Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet

This year, my boys dressed up as a cowboy and a horse. I wanted coordinating costumes and every cowboy needs a horse! Sunday evening we took the boys to our chuch for the GLOW night.  They blacked out the entire Kids department and had black lights and strobe lights everywhere.  There were games in each class room and each of the sunday school classes were responsible for putting together a game.  Our class did a football toss into hoops involving a glow-in-the-dark football.  It was fun and Noah had a blast!

On Halloween, we headed out rather early in the evening to make the rounds of visiting all of the grandparents.  It was around 6:30 before we made it over to my parent's house where we loaded the kids into the wagon and took them trick-or-treating to some of my parent's neighbors.  After the kids filled their Halloween buckets full of candy and treats, we came back to my parent's for dinner.  The rest of the evening was spent handing out candy to all of the other trick or treaters.  I think Noah enjoyed handing out candy as much, if not more than the actual trick or treating!

In Search of the Great Pumpkin

We took the boys to McGee Pumpkin Patch last Saturday.  We didn't get to make it out there last year (brand new baby) so I was excited to go back, plus it was Jamie's first trip.  Our first stop was to look at the goats.  Noah was brave enough to try and pet them, although I was nervous they would try to bite his hand!  They were kind of aggressive! I guess they act that way because they are used to people offering them feed. 

We then headed back to find a pumpkin.  We chose not to take the hayride out to their pumpkin patch, simply because all 4 of us have TERRIBLE allergies and were already congested without sitting ourselves in a pile of dusty hay.  Maybe I sound like a Debbie Downer, but until our boys are asking us to take them on the hayride out to the field, we'll opt out.  We chose our pumpkins from the ones that they had already picked. 

I think we need this one, Mama

Such a good big brother

After choosing our pumpkins, I tried my hardest to get some cute fall photos of the boys.  TRIED being the operative word.  Noah refused to look at the camera and Collier kept picking up hay and leaves and putting them in his mouth. This was the best I got!

See what I mean? No happy smiles from Noah when I pulled out the 'ol camera.  It's like he's learned to look mad, uninterested, or bored when my camera makes an appearance.  Either that, or he'll look everywhere EXCEPT at the camera.  I promise he had a good time!  If it were up to me, I would have kept trying to get a good shot, but I have a husband who doesn't quite have the patience to sit there for more than 5 minutes trying to make Noah and Collier both look at me while simultaneous smiling perfectly.  Regardless, we still had a good time and came home with 2 good-looking pumpkins!

Oct. 22 at 4:16pm

Here Collier is October 22, 2010 at 4:16pm

And exactly one year later, on Oct. 22, 2011 at 4:16pm, this is what he was doing... getting a little love from his Mimi.  Collier is officially a 1 year old :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Collier

My baby boy is officially a one year old! The past 12 months have been perfect with Collier apart of our lives.  I love his infectious little smile that he gives so freely to any and everyone.  His bubbly and friendly personality makes my day and he loves being around those closest to him, but is just as friendly to new faces!  I love watching his eyes light up when he gets excited or discovers something new.  He is truly an easy baby and it's such a joy to be his mom!

This month Collier has learned to say "mama."  I won't even try to pretend like I wasn't THRILLED to hear that sweet little word! It makes my day every time he says it.  I've waited a long, long time to be called mama by my babies and I don't think it will ever get old hearing.  Collier chatters all day long and it's so funny to watch!  He will carry on some intense conversations by himself.... I just wish I knew what he was saying.   He also repeats me when I say "no, no, no." When I'm feeding him, I'll say, "yum, yum, yum" after each bite and he'll repeat, "num, num, num" and sometimes, he'll just say "mmmmm..." while eating. So cute. :) He treats everything as though its a telephone and will put any object he can find up to his ear and jabber away, as if having a make-believe conversation.  He has also learned how to clap his sweet little hands and will do so whenever we say, "yayyyy, Collier!"  He is a smart little guy and amazes me daily at the things he picks up on and learns.  Each morning when he wakes up in his crib, he'll stand up and press the button on his mobile to turn it on, then lay back down underneath it and watch the colorful lights display and listen to the sweet lullabyes.  He will lay there watching his mobile (and of course, talking to himself), just as happy as can be, until I come in to get him to begin our day. 

Another exciting thing that happened this past month was that Collier took his first 3 steps on his birthday!  My mom, Jamie and I were there to witness it.  My dad was in the den with us, but somehow missed it.  We were so excited and cheered and clapped for him!  I know it will be too soon before his is toddling around the house!  Collier gives the best, slobbery little kisses and it's so sweet when he wraps his arms around one of us and lays his little head on your shoulder.  Although these moments are brief because he's too busy to sit still for long!

At his 1 year check up, he weighed 20lbs 10oz (20%) and measured 30" in length (55%).  After checking him out, Dr. Crenshaw told us he was just perfect!  Of course, she wasn't telling us anything that we didn't already know. :) He currently has 2 little teeth, the one on top and another one coming through on bottom, directly beneath the first one. Yep, his little smile resembles that of a jack-o'lantern!

Simply put, Collier is a little ball of energy, fun and excitement.  We love him more than words can say.  I'm thankful for this past year and look forward to the years and years of fun that lie ahead as Collier's (and of course, Noah's) mama.  God answered my prayers when he gave me another son. I'm so proud of both of my boys and lucky to be their mama! 

The Greatest Show on Earth!

I remember October 21, 2010 very fondly.  Noah and I joined Jamie for lunch at Dish in downtown Florence.  I can recall exactly what I ate... the portobello mushroom panini with fruit and I even remember running into a friend and her dad who were dining there as well.  Following our lunch, Noah and I came back home, where he took a nap and I laid on the couch to rest.  I was 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant and at THAT point. Noah woke from his nap and we left to meet my mom at the mall.  Shortly after meeting up with her, we noticed my face was SWOLLEN so one quick trip to the pharmacy to check my blood pressure, a call into my OB's office and I was admitted into the hospital to be monitored.  They released me later that evening once it came back down to normal, but little did we know, we would be meeting our precious baby boy less than 24 hours later!  And we celebrated Collier turning the big ONE on the eve of his birthday with our immediate family by having them over to our house for dinner and cake!

We celebrated Collier's 1st birthday with a circus-themed bash, complete with a colorful, circus-styled cake creation and colorful balloons everywhere!  We enjoyed some of our fall favorites for dinner... Taco Soup, Potato Soup and Broccoli Cheese Cornbread (delicious!).  The kids had elephant shaped PB&J with animal crackers and circus peanuts (not very nutritious but I was trying to stick with the circus theme!)  Following dinner, Collier I opened presents.  He was too busy to stop playing for long, but would occasionally come over to see what I was doing.  Since we really don't need too many more toys, Collier got lots and lots of really cute clothes! Following presents, we sang Happy Birthday to our sweet guy and let him dig in to his very own birthday cake.  He was much neater than I thought he'd be and carefully picked up each little piece of icing and put it in his mouth.  He didn't really try to much of the cake part and after it was all said and done, there was only one little speck of cake on the floor! My thoughtful little boy knew how hard his momma had worked to clean the house and was trying his best to keep it that way. 

After the presents were opened and the candles were blown out, it was time for everyone to go.  We had such a great time celebrating Collier's first year of life!  He's a blessed little guy to have so many that love him so much and we thank you all for helping us celebrating him turn the big ONE.