Colin turns 2!

2009...

2011

Singing Happy Birthday

Our little family (Colin really wanted cake!)

Colin opening gifts with his friend Grant. Colin will still open things one little piece of paper at a time and lay them down on the ground.

Addy "helping" open legos from Grandpa Danny and Grandma Angie

LOTS of balloons!

A new favorite activity! Rides on Grandpa!

Opening...slowly....

This is so much fun!

Oooo! Grandma and Grandpa got Colin a flashlight- just like on Kipper!

This great frog chair is from Grandpa Danny and Grandma Angie too! Thanks so much!

Hanging out with Grandpa and watching Kipper

I love books!

Snacking with all his "tools"- his cup and a stuffed toy

No crib anymore! :(

I can't believe it- my baby is 2 already! How on earth did that happen!? Our little baby is now a stout little boy. His 2 year appointment was no surprise- still above the 95th percentile in all areas. He weighs 34 pounds and is 37 1/2 inches tall! He's now in his toddler bed and did pretty well transitioning from the crib. He does wake up a little earlier- 5 am! But, we are greeted with a cheerful little boy in the morning knocking on our door. He comes along with his favorite things- his giraffe and books! All of his favorites start with "B"- books, balloons and balls. He also loves playing outside and drawing. Of course, he has his "terrible two" moments, often still in the form of pinching, hitting or pushing. But he is also very sweet, coming up behind us and giving us hugs and giving out plenty of kisses!

We were blessed this year with visits from Grandma and Grandpa Crowder and Aunt Andrea, Uncle Ryan and cousins Bella and Addison to help celebrate Colin's birthday! On Colin's actual birthday we just had a family dinner at home with Grandma and Grandpa. Unfortunately, Colin didn't get to sample any of his angel food cake we made for him- he wouldn't eat his dinner like we told him to! (We're such mean parents! Haha!) But, he tried it the next night and he didn't like the texture! Oh well. We had a party on Saturday once everyone else was here and also some friends from church who have 3 boys Colin loves to play with. All the kids had a lot of fun playing. Colin loved his gifts and has had so much fun playing with them all! Thanks, everyone for your generosity! We loved having everyone in town to help us celebrate!

Children's Museum

Grandpa helping Colin get the golf balls at the top of the ball track

Colin and Addy painting the castle in the Art Studio

Drawing class this visit! Colin and Addy got to "freestyle", Bella learned about drawing an animal- her choice, a snake!

Bella took Addy for a ride...

and then Colin! Wheee!

Yes...we went again! But, this was a very special trip this time- we were joined by Grandma and Grandpa Crowder, and Aunt Andrea and cousins Bella and Addison. They were all in town to help celebrate Colin's 2nd Birthday! Everyone had a great time, and we were proud to show off our super fun museum!

LemiShine!

All my free goodies from LemiShine! :)

Raise your hand if you have hard water! We do, we do!! Thankfully, there's LemiShine! We ran our dishwasher for the first couple of years with just dish soap, but we had so many spots and then there's the build up on the heating coil which really worried me. Through some research I found LemiShine! Thank goodness! A little LemiShine in there and glasses are clear and that build up is going away! Hurrah! Then, I found this great deal where they would send a saple pack of their products- not only LemiShine, but there disposer/washing machine cleaner, an their dishwasher rinse! I love, love, love free stuff but love it even more when it's all stuff I can really use! All the products work great. If I could get some coupons for LemiShine to use all the time it would be perfect!

Easter 2011

Finding his first Easter eggs!

Easter 2011

Playing with home made play dough again- and the rolling pin Grandma Angie and Grandpa Danny sent for Easter!

Such a big boy!

We hope your families had a blessed Easter! We spent a busy morning at church. We branched out for two services for the day (and will go to two services in the fall) and Rodney worked the sound table for both of them. I volunteered in the VIP room- a space for kids of volunteers to hang out during their second service if they're there for both. Of course Colin participated in the egg hunt after church! He didn't quite know what all the fuss was about until we pointed out the eggs! Once he saw those he knew exactly what to do! The morning did get really long for him, but he was a trooper (and the DVD player came in handy again!) We then spent a quiet afternoon and evening at home- ending the day with our traditional bunny cake.

In other news, Colin has been sleeping in his toddler bed! He does a great job sleeping in it at night, but we're still working on naps. We may have to put him back a couple times before he'll fall asleep, and sometimes we find books or puzzle pieces in bed with him, but he does well for the most part. Naps are a little more difficult. He usually ends up back in his crib- either because he gets up so many times we have to put him in the crib so he actually goes to sleep, or because he wakes up quickly after falling asleep and he needs more sleep than that. He does wake up earlier in the morning and we get this bright little face walking in our bedroom, books and stuffed animal in hand ready to go for the day! We were glad we left his crib up as well since he was sick last week. I was very busy cleaning up a lot of yucky stuff last week, but the stomach virus seems to have finally left Colin's system. He seemed to be fine for a couple days and the second day we went swimming for the first time this season. My friends at church were right- a "heated" pool (to 80 degrees) is cold! But, Colin loved it, as he does all of his time in water. I got my first and hopefully only sunburn of the season. :) We're looking forward to the end of the month and visits from family for Colin's 2nd birthday!