It's been a long time...

But here we are again.

Cole turned 3 years old on February 16th! Here he is celebrating:

I can't believe how big he is and how smart he is. He's so much fun to have around! Just the other day, he told me, " Mommy, You look very nice." I replied, "Thank you." He then said, "You look very cute." To which I also replied, "Thank you." He then sneezed into his hand and looked up and said, "Mommy. Look at all my germs." He loves dinosaurs and tractors and Thomas the Train and Toy Story and tractors and Finding Nemo and tractors. Did I mention he loves tractors? He also recently looked out the window and said, "Look! A squirrel." (which he pronounces "swirl") Then he watched it for a while and looked back at us and said, "He is very cute.", with a big smile on his face. (That one's for Uncle Clint, who is constantly at open war with the squirrel population in Nappanee.)

Henry is growing so fast. He is a very happy baby. He loves his Daddy and always has a huge smile for him. He's sitting up on his own now. He's very laid back and has the ability to sleep anywhere. Including in the middle of a birthday party full of three year olds. He's holding his bottle on his own now and eating all sorts of baby food.

We're excited for spring and summer to get here. We plan on a lot of bike rides, walks, zoo outings and camping trips.

The boys get a long great (so far). Let's hope they stay that way the older they get. :-)

Happy Birthday Crystal!

Crystal's 31st Birthday was last week. Cole really happens to be into birthdays right now, so we made a big deal out of it (for both Cole's and Crystal's benefit.)

Here's a photo of all of us wearing party hats.

Henry also ended up getting really excited. Here's a video of him getting in on the birthday action: (As always, in order to see the full video click on it to watch it on youtube, rather than directly on the blog. Not sure why that is.)

Stay classy, blog readers!

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.

September

The biggest change you'll notice in the above picture is Cole's new haircut. We went ahead and buzzed it. It was not easy to keep a screaming one year old still to do it but we did.We think it looks pretty cute, but we're biased.

We went camping over Labor Day as usual. In the above picture Cole is actually hooked up to Allie's rope. He didn't like it at all. It only lasted for about a minute. It was difficult trying to keep him in one place while camping. Here he is playing a game with Daddy.

We played a big group game of kickball and Cole was so excited to try and play with the big kids. He liked running around in the field.

Here's another picture of Cole at the zoo. He really likes the fish. I think it's all the bright colors.


Here he is with Daddy trying to touch a shark.


We went camping at the end of September with Brian and Rebecca and Harrison. These two were quite a handful. Here they are playing with our bike trailer. Definitely two boys to keep your eye on.


Cole passed some time while camping playing with the van tires. What can I say? He's a boy.

August

In August Cole and I went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a week with Papa, Grandma, Uncle Trey, Riley, Uncle Clint and Aunt Kristy. We had a fun time but we missed Daddy. Cole even liked going to all the shows at Dollywood. He also rode all the way to a look out point on a ski lift with Mommy and Papa. Mommy was a little scared but he liked it.

We took a scenic mountain motor tour through the smokies one evening. Here's Cole walking out of an old homestead we stopped to see.

The Indiana State Fair was in August and Cole went two times. Here he is the first time, checking out the sheep.

Here he is making a break for it.

The second time he went, Nana and Papa and Kaitlyn were with us. He really like this calf. It licked his whole arm.

The biggest accomplishment of the month of August for me was that Cole stopped drooling constantly. His outfits are so much cuter when there isn't a bib covering them up!

July

We spent the 4th of July at Brian and Rebecca's house. The boys were dressed almost identically with plaid pants/shorts and red shirts. Very cute. We went and watched some rainy and cold fireworks. Cole couldn't take his eyes off of them but he wouldn't let go of my hand either.


We have a membership to the Indianapolis Zoo so we're frequent visitors. Here are Cole and Philip on the bridge in the forest section. This summer Cole wanted to be on his feet a lot more than in the stroller.

One Saturday Cole and I went to the Indianapolis Art Museum and then went outside and ran around on the grounds. He really enjoyed being able to go as far as he wanted.


The month of July wouldn't have been complete without a visit to the Elkhart County 4H Fair. Cole and I went up and checked out all the animals and the food along with Grandma and Riley. It was a fun time.


Here he is getting ready to pet a horse. He wasn't afraid of anything.

June

Seeing as how we've been very bad in keeping you all regularly updated about what we've been up to, I've decided to recap the past 4 months for you. I hope you enjoy seeing all the things that Cole's been doing and how he's been growing and changing. He's definitely led a busy and active summer.

Cole loves his books. He'll sit and read all alone but he loves when we read to him.


We were able to go out to Albany, NY for Philip's grandfather's 90th birthday. Cole got to meet his Aunt Alyssa and Grandma Lisa for the first time.


On the way home from Albany we stopped at Papa and Nana's house. Cole got to play with his cousins, Kaitlyn and Sawyer. He enjoyed getting out of the car for a little bit and playing.


Cole loves to swing. Here he is with his cousin, Riley on the swings at Papa and Grandma's house.


Cole was quite the little camper this summer. Here he is enjoying the first camping trip of the year.


Stay tuned for the July installment...

Been a long time...

My apologies to those who check this blog on a regular basis. We've been lax in updating. In order to remedy that I am going to post a photo rundown of what Cole's been up to since the last post... Here goes... in 3...2...1

Opening his Easter basket before church. (The candy is for Mom and Dad.) :-)

Easter Outfit... Awwwww!!!

Just Looking Cute out in the back yard... (04/16/09)

Cole playing with legos. He LOVES legos and will sit and play with them for hours. (04/29/09)

First pony ride... (Indianapolis Zoo - 05/02/09)

Cole's been saying a lot more words lately, duck, da-da, ma-ma, dog and banana among them. He also knows a lot of sounds. He can moo like a cow, quack like a duck and make tractor noises. He also says Allie, which sounds like "Ah-yee". He likes "swimming" in the kiddy pool at our friend's house. It's about a foot and a half deep. He just likes to walk around and doesn't like help, which means when he reaches for a toy (that's on the bottom of the pool) he plunges face first into the water. It doesn't seem to phase him though. Just stand him back up and he's off again.