HE CAN WALK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it!!! Even as I type this, I can't believe it!!! COLIN CAN WALK!!! I don't even have words to describe how excited we are tonight! What a great day! Let me start at the beginning...we spent the day with some of our best friends and their families. Jeff and Nat brought their kiddos over and we went swimming at the big pool. Ellen, Wes and Aubrey joined us all for dinner and we ended up getting take-out at Babe's because it was packed and the babies were not having an hour wait in the hot sun. We took the food back over to Ellen and Wes' place and had a great meal. Afterwards we were all hanging out, having a few drinks and lounging around. Colin has been standing up like a champ and walking around holding our hands for weeks now. In the past few days, Jer and I will sit apart from each other and encourage him to walk back and forth. He has gotten two steps in before he then falls. Well, tonight that all changed!! We were sitting on Ellen's living room floor and Jer and I were FAR from each other. He just took off!! It was amazing!! He walked back and forth for about an hour, with us moving farther and farther away. At one point, he started making turns and going away from us in a completely different direction!!!!!!!!!!!! HE WALKS!!! It was truly the most amazing sight I have ever seen. My little baby walked all around all by himself!!!!!!! What a champ!! The best part was that we got to experience the moment surrounded by our best friends. They were all there to witness history and they were all cheering and clapping for him. I could not pick a better way to experience a milestone. Luckily we had the camera and Ellen got the pics above. I will be getting some video asap! What a wonderful and special day...I will never forget it!

Happy 11 Months, Colin!

My sweet little man is 11 months old today! Yea, Colin!! There have been so many changes in the last month...he can take 3 or 4 steps on his own before he falls and loves to stand up all the time. He crawls all around the house now and is getting into everything he can get his hands on! He sleeps through the night (most of the time!) and takes three 8 oz bottles a day along with three meals of solids. He loves to feed himself and this month he has tried (and loved!) cheese cubes, deli meats, guacamole, chicken nuggets, french fries, watermelon, cantaloupe, peas, carrots, peaches, mac and cheese, all kinds of bread and tasted of just about every dinner that I have made. I gave him his first taste of regular milk today in a sippie cup...not a fan. I am going to have to move slowly with that one and let him develop a taste for it. He loves water, so I think he was just thrown off by the taste of milk coming from his sippie that is normally full of water. He drinks soy formula, but has no problem with cheese, eggs, or yogurt, so I am hoping that stomach wise he will be okay. Jer is a little worried on that front...he remembers how hard the cows milk formula was on him and how much he spit up. The pedi seemed confident that it would be okay, so I am staying positive. He did not really taste enough today to tell.

I am starting to get nervous about food. There is only one short month left of Colin getting his "meal-in-a-bottle" of formula and I am starting to stress about how hungry he will be and if I will be able to keep him satisfied (and healthy!) without those bottles. He likes to feed himself and has started to bat away the spoon when I try to feed him. Therefore, he gets little bites of things like cheese, fruit, crackers, and lunch meats. He eventually starts to play with it and feeding it to Enzo. It all seems like more fun than nourishing. I have not stressed about it because I know he is getting all his vitamins and good stuff in his bottles. Without that, it will be up to me to make sure that he has a well rounded diet with plenty of fruits and veggies and proteins. That seems daunting at this point. One step at a time, I guess. I worry...that is what I am known for and with a baby...I am taking it to new levels! ;-)

His "words" at this 11th month consist of "ma ma", "da da", "na na", and "ba ba". If we say, "Colin, where is Mama?", he will look at me and laugh and the same for Jer. It is so cute! He will also do it for Enzo and "kitty". Jer thinks that he is calling his nuk "nana" and I think he may be right. I can't wait until he is really calling us by name. That will be so much fun. Happy 11 months, Squirt!!

HILARIOUS!!!

So I put Mr. Colin through the torture of a photo shoot today for his birthday invitation. I needed an 11 month photo and I stuck his recently arrived birthday crown on his head for the picture. This face is STILL cracking me up!!!! Hysterical! Not happening, Mama! ;-) Be sure to click on the picture to blow it up...it is even funnier up close!!!!

Yet Another New Move

I finally got Colin's latest move on camera today. As of last week, Colin stands up in his crib to greet me at the end of his nap. Seriously, could this baby be any cuter?!? Look at those sleepy eyes and that bed head!! :-)

Party Planning Underway

Plans for Colin's birthday are officially in full swing and I am excited about it! I picked out the cutest "Prince" theme and ordered the plates, napkins, etc online last week and received them over the weekend. They are PRECIOUS! I am beyond happy with everything that I ordered, including the most adorable crown for him to wear! He will probably keep it on for all of 10 seconds, but that will give me time to snap a picture! :-) This afternoon I headed over to a local specialty bakery and ordered his birthday cake and matching "smash" cupcake. They are designing the cake to match my theme and it should be awesome!! I can't believe that this is actually happening!! This year has just flown by! My friend Shannon suggested someone to make the invitations for me and I emailed her this morning. Hopefully she will be able to take me on! The party is in one month! How can that be?!? :-)

On This Day In History

Exactly one year ago today was my wonderful baby shower. I only had one big shower and lots of my friends and family were there, including everyone from work. It was such a great time! I remember feeling very special and honored to have so many friends come to celebrate Colin. I was so excited for the shower to arrive...I was very pregnant at this point and the hot Texas summer was in full swing. I had moved into the uncomfortable stage and was so ready to meet the little man. The week of the shower brought a big scare for me and I remember feeling lucky to be there. That week I came down with a really bad cold that immediately went into my lungs. I had managed to be well for my entire pregnancy, but I went downhill fast when I came down with that cold. I developed a bad cough which I just could not kick and it got bad. On Thursday night, I coughed so hard that I was sure that I broke my water. I was beside myself...it was almost midnight and I got Jer up to take me to the hospital. Once we got there, we found out that my water was luckily still in tact, but I had coughed myself into steady contractions. I have never been so scared in my life. I was not ready yet!! I was hooked up to all the monitors and given an IV drug to stop the contractions and some kind of high powered cough syrup to shut me up! I laid in that bed for hours watching the contractions across the screen and listening to Colin's heartbeat filling up the room. The drug did it's job and I was finally allowed to go home at about 7:00am Friday morning with instructions to stay in bed. I stayed there until it was time to go to the shower on Saturday morning. I was so sick and in more pain than I have words for. Because I was so pregnant, when I would cough it would cause mind blowing pain in my abdomen and back...I remember feeling like knives were being poked into the top of my belly. I also had to keep from coughing at all costs to prevent labor, so I was walking around with a bag of cough drops and glasses of water. But I was NOT going to miss my shower! Looking back, I wish I had been able to put more energy into getting ready. I was really tired and I just put that brown t-shirt and cropped linen pants on. I had wanted to go shopping that week for a pretty shower outfit, but in the end I was too sick and I actually remember standing in my closet and grabbing that boring t-shirt just because it was soft. HA! Oh well. Even though I was sick, it was a beautiful shower and I managed to have a great time. I went straight home to bed afterwards and my family opened all of my cool new baby presents for me to play with. I recall standing in my living room when we got home surrounded with all of my wonderful loot and being just beside myself with excitement. I was finally starting to feel ready! I had all my stuff! :-) And sweet baby Colin was born almost exactly one month later!

Father's Day Weekend

We are home safe tonight and Colin is out like a light! He had quite a weekend...that was easily the most running around that little guy has ever done! When we are at home on a daily basis, I stick to a rigid schedule to make sure that we are home for Colin's naps. I found this is the best way to keep him happy and rested, so I am strict with myself about it. We made an exception this weekend being out of town and trying to hang out with the family and see my mom in the hospital. Colin was a trooper and we all had a great time. Today is Jer's first Father's Day and although we were traveling home today, I think it was still a success. Colin (with some help from Mama) gave Daddy a Garmin GPS and he is currently playing with it. Jer loves gadgets and I think we succeeding in making him happy! :-)

The first picture above is probably my favorite, not for quality, but for meaning. I will preface this by reminding everyone that we are huge dorks! We ate dinner on Friday night at Luby's, which is simply a cafeteria that is popular here in Texas. The story here is that there is a Luby's right down the street from my parents house. We started eating at that Luby's when my sisters were in high chairs and my parents can remember when we all ate there on the day it opened some 27 years ago. It was good home cooking kind of food and we ate there as a family literally all the time. My parents both worked once my sisters were in elementary school and we found ourselves eating at that Luby's at least three nights a week as a family. As we got older, we would all meet there in our separate cars...Mama and Daddy would come from work and I would come from after school dance practice after I picked up my sisters. Everyone knew our family and would greet us when we arrived. One really sweet lady always teased my dad about how many rolls he ate and she would already have them on a plate for him when we got to the end of the line. Needless to say, this place is a family tradition. We realized on Friday that it was Colin's very first Luby's trip, so we all flipped out and (of course!) had to take a picture. It is strange that I started eating there at 4 years old and there I was, eating there with my own son.

The next picture is Colin hanging out with Meredith's dog Annie at my parents house. Annie is much calmer than Enzo and actually let Colin love on her, which was great. The next two shots are of Colin and my nephew Jackson with Meredith. Colin fell in love with his cousin Jackson on this trip...he could not get enough of him! It was the sweetest thing that I have ever seen!! The last shot is of me and my sisters (and sons) at The Shed on Saturday night. That picture is actually taken in the little general store that is attached to the dining room. The Shed is another big family favorite and just around the corner from the blueberry farm. It was a great evening. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, with the exception of my poor Mama having to be in the hospital!! We missed her a ton!!!