Playing

Papa Brian and Grandma Karole gave this tummy spinning toy thingy to Colson. I have no idea what it is actually called but you lay them in it on their tummy and the little base spins around. They use their hands and feet to move in circles around this little play mat. 

 Colson seems to like it! :oP

Smiley, happy baby! :o)

OH... and today is the last dat of June. Just thought I would let every one know.
It's craziness, pure craziness! Where is the time going???

Wordless Wednesday

Colson laughing from Jennifer Loving on Vimeo.

Toddle Along Tuesday

Join in on the fun over at Growing Up Geeky and Our Growing Garden.  

Pinning Makes Me Happy!

I have become quite obsessed with Pinterest. If you do not know what Pinterest is, I highly suggest you check out their website! You will become addicted to it!

Here is the description from their website:

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite.

And the best thing is that when you 'pin' something, it will pin it from the source so it is easy for you to go back to the original website where the photo was located. For example, if I pin a photo of a salad from marthastewart.com that I want to make for the 4th of July, it will pin the photo to my account and keep the link of the page to where that photo was located. So when I want to go back to that recipe, I just just go into my Pinterest account, click on the salad photo, and I will be taken to the page.

I love it! If you haven't noticed, I have added a link to my Pinterest in my sidebar. Feel free to follow me or any of my boards! :o)

Here are just a few things that I have pinned!

Source: marthastewart.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: younghouselove.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: usthreebirds.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: austinweddingblog.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: lionbrand.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: erincobb.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: pewterandsage.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

That only scratches the surface...but you can see just how many different things you can pin!


I spend way too much time pinning but I have gotten so many great ideas. Some I have already started (blogs posts about those projects to come)!

Colson Didn't Want To Be Left Out...

So here he is in his bath towel. :o)

He is still not a lover of bath time. :oP

Wordless Wednesday

5 months old:

2 and a half years old:

4 Month Well Baby Visit

And when I say 4 month stats, I actually mean his 10 days shy of 5 months stats. 


I'm not sure how Colson's appointments got pushed back so far but they won't let me try to adjust them. The pediatricians won't let me bring him in a week or two earlier for his 6 month check-up so his 6 month check-up is actually 2 days shy of his 7 month birthday. :o/ I don't know...


Anyways, here is the little man waiting to see the pediatrician.

And now on to the stats:


Weight—14 lbs 5 ounces
(+2 lbs 9 ounces from his 2 month appointment)
40th percentile

Height—23 3/4 inches
(+1.5 inches)
10th percentile

Head Circumference—41.7 cm
(+2.3 cm)
40th percentile


Dr. Campbell said everything look perfect!


She said I can start him on solids whenever I want but its not mandatory until the 6 month mark. We started Hannah on rice cereal a week or two before her 6 month birthday and her first veggie right at 6 months so I think we will do the same with Colson. He doesn't seem to be starving and he is sleeping 8+ hours at night so the doctor said that it would be fine to wait like that.


This go around I plan on making my own baby food. With Hannah I just bought pre-made baby food but I am excited to give the baby food making a try. A separate post will come when we get closer to time and I actually start making things.


And just for comparison, here are Hannah's 4 month stats. But please note that these were 1 day after her 4 month birthday (unlike Colson's which were a whopping 21 days after his 4 month birthday)

weight 14.9 lbs (75th percentile) 

height 24 inches (45th percentile)

head 40.1 cms (25th percentile)

So Hannah weighed a bit more that Colson even despite the timing difference of Colson's being taken quite a bit later. Height and head were pretty close to the same though.

I was guessing that Colson weighed about 15 and a half pounds so I was way off. Nick said 14 and 3/4 pounds and my mom said 14 and a half...so once again my mom is dead on with her guesses. I don't know how she does it, but she is always the closest. :oP

There was a little 2 week old girl there today during the same time and she was so tiny. I can't believe how big Colson's is getting. I have already forgotten him in the tiny newborn stage and that makes me so sad...

Blondie???

Could Colson have blond hair?

Colson's hair is so much lighter than Hannah's was at the same age so I'm thinking that that might be the case.

Nick calls him blondie all the time.

It's a little hard to tell from photos but what do you think?

Fish Fry

This past Friday, since my sister and brother-in-law where in town, we decided to have a fish fry.

Hannah is really big on helping and wanting to do things herself lately, so it came as no surprise to me that she would want to help my mom and sister bread the fish.

first in the egg...

then in the breading

She did a really great job! :o)

my dad and brother-in-law frying the fish

My dad loves his deep fryer. The fish tasted wonderful! (but I still think the deep fried turkey is my favorite!) We made a ton including blue gill, northern and walleye--all caught by my dad.

Hopefully the next fish fry we have includes some fish caught by me and Hannah! :o)

Happy Father's Day!

To my wonderful husband,

You are the love of my life! The past 15 years hasn't always been easy but it has made me who I am today. I am so lucky to call you my soulmate, my best friend, my husband and the father to our 2 beautiful children! Hannah and Colson are truly the greatest gifts you have ever given me and I will never be able to thank you enough for them! (Are you ready to give me a third??? :oP)

I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow!

I got Nick (and the rest of us) matching Yankees shirts for father's day. I did the same thing on his first father's day with Hannah although I did not get one. Now that we are a family of 4 (and Hannah has far outgrown her old shirt) I thought it would be nice to get new shirts for all of us. Go Yankees! :o)


I hope all of you dads out there enjoy your day!
Happy Happy Father's Day!

Longest Week Ever!

This week has been the longest week of my life!

Without getting into detail (it would end up being a book if I were to tell you everything), I can happily tell you that it is over! The events hell of, not only this week but the past 2 and a half years, is finally over and we can move on with our lives.

For those of you who follow me on facebook or know the circumstances surrounding this past week (and the past 2 and a half years), you know just how difficult this has been for our family. For those of you who have given me and my family support and words of encouragement, I just want you to know that I (we) love you all! This was not easy for our family but because of you we felt loved and supported and we were able to go on with our lives knowing that there were shoulders to lean on. For those who were with us this past week, you will never truly know just how much it meant to us to have you standing next to us.

We started this with tears of sadness and we are fortunate enough to end this with tears of happiness and relief!

Today we can start fresh and for a lack of a better term, we can celebrate!

I have been missing in action this week because of these certain events. Please accept my apologies but family-immediate and extended-was much more important during this difficult time.

I promise I will resume blogging once I emotionally and mentally recover from this past week's events.

Toddle Along Tuesday

Join in on the fun over at Growing Up Geeky and Our Growing Garden.  

This week's featured blog is ELF: A Family Blog.  Hop on over and say "Hi!" to Libby and her adorable son, Thaddeus. :o)

A Look Back

I thought it would be fun to post some photos of Hannah at 4 months of age.

I can't believe that this was over 2 years ago. *tear*

Smiley Boy

Colson just gives us the biggest smiles all day long.

He is such a happy boy!

Distracted

Saying 'cheese'!

but Clifford is on TV....

and I would really like to watch it...

Ok, I'll continue to be cute!

Party Inspiration

I am constantly browsing the internet in search of cool party inspiration. I often frequent Hostess With The Mostess, Love The Day, Made, and Celebrations At Home.

With Hannah's birthday being 4 months away, I have already started collecting ideas. I might have already started collecting ideas for Colson's birthday, as well :oP

I love to throw a party! :o) I want people to have a good time and enjoy themselves and I think that cool food or decor ideas really help.

So I thought I would do a post on some of the fun things I have gathered.

backdrop: Hostess With The Mostess

cupcake decoration: Celebrations At Home 

ruffled streamers: Made

fruit skewers: Hostess With The Mostess

tissue paper number: can't remember the source

marshmallow pops: Hostess With The Mostess

wallflowers: Made 

jello cups: Hostess With The Mostess

pom-pom garland: can't remember the source

I can't wait to start making some of these things. I'm not sure what will make the cut but I'm sure i will use a few of these ideas for the parties!

I am especially in love with the ruffled streamers for Colson's Party because I plan on doing a bright color scheme--maybe reds, oranges and yellows. And I love the pom-pom garland for Hannah's party because I think I am going to do softer colors with a more vintage feel--like pinks, yellows and creams. BUT, I might change my mind so we'll see.  :oP

What are your favorite inspirational party blogs?