American Idol Jr.

I'm so happy to see another season of American Idol on TV, but I am hating the judges. Seriously. I miss Simon, still, and now I also miss Steven and J.Lo. However, I love watching talent shows, so I'm sticking with it.

Maybe in 15 years or so, we'll see this little star take the stage.

First, here's our performer in pajamas singing Doe A Deer from the Sound of Music.

And here she is singing one Randall taught her recently, Old Man Tucker. I'll put the lyrics here in case you love it so much you want to learn it (or if you have trouble understanding her) :)  I've since learned that this is a variation of "Old Dan Tucker" from Little House on the Prairie. Who knew?!

Old Man Tucker was a fine old man
Washed his face in a fryin' pan
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel
Died with a toothpick in his will

Gone away is Old Man Tucker
You're too late to get your supper
Supper's over and dinner's cookin'
Old Man Tucker was just standin' there lookin'

And to finish out this video-filled post, here are our two sweeties the other night when Randall was out of town. I wanted to send him a video. They were going berserk in the tub. It is their favorite time together, I think! Are Collin's little waves not the SWEEEEEETEST things?

Collin's 1st Birthday!

What kind of mother waits weeks to blog about her son's 1st birthday?! Sorry. I'm so sorry :) We had a wonderful celebration of Collin's first year with family and friends in Virginia. We held it at a local church hall and had about 30 folks attend. It was great! Here are some pictures from the occasion.

His invitation turned out so cute, first of all. Thanks to Elle Bee Designs in Arkansas (find her on Facebook!).

 
The room set-up was simple. The cake was vanilla and the cupcakes were chocolate - both were delicious! The cake was made at a local bakery in VA. And we asked Randall's brother's wife's mom (you got that?!) to handle all of the food. She caters on the side and is awesome at it. This turned out to be a very smart decision on our end. She did much better than we would have done, and it was a huge stress relief since we were coming from out of town.

Here are some of my favorites of the birthday boy enjoying cake and presents. Sydney wouldn't touch her cake, and he couldn't get enough.

I loved his little outfit. Kudos to Randall for picking it out!!

 

And here are some shots of some of the guests. It was great to see family and friends; I just wish we had more photos of the attendees!

And of course Sydney was the best helper of the day. Collin's present opening went MUCH faster than at her own first birthday party because she didn't have an older sibling to basically take over the whole process. She had a blast and looked pretty cute in the process, I'd say. :)

At one year old, here are some highlights about our big boy:

• He weighs 25 pounds and is 85th percentile in both height and weight (that's only 7 pounds lighter than his 3-year-old sis!)
• He is walking, cautiously but surely. I think in the next few weeks, he will prefer it over crawling.
• He moved up to a new classroom, where they sit in chairs at a table, and they sleep in cots instead of cribs. He's getting so big!
• He isn't saying much that makes sense, but lots of things that sound like dadda, momma, baba, bye-bye... or something like that :)
• He's facing front in the car (no judgement please) and loves it. We figure he's as big as some 2-year-olds, so we feel ok about our decision.
• He loves all food. ALL. FOOD. I think walking will only help his ever-growing tummy :)
• Collin is convinced his bottle is for milk and his sippy cup is only for juice. We're working hard to get him off the bottle! If his sippy has juice, he drinks it down. If it has milk, he throws it on the floor or just pours it on his face. Lovely.
• He LOVES his sister so very much, even when she's not being a perfect big sister. I hope they continue to be as close as they are right now. They both laugh all the time at each other.
• Collin is just the sweetest boy. I know we say this all the time, but it's true. I couldn't have asked for a better son.

Last but not least, here are our little ones at their first birthday parties. Are they sweet or what?!

Sydney's 3rd Birthday!

I figure I really needed to get this post up before Collin's 1st birthday rolls around!
Sydney had been begging for ear piercing ever since her classmate had her ears pierced a couple of months ago. I thought for sure she'd chicken out before her birthday weekend rolled around, but nope. So, two days before her birthday, my mom and I took her to Claire's. Here's the tentative before picture, the immediate after picture, and then the tears gone picture. She only cried for about 10 seconds, but isn't that picture just heartbreaking? Other shoppers must have thought we were so mean! She chose the October birthstone because it is light pink. She looks SO CUTE. It worked out great because she was perfectly still --- the requirement for the Claire's workers to do both ears at the same time. I'm not sure she would have done the 2nd one if they did them one at a time. :)

Immediately after, we headed to a celebratory carousel ride. She was so proud of the earrings!!

Since we recently moved and had a crazy busy fall, I didn't plan a birthday party with her classmates. I sent cupcakes and candles to school, and she loved having everyone sing to her. Then, we just did presents and cake at home with Grandma and Pop. I feel terrible now that we didn't do a big party because she's been to a few here for her new friends, and she loves them. At least now I know, and next year we'll do it up big!

Now, we didn't sing to Sydney one time. Or even two times. We sang to her (and she sang to herself) with the big cake, then re-lit the candles on her piece of cake, and then again and again and again. I think we sang five times with candles. The third birthday must be when they really embrace the birthday fun. She couldn't get enough.

At three years old, Sydney Drew is a very strong-willed yet loving little girl. She loves her baby brother more than anyone in the world, and she is such a Daddy's Girl. She loves school-related activities (flash cards, tracing numbers and letters, etc.). I hope she's always excited about learning. Sydney has strong opinions as well as a sensitive heart. She is like a different child in the last six months --- loves playing with friends and takes less time to warm up to new people. She has a memory like her Daddy (supernatural, really) and can learn words to songs in no time. She's hilarious, silly, and compassionate. We are surprised by her every day, and it's so much fun to watch her in the big sister role. She has moved out of overnight pull-ups, and her pacifier is gone. It almost makes me tear up! There are definitely challenges that come with having a three-year-old, and there are times I want to hide for a few hours (or days), but there are also times when I feel so happy and full because we get to be her parents. I can't wait to see what this next year holds!!

Christmas 2012

We had a very busy but wonderful Christmas this year! First, Grandpa was here for a few days. We had a great time hanging out with good food and surprises from Santa. On Christmas Eve, Randall cooked a fabulous prime rib, Sydney put out milk and cookies for Santa, and we got all the presents assembled and put under the tree. Mommy and Collin were both under the weather for Christmas, but it didn't slow us down too terribly much.

Christmas morning was so much fun. Sydney opened all of her gifts, all of Collin's gifts, and then "helped" open everyone else's. She was a happy girl.

Sydney's big gift from Santa was a "My First Trampoline." Grandpa and Daddy stayed up putting it together, and it's living in the garage until it's warmer out. She had tried one out at a friend's birthday party, so she knew what it was all about and jumped right in!

Christmas Day was beautiful here, so we enjoyed some time the park in the afternoon. I love these pictures my dad captured.

We closed out Christmas Day with bath time, where the kids played with some new musical instrument bath toys.

After Grandpa left, we welcomed Grandma, Pop, Uncle Corey and Emma. More family and more presents! These kids have been so spoiled. Here are pictures from Round 2 :)

Posts to follow will include the rest of Christmas week, Sydney's 3rd birthday and Collin's (gasp!) first haircut!

11 months!

How is it possible that we are planning for Collin's 1st birthday already?! Our sweet and funny baby boy hit the 11-month mark this Tuesday.

After bath tonight, he was playing near his favorite upstairs location: the computer desk :)  It's close to his bedroom and the kids' bathroom, so while Sydney was still in the bath, we played nearby. I think there are few things cuter than a little one in his/her pajamas!

At 11 months, Collin:

• is taking steps, but the record is only six at one time
• can get up our stairs in what feels like 2 seconds
• isn't saying much more than dada and mama (though his teacher swears he said bottle today - ha!)
• wears some 12 month and some 18 month clothes
• eats pretty much whatever Sydney eats, and still some baby food from time to time; favorites include any kind of beans, mandarin oranges, banana, pancakes, chicken, deli turkey & ham, yogurt, pears, and pickles
• claps and waves at everything
• is still a fabulous sleeper
• smiles and laughs all the time
• adores his big sister

We feel so lucky to be Collin's parents. He is an absolute joy. When he was first born, I questioned if life with two would ever feel easy. Well, I don't think "easy" is the word for it, but it certainly feels right :) We can't wait to celebrate his first Christmas next week and his first birthday in Virginia next month! Love you, buddy boy!!!