The Collins Clan

Renovations!

2009-06-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've decidd to re-vamp the blog some. It's been forever and a day since I posted anyways. I would be surprised if anyone ever even looks anymore. So, changes to come soon.

In the meantime, if you haven't heard, Harleigh Danielle was born at 8:07 am on May 27, 2009 @ 8 lbs 11 oz and 20.5 inches. She is absolutely beautiful and we are all VERY in love! Pictures and a birth story coming....maybe in the next year or so. :)

Stephanie said I have to....

2009-02-13T05:56:00.000-08:00

1. Have you ever been on TV?
Yes! We were featured on a "House Divided" segment for the UF/fsu game this past year

2. Have you ever sung in public?
Yes...I spent several years in chorus

3. Have you ever dyed your hair blond?
Yes..most of my life.

4. Have you ever eaten frogs’ legs?
Yes...and they DO taste like chicken. Greasy, yucky chicken.

5. Have you ever received a present that you really hated?
Probably....and I probably re-gifted it.

6. Have you ever walked into a lamp post?
I don't think so. Maybe a screen door....

7. Have you ever cooked a meal by yourself for more than 15 people?
Yes...every year when all the in-laws come for Christmas dinner

8. Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others?
Um..yea

9. Have you ever done volunteer work?
Yep

Now I tag these people to do this survey!

Melissa
Vickie
Colleen, even though she's busy with a brand new baby girl!

I'm a slacker....

2009-02-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

I realize that, and I can't help it. I haven't blogged in over 2 months, which means I'll never remember what's happened since. So, I'll do my best.

First of all...It's a GIRL! I'm sure everyone knows by now. But just in case, there you go. Her name is McKenzie Leigh and I am hoping that Dr. Hall will let me go until her due date which is 5/27. Since Taylor's birthday is 6/27, I just think that would be cool.
Here she is:

*OK, so I fully intended on including pictures in this post, but they are not posting. Anyone else having this problem?? It seems like I had this problem about a month ago. I tried to post then, but got aggitated when my pictures wouldn't post, so I gave up. Hummmm*

Anyways...as far as the pregnancy goes, everything I said before about it being "easy so far" and all that BS, is just that - BS!! I have been sick since I hit 15 weeks (so, it's been 10 weeks now). Both with morning sickness type issues and the "forever lasting" upper respiratory infection. So, I cough, I gag, I puke. Repeat. I sneeze, I gag, I puke. Repeat. It bites.

The up-side to this is that I finally got referred back to my ENT (ear, nose, throat) Doctor to try and fix the problem. I go this afternoon. Yay! I definitely think a large part of the puking is due to all the excess mucus (yuck) I have in my sinuses/head/chest. It's just more than I can handle.

On to better things...TAYLOR! Taylor is....well, Taylor. He absolutely is his own little person, and has been for a while. He has a pretty impressive vocabulary, which includes but is in no way limited to:
mama, dada, nanny, grandaddy, grandma, papaw, duck, dog, kitty cat, cereal, cookie, tea, baby, TAYLOR, nite nite, bye bye, paci, milk, mama milk, hiding ( as in, we ask "where'a papaw? and he says "he's hiding"), moo, cow, shoe, tv, spongebob, and so on and so forth. Honestly, he rarely shuts up anymore. :)

He no longer walks...he RUNS. Everywhere. All the time. I guess if it's worth doing, it's worth getting to it fast to do it. He climbs like he's part monkey. But that's nothing new. He's been doing that since he could pull up.

He loves to poke my belly and say "baby", although, I'm anxious to see how it actually works out when he finds out that the baby has to actually come OUT of mommy's tummy. Everyone seems to think he's going to be an awesome big brother....so we'll see.

He knows most of his body parts; eye, ear, nose, mouth, tongue, elbow, belly, belly button, knee, toe, foot, finger, hair, teeth...etc. And can show you which is which when you ask. He also likes to show you where your eyes are...which hurts if you're not ready for it.

I think the biggest news is that we are going to start POTTY TRAINING this weekend!! He is fully aware of when he needs to go, and tells us often as he's going, and has been for a little while. I've been apprehensive about starting so close to the baby's due date, but I can't ignore it anymore. He's ready. So, wish us luck.

Other than that, life is pretty much the same.

Oh, I think I'll be moving this blog in the near future. I'm not a huge fan of Blogger. Stay tuned! :)

December 8, 2001

2008-12-08T05:48:00.001-08:00

Sometimes you have to compromise...

2008-12-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

Taylor went to see Santa last night. As I expected, he would have nothing to do with him. Luckily, Santa and his "helper" were very patient, and the fact that we were the ONLY people in line definitely helped. So, after about 30 minutes of begging and pleading with Taylor to "tell Santa what you want for Christmas", this is what we got:

Merry Christmas everyone!

it's almost time!

2008-10-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

For Taylor's first time Trick or Treating! I don't know if he's excited. Or even if he knows he should be. But I am. We had his pictures done at Olan Mills a couple weeks ago. Here is me NOT plugging Olan Mills. Bleh. They've really gone downhill. So, out of 38 pictures, about 10 of them were overexposed and crap, most of the rest included one of us in the side of the picture trying to get Taylor to look happy, and a FEW came out cute.

So, here's a couple. You can see why I'm not thrilled in several of them.

Yes, that's a cell phone, yes, I know he needs a haircut and FYI, he's a skunk.

One. Uno. Un

2008-10-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Well, after hearing from everyone over the last month that I'm having AT LEAST 2 babies, my feelings were confirmed this morning. Please pay close attention....THERE IS ONLY ONE BABY! Which is good. Since I was ready to pack my stuff and leave in the event of multiples. After the babies came home, of course. :)

So, here "she" is:

I have absolutely no clue why they are posting sideways, so turn yer heads cuz I'm too lazy to fix them.

"She" has a strong heartbeat and is measuring 8w6d, which is 1 day short of what my LMP indicates. According to those measurements, "she" is due 5/27/09. EXACTLY 1 month before Taylor turns 2!

And it begins...

2008-10-15T05:41:00.001-07:00

So, I've heard it a million times. "Things happen faster the second time around." I dismiss it and go on about life. Until I notice this:

The picture on the left is from 14 Weeks pregnant with Taylor. The picture on the right: 8 WEEKS this time around.

Dear God. They were not lying. So, just an FYI, ladies. When someone tells you that "things happen faster the second time around", believe them. They're not lying.

gDiaper Update

2008-10-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

A word of advice: if your kid pees more than, say, a normal kid...gDiapers may not be for you.

Upon waking up the morning of his first gDiaper night, Taylor was covered in pee. Ew. So, I did some research. What do you know? You're supposed to double it at night. That makes sense. So, keep in mind that Taylor sleeps for 11-13 hours a night. Yes, we love it. Yes, we worked hard to get there. So, on the second night, I doubled the liners. Now, picture a small child trying to walk with a pillow in his britches. Ha! Luckily, he goes to bed shortly after bath/jammie time anyways, so there wasn't much time for walking, er, I mean wobbling anyways.

I held out hope that the next morning would be clean and dry and we would be able to continue in the world of gDiapers and their cutesy covers. Nope. Soaked. Oh, and poopy. I'm happy to say that it happened to be Daddy's day to get up with Taylor. hehe

So, not only did he wake up covered in pee AGAIN, but apparently, the convenient and still sanitary process of gDiaper disposal turns into a disgusting mess when there are 2 liners to contend with. Daddy was not happy.

So, there's our update. We are no longer using gDiapers and I will more than likely be listing the pack of refils on eBay or Craigslist soon. Would it be wrong to continue to use the covers over a regular sposie? I sure do like them.

Vroom Vroom!

2008-09-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Nanny, Taylor now has yet one more toy with which to break his arm. I absolutely love the "ho-hum" look on his face. Oh, and the fact that he's completely oblivious to the fact that he just might have to steer at some point.

Not quite crunchy....

2008-09-25T06:05:00.000-07:00

But we've decided to give gDiapers a try. The fact that they are flushable first got me interested. This means no more stinky Diaper Genie. But, I must admit, I've always thought diaper covers were adorable. However, not adorable enough to all out cloth diaper. So, gDiapers seem to be the way to go.

www.gdiaper.com

They shipped super fast. I ordered them on 9/22 and even though I paid for Ground shipping (4-7 business days), they arrived on 9/24.

I normally don't put anything on Taylor without washing it first, but the excitement got the best of me. I wrapped him up as soon as I finished reading the directions! First off, I LOVE the covers. They're stretchy and snuggly feeling. At first glance, I thought they had sent me the wrong flushable liners as they looked huge compared to the liner insert. But, it only took a minute to get is situated in the liner and it was perfect.

I especially like that they velcro in the back, since Taylor has recently figured out that he can take his diapers off himself. Ick. So, they were very easy to load and just as easy as a 'sposie to put on. They are a bit bulkier than a 'sposie, but not enough to interfere with the way his clothes fit.

So, Taylor got to go to dinner last night in a tee and a gDiaper, which is adorable. Once we got home, i went ahead and changed him, even though it was fairly soon, so we could get his jammies on and get ready for bed.

66665
+9706399999063068086++++++++++5
3. (Taylor says hi.)

So, the first night didn't go so well. He woke up covered in pee. Turns out, you're supposed to double up the insert at night, since they are on for so long. So, we'll know that for tonight.

While in the middle of typing this blog, we had our first poopy G. I can only say that I hope as I get used to it, it will get better. The snap-in liner was covered in poop. Luckily, I ordered extra, so I didn't feel bad about just throwing that one out. It seems that the insert slipped out of place. Gonna have to figure out how that happened.

All in all, I like them. But they will definitely take some getting used to. It has, however, reinforced what I've always known. I am NOT cut out for straight up cloth diapering. But at least with the G, I'm doing a little bit to help the planet, and Taylor's room won't stink anymore.

I'll update on the G as we go. But, here's some pictures. See how cute the cover is??

Yummy yummy I got love in my Tummy!

2008-09-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

And complete INSANITY in my head!!! I swear I don't remember being this psycho when I was pregnant with Taylor. I cried on 3 different occasions yesterday, and that's not even counting the hour that Army Wives was on. This is insane.

Maybe I was the same last time and I just didn't realize it. There is a lot to be said about the differences in a first pregnancy and subsequent pregnancies. I mean, with the first, if I didn't want to deal with life, I could just go to bed and ignore it. With this one, though, I have a whole other little person to take care of and I would never consider "going to bed and ignoring him".

I have mucho respect for all the mothers that had toddlers while pregnant. Aye!

I am happy to say that I have had no morning sickness and the worst symptom thus far was a 3 day headache. I'm pretty sure that had more to do with cutting my caffeine intake WAY down than it had to do with being pregnant. Since the headache finally went away, I've been feeling fairly decent, other than being exhausted, so I'm happy for that.

My pregnancy with Taylor was also an easy one, with the exception of the bedrest for high BP at the end, and I really hope this one goes the same. So, my hardest job right now, aside from the physical stuff, is waiting until OCTOBER 21 for my first appointment!!! Boo! Anyone that knows me knows that I am NOT a patient person, so this is difficult. It also doesn't help that I got a positive HPT before I was even 4 weeks along. So, here's to insanity and waiting. :)

Oh, we'll be taking suggestions for baby names also.

Mmm Mmm Good!

2008-09-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

And I'm not talking about soup! I happened upon this recipe a week or so ago and tried it immediately. I have since learned that it is also known as Gooey Butter Cake and though I have heard of it before, I have never had it. Believe me, had I had any idea how good it was, it would be a regular by now. YUM!

BUTTERCRACK
Oven at 325
Crust:
3/4 stick butter, melted
1 Box Butter Recipe Cake Mix
2 Eggs
Mix crust ingredients by hand until well blended. Batter will be very thick. Press into well greased 9x 13 pan.

Filling:
3/4 stick butter, melted
1 Box Powdered Sugar
1 8oz pkg. Cream Cheese
2 Eggs
Blend filling ingredients with mixer until smooth. Pour over unbaked crust. Bake 55 min. @ 325 or until light golden brown. Cool completely and serve.

The crust makes absolutely fabulous cookies and I'm thinking about using it to make my Christmas Eve dinner with the in-laws cookies. The cake will stay kind of runny and will juggle in the middle until it is absolutely completely chilled, so make sure you give it plenty of time in the fridge to set. Also, I suggest small slices...it's extremely rich. Enjoy!

101 in 1001

2008-09-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems like everyone and their brother is posting about this these days.

101 Things To Do In 1001 Days

Have you heard of it? I think it's cool. I think I could do it. If I could come up with 101 things to do. I think I'll work on that. Here's the beginning of my list:

1. Have a baby

Go me! I think I'm actually going to work on this. I'll be thinking about my list and will post it soon.

Soooooo....

2008-09-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

For those that haven't heard yet....I'm pregnant! Yay! As of right now, were thinking this will be the last one. But, we'll see. :)

According to the online calculators, I'm due May 26, 2009 (my little brothers b-day).

Still been a while...

2008-09-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

Since I've posted a real blog. So, here goes.

First things first. A moment of silence in remembrance of those lost 7 years ago, and also for those that still suffer today.

And now, an update on my hell child. Taylor has had a cold for about a week now. i gave in and took him to the doctor last Thursday. Of course, all I got was "suck it up and give him some Tylenol", but I got some other good info also. Like, he is now 27 lbs 2 oz. Also, he is 31.25" long. A little big on the weight side, not quite so big on the length side. I've been advised that, contrary to what he tries to convince me of, he will not die without some of my sweet tea. Whatever. He still gets it, just not as much. The key is moderation, right?

So, aside from being ginormous, he amazes me constantly. He is still not talking. He much prefers to yell and point and watch me fetch. He does, however, follow directions. Ex: "Taylor, bring Mommy the remote". Next thing I know, I have a remote thrown at my head. So, it's not perfect, but the end result is the same. I now have the remote. So what if I have to track down all the batteries that fell out when the back popped off when it hit the couch. big deal.

Our night time routine is my absolute favorite! It starts with getting home from work/daycare. Taylor goes to daycare 3 days/week, so sometimes we don't get home until 6 pm. The other days he comes to work with me, so were home at 5:01. anyways, when we get home, he gets some milk and plays for a little while. If it's a daycare day, I immediately start on dinner. If it's not, I chill for a few while he plays. Between 6 and 6:30, dinner is eaten. He loves his dinner time. He's getting really good with the utensils also, which is adorable.

After dinner is bath time. So, after a quick recon mission for missing chicken and green bean pieces, or whatever he might have under his butt, he gets down and is told to "go to the bathroom for bath time". Wanna know what he does?? That's right! He RUNS to the bathroom! The boy also LOVES bath time. Mostly, he likes to fill his cup up and dump it out over and over and over and over and over...well, you get it.

After bath time, he gets to finish his milk from dinner and play. Right 'round 7:15, he starts rubbing his eyes, and will even lay on the floor on his blankie. So, I say "are you ready for nite-nite?". This is my favorite part: he gets his blankie, his binky and goes to his bedroom door and waits for me to come open it! Once I open the door, he goes to his crib and waits for me to come put him in it! It's the cutest thing EVER!! He immediately lays down and takes his blankie.

Every night, I thank all that is Holy that we don't have to fight with him to go to bed. Amen to that.

So, I guess that's about it. I'm kind of over the blogging thing for now. Heres a few recent pictures.

Been a while....

2008-09-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

But, it's late, I'm tired and I only have one thing to say tonight.....

GO GATORS!

That's all. Have a good night. Gator Girl out. :)

Sad, sad mama.

2008-08-17T18:52:00.001-07:00

Taylor is staying the night at Grandma's. As insane as he sometimes makes me, I sure do miss him. Which, is really weird. He'd be in bed now, for at least a couple of hours, if he were home, anyways. So, it's not like we'd be playing a game right now or anything. I guess I miss being able to just go in his room and check on him. To catch him sleeping with his hiney up in the air, or his leg kicked up on the side of his crib.

My sadness aside, cousins Michael, Charlie and Samantha are there too. Not to mention the ducks, the pond, the fish and the 4-wheelers. So, I know he's having a blast.

But, oh Taylor gone to Grandma's makes for sad Mommy. :(

The Junior Museum!

2008-08-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, my husband, my mom, Taylor and I took a trip to the Junior Museum. Yes, I know it's not really called the Junior Museum anymore, but sometimes I'm resistant to change. So, that's what I'll be calling it.

Technically, it's now called the Tallahassee Museum (here) and has been host to bazillions of school field trips over time. I made several trips there myself while in elementary school, but I don't think I'd been since then. Keep your snickers about my age to yourselves, please. Yes, I'm aware it's been 2394862349 years since I was in elementary school.

Surprisingly, it's exactly as I remembered! The guest Animal right now is 2 Patas Monkeys. Ugly monkeys, so don't get excited. Taylor got a kick out of them...especially the one that really seemed to enjoy scratching himself.

It had to have been about a million degrees out, but since most of it is in the shade, it wasn't that bad. We spent about 3 hours there, total, including a lunch at the new Trailbreak Cafe where the ever efficient staff must do things in this order:
1. ask you what you want
2. write down what you want
3. ring up what you want
4. get your drink
5. ask what the other person with you wants
6. write down what the other person wants
7. ring up what the other person wants
8. get other person's drink

and so on and so forth. I don't want this to turn into one of my rants, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. Wouldn't it be more efficient to write it ALL down at once, then get all the drinks at once, so on and so forth?? Maybe it's just me.

Anyways, Taylor loved all the animals. The hawks especially caught his eye flying above us. He also seemed to enjoy the snakes. Ick. I don't think I mentioned the snake encounter we had at work. I should post about that. *note to self*

Pictures now....

Checking out the itchy monkey

AHHHHHH! Budgeting sucks.

2008-08-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

So, we've recently began "budgeting". I use the term budgeting lightly, because by budgeting I don't mean that were using a bazillion envelopes every month, or even have a written plan for that matter. However, we did take some money out of savings to pay off all of the credit cards and put them in the lock box.

Now, if you're like me, you're thinking "I know all the numbers.". Well, I do. But to be honest, I like not having the extra 6 or 7 bills each month. I will say, that we put some on our Home Depot card to get some stuff for the house. And with 1 year no interest and all, no harm no foul, right? I'm anal as hell about paying those off in time. So, we have an awesome new patio set. I think investments in the house are justified. We were more looking into cutting out all the useless crap. So far so good.

Now, on another note. Have you ever grocery shopped on a "budget"? Again, I use the term loosely. Last week, I surfed the weekly ad papers for both Winn Dixie and Publix and made a shopping list that was MOSTLY stuff that was on sale. Boneless skinless chicken breast is an awesome buy when it's BOGO.

So, after $92 at Publix and $77 at Winn Dixie, there's enough food in the house for at least 2 weeks, probably more. I was sooooo excited and proud of myself. I actually planned meals around the stuff I bought and didn't go crazy and buy a bunch of random crap. Not to say that I didn't stock up on frozen pizzas for those nights where cooking just isn't happening. But seriously, at least 2 weeks of food for less than $200 for 3 people? AWESOME. Now, you're probably thinking..."but that doesn't include feeding Taylor." Yes it does. Hell Child eats what we do. Amen for teeth. So, aside form the random jar of Gerber meat sticks, he's included in our grocery "budget" now. Have I mentioned the boy loves ground beef?

So, the credit cards have been locked up for about a month now, and though I'm seriously tempted to go check out the sales at Old Navy and Baby Gap, I'm not. Although, filling up my shopping cart and then just closing the window does help some. Anyways, I thought it would be harder than it is. But I certainly don't want to jinx myself, so I'll say that I'm doing well....for now.

I shall post a picture of the new patio furniture when I remember to actually take a picture of it.

Really? Is it really necessary???

2008-08-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

To blast your thug music so ******* loud at 10:45 pm?? Not that I'm old and trying to sleep (although, on most nights I would be), but I have a child that generally sleeps at night. WTF is wrong with people?

I'm a fan of thug music myself, so I'm not pissed that they're playing shit that I just don't like. I'm pissed that I get woken up by it at 2 and 3 AM! AM!

So, here's what REALLY pisses me off. We've called the Sheriff's Dept several times. I wouldn't have said a word ever if I didn't have a kid, really. So, the Sheriffs Dept will come here and talk to us about it, then come back and say that they "can't find the source". ******* cops. (Sorry Jenna) But seriously. YOU'RE THE ******* SHERIFF!!! Isn't it your job to, oh I don't know....FIND THEM???

So, here's what I've decided. I'm calling them EVERY TIME from now on. I don't care if they've just left. I'll call the bastards back. I'm sick of this shit. As my mama would say, "have some ******* cooth." For all you non-southerners, that means brains/smarts/integrity/respect. Kind of a mixture of it all.

So, I think if I follow this plan, that it probably won't take them long to actually do something about it so I'll quit calling...right?? We're going to find out.

It's called GRAMMAR, people!!!

2008-08-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

It absolutely drives me insane when people don't know the difference between "your" and "you're" and "there" and "their". Is it really that hard? If you think about it for more then 1 second, it might come to you. So, here's my brief grammar lesson for the day.

*The term "you're" is a contraction of the words "you" and "are", as in "you're a moron". Get it? YOU ARE a moron. You're a moron.

See? Simple. :)

Here's another.

His vs. He's
I've only seen this once or twice, but it's so rediculous that it begs for it's own lesson. So, here goes.

*His: possession/ownership
*He's: Contraction of He and Is

Here's the difference:
His dumb ass shouldn't be here.
He's a dumb ass.

This is WRONG: He's dumb ass shouldn't be here. AYE!!

See the difference? His ass is dumb vs. He is a dumb ass. Easy, no?

Ok, that's enough for today.

Grammar Nazi out. :)

P.S. First person to comment and tell me how many grammatical errors in this post about grammar is no longer my friend. :)

The Great Birthday Surprise

2008-07-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

So, I began Saturday as instructed. I slept in until after 10am. Yay! Daddy & Taylor left early. After I got up, I lounged around and watched some tv and hung out until about 1, when I gathered myself and packed a small bag for scalloping on Sunday.

I got to mom's house around 3. Mom was getting Taylor down for a nap, and it was pretty obvious something was up. A few minutes later, I was told that I needed to go check on Taylor for a couple minutes. So, I did. What do you know....he was napping. At which point, Robert came and got me and told me there was something on the back porch that I needed to go get and that I would have to feed it and give it something to drink. *gasp* He certainly wouldn't have the nerve to buy a pet...would he??

So, when I get to the back porch, I find.....MONIQUE!!! One of my bestest friends EVER! He really went all out and I was sooooo excited. Then I find out that there's more to it, but I wouldn't find out what until later. Michelle, Tommy, Nanny & Bill and some others were there for a surprise party...YAY! We had steaks, kabobs, baked potatoes....the works. It was an awesome dinner to say the least.

After dinner, I got to open "gifts". The big ones weren't wrapped. You know you're getting old when you ask for and are excited to get a garbage disposal and a DustBuster for your birthday. :) Then there were cards. Some had money, some had gift cards. One in particular, was good for one whole weekend of babysitting. Yay again!

Then there was another card. A card from Mom & Dad. This particular card held something very special. It held 2 THIRD ROW CENTER tickets to the Brooks & Dunn concert in Jacksonville!!!! Monique and I were to leave early Sunday morning! I was soooo excited!

So we left around 9:30 and headed straight for the mall. We had an appointment at 2:30 to get our makeup done at Mac...which is always fun. After 2.5 hours (quite an ordeal) with the makeup chick, we went and checked into the hotel. Monique got us an awesome room at the Hyatt Regency right next to The Landing on the river. After some hair prep time, we got dressed and went downstairs to The Plaza III for dinner.

After a few drinks, appetizers and an awesome dinner, we got a cab (scary ordeal) and headed to the Arena. Due to the makeup ordeal, we were 45 minutes late and missed part of Rodney Atkins. We still caught about an hour of him, and it was GREAT! Did I mention that he's hot?? :) Who knew?

Brooks & Dunn finally came on about 9 and the seats were AWESOME!!! For the next hour and a half, we danced, sang and had sooooo much fun!!
Caught a cab back to the hotel and had a drink at the bar before going up to the room. It didn't take long to get into some jammies and crash.

As part of the whole package, I got Monday off, so we took our time getting back. Monique's flight didn't leave until 6pm, so we headed to Lake City once we checked out of the hotel. We had lunch at a very good mexican restaurant called El Potro...YUM! Then we hit the Lake City mall, which, on account of it's size, didn't take very long. From there, we headed back home to get Monique to the airport.

So, that concludes the Birthday Surprise. It was awesome and I had so much fun. I love you, babe. I love Mom & Dad too!

This is the only picture I've gotten the "ok" on so far to post...
Before the show:

Rodney Atkins:

Brooks & Dunn

A birthday....surprise?

2008-07-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

So, my birthday (eek) is next Tuesday (eek again). Big 2-9. Not that it matters, I can't stop it and it's not like I'm....30. :) Yet. Anyways, I've been given very unspecific instructions for tomorrow and I have no idea what they'll lead to.

For starters, I get to sleep in. Daddy & Taylor will be leaving around 10am. That's right...I'll be alone. Holy crap. I won't know what to do with myself. So, I have to busy myself (or sleep) until 3:30 when I am supposed to be at my mom's house. We are eating there, then Taylor is staying the night with Nanny. From there, we are leaving.

That's about all I know. At some point Saturday night, we will end up in either Panacea at the condo, or in Carrabelle at the in-laws house (alone - woo). On Sunday, we are planning on scalloping.

So, does anyone know what I'm doing Saturday??? Oh well. I'm excited. Happy Birthday to me. :)

Updates!

2008-07-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, I've made some updates. I gotta say, I'm in love! Yay for a new layout and a clock! I'm a blog genius! OK, maybe not a genius, but thanks to Cheryl, I'm doing pretty damn good!

Check it!

2008-07-18T12:07:00.001-07:00

So, I know I'm not the only girl around that would actually dedicate a full blog to a purse, so here goes.

I bought this when we were in the Bahamas. It was a cute little shop called Iggy Biggy. Turns out, there are several of them scattered among several of the Abaco Islands, but we hit the one on Marsh Harbour.

Anyways, the brand is Dakine (www.dakine.com) and I'm in LOVE!

For less than $100, I got the purse, the wallet and the cute little accessory bag.

I must admit, that as I age, I become more and more of a control freak and at first sight I thought, "I couldn't possibly use that...it doesn't have the divider in the middle". You know, the one that makes it into 2 separate compartments?? Well, I must have those these days so I can keep things separate and neat. On second look I thought, "there's no way all my crap will fit in there!" On third look I though, "screw it, I'm buying it".

So, I've had some doubt since we got home about whether or not I would use it. Last night I decided to try it out. Much to my surprise, it's awesome! All my stuff fits, and thanks to the cool accessory bag and yet another accessory bag, my stuff stays separate! So far, I'm diggin' it. Check it out.....

I love the cute little wooden flower button...

The inside:

The accessories have the cool green gingham fabric inside also.

And now concludes my blog post entirely dedicated to my new purse.

The Bahamas Trip

2008-07-16T18:11:00.001-07:00

I just want to say that the trip to the Bahamas wasn't exactly the best vacation ever. Though it was stressful, it was also beautiful and we had a lot of fun. Here's some pics...

Taylor's Birthday Party

2008-07-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

So, since we were out of the country immediately following Taylor's birthday, his party wasn't until 7/12. Nothing too big. We had about 20 people. Hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. I think Taylor was a little stressed out with all of the people, but all in all, it was fun. He absolutely loves the car his Daddy and I got him, and is soooo intrigued by the tricycle from Nanny & Grandaddy. But, it's way too big for him right now. Aside from that, he got lots of cool clothes form Nana & Grandpa, a cool talking nursery rhyme book, a swing and best of all, CASH! :) Thank you to everyone for spending the day with us and for all the cool gifts! Here's some pictures. Enjoy!

MY CAKE!! GRRR!

What's that? I can't hear you...I have cake in my ear.

Not a fan of party hats.

Ahhhhh I can't stop!!!

2008-07-08T10:48:00.001-07:00

I never thought I would be so "into" blogging. But I am. So, be prepared to read a lot of stuff. :)

Today's news:

We turned Taylor's car seat around last night! Yay! He finally hit the 1 year/20 pound mark - well, he's had the 20 pounds for a while, so we were just waiting for a year. Anyhoo, he loves it! His first ride facing forward was to day care this morning. Check it:

Wow, my truck looks huge from that view. I should down size.

UPDATE

2008-07-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

So, the proofs for Taylor's 1 year pictures are done! I am absolutely in LOVE. Robin did such an awesome job again. Check them out:

www.collages.net

In the purple box:
username: Taylor & the cake
password: 11203

Thanks again, Robin!

My Growing Boy

2008-07-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Taylor had his 1 year check up today and I can't believe how fast he is growing. He weighed in at 24 lbs 14 oz, 30.75" and he has a huge noggin (still). He has gone down to the 75th percentile for height and weight, versus where he was 6 months ago (95 percentile), which is awesome. Dr. Long was extremely happy with his development and even happier that Taylor has been completely off the bottle for almost 2 months now. Go us! So all in all, it was a great appointment...well, except for the 4 shots! Poor little man!

Onto day to day things. He sleeps for 10-12 hours a night and 2 naps everyday still. I LOVE sleeping all night! Yea, I know. There's a bazillion other moms out there that would kill to be able to sleep all night. Let me just tell you, we worked very hard to get to this point and I appreciate it so very much. So, consider this my way of pumping the Cry It Out method. It works. I swear.

As for other things, he is walking everywhere and climbing onto everything. I found him on the couch the other day. I wonder how long it will take him to get onto the back and jump off...He likes to push things around, such as the Wal-Mart shopping cart we got him for his birthday, but he's not afraid to knock it over and drag it if things aren't quite going his way. No wonder his nickname at daycare is "bulldozer".

He talks and babbles constantly. So far, he says mama, dada, fish, cheese, cookie, tea, down and gone. He also likes to yell. A lot. We are currently working on the concept of the inside voice. It's not going well.

Since we were in the Bahamas for his birthday, his party is this Saturday. I'm so excited! Now, to get busy and get this house cleaned before then. Pfft. Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

His birthday cake at Ipanema in Ocala

Taylor is famous!

2008-07-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

So, I had mentioned before that we were having Taylor's 1 year pictures done. I am so impatient. I finally got the email that they were ready on June 27 - the day before we would be without any means of communications FOR A WEEK!!! The pictures are awesome, and I'll be passing the link for proofs onto everyone this week when I get back into the swing of things.

But, until then....Taylor made Robin's Blog!!! Yay!! Check it out:

Robin Adams Photography

Once again, Robin did an awesome job!

I Just Can't Contain Myself

2008-06-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

I am so freakin' excited about our trip that I can hardly contain myself. It's taking everything I have not to get up and dance around like a fool. We leave Saturday. Taylor has no idea what he's in for. I hope he gets over his issues with beach sand soon.

My Zune is loaded and synced with all the latest and greatest. Clothes are almost ready to be packed. 4 bottles of sunscreen have been purchased. I think we're almost ready!!! I want to leave NOW.

Oh, and just an FYI for those of you local. If you've seen the little guy standing at the corner of I10 and Monroe Street lately, you know, the one that has the sign that says "Circumcision Causes Brain Damage"....it's not true. Just wanted to make sure there was no confusion. I'm all for free speech, but sheesh. Get over yourself and mind your own business. My son's penis is MY business, NOT yours. Carry on.

Work Mate to Cell Mate

2008-06-25T13:18:00.001-07:00

So, as many of you know, Taylor comes to work with me 2-3 days per week. We pretty much have a routine worked out, and it's much less stressful than it used to be. Anyways, we keep a pack & play here for napping and control purposes. We call it "prison". Taylor acquired a new cell mate yesterday.

I'm not so sure that he enjoyed having a "cell mate", especially when she started eating his Goldfish.

Why Women Should Vote

2008-06-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start by saying that I'm not a "burn my bra feminist". Not even close to it, actually. But, I received an email this morning that reminded me of the freedoms women have in this country that we take for granted. During one of my last (of many) years at TCC, I did a report on Alice Paul, and though most political leaders and activists bore the crap out of me, I found the story fascinating. The story circulates every year as election time draws near, and every year, I read it again, just as interested as the year before. I urge you to Google it. Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, Iron Jawed Angels. Also, watch the movie. Oh, yea....VOTE!!!

Here's the story. Enjoy.

The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night,
they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's
blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of
'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head
and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They
hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and
knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead
and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards
grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the
women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at
the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to
the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow
Wilson's White House for the right to vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their
food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders,
Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a
tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was
tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

Taylor's First Birthday Pictures

2008-06-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

We met with Robin Adams last Thursday to do Taylor's First Birthday Pictures and we had so much fun! We started off with some "big boy" pictures of him walking through Maclay Gardens, but we switched to the cake pictures pretty quick. He loved tearing through it and I think eating it was the best! We even caught a few of him sitting in the cake box! Silly boy!

We ended the session with a run through the sprinklers and brought home a VERY tired (and sticky) Taylor.

Here's a few for your enjoyment!

Welcome!

2008-06-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to The Collins Clan's new blog! We have had so much going on lately, I can hardly keep up!

Taylor will be ONE this Friday (6/27) and I can hardly believe it. Aside from that, we leave for our trip to the BAHAMAS the next day! How many kids actually get to go to the Bahamas for their first birthday?

We met with Robin Adams last Thursday for Taylor's First Birthday photo shoot. His "big boy" shots were awesome, but for some reason, I think he enjoyed tearing the cake up the most. Of course, he got to run around in the sprinklers after. I took 400 pictures myself, and I'm anxiously awaiting the proofs from Robin so I can spend our life savings on the ones she took!

I am constantly amazed at how much and how well my little man has grown over the last year and can't wait to see what the future holds for him. He makes me laugh everyday. I'll stop, carrying on about him should be saved for a separate blog.