Black Agnes - Band update

So, the band finally has a name (I think one that they are planning to stick with, but we will see), they are now Black Agnes. There is a story behind the name, but I will share that later. I just wanted to give a quick band update.

This weekend the band played a gig at birthday party that one of Will's co-workers was throwing. The party was on Saturday and they got to play close to 4 hours. I think they worked through 3 sets. This was a great opportunity that allowed them to make some good connections. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music and they received really good feedback!

They were able to play some of their new songs from Ray Charles, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. They even played a song or two that they had not even practiced. Their abilities amaze me! After the holidays Will is going to start showing me a few things on the guitar (even though he plays bass, but he can show me some basic things). I am excited, but I want to get through the holidays first. With all the holidays, work, an energetic toddler and needing to plan a Christmas trip to Oregon...I am pretty busy!

"Halfway to New Orleans"

One of our favorite singers is Marc Broussard. Will introduced me to him while we were still living in Oregon and I just fell in love with his style. So, naturally we were both very excited when we found out that he would be performing near us. So, we got a babysitter (thank you Susannah - Colin must of had a great time, he let us sleep until 8:30 this morning, that NEVER happens)! The concert was at the Birchmere in Alexandria. We had never been to that venue and really liked it. The place is set up like a restaurant, so we go to sit, eat dinner, drink some wine and enjoy the show. We were lucky to get a table really close to the stage and had a great view of Marc Broussard. He ended up playing a lot of my favorite songs. I love "The Wanderer", "Let Me Leave", "Lonely Night in Georgia" and "Hope for Me Yet". He is an amazing singer and a very talented guitar player. My two favorite songs are "Home" and "The Beauty of Who You Are". "Home" is one of the songs that Will is learning to play with his band. Marc Broussard is special to us because a few songs that we would consider "our" songs are songs of his. The songs are ones we love because they really describe how we feel about each other and define the period in our relationship. His songs are just amazing, lyrically and musically. I highly recommend him to anyone. He ended the show with "Home", which I felt was a perfect choice. The tour was called "Welcome to My Living Room" and had a very laid back feel and great t-shirts, which of course, I had to get one. I try to get a shirt at any concert I go to that I really enjoy. The title of this blog is one of the lyrics from his song "Home". He is from New Orleans and his surroundings had a lot of influence on his song style.

So, to sum it up, we highly recommend his concerts and CD's!!!

Words, Words & More Words

Since Colin is getting close to 2 years (I cannot believe it) I thought I would post a blog just about his stats (so to speak).

• On October 21st, Colin will be 23 months.



• He weighed himself the other day when he discovered the scale in the bathroom. He is such a curious boy, so naturally it is something he needs to "discover". He weighs a little more than 25lbs.



• We need to measure him. I have been looking for one of those decorative hanging measuring things and have not been able to find one. I probably just need to look harder, I have not put a lot of effort into it.



• He has a huge appetite and has tried most foods. We have yet to give him peanuts, well I take that back, I think he did have a little taste of one. We wanted to make sure he wouldn't have a reaction, but it is not something he is having on a regular basis. He is at the stage of wanting to eat whatever mommy and daddy are eating, so that is actually nice. I thought he was going to be more like me and not be a big fan of meat, but he seems to be changing and eating it more (but he still loves his fruits and veggies).



• He is saying quite a few words: bottle, ball, car, buddy, spoon, cat, dog (sometimes), big jet (planes), bye, hi, bananas, cheese, please (sometimes), roar, duck, quack, Pooh (for any Winnie-the-Pooh character). Some phrases he says are: here we go, what's that?, and this weekend he started saying "Ma, blah blah blah". It sounds like he is asking me a question. It is so cute, but he did say it literally all day. When I was cooking dinner, while we were driving to the store, while Will was giving him a bath and I was finishing cooking (he was saying it loud enough I could hear) and it was the first thing he said to me this morning when I woke him up. He is also trying to say bug, butterfly, oink-oink and has been mimicking some words that daddy has let slip here and there that we do not necessarily want Lil C saying. Thankfully he only said them right after Will did and they do not seem to be sticking in his vocabulary.



• Colin loves music and loves to dance. He loves 311, which has Will so happy! That is the CD I put on in the car if Colin is getting cranky. He gets excited pretty much instantly and his little legs start kicking and he even tries bopping his head. One of his favorite shows is The Backyardigans. It is actually one that Will and I do not mind watching. Each episode has a specific music theme, like country (not our favorite episode), 30's small band, rumba, etc. The characters sing songs and dance to those styles. Colin watches so intently and tries to mimic some of the moves. It is so cute! He actually is doing pretty good on one song that is on the college fight songs episode (yay) but he will try to sing the song and do the dance. It is the cutest thing!



• He also LOVES to read!!!! I guess that was pretty likely given the reading habits of his mom and dad :) He actually reads us stories during family bed time. His favorite is a dinosaur book.



• His bunny is still around. He is now calling him buddy, which is very cute because that is a nickname Will has for Colin. He actually has quite a few nicknames: Lil C, baby Colin, little guy, buddy, etc. Sadly, I quit calling him Baby Colin when my mom said that he is getting to big for that. So sad. Speaking of names, we think Colin is trying to say his name also!



• He started a new daycare, which we love. He is around kids of all ages and is just blossoming since he has started. His first friends, besides his cousins. It is so much fun seeing him interact with the kids. It does make me feel a bit older though. All the kids call me Colin's Mommy, which makes sense, but it is different when you hear it. I found myself thinking the other day how crazy it is that I am already at the mommy stage in life. It's wonderful and I would not change it for anything, but still mind blowing!

So, I was lazy and did the bullets. Hey, it changes things up a bit and makes me worry less about my sentences and organization. Well, hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I'll write more this week, Will and I are going to a concert tonight (Marc Broussard) so I will share about that later!!

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!!!