4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

Shades? (check)
Cool hat? (check)
Nice set of wheels? (check)
I think we're ready to get this party started!

Check out the cool "toe-biter" that chased Michael and Collin out of the water after it latched onto Michael's swim shorts :)

Waiting for the fireworks to start.

Collin wasn't too sure about the loud bangs at first...

We LOVE our country and are SO thankful for all the men and women who risk so much for our freedom and for their families who give up so much so they can serve.

Geek Alert!

I LOVE goodreads! Mainly because I LOVE books! Goodreads is a website designed for you to view and give book reviews. You can create your own profile OR just type in the title of a book to check out it's review. If you love to read you should totally check it out. You don't have to join to see the reviews. Click here. You know you want to!

Anyways, goodreads has this book challenge going on so I entered it. My goal is to read 70 books by the end of the year. I wanted to shoot for 100 but I quickly realized in order to do that I would have to read 20 books a month! I could do it, but my husband would HATE me, my baby would starve, and my house would be condemned. So, since I still want my husband, my baby, and my house at the end of the year, I think I'll just shoot for 70. But NEXT YEAR I'm totally going for 100!

Mega Post for some Mega Fun!

Hold onto your seats, this is going to be one loooooong post that will probably jump everywhere!

I know it's late but...

Happy Father's Day!

This was Michael's first Father's Day so Collin got him a pin that said, "Behind Every Great Dad is a Great Kid." We made him wear it the whole day :)

We had Grandma and Grandpa Boyd over for dinner and then afterwards we tried out Collin's early birthday present.
Michael and I got him a push car and he loves it! We take a walk in it every day!

Collin cruisin' in his CHICK MAGNET.

Collin and I are convinced that our Daddy is the best!
And here are ten reason's to prove it!

Collin:
1. He makes the coolest sounds and faces when he feeds me.
2. He lets me do stuff mom would NEVER let me do!
3. He wrestles and swings me upside down.
4. He lets me bang on his piano and play on his guitar.
5. He plays with me and saves me from mom.

Casey:
1. He changes diapers.
2. He takes Collin as soon as he gets home from work and plays with him
3. He takes Collin to class on Sunday so I can enjoy Relief Society.
4. He gets up with Collin in the morning so I can sleep in.
5. Did I mention he changes diapers?

We LOVE our Daddy!

Little Helper???
Collin also decided to "help" me in my garden. His idea of helping was to pull the leaves off my plants and eat the dirt.
He was NOT happy when we had to come back inside.

Grandma and Grandpa Boyd bought Collin a walker and he has finally figured out how to use it. Now he uses it a little too well. When I'm not looking he likes to walk right into me.

Lil old man with a walker or race car driver?
Collin loves it when I pull the cushions off the couch and make a pillow mountain for him to climb on.
Once he gets to the top he likes to chill and watch his movie.

Now that Collin is One we are trying to get him to eat more food and less formula.
He doesn't know it yet, but he only has two days left of having the bottle. Once his formula runs out it's bye bye bottle and hello sippy cups and milk.
I have a feeling we're in for a rough ride. I've stocked up on chocolate syrup and M&M's.
(The chocolate syrup is for Collin, the M&M's are for me. I'm gonna need all the help I can get!)

Don't mess with me, I eat squash for breakfast!


Look Out World I'm 1!

We did a jungle/monkey theme for Collin's first birthday.

The yellow balloon's hanging from the green streamers are suppose to be banana's and make you feel like you're sitting under a banana tree, but I think the general consensus was that they looked more like lemons... But monkey's eat banana's NOT lemons so just use your imagination.

Monkey Cupcakes!

Momma and great grandma gave Collin a pep talk to try and get him excited about digging into his cupcake...

You want me to do what!?...I don't think so...

Cousins Michael and Tiffany

The whole gang came to party!

Collin LOVED all his gifts

Great Aunt Patti, Uncle Dan, Angie, and Austin gave Collin a bouncy worm that he can't get enough of!

He got a new sippy cup Thomas phone from Great Grandma Brown.

His very own remote control from Great Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Richard, Laura and Buddy. And of course we can't forget Penny (Collin's favorite hound dog :)

Maybe now dad can have his remote back...

Aunt Amy, Uncle Ken, Michael and Tiffany gave Collin some cool clothes and that cool Thomas flashlight below.

Collin was one spoiled and slightly overwhelmed toddler. Good Grief! We have a toddler now!

Collin says a big thank you to all his wonderful family for coming to his party and spoiling him rotten!

Goin' Courtin' - Date #6

Go Dancing!

If you can get a sitter and know of a great place to go dancing then you should definitely do it!
But for us homebodies, aka too poor and/or embarrassed to be seen in public dancing,
(that last one is totally me!)
then a nice dance date at home is totally possible. You just need three things...

1. an instructional dance video (rented from the library or found online)
2. a romantic DVD that has a dance theme, and
3. a husband who doesn't mind participating in cheesy dates (even if you don't have this kind of husband I find dessert is a VERY good motivator :)

I rented the movie Strictly Ballroom from the library so we decided to learn to ballroom dance! We watched a couple of instructional videos online and then danced for about 15 minutes. Most of that time was spent laughing and bumping into each other but we had a lot of fun. I guess I probably shouldn't speak for my husband, but there was no eye rolling so I'm gonna take that as a good sign.

After we finished dancing we sat down and watched the movie. Not a spectacular date but at least it was different than just the Friday night movie at home :)

Fresh is Best!

I am a plants worse nightmare. I don't even have to touch them. They just see me coming and shrivel up and die! So I NEVER ever planned on doing a garden. But I finally got so fed up with the poor quality of produce at the store and the high price that I decided to give it a shot. And I'm so glad I did! I've really enjoyed gardening and am surprised at how well it's done. I love being able to just walk outside when I need something and picking it right from my backyard. (free of cost I might add)

I would have to say that the beans are what I'm most excited about. We have gotten 2 bowls full and the plant is still producing. I bought a bag of "organic" beans at the store just to compare them with the beans from my garden and my beans looked and tasted better. Makes me wonder about the whole "organic" claim...

Unfortunately I was only able to get two squash and two zucchini before the plant died but the ones we did get where sooooo good.

We got about 4 cucumbers this size and then that plant died too :(
But it's a start. Hopefully next year it will do better.

Now we're just waiting on our tomatoes. We already have 4 little green ones on the plant. Lets cross our fingers that I don't kill them too :)

Goin' Courtin' - Date #5

Picnic in the Park

When Michael and I were dating he surprised me after class one day and said he was taking me to lunch. Imagine my surprise, when instead of pulling into a restaurant we pulled into an office building. He told me we would be having a picnic and would be eating the "Martha Stewart" lunch he had prepared. (This turned out to be chicken wraps he had made and peaches!) He spread our blanket on the grass by a pond and we began to eat our romantic lunch. After we ate we played the "I Like" game, where each person takes turns saying one thing they like about the other person. It was the perfect date! So, almost 4 years later I decided to recreate it. Except this time we'd have a little tag along, a 2 1/2 ft. ball of energy named Collin :) I made the same lunch and put it in our picnic basket and then told Michael to get in the car because Collin and I were taking him on a picnic. We drove to the park and set up, but unfortunately this date was anything but romantic. Between the weird lady who sat down 5 ft. away from us and watched us the whole time, the kids throwing bark on the playground and the 2 1/2 ft. ball of energy trying to talk over us, it was kinda hard to gaze adoringly into each others eyes. (Do people even do that after they get married? Every time I see Michael looking at me I think it's because I have something in my teeth or something on my face!)
Anyways, believe it or not we did get to reminisce briefly on that date many years ago, but just as we were getting to the good part I looked down and realized why it had gotten so quiet. Collin had gotten into our cookies! He had one in his mouth and was going for another one. The kid doesn't even have teeth yet.
So, even though our picnic wasn't very romantic it sure was entertaining and I can't stop chuckling about it now.

Disclaimer: For a romantic picnic find a more secluded spot than a public park and, if you bring your own ball of energy along, they WILL steal your cookies!

Just so they can be like dad:)

The Best Part of My Day!

When I hear happy "singing" coming through the baby monitor in the morning I know my sweet little man is up and my sweet dreams are now over. Although I know it will be constant going and going... at least until nap time... it's still the best part of my day.

With a kid this cute, how could it NOT be!?
Here are some of my favorite moments with Collin.

Bath time!

Collin's new bath-time trick is to throw all the foam letters out of the bathtub before you can put them back in. I love how excited he gets when he hears the bath water running. I think he likes bath time so much because it's the only time I let him go completely naked. That boy does everything he can to get away from me before I can put a diaper back on him and grunts his disapproval when I finally catch him. I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do once he learns to undress himself...

I also love watching him play with his best friend Gromit. Sometimes he crawls into his room and tries to get Gromit from his crib by pulling him through the bars. When I finally lift Gromit out and give it to him he starts bouncing up and down and attacks Gromit with kisses. He then lugs Gromit around the house my dragging him by the ear. (as you can see in the picture above)

And of course the day I found him in his room surrounded by books I was the proudest parent! It's sure proof that he's a Boyd :)

Collin LOVES Baby Einsteins movies too. He sits there for the entire 30 minutes just watching. And of course I take full advantage of our cuddle time :)

Dinner time for us is often dinner and a show. Collin LOVES food and is often impatient when he doesn't get it right away. It cracks us up watching him shove the food in his mouth as fast as he can and grunt for more even before he swallows.

I also love watching him interact with other babies. He just loves them! Usually they are trying to get away from him as fast as they can because the kid has no sense of personal boundaries and can be quite smothering. We like to stick him in front of the mirror so he can see his reflection. He gets so excited and tries to touch the baby. Just today I showed him his reflection and said "Say hi to baby Collin." And he started laughing and waving. I just can't get enough of him!