Monkeying Around

Collin can drink from a cup now, which I'm very thankful for. He doesn't take a bottle at all, so it's nice that he has another way to get liquids as he nurses less.


Here he is last week pulling up on furniture for one of the first times.


What inspired him? He wants to play Wii like the other boys!

Daddy and Benjamin snuggling in matching shirts last week while we were all sicky.

Dave took this picture of a pretty sunrise one morning....

Here's the monkey standing up some more. It's so fun to watch him learn his new tricks!

He thinks these new tricks are fun too!

He started pointing this week. It's a cute one too, he always keeps his thumb up at the same time. When he wants Dave or I, he will point his sweet little hand at us as if to say, "You! You're the one I want!" :)

Collin is becoming a good little mimicker. If I make a noise, he will try to sound it back to me. I especially like to make monkey "ah, ah" sounds and have him repeat them. The funniest though is when I sneeze or cough, sometimes he tries to mimic that too. :)

He's also working on his stinker face already......

See the dark spot on the couch? That's his drool.....he uses his head and face to push on things as he pulls himself up and leaves a nice little wet trail behind. Whatever works, I guess!

Wedding Activities - Post 3

Post Wedding Family Time - August 15th-22nd

After the wedding we spent an extra week to have time with family that were in town. It was great to have so much extended time together! Collin enjoyed all the yummy food Grandma made us....


Unfortunately, Dave's aunt and cousin had to go back the day after the wedding. Here's Benjamin saying bye to Aunt Betsy...


On Monday, we went out for a boat ride. Benjamin had so much fun driving the boat, especially under the bridges!!


I was pleased with how well Anna did on the boat. As our resident "wild child" I was worried about taking her on the boat, but she listened really well and mostly just wanted to eat goldfish crackers.

Hanging out with Cousin Jack....

Collin did really well for his first boat ride. He didn't particularly like the life jacket, but most of the time he just let the breeze soothe him to sleep.

I asked Benjamin if he wanted his hat on and he told me, "No thanks, Momma. I like the wind blowing in my hair. I like the way it feels." :)

I thought Collin looked a lot like Benjamin (did as a baby) when we were on the boat b/c the wind kept his hair blown back.

Blowing bubbles with Mamom (Dave's Grandma). We REALLY enjoyed all the time we got to spend with her!!!!

The next day we headed to the zoo and had a lot of fun together.

She's so spunky!

The three big kids checking out the giraffes, including a brand new baby one....

Watching the elephants do their exercises....

Our monkey missed most of the first half of the zoo as he snoozed away......

Petting zoo....

Anna really loves tigers these days and was tickled to be so close to this guy....

The kids (including Collin) really enjoyed the mist machines!

I couldn't help but laugh when Anna got into this position. She just doesn't know how to relax!!

Another boat ride....

This is how Collin spent most of our rides....

The kids really enjoyed playing together at the house too!

We went home on Thursday because Collin was sick and not sleeping, so we needed to take him to the doctor and get some rest in our own beds. After Dave was finished with work the next day, we decided to head back as Collin was feeling much better. We got pizza to eat on the way there. Benjamin's absolute favorite thing to eat is personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut (he calls it "Target Pizza" as we usually eat it there). We decided to surprise him and got him one to go along with our pizza. It makes him so happy!

Collin really is a monkey! He grabs his feet like this all the time and when his toys are down by his feet in the car seat, he uses his feet like hands to get them!

On Saturday we went for another boat ride with Dave's family and then spent the evening outside after Dave made a fire for the kids. Here are my loves!

Most of the time that I want Anna to pose for a picture, she doesn't have the patience for it. But every once in awhile she will decide she wants her picture taken and then will pose and pose and pose!!!

So sweet!

If only I could get her to do this all the time!

She really is such a happy girl!

Benjamin is pretty much always very sweet about letting me get a good picture of him.

Dave's parents had these HUGE marshmallows (I mean they were humongous!!). Anna gave one a try and was not a fan, as you can see...

Benjamin had a roasted one and boy was it a mess!

Saying goodbye to Mamom....

We all wish she didn't live so far away, but are very thankful for the time we had with her!

On Sunday we hung out with my family. It was my Dad's birthday and we enjoyed getting to be together. Of course part of the celebration had to be swimming in their pool!

My Dad turned on the water fountains they have at the corners of their pool and the kids loved them!

It was a great couple of weeks and we had so much fun with so many wonderful people!

Wedding Activities - Post 2

Rehearsal and Wedding - August 13th and 14th

After a very yummy meal at Grandma and Grandpa's, we headed to the church for the Rehearsal. The kids were pretty wild, but had fun. Anna was the flower girl and Benjamin and Cousin Jack were the ring bearers. They did a great job practicing.....

Benjamin was very excited to finally have his pillow!

It fits!! :)

I barely got the kids to sit still for a few seconds to get some pictures of them in their outfits....

Benjamin loves when he and Collin have matching clothes, so it was really special for him to have matching shirts that day. I can't seem to ever get a shot of all three of them looking at the camera and smiling, so I tend to like ones like these where they are loving on one another.

The pianist was practicing, which created the perfect opportunity to get some extra dancing in. :)

Here's the happy couple, Mike and Kathy! <3>

The kids had to be dressed and at the church for several hours before the wedding. They did really well considering and enjoyed watching Toy Story 2 together.

Anna ended up being too scared to go down the aisle. Thankfully my Mom came to help me and she stayed with Anna during the service as Anna was pretty upset. She's got a lot of personality, but gets very shy in a crowd. Benjamin did great though and came down the aisle with his pillow just as we taught him. He has become such a big guy! The reception was at the same place that our wedding reception was, so it was neat to be back there and have fun with our kids dancing and such 7 years later.

Anna was so pretty and adorable in her dress!

And Benjamin was super handsome in his little suit. It made him look even older!!

Here's the back of Anna's dress....

Benjamin loved that he had pockets and kept his hands in them almost all day....even while dancing. :)

Speaking of dancing, it should first be said that these kids have been practicing and talking about and anticipating getting to dance at Mike and Kathy's wedding for months and months! They would excitedly get their wedding clothes on and dance and talk about when they would get to dance at the wedding. The dance floor got cleared of food tables and the kids immediately started dancing...even before the bride and groom. :)

She was a wild child and I had to work pretty hard to get her to sit still long enough for any pictures!

We did make the kids give up the dance floor for the festivities. Anna and cousin Jack (who's 6 months older) seem to get more and more friendly each time they spend time together, playing with each other more and more. It's sweet to see! While they were doing the toasts at the reception, the two of them laid down on their belly and started slowly inching closer and closer to the action.....

Eventually Benjamin had to join in on the mischief too.....

First dance! :)

Once the Bride and Groom were finished with all the planned reception activities, is was time to FINALLY dance......and when I say dance, I REALLY mean it! These kids danced for HOURS and loved every minute!!!

Benjamin and Anna have been practicing their "wedding dance" which means slow dance. He puts her hands on his shoulders and then wraps around her waist and they slow dance while gazing at one another. Unfortunately there was only like two slow songs played, but when they danced during one of them, it was honestly the sweetest thing I have ever seen!! I'm not going to lie, I cried a little bit. Can you see the love?

While they slow dance, Benjamin always has Anna wrap her hand around one of his fingers and then spends her around....

I mean honestly, could many things be more adorable than a four year old brother and two year old sister lovingly dancing with one another?!?!?! :)

They continued to dance pretty much every other dance that night and had the time of their lives! It was a wonderful day and we all had so much fun! Congrats Mike and Kathy! All five of us love you both so much!!!!!!

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I have some Collin updates that I've neglected to put on here. On August 9th he had his nine month check up (a few days before he turned 10 months). Here are his stats from that visit: Weight- 21 pounds 5 ounces (~60th percentile), Length - 31 1/4th inches (continues to be way over the growth chart), Head is 75th percentile. Everything checked out with him and we are blessed to say he's doing great!

He has decided he doesn't like the consistency of baby food and openly rejects it. It forces me to be a little more creative finding things that are soft enough but something he's willing to eat, but it's worth it b/c he enjoys eating so much and its such fun to watch! His favorites right now are avocados and he loves sharing oatmeal in the morning with me.

He has been slower to learn how to go from his belly/back to a sitting position and to pull up on things (I think b/c he's so long). This week though, he has surprised us and now pulls up on everything, can get back into a sitting position, and has even crawled up on his knees a few times (he usually only does the "army crawl"). It's fun seeing him enjoy his new abilities and watching him discover the world some more. :)

He continues to wave and say "bye, bye". On the day of the wedding he said "Momma" to me for the first time twice! :) He doesn't say it as much as "bye, bye" but each time he says it, it makes me a very happy "Momma". :)

My favorite new thing he does is when we're cuddling (his head on my shoulder) he always loves for me to pat and rub his back. Sometimes when I pat his back, he now gently pats mine too! :)