CTP is 19 months!

1st I must wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my fabulous dad! 55 years young! Hope you had a great day dad, sad I can't spend it with you. We'll celebrate soon though!!!

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What a fun month! Colin is getting so big and is basically a toddler now. Good timing since we always talk about the 'baby' coming soon. It's his last month of being the only child! He keeps us busy and keeps us laughing! Current favorites: blocks (mostly destroying block towers), train table, slides, Ellie, being chased, bath time, anything outside, balls, Toy Story and The Lorax, watching videos of himself, 'bump' and 'bam' everything :)

 

Still loves his animals/lovies and brings most of them down in the AM :) Usually feels free to steal my breakfast too!

 

He's a tall/skinny boy now. Still hovering around 27lbs. Wearing 18-24month clothes and size 5 diapers. He's tall enough to climb onto chairs/couches now. Thankfully hasn't tried to climb out of his crib yet! He's still a bit picky about food and is more of a snacker. Favorites are still yogurt, grapes, pizza, chicken, corn, any kind of cracker or sweet. He's very routine and still sleeps 12-3 everyday and at night 730-830. He doesn't like those times to change and after some books and a little rocking he just points to his crib ready to crash. We are lucky in that department :)

 

Cousin fun at the McWayne Center

 

Talking has taken off and he repeats everything we say. He even has some big words like cracker and yogurt, it's adorable. He likes to point to certain chairs and tell us to 'sit' (imagine a very southern accent). Mr. Boss. He loves giving kisses, high fives, head-butting, and waving at everyone. He's getting better at hugs. He is definitely in a control stage and really really doesn't like being told no or being told what to do. We have to do a lot of creative redirecting all day long. We try to just assist him instead of tell him not to do things, unless it's super dangerous...like scissors and knives (why to kiddos love them so much!?) He occasionally will still have a fit in the floor, not too often though. Time out has been working great for us, I think he actually likes us taking control of the situation and helping him calm down.
 

Washing the cat at the 'vet' at McWayne. Going down the big slide at the park!

 

Minus another ear infection this month, he has been so enjoyable this past month. He has had very few meltdowns and isn't pushing our buttons so much (it's been a nice break!). He's talking/answering us more, understanding us more, and following commands. He has had so much fun being out and more adventurous. He loves the parks, chickfila play place, and the McWayne Center. It's so fun watching him discover new things each day. He just takes up the stairs and is so brave. He's still cautious and doesn't do anything too risky. I don't really worry with him, only in parking lots...gotta work on holding hands thing ;)

This boy definitely is the best thing and we love him to bits!

 

He still loves his mama and dada. This month he has followed Derek everywhere and gets sad when he leaves. Its too cute...and it shows how awesome of a dad Derek is. He loves his boy and has saved me at the end of this pregnancy doing so much with C! He's exposed to family and friends a lot, but still doesn't like being away from us. He gets over it fast when we leave him with people at least, and usually is well behaved for other people too. One day he'll realize we're not leaving forever :) Of course we miss him when we're away for even just a little bit too! Perk of SAHM right?! C and I are both soaking up all this one on one time!!

Beach part 1

We made it to the beach Saturday afternoon. C slept a whole 30 minute in the car ;) but we survived and were excited to get out of the car. I must have had car legs because 5 steps out of the truck, I fell in the Publix parking lot. 36 weeks pregnant... I'm sure it was a site ;) I recovered fast though and only scraped up my left knee and elbow. Mama instinct made me super athletic and protect my big ole belly, haha. After getting some groceries, we checked in the room and just spent the evening eating pizza and hanging with family. Sunday AM Colin woke up with a fever and in an awful mood. W knew immediately it was his ear again. We just finished his antibiotic earlier this week and thought we were all in the clear. But just like last time, it wore off and came on back. Thankfully Derek ran out to CVS and got him some stronger antibiotics while C and I walked to the beach for a bit.
 

Sleepy boys lounging :)

We came up to relax with a movie and thankfully got Colin to eat some lunch. His reward was a cookie- can you tell he's my child? ha

Monday morning we woke up a little better and ready to play outside!

Water baby

My 2 twin loves ready for Desotos! One of our favorite places down here!

 

Little man has been a bit more difficult than our normal day to day. He's usually pretty well behaved with Derek and I, but once he's around a group he shows off...and not in a good way, ha. It can be tiring watching all your hard work with discipline fly out the window when people come around, no matter who is around. A few good time outs and I think he is getting that good behavior is important on vacations too :) I wish everyone could just see and know the sweet, smart boy that lives at our house :) One of my favorite books talks a lot on how this age pushes/tests parents so much because they know parents is their source of unconditional love. Sure hope he does know that :)
Thankfully this phase won't last long and we'll all survive to the next one. Of course, having an ear infection, diarrhea, and not being at home definitely hasn't helped the tantrums. We'll cut him some slack ;)

We did a low key dinner tonight and went to one of our favorites close by- Cottons. C was rather peaceful, thank goodness. It's really not fun for any toddler to sit at a restaurant for hours 5+ nights in a row, but we love seafood too much to give up just yet! Although he seemed much better yesterday, today fever came back. Go away germs!

We had homemade ice cream with brownies tonight at Doozie and Nana's condo next door. Nana's ice cream bucket was a winner in Colin's eyes! After bed we had adult game night and that was fun and pretty hilarious. I'm lucky to have married into a sweet, fun family.

 

35/36 weeks!

36 weeks! This little man should be around 20 inches and almost 6lbs. I took care of many 35/36 week babies when I worked postpartum who went home healthy the next day, so it's getting real! Connor stay put until after the beach! Derek's been daddy nesting big time, mainly with outdoor work, but he's got me into now and we spent all week deep cleaning the house. Nothing better than coming home from vacation to a sparkly clean house!

 

 

I'm actually feeling better this week. My back seems better which is so great. Still not sleeping good, up for hours at a time at night. Too much thinking I guess, and driving Derek crazy with all of my pillows ;) Connor isn't moving too much at night anymore, or even during the day. He has a few dance parties a day and my stomach jumps everywhere which is fun to watch. He's in Colin's old position now and I mostly just feel a foot in my right ribs when I sit down :) I'm starting to get puffy everywhere with this heat, which I had the whole summer with Colin. At least my shoes still fit this time! Overall, still able to haul Colin on my hip and able to take him on un play dates which is great and I have a few clothes that still fit! haha

 

Colin likes to lift up my shirt and say 'beep' as he pokes my belly button :) We talk a lot about 'baby' and 'Connor' but nothing is registering of course. He'll be a good brother, may just take a few months :)

 

I went to the OB Thursday and had a good visit. Measuring right on schedule! The 'checks' have started and thankfully I'm not dilated yet! Had to do more blood work, so I'm thankful my mom came with me since I'm a weenie. We had a nice lunch downtown afterwards too before she headed back home. Fun story- since we changed insurance when Derek changed jobs 2 weeks ago, my insurance required me to get a referral from a Primary Care doctor to see my OB. While it is very obvious that I'm pregnant and need medical care for that issue...I had to go to AFC and get proof. They made me do a pee test, ha. Lets just hope the insurance will be happy now. If not, they will say I can't see this OB and we'll be moving to a doc at UAB for the last few weeks. Always something exciting...just gotta laugh!

 

Looks like he's still in there ;)

 

Having 1 kid can be tough some days. I'm not dumb, I know adding a 2nd will be wild and exhausting some days. But thank goodness in the last 2 weeks I've been encouraged by 2 sweet strangers. It's tiring and stressful to only hear 'oh you just wait until Connor comes, your world will be flipped upside down' or 'you'll have your hands full', etc. I absolutely will :) those things are true and I know Colin and I will have a tough transition. Most women do have 2+ kids, so it's obviously done all the time. It's been nice to hear positive sibling stories. Even if it doesn't work out perfectly peachy the first few months, my attitude towards adding #2 has become much more positive thanks to those fellow mommas :) Strangers are usually the ones telling you horror stories. We need to lift other mamas up more often, it helps so much! I can't wait to see our boys together!! Right now, I have 4 weeks to focus just on sweet Colin and I'm so excited that when this post is up, we'll be arriving at the beach for a week. Derek and I are excited to get to have a fun family trip and just enjoy our little man all week!

 

 

 

Last week of school!

First year of MDO ended for Colin on Tuesday! They are on break for 2 weeks, then C will be back for Summer Live and go 3 half days for the summer. He gets to keep Ms. Nancy this summer too! The last few weeks he hasn't cried at drop off and when we asks him about school he lights up. Today he actually said 'school' after we had our 'school is fun' talk on the way there :)

 

 Sept 2014 ~ 10 months

May 2015~ 18 months

 

My big boy! So much change in 8 short months!!

 

They play outside a lot this summer, so I know he'll have fun going back and it will help me so much when Connor comes! He's learned so much by being at school. He listens to his teachers well and they always report how sweet he is to the other kids. He gets his toys stolen quite a bit, but after a few tears moves on without getting too mad. Monday at the park he actually kept getting pushed by a boy who was almost 2. He sure was giving him mean looks, but didn't push back. Daddy just distracted him and he was good. I think he'll like being the 'older 1' class in the fall with kids right around his age. Right now he's the 2nd oldest and the age gaps are kind of big.

 

 

They sent home all of Colin's schoolwork and I thought these were super cute :)

 

Tuesday while Colin was in school, Derek and I took lunch to Morgan and met baby Emory Claire! She's 2 weeks now and so cute with all her hair!! I can't even imagine how fun dressing up a baby girl would be, I'd be so broke!

 

 

Morgan and Emory are doing great and she is a good sleeping baby. She didn't wake up or make a peep while we were there, slept through lunch, us chatting, and the tv on. I was just amazed, Colin couldn't sleep ANY noise at all! Day or night, ha. Maybe Connor will do a little better in that department :)

 

She got to snuggle with Connor on my lap :)

 

Tuesday at Wings after Target. He is such a loud laugher in public, he is good at making new friends! Today Derek was off and we had hair cut day! C didn't do as great as last time and it resulted in the back being buzzed a bit too short, ha. At least it won't be too long for a while!

We are 2 days away from the beach! We are all 3 so ready for fun in the sun and are almost done packing. Tomorrow I have an OB appointment to get the all-clear, so hoping that goes ok! I'm taking my mom for good luck since Derek works :)

Adam+Cass

Well, sweet lil Cass is married! We've been friends for 11 years now and through all kinds of big life changes together. It was fun to celebrate her and Adam Saturday! They got married at her aunt's house in Winfield. It rained before and after the ceremony, but the weather was perfect during. I went solo since Derek worked nights this weekend and it wasn't at a good time of day for Colin. It was a nice 3 hours round trip of peaceful car time :)

Rast Hall girls! I got there an hour before the wedding to hang with the girls while they got ready. Cass was beautiful of course! So were all the bridesmaids! Of course I look like a sweaty puffy mess, summer is rough on preggos!

 

I just loved her dress! Her sister's 2 year old rode his tricycle down the aisle, so cute.

Here comes the bride!

View overlooking the lake. I sat in the back with Bryan, Grady, Dave, and Josie. Good to catch up with them too!

Married!

 

 

I got to catch up with these 2 families! Bryan and Monica's wedding is next- less than 2 months!

 

The reception was in a large tent and this was the only pic I got of the décor. Everything was so cute! Unfortunately, soon after this the rain came back and everyone got soaked. Memory to look back on, right?! We all still had fun and enjoyed great food. I left just in time to get back to put Colin boy to bed. He was excited to see me, but was actually sad when Grace had to go. That's progress though with my clingy momma's boy :)

Last night Noah's fam came over for pizza night! They also brought me a big slushy. Which Colin took full control of. He at least gave Noah and I some sips :) For the first time ever he stayed up until 845 playing!

These boys are good at getting into things together. They played so good (minus Mason getting a few big bumps-that tough boy plays hard!) and I'm glad they are so close in age!