24 March 2009

good sweet mike this is a long post!

But I have a really good reason for writing a novel and a half! That reason is, Nate and I were out of town for a weekend, and then Lenna and Scott were in town for a few days, and then Colin got super sick for a weekend. So there. I guess that's several reasons. Anyway, on to the pictures and stories. 

Here's Colin sitting in his chair. He looks like he has sad eyes, but I'm not sure why. He's holding his washcloth in his hand. He likes to chew on it after I clean his face.



This is Colin's favorite toy. Really. It's a 25 lb. bag of rice.


His hair is long, but cute. We'll probably cut it soon.


On the 14th one of Nate's best friends got married in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Temple to be precise. It was kind of fun to tell people we were going to Vegas to see a friend get married. Nate and I left Colin with his Granny for the weekend. We drove down Saturday morning, went to the sealing at 4:00, hit the reception at 6:30, and got to our room in St George around 10:00 that night. Then we drove home Sunday morning. It was a short trip, but we felt like we spent FOREVER waiting. We wanted to get to the temple early enough to do some sealings or something, but we didn't. Instead we waited in the waiting room for about an hour and a half. An hour and a half you say? That's plenty of time to do some temple work. And it would have been, but the sealing started like 35 minutes late. We were only there about a half an hour before we were supposed to be. Then we drove the 45 minutes to the reception and waited another 45 minutes or so for the bride and groom to show up. Then we waited another 45 minutes or so for Renn's sister and her family to get to the reception so we could visit with them. We never saw them, we got tired of waiting, and we finally left. We were glad Colin wasn't with us, because riding in the car with him for 6 hours probably wouldn't have been fun, but we kind of wished he was with us so he could amuse us while we waited. Anyway, I amused myself by taking pictures while we waited for Keira and Renn to make their grand exit from the temple. Here are some of the winning shots. 

This is the angel Moroni. He's a statue. Obviously.


Here is the happy couple. They look so sweet together. And so happy. Keira's dress was super cute. 


Awww.


I told Keira she had to plaster a smile on her face all day because people would constantly be taking pictures of her. She obviously didn't listen to me. Her expression makes me laugh.



This would be Renn's brother-in-law Chris. This was the first time I had met him, and he was hilarious! Nate got to know Chris and his wife Polly really well while on his mission. (That's also where he met Renn.)


This is just some random baby who is not as cute as mine.


This is me and Nate standing around during the group shot of everyone who was there. I don't think we were in the official picture, so it's a good thing I took this one.


As we were walking back to our car I realized I hadn't taken a picture of the temple, so I hurried and snapped one. I probably could have found a better shot from the other side or something, but I didn't.


The Monday after our little excursion Scott and Lenna and Mason Hiatt arrived in Springville to visit. This would be Colin greeting his aunt and showing her how much he likes her. 


See? He really does love her. It was hilarious watching him paw at her hair and face. He really liked playing with her.


The family all got together Monday night. Here's Li'l Miss Sara Lu fresh upon arrival.


And there's a butt shot of Sara playing with Lenna. 


Oh, and a butt shot of Colin playing with Papa. 


I tried to get a picture of each of Caleb's kids coming in because they all stopped to give Mason a hug. 





Sara didn't get her hug in right at first, but she got one eventually. 


Here's a random picture of Colin playing with the rings. He cracks me up because he's so proud of himself every time he climbs up something.


I surrounded Colin with the farm fence at Granny's house. He liked it. And then he tried to crawl over it and it folded up around and on top of him. It was funny. 


Scott Hiatt and Nate crawling up the stairs at Caleb's house.


Sara was trying to catch a ride on the Colin Crawlin' Express. I was trying to catch both Sara and Colin looking at me for a picture at the same time. It didn't work. 



Kaylee and Rachel had their first soccer practices last week. They were SO excited. Wow. Really. Really excited. Nate teased Caleb about his girls being the only ones to show up to practice in skirts. :) I didn't get any pictures of Rachel, but here is Kaylee showing me what she learned at practice. It's called a drop kick. 


Kaylee and Bry playing in the yard. 


Wednesday night we tried to get a picture of all the cousins that were present. Caleb, Granny, me, and probably Scott were all snapping pictures at the same time. I like this one because of Sara's expression. And Mason's.


That's Mason playing Rockband in the background. And that's Colin being super excited in the foreground. 


Apparently the toys are more fun to play with when you're outside of the exersaucer. 



On Friday Colin got to wear shorts for the first time this year! Huzzah for warm weather! He sure looked handsome. 


On Friday I also took Colin to JC Penny's to get his 9 month pictures taken. He was very well behaved and very cute. Then my mom and I went to Sam's Club for groceries and yummy hot dogs. Then we came home and Colin took a nap and everything was hunky dory. When he woke up he had a really runny nose, was feeling pretty warm, and was getting grumpier by the minute. We went to Caleb's house for Heather's 30th birthday party, but we didn't stay very long because of Colin. He was so irritable and feverish. We borrowed a thermometer from Heather (because ours decided to stop working the minute we needed it!) and when we took his temperature that night it was 103.7! Yikes! We called the doctor who said to keep an eye on his breathing and that we didn't need to take him to the hospital unless he started to have trouble breathing. Sam came over at midnight and helped Nate give Colin a blessing. We spent the night trying to keep him cool and comfortable and to help him sleep. He was not a happy baby. Saturday was crappy because he was still feverish and sick and not sleeping well. We tried to take him to the doctor, but when we got there the office had closed for the day (grrr). Nate, my mom and I all took turns staying up with him that night. On Sunday he was much better, and Sunday night he actually slept through the night. I took him to the doctor on Monday to make sure he was good, and because I wanted to see if he had an ear infection. I figured they could do his 9 month check up too, so it wouldn't be a waste of $30 if he was totally fine. Turns out he has infections in both ears, but Dr. Porter didn't want to give him antibiotics since his fever was already gone. Colin is about 20 lbs. and 29 inches tall. That's 50% for both height and weight. Dr. Porter says he is right on track developmentally. I say he is leaps and bounds ahead of any other child on the planet developmentally, but I might be biased. Colin babbles constantly, crawls on his hands and knees more and more often, picks up Cheerios like a pro, and is starting to cruise around holding on to the furniture or his parents' hands. He's so funny with our hands. If he feels stuck he'll whine until one of us hold's our hand out to him. Then he grins and grabs on. He like to take our hands with both of his because he knows he can walk much faster when we're holding him. He's such a little smarty. Colin is doing even better today. He's more and more like his usual happy self, and his appetite is returning to normal. I was concerned the last few days because he wasn't eating hardly anything at all. He seems to be recovering fine, and the rest of the family is trying to overcome colds now too. 

Here are a few pictures from today. The last one is my favorite. 




13 March 2009

Recipe Friday

Today's recipe is brought to you by the letter C, for Colin, climb, cute, and crawl.

I haven't actually made this one yet, but I intend to. Also, I couldn't find the recipe I really wanted to post, so this one is just a backup.

Cool Lime Pie

1 pkg. (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces limeade concentrate
4 drops green food coloring, optional
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
1 graham cracker crust (9 inches)
1 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced
mandarin oranges, optional

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add limeade and food coloring if desired. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Pour into crust. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Garnish with kiwi, remaining whipped topping, and oranges. 6-8 servings.

Oh, I meant to post this video last time, but I forgot, so here it is! Behold Colin in all his unclothed glory!


08 March 2009

untitled

So, I have this kid, and he's pretty awesome. He does some funny things, and he does some annoying things, but mostly he does awesome things. Here he is playing in the sink. Colin's decided he prefers the sink to the mirror these days. Please to be ignoring the hips in the background. I don't know who they belong to.


And here he is climbing up the side of his cage. He'll play nicely in the pack'n'play for a few minutes a day, usually just long enough for me to run to the bathroom or change my clothes. Then he realizes that he's in a cage and he tries to bust out. He's pretty good at climbing up the inside of it as well. 


Nate was having a good time talking to Colin. Really. 


And this is from last night when Uncle Seth thought it would be fun to cover Colin up with his toys. I'll be honest; it was pretty fun. 


I was trying to have a mini photo shoot with Colin, but he wasn't cooperating so well. He wanted to grab the camera, or crawl away, or eat his toys. But somehow I managed to get a few cute ones. I wish I had more time to learn Photoshop and how to edit photos to make them more awesome. And while I'm wishing I think I'll wish for a better camera and a studio in my house. Oh, and some talent at taking pictures wouldn't hurt either...



I don't think Colin has decided what color his eyes are going to be yet. They're still very dark, but they're neither blue, brown, or green. I guess we can just refer to them as "pretty color" for lack of an actual color.


That is all.

06 March 2009

Recipe Friday

Italian Cheese Bread

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. quick-rise yeast
1 c. warm water
1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1/4 to 1/3 c. prepared Italian salad dressing
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
dash pepper
1 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Combine water and oil; add to flour mixture. Add additional flour if needed to forma  soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Punch the dough down; place on a greased 12-in pizza pan and pat into a 12-in circle. Brush with salad dressing. Combine seasonings, sprinkle over top. Sprinkle cheese over top. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes or untili golden brown. Serve warm.

02 March 2009

before I forget...

I just wanted to jot down that as of yesterday Colin is officially 8 months old. He has 5 teeth, crawls (for reals) like a pro when he's naked, reads English and Spanish fluently, can get from laying down to standing up on almost any surface, and signs "more" when he eats. Well done my boy!

01 March 2009

Recipe Sunday, and other miscellaneous goings on

It's funny how as a first-time parent you wait and wait for your kid to reach certain milestones, but then as soon as he does, you wish he couldn't pull himself up on the coffee table or crawl through his own vomit. Those are two of Colin's favorite things to do. If only he threw up Pine-Sol instead of milk—then he could mop the floor for me as he scooted around the house. These days he's pretty much not content unless he's exploring something new, climbing up on it, and tasting it. 

Colin had a lot of fun playing with his crib mattress when it was on the floor earlier this week. We took it out so we could lower the bottom of the crib since he was pulling himself up and hanging over the edge.


On Monday night we went over to Caleb and Heather's for FHE. 


When I fixed Sara's red eyes, it kind of grayed them out, so now she looks like a robot.


The kids and Granny had fun playing on the floor with toys.


Rachel is so grown up these days, wearing her fancy skirt and dangly earrings, and texting her boyfriend on her cell phone. :)


Bryant gave the lesson on baby Moses. (There's a baby in the basket he's holding up.) Good job, Bry!


We had hot chocolate for a treat. Well, everyone else had hot chocolate for a treat. As soon as I went for mine, Colin did too and knocked the huge mug over. This picture doesn't quite do the mess justice. My leg was soaked all the way around to my bum, my shirt was soaked, Colin's legs were covered, and the table and floor were drenched. Thankfully Heather let me borrow a pair a pj pants and a shirt so I didn't have to remain in my chocolaty clothes. 


Colin wondered how pants taste, so he pulled himself up to the clothes basket to find out.


I really liked this picture. He kind of looks like a blue-western-bib-lion coming after me to eat me.


Colin's always enjoyed playing with the vents, but he likes it even more when the warm air comes out. He'll sit and play with them for quite a while.


I put him in the laundry basket with a blanket, and he snuggled right in and enjoyed being pushed around his room.


Awww. A boy and his dragon.


I was trying to get a cute picture of Colin in his other UTEP onesie to send to Hannah, but this is the best I got. Between the crazy eyes, the buckteeth, and the huge open mouth, he looked pretty deranged in all of the pictures.


On Saturday night Caleb and Heather's kids slept over while the parents went to dinner and the Jazz game. After her bath Li'l Miss Sara had fun going through her Kung Fu poses. Here she is doing Attack of the Monkey Fist.


When I started taking pictures of Sara, the other two girls decided they wanted in. Rachel told me, "This one will be cute."


Awww. Sisters. 


For dessert we had a fruit pizza. I made the crust and frosting and let the girls go crazy putting on the toppings. They made a beautiful pizza and it was delicious to eat! Yum!

Speaking of fruit pizza, here is our Recipe Friday recipe.
1 tube sugar cookie dough
8 oz cream cheese
1 jar marshmallow creme
cut up fruit of choice, we used kiwis, bananas, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries because that's what I had at home

Press cookie dough into bottom of a pan (I used a pan that was like half the size of a cookie sheet. I don't know the technical term for it. I suppose you could double the recipe and put it in a regular size cookie sheet.). Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until it is cooked. Cool completely. Mix cream cheese with marshmallow creme. Spread over cookie crust. Top with fruit. Eat.


After dessert the big kids had some popcorn and watched  a movie. Then it was off to bed...


...except for Li'l Miss Sara, who decided she just wanted a short nap and then to get up and play with me and Nate. 


Who could refuse this face? So she stayed up with us until Caleb and Heather got home and then went to sleep in her own bed. 


And last but not least we have a short hello from the Utah Cousins to the Iowa Cousins. 


I know it sounds like I was forcing them at gunpoint to recite this, but I really wasn't. They told me what they wanted to say, and then they said it for the camera in their hostage video voices.