First Smile

You know you're a mom when time just won't slow down. My best friends and I are talking about planning a 20 year friend-iversary next summer. 20 YEARS! I can honestly say I feel like I just met them at cheer try outs. Glitter eye shadow, blue nail polish, begging for sleep overs, talking about boys, trading pager numbers (yes pagers) what can I say...we were kinda a big deal. And now we are all moms, still a big deal just to different people...more important people- our sweet babies. And Collin while six weeks may seem like nothing, to me you have already grown and changed so much. I wish you back to that little 7 lb. one day old already because I fear I'll close my eyes and 20 more years will have passed. I constantly find myself asking for peace in the moment so I can just take simple mental snapshots in time. Snapshots of Hannah caring for you, Jack running around the backyard with his underwear on backwards, and you looking up at me so innocently. There is this moment each day that is the best 60 seconds of my day. If you sleep in too long you miss it and enter straight into chaos. In the morning right before the day starts there is about 30 seconds where I open my eyes and I have all 3 of my babies asleep snuggled in next me. Everything is quiet and the suns not quite up yet. It's a moment right before the "I need breakfast," "Hannah grab your bag we are going to be late," baby is crying moment and it is the best!

Anyway I digress, back to the point of this post. Collin you are smiling! you started right at 6 weeks, but it took me a few days to capture a picture. Hannah made silly noises while I grabbed the camera. My greatest hope for you in life is just for you to be happy so these smiles are the best. Whatever you do/believe/become etc I love you and hope you always keep smiling. Also in the works, as I sit here typing you are taking your first nap in your big crib. I thought it was a little early, but you're such a good boy I figured I'd give it a try and to my surprise, 21 minutes in and I haven't heard a peep. I am hoping this is the start to a schedule. More to come on that after I see how it goes.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Sweet Collin. The first holiday your child celebrates is always a special one. We had such a fun day. Your brother and sister woke up at 6am ready to hunt for eggs. They were so excited to see that the ridiculously large plate of carrots, lettuce and grass that they left for the bunny was eaten. In an attempt to save the neighbors from an early wake up call we held them off with a cinnamon roll breakfast. You of course enjoyed your milk. Jack told you you could have "extra milky" since it was a special day. Brother and sister then headed out back to find their eggs from the bunny. Together we built the annual puzzle to get our clue to the baskets and they were hiding in your crib! After baskets we went to church and then off to Granny's house for more egg hunts, gifts, lunch, fun, and love. Granny made the traditional bunny cake which was bigger than you. I cant imagine next Easter you may be walking and looking for eggs with your siblings. I love you so much Collin James. I hope you always remember that Jesus loves you!

Spring Break

I was really looking forward to spring break this year. We didn't have anything major planned, but I thought it would be nice to just have a calm week with no where particular to be. We planned something each day with the kids that I thought I could manage with 3. They decorated Easter cookies, went swimming, played at the park, went to two different Easter carnivals (pony rides/face paint/bounce houses), met the bunny, dyed eggs and took a trip to the Natural History Museum in LA. Jack loves dinosaurs so I was excited to show him the dinosaur exhibits and to my surprise the kids loved everything there. They didn't want to leave. Everywhere we go Collin is so amazing and easy. He easily travels in the front pouch and still sleeps most of the time. He loves to look at lights and ceiling fans. He enjoys tummy time, baths, and the swing. This week he started spitting up when eating. I knew I didn't want to live through 6 months of that so I decided to do some research. Hannah never spit up and Jack did a ton. I started reading about how big an influence bottle type has on spit up. The more I read, the more it made sense since Hannah's special bottle was operated by us, the nipple was always filled with milk, no air. Long story short, we bought a new bottle that is supposed to be the best at reducing air flow and it's actually working. It's not 100% eliminated, but so much better.

ONE month

Happy One Month Birthday Collin. These last four weeks have flown by. I feel like we were just sitting in the hospital room. This last month has been such a joy with you. Simply put, being your mom just makes me happy. You are such a good baby. Our house is always loud, active, and crazy. We are constantly on the move and I joke that you don't know what silence is. You sleep through race cars, temper tantrums, piano practice, concerts, tv, etc. You go in and out of a car 100 x a day which sometimes makes me feel guilty as a mom, but then I look at your sweet face, resting peacefully through the chaos and tell myself you know you are loved. And that you are. You are so loved it makes my heart want to burst. You are adorable and make cute little faces. They say eye color changes, but I really think they are blue. Much lighter than Hannah or Jacks ever were. You rarely ever cry. You dislike diaper changes and being hungry, but other than that are happy. Your sister runs to your rescue whenever you're in need. She is very comfortable and confident with you and I think you trust her as well. This month she was Star of the Week at school and got to bring a special 'toy' from home to share. She chose to bring you. You were a huge hit with all the kids. Your brother Jack had a more difficult time at first wanting mom's attention, but is getting better with each passing day. Both Hannah and Jack love giving you baths. It's probably my favorite time of the day because after bath the four of us have 'play time' and Hannah and Jack bring you toys. I know you love their attention and I love seeing the blessing you are to each other. This month you seem to be growing very quickly. You eat 4 oz every 2-3 hours. You still obviously wake at night, but usually go right back to sleep when you are done eating. Your favorite things seem to be mommy holding you, eating, and getting love/attention from Hannah and Jack. You make little grunting noises and focus on various things in the environment such as lights. As a mom, I've been reflecting a lot lately on things I've done right and things I've done wrong. I think parents never stop doing that, but I feel like I've finally figured some things out after 6 years of this gig. I just feel happy with you. I don't dwell on being tired or worry that you're spitting, up or google poop color to see if yours is normal. That is the blessing of being the third. I just simply enjoy being with you and I'm trying to embrace our time. I love you so much sweet Collin.





blue eyes

Beautiful Boy

Last week you sat through Hannah's spring concert. I think you enjoyed listening to the music. One song she sang was What a Wonderful World. I hope you always look for the beauty and good in the world because it is all around us and you Collin James make my World Wonderful! Here are a few favorites from your newborn photo shoot. It was about 95 degrees in the room to keep you asleep and took a little over 3 hours. Mom and dad were sweating, but you and your siblings pulled it off and gave me some of the most beautiful photos to treasure.