What's with the twisting?

So i guess my babies have this thing with twisting and turning while i change their diapers. What's the deal? I think they think it's funny. Landon did it when he was baby and now Grant is following closely in his footsteps. It's not just looking around twisting either this is like the bending backward and arching the back kind of twisting. You'd think that giving him a toy to play with would distract him, maybe for a second. Then, back to twisting. It's kind like a sport. My goal is to get the darn diaper on as quickly as possible and Grant's goal is to turn completely around and start crawling away. Yes, i said crawling... at almost six months. I know, i'm in for it. It's payback for my younger years i'm sure. Luckily, so far team Mom is winning! Can you just see me warming up before each diaper change? Doing my stretches... Good times...

Trials always seem to come in multiples

Life can be stressful. That's just how it is. Your stressed, it passes (usually), your stressed again and so on. Doesn't it just seem like trials seem to come in multiples. Well, it's been our turn and i'm not sure we're finished. I don't want to complain. We have SOOOOO many blessings that we're grateful for. Here's a little of what life has thrown at us these last two months.

Nick was told often by his manager that he'd probably be layed off simply because his manager didn't like him. It got to the point where nick was feeling so harrassed by how inappropriate his manager was being he went to HR. So, he made the plan to go back to school, which i fully support. Getting adjusted to a school schedule, studying, and homework has been a little stressful. I know (hope) we'll get used to it soon once we figure it all out. The really stressful part of it all is how to feed our family and pay the rent. We know he'll find something it's just hard waiting.

Landon has thrown us for a loop. First i must say that i love him! He is so smart, funny, and loving. He really is. It's just that at times this other side comes out. I often wonder if this is really my child acting like this or if some substitute has filled in for the moment. I think he's acting out because of all that is going on in our life as well as a severe lack of sleep. i'm not sure. I have felt at times that i'm failing as a mother. All i've ever wanted to be is a good mom. I read everything i can find and am constantly asking for advice but nothing seems to work so far. After having a wonderful chat with Karina today i've realized i'm not a bad mother. I'm honestly trying my best. Hopefully we'll get past this sooner rather than later. i just hope that either way Landon will grow up knowing that his mom loved him no matter what.

The most trying thing to happen was last week when my mom had a stroke. She's had small stroke's before but nothing like this. When she got to the hospitol she had bleeding in her brain on the right side which caused peralysis on the left side of her body. It was difficult for the whole family. Especially my siblings who live far away. Elaina flew in from Utah the next morning but Lorin wasn't able to. We kept him updated by phone. The bleeding stopped and they moved her out of the ICU the next day. She was doing so well, that the day after that they moved her to the rehab center. I know that all the prayers that were being said for her made all the difference. I definately gained a stronger testimony of prayer through all of this. Tomorrow it will have been a week and she is doing so well. So well in fact she'll be coming home tomorrow. Yay!! We are so excited! There is still a long road ahead but she's pretty amazing. I just love her!!

I know we grow after going through trials but that doesn't really make it any easier to go through them. I guess its nice to know this too shall pass. I really don't think it's coinsidence that quite a few conference talks in the last year have focused on trials or hard times. Don't we all have something at some point? My next post is going to have to be 50 things i'm grateful for.

Daddy and Landon at the Zoo

After Grant was born Nick was so great. He and Landon had a special day at the zoo, along with uncle Timmy. I have no idea what animal this is but Landon says its a goat.
According to Landon this is a Pontopotomus

When i asked him what his favorite animal was that he saw he said the Girraffe

I don't think he got a nap that day, can you tell?

Landon says this is a quenguin

the nest...

Of course you have to get in the nest... Nick and Landon acutally fit inside as well but the pictures turned out a little blurry. I'll just leave that up to your imagination.

I swear this same monkey was hiding under a burlap bag when we went to the Zoo later in the summer. He must be shy.

He must have thought he was on Safari.

He loves Kangaroos

This was such a great day for everyone. They had so much fun on their manly outing and grant and i got to sleep and clean.

First day of School!

Friday was Nick's last day of work and today was his First day of school. It's a little scary to think about how we're going to live but you know what? We're not the first people to go to school while having a family. There are so many resources out there. I just know things will work out. He also had his first day on the job doing video conferencing for EVCC and Western U. Next step, find another job. It seems like a lot to have a family, work, and go to school but there is so much variety to a day it should be exciting. Nick has been fun to watch as school has been approaching. He's already read part way through both his chemistry and his trig book. What a geek!! Isn't it great? I really love to see him so excited about something other than how to defeat the other alliances in his computer games. I'm sure there will be some of that still but a little balance is a good thing.
Landon got to start school today with Mom. He's been just as excited as Dad. Everytime Dad got school supplies he needed to as well. He sat pretty well at his activity table while we talked about ABC's, the weather, and the days of the week, we colored, did flash cards, played, and read books. What a full morning! What fun! i just wonder how he'll react as we keep doing it and he realizes we're not really playing school but we're really going to be learning things everday. I think he'll be game, i'll keep you posted.
Grant didn't know what to think about school today. At first he was totally in to it watching Landon and I. Then he realized the attention wasn't being directed at him and decided to let us know how he felt about that. It'll be interesting to see how i can do school with Landon while entertaining the peanut.

Big Brother Landon

I had to post these pics of Landon at the hospitol. Karina of course took these and i just love them!! He loves his aunt kweena!

Grant Alexander Thomas Collins

I went to a doctor's visit two days before my due date, April 27th, 2009. They decided because i had gestational diabetes and i had so much extra fluid in me we should just go ahead and induce me... One worry was that grant could potentially be huge and i would have to have an emergency c-section. I was so nervous to go into labor! i know we forget how painful labor is but i new it was going to hurt and i would have been totally fine waiting two more days...
It's times like these when you realize just how wonderful your family and friends are. I had the most amazing people assisting me in labor. Of course nick was there. My sister Karina who did such a great job. She's had four kids all C-section so i was really impressed that she just seemed to know what to do. She was also the designated photographer. Her pictures are amazing!! Our close friends Nathan and Heather were there with us. Heather is having her first baby in june so we were all a little worried that it'd freak her out but she's seen it all before so she was a pro... Nick's wonderful mother was there as well which was great because not only has she had five boys herself but she's a NICU nurse and has taught Lamaze classes for years. My wonderful mother had the all important job of entertaining Landon... A really big THANK YOU!! to all of them!

They started the pitocin at about 4:30 or 5pm. i'd say i started getting good contractions around 6pm maybe. I don't know why but a lot of the details of the night are a bit blurred... i remember they checked me later that evening maybe 9 or 9:30pm and i was dialated to a 4 and short time (like half hour) later i said i think i feel like a need to push. so everyone is like "yeah right" "it's gonna be a while" but my doctor decided to check me anyway, thank goodness. I remember thinking, " okay if i'm at a 5 i want a dang epideral... i was in a bit of pain by then... Our doctor checks me again and i'm dialated to an 8!! About a million nurses start pouring into the room getting things ready... i was a little out of it so i really don't remember a whole lot. i remeber them telling me i had to wait 20 min to start pushing so one of the doctors could get there and i wasn't too happy about it. the worst thing in the world is to have to breath through pushing contractions... Finally at 11pm after about 5 hours of labor (not too bad) our little baby grant came into the world.

He was 7lbs 2oz and 20 inches long. He was wide eyed and such a beautiful baby! We fell in love as soon as we saw him. It's been a wonderful month getting to know him. He just fits right in to our family...

I have been so impressed with the way Landon has adapted to the change. I wondered if it he would have a hard time with a new little person living in HIS house with HIS parents but he just loves him to pieces. If anything he's had a difficult time having two parents who are so stinkin sleep deprived.

It is seriously time for a BABY UPDATE... or an update of any kind would probably be a good idea. I think my last post was November. So, there's been all those important things like Christmas, anniversary, birthdays... but you know what it's all a jumble now. We're having issues getting pictures on our computer so maybe as we get them uploaded I'll feel inspired to write some blogs about all those fun times.
Right now all i can really think about is the baby coming. This pregnancy has really been a great one aside from the pain involved. I lost about 10 pounds at the beginning of the pregnancy which my doctor was okay because i was heavy to begin with. I have only gained 5 pounds since than!! woo hooo! As long as my doctor is okay with that than I'm just as happy as can be. Trust you me, i had the weight to lose. You'd think that being healthier this time around i would have passed my glucose tests easy peasy... well, not exactly. We found out about a month ago now that i have gestational diabetes. It was a little unnerving knowing our precious little guy could be so effected by it. It's really just kicked me into gear to be even healthier. I had already made a New Year's Resolution to not eat sugary sweets or soda this year. Knowing that it could hurt our baby has only made that easier to stick to. Now i just need to continue after he comes to join our little family.
For those who don't know a lot about gestational diabetes one problem that can occur, among others, is that baby can be very large. At my last check up i was measuring almost full term and i was still 34 1/2 weeks so that's pretty big. My doctor was talking about having me induced early but when i went to my ultrasound he was measuring right where he should be. The technician said he was about 5lbs 13oz... I guess i may be big because i have a lot of fluid which could be a problem. So, now we're just waiting to hear back from our doctor. If it's left up to me I'd love to make it to May 1st. I know, I know, call me crazy, i just really want a May baby... even if it means going past my due date. I'm really in no hurry to make it to labor and delivery again... I'll be glad to hold him and love him but really, i don't mind putting off the pain a little longer...