Racing party...

We celebrated Colin's 2nd birthday with a race car party!  I totally didn't think I would be that mom... ya know the one that goes all out with a theme birthday party.  Oh, but I am.  I just can't help myself!  So... Saturday morning, we got to decorating!  My parents were here, so they were a GREAT help!  My dad looked a little more decorated than the house =)

 

Garet's mom and Rod were also here, and they did so much!  It is so nice to have grandparents help!!  I did the invites myself.  Then I got all the the food together.  I tried to keep it simple... hotdogs, pretzels, chex mix, peanuts, donuts, cupcakes...

 

We had lunch, and my mom caught this cute picture of Colin and Sawyer enjoying their lunch =)

 

After lunch, I got some candles on a cupcake and we all sang to Colin!  He LOVED it!  He even tried to sing along =)  Then afterwards he just clapped and clapped!  Then he blew out his candles!

Colin doesn't get sweets often, so this was a big deal.  Looks like he is trying to savor it.

Then he proceeded to lick all the icing off =)

The cupcake didn't last more than a minute or so.
After the kids ran around a bit, we gathered so that Colin could open his gifts!  What a blessed little boy!  After he opened each gift he thanked the person that gave it to him (with a little help from me) it was precious!

 

Colin loved all his gifts!  He wanted to play with each thing that we pulled out! 

 

We had so much fun!  It was so great that some people were able to make the 2 hour drive from Charlotte for the afternoon!  Like one of my best friends, Christy!

 

Once all the gifts were open, Colin just got to play!  I love watching him play with his toys.  He was "vroom"-ing all around in this picture!

 

His cousin Sam was a big help too... he put together a bunch of Colin's toys for him.  And he helped him load up his dump truck with Legos!

Colin (and Garet and I!) had a great time at his party!  He went down for his nap (yes, I still put him down for a nap), and then we all got to relax!  It was so much fun!  I just can't believe my little boy is 2!!

That night we went out to dinner with Garet's mom and Rod.  The food was wonderful, and we got to sit outside since the weather was so nice!  Here we are with our little birthday boy!

 

T.W.O...

I took Colin's two year old pictures for his birthday invite, and then took some more in Morehead... I just love the water and green grass and awesome trees at the beach!  I can't believe he will be two on the tomorrow!!  Today we celebrated with his birthday party (I promise to do a post about that hopefully tomorrow!)

Here is what Colin is up to now that he is TWO:
- Sleeping from 7-5/6, taking one nap a day from 1-3:30

 

- Drinks milk and water - yes that's it - and LOVES milk!

 

- He is still a very happy child, we do have melt downs, but overall very happy.  In fact, when he is in a "mood" I take him outside, or in public, and he is totally fine.

 

- Eats whatever we are eating... and tries everything on his plate.  Sometimes he spits it right out, but at least he tries it.  And he doesn't seem to care much for meat or veggies...  but he will down some fruit! 

 

 

- He is loud.  He has started squealing as loud as he can.  Even in public he will randomly yell.  But if a stranger talks to him (which is often... mainly complimenting his hair, or eyes) he just smiles and goes mute.

 

- He loves the rain - he always wants to go out in it. 
And this next picture cracks me up!  Perfect timing.  Yep he got hit by the ball... don't worry he was all smiles =)

- He knows all the grandparents and aunts/uncles names... but will always always say "Papaw" (my dad).  Anywhere we are... like we will be playing downstairs and running around and out of nowhere he will go "Papaw!"  Or if he gets in trouble and is crying, sometimes he will cry for Papaw.  Or if he is "talking on the phone" he will always be talking to Papaw. 
(This was after his nap, so he wasn't too thrilled with me in his face with the camera, but I got a few. )

 

- He seems very sensitive.  If I get hurt, like banging my toe or something, and yell - he will remember, and sometimes at the end of the day he will say "Mama hurt?" and point to my toe or wherever I got hurt.  And he will kiss your "boo boo".

 

- talking a LOT, we don't understand everything, but boy is he trying!  It is so sweet to hear him communicating =)

 

- LOVES: trucks, cars, buses, tractors, boats, planes, dirt, Suzi, books fruit, milk, water, hugs, coloring, washing his hands... Doesn't love: veggies, bugs (ew bug!), having shoes on

 

- He is still wearing a 2T and just went to a size 6 shoe. 

- He is a big help in the kitchen.  He always wants to see what I am doing.  Most of the time I have to give him something to mix to keep him occupied so I can actually get something made.

- He is a big help cleaning too... he loves the vacuum, and he likes to help dust and wash windows.

And here is Colin this time last year... he had just turned 1 and we sat him on a tree:

 

Here he is this year (about to be 2) on the same tree:

 

Hahahaha!  He definitely did not want to be in the tree! 
He was saying "NOOOO!  Done!" by the way =)

Oh I love my sweet BABY boy!  He will always be my baby no matter the age!  What a sweet child.  Garet and I are so so so blessed to be his parents!  Every stage he has been at has been our "favorite" and this is no different!  We love being about to play with him, and see him learn is just amazing!  I just can't believe how fast time flies!  My little boy is turning two....

Getting involved...

We found a church!  This is huge =)  We loved the church we went to in Huntsville, so when we moved, we compared all of them to that one... and, of course, in a tiny little town, none of them compared.  Well, now that we moved again - we have found a church home!  Yay!  We went to a few different ones, and we finally decided on Westover Church.  We love love love the music!  And the pastor, and I wanted to jump right in and get involved.  That is the main way we met our good friends in Huntsville.  So... I am now in a womens bible study and a MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers).  I have only been to each once, but I am soooo excited! 

 

These pictures don't have anything to do with the church, we just decided to blow bubbles outside and these are from that day =) 

 

 

MOPS was on Tuesday, and Colin did great when I dropped him off in childcare.  I really wasn't worried though, he has always been great about being dropped off and he has always been so good that the teachers are so impressed.  So I wasn't worried.  Until.... I picked him up.  My sweet boy was so red and blotchy from crying so hard!  Oh it made this mama's heart hurt so bad!  The teachers said he had just started crying when the mom's started coming in to pick up the kids.  They also had a couple volunteers not show up, so there were more kids in the room than usual.  Oh I scooped him up, then questioned whether I was doing the right thing (leaving him without me). 

 

But in the end, I knew this was good for both of us.  He had never cried like that... so the next day when I went to bible study, I said a quick prayer and dropped him off again.  He did fine.  But about 20 minutes into the class, the director pulled me out.  She said, "Colin is fine... but he is crying some.  He will play for a while, then he will start crying and saying 'Mommy!'  But he is playing more than he is crying, so unless you feel like you need to get him I think he is fine.  I will get you if it gets worse..."  Oh, my heart!  I thanked her, went back to class, and then the girl I had met in there said she would walk with me to spy on him at our break.  And thankfully he was FINE!  Happy and coloring.  Whew! 

 

When class was over, I am pretty sure I ran to get Colin!  I peeked in and he was running around with a big purple ball.  When I walked in and he saw me, he kept right on running!  Mommy who?  The teacher said that once they started coloring, he was fine!  And they were playing the "Clean up" song, so now he was cleaning up.  Although from what I saw he was just running around and throwing a ball =)  She had to walk over and actually take Colin's hand to lead him to me so we could go!  haha  Sooooooo much better! 

So I am very thankful to have this "escape" each week.  To learn and grow closer to God, and to meet and get to know other girls here.  I am also thankful that Colin is getting some time with other kids, in a Christian environment.  They have bible stories, songs, and get to do some crafts.  The teachers are really great, and they made me feel totally comfortable! 

Yay, we have finally found where we belong =) 

 

My sweet sleeping angel at his nap today. 

Birthday girl...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET GIRL SUZI!!

 

Today, as we remember the horrible events of 9/11 we also celebrated our sweet girl's birthday. 

 

I even baked a cake!

 

(Okay... really I wanted to test out a recipe for the cake I'm going to make for Colin's birthday...)
We had fun this morning singing "Happy Birthday" to Suzi.  Colin got the song down!  And Suzi was really excited, I think she knew something was going on about her =)  By this evening, she has laid down, and really hasn't moved from this spot.  Only while I was snapping her picture did she open her eyes!

 

Our dog is such a big part of our family!  Everyone said that once Colin came along that Suzi would get pushed aside - even maybe become *GASP* an outside dog!  But no.  She is just as much a part of our family as before =)  She is such a sweet girl - and so good with Colin!    

 

Happy 7th Birthday Suzi!!

Colin-isms...

I did a post about things that Colin has done or said that I just didn't want to forget, and I called them "Colin-isms".  I am going to try to keep up with this so I have things like this written down!  He is just growing too fast and I am trying to savor every.single.second!

-He loves trucks, cars, buses, tractors, really anything with wheels. 

- He says "no" ALL THE TIME.
For example: 
Me: Colin do you want to go get your truck?
Colin:  No.  No.... No!  No.  Nope.  No.
Me: Okay
Colin: goes and gets his truck
So, as you see... "no" means "yes" sometimes.  It's confusing at times.  =)

- Anytime he burps (or farts) he was say "EWWWW!" and then laughs

- Before we eat we pray holding hands.  Anytime we eat with a guest, Colin grabs their hand.  It's precious.  I asked him, "Colin, who are we praying to?"  and he answered, "God."  Then we have a bible story book we read before nap, when I ask him who is on the front he says, "Geez" [Jesus].  Love seeing him learning about the Lord!

- He is trying with his numbers... he will say "two.... eight, nine..." 
he is also really trying with his colors.  He can point to a color when you ask him, but if you ask "what color is this?" and point to a color, 99% of the time it will be "blue" (even if it's not, that's what Colin will say)

- When we were in Charlotte playing outside, I had a mosquito on my leg - so I slapped it.  Colin saw me, so I said, "eww a bug!"  Then he proceeded to slap his leg and say "ewwww bug"... even after we came inside =)

- He loves putting his hands in his pockets. Although sometimes he does it too hard and his pants come down

 

- We were driving home the other day and right down the road is a street, which leads to a park.  In the car Colin started pointing and saying, "Peeas, peas?  Peas?" [please] I was wondering what he was talking about... you can't see the park from the street we were on, and he was in his carseat in the car.  When we got home, he jumped in his wagon and wanted me to pull him back to the park!  How did he even remember that was the street that led to the park?!  He's a genius.  That's the only explanation.

- He will point to himself and say "Holin" or something along those lines =)

- Anytime Suzi barks at something outside (which is often!) I normally say, "Suzi!  Enough!"  and now Colin has started to say "Suzi!!  Suzi, no!"  or he will go over to her and pat her on the side and softly say "Suzi... Suzi... no..."  It's sweet.

- He had a mild butt rash a few weeks ago, when we would put butt paste on his booty, he would get upset (guess it hurt =( so sad), so I made it a game.  I told him I was going to "dot" his bottom with the cream, then I said "dot... dot... dot" as I put it on his bottom.  Now everytime we do a diaper change, he says, " dot, dot, peas, dot"  =)  At least it worked!

- He really likes to see what I am doing when I'm cooking.  He pulls at my leg and says "see?!"  It's too bad our kitchen is small and we don't have much counter space for him to stand somewhere and watch.  I either have to put the mixing bowl on the floor so we can do it together, or I have to put a chair in the middle of the kitchen so he can watch what I am doing. 

- When Suzi is out of food, Colin's job is to refill her bowl.  He's good at it.  And you better not do it without him!

- The other day I slammed my hand in the door to the house (yes, yes I did.  All by myself.  And it hurt sooooooo bad!  I thought I broke it!)  Colin was standing there with Garet when I did it.  I doubled over and sat curled in a chair, Garet gave me an ice pack then took Colin to the other room so he wouldn't see me in pain... but for the rest of the night Colin kept saying, "Mommy, boom, hurt, ice" 

- When he gets hurt he asks for "ice" immediately.  I give him one of those frozen ice things for when a baby is teething.  Then later he will point where he got hurt and say "boom, hurt."  And sometimes he will imitate crying.

Colin will be 2 on the 23rd... I still can't believe it!  We are so blessed!  I am amazed at everything he does - he picks up on things so fast.  And remembers things that I would never believe he could remember!  Colin is such a joy and Garet and I have so much fun with him!  So far, every age has been so much fun!  I am going to try to keep track of all the things he says/does that I don't want to forget!  What an awesome kid we have!

C and Me...

September is a SUPER busy month for Garet at work, he is gone a lot... so Colin and I have found fun stuff to keep us busy.  You've seen from my previous post all about one of our days... This was before he got ahold of the water that day:

 

He is so funny with his sunglasses... or "glass".  He pushed them on his head like this, by the way.  The neighbor got a new t.v. (or at least a big t.v. box...) and Colin loved watching the truck!

 

We had a gift card to Barnes and Noble that I figured we'd use up.  We headed to the kids books, and he went straight to the truck section!  I have no idea how he found it so fast!  And yes, we did end up getting a book with wheels...

 

Then on the other side, we made a huge discovery!  A train!  Colin fit right in with the other boys there... and by the looks of it, moms just come and get coffee and sit while their kids play.  I'll have to keep that in mind - cheap and fun for C.  It was funny to hear each boy saying "choo choo" with his own train!

 

It is always interesting to see how your child will interact with other kids.  Colin got yelled at (by the brunette kid) (for no reason) and he just turned around and choo choo'd the other way.  (The mom pulled the kid aside and had a chat, in case you were wondering.)  But Colin wasn't fazed.  Then if there was a pile up on the bridge (which was often) he would just walk around and continue a little further down the track.  It was really cute.  Oh and the boy in the stripes threw a train and Colin ran and got it and handed it back to him. 

After Colin's nap it was stormy, so I decided that he could "cook" while I got the kitchen clean and started our dinner.

 

He had [uncooked] noodles, measuring cup, in small cups were: sugar, flour, [uncooked] grits, raisins, and water.  Then I gave him the big bowl and a spoon.  He was really serious about this cooking thing!

 

He ended up pouring everything into the bowl.  Except the raisins... those he munched on.  Next thing I know, he is eating it.  Guess a good cook always samples his food...  but how gross!  Granted, everything was edible but uncooked noodles... whatever dude. 

 

Yum.... looks good.

Then today we headed to a bounce house... and we had sooo much fun!  On most of them the steps to get up are so steep that I climb up behind him, so I get to slide down too!  It really is fun =)  Colin is pretty good at doing it himself though.

 

He made some friends too.  It is so funny to see these kids flop around on these big bouncy things!  When we left I thought Colin was going to fall asleep on the way home - he was so tired! 

We've had an awesome week!  But we sure miss having Daddy around!  Tonight G and C had some quality time together - and it's FRIDAY!  So yay, we have the weekend to hang out! 

Keepin' it real...

A day in the life of Colin...

 

Hey guys!  This is Colin.  I thought I would share a day with you!  Mom wants to remember every single thing about my childhood, so I am going to help her out by documenting this. 

I slept so good last night!  In fact, I felt so good that I woke up extra early so I could hang out with mom!  [It was 5:00 in the morning]  I am not sure exactly what I was doing, but I kept saying "uh oh!  uh oh!  uh oh!"  And when I say that, Mom comes in my room pretty fast.  It's funny =)

 

Mom got me up, changed my diaper, and we went into the kitchen.  "Milk?  Peas?"  I always ask for it as soon as we are up.  Mom is good about making it for me too.  Then she always says, "Colin, come cuddle with me!"  And I do, of course!

 

She always tells me she loves my cuddles.  Most of the time we turn on the t.v. and usually a show about dinosaurs is on [Dinosaur Train] and then another show about a train comes on! [Thomas the Train]  I really like trains! 

I don't last very long on the couch with mom.  I mean, I'm up - I want to play!  Normally I find Suzi and lay on her until Mom tells me "that's enough".  Then Mom makes me breakfast.  I like to watch her make her and Daddy's coffee.  I'm not sure why Mom didn't take a picture at breakfast.  She must have been busy.

After breakfast I really play!  I pull out a cube and dump it on the floor.  This morning Mom had laundry that we folded too. 

 

[Note: mini fort, truck, books, the toys dumped out of the cube, the folded laundry in the laundry basket, tipped over desk (behind basket), toy with some laundry inside...]
Daddy always gives Suzi pills in the morning, and I always get to give her a treat once she takes her pills!

 

I'm really good at it.  And sometimes I squat next to Suzi to make sure she eats all of it.  Usually Mom or Dad make me move back, not sure why... I'm just trying to make sure Suzi doesn't miss any!

Mom told me that we needed to wash the sheets on her and Daddy's bed... so we headed to their bedroom.  I am such a big help.  I pulled off all the sheets, then I threw them all back on the bed.  Then I pulled them off, and I was about to put them back on the bed when Mom told me to just put them in this basket. 

 

Then I pushed it down the hallway.  Mom helped me carry it downstairs to the basement, but then I loaded it into the washing machine.

When we came back upstairs Mom said she had to brush her teeth and get ready for the day.  While she was doing that, I rearranged her shoes.

 

She had it all wrong.  Doesn't she know you aren't supposed to have matching shoes next to each other?!  I fixed it for her.  Then I headed to my room to play with cars for a bit.

 

Mom said it was about 8:30 [yeah all that happened before 8, crazy] and we needed to get ready to go.  We always have to walk Suzi out back.  The only door to the backyard is in the basement, so we let her out, she goes pee pee, then we let her back inside.

 

We never play out there.  Mom says it is "Suzi's domain" or something like that.
Dad left for work, and Mom started looking all over the place for a "reciept"... she finally just said, "oh well, hope they take it back without one."  Sometimes she talks to me and I don't really understand, so most of the time I just say "uh huh" and that seems to work.

Mom and I went to Lowes and she made returns.  And when I got in the cart I got a snack!  I love eating while we are shopping - it seems that anytime I am with Mom in a cart I get a snack.  Hmmm, wonder if she does that on purpose. 

As soon as I get in my carseat in the car, or in a cart at the store, it is soo much fun to see how fast I can kick off my shoes!  I love it!  Everytime I do, Mom about steps on them and I laugh so hard!  Then she makes a face, and throws them in her purse.  She is sooo funny! 

 

[note: new shirt]
I made friends with a guy on a big truck while we were there!  [he was lifting wood in the lumber section]  And I gave another guy a high five, then we got a key made!  I love holding Mom's keys, so this was really neat.  That guy didn't pay me any attention, but when we checked out... they guy there just kept talking to me.  When this happens I like to just give people a blank stare.   Mom tries to get me to say "hey" or something, but I like to just stare quietly.  Sometimes I will say "bye" but today I didn't feel like it.

Then we went to the library!  I love the library!  They have cool computers that Mom lets me play on!

 

I am so good at these computers too!  We also got some books - I love to read - and a couple of them are about trucks!  What could be better!  I got to run around in the kids section, and I even screamed really loud!  But Mom told me I needed to be more quiet. 

On the way home, Mom and I sang really loud to the radio.  We love to sing in the car! 
At home, I quickly found my bike and made a few laps around the house.  I think it is so funny to run into Suzi - she jumps so big and then runs away!  I laugh so hard!  Mom doesn't seem to think it is funny and always tells me to "be easy with Suzi!"  but I usually forget.

 

Mom and I also finished up the laundry.  I just love to play in the clean laundry!
Daddy made a quick stop by our house before lunch!  When I see his car I always yell "Daddy Home!"  And when he walked in I ran to give him a big hug!  He wasn't able to stay long, he said he had to get back to work.  When he left, Mom and I waved at the window - and he beeped his horn!  He is so funny.

Mom made us lunch, and I got some applesauce!  It was so good! 

 

After lunch, I get really crazy.  I like to run around a scream as loud as I can!  It is the best game!  Today Mom even chased me some!  She always says that I need to get out my energy before nap time. 

Then we went into my room, changed my diaper, and snuggled up for a couple books.  I always read about Jesus before nap, then I get to pick one or two more.  Then Mom sings to me.  I was so tired by the time she started singing, in the middle of the song, I said, "night night". 

So she put me down, and I went right to sleep. 
I wonder what Mom does while I sleep.... I know that my toys are usually put away when I wake up, so I bet she plays with them...

When I got up [2 hours later] I had a snack.

 

And then Mom and I headed outside to play!  It was a nice day and I really wanted to walk to the park, but Mom kept telling me no.  I was starting to get really upset... but then she pulled out my water table!  And the hose!  Oh man, I was excited!

 

I am so good squirting the water!  I even got Mom a few times!  We stayed out for a long time, but when she told me to come inside I was so mad!  I didn't want to come in!  Once inside, I got over it though.  I got to wash my hands, which always makes things better.  But then Mom said she saw a boo boo on my knee!  I am used to getting boo boos but I have never had to have a Band Aid!

 

I was very interested in it.  I kept reminding mom that I had a "hurt" and I pointed to my knee in case she forgot.  Then I got her to kiss it to make it better.  It worked.

Dinner was leftovers.  They were really good - usually when Dad is home late we have leftovers. 
After dinner we read the books we had gotten at the library.

 

I really like the ones with the trucks!  This one had dirt - I had to keep telling Mom in case she didn't see it.
After I brushed my teeth I heard Daddy get home!  I was SO excited!  I ran full speed into his arms and gave him the biggest kiss!  I love when he gets home!

Bath was really fast... my boo boo hurt when it got in the water.  Mom had to be really fast!  When we got to my room, Mom got my pajamas on and we talked about our fun day.  Then we said my prayers and she left me in my crib.  I didn't make a peep. 

Night Night everyone!

[This ended up way longer than I thought it would =)  If you are still reading... I really just wanted to document a "normal" day.  I think I am just getting sad that my baby is turning 2!  Wow.]