Trip to the Zoo

This post is a little late in coming because there has been so much else going on! During Conference weekend we decided to take Kolton to our local "Zoo" for lack of a better word. It is really just a small collection of animals that probably spans about 2 acres, but it doesn't matter because Kole just LOVES any animal! Anything that moves, crawls, bobs, meows, etc. and he just goes nuts. He laughed so hard at everything he saw and he desperately wanted to go catch the ducks (sorry, kiddo- against the rules!) I have been there so many times and it was like going there for the first time because he was just so enthralled with everything! We brought along some sandwiches and treats and Kolton got to have his first ever swing ride! At first he hated it, but then realized it was safe with daddy pushing and he eventually liked it and then cried when it was time to get out! I love experiencing all of these 'firsts' with him- he just lights up every day experiences for me. He seems like he is going to be such an intuitive little guy (he already is!). Now that he is pointing at things he gets so excited when I get it right that he smooshes his face into the tightest grin ever. He is also signing more and more. Now he signs 'more' 'milk' 'food' and 'all done' with every meal. What a smarty! Anyway, the best part of this story is the pictures from the zoo- so here you go!

I love it when he points!




Not likin' the swing so much...


Ah Ha! Much better!
We sure do love him!

Some Awesome News!!

For those of you who haven't seen my latest widget (the floating baby) and guessed already- we are going to be adopting another baby! The baby is due December 9th and the birthmother asked us just last week. She is completely amazing (for so many reasons I can't count!) and we love her so much. I can't believe how blessed we are. Kolton has been a complete miracle in our lives and it still hasn't totally hit me that the Lord could bless me so much all over again! Speaking of Kolton, he just got an ear infection that spread to his little eye. He is all red and puffy and on some good antibiotics (he would drink the whole bottle of his medicine if he could!) so hopefully we are on the mend. However, he just keeps smiling and laughing and today he figured out how to stand up in his high chair. I was sitting at the table filling out some adoption paperwork and all of a sudden I hear "Ah HA!" and turn around and he has his hands in the air and is standing there in his high chair like he had climbed Everest! He is such a little ham. So, now Wes and I have a little less than 7 months to save up for this awesome little person so we are doing a minor 'fund raiser' (for lack of a better term). We have a blog for it. It is called Aprons For Adoption and we are hocking our cheesey wares. Everything from Wes's beautiful furniture (not our furniture that we have- that would be sad- I mean he can MAKE furniture for you!) to my fun aprons that I sew. So far we have had a pretty good response! Wes is making shutters for a couple of people, a bunk bed, a few gates, and a shelf! I am doing pretty good with my aprons and bags, too. In fact, I will be selling them at Health Days this year, so wish me luck! We knew the moment we found out that we were getting this child that the Lord would make it possible for us if we put in the work and used our talents, and it is really happening for us. I can't imagine feeling more blessed! Hope all is well out there in bloggerland!

Easter was so much fun! It was so fun to see Kolton actually getting into it this year. We started off by going to my old home town Easter egg hunt. I used to go there every year from the time I was 3 so, naturally, I wanted to take Kolton, too! He didn't like it so much because the ground was wet and he is still crawling to get around. Once he figured out that there was candy inside the eggs, though, he had a lot of fun puting them into the basket and pulling them out again to open them and eat the candy!

I love that there is a 1 year-old category! He is holding an egg here, but it is yellow so it is hard to see

Here we are waiting for the horn to honk (that is how they announce that it is time to start looking!)

After that hunt, we went to the grocery store where they had a fun Easter egg "hunt" where the kids just followed arrows around the store and got treats along the way. Kolton got a balloon, and that was by far the highlight of the day! We went with my sister, Cristi, and her kids. It was so much fun! I also got a picture of Kole with the Easter Bunny, but for some reason it didn't transfer with the rest of my pictures to the computer- I will try to add it later!
On Sunday after church we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Garners for dinner and another egg hunt! Grandma made it really cute by letting the kids make their own visor hats and bags. She had fun foam shapes to stick on them. Kolton wasn't into that part of it so much so we don't have a picture, since they all included him screaming. *sigh* but the eggs that she hid all over the yard (different colors for each grandchild) had seeds in them instead of candy so they could plant a garden this year. Then, when each child found all 10 eggs, they got some candy-filled eggs and a gift. Kolton got the CUTEST little shirt that has a cowboy body on it with the head cut off at the neck so Kolton looks like a little cowboy. I must get a picture to post. By the time we got to this hunt, Kolton was a total pro! I added a video so you can see just how amazing his egg-hunting skills are...

After the hunt, Grandpa got out their baby chickens (they are past the yellow fluffy stage, but they are still very cute) and, as usual, Kolton totally flipped over them! He LOVES animals of any variety and gets so excited to see them! He kept saying "oooooooh!" and pointing at them and just laughing as hard as he could! Here are some pics:





After that, we went to my sister's house for the annual egg hunt there. Each family (and there are 8 kids, 7 are married and 5 have kids- 18 grandkids total) must bring 10 eggs per child, but everyone always brings more than that. Cristi has a 1/2 acre back yard so there are many good hiding places. Kolton loved it, as usual, but his favorite part was when Grandpa Francis took him over to see one of the cats that hangs out at my sister's house. Kolton, of course, just about died and laughed so hard while he petted the cat. The cat just let Kolton pull his tail and grab his fur and loved every minute of the attention!

This Easter was the best I have ever had! I can't believe how much I love being a mom. It is better than I ever imagined! I am so thankful for what Easter represents, and for the many loved ones we were able to share it with!

First Steps!

Well, our little guy took his first steps yesterday! My little sister, Keli, came over to keep me company while I was down and out with my last set of injections and when Wes got home from work we started trying to coax Kolton to walk to Keli to get her cell phone from her. Well, he didn't even need coaxing! He just took two or three steps and grabbed it from her! We have been trying to teach him to walk for months now and he just hasn't been that into it. That's been okay with me, since he gets into enough trouble just crawling, but it was still so exciting to see him walking like a big boy! You are hearing from one proud mama!