Collins's First Football Game (A Blue One!)

Collins is a seasoned tailgater but had never actually attended a football game until Saturday. I was so excited to take her to her first-ever game in Chapel Hill and thrilled to show her around Carolina- a place that is so special to me.

We made a girls day of it with Missy, Andrea, and Laura and started things off right with a pancake breakfast at Elmos.

 

Then we did a little shopping at Student Stores. Collins chose jewelry and a pom pom to accentuate her Tar Heel outfit.

 

I was worried that she wouldn't last the whole game, but turns out that watching cheerleaders, eating hot dogs and ice cream, and practicing her own cheers was a good way to pass four quarters.

 

She also kept a close eye on this guy, and insisted we go and meet him.

 

 

And we both got to pet the ram for the first time!

 

 

The football game itself was a huge disaster with Carolina losing to ECU, but our day at Carolina could not have been more fun. I was really hoping that an exciting Fall day in Chapel Hill might tip the scales a little more in the direction of Blue/White rather than Red/White.

 

But when we were leaving the game and an ECU fan came up to Collins and said, "Go Pirates!" and she looked at him and responded, "No- go Wolf Pack!", I knew I had officially lost her. Despite our best efforts, she appears to be following in her Daddy's footsteps. Maybe I have a chance to make baby #2 a Tar Heel???

 

Regardless, I will always have fond memories of our first Carolina game together. It was a special (and apparently tiring) day! Here's what I saw in the rearview 10 minutes into our drive home...

Little Baker

Collins and I love to bake together in the kitchen. Although our projects are always messy, I think it's a special way for us to spend time together. She is actually quite good at dumping and mixing, and she loves to use her pig whisk and be the "taste tester".

This past week we made a kids version of pumpkin pie to celebrate the start of Fall!

 

 

Tennis Lesson

Collins is now the owner of her first tennis racquet. It is pink/orange and Dora-themed which is appropriate. Her first tennis lesson involved lots of chasing the ball and trying to climb the net like a monkey. But she did make contact with the ball a couple of times. Brian is convinced she will be a tennis star so we are starting training early!

You Don't See Everyday...

A man in a suit and a 2-year-old in heels working with a smoker. They were getting ready to put some ribs on for the State/Clemson game...

A Big Impression

Collins has been talking about her encounter with the "really big cow" for days. Not only did he give her a miniature cow that she now sleeps with, but he also blew her a kiss. Her only question, "why won't he talk to me??".

Fun in Davidson

We spent last weekend in Davidson visiting the Slosson family and cheering on the Wildcats for their first home football game. The tailgating was really fun, but I think Collins would tell you that dressing up with Libby and Paige was even more fun!

Into the Swing of Things

I'm pleased to say that preschool has gone surprisingly smooth these first two weeks. There is a big difference in the confidence and independence of a 1 1/2 year-old versus a 2 1/2 year old because dropoff was not this easy last year!

On Tuesday, Collins walked right up to her teacher waiting at the door and said, "peekaboo!" and went straight into the classroom to play. She waved me goodbye with a big smile on Thursday. I love this. It lets me leave and have my away time worry-free knowing that she is happy in school.

We are also impressed by The Raleigh School and her teachers so far- everybody seems to really know what they're doing. All in all, a good start to school!

Here's her playing on the playground after class got out...

 

First class photo...sitting in their cubbies waiting for pick-up...adorable!

A Big Girl Room

Collins had one request for her big girl room- PINK!!! And pink is what she got.

Mom and Baba came up this past weekend to help me transform the guest bedroom into Collins's new big girl bedroom, and the amount of work we accomplished in two days was incredible. We painted the room, the closet, a new dresser, a new nightstand, a bookcase, a desk, and a chair in various shades of pink/aqua/white. We had paint everywhere!

I could have never gotten this project off the ground without Mom and Baba's help, and Collins was literally jumping up and down with excitement when she saw the finished wall color. I'm still working on all the final decor now so no big reveal yet, but here's how the project got started...

Collins got the ball rolling with the first swipe of pink paint...

 

then insisted on a dancing break.

 

Alli got saddled with a paintbrush too, even though she was going into work later...

 

and Baba kept Collins busy cleaning windows.

She was thrilled with the final product! And despite the fact there was little play time this weekend, it was really fun creating a special room for Collins with some of the women who love her most!

 



Baby Update

We've hit the mid-way point of this pregnancy! It's hard to believe that 20 weeks have already passed, and I'm grateful to say that my only complaints these days are too much sneezing/eating/peeing and being exhausted at the end of each day. Not too bad considering that I'm growing this tiny person inside of me...

We had our big 20-week ultrasound last week to make sure the baby looked normal and measured correctly, and luckily everything checked out great. It was amazing to see the four ventricles of her heart, her functioning kidneys, her little fist, and the first image of her face!

Here's the 3-D image of her face and hands...

 

and her belly, legs and tiny feet.

Baby Fork weighed 13 oz and is roughly the length of a banana right now. All body parts are completely formed at this point, we've just got lots of growing to do. I've been waiting to feel her kick for a couple weeks now and hadn't felt much. But right after our doctor's appointment last week, she got busy kicking and I've felt that wonderful sensation every day since then. I love it!

First Day of School

Collins walked bravely into her new two-year-old classroom yesterday without any tears. And when I picked her up, the first words out of her mouth were "Mommy, I had fun at school today!". Talk about making a mama proud!

Labor Day Fun

Between the first football game and a visit from Poppy and Nana, we had a really fun Labor Day weekend.

Brian's dream of taking home the "Pork Patrol" crown was realized the first tailgate of the season. He was filmed making his jambalaya, he won a sweet prize pack, and 60,000 people saw this funny image on the jumbo-tron at halftime!

Collins had a big time with Poppy and Nana.  Not only did they do lots of playing and dress up, they also accompanied her to her first-ever Sunday school class, took her out to eat at a restaurant, and rode the rides at Pullen Park. She loved her time with them!

Taking a Hike

Last weekend, we took a hike in Umstead Park. Why have we never done this before??? How have I lived in Raleigh for over 10 years and never taken advantage of this beautiful resource which is practically in our backyard? It was really fun!

We hiked around a pretty lake and attempted a trail- our pace being challenged the whole time by a pokey toddler pulling up the rear. She found that pulling bark off trees, jumping off stumps, and chasing us with sticks was far more interesting than completing a trail.

We've promised her that before it gets cold we'll go back and take out a canoe!