Summer sweetness

Bugga Boo fell asleep his giraffe nestled next to him while I was getting ready.

Kristi & Steve offered to watched BW (Kristi's nickname for Colton. BW= Boy Wonder) while Wes and I went on a date night to Lake Las Vegas. The mommy and daddy had a very nice time & obviously so did the baby boy!

Natty & Jillian came over for a visit. Jillian was in love with "baby" and wanted to hold Colton the entire time!

Jillian with her live baby doll.

Colton's face cracks me up! He's such a good sport.

Utah or bust!

This was our 1st Family Road Trip was to Utah to spend time with the Holders. We couldn't wait to introduce them to our son, celebrate Caleb's 2nd birthday, and encourage our sweet friends. It's a 7 hr drive from Henderson to Brigham City...made longer (about 2 hrs longer) with our yummy little 4 1/2 month old along...who did fabulous in the car, by the way. We pretty much stopped every 3 or 4 hours to feed the baby, let him kick in the back of the van, and to stretch our legs. Colton slept a majority of the trip up and back...which was great while driving but made for a very funky (and late!) sleep schedule for this mommy and daddy.

Sunday afternoon: stretching out after a long morning in the car.

my hot hubby. i love him.
rockin my new sling...and catching the baby in the middle of a yawn.
Colton loved the green trees and wouldn't stop staring at them. It was cute!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Caleb Aaron!

Sunday night: dinner with Patty and Keith. Colton had so much fun playing and reading!

Colton was entralled with Patty.

Sunday night: we stayed with Bob & Karen (Joel's parents).

In the morning we drank some of the best coffee we've ever had--it was delish!

Colton enjoying his stretches with Karen.

Colton was "supposed" to be sleeping. And yet he was wide awake, playing, laughing, and being silly with Daddy.

having too much fun to sleep!

Monday lunch: Colton loved Chick-fil-a and this mommy's craving was sat-is-fied.

Wes and Caleb doing a puzzle.

Caleb's "rocking chair".

Caleb's giggles would make Colton laugh. seeing these 2 boys together melted my heart.

all tuckered out from playing

Caleb would just watch Colton...and Colton would just watch Caleb.

a beautiful thing...Bradi's boy and my boy playing together. wish we lived closer!!

Bradi and I prayed for this:

Husbands who love God and are best friends.

being blessed by having a son who brings such joy.

the girls and their little boys.

we love the Holders!

thank you Joel and Bradi for a wonderful weekend. It was a joy to celebrate your son's 2nd birthday.

(Caleb was mad that we were leaving. How sweet is that little boy??)

June Family pic

June family picture taken in Utah on our 1st family road trip to see the Holders and celebrate a very special 2 yr old's birthday.

this is how i roll...full circle

Thursday night (June 23, 2011) I was brushing my teeth and Wes was quickly checking his fantasy baseball scores before we were headed to Boulder City to hang out at Week of Hope. Toothbrush in mouth, I came to check on Bugs. He had moved from the far side of the blanket and off onto the carpet. I called for Wes (through the toothpaste drool-attractive, I know) and asked him if he had moved the baby. With just a look at the baby then back at each other we realized that he had started to roll...in a full circle. How exciting! But we missed it. Lucky for us...our guy rolled over full circle 2 more times before we left and one of the times was even caught on camera.

the FULL CIRCLE roll over.

by Colton Dean

1. kickin it on my back.

2. roll to my belly.

(i'm SUPER fast at this now, by the way!)
2a. hang out here for a bit cuz it's so fun.

see? belly is fun! and i can "fly" too!

"okay, mom & dad. are you watching this time?"

3. popping up the bum

4. super fast push off & i'm on my back.

(no, he didn't hit his head. yes, we moved him far from the entertainment center.)

my mommy's super proud of me.

my daddy loves me soooo much.

Happy 1st Father's Day to Wes!

Dad thinks I'm rad.

so true!! :)

at church.

Sunday was the second time we put Colton in the nursery while we went to service. We have the best behaved baby...its just that he is getting very talkative and vocal. While we think it's adorably sweet, it is a distraction to others trying to listen. So, it was time. Yet another thing to overcome as a new parent: the nursery. It was kind of scary at first to leave him with someone we didn't know at all. But, the woman volunteering during the service was so sweet and loving...she just adores our son (she went home and told her husband all about Colton!)...and her excitement over having him come the second week gave us such peace. She calls him Colt. And we are officially: Colt's mom and Colt's dad.

Nap time! We are so thankful that he can sleep anywhere. :) He slept so well while we worked to get things ready for Week of Hope that is staying at the Hope Baptist Church campus in Boulder City for the summer.
Wes spent his Father's Day working to set up the facility for the 75 high school students that were set to arrive at 3:00pm. What an exciting time...finally seeing all of Wes' hard work coordinating, planning, and preparing community service projects for the students at camp.

"My Daadaa is #1" action shot...Bugga Boo is super excited about celebrating Father's Day!

[outfit #2 on Father's Day. ]

family pic.

See his tuft of hair? It stands straight up. So stinkin' cute.

We found out we were going to be having a baby two days after Father's Day last year. One of the first things Wes said to me when we learned the great news was, "I could have had a candy bar on Sunday."

bedtime=crib time!

At 4 months old, Colton slept all night in his crib for the 1st time last night (June 17, 2011) ! Bugs fell asleep at 10:30pm and slept sweetly until 7:30am this morning in his crib. (I only got up to check on him once about 4 am.) And yes, that was 9 hours without him waking up once. :)

It was time for him to move out of that little bassinet and into his crib full time. After watching him sprawl out during his naps in the crib I knew deep down he'd sleep so much better at night in his own crib with space to spread out all 27 inches of him. We just had a hard time letting him go into his own room because it meant our baby wasn't just an arms stretch away. He would be all the way down the hall (all 10 foot steps away) and that felt so far. If that crib could have fit in our room I think I would have done it! ;)

As I thought over the move of our baby from his bassinet to his crib, my thinking process was: "If he's close I am right here--to comfort him or help him or protect him. Whatever he needs I can give that to him immediately." Fear of the unknown seemed to be griping me as I thought about him sleeping in his crib in his room. I had to get to a place where I realized that God is in complete control and I needed to pray through that fear so that I could have peace. "Perfect love drives out all fear" 1 John 4:18 tells me...and once I prayed and gave all my fears over to God I slept so soundly because I knew that God--the creator of the universe who is so incredibly big, and still He loves my son more than I ever could--was the One watching over baby Colton as he slept. This truth gave me such peace. I slept like a baby last night.

what I saw this morning when I went to check on him.

seriously. he is so adorable when he sleeps.
good morning Colton Dean!

love him in striped pajamas.

Hi everyone! I slept in my crib all night!