Mommy, Wow. I'm a Big Kid Now!!!

Colin, my mom, sister, and I came over to my house yesterday
(We had spent Friday night at their house)

because I wanted to get the desk out of the office so we could put Colin's big boy bed together.

There were way more issues with that stupid desk than anticipated.

We knew we'd have to take the top off because with it on it's too big to fit through the door.

What we thought would be a breeze turned into an hour and half long process.

A couple of the screws stripped out so we couldn't get the top off. We finally go it so that there was only one stupid screw holding on.

We were pretty much at our wits end. I even called one of our friends to see if he had a metal saw so we could just cut that stupid piece right off.

On our last ditch effort we decided to have my mom and I pull on each end and Rachel would lay down and kick from underneath...that was the trick! The darn thing popped right off!

Once that was taken care of it didn't take too long to get that moved out and the bed moved in.

Colin was so excited! He kept saying "Get that trashcan out of my bedroom".

We went back to my parents after we got the bed put together but we couldn't put the mattresses on because they didn't fit perfectly and I had to get some wooden slats to put in.

My dad and I ran to Lowe's and picked that up so when Colin and I came home last night we got it all put together.

He was so cute! He was so excited to get into his big boy bed! He changed into his PJ's immediately. It was fun to cuddle before bedtime because I could actually lay in his bed with him!! We still have some finishing touches to do in his room but at least he's able to sleep in there now!

While I was super excited yesterday to get his bed all set up it kind of depressed me a little bit last night seeing him in there. I can't believe he's not going to be in his old room anymore and that he's getting SOOOO big!!! Where the heck did my baby go?!

The Ups and Downs

Today was filled with some ups and downs.

It was actually a really good and fun day,

with some bumps along the way!!

The first down: Ryan somehow turned off the alarm. We were supposed to leave for the airport at 5. The alarm went off at 4:15. I never heard it after that. Luckily Ryan woke up at 5:15 and we left at 5:30--which is when we were originally planning on being at the airport! He made his flight though so it was all good!

The first up: Getting gas in Missouri for 30 cents cheaper than Illinois after I dropped Ryan off at the airport.

(And by the end of the day it had gone up another 10 cents in IL so I really got it FORTY cents cheaper!!)

The 2nd down: Ryan missed his connecting flight due to bad weather in Chicago. He was supposed to get into Jacksonville at 11:40 this morning and didn't get in until 4.

The 2nd up: Going to playgroup which is always a good time!

The 3rd down (and biggest, in my opinion): My poor, sweet Colin tried to JUMP off the stage and landed smack on his face. He got a bloody nose and a bloody lip. It was horrible!

Luckily he seems to be doing fine. He was really swollen at first and I made him take some Ibuprofen right away to decrease the swelling and hopefully help with pain. He's got a little line across the bridge of his nose that might turn into a bruise. I'm glad he's feeling better though. I felt SO BAD for him!!!

The 3rd up: We met Kim and Garrison at Houlihans for lunch and it was yummy! I asked Colin if he wanted to skip it since he had just got hurt but he said he still wanted to go. What a trooper!

The 4th up: After lunch Kim and Garrison came swimming with us at my parents!!

The 4th down: Belle barfed 4 or 5 times while we were swimming. Then, she went and laid in the dirt after being in the pool causing her to need an impromptu bath outside with the hose. She barfed ANOTHER 4-5 times INSIDE after her bath. Come to find out, there were 2 big chocolate bars that my mom got in England missing from her bedroom....Stupid ate them and barfed up a storm because of it. Not only did she barf all those previous times, but again in the car on the way home. Luckily I'd made her sit on a towel so most of it got on there, but not all. When we got home she was banished to the bathroom in case she threw up anymore. She never did that but she did pee about a gallon all over the floor. I was pretty much ready to get rid of her by the end of the night!

The 5th down: While all this Belle barfing was taking place at my parents house, Colin had an issue with the toilet. He didn't have an accident but wanted to wipe his own bottom and got some poop on his hand. As I was going in to clean him up, Belle barfed one of her many times. THEN, somehow about 5 minutes later Colin was covered in poop again on one of his hands. I still have no clue how this happened because the inside of his underwear was clean, but the outside of his underwear and the outside of his PJ pants were not clean...and as I went in to clean this up BELLE BARFED AGAIN!!!! I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone--My mom was cracking up at me!

Anyway, all our ups sure outweighed our downs and we really did have a good day (minus the dog--she was on my hate list for quite awhile...she's off it now though!)

And Colin was so tired on the drive home that he fell asleep in the car after eating only 1/2 his rice krispy treat!

Doesn't he look so big?!

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

We went to the Cardinals game last night and it. was. HOT!!!

Luckily my mom had a squeeze breeze (flashback to Girls Camp!) to take.

We thought we had 2 of them but one wouldn't work so we just had one.

I pretty much took control of that thing!

The game itself was great! The Cards did awesome! There were two home runs so we got to see some fireworks. Colin was excited about that!

I'm not gonna lie, there were moments I thought I was getting heat stroke. I think I drank about 3 Gatorade's during the duration of the game!

Sometimes it was hard to focus on the game because I was so hot. When we got home Ryan was laughing at me and said "There were numerous times I'd look over at you and you just looked completely miserable."

I actually did have a lot of fun though! It's always a good time at the ballpark.

I think this might be my last game of the season though. This heat is too much for me!!

Before we left for the game--I wanted a pic with my hair down!

Watching the fireworks!

I can't remember why he was plugging his ears. I think the cheering was really loud!

Walking to the car after the game--love Colin's Pujols jersey!

GO CARDS!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's been pretty busy around here lately and surprisingly I haven't been in the blogging mood.

Actually, I think I've been in a pretty grumpy mood these days. I'm hoping it's just the pregnancy hormones because I am not a fan of this seemingly constant feeling of anger/instant snapping/strong desire to cry!

Besides my irritability, things have been pretty busy!

I started work last week with orientation. I worked Mon-Wed.

It was kind of exhausting but I really enjoyed it. So far I've only done hospital and department orientation, I haven't treated anybody.

I worked today and will tomorrow and then I'm not sure about the rest of the week.

After I finish all my department orientation I'll start orienting to the different floors I'm going to work on.

On Thursday I had to go in to get my TB test checked. We decided since we were driving all the way out there Colin and I would meet Ryan for lunch. It was a lot of fun!!

On Friday Rachel came home from school! Colin was so excited to go see her!

She slept at our house that night and he had so much fun playing with her!

Here's some pictures from last week when we went to Grant's 1st Birthday party!

Colin got to do bubbles!

Colin and Eli helped open presents

There were sparklers!! Colin was scared but Ryan liked them!

Joe drew a bulls eye on the house and he and Colin threw poppers at it!

Colin loved the poppers!

Hopefully I'll be a little less grumpy this week and my desire to blog will return!

'We Love You!'

We made a big card the other day to send to Jeannie Grandma.
I got the biggest envelope I could find and then cut down poster board to fit inside it.
I wanted to get pink poster board but the closest they had was this reddish color.

Colin helped me decorate the outside

We filled the inside with a TON of pictures!!

I ran out of room and had to do an add-in!

I finished it when Colin was in bed. He was so excited when I showed it to him yesterday morning! He kept pointing to all the pictures and smiling.

Hopefully it makes Jeannie smile as much as it did Colin :)

It's Official

As of yesterday when I took
{and passed}

licensure...

I am now, officially,
a Physical Therapist Assistant!!!

I am very excited to have that behind me and to move forward with my life

sans studying!!

The last 2 years have actually gone by really quickly and I can't believe it's actually over!

I think I'll actually be a little bit sad when the middle of August rolls around and I'm not going to class! However, I'm sure I'll have plenty to keep me busy between working PRN and Colin and getting ready for the baby :)

And yes,
I did get my hair cut today...
It's a little shorter than I was anticipating but I think I like it!

Since we had the camera out we decided to take a pregnancy photo:

31 weeks (only 9 more to go--hallelujah!!)

A Helping Hand

These pictures are from last month. Ryan was sanding down the bed for Colin's new room so we can paint it red. Colin was a good little helper!

The bed's all sanded now and ready for some paint.

I hope to get on that this week or next!

Finally...

Got started on Colin's room!

We've had the paint for almost a month now but things have been pretty busy.

Ryan's been working a ton and he usually has to do more when he gets home so that hasn't given him too much free time.

Then on the weekends we're either too tired or we want to swim!

Ryan did two walls pretty quickly yesterday so hopefully we {I say 'we' but I really mean him!} can get the rest finished soon!

Ryan has given me and my mom the okay to paint the bed. Don't know when we'll do that but maybe we can after my licensure test on Wednesday!

Colin helped a little bit yesterday! He was so excited :)

Here's something that never happens: He fell asleep on the couch watching a movie! We had to wake him up after an hour because my Mom and brother came over for dinner!

El Sicko

Poor Colin has a fever today :(

He woke up last night around 11:45 screaming and crying because he needed to go to the bathroom.

I think he may have started in his pants and woke up.

Nothing went through to his clothes though.

When we were putting him back in bed I felt his head and realized that he was HOT!!!

We weren't sure if it was an actual fever or if his body was just warm since he insists on wearing wintertime pajamas to bed. We used 3 different thermometers (using his forehead, armpit, and under his tongue). They were all coming out around 103.5.

We gave him some Motrin and I stayed in there with him for awhile.

He was actually really funny. He was very bossy and said things extremely matter-of-factly!

He wasn't happy that we wanted to take his temperature and at one point stuck his head underneath his pillow and exclaimed "I'm going to sleep."

He woke up again at about 5:30 this morning--once again saying he needed to go potty.

He walked into the bathroom, turned the light on, and exclaimed:

"It's sunny in here. Colin needs sunglasses!"

His temp was still around 103 so I gave him more Motrin and put the cool washcloth on his forehead again. When I did that he was like "Colin's going to sleep. That will fall off my head."

I told him he could just wear it for a little while while I cuddled with him and I'd take it off before I went back to bed.

He was pretty energetic this morning and has said numerous times that nothing hurts (ie: ears, teeth, throat). He started getting really lethargic around 9:30 or 10 and has been that way ever since. Around 10:30 he said he wanted to go lay in my bed and wanted me to come with him. So we took a nap together for about 2 hours. Right now he's eating some lunch and watching Robin Hood. I bet he'll probably take an afternoon nap too. I hope he starts feeling better and that his fever goes away! I hate it when he's sick!!

***

Here's a couple pictures from yesterday:

We babysat a couple of his friends. While the youngest was taking a nap Colin and Daisy watched 'Cinderella'. I thought it was so cute how they cuddled together on the couch!

It rained quite a bit last night and there was a little bunny hiding underneath Colin's toy to stay out of the rain. It was adorable!

Rewind

I never posted pictures from Nolan's birthday party last month.

It was a lot of fun. The forecast said it was going to rain but everything cleared up before the party and we ended up having sunshine!

His cake--so yummy!

The Birthday Boy!

Allison, Stephen, and Nolan

Nolan wasn't too into opening presents. Colin, however, had no problem stepping up to the job! I was afraid he'd think they were his presents since he was opening them but he was really good about handing them to Nolan once he opened them!

He wasted no time breaking that shovel in!

{It required a shoe change!}

"Biciscles"

Colin's been doing so great riding his bike! By the first night he had it down pat and has been riding around in our kitchen when it's too hot to go outside (blame it on the pregnancy)! Last week we took a walk as a family to the elementary school in our neighborhood and Colin rode the entire way!

Ryan was super excited about Colin's new bike and he decided he wanted to get one too so he could go on bike rides with Colin. On Saturday night Ryan and I ran up to Target to purchase him his very own bicycle! He was like a kid in a candy store--he rode that thing out of Target and all the way to the car!

On Sunday before church Ryan and Colin took their very first bike ride together. Ryan later told me that Colin fell down and scraped his elbow. He immediately told Ryan he was fine and got back on his bike. Then he started saying a prayer and asked that they would be safe on the rest of their bike ride. What a cutey-pie!!!

These pics are from tonight after Ryan got home from work

Happy 4th!!!

We had such a fun 4th of July this year!! My parents were out of town so we decided to use their house for a BBQ and pool party! We were a little bit nervous that the weather wouldn't cooperate because last night it said there was an 80% chance of rain today. Luckily, it pretty much got out of the system this morning and started getting nice around noon. Lucky us!!

We had a TON of food! I wanted terriyaki chicken, Ryan wanted cheeseburgers, and our friends brought some hot dogs too. I tried every single thing and let me tell you, Ryan was a GREAT griller! We also had chips, watermelon, apple/snickers salad, 5 cup salad, broccoli salad, -plus-
homemade ice cream cookie sandwiches, and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. It was a total feast!!!

I had had visions of getting a ton of great pictures and I unfortunately failed! I did get a few pics but I wasn't even close to getting everyone that came. Maybe I'll be better next time!

Kim and Garrison hanging by the pool

Daddy caught a fish!! (aka: Colin in a life jacket)

Swimming

Mike was trying to get Colin's hair wet!

Uncle Jason came home for the weekend!!

Colin borrowed Garrison's floaty and LOVED it!! He rode around in that thing for hours!!! It appears we need to invest in one of those! It was really nice for him to get around wherever he wanted to without anyone holding onto him!!

We didn't go anywhere to watch fireworks tonight because we were too pooped but we were able to see some from the street.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the Peterson's or Lake's who also came...epic fail on my part!!

We're so glad we were able to have such a fun day celebrating with friends and family! It was an awesome 4th of July!! Hope everyone else's was as well!