Colin is 4 months old!

My sweet boy is 4 months old!  (or was 2 1/2 months ago from when I am writing this)  He is a joy as always!  This past month has brought some big sleep changes.  I love seeing him grow and develop each month.  It is so bittersweet knowing that each month that passes, we are another month closer to never having a baby in our house again.  I absolutely adore getting to know his personality more and watching him discover new things!

The main change this month is that Colin started rolling around in his swaddle.  I knew that I had to do something so out came the zipadeezip.  He started sleeping on his stomach.  It terrified me at first but I watched him really well during naps for a few days and then transitioned to the nighttime.  He has done really well.  Poor guy has to wear Chloe's zipadeezips but he sure still looks manly and cute in the pink!

He continues to get better at tummy time and we even tried out the bumbo a little. 

...and so did Chloe :)

Colin went to his first wedding this month too- Ashley and Sean's wedding in Bryan.

Colin is now a lover of bathtime.  If he is ever fussy in the evenings, we just bathe him and he is as happy as can be!

He is definitely growing.  Here are his latest stats at 4 months, 20 days-
Length- 26.6 in (85%)
Weight- 17 lbs 14.5 oz (84%)

Chloe now exclusively calls Colin, Buddy Boy.  I just love hearing her talk to him!

These next two pictures are some of my favorites-

I gave poor Colin Bill's junior high hairdo one night after bath.  I don't think that it will be a keeper!

Everyone in this house is over the moon for our boy.  He is just the sweetest!  We love you Colin!

1st day of 1st grade

Avery started 1st grade just a few weeks ago.  It was so bittersweet sending her back to school.  She was so excited and ready to start back, and I was equally excited for her.  This summer was wonderful but exhausting.  We were all ready for some routine in our lives!  

Her teacher, Mrs. Grimes, sent the kids home with a letter to be opened the night before school started.  Avery was about to jump out of her skin with excited about opening the letter.  It contained some confetti to place under her pillow to help her sleep.

Opening the letter

 The next morning, Avery was awake and ready by about 7:05am.  She told me that the confetti had in fact, not worked, and she was just so excited that she couldn't hardly sleep at all!

This is the second year that I made a pancake in the shape of the grade she is starting.  You may notice that the 1 is backwards because I forgot that once you flip it, it is backwards!  My sharp mind at 7am failed to remember that I could simply turn it upside down.  Oh well!  Avery told me that she usually does her 1's backwards anyway so she loved it like that.

It was such a better feeling dropping her off this year vs. last year.  She knew several friends in her class and was so ready to get back to school.  I was way more emotionally stable this year too :).

Once we got home, Chloe wanted some one on one time with her brother.

I feel like Chloe probably gets the least of my attention sometimes so I wanted to do something fun with her before her school started.  We went to the new Artragious painting place in the village center.  She selected an owl and carefully painted it.  And by carefully painted it I mean that she painted its head about 30 times with different colors.  It is definitely a beauty!

After lunch, we braved the rain and got some ice cream.  

Somehow all of the stars aligned and both kids decided to nap at the same time!  Such a wonderful gift for the first day of school.  I woke them up with plenty of time to head to the bus stop to get Avery.  I decided to let her ride home this year since she begged all last year. 

I think the bus ride may have been the highlight of her day!

Annual cookie cake

 Avery told me that "1st grade is a blast!"  The girls snuggled a bit before dinner.  They definitely missed being around each other all day.

I think it's going to be a great year!

10th anniversary trip!

During the week of our tenth anniversary, Billy had to go to Colorado for work.  He came up with the brilliant idea of me and Colin joining him after he finished.  After a summer with lots of family togetherness, I was ready to get away from the heat and craziness.

I had never flown with a child before.  I was a little nervous but since Colin is so chill, I hoped for the best.  

My little travel buddy!

We took a little break to nurse in the United Club's shower room. 

Unfortunately, Colin wasn't taking a bottle so I was really nervous about nursing next to a complete stranger on the plane.  Thankfully, a woman was next to me and was really sweet about everything.

Colin slept almost the entire flight.  He did so well.  What a great start to the vacation!

After being in close to 100 degree heat for several months, the slightly cooler air and mountains were a great change.  We were giddy to be away enjoying our time together. 

We stopped in Idaho Springs on the way to Winter Park.  They have this amazing pizza place there that we went to years ago with my family.

It was such a fun little town.  We did some shopping before heading to Winter Park.

We got an amazing deal on a penthouse two bedroom suite at the Zephyr Lodge.  

The next day, we drove near Rocky Mountain National Park to do some hiking and saw this little guy along our way.

It was absolutely amazing to be outside getting exercise, seeing the sites, and not sweating!

Colin was such a champ just going along for the ride.

That night we walked around Winter Park before dinner.  Everything closes down really early during the summer.  It was so bizarre seeing the majority of the shops closed at 6pm.

The Starbucks closed around 3pm.  So strange. 

On our last full day, we drove to Breckenridge.  It was our anniversary so I had to get a shot of the date in our car!

We decided that we would definitely need to return with my whole family.  It was such a fun town.  We did some light shopping before lunch.  Of course, we had to go in the Christmas store.

We went to this fun steak and seafood place that night called Strip and Tail for our anniversary dinner.  

Billy teased me about how much eating we were doing and how he never felt hungry the entire trip.  That's all part of the fun of vacations!

The next morning it was back to the airport (and reality).  

It was such a great trip and a welcomed escape before school picked back up.  I can't believe we have been married for ten years.  What a great choice I made all those years ago!