'Challenge an Elephant'

This was the email that I got from my Mom yesterday:

So I looked back at the time he went this morning....8:30 to 2:00...wow....I challenge an elephant to him!!!!!

Mom is so sweet to send me updates on his potty progress through the day.   She had just sent an email saying that he had finally gone #1 and #2 in the potty and this was her next email. It made me laugh.  He had gone pee pee at 8:30 and then nothing until 2:00.  So, one of two things is obvious here:  1) He isn't drinking enough 2) He has a huge bladder.  Maybe a little of both.  He really doesn't drink all that much and when he does drink it is usually us pushing him to DRINK DRINK DRINK.  But the good news is that the potty progress has been very good!  Better than I could have expected.  He did have one accident yesterday afternoon, he just didn't give mom enough time to get to the potty.  But other than that he has told us and gone in the potty!  He even sits on the potty when he needs to toot, he thinks it's really funny - such a BOY!

I was so nervous and dreading this whole process.  He has more than exceeded by expectations and I am so thankful that it has been a success.  Over the weekend he just wore his undies and a shirt and for the majority of the time he was in his PJ shirt... hence both of my recent pictures...I promise that I am really dressing him now :)  Although there are some days that he is still in his jammies when we get to my Mom's.  


I am so very thankful to have my Mom be willing and able to keep Collier for us. It makes things like this [potty training] just so easy!  She actually sends me updates throughout the day and sometimes even pictures. The potty updates have been quite funny! I have often worried about Collier not getting the social interaction with other kids his age.  Also have worried that he wares out my Mom!!!  Both are true but what a blessing that they get this time together! They have a bond that is like no other.  There are some days [like yesterday] when I have to pry him away from her house.  He loves being there.  He can even tell me how to get to her house...'turn dat way' and points where I am supposed to turn.  Yesterday he was crying because he wanted to stay with Nammie.  All the way home he kept pointing behind him saying 'dat way momma, dat way'.  I would tell him we're going this way and point forward....he would say 'nnooooo' Of course as soon as he saw Justin he was fine.  I am just grateful and thankful in countless ways to have Mom do all that she does for Collier.  Dad too...he comes home most days at lunch time and I know that Collier looks forward to having lunch with Pops.  Today they were going to mow the grass in the back yard together.  Collier walks right beside my Dad as he mows.  It just melts my heart to see how much Collier admires my parents and how much love overflows from them for Collier!  Mom and Dad..thank you a million times over for being the grandparents that you are!   


In the fall, Collier will start going to 2 year old preschool?  Or is it mother's day out?  Whatever you want to call it.  He'll go two days a week from 9am-1pm.  Mom will get a break and Collier will get not only interaction with other 2's but also will get structure!  I am excited for both of them (Mom and Collier) and look forward to the growth that Collier will experience. 

Potty Training

One day this week I got a call from Mom with Collier on speaker phone and Mom was saying 'Collier tell Momma what you did' and so I guessed a few things all with a 'no' answer and he never would say...well Mom finally told me that he went poo poo in the potty!  Oh wow!  She was changing his diaper and he farted and so she asked if he wanted to go and sit on the potty, he said yes and he pooped!  So, I decided that maybe we needed to try potty training this weekend.  I have said for a long time that I feel that he is ready but have been very nervous about the process.  With HUGE thanks for a long talk with my friend Amanda I decided that I was going to give it a try!  I would say that we have been mostly successful.  I don't have pull-ups and I am not 100% comfortable for naps and night time so I put him back in the diaper for naps and he'll sleep in a diaper tonight as well.  Although he was still dry after his first nap.   We started out with a few accidents this morning (I went through 4 pair of undies before 10am) and since then we have done both pee pee (twice) and poo poo in the potty and only had to change undies once this afternoon.  The catch to all of this is that he is telling me that he needs to go and going!  It has been a long day, and it still isn't over, but it has been good.  We've tried to keep busy while restricted to the house and I feel like we've done well.  I'll certainly update next week once we get a few more days into it!  I am very nervous about the next few days hoping that today hasn't been a total fluke! 

After his first time of telling me he had to go potty 'Momma ewha potty' and then actually going pee pee in the potty I gave him his first surprise which gave him distraction for quite a while.  All of his other surprises have been food....fruit snacks and popcorn!

 He is so stink'n cute in his little undies, I can hardly stand it!  Such a big boy and thankfully doing well!

FIVE!

Did you say five?  Last night we were sitting on the couch winding down before bed.  He was playing with Justin's watch and I was showing him the numbers on the clock and I started counting and he went to FIVE.  I was shocked.  I made him do it again to be sure it wasn't a fluke and then I ran and got the camera.  Justin and I cheered so much when he did it that he started getting really excited after counting at all.



It sounds like he says six, but I am not sure that it was REALLY six.  and when I say six his response is 'des' which is yes.  
In celebration of counting to five, here are my five favorite things about Collier right now:

1. He is counting to five!! I am so proud of him 
2. When he wakes up he says 'Momma hold Tollier' and then I walk in and he asks for Dadda to hold Tollier.  
3. Run...he loves to run.  No matter where or what is going on he wants to run and he especially loves it if you will run with him!  He gets so tickled, you just can't help but laugh with him.
4. He is such a sponge.  He is so very teachable at this point and I love to see how he is growing, learning and discovering all that is around him! Mom is working to teach him Johnny Appleseed prayer and he is catching on quick!  Talking up a storm.
5. His smile.  He is just so sweet and I love it when he flashes that big smile..dimples and all!  I could just eat him with a fork and love every bite!  I ask Justin ALL.THE.TIME how we got such a sweet little boy!  Love him to pieces!

I could go on and one...but I'll stop at five for now!
Justin asked yesterday, did he [Collier] just wake up and decide he was going to talk and say things.  He was specifically referring to Collier jumping up and down and saying 'yeah ice keam' after I asked if he wanted to share some ice cream with me.  How does he know to say yeah at ice cream.  Kids are so much smarter than we give them credit for.  Walking sponge soaking up the world around him.  I just pray that he soaks up all of God's love along the way!  It

Jesus love you....

Part of our bed time routine is when I lay Collier in the bed I tell him who all loves him.  I start it with 'Momma loves you, Dadda loves you' and then he'll usually start adding others which have included everyone from Brinkley and Spring and Mae(my in-law's dogs) to Poe, Patten, Hunter and every now and then Pop.  I will get through all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and then tell him ' Jesus loves you most of all and He is always with you, no matter what.'.  So the other day I asked Him, who loves him most of all and he said God and then Jesus really loud.  Truth.  Jesus does love you!  Jesus loves us with a love that we can not fully understand.  I can look at Collier know how much my love is for this precious child and to think further of our Father's love for us [His children] and that it is even more than my mind can even fathom.

"How wonderful the Father’s love, the Father’s love for us
That He would send His only Son to come and rescue us
He has saved us, called us blameless
Guides us now and will sustain us
Oh, how wonderful the Father’s love"
- The Father's Love, written by Joel Sczebel based on 1 John 3:1

Mother's Day trip

We went to Blakely, GA for the second year in a row for Mother's Day weekend.  Justin's Aunt Penny and Uncle Gerald live there and have an awesome layout that has something for everyone.  I loved the time we got to spend with Justin's family.  Collier got to visit with Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and lots of four legged family members!  It was relaxing, fun and a special treat.  Wide open spaces, delicious meals and perfect company! What more could I ask for?

Collier almost didn't stop the entire time we were there!  Talk about a toddler's dream world: room to run, strip down, play in water, fish, drive golf carts and tractors and just hang with the big boys, get spoiled by his grandparents and play with dogs! Collier got his first real fishing experience.  He wasn't very good about 'watching' the cork.  But he really liked reeling in the fish.  Then didn't want anything to do with the fish.  I think he touched it once, but didn't like it too much.

Few notes of some of the pictures:

• The Hand Truck...have I ever mentioned that Collier loves to push AND ride a hand truck?  One day he and my mom were in the garage (after they had finished blowing the leaves) and CH saw the hand truck. They pushed it around for a while and then next thing I knew I pulled up to get my child and he was riding on the hand truck and LOVING.EVERY.MINUTE!  Buzz wondered why in the world he wanted to play with it.  Well he walked Buzz to the other side of the pond with that dang hand truck.  I call it the 'redneck Stroller'!  Ha.  What kid wants to play with a hand truck?  I am still not sure why we buy him toys.

• As Justin put it: whose redneck child is that...running around in a diaper? I didn't know to take swimming shorts so the diaper was the next best bet. For the record, this happened while I was away at the grocery store. I come home to Justin lathering CH in sun screen stripped to his diaper.
  **This is my second redneck reference in the same post, maybe I should just face it.....

•  Uncle Gerald was VERY kind enough to let CH 'drive' his tractor!  He took him all the way around the pond and CH was so excited.  He messed with every button, gadget and lever on that tractor. Uncle Chris look out he wants to really drive yours next...now that he has some experience :)

It has taken Collier two days to recover from the busy weekend.  Sleeping in late and long naps! 

The Birthday Party

It was so much fun. It was only family.  It was just right.  It was what I had hoped for!  It was a day of celebration for my sweet baby Collier!

I have once again been reminded that I am NOT a party planner!  I searched the web high and low for children's train parties and found a million different ideas in a million different directions. I have the best intentions and then usually my mind goes in about 50 different directions and then I have to take a deep breath and decide what I can actually do. I then try and PIECE together what I liked most and then execute!  Yikes, stress!  But thanks to my parents, my aunt and especially my very tolerant husband...we made it happen!  I think that my aunt put it perfectly....I think that 'I have more time in my head than in reality'  That is a hundred percent true.  So some things didn't get done and what did get done got done and what didn't...didn't. One thing that didn't get done was....my counter tops!  I went with plan B and covered my exposed cabinets with shelving pieces and then covered with fabric.  You would have never known there wasn't a real counter top.  Anyway, 2 year olds don't know the difference and that was what April 30th was all about!

Menu: Pork Sandwiches (Justin smoked the Boston Butt on Friday, I  made the buns...both were delicious) slaw, corn and bean salad (courtesy of my Aunt Jackie) and strawberries and blueberries.  Red Velvet cupcakes for the cake. Easy but good was my goal! 

Ashlyn and Collier played so good together.  They were so content with each other and were just precious together!  Hayden (8mo)and Emory(4mo) also were there and next year they will certainly be in the middle with these two!

they took turns (w/ no arguing at all!) pushing each other

He LOVED opening his gifts



one of his gifts....He and Ash had a BLAST



He really can't reach the pedal but can scotch up and make it go!



I bought conductor hats and for some reason CH wore his either backwards or sideways.  cracked me up

  

Ash loved Collier swing...she squealed in delight at how high she could swing







The weather was so nice, including a nice breeze most of the day...which blew my HUGE balloons into the tree.  they are still there and Collier still goes out and points to them. 



It was fun and I am really glad that it is behind me..that is the party itself.  I still can't get over how big Collier is getting and how fast he is growing up.  We then let Collier nap and headed to my parents house to enjoy dinner with Chris, Amanda, Ashlyn and Hayden.  By the end of the night Collier passed out sitting with Justin on the couch.  He really didn't feel good most of the day, nothing worse than being sick on your birthday...those dang teeth finally came through last week! 

2 Years Old

My Baby is two!  We had an awesome weekend to celebrate his birthday [post coming to include party details and pictures]. It just doesn't seem that two years have already past, these past two years have gone very fast and have been filled with fun, joy and abundant blessings from God!

Few notes about my sweet little two year old man...He is very funny and likes to be silly.  He is, what I call, mischievous and I mean this in the best way possible.  He loves to climb - on anything and everything that we will allow him to climb.  He is talking up a storm and putting sentences together and repeats almost anything that we say, we laugh at the things that he repeats that sound really funny coming out of a two year olds mouth!  He loves to sing and dance....yet another thing that keeps us laughing!  He is going through a weird eating stage and has gotten a bit picky..maybe not so much picky as just doesn't eat as much as I think that he would, although he eats pretty good like bananas, grapes, cheese, strawberries, blueberries and peanut butter sandwiches.  He is really into orange juice and strawberry milk.  He has always been an 'outside' kind of child and I can only pray that this will continue as he gets older!  He loves to 'work', which usually includes vacuuming, sweeping, blowing (yes he will hold and run the blower himself and loves it) and even wiping down his mess after he is done eating - so much like my brother and Justin's mom...very busy and productive!  He still has pasey - although we try and keep it in his bed only but there are times that it makes its way out of the bed I am not sure how or when to get rid of it but I feel it is very soon!  I am sure the dentist will tell me it should ALREADY be gone!  He is still in his crib, no idea when we will move him to a big boy bed but just this weekend we saw him put is foot on the top rail when saying 'get out'. I am in no hurry to get him out of the crib! He is not potty trained and I haven't even tried, I did buy a potty seat but that is as far as I've gotten.  When I ask him 'who made you so' cute, funny, smart, fillintheblank...his response 'God'.  Soooo sweet!  He testes and tries most of the boundaries that we set - just as every child should!

Collier is a blessing in so many ways!  He is such a combination of Justin and I in looks and in personality!  I pray that he will always knows Jesus in a personal way and impact His kingdom in a mighty way.  My heart grows and loves him more and more every day.  Being his Mom is extra special!  My patience has never been more tested yet my heart has never loved like it has since having him.  

His 2nd birthday also brought on teething and viral something!!!  He started on Friday with whining and being very needy.  I was terrified that he would be sick on his birthday and he did wake up and immediately want to go back to sleep on Saturday morning!  But he did great through the day and had a blast playing with his cousin.  Saturday night he hardly slept and woke up on Sunday with 102 fever.  I took him to the doctor [and I knew in my head that it wasn't anything but a slight cough, high fever and no sleep...I was just worried] the doctor relieved my fears and he is just going to have to let it run its coarse.  His fever cleared Sunday by mid-morning and he has slept a lot and just looks likes he doesn't feel good...his eyes tell it all!  He is also very whiny and wants you to 'hold tollier'.  If I hold him and sit down he says 'momma get up'.  Last night he went down at 7:30 and slept all night for the first time since last Thursday, so I hope that he will start feeling better!