After a very long blogging absence, I finally got around to posting some pictures from our recent and not-so-recent adventures. Below: Labor Day Weekend '09.

Nice slobber Toph.

Around the house. Below: 10/22/09 Toph with his Oopsie Bear. There is his new 5th tooth. Course he's got 7 now (12/13).

Our New "Topher" Vaccum

As those of you who were at Great Grandpa & Grandma's in Kaysville, UT know, Christopher was only scooting himself into corners, under tables and couches. One day about a week and 1/2 ago, he decided that he was tired of being so limited, got up on his knees, and started crawling like he'd been doing it for months. He is now our best vacuum and, of course, mess maker at the same time. Madelyn is doing awesome in school and starts her new hours of 8-2:15 in the beginning of October. Whoa! Long hours for kindergarden but we like her school a lot so far. There are so many spanish speaking kids in her class that are taught in an EL class separately that the student to teacher ratio is really small. Good thing since Madelyn demands lots of attention and doesn't pay attention very well. She's inherited that, "I only talk, not listen" thing that I'm struggling to shake. We're all really looking forward to her birthday, which is proving to be rather large again. James starts school on Tuesday and will be done with all of his pre-requisites for PA school and he's just two recommendations away from finishing his tedious application for PA school. I hope his health gives way to his ambitions. So far he's winning the fight.

Settling In

I'll add some pictures when we get our new 1.5 TB external hard drive hooked up. My pictures are taking up all the memory on my computer so it's kinda hard to add more and edit them. We're quickly getting settled in our apartment in Sunnyvale and are really enjoying the area. It's nice to be so close to so many enjoyable activities plus we live right by the cutest duck pond. Our apartment complex is a wonderful little community all in itself and the weather has been wonderful. James' health seams to be getting better and better and I'm feeling much better as I'm adjusting to everything. The kids are both happy and healthy. Christopher got his first two teeth last week and isn't enjoying that much but it's just so cute. He just fell asleep in his jumper after about 45 min. of laughing and jumping. He loves that thing. Wish Madelyn had enjoyed one when she was little but never took to it. Madelyn and Christopher are still absolutely enthralled with each other and it's fun to see how they grow everyday. Madelyn starts 2 1/2 hour kindergarten in August and 5 hour kindergarten starting October. That'll be exciting and hard I'm sure. We're headed to mom and dad's on Friday for a BBQ and to San Francisco on the 4th. James' sister and niece are coming for a visit at the end of the month and we're all really excited for that.

Sunshine & Rain

We enjoyed our Valentine's dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Nielsen's house and I enjoyed helping mom and dad frosten the pretty heart cookies.  Madelyn mostly liked the butter, frosting, and sprinkles.  Madelyn had fun, as always, with her cousins Jack and Austin.  We sure will miss you guys when you go.  :-(  Usually very cheerful Christopher was all pouts until uncle Michael got big smiles and laughs out of him.  He answered and giggled at all of uncle Michael's questions too, so cute!

We've been getting some very good rainfall lately, which is good but not so good for outdoor play.  I think Madelyn is starting to go a little coo coo since we took her out of pre-school and it's been mostly just mom and dad since, like practically everyone I talk to, Madelyn and Christopher have had a bad cold/flu thing since the beginning of the month.

Yesterday James and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and my honey treated me to some excellent lobster that he bought just for me.  What a sweetie.  He sure does bend over backwards for me.  I love you too James!

We finally got lots of beautiful sunshine today so James took the kids for a very long walk.  Madelyn did so good on her new big-girl bike, even up and down all the big hills.  Christopher even calmed down for the walk and took a little nap, he sure does love to keep moving.  While his big sister is getting well over her cold, Christopher has been getting worse so we finally took him to the Dr today and were sent home with a nebulizer thingy but he sure does act like he's felt better after his first two treatments.  Hang in there little guy, we've missed your constant smiles.

Up To Date

Not much going on around here; just a few more pictures to show. James did well on his first test this semester and hopefully when he finishes this class it's only 2 more classes to go before Physician's Assistant school. Madelyn's out of preschool and is certainly stubborn when it comes time for James and I to teach and get her ready for kindergarten this July. Christopher is growing up so fast. He's a very happy good baby; only wakes up once a night to eat. His laughs are quiet but frequent and he sure talks to me a lot. I'm trying to get it on video but then he just get fascinated with the camera. Happy 8th Anniversary to James and I on the 17th!

01/18/09

01/27/09

02/06/09

Light really shows off the red in Christopher's hair. With his hair, blue eyes, and James' green shirt, he sure looks like an Irish baby, to me, in this picture...definitely gets that from his dad's side.

December 27, 2008

A VERY big day for our ever growing family. Christopher was blessed and later that evening we (minus the kidletts) enjoyed a wonderful celebration of my sister Amy's recent wedding. What a luxurious night out!

2008 Collins Family Picture

Rose Red in her pretty dress from Aunt Mimi and ruby slippers from Grammy Collins.

Taking care of and cuddling with her favorite little baby buddy.

Before Christopher's Blessing.

Christmas at Last

A Very Merry (late) Christmas To All!

I feel bad it took me so long but here are some Christmas pictures at last.

Just Life

A new little bomb has dropped in the Collins household. Madelyn and Christopher have been sick. Christopher very sick with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial virus) pretty common but possibly deadly in newborns. He's much better than last week as he doesn't have a concurrent stomach bug anymore, is being treated for his ear infection, and smiled for the first time since he got sick the other day. I just came down with the bug(s) and feel TERRIBLE! The other bomb James asked me not to blog.

Christopher's Baby Announcement

Here's his birth announcement for everyone I didn't have a current address for. I Photoshopped it a little bit from the original just because I liked being able to add more than 30 characters per line and actually being able to have our last name on it.

Grammy Barbara's Visit

Earlier in the month of December, we had the pleasure of having "Grammy" Collins come and visit for a week. She was an absolute pleasure to have and a real blessing by cooking, cleaning, offering good company, spoiling us rotten, and watching the kids while I got some much needed sleep. I was able to take her by the John Muir home so at least Barbara was able to see something besides the inside of our house while she was here. She also spoiled us by taking us out (among other places) to Vic Stewart's; an extremely delicious high end steak house brand-new to Brentwood. Everything was so deliciously prepared that I didn't even need salt and I'm a salt addict. It was a great visit and I'll post some more pictures as soon as I can get this little ball of cuteness off my shoulder.

Madelyn Princess

Christopher stopped crying as soon as Madelyn put her finger to her mouth, so funny.

Christopher 3 weeks old.

Just Some Fun Past Christmas Pictures with the NEW!

Christopher with Uncle "Santa" David, Christmas Day 2008

Madelyn with Uncle "Santa" David, Christmas Eve 2004

Me with Santa, Christmas 1976

Jaundice & a First Bath

We had a little bit of trouble with Christopher being jaundiced as his bilirubin levels got WAY too high so we had to get re-admitted to the hospital on Thanksgiving. Poor James totally missed Thanksgiving dinner. I did too but I wasn't really too concerned about that. They made me up a nice microwave dinner when I got to the hospital, gag. I just felt terrible that I had to leave Madelyn again. She ended up being a real sport about it though. The doctors thought that we would have to stay for 48 hrs. at best but Christopher did really well under the bili-lights and we were able to go home the next day, yea! Christopher is still over 5 points higher than normal on his bili labs but he's doing ok. I just wish there was some sun we could put him in so he could get better that way.

Madelyn is such a helper girl. She really wanted to give Christopher his first bath. I told her about how all I had to do was hold her head and the rest of her body would float by itself for her first bath so she wanted to do that with Christopher. She did a great job. Madelyn would really like to help out more so James and I are really looking forward to Christopher becoming stronger and a little less fragile.

Madelyn meeting her new baby brother

11/22/2008
Madelyn's first look at her new baby brother.

Madelyn is very gentle with Christopher and extremely proud to be a big sister.

Very happy pair.

Baby Christopher

Christopher William Phinneus
was born on Friday 11/21/2008 @ 7:28 p.m.
He weighed 7 lbs 6 oz
and was 20 inches long.
This picture was taken right before his first sponge bath on his birthday.

Christopher William Phinneus Collins

HE'S HERE!!! Great labor, excellent delivery, and hopefully wonderful recovery. 3 pushes and he was out. It was so great having family there. Thank you to everyone that's helped and visited so far. Sooo much nicer than doing it alone in Texas. What a difference! We finally thought of a name Sunday right before we went home and then actually almost changed it but this one will just have to stick. It's about time! I just call him my little Tophie Cheeks. We got some precious pictures and will post them a.s.a.p. Now to get some sleep, hmmmm...

Baby Brother

Here's Madelyn giving her baby brother one of her wonderful hugs. She's looking forward to his arrival and being a helpful big sister. This same night Madelyn started explaining on how she thought he would get here, ouch!! She was very creative about what the skin on my belly was going to do.

Little Singer

Madelyn LOVES grandma Nielsen's Halloween songs.

4yr Old Pictures

We had a fun Halloween going to a parade and party at Madelyn's school and then walking in the sprinkling rain trick-or-treating. Madelyn had so much fun with the two neighbor girls we went with and was VERY good at always saying "trick-or-treat". No shyness in this little girl! We tried to visit daddy at work but he was called into the O.R. :-( Madelyn was such a good little witch.

Madelyn's Big Birthday Week

Wednesday 10/8: We went to Carino’s for dinner and had a nice big brownie sundae after singing the 1st Happy Birthday of many to Madelyn .

Thursday 10/9: I brought cupcakes to Madelyn’s school for the afternoon snack time and sang Happy Birthday to her with all of her little school friends. She was very excited about the upcoming week. So much so that she wanted her hair just right and decided to hide under a table earlier in the day with a pair of scissors and cut herself “more bangs”. The school Director warned me before I brought the cupcakes in but it isn’t so bad. I think we’ll just let those extra bangs grow out. Ugh, I thought we didn’t have to worry about her cutting her hair anymore, jinx!
Sunday 10/12: We had a fun family dinner with cake for Madelyn at grandpa and grandma’s house. Thanks for the wonderful dinner grandma! It was really nice to enjoy the company of Auntie Em, Uncle Michael, Aunt Heidi, Austin, and Jack along with the Brentwood Nielsens. Madelyn really liked the Sponge Bob ice cream cake that she specifically requested a few months ago.
Monday 10/13: Happy 4th Birthday Madelyn! I figured we had to do something on Madelyn’s birthday so we headed off to Chuck E. Cheese’s for a little bit before Madelyn’s “Well Baby” Dr’s appointment. Friends and family joined us again and I wish we could have stayed longer. Thank you everyone for making it so much fun. Madelyn is happy and healthy and doing well in weight and height and is in the upper 60th percentile for both. Turns out it was time for all her pre-Kindergarden shots but we obviously put all 6 of those off for next week; after Disneyland and definitely NOT on her birthday.

Tuesday 10/14: We slept thru the alarm but hurried and got everything packed and ready to go in time to make it to my echocardiogram in Livermore. Everything looks good so there should be no problems with a normal on-schedule delivery of our little no-name baby boy. Madelyn was VERY good for the trip down to Disneyland. Thank goodness for portable DVD players. After we checked in to our hotel, we had a fun time walking around Downtown Disney and eating at the Rainforest Café. And yes, we sang Happy Birthday to Madelyn again that night.

Wednesday 10/15: Our first day at Disneyland was funny. We thought there might be a little bit of a problem with what Madelyn was imagining and what Disneyland actually was when, on the way down, she said that she was going to put Tinker Bell in a jar so that she could see her. We tried to explain around that one but she wasn’t having it. Her first ride was the Matterhorn with James while I was waiting in the Finding Nemo line. She just thought it was ok but thought the “monster”/abominable snow man was cool. Madelyn was pretty moody the 1st few hours because she didn’t see her favorite characters running around everywhere like in the movies but she got over it and we all absolutely LOVED the princess lunch and thought it was totally worth it. Upon walking to our table we met with Ariel. When I told Madelyn Sleeping Beauty was coming out, she got so excited she jumped up, spun around, and landed about 5 feet from her chair still frantic that she might miss the princess. So funny! Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, and Cinderella all came and talked individually with Madelyn and we saw Belle later on. The food was very yummy, a big plus, and they made a big deal over her birthday. Madelyn didn’t say much to the princesses but we could tell she was very excited. The parade that night was totally awesome but not as neat as watching Madelyn watch everything. She was so much fun to see experiencing everything.

Thursday 10/16: Our last and longest day was tiring and fun. We did our favorites, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted House. Madelyn loved both and we rode Pirates 3x in a row at the end of the night. The Haunted House was all re-done to be in theme with The Nightmare Before Christmas and Madelyn had to get a little Zero stuffed animal (Jack Skellington’s ghost dog) because she liked it so much. I made a reservation at the Pirates restaurant, Blue Bayou, and that was neat but we’ll definitely skip it in the future. We’ll do the princess lunch again for sure though. The fireworks were the best I’ve ever seen and totally worth the crowd. Fun, fun.

Friday 10/17: After a 7 hour ride home, I dropped James off for work (he had to leave in 10 min.) and headed strait for grandma and grandpa’s house for their Halloween party. Even after a long day in the car it was wonderful. Yummy punch, homemade chili, pumpkin pies, decorated sugar cookies, treats for the kids, sang some Halloween songs, and sat around the fire and roasted some marshmallows. Emily and I even ended up freaking each other out with our scary talk around the fire. I don’t know what was up with “the shadow” that jumped on everyone though. He only shook pool water all over me, I’m special I guess. ☺

Well, there’s the end of our very special and especially exhausting week of Madelyn’s big 4th birthday.