A Weekend of Fun!

A Picnic at the Park with Friends!






Fun on the Playground!






A Walk with Dad!


Playdough Fun at Home!




What a Fun Weekend!

Zoe and Colby

"Look What I Can Do, Mommy"

This afternoon I was in the kitchen doing the dishes while Colby was in the den looking at some books. I had just about finished the dishes when I noticed that Colby was being awfully quiet(usually not a good sign). I went in the den to see what he was up to and this is what I found.






The rascal pulled out the movie drawer and used it as a step to climb up into the entertainment center. He definitely keeps me on my toes!!

New Year's Eve Pictures

I can remember how I used to look forward to New Year's Eve. The counting down of the clock, the fireworks, the fun. Wow, things have changed. This is a picture of Colby and his neighborhood friends. This was taken about 9 PM New Year's Eve. They were wired from the brownies and ice cream. These are some of the sweetest kids that you will ever meet. Starting from left to right, Maggie, Isabella, Colby, Casen, Kinley, Parker and Miller.

It's A Miracle!

As many of you know when Colby was 9 months old we went to the eye doctor to discuss surgery for his blocked tear ducts and found out that Colby is severely far sighted and needed glasses. This was a major shocker for us and I could not imagine trying to get Colby to wear glasses at 9 months old. Well at first I was surprised because it went better than I expected but that did not last long. Since Colby was not crawling at the time he was rolling everywhere and rolling all over his glasses. Lets just say Colby was not digging the glasses. We kept trying a couple times here and there to get him to wear them and he would just scream and pull them right back off every time we tried to put them on. Well, 2 weeks ago we went back to the pediatric opthamologist for Colby to get the stints removed from his eyes and the doctor asked how it was going with the glasses. When I explained that it was not going well he prescribed some drops to put in his eyes that would dilate his eyes and make his vision blurry unless he had his glasses on. He wanted us to do the drops for 2 weeks. Scott and I did NOT want to do the drops. I couldn't imagine him walking around and not being able to see. We decided to give it one more go before trying the drops. Colby still was not happy at all but I knew he would keep them on if we were outside. So I bundled him up and we went outside for about an hour. He did not bother his glasses once. When we came inside he tried to take them off a couple times but I was able to put them back on. Now, he has been wearing his glasses ever since and we are so thankful that we did not have to do the drops. He still pulls them off when he gets upset about something but other than that he is doing a great job.

We are so proud of you Colby!!

Drooling while you work

This was Colby after a tough day at work. He was washing all of his toy cars and trucks with the new "Drool Gel".

New Year, New Hopes, New Dreams

Well it has been a long time since I have updated you and a lot has changed. Last year was a tough year for Colby but he has made so much progress and is doing very well. Let me get you up to date. When Colby was about 12 months old they discovered that he had low muscle tone in his trunk (bottom half of his body) and that was why he was not crawling or walking. We went to see a neurologist and had a MRI done to make sure there were no problems that were causing those delays. After several stressful days of waiting, the test results came back normal. They set us up with Early Intervention to have him assessed to see which areas were delayed so they could start working with him. He passed every test except for the physical development. He was 12 months at the time and was testing at a 9 month olds level. They also discovered his low muscle tone. They set him up with a physical therapist and a special instructor to work with him. They come out to the house or to Colby's mother's day out class once a month and do exercises with him. They also teach me how to continue to work with him at home. Colby started making progress immediately. While working with him we noticed that he was turning his feet out and that he was really pronating his feet. His PT(physical therapist) said that it was due to his low muscle tone so she decided that he needed to be put in some orthotics. They are basically hard plastic ankle braces. Within a week of receiving the braces, he started trying to walk. One week before Christmas we received the best Christmas present ever, Colby starting walking on his own and has not stopped since. I remember Scott and I talking before Christmas and saying that all we wanted for Christmas was for Colby to walk. It was such a blessing and we thank God for answering all of our prayers. Colby still wears his braces some of the time and is doing so well. He had physical therapy on Tues. and his PT said that he has made so much progress that she does not need to see him again until March or April and that after that it may just be twice a year. Yeah Colby!!

As most of you know Colby had several surgeries last year and we appreciate all of your prayers. Now we are hopefull that we are through with all surgeries and everything is corrected. He is doing great.

I know many of you have been praying for Colby throughout this year and I cannot express how much we appreciate your prayers. God has been so good to us and Colby is such a blessing to have in our lives. It is so wonderful to watch him grow each day and learn and discover new things. He now is saying "Mommy" and "Daddy" and it is music to our ears. He is about to be 18 months old and we cannot believe what a big boy he has become. Children are amazing!

FINALLY CRAWLING!

Hey Everyone. Scott here. It has been a while since I have been able to blog a little. By the time I get off work, get home and eat and play with my family, it is time for bed. So, what is new in our little man's life. Well, over the last week, he has progressed to a full blown crawl. Yes, he is a little bit of a late bloomer. For the longest time, he would do a partial swim move on the floor. He would push and move on his right side only. Then, with no warning, he got on all fours and crawled about two feet. A week later and he goes EVERYWHERE. He is excited and loves to explore his new world.

We hope to get his one year pictures taken soon. We were supposed to get them a couple of weeks ago but we had to move the appointment due to having a second set of tubes put in.

Now, let's talk about his appetite. He is a very picky eater. The one thing that we have learned is that you can't pull a fast one on Colby. i.e. We will give him some grilled cheese bites to eat. During that time, we will try to sneak in some green beans. If we get caught, he will express................in a very vocal way..........................his displeasure in the trickery. We really think it is more about the change in the texture of the food rather than the taste. He has become very independent and prefers to feed himself. Our little man is growing up.

Colby's First Birthday!!

Colby had his first birthday this past Saturday and it is so hard for us to believe that he is already One year old. Boy does time fly! We had a lot of fun on his birthday. We had some family and friends over and had a cookout at the neighborhood pool. Colby had a blast and man did he devour his cake. He destroyed the whole thing, not by eating it but by throwing it everywhere. There was cake everywhere!!! We all had a lot of fun and are so thankful to everyone for sharing this special day with us. I will post some pictures when I get them.

Happy Birthday Colby!
We love you and are so proud of you!
Love,
Mom and Dad

Walsh Family Reunion!

Last week all of my brothers and sisters and their families came in town for our Walsh family reunion.(Or as Scott calls it Walsh Fest '09) We had a great week and it was so good to see my sister Christy and her family from Denver, Co. My mom said that her one request for her birthday was for us all to be together and have a family picture made. So we did and all I can say is God bless the photographer. We went to Portrait Innovations to have our pictures made and 4 hours later we were finally done and everyone had picked out their pictures. Let me just say that the reason it took so long is that there was 28 people total and it is very hard to get all 28 of us in a picture, much less all 28 of us cooperating. Really, though, the picture taking did not take that long it was picking out the best picture that took forever. In most of the pictures at least one person had their eyes closed or wasn't looking at the camera. It was hard to find a picture that everyone liked but we finally picked one and managed to have a few laughs in the process. Needless to say we had a great week and enjoyed being together.


The whole Walsh Family



The Walsh children and their spouses.

All the grandkids.

My First Beach Trip

A few weeks ago we went to the beach with Scott's family for a week. We had a blast and Colby did really well. Colby saw the ocean for the first time and was terrified. He was fine looking at it from a distance but if he got too close he would start balling crying. Luckily where we stayed they had a walk in pool and a lazy river with a water slide. Colby loved the pool and the lazy river. He even had fun watching his cousin Gage go down the water slide. A couple of nights we took the kids to the arcade and Colby was in awe of all the lights and sounds. And by kids I mean Colby, Gage and the biggest kid of all SCOTT. Just kidding! We all had fun at the arcades and all us adults got into the game Deal or No Deal. Lets just say if I were to get a chance to go on the real show Deal or No Deal, well, I should just stay at home cause I STINK at that game. It was still fun to play though. We all had a great week and enjoyed the trip. Below are some pictures of Colby from the trip. Picture overload coming up!!

Lounging in the lazy river with dad!

Ready for a nap!

Hey, this sand thing is not so bad!

Too close to that big scary thing they call the ocean!

My first snow cone!

I'm trying to ignore that big scary thing behind me!

PRAISE JESUS!! I'M ON VACATION!!

New Glasses!

It's been a big day for Colby. He got his new glasses today and so far he is doing much better than I expected with them. At first he wasn't so sure about what was on his face but once we took him outside for a walk he forgot all about them and left them on for about an hour. It is still hard for Scott and I to see him in glasses this young, but we are so thankful that the doctors discovered this so now our little boy can see everything clearly. They say that he may grow out of glasses in a couple years once his eyes develop more and get stronger.

Colby also went for his 9 month check up today. He is now weighing 18 pounds 10 ounces. It's amazing how fast he is growing. He is in the 20th percentile in weight, 60th percentile in height, and 60th percentile in head cir. The doctor said that everything looked good. Our homework for this month is to work on crawling and work on eating some table foods(every time we give him table food he gags and spits up-fun stuff).

I have to say Colby was a real trooper today. He got his finger pricked, two shots and fitted for glasses all in one day. He is one tough cookie!!

We hope everyone has a happy Friday tomorrow!

9 Months Old Today!

Colby is 9 months old today and I can't believe how fast he is growing. He is now sitting up, saying "Da-Da"(still working on "Momma") and has two bottom teeth. I do not think that we are anywhere near crawling yet but he gets where he wants by rolling everywhere. I cannot believe that in 3 short months he will be 1 year old. His favorite things to do these days are: for me to fill a bucket up with toys so he can dump them over and pull them all out; to go around the neighborhood in his wagon and visit with all his friends; doing water play outside and putting all his toys in buckets of water; swinging on his swing set and watching t-ball games.

Our shocker of the week was when we took Colby to the eye doctor to find out if he was going to need surgery to fix his blocked tear ducts and they told us that Colby is severely far sided and needs to wear glasses. Can you imagine a nine month old in glasses? That is something I have never seen in all my years of child care. Scott and I were both very upset when we found out but we know if that is what he needs than that is what we will do. So, this past week we spent trying to find Colby some glasses and let me tell you that is not as easy as it sounds. There are very few places that even know how to fit a 9 month old for glasses much less carry glasses that will fit him. We did find some however at the Pediatric Opthamologists office and will work on getting them ordered this week. Please pray that Colby will grow to like his glasses and not try to pull them off all the time. And please pray for God to give his mommy and daddy wisdom and patience as we go through the process of teaching Colby to wear his glasses. I know that things could be much worse but my worry is that if his eye sight is so bad now what will it be like in 20 years. The doctor has explained to us that there is a chance that his eye sight could get worse but that there is a chance that years down the road he could grow out of it and not need glasses anymore. That is what we are hoping for.

We will keep you all posted on how the glasses wearing situation is going and try to get some pictures of him in his new glasses when we get them in. Also, if there is anyone who has been through this situation and has any advice we would love to hear it.

We hope everyone has a great week!

Colby's First Easter!

Well, Colby had a great first Easter. On Saturday we were able to catch a few of the nieces and nephews baseball games in the morning and then we headed to my parents house to have Easter with my family. We had a big Easter egg hunt with all the grandkids and then ate some good food. My brother Jon, his wife Jenny and their 6 month old daughter Riley were in town so we got to visit with them and play with Riley. We enjoyed seeing everyone.

On Sunday we went to Scott's brother's house to have Easter with his side of the family. We had a big delicious lunch and then the kids opened their Easter baskets and enjoyed their goodies. After that the dad's hid a huge basket full of eggs and the kids had an Easter egg hunt. Colby found a few eggs. The weather was beautiful so we all sat outside for a little while, while the grandkids checked all their eggs for money and candy. Colby's aunt Christy took a lot of pictures of Colby for us and they turned out great. Here are a few of my favorites. Thanks Christy.

We hope that everyone had a blessed and wonderful Easter!

Colby's First Wagon Ride!

Loving My Wagon!!

Colby got a wagon from his Mimi and Big Daddy for Christmas and after the snow cleared out it warmed up and we were able to try it out for the first time. I think you can tell by the expression on his face what he thinks of it. He is such a big boy now and can sit up all by himself in his wagon. When he gets in it, it is so funny because he just sits there and chills while we pull him around the neighborhood. Thanks Mimi and Big, I love my new wagon.

We went over to aunt Missy's to swing on their swingset the other day and we had to take our wagon to show some of his cousins. They all wanted to take turns riding in it with Colby. It was cute. Colby is now big enough where he can swing on the swing set and he loves it. Mommy and Daddy are giving in and working on building him a swing set for the spring so he can enjoy it during the beautiful weather. Here are some pictures of him swinging at Aunt Missy's and having fun. So much fun that he was wiped out.

Wiped out from swinging!

Snow Day!

The snow started around 3am and stopped around noon. In total, we got about 4 inches of snow. It was a pleasant suprise, considering it was 70 degrees just three days ago.
We went outside, took some pictures, then hid out all day in the warm house. It was a wonderful day.
Since the last blog, Colby has continued to grow. He is now sitting up... some. If he gets distracted, he will lose his balance. He has one of the cutest personalities that I have ever been around. He loves to smile, laugh and babble. It is amazing to know that God has entrusted us with Colby.

6 Month Old Pictures!

SWEET, SWEET BABY!!