Puzzle Fanatic

Collin has turned into a puzzle fanatic. He absolutely loves puzzles and will sit for a half hour or longer working and reworking his puzzles. His favorite puzzle of the moment is a Melissa and Doug alphabet one that tells you the letter and its sound when you put a piece in. Thanks to this puzzle, he now knows all of his uppercase letters and about 75% of their sounds.

Collin's Last Day of PMO

Today was Collin's last day of PMO at Johns Creek United Methodist Church. We are thrilled that we decided to enroll Collin in this program. He learned so much and matured so much over the course of the year. It also helped to bring him out of his shell. The first month that I dropped him off he would cling to me and cry as I handed him over to the teachers. By month two he seemed to enjoy going, and towards the end of the year he was asking to go to school every morning. It has been such a great experience for him! On his last day, he came home with a scrapbook documenting his first year of school and a framed poem (below) adorned his footprint. Both brought me to tears! Miss Zahie, Miss Paige and Miss Jennifer set a pretty high standard for the rest of his teachers to live up do. They will hold a special place in our hearts forever.

"Walk a little slower, Mommy and Daddy,"
Said a little child so small
"I'm following in your footsteps,
And I don't want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they're hard to see;
So walk a little slower, Mommy and Daddy,
For you are leading me.

Someday when I'm all grown up,
You're what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child
Who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true;
So, walk a little slower, Mommy and Daddy,
For I must follow you."

Proud Parents

The month of May has been a month full of amazing progress for Collin. His speech has literally blossomed this month. He is now putting two words together consistantly which is huge for him. He is also able to say his name "CaCa" and tell people that he is two. He has also learned all of the uppercase letters and can tell you the name of almost all of them. He even knows that C is for Collin, M for Mommy, D for Daddy, and S is for Sweetie cat. He can also count with one to one correspndance to the number five. He can name a couple of his friends and all his family members except for Grandaddy which we are trying to find a shorter nickname for. Although these are not unusual skills for a child his age, considering that in December he only knew a handful of words, this is amazing. I thank God everyday for his progress and am so blessed we met his speech teacher Ms. Lorissa and for all the wonderful things she has taught him. God is so good!

Collin has also learned a skill that Mommy and Daddy are not to proud of....how to climb out of his crib. He had been trying to figure this out for a while as I would look into the monitor and see him trying to use his arms to pull himself out of the bed. Last week he realized that if he got his foot over the rail and then tried to pull himself over, it worked. I heard a thud and found him face down on the floor. Needless to say we are now glued to his monitor until he falls asleep to ensure this does not happen again. We are also in the process of ordering his big boy furniture should we need to move him over sooner than later.

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend Patrick and I took a four day vacation to Destin without Collin. We had a great time sleeping in, eating out at nice restaurants where we actually got to enjoy our food and have a conversation, and relaxing on the beach. It was so nice to be able to have some alone time and get to enjoy each other's company without worrying what kind of mischief Collin was getting into. Meanwhile, Collin had a great time here at home with Grandmommy and her friend Susan (aka Sus to Collin). They kept Collin entertained all day long and spoiled him rotten. He did not even ask for Mommy and Daddy until the last day when we were on the way home. I guess he was having to much fun getting spoiled and loved on to even notice we were gone. Although we had a great time, we missed him terribly and couldn't wait to get home and see him. Time away made us realize how special he is to us and how much we love our little guy.

Collin's First School Picture

Here is Collin's first school picture. Who could have imagined he would have two cars in his hands?

Mother's Day 2010

Mother's Day is such a bittersweet time of the year for me. I am absolutely blessed to be a mother to a precious, healthy, perfect little boy but the holiday also reminds me of how much I miss my mom. I know that God has a plan in taking her home so soon but I miss her terribly every single day. Although it has been almost two years, it does not get any easier. My family and I decided to honor her today by participating in a breast cancer "Walk to Empower" event at Chastain Park in Atlanta. I ordered my sister and I shirts that said "My Mom was so brave, God decided to make her an angel". How true! My sister, dad, brother, soon to be sister in law, and I walked together to celebrate her memory and help raise money so that one day there will be a cure for this devastating disease so no other family has to watch a loved one suffer the way she did. I know she was looking down on us from Heaven and was so proud. I love you, Mom!



I got to spend the second part of my day with my precious Collin. He and Daddy gave me a Lisa Leonard custom necklace with Collin's name on it and a pearl. I loved it! They also took me out to dinner at Outback which was wonderful. These two boys really know how to make me feel special. I love you both so much!



I also have to say how blessed I am to have a wonderful mother-in-law. She is absolutely amazing. She has stepped up and become a second mother to me since mom passed and is there for us all through thick and thin. I love you, Henrietta, and appreciate all you do for our family.