Updates Before Colten's Big Day

We are busy preparing for Colten's Birthday Bash, but I thought I would share a few of our moments from the past few weeks.

After getting a great coupon in the mail from Sears we thought we would take Colten there before his birthday for a few photos too (even though we are headed to JCP on his birthday). Here are a couple of our favorites.


I love this superhero sleeper!

Colten loves this ornament of Pepper (my dog growing up). He carries it everywhere : >



Last weekend Tom and I took Colten to Easter Bunny Lane at Kraynaks and Colten LOVED it! We missed the display at Christmas because the line was literally wrapped around the building. I'm glad we went early this time; we were able to take our time and get plenty of pictures. Plus I think Colten enjoyed it even more now than he would have at Christmas since he is older.


He was pointing at the characters and "talking" the whole way through.


He loved this green gummy in the Candyland portion : >

Colten is eating his first real pear in this picture and is loving it. However I could use some advice on food. We have introduced lots of "real" foods like eggs, cheeses, yogurt, lunch meats, etc. but Colten only seems to want them as snacks and not as full meals. I'm afraid that he won't get the nutrients that he needs if we leave baby food completely. Any ideas for other foods we can try? Or any advice if you faced similar issues with your children? Do I just have to quit baby food cold turkey to get him to eat regular food more? I'm not even sure what a real breakfast, lunch or dinner should look like? Any sample menu ideas?


Uncle Mike surprised us with the best gift - a personalized Easter basket from Pottery Barn! Thanks Uncle Mike!! You are amazing and Colten is so lucky to have you as an uncle and godfather. Of course I was a little more excited for the gift than Colten this year, but he will grow to love it. I can't wait to take him to church this year for the blessing of the baskets. Now he is truly ready for this tradition!


And for our big news....

Colten is officially walking!!!! As most everyone knows, he has been taking a few steps since early January, but I wouldn't count those as his first steps; I wanted him to sustain it for a while longer. And he did on February 26th! Grandma was the first to see it, but he has been showing off his skills ever since! Way to go little man!

Let the Countdown Begin!

Finally here are some new photos for everyone to enjoy!I love how excited he is here!

Playing hard!

Colten loves to look out of the window at Grandma and Grandpa's house.Colten loves the Valentine's Day gifts from Aunt Joyce and Uncle Frank.
I love Colten's face in this picture...look closely.

We didn't get nearly as much snow as the Anderson family, but we have our fair share - about 2 feet I'd say. Since Colten had a slight cold during our last significant snow, we finally were able to take him out to play. Okay so he wasn't really into playing, but we at least let him feel the snow and we were able to snap a few pics too : >

Tom wore his Russian hat while plowing us out for 2.5 hours and then let Colten sport it : >



Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Colten is celebrating twice as much today because it is also his 11 month birthday and we are counting down to the big 1! I can't believe that he will turn 1 soon. I know that everyone says it but this past year really has gone so quickly. We started the day with breakfast and Colten ate his first scrambled egg. He seemed to enjoy it, at least until it got cold. Then we opened presents. Colten got me the cutest teddy bear and a movie, and of course Colten had too many presents, but he really seemed to love his card : > After a family trip to Super Walmart, Colten took a nap on me before we headed to a Mexican restaurant for dinner with Grandpa and Grandma too. This weekend was the first time we have taken Colten to a restaurant since he was in his carrier. He did such a fabulous job! And he loved bouncing to the Mexican music too!

Then we ended the day with the Cruz family. Colten and Kayleigh exchanged their first of many Valentines : > Isn't she so cute in her Valentine outfit?!

My health update: 2 weeks ago, I started taking 4 shots of insulin per day and it is finally working! I still take the long acting insulin and now I also take a shot with each meal; the amount depends on my blood sugar reading before that meal and the amount of carbs that I am about to consume. I'm still learning how to calculate, but at least my numbers are back where they should be. Hopefully in a few weeks, I'll be able to get on the pump. That will make the calculation part much easier so I won't have as many lows, but I still have a hard time accepting the fact that I will be hooked up to something 24/7 for the rest of my life. But in the end, I'll do anything to live a long, healthy life with Tom and Colten. They are my world. Happy Valentine's Day to my two men. I love you both more than you will ever know.

Double Digits

I literally have not been on a computer at home since my last post, and it has been really nice except that I miss reading about everyone's family updates. Here's a quick photo recap of Colten's last few weeks.
Colten turned 10 months old! In preparation for his first birthday, he now holds up his finger to show old he is going to be, and believe me, he loves to show everyone! A special thanks to Grandma for teaching him his new skill!

Tom in the new McCutcheon Family truckster

Colten's first french fry!

Colten whizzing along with his walker. He actually took 2 shuffle steps, unassisted, the other night so we might be getting close to having a walker : >

Crashed out on Grandma and Grandpa's couch

Colten loves buttered noodles and turkey lunch meat (separately of course)! Thanks Steph for the suggestions : >
A few weeks ago, we helped the Cruz's celebrate Kayleigh's baptism. She is just too cute and looks so much like her mommy : >Tom and Colten waiting for the baptism to begin. Check out the outfit Uncle Mike!

A quick update about me: I thought that starting insulin shots would give me more freedom, that I could eat a bit more carbs at times and that I wouldn't have to workout every night and that I could just take one shot in the morning and not think about it again. So far I couldn't have been more wrong. I give myself a shot in the morning yes, but my numbers are still way too high (in the 200s) so I still follow an extremely strict diet and I still workout every night. In other words, nothing has changed except that I now have to give myself a shot everyday too. Can you sense my frustration? The doctor increased my insulin from 5 to 6 and now to 8 units daily. Hopefully this will work... I have an appointment with my doctor in February. My doctor said we will discuss different insulin then. That would require multiple shots per day... I just want something to work...
Only time will tell.

Have a happy weekend!

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!