Friday, September 28, 2012

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday to everyone!  I honestly am a little surprised by how quickly this week went, but I'm not going to complain about it!

Collin Henry had his picture made at school a few weeks ago.  They did this last year, and we had just started at the daycare so I wasn't sure what to expect.  At his daycare in Athens, they did the CUTEST poses and backgrounds, and they did pictures several times a year.  We have a Christmas picture from when he's only a few months old, an Easter picture and one they did in the Summer with a kite, or something.  Well, our experience here is that they do the very traditional "school picture" style.  You know the one.  The mauve, blue and taupe background that's marble-ish.  But it's a really reasonable price for a hassle free picture and a package of pictures you can send to all of your family members, so I have gotten it both years now.

Last year, when he was in the baby room, they told me he cried when the photographer first sat him down, but he eventually warmed up and they were able to get a smile out of him.  This year I was told that he didn't seem to like the big umbrella lights the photographer used, and he got upset again.  In fact, he had to sit on his teacher's knees for his picture because he didn't want to be without her!  I was imagining a picture with her knees in the bottom part of the frame, but the photographer was able to crop it so little Collin Henry is all you see.

Look how much he has changed!!  My baby is a little boy now... 
And yes, he has a sweet tear in his left eye in both last year's picture and this year's picture!


Monday, September 24, 2012

Teeth Are Not For Biting

Last week was one difficult week!  Poor Collin seemed to have a really hard time transitioning from such a crazy birthday weekend back to our normal schedule.  He did not want me to leave him at daycare, which never happens!  He's usually ready to play and telling me "Bye" as soon as we arrive, but last week he clung to me and had a few tantrums when it was time for me to leave.  Which of course, always breaks my heart.  And on top of all of that, he was not very nice to his friends at daycare.  In fact, there were several days when I was in tears driving home because Collin did not receive a very good report.

So this morning, on our way to school, we said a prayer and talked about how to be a good friend.  Collin has been praying at daycare for a while now so he knows the etiquette of praying, and it's super cute!  He bows his head and closes his eyes (while peeking every 5 seconds), and he says "ehhMEN!" whenever he hears you say, "In Jesus' name".  This morning, when I finished my prayer in the car, he said, "Again!....Pay, again!"  I asked what we should pray for, and he told me "Addie" and then "Apple".  Um, yeah...

I'm hoping for a better week, even though he got upset again when it was time for me to leave today.

Since we have been dealing with some separation anxiety, Friday night we had a family date!  Jarrod had gotten around to turning Collin's seat that day so it's now forward facing (ahhh!  changes!!), and when we picked him up he did not know what to think!  He loved that he could see us and vice versa, and he felt like he had to converse with us constantly.  It was really cute, but he was so full of questions.  He kept pointing to things he's never been able to see before and saying, "Whass that?!"  I would have to say, "Daddy's chair"..."Mommy's chair"..."the air conditioning control"... etc.  I finally had to laugh at him, and tell him no more questions!


We saw this on our way out of town Friday afternoon.  Collin was saying, "Goat...maaahh!" 
And on that note, Collin knows pretty much every animal sound there is to know.  He's an animal sound and gesture genius.
 
Our big boy riding forward-facing!!
Saturday was mostly spent preparing for an event our Community Group sponsored at our church that night.  We are raising money for our church's building fund, so our group sponsored a video game tournament.  We had several TVs set up around the sanctuary and the big screens/projecters were in use as well.  We had Mario Kart going on N64 and Call of Duty on X-Box.  It was a lot of fun and rather than pay a babysitter, we kept Collin with us.  He's been struggling with some allergy stuff for the past week, so he was pretty mellow.  He would just follow us around the room and sit in our laps.  Jarrod couldn't resist the urge to enter the tournament and spank some 12 year olds at Call of Duty.  I believe one of our friends said to him at some point, "You just whipped those kids with a baby on your lap."

There is nothing more attractive than seeing your husband from across the room flash you a hand signal to indicate he is 4 and 0 in the video game tournament playing against boys 15 years younger than his self.  I believe there may have also been some fist pumps involved.  A technical difficulty and his endeavor to do the right thing ultimately caused him to lose, but for a while his confidence was through-the-roof!

Poor boy just couldn't last the entire night and ended up sleeping on the floor near one of the tables.  He woke up briefly when my camera flashed at him!

Our group leader, Jon, came up with this brilliant concept when it was time to take the tables down and set the sanctuary back up for church on Sunday morning.
Sunday, I got up and got ready for church and then woke Collin up.  His eyes were all goopy and his nose was running like crazy.  He didn't really have a temperature, but he felt warm so we stayed home.  We cuddled until Jarrod got home from fishing that morning, and then Collin decided he felt great and became a playing-machine.  We still had chicken noodle soup for dinner (although, I can never get it as good as my dad's!).

This week, I am hoping for a less eventful time at daycare and for this allergy stuff to go away for both Collin and myself.  Also, I'm hoping Jarrod's confidence boost doesn't cause him to come home and declare that he wants to be a professional video game player, or something.

Monday, September 17, 2012

CIRCUS !

Saturday was our Circus extravaganza for Collin Henry's 2nd birthday.  We didn't really get to have a birthday party for his first birthday because we had just moved here, so I felt the need to go all out this year.  I definitely learned that some things can be done without - cotton candy machine! 

Friday evening Jarrod's parents arrived, as well as my dad.  We all had a yummy dinner and then Jarrod and I put up the Big Top in our living room.  My dad supervised / snoozed on the couch while we worked around him!

Saturday we were up early, and it was RAINING!  We have a screened-in patio where I had planned to set up everything for the party and then I had imagined overflow would be into the backyard and our house.  So without the use of the backyard, we were confined to the house and the patio only.  Things were definitely cramped and hectic, but it still worked out.  Luckily we have great friends, who love eachother and don't mind being on top of one another for a bit!

Cupcakes!

Drinks and popcorn
 
The Big Top


Our sweet family!


PRESENTS!!

Mommy & Collin before we opened presents

Jensen and Ross helped us open presents

Ross could totally rock a 'stache

The girls, minus Leigh who had just left and plus Cookie in the scary clown get-up!

It was a great party, and I'm so thankful for our amazing friends and family who help us in more ways than I could ever have imagined.  We love our community group here in Searcy and we're blessed to have you guys witness Collin growing up!

Collin's actual birthday was Sunday, so when I woke him up, I said, "Happy Birthday!", and he immediately sat up and said, "Cuh-cake?!"  I think that means his party was a success!


Monday, September 10, 2012

How much is too much?

So for anyone who doesn't recall, it's Collin's birthday this coming Sunday!  I love holidays, I love reasons to celebrate and a whole day, ok maybe a whole weekend...ok, maybe a whole week, to celebrate my baby boy makes me super happy!

We have already taught him to say he's 2.  It's pretty cute.  You should ask him sometime how old he is.  Also, you should ask him how old his mommy is because his response will be the same :)

I have just about everything we need for his party on Saturday.  I've been stockpiling things since last year.  One corner of my office is dedicated to Collin's party, minus the stuff I'm going to pick up Saturday morning from the party planning store.  Don't judge!  It was way cheaper to rent tables (and maybe a cotton candy machine as well) than to buy them!! 

That's right.  I rented a cotton candy machine for my 2 year old's birthday party.  It makes enough for 100 children, and we will have around 1/10 that amount.  It's ok though, because I really like cotton candy.

Here is most of what I have so far!
So I saw a really cute picture on Pinterest that this mom did of her son for his circus themed birthday party.  She had an adorable clown wig on his head, and she gave him a red nose, like a clown, and took his picture eating a big lollipop.  He wasn't smiling and was just staring straight at the camera all precious and stuff.  My attempt to recreate that photo did not go as well as I hoped.  Let's just say I bought a cheap clown wig from Amazon, that is apparently "scratchy" (Jarrod's term) and scary to Collin.  He can't stand to have it on his head for two seconds and throws it down immediately!  He did, however, really enjoy getting a giant lollipop to suck/bite on.  But then he got purple, blue, red on his hands and had a fit over that.  So our cute little circus-y, clown pictures have some tears in them.  I'll try to post the finished product after his party.  For now, here's a sneak peak at the cute shirt I had made for his party!
That would be a clown nose in his left hand; he thinks it's a "ball"!


Friday, September 7, 2012

T.A.G.

Tomorrow my sweet, hilarious niece, Tinsley Addison Gann, turns 2! 


Two years ago, my youngest brother texted me in the middle of the night that Tinsley was on her way.  I was also 9 months pregnant at the time and super jealous that Tins beat Collin Henry into the world.  I sat up on the couch for the rest of the night texting Austin for updates, and the next day, at work, I kept calling my parents to find out if she was here yet. 

It's crazy how we can't imagine what a child is going to look like, and then when they're born we think, "Oh!  So there you are!" and it's just how they should look.  Tinsley is a perfect mix of her mama and daddy.  Some days I can see more of one or the other in her, but she is a definite mix.  She is going to have a dark complexion like her daddy, and she is going to be so beautiful when she gets older.




When we were little, (my other brother) Daniel, and I would tell Austin he was adopted.  We would say Mom and Dad got him from Mexico.  The best part is that he is so much darker than us, he would believe it!  We also used to make fun of him because he was really short and had a big, round belly.  Tinsley isn't really short, but she does have a cute belly that sticks out of all her shirts!  And who knows, maybe one day Collin will try to tell her she's from Mexico!

Austin, the Mexican, on the left.  Daniel on the right. 09/01/07

Baby Collin and Baby Tinsley

Austin was also the rebellious one.  He would run away and hide when it was time for him to get spanked.  He would crawl out of the upstairs windows, slide down the roof of the room below and run out onto our land, or to the neighbor's land next door.  He would spend hours playing in the dirt, killing birds and being a boy.  He would always do things that terrified me, and I would think, "You CAN'T do that!  You're going to get in TROUBLE."  But the thing about Austin is that he's never been afraid of trouble


 
So if Tinsley is as much like her daddy as we all think, we are in for some entertainment!
Tins is glad I'm not going to be with her tomorrow, because I would squeeze her and kiss her all over every hour, on the hour.  I can't wait to see how she and Collin interact as they get older, and I can't wait to see someone else give Austin as much grief as he gave our family :)


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Anniversaries, Zoos and Pee-Pee

Saturday was our 5 year wedding anniversary and to celebrate we all loaded up and went to Memphis.  We spent Friday night at a really nice place on Mud Island.  Collin was exceptionally good, aside from the fact that he was afraid of the elevator! 

Collin "coloring" with the pen and paper in our room

Collin with Daddy on the rooftop terrace of our hotel

Collin in a forced hug/pose with Mommy!

Saturday we spent the day at the Memphis Zoo.  We had been teaching Collin all week to say "Zoo!" when we asked where we were going this weekend.  So Friday when we picked him up from daycare, he had me cracking up in the car because he kept saying, "Bye-Bye" to his daycare and then yelling, "ZOO!"



At the Zoo Entrance

Collin loves giraffes, but he was afraid of the real thing.  Maybe it's the freakishly long tongue!

This is the best picture we got together.  Sad, I know.  And yes, that panda is alive!

This was after we'd been walking around for a while, and Collin had no patience left for pictures.  I think this is hilarious!

On our way home.  He passed out before we were out of Memphis!  He's surrounded by his stuff and wearing his new giraffe watch :)

The Memphis Zoo was lots of fun and very cool!  Collin was more enamored with the other little kids and families around us than with the awesome animals.  Several times I had to run into the middle of a family/group to retrieve my kid, but Jarrod and I enjoyed the animals and exhibits.

We got back Saturday evening, went to church Sunday and then yesterday we got a chance to be lazy as a family.  We ran some errands and just hung out.  At one point I asked Collin where we were going, and he yelled, "ZOO!" - LOL!  I'm not even going to try to correct him when he does that from now on.


Jarrod worked last night, so after we dropped him off, Collin and I made a rather important purchase at Wal-Mart... we bought a potty!  And because you can't start potty-trainng without Elmo, we bought Elmo's Potty Time on DVD.  I also got a small bag of M&Ms and some stickers for rewards.  

We came home, set the potty up in the bathroom and talked about it for a minute and then we started Elmo's Potty Time.  Collin lasted for about 5 minutes, like always with TV/movies, and then he wanted a "nack" and to play with his toys.  I kept saying, "Let's watch Elmo!  He can go pee-pee on the potty." 
Finally, Collin said he wanted to pee-pee on the potty, so we ran to the bathroom, pulled down his pants/diaper and I put him on the potty.  He was so cute sitting on there!!! 

Nothing happened for several minutes...  We just sat and talked about the birds/flowers/trees on the shower curtain, and every few minutes I would realize how odd it was that we were having that conversation while he was half nude and on the potty.  Then I would remind myself that he is after all a male, and this is just foreshadowing.

After several minutes I handed him his sippy cup and while he was chugging some juice, he peed on the potty!

I got all excited and congratulated him.  I considered taking a picture and sending it to Jarrod at work, but I settled for a text.  I told Collin how cool it was that he peed on the potty and stood him up to show him his handiwork.  Somehow during all of this, he got totally freaked out.  He saw the pee, realized it came from his body and started crying.  I kept telling him how cool it was and that he did a good job, but it didn't seem to matter.  He was upset that his pee left his body and was in the potty and not soaked up in his diaper!  I tried to move on to something else, so we poured the pee in the toilet, flushed the toilet, washed our hands and I gave him two M&Ms.  I told him every time he potties, he can have an M&M.  He thought that was cool until he finished them, asked for more and I told him he could only have them if he goes potty.  He didn't like hearing that, so we had a bit of a meltdown then. 
He won't go near the potty now.

He told it "night-night" last night, he showed it to Jarrod this morning when Jarrod asked about it but he won't sit on it.  If we ask him if he needs to pee-pee, he will say, "Nnnooooo!" and point his finger at us with emphasis.

I think he's genuinely frightened of the act of peeing on the potty.  I had a feeling he wasn't really ready, but that was just because I thought we would have a hard time getting him to connect the urge to potty with the act of going to the bathroom.  I never imagined it would freak him out so much!

So for now, we have a potty sitting where he can see it and we'll keep talking about it but Mommy and Daddy will be the only ones eating sneaking M&Ms for a while.