Happy Birthday Kaetlyn!

Happy first birthday Kaetlyn Kolb! Colin blows a kiss your way!

Cutting Another Tooth!

So I just noticed that Colin is cutting another tooth! This one is on the bottom. Now, when they are all fully in, he'll have 6 on top, and 4 on bottom.

10 teeth! Whoo-hoo!

Poop in the Potty!

I know I'm crazy for being excited over poop in the potty, but Colin did it!

I sat him down and a few minutes later, I smelled it!

We are slowly working on potty training...very slowly...but I want him to start getting used to the idea of the potty.

Merry Christmas!

We hope that everyone had a safe and blessed Christmas. We surely did! Colin actually enjoyed the day a bit this year, and helped to tear into his gifts.

2 More Teeth

Colin cut 2 more teeth the other day. I just happened to see them when he was hanging himself upside down. They are the top molars. They aren't fully in yet, just little white dots...but they are coming!

1 month Body for Life

I didn't mention it when I first started, just in case I didn't last on it...but I've been doing Body for Life for 1 month. I'm very pleased with the program. It's not a fad diet, but a total lifestyle makeover.

Anyway, After 1 month I have lost 9 pounds and several inches!

Thank you Lisa for telling me about that life changing book!

Colin Used the Potty

We are so proud of Colin!

I went to use the bathroom, and decided to sit him on the potty while I was there. He sat nicely for a bit then he stood and as soon as he stood up he started to pee, so I sat him back on the chair, and he pee-ed in the potty!

Yay Colin! He got so excited when Miguel and I praised him. He kept looking into the potty and smiling!

Colin's First Haircut

Colin got his first haircut yesterday. He wasn't a happy camper! He cried from the minute he sat in the chair until I put him back into his stroller.

The end result: NO MORE CURLS!

I teared up while she was cutting away. I know the hair will grow back, but Colin just doesn't look like Colin without the curls!

After waking him up this morning, I am a little more used to his "bald" head.

Happy Birthday William & Robert!

Today Colin & I had a great time celebrating William & Robert Clarks birthday party. William turned 3, and Robert will be turning 1.

The theme was "ABC", and all of the kids looked like they were having a blast.

Colin is Standing...ALONE!

It's kind of hard to tell in the picture unless you look very close...but Colin is standing up all by himself!

He has been doing it for a few weeks now, but this was the first time that I've caught it while the camera was handy.

He was cruising around the chairs with that toy in his hand. He decided to stop and play with the toy, so he let go of the chair!

Christmas Blog

A huge "THANK YOU" to Emily for designing my blog title. I love the Christmas theme, and think that Em did a great job!

Thanks again...now I'm in the Christmas spirit!

Colin's 7th Tooth

The pediatrician was right...

Colin cut his 7th tooth last night and was there in the morning. It's still pretty tiny, but it's there!

It's on the bottom...so the count is now 4 on top, 3 on bottom.

Christmas Portraits

Miguel's mom took our Christmas portraits this year. I think that they turned out great! The rest are on my smugmug.

Colin's 15 Month Check-Up

Wow! 15 months already? The time is flying!

Colin had his 15 month check-up today. He's growing strong and healthy. Colin weight 24 lbs. 6 oz. (50%) and is 34 inches long (90%). So, tall and average weight.

He's hitting all of the milestones that he should, except walking. The pediatrician isn't too worried about it right now, and says he's pretty sure he'll be walking soon. The doctor also noticed that Colin has a bulging tooth on the bottom, and his molars are bulging as well...here we go again with the teething.

Colin got 3 shots, and wasn't too happy about them...but he handled them like a champ!

All in all it was a great visit. Our next check-up is at 18 months.

Thrice Show

Miguel, Danny, Rossilyn and I went to see Thrice last night at the House of Blues. What a show...even though they weren't headlining!

First Me Without You played. The music was pretty good, though the singing was pretty bad.

Then Thrice cam on, and played probably the best that I've ever seen them play! They played a bunch of older songs...which I loved, and quite a few new ones. I'm not too familiar with the new ones yet, but it all sounded awesome!

After that Brand New played. They were okay, but definitely not as good as Thrice. I think that the crowd ruined it for me. There were these psychotic girls in front of us that were totally obnoxious...spilling beer and turning around screaming at the crowd.

What I had fun watching was right before Thrice came on a row of old people were seated in the special seating area. I was worried at first, and also thinking to myself 'why in the world are these old people here?", but when Thrice started playing, the old people were bopping their heads and singing the songs! it amazed me! I think that they must have been family or something. Some of the songs were pretty hard and the old lady was bopping away!

Tonight we are heading back to the House of Blues to see Coheed and Cambria, another favorite band of mine. Thrice & Coheed always seem to tour this area around the same time...but I'm not complaining about that!

Standing

Yesterday Colin stood up by himself for almost a minute! He did it a few other times throughout the day. I wonder if he'll be walking soon!

No More Toothless Grin

Not sure if I posted about this or not, but Colin has 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom. His smile looks so different with teeth!

Run of Bad Luck...

Poor Colin. I thought it was bad when he had the viral rash & fever before we left for NY, but now he's got another virus. This time he isn't running fever, but he is vomiting. I don't think I've ever seen a kid vomit as much as he did today. I took him to the pediatrician's office, and he told me that he hopes it's not the roto virus. Colin did get his immunization for that, but you never know.

He's seems to have stopped the vomiting (for now...he hasn't had any food since before he vomited the first time), but the pediatrician said that once the vomiting stops, the diarrhea will kick in.

Colin is very contagious, so we are steering clear of everyone so as to not get anyone sick, and I am actually in the process now of disinfecting my house. Miguel and I will probably get sick since we've been around Colin, but I'm hoping that Miguel doesn't.

Anyway, Colin can use some prayers, and hopefully he will be feeling back to himself sometime soon.

Happy Fall

Well, Emily, you've inspired me to change my blog...again. This layout is for the fall. It's not perfect yet; I still have some tweaking to do, but I wanted to get it up tonight.

My Trip To CT & NY: The Good & The Bad

Tuesday: I was due to work last Tuesday before my flight to NY. I went in and got called a little after 10. My friend who was watching Colin called to tell me that he was running a little fever and that he had a rash all over his body. Great. I left work and made an appointment to see the pediatrician at 11:45. Didn't leave the pedi.'s office until 12:30.
I had to leave for the airport by 3:00. After a slight turn around and some traffic, I made it to the airport 1 hr & 15 mins before my flight was to take off. I decided to check in at the desk instead of curbside, just b/c I feel that my luggage is safer that way. At the counter, the lady told me that I was early enough to catch the flight right before the one that I was scheduled to take, and that was pretty empty. So, I was all excited about the earlier flight, but didn't realize that they would be boarding that flight in about 10-15 mins...and I hadn't even been through security yet. I was moving like a mad woman to get through security and get to the gate. I did make it in time, and was very pleased to see that I got an entire row to myself, the row next, behind & in front of me were all empty as well. Well, good thing that the plane was almost empty...Colin was horrible. Granted, he was teething, and ended up cutting 3 teeth that night, but the flight was just terrible. He cried for the first hour, then fell asleep. Right as he was falling asleep, he pooped...but there was not a chance that I was going to wake him up to change his diaper, so the plane smelled like poop the whole way. Then, he woke up about 30 mins before we landed, and cried until we got off of the plane. Some lady was frustrated (understandably), and tried to make me feel like I didn't know what I was doing as a mother, but it was 11:30 pm, and I had had a really long day, so I didn't feel like arguing with her. I met up with my mom and Sammy and we drove into Connecticut. We stayed at a hotel about 30 mins away from my aunt's house (where my grandmother lives). Colin didn't want to sleep. Bad night for us.

Wednesday: We woke up pretty early and hit the road for my aunt's house. I think that we for there by about 10ish. I got to eat breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts, a northeast favorite. We lazied about for the rest of the day. It was very pleasant and relaxing. My grandmother looked great! I was so surprised. I got to eat dinner with 2 of my cousins, and play with my aunt's 4 dogs and 8 cats!

Thursday: My mom & Sammy went back to NY, and I stayed with Nanny. We went out shopping, and had a blast! Just like old times, only a tad bit slower. Nanny did great, and I was very surprised at her stamina. We ate breakfast at a quaint diner, and lunch at Friendly's. Friendly's was something that I missed about the northeast, but after eating there this time, it just didn't seem as good as I remembered. After we got back, I took Colin outside to play in a leaf pile, and got a few cute pics of him. Autumn in the northeast is so beautiful! I never appreciated it while I was there, and now I can say that I miss the leaves changing colors and falling off of the trees. Colin loved playing in the leaves!

Friday: We woke up early and I drove Nanny's car to New York. We got there around 10. The drive really wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be. We met up with mom & Sammy at the hotel, and Courtney came around 11. It was supposed to be a surprise that Colin & I were there, but she didn't really act all that surprised. I think she knew. She claims not to have known, but I think she did. We did some shopping for the rest of the day.

Saturday: Court & I drove to New Paltz to pick up one of her friends. Miguel went to SUNY New Paltz, so I got him a t-shirt and jacket. What a pretty little town! I met up with my favorite cousin Patty for dinner. After Colin & Rachael went to bed, we started preparing food for Rachael's birthday party the next day.

Sunday: Colin & I spent the morning in the hotel room with Nanny while mom and Court decorated the hall for the birthday party. The birthday party was fun! My cousins from Long Island came. I hadn't seen them in years! I also saw family from my biological father's side, and I saw my biological father or the first time since my wedding. Awkward to say the least. Rachael looked beautiful, and had so much fun eating cake!

Monday: Another hectic day. I drove Nanny and her car back to CT. Mom and Sammy followed. We then turned around and they drove me to Queens, NY to the airport so I could head on home! Colin was much better on this flight. He slept almost the whole trip, waking up about 30 mins before landing. Thank God that he was good this time b/c the flight was packed full!

While we were there we had some family portraits taken. We got a nice generations photo with my grandmother, mother, sister, niece, Colin, & myself. I'm glad that we got it b/c in all honesty, this was probably the last time that all of us will be together at the same time (until heaven). As soon as I get them back I'll post the pics.

All in all, I had a great visit with my family, but I'm so happy to be home. I missed Miguel like crazy, and I know that Colin missed him too! It is so true that there is no place like home.