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.

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.

Easter Egg Gathering

 

 

Last evening John Brooks and I left the men and babies at home and set out to find us some eggs. The church where we are members hosted its annual Easter Egg (Resurrection Egg?) Event last night and John Brooks and I were excited for some food, fellowship and good old fashioned competition organized sweet-natured fun.

We ate hotdogs and hamburgers for supper with a brownie for dessert. I admit the brownie was a risk. Too much sugar and my sweet, spirited boy becomes the living embodiment of the “Tasmanian Devil”. I am, however, a big softie so when he had eaten all of his hotdogs and some of his chips I couldn’t be the bad guy and say no to the brownie. 

Though there were some nail-biting moments and I may have found myself silently praying that my child wouldn’t whack the Children’s Minister with his “Resurrection Basket” I am happy to report that the evening went off without any injuries or permanent damage done. The Lord does answer prayers.

The children were split into groups by age. The age group that John Brooks was in heard the crucifixion story in a way that was completely safe and not scary. They also completed a craft that reminds us of the price Jesus paid for our sins (p.s. sin is a hard thing to explain to a preschooler).

 

There was quite a bit of sitting and waiting patiently before the egg-hunt chaos could begin. I was proud of John Brooks for not completely losing his mind with all of the waiting. At one point I thought he might explode with excitement but he was able to contain it as best he could.

Finally, the egg “gathering” began. Nobody was tackled. Everyone got eggs. The children’s leaders even gave out prizes to the children in each age group. One cool thing about a kid as wild as mine is that everyone seems to know his name. So when the Children’s Minister announced that “John Brooks” won a chocolate bunny our boy walked proudly to the front with a lot of cheers from the crowd. He may have tried to steal the megaphone from the Minister to give a speech but hey what’s an award without a speech?

All sarcasm aside, I am so thankful that we have found a church home where everyone loves families, loves children and loves Jesus. It is a wonderful feeling to know that there are many people helping our family to grow in our faith and helping our boys to become Jesus followers.

Life Lately…

Well Hello there! Long time no see…

I haven’t done anything with the blog in forever, like in over a year forever, because well…life. It is just really hard to find any extra time when trying to be a good wife, mom, daughter, employee, Jesus lover, niece, granddaughter, et cetera, et cetera and so on and so forth.

I am home now doing the full-time stay-at-home mom/wife thing. I am happy to be able to have this opportunity to bond with our second baby (Robert Franklin Colson) in the same way I was able to bond with John Brooks. However, going from being around people all day every day to only one person who doesn’t talk back but is equally as demanding in his wishes is a challenge at times.

My hope/goal is to carve out a little time here and there and use the blog as a way to be creative/express myself/communicate/vent whatever. So in the spirit of communication here is a brief summary in no particular order of what has happened in my world since I last clicked publish.

2 Birthdays, 2 St Patrick’s Days, Easter, Preggo, Cinco de Mayo (no drinko)

Mother’s day, Father’s day, Memorial day, Independence Day, Labor day…all the days….Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas

 

 

 

 

Trips to Atlanta, St Pete, Athens, TN, Knoxville, Cinnamon Beach, Daytona Beach, Jax Zoo, Disney World, Tampa, Homosassa

 

 

Blood tests, ultrasounds, baby announcements, gender reveals (or lack thereof because we don’t do surprises as much as just shout it out to everyone as soon as we know), eating too much, gaining too much, gestational diabetes (eek), high blood pressure (eek), working too much, brief appearances in L&D, sinus infections, tummy bugs, moving, growing, sleeping, sweating, painful pelvises, swelling (oh the swelling).

Walking into labor, having a baby, spending time in L&D, Postpartum, NICU, ER, PICU, doctor’s offices, and follow up appointments

Learning about babies with traumatic brain injuries, what happens when you don’t metabolize phenobarbital, seizures, MRIs, EEGs, CTs, blood draws, IV lines, lab work that doesn’t come back on time, breastfeeding, pumping, gaining weight, losing weight, sensitivities to dairy, sensitivities to sound, milestones, developmental delays, healing.

Learning (the hard way) that I am NOT in control of my circumstances. Learning what it means to ache for your children. Learning to “Let go and Let God”. Being surprised (although I shouldn’t be) that God really does have a plan. Being down on my face before God begging and pleading and crying to him for help. Wondering what I would do if the answer wasn’t the one I expected. Being in awe. Being in despair. Being in hope. Learning what love looks like. Watching my family and friends and strangers in other states rally around to pray for us and give us hope and strength. Watching as my prayers (and the prayers of many many others) are answered.

Now we are in the place of learning how to live as a family of four. It is chaotic. It is an adventure. It is a challenge. It is exhausting. I go through so many different emotions during each 24 hour period of life. I hope you will enjoy reading about all of this and more in the future.