Happy 2nd Birthday to Ford

I'm not sure how but two years have flown by since we held our tiny, new baby brother for the first time. 

These two years have been filled with excitement, laughter, joy, tears, worry, fun, tiring and the most fulfilling years of our lives. We truly fill more complete. We could not imagine our lives without our brother bear.

Happy 2nd birthday, Ford!!!

We love you more than you'll ever know!

Fun Facts about Ford as a 2 year old:

-He still sleeps in a crib

-He has 3 lovies but loves the puppy dog the most

-He loves to be rocked before bedtime

-His favorite time of the day is bath time. He hears the water running and he darts to the bathroom

-His favorite movie is Despicable Me 2

-He loves Mickey Mouse and Curious George

-He is SO ticklish and LOVES to be tickled

-He LOVES to play outside and swing

-He loves to feed Lilly all of his leftovers

-He has 4 chocolate donuts EVERY morning for breakfast (never anything else)

-His favorite foods are cookies, donuts, chips and goldfish

-He LOVES balloons, bubbles and balls

-He is a momma's boy through and through

-He loves to snuggle and be close

-He gets a big kick out of antagonizing his big sister

-He just started going down the slide at the park by himself

-He HATES to have his hair and teeth brushed

-He's the first one in the house to wake up EVERY morning and the first to go to bed

-He loves to play with his blue Thomas train, his push toys, read books (or look at the pictures) and throw balls

-He NEVER misses a meal time (and let's us know pronto if we are running behind)

-He will only drink apple juice

-He is a fun, joyful, energetic, laid back, sweet (can I add more sweetness...he is just so sweet), demanding, talkative (in gibberish most of the time), smiley little boy. 

He is one of a kind and we love him so much!!!

Jumpy house birthday fun. He loves his sissy just a little bit.

The Sunset

This is by far one of my favorite pictures of me and Olivia.

 Was it posed? No. Were we even supposed to take this picture? No. 

We were driving home from a hike on the Trace/dinner and decided to pull over and watch the sunset. We do this quite often with the kids because we really them to grasp the beauty God has created for us. Hays remembered he had his camera in the back of the car so we took some pictures. 

My first thoughts when I see this picture are how in the world do people not believe in a higher power that creates such beautiful things? How do people believe that the sky just appears like that or children are not created in the image of God? My heart aches for those people.

My second thought just wants to shout to the tips of the mountain tops how awesome my Father is that he would create such a beautiful sunset for MY enjoyment and that He would give ME such a precious gift in my little girl. My heart could explode with joy and thanksgiving.

Warmer Weather= Zoo Day

Olivia has LOVED the zoo since she barely knew what it was so when the weather turned a bit warmer and everybody was well, we ventured over to her happy place. Ford is very content to sit in the stroller and look at the animals as well.  But Olivia gets this sparkle in her eyes, her voice starts getting really high pitched and if we tell her in advance what we are doing for the day she can barely eat her breakfast and hold in all of her excitement at the same time. 

Her favorite animal since day one has been the HIPPO. Why, I have not a clue but she can't get enough of them. They are about midway through our zoo and all she wants to do is hurry to them. 

Maybe because she likes being messy like they are. 

(By the way, she MADE me take this picture.)

Wendy, Gavin and Ames tagged along too.

Dear warmer weather, please stick around!

Love, the Collins

Melt My Heart

Olivia and Hays attended their first Valentine's dance at church this year. They have been on several "dates" but none that have been official, get in your Sunday best kinda date together. It was absolutely the sweetest thing ever. She was so excited she could barely stand it. She acted like such a little lady and even got to wear every piece of "real" jewelry that she owns. Nothing is more attractive than your husband doting on your little girl and making her feel like the prettiest thing he's ever set his eyes on.   

Update on the Brother Bear

I thought I would give y'all a small update on the brother bear of the house. We struggled a lot last year with developmental delays with Ford and not really knowing the cause of it. I can proudly say that this little guy has progressed by leaps and bounds. He is now walking 100%, we got to discontinue physical therapy, he has added lots of new vocabulary words recently and overall is a much happier fella. We still go to OT 3 times a week and we are hoping and praying that he gets completely caught up in the near future. We are so very proud and thankful for the blessings God has bestowed upon us.  

He is still momma's snuggle bunny. I rock him every night and enjoy all the cuddles. 

Is he not the cutest thing you've ever seen???

That smile can steal a heart in an instant.

He's always up for an adventure. Not really sure if I (or my back) was up for this adventure.

Every time he gets changed he has to read "Goodnight Gorilla". I guess he has to have some reading material to pass the time. This is his favorite page.

He is one of a kind just like his sissy bear.

Photo Booth Funnies

We had a monsters photo booth at the birthday party and these were just too funny not to share.