The Difference a Year Makes

I just wanted to share some of the pumpkin patch pictures from last year compared to the ones from this year. Colin has grown so much!

Colin on the slide this year (above) and last year (below). He seems to be enjoying it more this year!

Colin standing on his own this year (above) and being held in position last year (below)!

Colin admiring the big pumpkins! Last year he had to use it to stand himself up and stay that way!

...and just a bonus one because he is so darn cute!! Our little Farmer Colin! This year we were nice and did not dress him up like a farmer, but it made for adorable pictures last year!

Starting the Season Right

Will and I started a tradition last year of going to a pumpkin patch towards the beginning of fall. This year we went with our friends, Amy and Steve. It was a lot of fun! Colin was able to enjoy more of the activities this year. Last year, he was not really walking yet, so it was hard for him to do a lot of the things and he did not really understand what was going on. This year, he probably still did not really understand, but he was able to enjoy it more. The day was beautiful, probably around 70 degrees or so with a nice breeze.

Colin got to play on the swings (which he loves), toss a sandbag (which he was pretty good at), watch a pig race, and pet some of the farm animals.

He also got to watch a mechanical dinosaur that ate pumpkins! He started growling at the thing...such a brave boy! At first this was the part of the farm that his dad was the most excited about but it did not quite have the "awesomeness" he was hoping for. We still had fun laughing at the poor guy making the noise for the dino; not sounds so appropriate for a crowd of kids. He went down the big slide all by himself! Last year Will and I had to take him down. It was a little sad that he did not need us to do it :(

Below is a picture of our dorky family. If you see all of the pictures of this in sequence, it is kind of funny. Colin manages to throw bunny (who he now calls "buddy") out the hole, then attempts to reach him, finally he gives up and somewhat smiles!

Colin is getting heavy! The last time he weight, which he did himself! He was a little more than 25lbs! Such a big boy! So, needless to say he made the rounds as we were walking the farm!

So, Colin found a pumpkin he liked. He tried to pick it up, but it was heavier then he thought.

So, he tried again. He was very confused when a girl (who was probably 6 years older), came over and picked one up so easily. To give him credit, she did pick up a smaller one!

So, he tried one last time and then finally gave up and sat on it!

We had such a good time! After the pumpkin patch we stopped for some wine tasting at the winery across the way. We got a free tasting session with our ticket for the pumpkin patch! We enjoyed some cheeses, bread and a bottle of strawberry wine! Thank you Amy and Steve for going with us!

One last Birthday Hoorah & Plenty of Cousins!

A Cousin-filled Weekend

Colin and I started the weekend with babysitting his cousins, Aidan and Alexei on Friday night. We had a lot of fun! The boys were all very well-behaved and were so good at taking care of Colin. Alexei showed him his Thomas Trains. Colin is getting into Thomas and can say "choo choo" whenever he sees a train. With all of Alexei's trains, we heard it a lot - so cute! Aidan made sure Colin got to watch a show that he would like and made sure he had enough food and juice. Juice is another word Colin is starting to say. When it was time for the boys to go to bed, they both gave Colin a hug, it was so cute!

On Saturday, we went to watch Aidan and Alexei play flag football! I love sports, so I really enjoyed watching them play. At one point, Colin was playing with a football and he walked down a hill to retrieve it. The crowd was cheering and clapping for a play in the game, but Colin thought it was for him! He grabbed the ball and had the biggest smile on his face.

After a quick nap for Colin we headed up to Maryland to visit with Ann and Jamie. Will's brother, Jamie, had his birthday in September as well. So, we all got together this weekend to celebrate both birthdays. Liz, Michael, Will, Colin and I all went up to Ann and Jamie's house. I always enjoy hanging out with them and love to spend time with our nephews Ryan and Brady. Ryan is so much fun...so much energy! He gives us a preview of Colin in a few years :) Brady is soooo adorable!! He is just a few week younger than Colin so it is a lot of fun to see the two boys together. Ann made delicious crab cakes!! Colin had so much fun with his cousins and Rusty, Liz and Michael's new puppy! Rusty loved the attention of all of the kids...he is such a cutie.

I also thought I would throw in a picture of Colin enjoying Daddy's birthday cake (yellow cake with chocolate frosting - Will's fave) that we had on Will's actual birthday. He LOVED it! Colin does not get to eat too many sweets, so he always enjoys any opportunity for sugar! Such a cute! Will and I will have to get back on track! We have been having so many desserts throughout his birthday month!

Random Pictures

I finally got some pictures scanned that were either taken before we had our new camera or were given to us by other people. I thought I would share some of them, since a lot of people have not seen them. Most of the pictures are from our drive to VA in February of 2007 and then just some random pictures. Will in Oklahoma on one of our stops on our way to Virginia! It is February and he did not need a sweatshirt! I actually really enjoyed the route we took. I loved New Mexico, Oklahoma (we looked around for Cherokee things, got to explore my heritage a bit), and Tennessee. The picture of me below is the same place.

I believe this one was taken in New Mexico during one of our many stops for food!


This is my first picture in Virginia! Will wanted to show me this place (beautiful view) before heading to his mom's house! Man, I had long hair, I kind of miss it now :(
The day Will and I got married. This was a polaroid so the quality is not that great, but I still love it!


Will and I were not so great at taking pictures of me while I was pregnant, we will have to be better next time :) This one is when I was 7 months pregnant. I think it was after my visit to Oregon.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week! Happy October! I am so excited for this season and this month! Stay tuned this week...Will and I are going to a pumpkin patch this weekend, so more pictures to come!

PAINTBALL!!!

For Will's 30th birthday we decided it would be fun to get a game of paintball together. So, a group of us played yesterday morning. I will admit I was a little iffy about playing, I could only imagine how much it would hurt to get hit by one of the paintballs ( I have seen some welts on friends before)...but I am very glad I played. It was so much fun! By-the-way, it did hurt to get hit, but I think the adrenaline helped to get over it. Today, I am a little sore where I have bruises and just from running around and hitting dirt! A good sore...

It was nice to see Will having so much fun. He was really getting into it. Only two from our group had played before; Will had played when he was a firefighter in the Air Force and then Eric had played before as well. We were a small group but I am glad we reserved a field for just us. Some of the people that came to play in the open fields were...INTENSE! They looked like they were ready for war, or a hunter ready to disrupt the lives of innocent animals. I don't think any of us wanted to play with them.

There were a few of us that got some pretty good war wounds. Poor John got hit in the forehead the first game. It left a pretty good welt. Will shot Eric in the neck, but I think Eric definitely got him back for that. Poor Will got shot in both nipples and in a very sensitive area by Eric. He also got some pretty big bruises on his arms from Jeff. I hit Jeff in the mask but did not realize I got him yet (he did not call that he was out!) so I shot him again right in the back. I felt so bad when I could tell by his body movements that I got him good. My worst spots were my shin and my shoulder blade but they are not as bad as the guys. I think us girls were pretty lucky.

I think this was a great birthday gift for Will and it is definitely something I want to try again.

Ahoy, Matey!

Yes, today is the national Talk like a Pirate day, but it is also the birthday of someone who is such a wonderful person and so very dear to my heart :) Today is Will's 30th birthday!!! He is not overly thrilled about this, so I feel the need to tease him a little bit (and yes, I am more than fine with him returning the favor when I hit 30). Well, not so much tease him but make sure we has a worthy celebration; not only for the milestone he has reached but also for all that he does for Colin and I. Will takes such good of us and is so selfless when it comes to our family. He shows me why I love him everyday, even when he is being a bit of a bother :) I love you honey!

To celebrate Will's birthday I planned a week+ of celebrating!! I know, he is spoiled, he gets even more than a week...:) I tried to make sure that we did something (even if it was small) each day for his birthday. We started celebrating on Saturday (12th) by going to a nice dinner with Wendy and Eric. They took us to Maggiano's Little Italy...it was wonderful! The food was delicious! I went with Eric's recommendation (mushroom ravioli) and just loved it! We also got a nice bottle of Merlot...plus a few glasses of Chianti! Just wonderful! Throughout the rest of the week, I have made a few of Will's favorite desserts and he has had a home cooked meal each night (chosen from a list of his favorite dishes). He usually gets home cooked meals, but I made dishes that I have never made that were his favorites. I even got a recipe from Liz for Will's favorite meal, spaghetti pie. I have not cooked that yet, so hopefully it will taste like the way his mom made it!

Well, you will have to come back later this week to hear about today and tomorrow...but today should be a lot of fun...but it wouldn't hurt to say a little prayer that there are no mishaps or injuries :)

I love you honey and I hope that you have a wonderful day! Happy birthday!!!!

My adorable baby!!

Since I have not posted anything lately, I thought I would share some recent pictures of my favorite little guy...Isn't he so adorable?!?!?

This one is at Will's gig...Colin was in need of a nap by the end of it!

His daddy was playing with his hair before I gave him a trim.

Colin loves to color! He has avoided the walls so far...
Trying to drum on his tambourine...the band does need a drummer :)
Such a happy boy!
Playing with mommy's sunglasses and yes bunny is still around...
I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!!

All Dressed Up

Saturday Evening Will took me to Melting Pot to celebrate our anniversary. We both love this restaurant and had a wonderful time! If you have not tried it, I highly recommend it! For the west coast friends/family, there is one in the Portland area. It is a fondue restaurant...from what I hear this type of restaurant was popular in the 60's and 70's. The Melting Pot actually first opened in 1975 - a little history for you! Anyway, you get 4 courses; a cheese fondue, a salad, an entree, and a dessert. We chose traditional swiss cheese (they give you apples, bread, vegies, etc to dip into the cheese). We each got our own salad and then we got an entree that included an assortment of meats and stuffed pasta shells - all delicious! For dessert we decided on the yin yang (which is white chocolate and dark chocolate). With dessert you get marshmallows, brownies, bananas, strawberries, rice krispy treats, etc to dip in the chocolate. This is definitely Will's favorite course and I actually really liked it a lot! We also splurged and ordered Chianti, which we both love! Just a wonderful dinner.

On our way home there was a downpour! I was really excited actually...weird I know. We got drenched just walking from the car to our place. I loved it!!!

Just wanted to post some pictures of us all dressed up! I got to wear a dress I bought before I was 21 that I never ended up wearing! It fit a little differently then when I bought it, but it still fit!! Plus, I finally got to wear it!

Introducing the Band!!!

For those of you who do not know, Will has been playing in a band for the past couple of months. The other members are John and Lloyd, two guys that work at the same company as me. Will has been having a lot of fun with it. He played the trumpet and drums in college but decided to try a new instrument, the bass guitar. It amazes me how quick he is picking it up. He sounds terrific!


On Saturday, Will's band had a gig playing at a local youth football fundraiser. They did wonderfully! Like all performances they learned a few things that they need to work on...a few kinks to work out, but overall, I think they did amazing! Especially for only playing together for a few months and this being their second gig. I am learning to recognize the bass guitar (Will) from the other two guitars...I was very excited to recognize Will's parts of the songs! I am so proud of you honey! So, here are some pictures from that day...They are currently still working on a name!

Billy Goat Trail

On Friday morning, Will and I headed towards Maryland to go hiking at Billy Goat Trail. This is a trail that Will has hiked many times since his childhood and is a place that is very special to him. We had such a great time! The trail is not a simple straightforward path. It involves quite a few rocks you must climb over and one in particular that is very intimidating with its straight down view of the water below! I think I impressed Will, not that he expected me to suck at hiking, but he hasn't really had the chance to see my athletic side. It is kind of nice to be around someone who doesn't know me from my school days and doesn't automatically think "tomboy" when they think of me! We were both pretty tired afterwards. Both of us were ready for a nap, which after a nice lunch out and before getting Colin we did lay down for 30 minutes or so. We were dreading Saturday thinking we were going to be really sore, but it wasn't so bad. The worst for me was my bad knee was hurting a little today, but it is tolerable.

The trail was beautiful and I think that this was a great way for us to spend our day off together. We were able to talk about our current plans, our childhoods and just joke around and have fun together. I loved it! Thank you Will for a wonderful day! It was perfect! I cannot wait until the next visit to Billy Goat Gruff...I mean Trail!