Over the river and through the woods...

and on an air plane, over a lake, through the clouds to grandma and papa's house we go....er, went.

Collin has been a very busy boy for the past two weeks.
Just after Collin turned two weeks our family was thrown for a loop with both expected and unexpected events. First, Collin had his vaccinations at his two month appointment. This was expected, but that didn't make it any less difficult. When we got to the doctor's office we talked to our pediatrician and she commented on Collin's development. She seems to think he has advanced motor skills, which is just wonderful, since we have a house full of stairs. But, soon after our conversation was over the nurse came in to give Collin the dreaded shots. He got one oral vaccine (which he took like a champ) and three shots, two in one leg and one in another. I didn't want to be holding him when he got the shots for fear of freaking out myself, so Drew did it. I was across the room, but when he cried out I began to cry too. It was awful! I had never heard that cry from him, it was so intense that he held his breath in between wails making it soooo hard for me to sit back and watch. After he was finished he was very sad, but luckily the only side effect he had was a little bit of extra sleepiness. The day after Collin slept a lot and otherwise was quite happy.

Then, early the next week we got some unexpected news. One of my cousins, Deanna, was tragically shot in a drive by in Kansas City, MO. Sadly, the shot went through her neck and killed her. She and her daughter, along with her mother-in-law were on the way home from a theater and were caught in the line of fire. We could barely believe the news, and truly struggled to understand how someone so loved and caring could be taken from the world so tragically.

The following week, we had more expected events. We made our first trip to Michigan. Collin had his first plane ride on Wednesday, July 30th, 2009 to go visit grandma and papa in Michigan. Every year I go to Michigan to meet up with my friends from high school for a girls only weekend at the lake home in Traverse City. So, while I planned to meet the girls, my parents planned to watch Collin.




While we were in Michigan Collin met more people before I left town. On Thursday we ate dinner with Grandma Herriman and took a 4 generation photograph, as well as with Bob and Aunt Chris. My cousin Tammi, her daughter Shae and husband Lee stopped over to see the baby too. On Friday, the girls came to pick me up to head to Traverse City and I left Collin in the care of my parents and sister, hoping that all would go well.
By the time we got to Traverse City I was already worried. I called home to check on him and found that Collin was doing absolutely wonderful while I was away. I called nearly every three hours and every time my mom let me know he was happy, smiling or sleeping. It was wonderful to hear that he had such a fantastic visit with them.
While in Traverse City, when I wasn't worrying about Collin we were wine tasting and spending time on the beach, as well as throwing Lisa a surprise Bachelorette party.





We had a fantastic time and look forward to spending time on the beach again next year for our annual visit.
Nevertheless, I missed Drew terribly while we were away. I think having Collin has made it substantially more apparent how much we rely on each other, and how much we love each other. I was so happy to see him at the airport when we arrived.
When we got home we were welcomed by our crazy puppy and a few surprise gifts in the mail, one from Drew's great Uncle Dick and Aunt Gloria as well as one from the Komor's in Germany. Colin has his first German friend!
In high school Drew visited Germany with his brother and stayed with the Komor family, since then, the families have kept in touch and they had a baby in April, just before Collin arrived in May. It was fun to get things in German.
The box had Spongebob on it, but it said, Sponge Bob Schwammkopf
All of the adorable clothes we received were size 68, which we later found out meant 6 months. In Europe baby clothes are based on length of the baby in centimeters. They sent lots of adorable items, including a teddy bear and a very cute doggy in a blanket.




They also sent a picture of their adorable baby boy, Victor. In the future we hope to be able to visit them so Collin and Victor can meet and become friends.

So finally, we are now catching up, with Collin turning 11 weeks tomorrow. We can't believe how fast he is growing and how much his little personality is starting to come out.