The Every Day Things

The past couple of weeks have been full of the every day things. Nothing special has been going on but the weather has been beautiful and we've enjoyed doing little things together as a family.

Colton, most recently, has become obsessed with playing in our backyard. Almost every morning he wakes up, runs to our back door, and says, "Ide! Ide! Ide!" which means "Outside!" He doesn't need many toys or things to do to keep himself entertained; he just enjoys exploring and climbing up and down the stairs. :)

In this picture, Colton was "helping" us plant some flowers.

He had lots of fun with the pots they flowers had been in. In this picture he's trying to wipe dirt off of his hands by rubbing them together. The kid hates to have dirty hands!

Colton loves sitting in our "big people" furniture.

Oh, and I have to tell you about the jeans he's wearing! I got them at a clothing exchange here in Florence for FREE! They are Polo, too! I just love them - they are one of the only pairs of pants Colton has that can fit his small waist/legs, but still be too long! The waist is adjustable, too, so I know he'll still be able to wear them next Fall. Score!

Last week we took a family trip to Ikea and Colton got his first ice cream cone all to himself. He loved it!

He was even good about sharing with mommy and daddy. :)

Here's a video of Colton enjoying his cone. It's pretty uneventful (he's mostly watching some kids that are behind me while I'm taping). But, hey, it's the best I've got for now.

Grammy and Big Poppy arrive tomorrow for a two week visit. I'm sure we'll have many updates to show you of our adventures after they leave. Until then, CIAO!!! :)

A Few of His Favorite Things

Ok, I know this post is titled 'A Few of His Favorite Things,' but I'm going to start out with a few of MY favorite things!

1) My boys. Aren't they both handsome?

2) Colton's new euro-style swim trunks. Adorable.

3) Those sweet cheeks! You know what I mean. :)

Now, moving on to Colton's favorites! Hehe...

Colton is 19-months-old now. Wow, time really does fly! Every week he seems to understand and communicate more. Seeing him develop opinions, tastes, thoughts, etc of his own is really fun. Mostly. Sometimes it's annoying - like when his opinions, tastes, thoughts, etc differ from mine. ;o)

Anyway, I chose a few pictures to illustrate some of Colton's favorite things, as a 19-month-old.

This picture captures a few "favorites." One, Colton LOVES to "Go!" It's his most used word, I think. He often wakes up in the morning and begins chanting, "Go! Go! Go!" as soon as we take him out of his crib. He runs to his stroller, continuing his chant. It's really cute - until you tell him "No, Colton, we aren't going anywhere right now," and he begins crying. That's not so cute. This "Go! Go! Go!" routine happens many times each day.

Similarly, Colton loves going out to eat. He enjoys people watching while he eats, and he definitely eats more when we're out and he's entertained than he does when we're at home.

Finally, this picture shows Colton's love for Italian food (which might also be another reason he likes eating out so much; Mommy and Daddy's Italian cooking does not compare to the real thing!). He loves pasta, pizza, tomatoes (he just said this word for the first time today, though it sounded more like "mato"), bread, etc - just like a true Italian boy. ;o)

Lately Colton LOVES standing on a chair in our bedroom to look out the window. I'd estimate that he spends at least 40% of his time at home on this chair, watching the world go by. :)

Yesterday he was not content on the chair unless I was standing next to him, looking outside. I kneeled down beside him so his head was just about 1 inch higher than mine. He looked at me, smiled, and put his arm around my neck. He pulled me into the sweetest side hugs, making sure my head was on his chest, over and over. He is becoming such a loving little boy!

Colton used to love gelato - and he still does. But now he prefers the cone! Last weekend we went to Ben & Jerry's and I got a cone to share with Colton. I kept trying to give him spoonfuls of ice cream, but he kept rejecting them. He wasn't content, though. He kept reaching out, trying to grab the whole ice cream cone. Finally we realized he didn't want any ice cream, just the cone! He was thrilled when I finished eating the ice cream and he could have the cone all to himself. :) To Colton's credit, though, he shared about half of it with me.

These pictures of Colton capture two things. The first picture shows that Colton loves cheesing for the camera. Pull out a camera and real smiles fade; you just get weird grimace smiles like this one. Ha! The rest of the pictures show that one of Colton's current favorite things to do is use his Bumbo chair (which is meant for small babies who can't sit on their own yet) again. He has only one use for it, though. He pulls it in front of this ball popper toy every time he gets it out, sits in it, and pushes the toy's 'on' button over and over. It's very cute and is a good example of how Colton likes things "just so" in many cases.

We are having so much fun watching Colton grow and change, listening to his new words, and seeing what habits he is developing. Every day with Colton is a blessing!

Oh, and I'll leave you with a video. It was taken the same night as the first picture in this post, when we were out to eat. The boy sure has energy! Enjoy my happy little man. :)

30 Years.....Young?

Ross celebrated his 30th birthday on April 28th. I spent a lot of time, starting a month or two before his big day, rubbing in the fact that he is getting O-L-D! Ha! I'm not sure he appreciated it. When it came time to celebrate, though, we partied more like we were celebrating his turning 13! We had an awesome, super-fun Rock Band party with our friends here in Florence.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this game, the pictures below will probably explain it all. The long in the short of it, though, is that it's a video game (we borrowed from a family who lives here) in which three people at a time play. One is a drummer, one is a singer, and one plays guitar. This little "band" plays songs selected by the game and earns points. The points really don't matter, though - it's all about having fun!

We ate American food - fried chicken (with homemade Abners/Huey Magoos/Guthries sauce), mashed potatoes, salad, veggies, etc. The night was topped off with Ross' favorite birthday cake, Chocolate Fantasy cake. It is made 100% from scratch and takes two days because each of the three layers has to be frozen overnight before it can be frosted the next day. Yummmmm...moist, fattening goodness. :)

Anyway, here are some pics of our celebration...

Our teammate, Abigail, made Ross an awesome 30th birthday shirt to go along with the Rock Band theme.

Ross has a patented leg kick that he pulls out whenever he is rockin' it out in Rock Band.

Matt, Ross, and Davide were amazing - the best band of the night, for sure!

I rocked out, too, for a song or two. :)

Abigail also printed funny pictures of Ross and made "masks" for everyone. We pulled these out when it was time for birthday cake. :)

Our teammates Koren, Melanie, and Melody...

...Matt, Matt, and Davide...

...Jamie and Cassie...

...Sarah and Abigail...

...and even little Silas posed for pictures with their Ross masks!

Ross got some great gifts from our team (who, obviously, know him well).

Finally, on the evening of the 28th, Ross and I went out to dinner to celebrate. It was a real treat to get to go somewhere, just the two of us. Before we left, though, we took a family picture to commemorate this big day in Ross' life!

Congrats on turning 30, Ross! You are such a blessing in my life, a gift from God. Thank you for always putting me (and Colton) first, for serving well, for leading well, for being a trustworthy man of integrity, and for making my life so much fun! I love you!

Pray for Nashville

Oh, there is so much I have to update you on. These past couple weeks have been busy and full of fun! Ross celebrated his 30th birthday, Colton is learning new words (some of them slightly inappropriate but funny), and we went to a Agape Italia conference where Colton sported a very Euro bathing suit. :) I will be sure to post about these things over the next few days but, first, I wanted to ask for prayer.

All of you probably know that Nashville has been hit by some major flooding. Click here to check out a short video clip from MSNBC that shows some of the devastation and here to watch some local Nashville news coverage of the flood.

The major landmarks of Nashville are damaged and people have lost everything - almost no one in Nashville has flood insurance because flooding has never been a threat there. We have many family members and friends there who are also struggling.

Ross' Nana's house is pretty much lost. We don't know many details but we have been told that the water level in her house was 7 feet! Everything that wasn't solid (ie: plates) is ruined. My sister and her husband's house had water right up against it for at least one day. The yard suffered much and they have some damage to the outside of their house to take care of. They are blessed compared to many, though - including their neighbors on either side (both of whose houses flooded).

Please pray for our family and friends, for the countless numbers of people who have lost everything (with or without insurance coverage to help recover it), and for the city as a whole to recover from this disaster. Oh, and check out the video linked above if you want to know an easy way to help!