Kudos to Hollywood-Finally!!

Let me be the first to say that I LOVE going to the movies...as long as there is a good one on! (Which we all know can be difficult to find) Over the last couple of years you realize the pattern in each movie-guy/girl meet, fall in love, get married, have (shall we say) relations, of which you and I are provided almost every detail (not that we needed to be given the details as we could pretty much figure out what was going to happen anyways), over time things get tough and either guy or girl cheats and the relationship is over...I guess the same could be said for the real life relationships Hollywood constantly finds the need to inform us of. All around us we are faced with the idea (whether in a relationship or not) that when the going gets tough-don't deal with it. Sweep it under the rug and maybe it will not come back to bite you later! How sad to live by this idea! We wonder why our society is the way that it is, the divorce rate is 50% and more, and there are more shootings/crime than ever before! Perhaps we should take into account the movies, shows, music we watch and allow our children to watch!
Now that I've gotten down from my soap box I should explain why I titled this "Kudos to Hollywood-Finally!) Last night Nate and I had our babysitter come over to watch Colton while we went and watched a movie! We were so excited! We had not been to the movies since Thanksgiving and before that it was May! We decided to watch Marley and Me even though we heard it was sad at the end. Marley and Me stars Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. Anyways, they get married and Owen Wilson decides to get a puppy to ward off any evil spirits of Jennifer possibly wanting to start a family anytime soon. They get a Labrador who, lets just say, would have only lasted about 2 seconds in my house due to his wild, crazy, couch eating, leg humping, whatever other crazy antics he pulled. Throughout the movie you grow to love this wild dog and actually fall in love with him (and if I fell in love with him you know he must have turned into a decent dog). Of course a couple years into the dog Jen and Owen have their first baby, and then they have another one about two or three years later. Jennifer decides to stay home with the kids and quit her job. During a particular scene in the movie you wonder if Hollywood was attempting to encourage a little birth control to the young couples watching who have not had the opportunity to experience the joys of parenthood! Jennifer has not had a shower, the dog is on his worst behavior, the youngest child has colic, the older child is being a normal 3 year old (and by normal I do NOT mean that sweet innocent child sitting in his chair with his hands folded saying "mom, is there something I can do to make your life better?"). Owen comes home only to say the wrong thing and he and Jen start to argue. It was quite believable-they did an excellent job of portraying just how hectic it can get sometimes and just how bad if affects you and your family. I thought for a minute Hollywood had come to my house and secretly videotaped one of our "moments" and then took it back to the set and said, "okay, here's what we want." (As a sidenote, these "moments" are few and far between at our house) Anyways, Owen talks to his buddy about how he's not happy with work, his life is crazy, he's fighting with Jen, and the kids just add a whole nother item to the equation. His friend's advice is to move on. Just be done with that life and move right along. Owen Wilson comes back with, "No, man, you don't end it-you mend it." Oh my gosh! Did that just come out of his mouth...let's hear it again "No man you don't end it you mend it." How great!! I wanted to stand up, clap and give him 3 cheers!!! What a wonderful response! And I thought Hollywood had thrown all of its morals out the window! And it turns out, not only did Owen make that response but he sticks with it and chooses to work it out!! The ending is sad, however I will not ruin it for those of you who have not seen it, but the ending monologue by Owen is perfect! He talks about the true love a dog gives to each person in a family, how their love is unconditional, and how you don't find many people in your life who will love you and stand by you through all the bad times...as the movie ends the camera shows Owen looking back into the house at Jennifer as she plays with their kids letting us know of the sentiment he has with Jennifer, his wife. It was truly a great ending! It gave me warm fuzzies inside when I thought of the love my hubby has for me and I for him. One will never find a better relationship than the one they have with their spouse! For Hollywood to bring that story to life was incredible. I related to this movie in many ways! It was a great movie and I would watch it again-although I would have to bring a box of tissues with me! Congratulations to Hollywood for finally bringing us a story that we should all pay attention to!

Busy, busy, busy!!

Sorry it has been a while! We are slowly getting boxes unpacked and our house situated! We've officially been in our house a little over a week and it's finally starting to look like a home! I'll post pictures soon! We've just gotten our internet working (very long story as to why it's taken so long) but now that it's up and we've found the camera I'll try and take some pics of the new house! Tonight we are leaving Colton with some friends of ours parents and going to a "Tastefully Simple" party with Nate's co-workers! I'm sure if it involves new recipes and cooking stuff I will love it! I'll let you know how that goes! Anyways, some friends of ours parents are watching Colton at our house! We went over on Wed so Colton could meet them! They have several grandchildren around Colton's age so he did really well with them! Gotta love it when they get down in the floor and play with them! I'm sure they'll have a blast! Our entire basement is Colton's playroom so I'm sure they'll have no trouble keeping busy! They'll sleep good tonight!
Well, have to get ready for the party!

Trip to Home

We have made it to Woodbridge, VA!!! We made a 10 hour trip in 14 hours!! Not bad and Colton did well on the trip. He only watched an hour and a half of DVD's and played the rest of the time! I'll write more later but wanted to let you know we made it safe and sound! Also, fyi our house is about 5 minutes from Potomac Mills Outlet stores!! Gotta love it!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

Sorry it has been over a week since my last post. However, with Christmas, shopping, packing, living out of a suitcase, and living with in-laws for 2 weeks I guess you could say life has been somewhat hectic!! But I'm enjoying it...because it's Christmas!! This year was even more exciting! Colton will be 2 in February so he was way into Christmas and presents this year! All of our fun started last Saturday with Nate's dad's side of the family. We met at their house and had lunch and then a white elephant gift exchange! It was so much fun. The picture of Colton with the crazy glasses on is my mother-in-law's gift! He loved it! We also got a chance to play the Wii-Colton had to have his own controller and pretended he was playing the game as well. I guess he plays better with the cute red fireman hat because he would NOT give up for anything! Made for a cute picture though!?! Don't ya think???

On Sunday we went to Nate's mom's side of the family. We had lunch and enjoyed some family time with a few of Nate's family members that we hadn't seen in a while. We got to play the Wii there as well...again Colton showed off his skills!! We also got to battle it out between the sexes and decorate Granny and Pa like Christmas trees!! They loved it and we all enjoyed seeing them relish in it! Of course the girls decorated Pa the best-but I could be a little biased! All in all, we had a great time...I've included a pic of Nate and I, his parents and sister, and his mom's parents!

On Tuesday we drove about an hour to finish up our shopping...actually Nate and I were starting our shopping as we have been so busy with moving! We went to the mall in Champaign, IL. We had planned to go early in the day so that we would beat the ice/snow/rain mix that was supposed to hit about 2 pm. Nope, we left about 10:30 and of course the weather man was wrong. About 11:00 here comes the ice! I bet we passed 10 wrecks on the way. Needless to say it was not the best pick for a day to shop! As soon as we walked into the mall there stood a HUGE (and by huge i do mean HUGE) indoor carousel! Well, of course Colton's eyes seem to spot it from 5 miles away. I love how malls know just where to place all activities that revolve around kids!! There was no way Colton was going to eat until AFTER a ride on the carousel! So, mommy gave in and we rode the carousel. I wouldn't dare want to be one of THOSE mothers whose kid is screaming in the floor because they didn't get their way! You have to pick your battles and on this day I refused to fight! Besides, what's a little carousel ride. We actually had a great time! And the look on his face was priceless! You can actually see the beginning of his parade wave! Such a sweety!! So we managed to make it home alive-an hour and a half drive and several more wreck sitings!

Then came Christmas morning! Colton knew exactly what the word present meant! His face lit up when we told him he would get to open his presents today! He ripped into all of his presents (and by all I do mean about 20 or more). However, about halfway into the paper ripping frenzy he opened a box of clothes for him. Luckily, I had the video camera going and caught the look of complete disappointment that there was not a toy in there! He actually threw the present down and grabbed another and started ripping it open! It was hilarious! We attempted to tell him that we need to be thankful for everything we get-that went in one ear and out the other. Of course the in laws understood (it was one of the presents they gave him) but we definitely will have to work on that once he understands a little more! And the parenting continues... :) He got lots of presents and being able to see the look on his face was so great! I have 1 hour of video to help me remember how great the day was! While eating breakfast he would not eat unless his firetruck and fire hat were on the table and on his head! It was so sweet! I guess of all the things this Christmas I am grateful for such a wonderful child and family! Colton is such a blessing! This year just before Christmas he and his mamaw were looking at all the nativity scenes she has up in her house. She was telling him the story of Jesus' birth and he said "Baby Jesus" after each time she said it! It was so precious! Colton doesn't say a lot (that we understand yet) but to hear him say that warmed my heart! He does listen to what we tell him and understands way more than we sometimes give him credit! Below I've included a few of my favorites from Christmas morning! I hope they bring a smile to your face just like they did mine! To each of you, I hope your Christmas was filled with love and happiness! May we never forget the true reason for Christmas...the birth of Jesus and the blessing that He has brought to each of our lives! I have been given the greatest reminder of the love God has for us and enjoy every morning waking up to his sweet laugh and beautiful smile! God has truly blessed our family! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Colton's firsts!

So yes, this is my 3rd blog in one day but being new at this thing I think it's okay :)
While at Cooper's house today Colton was watching Barney and they started to sing "The Bear went over the mountain." Colton (while sitting in a bar stool) starts to dance and sing HIS version of "The Bear Went Over the Mountain." The only words I understood was bear and mountain but he was actually trying to sing a tune (wasn't on key yet but we're going to work on that)! Then part of the song goes, "to see what he could see" and at the same time you put your hand up by your eye like you're blocking the sun from your face. Neither Heidi nor I were paying attention and when I looked down (in that same sweet off tune voice) Colton is doing the motions and again, all I understood was "see". It was SO cute!! He's never done that before unless he and I were singing the song together and doing the motions. Then when we got home Barney was on (I know by now you think Barney lives at our house 24/7-we really don't watch that much TV I promise!!) and they were singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and Colton's walking around singing "bus round round" and doing his arms around in circles!! How precious! And all this time I didn't think he was even paying attention to me when we sang the song together 800 times in one day!! It was so cute-I'm actually going to charge the video camera so I can get this on tape. Maybe by the time that happens I'll have figured out how to post a video!!
Just wanted to share my cutie pie's firsts with all of you!

Today was our playdate with Cooper and his mommy...not sure if it was better for Colton or mommy since we have been cooped up in the house for several days thanks to the beautiful Indiana weather! It was a balmy 19, yes 19 degrees! We had about 1/2 inch of snow on the ground and a lovely 1/2 inch sheet of ice on top of that! We drove an hour to see Cooper and his mom ( however by this point in the week mommy would have driven 3 hours in order to be out of the house). The boys played well together, as well as 2 almost 2 year olds can play. They both have learned how to communicate using the words "mine" and "no" very well!! However, it gave Heidi and I both an opportunity to teach them how to share...unfortunately they didn't pick it up on the first try so there will be plenty of opportunities in the future to discuss what the term "share" actually means. At one point Cooper grabbed a toy from Colton and Colton yells, "Share, Share." I guess he hasn't quite figured out that sharing works both ways!! Oh well :(

We attempted to put both boys down for a nap. Cooper went down immediately, Colton not so much...in fact, he didn't go to sleep until the ride home :) which was fabulous! So he played and watched Barney (thanks to Colton's Barney fascination mommy has a vast array of songs in her head that she never seems to remember how to sing until in public when she can be most embarrassed for singing "Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun please shine down on me!") Right now after typing that line I would gladly step outside in the now single digit temperatures to sing the ENTIRE song and pray that Mr. Sun actually heard me!
Back to reality, so while watching Barney Heidi assisted me in starting my own blog...which you are now reading! It's in the very early stages. My ignorance in technology and the internet may start to show through as it will probably take me a year to get it like I want it. However, I'm sure those of you reading it are not really paying attention to what color the background is and are more worried about my writings, right? Anyways, I'll work on it and hopefully I can bring all of you just as much entertainment in the day as Colton brings me!!

Playdate with Cooper