"Fast Car" and "Jeep"

Last Sunday we went to a friends house for dinner. Colton's buddies, Sophia and Daniel, showed up and Colton was excited because Daniel brought ALL of his Cars from the Disney Pixar movie to play with. Colton really likes "fast car" (Lightning McQueen) and "tow truck" (Mater), but as of Sunday he really likes "police car" (Sheriff). In fact he had a minor meltdown when we left because he couldn't take "police car" home with him.
So... Monday, I took him to Target while Ariane was working and we went hunting for "police car". Of course, the one item we were looking for they didn't have, not even in a Hotwheel! Colton didn't have a real Lightning McQueen so we averted a crisis and bought "fast car" and "jeep" (Sarge). He was super excited to have those two as the hut for police car continues... as his collection continues to grow.

 He was happy with "fast car" and "jeep"

From left to right: Lightning McQueen x2, Sally, Mater, and Sarge.

phone, balloons, and tractors. @26months

Colton adores our babysitter's daughter, Sierra. After Colton was done with a fever and being contagious, poor Sierra got sick. Wes caught this cute picture of Colton calling "'eea" on the phone because he misses her. He also will tell us he's going to visit 'Eea when he's driving his red car. It's so incredibly sweet. 

Daddy and Colton played with balloons Wednesday morning. Colton would purposelly pop a balloon, not be startled at all, and ask for more balloons. He is also getting really good with his colors.
Orange, red, blue, white, purple, green, pink.
And counting.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
 Then he goes: 4, 5, 6. 4, 5, 6. So cute! :) 

chicken and dip.
He ate most of my dinner! He does this often now...eating a part of our sandwiches or chicken or beef. It's impressive! 

look what we found on our tractor hunt! 

more tractors!! 

A forklift drove up the street as we were walking. How cool! 

baby #2 bump @ 6months.

baby boy #2 is a growing! 26 weeks preggo.
No names yet. Can't seem to decide. Making sure a name is strong, sounds good with Stumbaugh, and sounds good with Colton...we'll it's hard work! I keep praying that God will help us "just know" when a name is right because right now we are completely unsure.
Wes likes Blake.
I like Ryker.
We both like Trenton, but think it's too close to Colton.
and we do agree that Tate is cute. 

when preggo Momma craves a blueberry donut from Friendly's Donut ...everyone wins! :)
We stopped for a quick fix after Colton's last Saturday tumbling class. Daddy came to tumbling too since he didn't work until 1:00. Colton did a great job at his last class: participated in all the songs, listened,  tried some new things, shared, took turns, and showed Daddy how great he was at all the stations. 

*early* birthday outfit from Dad and Julie. 

I absolutely adore a great label maker.
The girls at work were labeling computers and made this one for me.
You know, just in case I forget the bump that's growing or those kicks and flutters that continue all day long. 

this week @26monthsCo

Colton had a fever of 101.3 last week, with red bumps and blisters that appeared 2 days later. Yep, hand, foot,  mouth virus was back. Doctor said yes, kids can get it twice (last time was last June and it was way worse than this time). We were at church and getting Colton out of his carseat when Wes saw the bumps. We promptly turned around and headed to Target for itch cream and a few needed items. Colton is cuddling with his new Bob the Builder DVD from Grandma Jules and his new train toothpaste. Oh the simple things! 

when you can't choose which one you like best...go for 2! 

 big boy Colton either rides in the basket of a shopping cart or wants to push. 

Bubble guns are the best invention!
A bit messy and may not work 100% efficiently, but way better than the wand dipped in sticky bubble jar. 

Saturday morning bubble fun.
(see where the bubbles are facing? he just finished blowing bubbles into his face and laughing. silly guy!)

bulldozer fun @26months

 On a Wednesday morning I get this picture and text from Wes:

Look who found a soccer ball! And I won't tell you what else Colton bought at Ross since I'm sure he'll show you immediately after nap. :)
*it was the bulldozer in the pics below. I had told Wes no more trucks, tractors, anything that was bigger than Colton's hand! (The soccer ball I was okay with...we've been looking for a cheap one for Colton since his last one popped.) We have so much!! Wes said that Colton found the bulldozer at Ross and Colton insisted on buying it. Oh my. :) 

"excavator digs"

stopping to play in the grass on our walk.
Yes, he insisted on bringing the "bulldozer".

stopping to dig rocks and grass. 

isn't he amazing? 

driving the car in laps around the table in the backyard. 

We are so blessed. 

the next day....
still taking bulldozer everywhere.
hard to see in this picture but this is the text I got from Wes:
I get out of the shower and Colton drew all over each leg. Tried to get it all off but to no avail. Someone is definitely having a bath tonight.
My response:
Picture please! :)
Wes:
No picture. Supposed to be washable but it's not coming off. 

our little tatoo artist in the car going to Monica's. A bit better picture of the marker on his legs. ;) 

Tough Mudder. @26months

[clapping and saying] "Go Dadda! Go Dadda!"
We went this picture to Wes as he prepared to complete Tough Mudder earlier this April. We don't have pictures yet, but when we do I'll have Wes post about this crazy trail run/intense obstacle course that he completed. 

"water Momma! water Momma!"
Colton yells as he chases me with the sprinkler. Little turkey!
While Daddy ran Tough Mudder, we played in the backyard. Warm enough for water! 

"water geen tactor"

"water plants. water Momma!!"
Look at that face. He's so out to get me! 

What are you doing Colton?
"water ants."

intense watering of the ants. 

Our little Tough Mudder in training.

Daddy left at 6am to meet up with his teammates and got home about 6pm. This is the finisher's headband our son is sporting. His huge grin shows how happy he was to have "Dadda home. Dadda home!" 

A day @26months

"Momma, hood up. Momma, pocket. 'Oose on."

You never know if April in Henderson, NV will be warm or chilly.
This was a chilly day as we prepared for our walk.

bath time is over. water has drained. what is Colton doing?
"I 'iding, Momma. I 'iding."
Love him for hiding in plain view. and nakey to boot. :) 

"Here I are!" 

On April 11th, this is the text I sent to my Dad and Julie:
Colton got upset when we got home today from Monica's.  He really wanted to go back to the van. Nothing would interest him. Not the backyard, not the tv, only the van. "Van. Van." he whined for. I finally gave in. Way too tired to fight--long day at work and preggo did me in this day. Once in the van he told me he wanted to go to "Plane. Syds, Bompa, Jules." He wanted to go to the airport to see his  family that had left 10 days earlier. How incredibly sweet (and smart!!) is he? Brought me to tears." To distract him we drove the neighborhood until I found the backhoe loader that was working. :)

We watched this "loader" for quite a while. He was extremely content! 

 

Colton insisted on "dig dirt" on the front porch this beautiful morning with Daddy. 

pajama sleeve kept getting in the way while eating "gurt".
this was Colton's solution.
:) Wes sent this pic to me...couldn't help but laugh out loud!  :) 

Take your child to work day @26 months

Today, April 25th, is Take Your Son or Daughter to Work Day. 

 Earlier in the week we had joked about bringing our toddlers to work with us. We all agreed that the first hour would be fine and then what a zoo that would be. Plus I think they need to be school aged to attend anyway. 

Little did I know early this morning that I would be bringing my son to work today! 

I raced off to work at 7am, led a meeting for the staff, and then my principal was going to drop her kids off at their school and her baby at the babysitters (all 3 of her kids came to school with her this morning since she was running way late). Then she and I were going to observe and meet a potential teacher to hire for next school year. No biggie. Easy day. And off we go. 

I end up getting at text at 9:15 that my babysitter's daughter was really sick and could I come get Colton. We were in the middle of dropping off the principal's daughter at daycare, so we decided to go get Colton in Jen's car since she had a carseat that would fit him. It seemed like a fast solution since I knew Monica was really worried about Sierra and we needed to take Colton so they could go to the hospital. (Update...Sierra is fine thankfully. A bit of antibiotics and a sinus infection.) 

Colton is digging sitting in Millie's car seat and wearing her glasses. He is such a trooper! He either wore, carried, or talked about those sunglasses all day long. I think this year he is finally ready for his own pair (he immediately broke the pair we bought him last summer).

 Jen really wanted me to go with her to see this potential 5th grade teacher...so we brainstormed. And came up with the idea to go get Christen at school (her son and Colton tumbled together on Saturdays) and have her watch Colton at a park for an hour while we saw the teacher. Completely unconventional but we thought it would work...and it did! Lindsay was done covering a class for the day so she came too. Both ladies took Colton to the park while we went to the school that was just around the corner. Colton had a blast at the park on the slide, hanging on the bar like at tumbling, kicking the soccer ball, and running around the park a few times. I think he wore the girls out!! :)

Christen sent me this picture of Colton enjoying the beautiful day and the impromptu park visit. 

 After grabbing lunch at Subway we headed back to work. Colton came in with me since I originally intended to just grab my bag and leave since it was 12:30 and past nap time. He was doing amazing for no nap and we ended up staying until the end of the day. 

Colton found the dry erase markers and the mini eraser. What fun! 

Colton wanted me to draw "Mommy, Daddy, Colton, and baby". Then he colored them in.
In this picture he's pointing to "Mommy". 

Colton pointing to the drawing of the new baby. 

Andrea had the great idea to get some toys for Colton from Jenny's room (she does pre-K with students that have disabilities). Brilliant idea!! He played with this container of little rubber cars, trucks, planes, buses, and helicopters. So neat! And in the blue box was car parts that connected with magnets so you could build whatever you wanted. Very neat!!
He also found that my walkie-talkie was cool and had neat buttons.
And the timer made cool beeping sounds.
We found some licorice that was a special treat, a toy plane, and plenty of markers and highlighters to color with, too. :) 

Jen also wanted me to sit in on an interview at 2:40 and since Colton was doing so well I thought it would be okay. But first we needed a diaper, desperately. And I had no more since I didn't plan on having him with me all day. My co-worker and fellow preggo mommy, Megan,  to the rescue! She teaches with Jenny in the pre-K program and had size 4 diapers for Colton. What a lifesaver!! 
During the interview Colton hung out with Andrea and colored, held her hand as we toured our campus, and even got in a few snuggles. 
Lindsay and Christen were so incredibly helpful. Playing at the park, playing cars at the school, taking Colton while I had a parent meeting. 
Today it definitely took a village to help this mommy out with her active little 2 year old!! 

And he fell asleep 3 minutes from home. It was late, so I didn't let him sleep long.

p.s. I'm exhausted. Taking your son to work with you is HARD work. :) But I wouldn't trade this day for anything.