What a week...what a past couple of months!

Fun, Fun, Fun! That is what this summer has been so far.

Collin had his first tubing experience on Lake Sinclair a month ago and he had an absolute blast. He is so adorable and so gutsy when it comes to trying new things...hmm, I wonder who he takes after in his risk-taking (probably both his mommy and daddy, however, I'm partial to think it's more me, hehe). Pierce also had fun on his lake trip and fell right asleep every time we got on the boat. I just love snuggling my little guy. Last weekend we went back to the lake for the second time this summer and Collin's cousin Braz also got to ride the tubes. We had so much fun and the boys were completely worn out after a day on the water.

I hope we can continue to go to both the McKinney's and the Griffin's lake house for the remainder of the summer any chance we can because I hope Collin can get comfortable and love the water as much as his mommy and daddy do.

We also went to the beach a few weeks ago and we had an action packed time. We played on the beach and went to the water park almost every single day. One of the days, Collin went out in the water at low tide with his daddy and they caught a SHARK. It was so neat to see Collin so excited about it. I hope to create many more memories down at St. Simons Island.

Cars 2 came out this past weekend and to say that Collin is obsessed with it is an understatement. In the last 2 weeks, we've watched the original Cars movie every single day, so when it came out this last Friday we knew we had to go. I want to thank Aunt Sissy and Bee Bong for watching Pierce for us so we could take Collin to the movie. He loves the movie theater...maybe it's the popcorn and coke (I know, I know kids shouldn't have coke... but it helps him stay in his seat for most of the movie, so I don't want to hear about it mommy friends) and LOVED the movie. He hasn't stopped talking about "Mater" or "Liking McQueen" (as he says it) ever since. He also carries around a Mater and Lightning McQueen car every where we go. I guess for his 3rd birthday we will have to have a Cars themed party :).

Until next time, take care!

And family makes 4...

Well, I know it's been quite awhile since I last blogged and for that I apologize. I'm definitely going to try and get back into the blogging. Since I last blogged A LOT has happened. Matt and I struggled for 14 months to get pregnant and in August right around Collin's 2nd birthday we found out we conceived our second child who was born on April 17th, 2011 (2 weeks early). His name is Pierce Dwight McKinney and he is such a blessing in our lives. I went into labor at noon on April 16th...I "labored" until 4 am and finally my midwife Meredith told me the wonderful news..."You are 10 cm...and actually the baby's head is already halfway out," un-beknownst to me since I had an epidural at midnight and couldn't feel anything from chest down, lol. I only pushed twice and then my little miracle baby was completely out and laying on my chest, which is the sweetest feeling in the whole world. Not many people know this but Pierce was actually born on the day my father passed away exactly 6 years ago. In the moment that I was holding Pierce for the first time I had such mixed emotions...I was so in love and so happy to be holding my precious baby boy but I couldn't help but have all the grieving and sad emotions run through every part of my body thinking about my father. Then my sadness turned to a sense of awe because I knew my dad had a part of my son Pierce being born on that day. I looked at my mom and we both said that my daddy is looking down on us now and wants April 17th to be a happy day. Pierce's middle name Dwight is also my father's middle name and it's crazy that we picked that name out many weeks before he was born. Everytime I look at Pierce or think about the day he was born I think about my daddy too. So here he is world...Pierce Dwight McKinney.

I think I'm completely out-numbered now...what do you think?

Until next time, xoxo!

It's been awhile...

This has been a wonderful year watching Collin grow up. He's really starting to talk a lot, he's running EVERYWHERE and he's extremely fond of balls and cars. He's been attending Rocky Branch Academy and both he and Matt and I really know it's such a wonderful fit. He gets excited every morning when we pull up at the day care to see and play with his friends. For a long time Collin had a problem with sharing and being away from mommy and daddy but day care has definitely seemed to cure this. Our family is about to join the Georgia Aquatic center and we hope our little man will be swimming like a fish by the end of summer. We have a few beach trips planned and we are excited to let him play in the sand and the surf.

My little nephew Braz is also doing really well and he and Collin are definitely PIC's. They still are living up at Fort Bragg but we hope they are going to get to move sometime in about a year or so. Brandon still has many years left but we hope they will move back home once he's finished serving his time in the military. Braz is just like Brandon and my Daddy...such a social butterfly :)

Collin's grandmother, Honey, is also doing really well. The bank is, thank goodness, doing wonderfully despite this horrible economy. This past April was my dad's 5 year anniversary and although we thought time would heal everything it seems to get harder as the years pass and as Collin gets older. I know Collin would have learned so much from his grandfather, Bear, but we love to talk about him and tell him stories.

Nanny and Pops, Steve and Stephanie, are also doing great! Pops is loving retirement and living at the lake and Nanny is working super hard to make some "play" money for her and Pops. They have really helped out and stepped up with Collin so much this year and for that we are forever grateful.

I promise I won't wait another year to do another post...until then, take care!

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 was so much fun! Collin got great presents from his Honey, Nanny & Pops, Uncle Brandon & Elizabeth and Unkie Adam. We are already looking forward to next year because we know it will be that much more exciting and Collin will be much more involved in opening his presents.

Matthew and I went on our first vacation away from Collin over the New Year. We had a blast in Orlando, Florida at Disney World, Universal Studios and the Capitol One Bowl, but we missed our son terribly. Lucky for us, we have amazing Grandparents who had so much fun getting to keep him.

We hope everyone has an a great time in '09 and we look forward to getting to spend more time with all of our friends and families!

Our Family

What an exciting year 2008 has been for us!  I decided to start a blogging page when one of my dear friends sent me her families page.  I tried doing a website, but it got a little too complicated for me :)  So, I decided to jump on the bandwagon of blogging ...we have lots of family and friends that don't live in Georgia, who we don't get to see as much as we would like to, so we hope this site will keep everyone updated.  We love you all and we hope you will enjoy reading about what's going on with our life!

Collin Griffin McKinney 8.12.08

Collin was born on 8.12.08 and has been such a blessing to our life.  He constantly is smiling and bringing warmth to our hearts.  He loves his Honey and his Nanny & Pops so much!  And they LOVE spoiling him :)  Collin is about to be 4 months old and he is really starting to have his personality shine through.  He still is the spitting image of Matt right now, but I'm finally starting to see a little bit of my feautures come out in him too.  He cracks us up every day because he is always holding his hands...which we've decided looks like he is either praying or working on his golf grip!  We are so excited to see what the future brings with our little Duders!