Party Animal

This weekend we had 2 parties to go to. First we went to my cousin Cassie's graduation. She graduated with her Master's degree and passed her CPA exam. Wow! And I remember babysitting for her and other embarassing things! Then we had a first birthday party for our niece Lizzy. Both were on Saturday so by Sunday we had a very tired and crabby little boy. But we definitely had fun.

Cassie's party was really fun. We didn't get to stay long but Colby and I did get to swim. It was interesting sitting at the party because we celebrated Cassie's mom's birthday this time last year at the same home. It was at that party that Colby saw a swimming pool for the first time. It was there that Colby scared me by jumping right in the water. Amazing to think back to that party and watch Colby as he swims "all by mineself". After just a few lessons he thinks he can swim by hinself, and he can with a noodle under his arms. Otherwise Mommy helps. This year, Colby even went down the slide. Wow! Maybe next year we can try the diving board. See the link for that post below. http://adoptingcolby.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-faces-and-new-things-to-try-part-ii.html

We also had fun at Lizzy's first birthday party. There were a lot of little kids there for Colby to play with. And now Lizzy is big enough that she and Colby were playing together. They had fun playing in her big playhouse. And Colby enjoyed rolling down the hill with another friend, Jair and his sister Brin.

On Tuesday we went with Colby's cousins Eva and Jack to Mt. Tom for a quick swim. The kids loved playing by the rocks, although Colby and Jack both fell off the rocks and Colby scratched his little nose. They found some old fishing line and tied it to a stick and took turns "fishing" and of course they threw rocks.

So another busy weekend. Except for a meeting for me ( I volunteer at the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament in New Haven. It starts on the 20th. Lots of great tennis.) on Saturday, no plans this weekend. Eva and Jack are back in Utah. But I think Daddy and Colby might just go fishing.

First Amusement Park Adventure

Last weekend was very busy. My sister Karin and her boys were up from New York and Mike's cousins Jack and Eva were in from Utah. We had a picnic with Mike's family on Saturday as well as a play to go to Saturday night. My nephew Teddy was in a children's production of Guys and Dolls Jr. On Sunday we went with my sisters to Quassy Amusement Park to enjoy a few rides. Teddy and my sister Kristin were also there for a Drum Chorps competition. What a busy but fun time we had.

Colby loved seeing Jack and Eva again. They spent a lot of time with eachother last summer so it was nice to see them again. And his other cousins Julia, Jake, and Logan were at the picnic too. Logan is the same age as Colby and they get along really well. They enjoyed jumping in the little pool.

Teddy's play was amazing. He played the part of Nicely-nicely Johnson and sang the song "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat". I was a little worried about Colby sitting through the play especially after the picnic all day and the play not starting until 7:30 but he did great. He was mesmerized by watching Teddy dance and sing on stage. He yelled out to Teddy a couple times and even asked "Why those kids hiding back there?". The kids were off stage in the wings waiting to come on. It was really fun.

Quassy with Karin and her boys Max and Alex was fun too. Colby had not been to an amusement park before so we weren't sure how he would do. He always wants to try everything he sees though. He loved a few of the little kid rides and then the boys went on the Pirate ship that swings back adn forth. Mike went with them. Colby was a little shocked and didn't like it much. Nor did he like the little kid rollercoaster. It bounces a lot though and I think he hit his lip at one point so he was crying. The guy running the ride stopped it after one time around and took him off. He was supposed to go around twice. So although my little man loves seeing everything and says he wants to try everything, we were reminded that he still really is a little one and not quite ready for all those big boy rides. Perhaps next year! Although rollercoasters will be Mommy's thing, not Daddy's!

This weekend, we have a graduation party for my cousin Cassie who just graduated with her Master's and passed her CPA exam. We also have a party for our niece Lizzy who turns 1. Another busy summer weekend. Thankfully the weather should be less humid and beautiful.

Our First Family Christmas

This was our first Christmas as a family of 3! What a difference Colby made to the holiday. We actually had 3 days of Christmas and are just starting to get back to our routine. It certainly has been a whirlwind of fun, toys, food, hugs, and lots of laughter.

Christmas Eve we celebrated with Mike's family. We went to his parents' house around 3. Thankfully they live right down the road, so no travel. We had a small gathering with his parents and Mike's brother David, his wife Jocelyn, and their baby Lizzy. She is only 6 months old so it was thier first family Christmas too! Mike's sister Trisha and her husband AJ were the only ones missing. They live in Ohio, so Mike's parents left to visit with them on Christmas Day. After opening gifts and relaxing we all went to Mike's grandparents' house down the road. They are Mike's dad's parents and family. We had a big gathering there and enjoyed some appetizers and lots of goodies. Colby received a Hess car, some puzzles, a dump truck, and some great photos to hang in his room. Mike's Aunt Jo took pictures of Colby's stuffed animals (Pooh, Mickey, Goofy, Tigger, and more) and used those pictures to PhotoShop into some landscape photos she had taken. So Mickey is now fishing, Pooh is holding sunflowers. They came out great. Colby needed some big photos to decorate his room. Colby also got a trailer truck, bulldozer, and road grader made just for him by Grandpa! We didn't leave there until aroudn 9 so we had one tired out little boy. Thankfully we did get him to take a short nap before we left.

Christmas morning Mike and I were wide awake. We were like little kids on Christmas, both so excited. I was ready with the video camera as Colby opened his presents. He was so excited with the small drum and percussion set Santa brought. He also loved his 2 John Deere tractors and dump truck. We had to play with all his toys before we left for my parents' house. Until this year, we always celebrated with my mom's family at Mamie's house. Unfortunately, we lost her this year so everyone decided to have their own family celebrations and then get together on Saturday. So we went to my parents' house to celebrate with my brothers and sisters and their families. Not the usual 40 or so people but a respectable 16 people. We did miss my nephew Teddy though. He was with his dad. A wonderful meal and even more goodies to eat. And of course, more presents. Colby got a John Deere bank that light up and makes noise when you put money in it. He also got a new Thomas train piece, some great books, a few shirts, a race car track, and letter blocks that Mamie had already bought for him. I also received a beautiful silver necklace from Mamie. It is a heart with a mom holding a baby. It is so sweet and very special. No nap and a long day, we went home and relaxed watching Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas.

Saturday we had one more Christmas celebration. We went to my Uncle Lou's to celebrate with my mom's family. Not everyone was there but we had a great time. Cloby loved playing with his cousins again along with my cousins children. There were kids everywhere! More goodies to eat and even more presents. A few more books, a wooden tool box, some Legos, and we all received a ornament from my Aunt Linda with a picture of my grandparents on it wishing us a Heavenly Christmas. Uncle Lou lives next door to my grandparents house so we did go over there to look through some things to see if their grandchildren wanted anything. I took a few things, mostly cooking stuff, but it did give a bittersweet taste to the day. Boy do I miss them both. I just wish Poppy could have met Colby and that both he and Mamie could have spent one Christmas with us. Christmas was such a special time for Poppy. I hope that I can pass on his love for giving and the sense of joy he gave to everyone.

We spent Sunday relaxing and playing with all the new toys. We did go to Mike's grandparents' for a special dinner. It is his grandpa's birthday so Aunt Marie made home-made ravioli. Yum yum! Ravioli and ice cream. A great way to end a busy weekend. Now we are looking forward to New Year's Eve and my Aunt Doone's, and next month we are having dinner with a few of our fellow adopting friends. We met through our agency and through our blogs. I can't wait for all the boys to get together. It should be a lot of fun!

Holiday Fun

Well, it seems my family shared more than just turkey this Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day together and then everyone ended up sick. Someone started it and just about all of us got a cold, sinus infection, or something. Colby had a slight cough and runny nose but seemed to be ok. Mike and I have been battling a cough, sinus infection for just over a week. Mine was bad enough my teeth were hurting. My mom still has her cough but my brother Chris got it the worst. He ended up with pneumonia. So, we have been trying to get rest and get better. We are now on the mend.

We have also had a lot of holiday fun the past few weekends. We went to Mike's uncle's house to buy a Christmas tree on the 5th and decorated it. Even with not feeling great, we had fun. Colby is still amazed that a tree is in our family room. He loves the lights and the candy canes on the tree. He was so cute putting the ornaments on. I think one branch got 5 ornaments! He would try to hang them and if he missed the branch, the ornament would just fall. And there he left it!

Wednesday Colby and I went to visit with our friends Jill and Nicholas and Sharon and Sean. It was our first time to see Sean since he came home around Halloween. The three boys had a great time playing together and it was fun for the mommies too. We love getting together. We had lunch together and shared stories. Another friend from our adoption agency just came home from Russia with her two boys. Christine lives in NY, not far from here. I am hoping to get all 5 boys and the families together for dinner in January.

This past Friday we went to the mall to see Santa. Colby loves looking at pictures of Santa but I wasn't sure how he would do sitting on his lap. We waited in line and he watched other kids sit down. When we got up to Santa he said hi to him. Colby has really been fascinated with his shoes lately. So he had to show Santa his boots. Then I put him on Santa's lap. He shyed away but Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. I told him to tell Santa about Thomas the Train. Then he lit up and started talking. The photographer had a stuffed monkey he held up and that caught Colby's attention. We got a great photo! I hope to scan and download it soon. After that we went to Meriden to see the Christmas lights at Hubbard Park. They are all different animals lit with white lights. The also have a huge globe lit up. You drive through the park and see the lights. We also like to get out and walk around. Mike and I have gone there many times, it is something we like to do this time of year. But it was amazing to drive through the park and here Colby point out the different animals. We walked around a little but it was cold and very windy! But we had fun!

Yesterday we had our first family Christmas party. We went to Mike's parents to get together with Mike's mom's family. We had a wonderful lunch of lasagna, some great dessert, and a fun grab bag. I'm not sure if Colby liked the cars or the plastic tubing they came in better.

This weekend we will have our parents for dinner, bake some Christmas cookies, and watch some Christmas movies. I have truly loved teaching Colby all about Christmas, from the story of the birth of Jesus to the legend of Santa Claus. What an amazing holiday. No wonder it was my Poppy's favorite time of year. And mine too!