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!!!