Collier's Birthday Party

Collier's 1st Birthday Party--held on Saturday, March 23rd.

Better late than never, right? :)

 We did a "forest friends" theme, since the party was held at Tims Ford State Park, in a rustic recreation hall.  I think everything came together very well!  Collier loved visiting with his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends, too...but his favorite part was probably his cake.

Although the weather wasn't what you'd call "nice", we got to spend some time outside on the play ground, swinging with friends.

There were only 2 baby swings, so we let Caroline and Collier share--Coll wasn't so sure he liked it!

Caroline (with Natasha), Davis (with Leslie), and Collier are all less than 6 weeks apart.  I can't tell you how many conversations these girls and I have had about baby stuff over the past year!

Mulch is one of our favorite things right now...weird, right?

Our ONE year old...mommy's thoughts

So, I'm a giant goober and started tearing up as soon as I wrote the title of this post.  It's not that I don't want Collier to grow up...I do!  And I am so excited to see the man he will become.  I'm looking forward to what the future holds for our family.   I'm not mourning the lack of tiny baby-ness, (or his 2-4 month old refusing to nap for longer than 20 minutes stage) or wishing I could go back and do it all again.  I don't particularly want to go back and re-do any of the stages we have experienced over the last year--I like where we are!

It's just that it seems like it's all happening so fast.  It saddens me that life can go by this quickly--in a blink.  And it's just so easy to observe the passing of time in the many changes of a baby.  He's gone from a tiny lump to a real little person with emotions, opinions, and attitudes in a snap; so what does that mean for my life?  Is it going to be just one more blink and he's graduating?  One more and I have (gasp!) crow's feet? :)  The idea of life passing that quickly is a little scary.  Am I choosing to make each day count?  Am I doing all that I can to encourage my husband, and help grow my son in the ways I need to?  As I mentioned last month, maybe this should just me a reminder to let my days count.  To savor what each day holds.  Because it truly goes by in a hurry.

Now, on to an update on what Mr. C is doing... :)

Not exactly a glamour shot, but one of the most insanely happy moments of my entire life.  

Dear Collier,

All in one moment, I can and cannot believe that you're already one year old.  On one hand, I feel like you've always been here--always held a little piece of my heart, always a part of our little family.  On the other hand, I feel like we took the picture above this just yesterday.  One thing I can say for certain is that you have added so much life to our home, so much fun to our days, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of your years hold!

Our family at Collier's birthday party

At your one year check-up, you weighed 22 lbs, 3 ounces (50th percentile), and were 31 inches tall (90th percentile).  You are rocking your six teeth, and eating everything in sight--berries, cheese, and yogurt being favorites.  You're getting better at communicating with us too.  You can say "dog" (sounds like duh, but you pat Avery when you say it), "book", "ball", "balloon", "mama", "dada", "bye-bye", and probably more that I can't think of right now :).  You also shake your head "no" very emphatically when you don't want something (and close your eyes, like maybe we will stop trying to make you eat the peas if you can't see them).  You started taking a few brave steps here and there around your first birthday, and walked for the first time (about 10 steps) on April 2nd.  You're turning into such a big boy!

Checking out your birthday present!

You still love bath time, and playing outside now that the weather is warmer.  You loooove balloons, and balls, books, and toys that make music.  You do well playing alone (which is kind of nice for mom and dad sometimes), but always like to have us to climb on while you're playing.  You are starting to really like playing "like a boy"--climbing, flipping, chasing--and you always seem to manage to find a stick if we are outside.  Daddy likes sticks, too, so it must be genetic. :)

On a hike with Avery and Dad (you found a stick and carried it around for awhile)

What can I get into next?

I'm also very proud to say that we made it past your first birthday nursing.  It was challenging at times, and once I went back to work we supplemented with formula quite a bit, but I'm proud of us!  It has been so special to have that time with you, little bug, when we can cuddle up in a chair together and you're not wanting to be down playing or reading or something.  I am thrilled to have been able to provide what you've needed for your first year.  But, now you're turning into a big boy, and so we're weaning, one nursing session at a time.  We dropped the morning-time nursing the week of your first birthday, and we'll drop the bed-time one sometime in the next week or so.  It's bittersweet for mama--and you too.

Mama's sweet boy

Oh, sweet boy...Daddy and I don't have the words to say how much we love you.  What you've added to our lives cannot be summed up with letters, or quantified with numbers.  You are a bright spot I didn't know we were missing.  Joy beyond what I knew existed.  You are our love, personified.  I can't thank God enough for trusting us to be your parents, and I hope we make Him proud with the little man you'll become.

Love you,

Mommy and Daddy

11 Months Old

This is my last monthly post before our baby turns one.  Everyone always told me that time would fly once he arrived, but I never really understood how quickly.  The first few newborn weeks stretched on forever (maybe it was the lack of sleep), but now it seems like someone has thrown us into hyperdrive, and it's all I can do to keep up.  I find myself having to be purposeful about slowing down, savoring this time, and prioritizing my "want-to-do", "need-to-do" and "would like-to-do" lists.  Psalm 90:12 has been playing on repeat in my brain over the last few days:  "Teach us to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom,".  This has truly become my prayer--that I would learn to number my days.  The fact is, we have so little time--our days are numbered.  Collier will turn one in 23 more, in fact.  I pray that I have wisdom in making the decisions about how I spend my days, and in turn, how I spend my life.  I pray that I have the wisdom to turn off the demands of the world (I do NOT need to check facebook for the 4th time today...), and savor the moments that we have now.  Because I'm not getting them back.

Alright, friends, sermon's over! :)  Here's the lowdown on our boy's last month.

Dear Collier,

It's hard to believe that you're so close to your first birthday.  But, still, Daddy and I find it hard to remember a time when you weren't here with us.  You add so much to our little family!  Even Avery loves having you around--you pat her very gently, and want to play tug with her.  You bring her toys to play with, and she loves to sit under your high chair to help with clean up.

We've had a big month!  Your first snow, first real haircut (you managed to pull the sucker part off of two sticks and almost choke), more teeth (we're up to 5 now), and road trips to see Papa and Gram were highlights. This month, you've been very busy practicing walking.  You're getting very quick, as long as you have something (or someone) to hold onto.  As soon we let go, you get nervous and sit down.  Recently, you have also decided that you'll have nothing to do with being fed from a spoon.  You're too big for that now, I guess.  Luckily, you seem to be doing just great with table food only.  Your favorite still seems to be sweet potatoes, but you also really like grapes, blueberries, and yogurt.

We had our first "snow" this month--only about 1/2 an inch.

Please excuse the too-big-hand-me-down snowsuit (thanks, Leauna! :).
We can do a re-enactment of "A Christmas Story" now! 

You were interested in the snow.  Until we put some in your hand.  Not a fan. 

Hanging up your first "school" artwork for Valentine's Day!

Where's Collier?  is a favorite game of yours.
It's a close second to "Lets pull all the pots and pans and dish towels out of the cabinets".  

You're also practicing talking all.the.time.  You babble to your toys, to us, "read" books.  My favorite is when I can tell that you're singing along with the radio or TV.  You often sing yourself to sleep too, which is pretty adorable.  You dance along to music, and laugh like crazy when we dance around.  You try to mimic a lot of what we say...including "Boom" when we pound fists, and saying "Yesss" and scrunching up your face.  Your favorite toys are anything that aren't really toys--pots and pans, dog food, the stairs, our filing cabinet, the list goes on...  You really like bigger kids, love to swing, and being chased and tickled.

I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to be your parents...we love you so so much!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Retro-blog--Collier is 10 months old (January 2013)

I dare you not to smile... :)

As always, life is crazy busy. And I'm trying to choose the best things with the limited time I have with my guys. Often that means chasing Coll around in the floor, and not blogging. I think that's ok. ;). So....here's what happened in Collier's 10th month!

At 10 months, Collier, you are just a bundle of energy!! You are crawling and cruising everywhere--and quickly! You still love to read books, and love toys that make music.  You love to shake your bells or tambourine toys, or beat on a drum while we sing songs.  You can wave and say "bye-bye", and occasionally will say other things that sound like words too.  You're not consistent about these "words", so I'm not sure if we could them as words, or babbling.  You're settling into your new babysitting situation, and take two 1.5-2 hour naps a day (provided you have your sound machine).  You still love to eat, and are starting to have more table foods, too.  Your new teeth help with this--you now have two on top and two on the bottom.  Big boy!!

You may or may not have been stuck...

Our Intrepid Explorer

You clap after each bite when you're having a really awesome meal.  It's kind of hilarious. :)

You looooove to read books.  And tear off any "lift-the-flap" portions.

Riding the rocking horse that Great-Grandaddy made for Mommy when she was a baby.  So special!

You bring us so much joy and we love you so much,

Mommy and Daddy

Collier is 9 Months Old! (What?!?!)

Maybe it seems like this month flew by because I just got around to writing Collier's 8 month post, or maybe is flying because we're having so much fun!  Either way, our little man is now 3/4 of the way to his first birthday (keep it together, Adrianne...)

Sweet Collie-Bug,

This month, you have become SUCH a big boy!  We've stayed busy with all sorts of Christmas fun, and you've spent some serious time being sick.  The week before Christmas, you had a tummy virus, and followed that up with an ear infection, which we had to treat with antibiotic shots, poor guy :(.  Through it all, you still managed to bring so much more joy to our sweet Christmastime.

You have kept very busy over the past month, perfecting your skills of crawling, and pulling up on anything that will stand still.  Playing is serious business for you, and you work very hard at it.  Your current favorite game is hiding and waiting for us to say "Where's Collier?" before you pop out with a big smile on your face. You also think it's awesome if we hide with you--silly boy.  You also love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (one of our go-to helpers in the car.  Yep, we're those parents.  Not sorry at all. :), and you think Cheerios make the world go round.  You love music and books are your favorite toys.

You also have mastered object-permanence.  Whenever we leave the room, you clearly know that we're still around, and you will go looking for us, or fuss for us to come back.  You've learned to wave "bye-bye" and are trying so hard to say words--you say "ba-ba" when you see your bottles, make a "boo-" sound when you have a book...but your favorite "word" must be "oooo"; you say it all.the.time.  You have two teeth (on the bottom), and are working hard on the top two as well.  You're also getting better at "cruising", and walking holding onto a toy or our hands.  In fact, you decided to stand up all by yourself for the first time while we were snapping your 9-month-old photo.

Look ma!  No hands!

Collier, you fill our days with so much joy, and give us purpose like we've never known.  Thanks for letting us be your family.  It must be time for me to wrap this up, because you are waking up from your nap. :)

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

Collier's First Christmas!

This year, our Christmastime celebrations lasted for a full week.  We had visitors, we traveled some, opened lots of presents, and ate WAY too many goodies.  What a wonderful time!

We started off with a visit from my Dad and Step mom (Collier's Grandpa and Nana), and my stepbrother Joel, on December 22nd.  Collier was under the weather during their visit (poor little dude), but we still managed to have a great time!

Grandpa and Nana brought Collier a motocycle.  So fun!

Grandpa is so silly!

 We celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, just the three of us (and Avery, of course), starting some new traditions.  We read the account of Jesus' birth from Luke, and then "Twas the Night before Christmas", followed by "It's a Wonderful Life" and some hot cocoa.  On Christmas morning, we celebrated Jesus' birthday with some funfetti waffles (our Birthday obsession.  So delish!  Find the recipe here.  The only change I'd suggest is to reserve about 2 Tbs of cake mix, and make a confectioner's sugar glaze with it to pour over the top.  Yum-o!).

Santa Came!

Not feeling so great, but still managed to take his new walker for a spin!

Avery knows how this Christmas thing is done

 On Christmas Day, we headed to Chattanooga to spend some time with Chris' side of the family.  It was wonderfully loud and crazy. :)

Collier and his G.G.

Collier and Callie

On the 26th, we visited the aquarium in Chattanooga with Papa and Gram.

Mommy's sweet boy

Papa and Collier checking out a BIG tank at the aquarium.  Collier said "Oooooo" at every.single.one. :)

Spending some quality time with Gram.  

Our last celebration was December 29th and 30th, when my Mom and her hubby Bob (Collier's Mimi and Papaw) came to visit!

Someone's feeling better!  (Three antibiotic shots later...)

Collier loves his Mimi and Papaw

Papaw and Mimi brought Collier a bear that sings Carols

What a great Christmas with our sweet family!