The 3rd Birthday Extravaganza!

Colin is 3. He is officially 3 years old. No turning back now. :-) Yesterday was the big day and we hosted a birthday party for him at the rainforest water park that we all love. It has been a big few days around here and I am absolutely exhausted now, but very happy!

The birthday fun started on Sunday with Jer's parents. They left yesterday for a trip to Italy, so we celebrated early with them. We had Colin's annual birthday brunch at Old West Cafe in Denton and then went back to their house for some fun with the slip and slide! I borrowed my mom's awesome camera for the festivities and got some really cute pictures!

My mom and sister Meredith came to town on Monday afternoon to spend the night and attend Colin's party. My sister Alieson came to the house when they arrived and we all had a great evening together. We had dinner together at Mi Familia in Roanoke and then came back home to play. Aunt Alieson, otherwise known as the most beloved aunt in history, took Colin and Jackson for a ride around the block with their scooter and tricycle. They were following her around all night like little shadows. It was absolutely precious! After all the fun, we set up the air mattress in Colin's playroom for Jackson to sleep on. It was around this time that Colin announced that he wanted Jackson to sleep with him in his bed! I was blown away...Colin is so rigid when it comes to how he likes to go to sleep and I never thought he would really go down with Jackson in bed. I decided to give it a try, fully expecting Colin to want Jackson to leave once it really came time to sleep. We got in Colin's bed together and I read both boys a few stories while they got cozy under the covers. That alone was just wonderful and I was soaking them up! After the stories, I turned the lights out to sing Colin his songs and Jackson was the perfect prince...he got quiet and still and listened right along with Colin. I actually think he enjoyed it too, even though he is 5 years old. :-) Both boys went to sleep!! Jackson was still just barely awake when I snuck out of the bed and I kissed him and told him good night. He told me he loved me and snuggled right up to Colin. And they SLEPT! It was one of the best moments EVER! I love that Colin loves his cousins so much!!

Colin and Jackson heading around the block with Aunt Alie

Jackson and Colin! They are pretty adorable firemen!

Colin making a GIANT blue mess with his new sand and water table. We won't be buying blue sand again. :-)

Loving his new present!

Colin's birthday dawned sunny and HOT! We left early for the party, which was scheduled to start at 11:00am. We went by Sam's to pick up the cake and food...and not without the usual comedy of errors that surround any event planned by yours truly. I got a phone call the night before the party from Sam's informing me that they were not going to have my sandwich trays that had long been ordered. After talking to every manager under the sun, we realized that we were basically completely out of luck. At that late hour, the only choice was to purchase meat and cheese trays and a couple of loaves of bread. Lovely. I tried my best to just let it go and not be upset, but I was so angry at them! I have the worst luck when it comes to party planning. The same company lost our big present for Colin and that was a mess, too. Unreal. Anyway, we picked up the modified food and headed over to the water park. The wind was blowing like crazy and we had to tape down all the cute parts of the firetruck table cloths, but at least things were coming together! :-) Colin requested a firetruck/police car theme, but we stuck with firetrucks only after realizing that police decorations are hard to come by! He was super excited about the whole event and talked about it non-stop. I had plastic fire hats and matchbox cars as favors for the kiddos and the cake turned out yummy and cute. Despite all my best efforts, Colin still managed to be pretty overwhelmed once the party got underway. There was a lot of fuss over him from lots of people and he started to retreat into his shell. The whole lead up had him very hyped up and by the time folks started arriving he was getting nervous. He only swam for a few minutes and then he wanted to hide out with Mimi at the picnic tables. He was not quite his usual smiling self for much of the party and even got under the table to hide when we sang happy birthday to him! OOPS! He did get excited to share lunch with his friends and really perked up when he got to cut his cake. Opening presents was interesting...he kept wanting to stop and play with each one and not open anymore! By that point, he was close to being done with the whole thing. He is definitely an interesting little man. I thought that picking a venue that he loves and knows well would help eliminate his tendency to get overwhelmed, but it happened anyway. He has stopped being nervous at most things and has had such a great time at all his friends parties, but when the spotlight turned to him, he got nervous. He did manage to have fun despite some rough moments and I am so thankful for all of my wonderful friends and family who know Colin so well and love him so much. He got the BEST presents EVER from his friends and once he got home, he took each one out and had been immersed ever since! He keeps saying, "My friends got me so many good presents, Mommy!". He wanted to know who gave him each present and why I thought they picked it out for him. :-) It was just a wonderful party!

We spent a wonderful evening together after the party. Colin spent all night playing with all of his amazing presents and the rest of his loot from Mommy and Daddy. We gave him his big present that was from our entire family...a Power Wheels Jeep!! He lost his mind over it just as we expected he would. :-) He also had all of his dreams come true by getting piles of fireman related things...he got a fire station, several firetrucks, firemen, boots and a real fire hat! He made them all go to bed with him last night! It was a very blessed birthday for my sweet little man...I am so excited for the coming year with my BIG 3 year old boy!

Three Years Old

My son is turning three years old in just a couple of days. Somehow, as if time and space stand suspended, he has gone from an 8 pound baby to a 3 year old boy. Colin is beautiful, both in spirit and body, and he is my soul. He is complicated and sensitive, funny and brilliant. To capture this child in words, to create an image of him on this date in history, to paint this moment into my memory...it is almost impossible to find the right words and string them together in a way that conveys who he is right now. He is everything that I never knew I was waiting for. He is light and he is our gift.

Colin never stops talking. He questions every single thing that he sees and hears. He is not satisfied with simple answers and wants to know details behind everything. Every question is followed by "why?". During a picnic at the pool with our friends yesterday, Colin asked why our friend was sitting her infant son down, why she was spreading his towel out, what she was going to do once the towel was spread out, what she was serving for lunch and why she made that choice. This is his way at all times. It can be overwhelming at times and there are days that I find myself exhausted merely by all the questions that I have to come up with reasonable answers for. At the play we saw yesterday, he asked why the mouse popped out of the door behind us. He then asked if we could also go in and out of that stage door. I told him no and he asked why. "Because we are not in the play" was not a sufficient answer. :-) He has brought it up no less than 50 times since then, asking about that stage door and why the mouse can go through but we can't. Little questions like this seem to swirl around him constantly and even though I hear it all the time, he still surprises me daily with questions that I never in a million years would expect someone his age to ask. We talk all day long, from the moment his eyes open, about everything in the world. It is tiring and wonderful all at the same time.

His imagination is stunning. He spends his days morphing into all different kinds of things. He is frequently a fireman, EMT, garbage man, ice cream man, construction worker, lifeguard, Walgreen's employee, doctor, and vet. During all of this play, I am given instructions on what I need to buy, have fixed, or what ailment I am seeing the doctor for. I have to say exactly what he tells me to and refer to him as "fireman Colin" or "doctor Colin", etc, until he tells me otherwise. He builds stores and offices out of the couch cushions or dining room chairs all day every day. He is totally and completely obsessed with firemen above all else!

He loves Max and Ruby, Yo Gabba Gabba, The Fresh Beat Band, Wow Wow Wubzy, Umizoomi, Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer. He does not like SpongeBob and will request the channel changed if it pops on before I get to it. I love that. :-) He has informed me that he does not like the movie "Finding Nemo", which I find surprising. He actually has not liked any feature length movie that I have tried to introduce him to. He loves all the "Cars" and "Toy Story" toys, but won't sit down to watch either movie yet.

We drive all over creation for our activities these days and Colin is wonderful in the car. He loves our little adventures as much as I do and never complains about all the long drives we take. He likes to get in his own carseat now, which takes forever, so I do have to work on my patience a lot when we are out. He likes to climb into the front passenger door, ask me 10 questions about different things in the car, open the garage himself, put in a DVD, or any number of other things before he even climbs over to attempt getting in his actual seat. He does this every time he gets into the car and if you stop him in the middle of this "process", he will completely melt down and keep it up for a long time! There are occasions when timing dictates that I force him into his seat quickly, but I usually allow him to do his thing for the sake of my own sanity. :-) He loves going to play with his friends and they have all become a major part of his life. He asks about them by name all the time and talks about their siblings and families a great deal.

He loves to sing and perform. LOVES IT. He just got his first birthday present of the year, a little CD player with an attached microphone from his Aunt Amanda and Aunt Victoria. He has been singing into it non-stop. He adores music of all kinds and makes up his own lyrics all the time, as well as learning the chorus' of his favorite songs. Right now he loves pop music the most and frequently requests that I play his favorite videos on youtube.

He loves Chinese food beyond words and always behaves himself quite well when we take him out for anything Asian. He will eat steamed dumplings endlessly and they must be steamed, not pan-fried! He also loves Mexican food and some of the most random things, like feta cheese, olives, hummus, and pretty much anything that I assume he won't like. :-) He doesn't really eat french fries, which makes me wonder if we can be related. He is getting better at being out in restaurants, but he is still a child that cannot sit still for any real length of time. He knows the rules about being out to eat and he will listen to us and stay put, but he can barely contain his fidgets. The best places to eat with him are the ones where the occasional walk around the table is okay. Even at the play yesterday, he had to get up and move seats several times and rotate in and out of my lap. I don't know when he will be ready to sit through a movie at the theater, but I know it won't be anytime soon! Any experience that is hands on and allows the freedom to ask lots of questions is perfect for him at this stage.

He is incredibly, adorably polite at the moment and it is all I can do not to kiss him all over his face several times a day. When we checked out at Family Video yesterday, he told the clerk to "have a good day!" and said, "Thank you, sir!" when a gentlemen held the door open for us. I tripped on his feet heading into the library last night and he said, "That's okay, Mommy! I know it was an accident!". Lord help me, it is the cutest thing ever. He sounds like such a little man when he does that!

Our nightly ritual starts with a bath, pj's and then a show on the couch snuggled up together under a blanket. Then we gather up whoever (toys) is going to read books with us and head to his room. Jer and I climb into bed with him and read 3 stories under the covers. Before the last book, I remind him that after the book, it is time for Daddy to go put Enzo and Ferris night-night. When we finish the story, he knows it is time and snuggles down with me after giving Daddy a kiss. Jer turns off the light and leaves the room while Colin and I sing our "goodnight prayer song" by sing-songing goodnights to all of our family and whatever friends he decides to add to the list that day. After that I usually sing three songs to him, generally the Thomas theme song, followed by Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and finishing with You are My Sunshine. After that, he is sound asleep and I leave the room with a kiss on his head. This process happens so religiously that I sometimes find it hard to settle down myself on the nights that I am out with friends and miss the routine. :-) I know that I will miss it when he gets too big for our sweet little ritual.

Colin's smile could light up the whole world. You have never seen a child smile like he smiles. He smiles with joy and merriment that seems to be literally radiating out of him...you can practically feel it warm your skin when he turns it on you. His dimples dig deep into both cheeks and the corners of his mouth seem to disappear into his ears. His eyes dance with glee and he takes on a cherubic quality that always makes me happy, no matter what. He is passionate about everything and he certainly gets angry and sad and every other emotion with ferocious vigor. But overall, above all else, he is happy to his core. If I could sum Colin up in one word, it would be joy. There are so many endless things that I could write about him at this turning point in his life, but this is a good snap shot of my wonderful boy just turning 3 years old. I love you, Colin.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!

Colin attended his very first play this morning!! The performance was at Texas Women's University in Denton and the show was "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", which is a very popular children's book. I found out about the show early last week from my friends and went out and bought the book for Colin. He loved the story and we have read it several times a day since I bought it. I told him that I had tickets to a live performance of the book and tried without much success to explain what live theater is. I told him about actors and what they do as best as I could and he was pretty excited about the whole thing, although I think he was picturing a movie or cartoon. I was very nervous on the drive over...you just never know what Colin is going to like and I knew that the chances were high that we would not even get into our seats without a meltdown about the crowd. Once we arrived at the box office (after I got lost looking for the theater on campus), I was told that they only accept cash! I ended up having to run across the campus with Colin in tow to find an ATM at the student center. We were sweating bullets by the time we got back and the show was literally starting. This meant that Colin and I had to take seats at the very top of the small theater in chairs set up for extra people. My mistake and subsequent lateness ended up being absolutely perfect. Colin was not crowded into the regular theater seats with all the other kids and parents and was able to move around a little bit as he wanted to. Our chairs were facing the ledge of the small balcony and he propped his little arms on it and rested his chin on his hands as he watched in awe when the lights came up. It was so precious that I could barely contain myself. He immediately yelled out into the quiet theater, "Are those the actors, Mommy?!" ...I was chocking on my laughter!! He would frequently yell out the following: "Where is the mouse going?! Is that the drawing?! He needs to put it on the fridge! That's so silly!" I could not believe how much he loved it. I kept whispering to him about not talking and being quiet and he quickly caught on and behaved like a dream. The mouse actually popped out of a hidden door behind our seats to enter the show and run down the stairs to the stage. The big spot light landed right on us and the mouse stopped and nibbled Colin's ear on her way to the stage! He was absolutely thrilled by this!! The show was about an hour long and he watched the whole thing! Honestly, I was so shocked and overwhelmed that he loved it!! It was a precious show and I am so glad that I took the risk and bought the tickets. The theater was tiny and the whole thing was perfect for Colin. We stopped at McDonald's afterwards for lunch and as he ate his chicken nuggets, he said, "Mommy, what was your favorite part of the play?"...could you just die?!?! What a wonderful date with my sweet boy!!

Colin standing outside the theater.

Standing on the stage after the show!

He was all smiles the whole time!

The view from our seats...the show had just ended. Look at that face! He had a blast!

Celebrating 7 Years...and a 5 Year Old!

Last weekend we celebrated two very important things...my nephew's 5th birthday and our 7th wedding anniversary! We spent a long weekend in Tyler with my family and had the most wonderful time. We drove in on Friday afternoon and woke up on Saturday morning to head to Jackson's big pool party. Mert hosted the party at our old neighborhood pool, which was almost too much for me and my sappy self to handle. I can't believe that we were all there with our children in the very spot where I played when I was a little girl. Crazy! Meredith's best friend Wendi and her husband Jesse were there with their daughter and ended up making the party even more amazing...Jesse is a fireman! He called his friends on duty and had them swing by the party in the fire truck!! Let me tell you, Colin was literally beside himself. I thought he was going to pass out when it started pulling into the long drive. The firemen were so sweet and let the kids climb all over the truck. It was pretty much Colin's best case scenario. :-) Here are some assorted pics from the party:


hugging my precious nephew! I can't believe he is 5!!

the sisters!


Cory and sweet Pryce!

Mert and Cory

Aunt Alieson and all her babies!

Cousins in a firetruck! :-)

My Daddy!

Jackson!

My dad feeding Pryce her first taste of ice cream...she LOVED it!

Once we made it back to my parents house, the second big surprise of the day happened for Colin. One of my oldest friends is a police officer in Tyler and he agreed to swing by the house on duty to say hello. Colin ran out the front door to greet him and climbed right into the car! Chad let him turn on the lights and even honk the SUPER LOUD airhorn thing...I have no doubt that my parents neighbors thought all hell was breaking loose. Chad ended up getting called away for what Colin cheerfully called a "real emergency", which is just about all he talks about now. Seeing Chad drive away with his lights on was the ultimate to this almost 3 year old! It was the best day ever for Colin...firetrucks and police cars on the same day!

Sunday was a very special day...it was my 7th anniversary!!! My parents kept Colin for most of the day while Jer and I had lunch, did a little shopping and saw a movie. It was the perfect day!! Colin went out to lunch with the whole family while we had our date. We ate at Fish City Grill first and then went over to Barnes and Noble while we waited for the movie to start. We found some cute books for Colin's birthday and then saw "Knight and Day" at the theater. I can't believe that it has been 7 years...it really seems like yesterday that we got married. There were many overwhelming moments during the day when I realized how lucky I am and how far we have come as a little family. I have been so blessed!! My mom took a few pictures of us before we left on our date. I am so proud to be married to such a wonderful man and the fact that he gifted me with our precious son is just icing on the cake! It is hard to put into words how thankful I am for my husband.

One night after everyone went to sleep, I went outside and sat Indian style at the end of my parents driveway, much the way I used to do as a teenager. I sat for a long time enjoying the sounds of the crickets and the warm night air. I sat there often when I was young and thought about what my life would be like and what my future would hold. As I sat there on Sunday night, I thought about how many of my dreams have already come true. I said a little prayer thanking God for everything he has given me. I also thanked Him for that sweet house on that perfect block that I will always think of as home. I love it there.

4th of July 2010!

I can't believe that today is Thursday...I feel like I am just now recovering from our giant 4th of July weekend. We started the fun on Friday morning with our weekly playdate and things did not slow down until Monday night! We met at Eren's house on Friday and she had the kids wear their red, white and blue. She even had an adorable art project for the boys; they decorated American flags with star stickers. I was blown away at how quickly the boys sat down and got quiet...it was so cute! Apparently, crafts are the way to go from now on! The kids played while the moms got a chance to chat. We stuffed all the boys on the couch for a group picture, which turned out surprisingly well, considering that we are talking about a bunch of barely 3 year olds. At least they are all sitting there! I got several cute shots of Colin and his buddies.

Colin and Jack being adorable. They were cracking each other up!

Colin and Hayden working on their flag projects. It was serious work!

Colin and Ryan working on their flags...you can tell that Colin was floating the room? ;-)

Here is the group shot! From left; Anders, Jack, Greyson, Colin, Ryan (holding Woody in back) and Hayden. Colin loves his friends!

This last picture cracks me up, although it is unfortunately a fuzzy shot. Colin, Jack, Ryan and Hayden all have birthdays within the same month and they were having a great time singing happy birthday to themselves and blowing out the "candles" on a toy cake. This is going to sound so funny, but I grew up with a group of very popular and handsome boys who also shared birthdays around each other. They had a group party every year, which was always a GIANT bash at our local country club pool. I swear this event got bigger every year. They called themselves "The Bad Bad Birthday Boys" (hello 1988!) and for some reason I still remember those parties like it was yesterday...probably because I thought they were all so "hot". ;-) Anyway, when I first saw this picture, I thought about that memory. It looks like we have our own set of bad birthday boys!

On Saturday, it poured down rain all day, which really put a damper on my original fun ideas. We decided to make a trip to the Asian market for dumplings and shopping, which was a blast as always. Colin LOVES that place!! He adores the seafood section to the point that I am worried about what he will do when he realizes that those lobsters and crabs are actually for eating! HA! Afterwards, we hit our first fireworks stand with Colin and he thought it was pretty awesome. We purchased a ton of sparklers and poppers. Colin came home and promptly threw every single popper that we bought in the backyard. It was so much fun to watch...he was throwing them down and stomping on them forever! Jer supervised, although Colin got the hang of it immediately. That night, we lit his first sparkler, which he looooved. It was a wonderful day!

I wanted to attend the fireworks show that evening, but it sadly got rained out. Sunday was the 4th and we got up bright and early to begin prep. I made stuffed strawberries to take to the lunch BBQ we were attending at our friend Dave's house and watermelon-cucumber salad to take to our evening party at Kimberly's parents house. Colin had a great time at Dave's house...we swam, ate, and Colin played endlessly with Dave's daughter. We were late leaving there and missed dinner at our other party, but we had a GREAT time regardless! We were in plenty of time to swim with all of our best friends AND we got to set off small fireworks in their cul-de-sac. I was very shocked to see that Colin loved the fireworks! With all the noise, I was certain that he would turn and go back inside, but he thought it was awesome. Nathan was setting them off and Colin kept trying to "help" him do it! He did hold his ears several times, but never got too scared and really enjoyed himself. After one pretty awesome round, a police car pulled up. OOPS! Colin and his buddy Jack were thrilled with the arrival and went out to see the officer and check out the car. I am pretty sure that their adorable faces are the only reason that we did not get a ticket. ;-) That ended the show and we hit the road soon afterwards. Colin passed out in the car and did not even stir when I carried him to his bed. What a perfect day!

Colin eating a very American spread at Dave's house...ribs, corn and watermelon! :-)

Jumping to Dad!

Jer, Dave and Colin, all looking very handsome! :-)

watching the fireworks with Jer and Kimberly's dad, Dave

Colin "helping" Nate set off the fireworks!

Colin and Daddy with our favorite little man, Pierce

Group shot of the girls and some of the kiddos...Lindsey, Eren and Jack, Kayrene and Ryan, me and Colin, Kim, Hayden and Piercy J!

Ready to party!

The firework that brought the police! ;-) You know it's not a party until the police show up!

We woke up on Monday and headed straight over to the rainforest water park for swimming with the whole gang. Jack's actual birthday was that day, and all the families got together there for a picnic and swim. We virtually collapsed when we got home...it was a busy and wonderful holiday weekend!! The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays and I feel so blessed that we got to celebrate with so many of our wonderful friends!