Family Picture

Family Picture

Friday, October 12, 2012

Painting Pumpkins, or rather, Eating Snacks!

Today one of our friends put on the cutest pumpkin painting, sugar cookie decorating, and craft party for the kiddos.

Colin didn't quite get any of that, but he quite enjoyed playing with their sweet dog, on the playset, and eating lots of snacks.

And did I mention the tractor ride?  Yeah, Colin was in heaven!! 











Thanks, Camilla, for putting on the most amazing playgroup!!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Daddy's Shoes

Goodness...
He's still in a shoe phase/obsession.

With the weather getting colder, Colin and I went shopping for some non-sandal shoes for winter.
In the shoe aisle at Ross he had a HUGE meltdown because I put back a pair of shoes that didn't fit that he apparently wanted.  We found another pair that worked great and he had to hold them out of the store and would barely let the checker scan them.

He kept muttering/sniffling/crying "sh-shoe!"  "sh-shoe!"

That was a bad day.

Anyway, he loves when daddy comes home and takes off his massive shoes (size 15!!) so he can wear them.

He's pretty cute when he does that!  


(PS - Yes, Colin got his first tattoo at a local Oktoberfest...he's a pretty rough and tumble kiddo!)

Monday, October 8, 2012

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

Happy Birthday, honey!  Another year older and wiser too!

I love this guy!  I know that goes without saying, but he is so good to me and Colin.  He is an amazing husband, father, provider, friend, and my own personal comedian.  

He never ceases to keep me laughing and it seems that more and more (I think it directly corresponds to my increasing girth!) I need to laugh!  

Anyway, I better stop before I embarrass him and get too mushy.

Well, today is Kevin's birthday.
We celebrated yesterday with the Sharps.  Kevin requested shrimp fettuccine alfredo for dinner and German chocolate cake for dessert.

We also had cinnamon rolls for breakfast...so, yeah, it was a high calorie day!

Opening presents

Kevin is addicted to homemade applesauce and a few weeks ago, we ran out!!  In the past, we have made huge batches in Cedar City with Kevin's mom, but there was no way to make that happen this fall so Artis and I came up with the brilliant plan for us to become applesauce-independent. 

Thanks to Artis and Lionel's gift(s), we now have all the equipment to make our own applesauce!  
Guess what we're doing this Saturday?
Now I just need to find all the apples!

Colin LOVED playing with the pot and carried it around with his toys all night.

Happy birthday, babe!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

6 Weeks and 50 Degrees

Just in case anyone was keeping track, we are down to less than 6 weeks to baby time!  Crazy!  We are really excited to meet baby girl, but in a way I am a little sad for Colin.  I know that we will love her just as much as Colin and we won't be able to imagine our life without her, but for almost two years, Colin has been my little pal.

We do everything together!  Grocery shopping, cooking, playing, making lots of messes, seeing fun things, and lots of cuddling.  He is such a cuddler!  I love it!  One of our new favorite things to do is to snuggle in our bed watching PBS on mornings that Kevin doesn't go in to work early.  We usually end up watching the show "Wild Kratts" and Colin loves all the animals they feature.  He snuggles with both of us, patting our arms and looking into our faces with the sweetest smile saying "Mama...Dada" over and over again.  Soooo cute!

Now, I know I am not going to lose any of that when Reagan is born, but I won't be able to dote all of my attention on him anymore and for some reason I am a little sad about that.  It will be really good for him because the little bugger is getting pretty spoiled, but it is going to be so hard on him!  And the funny part is that he has no idea what's coming.  He's way too young to comprehend it all.  All he knows is that when I ask him where the baby is and he lifts his shirt to show his tummy, I think it is funny :)

All week the weather forecasters have been touting a cold front coming in this weekend.  I have been SOOOOO excited to wear fall clothes and for it to be chilly.  Today we woke up to a brisk 50 degrees!  PERFECT!  So we bundled Colin up and took him outside to play in the "cold" (I realize that 50 degrees isn't cold to most, but in Texas, that is freezing!).  He had a blast!









  
I cannot even express how much I love this little guy!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Tiny Tots

Today was Colin's first Tiny Tots class at ASI Gymnastics.  
Along with several of Colin's little buddies from Nursery, they joyfully tumbled, jumped on trampolines, climbed into a foam pit, and danced.

Of course, that was only the second half of the class.

Colin spent the entire first half of the class in hysterics!  I thought that he would LOVE this class and he was terrified the second we walked in the gym.  Thankfully, my friend Kaity was able to calm him down once we got to the foam pit.  Apparently, stacking foam cubes and throwing them in a pit can calm a crying little boy.

Once he was having fun ,we got out the camera!



Love the bump?



Hopefully next week goes better!!

Who knew my kid would be the crier in the class?

Best Birthday EVER!

I have the most amazing husband!  I say that for a lot of reasons (great friend, provider, spouse, cook, father, etc), but he gave me the MOST AMAZING BIRTHDAY EVER!!!

I'm not going to lie...birthdays are kind of a big deal to me.  

I think it stems from both good and bad memories.

First, the good - my mom always made a big fuss over our birthdays.  With three kids having birthdays within 2 weeks in the summer, they weren't always fancy affairs, but we always got our favorite dinner, dessert (some chose cake, but as a child I chose fresh strawberry pie from Marie Callendars...yum!), and lots of presents.  She also decorated our bedroom door with streamers, ribbons, and balloons that we got to keep up for as long as we wanted (or until the cat or dog tore them down!).  My dad has always worked long hours and wasn't the type to always hang out with us after work, but on our birthdays he would take us out for an entire day of one on one time with him.  Some of the activities I remember were going to water parks, driving to San Diego and riding horses on the beach, and going to the San Diego Zoo.

And the bad...oh the pains of being a teenager!  Did you ever have a party that only one or two people came to...and then they left early because it was so painfully awkward?  Or expected a certain special person (think boyfriend) and you can tell they forgot because they gave you a really crappy, obviously came-from-the-grocery-store-on-their-way-over-and-isn't-even-wrapped present?

Is it even a wonder why I married Kevin?
This picture was taken just two days after we met.  Kevin made me a birthday cake...in fact, he makes one for me almost every year (he even decorates them himself!).
Treat me right on my birthday = LOVE

Well, Kevin must really love me because this year was so amazing.  I woke up and went to the backyard carnival with friends (in the previous post) and then came back to find Kevin waiting for me with a present and a card.

The present was my new and badly needed laptop (which I am currently typing on!).
The card said to go pack my bag because we were headed out for a surprise night away at the Gaylord Texan.  My mom had come into town to help decorate the new baby's room and she graciously watched Colin so we could get away! 

But of course we had to eat lunch first!
Enter the infamous (well, around these parts!) Perry's Steakhouse Pork Chop Friday Lunch Deal.
Every Friday, Perry's offers their pork chop at a crazy deal of only $10.95.  

Now, a pork chop doesn't sound all that amazing, but this thing is TO DIE FOR! Best pork you will ever taste and at a great price!

Kevin and I have been meaning to go get it together but getting a babysitter for lunchtime on a weekday is kind of hard, so this was the perfect day!
Look at that...so glad I am not a vegetarian!

After lunch Kevin whisked me up to the Gaylord where we were told we had been upgraded to a suite.

MASSIVE room with an amazing view?  Yes, please!


Looking out into the Atrium


What's a vacation without snacks?  Instead of ordering the "gift basket" that can greet you upon arrival, Kevin brought his own packed with some of my favorites!

We immediately put on our swimsuits and headed over to their little water park.  They have a great lazy river, pool, slide, and a rope swing that we played on for a few hours.

That night we had a yummy dinner and then Kevin finally took me to see The Dark Knight Rises.  Great movie for a great weekend!

After a leasurely breakfast and more time at the pool, we drove over to Costa Vida for lunch and then Kevin started acting kind of funny.
He was really anxious to get home (he must want to see Colin?)
He was driving really fast (he wants to make good time?)
He got suspicious when I tried to put on make-up (no explanation there...so I just stopped at mascara)
When we arrived, he wouldn't let me bring anything in (he said he just wanted to see Colin)

But when I walked in the door I noticed balloons and then SURPRISE!!!!
A bunch of our closest friends were there to surprise me!

I about had a heart attack and Colin burst into tears!
What a great surprise!
Everyone brought yummy food and Kevin had picked up the cake I was dying to have (chocolate chocolate with signature cream cheese frosting from Nothing Bundt Cakes)





I was mildly horrified that I had no make-up on and my hair was tied back in a yucky mess and I wasn't even wearing my cutest outfit, but I was so taken with the gesture that I didn't care.  Kevin tried so hard to make it great for me, even going to party city and picking up streamers in coordinating colors.  Seriously, everything was pink and green.  What husband thinks to buy decorations, let alone to make sure they all match?

So sweet!

It was such a surprise and I love Kevin for putting it together and for everyone for coming!  It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend!

I love you, babe!!

Backyard Carnival

A few weeks ago, one of our friends put on the cutest little kid backyard carnival complete with fishing, bean bag toss, bowling, ring toss, and of course snacks!

All of the kids had a blast!







 SNACKS!!

Thanks Jocelyn for putting on such a fun activity!