Christmas 2010

These past few weeks that I have had off of school have been very uneventful, yet eventful.  We basically spent evey day just enjoying our little family as well as enjoying some company from Greg and Rachel.  They were so kind to come here to visit since I couldn't travel.  Basically our Christmas went like this,

Christmas Eve: Mass with my parents then they came over and we cooked dinner, they all drank wine and we all watched Christmas movies



All Ready for Church



Christmas Morning: We all slept in until 7:30, woke up, opened gifts from Santa and the Horning Clan.  Then finally about 10:00 we headed to my parents for Brunch.  After Brunch we came back home and all took naps.  Then went back to my parent for the arrival of Greg and Rachel.  We all just played and hung out that night and saved the Christmas dinner and gift opening for the next day.

opening the first gift

playing with dad..trying to lay just like him



 

LOVING my new Thomas remote control

Day after Christmas: We just hung out at home, took naps then headed to my parents for dinner and gift By the end of this day Collin had definatley mastered the art of opening any gift whether it was his or not and I think just by his attire by the end of the night, t-shirt and new snow boots, he had a wonderful Christmas!....i'll post more pics of this later.....

Some of Collin's lucky items he received were puzzles, clothes, a table "his size", books, a Thomas beginner train set and the list goes on and on.  So, overall it was a wonderful Christmas.  It makes us remember how lucky we are to have such great family, even if we didn't get to spend it with all of them, we definately felt loved by all! 

THANK YOU!

One thing I have been very deteremined as a mommy is that my children will have good manners.  Now, who knows if I will completely be successful with this, but I am going to try my best for all our kids to at least say please and thank you at all times.  So I am constantly reminding Collin when he says, "Yes" I then repeat "Yes, Please"  or anytime he does something for me I sign and say "Thank You".  Well Thursday night was the first time I finally saw it all pay off.

Now Collin will sign Thank You if we ask him to. For example, someone gives him something, we say "What do you say" and he will sign "Thank You".  But Thursday evening Collin and Eric were partaking in their nightly routine of standing at the sink cleaning all the dishes as I cleared the table.  As I brought a plate over and set it on the counter or Collin he said, "Momma" and signed "Thank You" to me!  I was so excited.  But that wasn't it.  Then later that night as Collin and I were snuggling up in his bed he wanted a book that was under the bed.  So I grabbed it so we could begin reading.  He then once again said, "Momma" and signed "Thank You"!!!  I have to say this was one of the most proud nights I have experienced so far as a parent!!!

Big Boy Bed = 1 Collin = 0

  As we are "slowly" beginning to start to get ready for Collin's little sister, who is trying so hard to be here early, Collin is starting to slowly see new changes to his life.  Last Sunday Collin officially moved into his "Big Boy Room".  We had been working on painting, moving and getting Collin aquainted with this new room and surprisingly the first night went SO well.  Me, the somewhat emotional pregnant Mom, was much more worried and concerned about Collin's first night in his big bed.  Collin was so excited about the entire family sitting in his new bed to read books he could barely contain himself.  After we all picked out books we all sat on the bed and Collin started quickly speaking a language of his own(he has recently started rambling like crazy....not sure what he is saying but he is very aware of what it is) with a huge smile on his face.  It was so cute to see how excited he was for this, when in reality his Momma was scared to death.  So we read books, had a drink of water, and gave hugs and kisses and we were out the door.  It took one or two whines and he was out cold in his bed.  Here are a few pics of the room and Collin in his bed....the room is completely finished, still waiting on wall decor to come.....

okay so i've had this post done now for at least a week and i was waiting to find our camera charger to upload the pics. However, what's new, we still can't find it.  So I'll post pictures as soon as I can!!

   Okay so after we got Collin's new bed set Eric was very concerned with the height of the bed.  Yes it seemed a little high but what kid hasn't fallen out of his or her bed, right??  Well Eric being an ortho guy was determined that he has seen way to many kids in the OR after falling out of bed.  So I decided to just let him win this battle and we took the box spring out and he bought plywood to keep the bed supported.  Well, not that I like to admit it, good thing my hubby is so protective because it didn't take long for our first fall! 
  The friday after Thanksgiving we woke up to Collin crying at his bed side trying to get back into bed.  I quickly picked him up, cuddled him and placed him back in bed.  Well the next thing I noticed his entire left side of his face was full of blood:(  I turned the light on and noticed the carpet was spotted with blood and the white closet door looked like a serious fight took place here with blood smeared all over.  We Collin was okay but somehow ended up with a huge gash over his left eye and on his cheek.  The poor kid still looks like he was in a serious fight as the eye is now draining all colors of purple, yellow, blue and green!

entering the toddler stage...

The past few weeks Collin has started doing so many big boy things!  He is very into playing golf, kicking the soccer ball, drinking out of a "big boy cup without a lid", repeating so many words and sitting in his booster seat, NOT his high chair.  Some other things that have changed is Collin's sleeping.  He is finally learning how to sleep in!  The past few weekends he has slept in until at least 7:30 and even 8 o'clock one of the days.  Then on the school days I am having to wake CP up at 6:35 or until the last second I can giving us enough time to get him dressed and out the door in time.  Collin is becoming such a great helper.  He loves to help!  Whenever we need him to do something he is not you simply say, "Collin you want to "HELP" mommie _______".  For some reason it is that magic word of HELP that he loves.  At school he is even getting really good at unzipping his coat, taking it off and putting away in his cubby.  It is so hard to believe how big he is getting.  Collin is learning so many new words and slowly starting to say phrases.  Some of his favorite things to say and do......
          1. Mickey (meaning can we watch Mickey Mouse)
          2. Boots (collin has a slight obsession with shoes and now that it is colder he loves my big black boots)
          3. Ya (almost anything you ask Collin he has learned how to respond correctly.  For example, Collin did you have fun at the store with Grandma? "Ya" Did you ride in the big car? "Ya" Were you a good helper for Grandma? "Ya".
         Along with these great "big boy" things he has also started to have quite the strong opinion!  We are now fully experiencing lovely TANTRUMS! For such a long time I thought Collin was such a good listener, even our neighbors would comment on how great of a listener he is, for example, when I ask him to stay on the side walk and not go into the street.  However, things have changed.  One of Collin's fvorite things is to run out the garage, down the driveway, and up the sidewalk.  He will stop here and there to check and see where you are and then will continue up the street.  He will go all the way up about 3-4 houses just testing you to see if you will come get him. 
              So basically once Collin has his mind set up, he thinks that is what should happen.  We have found that if you just walk away and become engaged in something else,  like walk out of the kitchen when he is insisting on having yet another snack,  he will throw himself on the floor give a few screams and then within 2 minutes he will be back ready to play.  Another thing I have never seen from him is his lack of sharing.  Last weekend we had TJ and Sarah down to visit.  Well Collin was not all that thrilled with TJ using all his toys.  He would be okay if he was using toys he didn't care all much about but when it came to his lawn mower, broom and golf clubs, Collin was not the best sharer!  How do you tell an 18 month old he has to share when he doesn't get what that even means!  But we continued to remind him to take turns and share and poor Sarah and TJ had to experience a few of Collin's tantrums as he is slowly learning this new skill! 
           So as the little dude is definately keeping his momma and dadda on their feet he is also everyday saying new words and growing at a rapid rate!  Hard to believe he is already 18 months and within no time will no longer be our little baby!!

Jumping Elmo = Jumping Collin

These days Elmo is the coolest guy around, well and so is Mr. Noodle.  SO, what ever Elmo is doing so must Collin be doing.  Today Eric and Collin came to visit me at school during my conferences and as I was walking them out I look back at Collin and he is standing on the sidewalk with his hands in the air pushed up on his toes.  After watching him for a minute or two, I finally realized what he was trying to do. JUMP!  There is an entire Elmo dedicated to jumping which has become one of favorites these days, so it all started making sense.  So I went over to Collin and lifted him up and down and we practiced jumping.  He then continued to try so hard on his own but was never quite able to get off the ground.......

A visit from Grandma Shelley

Last weekend Grandma Shelly came all the way from Ohio to visit.  We had a wonderful weekend...except for the part when Collin got the flu Saturday afternoon.  Grandma Shelley arrived Thursday afternoon and Collin and Eric went to pick her up at the airport.  Then Friday, Eric and I both had to work, so Collin stayed home with Grandma and hung out all morning.  It sounds like they had a great time between playing in the play room, in the family room, and outside!  Then Collin, Eric and Grandma went to get Colllin a haircut as well as went to the park.  Saturday we had planned to go to the farm right up the street but decided because it was pretty cool in the morning we would save that for the afternoon.  So instead we went and ran errands in the morning.  Collin was soooo lucky to have gotten a new wagon from Grandma so after nap Eric, Grandma and little helper Collin put it together.  Here are some pics!

Here is just one pic...i will add more later!!

Pics from the summer....

My favorite "clothing atire" and My favorite thing to do



At the lake

At the lake

Once again...I love any thing that cleans...or makes noise!

                                                    What??? I wasn't doing anything wrong...... 



Our trip to St. Louis Botanical Gardens



I walked that whole bridge by myself!

 Chillin' at the park



Grandma and the three boys....the best we could get of the little boys and Frankie's full force smile:)0





Our Soccer Player

This weekend we went up to KC for a quick but very fun filled day!  Kristin and I had realized that it had been way to long (since August) that we had seen each other.  Since we had an open weekend, we took full advantage to head up to visit.  It had been quite a while since Collin had seen his cousins and seeing them all together just gets me so excited about the future ahead.  We were lucky enough to get to go to Frankie's soccer game and then later that day went to his birthday party.  Collin quickly saw all the big boys kicking the soccer ball around and he quickly decided he too was going to be a soccer player! 

A True Soccer Player Picture

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Running out on the field with Daddy after the game

A big ol' apple is also one of Collin's newest adventures.  Like you can imagine this little dude likes to eat.  However, I don't mind if he wants to eat if it is just things like apples.  The other night he saw me eating an apple.  Of coarse, at this time, anything Eric or I eat, he must eat as well.  So he just started taking little bites of my apple.  Then the next thing I knew, he was holding the entire apple chomping away, all the way down to the core. 

Sharing with Mommy

I KNOW IT"S BEEN FOREVER....

Okay so I know it has been quite awhile....maybe 3 months or so...but I was some-what rebelling against the blog spot for a short period of time.  I was having an issue publishing things and after taking the time to get a post all ready, I had just about had it, so I refused to post it again. 
   But I guess now that I am over throwing my fit....and there has been quite a lot that has occurred in the past three months, I realized I need to/want to get back to my blogging! 
   SO here are just a few things to get everything all caught up on our past 3 months.
 1. I am pregnant!!  Collin is going to be a big brother, to a little sister that is!  As of January 10, Collin will no longer be the only "baby" in our family and will get to start sharing his mommy and daddy!  However, according to all Collin's teachers at school, they seem to think he will be the best, most protective big brother:)
  2. Talk, Talk, Talk: Collin is such a talker now.  Both nonverbally and verbally his language seems to amaze me everyday.  He is able to understand just about everything we say or ask of him, and he is learning more word every day.  HE may have his own version of these words but his momma sure knows what each is!
     So far some of his favorite words are: "Roe Roe's" (Cheerios), More, Me, Please, Up, Duck, Walk, "Wal Walk" (shoes because we walk with them), Broom, Ruck (Truck), Ball, Nana (banana), of coarse momma and dadda, and I am sure there are still some others! 
  3. Animals: Collin loves all animals....especially dogs! You have a dog, bring it on over and my little guy will be entertained all day.  Plus all you have to do is say the name of the animal and he will give you the sound.  He does have a few original sounds: Penguin: we say happy feet and he instantly stomps his feet: Giraffe: He knows a giraffe has a long neck so he will go and find our necks.  Fish: he makes a fish face
   4. Cleaning: Collin has developed a love for cleaning.  He is just a tad obsessed with things like the vacuum, the broom, using a paper towel and spray bottle to wipe things up, the lawn mower, ect.  I guess it is not too bad of an obsession but at times I would rather we just sit and play with his trucks and not always have to clean......
   5. The park: Over the summer we probably went to the park almost every day and now even on the weekends we at least go daily to the park.  Collin has no fear when it comes to sliding down huge slides and loves to climb through tunnels, go up steps, over bridges and swing.  I think the little man would live at the park or even just outside if he could!

Okay well here are just a few things, I will post some pictures, as soon as we can find our connector cord!

Sticking your tongue out = GOOD CONCENTRATION

Lately Collin has been getting more and more into his walking. However, he has found that sticking his tongue out gives him that little extra bit of concentration he needs to take 3 or 4 more steps! Here are a few pics....

Now that Collin and I are home for the summer we are also finding that Mommy has to get things done around the house. SO.....according to Collin....I absolutely have started to torture him and am making him walk from here to there so I can get things done! It took him a few days, with many dramatic fits, but he is finally starting to be very willing to come along as long as you give him "the hand". I found that sticking my hand out and saying, Come on, let's go, he feels very included and joins in the fun! It may take me a bit longer to get from one place to another, but I am able to do laundry, pick up, make lunch etc much easier!! Other things we are finding being home all day is......

1. We love early morning walks. Every morning after Collin and I have eaten breakfast we take a 30-45 minute walk around the neighborhood. Collin points out all the birds and says hello to every car we pass as Mommy gets some exercise herself!

2. Going at least one place a day is crucial! Staying home all day can be an okay thing. But for both Collin and I we need at least one outing a day. Now being home all day this can easily become an expensive thing, but I have been trying to do things that don't cost like going to the park or the walking trails, or even visiting Grandma. I hope as the summer goes on to go explore all different parks throughout Springfield as well as go to the library.

3. Naps are only a problem at daycare. Collin and I have gotten into such a great routine for naptime. We simply go in his room, read a few books, snuggle in his chair, put on his music then night night we go. Now granted some naps aren't the longest....45 minutes maybe...but we have had many 90 minute naps even some 2 hour naps! Mommy is finding that the afternoon nap is crucial, cuz that is when she naps too!

4. We needs toys when you can just carry things around the house all day. I have found that the huge baskets of toys we have are almost a waste. Collin will play only if I sit and help keep him focussed on his toys but otherwise he is carrying a box, that is twice the size of him, all the way around the house, pushing his monkey around on his mickey toy, or taking ours shoes all over the place.

Not gonna lie...this lifestyle is pretty amazing....one could get very used to it!!

The Wheels on the Bus

Okay so I know I haven't blogged in FOREVER!! But I have been boycotting my blog. The last few times I have put together a post I have then spent hours and hours to get it to load. But I am going to give it another try without any pictures or anything special and see if it works......

But this morning as Collin and I were on the way to our play date at the park we got about 5 houses away from our house and he instantly starts saying mu-mu-mu then signs please about 10 times. This is a common thing once we get on the road. Some of you may wonder what this means, well he would like me to put his music on so we can sing. So I put it on and here comes the song, The Wheels on the Bus. This has become his absolute favorite song. As the music begins he begins all the motions including "the wheels go round and round", "the door goes open and shut", "the horn goes honk, honk, honk" and even repeats the gas goes "glug, glug, glug". I must say watching him in the rear view mirror gets so excited about such a simple song truly makes me smile!

Another thing I have noticed as we are listening to our music is how intently he is listening to the words. He has started to repeat all the animal sounds as they are sung. A very strange song we listen to is "I had a rooster" and in this song the boy has a bunch of animals that all make their sounds. Collin has started to repeat all the sounds like "Baa", "Meow", "Squeak", etc.

Once again I am so lucky to be home with him every day and am so glad that I get to see all this wonderful milestones and experience them right there with him!!

Fun Outside Time

Collin received a water table for his birthday! Being that two of his favorite things are being outside and water...he is in absolute heaven!!

Another favorite thing is going to the park.....I think we will be there quite often this summer!


Climbing like a big boy!

This was a two weekends ago and just this weekend he proudly went down the slide all on his own....well just holding onto Mommies hand!

It's my PARTY!

The weekend of May 1st we had Collin's birthday party, because we were out of town the following weekend. Collin was so excited to have his cousins, aunts and uncles come down for the fun! Watching Collin and Sam, his cousin, play/interact with toys was very funny! Since Collin is 6 months younger than Sam he is just a tad bit slower when it come to moving around than Sam. For example, Collin may be slowly pushing his Mickey toy across the room. He pauses for a second and turns around and quickly Sam slides in to try out that toy. As we all know, what 1 year olds knows how to share, but it was so funny when finally Collin gave in and just stopped, tightened his fists and shuddered as if he was so frustrated he didn't know what to do! I definately think this summer we will need a good "timer" method for the boys or just have two of every toy we have.

I decided to make cupcakes...I must say I was very proud of how they turned out! I made a monkey, tiger and lion. Of course Collin ate the monkey...his favorite!

Here are some more pics from the party!

Aunt Kristin and Collin just hanging out.

Grandma and the Boys!

FRANKIE making faces!

Gift Time

My new chair from Grandma and Grandpa!


Cupcake Time...thought I should touch the fire!

YUM! This looks tasty!

I am soooo tired!!

SO overall is it was the perfect one year birthday celebration!!! We have been so blessed this last year to have family and friends support us throughout Collin's first year. It is hard to believe it has already been a year!

one year ago...

SO I know I have tons of pictures to upload from the big bday party this week, but today I just felt like I needed to write. It was one year ago today that Eric and I packed everything up, a brand new car seat, a handful of newborn outfits, and a bunch of clothes for our fun filled stay in the hospital. It was 5:00 am and I was anxiously ready to leave so bright and early in the morning just so excited to be induced and meet our little dude. I just remember waking up that morning taking a picture of how "ginormous" my belly was and not truly understanding how amazingly our lives were about to change.

Once we finally got into our room which was about 6:00am, the first nurse, Jackie who I really wanted to have, gave me clothes to change and a bit of a recap of how the day would hopefully go. Boy were we wrong. Here is a picture right before our took my position up in the bed....boy was I big!

The morning went pretty quickly with nurses coming and going, checking my vitals, Eric leaving quite often so he could go grab something to eat...wasn't that nice of him to at least not eat in front of me, and just watching tv. Then it was about 12:15 that I started to notice a bit of change in my pain. Since I had been having contractions since I came in that morning, it wasn't until then that they really started to effect me. Jackie, the nurse, came in to let me know that the anesthesiologist(sp) had a case to do at 1:00 so if I wanted/needed the epidural I would either have to have it asap or wait until close to after 2. At that point in time I decided I could wait. That quickly changed. It wasn't within 5 minutes that some intense contractions began and I quickly the nurse back in to see if it wasn't too late. Luckily Dr. Krites was able to come in and before her case and was I ever so happy to see her! The epidural started to work, Dr. Wotherspoon came in and broke my water and the day continued to waste away. Things weren't moving too quickly but they were moving so that was a good sign. The nurses were very interested in my contractions. The usual plateau looking contractions you get when in labor was not what was exactly showing up on my monitor. I would have a spiked peak of a contraction, then it would drop then quickly peak right back up. It wasn't until it got to be around 5 when Jackie said I was dilated to a 7 and she was off at 6:30 and she really wanted us to have a baby by then.....and so did I! She stuck around and stuck around and it was finally 7:30 and there was till not much movement. I think I was to maybe an 8 by then and I had to be handed off to a different nurse. Dr. Wotherspoon kept coming in to check me but the little dude would just not drop all the way. It was then about 9pm they realized that he was face up and because of the shape of my pelvis he was going to have a hard time to completely drop all the way. Finally at 10:30 I was at a 10 but Collin still was not completely dropped. However, they thought if I pushed for a bit maybe that would help things. SOOOO we began pushing...and pushing.....and pushing. Finally at 11:30 Dr. Wotherspoon came back to check me and there was no news! The only negative news was that I had spiked a fever and my epidural was only working on one side for the past 3 hours. Dr. Wotherspoon told me I had to make a decision at the time. I could continue to push...and I could push for up to 2 more hours, or because of my fever, Collin being face up, and not being completely dropped I maybe wanted to consider a c-section. Within a few minute I could tell that she thought a c-section was the safest route to go so I said I guess lets go for it. She then told me that was exactly what she hoped I would say. They then prepped me for surgery, Eric went back to put scrubs on and the next thing I knew I was being wheeled down the hall for surgery. Not gonna lie the whole c-section itself was definately not my first choice of delivery or was not the most glamorous between the constant shaking and not being able to see anything that was going on. But the minute I heard Collin cry I felt as though I was the luckiest person in the world!

Well now that Eric said I have had my time to be sentimental, I am off to bed before the little man wakes up ready to play on his BIRTHDAY!!

Taking Steps!

When I picked Collin up today Kaila, one of Collin's afternoon teachers, said, "Collin tell your mom what you did today". So thinking it must have been something like "he said hi" or showed a sign for more, nothing too big. The last thing I was expecting was...."He took a step to me". I immediately thought, bummer I missed my son's first step.
But, after we gave Collin his bath tonight, we always let him crawl around his room naked and just play while we get things ready for bedtime. He just randomly used all his might to push his butt in the air and stand up. According to Eric, not the best view of a nakes little dude, but he then took two steps and plopped down on the ground. He again looked back at Eric and I, waiting for the congratulated clapping, then did it all over again. And again, and again. He basically continue standing up and taking many steps until it was time for bed.
I know being a mom can sometimes be a lot of work...but I have to say it is nights like tonight that I feel so blessed to have such an amazing little guy that can bring such joy and happiness to our lives!!

Collin, would you please STAND UP!

Tonight Collin was having an evening where he missed his mommy so much today...that he just wanted me to hold him. I was okay with this, because I too have been missing him so much lately! But, Eric was at work tonight, later than normal, and I was trying to make dinner. Holding a 26lb little munchkin and making taco's is not that easy. So I set Collin down however he quickly went into a bear stance, feet and hands all on the ground. He then pushed himself up and kept looking up at me. Then he did it! He stood up all on his own without holding on to me. He looked over at me, waiting for me to clap and get all excited, which I immediately did and he then started clapping himself. He has really been testing the walking waters lately, so I don't think it will be too long before he takes his first step.

This weekend we got Collin a new push toy and he loved it. Here are some pics!

Here is a little video of C.

The past month...

So I know that it has been quite some time since my last post...I guess life flies by when you're having fun! I feel like in the past few weekends we have just been enjoying life as a family! Collin has started to become such a fun little dude and is starting to make every day a new and exciting, eventful one! After getting his second set of tubes during spring break, we went back to the doctor this week for his post op check up and sadly enough his rt ear is once again partially plugged and now we have to cross our fingers that drops will clear the ear on its own! SO besides having very painful ears, the poor little guy is working on more teeth as we speak. I think he will have a mouth full in the next few months!
Easter was last weekend and we were lucky enough to have Frankie, Sam, Kristin, Rick, Brian and Rachael all come down and visit. We went to the Wilson Creek Farm Easter Egg hunt. Collin was not so sure what he was exactly suppose to do during the egg hunt but he sure loved shakin' the eggs once he found them.

We tried to take the boys picture all together...this was a good as we could get

Then last Fridaay we decided after battling with Collin's hair, because it never stays down and he was starting to get a mullet, we took Collin to get his first hair cut. He did so well! He loved that he could sit in the train and for some reason when any one needs him to sit still, like the doctor or to cut his hair, he sits so nice and still! Hopefully this keeps up!

Here C is before the big HAIR cut!

During the cut!

The final look! Don't I look Handsome!

Some other fun things Collin has been doing lately is he is absolutely in love with doors. He now will crawl into a room open and clothes the door, then will completely close the door. Once he realizes it is closed, he will put his little fingers under the door till we open it! Also, if you are in the room with him he will look up and point at the handle till you open it so he can do it all over again. Collin has also become quite a picky little eater. He has mastered the skill of located any green item from his plate, will pick it out and throw it on the floor. He also thinks that little pieces of food are for babies and insists on being able to pull the pieces apart himself or bite the pieces off. I guess our little guy is growing up! Collin has also now mastered his crawling and is really becoming very quick when he wants to get from one place to another. He is also in love with standing up and pushing things around the house. Today he even held on with just one of my hands and walked across the room...so I think he may slowling on the verge of walking!