned 5 months, you started really growing and you became more solid and found you some chubby cheeks. I love your little chubby cheeks. You are a good little eater and you drink a lot of milk.  Around 7 months you started inch-worming your way around the house. A good motivation for you to move was your little orange ball.  You would crawl to it and just bump it out of reach and so you would have to crawl to it again.  You finally started crawling on your hands and knees around 10 months, right about the same time you started pulling yourself up into standing position. At 9 months you cut your first tooth and it was a breeze.  You have never made a big fuss when you have cut teeth. You love to laugh and your dad is the one who makes you laugh the most.  You love pens, socks, toothbrushes, books and of course balls. You love watching dad play soccer and you always try to sneak out on the field during his games. You're good at rolling a soccer ball around. Sometimes you try to stack some of your toys and become frustrated when you can't. Most of the things you try to stack aren't very stackable for someone so little but you still try. You have learned to say a few words. You can say "hot" and it's one of your favorite things to say.  In your first year you have learned to take a few steps but you haven't mastered walking yet. You try to run before you have mastered walking. It's cute.  You have brought so much joy to my life as a mother. You are my little buddy. In a few months you will be a big brother and I am sure that you will be a good leader and example to your little brother. I am looking forward to every year we will have together but I hope they go by slow.  I want you to stay little as long as you can. I love you Little Man.

Love Mom

Last Year's Christmas

Christmas.

Taken by Darcy Case

I have not posted for a couple of months now...and a ton has happened. I am going to start with Christmas. We had a great Christmas with Jesse's family this year. We had a great trip to Grand Junction, CO. On our way to Colorado we first hit my friend Rhett's wedding in Twin Falls. It was great to go to the sealing. We went to the luncheon in Burley and then headed to Utah. We stayed a night with my Aunt Leanna.  It's always great to see her and spend some time with her. We left the next morning and pulled into G.J. pretty good time. Jesse and I helped his dad prepare turkey dinner while Joy was still at work. Once she got home, Jesse's sister's and family came over and we had us a great dinner. We stayed for a week and had a blast. Jesse and I spent about three of those nights sleeping together in a twin bed, talk about snuggling all night and waking up stiff. It was great though. Coleman had his first Christmas and he enjoyed it, but mostly he enjoyed his cousins. He loved following them around the Case's house and interacting with them. I wish he could see them more. It's been awhile since I have been around little kids for Christmas. It's great! There is so much excitement and craziness and it brings a catching joy into the room. Over the holidays, we spent a lot of time playing Acquire.  It's such a fun game and Jesse couldn't seem to get enough of it. 

We celebrated Coleman's 1st birthday the day after Christmas. He received lots of love from his cousins and family. We all enjoyed the cup cakes that Grandma Joy made.

 We were able to go to Almo, ID to be with my family for the New Year. It's wonderful that my grandparents live in my hometown as well so we can always see them when we see my family. Coleman is their first great-grandchild. The family brought the New Year in by playing Apples to Apples. I have never played that game for so long. We almost went through all the cards. It was fun.

                    

Overall, our holidays were great. The best thing was being with family. We are so blessed with the families we have. 

Once there was a Coleman/Snowman

This winter has definitely been a mild and nice one. I have to say I have missed the snow a little...just a little. The few times it has snowed, we got right outside and took advantage of it. I don't think I put my snow pants on once last year since I was pregnant and then I had a newborn. It felt great to put them on this year and use them! I love dressing Coleman up in his snow gear. He's so cute. He reminds me of the little brother Randy in the movie, The Christmas Story.

One afternoon Coleman and I wiggled into all our getup while Jesse was at work. We went outside and made a snowman. Coleman mostly sat and watched, but he crawled around a little bit too. Our snowman is still standing today (2 1/2 weeks) but he looks pretty sad. I'm glad I got a couple of pics! The neighbor girl donated her scarf and two Sour Patch kids for the eyes. The rest of the stuff we found outside.

Coleman's rosy cheeks after we came inside.

 I wanted to take him sledding but we are sled-less so we used a cookie sheet. It worked fairly well, except for the fact that it is about as slick on top where Coleman would sit as it is on the bottom. So when I would push him he usually slid right off. He enjoyed it though. Luckily, a week later, our ward went sledding so Coleman was able to use a real sled...here's a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg70NZqBrAs&feature=youtu.be

Grat-i-tude: the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful

'Tis the season of gratitude. I've read many blogs concerning topics of gratitude lately. They have got me thinking and I have been making my own mental list of the things I am grateful for. My list just grows and grows. I really have much to appreciate. I think that every month should be a month of gratitude. The hymn "Count Your Many Blessings" comes to my mind. The Lord has truly blessed my family and me.

I'm grateful for:

my health 

for a healthy and happy son

a serving and kind husband

sisters and sister-in-laws

grandparents

parents

in-laws

aunts and uncles

cousins

nieces and nephews

friends

my ward

my calling

motherhood

sunshine

America and freedom

soldiers

food

clean water

hot showers and baths

the scriptures

a modern day prophet

Jesse's jobs

school

a running car

a warm apartment

my phone

fluffy pillows and down blankets

plants

service

Farr's Holiday Vanilla Ice Cream

colors

jolly ranchers

the Temple

dogs

date nights

the fresh crisp air of the West

books

mountains 

the smell of rain and sage brush

cows

mashed potatoes

Coleman's smile and laugh

Jesse's jokes

chats with my mom

holidays

Most of all, my Savior Jesus Christ

There are more, great and small, but those are just a few.  It feels good to count my blessings and helps me to realize and recognize the Lord's love for me. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

 Enjoy your Turkey (I know Coleman will)

Halloween! (a little late)

We went to Matt and Lindsay's for a Halloween party with a bunch of friends. It was a blast. 

Jesse and I dressed up as each other last minute while Coleman was a chunky purple dragon.

 

I made these cute little "bat" cupcakes for the party. (To bad I don't like cupcakes more)

Cute little guys. You just need cupcakes, chocolate frosting, Kisses, striped fudge cookies and decorating gel for the eyes.

 We played candy poker with all our friends...Coleman ended up in the candy pile.

 

He was loving it! In the words of Coleman, "Ooooo!"

Seven on a Couch

A couple of weeks ago, we got together with some of our greatest friends/cousins. We had a homemade pizza night with Matt, Lindsay, Spence and Jamie.  The girls of course spent most of the time in the kitchen putting together two delicious pizzas with about everything on them, while the guys spent their time in the living room playing with Matt's remote control helicopter. I didn't get any pictures of the beautiful pizzas, salad and breadsticks, or the fun the guys had with the helicopter, but we did manage to squeeze all of us on the couch, and set the timer on the camera.  This is what we got. Not the greatest quality, but definitely a great memory. Jesse and I feel grateful to have such great friends in Rexburg.

7 months, going on 8!!!

There is just something about the number "8". Coleman is almost 8 months! 8 seems big and old for a baby.  I mean, it's almost 9 months...it took 9 months just to get him here!  Here are some pictures of the month of 6 and 7 to 8!

 Jesse is teaching Coleman how to talk into the fan.

He's usually pretty happy after his nap. I love this orangutang...I got it when I was 7 years old. I've passed it on down to Coleman. They have the same crazy, fuzzy, red hair. He also has a miniature beanie baby version of it.

I love taking pictures of Jesse and Coleman napping together...there is just something so precious about it. I love these two more than anything. They're so cute!

My little bug

 

He's on the move! He started inch-worming his way around as soon as we got back from our 10 day family vacation. He now follows me all around the house like this.

(Sorry about the noise...the fan was going)

Dad tickling Coleman