Fall Fun continued..

We took Collin to his first fair, here in our own hometown of Cumming, GA. He was a little too small yet for rides, but we did take him to the petting zoo.

Here are daddy and Collin on the carousel.

One of Collin's favorite games at our church's fall festival- anything that involves throwing, of course!

Collin, Collin, pumpkin eater. Momma carved a pumpkin for Collin, and he tried to eat the insides. Yuck!

Collin's halloween costume. Too small for candy and trick or treating, but he had fun wearing his moo cow outfit!

Fall Fun

Finally an update, sort of, more like a flashback to the end of September and October. I had good intentions of keeping up to date with our blog, but of course, things came up! Good news for those who have not yet heard, we are expecting baby #2! I am due May 4th, and hopefully in December we will find out whether the baby is a boy or a girl. I will definitely update the blog then! :-) Here are some pictures of what has been going on during our autumn.

A Trip to Michigan (Sorry the pics are so small- they were transferred from Facebook!)

Collin and I (Momma) went to Michigan for a little visit. I had my High School reunion (ten years!), so I thought it would be a good chance for us to spend time with friends and family.

Collin at Great Grandpa's farm

A sweet picture of Collin & Grandpa

Friends

Friends for even longer- since elementary school!

Visiting with the Halls

First Family Vacation

These cute little sandy feet say it all - we had a wonderful first family vacation in Florida!
We were blessed with the opportunity to 'getaway' and spend time in Panama City Beach and then take a trip to visit my grandparents (Jenny) in Clearwater Beach. It was a lot of driving, but it was overall a relaxing time together. Here are some highlights from the week:

Collin is ready to hit the beach for the first time. (This is probably the longest amount of time he wore a hat on his head!)

Look at Me!

Collin found throwing sand to be very entertaining. He was scared of the waves, which were pretty strong that first day at the beach. He stayed on the shore most of the time.

Check out my sweet ride. He looks so grown-up in this picture!

A picture of us with the 20,000 lb bull at Angelo's Steak Pit. Good food!

Collin likes to "strike a pose." Overall, he was a good traveler. He looked at his books, ate some snacks, and napped. But we experienced first hand that active little boys don't like to stay put too long!

Flying high over the Gulf. Notice he is pointing at something as he is being tossed in the air. Silly guy!

Waving at the camera. Funny story from our trip, earlier we were out in the water with Collin and told him to look at the waves. And he started waving!

At the Clearwater Beach playground.

I like to swing...but it is hot out here!

Here's another cow picture at Sam Seltzers.

Collin didn't want to hold still for a picture with his Great Grandpa.

We were able to go to some place new - Panama City Beach and visit a place more familiar- Clearwater Beach. Spend some time as a little family, and also see extended family..my grandparents were able to see Collin in action. Go to the beach and to the pool..Collin loved the pool at PCB..very family friendly! Eat in & eat out...yum yum. Not so much sleeping in..but that the life with a toddler, right? We tried to keep it as simple as possible, not just for the wallet's sake but realizing that Collin probably will not remember his first vacation. However, Chad & I will...and we will be (and are) thankful that it went off without a hitch!

Bubba

Yes, one of our nicknames for Collin is Bubba. The nickname did originate before we moved to the South! The nickname takes different forms such as bubby, chubba bubba, chubs, bubs, etc. Anyway, I have received a few requests for updated pictures of our growing boy. I will try to upload some more videos soon. Enjoy!

Collin's first high school football game. He wasn't quite sure about it at first. But he soon had fun trying to spot the ball, and cheering with everyone else.

Getting into the game

"I'm getting tired..its waay past my bedtime"

I like to "play" the Wii

A "Wii" Obsession

Helping Puppa with the dining room

Spider-Baby

Here is our crazy guy showing his newly discovered wall-crawling skills...its amazing how much you don't have to teach your kids and what they come up with on their own!

Our funny little guy

Here are some pictures we have taken, over the last couple months of the cute things thatCollin has been doing. He will be sixteen months next week, and he is becoming more like a little man everyday.

Collecting sticks is fun

Big boy on a little tractor! His great grandpa would like this picture.

He really enjoyed his first taste of watermelon. He ate the whole piece!

Collin loves to throw balls...baseball, basketball, footballs. He even tries to throw a frisbee sometimes. Lately, he has been playing "catch" with dad. And he makes sure whoever he is playing "catch" with, has to have the mitt to play. Obviously, he is still has no concept of being too close to someone to throw, we are still working on that. This is a pretty humorous video. Talk about perfect timing of having the video on.

Vacation Bible School

At the end of June, Chad, Collin, and I participated in our first VBS at Cumming Baptist. As you can see, our theme was Outrigger Island. It was a great week, and many area children were reached with the Gospel....and it was a lot of fun!We had a great turnout!

Heather, Brooke, and I hanging out in the snack room.

I helped Heather (left), as she taught the kindergarten.

Chad and Bud leading the song, "I can do what the Bible Says"

The kids loved Bud's mohawk. Three boys showed up with the same hairstyle on family night!


This was Collin's first VBS, and he had a great time. He was able to enjoy some of the big kid activities, snacks (as you can see!), music (his favorite), and recreation.

Big Colin and Little Collin :-)

This is a video of me & Jennifer (our VBS director) throwing chocolate creme pies in Chad's face. Chad had the honor of receiving the pie because the girls raised the most money in the missions coin drive. I was touched by a little girl in my class who brought in her vacation spending money to send to a missionary in American Samoa. It brought tears to my eyes, as I thought about myself, and how selfish I can be sometimes. But this young girl brought all she had been saving, and gave it all for God's kingdom. God showed me through this little girl, that my faith needs to be more like one of a child's. Overall, the total given by both the boys & girls was over $1000!

These pictures & video are courtesy of Nancy Carter, our VBS photographer for the week. She did a great job!

Student Life Camp

Phew! The summer is flying by fast, but it has been an enjoyable one for us. A few weeks ago, we went to Student Life Camp at Lee University. As you can see, we had a great group of students and leaders! We heard bible teaching from Jeremy Kingsley, who challenged us to walk on the narrow path. We were led in worship by the group,Echoing Angels. We also had an opportunity to host a backyard Bible club at a housing project. The students and leaders were impacted greatly by the camp, and it was a wonderful time for us to bond together.

Collin's faux hawk

Collin came with us, and he was a real trooper. He had fun wandering around campus, collecting sticks (his new favorite activity), and playing with the kids at the Bible club (even with the summer heat!)

We have more pictures and adventures of our summer to come....stay tuned!

Home Sweet Home

Today will mark one month in our new home in Cumming, GA. About time I posted a photo, right? We feel blessed beyond words, and we are loving it in our house! There is a lot more room than our last place (as well as more cleaning!). Nevertheless, we want to use it for God's purposes, after all, it is a gift from Him. For those who are looking for a peaceful retreat, we have plenty of room for visitors :-)

Collin has enjoyed his first trip to the neighborhood pool. He loves splashing around and visiting with the neighborhood kids.

This is his supermodel pose:

Floating around in the pool

Both Chad's parents, and my family have made the trek to Georgia to visit and help us with setting up our home.

Cousin Denielle carting Collin around the yard


Not only are we cousins, we're friends too!
Alexis & Collin

Collin.....WALKING!!!!!!

Our little guy, Collin, had not shown any real interest in walking until this week. He certainly wasn't persuaded by our gentle nudges to help him. He was going to start walking when he good and ready. Little did we know, his desire changed overnight! Now he loves to practice perfecting his new skill. He will take a few steps, fall on his botttom, and try again. Sometimes he tries to walk much faster than his little legs can take him. And if he learns to walk as fast as he crawls (as some of you have witnessed), the Ireland household will never be the same! Hope you all enjoy this video :-)

Firsts

One month has quickly passed for us here in Cumming, GA. The past month has included a lot of firsts for the Ireland family. Our first move with Collin, Chad's first position in ministry, Collin's first birthday, my first stab at being a stay-at-home mom. Not too mention, the first "normal" family schedule Chad and I have had as a married couple. Phew! The transition from Louisville, KY to Cumming, GA could not have been any smoother, and I attribute that fully to God.

Leaving Louisville was bittersweet for us. We said good-bye to wonderful friends, a wonderful church, and jobs (while sometimes, they were not-so-wonderful, they were a great blessing), and our first home. The last day of work, as I walked out of the office, and shut the door behind me, it struck me, that we, as a family, were closing a chapter of our family history. While it was sad, I was very hopeful and excited about the new chapter. God had a plan for our lives, and He was leading us to Georgia (who would have thought it!) It has been a long year for us, with many ups and downs, but we can look back and see how God had been preparing us, and the church for our arrival!

We are so thankful for all our wonderful friends and family, and our new friends and church family here in Georgia for all their help and generosity toward us. This is a time that we will remember as a family when God provided so abundantly for us, as we followed where He called us. We know there are many more firsts ahead of us, and we hope that you will come back to our blog once and awhile, to see what is going on in the Ireland household.