Collin is walking!!

For about 3 months Collin has been cruisin the furniture. And for a couple of weeks he has been taking 3-4 steps on his own. I thought for sure he would have started walking on his own before his 1st birthday. It took until about a week & a half after turning 1 & he is now officially walking!!

This Wednesday Collin officially started walking! During the day, while hanging out w/ Grampy & Aunt Kari, he took 8 steps. Then once we got home that night he took a few more & a few more & a few more until he walked from the middle of the living room into the dining room {over 25 steps}. He is now just walking around like it's no big deal as if he's been doing it forever!! It's so amazing that once they figure out how to do something they just master it so quickly!

Below is a video. I ended up having to do it through Smile box because I wasnt able to rotate it on any other uploader.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our lil Monkey is One!

Last Saturday the 2cd was Collin's 1st birthday!!! I can't even believe my baby is already 1!! Time really does fly!




Sunday celebrated w/ our family & friends & had his party. Since I have been calling him "Monkey" since he was only a few weeks old {& now friends & family call him that too}, & I seem to be drawn to anything I see w/ a monkey on it, it was only fitting to have a monkey themed party! We had monkey balloons, monkey centerpieces surrounded by bananas, & I made him a monkey cake.



I spent quite a bit of time Saturday night making the monkey cake. I was very excited about how good it turned out.










I made each of the kids little goody bags. I filled them w/ monkey bracelets, little monkey cups filled w/ animal crackers, pudding snacks, applesauce, m&m's, & twizzlers {a few of my kids fav things}. They were a big hit!













The tags on the goody bags read-
" Thanks for swinging over to have some fun
and celebrating our little monkey turning one!"



Here is a little slideshow I put together of the party. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

DO Not FeED THe AniMaLS!!

Our fun trip to the zoo with the Camengas!

A very "Hoppy" Easter

WOW!!



Look what the Easter bunny left !




Not only one. . .







. . . .. but two BIG GIANT lolly pops like in Willie Wonka!






"Mommy, I LOVVVVE lolly pops, and chocolate & all kinds of candy!"

Since the weather is so unpredictable here we have to do Easter egg hunts in the house.




Ethan found most of the eggs.




But Collin did find a few on his own .

And he was very happy that there were goldfish crackers hidden in his!

Yummy!

After we finished baskets, finding eggs & eating a quick breakfast we were off to church.

Here are the boys with 2 of their (third) cousins Kyle & baby Jack at church.

Later that afternoon everyone gathered at our house for Easter dinner. We also were able to celebrate the boys Great Uncle Sam's birthday! I made him a yummy carrot cake.

Happy Birthday Uncle Sam!

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Silly lil boy!

Holy cow!!! After a ton of attempts, I cant believe I finally did it!! I got a video on here!! I am in shock! LOL!

Well here is just a silly little video of Collin's super cute giggle!

And also a super cute pic of him wearing daddy's hat!

I cant believe he is gonna be 1 a month from today! Where does the time go??

Ethan & Mommy. . . our day of fun!

Sunday Ethan and I enjoyed some mommy & son quality time together! And boy oh boy did we have fun!!! We went with some friends to check out this great new place that opened up about 20 minutes from here called Rough & Tumble. It's an awesome place!! They have so many fun things for the kids to enjoy including bounce houses, a big chalk wall & a huge climbing tunnel maze thing ( I have no clue what the technical name for it is). Which mommy had to climb to threw the whole tunnel maze thing w/ him! WOW! What a workout!! It only cost $8.oo for Ethan to get in & Mommy's get in for free!! We were there for about 2 & 1/2 hours! $8.00 Well Spent!!!

{ The tunnel @ the top of the tunnel maze! Like 20+ feet in the air! He got brave!}

{ He refused to go down slides last year! Today, no fear!! }

{ He tried real hard to climb the rock wall }

{ Ethan & his buddy Alex jumping around in the inflatable play yard }

While we were there I was very excited to see a LP mom & her two LP kids come in. Not being a very forward person, I wasnt sure if I should approach them or not. When Ethan saw her he came over to me & whispered " mommy, look, a little-big lady". I guess that was his way of saying an older little person. I asked him if he wanted to go over & say hi to her but he said "no thank you!" so I didnt push it! But a few minutes later he happened to be playing in the same section as her daughter (who is probably about 12-14 yrs. old) & I hear her say "look how cute he is mom". He got all shy & hid his face in my leg, so this was my opportunity to introduce ourselves. After talking with her for a few minutes I found out she lives about 45 minutes from us & that we have a common acquaintance. Before leaving we exchanged business cards so hopefully we will keep in touch! =)

After leaving the Rough & Tumble we went for a late lunch @ Friendly's. Ethan loves Friendly's!! Especially because he thinks it's fun to sing the song from their commercials! We had such a great day together! It's nice getting to spend quality time just the two of us every once in a while. He exhausted me so much that I took a two hour nap when we got home!!

Such a fun day!

Elmo makes music {& my kids dance!}

A few weeks ago we took the boys to see Seseame Street Live~Elmo makes Music!. For over a month before we went everytime the commercial for the event came on Ethan would say "Mommy, I wanna see that BIIIIIIG -HUUUGE Elmo again !" Last year we took him to see Super Grover & he had a blast! And eventhough he was only 2 & 1/2 he remembers going!










They both had a ton of fun! They both danced & clapped. And Collin bounced & bounced & bounced! I swear this kid is filled w/ jumping beans! I am real glad we went, cause I really enjoyed seeing how much fun they had!



Daddy & Ethan bought Collin a stuffed Big Bird doll. {He loves to chew on his beak!} Last year Ethan got a Elmo doll, which he loved until we got home & he threw him on the floor & never really touched him again! {He's never been a stuffed animal kid- all trucks, trains, & tools!} But Fred had to get it for them because he remebers going to see Sesame St. with his dad when he was little & he still has his Grover doll his dad got him.












Poor Grover is looking a little rough these days! He's like 30 years old!