dear cole

You are 14 months old! You've grown up so much these last two months we've been in Israel.

You used to prefer me, but now you are becoming quite the daddy's boy. I don't blame you. Your daddy is pretty great. You cry when he leaves for work and you get so excited when he comes home. You love to play catch and shoot hoops with him. You always clap for yourself when you make a basket. I love that about you. Don't ever stop applauding yourself for a job well done.

You've mastered walking and have moved on to running. You are fast too! Yesterday we walked to the park. I made you hold my hand and you didn't like that. You are so independent already.

You like to watch cartoons with your breakfast. You especially love Barney and you dance to all the songs. You have some good rhythm son!

You love bath time, you actually love everything about the bathroom. Any chance you get you sneak in there to play in the shower and the toilet! I hope that you'll soon realize how gross that is. You love to unroll the toilet paper. You always flash a sweet grin when you get caught doing something naughty. You're going to have to stop being so cute if we are ever going to punish you. You could bring peace to the middle east with that smile.

You like to watch me do my exercise videos. Sometimes you try and do the moves. You are pretty good at leg lifts, and when it's time for wall sits, you go to the wall and do them too! You are going to be so big and strong!

You like to hide crackers and small toys in daddy's shoes. He has to dump them out every day before he goes to work.

You have started giving Eskimo kisses. You give one to mommy, then daddy, then mommy, then daddy. Its a game you love to play, and we love it too. It entertains you forever! You have a little cold and your nose has been a bit runny, so lately we've been getting wet Eskimo kisses! We don't mind.

We can already tell you have a great sense of humor. You will do anything for a laugh, you love to entertain! You are such a sweet boy and bring us so much happiness. We are so glad you're ours!

Winning

Yesterday was game day. Luke's team came out on top and he was leading scorer and game MVP with 18 points. He hit five 3-pointers and made it look like it was easy! I am a VERY proud wife.

I was finally able to watch a game. I usually have Cole with me and games with him on my lap aren't quite the same. I spend more time trying to stop him from pulling the lady's hair in the row below us, than actually watching the game. And now that hes walking?? Forget about it! This child has found his legs and he can not be contained.

We decided pretty early on that finding a babysitter was a must, and find a babysitter we did. Her name was Yael. She was sweet and great....and two days after watching Cole for the first time, she decided to move to Germany. (coincidence? maybe...) Either way, we found ourselves on a baby-sitter hunt once again. Luckily, our friend Anastacia found someone interested in the job; a preschool teacher from the international school that she volunteers at. Her name is Rachel and she babysat Cole for the first time last night. For about a hundred shekels, I got to watch the game by myself.

Although things seemed promising, as soon as I left the house, on came the separation anxiety. Surprisingly, the person suffering was me, not Cole. Leaving your child in another country, with a complete stranger is just plain frightening. There's just no other way to put it. I have a lot invested here! I grew this little yearling from seed. He's my everything, and how well can you REALLY get to know someone in a 10 minute interview?

I was sitting there watching the game, trying to enjoy myself, but my mind was elsewhere...

What if this "Rachel" is really a serial killer who preys on blonde baby boys?
What if she forgets to feed him and his tummy is rumbling he's so hungry?
What if he misses me and he's sad and cries all night long?
What if she thinks Cole is really cute and kidnaps him and raises him as her own?
What if he has a really stinky diaper and she never wants to watch him again?
What if she doesn't give him his sippy cup and all night long he's thirsty, I mean parched?!
What if she forgets that he likes the satin part of his blanky to touch his face while he falls asleep?
What if she let's him watch an 'R' rated movie and his first word is f$@&!

It took everything in me not to leave at halftime. I finally convinced myself to stay. After all, there is two men in my life, and my husband needs me too. I'm glad I stuck around because Luke had a great second half. I waited for him after the game. He came out of the locker room with a certain swagger he has after a game he feels good about. We walked home together, just the two of us, like we used to do in Italy. We talked about how blessed we are for experiences we've had and how great it is that Luke is still getting paid to play the game that he loves.

We got home and found Cole perfectly happy, sound asleep in his crib with the satin part of his blanky touching his face.

Turns out Rachel is not a serial killer, Cole was well fed, and they didn't even watch TV. She's actually a really sweet girl. She said Cole is, "the cutest baby ever," which makes me like her even more.

I see many, many date nights in our future.

All of our prayers for our time here in Jerusalem have been answered. God is so good! Everything is falling into place, which only makes me feel more confident that we made the right decision to come here.

Halloween 2011

Guess I'm a little late on this post. Better late than never!

They obviously don't do Halloween in Israel, so we had to get resourceful.

If you're wondering the shade of Cole's beard, it is Cinique eyeshadow in "chocolate chip" and yes, that sign is written in lipstick, Revlon "berry love".

I think he makes a pretty cute bum.

Toys

We had to leave most Cole's toys behind, but he's making do just fine.

Meet his current favorite toy. Long plastic tubbing. He uses this to make scary noises with. This kid, like his dad, is easily entertained!

Hapoel Jerusalem

Here are some pictures I've been collecting this season.

The big 3-0

My handsome hunk of a man turns 30 today. I could write a 500 page novel about how great of a person he is, how he is the best daddy ever and how he makes me happier than I ever knew was possible (if that last part sounds familiar, it was in my wedding vows. It's still true)

Instead of a novel, I'm writing a blog post to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE! Life with you is exciting and wonderful. Being your wife and mother to Cole is the greatest joy!

I love you so much, I want to shout it from the hills of Jerusalem for all the world to hear!

I thank God for you every single day.

Pj's in the afternoon

Its Saturday afternoon here and we are off to a slow start. This is pretty normal for us. Everything in town shuts down on Saturdays so there is literally nothing to do and no reason to get ready. Luke's still asleep. Little man and I are still in our pj's and Cole is currently eating cheerios...out of the box. I already know the outcome of this and it’s a messy one. But he's having so much fun reaching his little hand into the bag...and if he's entertaining himself, that means I can enjoy another cup of coffee.

I guess I shouldn't be so careless with a full box of Cheerios....they are expensive here. Not just Cheerio's, groceries in general. A big box of cereal costs about 30 Shekels, which is about ten dollars. Milk is also about 10 dollars a gallon. I would say everything is double, if not triple, what it costs in the states. Good thing my man has a job. No ones goin hungry 'round here!

 

our chubby boy combing the beaches of Tel Aviv

I'm thinking about making breakfast for Luke. The problem with this is breakfast for him is not complete without either sausage or bacon. Both are hard to find here. Grocery stores don't sell it because pork isn't kosher. For some reason I've been really missing bacon lately, which is weird because I'm not usually a huge fan of it. I guess the saying is true. You always want what you can't have....even when its bacon.

Luckily for us, there is a one butcher in the city center that sells everything "non-kosher" We can get shrimp and pork there, along with other non-kosher and American products (bbq sauce, refried beans, taco seasoning, ranch dressing) I can't really think of anything we would want but are unable to find. The main thing I miss as far as food goes are easy staples, like canned soup! They don't quite understand the concept of convenience foods; which they are probably healthier for.

Cole and I have been here for about 6 weeks, and I am seriously starting to miss home.  Some things I miss....in no particular order:

-Drive-thru's (especially for coffee)

-My house!!!

-My shower

-My own bed

-TJ Maxx

-Target

-the colorful leaves in Oregon

-1st Baptist

-my pots, pans & dishes

-the view from our decks

-Having grandmas around to baby-sit

-my oven (we only have a TOASTER OVEN as of now; we are supposed to be getting a real oven soon!)

-all my clothes and shoes I had to leave behind

-A DISHWASHER!! (I hate washing dishes by hand!!)

-Going to Oregon football games

-Going to the mall without having your car searched for bombs, and going through metal detectors. (Yes, I'm serious)

And of course we miss our family & friends most of all!

Ok, I'm done feeling sorry for myself. It's a beautiful day & we need to go outside and play