Since I have a moment...

Looking forward to another week that brings me closer to graduation. I am tired of running silly everyday trying to finish homework and make sure I have my lesson plans ready to turn in to my teacher and on and on it goes. Sheesh. :) Now that that's out of the way.
Chris only has two games this week! WAHOO!!!!!!! Daddy will be home to play with us!

Kinsler is now crawling..full speed ahead. Except for when he gets distracted and slips back into the worm crawling. He is also saying "bye bye" and Chris swears up and down that as soon as I got out of the car today he said "ma ma". We've thought he's been saying "ma ma" for a couple of days but I haven't gotten too excited over it yet. Chris said this one was a for real "ma ma" with no extra "ma's" behind it. So, I'm going to be on the look out for a real "ma ma" soon! Kinsler is now actively pulling hisself up and getting into everything! Pretty sure I was/am not ready for a mobile baby, especially one as active as Kinsler! He literally NEVER sits still! But, he sure is cute when he grins at you when you tell him to stop...and he knows it too!

Busy little beavers

The Collins family is busy busy busy. We have all started school/work and for the past two weeks we have barely seen or spent any time together. :( We just keep reminding each other through texts, hugs, and kisses (That is, when we are together for those few hours before we go to bed.) that we can make it through this difficult year and come May it will all be worth it.

So, if you don’t see or hear from us as much please don’t be offended. It just means Chris is either at practice or a game, I am at school, internship, or doing homework, and Kinsler is at daycare or asleep. We love you dearly.

Here are a few recent pictures of Kins. His new favorite thing is to stick his tongue out at you and to smack his lips when he eats. He will take a few drinks or bites, smack his lips then grin really big at me to make sure I’m watching. Too cute! I can’t help but smile.

What mom, I’m just reading.

 

Nana, this book sure is good!

He crawled down the hallway after Chris to come check and make sure I was doing my homework.

New videos of Kins

Here is a video of Kinsler "crawling" and one from our dinner last night. The second will melt your heart. (Feel free to giggle because we did.)

 

The perfect baby doll…

Today Edy came over for a few hours to play. Edy is going to be a big sister in a few short months and I think she’s going to be a great help! Let me show you why I think this…

She knows how to use the snot sucker and wipe noses.

She’s good at being the boss. (Which everyone knows is a requirement as the first born.)

She’s fun to hang out with and

knows how to use the baby as a baby doll.

Miss Edy, we had fun today. Come back to play anytime!

July, July, July

This past week two friends came over to play with me and Kinsler. Heather and Annie came by to have lunch and play. (Forgot to grab the camera and get some pictures. :( ) and also Jennifer and Jazzy came to play. Jasmin is sooo pretty! Too bad she's almost two and will have her eyes on older boys than Kins. haha.

Also, a BIG thank you to Chrissy who decided Miss. Bella needed a Jenny jump-up instead of a Johnny. :)

Last but not least, Kinsler really enjoys bath time. His favorite part is getting a couple swigs of water from the sprayer when we rinse his hair.

That's just a little sample of our life this month.

Branson

Chris and I had the luxury of spending the night in Branson last Friday night while his parents kept Kinsler for us. It was our first time away from him together. (I have taken Kinsler to Jonesboro to visit his Poppy and Nana over Spring Break, so Chris has been away from him before.) I was super nervous to be away from him, but the hardest part was leaving. After we left the house and started our little adventure I was able to concentrate on the exciting things we had planned to do.
First, we just had to make it to Branson. Let me just preface by saying neither of us have been to Branson in YEARS! So, we knew the general way we wanted to go and struck out. Of course we have a handy dandy GPS in our car and of course our ever ready iPhone's ready to rescue us should we get lost. We apparently set out for the scenic trip by following our car's GPS to Rogers and through the back woods of AR and MO and then back into AR before actually arriving in Branson. At one point our GPS wanted us to turn down a dirt road that was next to a farm with some very trashy cars with some not so nice things printed on them about our current president. Needless to say we decided that was a little too sketchy for us and looked for an alternate route. This is where we ended up crossing the state line several times. What's a road trip without a little adventure!?

We made it to Branson just in the nick of time to see The Dixie Stampede by 5:30. We both LOVED the show! I think next time Chris will smuggle in plastic silverware, I on the other hand dug right in and didn't mind being a little messy. After the show, Chris surprised me with Imax tickets to see Eclipse. Needless to say I loved this as well. So by the time we actually made it to our hotel it was almost midnight. No time to worry about Kinsler before falling asleep. The next morning we got up and walked the stores at the Landing before checking out of our hotel and hitting the Tanger outlet mall. After shopping we headed home via the correct route we intended on taking to Branson and made it home in a little over 2 hours.

All in all we had a wonderful time enjoying each others company and yes, even a small break from our lovely son. I will leave you with a few pictures I found on my camera of Kinsler.

From this...

to this in a matter of seconds.

Berenstain Bears

In an attempt to get Kinsler to bed I decided to try reading to him. Chris hounded is mom for weeks to dig up his old Berenstain Bears books because they were his absolute favorite especially the one titled No Girls Allowed. So, I went to the book shelf and selected one of the books and began reading. Well, he didn't just magically fall asleep to the sound of my amazing reading voice, like I had planned/hoped, but it did calm him down enough that after two books I was able to rock him to sleep.

I think he really enjoyed looking at the bright colors on the page and listening to me. I hope he loves books as much as Chris and I do. Maybe one day he will share our love of Harry Potter and just maybe the Twilight Saga. Who knows!?

This isn't the best quality because Chris was trying to be sneaky.