Ah to be a better blogger...

Well my friends it has been a while since this blogging community and seen my writings. They are few, far, and in between, but hopefully this will soon all change. Our blog just received a minor face lift and I am newly motivated to contribute more:) So here we are. Maggie and I are in Birmingham, Alabama awaiting the arrival of sweet baby Frances Adele Howell. Baby Frannie has been the highlight of most of our conversations for the past few months and her grand debut is TOMORROW! We have loved our time so far here in Birmingham and can't wait to celebrate with Big and JoJo tonight. It brings such sweet joy to my heart to be here for Frannie's big day. She is already so loved. The Cole family will be gearing up for a Seaside trip after Frannie is here. Tyler will drive from Plano to Birmingham AL Thursday afternoon. Thats right my friends 10 hours by himself. Don't fret. He will be loaded down with audio books and plenty of energy drinks to power a heavy machine. We can't wait for him to be here too. We will post some pictures of our trip when we get back. Until then!

Humbled over dinner

Sallie had to work last Saturday which left Maggie and I with a full day to spend together. Normally I'm very excited for this time because it's rare and she is at such a cute age right now. We'll usually do something fun like go to the park and swing, or maybe go to Chick-fil-A for daddy dates, or even go on a run. Those opportunities for quality time are always easy and enjoyable. That was before she started cutting two more teeth on the bottom. I think God in His grace allows us to forget the first two or three years of life because of oral pain alone. Bones shifting daily in a sensitive area I must use frequently for survival? No thanks, I appreciate the selective amnesia.

Let's just say it was a LONG day. We had a full slate of runny noses, gross diapers, and one or two more crying spells than nap breaks. By dinner time I was a little tired/annoyed/ready-for-Sallie-to-get-here-asap-so-I-can-lay-down. Several minutes into dinner, Maggie we hit a wall and had this exchange:

Me: Maggie, I need you to finish your chicken and broccoli.

Maggie: No. (pushing food around on her plate)

Me: Yes. See, it's good. Daddy likes it. Yummy!

Maggie: No! (pushing food onto the floor)

Me: Okay, then. If you don't eat your food, you can't have any dessert. What else do you want?

Maggie: Grapes!

Me: No, not until you finish your chicken. Just finish this last bite, then you can have some grapes. (Notice the desperation? I'm trying to barter with a 17 month old)

Maggie: No!!! (Flipping out, and pushing food away)

Me: FINE! No more dinner! (Also flipping out and hastily clearing her plate and stuffing food in Ziploc bags) WHAT DO YOU WANT??

Maggie: (In the smallest, cutest voice you have ever heard) Patient.

Me: What?

Maggie: Patient. Patient.

Whoa. Her response literally floored me. I was amazed that she could remember the times Sallie and I have asked her to be patient, which usually happens when we have our hands full and she wants to read a book or be held. I was even more amazed that she was able to repeat it to me in context and be 100% right about the situation and my behavior. I hit my knees and the conversation continued:

Me: Maggie, you're right. Daddy needs to be more patient with you. Please forgive me for losing my temper.

Maggie: Grape?

Me: Of course. As many as you want. Daddy loves you.

What a conversation! The power of this moment for me hit home as I realized that God has given us a child for reasons beyond what we expect. He's given us a child, not so we can change her into who we want her to be, but so that He can continue to change us into who He wants us to be. God wants all of us to mirror Christ, and to be transformed into His image. He will continually chip away at the rough edges and identify sin in our lives that's been hidden, overlooked, or tolerated. He might even use our children to it. I am happy that we're not chosen as parents so that we can raise children to be moral and productive in society. We're given the responsibility of raising them to be followers of Jesus and fellow heirs to His kingdom.

We have a Father who is faithful and loves us enough not to leave us unchanged or unmoved. God will continually sharpen and test us until the day comes where he gathers to Himself all of his lost children and perfects them forever.

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

Summertime Update

In case you're not from TX, I thought I'd let you know it's extremely hot! Lot of action since our last post, and I'm glad to see that we're being consistent with our blog updates. Averaging about 4 months between posts, but you can take it to the bank!


Maggie's 1st bday was 4/28/2011 but we celebrated pretty much from March to May, and she had no problem finding cake to enjoy!

Check out the sweet new ride she got from our fun neighbors, the Groovers. You can ask her if she wants to go "Beep! Beep!" and she'll run to her car and jump in. So fun.

We had a farewell dinner with a few couples from our community group from church, the Dunns and the Brannens. We were very sad to see them leave (the Dunns to Denver for Preston's job and Brittany's family and the Brannens to Houston for David's job). After spending nearly 2 years living life together as newlyweds in a new city, it's like losing part of our family. Best wishes to our fun friends as they move forward. Check out how excited Maggie was in the pic!

Most recently, we were very blessed to enjoy a dedication service for Maggie at our church on 7/31/11. It was a sweet time with friends and family gathered to support our little girl as she grows in faith. We were able to pray over her and to publicly covenant with the Lord to raise her in a house where she gets to see living examples of how to love God and love others. Thanks to all of our family and friends, both in and out of town, for the love and support. We're so grateful that our sweet girl has so many faithful friends praying for her.

Deut 6:5-9 - Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

After an extended absence, we're back and using Picasa to publish pics! SO MUCH EASIER! (Edit: Not really....)

Brushing all 8 of her teeth!

On the water in Brandon, MS

Spending time w/ mom and Mimi



Yup, it's bluebonnet time in TX.

She's very good at peek-a-boo now!

And, of course, reading at a 9th grade level. Sorry we're such a mess and can't keep the updates coming any faster. It's been a fun, fast, challenging and rewarding year to say the least. We're grateful for all the support and prayers. Maggie's 1st birthday is the 27th and Sallie is busy putting together a fun celebration. We'll be sure to post vids of messy cake soon! Love you all, Tyler & Sallie

Holiday Greetings

Sorry for the extended absence from the blogosphere. The Coles have been busy and hard at work for the past few months. We enjoyed visiting friends and family over the Thanksgiving holiday. We travelled to Louisville, KY to spend time with the Heards before heading south to Nashville to enjoy an afternoon/evening with the Bakers. We all loved being able to relax and watch plenty of football while gorging ourselves on some serious food and drink. Great times seeing Scott, Katie, and of course cousin Rogers. And we're very excited to spend the Christmas holidays both in Nashville and at home in Texas with the Coles.

Below are a few pics to update you guys on the Coles. Maggie feels so big now, it's very strange. She is cutting another tooth and seriously contemplating the whole crawling thing. We're going to have to keep our eyes out b/c soon she'll be into EVERYTHING.

BTW, if you have any pics that I don't, please share! Hope all is well. Love you all,

Tyler, Sallie, and Mags

I'm a big girl now!

So my fellow blogging buddies I felt the need to share with you my new hair style. Life as we know it has changed. As well as my new change, this past weekend the Cole family went to the Rangers baseball game and the Texas state fair. We felt the need to be short term Texans and enjoy what the lonestar state has to offer us. The state fair is only here for 1 month and who could refuse a freshly fried corny dog and funnel cake. Not this family!! Tyler started to stand in line for a fried oreo and snickers, but sad to say the line was far too long to justify waiting for a fried heart attack. He was sad, but we quickly moved on to some tasty root beer:) As you can tell we pretty much went for the food and the opportunity to meet Big Tex. And yes he does talk and his name is Big Tex. I checked out his booty and he was definitely wearing Dickies jeans. Love it. These Texans down here love their turkey legs and fried assortment of foods. I'm pretty sure we also saw fried margaritas. I really have no words other than...how. Next weekend we are heading to Austin for my cousin's wedding and will take numerous pictures to update with. Until then, adios mis amigos from Plano, Texas.



At the State Fair with Big Tex!!




Just outside the Ranger's stadium in Arlington



An updated one of our sweet girl. She is getting so big!!

Long Time Gone

Man, can't believe how hard it is to keep this thing up to date! Here's a few bullets & pics from the last 6 weeks.

• Maggie had her 4 month checkup - 13 lbs & growing healthy!
• Sallie & I are new volunteer leaders with West Plano YoungLife
• 9/10 we took a trip to Nashville to a) help Nana & Granddaddy move back into their condo after The Flood & b) have Sallie, Mags, Jo Jo & Big Daddy drive to Birmingham to see Rogers' dedication at church.
• Maggie can roll over back to front AND front to back now. She's so big!

She loves her new exersaucer!




Kinda backwards, but here's her reaction to her first dose of rice cereal!

Sallie adminstering the first dosage!

Me and baby girl