Cedar City...part 1

We just got back from a wonderful visit to Kevin's hometown, Cedar City, Utah. We visited with family, ate, hung out with friends, ate, played games, ate, shopped, ate, went to the cabin, ate, ate, and ate some more! Such a great trip, although I might be sick if I think of all the calories we consumed! Seriously, here is the list of restaurants we hit: Hermies, Costa Vida, Rusty's, Wingers, Great Harvest, Kneaders, The Painted Pony, Durango's, In-n-Out, and Lupita's!

As I've mentioned before, Kevin has been racking up the frequent flier miles and for once all that travelling has paid off! We were all upgraded to first class on both flights and it.was.AWESOME!!

I couldn't stop thinking about the Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Elaine's flight is cancelled and they are rebooked, but one of the seats is in first class. Jerry quickly grabs the seat and they have this exchange:

Jerry: I'll take the first class.

Elaine: Jerry!

Jerry: What?

Elaine: Why should you get the first class?

Jerry: Elaine, have you ever flown first class?

Elaine: No.

Jerry: All right then. See? You won't know what you're missing. I've

flown first class, Elaine-- I can't go back to coach. I can't... I won't...

Elaine: You flew here coach.

Jerry: Yeah, that's the point...

Elaine: All right, fine. I don't care. If the plane crashes, everybody in first class is going to die, anyway.

Jerry: Yeah, I'm sure you'll live.

The rest of the episode cuts between Elaine and Jerry and their varied experience on the flight. Sheer genius! I echo Jerry's thought - I don't think I can go back, but I know I'll have to :(

The extra legroom, the hot towel, the meal (which, by the way was actually pretty good), the proximity to the front of the plane, the service, the extra drinks, in glass cups I might add...I am just beginning to understand how the other half lives!

We got tons of comments about starting our baby in first class, and it did kind of bother me that I had my first experience in first class at the same time as my baby, but it was a lot of fun! Definitely made juggling the little guy easier!

After arriving in Cedar, we headed up the canyon to the cabin and met the rest of the family. I love staying at their family cabin! Not only is it where Kevin proposed, but it is such a cute, quiet, and peaceful place. It also runs about 10 degrees cooler (or more) than Cedar, which is so nice in the summer, especially coming from Dallas!

Colin hanging out on the hammock with his cousin Lydia (who calls him "Cah") and Uncle Derek

Making Dutch oven potatoes (a Cabin tradition) with Daddy!

Relaxing with my baby!

In celebration of both my and Derek's bdays, Artis made a double cake! Half yellow and half chocolate! Yum!

Eight Months

Have you heard? It has been a thousand degrees here in Texas and so we basically have been locked inside for a month. I am so stir crazy and cannot WAIT for fall! Come on sweater season!!

Well, it seems that I have blinked and all of a sudden I have a toddler!

He has grown so much (as my arms can testify!)

Colin is still a picky eater. Some days he simply refuses to eat solids and will only take a bottle and on other days, although rare, it seems that he has remembered that real food tastes much better than smelly old formula! I don't get it. I try not to worry, because the child is obviously not starving, but feeding him is so frustrating!

Notwithstanding his selective and annoying eating habits, this kid keeps me laughing! He has so much personality bundled up in his little body!

Here are some of my favorite Colin-isms:

When he wakes up, he loves to talk to himself, roll around, and make little gurgling noises. He also likes to kick the music box over, and over, and over until we come and get him. I have to laugh when I hear Brahm's Lullaby restarting every 5 seconds!

When you walk in the room to get him from his crib, he quickly rolls onto his stomach, pokes his head up, and gives you the biggest smile. Melts my heart!!

After I pick him up from his crib, his body goes rigid and he gives this little wiggle because he is so excited!

When he is Facetiming or Skyping with his grandparents, he tries to grab the screen and give slobbery kisses!

When I am changing his diaper after a nap, he closes his eyes, squeezes his mouth shut, raises his chin, and makes this little mmmmm noise...

He also likes to not only roll over on the changing table but change directions...it is getting impossible to change his diaper these days!

He is extremely ticklish...tickling him is a sure fire way to get him to stop crying!

He still likes to hold on to his car seat with both hands like he is afraid of being dropped...still haven't dropped him, but he's ready just in case!

Colin still prefers to stand on his toes. We like to joke that he will be a ballet dancer when he grows up. Well, I should say that I joke about it. Kevin doesn't find it very funny!

He isn't crawling yet, but he gets on his knees and rocks, scoots backwards and pivots on his tummy...it won't be long now before he is moving forward!

One thing I love about this little guy is his red hair. Kevin is still getting used to it, but I think it's adorable. It never fails that when someone stops us in the grocery store/Panda Express/Costco/Target/church, etc that they comment on his red hair. In fact, this is usually the first thing people say: "He sure has red hair, doesn't he?" "Wow, that hair is red, isn't it?"

They may not all be complimenting it, but I don't mind either way. I just find it interesting that we have such a dearth of redheads that people feel a need to comment on it.

He gives the biggest laughs to Kevin. He just loves his daddy!

He has this funny habit of saying "da da da" when I am home, and then "ma ma ma" when Kevin is around!

He will still cuddle with me...I LOVE it!! Nothing is better than a hug from your little man!

Last, but not least, he is getting two new teeth! Watch out Renesmee! Colin is the resident vampire baby in our house!

Seven Months

Colin is seven months old.

He sits up, spits up, laughs, plays, grabs, rolls, cuddles, screams, "hulks", wiggles, cries, coos, fake coughs, poops, grunts, bounces, and kicks.

I love this little boy more and more every day!

Alley Cats

It was my little niece Kate's bday this week, and we celebrated by going bowling. Kate kicked my booty! This, of course, is not saying much as I rarely break 100!

The Sharp's were kind enough to invite my mom along as she was still in town.

Kevin "bowling" Colin

Have you seen these new ramp things that kids can use to roll the ball down the lane? Sure beats bumpers!

Dylan kept running down the lane

Colin's first time bowling!

And Dylan too!

Thank you Sharps for a fun Saturday!

My New Sanctuary

With Kevin out of the house, I thought it high time to decorate my bedroom! So, I "hired" my decorator (AKA my mom) and we got to work. My mom flew out for two weeks while Kevin was gone and we surprised him with my new amazing bedroom! It was just like an HGTV "big reveal!"

It can be a little daunting to decide the color scheme, etc so I first picked out a bedspread that I loved (and Kevin approved) and then went to Home Depot to choose paint. We actually went with 3 shades of the same color green to give a little variety to the room.

While I watched Colin, my mom painted my entire bedroom and bathroom (and the ceilings too!)

I especially love how the bathroom turned out.

Eventually, we'd love to put in a new TV here, but we ran out of $$!

A HUGE thank you to my mom who did almost all of the work (painting, hanging everything, hemming the curtains, etc). It was so much fun to shop and decorate with you! I love you more than I love my new room (which is saying A LOT)!

Come back next year and we'll do the rest of the house!!

Cousins!

These little guys are actually second cousins, but I don't think I'll be making the distinction! This is my cousin Val's son Ben and when I was in CA we couldn't resist the opportunity to get them in the bath together...they were so cute together!

Val, please move to Texas so we can hang out more!

Where's Colin?