Day with Daddy...

Last Saturday, after we woke up and had breakfast, I realized that it had been a long time since: 1. we were home on the weekend; 2. Garet didn't have to work; 3. we had NO plans!  What a great combination!  Garet went to a yard sale and found this awesome basketball goal for Colin!

So, first up for the day was a little basketball!  Colin LOVED it!  He just loves to throw the ball around - most of the time if there is a net he will try to get it in...

You go boy!
He may be a little too small for it, but that just means it will last longer =)

By the time we were finished playing ball, it was lunch time followed by nap.  So Garet washed our cars (thanks honey!) and when Colin got up, I put him in his swimsuit!  And he got to play outside in the water!

What a cutie!!  He had sooo much fun!

All he had was a bucket, water bottle, and a couple easter eggs.  What else could a boy ask for?!  =)

Garet would refill the bucket everytime it got too low.  They were so cute together!  Busy, busy boys!

The weather was so great!  Hot and sunny, just the way I like it!  Colin kept his shades on the whole time, even though there were water drops on them!  And he hardly paid me any attention - there were far more important things going on!  I finally got him to look up...

Even though it was hot out... the water was still cold.  Every once in awhile, Garet would shake the water from the bottle on Colin!  Can't you just see him laughing while a little shiver went through his little body?  haha  He LOVED it!

I love my guys!  And I am so thankful for the days like this one!

Update...

I figured I should do a quick update on here - at the beginning of this week Garet went on a work conference for the week and I went to my parents house.  Right after I got there (Sunday) I had a miscarriage.  I don't feel like I need to explain the pain and hurt that surround us at this time.  Please just keep our family in your prayers.  Lift Garet up as he is out of town, and lift me up as I am recovering physically.  We are taking comfort in the fact that we know God makes no mistakes, and we still feel His strong hand on our family.  While at my parent's house I realized that I forgot my cell phone charger (which evidently they don't make anymore...) so my phone has been dead pretty much the whole time I've been here.  I am finding peace in the forced disconnect from the world.  I promise to be in touch with those of you that have called, I am just wrapping my mind around our new situation and enjoying my family right now.

Playing at the park...

We went to the park a couple days ago and as you can see Colin was super excited!  Anytime we put his shoes on, he knows he is going either on a ride in the car, or outside and he gets sooo excited!  At this park he had fun running over this little bridge:

and then running back around and stepping back up to the playground.  He did this over. and over. and over! 

We love seeing Colin have so much fun!  I wish so much that I could just capture each and every moment so I will never forget!!  He is just so much fun!!

Stop paparazzi!!

Every once in a while he likes the slide.  Depends on the day...

And then sometimes it is just more fun to go down on your belly...

What a fun day! 

Downgrade...

A couple weeks ago I downgraded my phone.  When we first moved here, Garet and I both got new phones and new phone numbers.  Garet got an iPhone, I got a "normal" phone... but then he kept talking about how cool the iPhone was, so I went back and got one too =)

Since finding out about our new addition, we have also been finding ways to save more money... and one of them was downgrading our phones.  So, I went first.  I used an old phone my cousin gave me.  And can I tell you that I feel a little more freedom?! 

When I had my iPhone, the Internet was accessible ALL the time.  Garet and I would be watching t.v. and a commercial would come on, so I would check facebook, or email... Colin would be eating a snack, so I would check my phone... we would get in the car to go somewhere and out came the phone...  I would check it allll the time!  Now, I check email and facebook maybe 3 times a day or so.  My iPhone still works - it's like an iPod now - but I leave it on my counter all day instead of having it attached to my hip. 

Ahhhh freedom!  =)  And because every post needs a cute picture...

Visiting...

We were able to get away for a long weekend to Garet's sister's house!  Karen and her two kids, Kathryn and Sam live in Mt. Airy... this is the cutest town!  If you aren't familar with it, it is home of Andy Griffith!  We had sooo much fun visiting and hanging out!  Here is a quick recap of our weekend...

Friday we went to the park.  Colin had a blast!  It was a little chilly, but beautiful outside!  Then we went out to lunch.  The park was packed with kids!  And there was a little "jail" like from the Andy Griffith show!  

That afternoon (after naps) we went exploring downtown.  The town is soooo cute!  And the stores are really neat - there was Opie's Candy Store that had tons of glass containers of candy and you just put in a bag whatever you wanted... then you pay by the pound.  And they sold old timey bottles - I had to get one! =)  We grilled that night for dinner. It was fun to play in their backyard while the burgers were cooking!

See Andy in the car?!  haha

On Saturday, Garet and I took Sam and Kathryn to Pilot Mountain for a hike!  It was beautiful!! 

We had so much fun getting to hang out!  Colin loved to watch Sam - he would just crack up whenever Sam did pretty much anything!  I learned how to play a game on Xbox, and Garet did pretty well at Wipeout.  We had a fire outside and ate waaay too many chocolate easter eggs!  Saturday evening Garet's mom and Rod came and we ate a nice Easter dinner (since we left Sunday). 

Here was our Sunday... and after lunch the Beane crew packed up and drove home.  Can I say it again??  It is sooo nice to live close to family =)

Happy Easter...

We went to visit Garet's sister and her two kids for Easter, and we had a great time!!   Easter morning Colin got his Easter basket (which I forgot to take a picture of!  so sad).  We didn't make a big "to-do" about the Easter basket, but he got a little soccar ball, a little broom and broom pan (he LOVES to sweep and clean! haha), and some peeps, we also got him a water table that we are making part of his Easter basket =)
Then we went into the backyard to search for some easter eggs!

Colin caught on right away to what he was supposed to do!  And he had a blast!

It was so cute to see him searching for his easter eggs. 

Oh what a handsome child!!  We didn't put anything in his eggs (he's only 18 months - he sure doesn't need candy!) and he had a blast just playing with them.  After egg hunting, we headed off to church.

It was a lovely service, it is always wonderful to hear about the resurrection of Jesus!
Garet's sister lives in Mt. Airy - which is the home of Andy Griffith (and Opie, and Barney, and the rest of the crew!)  So... we had to get a picture with Andy and Opie =)

Colin was really interested in Opie's foot.

Once we got back to the house, we snapped some pictures while everyone was still in their church clothes!  Here's my crew:

Garet's mom and her husband came to visit for a couple days too!  So we got a shot with them:

Then Rod took the picture of all of us!  We sure had a nice Easter!!

Our God is an awesome God...

February 16, 2012:  Here's how our day went:We woke up at 6:15ish, Garet was on Colin since I had a doctors appointment.  The appointment was with a fertility specialist.  We figured, it took almost 2 years to get Colin, we might as well get the process started for a second child.  I got ready, ate, and was out of the house by 7 (it's in Wilmington, so it takes an hour to get there).  Got to the doctor (late - darn traffic!), and it went well.  We came up with a "game plan" (the same "plan" that we did when we got pregnant with Colin)  The doctor wanted me to go get lab work done when I left his office.  He said that someone would call me that afternoon with my lab results.  The nurse told me that she would go ahead and call in my prescription for the injections (the meds I was going to start), since that's what worked before, we decided to do that again this time around.

After I went to the lab for bloodwork, I headed home to my sweet guys (and Suzi, of course!).
I got home, took over Colin, made lunches, played, then put Colin down for his nap.  While he was asleep I got a call from the place that will send me my injections.  They said they had received my prescription, but unfortunately my insurance did not cover it.  [side note: I had already looked into fertility treatments on Garet's insurance, and she assured me that they WOULD cover what I thought I was going to need to do. We were under my employer's healthcare when we went through this to have Colin].  So it was going to be over $1,200!!  I told her to just hold the prescription... then I went upstairs to talk to Garet almost in tears.

After talking with him, I came downstairs, layed down with Suzi and prayed, "God please show me what we are supposed to do.  I KNOW that you can allow Garet and I to get pregnant on our own if it is in your will.  Is this your way of showing me to just trust you??  Okay then, I trust YOU." 
I went and got Colin up from his nap, made his snack, and was hanging out with him in the living room when my phone rang. (this was within 1/2 hour of the first call)  It was my doctor with my lab results:
Me: Hello
Joy: (yes that was her name!) Is this Kelly?
Me: Yes
Joy: I have your lab results...
you are pregnant!
Me: What????  (pretty sure I yelled at the sweet lady)
Me: Are you sure you have the right person?
Joy: Yep, you are definitely pregnant.
.......

By this time Garet was downstairs and figured out what was going on.  I kept saying, "How," "Really," "What," "I don't know"....  I was floored!

I AM PREGNANT!

When we found out I was absolutely stunned!  It took us going to a fertility specialist and a lot of treatments to get Colin. Because of my condition (pcos) it was almost guaranteed that I would need assistance for any future children.  So, at the end of January, we made an appointment with a specialist to get the process started. It was pretty much a consultation visit... then on February 16 I had my next appointment...  We are so happy and grateful for this new little life!
So - with that - I give all my thanks to God for this is truly a miracle.

[I wrote this the day we found out so I wouldn't forget =)  I am now 11 weeks pregnant.  I felt absolutely horrible at first, now I just feel "okay".  We are so excited and feel truly blessed!]

Oh what fun...

I have mentioned that Colin LOVES being outside, and the dirt, and water....
Well yesterday Garet and I decided to have some fun!  It was in the 80's here, so we put Colin in his bathing suit, grabbed his wagon, a bucket, some balls, and the hose, and had a blast!

I LOVE this picture!  I had just grabbed my camera, yelled "Hey Colin!" and he turned real fast to me, flashed his awesome excited smile, then turned back to the more important task of filling the water bucket!  I was so surprised that I actually got the split second look!

So, this is how it went... Garet would fill up the bucket (an Easter basket) and Colin would then pour it out... on himself.

Our nozzle has different settings, one of them is "mist" and Garet would turn it on and just spray Colin!  He loved it!  You can tell in his hair all the little water droplets from the mist.  And I love how serious he is here - make sure you fill it all the way up daddy!

 We had such a fun time!  And boy was he worn out after this!

Quick Recap...

Wow, I've been slack! 
So here are a few bullets of what we've been up to:

• Colin turned 18 months on Friday!  Can you believe my baby boy is a year and a half?!  He is so busy!  And LOVES to be outside and get dirty =)

• Garet and I went to Charlotte the weekend before last, then G and Suzi came back here for the week, while Colin and I made ourselves at home with my parents.  Then G and Suzi came back last weekend to get us =)  It was so nice to just chill at my parents house! 

•  While we were in Charlotte, Garet and I got to go out on a date!  We went to see The Hunger Games!  I LOVED these books and was so excited to see the movie!  I loved it - I'm not so sure G did =)  I felt like it followed the book and did a great job of putting a visual to it.  Then we went to dinner and got some frozen yogurt!  It was so nice!

•  Before we left Charlotte Eric, Kailey, and Morgan came!  It was a quick visit for them since Eric had to work, but it was sooo nice to catch up with them!  And little Miss Morgan is a doll!  Colin had fun sharing his toys with her.

•  We are so excited for this summer - we think Colin is going to have a blast at the beach!  He loves water and he loves sand/dirt, so he's definitely going to love the beach!  It is nice that we only live about 30 - 45 min from it now!  I've already put him in his bathing suit (he kept getting soaked at my parents house!)
  
   
•   That's all I can think of right now... I will try to be better about keeping this updated!  Here are my favorite guys!  (Colin is really good at giving kisses!)

17 months...

I am a little late - but Colin turned 17 months on the 23rd.  I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget some of the things he is doing now!

- when he drops something he says "uh-oh" and points at it, actually anytime anything is out of order or messed up he says "uh-oh"

- if he has spilled some milk or water, I hand him a paper towel and he wipes it up... then throws away the paper towel (after saying "uh-oh" of course!)

- when we pray before we eat, he will hold our hands, then say "ma man" [amen]

- before his nap and bed I sing to him, he hums along sometimes =)

- if he sees steam, or comes near the oven he says "hot" and hold his hands up (like he is feeling the heat)

- when I take off Colin's socks, or anytime he is barefoot, he will spread apart his big toe and the toe beside it and look, like he's looking for something in between his toes... ha!  Who knows where he got that?!  But he does it ALL the time!

- when he wants something, he will point or grunt, so I've started to teach him "please" instead of grunting.... so now he says "peese"  It's precious!

- if Colin wants something and I don't understand, he will grab my hand and pull me to what he wants (usually it is for me to open our bedroom door - he loves to play in our room!)

- he loves the swifter and the broom

- Colin LOVES Suzi!  L O V E S her!  My sweet Suzi is so good with him, but sometimes I have to take her out of the room... I feel bad, Colin doesn't understand "gentle" yet.  The other day he went up to her, grabbed her gums and looked at her teeth!  Geez!  I am just thankful she is so good!

- he has started saying "moor"  [more]

- when Garet leaves, Colin will run to the front door and wave and say "bye bye" to him out the storm door.  He even gives slobbery kisses on the door!

- he still loves the bath - but now he has bubbles to play with in the tub!  He will grab a handful of bubbles and then blow on them

- he really loves books.  Sometimes he doesn't let us get through reading a page before he turns it though!  It is so sweet when he grabs a book, hands it to me, then backs up into my lap so I can read it!

- he loves to be outside.  He really likes the sticks in the yard.  And balls!  And dirt!

- Colin is so good at "helping" around the house.  He will help me put clothes in the washer, then move them from the washer to the dryer, then he will help me put them in the laundry basket, push the basket to the living room, then one-by-one he will pull out each piece.  It may take me a bit longer to do, but it is priceless to see him help!

- he waves "hey" and "bye" to everyone

- he likes music and dancing!  The other night we went to a fundraiser and there was a band.  Colin ran up in front of everyone and started dancing!  It definitely got everyone's attention!

I am so in love with this child of mine!  Some days I just stare at him and thank God for what a blessing He has given us!  It is so amazing to see Colin learning new things everyday!  He is such a happy kid!  Garet and I are loving watching him grow!

(so these pictures don't have anything to do with this post, but it's all that I have right now =)  He had so much fun with this ball!  But about 10 minutes after these pictures - the ball popped!)