Fun at Port A

We headed down to Port A for a long week-end with some great friends of ours. My children absolutely love the beach and wish we could live there! We had fun with boogie boards, playing in the sand, taking a relaxing walk and looking for crabs and sea shells. We look forward to visiting again real soon! Most of all we enjoyed each others company and the great memories we made. One memory we will NEVER forget is that Kollman was hit in the face by a seagull. We have no idea how this happened....we figure that Kollman was running back into the water and the sea gull was diving for something and they hit. It stunned both of them...the bird fell to the ground for a few seconds...and Kollman was in a daze and then started screaming. That bird has scared him for life! Too bad I don't have a video of it...we could have won $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos!

Summer Time Fun

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Matt and I have started cooking a lot together on the week-ends. It's a time that we really enjoy and look forward to making a lot of great meals in the future! On Saturday we made stuffed manicotti with homemade meat sauce. Boy it was fabulous! We had some great friends over and they thought so, too! Matt and I always joke that we should have been born Italian as we LOVE Italian food. Sunday Matt grilled some great ribs (4 different kinds) and I put together some lemon and basil red potatoes and green beans. The kids LOVED it and could not get enough! After dinner time the kids went and hung out in their pool. It was great to sit there and listen to their laughter and watch them interact with one another. It reminded me of when I was a child without a care in the world...enjoying carefree summer days.

Kollman turns 5!

July 10th 2009....Kollman turns 5...or as he says...one whole hand! More than anything he wanted a date with Mommy. I let him choose where we wanted to go and he picked Mc Donalds...or in his terms "Old Mc Donalds." I dropped Madeline and Ryan off with my parents so Kollman could have me to himself...he does not get that often! I enjoyed the conversation we had and the laughs we shared. The entire time I just sat there gazing at him thinking "wow...you are 5!"
For me....there are so many emotions attached to this birthday. I remember his birth like it was yesterday. Kollman was not due for another 6 weeks but decided that July 10th would be a good day to make his arrival rather than August 20th. Totally caught us off guard as you can imagine! Despite many efforts to stop labor Kollman arrived weighing just 4 lbs 11 oz, 18 1/2 inches long and a head full of black hair! That would expalin the heartburn...but where did the black hair come from?!!
The next 12 days Kollman spent in the NICU. I cherished my time rocking him, nursing him, singing to him, memorizing him.....and praying over him. I look back now and realize that the Lord had orchestrated all of this for a reason. With Kollman being cared for in the NICU I was able to get some much needed rest and get back on my feet before bringing him home. Upon bringing him home we were faced with many challenges and trials. We were not prepared for any of this! You know, the Lord places people in our lives for a reason and boy during this time I found this to be so true! Our sweet next door neighbor, who was like a grandparent to our kids, had a premature baby herself and was a nurse......and thank goodness for my sake....an incredible listener and friend! She helped us through so much and had a way of making us see that the glass was half full and not half empty!
During the past 5 years we have come such a long way! Kollman is a healty, sweet and very sensitive little boy. We are so thankful for him and all that he has taught us and means to us.
Kollman--Mommy and Daddy love you more than you will ever know! We look forward to making many more wonderful memories with you!

Staying Busy

Boy....do I have a lot of catching up to do! It's been 2 months since I wrote the last blog entry! Much of our time in May was taken up with end of year activities at Madeline's school, Mother's day and a trip to Rockport. June was just as busy.....Madeline completed 1st grade (where did the time go?), Father's day activities, a trip to Sea World, and a week long visit from Aunt Michelle (Matt's sister from NY), VBS and last but not least Madeline began cheerleading classes and gymnastics! Matt and I were able to sneek in a few dinner dates as I turned 36 in May (YIKES) and we celebrated 10 years of marriage in June! I am in the process of downloading pictures now so I can begin the updates! Needless to say we are staying busy and having lots of fun in the process!

Changes.......

What an amazing two years!!

Changes.......

Nothing Runs Like A Deere

We had gone to an Easter Egg hunt down some serious country roads! On our way back we were following some friends of ours.....all of a sudden they pull off on the side of the road because their
daughter wanted to take some pictures of something that she saw. Well, this ranch hand happened to be on his John Deere tractor doing some work in a field where we had stopped. He noticed that we had kids and drove his tractor to the side of the road where we were and let the kids hop on for a ride! Ryan had stars in his eyes! However, he did not like riding in it as much as he did looking at it! The kids were so excited and talked their experience the rest of the day! Truth be known...I think Matt enjoyed it just as much as the kids...if not more!!! Funny thing is that when we see a John Deere...and living where we do in South Texas we see them often....my children can tell you what kind it is due to the JD movie we have! Only in Texas!!!!