Our Own Little World

Today was Cole's last Sunday in Nursery. I can't believe that next week he'll officially be a Sunbeam. I'm the primary pianist right now so it will be fun to peek over the piano and get to watch him during primary.
All this growing up Cole's doing has got me thinking; about all the hours and hours we've spent playing together in our own little world, imagining up all kinds of crazy things, and how much longer do I get to be in this imaginary world with him before he grows out of it and Mom becomes mostly just a chauffeur and a cook instead of a playmate. I'm sure I still have a while, but time does have a way of zooming by.
Perhaps instead of "imaginary world" I should just say "the Island of Sodor", since that is where most of our stories take place. The island of Sodor is from Thomas and Friends and it's where all of Cole's trains live. The trains refer to Cole as "Giant Cole" and I am "Giant Mommy". The trains all know that Cole is in charge of them and that he is the one who takes care of the whole island and sees that everything runs smoothly. Occasionally other toys, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, dinosaurs, etc. will find themselves on the island and create quite a stir. Radiator Springs is not far from the island either, and so a lot of times cars will visit as well. We've had this train set of Cole's for a year now and it has seen good times and bad. There have been numerous storms that have left it in ruins, pirate attacks, and evil diesel engines. But usually it is a happy place where the engines are "very useful" and always excited to welcome a new engine to the island.
Perhaps I've gotten a little carried away talking about all this Thomas stuff, but I guess it's what's on my mind a lot of the time, and I hope it stays that way.

Much Ado

I haven't sent out an update in quite some time so I thought I'd get back into the habit by becoming a blogger.
We had a fun Christmas, spent mostly with Clay's family this year. On Christmas Eve we went over to his parents house. His brothers Thayne and Steve and their wives came over too and together we feasted on Suzanne's wonderful cooking and all kinds of sweets. Cole made his first graham cracker house and has vowed to save it forever. We stayed the night and in the morning Cole got to open his presents with Grandma and Grandpa and Mom and Dad all oohing and aahing and taking pictures. After each present he would say, "This was just what I wanted." His big present this year was a new bike with a helmet, bell, horn, and basket per his request. He love's riding it, especially when he gets it going really fast. That evening we had a delicious Christmas dinner at my grandma and grandpa Wilson's house (prime rib) and then called it a day after one final bike ride.
This Christmas was a bit unusual, my first without my parents/siblings. They all spent Christmas in Orem, Utah, visiting my youngest sister, Katie. She's been staying in an eating disorder facility (Center for Change) for 6 weeks and has 6 more weeks to go until she gets to come home. My parents say that she's doing really well and looks sooo healthy and beautiful! I miss her so much!!!
Our little Larson family is doing well. Clay quit his sales job a while ago and has been substitute teaching instead. Our current plan (life plan #256) is for him to go back to school in the fall (most likely to USC) to begin a master's in public administration program. He doesn't seem to mind a couple more years of school and he thinks an MPA would complement his anthro degree well. He is the most wonderful man in the world. He is such a devoted husband and father. His favorite way to spend his free time is making new pages for Cole's learning book.
Cole is great too. We love him so much, we practically worship him actually. One of his favorite things to do right now is sound out words for blueberries. Sometimes we'll just be sitting around and Cole will say, "I want to sound out words." So we have big letters hanging on the wall and other letter games that we use to make words for him and his reward is blueberries.
I am doing sooooo much better as far as this pregnancy goes. As soon as I got to about 20 weeks the morning sickness slowly went away. Food is such a glorious, wonderful thing to me now. My most valuable piece of advice to any expectant mother would be this: if you are having morning sicknes forget about the soda crackers, the ginger ale, the B6 vitamins, the wrist bands, and all that nonsense, and go straight to the drugs, Zofran in particular. Also, find an Emily. Emily is my older sister and she was my salvation while I was sick. I spent at least 2 days a week at her house for 4 months, laying on her couch, while she and her 4 kids took care of me and Cole. It was wonderful going over there and having someone to talk to and having kids for Cole to play with. Everyone needs an Emily. I love this stage of pregnancy; having a big belly that I can be proud of for once, and feeling the baby move.
Well, I guess I'll see if I can figure out how to post some pictures now.
Love,
Amy, Clay, and Cole