Mess

Tonight as I was getting ready for bed I passed a pile of Lincoln Logs in my room under the cradle from "sally's house" that we were building this afternoon. They ended up in my room from the garbage truck who hauled it away after the wind knocked it down. I guess underneath the cradle was colin's new landfill.

A Lego girl is on my sink in the bathroom carefully placed so Mommy would have company while in the bathroom.

A pile of books are in Colin's bathroom for his "potty reading"

The dinning room table is the big fire station where every firetruck, fire man, and anything else designated as a fire rescue vehicle is carefully placed underneath each night.

A pile of clothes are in the corner of Colin's room because he proudly gets dressed every morning before he comes out of his room. He also gets undressed himself before bath and then gets his pjs on all by "me self!" He deposits the used clothes in the pile and is very proud of the system he has for his clothes. I am very amused some mornings by his choice of clothes and especially love the shorts that are worn backwards.

Under a stool in the hallway is a pile of bandaid wrappers (not used bandaids thank goodness). Colin would get his bandaids for his stitches ready and wanted to put them in his landfill (this was the previous landfill for all the legos and lincoln logs) He is very proud of his landfill at the moment.

My house might not be the cleanest and yes these piles that Colin makes do drive me crazy sometimes. But there is going to come a day when my boys will not be living at home and unfortunately that day will come much too soon. And then my house will be spotless and I will wish there was a lego girl greeting me from the bathroom sink every morning. So for now I will go to bed smiling at the landfill in my room and wait until morning when Sallys house will be built again. This time hopefully able to withstand hurricane winds.

wish we could stop time

This little boy is growing up way too fast. Its hard to believe he will be 3 months next week. He is the sweetest baby and has the greatest smile that melts your heart. We all fight to be the one to hold him. Especially his big brother. Joel is learning how to play with toys although he spends most of his day watching his big brother play. Sometimes its almost like he's trying to figure out how he can do what Colin is doing. He's already trying to keep up. Joel loves to talk to my baby doll Pam. She will hold his attention forever and he loves to smile and talk to her. We really do need to get a video of it. And he also talks to the giraffe on his wall. Says the same thing every day every time I feed him since the rocker is right there. Wish I knew what it was.This morning I put Joel down to play while I finished getting dressed and came back to see Colin had turned his chair in the opposite direction. He told me he wanted to watch baby Joel play. Everything Joel does is fascinating to Colin. Its a mutual admiration right now. And Joel likes to say "mah-a-ma' when he's tired and Colin is convinced he says mama. I'm not arguing that one :) My boys are genuises :) And these babies are growing so fast. RJ and Lucy came over this morning to play and Joel looks like he's flexing his muscles for Lucy. Lucy in typical girl fashion isn't paying attention at all :)

Stitches are out!

This brave boy is stitch free now! Actually its been a few days but they are out and he was so brave. He wanted Brent to take him and at first I was a little sad because I wanted to be there to comfort him but it was probably better. Especially since I held his head the whole time last time and almost lost it several times. He probably could feel that mommy was a nervous wreck thinking about it. Colin came home so relieved. It was like a huge weight had been lifted and our happy boy was back again. Brent said Colin was very brave but halfway through said "daddy lets whack the doctor and run!" So glad its done with. But considering he was out jumping off the roof of his climbing thing in the back yard this is only the beginning.my brave boys on their way to get the stitches out

A New friend

Today we made a new friend. Her name is Sarah and she and her husband just moved here this summer. Her husband is in the Coast Guard and was sent to Africa right after they moved here which was also weeks after their wedding. Sarah's sister is my friend Abbey who I went to college with. And Sarah also went to Virginia Tech - its great to have another hokie friend. (you can never have too many) We met up with Sarah and rode the ferry across from Portsmouth to Norfolk and then went on the USS Wisconsin. Colin loved the ferry and was excited to ride it twice. And he really liked the big guns on the USS Wisconsin. The cannons he calls them. Sarah was great and became Colin's best friend and took him all over the ship. I had to have the stroller in my sight at all times (a stupid rule in my opinion) and there were parts of the ship where you had to climb the stairs to the top. We were only allowed on the top of the ship but I had no idea how many levels were at the top. Sarah graciously took Colin or stayed with Joel so I could climb more steps. It was a fun day and we're excited to get to know Sarah and Brian more while they are stationed here.

In front of the cannons

Colin and his new best friend. He thinks everyone with the name sarah is great. My sister who he calls Ant Ant is also a Sarah and he told me that Sarah's are fun. But don't worry Ant Ant he still wants to call you Ant Ant. Joel looking around on the ship.
And many of you have been asking about Colin. Thanks so much for the notes and comments. He is doing much better. He felt awful tuesday and wednesday and we had major meltdowns until I finally started giving him milkshakes with tylenol in it since he wouldn't take it any other way. He had a hard time eating because he kept popping his jaw out when they were stitching him up and then he is very bruised from the fall. It looks awful. Today was a much better day and he said he doesn't hurt as much - it just itches. So we have been trying hard to keep him from scratching them. But that is so hard. Good thing we only have a few more days until they take the stitches out. He had fun with the bandaid box today while I was putting Joel down for a nap. Colin also likes to say he had 11 stitches instead of 4. Probably felt like that to him.And when you baby brother is so cute its important to get just the right camera angle :)

What a day

Today was a day. This morning went well. We played, Colin was feeling better, Joel is on a great schedule lately: sleeps, eats and then naps an hour after he eats. So this afternoon we ventured out on a walk. Lately we've been going on HOUR long walks where we look for bears or lions. Colin will tell me which way to go and we've had fun exploring parts of our neighborhood we haven't seen before. Colin walks the whole time and we have fun finding "clues" Makes for an easy bedtime. But today he wanted to go fishing so we brought his fishing pole and went to the lakes near our house. We walked along the lakes while Joel slept in the carrier and just kept going until we got to Colin's favorite playground. I let him play for a little bit and then told Colin it was time to go because I needed to feed Joel (he had woken up by this time) I had contemplated feeding him at the playground but there were only metal benches and there was no way I could sit down on those. Colin said OK mommy. And then the next thing I knew I heard crying and then saw this:So I scoop up Colin. Make him ride piggy back on my back. I have Joel in the carrier on the front. A fishing pole in one hand and I'm calling Brent with the phone with the other hand and then rush as fast as I could home. What usually is a 30 minute walk I did in 10 minutes. I leave Colin in the kitchen because blood is going everywhere. (And I take this picture because Brent told me just to put a bandaid on it at first since he was at work and didn't see it) Feed Joel enough to get to the doctors and then planned on feeding him more there. We get into the car. Drive to Patient First which is less than 5 minutes. When we get there they take us back right away and then tell me if Colin wont cooperate they would send us to the CHKD hospital to be sedated and then stitched up. I plead with Colin and finally convince him to lay on top of me on the exam table. At this point Joel is screaming but I didn't want to move since who knows when I would get Colin back on the table. He kept whispering to me "mommy lets grab baby joel and then run out of here" haha poor guy. Colin was scared to death and SCREAMED the whole time. I had to hold his head, a nurse held his jaw, another nurse held his arms, and another nurse held his legs just for the doctor to put 4 stitches in. And it took over an hour to do those 4 stitches. At one point I begin to question the numbing stuff they used because there was no way he was only feeling them pull the string. And then I thought it would've been better to go to the hospital and have him sedated. Joel screamed most of the time and got passed from nurse to nurse who all tried everything but he was just hungry. So between Colin and Joel I'm sure the other patients were wondering what was going on. The doctor was dripping sweat when it was all done. Brent got there halfway through it and said he walked by a nurse holding Joel and thought that the baby looked familiar :) But its done. Now we have to wait 5 days and GO BACK to get the stitches out. I haven't told Colin that part yet. And Colin got to go to Chick-fil-a for dinner and proudly put the sticker the doctor gave him on his wall.
Our brave boy holding his sticker. Between Colin being sick yesterday and then getting hurt today I'm hoping for a very boring day tomorrow!

how does he do it

We put Joel down to sleep like this And then lately when I go in to pick him up after he wakes up, I find him like this. And he is only 2 months old. Colin was crawling by 6 months. I wonder when Joel will start. He seems to want to move already

Last night after dinner Brent gave Colin a quick bath and right before I went in to read stories and put him to bed the phone rang. So as I'm answering it Colin tells Brent he was tired and wanted to go to bed. 5 minutes later when I got off the phone we looked into Colin's room and this is what we saw. Amazing and I went to bed thinking how nice it would be every night to have this happen. Although I was a little sad because I love our bedtime routine. Just means he's growing up I thought. THEN around 4:00am after I fed Joel (who was up every few hours last night) I heard coughing from Colin's room. And for a mom that could only mean one thing. I ran in just as he threw up all over his bed. Poor kid. He had no clue what was going on. And he didn't want to go back to sleep so he stayed up with me. He did find out we have TWO blankies because I thought Brent had put his blankie with the sheets in the wash so I got out his "secret one" that we rotate for reasons like last night. So they are now both in his bed. Oh well! Colin is feeling much better and it will be hard keeping him quiet today since he wanted to jump and run around later this morning. And keeping him from Joel is hard. This is the conversation we had later.

but mommy my tummy feels all better
Yes but you still can't kiss Joel
But mommy he wants his big brother to kiss him
You can kiss him tomorrow if you haven't thrown up anymore
But I HAVE to kiss him
NO not today
But he be so sad if me not kiss him today
(and this went on an on)

Then later he came up to me with a sly look on my face when I got out of the shower. "mommy me kiss Joel on the CHEEK and he smiled!" Poor Joel. He feels great today. Lets hope tomorrow he still feels great.
We have had a great weekend. Brents dad aka Pops came in to visit and here are all the boys. Lately Colin doesn't like to smile or pose for pictures. We've watched a lot of football and Pops tried to show Colin how to throw a spiral. Brent has scared Joel with his yelling during football games. When we were first married we lived in the basement of some very wonderful people. Brent would set off the alarm EVERY game. I think Kaisha learned to turn off the alarm during Redskins games.At the moment the Redskins are playing and I have Joel. Brent is getting into the game so Joel and I are staying in the other room. haha

Carpet fun

Today the boys and I were playing in Colin's room this afternoon. Colin was reading a puzzle book to Joel and Joel was fascinated by the carpet in Colin's room.
Joel wouldn't stop staring at the carpet. At first I thought maybe the bright shapes and colors were what kept his attention.Then I noticed he was picking fuzz from the carpet
Joel would complain when I turned him over on his back to give his neck a break so I kept him on his tummy.
Then the boys played and talked together for a long time. So fun and a glimpse into the days to come with them playing together more and more.

2 months

We just got back from the doctor today for Joel's 2 month checkup. Where has the time gone. I still can't believe time is going so fast. Joel wasn't too happy to get a few shots but Colin held his hand the whole time. I really love our doctor. He loves the Lord and also has 7 kids so he has seen everything. Its also nice to see the same doctor each time since we were at the university hospital with Colin and never saw the same doctor twice. Colin likes going too and with his curly hair gets all the nurses attention already. So here are Joel's stats. I would write Colin's down and then forget where I put them. But if I remember right Joel is taller now than Colin was at this age but he doesn't weigh as much. So we will see how it all ends up. Oh but the doctor said that Joel will have brown eyes like Colin. They are still blue but with a lot of dark green in them and he said that means they will turn brown. He's the expert I guess but with both Brent and I having brown eyes its not a huge surprise.

12.12lbs - 50% for weight
24 inches long - 90% for height
15 cm head circumference - less than 50%

Growing like a weed and such a happy boy who loves to smile, coo and be cuddled all day. Which we gladly do :) I hope that doesn't change. We just love this little guy.

Hokie weekend

This past weekend we went to Blacksburg for the Virginia Tech football game. Blacksburg really is one of the most wonderful places on earth and I think I've finally convinced Brent of that fact since as we were driving out of bburg he said "this really would be a fun place to live one day." So there still is hope! We went to my grandparents farm on friday night and then drove to blacksburg Saturday. Colin has always loved going to Hokie games. He was even more excited when he learned we were playing the green team which he called Hogs. I have no idea where he got the hogs but Thundering Herd/Hogs.... same thing maybe :) So Colin cheered for Marshall for a while but then towards the end started cheering for the Hokies. And in classic fashion Colin slept during the first half. Colin told me he wants to go back there next weekend and go to another Hokie game. Colin also got a new hokie hat. Its green camo and he looks so much older in it. Joel did great. He does not like being in the car seat but he didnt' do too bad during the trip and just kept looking at me like "where did you bring me now" He slept through the first quarter and then woke up and watched the rest of the game. He just studied everything. When I asked him at the end if he enjoyed the game, Joel just kept smiling and cooing. I think thats a good sign. My boys did great during the game and we won too which is always fun. I brought my donut to sit on and it was a little strange blowing it up but hopefully my tailbone will start to get better. I had to leave during the 3rd quarter because it was getting rather uncomfortable to sit on. It was fun to slowly walk back to the car around campus. So many memories. Especially walking from AJ to Miles... It was a great weekend. Perfect weather and a great way to start the fall season. And these pictures are thanks to Regis. Last weekend our camera got sand it in and wouldnt work so Regis gave us his camera. Such a blessing since I take pictures every day of the boys. Telling Grandma "Go Hokies" in baby coosPlaying football during our tailgate.
My cousin William is carrying on the tradition and is a freshmen at Tech this year.
Colin was NOT happy to take this picture. He wanted to watch the game. Can't blame him
Hokie baby
Talking and smiling during the gameJoel was all smiles for me in the car after the game
Sunday morning my dad took Colin on a bear hunt around the farm. Good thing they didnt find any!

lots of pictures!

This past weekend was a very fun filled weekend. My sister Sarah and Brent's best friend Regis came down to visit. We had Ant Ant and Re-Re here all weekend long. And it was great. In fact Colin didn't want them to have dinner last night because they were leaving after dinner. And then at 4:00am he woke up crying "I miss Ant Ant and Re-Re." Joel got held by everyone a lot and Colin always had a constant playmate every minute. It was a good break for me too. I always feel like one kid is getting neglected during the day since the baby demands a lot of time and so does Colin so someone is always waiting on the other. Which isn't a bad thing for them to learn but it was great to see both having attention all the time. Very busy but also relaxing too. So please come back soon Ant Ant and Re-Re. We miss you all ready. We always have fun adventures with Sarah and Regis so here are a ton of pictures from this weekend.
The boys swinging on our swing
Of course we headed over to the beach. Here Joel is entertaining Ant Ant with storiesJoel & I
Our beach baby
Smiling at Mommy. Isn't he just too cute!
Jumping waves with Re-Re. Colin LOVES the beach. We stayed all day.
Trying to outrun the waves. Then Saturday night Jamie and Benjamin came over to watch the Hokie Game. This picture was for our California Hokies who we wish could've been watching with us.

Sunday we went to Fort Story to look at the Cape Henry Lighthouses. Colin has a book James and Angela gave him with a picture of the two lighthouses in it and was so excited to climb it. This is the newer lighthouse but the original lighthouse is open to visitors to climb. Unfortunately Colin was too short to climb and was so disappointed. But we have promised him as soon as he gets bigger he can climb it.Regis, Sarah, and Brent at the top
Going down the slide with Regis
My precious baby
Brent and Colin
Regis and Brent - I'm so glad they've been best friends for so long. Everyone needs a Regis in their life
At the VERY last minute Regis and Sarah wanted to go on a dolphin sunset Cruise. We had to get both boys woken up from naps and ready and fed in 10 minutes and then had to be out the door to make the boat. And we did it. I was afraid we weren't going to make it. It was a lot of fun. Colin loved walking around the boat and we saw a few dolphins jump right in front of the boat. And even saw a distressed sailboat rescue. Our boat was going to rescue the boat but then the coast guard came up so we went to go find dolphins. I think everyone on the boat wanted to stay and watch the rescue. It was a beautiful night and a lot of fun. I'm really glad Sarah and Regis decided to do it.
Colin is excited about the dolphins
Our family. Joel slept the whole time until the end when he woke up and was so confused about where he was
And here is what Colin does with me almost every morning. I am trying to get back into shape and lose the baby weight and since I have a limited list of exercises with my broken tailbone this is the extent usually to what we do int the mornings.