The Stucki Family

Cole does, Cole does.

Like I had mentioned in an earlier post, our backyard has yet to be done. Cole seems to love it though.

I let the hose run for awhile so Cole could play with it. It ended up making a pretty good stream through the backyard and Cole loved that.

The water made some parts of the yard really deep with mud. Cole was getting stuck in the mud toward the end…

Cole got so stuck his shoes came off. Needless to say, I told him it was time to go in and get a bath.

Cole is getting to be a much bigger and more independent boy. Here are some pictures…

Cole does not like anyone to help him eat. This picture was of him eating his blueberry applesauce.

Cole loves home-grown tomatoes. Weird, I know. He takes after all his grandparents.

We are trying to decide what we want to do with our backyard, but in the meantime, Cole loves playing in the dirt and mud.

Cole loves to climb on everything now. This is a chair that Grandma Linda bought for him. It is not enough to sit in it for a few seconds, he has to try to climb over it. It is meant to be a soft flexible chair, so when he climbs on it, the result is usually him falling over on his face. I guess he likes pain, since he continually does it.

Cole likes to go into my closet and take out everything. At least he came out with something masculine.

I have seen this on a lot of friends blogs and thought I would play to see if there are any memories that others have of me that I may have forgotten…

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I have always grown up not having too many opinions or even favorites of many things. For example: I never had a favorite song, movie, color, animal, etc. I always liked more than one and whenever I was asked what my favorite anything was, I couldn’t answer. I have gotten a lot better these past few years on choosing favorite things and having a few more opinions.

1. My top three movies (or in other words: Desert Island Movies):

1. The Sandlot
2. Girls Just Want to Have Fun
3. Ocean’s Eleven

2. My favorite hobby (when there is time)

I like to sew. My latest project was my nieces dresses for the Fourth of July. Here is a pictures of how they
turned out. Of course my cute nieces make them look better than they were.

3. My favorite color:

Blue (in any shade)

4. Favorite meal:

Hawaiian Haystacks

5. My Favorite sport to watch:

Baseball (Red Sox)

6. My favorite holiday:

Christmas

A few things I have figured out:

1. I like having a reason to dress up and feel a little prettier than my everyday self.
2. I still can’t choose a favorite song or band
3. I like to cook (which I just started doing since Brian and I got married)
4. Since being a mother, I am a very worried person

This last week I have been feeling very tired and a little nauseated. Of course the question of being pregnant crossed Brian and my mind, but I didn’t feel pregnant. When I was pregnant with Cole, we took a pregnancy test because I cried one day over the most stupid thing (getting lost alone on a California freeway) and I was really tired, and my breasts hurt pretty bad. This week I was really sleepy and sick but I continued to tell myself and Brian I was not pregnant. Boy was I wrong.

This morning I took the test and we are pregnant again. Yeah.

Today we threw Cole’s first birthday party. He turns one on Tuesday. The theme was a monkey luau. Mainly because Cole is our little monkey and luau’s are always fun in the summer time.

Here are quite a few pictures from the party:

Here is the birthday boy. He was so good while we finished getting everything ready for the party.

Here are some of the guests that were in attendance. (I feel like a celebrity magazine saying that.)

Rachel and Maddie came festive as always:

Don’t worry, we are getting a better couch and more space for crowds in our new house.

These were the children’s cupcakes/banana bread. I made this instead of buying a cake for Cole.

This was Cole (me) blowing out the candle. I think Cole was a little confused.

Cole is like his dad when it comes to being messy. They hate it. This was the extent of Cole’s messy cake eating, with a little help from Aunt Rachel.

This was one of Cole’s fun gifts from Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Susan.

Poor Rachel had to wear sunglasses almost the whole time since she just got the lasik surgery. Notice though that Cole snuck them for a cute little picture.

Grandma Linda helped Maddie hide from everyone.

This last weekend, Cole and I got to have fun with the family at the Harris’ condo in Newport. We had a lot of fun. It was Cole’s first time playing on the sand and putting his feet in the Ocean. Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

Here are all the kids ready to go to the beach. Cole loved it.

Cole ran to the water, then tried to figure it out for a couple minutes. Then a big wave came up and scared him. He ended up liking the water the next day though.

Cole loved this shovel. He was carrying it all over the beach.

Uncle Kyle buried Cole’s feet in the sand.

Cole loved eating the sand. He must be low on iron.

On Sunday we went to Balboa Fun Zone. Cole got to ride the merry-go-round for the first time. Once the horse started moving he really loved it.

I thought it would be fun to surprise Brian with a little tattoo on Cole’s arm. Thank goodness it was airbrush and not a real needle. After the first part of the Mom sign he started freaking out. Oh well. It was cute.

I didn’t add the pictures of my other family members because I figured they will be posting some on their blogs.

Thanks Harris family. We had a blast.

Cole has always been a very curious boy, but now that he walks and runs everywhere his curiosity has magnified. Here are a few pictures to demonstrate:

He has now learned to crawl into the cupboards.

All the way in. Can you tell this cupboard has become Cole’s own. It has mostly just tupperware.

I think he likes to get into any place that gives him a little bit of a challenge.

This was Cole’s first time to McDonald’s. We went for breakfast on Saturday. We are not big fans of McDonald’s but we thought it would be fun to bring Cole at least once.

Here are a few pictures and descriptions of what has been happening this month.

Cole had his first plate (actually tray) of spaghetti with sauce. He liked it, can you tell? Needless to say, he doesn’t like baby food so much anymore.

I took Cole to the pet store so he could see all the animals. He liked these birds and tried to hand them some “food”. If you can see, it is actually a candy necklace I let him play with, in the wrapper of course.

Cole and I went with my Mom to Walmart and stumbled upon these fish. Cole loved them just as much as the birds.

Most of you know that my Mom had major back surgery last month. She has been doing really well lately with the exception that she is limited physically for at least a few more months. If you know my mom, then you know she can’t stand not doing something (and I might add that she likes to push her limits You can see in this picture that she is on the floor just to play with Cole.

Cole has been feeding himself his bottle lately and it has been a little bit of a relief. He kind of knew how earlier but he knew I would feed him so he took advantage of it, I guess.

The other night we went with Dale and Grandma and Grandpa Stucki to Red Lobster. I always enjoy when Dale is in town and we get to spend time with him. I have been blessed with great in-laws. Cole likes Grandpa Dale too. He feeds him anything he wants, as long as I am not around to see.

This morning before church, I let Cole into “The Room” that he always dreams of breaking into. It is where all of our office stuff is and the piano and guitar. We usually have our huge foam bag blocking that room from the living room, because there are too many things he can get into. Well, this morning I figured I would give him a treat and let him go in there. He of course started to strum on Brian’s guitar, so Brian gave our little family a treat and played a little song for Cole. I thought it was cute so I ran and got the camera. This is the best picture I could get. Cole was dancing around too fast.

Instead of doing my own update of Cole, Brian has done great one. To see it go to Brian’s latest post, Cole Staying Busy

Happy #28 to Brian. Here are 28 things I love about Brian:

1. Honest
2. Good looking
3. Funny
4. Good husband
5. Good father
6. makes time for me
7. cooks awesome breakfast
8. supports and encourages my ideas
9. strong testimony of the gospel
10. provides for his family
11. he is loyal
12. his traveling adventure-ness
13. his self-confidence
14. how he truly cares about his family and tries to help
15. how smart he is
16. how he helps around the house
17. how into sports he is
18. how passionate he is about his mission
19. his organizational skills
20. his patience
21. his sense of humor
22. how he researches everything
23. his black hair
24. how he looks at Cole when he has learned something new
25. his random thoughts
26. he buys the most thoughtful gifts
27. how he is always, always calm
28. his spontaneity

Brian was such a cute baby.

The cuteness continues…

The start of his family.

Extending his cuteness into his children.

Cole takes a bath every night right before he goes to bed. This really helps him sleep better, and when he misses one due to us getting home a little too late, it shows during the night. Usually the routine starts with me getting my pajamas on so I can roll up my pants and put my feet in the tub with Cole. This makes it easier for me to watch him in the tub since he likes to stand up and play all over the tub.

Tonight, Cole and I got a little surprise. We got into the tub and all the sudden Brian runs up in his bathing suit and got in the tub with Cole. It was no surprise that Cole was very excited.

Brian is Cole’s favorite person in the world. It is cute but also a little hard since Brian works from home and Cole always wants him to come play with us.

Well, Brian’s surprise was nice because it gave me a little extra time to get a few other things done.

Hopefully everyone has had a happy Easter. We have had quite an eventful weekend. Yesterday we went to my Grandma and Grandpa Tobler’s for our annual Saturday Easter celebration. It was fun as usual. Good food with good company. Unfortunately we missed the Easter egg hunt because Cole was in need of his nap. Here is a picture of him in my grandparents backyard…

Today we started our Easter off at the Harris’ home where Rachel (Easter Bunny) hid all the Easter eggs and gifts throughout her backyard. She did a great job. Here are a few pictures.

Cole found his first egg and was happy enough with it. I guess that is what happens on their first Easter egg hunt.

The Easter Bunny. Rachel really went above and beyond.

Grandma Linda with her pretty purple egg. She helped the kids find their gifts that she forgot to look for hers.

Kyle came in town and helped Maddie find all her gifts and got a few fun ones of his own.

Grandpa Stan helping Cayden find eggs galore. Cayden really scored with candy.

Weston also came in town and shared some Easter fun with us all. Isn’t he just adorable.

Sorry this picture is a little blurry. I just snapped one really quick. This is Brian and Josh cooking Easter breakfast for everyone.

After church, we spent time at my parent’s house. Since my Mom has been down from her back surgery, I made Easter dinner. Everyone has been bringing her the mashed potatoes and meat meals, so she requested chicken enchiladas, rice and black beans. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures there since I was cooking the whole time.

It has been a busy two days, but so fun.

It has been a real struggle finding shoes to fit Cole’s feet. As cute as they are, his feet are very pudgy all around. I have tried so many different shoes on him and none fit. I found these cute shoes at Ross the other day. I love little kid shoes.

He looks like such a big boy in this shirt and his shoes.

I just thought this one was cute.

Any of you who know Brian, know that he served his mission in San Francisco. Since his mission which ended almost 7 years ago; he has been back 48 times. Wow, I know.

Well this last weekend made the 48th time. My mom is having back surgery soon and my dad has never been to San Francisco, so we went with them. We had a blast. Cole was so good, like he normally is. The weather turned out beautiful. We also went to go to Jocelyn’s reception. She looked beautiful in her dress.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

This was on the shuttle away from the airport.

Jocelyn and Joey’s reception.

Cole and Dad at Battery Spencer

Cole with Brian and I at Battery Spencer where we were engaged.

Cole with my Mom and Dad at Battery Spencer

I have seen a few different shows/movies lately about some amazing people. One of them is about a man who is deaf and blind, yet he is an artist and does everything by feel. Also, a blind boy in a wheelchair who can play multiple instruments.

On a little different note of amazing people, I greatly admire those people who are in horrible situations and work hard to get themselves and sometimes their families out of those situations. Kids who get themselves into good programs to stay out of gangs and other unfortunate lifestyles.

I also have a cousin I admire greatly. Her name is Krystal Shirley. She is now 27, but was run over by a car when she was four years old. She is a quadriplegic, yet she is a better artist than I ever could be. She paints with her mouth, and does an amazing job. Here are two pictures of what she has done.

I have always been a big fan of the swap meet. I love seeing the things people have made and of course good deals on things worth buying there. Today was the first time Cole got to go with me. We finally got to the back of the building and there was a huge boa constrictor on the ground. I love snakes and asked if they didn’t mind if Cole and I took a picture with it. They were really nice people and were more than happy to do it. Cole kept petting it with one finger. It was cute.

Brian was taking a few pictures of Cole before Clark and Shawnie’s open house here in Vegas. He is starting to learn to pose a little for the camera, and this photo just took the gold…

This weekend we went up to South Jordan, Utah for my brother’s wedding. Cole and I drove up with my parents and siblings and Brian flew with Jamie and Lucy and met us up there. We went to Olive Garden with Shawnie’s family (who were all very nice) to meet them for the first time.

The wedding was Saturday at 3:00 and the reception was at 6:00. Shawnie looked beautiful and Clark looked very handsome. I am so excited for them. Cole was loving the whole thing too. They leave for their honeymoon cruise on Monday. Congratulations Clark and Shawnie.

Here are a few pictures. I unfortunately didn’t get everyone, and some of the pictures are blurry. Brian was watching Cole for me, so I had to wing the whole photography thing.

My sister-in-law, Jamie Smith, just got in town yesterday with little baby Lucy. They are both such fun people to have around. Today is Jamie’s birthday, and Rachel threw a birthday party for her. My mother-in-law had us play a little game where everyone said something about Jamie in one word. I just thought I would let everyone know a few of the words that were said. Jamie is… Happy, Giggly, Friendly, Nice, Pretty, and of course many more wonderful things. Happy Birthday Jamie.

Tomorrow is my mother’s birthday. Happy Birthday Mom. She is such a wonderful person who tries extremely hard to make life easier for everyone around her. She is best at everything she does (Mrs. Perfectionist). She has been a wonderful mother and I love her very much.

Tomorrow is also my step brother-in-law’s birthday. Happy Birthday Paul. He is a quiet guy, but very sweet. I mean that in a good, manly way.

Friday is my step sister-in-law, Christina’s, birthday. So many Valentine birthdays. Happy birthday Christina. I love having all these people in my life.