Colton at 7 months!

Someone has been pulling himself to standing postion. He wants to "cruise" so bad but just isn't ready for that. He falls when he tries to take more than one step.

He likes to be tossed in the air and play "super baby."

Just kickin' it outside with mom and dad. He loves to be outside and explore.

Mom in her new duds Dusty bought her for their anniversary. Sorry if you get blinded by my whiteness. I need a tan in a bad way...

Giving mommy a break and watching Baby Einstein. He loves those shows.

Having SO much fun!

Played till he dropped!

Having fun in the high chair with mommy!

We sometimes wrap him up like this while mommy gets breakfast ready. He is up early and watching his early morning cartoons. He loves to watch TV....

Having a fun ride on daddy's shoulders

Another night Colton wouldn't go to sleep. He was up till almost 1 am. We turned on his favorite movie, UP, and he was giggling, laughing, oohing, rolling around...everything but sleeping. He was being so cute we were having fun staying up with him and just laughing.

This is the first little thing I have with his teeth marks in it. So cute!

Colton in his 12 month clothes! Such a big boy!

This was the first time that Colton really took to crackers. I had only tried it a few times but this time he was picking it up and putting it right in his mouth. Such a pro!

Colton loves the camera and he loves to chase me when I have it. He will crawl real fast and then pull up onto his knees and reach for it--every time.

He chews and sucks on his thumb all of the time now. I think it's more of a chewing to relieve teething rather than comfort but it's darn cute when he does it.

So. As you can see Colton has been a busy little bee. He is just growing up so fast. Month by month just flies by. I only have 6 more days in Utah before we head down south for school. I just feel so many things and am excited for the adventures ahead. I get to see Angela in a few short days and I am so excited to see her and see my old KY friends and introduce them to Colton. He is such a cutie. Everywhere I go I at least have one person tell me what a doll he is and I NEVER get tired of hearing it. Colton loves people. He is so down with life. He just is so precious to me and I love him so much. Here are a few things about my handsome man in month 7:

• he is pulling himself into standing position....you heard me! He did this the first time the other day and now won't stop.


• he is SUCH a FAST crawler. Colton will crawl to me and giggle and crawl real fast if I get down and tell him to come to mommy


• he picked up brocken cracker pieces on his high chair tray and it took him two tries but now he eats them pretty good. it's so funny b/c he will put it in his mouth and then get a funny face as he chews like he forgets what he's supposed to be doing


• he still loves to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider
  
• he is in love with Ellie from UP and Word Girl from the cartoon
  
• he loves to take walks and eat grass and laughs real hard when neighbor friends throw grass in his face (seriously I have never heard him laugh so hard)


• he is getting those fingers busy with everything. each day i give him 2 household objects to play with besides his toys and he loves to explore them, eat them and throw them 50 times


• he had a pool party play date and got to eat his first official whole fruit popscile and loved it. he just had to get his water warmed up before he had a good time. what can i say, the boy knows what he likes.

I love Colton so much. I am thankful for every dayI am given with him and so grateful to be able to be called his mother. Mothering is hard but OH so fun and worth it. I love you, Colton.

Motherhood

I am so amazed each day at Colton's sweet, adventurous spirit. I love him so much and am just WOWED by his strength and abilities and personality! Oh, and he is SO handsome :-) I absolutely love being a mother.

It has taken me a while to be OK with the fact that motherhood got off to a rocky start for me. I had always imagined things a lot more different than they happened. Several BIG events happened all at the same time that weren't good news things and I felt like I never got the chance to enjoy the first little while of my first baby. I was also hit with post pardem depression which was TOTALLY unexpected and that jacked me up too. I have questioned my abilities so many times throughout the past 7 months and called my mother and sister more times than I have probably in my whole life. I am grateful for both of them and all of my girlfriends who have given me encouragement in just a exciting and transitional time in my life. I still get angry at times and sad when I think of how things "could have" been or "should have been" for me. It's easy for me to feel robbed of precious moments in the early days and it's tempting to feel that at times. However, when I step back and think of the kindness that others have so generously given me and my family and how much my Heavenly Father has taken care of me these past 7 months, I can't allow myself to feel that anger and it's replaced with an overwhelming love of motherhood and my ability to play such an important role. Each day through His help I am able to start replacing my uncertainties with strength and mommy intuition that is such an amazing gift.

Motherhood is the hardest thing I know I will ever do. It takes so much out of you but gives you so much. Sacrifice feels so good (most of the time....gotta keep it real here, naps and mommy time are needed too). It is so hard to imagine how such a tiny little body who needs everything from you can look at you a certain way, smile, babble and talk, learn something new and just make everything worth it.

Tonight as we settled down for bedtime, after some hilarious playtime outside where he was just laughing his heart out, I was rocking him to sleep telling him how much I loved him. I could feel his body getting heavier as he was sinking into a deep sleep. His tiny little hands made their way around my neck and over my shoulder and with a big sigh he was in a deep sleep. I couldn't let him go. I held him, pressing my cheek against his feeling his little body breathe in and out and felt my love for him shoot up and down my body and right out my tear ducts :-)

Each morning I am greeted with a song from Colton. He wakes up in such a good mood and ready to start the day. That helps me get out of bed. I love being his mother. I love how his zest for life and determined spirit just spill over into my day. There is so much to get done in a day. So much to juggle and work out. Good thing I am a creative person that is good at finding solutions :-)

The moments and pure joy and satisfaction I am able to experience with Colton now are helping get rid of those lingering icky feelings of not feeling like I got off on a great foot. What a lucky girl I am to be counted as a mother. What a lucky girl I am to have a son with such passion for life and is teaching me so much about perspective and fun and creativity (and patience!). Heavenly Father sure knew what he was doing with sending me such an amazing spirit.