Joy Break!

I was listening to the radio on the way home from work a few days ago and heard a snippet from a sermon. The preacher said, "It's impossible to be grateful and discontent at the same time. Just try it." So, I tried it today while doing some laundry (one of my least favorite chores) and it's true. I thanked God that I had laundry to wash, fold and put away and as hard as I tried I couldn't grumble or complain at the same time. Gotta go praise God with the vacuum now :) Have a grateful day everyone!

Quick Picture Post

Sleepy Angel part 2... I just love when he curls up like a little ball.

After a long walk around the neighborhood.

Please get me out of the stroller now.

Really, I mean NOW!

Breaking News!!!!

My little man said "Ma Ma" today! I've been hearing the MMMMMM sound for a few days, but today he looked at me and said it as clear as day! I know it's been said before, but those are the sweetest two syllables in all the world! Thankfully, he can't ask for a car or a million dollars, becuase I sure would have given it to him today! Either my ears have been stopped up lately - or today is just a banner word day because I believe he also said "ball" and "bye-bye" on command. There's a video at the bottom of him almost saying Ma Ma...He got a little distracted with the camera!

I'm behind on the block pictures once again...my creative juices are waning. Anyone have a cute idea for a block picture with a wiggly 9 month old?

• When I ask for a kiss he will lean in and slime me! I don't mind one bit, though!
• Lately, he has started sprint crawling. Sometimes he gets to going so fast he nearly does a front flip.
• He is not afraid of the vacuum. He goes right up to it while its running and tries to grab it! Silly, brave boy.
• He is cruising around the ottoman and couch!!!
• The boy still loves empty boxes and keys (real keys)!
• He threw a mini-fit today when I took away the keys. It was quite dramatic complete with loud squealing, body contorting and a very mad face. We could be in for some fun times soon.
• One of his favorite games is to play catch with himself. He will throw/roll a ball or empty water bottle and then sprint crawl after it. He can do this for about 10 minutes non-stop.
• When Jack or I pick him up, his legs keep moving. It's the funniest thing to us. It's like he can not turn them off.

P.S. - I've been playing around with the look of my blog and somehow erased my Blog link list, verse of the day and Colton counter... I'll try to get it back on soon. I did add a link to my new business endeavor. Check it out - I'd love to talk to you about it soon...

Sleepy Angel

Jenilee, our wonderful babysitter, snapped these sweet pictures of Colton during his nap. He is loving his soft, snuggly sheep!

Fire Visit Part 3

I don't think the video worked on the last post, so I'll try it again...

Fire Visit part 2

Here is Colton in the driver's seat of the engine!

Well this is pretty fun.

Here's a quick video from our ride in the engine. Colton wasn't quite sure what to think of being out of his car seat. The driver's name was "Bull" and his co-pilot is "Lou"... Don't they just sound like firefighter names? We had a great time! Thanks for inviting us, Zach.

First Visit to the Fire Station

On March 28, Uncle Zach invited us to eat dinner with him and his crew at the Fire Station. We had a great time. His team cooked a yummy meal complete with banana pudding. To top it off, we even got to go for a ride in the fire engine!

Colton has some big boots to fill if he's going to be like his Uncle Zach. We are so proud of you, Zach! Good luck in paramedics school - We know you'll do great! Zach will be in Paramedic training for 6 months. It's a very intense course so I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers during this time.

I've gotta get me one of those helmets!

April, Zach and Colton in front of the engine...

Hoppy Belated Easter...continued...

Mommy and Colton on Easter...

April and Zach...aren't they the cutest couple??!!

Our little Easter Bunny boy!

Hoppy Belated Easter...

On the Saturday before Easter, we went out to eat with Papaw and Karen at El Fenix. They brought Colton his first Easter basket (shaped like a basketball) and filled with eggs and goodies. After dinner, Colton had a fun time playing in the bed of Papaw's pickup truck.

Here we are on Easter Sunday at Bunny's house. We had the yummiest Easter lunch and Colton even had a taste of mashed potatoes!

Dad and Colton on Easter!

A Day in the Life of Colton...

Pulling up on the ol' couch and feeling pretty proud of himself.

Hmmmm...someone found the treadmill... Notice how often we've been using it :)

Sweet boy... Already wanting to help Mom with the chores.

Cute close-up... I had fun playing with the special effects.

Here are a few more pics of our fun day at the Arboretum. Pheobe's mom knew she would really enjoy the picnic so she removed her "picture perfect" outfit before we began the feast... I'm so glad Colton and Pheobe got to meet. BTW, my friend Jenni showed me how to use Picasa to make this picture collage. It also has a "Blog This" feature that should make uploading photos a LOT easier...hopefully it will help me get caught up on my posting.

Hide and Seek

Where's Colton....? He was here just a minute ago.















Is he in his tunnel? He's still hiding...














Here he is!

How does that garden grow?

This past Spring Break was my first "Spring Break" with a kiddo... I loved being home with my little man but it definitely made me redefine the term "break". Colton woke up around 5:30-6 a.m. every morning ready to play that week! Thankfully, he has now gone back to his "normal" 7 am wake-up call...woo-hoo! We had a fun, low-key week. The highlights were a visit from my sister-in-law, Paige, and her precious little boys (I'm going to do a cousins post very soon!), a birthday lunch for Javi and Jenilee at Chucky Cheese (I have pics for that, too) and a trip to the arboretum (pictured below). We went on Good Friday with everyone else in Dallas, but the crowds weren't too, too bad and the weather was perfect! Colton and I met up with my dear college friends, Jordan and Stephanie, their sweet kiddos plus Jordan's mom and sister, Carrie.


Colton on the lush, beautiful grass! At one point, he looked up at me with huge eyes as if to say, "Mom is this for real?" He love, love, loved crawling on the grass! It really was wondrous grass... We've talked about it every day since...
I am this big!
Mommy and Colton amongst the tulips!
From left: Lincoln, Stephanie, Eli, me, Colton, Pheobe and Jordan... It was so fun to spend time with these friends and their little ones! We had a fun picnic (that Pheobe can eat!) and enjoyed lots and lots of attempts at Easter pictures - much easier said than done!
My favorite photo of the day!

This is a random tangent... but since our visit to the Arboretum I have been obsessed with grass. I guess seeing it through Colton's eyes made me appreciate the wonder of it a little more. So now as I'm driving to and from work or walking around the neighborhood - I keep noticing the green and not so green lawns...and am having serious grass-envy. I would love to have lush green grass like the Arboretum, but I don't think I have the green thumb nor patience for it... Oh well, I can appreciate it from a distance. It also makes me marvel God's amazing creation - only He could have made something so simple, yet so beautiful and inspiring. This experience even stirred me to look up a few quotes celebrating the green stuff....

The moment one gives close attention to anything,even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome,indescribably magnificent world in itself.- Henry Miller

The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence, but you still have to mow it.- Anonymous

Ahh - there's the rub and the dose of reality I need to snap out of my nature-induced stupor... I'll cut the ad lib and just post pictures next time... Happy Spring everyone!

The wisdom of a child...

Hear No Evil...
Speak No Evil...
See No Evil...
Instead..."whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phillipians 4:8

Have a good week everyone!

Hoppy Eight Months, Colton!

Now that he's mobile, it is quite an undertaking getting his "block" pictures done. Oh well, I guess it captures his true colors!





I must have something in my hands at ALL times. Can we say "hands-on" learner???!!!


I'm outta here, Mom. This photoshoot is over!

Pulling up on the cases of Diet Coke. We don't usually keep 4 cases at a time, but they were 5 for $10 at the grocery store so we stocked up.



We've got two words to sum up our little boy at 8 months old. He is our ENERGETIC ANGEL! We are constantly saying, "Where's Colton?" or "Come back here." because he's scooted off somewhere fast.



These are the things I want to remember about this age:

• Colton learned how to go from crawling to sitting this month.


• Colton is pulling up to standing on everything, including mommy's and daddy's legs.


• Colton gets so excited to see his friends and toys, especially his friend Jazmin, babysitter Jenilee and his toy bunny.


• Colton is starting to wave bye-bye to Daddy in the morning. It's more like a "peace out, dude" but we're working on it. I love the way he and Daddy play together.


• Colton is now going back to a sitting position from standing up. It's more of a plop, but it works for him. For a few nights last week, we were getting up in the middle of the night to help Colton get "unstuck". He would be standing up or kneeling in his crib and couldn't figure out how to get down and go back to sleep. Thankfully, (knock on wood), that has passed.


• Colton loves to feel the texture of everything - he doesn't miss a detail. Unfortunately this need to touch everything makes diaper changes a DISASTER! He is quite distracted and does not like to slow down for a second. Please tell me this is just a phase.


• Colton also likes to lick everything even the floors. I've never mopped more in my life!


• Colton loves cell phones, remote controls, laptops and all things that shine, beep or light up.


• Colton has started playing catch with us. He can kind of throw/roll a ball in our general direction. So fun!


• Colton loves bath time, being outside and eating!


• He's starting to communicate. When he wants his bottle, he will crawl into the kitchen and kind of grunt.

We are so grateful for our BUNDLE OF ACTIVE JOY! Thank you God for our precious angel boy. We love you, little man! We can't wait to see what you do next...