A Star is Born...

I seriously just entered this picture in the GapKids casting call contest. Am I a huge dork, or what?? ;-) I was shopping online for Colin and when I went to gap.com, the contest was the first thing on my screen. I thought, eh...why not!? I have NEVER entered something like this, nor do I think anything will come from it. First of all, they try to get you to send the link on your entry to friends so that they will "vote" for your child. I hate that kind of thing and refuse to do it, so if votes count, we are out. Second of all, the picture is just a poor quality shot from my camera. Third of all, there are something like 90 billion entries. Winners in the age groups apparently appear in a Gap ad and get a $1,000 gift card for the store. I could spend $1k in that store FAST. Anyway, I am still laughing at myself for actually entering Colin, but I figure that Gap would be very lucky to have those dimples showing off their clothes. I know that I would buy anything he is selling! :-)

We had a cold front move through last night during a giant storm, so our weather was actually chilly for the first time today. It never got out of the 50's, which felt frigid in comparison to the humid 85 degrees it was yesterday. Colin woke up in the middle of the night last night during the storm and was crying out, "Mommy! Thunder!", which I thought was both adorable and tiring. :-) I spent a couple of hours in his bed getting kicked all over the place (Colin is a wild sleeper!) and finally extricated myself at around 4:00am to head back to my bed. Sadly, I could not fall back asleep and finally dozed off at 7am...just moments before Colin was up for the day. Needless to say, I am running on empty today! Luckily, the cool weather kept my spirits up! After a long trip to Indoor Safari with Colin and a trip to JC Penny's and Wal-Mart, we came back home to cook a festive fall dinner. I made the first batch of my homemade chili and cornbread for the season and we had the inaugural lighting of our fireplace!! The food turned out great and the fire was WONDERFUL! We have not had it lit in two years...last season was just too scary with Colin so young, so we skipped it all together. This year is perfect; he listened to us explain about the fire and what it is and why we never touch it. We then lit the fire and put the screen up. He did not go near it one time! He pointed it out a few times from afar and we sat in front of it with him in our laps to "get warm". I can't believe how awesome he was...he is getting to be such a big boy! He is now fast asleep and after this post, I am going straight to bed to make up for last night. How did I stay up all night when I was in my twenties?!?! :-)

One last tidbit...I ordered Colin's Spiderman costume last night, so we are all set for Halloween! A couple of days ago, I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween and he immediately said, "Spiderman!". I don't have a clue where he got this from, as he does not even remember what Halloween is, but I asked him on several other occasions over 48 hours and got an emphatic "Spiderman!" every single time. Therefore, Spiderman it is! He is going to be so cute!

The Official Start to Halloween Season!

Yesterday was our first visit to the Pumpkin Patch for the season and we had a great time! This location is called "The Pumpkin Express" and is about 20 minutes from the house. Several of our friends and their kiddos met out there and the overcast day and cool temps made for the perfect atmosphere for a Halloween themed outing. They have an adorably decorated train station where you load up to ride the express over to the pumpkin patch, which is loaded with decorations, bounce houses, mazes and photo ops. Colin fervently refused to get on the train, which did not really surprise me. He LOVES playing with trains more than anything else, but for some reason he won't get on one. He actually does not like anything that resembles a "ride" of any sort, including the cars at places like Chuck E. Cheese. I am sure this is just a stage, but he was not having it AT ALL yesterday. Instead of riding, we walked over to the patch, which was just adorable. The pumpkin patch is one of my all time favorite places to go...nothing says fall like a field of orange pumpkins! Colin was in heaven getting to run wild around everything and check out all the goodies. The only down side was the mud...the constant rain that we have been getting left the fields in a gooey mess, so we were all pretty dirty once it was time to go home. On top of everything else, there were a couple of precious babies in our group, so Colin got to give out hugs to them the whole morning, which is still his favorite pastime.

In other news, Colin is STILL changing before my eyes and I seem to be blown away by something new every single day. His speech takes my breath away...he forms beautiful sentences right now and talks about everything he sees. Today was a BIG moment; he climbed up in my lap this morning and put his arms around me. He looked into my eyes and said, "I wuv you, Mommy". I started to cry and hugged him as hard as I could. He has said it once or twice with prompting, like he is repeating what you tell him to, but this was the first time that he told me completely unprovoked...like he knew what it meant and wanted to tell me. I just can't put into words how wonderful it was. He points out things he sees from the car window (Mommy! I see cows!) and acknowledges things that I did not realize he absorbed. At McDonald's today, he saw writing on the play area and said, "Look Mommy! Super letters!". He watches a show on PBS called "Super Why" and they look for letters in stories, calling them "super letters". I love seeing Colin pick up on things like that!! He has also started saying "Guess what?!" and when you guess, he says "NOOOO!" and starts rolling with laughter. He also has moved into the "what's that?" routine where he points at things endlessly and asks me what they are. This is one of his favorite games at the moment. He remembers his friends and asks about them, which really seems like a big boy thing to do. He uses the right words to ask for things and seems to laugh all day long. Overall, I love this new stage and am having a blast with him. I feel like I am watching him turn into his own little person before my eyes. He is joy, pure and simple.

Here are some pictures from yesterday:

Colin regarding the scarecrow...

Colin and his best buddy, Hayden. Colin LOVES Hayden and even gave him an unprompted hug while they were playing. It was so sweet!

On the move!!

At the train station, right before telling me that he was NOT getting on the train. :-)

Giant Weekend of Fun!!

Hello Fall!!!!!!!

giving some love to his Mommy at the Zoo


We have had a wonderful and very busy weekend! Jer was off work on Friday, so we headed over to Frank Buck Zoo in nearby Gainesville. It is a tiny little zoo that is absolutely ADORABLE and the perfect size for a toddler to explore. Colin loved the petting zoo and the chance to feed some very hungry goats. They also have a fantastic park and train ride, so Colin was in heaven. He zonked out the second we got back into the car and slept the whole way home. The weather was sunny and 70 degrees...I think we are officially done with screaming heat until next year, thank goodness!!

Saturday was a rainy mess of a day, but we had Aubrey's 2nd birthday party to attend and Colin had a blast. He has been doing really well lately with large groups of people and seems to have worked through a lot of his sensitivity to big group settings. Of course, it helps that he has known Aubrey since the day she was born. :-) He ate a ton of pizza and checked out all the awesome presents. There was no nap that day and he started to melt down pretty fast as it got later, so we headed home for some Chinese food and cozy time. In my opinion, any day that ends with good Chinese take-out is a winner. It was so great to spend time with Ellen and her family...I love them all so much. She is pregnant again and is just finishing up her first trimester. I am so happy for her and a little jealous; we were pregnant together with Colin and Aubrey and it feels strange not to be going through this with her again! However, I am so excited and can't wait to find out what she is having! My bet is another girl! I have had a good time looking at Aubrey's 1st birthday post...these two have grown up a LOT this year!!

Colin checking out Aubrey's loot

Aubrey and Colin while she opens her gifts

I love this...the face I got when I told Colin that he could not have her present.

Now, SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! Our good friends The Roberts invited us over for a Cowboy's vs. Broncos party at their house and we had the best time, despite the Cowboy's losing the game in the last second and the fact that Jer had to work, so he missed out on the fun. Everyone brought appetizers and we munched all afternoon while the kids played and the men watched the game. The girls were busy chatting and taking care of the little ones, but I managed to watch a good deal of the action. :-) Colin and Hayden had on matching Romo jerseys and were absolutely adorable. They refused to both look at me for any sort of decent picture, but at least I got a couple. Colin thinks Hayden has the best toys ever and I had to bribe him with a cookie to even get him out the door to go home. All the kids had a great time and I love that they are finally old enough to play together. Colin was on his best behavior and I was SO PROUD of him!! He played quietly and nicely, he shared well, there was no throwing or tantrums and generally it was the perfect afternoon. He has been an excellent little boy all weekend and I kissed him extra hard tonight as I was tucking him into bed. I thanked him for being the best baby that any mama could ask for and he said, and very sincerely I might add, "You welcome Mommy". Love that boy.

Baby Pierce gives Colin a kiss! SO SWEET!

Two "romo" boys...they looked ADORABLE!!

sweet boys!!

Last, but not least, Colin shows off his awesome new long sleeved pj's for the cooler weather. It finally cooled way off here tonight, so we busted them out after bath time. Colin loves them and was more than happy to show off for a picture. It was the perfect end to a very busy and joyous weekend.

YEA FOR FALL!!!

365 Days Later...

It is really a coincidence that I even noticed this, but I unknowingly took pictures of Colin in the same park almost exactly one year apart...literally off by only a couple of days. I was saving this week's park pictures into the "September 2009" folder and saw the "September 2008" folder and took a peek. Sure enough...there are pictures of Jer and Colin walking around in the exact same place last year. I was delighted to notice this and had the best time looking at the pictures side by side. It is amazing how much Colin has changed in a year...I thought he was such a big boy last fall, but he looks like a baby in comparison to the little boy I see staring back at me in the recent shot. He is so much taller and slimmer, his cheeks are no longer so puffy and his stance is that of a boy, not a baby. Last year at this time, I was beside myself over the fact that Colin was completely mobile and running around without falling down. Now he spends his park visits digging for snails with his daddy, throwing rocks in the stream, and telling me that he sees birds or likes the scooters and bicycles he sees the kids riding. It makes me smile to think that I can't even imagine him next year at this time...probably wearing big boy underwear and riding his own scooter. I find myself trying to memorize him so that I won't forget each of these little stages. I love him SO.

Late September 2008:

Late September 2009:

Updates for a Rainy Day

It is raining. It won't stop raining. I don't recall the last time we had weather like this around here...we are well over a week now of dreary rain soaked days. I actually LOVE a cool overcast day, but the constant downpour is keeping us indoors and keeping Colin stir-crazy. I feel like I am living in the Twilight books, but without the awesome vampires to keep me company. :-) I am just not in the mood for composing proper paragraphs at the moment, so here are random updates in bullet format. Ha!

*I had a girls night out with friends on Wednesday and that was a treat! We celebrated my friend Eren's birthday with dinner and margaritas at Abuelo's and we laughed so hard that my face hurt afterwards. It was a wonderful break and reminded me how lucky I am to have friends going through the same things that I am. There is not a man alive (or childless woman for that matter) who wanted to overhear our conversation. There are just some things that only mothers can empathize with and find absolutely hysterical. :-)

*Colin has been trying relentlessly to lose his nap. Needless to say, this turn of events has not made me happy. He won't lay down in his bed at all now for naps and will NOT sit in his room and play quietly, as so many of my friends do with their kids. Lately we have gotten in my bed together and watched a show, during which he would fall asleep. That trick has also stopped working as of late and I am starting to give up hope. He is SO fussy in the evenings without a nap and still falls asleep in the car with ease if he is tired, so I know he still needs it. Yesterday, he fell asleep in the car at 11:30am, so today I tried a new approach and we got in my bed at 11:30, which is a couple of hours before his normal nap time was. Sure enough, although it took 30 minutes, he did fall asleep. I don't know if it is a fluke...only time will tell. But it is entirely possible that I was missing the window and putting him down too late. This whole sleep thing is very fluid...as soon as I think I have things figured out, he changes everything completely. I am praying that I can keep the nap going for several more months...I need that time just as much as he does!

*Colin is still amazing me every day with his speech. He now speaks in sentences and surprises me constantly with things I had no idea he knew. As of only a few days ago, he tells me "what hurts". Mothers know...you spend so much time with non-speaking children trying to figure out what is wrong and praying that you guess right. Colin came up to me out of the blue and said, "Mama, this ear hurts!". I was blown away. I took him to the doctor and sure enough, he had drainage in the throat and his nose was totally stuffed. The doctor said his Eustachian tubes were probably popping and causing his ears to hurt. I love this new stage! If he is crying and I ask what he hurt, he will tell me exactly...hurt head or hurt toe...he tells me now!! It's the little things, good people!

*The speech progression has also brought about a new stage that I find both wonderful and a mess at the same time. He now tells me what he wants to eat. The problem with that is the obvious...I often don't HAVE what he wants to eat or it is not an appropriate choice. As in, "GRAPES!" or "CHICKEN BITES!" or "WONDER PETS GUMMIES!". Okay, first of all, this is totally my fault. I never EVER should have shown Colin that something as amazing as Wonder Pets Gummies existed. Now he wants them for breakfast. Um, no. Well....mostly no. Some mornings I am just too tired and give in. Is that bad? :-) Anyway, when this box is done, I am reserving the purchase of Wonder Pets Gummies for grocery store meltdowns only. Which means that we will have a new box in two days. Never mind.

*I cut my own bangs two days ago and they look HORRIBLE. I really must stop doing this. I keep trying to grow them out and then I have a panic attack because they are constantly in my face and then I cut them. I need medication to stop cutting my freaking bangs. Sometimes I do a good job and they look okay. This time...not so much. I look like a 12 year old. MUST. STOP. THIS.

*My mom gave me a copy of The Neely's cookbook and I can't stop cooking from it. Everything is SO GOOD. I love to cook and now I am really going crazy. We are going to be very fat people if I don't go back to "Cooking Light" in short order. ;-) I have also gotten addicted to Pioneer Woman's new website, Tasty Kitchen. It is the most addicting thing, just like everything else she does. I am currently glued to my kitchen.

That should do it for this round of boring tidbits from my life. Did I mention that it is raining?

The Wait is Over!

The story unfolded exactly like we knew it would...Jer had been on vacation for a week in anticipation of Meredith going into labor and her water broke the night before he had to be back at work. :-) We got the frantic phone call at 9:15pm Friday night, Mert's water broke and they were rushing to the hospital. My first thought was to run to the car and start driving, but then I remembered that I was the mother of a two year old who was soundly asleep at the time. Oops! I was forced to attempt sleep that night and wait for morning to hit the road. Colin and I had to go alone Saturday morning while Jer worked and we made record time arriving at her hospital room by 11:00am. Just as I knew would be the case, she is STUNNING!! Pryce Lucille Bowler was born at 8lb 4 oz with a full head of jet black hair, just like Jackson and my Colin. We birth big babies with a lot of hair in my family. ;-) Mert looked absolutely beautiful and you would NEVER guess that she just had a baby. I seriously don't know how I am related to her. She is healthy and happy and all is well. Jer made it into town separately by 6pm Sunday night, so he got a chance to see Pryce too. I was so glad he was able to pull off the trip...family events don't seem right for me without him around. We spent three days running back and forth to the hospital with Colin in tow, which went pretty well considering! He had Jackson to play with and they have certainly gotten louder and more "WWF" style in their play, which does not make for a peaceful hospital room. HA! Cory is so in love with his new little girl and it was so much fun to watch Pryce turn immediately into "Daddy's Girl". The whole weekend was a dream! We all drove home today. Jer goes back to work in the morning and I am going to attempt to get Colin back on a bit of a schedule...we are having major nap trouble at the moment, but I will save that for another post. It is a life changing moment watching your baby sister have her own baby...I love them all so much. I can't wait to get back!!

Colin is in love with Pryce. In fact, he has taken his love for babies to a new level with this one! The overriding thing that I will take away from this weekend is what an incredibly sweet little boy I have. All he could talk about was "Baby Pryce" and every time he saw someone holding her, he climbed over that person to lay his head on her. "Hug Pryce, Mama!" was frequently yelled to me. He counted toes, patted her hair, tried to pat her face, and best of all, he would wrap his arms around her as best he could and lay his head on hers. It was the sweetest thing I have even seen in my life. As we were leaving today, he went into meltdown mode while the whole family tried to take him away from the baby to get him in the car. Once we got on the road, he chanted, "GO SEE BABY PRYCE, MAMA!" at random moments for the whole drive. He is such a blessing in my life and I was reminded of it yet again today...to have a son so special and loving is a gift beyond all gifts!

So the weekend was perfect, the baby is BEYOND perfect and all is well with the world. I will post pictures here as soon as I get them onto this computer! Also, take a moment to check out my brother-in-law Cory's new blog...I added him to my blog roll at the bottom right of the page. He is so hysterical and it will be so much fun to read all about life with my crazy...er...awesome sister Mert and my wonderful niece and nephew. Take a look! :-)

Still Waiting on a Baby.....

This has been a great week all the way around with one small exception...my sister is keeping my niece hostage inside her womb and refuses to deliver her. At least, that is how I see it. :-) To keep myself occupied instead of "watching the kettle" all week, Colin and I did a lot of last minute running around and having fun. My other (local) sister, Alieson, ended up with days off in the middle of the week, so we got to have a lot of fun with her. Colin could not have been happier about it! We took her to Paradise Pond on Thursday and then had lunch and ice cream afterwards. Maybe you can tell what their favorite part of the day was:

She is so silly and children LOVE her. SERIOUSLY. On Saturday, the three of us went back out for a shopping trip and then took Colin to a bounce house place afterwards. Alieson ended up with a posse of children following her around. It was adorable, and also a bit sad. While my amazing sister was playing with these precious kiddos, their parents were talking on cell phones and reading books in a corner. They never even got up to check on the random adult that their kids had attached themselves to. If I glanced up and saw Colin playing with a random adult that I did not know, I would at least introduce myself! Good lord! She was so sweet and ran all around with them, helping them up and down big slides and letting them lead her all around to "do this one more time!!". She has such a caring and gentle soul and was just pleased as punch to play with all the kids. I was reminded how proud I am to call her my sister. I was also reminded that I am going to make every effort to continue what I already do...get on my hands and knees and play with my child. I know (god, do I know!) how much we could use a few minutes with a book and that catching those minutes while your kids play on their own can give you a break. BUT, I also promise to Colin to be the mom that is bouncing around like a big teenager in the Superman Bounce House, sweating buckets and looking like a dork. Because for as long as it makes him happy, I am that mama! (and Aunt Alie, too....she was serious about those slides!) :-)

Today, Jer and I took Colin to Dallas World Aquarium for a treat. REALLY. BAD. IDEA. We knew it would be a busy weekend, but it was far more chaotic than I could have imagined. We waited in a line that curved all the way around the building just to get in! Once inside, the same crowds were trying to walk through the rain forest and we got utterly stuck. I even started to feel a bit of panic settling in...we were crushed in with hundreds and hundreds of other folks in these small walkways. Colin was quickly not having it, so we ended up slinking past everyone (and all the exhibits!) to get out of the crowd and get some air. After that, things got better and Colin was able to see the penguins, which was the whole reason he got excited to go. SO CUTE!! I really wanted to take this one home, but Jer said no. I can't imagine why having a penguin would be a bad idea... ;-)
It was hard to get many pictures in the throngs of people, but Jer managed this little shot. We were checking out that penguin in all his adorableness. :-)

Colin was devising a plan to get him home with us. It did not go so well. ;-)

As far as the coming week, I have no idea what the plan will be. Jer is on vacation and we are ready to head out when we get the call from Mert. I am so excited to see my niece that I just can't stand it!! I sure hope it is in the next few days! That being said, as each day comes with no signs of labor, we will try to do some impromptu fun stuff around here. It is wonderful having Jer home with us, so we should keep happy and busy...and waiting on that kettle!