1 Year Celebration

I am not a crazy party planner,

I do not see the point in throwing elaborate kids birthdays especially when they will not remember it.

So when it came time for Collin's birthday,

I created a theme with stuff I already had.

Since Collin's birth, I have referred to him as my "Little Man,"

and every month we took a picture of him with ties that said the month on them.

(A friend had gifted this to me and it was so cute!)

So enter the "My Little Man"  Theme. 

All I really had to do was order some food and balloons from Wegmans,

make up a little activity,

ask my friend to make the cupcakes,

used yellow decorations and plates that I had left over,

order a cute tie for him to wear on the day, 

and that was our party.

Easy and fun!!

1st Birthday

I had previously blogger what we did on Collin's 1st Birthday during the day but thought I would share some pictures from the rest of the day. 

In the morning when he woke up he went down stairs to find a Elmo Balloon and a couple family presents waiting for him.

 He loved the balloon!!

We opened a couple family presents prior to breakfast!

We got him a Water Table which I think will be a good investment for the summer!!

Then we spent the day at the Smithsonian seeing the Dinosaurs

and celebrated at night with a birthday cupcake.  

 He was so excited!!!

 And like his mother- HE LOVES Chocolate.

Was a pretty relaxing and laid back day which was perfect for us!!!

Trip to see the Dinosaurs

For Collin's 1st Birthday,

Joe and I decided to take the day off and do something fun as a family.

With both of us working weird hours we often do not get spend a typical day together like some families do, so it was a special treat for us all.

We decided that we wanted to take Collin to do something,

and after some research we realized that the Smithsonian would be closing the Dinosaur exhibit in the end of April for 5 years- Perfect.

Joe and both have found memories of going to see the Dinosaurs so it seemed perfect.  

We headed down on the metro around 11:30 after 1st nap.

We had a moment of panic when Joe could not find parking at the metro but found a secret place that the employees told us about.

The metro was pretty empty so Collin was able to run around.  

It took us between parking and riding the metro about 1 hour to get there.

This was because it took us 20 minutes to find parking.  

We were lucky in the sense that it was empty- going on a Thursday was a great idea.

At first Collin just was overwhelmed and just wanted to look and point at everything.  

But after a couple minutes he wanted to run around and point at everything.

He had a blast.

We did end up taking our small stroller which I was glad we had on the metro and walking to the museum- other than that he walked most of the time.  

This was the most perfect activity to do as Collin loved to touch all the interactive displays they had.  

The metro cost up about $10 total and $5 for parking (kids ride free until 4 years old).  

We spent about 2 hours there and headed back around 2:30 

and got home just in time for second nap!  

Perfect birthday activity for our little man!

Happy 1 YEAR!!!

YEAP!  We made it!

You are officially 1 today and the last 12 months have been 

an adventure.

You have gone from being in "blob" form to crawling, to cruising, to walk, to almost running.

From drinking nothing but Breastmilk to eating table food.

From being not able to communicate with us to being able to sign a couple words, say a couple works, and gesture with your hands. 

You have 6 teeth!

You are over half mommy's height

(We will not get your officially weight and length until your 1 year appointment in 1 week.)

You are no longer a little baby...

You are our little man!!

You are like me in so many ways:

1) You love sleep

2) You are becoming a little stubborn (which i like)

3) You love to talk

4) You are very independent

Then at times you remind me of your father:

1) You have your father's gentle heart

2) You love your dog brother so much even when he is in trouble...just like daddy.  

1 year ago today as Paula placed you on my chest,

I remember saying "I love you so much,"

I really do not remember what made me say this as I was very indifferent to becoming a mom,

but the moment that you were in my arms,

I knew that your father and I were going to love you so much.

I knew we would have good days and rough days

(many more good than rough), 

and I knew that being a parent would be challenging,

but it is also so rewarding.  

So on your birthday, your father and I have a special birthday message...

"Collin,

Your first year has been a magical one.

You have brought so much happiness to our lives;

so much pride to our hearts;

and so many tears of joy to our eyes.

You have taught us so much about love, about life, and about ourselves.

Our lives are richer for it.

We are so lucky to have such an amazing son as you and to have the privilege of watching you grow into our 'Little Man'

Love,

Mom and Dad"

Your World Will Be Rocked- Part 2

You may remember back in May I wrote a blog on "Your World Will be Rocked,"

a phrase that many people said to us with regards to a child entering our life.  

I thought it would be interesting to revisit this now that we are only 3 weeks away from Collin's 1st Birthday.  I also wanted to add some interesting topics on how our life has changed- ways that I would have never thought about before.

1)You will never get any sleep

Previous blog- False

Current- False

I realize we have it good, probably too good!
Collin goes down at 7 am and sleeping till about 7-7:30.  Occasionally he will wake up at 6:30 but really I can not complain.

He also takes 2 naps a day- both averaging 1 1/2 each.  

2)You social life will change.

Previous blog- False

Current-  Somewhat.

Now that Collin is on a nap schedule and a bedtime it has changed a little.

That being said we still find time to catch up with friends and family.

Yes we probably spend more Saturday nights home now watching a movie or relaxing but that is not something that I complain about.  My parents also love to babysit Collin which is a true blessing.  

3) You will fight more

Previous blog- False

Current- False

Again we are not big fighters. 

4) You will never have time to yourself

Previous blog- True and False

Current- True and False

I have my time at night time and also my Saturday mornings which I normally do my long runs.  If Joe is feeling extra generous, I will also run on Sundays.  Besides that I have a couple hours here and there when Collin is napping.  

5)Breastfeeding is the greatest bond ever!

Previous blog- False

Current- TOTALLY FALSE

I am SOOOOO Happy to be done with pumping!!!!! 

6)You will do much more loads of Laundry

Previous blog- False

Current- False

Our laundry has really not changed- do it once a week.

7) Babies are expensive

Previous Blog- False

Current- False

Now that we have to pay for diapers, and still pay for some baby food and are getting to the point that we are having to buy some clothing (up to this point we had been gifted a lot of clothes) it is more than it was in the beginning.  Also now we have daycare but again- not horrible as one might think.  

8)You will totally love being a mom

Previous blog- True and False

Current- True and False

I love Collin and becoming a mom is amazing.

However, it is hard balancing a home life and working.  You feel like you are always giving on something.  For me I realized that this would be work.  At first this was hard, but I looked at it this way- I have been giving at my job for 5 years and it is my turn to go in punch my card and come home.  

9)It will take you twice as long to do anything with a baby

Previous blog- False

Current- False

Yes it does take longer but not that much longer.  The problem that I have found is the tolerance of a toddler is unknown.  For example- today we ran three errands and he was so happy.  The other day I barely made it thru one.  

10)  You will have moments you lose it.

Previous blog- True

Current- False

I feel now that Collin is pretty much an easy toddler.  If he is unhappy it is because he is tired, hungry, or teething- and that is really it.  I think that last time I lost it was when he was 6-7 months and teething at night which was horrible, especially since he has been an amazing sleeper from day 2.  

11) Your relationship with your spouse will be different.

Previous blog- True

Current- True

I now rely more on Joe than I did before.  

He is in charge of the grocery shopping, the dropping off at daycare, the picking up a daycare, and pretty much all things that have to do with Clemson.  We still try to make time for date night at least once a week and it might not be much- a movie or takeout but it is at least time together.  

Things that I have notice that I never thought of until Collin

1) Where to park in the mall.  

Yes when you have a stroller and you need to run an errand, I am thinking in my brain, "Which is the closest store and which level can I park on that will not involve an elevator."

2) Elevators are a pain in the ass

Shopping, airport- you name it- i hate elevators but when bug is in a stroller it becomes a necessity.  

Malls tend to hide them in the back of stores and they are super slow and airports are the worse.  

3) You will have people judge you.

Whether you breastfeed or not,  whether your child goes to daycare or not, whether your child eats organic or not- pick a topic and you will probably be judged for it.  The most surprising thing is that it is mom's that judge you.  My advice-  thick skin.  Having Collin has made my skin really thick to the point that I really do not care what most people think of me.  As long as your child is safe, healthy and happy- then you are doing the best you can as parents!

4) You will lean on people.  

I have always been very very independent and have found that I do ask for help more now that I ever have, especially with Joe and my family.  

5) There is nothing wrong with asking questions.
I have two girlfriends and my mother who I rely a lot on for silly little questions- like product recommendation, experiences, etc.  It is good to have a non-judging group to tell you how it is.
Also, my dad works with a pediatrician on BMED that has become my favorite go to with all my medical questions.  Total I have emailed him 4 times since Collin was born but it has just been nice to have that resource.

Pinterest Success- Happy Valentine's Day

Let me start by saying I am not one of those mom's.

One of those mom's that is crafty and spending large amount of time doing crafts either with or for their children.  

That being said I was looking something easy and inexpensive to do for Valentine's Day of all the family...

Enter Pinterest.  

I have had a couple successes and a couple of Failures...

and over all this was a success.

I purchased a 10 pack of canvas at Jo-Ann Fabrics.

It was on sale for $20 and then I had a 50% coupon

so it was 10 dollars.

Already had the red paint and the brushes.  

Then my husband helped me and this was a saving grace.

I think this would have been impossible to do on my own.  

At first we thought just having him place his food in paint would be the best idea but after the first one we discover the painting his foot with a brush worked better.

We did all the left feet first and let them dry,

then all the right feet.

Then one day during his nap I painted the rest.

All and all they turned out well and are very cute.

(Also a very inexpensive way to document footprints and hands.)  

We did a couple with his hand as the letter "O" in LOVE, 

and then painted the L---VE.  

I forgot to take a picture of this but they turned well also.

We found painting the hand with a paint brush also worked better for this.

Well Happy Valentine's Day!!!

11 Months!!!!!

Yeap!

11 Months

In less than 1 month you will be a year!

I just can not believe how much of a person you have become!

You are officially signing.

You can sign milk and all done.

We are working on more, cup, thank you, please and a couple others.

You said your official first word-

And much to my dismay it was not "Mama,"  it was "Dog."

You love Clemson so much and are finally getting the concept of "Gentle Pet the Puppy,"

which means Clemson is finally starting to warm up to you.

You are walking and I believe any day now you will be running.

You are climbing and just on the move constantly.

It is a shame I have to wait until you are two to sign you up for Tiny Soccer.

You are in most 18 month clothing and still in size 4 diaper.

You are pretty much on people food completely except for some veggie packs because you are not a fan of veggies- go figure.  You love Mac & Cheese, Manicotti, Chicken Pot Pie and Grandma's Soup.

You have become such a gentle soul- loving to share- you want to share everything now.

Your sleeping has been good but I think this week we have 4 teeth coming in at the same time so you are waking up occasionally crying but falling back to sleep shortly after.
You still sleep around 11-13 hours a night and take two naps which total about 2-3 hours a day.  

You are becoming more verbal- babbling all the time.  

You love to mimic me now which is funny.
You also said "Wubba" today for your nap time pacifier
and said "Mama" yesterday but not really sure if you truly meant "Mama."

You are waving now and clapping all the time.
You love the songs "If you are Happy and You Know it Clapp your Hands."

You love everything music.
If we ask you to go bang on your drum you will go into your play room, open the cabinet,
find your drum and start banging on it.
I think you are going to love your music class that we signed you up for starting in March.

This month we slowed down a little after the holidays which I think was much needed.

We had play dates with friends to occupy most of our time 

and our weekends now consist of trying to keep you busy since you are into everything!!!!

Coming up in your 1st Valentine's Day which will be small,

Followed by your first trim to Sarasota to see your other set of Grandparents.

And then before you know it - you will be 1!!!