Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we spent the day at home relaxing and preparing desserts to share with the family. That evening we went to 5:00 church and came back to our house with my whole family in tow for dinner...chili in the slow cooker and cocktail dogs. Nothing fancy but delicious! After dinner we had presents galore! This was the first time we've had Christmas anywhere besides my parents house. I know my mom liked it; not having the mess at her house and I know I liked it because we didn't have to pack anything up and get organized to leave. Not sure if it will happen again but it was a nice Christmas Eve...Collin's first and Josie's 2nd but she totally understood opening gifts and genuinely enjoyed each of her gifts.

Do you think they look alike?!?!

Mutz Cousin Christmas

This year we got together at Pat and Michelle's house to have a little cousin Christmas for the little ones to exchange Christmas presents. We got together the weekend before we were due because we knew we would most likely not be seeing them over the holidays with our new addition joining the family. Baby brother got SPOILED with fun things! And I think/hope the car cozies I made for Jackson and Brady were a hit!

St. Nicks

We were so excited for St. Nicks that we couldn't even get dressed!

The stockings were hung and filled with goodies for the little ones!

Josie helped out baby brother and helped opened his for him too!

Hello Santa...we tried!

BLACK Friday

One of my favorite days of the year!!!

This year Curt was gone hunting so Josie and I stayed over at my parents house on Thanksgiving. Jodi had to work the morning of Black Friday so she wasn't able to join us.

Well, I had some electronics on my list that I knew would be "hot" items and me being 2 weeks away from brother's birth day knew I wouldn't be able to move fast and get what I wanted so I enlisted Karley to join us on her first black Friday! We left at 2:30 in the morning and didn't come back until noon! She was a trooper and sooo helpful! Of course we had to document that momentous ocassion!

Brother Cake

This post is SUPER old but I want to document it!

We had our 20 week ultrasound the same day we left on a family vacation in late July.

To share our news we made a "brother cake".

Nobody knew the sex of the baby until we cut it open!

One Week!

I can't believe that he is one week old already!

He is doing so well. For his one week birthday he was able to stop wearing the billi-blanket!

So far (knock on wood) he is a content, mellow little baby. He fusses, not even cries, when he is wet and when he is getting hungry. He can not stand a wet diaper so if it's not feeding time, that's usually what it is. He sleeps very well through the day and has only been waking up once a night for a bottle and diaper change. He typically has 2 or 3 periods through the day that he's very alert. From Day 1 he has been able to hold his head up briefly...he's getting stronger at it now but still has the "bobble head". We are so glad he's here and apart of our family!

"My Baby"

Josie has been calling Collin: baby, my baby, and baby brother (once).

Whenever she says "my baby" I have to explain to her that he's mama's baby, daddy's baby, and Josie's baby and that we all have to share.

When she came to the hospital she would not let anyone else hold him! Not out of jealousy but because it was her baby. She's done a lot better sharing him now and has not had one round of jealousy! I am shocked and so proud of her. I hope it stays that way for her.

Whenever she wakes up the first person she's looking for is Collin and when she goes to bed that's who she wants to say "nigh nigh" to. She has been a WONDERFUL big sister and has transitioned so well. She LOVES her baby brother as you can see from her smiles!

Coming Home!

Josie Meeting Collin for the 1st time

Collin Jerry's Birth...

Collin Jerry

December 14, 2010

3:37 a.m.

7 lbs. 15 oz.

21 and 1/2 inches

is not a very exciting one but that's okay! Our due date was December 20th and my doctor was going to be leaving on vacation so we talked about being induced a few days early as long as it was favorable. On Monday the 13th I went in for my weekly check with the Dr. and I was dilated 2 and his head was pushing down; Dr. said I was ready to deliver at anytime so we decided on Wednesday to be induced. Well we never made it to that appointment! That evening Jennie came over for a visit and to pick up her cookies from the cookie exchange (13 dozen!) and I was achy but not crampy or uncomfortable so I thought it was just from my doctor's check. I went to bed around nine like normal and was up at 11:45...I went to the bathroom because I was having crampy feelings...thinking my tummy was upset because I had been battling the stomach virus that was traveling around our school. But the crampy didn't stop and was different than the stomach flu...I went back to the bedroom and told Curt that I thought I may be having Braxton Hicks but they kept coming so at midnight I started tracking on an ITouch app and they kept coming every 3-4 minutes and lasting about a minute. After about 30 minutes I called in to the 24 hour hotline because we had been induced with Josie I didn't even know the rules for when to go in as far as timing and contractions.

They started getting stronger and coming a bit faster as I was on the phone with the nurse and my sister. Jodi came to stay with Josie and we checked in around 1:30 a.m. I was already at a 7! Nurses asked if I wanted an epidural; yes I did, so they moved us to delivery right away and I had one done before our paperwork was even processed. By the time the epidural was done and Curt/my mom was allowed to come back into the room I was at a 9! Thank goodness they got that epidural in because at 3:37 a.m. and 6 pushes later our baby boy was here! 2 hours at the hospital; not even 4 hours from start to finish and he was here! I'm still shocked at the speed and ease of this delivery but I'm grateful for it and the health of Collin and me (as well as Curt and Josie!)

Mandatory Belly Shot!

This was taken at about 1:00am in the morning as we were headed to the hospital...it's really the only belly shot that I've got this time around but that's okay; it's enough for me!

And here's Josie at 1:00 a.m. in the morning; all the phone calls to the doctor and the calls to family to come stay with her woke her up. Here's her last picture as an only child :)

Getting Ready for Christmas!

So this year we were ready for Christmas early...just in case baby brother decided to make his entrance early! The tree went up the weekend before Thanksgiving as Curt was off hunting. We did buy a train for under the tree and you will see below how much Josie L-O-V-E-D that purchase; I'm so glad that we did!

Collin's Hospital Photo Shoot

This free picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

Baby Brother

Today we had a final ultrasound checking on baby brother. Everything looked exactly as it should and was doing exactly what it should. He looks very healthy and now just needs to finish growing the next 4 weeks. Baby brother was measuring on track and they guessed around 6 pounds right now...let's hope that's a little high or in 4 weeks we may have a bigger sized baby. Here's one of the 3-D shots they put on a disc for us; Curt said he's got his cheeks and nose! You can see some hair up top too!

After we heard all was healthy, I did ask to check that there was still a boy in there and yep, we saw the parts...it's still a boy! And I think baby brother may possibly have a name?!?! We have one that's stuck for a couple days now so we'll see if we make it through the weekend with the same name because we haven't hit more than 3-4 days before changing names again!

Christmas!

Christmas is all I have on my brain this year! I don't know if that's because baby brother should be here and home in time for Christmas or because I'm excited to see Josie get excited about the music, lights, and presents! I don't know but I can't wait to decorate...Curt is leaving on Thanksgiving to go hunting so we are going to put the family tree up that morning before he leaves town. One decoration I can't wait for is a Christmas train set...I've always wanted one and never let myself indulge; you know no kids and having the dogs in the past always seemed like logical reasons not to have one. Well this year we will have two kids (ha, one might not even be a week old yet) and since the dogs have moved I think I have no reasons left to talk myself out of buying one! Who knows about GeoTrax and their quality? They look totally kid friendly? Are they worth the price? How fun does this look if it were under the tree? The top one is on sale this week at Toys R Us and I'm so torn about to buy or not to buy!!

Little Lady

This year Josie dressed up as a ladybug; we got so many compliments about her cuteness and her costume! She went trick or treating twice; once at night with DeeDee and the boys. She loved walking with them and following them around; she didn't get scared by any noises or costumes! On Sunday we went trick or treating by my parents' house to visit our neighbor friends and to walk by the trunk or treat at our church. Josie was not as into trick or treating this time but really enjoyed handing out the candy to the children who came. She would just keep giving and giving them more. However, if they were wearing a mask she just stared and wouldn't hand them anything; they made her too nervous! Halloween was so fun with Josie this year, she loved to play with the pumpkins, loves the candy, learned to say treat, and looked so a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e in her outfit! It makes me really excited to celebrate Christmas with her!

This is Grandma taking her next door to Judy's house. You see Judy had a big bag of treats set aside for Josie and our nieces. We walked by our aunt's house too; they also had a big treat bag for her and the girls. Papa and Grandma had treat bags for all the grandgirls, DeeDee and the boys gave her a pumpkin full of yummies! Needless to say Josie was very spoiled this Halloween and we are so greatful for all of our friends and family who love to dote on her as much as we do!