8 Months

I was going to get this up yesterday when Colten actually turned 8 months, but he had a fever off and on yesterday and didn't seem like he was feeling his best (although, I did get a couple of pictures of him with Yaya).

So, I took these pictures today. He's getting big, isn't he!?!

So happy...

Always chewing on something these days...

A new trick...standing for a few seconds and then LUNGING towards whatever it is he wants.

Colten only has 4 months until he's a year old. I just don't know where these last 8 months have gone! He's getting bigger, faster, and into more things than ever! I just don't remember Austin getting into things the way this kid does!

Last month, I thought he'd have another bottom tooth in, but it never came in. Instead, the two top teeth look like they are RIGHT there. You can see the outline of them in his gums...and it just looks painful! I hope they come in soon.

Like I said, Colten has been standing on his own and then lunging for us or whatever he wants. He's TRYING to walk...but just can't quite get it yet. I don't think it will be too much longer. He's taken little steps before he falls here and there, but I wouldn't count it as walking just yet. He's just so funny when he does it...and then just falls on his bottom! I just can't imagine what he'll be getting into when he's mobile on two feet. He's already into enough.

Colten's growing is definitely due to his ravenous appetite. He nurses still...but has decreased the amount of times he nurses everyday. He loves his food. He's tried all kinds of things...and the only things he really doesn't completely enjoy is green beans and the texture of pumpkin. He'll eat both though, if you put a little fruit on the spoon as well. He loves cheese and yogurt though. I think those are probably his favorites.

Colten loves being outside. Since he's mobile, it's hard to keep him clean though. He crawls through just about anything and loves to try to eat bark, sticks, dirt and rocks. I spend a lot of time watching what he's grabbing for and making sure he's not eating anything he's not supposed to. If he's in a stroller, you just have to keep it moving or put snacks on the tray and he'll be happy...at least for a little bit!

I still need to get him in to get some more vaccinations, so we'll see how much he weighs and how long he is in a few days. I know that he's more than 20 pounds according to our scale, but that could be a little off. Until then, I hope you enjoy the pictures and update!

Just LOVE his eye lashes...

When He's in the Mood...

He sure can pose with the best of them!!!

For the most part, Austin's usually a blur in pictures. I've been getting a lot more of Colten lately than of Austin since everytime I try to get pictures of Austin, they are all blurry. The kid just doesn't slow down!

Unless he wants to. Today, while I was getting pictures of Colten at 8 months, Austin was in that mood. He was wanting his picture taken. I took advantage of this...and got some pretty good shots (at least in my opinion!).

Austin...I'm so glad you were in the mood to get your picture taken today. I love looking at that cute, I mean, COOL face of yours!

Yaya Visits for the Night

Yaya had a Girls' Weekend nearby and she decided to spend the night last night before going back down to Little Rock.

The boys enjoyed spending some time with her...and it's always fun getting Yaya's attention and showing her all the things you've already shown Mom and Dad!

Thanks for visiting us Yaya! We hope to see you and Bobo again soon!

Bikes, Blues and BBQ

This week/weekend was a really big bike rally in Fayetteville called Bikes, Blues and BBQ (BBB for short). We had no clue that there was anything like this in the area until just a few days ago. It is the largest non-profit motorcycle rally in the US and has donated over $500,000 to local charities from 2000-2008. There were over 400,000 people in attendance last year.

Since we didn't want to let this opportunity to check it out pass us by, we decided to head down on Friday evening to check out the BBQ and see what else was around the Baum Stadium area of the event.

We get down there, park, and walk across the street where the vendors were. The first thing we come to were toy haulers. Austin loved walking through a couple of them, but we wanted to see what else there was around, plus we were starting to get really hungry. So, we steered him away from that and started walking towards the food. There was a BBQ competition starting at 6pm, but we didn't think we could really wait until then, so we were happy to see that there were some BBQ vendors selling their food without being in the competition.

We found some free roasted corn from Progressive, then found something for Austin.

It was completely FREE and he had a blast!

Then, he got brave and tried the velcro wall.

I think it's safe to say that he LOVED it!

After we pried him away from the velcro wall, we went and ate. Austin, the silly boy, had pizza. Brian and I tried some BBQ (pulled pork for Bri, beef brisket for me). It was delish! Colten, unfortunately, got to have applesauce while Austin played, nursed before I got my food, then got to snack on bread. No BBQ for him!

After eating, we walked around the vendors again, looking at all the bikes for sale. Austin just loved looking at everything. He's been asking about the safety of motorcyles this week since we've been seeing so many. He's not quite sure people should be driving them since they only have 2 wheels. We've had many conversations about safety because of this and I always mention how people should wear helmets if they decide to drive any kind of bike.

I guess when he's up close and personal, safety goes out the window...do you see this dreamy look he has on his face!?!

He like this bike as well, but he really, really, really wanted to touch them all! I'm sure he wanted to climb up on a couple of them, but he was really good and didn't even try. Unless you count putting his foot on one of the bike's pedals.

Colten did really well in his stroller. There were a few times when he wanted down, but he was pretty content to just look at everything.

Brian just had to try this chair...Austin had been in it as well. They just couldn't resist!

After walking around, we went by the kids' area again and let Austin jump and velcro one last time. Do you see the look of excitement on this boy's face???

He immediately walked up and jumped right onto the wall. Then he got brave....

and let the worker put him upside down on the wall. He absolutely had a blast!

Just hanging out. No big deal!

After prying him away from this area, we made our way back towards our car; stopping, of course, so he could explore more toy haulers. Those things are just extravagant, aren't they!?! So neat, but definitely for those who have money burning holes in their pockets!

The night was fun, cheap, and was a great way to get out of the house and do something! The Razorback game was on today, so we didn't go down for the Battle of the Bikes or the Parade of Power. Too bad, because I think Austin would have enjoyed that. It was a nice, relaxing day though. He had his own Parade of Power with his 4 Wheeler in our backyard.

Colten alternated from being happy to being cranky. I will be glad when those top front teeth come in. It definitely looks painful to be getting those in. You can see the gums swollen and the teeth are RIGHT THERE. Poor baby!

Not much else going on this coming week. Austin has school pictures coming up on Thursday, so we'll see how that goes. I don't know what he wants to wear, but I hope it's something I won't have to talk him out of! :-)

Something Sweet

Of course I mean Austin...not the lollipop!

He won this lollipop at Chuck E Cheese on Friday.

I'm not even going to say how many tickets it took to win this.

Was it worth it? YOU BET!

A Fun Day

Our Playgroup had our own Bikes, Blues and BBQ today. Except that the bikes weren't Harleys, they were Power Wheels (Peg Perego in Austin's case), the Blues were more like tears from several different children (Colten included), and instead of BBQ, it was ham sandwiches with chips.

Austin had a blast. Brian loaded up his 4-Wheeler this morning and he and Skylee Rose had a blast riding the road (a cul-de-sac in our friend's neighborhood). Skylee is a "friend" from school and playgroup that seems to be getting a LOT more attention lately. Her mom has said before that Skylee has a little crush on Austin, but I don't think girls are even on Austin's radar. Well, at least until now. LOL

Colten fell asleep on the way there, so I tried setting up his pack 'n play for him to sleep in. I took him out of the car (should have just let him sleep in there!) and before I even got to the pack 'n play, he was trying to sit up in my arms, wide awake. So, I just put him in there so he woudn't get run over by the crazy older kids on bikes.

Later this evening, we went outside in the backyard and sat while Austin played. He has been having a blast swinging on his swingset lately, but then took a break from that and started chasing Koa with a ball that was in the yard. I love this picture of his getting stuck while Brian and Colten looking at him like he's crazy.

I love this picture too...Colten was crawling all over the place and pulling up and looking straight up at the fan. I caught this picture just as he was looking down and I called his name. He's so darn cute!

Austin, however, is NOT cute. Just so you know, he's COOL. :-)

Overall, we had a great day. It has been pretty cool here in NWA and we've been loving it! Brian and I missed fall and look forward to sitting out back with a fire in our fire pit and wine in our glasses! Oh, and of course, the kids in bed!

Wooo Pig Sooie

It's what Brian's been looking forward to LONG before we even moved from Hawaii. FOOTBALL SEASON!

This was our family's first tailgatting experience as a whole. Brian and I have tailgated a couple of times together (I've only been to 2 Razorback games...both in Little Rock), but Austin hasn't been until now. John and Bill came up for the festivities...John went to the game with Brian and Bill came back to the house with the kids and me to watch the game on T.V.

Thanks to Courtney and the Coleman Family, we had a parking pass for lot 56. We didn't know exactly what to expect as far as when to get there for a good parking spot, so we planned on being there at 11am.

We actually left the house on time...but just a few exits before we were going to get off the highway, Brian calls me (we had to take 2 cars). He forgot the tickets! So, he tells me to go on ahead and to just go to Baum Stadium since the parking is free and we'll both be able to park in the same parking lot. John and I made the executive decision to just go on to lot 56 and see what the situation is like and decide from there. I am SO glad we did!

We get to the parking lot and get a great spot. We call Brian and tell him where we're at, then start setting up the area with our canopy, chairs and table. We meet our neighbors, who both have set ups like they've been doing this for years (they probably have!). TVs with satellite to stay updated on the other games, generators running the electricity, grills attached to their hitches; you name it, they had it! Bill and Brian get there and finish set up...complete with our own blow up Razorback!

Austin and Brian setting up the Razorback.

After setting up, we hang out a while...Colten plays with his toys for a while on a table cloth that I TRY to keep him on. The coolers act as barriers so the boy doesn't try crawling towards the road...which he never even tried to do!

A little bit after we get there, Brian starts the grill...we were getting hungry and some brats were calling our names!

Before Bill and Brian got there, Chick-Fil-A sent people over to the tailgaters with bags full of stuff (football, stuffed cows, hot sauce?) and FREE chicken sandwiches for everyone! YUMMY! Colten has NO clue that it's not the best to try to eat the hot sauce straight.

More hanging out...LOVE this shot of Colten's onsie! Austin wore this when he was this age and I loved it then too. SO CUTE!

Can you see the boy buried in the jackets?

Colten hamming it up for the camera...so cute!

Baggo...Brian's new purchase just for tailgating season. :-) Austin LOVES this game, so he had a blast playing with the big boys (and later, Mommy).

Chick-Fil-A came back, but this time brought the cow! Colten was ready to jump into his (her?) arms. He just loved this big, huge cow! I think the cow really liked him too because he kept coming back to play with him. He's going to have so much fun with Mickey and Minnie and all the other friends at Disney World.

Monkey see, monkey do! While Austin loves Mickey and friends, he's not too fond of any other big characters that aren't Disney. He hates Chuck E Cheese and I thought he didn't like the cow either (from his reaction during a recent trip to Chick-Fil-A). However, he saw how much Colten loved the cow (and vice versa), so he figured he was pretty cool. Hugs ensued and Daddy got it all on camera.

More Baggo...this time on Bobo's team.

Just love this little guy! He had so much fun running around!

So talented...don't even have to put down their drinks to play this game!

Bill grilling our lunch (he grilled our early dinner as well), while Brian looks on. LOL

Brian wasn't the only one looking on. John in the smoke of the brats. They were yummy!!!

Naptime in the van! He did really well for so long, then it was time to eat and he konked out and we just layed him in the van and let him sleep while keeping a very close eye on him. Such a good baby!

If the big boys can play baggo, then I can too! Colten loved cruising around and CLIMBING on this game board! I had to be RIGHT there so he wouldn't get hurt too bad!

Bobo took over baby duty for me and went for a walk with Colten. This is how they came back! So cute! Plus, my arms were thanking Bobo...by that time, I was holding Colten a lot and trying to keep him from rolling down a slight hill towards the parking lot. That's all he wanted to do!

Tusk II, the live mascot drove by at one point...not a very good looking animal, is he?

Our family...plus Big Red. We had a great time and can't wait for the next home game!

So, Brian and John went to the game. Bill and I came home with the kids. The first quarter was awesome. The second quarter was pretty fun too. Georgia and Arkansas kept scoring right and left...I believe shooting match was mentioned NUMEROUS times. However, the longer the game went, the more the Razorbacks showed that their defense needed a little work. Their special teams (mainly the kicker and punter) need a lot of work. By the end of the game, I think they had just given up a bit and Georgia ended up winning 52-41.

Brian and John ended up getting home around 12:30...traffic was pretty bad and it took them an hour to get out of the parking lot and to the highway about a mile away!

Overall, a disappointing end to an otherwise fun day!