Happy Valentine's Day!

Well today is Valentine's Day... Lover's Day... Single Awareness Day... whatever you wanna call it.
It's the day where you're supposed to go out and buy all that overpriced soon to be dead flowers and fattening chocolate. Yeah, No thanks. John knows better than to go throw our money away on that junk lol. However, Tomorrow when it's all 50% or more off the "original" price he is allowed to surprise me with something sweet. I will be getting Cami 3 Carnation Flowers in a little vase with a small teddy bear or something... this is what my dad always did for me and I loved it. So John and I will be doing the same for her. She loves flowers.

Anyways, It's been a while since I've updated this.
I finally got BOTH kids into ONE daycare so my mornings are going a little easier! I was really scared for Collin's first day considering he has never really experienced a daycare setting yet. He loves it. Never once cried on his first day there.... didnt even care I was leaving... he was ready to play with all the new toys! It's absolutely adorable peeking in the window and seeing him run around with his little midget friends lol. He also doesnt suck down a gallon of milk each day now that he's such a busy little man. That excites me... and my bank account. Cami was excited yet very very nervous about meeting new friends. She is such a shy little girl but once she gets to know you she'll never shut up! She cried her first day when I left... but when I picked her up she didnt wanna leave! She LOVES it there. Her teacher is super nice and she has alot of really good kids in her class this time. Lots of cute little girls who love dressing up just like she does. She met a blonde hair blue eyed boy named Charlie that she adores as well. There's always that one boy... no matter where she goes lol. I'm just excited for both my kids to be able to go to school across the hall from each other and know they are being well taken care of and having a blast. I hated where Cam went before and I didnt like that Collin was just sitting in a house all day with his babysitter. Both my kids seemed to have a strong need for alot of room to run and play and different activities to keep their minds busy as well.

Now it's my turn. I hate my school. Can I switch too? lol. Seriously though, I'm really upset that I recieved a B in a class that should have given me an A+++++. I got A's on 98% of my assignments/tests/quiz's... I also showed up to class everyday on time except 2 times that were excused due to Collin being sick and my requirement for a physical and TB test for the class. I also recieved almost 200 extra credit points for the workbook we did... yet somehow.. I recieved a B. I tried to fight the grade and I got a letter in the mail saying it wasnt approved. WTF?? how!?!?!? I'm really starting to think about NOT going there for my Nursing Program and not just because of this one incident... ive heard about this type of stuff happening from several people.... SRC seems to be very unorganized and cause alot of problems. I just like going there because it's in town and a small building so I know where everything is at... i'm comfortable there... and i dont like getting outta my comfort zone lol.
I'm also having a TERRIBLE time getting into the swing of things this semester. I'm totally sucking in my math class and it's been hard to focus in my A&P class but atleast I have a couple awesome lab partners that are keeping me in gear.

I went to the doctor yesterday and talked to him about some things I'm going through... How I'm always SOOOO exhausted... like I could literally sleep alllllll day every day. I have no energy. I'm losing interest in everything I once loved... photography... school... idk what I want to do in life any more. I have no interest in anything. I have headaches all the time. I'm super stressed and cant handle it right. My body is so outta whack lately. The list of stuff just goes on and on... so he tested me for a bunch of things and we have now come to the conclusion that i'm depressed. Which hearing that just makes me depressed lol... seems like a sign of weakness to me. I also hate knowing i'm depressed when I have so much I should be thankful for in life... wonderful husband, amazing kids, nice things, etc but I cant help it. I think alot of it may go back to how I was raised... without a mother.. not that my dad didnt do an awesome job.. but it just gets me upset thinking about how she just up and left me. I needed her. I feel like an angry person alot and recently I feel like I dont know how to raise my own kids anymore. Collin is such a needy child and I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Cami wasn't this hard at his age... but then again I only had 1 child and alot less stress. But now Cami is pretty needy too which I think is because she wants the same attn her brother is getting and she is getting older and wanting to do more. There are numerous things that are probably making me like this. I know eating healthier and getting more excercise would greatly help me out too but I have no motivation because of all this... & remember.. i'm exhausted! So hopefully some happy pills will help and i'll get back into shape and then be able to get off of them. I just need a boost in the right direction i think!

MEN! UGH!

I am so frustrated right now... here is why...

John wakes up at 4am and gets himself ready for work... so i'm guessing he rolls outta bed at 4:15, goes pee, brushes his teeth, puts his contacts in, gets dressed, and walks out the door. Then he's usually home between 11am-2pm at the very very latest.

Me... (the mom who sits on her ass all day)... wakes up at 4am because I heard an alarm go off... doze back off for a half hour.. wake up with Thing 2.... get him back to sleep for an hour... wake up with Thing 2 two more times in a 30 minute period because he feels the need to drink a gallon of milk before he falls back asleep this time.... then doze off for a very short while... THEN my alarm goes off at 7.
I get up, go pee, put in contacts, jump in the shower for a very fast shower, get out and dry off, put on make up or atleast attempt to before Thing 2 wakes up for yet another refill on his milk addiction, brush my teeth, dry hair, straighten hair, let the dogs outside, attempt to wake up Thing 1 about 6 different times, fix her breakfast while trying to keep her quiet so she doesnt wake up Thing 2... (I need him to sleep so I can get us ready first or else we have a screaming tantrum alllllllll morning long until we get to Thing 1's school.) Oh, but wait... Thing 2 just woke up... screaming begins.... fight Thing 1 to get dressed, brush her teeth, do her hair, find her coat hat and gloves that I swear I had laid out the night before but Kung Foo Kitty goes Krazy in the middle of the night and dragged it off to God only knows... I then get Thing 2 some food and clean up a few messes from that and then start the Karate session of getting him dressed. THEN... oh this is my favorite part.. THEN I get to finally get dressed while Thing 2 is screaming at me and holding onto my leg, chucking toys at my head, spilling his milk all over the floor, hitting his sister, and listening to Thing 1 and Thing 2 battle out whatever it is they have goin on in the other room, etc. Finally, out the door we go... almost... first we gotta fight over who gets to unlock the door and be the first one out. Now to the car... Thing 2 is Screaming, hitting, and refusing to buckle up... got him in with his milk and monkey... then go around and get Thing 1 in her seat.. MAJOR MELTDOWN from thing 1 cause she forgot something inside... I run in to rescue it and make that all better... then to her school we go!... Take Thing 1 and Thing 2 inside and drop off Thing 1... Me and Thing 2 give her hugs and kisses and I fight Thing 2 out of the paint they have sitting right by the door for parents like me with little Things that tag along in the mornings and go fight him back into the car... oh the kicks this kid can make while buckling him into his seat is pretty amazing... now that my hair is messed up, im sweating, and I look like complete hell... I take him clear across town to drop him off with his babysitter.. once that is done... I can finally start my day... Off to school I go, without breakfast, and I wont get to see food until 5pm.... & I'll have to cook that too... & clean up... & bathe the kids or atleast bitch to someone that the kids need a bath... (sometimes If I start slamming cupboard doors or stomping through the house like im seriously out of breath he takes a hint and jumps up to do that... other times I just give up and say give the kids a bath they're disgusting and that works too... but usually with a "UGH Jesus Christ" first...) anyways if I dont have school though then just back up to where we fight Thing 2 to getting back into the car and we then come home to more screaming while mommy cleans up the morning disaster we left behind and then we sit down to play or cuddle which either way leads to one meltdown after another cause god forbid this kid learn english so he can just tell me what he wants!

THEN, after all that supper stuff and cleaning up and bathing yada yada... I may just go hide in the bathroom and soak in the tub for 30 minutes because "Sitting on my ass" all day wore me out just a tiny bit and I need to get my Sanity back... I then get out of the shower to notice the Thing I married is in bed quietly on his phone with all lights in the house turned off (which is seriously amazing cause usually every light in the house is left on) and so I turn on the lights and I look around to see the pre-bedtime disaster I now have to clean up, before I can sit down and concentrate on the 2 hours of homework I have while getting up with Thing 2 a few times before I can finally get to bed... but as SOON as I lay my head on the pillow Thing 2 is crying yet again and this time makes his way into our bedroom so I can have 2-3 inches of my bed to sleep on all night while being kicked, hit, drooled on, etc.


You just gotta love us Moms who do nothing but "Sit on our asses all day" huh? FML I give up. I'm out.

Berries are Beautiful

Found this today and thought I would share:


The more vaccines are studied, the more apparent it becomes that proper vaccine studies are lacking, as VACCINE EXPERT and pediatrician Larry Palevsky explains. There is a major difference between natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity. Obtaining natural immunity has far greater benefits.

When children are born, they develop natural immunity to a large variety of microorganisms that they breathe, eat, and touch. The immune responses by cells lining their airways, skin and intestines, are very important in creating "memory" and protection against the organisms they naturally come into contact with. That primary line of defense is a very important step in the maturation of your child's immune system—and it's bypassed when he/she gets a vaccine.

With vaccination, you are merely creating an antibody.

Vaccines do NOT impart long-term immunity because they don't create the kind of memory that occurs when you go through the process of a natural immune response. And natural exposure does not necessarily lead to infection—it is possible to obtain natural immunity without actually getting sick, if your immune system is robust. In fact, vaccines do NOT strengthen the healthy functioning of the immune system, but actually may weaken it.

BIG PHARMA IS BIG BUSINESS

FYI - Contamination Scandal - FVIII (protein used in vaccines)
In the 1980s, some pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer sparked controversy by continuing to sell contaminated Factor VIII after new heat-treated versions were available. Batches of this product that were tainted with HIV - to the knowledge of both Bayer and the US government and the FDA - were pulled from US markets and sold to Asian, Latin American, and some European countries, protecting the companies' monetary profits but infecting thousands with HIV.

Food and Drug Administraion (FDA) "A MAJOR problem with PROTEIN-based therapeutics is their immunogenicity, that is, their tendency to trigger an UNWANTED immune response against themselves. . . . . But there are so many differences among the IMMUNE systems of people that it is NOT LIKELY that researchers will be able to design a FVIII protein that is SAFE for all of them. Therefore we propose to take a personalized approach to predicting--and avoiding--immune responses to FVIII proteins. Our long-term goal is to develop a gene-based approach to identifying individuals whose immune system is likely to react to specific versions of GENETICALLY ENGINEERED therapeutic proteins so these patients can be treated with versions of these proteins that are LESS LIKELY to cause immune responses. . . . The CURRENT METHOD for predicting whether certain parts of such proteins will trigger antibody formation is challenging and EXPENSIVE" !!! http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/ScienceResearch/BiologicsResearchAreas/ucm246804.htm

The key to OPTIMAL HEALTH lies with your IMMUNE SYSTEM


The modern word “immunity” derives from the Latin 'immunis' and means RESISTANCE of an organism to infection or disease.


The immune system is amazingly complex. It can recognize millions of different enemies, and it can enlist specialized cells and secretions to seek out and destroy each of them.


Your body is an extremely clever machine.


It knows how to breathe all by itself
It knows how to make a baby
It knows how to grow
It knows how to digest food
It knows how to eliminate waste
It knows how to circulate blood, oxygen and nutrients
It knows how to heal a wound
and it knows how to prevent and/or fight disease


The word VACCINE comes from the latin word Vaccinium - which means BERRY.

Berries are regarded as SUPERFOODS because of their high antioxidant content.


ANTIOXIDANTS are intimately involved in the PREVENTION of cellular damage -- the common pathway for cancer, aging, and a variety of diseases.


Antioxidants are molecules which can safely interact with free radicals and terminate the chain reaction BEFORE vital molecules are damaged.


BUT, berries and other SUPER foods CANNOT be patented to make money for the shareholders of major pharmaceutical companies, so you will not be offered this option! (see photo: Big Pharma is Big Business!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150367194526902&set=a.453441776901.243683.739501901&type=3&theater)


❤ DISEASE EDUCATION:
http://www.diseaseeducation.com/wellness/Immune-System.php


http://www.foodmatters.tv/_webapp_501681/What_Every_Parent_Should_Know_About_Vaccines

this & that..

Well today was day 2 of back to school for the Princess. Collin hates it that she's gone during the day. He just walks around and looks bored. I try to keep him entertained but apparently sissy does a better job. He will pick up some of her toys off the floor and says "Sissys.." or go in her room and look back at me and say "Sissy gone" with a sad look on his face. Poor kid. He loves her so much. I kind of wish I could put him in daycare part time to get more interaction with kids his age and do more creative artsy things they do there. I'm sure he'd wear off alot more energy too and possibly sleep at night! lol. He's doing alot better with eating things now. The past few days he has ate non stop it seems like. Might be another growth spurt. Who knows! But it makes me feel better he's eating. He's to skinny especially now that he's no longer drinking cows milk. OOhhhh... & I must say.. potty training is going great for a 19 month old little boy... I'm so impressed. The kid loves to poop in the potty! I pooped in the potty 3 times today! I'm not lyin when I say he's full of sh*t ;)
I've been feeling really wierd lately. Extremly tired, headaches, crampy, etc. I hope it passes soon. I have alot to accomplish over the next few weeks! My competency test is next thursdayyyyy... wish me luck. I'm gonna need it considering I suck at studying. I swear I have like adhd or some kind of learning disability lol.. seriously! Speaking of which... I made the deans' list. Just got the letter in the mail today!! Oh, & I went to SRC today to talk about my schedule and figure out if I should enter the Nursing program this coming fall semester or wait til next year. If I want to do it this fall I have to take 5-6 classes total this spring semester and over the summer. I'm taking 3 this semester and possibly the others over the summer. My advisor said because I have kids, work, and school.. to slow down and wait because it's so much information to cover. I would really like to get into the nursing program this fall though but I understand where he is coming from. I know I can do it. It's going to be really hard but I can do it. I'm debating though. My kids will only be this little once... I need to take more time to be with them. I'll see how this semester goes than decide. It'd be nice to take the summer off for once and of course take that vacation we all desperately need!
So far one of my resolutions are going great... I've been making new recipes for dinner every night lately and tonight was another good one! So proud of myself. I never thought I'd be able to cook. I now have a spice cabinent too with all sorts of crap ive never heard of before! lol. Amazing.
John finished my hutch tonight! He put paint on it and now it's sitting in the garage drying. I can't wait to see it tomorrow morning! He's a good hubby!
Well anyways, thats it for now I guess!

3 a.m and wide awake!

Well it's 3am and I can't sleep. Probably because I decided to study for my Competency Test around 8pm and ended up falling asleep til 11pm lol. Oops. I've never been good at the studying thing anyways.
Today (or maybe I should say yesterday?) We pretty much had a lazy day at home. Collin was pretty funny this morning when waking up... he always sneaks out of our bed and wonders the house for a few minutes then will come in and tell us "UP!" while slapping one of us. Usually he's pretty quiet while doing it but he was very loud and vocal this time. He comes running back into our bedroom and slaps john and clear as day yelled "GET UP!!" then ran to my side of the bed and smacked me and said "MOM... UP UP!!" John said "I'm getting up buddy..".. so Collin ran back out of the room and headed for the kitchen but quickly turned right back around to check on daddy... he still wasn't completely out of bed yet so Collin yelled "DADA... EAT!"... guess the kid was very hungry this morning & wanted his breakfast! haha. I think he may be going through another growth spurt because the last couple of days he has eaten non stop and I mean he actually has been swallowing his food... usually he just takes a bite or two and is done or spits everything out. He fills up on his milk =/ Which btw... how the heck do you get a kid off the bottle!?!? Cami was so easy... I just simply took them away one day after having a little talk with her about how they are for babies not big girls. She was fine with it. Collin on the other hand... he doesnt care.. that's his comfort and he has no plans on giving it up anytime soon. He's 19 months though... way past the deadline. He wakes up SEVERAL times a night and wants his bottle... I think if we could just get that thing away from him we might all get to sleep through the night for once. We have tried a few times to take it away but the middle of the night SCREAMING is a little to much for me and I dont want him to wake up Sissy. I had plans of taking it away last weekend but Collin ended up getting a little tummy bug and I needed to keep pushing the fluids so he'd stay hydrated and that was the best way to do so. Maybe next weekend we'll try. I can't do it during the week since John gets up at 4am to go to work and Cami has school.

Well anyways, It just amazes me how someone with a "severe neck injury" can't work yet has no problem partying the night away... anything to get that government money and sit on your ass all day causing drama huh? People these days, I swear! I was gonna have a huge long vent about this but talking about my kids always makes me feel better so I'm off to bed now! nighty night (or good morning? lol) <3

Helloooo Twenty Twelve!!

Happy New Year!!!

I am usually totally against the resolutions and such cause everybody just wants to lose weight but  after a few days the resolutions are out the window! lol. BUT.... this year I made a few that I am going to accomplish! I have promised myself that.

My first Resolution is to get back into shape and lose some of this baby weight... I know.. funny considering my first sentence in this blog. Seriously though, I am so tired of looking like crap. I have no clothes to wear cause I refuse to buy more everytime I attempt to go shopping for myself (& end up with a few hundred dollars worth of kid clothes) because I swear this weight will fall off eventually. Well.. it hasn't. After I had Cami the pounds just dropped with no effort. After having that big baby boy of mine... they still haven't.. 19 months later. So..I'm actually gonna have to work at this. My goal is to lose 35 pounds. It's all in the tummy and thighs. Sexy. I know. So yeah, it's gotta go. I have a work out room set up in my basement so after the treadmill gets fixed in a few weeks its on! I am gonna go shopping for a few workout dvd's as well and join a group of girls for a workout night as well. Pray for me people.. I gotta do this! I'm ready to get over this pity party I have for myself and finally boost my self esteem and feel better in so many different ways!

My next Resolution is to cook more often. Part of not being able to lose weight is probably because we go out to eat SEVERAL times a week. Not healthy. Although, I never eat McDonalds, Hardee's, etc... I always go to Subway when it comes to the "fast food"... so I like to think thats a little better. I drink soda every time I eat out though so if I cook more.. I'll cook much healthier foods and drink water. My kids deserve to have home cooked meals anyways. I've just never really been taught much about cooking growing up so things are usually super simple around here. The past few weeks though I've been looking up so many recipes and doing the trial and error thing. So far we've had quite a few successful dinners here... and when we dont... there's always grilled cheese or pizza ;)

My most exciting Resolution is taking a family vacation! Were planning a trip to Florida. I reallllllly want to take Collin to the Beach. Cami was born in Georgia and she got to go at a young age quite a few times so I'm anxious to take the little man. We are also thinking about Sea World or Walt Disney World. I also would love to take Cami through Valdosta and show her where we lived on Base and the Hospital she was born in. I always hated that town and base but it definetly has a special place in my heart and always will. I love my little Georgia Peach <3

My last Resolution is to BLOG more! I started this blog a year ago and only used it 5 times. I love blogging and used to do it frequently back in the MySpace days. A friend of mine recently told me about her blog on myspace and after reading through most of it, I got excited about blogging again. I think it's so neat to write about day to day stuff and look back on it later and laugh at the things the kids said and did and such.. It's so easy to forget those little things in life and I want to remember them all. I wish I would have kept all my blogs from when Cami was a baby. I wrote alot about her.. almost every day... then decided I was done with MySpace and deleted everything... stupid stupid decision. I should have saved them. Lesson learned.

So anyways, here are some updates on us...

Collin is a very busy little man. He's always into something! That boy loves his sister so much but let me tell ya... he can be pretty mean to her! It's kind of funny though. The typical little annoying brother. He goes in her room and gets into her things... she screams... he runs out laughing... goes back in there with one of his bats and gives her a good whack on the head.. she screams again and then we gotta go in there and set him straight... he laughs some more and moves on to the next evil little thing he can think of. He still doesn't sleep at night and has pretty much taken over our bed. He loves to cuddle up to his Momma. We figured out the real problem with his ears. The poor little guy has a Milk Protein Sensativity. I wish I would have known this MONTHS ago... we could have prevented that surgery and gotten him back to normal much sooner. At the last ENT visit we found out that one of the tubes had fallen out anyways. Once both are out we wont be putting more in as long as we have no further problems. Collin has been on Almond Milk for almost a month now and within a few days of switching his ear drainage went away. Prior to this the poor thing had fluid literally DRIPPING out of his ear. It was absolutely disgusting and i'm sure horribly uncomfortable for him. For Christmas he got some new toy tools, a train set, lots of cars, a car track, and so many more cool little things. He loves them all. I've been getting rid of the baby-ish toys that he no longer plays with and it makes me a little sad. He's growing to fast.

Camryn had an awesome birthday back in October... Justin Bieber theme of course. She's in love with that kid. Her room now has posters everywhere of him. I can't believe she's 5 years old though. She loves school. She's always loved learning and always gets pretty close with her teachers. In fact, she tells me all the time how she is going to be a teacher and a nurse so she can help kids. I swear she is the sweetest caring little girl I know. We had a parent/teacher conference not long ago and they couldn't say enough good things about her. She's the smartest in her class again. When a kid gets hurt she is the first to run up and make sure he/she is ok. They are always trying to find new ways to challenge her in school and have said she is ready to read so they are working on that now. She is a crafty little girl as well... that's pretty much all she got for Christmas... every little crafty thing you can think of she now owns. She's in heaven with it all. I wish we had more time to sit down with her and do that stuff but that little brother of hers usually makes his appearence and ruins just about everything laying around on the table haha... so we have to wait til he is napping to get it all out. Cami gets irritated with him but she loves him more than anything. The other day I was in the other room and he woke up and wanted breakfast so Cami got him a bowl of cereal, poured his special milk into it and got him a spoon.. sat him down and got his juice cup and cut up a banana for him. I did mention she is 5 right? Love that little girl!! She amazes me everyday. She is going to make a great mama someday.. in the far.. far future. I must say though, Cam has quite the attitude and does have issues with listening... but.. she's a female.. she's 5.. and she's my daughter.. what can ya expect!? I pray we survive the teenage years.

John finished another semester at school while still working full time and being an amazing father and husband. I really admire and appreciate all that he does for his family. I don't know what I did to get a guy like him and I honestly don't know how he puts up with my crap half the time. I can be pretty stressful to deal with and then I gave him another stressful little lady to deal with lol! I think HE is the one praying we survive the teenage years with Cam. Right now as I am typing this he is in the garage making me a Hutch and some Shelves for the house.. it's midnight btw... HAPPY NEW YEAR!.. he came in and gave me a kiss right at 12. Love him. Anyways, Pinterest.com is a must check out sight.. but becareful... you'll be overwhelmed with all this crap you find to do on there... which is why John is in the garage =) He loves it though. He got a new circular saw (i think that's what it's called) for Christmas so he's been dying to use it. He's happy.. I'm happy =)

I also finished another semester of school. This semester was a little different though... I completely changed my major. I thought I was gonna stick with the Photography/Business thing (which I still plan to do but I dont need a degree to do that..) & I switched to Nursing. So I took a CNA course to become certified and will be finishing up a few classes I need to enter the Nursing Program this fall. I'm excited and nervous. From what i've heard... It's hell but it will be worth it in the end to be able to provide for my family again. I miss working. Alot. I applied at a few places and hope to get my old job back doing the data entry thing. I can have a set schedule which is absolutely awesome and I can have a very flexible schedule there...and it's such a relaxing job. Just sit, type, listen to the iPod, and daze off into my own little world. So I am hoping I can atleast work part time while going to school. I put Photography on hold for now because I feel like I am ALWAYS at the computer while John and the kids are having fun and I hate that. Cami will be at school all day then her and John get home and I have to get on the computer and edit or do homework for hours... it's basically like working second shift during the week then random times on the weekends while I take the pictures. So Cami and I weren't getting much time together and I definately wasn't getting any family time. Oh, and my computer is completely full of pictures I need to go through and properly organize and back up. I also want to take more picture of my own kids and edit them and of course frame them. I feel like I have none while I'm giving other people tons of them. After each photo session I always get a few pictures that I wish I had of my own kids just like it. I guess I'm getting jealous of that and photography isnt as fun as it once was. SO... although I love photography and eventually want to still have a little business with it.. I just need a break for awhile to focus on my family and continue to do well in school.

That's that for now! Here's to a new year!

Happy 1st Birthday Collin!!

To my amazing little boy..

You and I went through a rough pregnancy together. You must have been so anxious to be in my arms that you were trying to come out as early as 22 weeks. We had an overnight stay in the hospital to monitor the contractions and was sent home to be on partial bed rest which ended up being full time bedrest later on. However, it was just you, me and sissy while daddy finished up his duties in the Air Force so I prayed you would take it easy on me and hold off til he got home while we took care of sis.
Daddy finally got out of the Air Force and you decided to stay put even after he returned home. In fact, you decided to stay put an extra 3 days past your due date. It was 3:30am on May 4th that I was woken up with quite the surprise. My water had broke and I dont think I had ever, pregnant or not, jumped out of bed so fast! Before I went to bed that night I had a gut feeling that this was going to be the night so I packed my hospital bag and sure enough I was right. So I took a shower and went to the hospital around 5am. Grandma took sissy to daycare for us and then joined us in the hospital.
When we arrived to the hospital I was only a 1cm dilated like I had been for weeks. After a couple hours and no progress they started us on Pitocin. That made the contractions so frequent I could hardly breathe which ended up with me getting that amazing epidural. I was checked again at 4cm then I decided to take a little nap while I was pain free. Daddy got hungry of course so he went to go grab some food. I woke up less than an hour later and and had the doctors check me again cause I had a feeling you were ready. They werent expecting you until much later that afternoon. However, you were right there and ready. Daddy came back to the room and was a little disappointed that he didnt have time to eat his food lol. I called Aunt Tiffy and she rushed over to be there with us as well.
Mommy's no wimp and sure wasn't gonna mess around with this birthing stuff and I got you out as fast as I could. The doctor & nurses were impressed. After what seemed like just a few minutes of pushing there you were. You entered this world on May 4th, 2010 at 1:46pm weighing in at 9 pounds 1 ounce and was 22 inches long. I was a little shocked by how big you were considering your sister was only 6 pounds. You were very blue in the face because you came so fast but you were blue and beautiful. I had so many thoughts and emotions at that point I can't even describe. I was now a mother of 2 amazing children and I had the best of both worlds.. I had a prince and a princess =) Daddy, Grandma, Aunt Tiffy, Heather & Danielle were all there for your arrival. Papa Bainter and Big Sissy came soon after. Sissy's face was priceless when she saw you. She had been waiting for what seemed like years to her to meet you. In fact, she chose your name. We gave her several choices and Collin it was. Your middle name, James, is after your Great Grandpa Jim and your Uncle Tim (middle name), and your Great Uncle Jimmy on your dads side. Sissy couldn't wait to take you home to hold you, feed you, change your diapers, etc. She loves you sooo much!! You have been blessed with the best big sister a little brother could ever ask for.
Our first year together has been quite the learning experience and full of milestones for both of us. We learned to breastfeed and have made it through the first year now. I am so proud to have been given the strength to give you the best milk possible. It wasn't always easy and there were many times I wanted to give up but I pushed through the tough times for you. We learned all about natural health. We learned about the benefits of chiropractic care instead of drugs. We learned about baby wearing. "If I can't hear your heartbeat.. you're to far away"...that quote fits you perfectly. Even now that you're walking, you are still sure to keep me in sight at all times. You're my little shadow. After a bad experience with your sister being vaccinated, we learned more about the toxic vaccines and have battled the pushy doctors to keep the immune system god gave you. We didnt have to worry about SIDS, Acid Reflux, etc because you are a very healthy little boy free of toxins and all that other yucky stuff. The only 'health' problems you had was the middle ear infection issue that was an easy fix. You are living proof to all those who are against our choices with so many things. We learned how to make baby food which then led to learning about baby led weaning since you weren't a fan of the mushy stuff. I don't blame you though =)
You rolled over at 3 months old, got your first tooth at 4 months old, started scooting and sitting up on your own at 6 months old, pulling up and crawling at 7 months old, standing at 9 months old, first steps at 10 months old, and walking at 11 months old.
You have grown SO much this year and together we have accomplished so many things. I'll admit, I was scared to have a boy and never thought I'd enjoy having a boy as much as I did a girl but we have a bond like no other and I wouldn't change anything for the world. You are Mommy's Little Big Man!! I love you so much and look forward to the toddler years and all the fun things to come. Happy First Birthday Collin James!!!