Where do I start?

First of all - no baby yet... We're scheduled to be induced this Monday at 6:30 am if Caden doesn't arrive before then. My babies seem to like to stay put! I cannot complain though - we've had a lot going on, so I'm very thankful he's given us time to take care of a few pressing matters before he comes!

One very important thing being buying a house! Yay! This has been quite the process - we have learned a LOT and I can honestly say I do not want to buy or sell another house for a very long time. We are super excited about our new house - I'll post pics soon. We should close around the middle of July if all goes well.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks of what we've been up to...in no particular order...

Caden's Diaper Shower - My sweet coworkers (Angel, Gabi, Stephania & Darey) threw me a diaper shower and we have diapers stockpiled for months! We are so thankful!

A few weeks ago we ventured to Houston, TX and celebrated our favorite niece's graduation from High School! It was such a fun weekend and we are so proud of Brittany! She will be heading to ACU in the fall on a full scholarship! Way to go Britty! Here she is with her sweet beau Jarrett.

Proud Mom and Brother :)

Henry and Colton having a little snack during graduation...

Brittany and all her siblings at her graduation party.

Colton enjoying the party!

In early May we celebrated with April at her wedding shower! It was a great day and she looked beautiful as always! We can't wait until the wedding!

Zach's aunts and Meme...

Just a random picture of our boy licking water off the floor... We're so proud :)

On June 11th, Jack and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! Jack surprised me with a lovely bouquet of tulips and a sweet card! Then Bunny watched Colton while we ate at La Hacienda, browsed at Barnes & Noble and then splurged for a dollar movie. We saw Duplicity. It was a great evening & I'm so thankful for my hubby and our marriage!

Getting ready for Baby Brother. Colton has had fun trying out all of the baby's things.

Getting reaquainted with the froggy pool from last summer.

Our happy boy!

Loving Mr. Frog...

Vacuuming with Bunny. He is such a big helper.

"Working" with Daddy...

Swinging like a monkey... This boy loves to climb, swing, jump and run! Whew - he makes me tired! Thankfully he sleeps as hard as he plays!

This picture was taken on Moving Day - Colton enjoyed playing in the empty storage containers. During the actual move, Grandma and Grandad took him to their house with his cousins so we could finish packing and loading. It was a crazy day but we had amazing help from our friends and family! Thanks Aunt Paige, Papaw, Brad, Nathan, Ben and Bunny! We couldn't have done it without you!

Henry checking out the containers.

Wilkin and Colton running in and out of the containers.

Welcome Summer!

Summer is finally here! We are so excited because it means Baby Brother Caden is almost here, too! We had a sonogram at our last dr's visit and they are estimating that he weighs about 7 lb 11 oz already! Yikes! We will induce on June 22nd if he doesn't come on his own before then. Colton is having so much fun living at Bunny's house and we are very thankful for her hospitality and help! As far as housing, we have been diligently looking. We have put in two offers on two different houses, they countered so now we are waiting to hear if they accepted our counter offer... Hopefully one of these will work out! Please say a prayer for Baby Caden's safe arrival and for a house to work out soon!

21 Months...

I could also entitle this post "How to Lose a House in 10 Days" but I am choosing to focus on the positive. Here's a little bit of what's been going on around our home these days and it just might account for my lack of blogging...

1) We are officially moving this coming weekend. Have not found a house, but are thankful our house sold in this market. Will be moving in with my gracious mom until we find a permanent abode.
2) Have looked at over 55 houses - finally found the "one" and someone put an offer in just as we were looking at it. It had only been on the market 4 days.
3) My mom found the exact same wonderful layout in the same neighborhood in another house which we looked at today and believe it or not someone made an offer and the deal closed unbeknowst to us as we were looking at the house. Crazy!
4) I'm sure there is a reason that we have lost 2 houses right in a row after looking at so many...so I will try to turn all this over to God. He certainly can see the big picture and I cannot. I am blessed even to have this problem...when so many are struggling with health issues, job issues and foreclosure.
5) We are up to our ears in boxes. Colton thinks it's great fun! Packing has not really been too bad, but I am ready for it to be done!
6) I really will miss this house. It's where our family began so I'm a little sad to be leaving it for the great unknown...


That's enough about our moving trevails... On a brighter note, Colton is just about out of his 21st month and I wanted to take a moment to remember this sweet stage! He keeps us very entertained! Also, I haven't blogged much about baby brother so I will try to dedicate a post very soon just to him! He is doing great and all dr's appts have shown him to be right on track as far as heartbeat and size. According to the books, he's about a pineapple size and weighs nearly 4 lbs.

Here are a few things I want to remember about Colton at this age:

Loves the lawnmower... His supersonic ears can hear a mower from 5 streets over and I constantly hear this little voice saying "Mowing, Mowing (sounds like morning), see, see"

Here he is checking out the mower with Daddy.

Really enjoys his ride on toys and thinks its funny to crash them into anything and everything. He also likes wearing his glasses.

I know - he still has a paci... We are going to try and go paci free by age 2...

Loves wrestling with Daddy every night!

Loves getting ALL of Daddy's socks out of the drawer (which he can open by himself) and taking all of them into the living room. He then proceeds to throw them at us or jump into them and bury himself under them. Really, who needs toys?

Boxes have been pretty fun. They are his house and slide and he has not figured out that when they are empty you cannot just jump on top of one.

A few more things to remember:

• Has mastered the "bridge" at the park. This consists of black steps going across a balance beam. He can now hold on to the bar and make his way across all by himself.
• Loves to say I did it, I fix it, I like it...
• Loves waffles. We have them for breakfast almost every morning with an egg or banana. They are the Eggo Whole Wheat, so I feel like they are somewhat healthy. When I go get him in the morning its usually the first thing out of his mouth, "Waffles?"
• Very interested in baby brother in mommy's tummy and has been very sweet. Likes to pat and kiss my tummy as well as share his toys.
• Loves to be in the car and point out the things we pass.
• Loves watching the trash truck on Thursday mornings.
• Can say all of his grandparents' names and talks about them very often!
• Loves to read his books and look at pictures of his family.
• Counting... usually 2...1...3 but after 4 almost always gets 5, 6, 7, 8 in the right order. He's beginning to try and show us that he will be 2 but has trouble getting his fingers in the right position.
• New words... "love you, thank you, monster, siren, mowing, horsey, shhh...baby sleeping, butterfly, oh shoot (we've got to work on that one), clothes on, shoes on, move!, watch, breakfast, fire truck, daddy's shoes, mommy's shoes, necklace, kitty cat's house..."
• Got a new pair of crocs and loves wearing them. He can put them on by himself, too.
• Thinks its great fun to run away from us as we change his clothes, diaper, pjs... This game is getting very difficult for his 8 months prego mommy!
• Loves to play "boo" with daddy. This consists of running around the house and jumping out of doorways and scaring each other.
• Loves to run with daddy. They race from one door to the other. Colton likes to stay in the "set" position and has to be reminded to get up and go.
• Loves his water table and bath time!

Colton vs. the Bluebonnets

So I thought it would be fun to take pictures of Colton in a patch of bluebonnets near our house. Well, it was fun, but Colton did not really feel the need to sit still for a picture. I'm afraid we left a few trampled bluebonnets in our wake...

"Petting" the bluebonnets...

Telling me something very important...

On the move again...

Happy Spring Everyone!

Big, Big Mess

Colton loves to point out messes all around him. Yesterday, when we got his hair cut he kept telling the ladies about the hair on the floor and that they needed to clean (keen) it up! When he says mess, he tends to make it two syllables so it comes out like "mayess".

These awesome pictures were taken by Bunny. Colton spent the night with her a few weeks ago and I sent spaghetti for one of his meals. I really didn't do it on purpose :) Thankfully, she thought he was a cute mess. I'm just glad this all happened at her house in her kitchen!

Seriously could this boy get any cuter even with spaghetti sauce all over his face? I love you sweet, messy boy!

Such joy!

He has applesauce with nearly every dinner and loves it. He can now say applesauce - it's so fun to hear him say it!

Laughing at Bunny. Bunny made a good horsey too. She even let Colton fall off the horsey onto the couch pillow. He thought that was hysterical!

Thanks for a fun weekend, Bunny! We love you!

Easter Party with Grandma & Grandad

This past weekend Colton got to spend the night with Grandma and Grandad! Their church was having an Easter Party and Colton received his very own invitation to attend. This was his very first Easter Egg Hunt. Here are a few pictures from the event. It looked like he had a great time and he came home with lots of "stories and smiles"! Mommy enjoyed a morning to sleep in and a very still and quiet house. Jack was out of town too. I missed both my boys, but am so thankful that Colton got to spend such a great time with his grandparents! Basketball Booth

RUNNING to find the eggs. Grandma said he only collected six because he was oohing and ahhing over what was inside each egg!

More basketball.

Checking out the inside of the eggs. He started off the day calling the eggs balls, but he learned to say Easter Eggs by the finish.

Checking out his Easter surprises. He came home with two bags full of prizes.

Running again...

Finding the eggs...

Waiting for the egg hunt to begin.

Checking out the prizes at another booth.

Bobbing for ducks... I'm sure he enjoyed this one if it involved water.

Smiling for Grandad! They said Colton had 3 plates of food at the party! He must be having a growth spurt because he has been eating everything in sight. When I told Colton bye when I was leaving, he told Grandad to "Go!" He really enjoys being with his grandparents and doesn't seem to mind leaving mommy at all! Apparently he talked Grandad into making coffee a couple of times and driving his truck a few extra times too.

At Grandma and Grandad's house riding the tricycle.

Mowing the porch.

Thanks for a great weekend Grandma and Grandad! We love you!

Smile!

This is what you get when you tell Colton to smile! Could there be any more teeth in that mouth? He was in the middle of his milk when we got this toothy grin :)

Sweet smiley boy!

I was going to title this post..."Tired, so very, very tired" but then I remembered this picture of Colton and it refreshed my spirit...

Much is going on around here and I am feeling every bit of my 28 weeks lately! Our house has been on the market since mid Feb. and we recently got a great offer. However; it won't be official until April 9th... We have been looking at houses, but have not found one yet and don't want to rush especially if the offer falls through. It's so hard to not know! The kicker is that we have to be out around the end of April so that puts a little pressure on the situation. Thankfully, my mom has graciously agreed to let us move in with her until we find a house. As of today I have not packed anything, nor set up moving dates. Work is crazy because of that dreaded TAKS exam, taxes are due, baby brother has no name and I am just exhausted at the end of the day... Blech. Thanks for letting me vent. I know this too will pass and we are so blessed to have each other, our health, jobs, friends and family plus an offer!

I'll switch gears from my pity party and leave you with a few cute things Colton is doing:

• just started saying his name



• getting more and more cuddly - I love this because he doesn't usually sit still.



• smiling big for the camera



• hugging and patting my belly and saying baby - the other day he said "shhh - sleeping"



• heard a noise in the garage and after I told him it wasn't daddy and that it was the wind he made the connection that wind and fan are similar



• wakes up remembering the events from yesterday (who visited or what toy he last played with)



• little sentences - "hold it", "fix it", "mommy's shoes", "pawpaw's truck", "have it", "did it", "love you", "big, big bus", "all clean", "all done" and I'm almost positive he puts an I in front of some of his sentences...



• new words every day - I read somewhere that they can learn up to 10 words a day at this age. (tissue, puter (computer), zebra, wind, fence, trash, diaper, running, walking, vacuum, singing...)

Here's a little video of Colton saying his name.