Superstar!

I entered this photo of Collier in Parent's Magazine Cover Contest and he's been chosen as a Weekly finalist.  Please vote for him DAILY so that he can win.  If he wins, he's in the running for a spot on the cover so please VOTE VOTE VOTE! :)  Thanks!

Vote Here

The Stats Are In...

Noah and Collier had their 4 year old and 6 month old check ups this past week.  Noah weighs 40 lbs (75%) and is 42 1/2" tall (80%).  He is doing great and healthy as can be.  They were pleased with his developmental progress.  I've always wondered if he had a form of autism but Dr. Crenshaw told me that he did not.  Most kids on the autism spectrum lack social skills, which is not the case with Noah.  Plus, kids with autism have delays but not gross motor delays.  We still don't have a diagnosis as to what he does have, but it's nice to be able to rule out autism.  Noah recently finished his 2nd round of physical therapy in Birmingham and did a really good job.  He is not walking independently all the time, but he is walking when he wants to.  He's kind of stubborn about it... he won't do it when he has a group of people watching him, however, when we least expect it... off he goes!  It's only a matter of time.

Collier weighs 17lbs 13oz (50%) and is 27" long (55%) so he has slowed up a bit in the growth department.  He has been around the 75 - 90% since birth so I imagine the more he starts moving, the more he'll slim up.  And speaking of moving, he crawled for the first time tonight!  Yes, my 6 1/2 month old is now on the go!  He only did it once and moved forward a few feet but I guess he'll really figure it all out in the next few days.  He has also begun doing a yoga pose... downward dog!  He'll be in a crawling position and raise his bottom into the air and stand up on his tippy toes.  It's so funny!  It amazes me how strong he is and I have a feeling he's going to be one of those babies that does everything early.  Probably God's way of having a sense of humor... both of my kids will probably start walking around the same time!  But I don't mind at all. :)

Lastly, I'm considering taking my blog private in the next few weeks.  Please send me a message with your email address so that I can "give you permission" to read my blog once I make those changes.  Thanks!

Our Extra Special Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was extra special for us... why? Well we had Collier dedicated at church on Sunday!  My hubby and boys showered me with a Bo-berry biscuit, cards, gifts and lots of love Sunday morning and off to church we went.  We were so happy to have the entire Brink family join us to share in this day!  Noah was dedicated on Mother's Day in 2009 so these two days will always be very memorable for us.  After church, we all enjoyed a delicious lunch at Cypress Lakes Country Club.  Jamie and I loved celebrating Mother's Day with BOTH of our moms all together. 

I am so grateful for my mom!  She has always put her family first and is such a sweet, kind, and giving person.  She's the peacemaker in our family.  She always encouraged me to do my best and to be respectful to others; she was a disciplinarian and always taught us right from wrong.  However, I always knew that I could go to her for advice or simply as someone to talk to and I never once doubted her love for me.  She loves Jamie as though he is her own son and she is the BEST Mimi to her grandboys.  I'm so thankful that I have her to look to as an example of the kind of mom I want to always be to my boys.

As a child, I wanted to be a mommy when I grew up.  In fact, my baby book has in it that one day when I was maybe 2 or 3, I asked my mom how old I had to be to become a mommy.  My mom's answer was "at least 25!" And guess what, I was 25 when I had Noah. :)  I had three "life-like" baby dolls that I carried around with me and I diapered, dressed and fed them.  I am so thankful that God fulfilled my dream of being a mom.  Motherhood isn't always easy and there are some days where I feel like these kids are out to get me but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  The good moments far outweigh the hard moments.  I am so thankful for the priviledge to be the mom to my two precious boys.  God has been so good to us and we are blessed!

These three are all the gifts I need!

Noah's gift to me that he's been working on in Sunday School

Collier's Dedication 5/8/11

What more could I ask for?

Wanna a cool shirt & help others at the same time?!

Maggie Crisler, a graphic designer/artist in Florence designed this shirt in order to raise money for relief efforts in Alabama.  Her goal was $1000 and in less than 24 hours, she exceeded her goal.  100% of the proceeds are being donated to the Red Cross.  The shirts are so cute and only $15 + $5 shipping (local folks don't have to pay shipping and can pick them up in Florence).  I ordered the grey one and can't wait to get it!  She's working on making them available in kid sizes too.  You can click HERE to order yours! 

Birthday Week

Noah's birthday week didn't quite start off on a good note...  On Wednesday, a series of deadly tornadoes ripped through our state, destroying thousands of homes and businesses, killing hundreds of people with many others still missing.  Cities and towns such as Huntsville, Phil Campbell, Cullman, Tuscaloosa and several others were hit the hardest, leaving these areas in a state of devastation.  It is considered to be the second deadliest series of tornadoes to have ever swept through our nation.  Thankfully, the Shoals area was spared with very minimal damage.  We were very blessed.  Also, Jamie's uncle Freddy had been in the hospital for over a week with not much hope for recovery.  Thursday, he passed away with his visitation and funeral scheduled for Saturday morning.  With such sadness and turmoil going on around us, we considered postponing Noah's birthday party to a later date.  However after some consideration, we decided to proceed with our original plans so that we would have something to celebrate to take our minds away from everything else going on around us.

One of Noah's favorite toys is a remote control race car that my dad bought him for Christmas so I quickly decided that we would center his party around a race car theme.  And it was an obvious decision to have the party at Forest Jumps since Noah loves playing there.  I love all the little details that go into party planning so I had fun coming up with a "race car themed" menu.  Since the party was from 3 - 5pm, I decided to go with light snacks, in addition to cake.  I chose to serve Traffic Light Rice Krispy treats (cut into a rectangular shape and decorated with red, yellow and green M&M's), Nuts & Bolts Party Mix (Chex Mix with M&M's) and Fruit Wheelies (an assortment of fruit cut into the shape of tire wheels).  Our Fueling Station was set up with lemonade and bottled water. 

 (and yes, I didn't even realize it until I looked at these pictures... but I had one of the trays of traffic lights set on the table upside down! ooops!)

  

I asked Beth Ledbetter to create the adorable cake.  She does a great job and her cakes are DELICIOUS!  Seriously, best icing ever... not too sweet, just right.  And if anyone around the Shoals area needs someone to do a cake, she is very, VERY reasonable and never disappoints. 

I appliqued and monogrammed race car shirts for both of the boys.  Noah's car had the number 4 on it and Collier's had .5 (I wanted to put 1/2 but my monogramming machine wouldn't let me do the "/" so I did .5... Jamie didn't get it, he kept saying why didn't you just put 6 for 6 months?? Oh well... I tried)

The kids had a great time jumping and playing on the inflatables.  There are two rooms with inflatables: a double slide, an obstacle course, and a huge steep slide.  They also have Chuck E. Cheese type games in the main room ... so lots of fun things for kids to do!

This is Noah's buddy, Windsor Grace.  She is PRECIOUS and so sweet to him.  She told her mom that she loves Jesus, Santa Claus and Noah :)

After an hour of playing, we gathered the kids together, sang Happy Birthday to Noah and dug into the yummy cake. One tier was a yellow cake and the other was strawberry!

I didn't have to worry about Collier... my grandmother and aunts were glad to watch over him.  Some even stole a few kisses leaving their lipstick behind on his forehead! :) After our busy morning at the visitation and funeral, he was exhausted, so he fell asleep and Derrick, my sister's husband, held him for the last half of the party.  He's such a good uncle!

After eating cake, it was time for presents.  Noah got lots of fun toys and clothes... several polo shirts and shorts, some cute t-shirts, a bathing suit, a police cruiser with lights and sounds, a t-ball set, a motorized dump truck, a Chuck the Truck Stunt Park playset, several books, an Alabama t-shirt and basketball, Batman and the Batmobile, a Monster Truck, and a Race 'n Load Car Carrier.  Jamie and I got him a basketball goal and some clothes, my parents got him a tricycle, as well as a few polo shirts and shorts, and Jamie's parents, along with Ma Maw (Jamie's grandmother) got him a Power Wheels Ride-On Jeep Rubicon (we have ordered it and are waiting on it to get here).  Thank you to everyone!  He has had a ball playing with all of his new cars.  

 

By this time, it was almost 5 and the party was coming to an end.  Everyone had a great time, including the birthday boy!  We sent the kids home with Red Velvet Cake Pops and Balloons.

After the party, we went for a birthday dinner at Logans with my parents, Lindsay and Derrick. 

 

I'm glad we proceeded with Noah's party... he had a great time and lots of sweet memories we're made.  Thank you to EVERYONE who attended the party and helped in celebrating Noah's 4th Birthday with us!