Quality Time with Family & Friends

After three long weeks at home by ourselves, Colin and I were ready to head north.  We were a little afraid to do the drive ourselves so Mimi took a one way flight to Charleston after work and we headed up to Pennsylvania the very next morning.  The drive was great!  We could not have asked for Colin to be any more perfect then he was on the trip.  He spent most of his time sleeping and when he needed company one of us went to the back seat to entertain him.  Mimi and Mommy also got tons of time to catch up which we both really enjoyed.

After we got there, Aunt Jen came home from college to spend the weekend with us.  We took Colin for a long stroll hoping he would fall asleep but Aunt Jen was just too interesting...

All bundled up!  Colin wasn't used to the cold weather.

 How cute is that hat?

Uncle Connor spends a lot of time around the house with his shirt off - ha! I guess Colin doesn't mind because he spent A TON of time with Uncle Connor.  I don't know what I would have done without him!

More fun times with Aunt Jen:

All ready for bed:

Mimi just adored all her time with Colin.

Colin LOVES Mimi.  She never ceases to make him smile:

 

We also spent a lot of time with the Goodwillie side of the family.  It helped to be around Nana and Grandpa while Daddy was away.

Colin is always full of giggles for Grandpa:

We also spent a lot of time with Gee Gee.  She treated us to many lunches and took us swimming at her pool.

After one of our visits to the pool Gee Gee watched Colin while Mommy freshened up.  He had so much fun with her.

All dressed up and ready for church at Nana and Grandpa's house:

Later on that same day we met for dinner at Nana and Grandpa's Symphony Chorus Christmas Concert.

Cuddling with Gee Gee at dinner.

Mimi and Pappy left us for a few days to visit Uncle Hunter in Germany. While they were gone Mimi's best friend, Ann, invited us over for dinner.

Colin was totally enthralled by Cass, Ann's mother.

Check out these giggles:

When Mimi and Pappy got home we headed to Binghamton, New York for Colin's first visit to his grandparents' hometown.  We stayed the night at Great Aunt Kay and Gunkle's house.  Their house was beautifully decorated for Christmas, especially their tree.  It put us all in the Christmas spirit.

Mimi cuddling with Gunkle:

Four generations with Aunt Kay:

While in New York, we also visited Great Aunt Lil and Uncle Basil.  We had such a nice visit but it was bittersweet as we knew this was probably the last time we would see Aunt Lil.  She passed away after a long battle with cancer just over a week after we visited.  I will always cherish my visits with Aunt Lilly especially this last one where she got to meet and hold Colin.

After our trip to Binghamton we headed back to Mimi and Pappy's house for the week and visited mommy's friend, Christina, who lives in Baltimore City with her husband and adorable little boys, Luke and Eli.  Luke had so much fun trying to make Colin smile.

So cute:

Looking forward to seeing what these boys get into when they get older!

It was finally time for Daddy to come home!  On our way to the airport we stopped at Mimi and Pappy's friends Mary and Doug's house for a holiday party.  It was a beautiful get together and Colin enjoyed some cuddle time with Miss Mary.

We missed Daddy terribly but we definitely made sure to make the best of it while he was gone!

First job for Dad - Bath Time!

Santa's Helper

Over the holidays, Colin and I really got into the Christmas spirit.  To kick off the season, we visited Aunt Jen at college and headed over to the Christiana Mall to sit on Santa's lap. Santa was so sweet and Colin really seemed to enjoy him.

 

I'm not sure what he asked Santa for but I sure hope he told him what Mommy wants....

We had such a great time with Aunt Jen and we're so happy to share this special moment with her!

Next thing on the Christmas agenda was getting a Christmas tree.  Uncle Connor took us to a Christmas tree farm our family has gone to for many years.  Colin, of course, fell asleep in the car on the short 5 minute drive and remained sleeping in the stroller when we began our search..

Here is Colin "helping" us find our tree...

Unfortunately, we couldn't find any good douglas firs we liked. If we found one it was bare on the other side so we headed down to the garage to check out the pre-cut fraser firs.  As soon as we picked one out Colin woke up.  He wasn't too happy about being awake.

 But, with a little help from Uncle Connor, he was all smiles.

Mommy and Colin posing in front of our Christmas tree.

Aunt Jen came home from college a few days later and Colin was ready to help decorate the tree with her. 

Turns out Colin didn't do too much decorating however, he did enjoy some cuddle time with Pappy in front of the tree.

Colin's 5 Months Old

 

In the past month we have really seen Colin grow.  He smiles all the time now and loves to share giggles, especially with Mimi and Grandpa.

Click here to see Colin sharing a good laugh with Mimi and click here for an awesome laugh with Grandpa.

Colin also has begun noticing when things change.  One morning, he saw Pappy's face covered with shaving cream and thought it was the funniest thing ever. Mimi's hair in curlers is a hoot as well. 

Toys are finally starting to interest Colin, although he still thinks his hands are the most fascinating of all.  Here he is on the first day he started holding on to a toy:

 After a few days he graduated to a more involved toy:

 

Colin has also enjoyed some short stints in the exersaucer:

 

Teething has become pretty intense this month.  Drool is all over the place and if he's not talking his hands are in his mouth.  We knew we had to do something to help him out a little so we ran to the store to get him his very own Sophie giraffe.  He absolutely loved it and was enthralled for 30 minutes on the way home.

He still hasn't quite figured out which finger/s he prefers best....

Sometimes it's one finger:

 Sometimes it's two fingers:

Sometimes its three fingers:

 Sometimes it's the whole fist:

 

Another exciting new addition to Colin's things to do is....rolling over!  He is now going from his back to his belly. Although, he usually gets stuck on his belly.  It's funny because a while back he was able to go from his belly to his back for a few days then all of a sudden stopped. He hasn't quite picked it back up again.

 

 He tends to get too distracted by his hands when he is on his belly....

Colin loves to be part of all the action and can't stand to think he is missing something.  To put it bluntly he hates to sleep.  He will literally go the entire day with no nap.  Its not a problem when lots of people are around to entertain him but it gets a little hard on Mommy when she's all alone since he usually gets bored and cranky.  Going to sleep at night has also gotten harder.  The only way Colin will go to sleep is to cry himself to sleep which sometimes will last over a hour.   Fortunately, he doesn't seem scarred by this (actually ends up happier in the morning) and is usually only waking up one or two times a night.  At this point he still likes to sleep in the car but is just starting to stay awake while driving.  He enjoys cooing at himself in the mirror and practicing all the sounds he can make.

It is so much fun to see all the changes taking place with Colin.  We are excited to have such a happy, social, smart, and alert baby (even if he doesn't sleep)!

Happy Birthday Pappy!

In honor of Pappy's birthday, Colin sported some football gear complete with JETS paraphernalia.

J-E-T-S JETS!

Happy Birthday Pappy!!!

Lounging around with Bethany

Colin and I spent the day with one of my closest friends, Michelle, and her daughter Bethany.  Bethany was born exactly two months after Colin and is as sweet as can be. With our new little ones we've had a hard time catching each other on the phone and wanted the chance to chat in person plus get our babies together. In high school, Michelle and I managed the boy's soccer team and would talk for hours and hours on end...nothing has changed, well except for our topics of conversation.  Goodbye boy drama hello baby drama.  I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful friend to share life with!

Colin and Bethany enjoyed hamming it up together on the couch.  

Silly faces:

Serious faces:

Lounging:

Colin enjoying his time with Bethany:

Hanging out on the floor:

Bethany and Colin even enjoyed talking to each other just like their mommies do:

Michelle and I with all our babies: 

Looking forward to watching these two little ones grow up together!