How can it be possible that my baby is 18 months old?? Time has flown by and he is growing so fast right before our eyes. Here are some fav pics taken on his "birthday":
He is most definitely a boy, in all ways and completely. He never stops moving, is into everything, and is always curious. He is exhausting and exhilarating simultaneously. He has the best little spirit--loving and laughing with a hint of mischief.
When I took him in for his well check, he weighs 29.5 pounds (88th %ile), is 34.5 inches tall (95th %ile), and his head circumference is in the 96th %ile. He is a big boy!!! He now wears size 5 diapers, 24 months and 2T clothes (although we can still get away with some 18 month shorts and pants right now), and size 6 shoes. His 24 month one piece rompers that I love so much for summer are getting snug and I will be so sad when those don't fit anymore!! He is taking one long nap in the afternoon (between 2 and 3+ hours) and sleeps from 8-7 at night. He will eat absolutely anything you put in front of him and it shows!! He has recently had a vocabulary explosion and is learning new words every day. His speech is still a little difficult for non-family members to decipher, but he is definitely becoming somewhat of a parrot. Some of my favorite words are horse "hwisss", off "occck", thank you "da-du"(with a simultaneous hand to his cheek for the sign language version), Cheerios "ee-ee-o's", and deer "dee-ooo". It is so fun to watch him as he learns new words and ways to communicate.
He is getting pretty independent with his mobility as well. He will climb anything, and I do mean anything. He wants to walk down the stairs holding on to the rail without help (which makes Mommy nervous!!). And he started pushing us away when we were holding him in the pool, so now he has water wings and can jump in and get out, mostly as he desires. Can someone find a pause button please?!!
In the bounce house with Sissy.
His new obsession--pushing a kitchen chair to the wall
so he can climb up and turn the lights on and off!!
Jack, you are the sweetest little guy and make our family so complete. We love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!!
...Mommy and Daddy were partying!! Will and his dad qualified one couple for the Lincoln Financial Elite Escape and his parents were sweet to let us go. The trip was to the Montauk Yacht Club, near The Hamptons, on the tip of Long Island. After staying a night in Wilmington to make sure the kids were good and settled, we flew from ILM to LGA and then made the looooooonng ride to Montauk. Neither of us realized how long Long Island really is!! After 3 hours (much shorter than our driver had made it the day before with more traffic), we arrived at our destination. We were shocked that everything was so quaint and rustic and not at all the posh vision we had in our heads. The corn fields and vegetable stands were what completely threw me off!!
A gorgeous windmill in The Hamptons
Our room key--isn't that sweet?
Our view of the marina
Happy to be there with no kids and a drink in our hands!!!
Will had a couple of "meetings" to attend during the 5 days, so I spent some quality time in the spa and by the pool. There were dinners every night, so we got to know some others in the group pretty well and had a blast hanging out with them. One afternoon we hitched a ride with another couple into The Hamptons to go shopping (mainly window). It was insane! Will passed on the $1000 pair of suede pants! Good call, right?!
Dinner at North by Northeast
Our excursion for the week was going out fishing on a fishing boat. Will and I figured we would rarely have the opportunity to do something like that. The morning was gorgeous and Will and I each popped a dramamine, just to cover our bases. Unfortunately, Will's didn't quite take. As soon as we reached our fishing spot about 45 minutes out, the rolling sea got to Will and he got severely sea sick. Two others followed suit and we ended up calling the trip off early and heading back. At least we caught a few before we had to head back in!
My "small" catch of the day, according to Pete. It was huge to me!!
The Montauk Lighthouse--
first lighthouse commissioned by George Washington
We got to try out paddle boarding...
...and loved it!
On the last day, a presentation was made by an entertainment artist...
he painted all three of these in 45 minutes in front of us,
with his hands!!! It was incredible!!
On the last night, we had a beautiful dinner by the
marina--a lobster bake and my first crack at
tackling a whole lobster.
Loved the table decorations!
We had a great time on our trip and definitely got to see an area that we would likely never visit on our own. It was great to relax and sleep in and have some fun doing adult things. But after 5 days away, this mama was ready to get back to her babies!!!
It is time for the annual Grands' Camp recap and my sweet sister did such a good job putting it together in her blog that I'm just stealing hers!! Last year's Grands Camp was crazy and this year was even CRAZIER! To hear it straight from the horses mouth, Mimi herself is a guest blogger and did a GREAT recap for a GREAT week!
Grands’ Camp – 2012
The week began with Leslie and her family arriving on Saturday. It was a big night for Anna because she got to sleep on the top bunk for the first time. How exciting and she is “almost 5 (Mimi’s rule), so it was okay!” Early Sunday, Leslie and Will left on a business vacation, so Mimi walked with Anna and Jack to her school and played on the playground. FUN!! Sarah and her family arrived Sunday afternoon. Anna, Jack and Caroline were SO excited to see each other. Jason and Harley headed back to Winston for football. Leslie’s family brought a recordable card to Mimi for her birthday a couple of weeks ago. On that card after Anna and Leslie’s message was a song recorded in 1950 by Doris Day, “I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck…”! Well, little did we know that it would become our theme song for the week! All the kids learned it, sang it and danced to it a hundred times – PRICELESS!!!
Day 1: Nia and Penelope arrived early, so we got things started! Everyone made T-shirts with their handprint fish. SO cute!! Then two pools filled with cool water and a Slip-N-Slide made for a fun filled morning. All the cousins played and swam and slipped and slid and drank pink lemonade (Thanks, Mrs. Mabie for the PERFECT gift!!!) and just had the BEST time. Papa, Mimi (yes!), Sarah and Michelle just couldn’t let the kiddos have ALL the fun! The ‘big people’ had their turns on the Slip-N-Slide, too! It was an AWESOME way to spend a HOT summer day!! We had a picnic with sandwiches, chips and lemonade for lunch. A warm bath for the little ones and dry clothes for the big folks and then nap and quiet time!!! Nice! The evening was spent just watching the cousins play.
Day 2: Day 1 was so much fun, we did it again!! We did add Papa’s tractor ride to the fun. He attached the wagon to the tractor and he and Jack (the drivers!) pulled the rest of the kiddos around the yard and up and down the street. NOBODY wanted to stop-especially Jack the driver!! Greg showed up for lunch and we had another picnic and added watermelon this time. It is FANTASTIC to eat watermelon outside, with bathing suits on, sitting on the slip-n-slide! Mimi’s nephew, Oren, arrived in time to get a little fun time in his bathing suit. A warm bath and naps for the babies and Mimi and Papa took the three ‘big’ kids for the afternoon at the N.C Aquarium, followed by a trip to Sweet Frog for a treat!!
Day 3: Today is beach day!!! We packed up all six kids (yes, there WAS a time that Sarah and Mimi looked at each other and asked if they were crazy!) and headed to Oceanic Pier. The water was PERFECT and everyone had a BLAST!!! Michelle met us there to lend a hand and we were SO glad. All the babies liked-or didn’t like-different things about the beach. We are expecting to get a letter from Wrightsville Beach fining us for taking so much sand away-Jack loved eating it! We arrived home, filled the pool and everyone dipped in for a while to rinse off. Then dry clothes, lunch, and naptime for the babies. The older three made yummy strawberry jam. Then Mimi took them to the Teeter to get all the fixings for pizza. We came home and made the dough, rolled it out and topped the pizzas with favorite toppings. We have some excellent chefs in this family!! Our neighbor, Mrs. Shirley arrived with some donuts right as we were finishing the pizza. Boy, was that a real hit with everyone! Nellie yelled, “Nonuts!” THAT will surely stick with the Collins fam.!! Nia and Nellie spent the night – there were kids sleeping everywhere, but we could get it done for one night!! Next year there will be no pack-n-plays and they can all stay in the same room!!!???!!! A quiet house was a wonderful thing!!
Day 4: The big kids had SO much fun at the beach in Day 3, we decided that all the big people would go back for the morning. Papa, Sarah, Nia, Oren and Anna headed to meet Greg and Michelle for sun and fun. Mimi stayed home with the three babies and they just played and played. We read and sang and counted and played!! FUN!! After lunch, Oren left with his mom and dad-we LOVED having him! All five kids that were left took a really good nap. Papa headed to the airport to pick up Leslie and Will and we all met at the pool at Greg and Michelle’s apartment. Jason surprised us and joined us there, too. We swam and played and laughed and had a great time. G and M grilled delicious hot dogs and we even had s’mores for dessert at the fire pit! A wonderful way to end precious days of cousins being together!!
All of this fun would not have been possible without my girls, Sarah being here from beginning to end and Michelle for coming during the days to help out. Thank you from the top and bottom of my heart! I love you a bushel and a peck!!!
I am writing this Saturday morning. Leslie and Will had to leave yesterday for other family functions. Sarah, Jason and Caroline are staying until tomorrow morning. Yesterday afternoon, as Sarah and I were sitting in the den floor watching Caroline play, the quiet was overwhelming. Caroline was missing everyone terribly! Good thing we are getting together with Jeffro and the girls and Greg and Michelle tonight for one last burger and a laugh! Tomorrow afternoon will be totally quiet – I think I’ll take a nap!!!
We got back from our trip just in time for our big birthday bash for Erin to celebrate her 30th birthday. We had a nice dinner with the family and then a bunch of her friends descended upon The District to help her celebrate.
It's so hard to believe that I have been a nurse for 10 years!!! The girls in our study group from nursing school have been some of my closest friends and I love that we are still able to get together. Even though we don't see each other very often, we still have a blast hanging out and catching up. This year we met up at Wrightsville Beach and spent a weekend sunning and dining and reminiscing old times. We even let the hubbies come along. The craziest thing is that all four of us have two children and all of us had girls first and boys second. What are the odds? I love these girls!!
Anna has been really interested in riding her bike lately and we have been thrilled. She even rode it all the way around the block tonight as she is finally figuring out how to pedal up the hills. We found one hill down the street that is mostly deserted and she can coast down it and then pedal back up. She loves it! If this keeps up, we might have to find some 'soft grass' pretty soon so we can lose the training wheels. Yippee!!
I am so blessed! I am married to the most amazing man--it is so wonderful to be married to your best friend! We have a precious little girl and a hilarious little boy that bless our world every day.
