Mommy Loves Colin

I hate to say it, but I am not Colin's favorite right now.  He LOVES his daddy.  

I hear "where Daddy go" about all the time!!

But, the other night, Brian was out mowing the lawn and Colin was outside running around with him.  He's old enough now that we don't worry as much about him running into the street when we're not watching him.  He knows to stay on the grass, but we still worry because we are living on a fairly busy street.

Anyway, Maggie and I got to hang out a bit by ourselves, which is always a nice treat.  After she was in bed, Colin came in for a quick bath and to get his pajamas on.  Brian headed back outside to clean off the mower, so Colin and I had a moment to snap some pics.

I love these pictures...

Minus the fact that they are self-portraits (taken by me of course) and I have about 8 chins in each picture.

Don't mind that...

No really, stop looking at them...

Love my little guy.

Can't believe how fast time flies.

It really is true what they say, and I'm trying to remember all these little details along the way.

That's what this blog is for...to not forget the ordinary days that make this family who we are.

Thanks for reading!

Brian's 31st Birthday

 We all celebrated Brian's 31st birthday today.

Even though I had to get up and get ready for work, Colin slept in about 30 minutes later than normal, which was a nice treat for Brian to just lay in bed for a bit.

We sang Daddy happy birthday then he opened his gift.  We got him a new Royals shirt for a brand new, winning season (we can have a winning season, right?!)

Luckily, I had also purchased Colin a new Royals shirt, because he immediately wanted to know where his shirt was.

Colin and Daddy posing with their new Royals shirts

After work, I came home, got the family and we headed out to look at a few houses on the market.

We sang Happy Birthday to Daddy one more time, and he had his yummy chocolate cupcakes.

 Brian turning 31!

Colin thinks candles are so cool.  He helped to blow them out, just practicing for his 3rd birthday here in a few months.  

We love you so much Daddy!

You are so patient with us, can be dog tired but still have energy to give Colin & Maggie horsey rides, are such a good, strong role model for our children, and are pretty handsome, too!

Thanks for all of the fun times, and here's to many more to come!

Ordinary Days

Who knew doing somersaults on our bed was so much fun?!

The kids just love it, especially Maggie Mae.  She will just bend over, push her head into the ground, and hope somebody is behind her to flip her legs over.  Then she just laughs and laughs.

The other night, we had a "diaper only" kid party on our bed.

Lots of laughter all around!

 My little lady

Colin sat on our headboard, and Maggie was trying so hard to do the same.

Here is Maggie falling off the headboard while Colin poses...

 Colin cheesing for the camera.  

I love that lately he will actually hold still and let me take a picture of him.  I hope this phase will last a long time, I feel like I have a few months with only a couple pictures of Colin and around 200 of Maggie.  That's cause he wouldn't stop running around!!

So this past weekend Brian and I had one night of a getaway.

Brian's birthday is Monday, and a couple of months ago we made a hotel reservation in downtown KC at the Hotel Phillips (the same hotel we stayed at on our wedding night).  Since both of us are working full-time, I am back in school, our unexpected life events, house on the market, etc, we felt like we needed a night away from the kiddos.  Brian's parents watched Colin and Maggie (who apparently were just angelic for them, as usual!) and we headed off to spend some quality time together.

We went to 2:30 mass, checked in to our hotel, then went to dinner at Manny's (a great Mexican restaurant) and walked around the downtown Power & Light district, ate some chocolate-covered strawberries, ice cream, and drank a couple bottles of wine.  Of course, we had the KU game on, and I was sooo happy the Jayhawks won.  Rock Chalk!!

 The view from our hotel room (with a strange reflection off the glass).  I thought it looked cool.  We were on the 20th floor, the VERY top one!

 Another shot of our view in the morning light.  See the performing arts center directly to the right of the Crowne Plaza building.  It's pretty cool looking!

 Oddly enough, we got room 2006.  

2006 was the last time we stayed at Hotel Phillips on our wedding night.

It was a great time (minus being right next door to the ice machine, and people needing to fill their coolers with ice at all times of the night!)

 When we got back to Grammie and Grandad's house in the morning, after a nice breakfast at IHOP, the kids were having a blast.  Maggie was swinging and Colin was helping Grandad build the sand box (can you see it in the background?!).

Our kids just love playing outside.  

 Colin took his turn pushing Maggie.
He even did "under doggies" for her.  

 I LOVE SWINGING!

 Teething much?

Maggie chewing on the lawn furniture.  Yummy.

We took the kids back home to nap, and woke up in time to color some eggs for Easter.

I remember this being WAY more difficult with Colin last year.  He seems so much more grown up this year, and was very meticulous about the dyeing process.  He kept checking all the egg colors, saying "nope, not ready yet" or "yep, all done!"  He would've colored 30 dozen eggs if we'd let him, I think.

 Stirring up the colored tablets in the water.

Maggie just watched, and ate some Puffs in her high chair.

So much fun.

 The finished products.  We got a little more creative with the last few, see the tie dye one on the bottom right?! 

I made him show off his multi-colored fingers.  

We can't wait to hide these eggs and more next weekend.

Michigan...again

Brian,  Maggie and I made another urgent trip to Michigan this past week.

Grandma Rice had passed away on Tuesday, March 20th at the age of 91.  She passed away at her house, in the comfort of her own bed.  My mom and Tiff had just been up there to see Grandma and spend some time with her.  I was unable to go with them due to my work, school, and family obligations.

All of my aunts and uncles were there, minus a couple of my cousins from California.  It was a nice celebration of Grandmas life.  It's amazing when you read the obituary, how much of an impact our loved ones have made in this world.  She's leaving behind quite a legacy, especially in her hometown of Milford, Michigan.

We left Colin back in KC (again), figuring a funeral was no place for a 2 year old.  Brian's parents watched him for 4 days, and are utterly exhausted now!  He has so much fun with them, going to parks, helping Grandad in the yard, eating special Grammie food!  We missed him so much, especially Maggie, since he's pretty  much her favorite person ever!

We packed up on Thursday for our 12 hour drive, went to the visitation on Friday, the funeral on Saturday, then our long drive home on Sunday.  Maggie was a trooper throughout it all, sleeping in various locations (neighbor's houses, churches, car seats, etc) and hardly making a peep!  She has all of my family tricked into thinking she's the best baby ever.  

Brian, Maggie and I stayed at Grandma's neighbor, Phyllis' house.  Anyone that will welcome a 10 month old into their house, no questions asked, is a saint!  Phyllis let us take over her home for 4 days and we can't thank her enough.

The 2nd night, Maggie found the liquor cabinet.  I figure it's because Phyllis said to make ourselves at home. We thought it was pretty funny.

Maggie couldn't decide between the vodka or the coffee-flavored liquor.

Whoops!  Caught red-handed!!

Chad and Brian, wearing some of Grandpa's old Stetson hats.  We thought they looked pretty good, considering they both have fairly large heads...

Maggie sporting the Stetson...

Grandma's dog, CJ, wondering what happened to Grandma.  Don't worry though, Tiff and Chad brought her home with them, with the intention of Mom taking her when she gets moved into her new place.  Shouldn't be too long until CJ can get settled into her new home.

Maggie playing with my Aunt Linda from California.

Mom and her 2 brothers, Uncle Kurt and Uncle Ken.

Tiff feeding Maggie (in her car seat) because we didn't bring her high chair.  Ooops!

A group of pretty ladies!  Maggie, Rosie (a nurse in Milford that helped take care of Grandpa and Grandma Rice that is just like family to us) and Mom.

The whole gang in front of Grandma's house (with Brian taking the picture).

The whole gang in front of Grandma's house (with Phyllis taking the picture).

We will be back in Michigan in June to help figure out what to do with the rest of Grandma and Grandpa's belongings.  Until then...

no more trips to Michigan, please :)

Maggie's Ear Tubes

Sorry this is a bit delayed...but I have a good reason.

I will get to that in another post...

Maggie got her ear tubes in on March 21.  It was at the same place Colin had his done.

We had to be there at 6:30 am and were home by 8 am.  Talk about a well-oiled machine!

Maggie had fun in the waiting room, playing with her patient identification band on her ankle and the teddy bear the surgery center gave to her.

Maggie and Daddy, just before they took her in for surgery.

Maggie and Mommy 

(can you tell we're both sooo tired?!)

They took her back around 7:20.  Once again, I don't even think we had time to get coffee in the waiting room before they had come to get us telling us the surgery was done.

They were concerned about her left ear (the one that kept have ear infections), afraid that maybe there was more than just fluid behind her ear drum.  Good news, there was just some icky, yucky fluid in there (about the consistency of rubber cement, says the doc).  It had likely been in there for quite a few months.

So, now that the fluid is out of there, we're hoping her hearing with be restored and she won't have any issue with more ear infections.

Maggie right after surgery.  She hadn't woken up yet from the anesthesia.

She was pretty grouchy when she woke up, but I was able to feed her and that improved her mood some.  We took her home, played for just a few minutes, then put her down for a much-needed 2.5 hour nap.  She woke up a new girl, in a great mood and ready to eat & play.

And here's just a cute picture of Colin.  He seems so grown up in this picture.  

I guess that's going to happen eventually!

Thanks for all of your prayers.  Maggie is doing great following her surgery!

10 Month March Madness

 It has been sooo beautiful outside lately.

We have gone outside to play almost every night.  Colin loves taking Buzz outside to play with and Maggie just usually chills out in her stroller or in the swing.  She's such an easy going kid.

Maggie turned 10 months old yesterday.  

Time sure is flying by.  I had better get planning a birthday party soon.

Sure, I'll add that to my ever-growing list of things to get done.  But somehow, everything manages to be okay.  The birthday party planning will probably push it's way ahead of other things - well, mainly because it will be fun!

Mags had her appointment with the Ear, Nose, Throat specialist earlier this week.

At the appointment, she failed all of her hearing tests on her left ear.  They did it 3 different ways, and each way, FAIL!  So, this was a huge concern for the doctor (who also happened to be Colin's ENT doctor).  The doc mentioned that it was very unlikely that Maggie had 5 ear infections, all on her left ear, as ear infections tend to be random when it comes to what side they affect.  So, he thought what actually has happened is that Maggie has never gotten rid of the fluid in her ears from her very first ear infection that was back in November.  He checked the fluid in her ears, and he said it was a very strange consistency and was opaque in color.  It's not good to have fluid in the ears for that long, due to infections as well as hearing problems.  So, we are scheduled for bilateral tubes (both ears) on Wednesday.  

We know the surgery is a snap, since we did it with Colin just 1.5 years ago, but it still makes me nervous having her under anesthesia.
We'll let you know how it goes!

Mags hanging out in the swing

 In her high chair before dinner one night.

I love these pictures, cause she's captive in her chair and I can usually get her attention.

 Aughhhhhhh!

Such a big girl, playing with her activity table.  Look at those chunky thighs!

Colin is such a great big brother.  He lets Mags play with Buzz quite a bit.  She thinks its really cool when Buzz makes all those noises, plus, she can push the buttons, too!

Sweetheart!

 There is one particular saying that Buzz does that Maggie just loves.  Whenever she hears it, she just opens her mouth, makes this noise (kindof like "and the crowd goes wild....aahhhhhhh") and puts her hands in the air like she's flying around.  Its so funny.  She can literally be 3 rooms away from Buzz, but when she hears it, she will make that noise and put her arms up.  

We think she might end up a tom boy...

You've Got A Friend In Me

Buzz Lightyear...to the rescue!

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon a $5 Buzz Lightyear on Craigslist (one that normally retails for $40 at Target)!  We are all about used toys in our house.  

Well, Colin has been VERY into Toy Story lately, and we were hoping that Buzz might just be the motivation for Colin to start using the big boy potty.

We have tried lots of things so far...M&M's, suckers, stickers, tons and tons of praise, ice cream at McDonalds, trips to Chuck E Cheese, etc.  He says he wants all those things, but yet, doesn't want them enough to try to go potty.

We showed him Buzz yesterday...within minutes he had gone potty on the big boy potty.  We were so proud of him, he was more interested in playing with Buzz.  

It has wings that pop out so he can fly, a laser that "shoots" and a ton of sayings.  There is one particular saying (To Infinity...And Beyond!) that plays some really cool music and that's when Buzz has to fly around our house.  In order to keep playing with Buzz, Colin has to keep using the big boy potty.  

So far, so good!

Colin with is buddy Buzz.

He was so excited to get a picture taken with him.  He NEVER stands still for pictures with us, but was MORE than happy to for a picture with Buzz.  

We won't take that personally...

Figuring out all the cool gadgets

Maggie trying to stay out of the way...

Buzz is a crazy flyer!

Maggie was more interested in Mr. Potato Head (Buzz's friend).  She has his mustache!

To Infinity...And Beyond!!!

Buzz sometimes needs to use the potty, too.

Good job, Buzz!!  Colin was so proud of him!!

What's a guy gotta do to get a little privacy around this place?!

We aren't sure if this is going to last, but it's nice to see him interested in being a big boy for a little while.  We know he needs to be ready, but we're just trying to help motivate, right?!

Thanks for your help, Buzz!!