Colton's Signs!

I tried to put this in the post below but for some reason it wouldn't work...

This video just makes me so happy!

What Have We Been Up To?

Not much!

Yes, as my sister Emily pointed out in her last comment, Colton must be 3 by now! Ha Ha - Here's a few of the things we've been up to!

We had a GREAT Birthday party for Colton!

He even got a skateboard from his best-buddy & neighbor, Brent!

And a BIG truck from Oma & Opa!

We've been trying to spend a lot of time with family this summer since who knows where we'll be next summer.

Colton has finally started to go for rides with Uncle Chad!

Here's a video too:

Speech Therapy has been keeping us busy and is going great too! At his last appt he said "Cock-a-doodle-doo" - I didn't realize how happy one animal sound could make me - I'm officially a mother :)

Other than that, we're just trying to stay cool - anyway we can! Here's how Colton likes to keep cool!

My Baby is 2!

Holy Cow - where did the last 2 years go!

It seems like just yesterday that your daddy and I were anxiously awaiting your arrival! Little did we know that being a week overdue was just a tiny glimpse into your personality. We exhausted all of the "natural" methods for inducing child birth (for example: jumping on a trampoline, swinging on a swing, drinking coke mixed with Castor Oil - just to name a few!). You finally came all on your own. I was so excited when my water broke that I was dancing in the bathroom! I couldn't yell too loudly though, because it was 1am and daddy and grandma were both asleep!

We decided at5 in the morning to go to the hospital - I was a little worried that they were going to send us home to wait a little longer, but when the nurses found out that you were already a week overdue they let us stay. Not too long after that I got an epidural (I'll explain what that is when you're older) needless to say it's the reason you'll be having siblings! The rest of the day I just waited and mostly slept - it was great!

Finally around 6pm that night I started to push but after 90 minutes (yes that is 6 Curious Georges!) you still were not showing any signs of coming (again we got a little glimpse into your "I'll do it myself" personality). You had a pretty big head but you were also face up instead of face down. The doctor wanted to use a vacuum (yes, I see now where your obsession with the vacuum cleaner comes from) but I talked them into a C-Section. You see for those 90 minutes of pushing I was also throwing up - not fun at all - so I was pretty weak and tired at that point. The doctor agreed that a C-Section would be best so they got me ready. Your daddy almost didn't make it because the little booties they gave him for the OR didn't fit his feet! Luckily though he made it just in time and around 9pm that night you were born!

All 9 pounds, 3 ounces of you! The nurses thought you were so cute the way you gripped the oxygen mask - look at those white knuckles! I was just so glad that you were finally here. Daddy took you out to see Grandma McCleve while they got me stitched and cleaned up. When I got to the recovery room the nurse had to go and find daddy - he was having so much fun showing you off and talking on the phone to everyone that he forgot to bring you back to me! (Look how little daddy looks in this picture!?) The first few weeks of having you home with us was challenging. You had such a hard time sleeping flat on your back so daddy and I would take turns holding you all night. Each week seemed to get a little easier, though, as we learned to understand you better and you got to know us better! We were very fortunate to be in such a good ward too. There were so many ladies at church that couldn't wait to hold you each week

Your first girlfriend was Addison Devenney. Isn't she a cutie? Maybe you guys will meet up again at BYU or something... you never know :) Addison's mommy, Nikki, and I would take you guys each week to "Movies for Mommies" - it was so fun for mommy to get a chance to go out and enjoy talking with another adult! We did a lot together the first year of your life!

Not too long after your first birthday, Mommy and Daddy tearfully said goodbye to all of our Canadian family and we moved back to Arizona so daddy could go to school. Here you made a lot of new friends, very quickly, with all of the other T-Birds!
You've had lots of fun here in Glendale, especially being around so much family. You even went for your first ride with Uncle Chad on Sunday (the video though was too big to include here). We're still waiting to here your first true words. We do get to here you say "key" for monkey and cookie and "go-go" when you play with your cars. You also know five signs: more, thank you, please, eat and all done. This has helped you and I a lot!



We love you so much and are so excited to see what this next year brings for you (hopefully a baby brother or sister). We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for entrusting you to us. You are so special to us - words just cannot express!

4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July! We went up to Taylor, AZ (where my dad grew up) and Colton got to experience his 1st 4th of July in the USA! Before we left, though, we decided to make more cookies for the neighbors - just in case they were wondering about our patriotism - haha! I think they enjoyed the double shot of cookies!

We left Thursday night (after Seth took a mid-term) and got up to Taylor around 1:30am. We only saw one elk but it was HUGE - thankfully Seth let a car pass us that had better headlights/brights or we would've been toast! We also decided that this is the BEST time to travel with Colton as he slept the WHOLE time!

We loved being able to be with my dad and reliving my own childhood of spending the 4th up in Taylor, AZ. My dad just finished building another house up there that he hasn't sold yet, so we were able to all stay there together with my sister, Emily and her family - which was a lot of fun! Colton loved being able to run around outside on an acre lot and I loved the fact that it was fenced! We all went with Grandpa to the "Cowboy Poetry Reading" on Friday night (unfortunately that one didn't last too long), went to the Connelly family BBQ (Otis Connelly, my dad's friend, barbequed 100lbs of Pork and chicken!), visited my 3rd great Aunt's house (see post below) and of course finished out the weekend with the Taylor Rodeo and fireworks on Saturday night.

Here are the Pictures to prove it! :) (WARNING - Picture Overload!)

Grandpa and Kinsley just hanging out

Seth and my dad flying a kite - it only held the kids' attention for a little bit. After that, the adults had more fun flying it than they did! .




Here we are at the Cowboy Poetry reading - as you can see the kids had more fun wrestling Seth down than listening :)

Everyone making Smores!

Do you think he knows how cute he is!?

Colton and Grandpa feeding a pony - Colton didn't like it that much.

At the Connelly Family Barbeque

Grandpa telling Colton about how he used to ride those bulls!

Colt0n wasn't too impressed with the Rodeo, but he thought it was worth it once the fireworks started!

Colton LOVED the fireworks!But they still couldn't keep him from falling asleep only 5 min after they started!



Thank you Grandpa Mac for your hospitality this weekend! We had a blast! I can't believe how many people we ran into as well! I saw a friend that I've known since the 7th grade (but I haven't seen her since her wedding) and a missionary from my mission. Seth ran into a friend from High School too - it was so much fun!

Margaret McCleve Hancock

While in Taylor, we got to see the little log house where my 3rd Great Aunt, Margaret McCleve Hancock lived. She was an amazing woman. She had 13 children herself but was also a mid-wife and helped deliver over 1200 children!

While not a direct descendant, it was so great to be in her home and to see some of her belongings.

Oh Canada!

Our Home and Native Land!

Just wanted to wish all of our Canadian family a Happy Canada Day! We are missing you guys a lot today. Especially when we started thinking about the ward picnic. So, in honor of our son's birthplace we made maple leaf cookies to take to our neighbors and friends (thanks Barbara Ann for the cookie cutters!) and tonight we're having Melissa's Black Bean and Corn Salad. Hope you guys had a great day! We miss you all!

Colton, of course, had to wear his red "Roots" shirt today - this was the best smile I could get - all he wanted was the camera! :)

Changes!

This last week we finally had to take away all of Colton's "Fuzz"... he just would not stop putting it up his nose! It was more of a way (I think) for him to try and get out of or to put off nap time or bedtime, because that was usually when he would do it. So we decided that it had to go. Of course, I was a wreck cleaning out all of the fuzz from all of his hiding places, because I was just sure he was going to be so distraught over it's loss... However, he didn't seem to care at all when we put him down for bed so that made me feel much better.



Speech therapy and "developmental" therapy just started and is going well -- we haven't really done any of the "therapy" part yet, but at least all of the paper work is out of the way. The good news is that he is really starting to "talk" more (even though we can't understand) so hopefully soon words that we do understand will start to form.



Here is a pic we took this weekend:

Yep - he did it again... fell asleep with a chicken nugget in his mouth this time! He just cracks us up all of the time!

OH and drum roll please....

Colton peed in the toilet tonight! WOOHOO! I won't bore you with all the details but suffice it to say I think I might have to rethink my stance of Colton talking before I potty train him.... :)