The babe turns ONE!

At 2:47am on July 27th, 2010 my little man was born into the world.



Wide-eyed and curious, he immediately picked his head off my chest to view his new surroundings.

He was ready to take on the world within the first few minutes.

As time quickly passed, he grew up laughing and happy.

Or mad.

Not much in between for this little man.



He grew strong, my mover and shaker.

He scooted early.

He army crawled early.

He stood early.

He walked early.

He loves his bath time.

He loves doing exactly what his brother does.

He wants to be just like his big brother.

He likes things to be done his way.

If not, he is not afraid to let his opinion be known.

Not afraid at all.

He is good little eater, willing to try anything.

Food found on the floor is a particular favorite.



He is so inquisitive.

Always wanting to see what it does, how it sounds when banged on the floor, how heavy it is to lift overhead.

He is very determined. He will crawl, he will walk and he will stand on anything in his way.

His determination to not get his diaper changed is a daily battle that we engage.

The older he grows, the more he explores.

Bathroom toilets.

Trash cans.

Rockers.

Beds.

The world is his oyster to seek and explore...or destroy, whatever comes first.

While feisty and stubborn, he can be equally as funny and sweet.

Goofy smiles.

Silly dances.

Happy screams.

All apart of who he is.

Life is an adventure with this boy and my life will never be the same.

Every day is a new discovery, a new plan, a new idea.

What can be touched, eaten, tipped, shaken, thrown or bashed?

Colin is out to explore those infinite possibilities.


Everyday I find out more and more who he is.
He has brought so much joy into my life.
 He is my happy, crazy, lively boy who lights up the room.

I can only imagine what this next year will bring.
I am excited to watch you move and explore and to get to know who you are even more.
I am blown away at how fast this first year has gone.
You have went from my sweet cuddly baby to my big handsome boy.

We love you so much and are so very thankful that you came into our life one year ago today.
I am so proud to be your mommy.
You truly are one of my life's greatest joy.

Happy 1st Birthday, my Colin!
We love you so.

Take Me Home...

 

We went home for Michigan for 10 days.

It was wonderful.

It was tiring.

It was chaotic.

It was relaxing.

It was comforting.

It was beautiful.

It was just so good to be home.

A Day in July: One Year Later

~July 20th, 2011~

One year ago I first documented a day in my life. I had wanted to complete a full year, but life (and forgetfulness) got in the way. Things have changed quite a bit in one aspect and many things remain the same.

To view our day in July 2010, check it out here.

Notice any big differences?

The main one.

This guy. Exactly one week from his first birthday.

Saying good morning and good bye to Daddy before he leaves for work.



Jack doing his usual routine. Wakes up, watches a "show" while waking up. Today it was Fireman Sam.



After starting the coffee and making the oatmeal all while holding Colin, he was finally ready to eat. I can not put him down for at least a good ten minutes or screaming ensues. Half way through his daily banana he decided he needed to do it himself.



The boys play while I eat my daily oatmeal and have a cup of joe while checking work emails, emails, blogs and the like...

Today was a busy day actually. I go into the offices on Wednesday and today I was bringing a meal to the Daulton's. Seriously, they are amazing and you need to read about them here.

While I was prepping the food and getting ready, Colin took a short nap. After loading everything up in the car, I grab this sleeping little guy and put him in the car by 10am.



Sweet sleeping baby.

Jack is ready to go! He insist on having his sunglasses with him...cause he freaks out if the sun gets in his eyes. Freaks. Out.

After dropping off the food, I went and got my hair cut. It was LONG overdue. Too long. 6-7 months long. Yikes. I adore my stylist and she can cut long hair better than anyone I have had. I wanted to get bangs, but she talked me out of it. I have some sweeping bangs, but can come back from real bangs if I change my mind, free of charge.

After the hair cut, it was a Target diaper run and than off to work.

The new 'do. Pretty boring and basic...but oh how it lays nicely now.

The bangs. Kind of. It was hard to get a picture and I was in my work bathroom and that is just awkward...moving on.

And than I sat and my desk and worked and wrote scripts.

Picked up my handsome boys around 6pm and headed on home.

Jack has decided to not eat since turning 3. So, he made faces and snuck his trains up on the table while we ate a quick dinner of left overs.

Colin, however, is a big fan of eating. Eating and smushing it everywhere. It really is his specialty.

A quick wipe down and a snuggle with Dad before bath time.

Getting scrubbed down. Both boys refused to look at me or smile for the camera. They were not amused with this whole " Day in July" stint.

Cute little naked guy.

Bed time quickly ensued and Jack was read to and put to bed. Colin was nursed and put to bed.

And there was peace and quiet.

I painted my toes and nails after looking down at my feet in the salon chair and realizing that I needed some much needed polish changed.

Ryan worked while I painted and watch t.v. Poor guy. He works most nights after the kids are in bed after working a 12 hr day.  At least Oscar decided to keep him company.

Notice those empty frames? I have big plans for those babies. We are getting family pictures done this weekend with a killer photographer and I have high hopes. He was able to make the mayor of Portsmouth look slimmer, so I am hoping he can work some of that magic on me.

And it was off to bed around 11:30pm or so. Always much later than the original goal, but it always seems to get much later than we expected.

And that was a day in July for 2011.

I enjoyed looking back and seeing all the changes. I didn't know who Colin would be, but I was ready to meet him a year ago. Now, I could not imagine my life without my little guy. Jack still has his same morning routine, yet he has changed so much. I wonder what next year will look like?

What does your days look like?

Mr. Walking Pants

In less than two weeks, my baby will be one. ONE. One year old. Crazytown.

In similar style of late, I am behind on his monthly postings. Eleven months is now almost over and the big ONE is around the bend.

The big news for month 11?

Walking.

 The little man is walking. He had been taking steps for the last month or so, but on the 27th of June, eleven months exactly, he decided to just walk. No more crawling. Just adorable little toddles to and fro.

He doesn't like to be stopped. So, taking pictures was not his favorite thing to do.

Oh well. Real life eleven month old.

Super happy. Super mad.

Mr. Waking Pants brings so much joy to our life.

So big.

So soon he will be one. I hope I am ready.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday ~ The Vacation edition

It has been awhile since I have done an awkward and awesome Thursday. We have been traveling, working and recovering these last few weeks. Babes have started walking, fridges have died and been miraculously fixed, toddler's turned three and much, much more. So, here is a vacation edition of this week's awkward and awesome Thursday!



~Awkward~

~ Colin's ability to throw himself backwards and scream when things don't go his way...like being awake in an airport at 5:30am...

~ Seeing 3 mid-twenty year old males walking down my inlaw's quiet street...tanned, oiled and in speedos...

~Gaining vacation weight. Boo.

~ Making a train cake for my 3 yr old...and it literally falling apart. I froze that sucker twice and the cab still disintegrated when I tried to frost it. It was a good thing that the candy hid it's many grievances.

~ Going to a bed and breakfast with quiet hours at 10:30pm...stated on every wall, every five feet. We got it. Quiet time at 10:30pm. I kinda felt like I was at summer camp...not a hotel/B&B that I paid for.

~ The large collection of German-speaking Mennonites that were at the same bed and breakfast. They only came out of their rooms for the 8:30pm banana splits...and to play shuffle board. Our family thought we had the place to ourselves till the free ice cream came out.

~ Bug bites. ON YOUR ANKLES. worst place ever. Well, one of the worst...

~ Cars 2. It was just not good. First movie theater movie for our little man and he asked to play games on our phones half way through the movie and than asked to go home 3/4 of the way through the movie. As an adult, I lost interest...so obviously a 3 year old would. If I wanted to watch a Bond movie, I would watch Daniel Craig, not an animated Disney movie.

~Coming home to enough penicillin to save a small third world country in my fridge. Apparently the fridge section turned off sometime during the week...and molded every food item in the fridge.

~ Noticing that my skirt is see- through...at work. Really. Pretty much sheer. This realization forced me to walk as closely to a penguin as possible without looking obscenely stupid. This did not happen on vacation, though I bought the skirt on vacation. This happened yesterday and it was uber awkward. I walked around Target and Lowe's with pretty much nothing covering the lower half. So, no more checking if I need a slip in my dark cave of a room. Always check with actual daylight.

~Awesome~

~ Watching Colin eat his first cake and taste of frosting. Hands free, face first.

~ The low humidity 80 degree weather that we enjoyed. It was beautiful there. We came back to the so-thick-you-could-swim-through-it humidity and 100 heat index here in VA.

~ Watching Jack watch his first little from-the box fireworks. His expressions were priceless.

~ Changing less diapers cause my mom always changed the boys when she was around. Pretty much doing less cooking, less cleaning, less laundry, less everything that vacation entails.

~ Forgetting to log my weight watchers points and just eating what I wanted. Awesome...till the consequences added up...

~ The quiet car rides with just my little family. It was just us for those few moments before we rushed off to the other activities and I realized how much I love my guys.

~Going on a quick one night getaway with just my family on my mom's side to celebrate my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary.

~ Bonfires with giant marshmallows.

~ Taking Jack on his first boat ride...and watching him get drenched by some waves.

~ Just being home and with family. It is always comforting. Makes me wish we did not live so very far away.

~ Hubby fixing our broken fridge with the powers of youtube and the internet...

And because a picture is worth a thousand words...here are some of my favorite A & A moments...

Awkward

 Quite possibly the worst food advertisement ever. Who would want shaved ice when you are thinking about lice? Anyone?



~Awesome~

Cute boys dipping their feet in the water. Cutest.

As always, this is sponsored by the Daybook.