Collins Family

Thanksgiving

2012-01-09T09:31:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Grandma (Shirleen) Bland, Mike, Ann, Mitchell and Jarom Collins. Mike and Ann had us over for a wonderful dinner! Grandma made rolls, Denny made creamed corn and then Ann made the rest! It was all so very wonderful and we are so glad that we got to spend the day with them, watching football, eating lots of yummy food and enjoying our day with wonderful family!

11 days old

2011-11-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

Greyson Lee Collins 11 days old! He is just so cute and sweet!!

Jayden and Greyson

Tom, Denny and Benson after they went to the Boise State game here in San Diego! It was fun to see Tom and Benson! Jayden LOVED having her uncles come and visit!

Collins family after church today!

We have been loving being a family of 4, a lot more busy, but it's been wonderful. Jayden is just loving being a big sister! My mom is here helping still and it's been so nice to have her here to help with the kids and me! My recovery this time around has been a lot better than it was with the recovery after I had Jayden. So thankful for that! Glad we were all able to make it to church today! Jayden loved being able to go to nursery :)

Family of 4

2011-11-11T18:58:00.001-08:00

Greyson Lee Collins was born via C-Section on Wednesday November 9th @ 9:40am! We are thrilled to have him here he is just perfect!!

Our first picture with our son (I was not awake though)

(Picture taken on November 9th)

Jayden loves being a big sister and is so sweet with the baby!!

Jayden and Grandma Bland came in and got to see Greyson while I was in recovery so they got to see him before I did! Lucky them!!

My first picture taken with Greyson (again I was not awake)

I had a scheduled C-Section and after they gave me the spinal tap and had made the incision, I could start feeling what felt like needle pricks so I told the anesthesiologist and he just told me to tell him if it gets worse, tugging and pulling are normal to feel which I could but it was really hurting, so after me continuing to feel lots of pain which got continually worse he gave something to knock me out. (Denny said it all happened really quickly and that I wasn't complaining of pain long, but in the moment for me if felt like it was a long time.)

I stayed in recovery for 2 hours.

We were able to go home today :) This picture was taken today (Friday November 11th and he is 3 days old)

Right before we left for the car :) We are loving being a family of 4!!

DISNEYLAND!!

2011-11-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

We went to DISNEYLAND!! It was so much fun!! Grandma Bland took us! Denny hadn't been in 19 years, me in 21 years and it was Jayden's first time! We are lucky to live so close, but it hasn't been in our budget to go! So this was such a fun thing!! WE ALL LOVED IT! It did rain and we had to get ponchos to keep us dry, it was like we spent a day in Oregon!! Nice we were able to go before Greyson arrives!!

Jayden was soo happy and excited to see Minnie Mouse! She was just all smiles and laughter!! It was seriously the cutest thing ever!!

Getting ready to check out Disneyland! Denny pushed me around in a wheelchair since I wouldn't last walking for very long and we don't need me going into labor early! Grandma pushed Jayden in the stroller (most of the time she walked and had her monkey harness on, for a while she sat on my lap in the wheelchair. She was sleepy but never fell asleep! Too much to see!)

In front of Minnie's house! Jayden was thrilled to see Minnie again!

Jayden sitting on Minnie's bed

In Mickey's house, Jayden got to meet Goofy

Jayden was very excited to see Mickey too!! She blew him lots of kisses and was just so happy!! (She is holding a Mickey Mouse)

Our family all tired from a day at Disneyland!!

Grandma Bland and Jayden (Jayden has Mickey and Minnie! Thank you Grandma Bland for the cute souvenirs for Jayden!! She loves them!!)

We went on rides and got to see lots of fun stuff! Wish we could spend days there getting to see and do everything!! Jayden had a blast!!

Denny and Grandma went on Space Mountain!

Denny went on Indiana Jones while we went on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh!

I hope we get to come back again soon since we only live about an hour away!!

Beach with Grandma Bland

2011-11-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Jayden, Grandma and I went to the beach and it was beautiful day! We had lots of fun, especially Jayden running around and playing in the water! Hopefully Grandma will get to go again while she is here! (Since I won't be able to for a while!!)

Cute little Jayden giving baby Greyson a hug :)

Trunk or Treat & Grandma!

2011-10-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went and got Grandma Bland (my mom) from the airport and we had a busy day going to IKEA, Costco and a few other places before going home and eating then heading to our ward's Trunk or Treat.

We went to our ward building and they had some activities for the little kids in the gym, Jayden fished and got a bracelet, did a cake walk and got a cupcake. :) Then they did a Costume contest, then last they did the Trunk or Treat! Jayden loved it and said Trick or Treat and Thank you! So sweet. She would say Trick or Treat like 3 times between each car or waiting in line behind other kids. She was making laugh so hard! It was so funny! She LOVED it all and didn't want to go!

Love Trunk or Treating!! :)

This morning getting her ready for church she wanted to paint her nose! ha too cute! We will do it again tomorrow when she helps pass our the candy for our Trick or Treaters and possibly take her Trick or Treating to a few doors.. We shall see!!

(Of course when I uploaded the pictures I did them all from the end to the beginning!)

Swings

2011-10-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would post a pic of little miss Jayden ;) It's so nice that we have swings at our complex! It's just across the parking lot which makes it so nice especially since Jayden LOVES to swing. There is a little play structure by the laundry that has a slide, I haven't taken a picture of her there yet.

Countdown

2011-10-28T07:44:00.001-07:00

We have so many wonderful things to look forward to so Jayden and I made some countdown chains.

One is for Grandma Shirleen Bland who comes tomorrow!! She colored the plate for Grandma.

Pumpkin is for Halloween! Jayden ripped the pieces for the pumpkin's face, I think she did a great job!!

Last one and the longest is for Greyson who comes November 9th! She colored a plate for Greyson too.

37 Weeks

2011-10-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

I am 37 weeks as of Tuesday October 25th!! This picture was taken Saturday October 22nd. I am feeling good! Tired pretty much all the time(getting uncomfortable trying to sleep but I don't have very many more days), but with the move and unpacking and being sick that has made it a little tough, but I'm still doing well! I have weekly Dr appointments and all is going great! Can't believe our little baby boy will be here in less than 2 weeks!! The time is going by so fast! Very excited to hold him!

All moved in

2011-10-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

We are all moved in, not all the way unpacked yet, but so very close!! I have maybe 5 boxes and pictures left! I have done lots of laundry and have more to do, we had towels and clothes all piled up to do and then sheets and towels in storage that all needed washed, then all of Greyson's baby bedding, clothes, blankets, ect.. Never ending! It's insane! Today I washed all the stuff for the carseat, I figured I better get that done! I will post pictures hopefully soon. It has been tough the last few days to get things done with Jayden and I both sick, Denny works full time and goes to school full time, so he is very busy!! When he comes home from work I always have boxes for him to move and furniture that I want moved a little here and there. I would move it if I could, but we don't need Greyson coming earlier than the 9th! Even with all that it is so worth being here and getting ready for our little baby to come! We LOVE it here!

My mom comes in 2 days!! Yay! She is going to help me get our pictures on our walls which they take up so much space on the floor and in boxes it will be nice to get those up! We are hoping to get a kitchen table this weekend! The base broke on our old one, a family in our ward was giving away a table so we are going to get that and use it until we find one we love!

Pictures will soon come hopefully!! :)

Busy week!

2011-10-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

Last sunday we went to Anaheim to visit Tom, Sheri(Denny's sister), Connor and Macey who were here in town from Idaho. We had lots of fun visiting, eating, watching The Lion King, walking around and hanging out at their hotel. Monday they came down to our place and we went to the beach, then they came to our house, the kids played, watched movies, the adults talked, played games and we all ate dinner!! Then on Friday they came back down and they had dinner at our place and visited, they left early Saturday morning back to Idaho, it was so fun to see them and we miss them!!! Mike, Ann, Jarom and Mitchell came on Friday too so they could see Tom and Sheri as well. Fun to see them too!!

Well we are busy packing up our place getting ready for our move on Tuesday! I took a break on Thursday and took Jayden to Chuck E Cheese's as well as ran errands that day too! Jayden had a blast at Chuck E Cheese's, she just ran around sitting on all the rides, we got a few tokens and so she played some games then she picked out a couple prizes and carries them all everywhere she goes.

Yesterday I packed and cleaned in the morning then in the after lunch Jayden and I went to our neighbors my friend Mary and her daughter Jaidyn's and the girls painted craft pumpkins :)

Denny got home from work and we packed some more. Today we will do more packing (Denny also has some homework to do, a paper to write and I think a quiz to take).

Tomorrow will be the last day of packing and hopefully I will get most of the cleaning done too so that way there won't be much to do on Tuesday.

I just can't wait to unpack at our new place!! Pictures to come if I can get in there before we start unloading the truck!! We have people from our ward helping us load and unload, Denny has a few friends from work who will helping us move as well, our Uncle Mike will help us out in the morning with getting the truck and helping take our bed apart and start loading the truck! We are so grateful for all this help!!!

We have had a busy, fun and tiring week! I'm exhausted!! This week will be busy too with finishing up packing and cleaning, then unpacking at our new place. I have a friend who lives in our new complex that will take Jayden for me most of Wednesday and another friend coming to my place Wednesday to help me unpack (Denny has work and school that day so will leave for work at 8am and won't be home from school until after 10:30pm). I am so grateful for wonderful friends! Seriously the best ward!! So many wonderful people!!!

Binkies

2011-10-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

Jayden is all done with binkies!!

Saturday night we told her how the Binky Fairy is coming to take her binkies and she is going to give them babies that need them, when she takes the binkies she leaves a special present!

Sunday morning she came into our room and asked me to help her find her binky. So I had to tell her again what happened and she then wanted to look for her present! So we got up and looked and found a bag and inside was Bullseye! (The horse from Toy Story) She gave him lots of hugs and was so excited! The photo above is Jayden eating breakfast and holding Bullseye! Hopefully tonight won't be tough! So happy to be done with the binky's before Greyson comes and he has binky's! We explained how she is a big girl who doesn't need them and now only babies have them! She has told me a couple times about how babies now her her binkies. :) (Thanks Jennie for the idea!)

Sunday Denny gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting and did a wonderful job, right after we headed North to Anaheim where Denny's sister Sheri, husband Tom and two of their kids Connor and Macey are visiting from Caldwell Idaho. We spent the day with them and have lots of fun!! :) Jayden loved running around with her cousins!! On the drive home Jayden fell asleep and stayed asleep when we got home, so there was no issue with the binky that night, again this morning she asked for it, so again we told her where they are and what happened. Today she played hard and we had fun with cousins, played at the beach and they came and played at our house, we ate dinner and played games :) We had lots of fun with family!! So at bedtime Jayden asked for her binky and was sad, it took about 15 minutes for her to stop asking for it and other things (toys, water and saying she was hungry). I was worried it would be a huge deal, but she of course was sad yet still was fine! I'm so excited for her to be done with binkies especially before Greyson comes and binkies will be in our home again!

MOVING! :)

2011-10-06T16:25:00.000-07:00

We found out yesterday that we are moving into our new apartment on the 18th, which is only 12 days away!! We have a busy month luckily all fun stuff, this weekend Denny's sister Sheri, her husband Tom and 2 of their kids Macey and Connor will be visiting! They will be staying about an hour North of where we live, but we will see them a few times while they are here, then we move the 18th, we have an Aunt and Uncle coming into town on the 20th, Denny's birthday is the 21st which it will be so fun to have family in town to celebrate his birthday with, then my mom comes into town on the 29th, Halloween on the 31st! Then comes November, Getting 100% ready for little Greyson to arrive (Shopping, setting up everything and enjoying time with my mom before the 9th (which is the day of the scheduled C-Section). Then my mom leaves November 30th and Denny's mom arrives that day! We are so grateful for the help from our mothers! It will make recovery go more smooth, plus I won't be able to pick up Jayden until about 6-8 weeks after the baby comes so it will be nice to have some extra help with her, she will love the attention from the Grandmas!

It all seems like a lot, but I seriously am looking forward to it all!! Packing, unpacking and visiting family! Plus dealing with all the baby stuff, I am so looking forward to preparing, we knew we would be moving so I haven't done any 'Nesting' for Greyson and it's been killing me to have to wait! It's all going to be so fun! Plus taking Jayden trick or treating! She is so excited, we got her pumpkin out of storage 2 days ago and she walks around with it saying Trick or Treat! It's so adorable!! :) Plus hopefully we will have Trick or Treaters come to our house!

I even have a friend from my ward that will take Jayden on the day of our move to I can clean the apartment after all of our stuff is loaded into the truck and while the guys move it to our new place I will get our old place all clean, then I can get Jayden and we can get her to bed and then start unpacking! Which is going to be the best part!!

I will hopefully be able to see our new place on Thursday of next week, I can't wait to see it!!

34 weeks

2011-10-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

As of yesterday I am now 34 weeks along! Can't believe there is only 5 weeks left!!

I have been very tired and the baby bump is getting big! Luckily that's all that is getting big!

I love being pregnant, but at the same time I can't wait to hold little Greyson!! Also it will be nice to be able to sleep comfortably again, which I will have to recover from surgery, but eventually I will be able to sleep how I want! ;)

Only 6 weeks and 3 days left!

2011-09-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am growing and changing like crazy, and I haven't been good at taking pictures every week! I should go do that now, which I just cut Denny's hair and he is showering now so I will take a pic when he is done. Can't believe I am going to be 33 weeks on Tuesday! which means 6 weeks until Greyson will be here! We still haven't heard when we will be moving, I am hoping they will let us move this week! Denny has work and school, so I don't know how we will do it, but I am just dying to get over there and get settled! 6 weeks is so soon!!!

I have been having heartburn for weeks.. ugh it's so not fun, and of course my tiredness and being large are the only things I complain about, not constant for all (except the being large) so I have still been lucky with this pregnancy. With Jayden I only had heartburn maybe 3 times. With Greyson it's been over a month and it's almost everyday. Sometimes all day long.. I hope it doesn't last all the way to the end, but I guess we will find out! I am so can't wait to hold little Greyson, only 6 weeks!!! YAY!! He does love to have his feet in my ribs on the right side, which is where Jayden always had her feet too. He pushes on my bladder all the time too, I don't remember it being this much with Jayden.

Painting

2011-09-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Cute little Jayden painting :) I got her some water colors a couple weeks ago and she has been loving it!!

Labor Day

2011-09-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

On Labor Day we met Mike, Ann, Jarom and Mitch at the beach in Carlsbad! We had fun, even though it was a lot cooler than we were expecting! When we decided to go to get lunch it was sprinkling, we chose to leave at a good time. We were there for about 2 1/2 hours. Jayden loved playing with Mitchell and Jarom in the sand, Jarom even took her to the water and held her hands so she wouldn't fall over, he is very good at keeping her safe! It's super cute! Denny also took her out to the water :) I sat the whole time, just being large and pregnant! haha! After we went to lunch, we ate and talked it was great times!! They now live about 40 minutes away so it's nice we can still get together!!

After the beach and lunch we went home and had a relaxing rest of the day! Jayden said later: "The best day ever!!" Just quoting Despicable Me, but still it was really cute!

30 Weeks

2011-09-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Cant believe I am already 30 weeks! Time is going by so fast, we are so excited to have Greyson be here! 9 weeks isn't very long to get stuff ready but I know it will all come together :)

With Jayden I was 41 weeks and 1 day and I had gained 21 pounds.. I started this pregnancy 2 pounds heavier than my last, and I have already gained 21 pounds, luckily I only have to make it 39 weeks!

I had an appointment yesterday and it looks like I will have a C-Section November 9th! 4 days later than we were hoping, but the Dr's schedule and the hospitals policies looks like this may be the earliest he will be here. The 9th is Russell's birthday (Denny's brother), so if this ends up being the date they will share a birthday! (Russell is in the Army and is currently in South Korea, hopefully we will get to see him early next year!)

Cyndi's 27th Birthday!

2011-08-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

We went to Red Robin on Saturday and I got my free birthday burger, Jayden LOVED the fries, didn't enjoy them singing happy birthday (The clapping and the singing is a little loud for her), but she did enjoy the ice cream :)

Then today on my birthday for lunch we went to Benihana's it was lots of fun! (minus Jayden's tantrum that lasted forever!! Once she got over it she had fun) I love that place! We haven't been there in over 5 years! It was time, the pictures above were taken there too.
We also went to target and I got a maternity shirt and short sleeve sweater, I'll see if I can get a pic of them up too.
Denny has school tonight at 5:30 and gets home just after 10 or so. He just finished his first class and had that final on Friday, and today is the first day of his next class! Busy busy! Glad we were able to spend the day together since he will be gone this evening!
Lots of fun today! Thanks to all for the birthday wishes!

29 Weeks

2011-08-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

Wow already 29 weeks along!! Only 10 weeks left! Can't believe it!! On September 6th I have a Dr. appt. and will be scheduling the date of the C-Section! It will be nice to know the exact date! Although with only 10 weeks to go, we still have lots to prepare for the baby.. a bunch of little things we need to get hopefully we will be able to afford it! Since we borrowed pretty much all of the big items from my sister and we had a girl the first time around, it's like we are starting almost 100% from the beginning! I did go through all of the baby boxes and pulled out everything and anything that would work for Greyson, I was able to get a few things together which is great! Every little bit helps!! We have had a couple people in our ward hand down some items, we are so blessed!!

I just can't wait to meet our little man! He is so active!! He wakes me up a lot in the night, Jayden only did that in the last few weeks of pregnancy! Worried for what he is preparing me for!! haha

Unhappy

2011-08-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a picture of my happy girl after I fixed her hair, she didn't want me to as you can tell..

Reading

2011-08-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Reading with her Daddy :)

Jayden loves to read!! She will read out loud and all of her stories start with, "Once upon a time" it is seriously the cutest thing!

update on Jayden

2011-08-14T14:56:00.001-07:00

My sister Traci asked if I could do a post once a week, whether it's just a picture or something cute Jayden said, so here I go! Week 1!! Hope I can continue this! Traci you better post once a week, Julie you too!!!

Jayden is just as cute as ever! She does and says cute things everyday!

Yesterday we were out walking and she is helping me push her stroller and she says "I'm so strong!" I say Yes Jayden you are so strong! Then she says: "I'm too strong!"

Today after church we are getting in the car and I ask Jayden if she had fun in Nursery and she says: "Played with play-doh's, Colored, Music/Songs(Can't remember which word she used) and ate snacks" - That is the first time she has ever told me what she has done in Nursery! She LOVES nursery! So glad that she goes and loves it! She has wonderful leaders and some friends in there too!

She hugs and kisses my baby bump, she loves the baby!!! She tells him I all the time and when she hugs she almost always says "I'm so sweet". She hugs her toys, dolls and clothes she just has lots of love for everyone and everything! Most toys get hugs and kisses :)

She touches my belly and says "Hi Greyson! He is so cute"

We got Greyson a stuffed Monkey little small one and Jayden carries it around "Greyson's monkey!" she gives it hugs and kisses, taking good care of it until Greyson comes to claim it!

5 Years

2011-08-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

August 11th Denny and I had our 5 Year Anniversary!! I can't believe how quickly 5 years has gone! We have lived in 3 States (Idaho, Oregon and California) 5 places we have called home which includes 3 houses, 1 town home and 1 apartment. We have a beautiful 2 year old girl Jayden Janel and a son Greyson Lee who will be joining our family in a few short months. We are so very blessed as we have been married in the temple and have our little ones sealed to us for all time and eternity.

We celebrated Friday the 12th as Denny had worked on our actual anniversary and Jayden goes to bed about 8pm and Denny got home from work about 8:30. We did go get ice cream though :) We went out to eat lunch on Saturday (Jayden came along as we didn't have anyone able to watch her). We went to this yummy Italian place called Buca de Beppo! (Both of us had never been) It was so very yummy and I hope we can go there again! Denny didn't tell me where we were going, so it was a fun surprise. :)

We look forward to the years to come as our family is growing and things are changing! Can't believe we will be a family of 4! Denny started school at the beginning of the month so work and school full time he is very busy! He has a little over a year left and he will have his Bachelor Degree then on to work on his Masters and a PHD in Psychology (Industrial Organizational & Clinical).

Life is busy and hectic at times, but we have lots of fun and are happily living and loving life!

Baby Bump - 22 weeks

2011-07-14T11:33:00.001-07:00

22 weeks

'Play Park'

2011-07-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Jayden loves to go to 'Play Park'. It's actually called Sunset Park, but on Dora they go to Play Park, so that's what she always calls it. It's such a fun park. I went there Friday the 1st of July with Jayden, We went Monday on the 4th of July with Ann, Mike and their boys :) which was a blast we were there for about 4 hours! The kids had lots of fun!
The park is great it has a huge field, Volleyball, sand box, huge play structure (which is shaded, so all the slides and whatnot aren't hot! it's so wonderful!) and a water feature area! Jayden loves the slides and the water. We have gone every day this week, which is great since there isn't much to do at our complex, she has loved to run around. We usually stay for an 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. She never wants to leave. It sure is nice to get some sunshine and have Jayden get out some of her energy, plus it's less than 2 miles from our place! I'm sure we will spend many hours to come there!

Jayden

2011-06-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Some cute photos of Jayden I took from my phone on our drive home from church a couple Sunday's ago :) She is just so cute. Her hair falling out of her braids - I should have taken pics before we left for church when it was all neat haha

Jayden is just getting so big! Sometimes it's hard to remember she is just 2! She is just so cute and sweet of course she has her moments but she is great! We just LOVE her!

She plays very cute, she has a great imagination! I LOVE to listen to her play.

She is so cute and no matter if she says it first or second she will say "I love you too, Mommy" or "I love you too, Daddy" it's just so cute

She was singing Jingle Bells the other day and was saying Tinkerbell instead of Jingle Bell. Haha it was so funny

Jayden watched Peter Pan for the first time on Saturday and now she pretends to fly! It is so funny and cute!

On May 31st Jayden watched Emperors New Groove and keeps saying "Boom Baby!" almost daily! It is so funny

On May 28th Denny, Jayden and I went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 at the movie theater and she LOVED it!! She was clapping, laughing and punching the air while making sound effects :) Seriously so cute! She also enjoyed a Zap pack (The kids combo Popcorn, drink and a fruit snack) I had a coupon that made it only $2 so that was a fun treat that she LOVED! Although she did have about 3 sips of her sprite, I traded it for her water bottle cause soda just isn't good! Especially for a little 2 year old!

16 weeks & 17 weeks

2011-06-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

16 Weeks photo

16 weeks 6 days photo
Jayden had to see what I was doing, she is so funny

17 weeks 1 day
(In the first 2 photos my bathroom mirror is all streaky from after the shower haha - It's all clean in the 3rd pic!)

Time is flying by! I am now 17 weeks and 2 days! :) Pregnancy has been great! I am over my morning sickness, I am just almost always very tired. Hopefully that will pass soon. I wasn't this tired this late in my pregnancy that pretty much went away once I was in my 2nd Trimester. So crossing my fingers that will pass soon! Jayden told me the other day (I wish I could remember her exact words) "Mommy's tummy is getting big!" haha!
She went with me to my 16 week check up and we listened to the baby's heartbeat and she said "Baby is too loud!" It was just the cutest thing! Love that girl!
We find out on the 29th of this month if we are having a girl or a boy! Can't wait for the 29th to get here!!!
A few weeks ago I asked Jayden if there was a boy or a girl she says "A lion!" haha she has also said "a boy and a girl" - Just repeating what I asked. So who knows!! haha

BABY #2

2011-05-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Jayden is going to be a big sister!!!! We are so excited! I am 14 weeks along! Due November 15th!

Lots and lots of bday pics

2011-04-02T11:49:00.001-07:00

Blowing out her two birthday Candles :) I helped a little

She was being really funny with the cupcake she didn't want to hold it because she didn't want to get frosting on her hands :)

Denny & his buddy Josh (They both served in the same mission in the Dominican Republic)

Jayden and Jaidyn

Carli & Me

Julia & Me

Mary & Me

Josh & Julia (Who were in town from Wisconsin) & Us

Mike, Ann, Jarom & Mitchell & Us
Below is Travis & Carli & Us

Jayden Janel turns 2 :)

2011-04-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day celebrating Jayden's 2nd birthday. On Sunday March 20th 2 days before her actual birthday we had family and friends over for some homemade pizza and some cupcakes! It was tons of fun and she was very excited to have people over! Thank you to Mike, Ann, Jarom and Mitchell (Aunt, Uncle and cousins who live just a few minutes away), Carli & Travis (Cousins who live about 20 minutes away), Neighbor Mary and her daughter Jaidyn, and Josh & Julia who were in town visiting from Wisconsin. All who came to celebrate her birthday and spend time with us! We loved having everyone and wished more family and friends could have been here.

On Tuesday March 22nd her actual birthday we went to Chuck E Cheese's we got pizza and tokens, she had lots of fun playing. Luckily Mike, Ann, Jarom and Mitchell were able to join us too! :) A big thank you to all who send cards and gifts for sweet Jayden she seriously LOVED all she received!

Can't believe our baby girl is 2!! She is so big and has changed so much and is so smart! She talks ALL the time and says so many words. She can repeat ANYTHING you say. She is in this kick where she says REALLY REALLY alot. Examples: Really Really stuck, or Really really sticky, or Really really hot. it's so funny. She can say the sounds that these animals make: Pig, Whale, Cow, Sheep, Dog, Monkey, Cat, Frog, Horse Duck and Penguin (she says Waddle waddle and she waddles showing me what a penguin does :) it's very cute) Car (says beep beep).

She can count to 14 which is so fun!

She LOVES nursery we have great leaders and great kids in there with her. She isn't sad at all to go in although is happy to see us when we come get her after two hours. Hopefully that will last forever and she wont mind going to primary when the time comes! :)

She still prays often and has reminded me at night time if I haven't prayed with her. She is just too cute.

She loves the temple and always points to the picture of the Salt Lake Temple in her bedroom and just talks quietly about the temple.

She adores babies, is so sweet and loving to them. She will make a wonderful big sister someday!

There are so many things she does and I haven't blogged about all the things she does, I know I am missing many things!!

We are so blessed to have such a sweet daughter who is so kind and loving. She is so special and we just love having her!

Love you Jayden! Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Video :)

2011-03-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ducks

2011-03-23T13:51:00.001-07:00

Watch "Jj: Duck-quack quack" on YouTube

Didn't catch her in time..

2011-02-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

Jayden LOVES to draw! Can you tell by the beautiful drawings on her legs?!? Good thing she is so cute! She was playing in my room and I was sitting at the computer which I hardly ever do unless she is napping. While I am on the computer she found my pen next to my bed and she had a blast as you can tell.

California

2011-01-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

Wow so much time has passed since I last posted.

We are now living in Vista California. Which is just north of San Diego and about a 10-15 minute drive to the beach, which we are so loving!

We are living in a two bedroom apartment close to where Denny's current job location is where he is training to become a Personal Banker. Which I believe he is close to being done with his training! Yay! We love being out on our own again. loving the weather and our ward. They have been so great!

Our place is almost put together! Just the last few boxes that need organized and put away and all pictures hung except what will go in our bedroom. We have a little balcony where Jayden loves to play. Mostly she plays with her tea set, but also takes her babies out there too.

Jayden and I go for walks every day. sometimes twice a day. We walk to go get the mail and then sometimes we are out for 10 minutes other times it is 45. She LOVES being outside.

We are all adjusting well to a new place. Which is easy to do when it is such beautiful weather! Right now it is 9:15 and it is 62* out! SO NICE!! It will be around 77* today! IN JANUARY!! I am absolutely loving it!!

I will be playing catch up with things I haven't posted, mostly for the record for myself and if I have any readers out there it will be for you too ;)

All about Jayden

2011-01-26T08:55:00.000-08:00

Jayden can do sooo many things now and say sooo many things! AMAZING!!

She sign:
Milk, more, please, thank you, friend, book, ball, drink, eat, all done, stop, go, mommy, daddy, and I am pretty sure there are more.

she can also say all of the above words and tons more! She can repeat just about anything, she loves counting. She can count to 12 usually 6, 8 and 11 are missing. Pretty good for an almost two year old!

Jayden loves animals, especially dogs and cats or as she says doggy and kitty, the barks and says meow all the time when she sees pictures of them. She can also recognize the pictures and say what they are for Rhino's, Hippo's, Giraffes, Monkey's, Sheep, Cows, Turtles, Snakes, Leopards, Pandas, Bears, Bunnies, and I can't think of more but I know there are more! She is very smart!

She loves nursery and does great. All the leaders say how good she is and of course how cute she is too. :O)

She is our little angel and makes life so much fun. She loves to eat, play and help mommy in the kitchen. She likes to wear her little apron every time I put mine on. She asks me to turn on music lots, asks to watch movies all the time. Her favorite Characters are Buzz, Woody, Jessie (from Toy Story). Charlie and Lola. Dora. Elmo. She has only seen some of them once but she has stickers and that's how she knew the characters names. So cute!! which reminds me she also LOVES stickers!!

She can sing so many songs.. to add to her list: Away in a Manger, Jingle Bells,

She runs, sings, plays all day long! She LOVES babies and is such a good mom. She rocks, signs to them, feeds them in a high chair, takes them for walks in the stroller around the house, puts them to bed, wipes pretend drool off their chin and sings to them. It is the cutest thing ever!

Jayden is just growing up so fast! It is so fun and yet sad to see her changing!

Play catch up!!

2010-12-02T22:10:00.001-08:00

Wow I haven't posted in a while..
Lets see since my last post:
*We celebrated my 26th birthday Which was fun!! :)
*We celebrated Denny's 28th birthday! We ate lunch at the Cheesecake factory, then had dinner at home and had a few people over. Ate cake and ice cream.
*We went to California in late October/early November and had fun with Ann, Mike, Jarom and Mitch! We had a blast and enjoyed the sunshine!
*Jayden was a witch for Halloween and so adorable!
*Thanksgiving was great fun! We stayed here and ate dinner with my parents, Julie & Jon family, Chris & Jen. We had fun times with good people, ate and played games.
*We decorated for Christmas, just a few things, but stockings are up! Jayden loves them! she likes me to take them down one by one and give them hugs and kisses and then put them back up! Santa, Snowman, Elf and Train! She loves the Snowman & Train the best! :o)
*The best thing that has happened is: Denny got a job offer!!!!! We will be relocating to... Southern California, we will be in Carlsbad, CA. We are currently looking for a place. Denny starts work on the 27th of this month! We are excited to have work, and be in our own place! We will miss all family here and being close to our family in Idaho. Denny also found a school there, so he will hopefully start in January. If not then, soon after.
we are very excited about our new adventure and life! Glad we will be close to Ann & Mike, Janice and Eldon, Travis & Carly. We also have other friends that will be about an hour ago or so.

(Pictures of, Halloween, Thanksgiving soon to come!)

Idaho :o)

2010-08-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

From California we drove to Idaho, Jayden of course did great! She amazes me every time!

Eric & Chelsea blessed their little girl August 1st. She is so cute! Thanks to them for letting us stay our first night with them!

We had a fun busy week. Russell left for the army Tuesday August 1st, so we spent time with him before we left. He is now in South Carolina for Basic Training and will be gone for 6 months! He will do great and we are so proud of him!

After saying goodbye to Russell, we had a relaxing couple days spending time with Denny's mom Julie and brother Benson. It was fun!

Julie took her grandchildren to the ZOO! She said Jayden did great! She had fun spending time with her cousins and her grandma! Julie said she laughed and smiled and was so excited when she saw the kids feeding lettuce to a giraffe! Wish we could have got that on video! (hopefully soon I can get a video camera!)

The next Sunday Tom & Sheri blessed their cute little Albany! :O) Also Tom's brother had his homecoming the same day!

Here are some pics from the day (again, I didn't take enough pictures!!)

Here is us, Julie, Benson, Doug, Tom & Sheri and family, Tammy & Kevin and family! (Tammy is Denny's dad's sister)

Sheri & Albany

Macey

Macey & Jayden

Julie & Albany

Julie with her Grandchildren, Jayden, Albany, Connor & Macey

Albany & Me

Denny & Albany

Doug & Jayden

Macey

We miss everyone!! Can't wait for our next trip to Boise! :o)

Fortie Family Reunion - Placerville, CA

2010-08-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

Denny drove down on a Monday with his brother Doug, who first flew to Portland so he could drive down with Denny. Jayden and I flew to Sacramento the next morning! Which was great to miss out on a 10 hour drive and only have to fly for 1 1/2. Jayden is great on the airplane, she just sang, ate and played! :) So Denny and our Aunt Nicole picked Jayden and I up at the airport. We spent the morning at Nicole's house just catching up and having fun.

That afternoon, we drove to Placerville to Camp Nauvoo. It was fun to meet the Fortie family! (Denny's mom side of the family!) Most of whom I hadn't met yet.

Camp Nauvoo is close to town so some family stayed in a hotel, most camped. They had a great grassy field that people pitched tents, they had a kitchen and an indoor eating area, which kept us together for meals which was so fun. (thank you Uncle Jeff and all who helped with meals! the food was so good! I know Denny was in there for almost all of them, doing what he could to help!)

Of course mostly the pictures I took were of Jayden.. wishing I took more pictures!

One of the days we drove to a park which was on our way back to town, and played softball. (I didn't.. but Denny did) I walked around with Jayden and then she took a nap. It was nice and hot so I had the car on and I read while she napped. The family had fun playing!

Jayden swinging, she had a blast!

Jayden and her cousin Kelsie! Jayden loved to play with her! :)

Jayden and Kelsie

Denny playing badminton (no idea if that's right when i say it I thought you spell it badmitten? Have I been saying wrong?)

One of the days we drove to a park which was on our way back to town, and played softball. (I didn't.. but Denny did) I walked around with Jayden and then she took a nap. It was nice and hot so I had the car on and I read while she napped. The family had fun playing!

Here is a couple pics of Jayden I took while we watched the game in the shade! She is just too cute!!

Everyone playing softball, it's the only picture I took of the game.

We were there from Tuesday afternoon to Friday afternoon, time flew by so fast!
Here are pics from our last morning!

Jayden swinging :o)

Us and Aunt Carrie & Uncle Jeff

Us with Uncle Mike & Aunt Gina

Cristi, Denny, me, Jayden and Carli

We had so much fun and miss everyone! Can't wait until the next reunion!! :o)

Singing

2010-07-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

Jayden sings all the time! Her newest songs are Jesus wants me for a sunbeam and the nursery's clean up song (her cousins sing it, that's how she learned the clean up song).

Jayden is amazing you start either playing or singing a song and she is singing along in tune!!

She will continue to sing it later or another day and it's perfect. I can't believe it! She is so musical I LOVE IT! So glad she likes to sing, I hope that never changes.

Birthday & Swimming

2010-07-20T23:32:00.000-07:00

Traci, Kelli & Kaleb!

Cute little Denver! Just love this girl!

Cute little Tatelin :o) She is just so adorable!

We all went over to Traci's to celebrate Kaleb's 4th Birthday! He wasn't feeling well but was a sport and we went swimming, opened presents and had cake!
I'm a little late on this post His birthday was June 23rd

Souvenir

2010-07-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

This is the T-Shirt I bought for Jayden to remember our trip to Indiana! (The hat her Grandma Bland bought her in Indiana it was nice to keep the sun out of her eyes when she would actually keep in on).

Shoes

2010-07-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Jayden LOVES shoes! It's the cutest thing! She has two pairs of shoes and loves them! She always brings them to me to put them on her. I love it.
I took this picture one Sunday, I had put her sandals on but she wanted her tennis shoes :o)

Bland Family Reunion

2010-07-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

This picture was actually taken after the reunion at Traci's by their pool! Jayden loves the water

Here is Jayden and Zadok they were born 1 day apart (Zadok on March 21, 2009 and Jayden March 22, 2009 So glad they were able to meet!

Here is Jayden with Zadok's sister Maliya

Family picture with Grandma & Grandpa Bland

Here is Brittany, Crystal, Mickelle and me :o) I just love those girls!

Here is all the family that came to Indianapolis for the reunion. This picture is taken in front of my Aunt Pat & Uncle Randy's home where we had the reunion

Sorry this pic is sideways, we went swimming one day and of course she loved the water but also loved walking around.

Kelli didn't want me to take her picture, but I took it anyway, here is what you get Kelli when you don't smile, I just take it anyway :o)

Jayden was having a blast running around in front of Randy and Pat's home. She is just too cute.

Jayden and I were able to go to Indianapolis, Indiana for our big Bland Family Reunion! It was so much fun! Very humid and hot, but soo much fun. Jayden did great and had a blast with cousins.

Sewing

2010-06-10T08:31:00.001-07:00

I made a blanket last night(with Julie's help) it turned out so cute!! This has been my 3rd sewing project! I love the fabric and hopefully Jayden will too! It was so fun to make it for her!

Candy

2010-06-05T09:15:00.001-07:00

Jayden loves anything and everything! I think she has a sweet tooth. Although she doesn't hardly get sweets, I am still pretty sure she is a fan!

Yesterday I was doing some cleaning and in my purse she found an unopened box of Reese's Pieces. I thought that's totally fine since she can't open them. A few minutes went by and I hear her going mmmm! Mmmm! I look and she had chewed a hole in the box. She was loving it!

She is so cute. Now I know I can't give her any boxes.. she might chew her way to see if the candy is in there..

We just love our cute little Jayden!!

Jayden

2010-05-27T14:51:00.001-07:00

Jayden now signs:

All done

More

Milk

Help

Down

.. I can't think of what else!

She sings:

Old MacDonald had a farm

Twinkle twinkle little star

ABC's

Happy Birthday

She says:

Mama

Dada

Baby

Up

Happy day

E-I-E-I-O

Bye bye

Buh bye

Here you go

Thank you

I can't remember what else

She sings all day long some days. She loves to read books! She turns the pages and points to the words and pictures.

Everything she does is so cute. She thinks she is really funny laughs after she says stuff.

She walks everywhere! Its so cute!!

I love every minute of it.

She doesn't ever give Denny attitude. She gives me attitude all the time!!! Its so funny. She also throws these little tantrums, when things don't go her way! Arches her back. Throws herself on the floor puts her face in the carpet and cries mostly fake cries.

I don't get it.. she is 1.. isn't that a 2 year old thing?

She also loves phones!!! She puts it up to her ear and says hi and goes on And on. Sometimes she puts random toys up to her ear and acts like it's a phone.

We just love her!!!!

Idaho

2010-04-28T11:38:00.001-07:00

We went to Idaho this past week. It was so fun to see family and friends. Jayden had so much fun seeing everyone and playing with her cousins! We are driving home now and its so nice that its only 7 hours.

Lots to do when we get back. Laundry, cleaning, organizing. Temple on Friday, prep for lesson on Sunday.

We have a busy summer coming up. 3 family reunions. Baby blessing. Indiana, California and Idaho. Busy busy! I'm trying to save money for our Indiana reunuion to send Jayden and I. Hopefully I can save enough! I so badly want to go!

I'm so glad we were able to visit and have Jayden see everyone. She changes so fast! Its such a fun age!! Plus she is such a wonderful child! So happy!

Jayden's 1st Birthday!

2010-03-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Jayden Turned 1 yesterday! We celebrated her birthday on Sunday! It was lots of fun!
We had church and then we came home and got ready for a BBQ.
We ate and had lots of fun with family! Even Mike, Ann, Jarom, Mitchell and Jimmy were there. My sisters and their families, my parents and brother were also able to come.
After we ate she opened gifts which she got a dress, cute pants and a little baby doll from her Aunt Sheri! Books from her Grandma Collins and her Uncles (Russell, Doug and Benson). Cute outfit from her Aunt Traci, Cute little Dollie that her Aunt Julie made her! It's so cute! You did an awesome job! A carseat from her Grandma & Grandpa Bland and her Mom & Dad. A gift card from her Uncle Chris (We get to go shopping :o) ) Then we also got her a little stuffed animal Monkey.
Thank you to all who came and those who brought gifts! We are so thankful!!!!
I just can't believe that she is 1. Time flies by so fast! She is just as sweet as ever!
She said Uh-Oh yesterday for the 1st time. So cute. She also says Mama where are you? (her cousin Tatelin sayd that, and so she learned that from her. It's sooooo cute!!)
she has 5 teeth and 4 coming in. She is just so sweet.

Javon & Emily's Wedding

2010-03-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

We were able to make it to Javon & Emily's wedding. They were married in the Portland Temple and the sealing was amazing. They look so good together and are so happy. Emily made a very beautiful bride!
I only took a couple pictures with my phone, and I didn't get any pictures of Emily :( But here is a pic of Javon with cousins and friends.We were also able to go to their reception it was lots of fun! So fun to see family and friends! Congrats Javon & Emily!

Let's play catch up! :o)

2010-03-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

This is little Jayden relaxing in her stroller. She always puts her feet up. She does that in carts at the stores too. She is so adorable.
Wow.. I haven't done a post in a while.. It seems like lots has gone on.. Let me see if I can remember all that has gone on..
We had some changes within our stake, they split 4 wards and made 5. I kept my same primary calling (I teach CTR 6 class, which my niece Denver is in). Denny was the Gospel Doctrine Teacher in our old ward, and now in the new ward he is the Young Men's President. It's fun and we both are loving it.
It's very fun that Jayden gets to see a few cousins everyday. They all make her laugh a lot. It's so cute.
Tatelin and her had some rough beginnings but I believe it's a lot better.
Denver, Tag and Jayden all get along very well.
Denver always asks: "How is Jayden so tan?" It's adorable. :o)
I wish she could be around all of her cousins all the time!
Denny is still looking for a job while he is also working hard on his online marketing. He has been working on getting quite a few websites up to sell supplements. It is coming along well, just a little bit slower than we would like, but at least it's moving! He has put A LOT of hours into this and we know it will pay off!
Today we went to Home Depot and bought a few plants to put in our house, it looks so nice with plants. Jayden loved looking at all of the flowers and plants they had. Of course she enjoyed all the people who smile and wave and say how cute she is. She enjoys the attention.
I hope I didn't miss anything.. I feel like I might be..

Trial post: )

2010-03-08T10:34:00.001-08:00

I love that I can blog from my phone, I'm still trying to figure out how to ad pictures. I am trying to do add one of Jayden and Tatelin. which is such an adorable picture!

11 months old!

2010-02-25T08:27:00.001-08:00

Jayden is 11 months old.. time goes by so fast. She has changed so much in the past few months. I am going to try to remember all that she has been doing.
Crawling, climbing up the stairs, walks along furniture, walks with her grocery cart, screams when she is happy or sad, still loves food and eats lots and lots of just about everything. she wants to eat whenever denny and I eat and cries when our food is gone. she is so funny. she has 5 teeth and loves to bite and pinch. she is also learning to sign. doesn't sign back yet but knows what bath, more, eat and book is. and i'm sure she knows more.
we are just loving having her here. she is so much fun. she has been sleeping really well and now goes to bed around 630 or so which is great then she wakes up about 7. loving it!
I'm sure I am missing lots that she does. hopefully not too many things!

Some pics

2010-02-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

Some cute pics that were taken today after dinner. One of them with her new little cheesy smile. So cute. :O)

Jayden - Reading :o)

2010-02-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

This is Jayden a couple days ago playing and "reading" her book :O) she's too cute. I know it's a little long to watch a child that isn't your own, but she is too cute. I didn't post the 3 minute one which she points to the pictures and the words while she is talking. SO ADORABLE! :O) We just love her!!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-05T21:22:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas is come and gone. I can't believe it. It seems to come so quickly, and then it's here and it goes way too fast. I wish it could last longer. I could do with more 'Holiday Cheer'. Music, food, family and friends. It's just the best.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent the first of December in Idaho with Denny's side of the family. We had a wonderful time with family! We did a sibling gift exchange at Sheri's which was fun! We had a lot of fun with everyone.

Then we spent Christmas Eve over at my sister Julie's home. Which was great. She made a wonderful dinner and desert. We did a gift exchange and her kids opened their EVE gifts and it was really fun. They were fun to watch. Tatelin was happy to help Jayden open hers. :O) So cute. We spent the night there and watched their family have their Christmas morning and then went over to Traci's home and watched them open gifts. Then we came home and our Christmas morning it was about 1 or 2 :O) We had a really fun day and got some great things.

We enjoyed giving gifts this year and were blessed that we had money to do so. Denny is still without a job so it was amazing all that we were able to do.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T11:54:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Thanksgiving is here! I swear we just had it! Amazing how fast time flies by.
Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for. I'm grateful for my little family! So wonderful. I am also grateful for my bigger family, and all my friends. We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives.
I just love the Holidays. Such a fun time of year. Thanksgiving is just so fun to get together with the people you love and enjoy some wonderful food together!
Jayden is just as fun as ever!! We love her!
Happy Thanksgiving!!! Hope everyone is having the best Thanksgiving! We love and miss all of you we couldn't be with! (For those in Idaho, we will be there in 1 week!! :O) YAY!! We can't wait!)
I'll post pics hopefully later today!

Jayen 8 Months old!!

2009-11-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

Jayden is 8 months today!! Amazing! She is just so fun, and growing so fast. She wears 12 month clothing and has for a month.

We went to see New Moon on Friday and Jayden did great in the movies! She took a little nap. Ate some snacks, and watched some of it too. When the movie was over a couple walks by and the guy said and I quote "Best baby ever!". :O) She really is! It was great.

I just can't believe how quickly these past 8 months have gone! We are excited for Thanksgiving, and the shopping the day after! We should have all of our Christmas shopping done on Friday! That will be nice! I don't even have very many things to get! YAY!!

Loving being a mom

2009-11-14T22:06:00.000-08:00

So I love being a mom! Jayden makes it so much fun. She is changing and growing so fast. Sometimes when she wakes up in the morning or from a nap she looks completely different from when I laid her down. It's so crazy.
She does lots of new things and she says Mama, Dada, Nana, Baba. Of course just the sylabols. She has said dada for a long time, and I LOVE hearing mama! It's just the best. She doesn't crawl yet, but she scoots around on her bottom and makes her way around the room, she eyes something that she wants and she scoots her way to it. It's adorable!
Hmm.. what else does she do that's new?? Her laugh is so sweet. She has been laughing for a while, but I don't know if I ever posted about it. It's just the sweetest sound. Denny can really get her laughing. So cute.
Just had to post about how much we love our little girl. She is our little entertainer. I could watch her forever!
Oh! I almost forgot! Jayden CLAPS! So funny. I just say YAY! and she starts clapping (well almost everytime), she smiles and starts clapping and gets so excited.

Halloween

2009-11-01T13:41:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween! Jayden was a cute little pumpkin! Jayden and I passed out candy at our Stake Trunk or Treat. It was fun! I was out of candy very fast though!! We had Julie and her kids and we also had Traci's kids with us! It was lots of fun! They had fun at the Trunk or Treat! So fun! :O)

Denny's 27th Birthday!

2009-10-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

Denny Had his 27th Birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVE!!!
(His birthday was actually on Wednesday the 21st)
We had a fun day. Denny and I went to lunch and to a movie (actually we ate lunch in the theater). Then we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my siblings. Chris, Jon and my Dad weren't able to come. We had lots of good food and some yummy cheesecake!
Jayden was watched by her Grandma Bland while we went to a movie! It was nice not have some time by ourselves.
On Friday night we had a surprise party for Denny! It turned out great! Denny had no idea! It was themed after an episode from 'The Office'. So fun! All thanks to Traci & Brandon, it was their idea and they had it at their home. It was so fun, Julie and her kids came! It was so fun.
Denny got a couple books, a case of ROCKSTARS, supplements and a gift card! He had a great birthday! Thanks to all who made it an awesome day!

Teething

2009-10-06T12:55:00.001-07:00

Jayden has been teething. She has her 2 bottom teeth that are coming in. :o) I can't wait until they are out farther. You can hardly ever see them now because she always has her tongue out. She is just too cute! Ha!
She is 6 Months already!! Time just goes by so FAST!
She is 26 inches and is 18 pounds 8 ounces! Big girl! :o)
Also she has been eating rice cereal for about 2 months and has tried squash and carrots and loves them both!

August Update

2009-09-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

We have had lots of fun this Summer. :o) We have just loved this Summer with Jayden.

August 11th was our 3 Year Wedding Anniversary. Can't believe it's been 3 years already. So crazy how fast time flies.

August 17th was Denny's last offical day for Qwest.

August 22nd Jayden is now 5 months old

August 24th we drove to Idaho to see family and friends (Which we are still here) We also have been getting our dental work done before our insurance ran out on the 31st.

August 27th Denny and I got our dental work done (I got my wisdom teeth pulled.. Ha so fun).

August 29th I turned 25! Can't believe it! We will be celebrating this Saturday since eating has been kind of difficult. So Saturday will be a little better.

It's been a bummer that Denny doesn't have his job, but it wasn't a job he loved, and I have to admit I LOVE having him home. It's so fun. I know he enjoys being home too. Jayden just loves having her daddy with her all day! Also it's been fun that we could come to Idaho and stay a while and not worry about getting days off, or a specific day we have to be back in Oregon. I could get used to this!! :o) Can't wait for him to get his business up and running, and we can spend all the time we want together as a family. :o) and come to Idaho as often as we would like.

Today we are having a relaxing day. :o) I haven't taken any pictures since we have been here. So I need to get my camera out and take some pictures!!! Then I will post some!

An Update

2009-08-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

We went camping in Seaside the beginning of the month. Jayden, Mom and I. :o) Denny and my dad came to help up set up the trailer. So sweet! :o) We had a fun and camped for a week. It was so fun. The weather was great. Mom and I played games and watched movies, went on the beach and one day we drove up to Astoria and took pics and drove around. It was very fun. Mom also painted while we were there. It was sooo fun! One day Traci came up with Kelli and Kaleb and we spent the day on the beach!
The week before my parents, Jayden and I all went to our ward campout. Which was fun, but it was very very hot! So we spent most of the time in the trailer.
We have been up to losts this past month.. I just can't remeber all that we've done.. Denny and I celebrated our 3 Year Anniversary. :o) I love you babe!!
Jayden is going to be 5 Months old on the 22nd, she is getting so big. She wears mostly 6 month clothes, and 9 month. And some 12 month stuff. :o) I think she weighs about 17 pounds.. maybe more!
She rolls over from her back to front, it's so cute! She started doing that last week. But can't roll from front to back yet.
She says Dadadada which she started doing while we were in Seaside.
She eats rice cereal 1-2 times per day.
She does these fake coughs which are so funny.
Umm.. I think that's all.. :o) She just keeps me very busy. She is a fun baby we so enjoy her. She is just so great.
We took her to get her pictures taken at JC Penny. She did pretty good and we got some good ones. We did that when she was 4 months.

Jayden's 4 month check up

2009-07-21T00:15:00.001-07:00

Jayden weighs 15 pounds 8.5 ounces and is 25 1/2 inches long. She is in the 90 percentile in both weight and height. She feels more like 20 pounds.. she is wearing 6 month clothes now. Such a little sweetie! :o) We just LOVE her!

Jayden's 1st Time Swimming

2009-07-21T00:02:00.001-07:00

Jayden is so adorable in her little swimsuit.

This she didn't like so much!

She wasn't going to look up because of the sunshine.

She didn't last long in the pool.. She just kept crying.. So she is in the stroller in the shade next to me watching everyone else swim! She was so cute. I think she would have lasted longer if the water would have been warmer. She needs to go to Ka-nee-tah (or however you spell it... it's a hot spring place a couple hours from our house).

Jayden's 1st Camping Trip

2009-07-20T23:37:00.001-07:00

She seemed to really enjoy her exer saucer, thanks Aunt Julie for letting us use it :o)
Jayden in the trailer in her Bumbo chair :o) She loves to sit up. Not a fan of even reclining in your lap.. this chair saves me! I LOVE IT!!
Us playing games. :o) Jayden is eating.. She is always so hungry!
We just had come back from a little walk at the campground.

So my family went camping last week in Washington! We do a little family reunion every other year. So fun! We were excited to take Jayden on her first camping trip (Well we were in the RV, so not real camping!) my brother and sisters were in tents with all the kids.)
We had lots of fun spending time together, playing games, eating, swimming and just relaxing. We were there Tuesday afternoon to Saturday morning. So glad we went it was wonderful!
It was a fun vacation. Thanks Mom and Dad! Excited to go again!
Jayden did really well like always, she is just so wonderful and just goes with the flow, whatever it may be!

Personalized Rings

2009-07-10T20:39:00.001-07:00

So I was on Parenting.com just after Mother's Day, and saw these really cute mother's rings, that I could choose what they say.. Cute words or names or dates... ect.. they were $95 each. I was so not going to pay that... So I get onto google and I start searching, cause I know somewhere out there is what I'm looking for at a price I can pay, and I FOUND ONE!

Hand Stamped Silver Jewelry!! It's such a fun place!! Tons of choices here.
She has: Rings, Necklaces, Bracelets, Key Chains, and Photo Tiles. :)

It's a fun place!! I chose to do the Ring Stack rings, they are 1/8 of and an inch so they are tiny but so perfect since they are stackable. One says JAYDEN the other says X O X O and they were $24 each which is amazing! Especially since the others were $95?!?!

I had to post about them. I was so excited to check the mail today and see that they came! She also has free shipping right now. I put the link up on my blog, under Favorite Sites. Please check it out and let me know what you think!!

I haven't been able to take a picture of them yet. I will soon though!

Here is a pic off her site of rings she has done (these are what mine look like):

Sunday

2009-07-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

Little Jayden all ready for church. :o) She was hanging out with Grandma, while I got all my stuff for primary ready. Thanks Grandma!

Cute bow :o)

2009-06-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

Jayden has been just so fun. She smiles lots and I love it! Such a good baby!!!

Sunday nap

2009-05-22T14:24:00.001-07:00

Jayden fell asleep after she ate.. she does that a lot! She just passes out. She is so funny. (my bottom lip did that too when I was a baby)

Jayden taking a nap with her Daddy! :o) So CUTE!

Jayden 2 months!

2009-05-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

Jayden on her blanket that came in the mail yesterday! Thanks Carli, We love it!
Jayden is 2 months today! She had her Dr's appt today. She did great! She weighs 12 lbs 3 oz (2 oz shy of gaining 5 lbs since birth), she is 23 inches (she has grown 3 3/4 inches).
She is in the 80 percentile for weight and 75 percentile for height! Such a big girl! Even though she is still tiny! We just love her and are excited that she is a happy and healthy girl!

Audrey!

2009-05-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

My cousin Audrey came over yesterday. Her best friend lives in Oregon City so she was here visiting from New Hampshire! So I was surprised to get a phone call that she was in town! It was so fun to see her!! She got to meet Jayden! She was so good with her! A total pro!

More pics!

2009-05-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

Our little girl.. Her brownish-Red Hair color. So cute!

Wearing the dress her Aunt Julie made! :o)

Just woke up from a nap. Just all smiles!

Video of Jayden

2009-05-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

I got a little smile out of her in the beginning of the video. :0) So sweet!

Smiles

2009-05-05T15:57:00.001-07:00

Here are some cute pics of Jayden taken today! I got a really cute one on my phone! I haven't gotten it on here yet.. How adorable is her smile! SO FUN!!!! I love waking up to that!!! These are all I could get on camera! More to come! She was all tired and I had to lay her down for a nap. Maybe more when she wakes up. :o)

6 Weeks old

2009-05-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is Jayden in a cradle her Great Grandpa made for her Aunt Julie for her dolls. (He made both my sisters and I one for our dolls).

Tatelin wanted to be in the picture with Jayden too. This is Jayden's cousin that is closest to her age. Tatelin loves her and gives her kisses and loves to hold her! :o) So sweet!

Jayden turned 6 weeks this past Sunday! She is growing so fast!! We just so love having her in our lives! She is so fun to wake up to! She smiles a lot now. So when I'm changing her diaper she is just smiling and cooing. It's so fun.
We take her in the car and she does so good. She is such a great baby! The past 2 nights she has slept from 10pm to 7am, eats, then sleeps till 10am, eats, then sleeps till about noon. Then eats has some awake time then sleeps again. She is just so wonderful!! It's so great to get some really good sleep.
She smiles at her Dad and Grandma (Shirleen) the most. She is starting to smile at me more! Which makes me feel so great!
Not sure how much she weighs.. She hasn't been weighed or measured in 4 weeks.. so I'm sure she is a lot bigger. Since she has grown out of some of her clothes already.. And is in the next size of diapers! Which is nice we can buy them at costco and save some money!!

Her little tongue is something we see all the time! She is always sticking it out. So cute!

We just love her hair! It does that on its own!
Her eyes are so beautiful too. They are blue, green and gray. I hope they stay that way! We just love the color!!

Baby Blessing

2009-04-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

Jayden Janel Collins was blessed by her Daddy on Easter Sunday April 12th. It was so wonderful! She is such a beautiful baby! We had friends and family come!! Thank you to all of you who traveled from Idaho to come see her! :o) We love and miss you all!
She met her Grandma Collins for the first time! Who she loved! She also met her Aunt Sheri and Uncle Tom! Thanks so much for adding to the excitement of the weekend.
We can't wait for all of our friends and family to meet our little Jayden!

2 week check up

2009-04-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Jayden had her 2 week check up today. She is now 21 1/2 inches now (was 19 1/4 inches at birth), and weighs 8 pounds (was 7lbs 5oz at birth). She is growing!! She had a shot today and didn't like that at all, and cried a lot! It was so sad. She is such a little sweetie! We are so glad she is healthy and strong and growing! She still has a long awake time at night, so we are very tired! Can't wait until all she does is wake up to eat then go to bed instead of eating and then wanting to stay awake!!

First Doctor's Appointment

2009-04-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Jayden had her 1st appointment yesterday (she was 9 days old!), she did great! She has gained 7 1/2 ounces since birth! :o) We are excited about that!
We have been enjoying every minute of her! Even though we hardly get sleep! She thinks she needs her Mommy at night. The little sweetie. Although last night she slept in her cradle after her feedings. All the other nights I've had to sleep with her in my arms and Denny's arms too, as soon as we would lay her down she would wake up and cry and want to nurse to sleep. So funny! Hopefully she will keep it up and sleep on her own! She is only 10 days old, so I'm sure things will keep changing but we both got pretty good sleep! Which was so badly needed!

Jayden Janel Collins

2009-03-28T07:07:00.001-07:00

This is me a little before I was ready to start pushing

Denny all in his scrubs ready to come into the Operation room

This is them showing her to me for the first time, she is still connected to me.

Denny holding Jayden in the Operation Room

Family picture

Another family picture

This picture was taken today! :o) How cute is she!?!
Jayden has joined our family!! She was born Sunday March 22nd at 1:58pm. She weighed 7lbs 5oz, and was 19 1/4 in long, and has lots of hair! :o)

I was in Labor for 26 hours, 12 was hard labor. We had gone to the hospital on Saturday morning when my contractions were 3 minutes apart, they weren't painful but we went anyway. They monitored me for a couple hours, which an hour of that my contractions were a minute to a minute and a half apart, and by then they were starting to be a little painful. They told me to come back that night if the contractions stayed the same. We came back at 10pm since they hadn't changed and by 11pm I was given a shot of Morphine to help me sleep, they had me stay at the hospital, cause if in the morning the contractions stayed the same they were going to induce labor. I was woken up at 3am by a very painful contraction, Denny was wonderful and helped me get through the contractions. I had to wait until 5am to receive an epidural, someone was ahead of me. By about 530 I was numb pretty much just on my left side and I had to wait again for him to come back and make it so my right side would go numb too. After that was much better! It was wonderful not being able to feel those contractions since I was only feeling them in my lower back. At 10:30 I was Dilated to a 10 and was ready to push Denny, my mom and my sister Julie were in the room with me, I pushed for 2 1/2 hours, she wasn't moving past a certain point, so they told me that they would need to do a c-section since the baby was fitting through, plus her head was face up which made things a little harder. We were totally okay with that, I was so tired from all the pushing.
Denny came in the OR, and brought the camera and took great pictures. I had lots of drugs in me so I was very drowsy.. I could hardly keep my eyes open during the surgery. Denny held my hand, and was a great support.
She came out happy and healthy and so beautiful!!!! Denny went to the nursery with the nurse and showed off his new daughter to the family that was waiting. Just before 3 I was back in my room where Denny and Jayden were waiting. No family could come in for about an hour or so while they monitored Jayden and me. I can't really remember very much more of that day I could hardly keep myself awake. Denny told me I would start talking and then fall asleep.
We stayed in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon.
We are now home and enjoying life with our beautiful daughter! Denny is so great with her and she loves being held by him, and his voice is very soothing to her. He helps with diaper changes and brings her to me for feedings (since I had a c-section I don't move around too well).
We feel so blessed to be parents to Jayden, she is so adorable and such a little angel!

No worries more pics to come!!! :0)

Cute things for our little baby

2009-02-22T23:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute little dress and a diaper bag that my mom made for me (the little insert for the diaper bag is on the right). I love it all! Thanks mom!

Here is some cute things that Julie made Blanket, Dress, diaper and wipes holder, cover for while I feed the baby, and breast pads. She also made another blanket and a sling too. As soon as I get them I'll take a pic and post them. So cute! Thanks Ju! :o) You are just spoiling me and my little girl! We love it! Thanks Ju! We love it all!

Baby Shower in Oregon! :o)

2009-02-22T23:23:00.000-08:00

I had a baby shower a couple weeks ago! It was so great! My sisters and my mom put it all together for me! Thank you!!!!
We had lots of fun and had an amazing turn out. Thank You to all that came, and for your love and support!
Thanks to everyone who came to both of the baby showers, I have everything I need! My mom was at the shower, behind the camera though! So sad that she isn't in any of the pictures!

Baby Bump

2009-02-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

Here is my belly it was taken on Sunday.. I feel like I'm huge although so many people tell me I'm so tiny... Ha! This is the biggest I've ever been.. I sure don't feel tiny! :o)

Baby's Room

2009-02-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

I have had so much fun getting ready for the baby! Ask Denny he will tell you I spend a lot of time in the baby's room.. I just can't get enough. All her clothes are washed and put away.. blankets and sheets washed and ready to go.. Everything is all ready for her to be here! We are just so excited to have our little girl here! Just playing the waiting game. I had a doctor appointment yesterday and her head is down, she is in the position ready to come, not dilated though.. 3 weeks until the due date! Time has flown by! We are for sure ready for her to be here now though! We can't wait to hold her! Anxious to see who she looks like.
Here are some pics of her room..

Baby Shower in Idaho! :o)

2009-02-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

Baby Shower @ my Sister in Law Sheri's house!
Thanks Sheri! It was so wonderful and so much fun!! :o)

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it! It was so good to see everyone! We miss you all!

New haircut!

2009-01-21T18:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a pic of my new haircut and color, it's taken from my cellphone so not the best pic.

Cute little Denver

2009-01-21T18:24:00.001-08:00

I had this post ready to go last week, but I wanted to post a picture with it.. then I forgot until now!

2 Sundays Julie brought over her kids, it was Denver's turn to stay the night all by herself. We had lots of fun. We played games and played with toys. Monday morning I needed to get groceries and I asked her if she would like to come with me. She told me that she wants to come but she really wants to buy new shoes. I told her that we weren't getting new shoes, just groceries today. She was excited. We get to the grocery store and we eat at the deli first, Corn dog and a vitamin water. She was so proud of her drink. Then we did our grocery shopping, she wanted to push the cart, and she did an excellent job all by herself. She didn't run into anyone or anything. Next we went to Fred Meyer and she got to pick out a toy (thanks to Grandma!). We went up and down the isle about 7 or 8 times as she tried to make up her mind about what she wanted. She is so adorable.
I had fun with her! Thanks Ju for giving her up for a night! :o) Now it's Tag's turn to stay the night all by himself!

Tagged-FOUR

2009-01-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

FOUR places I go over and over: The bathroom (I have the smallest bladder.. the baby takes up all the space..), kitchen (a million times a day), living room, and our babies room (I'm just so excited)!!
FOUR people who email me regularly: Baby Center, Grandma Collins, Julie & Amazon
FOUR places I love to eat: Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, The Ram & Baja Fresh
FOUR places I would rather be: Anywhere with 80 Degree weather, On vacation with Denny, shopping & Taking a nap.
FOUR TV shows I watch: The Office, American Idol, Lost, Heroes
FOUR people I tag: Sarah, Marvia, Jenn & Lacey

Cute little Tatelin

2009-01-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

Here is she is playing with some cards. So adorable.
Here Julie is wrapping her little girl like a burrito
She loved it! Got out and said again! again!
Here she is with a fishing rod. Just being cute.
Smiling at the camera while playing 'Let's go Fishing'! She loved to play with that!

Tatelin stayed over at our house the past two nights. She was so fun, loved all the attention she got! She was fun. Today I played with her until her mom came to get her. We had fun, she talks a lot, so she can tell me what she wants to eat, or what she wants to do. If you don't listen to her right away she just starts yelling 'Mom!! Mom!!'. She is so funny. She gives lots of hugs! So fun to have around! Ju you are so lucky! What a great daughter you have!

My first Quilt is finally finished!

2009-01-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

Here I am at Julie's ironing my binding (I believe that's what it's called). I sewed that on one side and hand stitched the other side. I completely finished my quilt last night!! Very exciting! I love the way it turned out! Thanks to Julie who showed me how to do everything! Well mom knows how as well, and mom showed me how to hand stitch the back of the binding! So fun. Hopefully our baby girl will love it too! I still need to take a picture of my quilt all complete. Once I do that I'll post a pic.

Quilt update..

2009-01-05T23:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of me looking fantastic on New Years day! :o) Enjoying the hand quilting!
I finished the hand quilting (Mom and Julie did a little bit of it with me) I just need to sew on the binding! :o) Julie is going to show me how to do that!
I'm very excited and I'm so happy to have this blanket for our little baby girl! It will be so fun. I hope I can make one for all of our kids! It'll be a fun tradition!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T23:04:00.001-08:00

Us opening gifts on Christmas Eve

Us on Christmas Eve by the tree

A painting that mom (Shirleen) did, a watercolor for Denny and me

Proof that Santa came! :o)

Me on Christmas morning showing my Prego Belly!

Denny and I Christmas morning waiting to see what Santa brought.

The family playing games on Christmas Eve!

Tatelin having fun with her Uncle Denny! :o)

The guys being goofy showing their new pajamas! :o) ha Good ol' Captain Morgan pose..

We had a wonderful Christmas! Chris, and Julie, jon and their family stayed the night Christmas Eve so we had a great time! The kids were so fun! Their excitement made it more exciting for all of us! They were so cute. Tag helped everyone open gifts! So adorable!
We did have a White Christmas, which doesn't happen very often here in Oregon. So it was fun, but we had to cancel every Christmas party because of the weather. Which was a bummer! We still had fun, but missed seeing all the family!

Snow!

2008-12-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

View from our front window. None of us wanted to go outside to take pics.. too cold and windy!

View of the back yard from the deck. So pretty all covered in snow! :o)
Us playing Monopoly! (Mom won!) We played 2 other games as well, Settlers (Denny won!) and Clue (Dad won!). It was my parents, Denny and me. Denny later played FRIENDS 'Scene It' with me. We did 2 short games, each won one. :o) Poor guy... I make him watch friends with me.. Love ya babe! :o)
This may shock those who are not an Oregonian... It snowed probably about 2 inches. Church was canceled, so we stayed home and played games, and relaxed. (When I was a Freshman, maybe a Sophmore it snowed a half an inch and school was canceled, we always looked forward to snow! It doesn't snow very often here.) Nothing like Utah or Idaho, where I've also lived.. nothing closes down for snow.. which I always hoped it would when I lived in both places so I wouldn't have to travel in the snow. :o)

Can't wait until Chrismas! We put all the presents under the tree. So fun! It felt like Christmas day! I so badly wanted to open up gifts.. but no one else seemed to think it was a good idea.. party poopers! ;o) haha!

Thanksgiving!

2008-11-29T19:28:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! :o) My mom and I made homemade pies and homemade rolls on Wednesday. Then we did the rest on Thursday morning! It was very fun! A lot of work and a lot of dishes later it was time to eat! We had my parents, my brother Chris, Denny and me. It was fun to eat, relax, watch a movie and play games! We had the missionaries over one of them as a gluten allergy as well as my dad. (Gluten is in wheat and many more things! so most things have to be made from scratch!) So he came for some food and pie that he could have. His companion just waited while he ate until they headed to their next home that wasn't gluten free. Glad we could help him out and make sure he could eat and not get sick!
We had a wonderful day and have so much to be thankful for this holiday season! Denny now has a job, and we have a baby on the way! It's all just so exciting!
I am loving this Holiday Season, as I always do! This year is a little more special with a baby on the way! :o)

Baby is growing!!!

2008-11-29T19:01:00.001-08:00

Here is a pic of my tummy.. oh how the baby is growing! This is on Thanksgiving day.
(I've had lots of people ask me to post a photo! So here ya go!)
I'm 25 weeks now as of Yesterday Friday the 29th! I feel so huge! My tummy is always in the way! Still trying to get used to it being there! I feel her move a lot. If you watch my tummy while she is moving you can see it! It's fun!! I love it!!!
I have been feeling great. There are some days that I feel really uncomfortable, but not too often. I feel lucky that all has gone great. I think so far it has been pretty easy. I love being pregnant. It wears me out, but I have just a little more than 3 months until I'm due! So crazy how fast it has gone!

Christmas is 1 month away!!! :o)

2008-11-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

Exactly 1 Month from today is CHRISTMAS!! Can't wait! I'm almost done with my shopping! :o) Can't wait to start decorating!!!!!
'Home Alone' and 'Home Alone 2' ... that's when you know Christmas is upon us!
I'm so very excited for the Holiday season. I love Thanksgiving, but I especially love CHRISTMAS!! I've been excited for months! I bought some fun Christmas decorations the day after Christmas last year, and I am very excited to put my decorations up and wrap presents with the wrapping paper I got as well! I buy new stuff the day after Christmas because everything is usually about 75% off! So I can buy a ton of stuff for a small amount! Even though you have to wait a year to use them it's totally worth the wait! But I'd rather buy a roll of wrapping paper for about a dollar instead of 4 dollars! It makes me feel much better to stick to a budget and still get some fun things! :o)
I'm ready for the Christmas food, movies, games and time with family! I've been looking though magazines, cookbooks, and online to try to find some fun Holiday meals. My mom and I will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year! So excited. We would also like to have some good food on Christmas day as well! It's been fun looking for some new meal and dessert ideas! YUM! YUM!

Twilight! ...

2008-11-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

It's true... I went again and saw Twilight with my friend Cassie! It was wonderful the second time too! I JUST LOVE IT!!! :o)

Twilight

2008-11-21T23:15:00.000-08:00

We went to see The 'Twilight' Movie today! LOVED IT!! It was very good! I am so anxious for the next one! YAY for Twilight! Time to read the book again, I didn't make time before the movie.. although all I needed was one day to read it.. at least that's how long it took me the first time! :o) 3 1/2 days to read the first 3 books. SOOO GOOD!!! Our little baby girl liked it too.. she was kicking me during the movie! So funny. I love it!

Feeling baby!

2008-11-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

It's been so fun to feel baby move! Denny was the first to feel her move! So fun! I love that he was the first! :o) It's hard to catch her moving cause as soon as I say she is moving someone puts her hand on my tummy, and she stops! ha, so funny how that works!