December Update

Days fly by so fast that it's hard to remember all that's been happening here. Kyle and I were lucky enough to take a trip to Georgia the middle of November. He once again was a champion on the plane. On the way home he was awake the whole flight. Going down he fell asleep 5 minutes before landing. He amused himself with toys, books, and food and we were lucky enough to have no one sitting beside us so we could spread out. The worst part of it all was the ATL airport on the way home. It actually was empty - no line at all at security - which is very unusual, but if you've been there, you know it's pretty big - with a train to take you between terminals even. So, we get to the airport and are told we're flying out of gate C 20-something (of course the last gate in the C terminal.) So we trek over there (me carrying Kyle, a little people Mayflower boat and a Ginormous carry on bag overflowing with who knows what) only to find out we're actually at gate C 12. Up goes all the stuff and we hike over there to find out, that no, we've been moved again - this time to the D terminal. By the time we made it there I thought my arms were going to fall off, but luckily that was the final gate and the rest of the flight was wonderful - until we flew over Lake Michigan and I was greeted by snow in Wisconsin that is. UGH. Anyway, our vacation was great - lots of visiting with family, great eating, and playing. We miss it! Playing with play-doh

Back home we had a good Thanksgiving. Unfortunately Kyle got sick with a double ear infection 2 nights before, thus ruining our plans to go in early and eat Portillos. Oh well. He was much better by Thanksgiving Day and we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner with some of the Gates family.

Now it is my favorite time - Christmas decorating time!!! We hauled out all 9 bins plus all the miscellaneous stuff that doesn't fit in bins and have decorated the house. It looks beautiful and Kyle is loving all the santas and snowmen all around. He's been great with the tree so far and has been having a great time finding the elf every morning. The elf has been named by the way, TWIG. We're very much looking forward to Christmas and heading to South Carolina with my family but don't want to rush the time away.

Crazy TWIG hanging around

Kyle himself is awesome. He really is a funny kid. He still loves animals and is pretty good at making animal sounds - he's got the hippo, snake, elephant and giraffe down pat. He loves to eat - the kid really should weigh about 50 pounds (in GA he ate half my mom's French Dip sandwich one day at lunch plus mac and cheese and other random snacks). He's not saying many understandable words (unless you ask my mom or aunt who think he says everything from duck to dollar store - to me they just sound like 'duh') but he chatters away and is signing some too (more, eat, all done, and my new favorite - please). He got his 2nd much needed haircut - hopefully the curls will come back!! We had fun (not so much) trying to take pictures the other day and we'll be visiting Santa soon - we'll see how he likes the big guy this year!! Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!!!

Kyle's new favorite way to eat yogurt

His new 'do

Kissing a picture of Grandma

Happy Thanksgiving!

On this morning of Thanksgiving, I wanted to make a list of the many things I'm thankful for. There are many and I hope I can remember to be grateful for them all year round. So, here goes.
1. Kyle - no explanation needed but seriously, who knew that a little boy could take over my heart in just 17 short months? He amazes me and makes me laugh and smile every day.
2. My amazing family - with all the quirks and craziness sometimes, they help define who I am. We can argue and disagree but we always love each other. I am beyond lucky to have so many amazing people to proudly call my family.
3. The blessing to be able to stay home with Kyle. This is truly one of those things I don't take for granted.
4. Technology. I love being able to reconnect with old friends and keep in touch and share memories so easily.
5. Couches and a rug that are easy to clean. Seriously, with 2 dogs and a kid (and Brad), it's the little things in life that make me happy.
6. The sense of security I have - I never worry about having all that we need - we may not drive fancy cars, live in a huge house, or shop on Rodeo Drive, but I don't need those things. Our needs and many of our wants are provided for always. That security brings contentment to my life.
7. Arcadia. Heaven on Earth.
8. Friends who 'get' me. It's not the quantity but the quality of friends that is important to me and my friends are quality people.
9. Nice generous people. Everywhere I go it seems people are always helping one another out and giving of themselves freely. I don't think it's just because of the holiday season. I really think most people deep down are really good and just need opportunities to help. They inspire me to be a better person too.
10. An amazing God who has blessed me beyond measure.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope your lives are joyful and blessed as well!

Cleaning out the pumpkin

The slightly overdue video of Kyle having a blast with the pumpkin...He continues to crack us up every day. We are blessed!

Frozen in time

Sometimes I wish it was possible to freeze time. Everyone always says time flies by with a child and it is so true. I look at Kyle and wonder where the last 16 months have gone. We've definitely had some tough moments but when I look back all I remember are the good times. I can't believe he's already walking around and communicating. Where did that helpless dependent baby go? He's now independent in so many ways and has this amazing personality. Kyle picks out the food he wants to eat, the shoes he wants to wear, the books he wants to read. He just amazes me at all that he can understand and all that he can do. Sometimes when he comes toddling into the room I look at him and see a glance into the future. I don't see a wobbly 1 year old, but a 10 year old playing baseball or an 18 year old getting dressed up for prom. I know those moments will be here before I know it and so I try my best to enjoy every moment that is speeding past us. If I could just freeze him and capture him in this moment in time it would be perfect. But at the same time, I'm so excited to see how he changes and grows throughout the years and I can't wait to experience all of that with him. Will it always go this quickly? Probably. For now, I'll just count my blessings and keep telling myself how lucky I am to get to see his adorable smiling face every morning.

Halloween Fun

It's already November!! We've had some great fun with Halloween this year. Kyle dressed up as a skunk and was super cute. Good thing he doesn't quite get the connotation of that yet. He got to wear his costume quite a few times. We went trick or treating in our neighborhood on a very cold and windy day then went to our town's party in the park. He won the costume contest!! His prize was the computer game Zoo Tycoon 2. Maybe in a few years he'll enjoy that! We also went to a Halloween story time at Borders, visited Dad at work, and then went to a Halloween party on Friday at the mall. We did more trick or treating, listened to ghost stories, played with pumpkins and had fun seeing all the kids in costumes. Kyle actually liked wearing his costume and had a lot of fun. He has decided he loves candy - his favorite are Reese's peanut butter cups (mine too). He had a lot of fun carving pumpkins too. I'll try to get up a video of that later - no problems for him with the stringy pumpkin guts!!

At the Family Farm - feeding goats

Kyle is showing off his walking skills in this one. We also have a "Little People" we call Uncle Mikey - you'll see why : )

Kyle's favorite toy - his FP zoo. He loves to find the animals and listen to their sounds. I don't know how he knows who they all are, but he does!

Random Stories

Kyle's now a rock star walker and he cruises all around the house - never wanting any help (tear). The funniest to me is when he'll walk into the kitchen to get the food he wants. He knows exactly where everything is and just what he wants. He tries to open the fridge to get his yogurt or an apple, he pulls his pudding off the shelf. The other day, I was in the dining room, and I look up to see Kyle walking out of the kitchen with a bag of beer nuts! I don't even know where they came from or why he thought he wanted them, but he knew!! He's definitely a Colburn - he loves his food even if he is a little peanut.

We try to go the park as often as possible esp. before the blizzard of winter is upon us. These next 2 stories are about other little ones we've seen at the park, but they made me smile, so I thought I'd pass them on. First was just yesterday. When we got to the park there were 3 little boys (about 4 y.o.) playing together. Shortly after we arrived, another little boy (a friend they all knew) came over. Well, one of the original kids had on a much desired watch and kid #4 wanted it bad. He started crying and throwing a fit to which his mom told him his options were to stop crying and have fun or keep crying and go home. The boy thought for a minute, stomped across the park, and said, "I'm going in a time out." Good solution, but didn't last - about 15 min. later he was pitching another fit and had to leave - poor thing!

Second happened a while ago. We went to the park after dinner and had the place to ourselves. Then a dad came by with his 2 little girls. The first little girl came over and started playing with Kyle - she was probably about 3. She turned to me and said, "I was born in Russia." I told her something about how neat that was. Then she asked, "Where did he (Kyle) come from?" How boring to have to tell her, Milwaukee. A little while later she reveals, "I was adopted." I tell her how special that is, and she continues to describe to me, much to her dad's astonishment, how the mom whose tummy she grew in didn't have enough money to raise her so her new mom and dad had to come get her and bring her here. How sweet to hear her explanation and know the love her parents have for her!

So, we definitely love the park - very entertaining. It's amazing to watch Kyle as he discovers every little thing - leaves, kids, trucks - it's all new and awe inspring to him. Below are some recent pictures from the fall. Enjoy!

Catching up

It's been a little while, so I thought I'd fill you all in on what's going on "Up North". For those that don't know, I had knee surgery a week ago. I had my mom here to help and she was a true blessing. She's back in GA and we miss her! I'm hobbling around now, without crutches, and doing pretty well. I'm very lucky that Kyle loves to read - we spend a lot of time just sitting and reading books which is easy on me. In other exciting news, Kyle has started walking! He took his time and we enjoyed him being a 'hipster', but he is now a full blown toddler. He's also in the middle of dealing with evil teeth. About a month ago, his lower gums were swollen like jawbreakers. We thought for sure he'd be getting his molars any day, but of course they're still not here. His upper molars did come in, making the tooth count jump to 9 - 6 on top and 3 on the bottom. He certainly doesn't follow the book with teeth making. We've had some fun sleepless nights these last few days, so we're hoping the 3 bottom ones hurry up and arrive soon!! In the midst of all the craziness, Kyle still amazes us - he's pretty smart and we're wondering where that came from...He has this little people zoo set with 26 animals and I can ask him for a specific animal and he hands it to me. Even the walrus, quail, and uriel (whatever that is). We're definitely in Fall mode up here. The weather is getting cold (we're missing the south!!) and the Halloween decorations are out. Kyle has found a favorite white pumpkin that he carries around. Hope you all are enjoying Fall!

Kyle's brown bear - he loves him!

Our little walker!

The bookworm.

Kyle will not be a tiger for Halloween this year!

15 months old!!

Daddy's little boy

For the longest time, I was the only one Kyle wanted. Friends, family, my mom, even Brad would try to take him and he would fuss and hold on to me for dear life. Everyone said, "Enjoy it while you can because pretty soon he won't want you at all." I knew they were right, but I was hoping that day might be when he was 10 or so. Okay, maybe 5 or 6. Lately, in Kyle's eyes, the sun rises and sets on Brad. I try to take him and he signs all done. I'm thinking, what do you mean you're all done with me? I'm the one that feeds you, plays with you all day, changes you. Yes, I'm also the one that puts him down for naps, so maybe that has something to do with it. When it's 5:30, and I say, "Daddy's home", Kyle takes off at record speed to try to see him through the door. He's a lucky kid because not only is Brad an amazing Dad, but he gets to see a lot of him too. Brad's able to come home most days for lunch which Kyle loves, but when it's time for him to leave, you've never seen a more heartbreaking scene. He waves bye bye and then realizes what's happening. The lower lip comes out, he starts to pout, and then busts into the most heart wrenching cry ever heard. The pictures below are of Kyle watching through the window as Brad leaves. He's trying to be just like him on the phone and you'll see he's even a Tigers fan!!! Okay, that outfit was picked out by Brad, but I'm guessing we will have another Detroit fan in the family!! The other pictures are of us playing with some new toys and enjoying the end of summer. In the last photo, Kyle's looking for his lost ball which mysteriously disappeared under the shelf (over and over and over).

Shoes and monkeys

I love being a stay at home mom. I get to see and experience so many cool things with Kyle. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Every day he makes me laugh at the crazy things he does. Yesterday, for example, we were in the kitchen getting stuff ready for dinner. Kyle loves singing, so we were singing "If you're happy and you know it". He really gets into it and wildly claps his hands along with me. When we got to the second verse though (stomp your feet for those who have forgotten), he stopped clapping, looked at my feet, and crawled off into the dining room. I'm thinking, okay, I guess he's done with the song. A few seconds later he comes crawling back into the kitchen, carrying my shoes! I guess he decided I shouldn't be stomping my feet without my shoes. He's also discovered he has a real talent for climbing. He climbs on chairs, tables, his sandbox outside. A couple days ago, I found him sitting on the bottom shelf of our baker's rack, right next to the lone bottle of sangria. He had somehow crawled on and ducked his head between the two wine bottle holder bars. (The wine bottles have been moved - once he discovered he could pull them out they were gone.) There's a good reason we call him our little monkey. That and the fact that this kid would eat bananas all day long if we let him! I think the clerk at our little grocery store down the street must wonder what we do with all the bananas. I think we're in there every other day buying a new bunch. Maybe with my love of wild animals we should think about getting a real pet monkey!

Kyle's first haircut!

We took Kyle to get his first haircut today. While there may not be a huge difference to be seen by looking at the pictures, we can definitely tell that his mass of curls has been tamed. He was great and loved sitting in the truck and trying to help the stylist (I'm sure she loved that!). We also went yesterday to celebrate his cousins Samantha and Lauren's birthday. Check out the pictures below...

Before

After

Sitting in the haircut truck

Riding his big wheel

Playing with Max and Lauren