More Pool Play

We went and bought Austin and Colten a wading pool the other day. It's way too big for just two kids (one being a baby), but Austin loves it.

We filled it up on Saturday and Austin got in immediately. One word: COLD. Can you tell by this picture?

Colten loved it after getting in though. This kid LOVES to splash...despite his brother not liking it all that much in the tub!

Like I said, LOVES to splash.

He's Gotta Move It, Move It!

Yes, Colten is starting his mobile phase. No, we are not ready. It's happening anyway!

The night we got back from Alabama, I walked into the living room where I had put Colten in the middle of the floor to find this:

Yes, he is stuck there since he scoots backwards, but not forwards yet.

The next day, I took these pictures:

The last one is blurry because I didn't have my flash on and he's rocking back and forth. This is not good. Not good at all!

More Alabama

I know it's been almost a week since we got back from Alabama, but I kept forgetting to update the blog whenever I'm online (or I mean to, but some little boy prevents me from doing so!).

Anyway, while in Alabama, we were able to visit a dear friend of Matt and Paula's. Melissa has a great pool at her house and she conveniently lives about 7 houses up the street from them! So, we were able to go to her pool a couple of times to cool off, although, the pool water was a warm 98 degrees! Yes, that is just how hot it has been down there!

As a lot of our family knows, Austin is not exactly a water baby (or kid now). Living in Hawaii for 3 years did not help this kid out with his fear of deep water at all. In fact, we are ecstatic to get him in water that is deeper than his baths. However, he was excited about going into Melissa's pool and even put on floaties, which is something I never thought he'd do.

When he was tired of walking around the shallow end, he'd climb into this chair and have Nate or Anna pull him around the pool.

Colten on the other hand, is the ultimate Water Baby! He LOVES the water and doesn't take his eyes off the water that he is splashing all around. As soon as you get him in the water his arms start going and he kicks his feet. He is SO happy to be in the water.

Auntie Paula and Colten

Nate and Colten...notice Colten hasn't looked up at the camera at all!

Anna and Colten after a little while of being in the pool...finally some baby eyes!

When Daddy and Uncle Matt joined us in the pool the next time, they tried to get Austin to go under water, swim with them in the deep end, and be carried in the deep end. He wasn't doing any of it at first. He then let Brian take him out there, then Matt bribed him out there. THEN, Daddy dunked him underwater without warning him...but he said it wasn't too bad and didn't cry or anything.

Right after Daddy dunked him.

Mornings in this house is the same as our...kids getting up early! At least here, we had Anna making Austin breakfast! :-) Uncle Matt loved taking Colten outside on their swing and sitting with him. Colten loves being outdoors and it instantly calms him when he's having a cranky morning.

All the kids with Matt one morning. Yes, it is hard to have everyone looking at the camera at the same time and not have have anyone blinking, etc! I love this one though because you see so many emotions.

On Father's Day, we drove into Florida and ate at FudPuckers in Destin. It's a touristy place with food and alligators! You can learn about them, take your picture with them (if you pay, of course!) and even feed them while waiting for your table. Oh, and if you ever have the chance to go there, make sure you bring a Sharpie marker...you get to write on anything you'd like (walls, tables, doors, even the T.V.s have been written on!)

After FudPuckers, we went to an outdoor mall (like the Promenade here in NWA) and watched the 3D movie UP. We also walked around Bass Pro Shop.

We stopped by the beach on our way home...probably not the best idea since Austin has a HUGE meltdown and had to be brought back to the van in hysterics while everyone else stayed for a few more minutes.

This picture was taken pre-meltdown. You can see that he's a little moody already in this picture:

Daddy and Colten at the beach. There were so many more ideas I had for pictures, but the meltdown took care of all of those for me! I guess we'll have to take Colten to the beach some other time and do more pictures.

Again, we had a great trip and loved visiting with Matt, Paula, Nate and Anna. Just the other day, Austin asked if we could go see Nathan and Anna tomorrow. I don't know how he can forget the 13 hour drive each way, but that just shows how much fun he has with his cousins!

5 Months

Colten is 5 months old today. How can that be??? It seems like time is just flying by and he's growing up so quickly right before our eyes!

Here are some pictures from today. They were rushed, so they could have been better, but he looked so cute and I had to get the camera before cooking dinner!

Here are some things about Colten at 5 months.

• Colten loves looking at Austin and smiling at him!
• He looks for the dogs too...he already found Abby's ears and loves to "pet" them.
• Colten is moving...despite being told that he's not allowed to do things like that! He's up on his knees and rocking. Lord help us and our house!
• He still loves to be held, but is liking the floor more and more.
• He loves his exersaucer in the mornings and his bouncer is right up there with it too!
• Colten is ticklish around his ribs and under his arms.
• He loves to be up in the air or bounced.
• Colten LOVES the water and splashes as much as he can when around it.

I know there are many more things that I can say about him, but these are the highlights.

5 Month Comparison

So, I think this is the first month of many where we are going to have a hard time getting this kid to cooperate with these comparison pictures!

Here's the one I figured would work the best:

Here are some of the pictures I thought I would show you to let you see just how hard it is to keep this kid still for even one simple photo!!!

It started out with me putting him next to the bear and him immediately rolling over to attack said bear.

Then, somehow, he got turned sideways.

Then, more bear attacking...he even has his "mean face" on.

So, while I will continue to do the comparisons, I won't guarantee that they'll give you the best shot of how big he's growing since he most likely will be in some sort of weird configuration. Or held down. Depending on if I have Brian here to help me out or not!

Photoshoot in Alabama

We packed up the car and drove 13 hours to Alabama to visit Matt, Paula, Nathan and Anna. It was a LONG drive, but both kids (and the dogs) did excellent! We stopped about every 3 hours or so and fed Colten and walked the dogs, let Austin stretch his legs and go to the bathroom. Even though it was a good experience, it still would be nice to have money and be able to fly down there! So much easier! Oh well!

We had a great time visiting. The kids loved being together again, and Colten got a LOT of attention from his older cousins! Anna is definitely a little momma! And Nate even changed a couple of diapers! They both knew how to make him happy (unless he was hungry!) and helped out a lot with him.

We really enjoyed spending time with Matt and Paula. We lived less than 15 minutes from them for 2 years and have missed being near family the last year and a half! It was great to just hang out like we used to.

On Tuesday, Paula and I got the kids in white shirts and had a mini photoshoot. It went pretty well considering the sweltering heat that we were dealing with...highs in the 100s with the heat index even higher! The kids were troopers and we got in a few good ones! Well, the older two did great, but with all the picture taking my two boys get, they just were NOT in the mood for this photoshoot! I got some good shots, but could have gotten a lot more if Austin would have gotten in some of them, and Colten would have smiled a little!

Overall, I think they turned out pretty well. Not bad for an amateur without photoshop, right?!? :-)

I ♥ Faces - Let's hear it for the BOYS!!!

This week at I ♥ Faces is all about the boys! This is easy for me since I am a little outnumbered in my family! My favorite and most often subjects are my two boys and the big boy that is otherwise known as my husband!

My entry for the adults category is a picture of Brian with our first born, Austin. I love this picture and will eventually have it framed. It was taken in our backyard while we were relaxing and Austin was playing.

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The picture for the kids category is of our baby, Colten with Daddy in the background. It was taken at the Naturals game that we recently went to. I was trying to get some good pictures of Colten and Daddy together for a Father's Day gift and got this one that I liked for the contest.

Go to http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ (or click on the button below) for more great boy pictures!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

We went to the Naturals Game on Tuesday with the kids. It was half off group night, so we got tickets for $3 each from the playgroup that we are a part of.

The ballpark is a great place for families They have several areas for blankets, a playground, and they also set up big bouncer stuff for the kids (for a price, of course!). Oh, and the night we went, they also had free hotdogs, chips and drinks for the kids! Even better!

The Naturals were playing Tulsa, but I have no clue who won. We left before the game ended and we never looked up who won.

Here are some pictures from that night:

(not sure why Colten looks so unhappy!)

Austin went through this obstacle course probably 20 times or more! He had an "unlimited play" bracelet that we bought for him, so he wanted to be over there the whole time!

Is he ready?

So, I have been saying from the beginning that I was going to wait until 5 or 6 months for Colten to get any solids. I have my reasons...but mostly, I figured we've been doing well with breastfeeding so far, no sense in messing with it!

Well, Colten seemed to have different plans. He has been reaching for our food everytime he sees us eating. He smacks his lips and just LOOKS like he wants to eat what we are eating. He's also getting up at 2am again. So, I thought that maybe he was ready to try something new.

What do you think?

Here's how it went:

First bite: What's this? Let me try!


WHAT did you just give me?

Big Brother trying...he doesn't look too happy!

MY turn with the spoon!

All done!

Overall, he didn't do too bad. He didn't really get the hang of it until the very end, and even then he didn't really eat it, but more sucked it off the spoon instead. He still woke up at 2am that night! :-) Guess he's not waking cause he's hungry, but because he just wants to wake Momma up!

The next day we tried again, but he wasn't too interested, so I just stopped. We aren't doing any of it while we are in Alabama, so we'll just try again in a couple of weeks!