Uncle Libero & Aunt Elida's Wedding

Collin had a great time at his first wedding and loved being a part of Uncle Libero and Aunt Elida's ceremony & reception! We enjoyed the wedding so much that there were many wonderful parts we simply experienced and hoped others captured in pictures.

This is the only family picture on our camera - hopefully someone took a family photo where Collin looks a little more enthusiastic than this -

At the ceremony, the gorgeous bride had her eyes locked on her handsome groom . . . and Libero was all smiles. Collin was captivated by the ceremony . . . until he felt he needed to add some sound effects like spitting raspberries during prayers. Thankfully Grammy Lesa took him to the back to minimize the disruptions.

Everyone was excited to welcome the new husband & wife to the reception.

The wedding guests were surprised by a mariachi band who serenaded the couple. Collin couldn't take his eyes off the musicians. One of the sweet flower girls had enough of her shoes.

Our cousin Izabelle played the guitar & sang for their first dance -

Then everyone hit the dance floor. Collin with Grammy and Brownie -

And dancing with Espi, Lina & Great Aunt Vicky. Collin would kick his legs to show his excitement.

Dancing with my hubby -

Of course, a wedding wouldn't be complete without a million posed pictures. Here are a few . . .

The family with everyone looking at different cameras -

Espi, Great Aunt Anisja, Lina, Cas & Grandma Libia - Uncle Libero with Great Aunt Anisja -

Uncle Libero with Collin -

Collin with the groomsmen -

Collin with Dad - I hope someone got a picture of Collin and me dancing. Partway through the mother-son dance, they invited all of the mothers & sons to the dance floor. What a thrill! Collin and I were the first ones there, twirling around.

As I was driving to the wedding that afternoon, I started getting sappy thinking about the day I would watch Collin get married. I of course laughed at myself since he is just 9 months old, but it already feels like time is flying by with him. It was such a treat to enjoy the moment, dancing with my son, so thankful to be his mom!

As we had done the night before, we sent Collin home with Grammy and Brownie, allowing Cas & I to stay and enjoy the evening without a cranky, past-his-bedtime baby. The final photo on my camera shows us happy & relaxed.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our little lion!

Fixing my mane -
Selecting the appropriate pumpkin . . .

. . . to devour!

Sizing up his next prey -

Choosing mercy - maybe next year I'll be up for eating this one -

What fun we had taking pictures in Collin's first Halloween costume!

Playing at the park

Our Thursday afternoon started out great - we were both home early and having fun playing with Collin.
But our teething monster got a little cranky and things went downhill fast.

So we threw him into the stroller and headed to the park. When I got home and downloaded the pictures, we had taken 212 shots! Here's Collin's play-by-play of our hour at the park.

First down the slide with Dad -

Next it was Mom's turn. By the way, we're sparing you the 40 shots that were taken of us climbing to the slide, posing on the bridge, posing at the top of the slide, etc. My parents are so obnoxious with their camera.

Working out that upper body with some chin-ups -

Two handed chin-ups are for weaklings -

Next to a favorite pastime, swinging -

Whoa, quite a push there, Mom. I'm just 9 months old, remember?

My hair has some body -

Yum, this sure looks clean and good to eat -

Oh Dad, don't take away my teething toy! (I love Cas' pout too!)

Sliding with Mom is a gleeful experience -

I practiced walking down my first hill. I'm feeling a little inferior because my classmate Brooke, who is only 6 days older than me, started walking already - before she was even 9 months old. My parents tell me there's no hurry, but I'm tired of Brooke staring down at me with pity as I crawl on the floor.

My favorite part of the day was playing in the rocks. My parents debated on it since I normally want to eat them, but I was so amazed at the feel of the pebbles in my hands that I kept them out of my mouth . . . at least for the first minute or so.

This nice lady offered to take our family picture. I pulled on her nose as a thank-you gesture.

My parents don't know what happened to the family photo. We thought we heard the camera click and I'm sure it would have been the one time all 3 of us were smiling and looking at the camera, but it must not have taken . . . or maybe our camera had run out of memory at that point.

How embarrassing, Mom and Dad!

Though we're sure it's the first of many times, on Oct 22nd, Cas and I were the cause of embarrassment for our son. There was a fall festival at the church where he attends daycare, and we volunteered to man a booth. As we pulled up we glanced at the children and saw NONE of them in a Halloween costume. And our poor son is sweating in his lion costume and is now red with embarrassment.

Cas and I didn't know what to do. We debated having one of us work the booth and the other one take him home to change. Then we remembered he had some spare outfits inside his classroom . . . but the door was locked. Since we were already running late for our shift, we started out in search of the booth. Thankfully we passed a few children in costumes, maybe 10% of the kids. But at least our child wasn't the only one.

Fortunately for him, he was the cutest and most ferocious lion at the event!

Speaking of embarrassing, the clock reads 8:44 on a FRIDAY night and guess who is under the covers. I told Cas I was going to ruin all his street cred.

He Shoots, He Scores

Collin has 5 teeth coming in right now, which means we have been spending a lot of time in his happy places - the piano, the tree swing, the bathtub, and outside in general. Collin used to be content sitting in the stroller watching Cas shoot basketballs, but now he wants in on the action.

Guiding the ball to the hoop -

Hanging on the rim, post dunk -

As you can see from his grin, he's quite proud of his b-ball abilities. Something tells me that as soon as he's mastered walking, Cas will be starting him on dribbling!