Happy Birthday Colin!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy Colin!

I can't believe it's been 2 years already.  He has grown into such a caring, fun little boy.

 

I'm not sure what I envisioned parenthood to be like, but one thing I know is it's never a dull moment!

Things I love about Colin

*He has the best belly laugh EVER

*He shows genuine concern for others, especially when they are hurt

*He loves anything with buttons, levers or latches that he can monkey with

*He wears his heart on his sleeve when he is tired (just like his mommy)

*His smile lights up our world

*He's got awesome coordination (perhaps due to his love of balls)

*He listens to us (for the most part) and does his best to follow directions

 Colin playing with his grill (in his pajamas and snow boots)

Pucker up!

My aunt and uncle, who were here just a few weeks ago, bought Colin a bike for his birthday.  There was so much going on for his birthday party, that Brian and I decided to hold back that gift and give it to him on his actual birthday.  Brian put it together last night and had it waiting for him in the family room for when he got up this morning.  

We woke Colin up, sang him Happy Birthday, then headed downstairs...

 So excited...

 The bike (with cars on it!)

 Trying it out

 Such a big kid

WE LOVE YOU COLIN!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

We sent Colin to daycare this morning with some cake balls (yes, I made ANOTHER batch of cake balls!) for snack time this afternoon.  We are going to pick him up a little early and head to Chuck E Cheese to enjoy some time together. I think Grammie & Grandad, Katie, Olivia, and Johnny are going to meet us up there and party some more. 

Colin's 2nd Birthday Party!

MY LITTLE BABY IS TURNING 2!!!

That is so difficult for me to wrap my brain around, but it's true...Colin is 2 in just a few days.  We decided to have his birthday party the weekend before his birthday (it's on Tuesday, the 19th), since my 30th birthday is next weekend (well, it's on Monday, the 25th) and we thought it might be nice to be able to go out and do something fun and not be consumed by planning a birthday party.

The party went great, with a few hiccups, of course! We kept it mainly family, plus an old college friend of mine's family.  Our house doesn't have much seating, and we figured there was a good chance it would be really hot outside, even though we have quite a bit of space on our deck, it would likely be too hot to hang out there for long...and it was, with a heat index of well over 100 degrees.

My mom came into town from Topeka earlier in the week to help with the party.  She did more than she knew, even if it was watching Maggie while I ran to the store.  She pretty much took care of Maggie for me (minus the feeding part) for the entire time she was here.  I know she felt like she didn't help out much, but she listened to me complain and helped me organize, plan, and brainstorm fun ideas for little kids to do while they were here.

We had another "ball" themed party, because Colin still loves balls!  We borrowed a friends' bounce house so the kids could entertain themselves outside while the food was being prepared.  Since it was so hot, they didn't spend too much time outside, but still had fun.  

Brian (and Uncle Chad) helped grill hamburgers and cheeseburgers, we also had a huge fruit salad, some chips, baked beans, and our new favorite dessert...cake balls!  The food was great!

After everyone had eaten, we headed out back to do the pinata.  Meemaw bought a baseball pinata and we had it filled with all sorts of goodies, fruit snacks, kazoos, lip whistles, tootsie rolls, teddy grahams, bouncy balls, and frog poppers.  I wasn't able to watch the hitting of the pinata, because Maggie decided she didn't want to take her bottle I had prepared for her, so I was in the nursery feeding her.

Colin hit the pinata first and had so much fun!  He has a pretty mighty swing for such a little guy.  Next was Olivia and then Brendan.  It was a very sturdy pinata, so Brian (and Colin) ended up breaking it open. Colin was pretty upset after it broke open, he kept pointing at it saying "uh oh" and "oh no", he wanted to keep on hitting it and thought we had ruined it.

 

The Birthday boy!

 Take That!

 Olivia's turn...

 Brendan's turn...

 Daddy (and Colin) whack it!

 

Brian finishes it off...

 

Colin being very concerned about the broken pinata

 The loot

 

 Daddy and the big 2 year old!

 

Next came the gifts.  Colin got some really thoughtful and awesome presents from our family and friends.  He got an electric/motorized car, a basketball goal, a play grill, a new bike, an remote control car, some cute outfits, a train set, and some money!  I'd call that a successful birthday!  It was a bit overwhelming opening all the gifts at once.  You could tell he wanted to play with everything all at once.

 Beep Beep!

Next came the birthday cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday.  We were sitting outside on our deck, and it was a bit windy, so the candles had a hard time staying lit.  Colin was a little shy guy when we were singing to him, and he didn't really attempt to blow out the candles at all.  But, he liked the attention after we sang (since we were all clapping and laughing), that he had us re-light the candles and sing to him again!  What a goober!

The family (Maggie was sleeping)

It was a wonderful birthday party for Colin and we are so blessed to have such great family and friends in our lives.

 Our baby turns 2!

The next morning, Colin was so excited to play with all of his toys.  It was like Christmas in July!

maggie smiles...

maggie is starting to show me her personality some - pretty easy going (the last 2 nights she has given us 8 hours of continuous sleep!), likes to laugh and smile, and is still the NOISIEST breather ever!  She sounds like a piggy!

We love her so much!

Another reason why Brian is such a great Dad...

So, it was just another day, I was cleaning up after dinner and Brian went to play with Colin in his room.  The two of them decided they wanted to play outside instead, which is fine by me!  They both came running into the kitchen to take a peak outside, and...IT WAS RAINING!  Oh, no!  They could have easily just played inside, but...

Brian and Colin changed into their swimsuits and headed outside to play in the rain!  

Colin had so much fun!! (and I think Daddy did too!)

I ran downstairs with my camera just to capture a few pictures.  Daddy is teaching Colin how to "drink" the rain :)

Yummy!!

Soccer is a lot more fun in the rain, they ran around our yard for a long time.  

And finally...I am still on my quest to get Maggie's smiles on camera...

Well, this is as good as I've gotten so far.  As soon as she sees the huge black camera, the smile fades, so I've got to be quick and just randomly aim & shoot.  

She's looking up at me and I'm holding the camera at chest level, but at least I got something!

Maggie is doing pretty well sleeping at night.  Its just the "getting her to sleep" part that is difficult some nights.  Once she's asleep, she's really starting to stretch her nights out for us.  That's a nice, welcome change.  I only have 3.5 weeks left of maternity leave, and then only 3 weeks after that I start my doctorate classes.  I figure I'm going to be needing some good sleep!

Colin's 2nd Birthday party is this weekend, and we have a lot of planning and preparing left to do.

It's supposed to be very hot here (mid 90's) on Saturday, so we'll probably be indoors for the majority of the party.  Maybe someday we'll luck out and be able to spend Colin's birthday outside. 

4th of July fun

I spent the majority of the 4th of July morning at home, playing with Colin and Maggie.  Brian had to work until around noon and then was off the rest of the day.  Colin and I played outside while Maggie slept.  He loves exploring around our backyard, collecting sticks and rocks and bugs.  He is a boy, through and through.  I am also finding these items in my house now, right by the basement back door.  Awesome!  After Brian got home and the kids were up from their naps, we headed to Grammie and Grandad's for some fun with their cousins.

Maggie with Cousin Johnny.  He is only 6 weeks older than her, but obviously quite a bit bigger.  Don't worry though, I'm sure Maggie will do some major growing here before too long.

Here is Daddy working with Colin in the water.  He loves it in there and is doing great.  He is constantly watching other kids playing in the pool and tries so hard to mimic what they are doing.  He really hasn't mastered the concept of blowing bubbles yet, but he is able to go underwater fine without choking on it.  He comes up smiling...

That was fun!

Getting tossed off the board again.  He really wants to do it by himself, but hasn't figured out how to jump "out" rather than just jumping "up".  I have to remember he's not even 2 yet...

Watching Dad with some snake fireworks.  There were a lot of younger kids at Grammie & Grandad's house, so I think the fireworks were on the "not scary and loud" side.  This is Colin's first experience with them and he didn't mind the pops and explosions.  He, in fact, was a little too comfortable with them for me at times.  Of course, I don't really like them, and think they are pretty from far, far away under the watch of an experienced professional.

With Uncle Dave and Uncle Scott

Throwing some poppers into the street.  He also thought it was fun to pop them in his fingers, which we thought would maybe hurt him a bit, but it didn't seem to bother him.  It's funny seeing him being quite cautious with some things and so brave with others. 

Please Grandad, can I have more poppers?!

Colin kept trying to grab the smoke bombs.  Even after we explained to him that they were HOT, he was still interested in chasing them.  Good thing Daddy had a hold of his arm!

And little Maggie, looking so cute in her 4th of July outfit, staying indoors enjoying the company of her Aunt Suzanne.  Suzanne is just over 16 weeks pregnant, and we are so excited to see if she is having another boy or adding a girl to the male-dominant Teson family.  She is such a trooper, being outnumbered 5 to 1. 

June flew by...

Where did the month of June go? I can't believe when I look at the calendar and I only have 5 weeks until I return back to work...and it's JULY already!

Colin wearing Daddy's Canucks hat...looks like he's sad they didn't win the trophy...


Colin is still very loving with Maggie. He wants her to play with all of his toys (I wonder how long that will last...) and it's so funny when we explain that Maggie is a baby and can't do all the cool and fun things that Big Brothers get to do.

The loves of our lives...

Almost 7 weeks old...and still looking so much like her Daddy!

Hugs for sister...