Addison is ONE!!!....well 14 months now.....

This is a post I started right after Addison's birthday.....
Okay so a quick post with some of Addison's stats now that she is ONE and I will add more pictures from the party and more details later....
For the first time today I didn't get to go with one of the kids for their checkup visits.  After the flu has plagued our entire house last week I have missed too many school days and with Eric being off today I had to tell myself it was OKAY for him to take her.   SOOOO I sent Eric with quite the list of questions and waited right by the phone to hear all about it.....
Addison is such a little peanut compared to her big brother.  She barely made it in the 50th percentiles in each and every category.  Collin was always off the charts or in the top 97 percentile for everything!

Here are her stats.....
Weight: 19 pounds
Height: 29 inches
Now only 3 months later I will finish updating it:)

Addison's birthday party was just perfect.  A day spent with my family and Eric's family just simply hanging out at our house playing and talking together.  Shelley, George and Joyce all flew in from Ohio and the Robinson's as well as the Day(Brian)'s came down to help us celebrate.  I went with an owl theme and it really did turn out very cute. I do have to say for this one, I discovered the joys of online shopping where it all gets delivered to your door! Let me just say it is AMAZING, but can also be a bit dangerous.  We ended up doing a mid morning party, at lunch, Addison opened presents, ate cake and even before everyone left Addison was down for a nap exhausted from all the excitement. 

Here are some recent pics of Miss Addison....I think she has officially become a little girl!

Looking like a little farm girl

My favorite hiding places/places to play

Rocking the new pony tail:)

I LOVE my wagon...no matter how cold it is.

First trip to the beach....not so much in love with the whole sand thing!

Here is what Addison is doing at one.
Talking: loves to talk! 
Says momma, dadda, Cal Cal(collin) ball, caca(cat), da(dog), pease(please), more.
Now at 14 months she is repeating everything you say, and has a few more words like outside, yes, no, go go go(from cat and the hat). 

Walking: Not so much! At a year walking was not on the top of her agenda.  She really did not care to walk or even learn how.  She was holding on to everything and scaling the walls to get her way around, but she definitely preferred to crawl. 

Eating: She will eat just about anything.  She loves pasta and strawberries at anytime of the day!

Personality:  Addison's personality has always been this very layed back go with the flow kind of girl.  She is still pretty easy going, but I think she has finally learned that she can start to have an opinion about things so she will just make a loud continuos shrieking sound when she wants you to pay attention to her.  Otherwise, she is just so happy and smiles all the time. 

Momma's Girl: She is definitely a momma's girl.  Anytime we go anywhere, it takes her quite some time to warm up to her new surroundings and will completely scream if I even think about leaving the room or letting anyone else hold her.....I do love this...but at some point she has to start breaking out!

Paci: She LOVES her pacifier.  We are now only having it at bed times and in the car, but if you leave laying around or in her bed that she can still reach it she will have that thing in her mouth in an instant. 

Brotherly love: She loves her brother so much. She still watches his every move and is starting to immitate he actions and movements.  However, she is finally starting to hold her own. Collin use to be able to take a toy from her and replace it with a different toy of his choice, but she no longer allows this to happen.  She quietly pushes his head aside or grabs the toy before he can.  She has decided at this point she is going to hold her own against her older brother.

Oh the excitement:  Addison gets sooo excited about the littlest things.  She absolutely loves Collin's kitty cats and any time he shares them with her she gets so excited by laughing and giggling non stop.

It is so hard to believe that Addison is already one!  This past year she has brough so many smiles, hugs, and the love that you can sometimes get so involved in your busy day that even my little sweet pea can always remind me that everything will be ok.  Sometimes after running around like a crazy lady trying to get everything in, it is the snuggle time right before bed that she gives me every night as we sit, read books and sing songs that I am able to be so thankful for this amazing little girl because truly has brought so much joy to our lives. 

A little behind....

SO I know I have been a horrible blogger....but life is seriously flying by, keeping us constantly on the go.  But, to be completely honest, I just have not taken the time I should to up date the blog.....instead in the hour I get between the kids bed time and my bedtime I have been doing some other things.... reading(almost finished with the Hunger Games), working out, or just sitting on the couch for a few minutes of doing absolutely nothing.  SO....now that I am done with my whining and excuses, I have told myself I will do my best to get this thing back updated.  Poor Addison's last year of her life looks so boring! 
So since December just a few things have gone on. 

December: Day family Christmas: Everyone came to Springfield for Christmas.  We all slept at my parents house Christmas Eve and got to see the kids excitement together when they woke up and realized Santa really did come:)
Here are some pictures.

Collin and his new leapster

The Boys

The best pic we could get of all 6 under 6:)

Collin and his new flashlight

Addison Christmas morning

January: Addison's FIRST Birthday.  My family and Eric's family all came in town to celebrate Addison's birthday.  We just had a quiet little family get together for that day.  At Addison's One Year check up she was below the 50th percentile for both height and weight (20lbs) and she actually had not gained any weight since her 9 month check up.  However, I think in the past few months she has hit a major growth spurt and would eat all day long if you allowed her too!  I'll add a separate entry about what all Addison is and was doing during this time, but here are some pics.

Owl themed Birthday, such a cute cake:)

A litte unsure about having soo many people staring at me.

Eating her cake like the "little lady" she is, she would never dive right in!

Proud big brother, or just really excited about to get to eat cake.

Now that was an exhausting day!

Okay so there are just a few pictures! I will add more in another post that is just about her bday.

February: Not much going on.  Except for the two months of January and February the horrible FLU hit the Horning household.  We all got sick and had this nasty bug for over 2 weeks.  NOT FUN!

March: TURKS AND CAICOS TRIP! Finally, after a year in the waiting, all 16 of the Day family loaded the planes and headed down to Turks and Caicos for Spring Break! I will add more very soon about this, because it was an AMAZING trip, and we have SOOO many pictures and fun memories. But here is a few pictures from the trip.

Our last night

Hanging out at our pool

Miss Addison

Eating Cheerios watching the sunrise

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

1, 2 Buckle my......

Like all kids when they start to learn to talk they have those words that only the mom can understand, but in time they begin to learn the correct way to say these words.  In the past few months, Collin's speech has just flourished!  He is so much easier to understand and the words, phrases, and sentences he says every day amazes Eric and I continuously.  Tonight he told me he was ready to "ex-cer-cise" and very clearly you could make out every syllable!  There is just one simple word that he is insistent on not learning the correct way to say.......SHOES! According to Collin they are Woo Woo's.  We have practiced and practiced to say them correctly and now matter what we do they still come out Woo Woo. 

Tonight, as Collin and I were building with our blocks we were also counting each block we would place on the pile.  As we were counting I said, "One, Two" and out Collin blurts out so excited....."Buckle my Woo Woo"!!!  Just made me giggling

Just Collin

Tonight Eric and I were talking to Collin and Eric asked Collin what his name was.  He immediately stated, "ollin".  Then I said Collin Horning.  He looked at me very seriously and said, "Mommy, I'm not a Horning, I'm Collin."  I tried to explain to him that he had more than one name, Horning being a part of his name but he was very determined that he was just Collin, not Horning.  This to me is very funny because he also responds to a variety of "nicknames" all including variations of "collin patrick" "cp" "cman".  But clearly in his mind, just Collin is his name!

A few random pictures....

 Addison feeling like a big girl in Collin's bed:)
















 Mr. Cool early in the morning!

Picnic Lunch on the front porch

 Daddy thinks I look like a church lady in this outfit.... however, Mommy thinks it is cute! If only he knew what was stylish these days:)

Addison trying to "help"  Collin carve the pumpkin

One of Collin's proud Thanksgiving crafts we have made

Finally.....Addison is moving!

    Addison is one of the most layed back little gals I know.  She has spent most of her life just hanging out, smiling and watching her crazy brother run around all day.  Now when I say hanging out, I mean just sitting there completely entertained and loving life....just sitting.  So for her, moving or even crawling, has never been all that important to her.  Addison has been sitting since she was 6 months, but it hasn't been until these past few weeks that she has started to become a tad frustrated that she can't move.  Sooooo, it all started with the standard up on all fours, rocking back and forth then just pushing herself up to a sitting position which usally got her to where she needed.   After a few lessons from her big brother, on Thursday she started to realize that if she moved her back legs she could actually get somewhere.  Then on Friday night she was on one side of our family room and the next thing I knew she was just crawling across the floor.  In just three short days she has discovered a much more exciting world.  She just crawls from one thing to another, pulls herself up on her knees, then moves on to the next thing. 
   Eventhough Addison thinks this new movement is amazing, Collin is not all that excited!  He is learning that what used to be his world and his stuff, she is now in his way.  Plus she doesn't listen to her when he asks her to not touch.  This morning after moving all the way around our room with his trains, and she continued to follow him, he finally went into our closet and shut the door.  As Eric said this morning, "welcome to sibling rivilary". 
   I am currently working on uploading all my pictures/videos from my phone to the computer so I will try and add a video of here soon:)

Collin's Sayings....

The other night Eric and I found ourselves repeating phrase after phrase of different sayings Collin is constantly saying.  So here they are......

1. Not Yet (loves to tell us when we are trying to get him dressed in the morning, or ready to leave)
2. What are you guys doing?
3. DUDE!
4. One more minute (with one finger up close to his face and a sweet innocent look)
5. New One
6. I got to go Potty.....always pauses before he goes to let us know until we acknowledge him
7. How about a little bit?
8. They are the both (meaning they are the same)
9. Me Addy Ann (referring to Addison)
10......i know there is more I will add them as I think of more:)

Our Big Boy

Collin has always been a talker.  But as the past few weeks have gone by, Eric and I are constantly amazed at words he knows, and the "big boy" conversations he is now having with us.  Just tonight at dinner Addison was already down for the night, so Collin, Eric and I all sat down to eat dinner.  We begin talking about going to school in the morning and he proceeded to have a conversation with us that I would have expected to have a few years from now.  He told us all the things he will probably do at school, like sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", of coarse he said he would help sing songs with Miss Katie.  Then he told us about going to play in the gym and going outside to play. Then I asked him about his friends.  He told me about one of his friends that was a "bad boy" because he hits (which now we know where he is learning that behavior) and how Miss Katie doesn't like that.  Then he said another friend also hits and he said, "I don't hit back, I just run.....eeek!".  Eric and I just sat there completely amazed at our little boy just sitting in the chair like a big boy telling us all these big boy things he experiences, and loving that he can now express all these things to us through words:). 

A few more things.....

I realized today as Addison sat on the floor clapping as Collin and I sang a song, that I had forgot to mention this new skill she has discovered.  In the past two weeks she has started to wave "bye, bye" and loves to clap anytime she hears anything that sounds remotely like music. 

Family Pictures

Here is just one of the many family pictures we got taken two weeks ago.  I will post more soon. 

I love you Mommy

These past few weeks, Collin has definately found himself in a point in his life he is just not always sure how to handle.  Bascially he has hit the "terrible two's".  He is once again having a tough time with sharing his mommy and daddy with his little sister, testing the limits with behaviors he sees at school when at home, pushing his mommy and daddy to see if he can always get his way and sooo much more.  But despite these challenges of trying to be the most patient mommy ever during this time, days like yesterday make it all SO worth it.  One of Collin's favorite things to do is to snuggle in our bed with me.  The other morning at 5:45am when I really should have been getting ready for work, especially because in order to get myself and the kids ready and out the door by 6:45 there is very little "extra" time.   But, Collin looks at me and he says, "Moomy, lay with me please".  So I go lay with him for just a minute or two knowing that I really didn't have much time.  As I was laying there he leans over, gives me a kiss and says, "I love you Mommy".  Know that was one great way to start my day:)

Addison's 9 month update

I am making a pack that I am going to do a much better job keeping this updated. Lately between Addison and Collin they are both doing little things that I am continually telling myself I need to write down.  So, here is my first attempt to get better. 

To start things off Addison had her 9 month check up last week.  Here are her stats.
Height: 27 inches
Weight: 19 1/2 pounds
She was 60% for both height and weight and was in the 95th percentile for her head.  I don't feel like her head is all that big, but guess she will grow into it soon.  She checked out great.  Keeping an eye on her left thumb/hand since she is not all that great at the pincher method yet and often times forgets that it can open and close, but we are working on that. 

What she is doing:
Rolling over: It finally happened at 7 months, she realized if she just tried she could roll from one side to another.
Sleeping: She sleeps through the night, wakes up at 6 to nurse then back to sleep.  She sleeps on her stomach at school and on her back at home.  Not the best napper...but we are working on it!
Food: For the past two months she was not into anything unless it was completely pureed.  She was going as far as gagging herself, throwing everything up, if she didn't dig the texture!  However, just these past two days she has started eating pears, sweet potatoes, pees, banana just right off her tray:) So I think we may be out of that phase.  She is still nursing except just this week we have started to suppliment with some formula because I am just not sure I am giving her enough!
Talking: She is CONSTANTLY making noise.  Whether she is saying da da da da da, ma ma ma ma, ba ba ba, or even just gruting, blowing raspberries, you name it.  She is always talking or making a noise to get your attention.  I think she has learned she has to do something to get the attention away from her crazy brother!
Moving: In the past week she has learned that life would be much better if she could move.  She is trying so hard to pull herself up.  Loves to stand at things, and is spinning around on her tummy, rocks back and forth on her knees, and pushes herself backwards.  She will be SO much happier when she can keep up with her moving brother!

It is so hard to believe that she is already 9 months old.  She is the sweetest, most layed back little girl.  She loves to snuggle and ALWAYS has a smile on her face.  She thinks her brother is the best thing in the world and thinks just about anything he does is funny. 

6 Month update

I know, I know, it has been WAY to long since my last post.  But to say the least the past 3 months have been a whirl wind!  Between going back to work, and making that adjustment as a family of 4, then to making a new adjustment where we are all home every day together, to say the least we are pretty much always on the go.  We have also done a little traveling up to Chicago's for Greg's graduation, Dr Day that is, and then to the lake many times so far this summer for some summer fun.  SO like you can imagine I have alot to up date.  But before I forget, today was Addison's 6 month check up.  Hard to believe she is 6 months.  But here are her stats and what she has been up to lately....

Weight: 17 1/2 lbs
Height: 26 inches long

She is growing at a very steady rate always staying at a good 50-75 percentile, which can be a little hard to imagine in the weight department with her chunker thighs!  She is quickly moving into that "older" infant stage, which pretty much means, she is doing more than just eating sleeping and observing her brother all day long!  Here are some things she can do.

1. Sit up: She can sit up on her own, which is her preferred way to be.  She bats at things grabs everything in her site, today at dinner she was sitting in the bumbo and the next thing I knew she was holding the butter!
2. Movement: NO rolling over.  According to Dr. Steele it takes will and the ability to roll over and because she is so easily sitting up she has the ability just not the will.....too much work for her i guess.
3. Talking: She loves to make noise, especially when Collin is not home or not in the car with her.
4. Jumping Bean: She absolutely loves her jumper. 
5. Sleeping: She is sleeping all night, wakes up at about 5 eats and then goes right back down until 7 or so.  She is quite the napper, always take one 2 hour nap during the day then two other naps that are usually about an hour long.  This is the total opposite of her brother.
6: Eating: We have completed all the types of cereal and have so far only tried banana's, which she absolutely hates and sweet potatoe.  She is really not that interested in the food yet so I am not rushing her, especially since her doctor said there is no need to! 
7. Brother: She LOVES her big brother! She watches him at all times.  Laughs constantly at him, and whether he is being gentle and soothing her when she is sad or is playing with her by "helping" her roll over, she is always so happy when he is around.  She has just started wanting the same toys he has and he is just now realizing that she may start to become a problem when it comes to "HIS" toys. 
8. Attachment: Because she has only been away from her momma at a daycare for a total of 30 days her entire life, she is already showing strong signs of attachment issues.  She has gone to day care a few times this summer and is just so sensitive to the noises around her. The second another child cries or there is an unfamiliar noise, she begins to cry too.  Also the second I am out of her sight she just cries.  Even when we are at my parents house, if she can't see me or hear me she starts to cry.  For me, that is so hard, because at home she is the happiest baby ever! She never cries ever!!!  So not that it is good that she will be heading to day care soon, but hopefully that will help with this:(

Otherwise, she is a completely different little munchkin than her brother.  She loves to smile and giggle and is a very laid back little girl.  I do have a feeling she is going to be a bit of a drama queen, but is definately going to be a girl who knows what she wants:)

I have so much more exciting news to add......like COLLIN IS POTTY TRAINED, and all the fun activities we have been doing this summer....but I will add some more very soon, it is past my bed time!  Plus I'll add some pics too!

Yeah Baby!

Collin has decided that Addison needs to be a part of eveything he does lately.  Not sure how long this will last but he wants her to "play" with him.  Whether we are playing cars, she has one, coloring or painting, she has a color at all times, or even kicking the ball, she gets a turn each time.  The other night we were sitting on the floor working on his puzzles.  First he put a piece of puzzle in.  Then gives me a piece for me to place it in.  Then of coarse, he says, "Baby"(which is what he still calls her...not sure when she will actually have a name to him).  So I then grab a piece put it in her hand and "help" her put the piece in.  He then proceeded to clap and shout "YEAH BABY" and was sooo excited for her.  It was just so cute to see what a great "Big" brother he already is and is going to be.  Plus, I have started to see that he is pretty good at sharing and taking turns.....but we will see how long that last...probably until she starts taking his things!

2 months!

Okay I know it has been way to long since my last post...2 months to say the last....and you would think since I am home everyday it wouldn't be that hard.  But a few things I have realized. 
1. When staying home the days go soooo fast.....they never go that fast when at work.
2. At night after you finally get the kids in bed by 8 all you want is to have 30 minutes to just sit, of coarse that is after you pick up from the day, then you quickly realize that it is a mad dash of how fast you can get ready for bed so that the sooner you get in bed the longer you get to sleep before you have to get up again!
3. Using the computer is now just a quick check of the email and facebook of coarse then there is always a diaper to change, little one to feed, or little one to play with.
4. Nap time is no longer a time to sit around on the computer....it is now a time to eat, clean up from the morning or even just sit down for a short amount of time and do NOTHING! 

So, to say the least uploading pictures and writing on the blog has definately not happened.  But amazing things keep happening and I keep thinking I need to write that down so we don't forget it.  Today Addison went for her two month check up and here are her stats
Height: 23 1/2 inches
Weight: 11 lbs 7 oz
Head: 15 inches
She is 75 percentile for both weight and head and in the 95th percentile for height.  Not sure where she is getting this height but I seem to remember Collin starting out this way and then has dramatically slowed down in his height growth.  She had to have 3 shots and 1 oral shot.  I thought maybe the second time around seeing your little one get shots wouldn't be so hard but to say the least...I was WRONG!

She just in the past 2 weeks started smiling, cooing and is constantly watching every movement her brothr makes.  She has slept through the night 3 times, 2 times just this week and otherwise only wakes up one time a night.  Still working on our napping ability....she is a great napper in your arms but when  you put her in the bed she is a cat napper and the moment you finally give in and pick her up she instantly falls back asleep in your arms.  Surprise Surprise!

Collin is still being a great big brother.  Still has his moments where he just wants his Mommy or Daddy all to himself, but he is such a great helper.  The minute she makes a peep he jumps up to give her her pacifier or in the car instantly says "Momma, Baby"  in case i didn't hear her.

Introducing...Addison Ann

Monday, January 10th Eric and I went in at 10:00 am to St. John's Hospital and at 12:21pm Addison Ann was born.

Here are her stats:
     *Weight: 8lbs 5oz
     *Length: 20 1/2 inches
She came out kicking and screaming and it wasn't until 20 minutes later once they finally placed her in my arms that she opened her eyes, heard my voice and stopped crying.  It was this one moment that I will never forget and truly felt that Addison and I created that amazing "Mother/Daughter bond'

Okay...enough of the sappy stuff....
My poor little Collin is slowly learning that his life has drastically changed and this "baby" as he refers to her isn't going away.  The first meeting of Collin and his little sister went as I suspected.  Collin walked in the hospital room, looked at Mommy who looked a tad bit scary with a tube up her nose to measure her oxygen levels while on the pain meds and sitting in a hospital bed, and he started to cry.  Grandma at this time was holding Addison and he walked over to her took a look at her and just said "Baby" then walked away. It was within 2 minutes that he decided he was ready to leave!
So moving on to the next two days in the hospital we slowly started making progress.  The next day he brought Addison her pacifier and gave mom a kiss and a hug before leaving, but I think his total time spent in the hospital room was about 15 minutes.  Finally the last day, with the help of a chocolate chip cookie Dad brought with him, Collin sat in bed with Mommy, looked and talked to Addison and spent quite some time in the room playing with the bathroom sliding door saying "In/Out". 
Now that we have been home for a week things have finally begun to slowly become more of a routine lifestyle rather than just chaotic, getting by lifestyle.  Collin has definately had his moments of anger and frustration at his Mommy!  It took about 3 days once we got home for my favorite little snuggler to come jump up on the couch with me and snuggle.  He has definately had his fair share of melt downs and frustrations when told "no" but all in all he has really started to be a fabulous Big Brother.  Here are just a few exciting moments of that brother/sister connection we have seen....

           1. Every morning Collin wakes up and says baby and has to find her whether she is in the bassinet or swing and say "Good Morning" to her.
           2. He is a Super "Wipe" distibutor: I have given him the task of handing me wipes as we change Addison's diaper.
           3. He has taught Addison the correct way to do "tummy time"
     \
"Not like this Baby Addison"....................."Like this"
         4. Collin really likes to help "Hold" Addison

So overall the past week and a half has been some of the most amazing two weeks yet!  I can't believe she is finally here and really life with two has been a much easier transition than I ever could have imagine.  I am sure there are many more ups and downs ahead of us but watching the two munchkins every day makes me smile more and more every day!

Here are a few more pics from the past week....

Pictures in the hospital

Trying out the bows

Addison all ready to go home from the hospital

Hard to imagine Collin was once this little too!


Finally...Collin showing off his Elmo Slippers!

Snuggling with my....soon to be big boy....

As I snuggled with Collin in bed tonight, I decided that just laying there a little bit longer tonight with him was definately necessary. One of our favorite thing to do before he goes to bed these days is while snuggling in bed we talk about how the day went, good and bad, then discuss how the next day is going to be.  Our conversations usually go like this....

Mom: Did you have a good day today?
Collin: Ya!
Mom: What did you like doing?
Collin: Ummmm
Mom: Did you have fun playing with Playdough?
Collin: Ya
Mom: Aren't yo glad we got to play outside today?
Collin: Ya
Mom: Are we going to have a good day tomorrow?
Collin: Ya
Mom: We don't have to go to school tomorrow, but we have a lot to do. We are going to go to the store, play with your trucks, clean.  What do you want to do?
Collin: Ummmm

So as you can see we have very deep meaningful discussions but I have to say this is one of my favorite times of day.  Especially as he has become such a busy body I can't help but treasure every snuggle time I can get.  But tonight it was different.  As we layed there I couldn't help but think that this is one thing that I do not want to give up with him.  As we are just one day away from having our entire world change with all the excitement of our newest little family member I can't help but feel just a little sad that my baby will no longer be my baby.  I do just keep telling myself that he will always be my baby and it is things like snuggling with Collin at night that do not every have to end!

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!