6 month pictures!

We got Collin's 6 month pictures taken at Target today. He did pretty well, except for the fact that he's hesitant to smile for people he doesn't know. We got some cute shots, but none of his big smile. He just stared at the photographer like, "I don't know you!" Had to get some of the big girl and the kids together too. I think they turned out pretty well. They kind of uploaded on here in a weird way, but at least you can see what they look like! Enjoy!!

Collin is 6 months old today!!!!

It's hard to believe that my baby is already 6 months old!!! Where did the time go?? I can barely remember that tiny little baby he started as already! He's turning into the sweetest baby boy I've ever seen though!! Boy has he changed over the past 6 months! In about 30 minutes it will be exactly 6 months ago that Collin joined our family (4:42pm on Friday, February 13). He weighed 6 lb. 3 oz. at birth, but was 5 lb. 9 oz. when we brought him home. Such a little guy!!! He was at the doctor yesterday to get his ears checked and weighed 16 lb. 13 oz. He's growing great!! He goes Wednesday for his 6 month check up and shots. Over the past week, Collin has really started to grow up!! Saturday he started to really sit on his own. We can pretty much trust him that way....until he gets excited or sees a toy that's out of his reach. He's found his voice. It gets louder every day!! He's now rolling across the living room and loves the phone!! I can barely even talk on it while I'm holding him!!! Last month we started cereal and introduced a few new foods. So far he's had bananas, applesauce and sweet potatoes. He LOVES to eat!!! He's doing great with solid food, but has decided that he does NOT like the bottle and will not take it!!! It's neat to see the personality developing in him and how different he is from Emma. They may look alike, but they're night and day different in their personalities!! Collin is much more timid than Emma was and is a bit more wimpy than her too!! On the other hand, Emma was too busy for me to ever cuddle her and Collin would be happy as can be if I would hold him and snuggle with him all day!! I'm hoping that he doesn't decide that he wants to crawl and walk as early as she did!! He sure loves his big sister though, so I don't know how long it will be before he's wanting to keep up with her!! Collin has brought so much joy to our family and I can't imagine life without him. It's been a great 6 months getting to know this sweet little boy!!! The following two pictures are of Collin and of Emma at 6 months. They do look a lot alike, but he's smaller than she was. Emma was 18 lb. 6 oz. at 6 months! They also have different eye and hair colors (not that either of them has much hair at this age)!!!



Collin at exactly 6 months old....taken today!! Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen??!! :)

This is Emma at 6 months, but almost 7 months. For some reason I couldn't locate a better picture of her at this age, although I know I have them! This is with her cousin Adam at a wedding reception for Ryan's cousin Heather.

Over the past few weeks, Collin has started to stick his tongue out ALL THE TIME!!! It's so cute, so I had to document it on here with a picture!

Emma thought that Collin would love to wear her pink sunglasses. He did actually like them, but daddy wouldn't let him wear pink glasses for too long!

Big sister Emma just LOVES her brother and he thinks she is the best person EVER (besides mommy and daddy)!! When she comes in the room, he gets so excited and pulls her hair to get her face close enough for him to "kiss." She's a very good big sister and Collin is fortunate to have a sister who loves him so much!!

Family Camping Trip

This past weekend we went camping with my parents and Jody, Aaron and Analise. My parents have a membership to American Campgrounds, so this place is really nice!! Unfortunately the weather wasn't the same!!! Friday night and Saturday were pretty yucky!! It rained more than I've ever seen while camping!!! Fortunately we were in campers, not tents, so it only flooded outside, not inside. It was a cozy day with all of us crammed in Jody and Aaron's trailer....or my dad's "poop van." If you wonder why it's called the poop van, ask me later!! Once the evening rolled around on Saturday it had cleared up and things were drying off. It got HOT then!!! Sunday was VERY warm and we were glad to pack up and get into the air conditioned vehicles!! It wasn't the best camping weekend ever, but we still had fun and it's always nice to get away from home for a few days!!


Analise and Collin in their strollers. We went for a walk once the rain cleared off on Saturday.

Emma plays so hard that she fell asleep right in the lawn chair. She actually slept there for a while Saturday evening before we woke her up for dinner!!

When we were stuck in the camper Saturday morning, Collin started to REALLY sit up on his own!!!! He'd sit for about 5 minutes at a time!!. Ever since then he's been doing great!! He basically only falls over when he gets excited because he smiles with his whole body!!! He hasn't even been using the boppy to help him sit since we've been home!! What a big boy!!!

After the rain Emma and some other kids found frogs by the lake!! She had to bring one back to show us (in a bucket, not her hands, of course)!

Papa showed it to Analise. She would have gladly touched it or eaten it, but her mommy was freaking out a little!!! :)

Emma with her frog and her Papa. She finally got brave enough to touch it with 1 finger!!! Despite the weather, we had a good time with family!! I'm excited about all the memories my kids will have from these times!!

Daddy's Company Picnic

On Saturday, August 1, we went to Ryan's company picnic. It wasn't as big as it has been in past years, but the steel industry is hurting right now and we're just glad that he has a job at all!! It was pretty fun though and the activities were much better for kids Emma's age! We went to a park and had burgers, hot dogs, brats and other picnic items. They had bounce houses for the kids (even a bouncy slide...Emma loved that), airbrush tattoos, spin painting frisbees and a few other things. They even had a police car and officer so the kids could sit in the car and see what it's like. It was fun! We planned to head over to the zoo since our children's museum membership gets us in the zoo for free this month, but it started downpouring, so that idea didn't work. We ended up going to the $3.99 movie theatre instead. Emma has seen a few movies in the past and likes it. I wondered how Collin would do, but he was just in awe of the huge screen and sat and stared the whole time....until he fell asleep!!

Emma's airbrush tattoo. We made sure to get one in good colors so that when she wouldn't want to wash it off before church the next day it would be ok.

Collin's first (and hopefully last) time in a police car!! Let's hope he doesn't take after his Daddy!!! J/K

Emma wasn't too thrilled about sitting in the police car, but me made her sit in there just long enough for a picture. Can you tell how thrilled she is of this idea??

Emma loved all the other kids at the picnic and had a great time! She brought her digital camera to take pictures. We got a lot of them. I'll have to post some of her pictures on here sometime. She actually takes pretty decent pictures.....well, as decent as that camera can take!!!