Wedding Day

Wedding day arrived and we were so excited.  Justin and I were determined to get Collier to nap before we had to be at the church for pictures, and he did.  I had to wake him up to get a shower and to the church on time...it was like waking a little monster.  He was whiney and fussy from the moment I woke him up until just before the service.  We arrived at the church and it was so HOT inside and outside.  Due to an overbooking of the church they didn't get to take pictures before, like planned, but I think it really worked out better.  I am a sucker for a bride to wait to see her hubby-to-be until she is walking down the isle to say their vows, I just love it and that is exactly what happened.   Cami was such a beautiful bride!

My little monster kept crying and telling me that he wasn't going to walk down the isle.  He wanted to go and see Nammy and Daddy.  He has been talking about this day and anticipating this day for months and now he is saying he doesn't want to.  It wasn't an option and I was going to do everything I could to be sure he went down that isle by.him.self....The Deacon told me if I needed to walk with him I could but there was NO way I was about to do that.  I told Collier all he had to do was follow behind Taylor and Madison and once he got down the isle he could come and sit with us and that Daddy has some M&Ms and a surprise for him; but he had to walk the isle by himself and be a big boy.  [bribe, negotiate, beg] He kept telling me he didn't want to and I was really starting to stress.  But then we got the 5 minutes warning and all of the bridesmaids starting lining up and I got his super duper suit all put back on and suddenly he was ready and no longer hesitating.   Except he wouldn't even hold the pillow...pillow wasn't going but he was and I was fine with that.  Taylor started walking and Collier was right behind her, the Deacon told him to stop and wait and told him he had forgotten something.  Grabbed the pillow from me handed it to Collier and off he went.  Perfectly down that isle; pillow and all.  I was finally relieved. When everyone sat down Collier joined us and immediatley wanted his prize...and then he proceeded to remove all of the pieces of his tux, if he had removed anything more we would have had a naked little ring bearer in the chruch!

Mom and Dad brought Kenley and she only cried one little time and slept the rest of the service, until everyone clapped at the annoucement of Mr. and Mrs. Hockaday! We then had to put Collier back together for a third time for pictures.  I fed Kenley while they took pictures, so I missed that and can only hope he gave a pretty smile and not that horrible cheese smile...but we'll just have to wait and see.

Aunt Christie had asked if Collier could ride in the limo with the wedding party from the chruch to the reception.  Oh boy, he was all over that and the fact that he got to ride in that 'big tuck'with Madison and Taylor was just the added bonus!  He was so cute and happy!

The reception was so much fun and very crowded!  Collier of course stripped everything off as soon as he could.  Even the shoes came off this time.  Thankfully I brought his crocks.  It wasn't long before Collier was starting to fade and begging to go home.  After we ate I decided to let him dance one dance and see if he wanted to go after that.  Well as soon as his feet hit that dance floor he was set and didn't want to leave.  He boogied the night away.   He was so funny and very into it, he would stare at everyone's feet and try and dance like everyone else.  He even asked for his church shoes back on.  At one point he had a group of people circled around him clapping. 

 The Beautiful Bride and Groom

Like I said before, he brought his dancing shoes this weekend.  He had a blast and it was a fabulous weekend and a wonderful time.  We are so happy for Cami and Jason and were thankful to be apart of their very special and fun day!

Just for the recod, Kenley slept through the entire reception in her pumpkin seat.  I did a horrible job taking pictures.  It is much harder to carry around my good camera and keep up with Collier and everything else that was going on.  I regret not taking a single family picture and none of Kenley either.

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend my cousin Cami got married and Collier was her ring bearer.  It was such a fun weekend with family that we don't get to see as often as we wish we could.  We love spending time with them and we just never seem to have enough time to get caught up with everyone.  As we drove home Sunday I kept thinking of people that I had seen and hugged their neck but didn't really get to sit down and catch up with them.  The entire weekend was amazing!  Every event was perfectly fun and we were honored to be included in this very special day for Cami and Jason.

Thursday we arrived in Jacksonville and went to pick up his tux...aka 'super duper suit'.  Oh boy it was just too funny and cute when he saw himself in the mirror.  He was so upset when we wouldn't let him wear it out of the store...he laid on the floor in total disappointment.  He sure was sharp and seemed so big in that tiny little tux.

I think that he liked the bow-tie the least and loved the rest of it.  this was when he was just trying on the shoes and the seamstress was adjusting the pants and jacket.  Justin and I were just cracking up.

The wedding festivities started Thursday night with a casual BBQ with family and friends of Jason and Cami.  I failed to even pull my camera out of the case.  So, I didn't get any pictures.  Cami wanted to teach and do some Arabic dancing...so a few of our aunt's taught and danced the dubkey (no idea if that spelling is correct). I was feeding Kenley during the majority of this so I missed out but thanks to Aunt Jeanie for capturing Collier joining in on the festivities (we have to figure out how to get it from her phone to me).  The boy certainly brought his dance'n shoes for the weekend! After they did the dubkey...he wanted to teach Madison and Blake his dance.  They were so sweet to play along since his dance is along the same dance as The Ronald Miller from Can't Buy Me Love..shaking and flinging his arms and legs. He also go to meet so many Aunts, Uncles and Cousin's that he hasn't ever met or has been since he was just born that he has seen.  He really gravitated toward a few cousin's in particular...Madison, Taylor and Blake.  He is still talking about Madison!

 this was me trying to explain to him how to hold the pillow and how to be very careful with it.  Aunt Christie had sewn real rings on the pillow because he kept talking about carrying 'all the rings'

 in true BOY fashion...he threw it all around instead of being careful and gentle with it.  Thankfully the rings were good and secure.

Friday we relaxed around Gramper's house and ran a few errands before we headed to rehearsal and dinner.  Collier got his pillow and I did all that I could to explain and practice what this whole 'ring bearer' thing was all about.  He was just mostly interested in following the girls around.  Friday he didn't get a nap and by dinner time he was running on fumes.  We didn't last very long but it was an awesome night and dinner.

 This is Taylor...she was also the Maid of Honor.

 The Bride and Groom

 The precious girl in yellow...this is Madison!

This is how we ended our night...running all around on the dance floor.  Shortly after this picture he came to me begging to go home and so we did!  All the going and festivities will wear out a little man, especially with no nap!

Daddy!!!!

Happy Father's Day to all of you men.  and Especially to the Dad's in my life!
Justin, Thank you for being such a good, fun and loving Dad to our babies.  They sure are blessed to have you as their daddy.  Thank you for all that you do for them and us as a family to provide, help, play and of course to keep us all laughing!

Justin and I have both been greatly blessed with very good Father's as well.  I know that I say all the time that we have good parents...but they really are great and we are so thankful to have them not only be  involved with us but now also with our children.  They are amazing Grand-Daddy's!

Thank you Justin, Dad, Randy and Charles for being strong and amazing Father's and Grandfathers!

We love you

3 Months

Today Kenley is 3 Months. It is passing too quickly. She is stealing my heart more and more with each passing day.  Friday's are so much fun.  Today was my first Friday in several weeks that I didn't work at all and it was fun to just hang with the kids and play and nap together!  It was really a great day.

Kenley desperately wants to sit up, when I lay her down she will lift her head up and try and pull her body. She just isn't quite strong enough. She does good with tummy time and even almost rolled over today..it wasn't all the way over but she got her upper body over and needed a little help with her legs. She is eating great and sleeping great [Thank you Jesus...a huge answer to prayer for me].  She is still spitting up a lot even though she is on Zantac.

She loves her passey and sleeps with her lovey over her face most of the time [just like her big brother did].  She prefers to be held than in her bed or laying alone...she is rotten and I made her that way.  Mom is sort of struggling with this at times when she is sleeping and a 3 year old monkey is demanding her attention; it is sort of hard to get on the floor and play with a baby in your arms. 

Her cry is loud enough to bust your ear drum.  There are moments that she is hard to console or calm down.  She seems to get worked up most when I leave her with Justin...which means that he may be def by the time she turns one!  Although Monday night I left her with Justin and she slept that whole time, which is a first! 

Her eye's are still blue.   She also has a sweet smile and grin.  She opens her mouth wide to coo and talk when she smiles.  

This is normally how she ends her final feeding of the night...full, happy and OUT!

Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed was a prayer that I grew up singing and one that I knew that I wanted to teach Collier.  With most songs or prayers he will just finish each line and we normally pause for him to finish each line but a few weeks ago he told us that he wanted to do it all by himself.  My mom cried!  Honestly, it did bring tears to my eyes.  It was just so sweet!  And I was so happy that he did it one night that we were at the lake so that my parents got to hear him do it all by himself for the first time.  This was the second night he did it and I was able to capture it...now he sings it almost every night.

We are still working on keeping our hands folded and our eyes closed during prayer time.

Little Skier

The last weekend that we were at the lake, our neighbor's youngest son was down with a few of his friends [they are all Auburn students] and they borrowed our two skies to ski.  Collier was very curious about them taking our skies and skiing.  He is a little monkey see-monkey do!  He started telling me that he wanted to ski.  Sometimes he just wants to do what others are doing and not really knowing exactly what it is.  For instance, the weekend before Mom was out in the water with Collier at the end of the dock.  The water is really low at our lake and so the dock is really high which is why the kids do most of their jumping from the back of the boat.  BUT, our neighbor jumped in off of the top of the dock.  Collier told my mom that he wanted to do that, climbed up the ladder and just jumped off the top with out my mom being really ready or close to where he jumped.  Good news is that he had his floaties on, so he was fine and came right up.  But Mom said that she sort of did a belly buster and is startled him a little!  He is fearless and willing to try anything he see's a big boy doing.

So, we borrowed some little skies from our other neighbor's and did some practicing [Daddy and Pops pulled them along the shore on the skies] before we put that little boy behind the boat!  Chris and Ashlyn came down just for a few hours on Saturday and Collier was on the mower with Chris when I went to get the skies from next door.  When he saw me with those skies he was off that mower quicker than I could blink...that is a complete shock because that little boy is obsessed with mowing the grass.  Here is how it unfolded!!

 And then he actually did it:




I was so excited and so proud of him.  It took all I could do to not scream and yell in excitement for him but I knew that would totally ruin the video sounding like a complete redneck.   I should have been in the boat to video, but for some reason was on shore.  But once his butt dropped the water splashed in his face too much and he wouldn't/couldn't stand back up so Justin stopped and got in the water with him.  He was a little scared but Justin told him how good he did and they got back in the boat.  He wouldn't do it again the rest of the weekend but he is still talking about it today.  I just can't believe that he was willing to try, I have no idea if he will do it again this summer or not.  But I am proud of him for being brave enough to do it one time!  At 3 year's old.