Dear Colin,

Happy 7th Month Birthday little man. What an incredibly fun busy month we had, huh?
It was a month of family. I took the rest of my vacation this month, so we were able to spend quite a bit of time together. It was such a treat to spend day after day after day with you. During some of that time off, you were able to see a lot of family members. Uncle Marky and Aunt Missy along with King drove from LA to Michigan, Colin. Someday you will realize that is not a quick trip. During their time here, we went to Lansing where you were able to see Daddy's aunts and uncles, cousins, and close family friends. Although, you weren't your normal talkative active self, you were such a good little boy soaking in all the new faces. In the week to come, you saw a bunch of Mommy's relatives as well where you were totally goofy trying to ham it up with everyone. We were lucky enough to go up north with Uncle Mark and Aunt Missy where you were able to spend two days (penthouse style baby - nothing but the finest for you!) showing off and allowing them to see what a funny sweet little boy you are. As cliche as it sounds, we were able to create some great memories to last us a lifetime.
You are now eating food on a regular basis. Gosh how you love it. You love carrots, peas, beans, avocado, bananas, your puffs. Ok actually you love everything we feed you. You literally can't seem to get enough of it. You totally know when it's time to eat your big boy food. When I put your bib around your neck and start getting close to your high chair, you kick your feet wildly in hopes that I will put the heavenly goodness in your mouth faster. I can't blame you though. I've tried your formula and quite frankly I think everything is an improvement from that. I love feeding you and it's one thing that I don't share nicely with dad. I love watching how you excited you get when you eat. I love how you smack your lips so loudly. I even love how you fuss when it's all gone and you want more. I love that you enjoy your food and so far are not a picky eater. (this is how messy you are when Daddy feeds you)
During the past month, you've mastered the art of sitting up unassisted, progressing from just getting on all 4s to army crawling ... everywhere!! We had to lowered your crib mattress because you are trying to pull yourself up, began baby-proofing the house, and suffer with more sore upper arms due to how much you love to stand and jump. You said your first word, like to help hold your bottle, and are becoming more vocal about what you want or don't want. While, I love all the new tricks you are learning, you are too quickly becoming a little boy instead of my little baby.
And while August was a busy fun month for us, I have high hopes for September and the months to come. You will continue to grow, learn, and explore this beautiful world. And I will continue to treasure those moments when you still cuddle in my arms, place your chubby little hands on mine, and look at me with those big beautiful blue eyes. Colin, those moments are more precious to me than anything in this world. Even more so, than the penthouse suite at the Inn at Bay Harbor for $69 :)

Love always,
Mommy

Someone loves bananas almost as much as he loves the ceiling fan he kept staring at.

The pictures that I mentioned in my previous post are already up!!! Again this is just a sneak peak. Enjoy and be sure to leave some comments on either (or both!!) mine or Amy's blog.

http://amycarrollphoto.blogspot.com/

happened to me yesterday. It was a nice day - low-key but nice. I guess that is what happens as you get older, huh? :) Thank you to everyone who remembered and took the time to to wish me a Happy Birthday. It meant alot to me. An extra thanks to my wonderful thoughtful husband and to my parents for graciously babysitting Colin last night, so Mike and I could enjoy the evening baby free.

Apparently I decided to start this "new" year off with a full calendar. When Colin was born, my parents gave us a gift of getting professional pictures taken when he was 6 months old. Today, we had his pictures taken. What a fun day!!! Colin did great and our photographer, Amy, was fabulous!!! I'm thinking by my over usage of exclamation points, you can tell I excited I am about the pictures :) She said she should have a preview available online either later tonight or for sure by tomorrow. A full preview will be able within a week or two. I'll be sure to let everyone know when its up. Mike and I have been hitting refresh every 10 minutes.

Tomorrow I have a baby shower and my friend is having a party at her house. Saturday, we are having to say goodbye to Mark and Missy :( and then Chris and Lindsay are having a BBQ. Sunday, we are celebrating my birthday with my extended family. Monday starts another work week :( Uggg! Lets just not think about Monday yet.

I'm off to check Amy's website, yet again and then probably call it a night. I can't seem to get enough sleep lately ... nope, not pregnant. Just not getting enough sleep.

I still need to post about our fabulous northern get-away Penthouse style but I'm wickedly tired and will save that for another day.
This morning, like most mornings, Mike got Colin out of bed, changed his diaper, and fed him while I got ready for work. Mike put Colin in his exersaucer, so he could go upstairs and start getting ready. I walked down the stairs which always excites Colin. He started jumping up and down like a madman with the biggest grin. We "talk" for a minute as I head into the kitchen to grab his formula. In typical Colin fashion lately, he starts to fuss because he isn't getting what he wants. I head back into the room and he looks at me with those big blue eyes and - I kid you not - says "MaMa."

Thank you Colin for making my Monday morning completely worth getting out of bed.

Lately, Colin has been making the funniest face. He squints his eyes, scrunches up his nose and moves his jaw back and forth. I call him my little "Stevie Wonder" when he does it. He was playing in his exersaucer and we were laughing and he kept making the "Stevie Wonder" face and I actually got it on camera.

So I've kept all of Colin's pictures on my camera. We had "emptied" it shortly before we had Colin so the first picture on it was me lying on the hospital bed. A couple weeks ago with over 1400 (large filed) pictures, it finally said I was out of space. I started burning the pictures onto CDs month-by-month, so I could finally "empty" my camera out again. Tonight I uploaded all of my pictures and burnt July's pictures onto a CD. After making sure the CD burnt correctly, I finally hit the dreaded "delete all" button on my camera.

Fast forward a few hours to me uploading some pictures onto Shutterfly as I remember I haven't sent out pictures in quite some time. I am missing all the pictures I took today of Colin eating green beans and him using his new bathtub!!! :( I'm super bummed. I know it could be alot worse and I could be missing so many more precious pictures that I can never get back but it's still frustrating. I'm still hoping I can find them again somewhere on this computer since Mike and I both looked and I red-eyed them but I doubt it will happen :(

I've been slacking at blogging lately. I finally just posted Colin's 6 month letter - only almost a week late. I'm going to try to be better about it.

Colin ate "real" food today. He had Carrots and boy did he looooooooove them. So much so that he would cry whenever the spoon was not in his mouth. Mike said he is definitely our child with his love for food.

He seems to have gone through another growth spurt recently. He seems incredibly long again and lost some of his chunky thighs.

He is really start to move. He gets up me all 4s and rocks around but usually ends up falling over and just rolls or pulls himself to where he wants to go. Although, our living room isn't huge by any means, he can easily move from one end to the other within a few minutes. I'm so not ready for this yet -- nor is the house. Guess that will probably be a duty I work on while I'm on a little mini vacation from work.

Yes, that is correct. I'm off work until Friday, August 15. YAY!! I have to go to a long manager off property lunch meeting on Thursday that I have to take Colin to. I'm sure he'll love sitting in a restaurant for a few hours during his nap time. I'm hoping it will be cancelled. Other than that, I'm free from work for over a week! I can't explain how necessary this is for me. I'm excited. It should be a fun week or so filled with family, trips up north, and NO WORKING :)

One quick video of Mike greeting Colin when he got home from work. He was laughing so hard and then kind of calmed down when he saw me taping.

Dear Colin,

Today is your half birthday little man. Someday you will find half birthdays an exciting day where you will proudly proclaim that you are now "___ AND HALF YEARS OLD!!!!!" Until that day, it will just be an exciting day for me and your dad.
I think I mention this on each of my letters but I have such a hard time believing that you have been in my life for a half of a year now. It seems like a life time ago that I was lying in the hospital in labor just praying for you to get the heck out of me and finally meet your mommy and daddy. I had no clue how much you would change my entire life.
You spent your half birthday playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house with Ethan and Micah. You must have known it was a special day because like on the 4th of July and your Baptism party, you decided to go napless just so you wouldn't miss out on anything exciting. It was a fun day though. Ethan and Micah made you birthday cards and we sang Happy Birthday. It was too darn hot to bake you a cake, so we made chocolate pudding with whip cream and sprinkles and put a big candle it.
Your personality is really starting to come out. You get mad when you throw your toys off your exersaucer. You squeal with delight when daddy walks in the front door. You squint your eyes when we play peak-a-boo and open them widely when I come "back" out. You love to flirt and everyone says you are a little charmer. We call you a goofball so many times a day that I'm afraid you might think that is your name. You get angry when you eat and can't hold the spoon yourself. You are Mr. Independence lately.
Every night before daddy and I go to bed, we quietly walk into your room to get one last glimpse of you. It has quickly begun one of our favorite moments of the day. As we enter the room, we can hardly wait to see what odd position we will find you in. One night, you may have your face buried into the bumper pad while another night, we may find your tushy high up in the air. Our favorite was when you looked like you fell asleep while trying to escape from you bed.
Mostly though, we just enjoy watching our little miracle sleep, dream and grow into the most amazing little boy.

Love always,
Mommy