Gymrompers and MOPS

Wow this has been quite a busy week for us! Wednesday Colby started back to Gymrompers! I was really excited because he had so much fun over the summer and learned so much! He seemed to be really excited to be back as well. He seemed more confident and wanted to try new things. He also as always was very attentive during the circle time portion. He is always the only one that sits and participates! I hope that is a sign of things to come when he starts school! Right now he is just so excited to learn and I love that! Austin got to go with us since he was off all week. I think he also enjoys seeing Colby have fun there! There was only 1 other little girl though in his class which was dissapointing! I figured it would be a bigger crowd being in the fall and all when older siblings are back in school. I talked to the teacher and we may switch him to the Tuesday class if more kids don't show up. I wouldn't mind at all. They said there were 5 or more in the Tuesday class. So if our Wednesdays opened back up we would start going to the library again! Which would be good! I really enjoyed the story time too.

Thursday was MOPS for Colby and I! I think we both had a great time! I have heard such great things about it. Colby did fine being dropped off...he kinda wanted to cry when he could tell he was being left but I got his sippy cup out and he went and sat in the teacher's lap and started playing. They said he did really well too. He was crying when I got there but I think it was b/c other kids were crying and some were already being picked up so I'm sure he saw other mommies and wondered where his was. I enjoyed my part though meeting other moms and just having a couple hours of adult conversation! I think it will be good for him and I. I think it will make being a stay at home mom easier knowing that I have something to look forward to. I really liked my group I got paired with. Hopefully I will form some lasting friendships here. I am really glad about Colby getting a preschool type experience. Even though he stays in the nursery at church he is often the only child. And next year I think I am going to place him in Mother's Day Out twice a week so this is kind of a warm up to that! I just can't believe my little baby is so big! Well the pictures included are from Gymrompers and MOPS!

now and then....

The top picture is Colby all ready for the first USM game this year and the bottom picture was Colby dressed up for the first game of the season last year! Hard to believe how much he has grown!

Football + Family = Great Weekend

So this weekend we headed up to Hattiesburg for some college football. It was the first USM home game. We drove up early Saturday morning. When we arrived we went by Austin's parents first thing to drop Allie (dog) off and to visit and eat lunch. We had a good time. Colby was a ham ofcourse. He showed them how much he loves to eat strawberries and even walked a little bit for them. After that we went to the apartment to chill out some before the game. I think we all took naps. We had planned to bring Colby to the game. This would be his first college football game and we were very excited. But at the last minute it looked like rain and we decided to leave him home with his 2 grandmas. In the end we figured he would have more fun this way too. Plus he was already tired due to the car ride and already busy day. So Austin, myself, and our two dads went to the game. We still had a lot of fun. USM won by a lot....they were 52-0 before the 4th quarter even ended so we left early. It was fun though. I like football but I have to say I do get a little antsy sitting there after 2 hours.

The next day (Sunday) we got up and drove to Waynesboro which is where my dad is from. We were going to go to church with all his family then go out to eat. We figured we would just bring Colby in church with us...I didn't know about putting him in a unfamiliar nursery. I am sure he would have done fine but since the whole family was in church I kinda wanted him there too. Plus he is always in the nursery at home so I thought it would be nice for him to sit with us in church. WELL THAT DID NOT LAST LONG AT ALL! He was antsy from the beginning but was beginning to calm down during the music. So I figured well maybe he would go to sleep. That is what he used to do anyway. Well he just started crying and pitching a fit. I know he was in a bad mood though already b/c he was up a lot earlier then normal plus he sat in the car for an hour and sitting in someone's lap during church was not what he felt like at all. So Austin and I took him out and were going to sit outside the sanctuary with him. Well he was sitting in my lap about to go to sleep and all of a sudden I felt something warm. Yes he peed everywhere! All over me all over him and ofcourse none of us have a change of clothes and we are an hour away from the apartment! Yea fun times. So we quickly ran into a bathroom and blotted my skirt dry and then took him out to the truck and changed his diaper and put his pants in the back of Austin's truck to dry. By the time church was out they were dry thank goodness so we got him dressed again and headed to the restaurant. At the restaurant he was pretty good but again I never feel like I fully get to enjoy myself. Much less did I really get to visit with anyone which is a shame b/c 3 of my cousins were there. We did get to talk to them a little at the end I just wish we all lived closer and could hang out with them. Well after lunch we headed back to the apartment and again we all took naps. We were all exausted...well Colby was a little wound up but eventually went to sleep. After relaxing we got dinner and just hung out visiting with my parents and austin's parents then all went for a walk. It was quite a fun trip but tiring! We have several more USM games to go this season so it will be a busy fall! But that's all for now!

BUGS and more BUGS!

Austin was off Friday so we decided to take Colby to the bug museum. We had also never been ourselves. So we headed out bright and early to take this trip. We have been wanting to take Colby somewhere fun for quite a few weeks. Anyway we got there and it was pretty crowded. There was a middle school in front of us so they had the place pretty packed. We were able to scoot around finally though and move away from them. I think Colby enjoyed the outing. He loves being walked around in his stroller. I made the mistake though of giving him his sippy cup when we got in. I thought he would be hot and thirsty since we had to park a few blocks away and walk in. Plus he is weaning off the morning bottle so I figured he would want a little drink. Well little did I know that this started a battle throughout the whole museum. He wanted only to hold onto his "big boy" cup. I am glad he is getting so attached to the cup in some ways so hopefully it means taking the bottle away will be easier. But right now he pretty much only downs juice. He won't really do milk in the cup. Maybe one day when he's really thirsty I dunno. I haven't tried weaning him off completely yet. Well needless to say he held the cup the whole time. I don't think he noticed too many of the bugs though since they are so small. He enjoyed though when we would let him out of the stroller and he could "touch" things. His favorite part of the trip was the butterfly room. I have to say it was my favorite too. They have about 400 butterflies flying around and flowers and plants and even a little pond. Its a very cool place. He was very curious I think with the flying butterflies and he has always loved flowers so this was right up his alley! We took him into the cafe at the end and he had a snack of goldfish. They have bugs to sample but Austin was the only brave one to try that! Maybe when Colby is a little older he will be adventurous also!

Afterwards we took Colby to McAlister's. And man was he a pill. He sometimes is really good in restaurants and other times he wants no part of it! Well this day he wanted nothing to do with it. I think he was so tired from all the bug fun though. We ordered him Mac n cheese off the kids menu (which most of the time he loves) but it was a struggle to get that in him then he didn't want their applesauce at all. Well this left a very frustrated mommy. These days I don't think eating out is really worth it b/c I don't feel like I get to enjoy it. I feel like I scarf down my food while trying to keep a 1 year old fed and happy at the same time! This is why I would just rather eat in! much easier! If Colby pitches a fit its ok or we can let him play or sleep while we eat! Maybe one day eating out will be fun again haha!

Is it Fall Already?

Wow I can't believe that it is that time of year again. School staring back up, cooler weather, and Halloween quickly coming well in a couple months! Well this week we have been blessed with some beautiful weather. It was great especially after several rainy, muggy days! It was actually even cool some mornings which is very weird for August. Sometimes God just chooses to bless us by surprise!

Well this has been a good week with the pretty weather. It hasn't been too busy either which has been nice. It began on Monday with Austin, Colby, and I eating lunch and swimming at my parent's house. Randall also joined us which was nice. It had been awhile since we had really had a "family" lunch over there so it was nice. I know my parents enjoyed having all their kids there. As always Colby had a blast. He loves playing with his grandparents and he LOVES the pool! That evening we ended the day by driving down to the Lake and taking a walk...Colby has never been out there I think he really liked seeing the water. Its a great place to go and walk I don't know why we don't do it more often. There are so many great places in New Orleans that we don't take advantage of often enough! Well on to Tuesday. Tuesday Austin went to play golf so Colby and I just hung out at the house. Wednesday was library day. Now that we have a break from Gymrompers Colby and I go to infant/toddler storytime on Wednesdays. Its actually pretty fun. Its pretty short but it gets us out of the house and Colby gets to see and interact with some other kids. We have kinda made a friend there too. Thursday and Friday were also just stay at home days for us. It sounds boring but I am never bored with Colby! He keeps me on my toes! He is constantly on the move! Its a good thing he sleeps well at night and takes a 3 hour nap or I would lose my mind! But it is fun to watch him learn and discover new things! Today we got his Halloween costume in...I had ordered it a couple of weeks ago. I don't know why I did so early but I got excited when I saw all the Halloween stuff coming out in stores. I guess since Colby was so young last year we didn't buy a costume. He had an outfit but not an actual costume. So we got it in today! He is going to be a dinosaur! Its so cute! I think he really liked it too! He looked like a big stuffed animal! So fun now I can't wait to take him around the neighborhood!

Tonight I had a Sunday School meeting at church so Austin got to spend time with Colby! I think they had fun its always good for them to get to do this since I spend SO much time with Colby its good for him just to have his daddy every now and then! The meeting at church went well! I am really excited about all that God has in store for our church. Its been a rough past couple of months I just hope we can start a new year fresh and hopefully get a lot of new people in! Colby will be promoting to the 1 year old or toddler class. I am glad that he will now have new teachers instead of just his mommy but I have to say I will miss him. I didn't think I would ever want to "teach" my own child but it really was fun! He has done really well too...I thought he would always be really clingy to me but he wasn't he always let me tend to other kids if I needed to which was good! But now he is a big boy so he will be in a new class and I will be split between the pre-toddlers or creepers and the 3's. My heart is really with the babies but I am filling in with the 3's until they can find someone else or I get some children in my class. Right now we have no kids that age. So I might be waiting until Cade promotes. He is only 3 months now so it will be awhile. Maybe by January? Anyway I know God will place me where I need to be for the time being and will use me wherever I am needed! I just feel like I do better with the babies right now since that is what I am used to! Who knows though! Well I better close for tonight! I have included some pictures though of my little dino!

5 Little Blessings

Wow God answers prayers when we least expect it! Well we have been praying for a few weeks that there would be so more children Colby's age come to church. When he was a baby there were 4 in the baby room. He had 3 little friends. His closest Cameron and Blake both just moved. This left us very sad and dissapointed that there was no one else Colby's age at church. Since he does not go to daycare church and Sunday school are really the only chance he gets to play with other children and associate with other adults outside family. Lately its just been Colby and I. I teach the creeper/toddler class.

This week I have been a little discouraged about everything. We worked very hard to create this class and get the room in shape! I love our little room and I just always wanted some children back there to get to enjoy it! Well my mom has also been praying. In fact she goes to WMU at our church and they do a prayer walk around the church. Well my mom has been going in our room and praying for a room full of children. Well wouldn't you know God answered that prayer today. We had 4 other children other then Colby. It was wonderful. I know Cameron won't be back every week but I sure hope the others come back and that we get more!

It was tiring and hectic but I really enjoyed it. My heart is really with the babies right now. I love this age I guess since I have one and I feel like I can be very effective since I have the experience of dealing with a toddler on a daily basis. I was also very proud of Colby...he wasn't clingy to me at all! I was able to help the other children and even hold them if they were upset and it didn't bother him! Shows my little man is growing up! He played very hard today and enjoyed every minute of it! I know it was good for him to experience this type of situation b/c I am thinking of putting him in Mother's Day Out next year. We also went out to eat afterwards and again he was very good. All in all it has been a wonderful day! Not to mention the weather is gorgeous! I just wish we had time to take Colby to the zoo or something. We will probably take him outside this afternoon though and play or take a walk! I didn't bring my camera today to get a picture of all the kids. I sure wish I would have because at one point they were all sitting in chairs at the table eating a snack like big boys and girls. Colby has never done that before and I thought it was so cute. He was sitting in a little chair at a table like a little person! Well thats all for now but I will post a picture of Colby from last year and this week just to show how much he has grown up!

Just another day in paradise

Well I guess its all just in a day's work for a housewife and a homeowner. These last 2 weeks we have had to call like 3 repairmen out! It seems like when 1 thing breaks a string of things break afterwards. Anyway so first it began with our dishwasher. The handle broke so we had to call Sears to send someone out...you wouldn't believe how expensive it is! Next time we said we will just buy a new one! Then our lock on our front door broke so we had those guys come out and fix it. Again very expensive for 5 minutes of work! Next we notice one of our BRAND NEW WINDOWS is cracked so we had to call them and they are in the process or ordering a new window for our front office. Crazy! Well now to top it off our ac started leaking yesterday so we called the ac repairman and they came out today. Said the thing was just clogged hopefully that is all for now! We have had our string of things happening lately! I am not too upset about it though b/c I have to put it in perspective of least we have all these things that can break, atleast we live in a nice house in a safe neighborhood, and atleast we can call repairmen out to fix it!

Not much else going on this week. I got a haircut today so my parents kept Colby from like 9-12 basically like grandparent preschool! He had a blast though they took him swimming. He was also very tired when we got home which was nice for mommy b/c I was able to put him down for his nap right away so basically I get off easy today I will just have him for a couple hours this afternoon before Austin gets off work. We are having redbeans tonight. Colby loves redbeans...that's right my lil cajun baby! Other then that we plan on just hanging out at home like we did yesterday! Oh and the pictures at the top just show Colby on a regular day at home!