Colin is 2 - a photoshoot

i did not get these photos done right when Colin turned 2, so the shoot was juggled in during some time i had alone with the 2 babies.  if i was only gonna have one boy, i'm sure glad it was this one.  he is fun, sweet, and so happy.  right now he is totally into Superman, but he wasn't that excited to rip off his dress shirt to reveal his secret identity.  but he loved posing with his doggy, and his favorite "daddy bear".  all in all we had some fun. 

Colin,

it is so much fun being your mom.  you are sweet, rambunctious, curious, rowdy, and just so much fun.  your sisters adore you almost as much as dad and I do.  you are a great big brother, and love giving kisses to your sweet baby Zoe.  Dad is so excited that he has a buddy to play football with, catch, and golf.  and you are my favorite snuggle buddy.  thank you for being such a fun loving and happy son!

love,
Mom

California weekend!

 can you believe i traveled to California with my 4 kids at 8 months pregnant to celebrate my sister's graduation from her Master's program, and I didn't take a picture with my sister?  (sorry Ash, we really did come to see you.)  

but the star of this blog post is the beach.  we love our beach time, and the two days we were able to spend were glorious.  the weather was awesome, the kids entertained, the company wonderful (thanks mom, dad, Austin and Holly), and we even saw dolphins.  in a word, our weekend was perfection!

Daddy was jealous of our beach time.  he would be so proud of his little groms. 

the weekend was full of celebrations.  Friday was dedicated to Ashy's graduation  the kids are so excited that she is a teacher, they gave her a whole bag of Smarties!  

Saturday was a birthday party for this guy.

his Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles spoiled him with cars, trucks, and superheros.  and we even got a sneak peek at the new Aquabats season!  thanks for a great weekend California!

Colin is 2!

i love taking a little snapshot of my kids on the eve of their birthdays.  usually, they are fresh from the bath, and we take a second as a family to think about what a great year it's been and how FAST the time has gone.  this time, the girls realized this is their ONLY brother, so this is the last time they will say goodnight to a 1 year old brother.  (have to admit, that got me a little teary).

 these girls love their baby brother so much, i think sometimes he feels like it's a little too much!

 here he is shouting"i'm one", i think it's going to take a while to teach him a new age!

 the next morning, he woke up a brand new 2 year old!  (notice the crossed two fingers, he can't really seperate them, and when he does he says, "west-side" instead of "two")  

 we had a fun time putting together our little family birthday party.  i took the girls to the dollar section of Target, and picked up a cake, keeping everything very low key.  unfortunately, the bakery had their big book of cakes open to the Superman section, and i found out how very into Superman our little guy really is!  they could not put anything Superman on the cake with such short notice, so we settled for the traditional "Happy Birthday Colin." (and I took the pic after i started cutting, doh!)

 the girls hit it out of the park in the gift-giving department.  Anna gave him this glowing bouncing ball:

 Avery chose a rad motorcycle:

 and Madeline filled in the Superman gear with some coloring pages (combining 2 of Colin's favorite things):

 this was one happy birthday boy!!!

Colin,

How are you already 2???  we have been so blessed to welcome a son into our family.  you are growing up so fast, and it doesn't help that you are in the 100 percentile for height.  you are ALWAYS happy, and the friendliest kid in town.  someone at church (i can't remember who) calls you the Mayor, because walking down the hall you say "Hi" to everyone, and usually remember everyone's name.  around town you are no different, but since you don't know the names you just shout out, "hi Friend!" to everyone you see.  even the most grizzly looking stranger gets a friendly "hi" from you, and if they don't respond, you are relentless until they do.  you always get a smile, even from the grizzly ones.  we are so excited to keep watching you grow!

we love you son.
love,
Mom and Dad

daddy's big helper!

Jason has always accused Colin of being a momma's boy.  admittedly, he has spent the better part of his 22 months wanting me to hold, feed, bath, rock, him, etc.  but lately, it's become apparent that Dad  is becoming Colin's new favorite.  he is obsessed with everything Dad does, and is his constant companion for yard work, and of course anything involving tools!

recently we were lucky enough to inherit Jason's big boy bed!  since Colin will be needing this soon, we assembled in his bedroom.  at first, he wasn't that into helping:

 but when Jason offered him a tool, he started getting serious about this project.  

 i hope our one little prince continues to stick by his dad's side.  Colin, this is definitely the one to emulate if you want to become a man!

happy birthday to me!

i had a wonderful birthday with my family.  i am spoiled by my sweet husband, and our little army of cherubs who flit around us daily.  words cannot express how blessed i feel to be sharing my life with these people.  (we did not take any photos today, we were too busy having fun, but here's one of mommy's little helper:)

soccer time!

spring soccer started once again for the Earls.  Anna is playing tennis instead, but Maddie and Ave are both #9, so Anna put on last year's jersey and joined them for opening day!

it's Avery's first season and she was ready to go!  she proudly named her team, Orange Crush, and crush she did with 3 goals!  not bad for a rookie!

 ORANGE CRUSH

 Colin is an enthusiastic fan.  he is dying to be big enough to play!  he has the funniest habbit of shouting the name of whatever sport he's playing.  so, if he's running the football it's, "FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL"  swinging the golf club, "GO:F GOLF."  dribbling the soccer ball, "SOCCER, SOCCER."

 Madeline is on the Snowflakes this year.  she was a little disappointed not to have any goals her first game since she was such a high scorer last year.  but we explained that defense is just as important as offense and that her big kicks were just as useful when they helped stop a goal as when they score one.  

 Jason put the kids in charge of the photos today, and they caught a glimpse of the Dads on the sidelines. 

we look forward to a fun season! 

if you give Colin a cookie

we are in the midst of our very own FLU epidemic.  i'm not sure we've (collectively, as a family; nor individually) changed out of our jammies in at least a week).  i can't remember ever feeling this sick!  

some dear friends brought us dinner (litterally leaving it on the porch as to not get infected) and for dessert, a family favorite, Oreos!  

i tried out my new camera for these pics and LOVE!  now time to go back to bed!

a quick work trip with my boy

Bubba was my assistant on a recent trip to CA for holiday mini-sessions.  since Grandma and Grandpa were out of town, we got to stay with Sawyer and Ali.  (and of course Emma and Kobe)  Colin's love affair with dogs runs deep.  he was pretty unstoppable when it came to chasing Emma and Kobe around, (and hugging their rear ends, what's with that?)

 he had to come with me to the Friday sessions, and was a trooper as long as I gave him his favorite toy, my toothbrush.  (had to make a Target run for another.)

 and he did not contain his love to live dogs only, he shared the wealth with the stone variety as well.  a bonus, since the stone dog cannot move, he was able to plant kisses firmly on the dogs face and not the back side.  much less germy, i hope.  

the sessions were fun, the weather was semi-stormy, the company was lovely, but my time was short.  see you soon California!