Where did the last couple of weeks go?

We have been incredibly busy these last couple of weeks!  During the last three weeks at school we've celebrated Catholic Schools Week, Spirit Week, and this week we had our Valentine's Day Parties and Second Grade Day in our lunchroom (where the parents come eat lunch with their children - the kids get to decide on the menu).  So school has been absolutely insane.  That doesn't include the chaos at home!
During one of the past weeks I had meeting two nights and a doctor's appointment which means Michael had to pick up Cole.  Normally I pick him up since Michael takes him to school!  Then Michael, Cole, and I all got a bad cold.  Michael ended up canceling our Valentine's Day plans and stayed at home.  We were going to go have dinner and watch a movie but we both decided we'd rather wait until we can actually enjoy the date!
This past weekend we moved my sister, well technically Michael and my parents moved my sister since I can't lift anything.  My sister is pregnant too so she did a lot of directing everyone!  Then today Michael and I were a lead couple for Marriage Prep along with two other couples.
This week looks like things might slow down a little bit - one can only hope.  I guess with all the chaos I need to focus on being thankful.
Thankful that I have a job that keeps me busy.
Thankful for a very active son who keeps me busy.
Thankful for a crazy husband who keeps me busy... and guessing what's going to happen next in our life.
Thankful for the baby girl I'm growing in my tummy who makes sure I get some much needed sleep (I feel asleep at 8:45 one night last week).
Thankful for an amazing family that is able to work together to help one another out.
In general this chaos and craziness helps me to remember to be THANKFUL.
Have you taken time to be thankful?  I think that is going to be my Lenten promise this year.  I am going to start all of my prayers to God thanking him for all he has given me rather than asking for things that I really don't need.

Check Up

Yesterday I went to the doctor for a check up. I'm officially 25 weeks today, so we're only 15 weeks away from having our little girl here! Dr. Menendez listened to the baby's heartbeat. It was in the 160's which is great! She also told me next month when I come in she'll do another ultrasound, just to double check that we're having a girl. (At our appointment where we found out that we're having a girl the ultra sound tech said she was 87% sure we're having a girl. She was having a hard time seeing because Chloe kept putting her hands between her legs!) I hope we'll be able to see a little better at the next appointment!

Cole is still doing well. He continues to add more words to his vocabulary. It seems like in the last couple of weeks he's trying to repeat everything we say. It's sooooo neat that he wants to communicate with us! He is no longer just saying Meow for our cat but he's actually saying her name, Reese!

I better go. More to update later.

Busy Weekend

Whew! I have to say that this was a very busy weekend! :)

On Friday night my friend Erin and her family came to Maryville for a visit. Mind you I haven't actually got to see her in close to four years. In that time we have both had babies. Her daughter just turned a year old in December, so she's about 7 months younger than Cole. Erin, Trent, and Charlotte ran into bad weather on their way over so they were later than we originally expected. When they got into town we went out to eat supper. Michael was able to join us for this part of the evening. (He took off part of the afternoon to start demolition on our hallway bathroom. We are remodeling it before the next baby arrives!) After supper I dropped off Michael and we headed to another friends house, the McColloughs. Erin is friends with the McColloughs too. We stayed late and visited. We stayed late but it was a GREAT visit.

Saturday morning Cole and I headed to St. Joe to meet up with my parents. After we picked them up we headed to St. Joe. We went to the Motherhood store because I was in need of some more maternity pants. Then we went to Chuck E. Cheese. It was Cole's first visit and I would say that he LOVED it! He was sooo intrigued that he didn't even want to eat! We finally got him to eat one piece of pizza!

After Chuck E. Cheese came the big event of the weekend........ ELMO MAKES MUSIC! Michael's co-worker was able to win us four free tickets to ELMO MAKES MUSIC at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Cole absolutely LOVES Elmo. He really didn't understand what was going on at first. He went into to what we refer to as his "Elmo Coma". This is when the whole entire world disappears except for ELMO! :) It was adorable to watch him just stare at the stage in awe! During intermission he came out of his "Elmo Coma" and was all excited. He kept saying, "Mama, Elmo! Mama, Mama, Elmo, Elmo!" It was like he finally understood what was going on!

Today was just as busy as Friday and Saturday! We had our All School Mass to celebrate the kick off for Catholic Schools Week. After Mass we had our fundraiser for our Professional Development Fund. I am on the committee so I had to help set up. God Bless Michael. He came along and assisted! We had a really good turn out and it was fun to watch the kids during the fundraiser. (We have Chris Cakes come. They serve pancakes but they flip them to you and you have to catch them on their plates. The students LOVE this!)

This week will be extremely busy with all of our Catholic Schools Week activities but it's a really fun week!

I'm pretty excited though, we don't have anything planned for next weekend!

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!