Trip to DC...

We went to Bethesda last Thursday (it is right beside DC...) for a memorial service for Garet's grandmother.  We left Thursday afternoon and got there around 8 that night.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  I mean, it took us about 6.5 hours (we had to stop a couple times) instead of... um... like 13 hours!  Awesome.

So we stayed with one of Garet's sisters... she gave us some more hand-me-down clothes for Colin.  He had to try on this awesome hat...

while he was playing with this awesome whisk!

We took a long walk around the neighborhood and Garet showed Colin the house he grew up in

I don't know why I didn't take any pictures with my camera!  Crazy right?!  I took a couple with my phone, so did Garet, so all of these are phone pics.  I really need to get better about that. 

Saturday before the service we went to his mom's house to hang out for a bit.

(once again Colin found kitchen utensils to entertain himself)

He also got to hang out with his cousin Abbi.  She is the only cousin younger than he is (that is until September or October!) of his 13 cousins!

After the service we all went back to Adriane's house and had a nice dinner - it was so great hanging out and talking!  Garet and his sisters take a picture together every time they are all in the same place, here is the most recent:

I try my best to keep Colin on his schedule when we are traveling.  It doesn't always go as planned, but we do pretty well.  So, I had to bathe and put him to bed shortly after we all got back to the house, but before I did he got to cuddle with his Great Grandpa Steve

Too cute!!

It was so great to hang out with family!  And (if I don't say it enough on this blog!) we are closer so we can do it more often!  We left yesterday to come back home, but before we did we went to Garet's dad's house for a lunch.  Suzi got to play in the backyard with their dog (and all the kids, of course) so she was nice and worn out for the drive. Colin got passed around, and all of his cousins tried to make him laugh, so he was pretty worn out too.  And aside from a huge diaper blowout (I won't show you the pictures of that! haha) we had a smooth drive!

(and thanks to my mother-in-law for a couple of these pictures!)

Cleaning up...

no, not my house... my blogs!!

I have finally accepted the fact that I cannot keep up with all the blogs that I once did.  I don't know how many of you bloggers out there use Google Reader, but I love it.  And it is so easy to just keep adding blogs that you want to keep up with.  I have had 1000+ unread blog posts for a long time now... so I have gone through and taken off some of the blogs I follow. 

I had a lot of random, pointless, but funny blogs... like Awkward Family Photos and People of Walmart.
I love professional cakes... (like Cake Boss), I just think it is such an art... but this blog cracked me up: Cake Wrecks.
Before I was pregnant, I was obsessed with all things baby.  Spearmint Baby was fun to look at, there are some neat ideas on it.... I may keep this one...
I also love weddings.  Style Me Pretty has so many pretty weddings!  But they have tons of posts, and it is just way too hard to keep up with it.

There are more...but for now I got it narrowed down to just over 500 unread posts =) 

Busy day...

We had quite a busy day today!  Garet got his work done early, so we had most of the day to do what we wanted!  We decided to head to the beach!  It is so different being so close - we are less than an hour from the beach - so we packed up and headed out! 

The weather was perfect!  It's amazing because yesterday we were huddled in the house because of a tornado warning/watch!  It was hot and there was a breeze - so nice!

Colin, once again, hated the water!  I don't know if it is just intimidating because it is so big, or if it is just so loud with the waves.  I'm sure he'll learn to love it =)

We walked around the town, then we headed to Barefoot Landing.  There are tons of stores here around a lake.  It's a really nice place to walk around (and shop, if you like that sort of thing!)  There is a really long bridge across the bridge.  I had to get a picture of the guys.

The sign says "Warning Alligators & Wildlife May Bite".  Great.  Thanks for that warning.

And Colin kept his shades on!  And got many comments! 

After that we headed back home and had dinner at a local restaurant.  Turns out it is kind of a fancy place at night.  During the day: sandwiches, at night: steak.  We definitely weren't dressed the part - but, being a small town and all, there were only a couple other tables in there... so we stayed.

(wow those walls look bright!)

And now, I am sitting on the couch relaxing.  Garet is in the recliner... Suzi is asleep on the rug... Colin is asleep in his crib...
I am so thankful today.

Easter...

Garet's sister, Karen, came to visit us on Saturday!  We went out to dinner that night, downtown... which let me just say that it will take a lot to get used to "small town" living.  Every place here has such crazy hours - like downtown was empty!  Most places closed early... places have random hours and random days they are open... I don't think I will ever memorize what is open when!

Anyway... on Easter Sunday we woke up and discovered that Colin has his first tooth!  It is on the bottom, and before you ask... I will try to get a picture.  Every time I look at it he sticks his tongue out!  Here we are before church...

Speaking of church - it is going to be hard to find one here that will measure up to our last one!! 

After lunch we drove down to visit with Garet's grandmother!  It is only an hour away now!  Yay! 

She is just the cutest!  Here we are:

It was so nice to see her!  And Colin just loved his Great Grandma Beane!  He really liked sucking on her necklace!  We had such a beautiful that day - and we were so close, that we drove to the beach to let Colin dip his feet! 

And being a mom - I was prepared with a bib in my pocket =)

So... we were so excited to let Colin see the water!  He LOVES his bathtime... I'll let you see for yourself how he felt about it...

What a great weekend!  It is hard to belive it was our first one here!

What's up...

Wow, I am so behind on here I don't even know where to start!  I have had this update in cue for so long - and so much has happened... this might jump around a lot!  Here goes:

We LOVED our church in Huntsville!  They had their baby dedication the week we left... so we had to get Colin dedicated before we left!  In the midst of all our craziness, we had my parents and Garet's mom here to celebrate this occasion!  The night before, we grilled out and celebrated Colin.  Then the next day we got all dressed and ready for church.  Here is the crew:

Colin was so perfect!  He just looked all around when we were standing at the front - he didn't make a peep!  What a sweet boy!

We had so much fun hanging out with the grandparents one last time in Huntsville! 

Colin has started to get really interested in faces... With my dad he kept trying to grab his beard, and if you have glasses he wants to see those too!  I love this picture:

Then it was time to move...
we had a few last dinners with friends, and then we had movers come and box our house up.  It was so crazy how fast everything happened - you can read the posts below for that summary. 

The house we rented is so cute, and the neighborhood is so nice!  We did get in and paint the master bedroom...

That's my dad - and we took down the curtains, and painted over the lovely yellow.

After staying with my parents for about a week, Colin Suzi and I are now making our home here in Whiteville with Garet.  While in Charlotte with my parents we met and saw lots and lots of people!  We squeezed in everything we could in those few days!

Since being here (less than one week!) we have almost got the house unpacked, switched our cell phones and numbers, got a big ole rug for our living room, got a new mattress, and are now trying to figure out where to hang frames!  Oh and we had our first visitors this morning!  My cousin was on her way to the beach and her car broke down - at our exit!  So we had her over until that got settled. 

We are now awaiting the arrival of Garet's sister - our first overnight visitor!  And Colin turned seven months today! 

Oh and tomorrow is Easter! 

I think I am caught up now =)  I will try to stay on top of this better! 
I slacked on A Beane A Day also, but I did get caught up with that as well!  Yay!

Moving...

Another quick update:

So this has just happened so fast and so [knock on wood] smooth!  We had our house in Huntsville up for sale and for rent to see which happened the fastest.  Someone decided they wanted to rent it.  Then they said they needed to move in the following Monday (a week after they said they wanted to rent it!!) for job purposes.  Garet and I had movers come out on a Thursday, pack up our entire house... then we moved us, Colin, Suzi and a few other things of ours to North Carolina on Friday.  On Saturday we drove to Whiteville, NC and found a house for us to rent for a year!

It is a cute 3 bed, 2.5 bath house with a big fenced backyard for Suzi! 

Colin, Suzi and I drove back to Charlotte to stay with my parents.  On Monday, Garet started his new job and the tentents moved into our house in Huntsville.  Tuesday Garet signed the papers to make this our home.  On Wednesday my parents and my crew drove down to paint and clean up the inside.  Friday Garet got the cable/internet installed and had the carpet cleaned.  Saturday the movers brought all of our stuff from Huntsville.  Everything is all moved in!  Today Colin, Suzi and I are officially moving.

After today I can take a deep breath... and then start organizing!

Quick update...

I am getting slack on this!
And we have so much going on!  I'll have to update more later, but the short version is:

We've rented our house in Huntsville. 
We had movers come in Thursday and pack up our whole house.
We loaded up our cars with all that was remaining and drove to Charlotte yesterday.
We went to Whiteville, NC today, and are in the process of renting a house there.

Now Colin, Suzi and I are at my parents, and Garet is in Whiteville.  He starts his new job on Monday!

What a whirlwind this has all been!  And I am tired! 

More later!

Half way...

to one!

Colin had his 6 month appointment this morning!  He is in the 45% for both height and weight... 16.9 lbs and 26" long!  My sweet little man!

Six months...

Colin is 6 months old today!  Wow!  I know I say it every month, but time just flies so fast!! 

Colin is:

- Eating rice cereal, and has started fruits, twice a day

- Sitting up for a few minutes at a time, unassisted

- Scooting around everywhere on his belly

- Still loving books

- Grabbing his feet and sucking his toes

- Standing (with help, of course)

- Talking all the time

- Takes two (short) naps everyday, and sleeps from 8 pm - 7 am (waking up once to eat)

- Grabbing for anything in his sight

- Loving Suzi!  He is so interested in her!  He sqeals and smiles when he sees her (and braces for a lick!)

Garet and I feel so blessed to have our sweet little man!  He has brought us more joy than we thought possible.  I really can't believe he is halfway to one!!  Crazy!  We are trying to soak up every moment with him.  He is changing so fast and I want to remember everything!

Funny sock...

Colin pulled off one of his socks... so I took it from him and then started swinging it around.  He got the biggest kick out of it!  I managed to get it on video:

Five on Friday...

1. Colin celebrated his first St Patrick's Day yesterday!  He made sure to wear green so he didn't get pinched! 

2. Also yesterday, I had to go to the specialist about my dumb knee.  I am not a fan of going to the doctor, or taking meds, so after a lot of pushing encouraging from my husband (and mother), I went.  Basically I have to go to physical therapy, but they also gave me a steroid shot in my knee!  It hurt like heck I tell ya!  I could barely walk out of that place!  Anyway... all that to say that while I was wasting 2 long hours getting my knee shot up at the doctor, Garet took Colin to Publix to do some shopping.  When they got home, this was what Colin looked like:

Super cute, right???  =)  But also... pantless.  My boy went out and about with no pants on!  haha 
When I saw him and said, "where are his pants?!"  Garet replied, "oh, does he need pants?"  I know around the house I let him go without pants, just cause it's easier, but not when he is going out!  haha, I got a kick out of it!  At least it was warm!

3. Let me back up some and fill you in on how traveling with a baby went...
It was perfect!  Although, I am a very scheduled, planner type person, so I had to get over that.  For example - here we start Colin's bedtime routine between 7/7:30.  He is in bed, asleep by 8 each night.  The first night we were there, we didn't get to our room till after 7, Colin was in bed at 10:30.  And it was fine.
The airplane was great, as I have mentioned.  I am still breastfeeding, so I got over nursing in public real fast!  There really isn't a "private corner" to go to inside Atlanta Airport!  So, I stacked all our luggage in a seat next to me and had G sit on the other side, and it worked just fine!  In fact I bet most people didn't even realize I had a baby under my cover!
Feeding him rice cereal was done in his carseat.  No big deal, just had to wash it real good once we got home!  I borrowed a pack'n'play from the hotel.  And for his bath, I just used a towel and put it in the bath with him (rolled up behind him) to keep him propped up. 

It really couldn't have gone smoother!  We made sure to "go with the flow" and Colin did perfect!
4. So, we have been staging our house since we found out we were moving.  We have been non-stop cleaning, rearranging, fixing, packing, etc.  We will get started on one thing and that will lead us to another thing... it's been crazy around here.  Still, I chuckled when I found where Garet had left his water the other day:

See it?  On the top of the guest closet!

Then Garet made me laugh again (do you see a pattern here??) when I sent him to the store for candles.  We have one of those candle holders that go around your umbrella on the outside patio table.  Ya know... the one that holds tealight candles.  So, I told G that I wanted green tealight candles... this is what I got:

Every color tealight they had, plus some votive candles too!  haha, just in case I needed options =)  (We went with the green.)

5. Speaking of the house... it is officially for sale! 
Anyone want to move to a beautiful 3 bed, 2 bath brick home in Alabama????

Our trip...

The reason for our trip to Wilmington, NC this week was actually for a job transfer!  About two weeks ago Garet was told about an opening there, they flew us out, showed us around, and then made Garet an offer.  After talking everything over - we accepted!  So we will be moving back to North Carolina!

Here we are about to meet up with Garet's new bosses for a nice dinner...

Lucky for us we had the perfect babysitter!!

Eric and Kailey are only an hour from Wilmington!

So we will be living right outside of Wilmington - a small town called Whiteville.
We've driven all around and are very excited about this!  This will put us so much closer to family!!  My parents will be 3 hours away!  Wow!  (Now they are about 8.)  There is a really nice state park that will be close to us.  They have camping/hiking and a really nice lake!

The town is super cute!  We didn't have too much time to really explore, but we did get to eat lunch at this nice little cafe downtown.

We knew once we had Colin that we wanted to be closer to family.  Garet was able to talk to his boss here and let him know that if anything closer became available we would be interested.  At that time, his boss warned us that when another council was interested in Garet, it would be a very fast process - and boy was he right!  Within a week of hearing about this opening we were flown out to see it.  Then made an offer... so in two weeks we went from normal, to moving to another state!  And to make things go even faster, Garet starts this new job on April 11. 

We are so blessed to have this opportunity!  And we couldn't be more thrilled to be moving so close to family!  It is truly bittersweet to be leaving though.  We have made some awesome friends here, and have really made Huntsville our home. 

Before I get emotional... I will end this =) 
Here is our sweet little man at the airport.  He was so excited to be sitting in the chair!  We were about to board our plane to bring us back here.

Travels...

We went out of town at the end of last week.  We flew to Wilmington, NC.  Colin helped me pack...

He was sooo perfect on the flight there!  He slept during both flights.

Before our first flight, Colin decided to spit up on my leg, so my pant leg was soaked, and then he decided to spit up on the chair where I was sitting, so I pretty much looked like I peed my pants.  And on the second plane, te flight attendent was giving his speech, and didn't realize that the microphone wasn't cut on.  He was doing all the gestures and everything!  So then he had to redo it all.  It was pretty funny

We didn't get to spend too much time in the hotel, but it was nice to have a huge bed for Colin to play on!

We got to see my mom and two of my aunts, and my brother!!  It was so much fun!  I posted on A Beane A Day of seeing them.

Rainy day...

* just found this .... I had forgot to post it!  oops =) *

Today has just been... blah outside.

I think I have been spoiled by all the nice, warm weather - and I forget that we are still technically in winter.

So Garet had to work for the most part today (boo!) so me and the little man had an inside day.  We played peek-a-boo:

Colin loves this game!  I did it with his burp cloth (it was clean, I promise!)  Every time I say "Boo"  or I say, "Where's Colin?"  and pull the cloth away and say "There he is!"  He just cracks up!  He has started pulling the cloth away himself... that's what he was doing in this picture.  That's why he is still partially covered!  =)

We also played with many, many of his toys:

I loaded a bunch of them around him and took this picture.  He tends to get bored with some real fast, and others I don't think he has gotten tired of them yet!  See that alligator he has his hand on?  He loves that one!  It's funny to see which toys grab his attention.

We also read:

Okay, I read... and then Colin tried to eat it.
He loves to read be read to.  He has favorites of these too.... I have found that any book I read that has more words than pictures, really don't interest him right now!  This book is one of his favorites.. "Barnyard Dance!"  He also really likes "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See".  I think I have these memorized...

Oh and we have only taken 1 nap, for 30 minutes... don't know what that means.  He is about to doze off right now though... hopefully it means he'll sleep well tonight!  =)

The weekend...

We had a great weekend... it, of course, went by way too fast though!

On Friday Colin and I joined Garet for a luncheon he had out in Decatur.  Colin dressed up in his scout uniform, and really stole the show!  He was so well behaved!  The speaker was Young Boozer, and we got a picture with him.

On Saturday, Garet volunteered to do a pancake breakfast at a high school out in Decatur.  Colin and I went to that too... man was it crowded!!  I am soooo blessed to have such a well behaved son!  It was so packed that I didn't want to bring his stroller, so I just carried him... he did so well! 

I love getting pictures of Colin and Suzi together... they are so interested in one another.  It is really cute.  Suzi will roll around on her bed, and Colin will just stare at her!  Or Colin will roll around on his mat and Suzi watches his every move! 

The weather is WONDERFUL!!  I really hope it doesn't get cold again!  We have really enjoyed being able to get outside.  I need to get some baby sunscreen for the little man!  He has been hanging out in the shade.

I went in for a little bit, and when I came back out I saw this conversation going on...

How cute?!  Nothing beats seeing Garet as a Daddy  =)

And nothing beats the sweet sound of Colin laughing and having fun.  He just loves bouncing!  It was fun to get it outside so he could have a change of scenery!

Now it's time to curl up on the couch for a little bit before headed to bed! 

Playing outside...

It has been so pretty outside lately, it has been hard to stay inside!  So... I took the kids =) in the backyard to get rid of some energy.

Colin stayed in his swing in the shade while Suzi played with her ball. 

I love that the weather is getting so nice!!  And I know Suzi is in heaven with all the walks she has been on!