By Sunday, the festivities had caught up with Colin. He woke up at 7.30am and fell back asleep by 8.30am!! We ended up waking him up at 10.30am to get ready for church. After church, we headed to Mike's hotel to see his Dad and family again and to finally have Amy's parents meet Colin.

I adore this picture. I can't say how much I adore this picture.

It literally oozes sweetness to me.

Colin and RoseMary hamming it up.

Lastly, Russell holding Colin.
We left the hotel. Colin fell back asleep. We did some last minute baking before Mike's mom and Dan came over.

Of course, the 98472820 feet of snow we had over the past week had melted by Sunday. They bought Colin the cutest sled and he couldn't even use it so we pulled him through the living room.

We enjoyed a nice meal. Colin was the head of the table and loved showing off his new 'tricks' to everyone. After dinner, we opened presents. Colin showing Daddy one of his presents from Grandma and Grandpa Dan.

Sweet baby Colin. Always having to test things out by eating it first :)



Mike showing Colin a gift from Tabitha and family. (Thank You again!!)

Colin opening one of his presents from Uncle Marky and Aunt Missy. The box was just his height. He loved it!

Colin playing with his new big truck.

Christmas was wonderful. We are incredibly thankful for every one's generosity and love. Thank you to everyone who travelled to spend Christmas with us. Thank you to everyone who carved out time in this busy season to celebrate with our family. Thank you again for everyone who spent their time and their money purchasing gifts for us. Although, thank you doesn't always seem like enough - sometimes a simple thank you can mean a lot. So from the bottom of our hearts - THANK YOU! Thank you to each and every one of you who helped make our first, of many, Christmases truly special.

On Saturday, Mike's dad, Amy and the kids came to GR to celebrate Christmas with us.

The kids had fun playing together. It was nice to catch up with his dad and Amy.

Onto the part, everyone really wants to see ... the pictures :) Yes, don't judge. Colin is wearing his Christmas shirt again but it's just that ... his Christmas shirts.

Grandpa feeding Colin one tasty bottle.

Emma holding Colin.

He wasn't this fussy with her the whole time but this is my favorite picture of her.

I love ... absolutely L-O-V-E how Colin is diving on the present in this picture.

Bradley trying on his new cute chef outfit.

Sorry there aren't more pictures. Most turned out blurry :(

Christmas Day!!! Happy Birthday Jesus! I got up with Colin and allowed Mike to get some extra sleep. I made us cinnamon rolls and brewed some coffee. Colin and I went up to wake up Mike, so we could open our stockings from Santa. Colin did much better with his attention span. We also had him in his high chair which "forced" him to stay in one place. and just because I can't pick which picture I like better of him trying to throw the paper, I'll post both. Mike and I started having a little guilt about not taking Colin to church yesterday, so we decided to go to our old church as they have a Christmas service. Colin, of course didn't last but we tried and that's what matters.

From church, we headed to my parents house to celebrate Christmas. We didn't take TOO many pictures of gift opening time. Here is a picture from Merridith's camera. Although, it's blurry and not a great picture of either Colin or my mom, look how stinkin old Colin looks. When did he become such a little boy?

It was difficult to get all 3 boys to look at the same camera but here are the little boys on Christmas.

How cute do they all look?

Colin very intently watching a present being opened.

Aunt Merridith reading Colin's new Christmas book to Colin and Micah.

That's all I got for present opening. Before we left, we put Colin back into his Christmas PJs and let him play with Great Grandpa's bell. Oh how he loved Great Grandpa's bell.

It was quite difficult to get a clear shot because he kept shaking it so hard but I love the joy on his face on this one.

We tried putting him a chair from when we were kids. He's still a little too small, so we tried to wedge a stuffed animal to keep it in there. He didn't want to sit, so this is the best picture we got.

Again, look how old he looks :(

Last picture ... Colin playing on Uncle Tim's old rocking horse. He loved being able to rock himself without being held.

Sweet baby.

Christmas was a busy 4 day event, therefore it shall receive 4 posts ... chuck full of pictures of course :)

Here's our first Christmas Eve as a family in the quickest nutshell. We had received yet another snow storm. Mike was able to get out of the driveway to go to work. Colin and I got stuck in. My parents came over to help shovel us out, help me wrap some gifts while one entertained Colin, and swapped some gifts we were hiding at each other's houses.

Dear Colin,

Happy 11 Month Birthday little man. This is your last birthday post before you turn the big O-N-E. (picture to be taken tomorrow when C is awake)

December was a busy eventful month full of changes, too much snow, and lots of Christmas parties. One of the biggest changes this month was Daddy and I started you part-time in daycare. It was a decision that we struggled with for literally months. You were supposed to start back in September but thanks to the generosity of family members taking extra days off and Mommy and Daddy rarely having days off together, we were able to keep pushing it back month by month until we finally started you this month. Our desire was never to have you in a facility with strangers but to always be watched by family members who we trust to take care of you and love you the same way we do. But desires, no matter how strong, no matter how great the intentions are, no matter how much you pray, plead, and cry, aren't always possible pumpkin. Here's a great lesson Colin. Listen carefully: Sometimes your desires can change and often times, God answers your prayers differently than you "want." We have loved having you at daycare those 1-2 days a week. You have a wonderful teacher who I truly feels loves you and the Lord. You have loved being there since I first time I dropped you off. I will never forget watching you crawl up one of the incline mats while Sammy climbed up the other and watching the two of you "talk" to each other. The sense of peace I felt as I walked out of the doors leaving you for the first time is something I never thought I'd experience. Colin, I want to thank you for making this painfully hard decision very easy on us. Your vocabulary continues to expand. You go in streaks with speaking and rarely will show off your new skills when asked but you have started saying "uh oh" when you (very) intentionally throw some everything on the ground or saying "buh bye" when people leave. The best is you are becoming more deliberate with what we call your 'fat tongue' talking. You are quite the story teller little man. We are still working on making animal noises and you try soooo hard to "woof." Your mouth makes the correct shape and you blow air but it just isn't happening yet. I love your determination though and your love of wanting to learn, study, and read books. We had a great first Christmas, huh little one. It was filled with love, laughter, new forming traditions, family, and presents. You quickly learned how to rip the wrapping paper and find the smallest pieces to eat. You were spoiled rotten and got wonderful presents from everyone. The best present was you were able to see (almost) your entire family. I hope one day you realize how blessed you truly are. I also hope to always see this excitement every year :) We are entering month 11. In one quick month, 30 short days, less than 720 hours, you will turning one year old. Mommy isn't so sure she is ready for this. As you continue to become more and more independent, I feel myself clinging to cherish every 'baby' moment; to soak up as much as I can of baby Colin. Grandma, Aunt Janna and Aunt Merridith bought Mommy a book while you were still in my tummy called "Let Me Hold You Longer." The author writes this much better than I ever could in her editorial: "And that is when it hit me. When spend our children's days celebrating their firsts. First steps, first teeth, first words. First days of kindergarten, first homecoming dance, first time behind the wheel. But somehow, along the way, we miss the lasts. There are no photographs or parties when a child takes his last nap or catches tadpoles for the last time. For the most part, its impossible to know when a last-moment actually occurs... Then I wondered a bit more ... Would I have held on longer if I had known it was the last time?" Colin, I want to hold on forever and while that is not possible, I am promising to hold you a little longer, a little tighter but with wide open arms, so you can continue to explore this wonderful world.

With all my love,
Mommy

a few days late. We have had a very busy couple of days, so I promise to update my blog including some adorable Christmas pictures. For now, I'll upload one picture ... a family picture from tonight (of course, the one day we aren't color coordinated).

1 Corinthians 13: A Christmas Version
By: an unknown author

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

Now make it stop, make it stop, make it stop. We have been hit HARD the past few days and by hard, I mean probably 2 feet+ of snow in the past week and there is more to come tomorrow night.

It's been so bitterly cold that we haven't felt comfortable having Colin play outside. When I picked him up today after work, he was so excited about the snowflakes (would laugh so hard when I stuck my tongue out to catch the flakes) that we decides to keep him outside a few minutes longer when we got home.

Here are a few pictures ... Rach, here you go.

I know it's super hard to see but if you look carefully, you can see Colin sitting by a snow bank. (Click on the picture to view it better) That is by our walk way up to our front door and you can't see even how tall it really is.

My two favorite boys.

He loved sitting in the snow and eating it.

We will take more pictures of how bad the snow is and let Colin play more when the windchills aren't in the negatives.

Another busy week. Not necessarily sure what with what but it felt busy. I think the nasty snow storms had something to do with it. Don't mind how often we are in our PJs :) Pictures from this week ... He loves trying to eat himself.
we finally found a food that Colin doesn't like ... plain yogurt. He literally spit it out at me.
He is his mother's son - he LOVES brushing his teeth.
this is what happens when we (try to) stop.
my sweet boy - snot nose and all.
My little reader! His favorite thing lately is reading.

His first art project that I was able to take home!! I brought it to work to show off (yeah a totally gushing mom moment) and it fell apart, so I had to staple some of it back together and therefore will not be wearing it ever.

We had a busy weekend. I literally wasn't home this entire weekend aside from sleeping. It was worth all the missed sleep but I'm so glad to finally get a day off tomorrow. I've worked the past 6 days in a row. Here are a few pictures from Saturday after work.

Colin meeting Santa!

He loved his beard, glasses and bells.

He loved watching the trains.

Outside in the snow looking for the perfect Christmas tree.

"Mommy, I want this one."