Birthday Surprises

Today when Brent comes home he will be greeted with this. (the sign Colin is holding says Happy Birthday Brent) Yesterday was Brents birthday and since he was going to be in Northern VA for his football fantasy draft I recruited my parents to come over and help put this stand together. We had this swing on our front porch in West Va and wanted to still be able to go outside and swing here. So since we didnt have a front porch we have been talking about building this stand ever since we moved in. Isn't Colin so cute on the swing. Here it is in WVA
And here is is now.
The perfect place to stretch out and relax. I think we'll all be doing this a lot. Thanks Mom and Dad for helping. And thanks Dad for doing most of the work. We love it and the boys and I have been outside swinging a lot already so it will be greatly used. And now we just wait for Brent to come home. I printed the picture at the top out and Colin is going to give it to him at the door when he walks in. Should be fun and hopefully he doesnt suspect anything.

More fountain fun

Yesterday we went back to Waterside for some more Fountain Fun. This time Jamie, Benjamin and Vera came with us. Colin loved it again and we stayed for 3 hours! I was only planning on being there an hour and half at the most. But he loved it. Benjamin loved the water too and would randomly start dancing - so cute. Joel complained about being hot and then fell asleep for the rest of the time in the stroller. They have the fountains on until the end of September so we will definitely be going back.
Aren't these boys cute. They ran around for a while holding hands.
The fountains turned off (They go in cycles and turn off every so often)
I still see some water in there mommy! (at this point i was waiting for the water to go back on at any second)
What a sad face. This time they were off for about 10 minutes and I was excited because then we could go home but right as I got Colin dried off and in the stroller they turned back on for another hour. So we stayed.

tiny grins

Don't you just want to eat him up? I could kiss these cheeks all day.

(its fuzzy because I was trying to hold the camera so Joel couldn't see it since he is very intrigued by the black thing we always dangle in front of him all the time. Colin even runs to get his camera every time Joel is cooing and smiling to try to get a picture. haha but I must have had it on a different setting. But I love this smile nonetheless!

I'll "tect" you mommy

This morning I was going to go for a walk and Colin wanted to come with me. So we went on what we call the "loop - dee-loop" It is by the playground near our house where walking paths go in a huge circle and end up back at the playground. At the end of the loop are some HUGE MEAN dogs that scare me and I usually only go there when Brent is walking with us. They almost jumped the fence once when we were walking by. So I usually go another way at the end. But it was really fun walking with Colin and I don't think he ever stopped talking. And he had to bring his back pack filled with 2 lego men. Haha. So funny. But we got near the mean dogs house and Colin took my hand and said "don't worry mommy. I'll 'tect' you from those big dogs. Its ok. Don't be afraid. I right here next to you." And then proceeded to talk me through every step. "thats good mommy. Just keep walking. We're almost past the house. See the dogs aren't there. They sleeping. I brave and keep you safe." When we got past I told him how safe I felt with him and how brave he was and he puffed out his chest and walked a little taller. And in the picture above he is going after the flies in our garage with his flyswatter. And the swim cap makes him invisible so flies can't see him. I love my big boy Colin.

Here is Joel talking and smiling at his great grandma. We picked up my grandma while my grandpa was getting one of his treatments and Colin was very excited to go to his favorite restaurant - Chick-fil-a. "Ooo-Eee we're going to Chick-fil-a" is all my grandma heard when she got in the car. Colin played and Joel snuggled and talked to Ooo-Eee. And here is Joel protesting the fact that Colin put bunny ears on him.

more fountain fun

We posted a few weeks ago a video of Colin playing in the fountains at the Zoo. Well I found another place that has an interactive fountain so we went this week and met Kelly, RJ and Lucy. It was near Waterside in Norfolk and I hadn't been down there since high school so we got a little lost. I overheard Colin tell RJ a few times "mommy went the wrong way"But we finally made it and its so easy to get to and not too far from us. It was a beautiful day. They had a free paint your own pottery, games for kids to play and a steel drum band playing. And then the fountain turned on. Colin LOVED it. He ran around playing in it and would've stayed all day. Until he fell and then he wanted to come home. And proof that Joel was thereJoel slept most of the time. Woke up to eat and then went back to sleep

And then halfway back to the car Colin decided he wanted to stay (this after telling me he was ready to go home) He then cried the rest of the way, woke up Joel who started to cry because Colin was crying. Colin then stopped crying and then started back again because Joel was crying. It was nap time and everyone was crying. So I did what any great mom would do - took this video :) They both stopped crying when I played it back to them and they slept the whole way home. (and a disclaimer - it is rare that they both cry at the same time. Colin rarely has meltdowns like this. So it is funny to me to watch) Colin then slept 3 more hours that day and right after dinner told me he was tired and wanted to go to bed. WHAT??? This is the kid who never sleeps. We will be going back to the fountain again.

mailbox surprises

This week Colin and Joel received some fun surprises in the mail. My friend Leah made these for the kids. A boppy cover and a crayon holder for Colin. Aren't they amazing? Colin has taken his crayon holder everywhere and loves to sit there and take each crayon out line them up on his table and then put them back. Leah and Ryan live in NJ with their two beautiful kids. Leah is so talented. And she not only sews but she and Ryan have turned their little ranch house into a two story colonial. Brent and I look at their website all the time to get inspired and dream :) Thank you Leah!
And in other news I just found out I have a fractured tailbone. Its still painful for me to sit so I asked the doctor about it when I went to my checkup. And she said that its most likely a fractured tailbone since she didnt see any bruising and I have to wait a month and if it doesnt get better then I have to go see another doctor. Who knew you could fracture tailbones during labor? So I'm hoping it gets better soon. I was excited about getting back into running and will have to wait a little longer for that. I think Sarah might beat me this time in the 8k we're running in November. But we'll see...
At least this little guy is worth it.

beach bums

This weekend we went to the beach with our friends Pete and Ashleigh and their two kids while they were visiting on vacation. Colin LOVED the beach and would've stayed longer but it started raining in the afternoon so we packed up and went home. It was really fun and relaxing and also fun to bring Joel. He's not too sure of the beach but slept the whole time under the tent. Last summer after we moved here we went to the beach every Sunday after church so we're hoping to start that up again soon. when i was walking to the beach i was stopped by numerous people asking if there was really a baby inside. thanks tifiny for your sling :) Colin and Brent
Jumping waves

Colin thought he should be included in the family picture
Joel's first time in the Atlantic Ocean :)
No to sure about it
Really letting mommy know what he thought of being put in the water
Maybe it wasn't too bad
Building Sandcastles
Digging for crabs
More sandcastles
And a great nap with Mommy listening to the waves.

We have been very busy the past few days. We met my sister at Busch Gardens one day while brent was working. While there we met up with our friends Pete and Ashleigh and their kids. We love the fact that Pete and Ashleigh have a timeshare near us. Colin loved Busch Gardens and is a little dare devil as you can see from the pictures
Joel only got to ride the train
This ride went straight up in the air - a little too high for me and as Colin told Ant Ant "it was too high for mommy" But Colin loved it.This whirly ride is Colin's favorite. His squeal is my favorite - half laugh/half scream.
Colin rode this ride 3 times in a row. He loved it
Colin's first roller coaster. He's in the front with Ant Ant


the train ride
colin wanted to ride the log flume. i held onto him for dear life

Afterwards we went to my parents house where Colin led everyone in a wheres waldo competition.

lions and hippos

This little cutie will be well protected from all the bad things in life. His big brother tells him repeatedly that he will "tect" (protect) him from bad guys, lions and hippos. But nice lions can say hi to him.



We had another playdate this week and added another baby to the mix. All these babies were born in July. And this video was taken at the zoo. We've been working with Colin at the pool to put his face in the water. He still doesn't like it so he thought he was brave when he held his nose and got his face wet in the fountain.

today

Today...

Started with a walk with all of us before Brent went to work and it got too hot.

Colin washed my car for me - I had to attend to a crying baby who was very upset he was put in the stroller during my attempt to wash the car (the car had not been washed since January I think)

Baby sleeps for 10 minutes.
Wakes up & cries about being put to sleep
Goes back to sleep
Wakes up after being put down & cries
Eats
Goes back to sleep
Wakes up after being put down & cries
This continues all morning but I did get to do some projects with Colin at his art table in between all this

Baby by now very overtired
Mommy overtired
Colin overtired but won't admit it

See a pattern in this? Colin even made me a PB&J sandwich since I was busy with a crying baby. The one thing that made Joel fall asleep instantly and saved the day in a way was this
video. (Click on the word video to see it - for some reason its not showing up like I wanted)

Colin likes watching it and Joel will fall asleep as soon as we put it on. And i've tried other music to dance to with him but this is the only one that works so far. Joel doesnt like to miss anything and with Colin running around all day is getting to the point where he knows its time to sleep and no matter what we do will wake up after a few minutes of being put in his bed. Unless you are holding him and I can't do that all day. And its too hot too do that too. And then you have Colin waking him up all the time ("but mommy I don't want him to sleep. He wants to watch his big brother play")

We have watched the video at least 7 times today. And why watch the video and not just listen to the song? well Colin likes watching it too and will dance around ("baby joel watch your big brother dance like this..." which we have to ooo and ahh at big brother colin's moves)

But today was also a day of lots of cooing and HUGE smiles at mommy. And I did get my car washed and lunch made for me by my 3 year old. I wasn't expecting those things done until years from now. I wonder if Colin can make us dinner tonight...

Just one of those days

and a funny moment - colin yelling to me as he's going to the kitchen "mommy I'm going to drink daddy's pee" (or really daddys TEA but it comes out as pee in his 3 year old vocabulary)

Zoo

Yesterday the weather was breezy, cloudy and in the 80s so we took a trip to the zoo. Brent hadn't been there since March so Colin had a great time showing Daddy all his favorite animals. Joel was entertained as well and has this expression most of the morningColin in front of the lions den
And Brent wants me to put this picture up to see if anyone knows the name of this animal