The Addition

And I'm not talking about Colin.  I'm talking about our porch!

When Ryan and I bought our house we knew we wanted to build a deck/porch off of the sliding glass doors from the kitchen.  We affectionately called this the "doorway to death."  With nothing below and a small backyard we decided we would build a porch and deck that took up the whole yard- leaving minimal mowing as well as play space.  

We originally wanted this project to start in the spring but between figuring out the best builder for us as well as working with the city to get a variance to build beyond the build line, the project started about 4 weeks before I was due.  Oh joy.  The project officially wrapped up about 2 weeks after Colin was born.  

We love the new space.  I spend most of my days on the porch and we cannot wait to host parties with the additional room and the deck space too!  Ryan moved his grill to the deck and loves being able to grill while still being social with friends.
Here is the progress of building the porch...

 
 
 
 
 


 

 
And here is the finished product!
 I am in love with the stone wall and the fireplace!  Actually I'm in love with the whole thing!
 
 

Come on over and share a bottle of wine or a pot of coffee with me and Colin!  Well Colin isn't drinking wine and coffee but I am!

Weekend Shenanigans: Mr. Social Butterfly

The weekend started on Friday when we headed to the bowling alley to cheer on Jaxon and Rose at their Conference bowling tournament.  There were 7 teams and Mound finished... drum roll please... FIRST!  Yes they won conference!  Both varsity and junior varsity won their respective matches and are headed to state.  Jaxon and Rose both bowled on varsity and my brother coaches JV so we had lots to celebrate.  And to top it off Jaxon was honored as all-conference!  Hooray!  So we will go to the all-conference tournament at the end of November to watch Jaxon bowl and then at the beginning of December both Jaxon and Rose will bowl on the Mound varsity team at state!  

The whole Mound team

Rose and Jaxon

 

My brother, Carter, Jaxon, and Lisa

Carter and Jaxon were awarded all-conference (Lisa is the varsity coach)

 

My brother and his family

After the tournament we headed to my sister's house for a birthday and anniversary celebration!  Our family had lots to celebrate...

-Stephanie's birthday (which is actually tomorrow)

- Bryan and Stephanie's 18th wedding anniversary (November 11th)

- My parent's 45th wedding anniversary (November 15th)

- Ryan and my 3rd anniversary (November 27th)

- Jaxon and Rose's bowling success

- Colin's first big family dinner!

We had a delicious sloppy joe/chili dinner with everyone and champagne toasted to the blessing of these celebrations and ate cake to top it off!  Such a fun night and I loved that Colin had his first big family dinner/celebration!

Saturday was a full day of PARTIES!  

First- Mike and Danielle's baby shower.  Baby Z is due in January and going to be a boy!  So we are very excited to have another buddy for Colin.  Colin was awesome- napped, ate, looked around and was mainly adorable.  It was a fun shower complete with games, a DELICIOUS cake and lots of gifts for the parents-to-be.  I can't wait for Baby Z to get here but probably not as much as his mama!

Seriously such a pretty mama-to-be!

 

 

Second- Kenley's 1st birthday!  I cannot believe this beautiful little girl is already 1!  She had a very PINK birthday complete with lots of balloons, a candy bar, great drinks, and all things pink!  Kristin did an amazing job celebrating her daughter's birthday!  Let's just say I know who to talk to when it's Colin's birthday next year!  

Third- a bonfire at Trent's house.  Without snow on the ground, it was the perfect opportunity for a late fall bonfire.  Ryan and I were pretty tired from the first two parties so we ran home and had a quick nap and dinner.  We debated going but then decided Colin needed his first Delta Chi party so we made the trip.  And I'm so glad we did!  Colin got to meet June and they had a pajama party!  Please note the frogs on her pjs and the turtles on his... adorable right?!

And Sunday was Colin's first diving practice!  No we didn't put him in the pool and we didn't throw him off the diving boards but we did soak up the chlorine smell and meet the team!  I have not been coaching since August and it was nice to get back to the pool, see the kids and take a few pictures.  

 

 

The rest of Sunday included trips to the gym (Ryan and I have to go separately now so one of us can stay with Colin) and dinner with my sister and niece.  The left over sloppy joes were delicious!  Ryan and I tried to enjoy a glass of wine in the new porch once Colin fell asleep.  That lasted all of about 10 minutes... welcome to parenthood.

Happy Monday All-

One Month

First of all I need to apologize for my lack of blogging lately but let's be honest being a new mama is much more fun than sitting at my computer.  So I am soaking up this time with Colin.  Please forgive me for my lack of posts but hopefully you understand my absence.  

Yesterday Colin turned one month old!  How did that happen?  How did the last month fly by?  Ryan and I have loved every moment of our new family of 3!  Colin is such a sweetheart and we feel ridiculously blessed to be his mom and dad!

Baby Stats:

Weight: At his two week appointment, he weight 9 lbs. 7.5 ounces.  We would guess he is closet to 11 lbs now.

Sleep: Bedtime is between 10-11.  He sleeps in about 2.5-3 hour increments all day and night.  Hoping to start stretching that longer!  He is pretty ready to get up by about 7:30.

Feeding: I am breastfeeding and that has been going really well.  I started pumping too and he had his first bottle last week.  That went really well so now Ryan can give him a bottle before bedtime.  Otherwise I nurse him about every 2-3 hours just sort of depends how fussy he is.  I am trying to stretch this too.

Diapers: size 1 (I was sort of sad when he grew out of the newborn size)

Clothing: size 0-3 months - again I was sadto put away his newborn sizes but they looked uncomfortable

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Daddy says brown, Mama says dark blue/grey/brown mix

Milestones: We have a ONE month old!

Nicknames: Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Eater (must be close to Thanksgiving)

Favorites: Activity gym, tummy time, and the Moby Wrap

Colin,

You have absolutely stolen my heart and I am totally in love with you.  You have been such a gift and my heart could explode with gratitude for you.  You have been a really good baby and we are thankful that you are healthy and doing so well.  You are a good eater and a pretty good sleeper- I would love if you started making longer stretches consistently but I will take 2.5-3 hours at a time.  You love your bath too!

I love seeing you with your daddy, it melts my heart.  He is crazy about you and has a hard time leaving in the morning and rushes home to come play with you.  You two will be two peas in a pod.  Daddy already says you are his best bud!

I am really excited for the upcoming holidays- Thanksgiving is in less than 3 weeks away!  I can't wait to start making our own family traditions too!  We love you so much and cannot wait to see you grow and hopefully find your voice in the coming month!

xoxo Mama

Thankful

I have always loved Thanksgiving and as soon as November 1st comes I feel like I can start the holiday season- beginning with Thanksgiving.  Ryan and I have a long list of people to say thank you to in the last month.  We were overwhelmed by the love and support we were given when Colin was born.  We had so many visitors, meals made or brought to us, text messages sent, phone calls, and gifts.  We were showered by love and for that we are extremely thankful.  I did my best to either email, text or call back to everyone and say thank you but I would really like to take this Monday to say it again- thank you.

Ryan and I tried to take a picture of each of the visitors we had- either at the hospital or at home- with Colin.  We got almost everyone (except the Flannerys and the Nelsons- somehow we missed those pictures) and looking at these pictures overwhelms my heart again.

We are so thankful!!