Collin's First Thanksgiving!

We are so VERY Thankful.

This was Collin’s very first Thanksgiving. It sure was busy, but very fun and filled with family.

Our day started at 11:00am at my parent’s house (Pa and Lele). We had a great lunch there. It was just my parents, my sister, Kyndall, Eric, Collin, and me.

My parents had already put out Santa and "Crosty" aka Frosty in their yard. Kyndall still has a hard time with her "F's"! :) Collin and Kyndall loved to sit at the window and look at them.

We couldn’t stay long… we had to be in Hot Springs by 2 for meal #2! Eric’s grandparents always do such a wonderful job with all the food! It’s nice to get to see them.

And once again… we were off. We had meal #3 in Arkadelphia with my extended family at 4:00!

Collin was so full he had to unbutton his shirt! Ha! He was excited Kyndall was in Arkadelphia too!

Wow. We were so full, cranky, and tired.

As we were coming back through Benton, we dropped Eric off at his brother’s house. It just so happens, that Brock’s birthday was on Thanksgiving this year! Eric wanted to spend a little extra time with him so he spent the night in Benton.

Collin and I were MORE than ready to be at home and in the bed.

As crazy as it was… I wouldn’t change a thing. We visited with everyone and got to spend time as a family too. I really couldn’t be more blessed.

Too Much Turkey Mom!

Aunt Tori

Dear Collin,

Your Aunt Tori was chosen to be on the Homecoming Court at her school Harmony Grove. Aunt Tori was the ONLY eighth grader chosen!! It was a huge deal!
They had to ceremony on Veterans Day weekend. Daddy and I were both off work that Friday so we were excited to be able to go watch her! Actually, LOTS of Daddy's side of the family was there.
Aunt Tori couldn't win Queen because she is only in the eighth grade but she was GORGEOUS! We are so very proud of her.
Love you,

Mommy

P.S.- Your Aunt Tori loves you so much! I can't wait until we live closer to her.

Mommy and Daddy waiting on it to start!

Afterwards... Collin, next time make sure to look at the camera! :)

Her escorts! One of the guys is her boyfriend. Daddy doesn't like is "baby" sister having a boyfriend!

Collin and Daddy

Gorgeous Aunt Tori!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Thursday, Eric and I took our little man to the pumpkin patch to get some pictures! We had such a great time.

Eric gets off extra early on Thursdays so I decided I’d take off work at 3:00 and we could take Collin out there and enjoy the patch without tons of people there. It worked out so nice! We were the only ones out there for the first part of our visit! A few cars came after a little bit, but it was still perfect for us.

They have lots of animals to see, and TONS of pumpkins. They have hayrides and other things on the weekends. We will be doing that when Collin gets a little older. For now, we just enjoyed posing him in front of those pumpkins.

He loved to drum on them. They made that “thumping” noise and he loved it.

We had a wonderful time. It was great to spend time as a family!!

Two years ago, my sister, my dad, and I took Kyndall to the same pumpkin patch to take some pictures of her. It is so crazy to think about Kyndall being that small. She was just a little over a month older than Collin in these pictures. She was already walking and everything! Wow.

 
Sweet babies... I guess it's a tradition now to go to Johnston's pumpkin patch in Springhill!!

Labor Day (extended) Weekend 2011:

Labor Day weekend was amazing! I have been feeling like I don’t spend enough time with Collin lately, so I decided I would use some of my vacation time and take an extra couple of days off! I took the Tuesday and Wednesday after the holiday Monday off. It was wonderful! I got caught up on house work, and spent some wonderful time with my little man!

Saturday though we went to Benton to visit with Jack, Tammy, and Tori. We had a BLAST! We took Collin swimming one more time and had a wonderful lunch. Eric stayed and watched the first Razorback game of the season with his dad, and Collin and I came back to Conway. The game was starting at 6:00, and would have been over WAY after Collin’s bedtime. We listened on the radio the whole way home though! Go Hogs Go!

Monday was a BEAUTIFUL day! The weather was so great. My friends Liz and Jennifer called and wanted to go to the walking trail with Collin and me. Of course, we couldn’t say no! We had such a fun time. They brought Marley- the most precious dog in the world. After walking, we went to Sonic for Happy Hour!

I really enjoyed my days off Saturday-Wednesday! I am going to make an effort to take some time off every once in a while to spend just with Collin. I feel like he’s growing up way too fast! I need to stop and enjoy every stage!

A normal Day:

This post is really just so I can remember how hectic I think our lives are right now. That way in a few months, or years I can look back and wish for these simple days. Ha!


I’ve been a bad blogger the last month. Our days around here are filled to the brim. I just haven’t made sitting down at the computer a priority. Something happened to my app on my phone. I used to could blog from there, but it quit working.

A normal day around our house starts around 5:30am. (5:00am for Eric) I get up and get Collin from his bed, and he comes to bed with me until 6:00. I nurse him and we have cuddle time. After a diaper change, I take a shower while Collin plays on his play mat. By the time I’m out of the shower and dressed for work, Collin has had enough of his play mat. This works out perfect.

We go to my bedroom and he lays on the bed and watches Baby Einstein while I dry and straighten my hair.

***I refuse for the TV to be a babysitter for Collin at any point in his life. I would really rather not turn on Baby Einstein every morning while I’m drying my hair. Some mornings, I don’t turn it on. I find him some toys to play with. It’s just so difficult since Eric has to leave for work so early in the mornings, I don’t really have a choice. He is limited to 15 minutes a day on the videos though.

Anyway... When I’m completely ready for work, I get Collin and we go back to the living room. He sits in his bouncy seat while I get his bag ready for daycare. Get his bottles ready, get some baby food for him, etc. I get my bag ready with extra bottles for me to pump into. Then we are finally out the door. Usually between 7:15-7:30. I get him to daycare then I’m at work by 8:00.

Around 3:30 each day, Eric comes to my work to switch cars with me. He takes my Jeep and leaves me with his truck. He goes and gets Collin from daycare and they go home and play. (This is a long story. Yes, we have an extra car seat for Eric’s truck, but I’m a nervous, over-protective parent and I don’t like how a car seat looks in his passenger seat. It’s just not safe enough for me! Even though, by the law standards it is.)

Typically on a good day, I can leave work a little before 5:00. (sometimes way later than 5, just depends on the day) I get home and get some Collin love. I nurse him for a little bit. He usually takes a little cat nap. Then we have dinner (Eric and I eat while Collin plays, then Collin eats his baby food). I give Collin a bath. Get him lotioned up and dressed. I usually read him Goodnight Moon or something. Then we lay down for a little more cuddle time until he falls asleep. It usually only takes about 10 minutes for him to be completely asleep. I pick him up and put him in his bed.

We eat many, many meals out of our crockpot. I love that thing. I don't know what we would do without it. Many nights I fix dinner for the next night before I go to bed. That way, right before I leave for work, I can plug it in and dinner smells AMAZING when I walk in the backdoor after work. Thank you Jesus for crockpots!

I clean up the kitchen, check on laundry, spend some time with Eric- then, to be honest, I’m so tired I can barely make it to my bed. Here lately, I’ve been going to bed around 8 or 8:30! Then wake up and do it all over again. Wow. I'm tired.

scramble Pie

One thing I love about my family is our family meals. This is something that I hope to carry on for Collin and Collin’s kids (Yikes! That is, when he is 75 years old and moves out of our house to start his own family!). Many times a year we prepare a special meal. From an outside perspective, it probably doesn’t seem all that appetizing. In fact, Eric isn’t too fond of it. People are raised differently- I get that, but in my opinion, it doesn’t get much better than this…

Amazing. If you can’t see what all is there, I’ll name it all off.

Corn

Cornbread (Jiffy and homemade)

Purple hull peas

Lima beans

Butter beans

Fried okra

Squash

Cantelope

And in the back, next to Eric… homemade banana pudding. (or scramble pie)

Yep, that’s right. No meat. All fresh (from the garden) produce. Picked, canned, frozen, or just straight from the garden.

Scramble Pie: I bet you are wondering about "scramble pie". I honestly have no idea. I really need to ask my mom this story. When I was little somehow I began calling banana pudding, scramble pie! Who knows where that came from!? I also called "Fruit Loops", "Flip Floops". I was a crazy kiddo!
To this day, everyone in my family calls banana pudding, Scramble Pie! I love it! I have to be careful if I ever order it at a resturant. Dixie Cafe has great Scramble Pie Banana Pudding. You should get some next time you are there!

Granny and Poppa

 Dear Collin,

Your great grandparents (Granny and Poppa Hunt) love you so much! They have wanted to see you since you were born. They haven’t been in good health lately. In fact, Granny has fallen a couple of times. Daddy and I have really wanted to take a trip to see them. Every year for the 4^th of July, Daddy’s side of the family all goes to Granny and Poppa’s house for lunch. We couldn’t miss this opportunity to show you off! You were the highlight of the day

So, Monday for the 4^th, we made our trip to Hot Springs to see everyone. Poppa didn’t want to share you very much! He got some good lovin’ from you! Granny was so happy to hold you! You gave her some slobbery kisses on the cheek! It was precious.

When we got there, Poppa called us into the bedroom. He had a present for you! Daddy and I were in shock when he handed us a check for you. To be honest, I’m still in shock! Wow!

He also gave us some pictures of Granny and him when they met, and then some recent ones. They wrote you a letter too. It was all so precious. They love you so much. They want you to use the money to go to college. Our family is so fortunate to have them around. They are so wonderful.

One day, these letters and pictures are going to mean a lot to you. I can’t wait for the day when you can put your money to good use.

According to your Daddy, you won’t need any college tuition money because he is convinced you will have an athletic scholarship of some sort. We will see! If so, I would hope you would use this money to get a car, or even put a down payment on a house. Use it wisely sweet boy! Checks like this don’t come around very often!

I love you.

Mommy

Church

Going to a new church is always nerve wracking for me. Not that I've done it a whole lot in my life but the few times I have, I remember being so nervous.

Eric and I are looking for a new church home. This is very difficult for me considering I have been a member at the same church since the 7th grade.

A few months back Eric and I started talking about what church meant for us. We took time to pray for direction and a peace about this. We want to start a journey together as a married couple. We both didn't feel like our church home was fulfilling our spiritual needs the way we felt necessary. So... after much conversation and prayer we have begun visiting churches.

We both know we want to raise Collin in a church that we feel has a wonderful children's ministry.

We are looking for a Sunday School class for young married couples that we can bond with.

But above all else, we are looking for the church that we feel God could use us the most in.

Please pray for us while we are starting this process. We want what's best for us as a family and according to God's will.

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Easter 2011

Busy doesn’t even begin to describe how our Easter weekend was. Gosh. I love the holiday, but sometimes I wish it was easier.

We had plans to visit as much family as we could that was south of Conway. This would also be Collin’s first over night road trip. Wow. Stressful for Mommy! I started earlier in the week shopping for the perfect little outfit for little man. I found the cutest overalls at The Children’s Place. So, Collin was set. Eric and I both have nice clothes, but something about Easter Sunday that makes you want to wear a nice new outfit! So, for Eric, I went to a couple of places and took pictures of shirts I liked. Then Eric picked out the one he liked. Easy enough. Then it dawned on me that I didn’t have anything to wear. Why is it that when you have kids, suddenly what they are wearing is way more important than you!? I guess it only matters that they look cute!

I finally was able to go look for me something to wear one night after work. I found a cute purple dress. Exactly what I wanted! Yay!

We started Saturday. Eric left for Benton earlier that Collin and I did. He wanted to spend some quality time with his mom. I packed up everything we would need for a one night stay with my Mema. It was ridiculous. I think I could have filled a U-Haul. We were finally off a couple of hours later. We got to Eric’s dads and step moms house. It was so good to see them! I hadn’t got to see them in several weeks! After visiting for a little bit, Eric left his truck there, and we all drove down to Arkadelphia. My whole family was already there. We had a great night all together eating and visiting.

The next morning we were all getting ready to go to my Mema’s church when my dad realized he forgot his pants for church! So, my mom stayed back with him and the rest of us were off to church. Mema was so cute. She had my sister and Kyndall, Collin, Eric, and me. She introduced us to everyone she could.

After church we had a great lunch, and an Easter egg hunt! I made Collin’s Easter basket because I couldn’t find one that I liked. The Easter bunny was able to find him and Kyndall at Mema’s house.

On our way back to Conway we stopped once again at Eric’s dad’s house to get his truck. To our surprise, Eric’s Aunts and cousin were there too! Collin LOVED his Aunt Sandy.

It was a crazy busy weekend. We were on the go all weekend. It was nice to be around all of our family. Collin was worn out! I can’t wait for the day when we get to share the meaning of Easter with Collin. I pray every single day that Collin will be open and receptive to our precious Lord Jesus.