This and That...

Outside my window:
Snow covered yard and roads, a few snowflakes falling, and really cold temperatures!

I am listening to:
Coleman's "Sleepy Songs" playlist and Coleman making his moaning noises as Justin bounces/rocks him to sleep.

I am thinking:
That I need to fold the laundry tonight and about having some Superman Ice Cream (YUM!)

I am thankful:
For wonderful friends who took care of Coleman yesterday afternoon so Justin and I could go out! =)

From the kitchen:
A fully loaded dishwasher waiting to be run after we go to bed (it's seriously noisy) and it looks fairly clean!

I am wearing:
Comfy GAP sweats, comfy t-shirt, comfy sweatshirt, glasses...yep, that's what I wore all day - LOVE being a stay at home mommy...you can dress comfy when you don't have to be anywhere that day! And we stayed inside because it was COLD!

I am hoping:
That Coleman sleeps as well as he did last night. He slept from 8-4, ate, then back to sleep 'til 7:30 =) WOO-HOO!

I am creating:
Hmm... a list of things to do in my head

I am praying:
That God will give Justin and I strength as we continue on our 21 day fast of pop(Justin) and chocolate(me), that we would continue to be a healthy family this winter season, and that we would continue to grow in our faith this year as we have begun some new challenges laid out by our church.

Around the house:
For the first time I think it looks pretty clean (but don't go in the guest room/office), Justin finished some AWESOME shelves in the basement and it looks much bigger now! Now if only I can find a home for all this baby gear we have to keep our little man entertained.

I am reading:
Miracles - devotion book by Karen Kingsbury
Bible - we are working on a challenge by our church to read through the bible in a year
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - LOVE this book!
Super Baby Food - great read too!

I am watching:
In about 15 min. I'll be watching the Bachelor

One of my favorite things:
Seeing my little Coleman smile and giggle and watching his daddy play with him

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Visit to Holland Wed.-Thursday to see a wonderful friend who is about to have a baby in Feb. as well as for Coleman to meet his Great Grandpa for the first time! Having a wonderful visitor to the house on Wed. morning, a night out with some lovely mama's to paint pottery while Justin so graciously offered to watch Coleman so I could have some "mommy time off".

Who built the ark? Noah Noah

We love to watch Baby Noah at our house. It is Coleman's favorite show...well, more specifically he LOVES the puppet show segment. In the short 7 minute show that combines all the puppet shows from the entire 30 min. dvd...we get the most precious giggles and grins for our little guy. As we speak, Justin has put it on for him (to hold him off 'til bedtime just a little longer)...and I am hearing seriously high squeals and giggles from the little man. Anyway - here are just a few snapshots of what goes on during a Baby Noah viewing.

Not 1 but 2!

While trying to show my dad Coleman's first tooth that poked through the bottom - the little man surprised me by sporting 2 bottom teeth! YIKES!

6 months =)

It's hard to believe that my sweet baby boy is 6 months old! WOW! I feel like I say this every time I post a new "monthly" update...but seriously, time has flown by and the little guy just keeps getting cuter and cuter by the day! He has such a sweet and charming personality. As I'm writing, Coleman is sleeping on the couch (we are still working on better nap time sleeping)...he is still doing his "chillaxin'" pose and it's so sweet when he is sleeping. So here's what Coleman has accomplished since his 5 month post...

Coleman has his first tooth! And boy was it tough getting it too! We thought he was teething a while back, but couldn't feel anything coming through the gums...well, over Christmas Eve and Christmas we had a fussy little boy on our hands. Normally Coleman is a joy to be around during his wakeful time, but nothing we tried would make him happy (and we did try about everything we could think of!). However, now that the little tooth has poked through the gums, he looks just adorable. I will miss those toothless grins, but this new one is pretty cute too. I can't quite seem to get a picture of the tooth, but trust me...it's there!

Coleman is now sleeping through the night...kinda. We were having a rough time for a while. He was waking up every 2-3 hours for whatever reason and I was extremely exhausted! The book, Health Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth was recommended to me by 2 friends and so I bought it, read it, and shared it with Justin. We determined our plan of action and after about 2 nights of some tough cry-it-out, our little man is finally sleeping about 5-6 hours, waking up to eat, then back to sleep for 3-4 hours. YAY! I feel like a totally different person with some consistent sleep on my end, and I'm sure I'm a much better mommy because of it.

We have also begun to have Coleman associate sleeping time (naps/bedtime) with a "lovey" animal. Every time he goes down for a nap or for bedtime he gets his puppy. It took about 2 days and he knew that when he got the puppy, it meant it was time to wind down for sleeping. SUPER COOL...and he loves to stroke the ear of his puppy along his nose while he's going to sleep...super adorable too!



Coleman has begun to teach himself to laugh. Well, it's more like a high pitch squeaking sound with bursts of laughs, but it's really funny! He loves to do this in his exersaucer and goes quite crazy with moving his legs around and trashing about in it! He has also begun grunting/roaring this week too which is really funny. It's like his other laugh...we get a kick out of it. I'll have to see if I can get a movie of this because I can't find the words to describe it.

Coleman went swimming and LOVED it! I wish I could post the video we took, but I think it's too big a file and a bit to long. However, little man looked adorable in his swim trunks and LOVED the water. He loved to spash and he loved to kick his legs and move his arms. He loves his baths so I'm not surprised that he loved the pool just as much! Doesn't he look handsome in his swim trunks and his cute little belly?


He's growing like a weed! We got back from our vacation in TN and put Coleman in the exersaucer so we could unload the car and unpack some things....he was able to stand with his feet flat on the bottom! When we left for vacation he was on his tippy toes! I'm not sure exactly how tall, how much he weighs, or his percentiles yet...but we go to the Dr. at the end of this month for his check up and I'll post those later. I'm sure his head circumference will remain in the 95%-tile like last time =)

Coleman sits up all by himself! This has been really nice for him because it gives him a different view and he is able to reach more things. It's also been really nice for me because I can look at him while playing with him and also attempt to get something done as he plays by himself. I find it very funny that he will lean forward all the way to eat his feet sometimes as well as to pick up toys that are WAY out in front of him.

This shirt says it all - definitely true for Coleman, he is much happier Naked!


Coleman LOVES to walk with us. He enjoys pulling himself up by holding our fingers and walking around the house or wherever we may be. I think he might decide to walk first instead of crawl since he has shown no interest in his tummy time. If he's put on his stomach he will roll right over to his back. I'm working on this one with him...but if he wants to walk first, then I better start childproofing this house now before he gets mobile!

Our little man has discovered his voice! Along with the squawks, squeals, and grunting/roaring, he is beginning to make lots of "word" noises. Our favorite thus far has been "Da-da"...you can imagine how thrilled Justin is at this one =) Sometimes when he is whiny and begins crying I think I hear a muffled "mama", but I think that's just me thinking I hear it. Of course my baby wants his mama when he's sad.

Coleman has been a trooper traveler this month. He spent lots of time in his carseat on our vacation to TN, traveled lots over the holidays, and has made a trip or two to Indy to visit my brother and sister in-law and our nieces (one we are about to go meet for the first time any day now!). As long as one of us is in the backseat with him while he's awake, he does quite well. We have a special "car songs" playlist that I made for the ipod so we can sing along as we travel. Traveling is SO much different with a little one! A normal 3 hour car ride now takes about 5 by the time we stop, feed, change, stretch, and get all our stuff back in the car to take off again...but that's another post for a different day. He also spent a lot of time in his stroller on our vacation to TN. Now that he is able to sit up, he's much happier in it because he can look around.



Coleman LOVES to eat and we've been trying many new foods as well! I'm trying to make a lot of his foods so I'm sure there will be more posts of my adventures in baby food making.

I still can't believe that 6 months ago I delivered this beautiful baby boy. He has grown up so much in that short amount of time. We were watching videos of when we were in the hospital with him and it's hard to imagine that he was ever that little! I am so excited for all of the things that are coming our way, like crawling/walking, talking, gaining Independence, and so many more fun and challenging things that I can't even think of right now. I can't imagine my life without this precious little guy.

Adventures in Baby Food Making

We have started Coleman on solid foods. First was rice cereal - a huge hit with my little man. He LOVES to eat! We've also tried a variety of foods as well since the rice cereal such as sweet potatoes, avocados, butternut squash, green beans, pears, bananas, peas, peaches, and applesauce. YUM! All have been a huge hit especially the sweet potatoes and green beans.

I decided that I wanted to make Coleman a lot of his food for a few reasons.

1. It's cheaper
2. It's healthier
3. It's cool to say that I make a lot of his food

So here is a look at our first few adventures with food...

Coleman's first taste of rice cereal: YUM!


The first food I made for Coleman was sweet potatoes. The store had them on sale for 25 cents a pound (AWESOME!) I bought a pound of them and got about a month and a halfs worth of meals for my little man - That's good savings!! I cooked the potatoes in the oven, scooped out the insides, blended them (as well as adding water to make them smooth), and froze them in ice cube trays.

Colie loved them!





Avocados weren't as big of a hit at first, but once he got used to them he fell in love. They are super easy to freeze as well. I scoop out the insides, put them through my food mill, and freeze. Avocados are in season now, so I only buy them when they are on sale. But it's a super easy food to travel with! Justin got me an avocado slicer for Christmas and it has made it so much easier too!

Happy New Year!

It has been FOREVER since I've posted...at least that is how I feel. I've missed blogging the past few weeks, it's just been so crazy with Christmas and travels and shopping that I haven't had the time. Plus, we've been working with Coleman on his night time routine and because of that his naps have been off lately (hence my lack of posts). I am happy to announce though, that the little guy is sleeping SO much better at night! Another post to come on how we ended up getting him on a better sleep schedule later. For now, here is my new years post. I saw this suggested on another blog and decided to do it myself! A year in review with 12 pictures!



January 2010 - We found out we were having a baby boy!


February 2010 - The belly really started to pop out! I was hoping to put up a picture of Justin and I being baptized, but I didn't have a chance to scan them in to the computer yet.


March 2010 - 3D ultrasound...got to see Coleman's sweet little nose!


April 2010 - Justin completes his first 1/2 marathon! Woo-hoo!


May 2010 - Our wonderful friends took some great photos of the pregnancy - this one is my favorite!


June 2010 - 40 weeks preggers and still no Coleman! Apparently he didn't want to be a June baby!


July 2010 - at 42 weeks...Coleman Douglas Wendzel is born at 8:40pm on July 3. Our first family photo


August 2010 - Sleeping out in the sun


September 2010 - Coleman meets his Great Grandmom - 4 generations!


October 2010 - LOTS of time spent at the farm during a busy busy season!


November 2010 - Coleman is dedicated at our church


December 2010 - Coleman's first Christmas!