Gorillas and Bunnies

Is it a gorilla? an orangutan? big foot? a monkey? alf? a sasquatch? a wookie? At any rate, it's CUTE!!! Cole was a gorilla for Halloween this year and although people who saw him had a hard time deciding what he was, they all agreed the costume was one of the best they'd seen.

He was able to get a lot of use out of his costume this year. In addition to trick or treating on Sunday night, we attended a 'trunk or treat' at a local church on Wednesday night and a costume birthday party at the Children's Museum on Saturday. Needless to say, we have A LOT of candy to help him eat.

Henry tagged along for the trick or treating in the stroller. He was dressed as a little blue bunny.

AW! So cute!

Well, we hope everyone is enjoying the fall! As always, more to come...

Chair Thief

Last Christmas, Cole got a mini arm chair. We keep it in the living room and sometimes he sits in it to watch TV. I guess it's time for Cole to get used to sharing.

Just A Typical Evening at the Sheward House

We don't have anything notable to report today. But, part of the intent of this blog is to allow those we love that are living far away from us to be able to watch our boys from a distance. This is just a typical evening at our house. But this "typical" is what gets me through each work day. This is what I love to come home to. (And I still haven't figured out why this happens, but the blog format cuts out part of the video. If you want to see the full scope of it, you'll need to click on the video so that it redirects you to youtube.)

Cole the Daredevil

We have some very good friends who unexpectedly had their second child at 27 weeks. Luckily, little Sean is doing very well and tonight Crystal decided to go visit him in the NICU. Since no child visitors are allowed, the boys and I had a "He-man Woman Haters Club" night.

The definition of crazy: being the only adult taking a 5 week old and a 2 1/2 year old to Monkey Joe's, an inflatable heaven for children (and not so bad for dads either.) This visit was a little different for Cole, though. Previously, I've been able to play on the inflatables with Cole. But this time, since I was holding Henry the whole evening, Cole had to go it on his own.

I was surprised how well he did. Check him out.

I still think he likes it better when I get to play on the slides with him (or at least I do.) But this is just a little example of how you realize that your kid is getting older and more independent; he can careen down a two-story inflatable slide without you.

Cole's Rockin' to DMB

So I guess Cole likes Dave Matthews, or at least he likes playing his guitar with DMB. We were watching the NFL Kickoff pregame, and this is what Cole started doing.

Happy Labor Day

We spent Labor Day at home for the first time since we have been married. Normally we go camping with Crystal's extended family. This year, since Henry has just joined us, we stayed home.

Ours wasn't eventful, but it was relaxing.

Happy Labor Day, everyone.

(For some reason, this video is cutting off on the blog so you can't see Henry's face. If you want to see the full version of the video, double-click on it, and you can watch it on YouTube.)

And Cole making his first s'more:

Cole the Footballer

So, I'm doing everything I can to teach (not brainwash) Cole to become a Browns fan, especially since we live in Colts country. I'm doing a pretty good job, as you can see, below:

Announcing the Birth of Henry Philip Sheward

Henry was born on August 9th, 2010 at 1o:37 am. He was 20 1/2 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

We are so blessed to have another healthy baby boy!

Here are the boys meeting each other for the first time. Cole gave Henry a hug and told us "Baby Cute!". He always wants to know where Henry is and gets worried about him when he cries.

We're so excited about the addition to our family and can't wait to experience all the joy Henry will bring to our lives!

OBX Vacation

In June we went to North Carolina and Cole got to experience the beach for the very first time. True to form, Cole was hesitant at first, but by the end of the week, he was loving it.

We have documented just how much fun we had, to wit:

Cousin Kaitlyn must have seen something out in the ocean!

Sawyer and Cole, beware!

Cole was enthralled by the lifeguard's ATV

and was fortunate enough to score a photo op.

A family self-portrait on the beach.

The Shewards bid farewell to the OBX.

And for the Grande Finale, here is a video of Cole playing in the sand:

Goodnight

Crystal and I each put Cole to bed about 50% of the time. We don't always alternate, but it ends up working out that way. We both have slightly different bedtime rituals, and somehow mine has evolved into singing Amazing Grace with Cole, normally at his request. Tonight, I decided to catch it on video because, well, it's so darn cute.

Please excuse the poor video quality. We did this by Cole's Harry Potter night light.

P.S. Bummer. I just watched the blog version of this video, and you can't really see anything at all. When you watch the original video you can actually see Cole singing along. At least you can listen.

And the piano, it sounds like a carnival...

Cole really enjoys playing the piano and I thought I should get this on video in case he turns out to be a world renowned concert pianist someday. Of course, that would make him pretty busy along with being a star quarterback (or kicker, because it's less dangerous) for the Cleveland Browns (winning them their first Superbowl since... well, ever), a master celebrity chef with a show on the Food Network, and the President of the United States.

Just Toolin' Around

Cole recently got a toolbox full of tools. He loves playing with it. The other night, Philip was taking apart our dining room table, to make room for our new one, and Cole wanted to help out. Here's how it went...

Good bye, old friend.

There's no doubt that we haven't posted anything to the blog as of late. Neither Crystal nor I have been very good at updating lately. This entry won't be long.

This weekend we lost our dog, Allie. Crystal and I got her two months into our marriage; she's been with us the whole time. On Friday, Allie started showing signs of being very sick and she deteriorated quickly. The vet told us she had an auto-immune disease and that her body was attacking itself. There was no realistic way to save her. We had to say good bye to her on Saturday afternoon.

As funny as it sounds, she was part of our family. We'll miss her, and I know that there are others who will too. She was the greatest dog I've ever known. I don't know anyone who didn't like having her around. Before she came into our lives, I did not like dogs at all. For the last 7 years I've said that she turned me into a dog lover. She certainly made me love her.

We'll miss you, Allie. It won't be the same without you around. You were the best dog. I'm thankful for the 7 years we had with you. I know that we will never forget you. All you ever wanted was to make Crystal and me happy. You succeeded.