Colten's First Christmas and More

At my mom and dad's on Christmas Eve

Since I have not posted in a while, there is quite a bit here but mostly pics. Thanks in advance for taking the time to care enough about my family to read our updates : >

We had such a wonderful Christmas with Colten this year, and we hope that everyone experienced the same magic of the holidays. Just like Steph, it is snowing as I type this, but it rained like crazy on Christmas. Since we were blessed to have our family in from Columbus, I was happy with rain as opposed to snow or ice.

We actually started celebrating Christmas the weekend before by having Tom's dad, uncle, grandma, Marc, and Amanda over for a holiday lunch. We enjoyed yummy ham and kielbasa and then watched Colten open presents (well, okay, I did more of the opening this year).

With Aunt Amanda

Playing with Uncle Marc

Checking out his new ride! Thanks so much!

Opening a gift

On Christmas Eve, we continued our celebration by going to my mom and dad's to exchange gifts. Of course we were all spoiled. Thank you so much Mom and Dad; you truly out did yourselves this year. I am eternally grateful. And of course Colten received more than his share of toys too! Again thank you Grandma and Grandpa and a BIG thanks to Uncle Mike; your generosity means so much to all of us.

Then we were off to the children's mass. We finished up the night by eating perogies and visiting with Aunt Tunny, Karol, and Jerry - thanks for the great gift too; I can't wait to let Colten try it out.Tossing a bow!

He is determined to get that red bow!

Santa visited Grandma and Grandpa's house too!

Since it was already past Colten's bedtime, we had to cut the night short; only Tom was able to make it to his grandparents' house this year.
In slightly other news, I also took my first insulin shot Christmas Eve morning (at least the first one that I gave myself; the doctor gave me one the day before). For now my numbers are too high to do nothing, hence the insulin, but not high enough for a pump. Right now I only have to give myself one shot in the morning so I'm "happy" with that. One shot is better than being hooked up to a pump continuously so we'll see how things go. I'll keep everyone updated but right now I'd rather stick to Christmas and cheery things : >

On Christmas Day, we woke up to see what Santa had left and we also exchanged gifts as a family.Colten loved his music makers : >

After we opened gifts, Colten found this piece of packing material that just so happened to look like one of his favorite treats - baby yum yums. When I took it away, he cried like crazy; I had to give him yum yums in order to make him happy again : >

Playing with a puzzle

I love this picture of Colten and Lady

Luckily I ordered these pj's for Colten;
I never found any first Christmas outfits in his size at any store around here.

Ready for breakfast; I just love this face : >

Then we were off to my parents' house again for a yummy meal and to visit with family. The house was packed, and I loved every minute of it. There is nothing like getting together with family that we don't get to see as often as we would like. Unfortunately with all of the fun, I barely took any pictures : ( But I loved seeing Colten with his cousin Braden (aka Spiderman). The last time they were together, Colten was so little, but at Christmas, they were able to interact much more. I can't wait for Colten to run around with him : >

After all of his holiday fun, Colten seems to have a bit of a cold. His nose is running nonstop. Poor baby...

Oh, I almost forgot - Colten went to the doctor before Christmas for his 9 month check-up. He weighs 22 lbs. and 7 oz and measures 30 inches!

And we purchased a new car the other day (just in time for the tax deduction too)! Tom needed an American made car for his new job so we decided to finally get a car that is family friendly as well. We are loving our Chevy Traverse and will post pics of it soon.

Happy New Year! I hope that 2010 brings many blessings to everyone!

Growing Up!

Just like Steph and Artie, Tom and I are big fans of the duck tub for Colten - that is until ours broke. On the 30th of November, Tom went to inflate the tub a bit more before Colten's bath, and to his surprise, out popped the entire plug! "Time for a bath in the regular tub!" So I quickly rounded up the bath toys and got ready for the fun! That was a mistake. Colten freaked out when he saw things floating in the water, and he grabbed ahold of me so hard that I thought my arms were going to be bruised. Tom, trying to make everyone happy again, wanted to run out and buy a new duck tub, but I assured him that in a few days, Colten would love baths again. Needless to say, we took quick baths for the next few days, and the toys did not make a reappearance for a while. But I am happy to report that Colten discovered splashing on Friday and has been going to town ever since; now he doesn't want to get out of the tub! He's also a fan of toys now too! Let the fun begin!

In other big news, Colten said "Dada" yesterday night for the first time! He doesn't yet associate it with Tom, but he still said it! He seemed close to saying it all day. To keep him occupied while I prepared his dinner, I kept saying, "Say Dada, Colten." Then to my surprise, he simply said it! Just like that! I was so happy (even if it wasn't Mama) : > Tom got home from his dad's house a bit later, and Colten nicely showed off his new skill. What a proud dad! Tom was beaming and immediately call my mom to share the news! What a special moment!
(Patiently awaiting "Mama")!

Today we went to JCP to have Colten's 9 month (yes, he will be 9 months old on Monday; I can't believe it!) and Christmas pictures taken. And Steph, I feel your pain. First Colten decided that he wanted to nap at 10:45 am. This seems like a good thing in a way it was; he was at least a little rested for the pictures, but since he feel asleep on me, I couldn't get ready in the meantime; plus he still had to eat lunch and we had to be at JCP by 12:20pm. Needless to say, Colten never ate so quickly in his life, and I dressed in record time too. Regardless, I was stressed before we even left the house. Of course holiday traffic only added to the fact that we were already running late. Luckily we made it to JCP not long after our scheduled time and only had to wait for one family to finish with pictures. All in all, everything turned out just fine. We even met up with Krissy, Victor, and Kayleigh while we were there. Here are some of our favorite photos!

Colten and Mommy with Krissy and Kayleigh

Here are some other random photos of the past few days too!

Colten playing with the lights as we decorate the tree.

Colten crawled under his exersaucer to play with a toy!
He had fun until we had to try to get him out : >

In other news, Tom got a promotion! He is now a Regional Territory Sales Manager for Airgas, and I couldn't be more proud of him! He is such a people-person and I just know that he is going to do a fabulous job! Congrats baby!!

Well I'm off to try to wrap a few presents before Colten wakes up. Stay warm!

Loving the Holidays!

I'm exhausted so I'll be brief and will let the photos tell most of the stories.



Tom and I took Colten to meet Santa last Saturday, and yes I realize that it was a bit early but since we weren't sure how Colten would react, we figured it would be best to avoid the crowds. As soon as we approached, I saw an elf reach for a toy in what I knew would be an attempt to make Colten smile. Since he had not taken a nap, I knew that he would not smile and so I just told her to take the picture before Colten started screaming. I was right that Colten would not smile, but he also didn't scream either; in fact, he loved Santa and started to cuddle into him - too cute. And of course I couldn't resist Santa either ; >

Thanksgiving was such a wonderful day too! My mom and dad are amazing and put together such a wonderful meal. I don't think my mom left the kitchen for two whole days, but we all appreciated her hard work so much. I did make the sweet potatoes and helped Karol with the dishes but other than that, I wasn't much help this year...Colten kept me quite busy.

Mike brought his dog Chase in for the holiday, and Colten loved him!
Lady doesn't often let Colten climb all over her.

The fam!Hanging with Uncle Mike!Colten tried mashed potatoes for the first time but wasn't a fan. In fact, he refused to take even his food from me for most of the meal. Last week I started Colten on Stage 3 meats, and as with mashed potatoes, he was not a fan of the turkey and veggies either. We recently tried turkey and sweet potatoes, and he loves that combo. I think that the chunks of veggies turned him off. We're off to chicken next, so I'll keep you updated...

And of course Mom and I headed out on Black Friday. We left a bit later than usual (around 5:15) and headed straight for Babies R Us because they had diapers on sale - boy how times have changed : > And then the real shopping started. We had so much success and fun and were even home early too (by 1pm)! Tom took care of Colten all day and did such a fantastic job! That was the first time that Tom did all the feedings, changings, playing, and entertaining! They had a blast together! You're such a great dad, Tom!

We are looking forward to all the magic that this Christmas will hold!

Updates All Around!

We celebrated Halloween all weekend!

So much time has passed since Halloween - I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week! But I am so looking forward to Black Friday!!! I think that might be my favorite day of the year : >

Since Halloween...

Colten got his first tooth (his bottom right) on November 9th! He had been waking up in the middle of the night and having a really hard time going back to sleep (we were up for hours), but Colten never has been a good sleeper so I didn't think much of it until we spotted his tooth! He must be in the process of getting more because he chews constantly and seems to be experiencing some pain. Yay for tooth #1! And for not biting Mommy while nursing...yet...

Lady loves when Colten eats on the floor!

Colten will not let Lady's ball out of his grip;
I eventually broke down and bought Lady a new one so Colten could have this one : >

And Colten turned 8 months old. We celebrated by going to Jen's house for Vincent's 3rd birthday party! Colten even received his first birthday treat bag. Thanks Jen! You're too sweet!

Ready for Vincent's party!

And Mommy got some long awaited news as well. I'm still not so sure about how I feel about everything but I officially have Type 1 diabetes (not type 2 as we have thought for 2 years), and I have a hypothyroid too. So I am headed for an insulin pump in the near future. Right now my body is still making some insulin, but as my doctor put it, my body is "pooping out". We just don't know when it will stop all together. Regardless, she wants me to be on the pump well before we start trying to have another baby (we were planning to try this summer...we'll see...). I'm not going to let this stop me from fulfilling my dreams of a family, but I might not be able to keep my original plan...only time will tell. I can talk myself into accepting the pump because it will give me more freedom, but in the same breath I just can't imagine having this pump for the rest of my life...

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! And enjoy Black Friday if you are headed out too!

And please excuse the Halloween background. I promise I'll change it for Christmas : >

Happy Halloween!

Colten is tucked nicely in bed after a fun-filled Halloween. In fact, he was so excited for the big day that he had us up from 2:30 am - 5am and then again at 6 am to start the day with a yummy breakfast while sporting his pj's from the Belschner's (the glow in the dark eyes are too cool!) and his bib from the Melnik's. Thanks for helping us keep Colten festive all day!



After a half hour nap mid-morning, Aunt Carol came by for a visit, bringing more holiday treats, and then it was lunch and costume time!!! I have to admit that I was dreading putting Colten in his costume because he hates his winter coat so I assumed that a full suit would yield an even worse reaction. When we put on Colten's coat, he acts like he is paralyzed, except for his mouth because he sure does scream : > But to my surprise, Colten loved his costume; I even joked that maybe I'll forgo the coat and start using the monster costume through the winter : >

After a few photo ops with Mom and Dad, we headed to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a little trick-0r-treating (and of course more pics!). Colten loved all of his treats, especially the laughing pumpkin.

Before Colten got too fussy, we headed over to visit with Aunt Tunny. Colten always loves sitting on Aunt Tunny's lap : >

And finally we made our way back home after a short stop at Krissy and Victor's so Colten could finally meet his new best friend Kayleigh. Without even knowing it, Colten and Kayleigh ended up having matching onesies for Halloween so of course we had to take pictures! Aren't they so cute? : >

We ended the day by watching Daddy pass out candy to all of the trick-or-treaters. Colten was fascinated by all of the kids and their costumes. And I promised him that next year we would join the fun!

Happy Halloween to everyone!

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking...

It has been so long since my last post that I can't even remember all that has happened. So here are a few highlights.

Colten eating his first real banana - Now whenever he sees a banana, he gets so excited : >


Colten trying a sippy cup with a bit of juice - He wasn't a fan, of the juice at least. He enjoyed biting on the cup, but he kept spitting out the juice. I guess he is not a fan of the sweetness of fruits. If only there was pea juice...


Colten learned how to climb the stairs a day after his 7 month birthday!

More quick updates: My diabetes is still out of control, so I'm off to see an endocrinologist in early November. I'm still hoping that I can figure out some way to control the disease without meds, but only time will tell...

And the biggest news of all, one of my best friends, Krissy, just had her baby girl, Kayleigh, earlier today!!! We are headed up to meet her and to congratulate the Cruz's tomorrow, and I can't wait!!

A Long Overdue Get-Together!

This weekend Colten finally met Steph, Artie, Avery and Spencer! The Belschner clan made a stop in Campbell on their way back to Fort Wayne, and we couldn't have been happier to have them!! The visit went by so quickly, but we loved every second of it; in fact, unless I'm mistaken, I don't think that we had seen each other in almost a year - since Amy's wedding. Wow - that was too long...But we made up for lost time and the kids had so much fun together. Of course the only thing that would have made it perfect would have been if Beth and Dave were in town too. But don't worry Beth, Steph and I were already trying to coordinate our trip to South Carolina this summer...Ready or not, here we come : >
We spent the day just hanging out at home, chatting, and watching the kids play. Avery is so beautiful and such a talker too : > We even got to see Avery bust a move to one of her favorite singers on the Disney Channel! And Spencer, what can I say about Spencer? He is so precious and such a great baby; we are so happy that we were able to finally meet him! I don't think that I heard him cry one time all weekend. And I loved getting a chance to feed him too. When he looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes, my heart smiled. And I have no doubt that he will be rolling over any day now; he is so determined.
Of course, we also watched the ND game; Tom and Artie wouldn't miss it for anything. Luckily dinner timed out just right and we were able to eat during half-time. My parents came over (and actually brought dinner - yummy kabobs, salad, cheesy potatoes - thanks so much; it was delicious!) and we all ate and celebrated Avery's 2nd birthday a bit early with an ice cream cake from the DQ (Beth, we totally thought of you!) Dinner sure was entertaining too. Colten "talked" the whole time, Spencer played in his bouncy chair and "talked" to his bunny, and we even got to witness on of Avery's tantrums. I was beginning to think Steph was exaggerating because we had never seen an unpleasant side of Avery, but after being woken up from her nap, Avery was not a happy girl. As my mom and dad said, she really has a set of lungs on her : > Steph and Artie both do an amazing job with Avery and Spencer though. And in a few years, I'm sure that I will be calling on Steph for advice when Colten throws a fit. So I hope you have it figured out by then, Steph; I'm counting on you : >
I have to admit that I was a bit worried about how the night would go, but everything turned out better than I could have ever imagined. I knew that Avery and Spencer are good sleepers, but Colten is another story and I was really worried that his crying would wake up Avery and Spencer. But my little boy made me so proud. He fell asleep so easily despite the cheering for ND and he slept until 5:30 am. But it doesn't end there. He played in his crib for about an hour, turning the camera so that I could no longer see him, and then he went back to sleep until after 7am! I love Colten so much!

With everyone well rested and fed, the kids played a bit more and we snapped pictures incessantly until the Belschner's pulled out just after 9am...At least we somewhat have a plan for our next get-together. Onward to South Carolina!

By the way Steph, I'll get the pictures to you; just give me a little time; I'm lucky I got my blog updated today : >

Avery blowing out her candles

Colten and Spencer - checking each other out

The Boys!

A group photo - finally everyone is looking!

Colten seems interested in Avery's sippy cup; maybe it's time we try one too!

I love this photo of Spencer!


Playtime!