Forgot a couple of words

I forgot to include that Cole can say "whasthat?" aka What's that. It comes out as one long phrase. He can also say door and out!
That's all for today, I'm gonna clean a little bit before my awesome friend Erin comes for a visit! :)

Another Casteel is On Her Way!

So, it's been an EXTREMELY long time since I've posted anything on here. I guess this definitely goes with the title of my blog. We truly do have a crazy life!

I'm currently 23 weeks and 2 days pregnant with our newest addition. We found out right before Christmas that this time around we are going to have a little girl. Chloe Jeanne (there's an accent on the last e that makes it sound like an a but I can't get the computer to let me do it) is due to arrive on May 21st. However, my AMAZING doctor is going to be leaving for Europe on May 14th. She has promised me that she is going to get little Chloe out before she leaves the country. So we'll hope she's right. I am feeling more pregnant at this point than I did with Cole. I'm already wearing my maternity clothes and I didn't really even start wearing them last time until I was about 28 weeks. I figure everything stretches out quicker the second time!

We've been busy preparing for our little girl but we've also been busy with our amazing little man! Cole is almost 20 months old now. It's hard to believe that he's already that old! We are constantly amazed at how smart he is. He has a huge vocabulary... there's a list at the bottom, more for me for documentation but feel free to check it out! He likes to color, play with play-dough, and LOVES to put together puzzles. He thinks Elmo is amazing. We are even going to Elmo Makes Music this weekend! He also loves tractors. He can point to pictures and identify different family members (aunts, uncles, etc.). He loves to take baths, to be outside, and to help mom and dad. He will bring us our shows, pick up sticks in the yard, pretty much anything he can do to help! He is extremely hard headed! He gets very determined to accomplish things, including feeding himself. He feeds himself breakfast every morning before going to the sitters. He watches Disney Junior while he eats and dad reads the paper. He can identify his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, head, hands, and feet. He can also point these body parts out on other people.

We've been working hard to get Cole to understand that we're going to have a new baby soon. If we ask him where's momma's baby he will come up and point to my belly. He also gives my belly kisses. It's pretty stinking cute!

I'll try to update with some more information as we get closer to Chloe's arrival!

Cole's words as of 1-26-12 (almost 20 months):

Elmo, mom, dad, Papo, red, read, bus, airplane, elephant, bye, hello, up, down, apple, ball, go, football, touchdown (sounds more like uchdown), run, mow, please, thank you, love you, moon, duck, bath, Glenda (his babysitter), Amy (family friend), Brian (his uncle), Reese (our cat), barn, bus, balloon, and of course NO

*He calls tractors and trucks none-nones.

*He says weeoooh weeooh (like a siren) for a firetruck

Cole's animal noises:

He can growl like a lion, moo like a cow, neigh like a horse, make monkey noise, barks like a dog, and meows like a cat.

Where did the last year go?

It is hard to believe that Cole is going to be one this coming Tuesday! This past year literally flew by.
We had Cole's first birthday party today! Our theme was ELMO! Cole officially loves Elmo. Michael cooked bbq brisket, pork, and baked beans. Our families helped to make the sides that accompanied the meal. We also had a cake and cupcakes. My family (and Gayle and Evelyn too) helped me to make Elmo cupcakes. They looked amazing. The looked so good that as soon as Cole say them he started saying Melmo (his version of Elmo)! It thought that was a good sign. The party went off without a hitch and Cole had a wonderful time. I'll post some pics at some point so everyone can see him and Melmo.

Hard to Believe

Cole with a very "familiar" Santa!

It's extremely hard for me to believe that my son is almost nine months old. It doesn't seem possible that he should be that old. He should still be a little baby. I now understand what parents mean when they say once you have kids that time flies by! I noticed this when I started teaching. I would watch how much the kids changed in the short time span that they were with me. Now I look at my own child and sit in amazement that he is this old! (I also had a moment the other day where I realized that my first class will be graduating from St. Gregory's in TWO years!)

I apologize for not updating the blog but hopefully you will all understand considering what life is like with a little one.

Cole has officially had his first ear infection.... in both ears... at the same time! The doctor said it is only a slight one but it has definitely affect his attitude and sleep. He wants to be held ALL the time, which is soooo not out little guys normal behavior. He has had several nights where sleep has eluded him after a couple hours. It doesn't help he has a head cold and he is struggling to keep his nose clean so he can breathe!

I'm sorry

I doubt at this point that I actually have any blog followers considering how long it has been since I've posted. I get busy and completely forget to get on here.
Cole is doing WONDERFUL! He will be 5 months old in 9 days! Frankly I don't know how this happened! It doesn't seem possible that he should be that old already but he is! We are planning on getting some professional pictures taken when he's six months old. We'll also get some family pictures at this time!
I'll try to add some pictures of little man tonight for everyone to see.
Have a great Friday and check back later!

Lots to catch up on!

So these orders aren't in the best order but I figured no one actually cares about that!

This was after Cole's Baptism. Michael's dad was holding Cole and then put him on Neal's shoulders!

Cole wore Michael's Baptism outfit and we also used the blanket that Michael had at his Baptism.

Riley was extremely helpful!

I love this picture of the boys!

Both boys look just like their dads!

Cole had to eat at his great grandma's house!

Feeling sleepy after the bottle!

Grandpa feeding Cole.

Can you tell he likes looking at lights?

Another picture of Cole checking out the lights! He is definitely a very alert baby!

I really love this picture of Fr. Martin and Cole. They both look sooo happy!

Cole with Michael's parents.

Family picture after the Baptism!

This is my favorite picture right now! I'm kind of in a black and white mood right now!

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures! We've been taking a lot!

So I have been a total slacker when it comes to this blog. It just hasn't been high on my list of priorities lately. I'm sure everyone can understand why. Instead diapers, feedings, and sleeping have taken over my life!

Cole continues to grow. We're guessing that he's around 8 and 1/2 to 9 pounds right now. I can't believe that some babies are that big when they are born and it's take my lovely little son 6 weeks to get there! :)

Cole has been a lot of places in the past 6 weeks. He's been to St. Joe, Raymore, Peculiar, Ravannah, and Princeton. This past weekend we went to Ravannah for Cole to meet his Great Grandma Bessie (my dad's mom). We stopped by Princeton to see my Aunt and cousins. It was SOOOO cute. My cousin's son was all about Cole. I should say that Riley (the little boy) is going to be 2 in October so it made it even more adorable! He kept asking to hold Cole. He also gave Cole his "night night" to use. His "night night" is his little blanket that he takes to bed! The two were too stickin cute!

Next week we are going on vacation at Table Rock. My extended family is going including Riley. We asked Riley if it was okay if Cole went on vacation and he was all about that! Michael, Cole, and I are going to leave one day early and stay with one of my friends from college. I finally get to meet her little girl that turned one in March! I'm really excited to see her!

We'll I better get off of here - I have to get ready for my six week doctor's appointment. I will admit that I'm excited to go to this appointment because I'll get to show Cole off to all of the nurses that helped us out throughout the whole pregnancy. Michael suggested I get someone to watch Cole but I told him I wanted to take him with me. Michael asked why. I told him that at one of my last appointments before Cole was born I was talking to the nurse and she made the comment about how they help all these women through the pregnancy and then they don't get to see the end results (the baby). I figured they might want to see the little guy!

Cole's Baptism and the 4th of July

Today was a very special day for our family. Cole was Baptized at St. Gregory's Church at the 10:30 Mass. We were extremely lucky to have our family there and some friends as well to help us celebrate. There were four Baptism today during Mass. We actually knew all four babies and their parents rather well. One of the mom's I worked with during my student teaching, another mom did her student teaching at my school and joined the church when I did, and the other dad worked with Michael. The other kind of crazy thing is that three of us actually had our babies in the same order that we got married!
Cole was really good during the service except when he decided to poop REALLY loud while another baby was getting Baptized! Ohhh well... what are you going to do!
I'll try to update later and get some pictures up as well.
We hope that everyone has a WONDERFUL and SAFE 4th of July!