15 months

He has the power! Ah, the ever popular remote control. This one is old without batteries, but he still holds it up and screams like he knows he has all the world in his hand!

Playing with Tad

So happy! (Can you see his molar?)

Eating his first PB&J!

Well, not much to report here. Colin is now 15 months old. At the doctor's he weighed 28.6 lbs. and was 34 in. long. He's working on tooth #10, and probably a couple more. He's still our little busy body- constantly walking and playing around the house. We're going to do something new this week- MOPS! I hope he enjoys another day out with babies his own age. I'm really excited about it. Enjoy these couple of pictures, most taken today while we were playing.

Vegas- Again

Addison wanted to sit in the chair too!

Colin lounging at home

He found Daddy's shirt in the laundry basket

Ready for church with his new shoes, and of course the box is just so fun to play with!

He does pretty well with a spoon

Playing with cousins Bella and Addison in the sprinklers at Grandma's

The birthday girl! Addison digging into her cake

Pretty girl!

Yes, we went to Las Vegas, again! We just can't stay away! :) We went this time to celebrate Addison's 1st birthday and to take a little R&R at the Encore Resort. We had a great time with Rodney's family. We got there Saturday morning - just in time for Addy's party. She had a lot of people there to love on her, but she didn't like it much at first! Another nap and she was a happy camper- just in time for cake and presents! Sunday we had a great time at Mike's where we finally got to see Don and Arlene again! They met Colin for the first time too. Colin did pretty well at someone else's house- even a bachelor pad with lots of sharp edges! ;) Monday we headed off to the Encore. We somehow were sent this great (legitimate) deal in the mail and we decided to take advantage of it. Colin actually spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's Monday and Tuesday night. He did great! Rodney and I spent more time with Mike and Andrea and Ryan, and some time at the pool! We also got to see the Cirque du Soleil show "Le Reve" as well. It was awesome! We did sneak Colin in to stay with us Wednesday night, but I don't think anyone noticed. It was a great trip away, possibly perfect with a little time to ourselves and Colin getting to spend a lot of time with his extended family! Now we're home and back to normal. We're hanging out at home while Rodney's busy at work. I'm still coordinating playgroup for church, and I'll be in MOPS this year as well at another Lutheran church. Rodney is also on the Spiritual Leadership Team at church and will be leading a small group Bible study this fall. Busy, busy! Colin continues to grow and grow. We'll see next week how much taller he is, but he's now definitely tall enough to put toys on the kitchen counter and to push the water lever on the fridge! (Good thing that comes with a lock button!) So far no new words yet, but a LOT of jibber jabber. Like right now he went to the bathroom door and couldn't open it so I guess he came to tell me all about it. Someday that gibberish will be real words and we'll probably have to tell him to be quiet! Ok, time to go play blocks and Little People.

July

Rub and dub dub, two cousins in a tub!

Finally! Eating whole green beans! This was taken after he ate a grilled cheese sandwich too!

All of the Clutts, Verner, Baxter and Witt families

Starfish at the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.

Daddy tickling Colin and taking pictures

Colin helping Daddy replace air filters

I made a new World Vision display for Rodney's store

Our patriotic boy on July 4

We've put Colin on his potty a few times. He's peed twice! Typical though, he wanted to read!

Well, it's been quite a July so far. It has been hot, hot, hot here! I know that's not a surprise, but it has been really humid which makes those 110+ temps really hard to bear! We braved quite a few little illnesses this month and I think we're on the mend. Colin had roseola (fever and a rash a few days later) and an ear infection, and Rodney had food poisoning and I had some sort of lovely virus. Of course this all came right before we were going to Las Vegas to visit family. We were all healthy though by the time our trip came. We went to go see Rodney's family and his sister Amber and our nephew Christian were in town from Texas. We had a great time hanging out with the family. We went swimming, had a BBQ, shopping, movies, Rodney went to a concert, the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, and had lots of time watching babies! Colin has two cousins around his age and that is one big job watching after them all and trying to keep them out of stuff! It was a great visit!

June

Eating his first french fry!

Ready for swimming at playgroup.

The farm we got him for his birthday. He tripped over the green part and hit his eye on that open barn door, which turned into his first black eye.

Our Father's Day gift for Rodney.

June is almost over already! I can't believe it. It has been one busy month! Mom and Dad left after my birthday and had a safe trip back home to Missouri. After they left it was time to concentrate on VBS! Our first VBS at Summit was AWESOME!! I taught a first grade class and Rodney was the pirate "No Beard" in the play. Yup, he had to shave his beard for a week! The kids had a blast, but us volunteers were really tired by the end of the week! Colin did ok in the nursery (after the first night that is), but I think he was happy when the week was over! Check out a video of our VBS at http://summitcc.blogspot.com/. Also, our VBS kids raised about $2300 for Water is Life (http://www.waterislife.com/). That means 230 kids in Zali, Ghana, will have clean water to drink for a year! Amazing! We capped off the week with Father's Day! Colin and I got Rodney one of his favorite TV show season's and painted a mug for him. We also gave Rodney a nap after church! That was a nice gift! ;) This week has been back to normal- just working around the house and trying to keep up with a little man on the move!

My 30th Birthday Party

Me and my in-laws, Danny and Angie, as Hulk Hogan and Peggy Bundy

Ryan as Cameron from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", Andrea as Stephanie from "Grease 2", Brandon as a rocker, Bella as Rainbow Brite, and Addison as a rocker baby- love it!

My 80's baby!

Mike and Jen- classy!

Rodney was such a wonderful, sweet husband and threw me a big 80's themed 30th birthday party! I think he had a lot of fun planning it. Our families were there and some of our friends. The 80's theme was really fun! Rodney even got me a special cake (which the cake decorator in me loved) and spent time before hand practicing making my favorite drink- cosmopolitains! It was a lot of fun, especially ending the evening drinking a few beers and playing 80's Scene It with Mike and Jen. Thanks, Rodney for all your planning to make my day special!!

Colin's 1st Birthday Party

Relaxing with Grandma and all of the Cardinals stuff from them and Uncle Jason's family!

He wouldn't let go of the balloon string - even while eating his cake!

Playing with cousins Bella and Addison

We were blessed to have both of our families come to celebrate for Colin's birthday party on the 29th. My mom and dad were here and Rodney's mom, dad, and sister and family came down. Rodney's best friend Mike even came! A few close friends from here joined us as well. So much fun! I made Colin's cake and we had a simple BBQ at home. He had a lot of fun opening presents this time (even though tissue paper and wrapping was still a huge draw) and loved playing with his cousins. Oh, and balloons. He shrieks at balloons! We practiced with cake before his birthday so his gagging on a new food wouldn't be an issue. He had no problem gobbling down his piece! I think he had a great time and we'll remember it for sure!