Not so Happy Halloween

Not yet anyway...It's been a rough couple of days in the Conte house! Chase is still sick and now Cole and I are getting sick too. Nick is still holding his own, but he did get a flu shot and it made him a bit achy and weak. I called the doctor and got appts. for both of the boys for this afernoon. I just want to get them checked out to make sure it is nothing serious since the weekend is here and they won't be opened! Hopefully they can at least give Chase something for this horrible cough he has. It's this dry, hacking cough and it is causing him to throw up sometimes if he gets too worked up. Last night we pulled out all the stops to try to get him to sleep...propped up the head of his bed, ran the vaporizer and humidifier in his room, put vick's on his throat, and gave him motrin and cough suppresant before bed! It still took him about an hour of coughing before he fell asleep! Poor guy. He slept the whole night though. Cole was the one who woke up crying at 3am b/c he was so stuffy. I hate cold/flu season! It is the worst!! Yet another reason I am dreading returning to work. Putting Cole in daycare this time of year is not going to be good!! I am sure they will both be sick a few more times before the season ends. UGH!!!

Anyway, hopefully our Halloween will get better. Chase is still wanting to dress up as a monkey and go trick or treating!! Hopefully he will be able to or we are going to have one sad little boy! :-(

Go Phillies!!

Pumpkin Fun

Since Chase was home sick yesterday, I thought it would be fun to carve pumpkins. Well, he wasn't interested in cleaning out the pumpkin or carving it, so I decided to let him paint on his. He had a great time doing this! I tried to paint 2 of my own, but he so kindly painted over the words that I had written and made his own masterpiece (if that is what you can call it)!
We thought he was feeling better last night, but boy were we wrong. As I was putting him to bed, he threw up all over me, him, his bed and his floor! It was very disgusting!! Luckily Nick came to my rescue and cleaned up the room while I got Chase and myself cleaned up!! Chase and Nick ended up sleeping in our bed and Cole and I slept on the couch (I was worried about Cole getting sick in the middle of the night, so I wanted to keep an eye on him. Yes, I am an overreactor!) Luckily, Cole was just fine and seems to be fine today also...I am crossing my fingers he stays that way. He has been really sleepy the past 2 days. I guess that is due to his shots on Monday.Chase seems better this afternoon, but I will probably just keep him out of daycare the rest of the week. I want to make sure he is better by Friday b/c he is so excited to go trick or treating!! I would hate for him to miss out on a fun evening.

Fabulous!

This is how the doctor described Cole today at his checkup!! Can you believe he will be 8 weeks old in just a couple of hours? Oh my, how the time is flying by! We went in for his 8 week checkup today and it went great. He is 14 lbs. and 23 1/2 inches long! We knew he had gotten bigger, but had no idea he would be 14 lbs!! He is "eating good in the neighborhood" as Chase would say! We met a new doctor who just started at the practice this month and I really liked her. She was super friendly and was great with both of the boys even though the appt. was for Cole. She was asking Chase questions and even gave him a Life Saver before she left. When she first came in, she asked Chase something about Cole and he said "He's Cole Alexander Conte". It was so cute. Cole had to get his first round of shots...4 total...2 in each leg. He wasn't too happy about it that is for sure. He has been extra crabby since we have been home, so I guess he is feeling the effects...poor baby!! Other than that things are good. Nick met us at the doctor so that I didn't have to control both boys by myself...thank goodness!! I was very happy to have his help and he was very happy to get out of work for half of the day! We don't have to go back for another 8 weeks. Thank goodness b/c I know the appt. will involve more shots.

Chase seems to be doing better now so that is good. He still has a runny nose, but his fever is gone. Nightime is always the worst though, so we will see how it goes tonight. Cross your fingers! I want him to get better and fast!

Spooktacular!

We took the kids to the zoo last night for Spooktacular. They put on this event every year where they decorate the zoo for Halloween with tons of lit up pumpkins and you walk through a path and get candy! It was fun aside from Nick rushing us to get home for the Phillies game, Chase being scared of some of the costumes, and Cole crying b/c he wanted to be home sleeping!! :-) It was really crowded, and now that we have this big monster double stroller it was hard to manuever through the crowd!! Chase did have fun dancing to the music and getting candy though. He looked so cute in his monkey costume!! It was definitely an adventure, but we did have a good time and made it home about 20 minutes after the game started!!

Chase isn't feeling so good today. He had a fever and a runny nose when we got home last night. So, he's home with me today. Cole has an appt. for his 8 week checkup this afternoon so we will be headed to the doctor in a couple of hours. Should be interesting!! I will post about the checkup and how big Cole is later this evening when I have some free time! Ha....free time!?? what's that?!?

Cole's Big Week

It's been a big week for the little guy! Most important (on my list at least) is that he dropped his middle of the night feeding!! Woohoooo is all I have to say about that. He is going from 12-6 now and I am hoping by the time I go back to work it will be more like 10-6!! He also started smiling this week. I forgot how awesome it is to see those first smiles! He is just too cute. Of course he gave his first smile to Nick...no fair! I am still trying to capture it on camera, but not having much luck! Last but not least, he took his first bottle on Tuesday. He sucked it right down with no problems! That was good to know b/c now I know that he will be fine taking bottles at daycare. So, that is good news! Here's a couple of pictures of him kind of smiling...I will get a good one eventually.

Finally, I have a chance to post about our trip!

We had such a great time in Panama City Beach!! It was wonderful to get away from home for a while and have a mini vacation with just the 4 of us. We got there Thursday afternoon and spent the day relaxing. Nick and Chase braved the cold water of the pool b/c Chase was dying to go in! Friday we went to Gulf World and saw all kinds of cool animals. Chase's favortie were the little penguins! They were so cute and were swimming around and splashing at us!! We got to see a dolphin show..that was definitely the highlight for me. I love watching dolphins! They have a "swim with the dolphins adventure" there that I would love to do one of these days! After Gulf World, it was back to the pool. Cole and I passed on getting in yet again. It just wasn't warm enough! Chase has become such a good little swimmer! He was all over the pool!! Luckily it was HOT on Saturday so we headed for the beach. It was awesome! I love the gulf way more than the ocean. It is just so beautiful and peaceful. We had a nice couple of hours there. Even Cole enjoyed it! After that, we headed back to Tallahassee for dinner with Dad, Lisa, Grandma and Grandmother. The Grandmas met Cole for the first time that night, so they were very excited about that! On Sunday Pop Pop and GiGi took Chase and Braden to see Winnie the Pooh...they had a great time. Nick and Jeremy golfed while Ashley, me, Maddy, and Cole lounged around the house. It was a nice break for a couple of hours!! We headed home that evening so Nick could get back to work on Monday. Speaking of work, it is so nice to not be working!! I am really enjoying my time off! I go back 5 weeks from Monday and am already getting sad thinking about it!! I will just keep enjoying my time and making the most of it for the next few weeks!

We're Going on a Trip...

I am starting to think we might be crazy, but we are leaving tonight to head to Tallahassee and then on to Panama City tomorrow. This will be our first trip with Cole. I have spent the whole day packing and still don't feel like I am remembering everything! Hopefully the drive won't be as bad as the preparation! I am hoping Cole will sleep and Chase will watch a movie! We will see how that works out!! We are definitely excited to be getting away for a couple of days! At least we are able to break up the drive...should be about 2.5 hours for each part of the trip. That fits right into our window between Cole's feedings...so we have to head out as soon as he is done and arrive just in time for him to eat again!! He's not messing around when it's time to eat!! Wish us luck that our trip goes well! We will head back to Tallahassee on Saturday evening and then back to Jax on Sunday. Pop Pop, GiGi, Chase and Braden are going to see Winnie the Pooh Live on Sunday afternoon! I know they will have a great time. Chase is so excited! We can't wait to see everyone either...my grandma will get to meet Cole for the first time while we are there!

In other news, we have received a couple of boxes of fun presents from Delaware the past 2 days!! I am including some pictures of Chase with his new things!! Mimi sent a box with Wonder Pets DVD's and stickers and a watch for Chase and a Halloween outfit for Cole. She was even nice enough to think of me and put a Nicholas Sparks book in there for me to read. I plan to start on that while we are away! Today we received a box of Phillies goodies from Pop Pop Wishe!! Shirts for everyone, a hat for Nick and a Phillies Phanatic for Chase! He loves that...he kept seeing him on tv and talking about "that big green thing that rides a 4 wheeler like mine"! Thanks you guys for the gifts! We love to get presents in the mail!!

Well, everyone have a good weekend, and I will post about our trip when we get back! Oh, Last but not least...Happy Birthday to Lisa and Little Anthony today!! Hope both of you are having wonderful birthdays!!

Our Little Pumpkin

Just a pic to get you into the Halloween spirit!!

Our Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We took the boys to the pumpkin patch this evening. What an adventure. Chase was running wild amidst all of the pumpkins, and Cole was screaming b/c I woke him up to try to take pictures of him! He didn't cooperate and had his eyes closed in the ones that I actually got of him! We did manage to pick out 2 big pumpkins and 2 small pumpkins! I am not sure if we will carve them or not, but at least we have them if we want to!! I did get a couple of cute pictures of the boys to post! Now I just have to get Chase to decide on a costume. He changes his mind every day....spiderman, ninja, lightning mcqueen, etc.... We took him to the party store on Saturday, but he didn't like any of the costumes! So, i found a couple online, but he didn't like those either. Nick says just to get him one and tell him that he is wearing it!! So, we will see!

Happy 1 Month Birthday to Cole

"Why are you taking my picture AGAIN???"
"Boy am I sleepy"
"Today is my 1 month birthday....do i get any presents?!?!"

I can't believe he is 1 month old today. My how time has flown by since he arrived. It seems like just yesterday that we were in the hospital! We've had a pretty crazy first month, but are finally getting settled in to our life with 2 kids! Cole is doing much better this week and hasn't been as fussy as he was last week. Thank goodness!! He has started to take naps in his crib instead of just in his swing. He is doing really well and is growing fast too! He doesn't go back to the doctor until he is 8 weeks, but i would guess he is about 10 lbs. by now. I already had to pack up all his newborn clothes b/c they are too small!! So, we are on to the 0-3 month set now. He's starting to give us little smiles every now and then and he's focusing on everything he can find! He's just growing up too fast already! Why can't they just stay little?!?

Cole and Chase....

Cole and Chase had a HUGE day today. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. They both assisted in accomplishing something that hadn't been done since October 1993. That's right, 15 years. Think about it: fifteen years ago, blogs like this didn't even exist, Jenn and I weren't even together, Cole and Chase were nowhere to be seen, Slick Willy was the President, and Donovan McNabb wasn't even at Syracuse yet, much less the best QB in the NFL. 15 years is a long time, ladies and gentlemen. I was a fresh, young, stupid, pimple-faced 17 year-old Sallies student, not knowing what crazy life full of diaper changing lied ahead for me. Anyway, back to my original point... Chase and Cole's day. It really was a great day, and could (possibly, if this behavior keeps up) be the start of a wonderful journey towards one of the happiest moments of my life. What is it, you ask? What possibly could they have done today that was so monumental and important? I'll tell you: Cole pitched 8 shutout innings and Chase hit a 2-run double in the first game of the National League division series for the Phillies. Yeah, that's right, my guys came up big today and helped the Phillies to their first postseason win since the debacle that was the 1993 World Series. I bet you thought I was referring to your two favorite C's (Chase Vincent and Cole Alexander), huh? Well, no, but those two had a good day, too. I buzzed Chase's head and we all read a book to Cole to soothe him to sleep. If you're still thinking about the big, HUGE Game 1 win, see below for photo evidence. Tomorrow's Game 2 is huge, too, and Jacksonville's own Brett Myers takes the mound for the fightin Phils. And by the way, what's up with all this girly looking, flowery, polka-dot designs on this blog? Whose blog is this anyway, Martha Stewart's? Is this a Bed, bath and Beyond website? NO! This is a Conte website, and this Conte household is full of MEN. Men who scream and yell and argue and tackle each other and give each other piledrivers and throw footballs and sing the Fly, Eagles, Fly song and eat hot dogs in one bite and eat peanut butter right from the jar. That's what I'm talking about, as Chase says. If I'm gonna post on here, I need to start adding things that people really want to see.... like video clips from Rocky II or Gladiator, old Mike Tyson fights, recipes on how to cook ribs and other tailgate-related information, sports trivia questions, jokes, and maybe even poll questions (as I see, my previous poll question was a hit).

Tear it up Cole....
Rock it Chase....

Oh and by the way, be sure to tune in tomorrow night after the Phils game to watch Joe Biden unleash the fury in the debate!