The Horton Family: January 2012

colin is three!

my baby boy turned 3 years old last week - wow! it is still hard to believe i have a 3 year old....it doesn't feel like it has been 3 years since he came into this world. he is such a joy and is the sweetest, craziest, funniest little boy. and he is all boy, even when he gets into my makeup! he is rough and loud and wild and has an endless amount of energy. he is crazy smart and intuitive and is constantly testing the boundaries. i know i am a little biased but he really is so eager to learn and to try new things. he is also sensitive and loving and caring, especially with his baby brother. i am so happy i get to be his momma and he lets me know every day in little ways that we are doing a pretty good job raising him. to be fair he also makes me question our child-raising efforts on an almost daily basis too....he is a toddler after all, right? :) i can't wait to see what the next year will bring for colin thomas and for our family.

we started the birthday celebration with a trip to colin's favorite restaurant - the donut shop. he loves to eat at the donut shop so this was definitely a treat. :) he is pretty easy to please!

we continued the birthday fun that night with our annual birthday trip to chuck-e-cheese. colin is loving any kind of game right now and he was in heaven. it was so fun to see him running around and playing and picking out prizes. i think we might have to make a couple extra trips to chuck-e-cheese this year.

we didn't get a picture of uncle doug, but he was there with us too. thank goodness because he was the first one to take colin to play all of the games - what a good uncle, huh? :) next up is his spiderman birthday party! colin is a lucky little boy to have all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins live so close! happy birthday bubba - we love you!

embrace the camera.

i have seen this idea on one of my favorite blogs to read and i think it's time for my little family to try it. follow this link to read all about it - i think it is a fantastic idea! i usually hate to be photographed, i would much rather focus on my 2 sweet boys but i think i can make an exception for this exercise. i am going to try my best to keep up with it. goodness knows i take enough pictures of colin and davis every week - now i just have to make a conscious effort to include myself and/or luke in a couple.

so, here i go. i don't have a fancy camera, i don't know how to use photo editing software nor do i have it on my computer, and i am not the most creative momma around, but i am embracing the camera, no matter how painful it may be.

first up is my tiny baby boy. this is how we spent the majority of our afternoon yesterday - i am not sure who loves our new moby wrap more - me or davis?

VCUG = no fun.

today my sweet boy had an appointment at texas children's for a VCUG (voiding cystourethrogram). when i was pregnant they noticed some fluid on one of his kidney's (hydronephrosis) so they recommended a follow up ultrasound be performed when he was 2 weeks old. the follow up ultrasound showed there was still some fluid present so we were scheduled for this VCUG test. i had been dreading it. i don't like to see my boy (either of them) in pain...who does, right? the pediatrician reassured me that the worst part of this test would be driving to the medical center. he was wrong about that. back to the test...davis had to be catheterized, then they filled up his bladder with a special fluid while he was under a special x-ray machine. this let them see the anatomy and function of his bladder and urinary tract - specifically they were testing him for reflux. the bad news is that he cried and cried and it was just awful to see him go thru it. the great news is that we got the test out of the way and he does not have reflux. they said the fluid build up could be due to a blockage in his kidney...we still have to talk to our pediatrician but hopefully they will just repeat the ultrasound in a couple months and then go from there. i promised him no more tests for awhile.

our patient...this picture definitely shows off his long legs!

luke had to work but luckily my brother was able to go with me (after being up and working all night - he should get some kind of special 'uncle' award!). i am so happy he was there - it is hard to see your child in pain, even when you know it is short lived and they won't remember it. i will remember it for sure. having my brother there today gave me peace and definitely helped my anxiety about the appointment. we will be back at the pediatrician in a couple weeks and i am sure my littlest boy will get a glowing report. :)

sleep-smiling in the waiting room. he must have been having a good dream, ha! :)

fun at the zoo

colin was out of school for mlk day and luke had to work. that meant i got to to have a day just me and the little boys...fun! even though it's the middle of january it is 80 degrees outside! we took advantage of the warm weather and met up with our friends kandace & kirsten at the zoo and we had such a good time! can't wait to do it again.

happy saturday!

i hope everyone had a great weekend - we spent some time outside enjoying this amazing weather!

just me and the boys....guess i will be saying that a lot more often now. and that makes me happy. :)

visit with G.G.

last weekend we made a quick trip to visit G.G. (Great Grandma, aka Grandma, aka Nora)! both of the boys did great on the car ride - it is a 5 hour trip and we all had a fantastic time. i don't know why we don't do this more often - all of our grandparents live within a 5 - 6 hour car ride....not bad considering some people live states away from their loved ones. anyway, we can't wait to do it again! we love you G.G.!!!

driving the lawn mower with daddy jay

eating donuts in G.G.'s kitchen

davis slept a lot, ha! :)

honey and davis

G.G. and davis - he pretty much spent the weekend on G.G.'s lap and he was a happy boy!

feeding the chickens at aunt linda's house!

checking for eggs.

big brother collecting some eggs!

lauren, G.G., davis, nora, jillian, and colin

getting settled for the car ride home!

4 weeks old already

i cannot believe my sweet little baby boy is 4 weeks old! we went to the pediatrician for his 4 week checkup and he did great! our goal from the 2 week checkup was to fatten him up and help him "grow a butt" and he exceeded expectations! he weighed in a 8lbs 9 oz and is 21.25 inches long. he gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks and grew more than an inch - holy cow! the nurse and pedi were so proud and almost in disbelief...and i was so happy and completely relieved. :)

he is an eating machine right now. i posted on facebook the other day that i felt like a dairy factory - oh my goodness. but that is my #1 job right now and he is growing like a weed so that makes me very happy! the first couple weeks we kept commenting on the fact that he was so quiet...not anymore, ha! he has found his voice and is a pretty vocal little baby. his sounds are pretty cute most of the time - maybe not at 3am - but most of the time. he is a grunter and is constantly making grunt noises or cooing or crying. those are his 3 'sounds' right now. :)

you would think i would be used to the fact that time passes so quickly but i am still shocked that he has been here for 4 weeks already. i want the time to slow down. i want the days to be longer so i can really soak up this little boy and my time at home with him. he is the perfect addition to our family. happy 4 weeks davis james!

holiday catch up

i have been without my laptop charger since christmas. it has been a little bit of a torture - how sad is that? since i last blogged we have celebrated christmas and new year's and spent a lot of family time together. it was perfectly wonderful!

we spent christmas eve and christmas day with the horton family. santa was good to everyone this year, especially colin. colin specifically asked santa for a microphone and a kitchen this year and santa delivered! we had been so looking forward to christmas with him as he is getting old enough to be really excited about santa and gifts, etc. he had a blast opening his gifts! of course he kept asking for "another one" and was a little disappointed when we told him there were no more. he will be busy playing with new toys for a long time to come. davis was a perfect angel over the holiday - just ate, slept, and was absolutely precious.

davis took his very first bath on christmas eve! honey's sink was just the right size.

sprinkling the reindeer food on the front lawn.

cookies and milk for santa!

christmas morning - santa left some special gifts for colin.

a few days later we celebrated christmas with my family and i did not break out the camera at all...shame on me. we were spoiled rotten as usual! on new year's eve we headed over to my parents house for the buckert family christmas. it was a smaller group this year than normal but we still had a great time. happy 2012!