Family Pictures 2012

Our friend Claire took our family pictures once again this year.  It was a warm day, so the first outfits were fine but by the time we switched to the "Christmas" outfits, we were all sweating.  Photo overload to follow . . .

Our family of three -

We LOVE this sweet boy -

 The boys - 

 Taking a break to burn energy in the field after posing for a few minutes - 

 Collin's pose pick - jumping

Turning into such a little boy - we'll see if he regresses when the baby arrives - 

 Into Christmas outfits - 

Cheesy smile -

 
 

  Finally the posing is over - go play!

 Fedora from his hat-loving dad -

 

Elementary Playground with the Next Generation

With my parents, I took Collin to my elementary school playground.  He was quite brave on the big jungle gyms - 

Then he wanted to try the tube slide, but needed some moral support - so we all took turns going down with him.  Brownie was thrilled -

 He couldn't just slide, he had to make it messy - 

He went pond exploring with Brownie - 

And then we met up with my best friend and her family at the park -

While Cas was on a work trip weekend, we had a fun weekend with my parents. 

Dolphins and Birthday Dinners



Collin had great fun at a park near my parents' house one weekend in November.  He jumped in an art car, practicing his skills -

 And we let him get his face painted - of course he picked the blue picture.  What a cheeseball!

 Sliding with Grammy -

Later that evening, we met the family to celebrate Grandma Jewell Rae's 88th birthday.  Collin found a hiding spot at Cafe Express under the drink station.  Being the responsible parent, instead of yanking my son away from all the electric wires, I first took a picture. 

The always safety-conscious Brownie quickly pulled him out 

Posing with cousin Bryce -

Amazed by the sparkler candles -

Happy boy with a stomach full of chocolate cake -

We're thankful for . . .

We're thankful for baby #2 due 5/6/13!

For some of the photos, Collin smiled as a happy big brother - but much of the photography session he was busy throwing the sign and ultrasound pic like a frisbee!

Our 2 1/2 year old is pretty clueless as to what this means.  Since May is an enternity away in toddler time, we're happy to keep it that way for awhile longer.

We are as happy as Collin looks in this picture!  After 3 miscarriages, we are much more aware that God alone creates and sustains life, and we're so grateful for a healthy pregnancy so far! 

We've been prepping Collin for a Thanksgiving family reveal for the past week . . . and then praying he keeps his mouth shut when we're out to dinner with aunts and uncles or on the phone with my brother Alex.  So far he hasn't let the cat out of the bag, but we'll see if he freezes when it's his turn to say he's thankful he's going to be a big brother!

Blue lion and Big Tex pizza

The first weekend of November, my company had a family event at the zoo.  Cas was out of town, but Collin and I explored the zoo and then met up at our company's pavilion for the picnic lunch.  They had games and at one point, invited children to the front to make animal sounds into the microphone for a sticker.  And my child, who had his Bible verse down for days and yet froze on Sunday when he was supposed to say it to his teachers, had a surprising moment of bravery as he made an elephant sound for my ~100 co-workers.

 

After lunch, Collin got his face painted.  He requested a combo of his favorite animal - lion - and favorite color - blue.  And the face painting artist happily complied, creating a masterpiece on a blinking, squirming two-year-old. 

 

At the end of the zoo visit, it started to rain, so here's his slightly smeared face after our dash through the rain to our car - 

Blue shirt, blue name tag, blue face painting = one happy boy.  His blue obsession is mostly fun, but sometimes leads to tantrums over outfits (when he wants to wear blue from head to toe) or arguments when I select non-blue labeled food at the grocery store.  I'm sure I sound ridiculous as I walk the aisles trying to reason with him about why we're not getting the particular cereal that he wants only because it has a blue font. 

Later that night, my parents and grandmas came to dinner.  My parents asked me to order the pizza and I was afraid a large pizza wouldn't cut it.  Which is kind of ridiculous considering my mom and two grandmas eat one normal person's portion of food combined.  Anyway, I asked for the next size up, the x-large, thinking it would get us a few more pieces.  I should have known when the order was $70 that we were in over our heads.  It was the largest pizza we had ever seen -

The pizza place called it the Big Tex pizza and my dad had to say "yee-hah" before leaving the shop.  Here's Cas demonstrating why everyone left dinner with two days worth of leftovers -

And just one silly shot from the next day.  As we got ready for family pictures, I had to snap one of Collin in shirt, underwear, and my boots -