Football Days

There's nothing better than a Sunday filled with football games, friends, family and yummy snacks. We've so been looking forward to these lazy days and are so happy they've finally arrived.

Peek-A-Boo I see you!

One of Hauser and Ashley's favorite games...peek-a-boo. All I can say is this dog has some serious patience and love for Ashley.

Ladies Man

Colin is finally big enough to start wearing his big boy outfits. We decided to wear the first one on Thursday since it was the first day of my bible study. He comes with me to the study so he was quite the ladies man with the 200+ women that were there.

Sister + Brother = LoVe

I don't think I need to say much about these pictures. Ashley loves Colin to pieces and you can tell he's starting to feel the same way. Every time she talks he turns his head looking for her and once he finds her nothing can distract him from watching his sis.

Smooches and Smiles

The last two days were sort of a hormonal hurricane for me, lots of silly crying and just feeling down in the dumps. Today felt like a fresh start with a brand new attitude from the moment my feet hit the floor. Everything went smoothly this morning while I fed the little mouths and myself (there was no breakfast or lunch for me yesterday so having breakfast today already felt like a little victory). I felt like I was back in the groove and could actually handle life.

While Ashley was coloring before lunch I was giving Colin some extra love and went in for an Eskimo kiss and when I pulled back to look at him he flashed the cutest smile. My little guy's first smile!! I'm so happy I was there to see it and that he did it just for me. About an hour later I gave him a kiss on the lips and he shared another huge grin. I'm so happy my kisses make him want to smile. Today is a good day, a really, really good day!

First Day of Football

Colin woke up this morning so excited. He said, "Mommy, mommy, do you know what today is? The start of FOOTBALL!! Please dress me appropriately." Of course I agreed to his request and had to take pictures;-) Towards the end of my picture taking I think he started to think to himself, "WOW! My mom is crazy! How many pictures can she take??" you can kind of tell by the look in his eyes on the last picture.

Hanging out in his favorite spot

This is probably Colin's favorite thing to do...camping out on my chest. He'll start off with his eyes wide open trying to look up at me and eventually he'll fall asleep.

Sibling Love

Just a morning watching cartoons while mom makes breakfast and Ash wanted to hold her brother.

Another sleepy bath

This time he fell asleep within 5 seconds of being in the water. Ashley was there to help me since it's kind of hard to give a sleeping newborn a bath.

Happy 1 month Birthday Colin Boy

Colin,

Happy Birthday buddy. I can't believe you've been in this world for a month, how time flies when you're busy falling in love. I am reminded of the miracle you are each morning that I wake up and spend time gazing into your eyes. I'm still in awe of the fact that you were growing in my belly just a few weeks ago. You are a miracle and such a gift to our family. You are loved more than words can describe.

Since you've been born you have loved to be with me, your mama. You love to just be held, to snuggle on my chest or to cuddle in my arms. I'm a huge fan of this obsession you have with me :-) We've spent countless nights having conversations, where I do most of the talking, we talk about the gift that you are, the joy you bring our family, the love that we have for you and my promise to always love you, always be there for you and to be the best mom I know how to be for you and your sister. We talk about the fun times we will have in the near future and the distant future and the milestones we'll get to celebrate as a family. I say "we" have these conversations because I know you're listening as you stare at me with your beautiful eyes. I know they say babies only have a short term memory but if by chance you can soak up what I'm saying and remember it tomorrow, a week from now or years from now I'm going to take the time to tell you these things over and over because I never want you to forget how much I love you.

It's only been a month but I can't imagine life without you and I know your dad and sister feel the same way. Daddy loves to stare at you each morning while you sleep and he always whispers something sweet to you before he leaves for work. When Daddy comes home he's anxious to hold you and to just be with his boy. He's already talking about the days when you two can play ball, surf together and just do "guy stuff" together. He adores you.

Your sister is smitten with you. She races to your bassinet every morning to just gaze at you while you sleep and she's the first one to run a binky to you if you're crying. Ashley loves to sing songs to you about anything and everything. She loves to hold your hand and tells you many times each day that she loves you and thinks you're so cute. She loves you from your head to your toes and has told you countless times. Ash is already asking when you'll be big enough to play with her outside or old enough for her to teach you to crawl and walk. I can't wait for you to see and realize the joy on her face when she talks about you. She is one proud sister. She tells everyone we meet all about her little brother and proudly tells them your name is Colin. She is your sister and will be your buddy for life, you are so lucky.

Hauser loves you too. He is always near me trying to check things out if you are crying or upset and he loves to just watch you while you swing back and forth in the swing. If you wake up crying in the middle of the night Hauser comes running from Ashley's room to see if you are ok. He is another friend that can't wait to play with you.

You don't have too many tricks yet but you do love to lift your head. You've been lifting your head up since the night you were born- Dad and I have decided that you are a strong little guy. Once we got past your first real bath you decided it's not such a bad thing, in fact, you seem to like to snooze while you soak in the tub- it's pretty funny. You sleep with your hands in a fist and your thumbs tucked inside just like Ashley and I do. You have been so good to me by deciding to sleep through the night at 3 weeks old...THANK YOU! You are such a happy baby, you don't make a peep unless you're wanting to feel someone's arms wrapped around you and the moment you are in those arms silence comes over you.

We are all head over heals in love with you and it's only been a month! I can't wait to watch you grow as time goes on (just promise me you wont grow up too fast) and to learn even more about you.

I love you Colin Peter Brick.
Love
Mommy

PS This is the song that Ashley loves to sing to you when you're just waking up. One day we were goofing around singing a song to the tune of Jason Mraz's song Lucky and she hasn't forgotten a word since.

Colin can you hear me,
I'm talking to you,
Across the water,
Across the deep blue ocean,
Under the open sky,
Oh my, Colin I love you.

Blessed

This weekend we didn't have a vacation planned, there were no big plans, we just kept it simple and stayed home. We had some things to exchange for Colin so we had a free "shopping spree" which was fun and even more fun because it was free! But this weekend I realized just how blessed I am.

When I think of this family of five that I have I just want to cry because I am so grateful and don't know what I did to get so lucky to have these people and this dog in my life.

I wake up each morning to my husband cuddling with me in bed, I get to feed my son and just stare into his eyes while mine actually wake up and start to focus. Then Colin and I spend some time cuddling and the fact that he finds so much contentment cuddling with his mom makes me so grateful. The fact that I am a source of comfort and safety to him by just holding him definitely makes me feel like I have a purpose. Then Jason leaves for work saying goodbye to all of us with kisses, hugs and whispers goodbye.

I then get to enjoy a day at home with the kids and Hauser. I'm greeted with hugs and kisses from Ashley every morning and she reminds me every day that she thinks I'm "the best" or she loves me "sooooo much". She loves just being with me, even if it's just to watch me make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich she wants to be by my side while I do it and she'll tell me how I've done such a great job or that I make the best sandwiches (it's a small thing but it matters to me). Of course, there is nothing I love more than when Ashley asks if I will cuddle with her. I know one day she isn't going to be so fond of cuddling with me so I'm soaking up these cuddles while I've got them.

With Colin, he can cry but the moment I pick him up he stops and it's as good as him saying, "I love you mom". The occasional unintentional smiles that he flashes make me smile and make me look forward to the day when he will intentionally smile at me. He requires a lot of work but none of it feels like a chore because he's just so sweet.

Then there's Hauser. He loves me and I don't know why. Jason is the fun one when it comes to play time with Hauser and Jason does all the doggy chores, but, for some reason Hauser still loves me. When I'm washing dishes he'll come in the kitchen and just sit on my feet, he'll sit on the floor in front of me while I'm on the couch or rest his head on my lap. He loves my kids and lets them get away with anything because he loves them so much. Ashley was playing "peek-a-boo" with him last night and the two of them were under a blanket for almost half an hour and he didn't ever try to get out because he loved being with Ashley. When Colin is in his swing, Hauser is there at Colin's feet just watching him and if he starts to cry Hauser will sit up and wait for me to take care of Colin. I feel like he is the male version of the dog nana in Peter Pan, I don't think he could get any better.

Today Ashley asked to hold her brother and while she did she marveled at his tiny fingers, she tickled his chin and counted his toes and said over and over how much she loved him. If he started to fuss she'd say, "shhhhh, it's alright buddy, it's ok" and give him his binky. While I watched her with him I was reminded of my friend who said when she walks into her kids' room there is just so much love in there she can feel it. Well, while watching Ashley with Colin I felt like I was staring at a big heap of love. There are no words to describe how much I love them, there is no measurement or calculator to determine the amount of love, it's indescribable and something you can only feel and I am so blessed to know that feeling.

I'm even luckier that I get to be with these kids each day. There are some sacrifices that are made: we don't have lavish vacations, I don't have designer clothes or mounds of jewelry but this weekend I was reminded that none of that could replace the rewards and love that I get from my family. When we were shopping this weekend my heart didn't ache because I couldn't buy clothes for myself even though I'm sick of wearing the same things I've worn for the last nine months but I know my heart would ache if I had to give up time with my family. The fact that I don't have to make that sacrifice leaves me feeling more than blessed.

Loving his binky

Colin's bath ROUND TWO

I found myself grinding my teeth at the thought of giving Colin a bath today, I hate hearing babies scream and scream, it makes me so sad and I just want to make things better for them so they can be happy. As I put Colin in the water he started to cry again, I was wondering if this was really going to be my life for the next few months because it was making me prefer a dirty baby over a clean baby (how sad is that?). Then, I heard it...silence. There was no smile or joyous expression on his face, oh no, he was asleep! He slept through his entire bath! LOL I'd say that's a huge improvement from bath #1.

Hauser and walks

Hauser is really great when we take him for walks, he heels well, he doesn't chase after other dogs and he doesn't bark. I have to admit after we go for walks he makes me laugh because he pants so much you would think we just ran a marathon and we know that's not going on at this house. He's also figured out that he can catch a nice breeze if he sits in front of the fan downstairs, I think it's his new favorite spot to hang out.

Little Miss Genius

I have to brag about my little girl. Yesterday while I was making dinner she was painting and asked me how to spell Colin's name. I asked why and she said because she was painting her whole family. I decided to get a sneak peak and I was shocked at what I saw. She had spelled DAD, MOM and ASHLEY with a paint brush all on her own. I was so impressed that she really remembered how to spell everything without some prompting from mom. I was also impressed that she could do it with a paintbrush and watercolors, I'm not sure I could make it look any better than her.

Colin's first tub bath

Colin's belly button finally looked ready for a real bath and I was so excited. I remember Ashley just loved her baths, it was so fun to watch her soak in the water and bubbles.

Well...this is one area Colin is not following in the footsteps of his sister. He hated it! He screamed with all his might the ENTIRE time, so much so that he was turning purple. NOT FUN!

I think Colin's favorite part of bath time is when he's all lotioned up and in his jammies.