Spring Time

Oh, how I love spring. I love this time of year for many reasons: the weather is perfect, we can finally get outside, it's the season to run 5k's and not die, many plants start blooming and the days become much longer along with many, many more.

The spring showers have begun around here and I think we're all about ready to see them pass. All but this girl....she has discovered playing in the puddles and could do that all day long, I think. 

Spring showers should bring some flowers, right?

She planted this little pot at school one day and wanted to watch it grow one afternoon.

Might be there a while, sissy.

This little guy doesn't care anything about spring. All he cares about is his food. And in the morning his choice of cereal would be chocolate cheerios. 

Guess he's wanting to make sure he saves one for snack time........

Your bases are covered ,Buddy.

Love bugs. 

When the spring showers are pouring, you stay in your jammies and snuggle all day.

Monsters, Inc. has been the movie of choice lately. 

Sully even makes an appearance at bath time.

Spring time=Spring cleaning. 

Good thing I have a cute and happy helper to make those chores go by a little quicker and easier.

First 5k of the spring season, the color run. 

And a bestie to share it with.

Spring time, could you stay around a bit longer than you usually do. We're not done enjoying you!

The Circus

We just celebrated Ford's first birthday with a circus theme so when it actually comes to town you can't expect anything less than for us to go! And that's exactly what we did. Even Ford got to join in on the circus fun this time around (which may not happen next time seeing that he had to be taken to the car for the whole second half). Ford was squirmy in one of our laps the whole time and Olivia was too busy begging for everything under the sun or playing with her new circus elephant to actually pay attention to the show. The total time that all four of us actually sat and watched the show is an embarrassingly 10 minutes, maybe(that's pushing it). Maybe sitting still will come with age for our two. Hence the family picture you see below...... 

I think the only part of the show she actually paid attention to was the elephants. Even then she just reenacted the elephant pooping on the floor with her new toy elephant (yes, the elephant pooped in the show...twice!). And of course, that's the only part she remembers when we are telling people like Sunday School teachers that we went to the circus.....never a dull moment.

Love her to pieces nonetheless.

Ford enjoyed the mere 5 minutes of the show he did watch. Maybe in a few years, buddy.

Her new toy elephant. 

Maybe the circus should be a Collins family tradition in a few years........

The Zoo

It's that time of year again, zoo time! Olivia has loved visiting the zoo since way before she could even walk so when the weather starts getting nice outside again that is the first place we go. This time we decided to bring along Wil Franklin and they had the BEST time. We went pretty early in the morning so the animals were very active which absolutely made their day!

Wil Franklin, Ford and Olivia. 

I think they wanted to jump up and down they were so excited.

Sweet cousins. 

Of course, Buddy Boo Boo enjoyed watching them play more than looking at the actual animals.

It's okay, sometimes Olivia and Wil could pass for animals too!:)

Playing in the alligator egg.

Pretending to be the zookeeper.

We ended with a train ride. We almost froze but enjoyed it nonetheless.

We must of worn Ford out. This is what I saw when I looked in the backseat not 5 minutes after we got on the road. Right there with ya, buddy.

Until next time which I'm sure will be right around the corner....

Pure Bliss

That's what you call this picture, pure bliss! 

This is was what Emilee, Rebecca and I looked at for three days straight and it was absolutely blissful. We had uninterrupted meals, late nights, late mornings without hearing anyone say "momma" or the piter pater of little feet, a peaceful spa appointment, many hours at the mall without being rushed by a husband, uneventful car rides there and back full of girl talk and face time dates with the ones we were running away from but missed so dearly. It was a great weekend, one that we wish many times a day that we could relive but probably wouldn't actually choose to do so.:)

I guess I was missed by the three I love most. This welcome home cake was awaiting my arrival.

I sure did enjoy myself while I was away but was sure glad to get back home to my loves.

Looks like mommy is back on duty....until next year, my girls!

Ahhhhhhh

What is this, you ask. This, this is a picture of pure bliss and excitement.

This momma is getting a much needed and deserved getaway with two besties, white sand, the ocean, wine and more wine, a spa with a massage waiting, peace and quiet, maybe a book, some shopping, a movie, girl talk, staying up late, sleeping even later, dinner conversations without interruptions, did I say peace and quiet and the sun. Yes, I am so excited I am about to jump out of my own skin. 

Miss Mischievous

Like most other 3 year olds, this little girl keeps us on our toes. There is never a dull moment in our house. I wish I could remember all that is said and done each day by this little person because it could seriously make up the content for a sitcom. She takes us from utter frustration to sheer amazement to laughing hysterically in about 2.2 seconds. This girl is one of a kind and I am so thankful I get to enjoy her all day long.

You never know from day to day if she going to actually nap or just play and get into anything and everything in her bedroom during that 2 hour span. This day the nap was bypassed for some Berenstein Bears stickers that she decided to decorate herself and her friend, Frosty with. 

She was very proud of herself and Frosty. 

This was taken this morning at the dentist office. If you haven't experienced maybe a smidget of hell, go to the dentist with a one and three year old. The hygienist is one of our good friends and must have seen Olivia's name on the list for this morning because she already had ear plugs in her ears. Yep, it's just that bad. 

We talked about going to the dentist for days and even checked some books out at the library about going to the dentist but that didn't decrease the amount of screaming by one decimal. Of course, afterwards she talked about the strawberry toothpaste, the treats she got from the treasure box and how pretty her teeth were. We have our fingers crossed for turned tables in the next 6 months. But then we start all over with Ford. Glorious days.

Fridays are usually treat days around here so nothing less was expected by this one last Friday. She was good at Miss Wendy's house while we took Ford to the doctor so we ventured to the library and Gigi's cupcakes. It's not a hard job to please a 3 year old. 

She may be a handful at times but she is one good sissy to Ford. 

In this picture she is playing peek a boo from behind the couch with him.

 Many adjectives would describe this bouncy three year old and it's funny to me that mischievous, caring, helper, hard headed, stubborn, kind, humorous, lively and spontaneous all end up in the same sentence describing her.

 Man, I love her.

Poop Mishaps

Yep, after you have kids the topic of many discussions are things you would have never dreamed of talking about before their arrival. And the same with blog titles. But poop is a very common topic around our house with a 1 and 3 year old, unfortunately and has been since day one. 

Oh, the things you do for your 3 year old to help them poop in the potty. 

We do understand that we might be a tad behind on this situation with Olivia but it is what it is. We will do ANYTHING for poopie in the potty including promising a big blow up Frosty the Snowman in our front yard in the middle of March (if you happen to drive by and see him in our yard soon, just smile with happiness for us).:)

And this little stinker.

 This little stinker has decided that pooping in the bath tub is always a good time and has done so twice in the last week. 

Good times in the Collins' household.

12 Months/1 Year

Well, it has happened. Our little Buddy Boo Boo is one year old and this is the last "watch me grow" post. I cannot believe that the first year of his life has come and gone. I am so very sad to see the itty bitty baby days gone but I am also so very excited about the time to come. This year has been full of snuggling, reading books, midnight feedings, rocking, rocking and more rocking, changing lots of poopie diapers, playing on the floor for hours, having tea and playing kitchen with sissy, cleaning poop out of the bath tub, encouraging some type of movement, babbling, playing peek a boo, changing more diapers, dealing with reflux, figuring out how to juggle a 2 year old and newborn all at the same time with equal amounts of attention and love, more rocking, treating ear infections, kissing two foreheads and cheeks more than I could ever count, making funny and odd faces just to see this baby smile or grin, more snuggling, figuring out how to change a baby boy without getting pee all over me and the wall, venturing out for the first time in our pop up camper, playing with trucks and trains, did I mention changing diapers? and loving on a baby boy that I am so blessed to call mine. God is so very good to bless us to richly.

The baby boy now weighs 24 pounds and 6 ounces (75%) and is 32 1/4 inches long (97%). We had his 1 year check up where the doctor assured us that he is growing just as he should. She is a tad concerned that he is STILL not moving (and honestly, so am I) and is giving him one more month so get goin' or we will have to go for an orthopedic consult. She really feels that it is just his personality and that he is very laid back and easy going. I pray that is the main cause and it's not anything major. So we will be spending lots of time on the floor in the next couple of weeks to encourage some movement. If you hear some cheering coming from our house in the next few days don't be too alarmed, we are just cheering on and encouraging Ford to get goin'!:)

On a lighter note, he is taking 3 eight ounce bottles a day of whole milk. He will soon be disappointed that they are going to decrease to only one a day. He LOVES to eat! His favorites are chocolate cheerios, strawberry yogurt, peanut butter crackers, cheese puffs (I know, mother of the year over here), applesauce, macaroni and cheese, goldfish, animal crackers, strawberries, any kind of meat he can get his hands on (especially Chick Fil A chicken nuggets), beans, Oreo cookies and the list can go on and on and on. If Olivia is ever snacking on ANYthing she has to do so out of Ford's reaching distance because he tries to steal it from her. 

He takes a morning and afternoon nap with the last nap lasting about 2 hours. If we are out and about he will usually skip the morning nap. He goes to bed around 7 and gets up around 6:30 and usually does not wake in the middle of the night. His favorite toys are the drum play set that has lots of instruments in it, the hippo with little leggos inside, the tv remote control, the Little People farm and he LOVES watching Polar Express and will sit and watch the entire thing. He also loves to be tickled, take really long baths and splash all the water out (as long as he he is in the bath seat), to look at the fish tank, to pester Lilly and his sissy, to stroll outside in his tricycle, to sit in the red Cooper car, to be rocked, to be sung to in the car, his ninny and lovies, to sleep on his side at night, to put EVERYTHING in his mouth and he ALWAYS smiles at my phone for pictures. 

Happy 12 Months/1 Year our Buddy Boo Boo! We love you more than you will ever know!

Turning One Can Be A Circus

Turning one can be a bit of a circus and that is exactly what it was for Ford, a circus! His circus was complete with a carousel animal birthday cake, a circus tent smash cake, popcorn, hotdogs, peanuts, cotton candy, animal crackers, Cracker Jacks for favors and even Smiley, the clown made an appearance. 

*warning-picture overload*

The face of a brand new one year old.

The Man of Honor was doted on all day long.

The birthday song was a bit much for the birthday boy. I guess he figured it was his party and he could cry if he wanted to.

And crying is exactly what he did....for the entire song.

He got over it pretty quick after getting a little taste of the sugar goodness.

Yummmmmmm...

...so he had some more...

...and he had him some more...

...then he had enough.

Family portraits is not one of our strong points these days. Just capturing the moment and real life, people. Maybe one day when they're teenagers we'll finally get that good family picture. Until then...

  

The birthday boy was fine with the family shot.

Gigi and one of her loves.

This is a momma's boy.

Smiley was a BIG hit!

Daddy and his girl. Two peas in a pod.

Nano and one of her loves.

All the partying pooped the birthday boy out. It was just too much for him...

  

...until he hit the tricycle. It created a second wind for him. He loves it!

This little guy is now one. I hope this next year with a three and one year old drags on forever and ever and ever.