Beach 2015

 

Ben, John Brooks, Bo and I went to Cinnamon Beach for a week this summer. We were accompanied by our niece Hayley who we loved having with us because she is fun and energetic and was willing to help with the boys. My brother Matt and his wife Paige also came down for a few days.

Ben and I love the beach! John Brooks really loves it too. He even learned how to boogie board this year! Bo just likes being anywhere everyone else is so he had fun too. Bo, however, refused to sleep in the pack and play so he ended up being my bed buddy for the week and poor Ben ended up on the sofa. Thankfully this did not create an issue when we got home and I am happy to report that he went straight back to sleeping in his comfy cozy crib.

We had the best time eating, swimming, eating, playing in the sand, eating, taking walks, building sand castles, jumping waves oh and eating too. Vacationing with young children is definitely more of a trip than a relaxing getaway but its hard to complain when you can look out past the balcony and see the beautiful ocean just steps away!

John Brooks is already asking when we can go back!

Road Trip Week 2015

 

Hi there! Long time no post. We were really into summering and I just never had time to sit down and put my thoughts together. So here we are and its almost the end of August. I think I will do a few posts to update and remember our adventures from Summer 2015.

One of the challenges of having an active 4 year old and a relatively new baby is that while the 4 year old is constantly wanting a new adventure the baby needs to be fed every 3 or so hours or he loses his mind. So, this summer I decided that if John Brooks and I were going to have adventures they needed to be within 3 hours of our house. The week of June 21-27 was a busy one for us as we ventured out onto the open road with the wonderful assistance of my amazing mother in law who came along for the ride to help with Bo.

On Monday we crashed my sister in law Amy’s family’s vacation at Lake Weir. We had a wonderful time playing and splashing in the water and John Brooks even got to ride on a boat with the big kids (teenagers/young adults really…3 of them are now in college). Bo hung out with Grandma in the cabin enjoying the air conditioning.

On Wednesday we crashed my other sister in law Gina’s family’s vacation at Crescent Beach. We had a wonderful time playing, jumping waves and building sand castles. John Brooks learned how to boogie board (how is he old enough to do that) and thrilled us all by swimming the entire width of the deep end of the swimming pool….alone. He is so brave y’all sometimes it terrifies me! Bo hung out with Grandma in the condo enjoying the air conditioning and the space to roll around.

We are so very thankful for wonderful family members who don’t mind us crashing their family time!

Robert Franklin 5 months

 

Bo turned 5 months old on May 28th. Since he will be 6 months old this Sunday on June 28th I thought it was probably time to do a 5 month update. At 5 months Bo was doing a lot of growing and working. We didn’t have a well-check so I don’t have specific statistics but I can share what I know which is the following:

At 5 months of age, Bo was wearing sizes in the 6 month range. On Memorial Day Bo wore an outfit that his brother John Brooks wore on July 4th 2011.

At 5 months of age, I was feeding Bo approximately 6-7 times a day. At 5 months of age Bo was (is) exclusively breastfed.

At 5 months of age, Bo slept from about 9 pm until about 7 am each night and took 2-3 cat naps that were generally 30-45 minutes long.

At 5 months of age, Bo began going to Physical Therapy once a week from once every other week. Bo continued to go to Occupational Therapy once a week as well. At 5 months of age, Bo was working very hard on rolling from back to belly and was working on learning how to prop sit.

At 5 months of age, Bo became more and more interactive with family and friends. He loved (loves) to play with his Daddy and big brother. Bo also started to recognize more of his family including Pop-Pop, Rob-Rob and Grandma. Bo also was able to meet his Meemaw for the first time! Bo was very excited to meet Meemaw and loved for her to rock him. We also had visits from Tee-Taw (Aunt Connie) and Di-Di (Aunt Diane).

 

Bo has the cutest curls on top of his head that have hung on even while the rest of his hair has fallen out causing him to have a natural baby-mohawk.

Bo continues to charm everyone he meets and we all fall more in love with him every day! I continue to count every milestone he meets as a miracle and thank God every day for healing our baby.

Last Day of School

 

 

Yesterday was John Brooks’ last day of pre-k for this school year. The Pre-K he attends is affiliated with the public elementary school in our town and thus runs on the school calendar. Which means…sing it with me now…”Schools out for SUMMER”.

I find it amusing that John Brooks is essentially oblivious to the fact that he should be mega-excited about summer vacation. Up to now his entire life has been one never-ending fun day which I am very thankful for so he has little concept that some things are “supposed to be” more fun than others.

John Brooks has LOVED school! He has had his trying moments for certain and there were a few weeks where we weren’t sure if they were going to let him back in the door the next Monday. However, we could not have hoped for better teachers to usher our child into what it means to “go to school”. He has learned so much about getting along with others, taking turns, listening to grown ups and being respectful of others. He still has a long way to go but I am so very thankful we chose to start him in Pre-K as a 3 year old because I believe it is going to set him up for success in the future.

Happy Summer!

My Hero

 

Hi there! I know, I know I am woefully behind with blogging but we’ve been busy and I am tired so it kind of gets pushed to the side sometimes. I am popping in to tell a story that I think is too funny not to share.

I have a MAJOR FEAR of lizards. As in, heart hurting, can’t breathe, high anxiety, dare I say phobia of lizards. In my mind I know that this fear is irrational because lizards are smaller than me and they cannot hurt me BUT they are slimy and squishy and squirmy and their beady little eyes follow me as if at any point they are going to jump on me and kill me dead.

I generally manage to avoid lizards in my every day life but I do live in Florida which is a glorified swamp so from time to time the little slimy devils do try to cause me to die. This past week there has been one dark, menacing little monster who has been toying with my emotions. Last Tuesday he decided to park himself (herself) on the jogging stroller when I was trying to take the car seat out to the car. This created a 15 minute conundrum of how to get the car seat off of the stroller without shaking the stroller and possibly causing the lizard to (God forbid) run on to the car seat and thus kill me dead. Use a broom you say, swat that lizard you say. Good idea kind friend, except that in my (crazy) mind I see me swatting the lizard with the broom only to have the lizard run up the broom and kill me dead. You understand my problem right?

So imagine my absolute terror when I discovered the same (place a couple expletives here) lizard had somehow found his (her) way into my bedroom and onto my (expletive expletive) bed this morning! I cannot even allow myself to think of what piece of clothing he (she) could’ve hitched a ride on but let me tell you it is the LAST time I hang dry my sports bras outside! So I did what any rational woman would do, I slammed the bedroom door, ran around to the other side, opened the back door and then called my husband.

You read that right. I called my husband who was already at work and preparing for clients and begged and cried and pleaded for him to come home and kill this lizard who had made it his (her) mission to taunt me. I’m not going to say that his response was the most gentlemanly choice of words ever in the English language and I may have had a fleeting thought that he would’ve liked to take a whack at me with the broom BUT my wonderful, masculine, strong, brave father of my children husband drove home and defeated the giant beast with his own two hands! I knew I married him for a reason (joking…lots of reasons).

And this is why, my husband, Benjamin Brooks Colson, will forever be my hero.

Mother’s Day Weekend

 

My Mother’s Day weekend started on Friday when Bo, Ben and I tagged along on John Brooks’ class field trip to Homosassa Springs State Park. This park has become one of my favorite places to take the boys. I was oh-so-excited when we found out that the Pre-K end of the year field trip would take place at this location AND parents were encouraged to attend.

If you are near Homosassa Springs, I definitely recommend making the drive. The park is beautiful and shaded with exhibits of animals and plants native to the state of Florida with one special adopted native…Lu the hippo. The story of Lu is that she (I think) is a famous Hollywood (Cali not FLA) hippo who was donated to Homosassa Springs to do what most senior citizens in Florida do…retire. Governor Lawton Chiles declared her an honorary citizen so that she would be allowed to live out her days in the Sunshine State. Lu is one of John Brooks’ favorite parts of the park! Another cool sighting we had on Friday were manatees swimming in the spring! Even though I’ve lived in Florida my entire life it has just been in the past year that I have ever even seen a manatee so to see 3-4 swimming in the open water was a special treat for me!

On Friday night we had our first ever “Family Movie Night”. We ordered (picked up…because no delivery in the boondocks) a large Pepperoni Pizza and Paddington on DISH and had the most fun eating pizza and watching a movie as a family. I know this probably sounds lame to most people but it’s the season of life we are in so I am rolling with it and enjoying these special, quickly-passing moments with my boys and my husband.

Saturday, we continued the weekend fun by going to a local farm and picking blueberries. The owners of the farm are some friends of ours from church and they have the cutest little boy who is 18 months. He and John Brooks played together for a while in addition to blueberry picking and John Brooks was sad to leave when it was time for us to go.

 

Saturday night, Ben gave me the ultimate Mother’s Day gift of a night off (I’m joking…kind of). I was able to meet up with some of my girl friends for supper and socializing! It was a wonderful break. I truly believe that in order to be a good wife and mother I have to take time for myself sometimes and thankfully my husband agrees with me.

On Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day by dedicating that we would raise Bo in a loving, Christian environment at church. It was a sweet ceremony and I am so thankful to be involved with a church that values families and children. My Dad and step-mom Robin came as well as Ben’s sister Gina and 2 of her 3 children. It was a great way to celebrate being a Mom!

After church, we met at Ben’s parent’s house and celebrated Mrs. Colson by spending time with her as a family. Both of Ben’s sisters and their families came as well. It was wonderful to be able to spend time as a family. Our nephew Garrett will be graduating from high school in a couple of weeks so we know that these family times are going to happen less and less often as the future unfolds.

I rounded out my Mother’s Day weekend with another great present…a 45 minute nap! It was glorious….and only felt like five minutes which is a sign that it was much needed.

It was a wonderful weekend and I am so grateful that God has chosen me to be the Mama to two of the sweetest most-fun boys around! My heart bursts with love for these two and I constantly see-saw between being so excited to see what the future holds and wishing time would stand still and keep them little and wanting Mama forever.

Bo is 4 months!

 

Our sweet baby Bo is now 4 months old. Every day he changes and grows and we are starting to see little snippets of what his personality is going to be like. He is a sweetie. Bo loves to snuggle and be held. He (and I am not bragging here its just the truth) L-O-V-E-S his Mama! He only wants me to rock him to sleep and I’m pretty sure he would prefer it if I just held him ALL THE TIME. He has the best, big open-mouthed, smile and gets very happy, jumpy, giggly when someone he loves (Mama, Daddy, John Brooks) walks into his room. Here are some other facts about our little man at 4 months:

As of April 29th, Bo weighs 13 pounds 1 oz and is 24 1/2 inches long. He has gained 3 pounds and 3.5 inches since his last check up! He is in 3 month clothes but can wear some 3-6 month clothes. People sometimes act as if he is small and maybe he is but the clothes fit and he has rolls so it kind of gets on my nerves when people say that. He has the most adorable cheeks and is getting little fat rolls on his thighs and wrists. I adore a chubby baby! Remarkably, he is rolling over from tummy to back and is starting to show signs that he may want to roll from back to belly pretty soon. He is smiling big and starting to laugh. He is starting to “play” with toys and feel things for texture rather than just staring into space. His one delay at this point is a “head lag” which means that he is still unable to hold his head steady when he is pulled from a flat position to a seated position. Due to the nature of his birth injuries, we are expecting Bo to have some delays/residual effects which is why we already have him working with both an Occupational and Physical Therapist.

In addition to his well-check, Bo also had follow-ups with Hematology and Neurology this month. The good news is that his coagulation labs are all normalizing which means he does not appear to have any underlying bleeding risks that will affect him throughout life. More good news is that the Phenobarbital levels are non-readable in his blood and he has not had any seizures so we are taking that as a sign that whatever blood was in his brain has reabsorbed into his body by now. The Neurologist that saw him said that he looks “80% better” from the previous appointment. The doctors/therapists all seem to say that though he will meet his milestones it will be on his own time frame, not necessarily at the time when he is “supposed to” meet them.

Eating: Bo is exclusively breast fed. It is fun to watch how excited he gets when he is about to eat! Sometimes when he is eating, he will stop, look up at me and smile as if to say “Ahhh this is great Mama”. We are hoping to start him on solids at 6 months but that time frame will have a lot to do with when his his head/neck strength/control improves. I am slowly adding dairy back into my diet. So far, he tolerates sour cream and small amounts of butter but still gets fussy when I eat shredded cheddar or a lot of dairy foods combined together (think casseroles). He feeds on demand so pretty much whenever he starts arching his back, screaming like a howler-monkey and trying to scratch my eyes out (seriously he whacks my face when he’s ready to eat…how early is too early to say No?) It usually averages out to about 7 times a day. Usually, 7 am, 8:30 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm.

Sleeping: Knock on wood and Thank the Lord, we have another good sleeper (so far, I hope I don’t jinx it by typing it out). Bo is usually asleep by 9:00 pm and wakes up around 7:00 am. I would love to say that he takes 3- 1 hour naps a day as well but I can’t say that because it would be a lie. To be honest, he really only naps well if I am holding him or he is in the Ergo or the car seat and we are moving. He has the most sensitive movement sense I’ve ever seen. He will be sound asleep and as soon as I lay him in the crib or the car stops in the pick up line at school he wakes up and starts screaming. He gets VERY ANGRY when his demands are not met and has been known to hold his breath, turn red in the face, and screech like a howler monkey. I still try to put him in his crib for naps but at least once a day I hold him for 45 minutes so that he can nap. Not the best system but its what works for now.

Play: Bo is finally starting to play! He is starting to pick things up, put teething rings on his arms and bat at toys on the floor. We spend much of our time playing on the floor and working on his motor skills as well as his head/neck control. He is able to lift up on his arms when he is on his belly now and is starting to straighten his arms as well. The occupational therapist put athletic tape on his back and his triceps to help his nerves/muscles learn how to work right. Sometimes I get sad when I think how hard this baby is having to work just to be normal but then I think how blessed we are that he is even here to work and that all of this work is going to make him even stronger than he already is! Oh and he ADORES John Brooks. He follows that kid with his eyes wherever he goes and he get so excited when John Brooks plays or talks to him.

All in all, Bo is making progress. We continue to work with him and we pray that it will be God’s will for him to be a healthy, wild little boy who can follow his older brother and get into the trouble that little boys seem to always find.

My Buddy Bill

 

John Brooks loves animals, especially farm animals, especially cattle, especially bulls. We are lucky in that while still unpredictable, the bulls (and the cows and calves for that matter) at the farm are calm enough that John Brooks is able to interact with them. It is so sweet to see him sitting in the back of Ben’s truck talking to the cattle, telling them stories and even singing songs.

“Bill” is a black Angus bull that has been at the farm for a few years. Long enough that to John Brooks he has always been there. Unfortunately, something has happened to Bill’s foot which has made it impossible for his to perform his…um…job. To make matters worse for Bill, when the veterinarian was out to look at his foot he executed what can only be described as an acrobatic maneuver in which he somehow ended up on his hind legs with his front legs and head stuck in the top of the squeeze chute. I’m not kidding. I wish there were pictures. Somehow, Bill made it out of that scrape alive but on a cattle ranch, if you can’t earn your keep, it’s time for you to move on down the line and that time for Bill was this past Monday.

I started to worry that John Brooks might have some lasting effects if we didn’t at least let him say goodbye to Bill (I think I’ve watched that scene from “The Help” one to many times where “Skeeter” doesn’t get to say goodbye to the sweet lady who helped raise her) so on Sunday, we took a ride out to the pasture, fed Bill and gave John Brooks a chance to see him one last time.

It about broke my heart to watch my boy with his “Buddy Bill”. At one point, he told me, “Mama, I’ve talked to Bill and he said he wants to stay.” I bet he did say that…poor Bill. We did our best to explain that because of his injury it was better for Bill if we sold him but that’s a hard thing to explain to a person with little reasoning ability.

Even later Sunday night during story time and the next morning before school John Brooks was asking us to ask Granddaddy to let Bill stay. Ben and I are both pretty tender-hearted when it comes to the boys so it was tough to see John Brooks struggling to understand this loss. So, in an attempt to make it easier on him (I hope) I convinced my oh so manly but oh so sweet husband to drive out to the farm after he dropped off John Brooks at school and conduct a photo shoot…with Bill…the bull. Because my husband loves me and our boy he agreed and sent me the pictures that I proceeded to edit and upload to my Shutterfly account where they are awaiting my click of the Send so that they can be mailed here, framed and placed on John Brooks’ bedside table.

 

Yes you read that correctly.

Yes we are crazy.

In my defense, people have photos to remember their dogs. Our kid’s dog just happens to weigh 2000 pounds.

Farm Fresh Eggs

 

My family loves eggs! John Brooks and Ben love them scrambled and I L-O-V-E a fried egg. One of the few items at the grocery store that I “splurge” on is eggs. I usually buy cage free and love it when I can buy cage free organic eggs because I truly think that they taste better than an egg raised by traditional means. I have wanted to try to find locally raised eggs for quite some time but have been out of luck until the other day.

So, I was SUPER EXCITED when my mother-in-law informed me that one of the ladies at her church has some laying hens that have free-range of her yard and this lady has been selling the eggs at church. Y’all for $5.00 I was able to get 18 eggs. In the grocery store, a dozen organic eggs is about $4.00 so I think that 18 for $5 is a great deal!

I could hardly wait to try them for breakfast this morning and I was not disappointed. Look at that pretty yolk! My subpar photography skills do not do these beauties justice. The egg went great with some avocado guacamole and bacon on toast with Siracha sauce as a breakfast sandwich. I am so happy about this find!