Birthday kisses & Swimming pool fun!

My birthday was on Monday (even though we "celebrated" on Saturday) and the whole family was together.  Colin started off my day with some birthday snuggles & kisses (PERFECT!)

 Man, don't I look TIRED?!

Then, we headed to Belton to play in Aunt Tiffy's pool!  It is an awesome indoor pool with lots of things to do.  Colin has been there once before and had a blast, but that was so long ago, he is a lot more comfortable in the water now.

 Going down the slide....weeeeeeee!

 

Playing some basketball with the football that we brought along...

 Getting splashed on the head by the randomly tipping buckets of water...

Maggie also had some fun in the water.  This was her first time getting in and she seemed to enjoy it (after the initial shock of the cold water!)

 Bouncing with Aunt Tiffy

In the lazy river with Daddy.  She seemed much more relaxed at this point, although she really didn't stay in the water for too long (maybe 5 minutes).  That was enough stimulation for the 10 week old baby!

We are so happy that Colin loves the water and are hoping that Maggie will, too. 

My 30th (yikes) birthday!

Well, I'm officially 30 now.  Nothing feels different.  Now I'm more grown-up, right?  We'll see about that!

Brian got tickets to the Sporting KC (professional soccer) game that was the Saturday before my birthday.  It was out at their new stadium at the Legends, which is a really cool outlet shopping area with lots of other attractions nearby.  We headed to church at the downtown cathedral and then made our way to the Legends, getting there around 4 pm.  We met my mom out there right away, then Katie & Michael joined us and so did Tiff & Chad.  It was a lot of fun.  

I did just a tiny bit of shopping (who can resist Gap Outlet and Carters Outlet?), and we had dinner at YardHouse.  I even got a complimentary birthday dessert!  Yummy!

Then, we headed off for one of the hottest afternoons yet!  I'm pretty sure everyone smelled from sitting in their own sweat for hours, and unfortunately, there wasn't much of a breeze either.  The game was fun though, and KC beat Toronto 4-2.  I quizzed Brian the entire game about the rules of soccer, and I'm sure the people sitting around us thought I was a complete idiot.  Soccer is one sport I don't know much about, which is sad considering I lived with many soccer players in college.  Oh well, I guess it's new knowledge for me now that I'm older and wiser!

 Our for dinner at YardHouse

 The whole group at dinner

 Chad's sweaty hot butt!

 My birthday card from Tiff & Chad - the best card ever because it was used as a fan while we were dying from the heat!

 The hot boys hugging on the (also hot but not liking to be hugged) girls

 Brian and I at the stadium

 A pic of the stadium, it was really neat! The fans were having a lot of fun!

 My 30th birthday kiss!

Thanks for a great birthday Brian!  I love you!

Maggie in the mirror

 Maggie and Daddy were playing the mirror one night after bath.  She was giggling and smiling at herself (or Daddy).  She is really starting to become aware of her surroundings.  She also has found her fist, and loves to suck on it in her bouncy seat.  

For exactly 1 week now, Maggie has slept at night for at least 8 hours straight.  She also continues to sleep great for her naps during the day.  We are pretty strict with sticking to her schedule during the day, but if she will give Brian and I such great sleep at night, we'll do anything!

Colin's Day at Chuck E Cheese!

For Colin's actual birthday we took him to Chuck E Cheese.  He has never been there since he has been big enough to really participate in the fun games.  Brian and I were so excited to see how he would do there.

Well, he did awesome!  He ran from game to game, wanting to play just about every game there.

Here is a picture of the four of us, before we let Colin run around.  We ordered a pizza and made an evening of it!

 Playing some ski-ball (with Daddy's help!)

 Shooting the water gun at the target

 Grammie and Mags.  Recently, Maggie has been refusing a bottle.  This makes me VERY concerned as I am going back to work in about 2 weeks and she must eat!  She didn't want to take a bottle while we were there, but eventually, about an hour later, decided she was hungry.  I hope she does okay at the daycare when I am back at the hospital!

 Daddy and Grandad playing some games

 Colin taking cousin Olivia out for a spin

 I thought this picture was too cute!  Too bad it focused in on the car and not the kids faces.  I still think it's a really good picture though, those two had so much fun!

 Colin was laughing doing all of the rides and games!

 Riding the horsey!

 Olivia wasn't so sure about Colin's driving abilities...

 Brian trying to win some tickets on Deal or No Deal

 The roller coaster simulator that both Olivia and Colin loved!

Colin and I

Colin was obsessed with seeing Chuck E Cheese, yet when he came by, refused to go near him.  During this picture, Olivia is desperately trying to get away and Colin is squeezing me so hard on my back.  They were both a bit terrified of him.  Maybe next time they won't be...

Overall, we had an awesome time there.  We spent almost 2.5 hours there, the time just flew by.  It was a nice place to burn off some energy indoors, where it wasn't 100 degrees.  

I still can't believe Colin is 2.

We took him for his 2 year checkup and he is measuring 29 pounds (right at 50% for his age) and is just about 3 feet tall (between 75-90% for his age).  He did great at the doctor, even when he had to get a shot.  He kept saying "ouchie" on the way home, but the Thomas sticker helped it feel better.  He forgot about the shot as soon as we got home.   Not too traumatizing!

All in all, we had a great time celebrating Colin's 2nd birthday!

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!