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.

Let's Pway (Play)!

On Sunday, Jack's parents (Grandma and Granddad) dropped by for a quick visit and brought dinner on their way home from their Spring Break trip! It was such a nice treat! Colton had so much fun playing horsey with Granddad. Here's a short video.

After a rousing game of "Ride the Horsey," we decided to play "Ring Around the Rosy". Colton went around and insisted that everyone participate. It was quite hysterical. Jack made me promise not to post this video on the blog, but I had my fingers crossed :) I heard on the radio that adults who make time for play are less stressed and happier. Colton is doing wonders for our blood pressure!

Spring Break (March...part 3)

I am so sad that Spring Break is over. We had a great week of staying at home and enjoying friends, family and the sunshine! I wish I had gotten more pictures of the rest of the week, but here are some pictures from our fun day at the zoo.

We decided to stay away from the huge crowds at the Dallas and Ft. Worth zoos and headed to the Gainesville Zoo (Frank Buck Zoo). I remember visiting there when I was young (we lived in Gainesville when I was in the 1st or 2nd grade). I had a beloved t-shirt about an elephant that survived a huge flood by hanging onto tree limbs with her trunk. I looked her up on wikipedia and found her story. I copied it here because it was so bizarre:

Another flood brought Gainesville into the national spotlight when, on September 21, 1981, the Trinity River flooded much of the town, including the local zoo. The Frank Buck Zoo, named for famed zookeeper Frank Buck, lost more than forty animals that day. The one that garnered the attention and love of the world was Gerry the elephant. Named Gerry II after the zoo's original elephant, Gerry managed to survive the flood, after being swept down river, by hanging on to tree limbs with her trunk for 36 hours. At the worst of the flood, the only part of her body that was not submerged was her trunk. Since the flood Gerry (now known as Sissy) has remained in the spotlight off and on. Completely afraid of water (and who wouldn't be after that) there was an attempt to breed her at the Fort Worth Zoo in the 1980s, but that didn't work out. In 1997, she crushed a zookeeper against the doorway of her barn enclosure at the Frank Buck zoo. While details around the death are still shrouded in mystery, zoo officials labeled her as a problem animal and shipped her off in the middle of the night to avoid protests from the community that had come to love her over the years. After leaving Gainesville, she was sent to Houston Zoo and then El Paso. She made headlines again when video footage of her arrival at El Paso was leaked to media outlets. The footage showed zookeepers beating Gerry with clubs for over an hour. The zookeepers never really explained why they did what they did to her. Thankfully, Gerry/Sissy was sent to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, where she resides at the present time. Gerry turned 40 on Dec. 1, 2008

Anyways, I digress. The Frank Buck Zoo was really good. It's just the right size to see in about an hour and has a great park next door with a train ride. We spent Wednesday night with Bunny (it was her spring break, too) and then headed to Gainesville on Thursday after lunch at Chic-fil-a. I thought C-man would nap on the way there, but of course he didn't. I was worried this would make for a grumpy trip, but he did great!


Colton looking at the goats and ducks in the petting area. We "unleashed" him here since it was contained, but the monkey backpack turned out to be a great thing as he enjoyed walking most of the way! I think he would have stayed in his stroller, but all the exhibits were hard for him to see way down there, so we kept having to get him out anyways to see the animals.

Mommy and her monkey-boy! I don't love this picture of me - but I do want to have a few pictures of me prego with number 2. This is me at nearly 27 weeks.

These giraffes were so funny. They kept wrapping their necks around each other like they were hugging.

Bunny and Colton!

Can you tell that Colton is running in this picture? He really has one speed... and that's fast! We had to speed walk to keep up with the leash 0r we were afraid we would drag him down. The zoo had this great wooden bridge overlooking the giraffes, camels, ostriches and zebras.

He really enjoyed the goats.

Looking at the bear.

Playing at the park after the zoo. Bunny got Colton an elephant shirt to wear to the zoo. He loved it and kept looking down at it and saying "el-phant"? I've got to get him on video making his elephant sound. It is really cute!

Having a snack and a rest after walking over the huge bridge.

It was a great outing and Colton was a trooper! He did finally fall asleep on the way home and had a 30 minute nap. I'm glad to know he can survive missing naptime. We just don't plan to make that a habit. Thanks Bunny for such a fun day!

Colton and Daddy

I know - 3 posts in one night! I'm about to go to bed but I wanted to post this cute video of Jack and Colton wrestling. Colton LOVES when Daddy comes home and can hardly wait to play or rather attack him. I love watching Jack with Colton! He is the greatest dad to Colton and most wonderful husband to me!

This video is really from February.

March....part 2

Colton got to stay at Bunny's house overnight last Friday. Bunny cooked a delicious roast and had Zach and April over too. Once we put Colton to bed, we all stayed up and played "Apples to Apples" and "Imagineiff"...It's funny because we played the exact same games with Jack's fmaily last weekend to celebrate Brittany's 18th birthday. After the games, Jack and I headed home and left Colton with Bunny. It was so nice to sleep in on a Saturday! Thanks Bunny!

Laying on Lovey!

Two weekends ago, Papaw surprised us by coming over to work in our yard. He was just going to mow and add some mulch, but ended up replacing an entire section of rotted fence. We were out of town visiting Jack's family so he really surprised us! We came home Sunday afternoon to find him at our house and Colton was so excited to see Papaw and his truck! It was really hot and I couldn't find any shorts for Colton so I just left him in his shirt and diaper. Here he is "helping" Papaw! He loved spreading the mulch everywhere!

Playing at his water table.

This is a song by Carolyn Arends. I posted it back when I was pregnant with Colton and wanted to share it again for our 2nd little miracle. Life truly is sacred and we are so excited to meet this little boy that God is forming.

Psalm 139

I run to the cleaners

Stop by the bank

Pick up some groceries

Gas up the car

Same old routine

EXCEPT Now all of it's sacred

Charged with wonder

Every breath is for two

YOUAre being knit together

Here in my womb.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me...Too lofty to obtain.

So I run to the cleaners

And I stop by the bank

Afraid and in awe...

Everything's different

Because even this moment

You are being fearfully, wonderfully made.