The Power of Lists and/or Post It Notes...

I swear that my mind has gone K.A.P.U.T...for real.  As in, if my children weren't reminding me 20 times a day that they are hungry, they might not even be fed...okay, I might be exaggerating on that part a bit, because quite frankly, it's because of my children and the 102 things that are on constant revolve in my mind concerning them and their well being, that takes away from anything else that is trying to gain access in my conscious.  For starters, we missed one of the kids' friends' birthdays this past Sunday.  Because I KNOW that I "CRS" (Can't remember s*%$) lately, I even put a reminder in my phone for the event.  But the super cool person that I am, set the reminder for 6 in he morning, so what did I do? I dismissed it once it went off because duh, I was sleeping at 6 in the morning...none the less, the thought never crossed my mind again until my friend texted the next day to see if things were okay...Yeah, things are definitely okay, except that my mind has gone missing...as of about 4.5 years ago.  Perhaps it wasn't completely missing but with the addition of each child, more of it continues to go.  If my brain could have actual guidelines that went with it, I think it would go something like this:

December 26th, 1980:  Warning...a genius has been born...handle with care...
December 26th, 1990:  God really outdid himself...no visual signs of wear at all...brain remains in perfect condition...if not progressively better with age...
December 26th 2000:  Something is a little wonky...the owner is not using the brain to it's full capacity now that she's realized she can "learn" at her own pace...it's taking longer to get through school at this rate BUT the capacity to learn and retain is still fully functional....
December 26th 2005:  Hormones seem to have shifted a bit, therefore throwing off the brains capacity to function at it's highest level...crossing my fingers that it will resume normal processing soon...
January 18th, 2006:  1st child is born...THIS would probably be my brains' sell-by date...it's not gonna get any better from here on out so you might as well squeeze the last bits of goodness from it right now...
September 28th, 2007:  Brain is functioning at about 50% of it's capacity come the birth of chlid number 2...
May 18th, 2010:  Absolute Expiration!  Brain might as well be of no use to owner...the only information it can handle revolves around the desire to raise and protect aforementioned children...from here on out, any more children being born, will probably be taken care of by older siblings.

Seriously, all those helpful pregnancy articles will tell you that there is such a thing as pregnancy brain and how you're pretty much stupid until after your child is born...but once that happens, you return to normal...LIES...nothing but lies.  Nothing  returns to normal...especially not your intellect.  I was watching an old episode of Tori and Dean last night and they got a chance to go out on a date night...Dean got ticked because Tori was texting the sitters about the kids...so it started this big fight, and she was like "I just wanted to tell him about Liam's giraffe" or something to that effect...point is, I think moms in general function like this after kids...our minds are constantly on overdrive when it comes to the kids and their needs...even if it's not an absolute need!  Just 30 minutes ago at 5 in the a.m., I'm sitting on the couch in the loft waiting to make sure that Adler has fallen back to sleep before I go back to bed (obviously I opted NOT to go back to bed) when I find myself staring at the spiderman nightlight plugged in....Note to self:  You should probably pack this nightlight for the trip...we're going to take a few days as a family and Asher is in some phase where he needs a nightlight...that's one of many thoughts that have already gone through my mind concerning this trip...don't forget the sunscreen, we're going to need to find room for the papasan swing because Adler won't have good naps otherwise, 50 random toys for the car ride (check), up Netflix account to 4 movies out at a time so we'll have something to watch (check), juice boxes/food (check), teething pills in case Adler decides to teeth (check), size 6 month clothes in case Adler gains 5 pounds in those few days (check), Tylenol in case one of the kids get a fever (check), two cameras in case one stops working and one of my genius children does something that absolutely has to be caught on film (check)...the list goes on and on...and it ALL relvoves around the kids...Chris and I will be lucky if I pack enough clothes to last us 3 days...or the essentials like toothbrushes and toothpaste...would you believe I forgot my toothpaste/toothbrush when the kids and I went to South Dakota a few weeks back??  This happened to be the SAME weekend that Adler barfed in my mouth.  Do you know that barf makes your tongue tingle??  For a couple of hours...I later realized it was probably Adler's stomach acid that contributed to that tingly feeling...point is, you forget about things concerning yourself...it's just all about the kids. 

Which, brings me to the power of lists and/or post it notes.  I have decided that my life can function a little more smoothly if I have something reminding me of little everyay things that need to be accomplished.  Our family is notorious for having fast food multiple times a week...not anymore now that I physically wrote down on a calendar what we were going to be eating for the next two weeks...I have the words written down so now my simple mind can actually read "Steak, potatoes, green beans and cheddar bay biscuits"...instead of being so mentally incapcitated that I stand in the kitchen looking through about $600 worth of groceries and in my mind, not having a single thing to make...furthermore, certain parts of my house have gone to crap again...you know all of that organizing I did before Adler was born?  In addition to most of those areas returning to their previous state, I now have other areas of disaster.  SO, I am making a list and am going to accomplish one task a day until it's all taken care of...without a list, I would seriously sit around wondering why these things aren't taking care of themselves...because honestly, another thing that happens when you have kids is, instead of having the normal 24 hours in a day, it's lessened to like 4.3 hours.  I'm pretty sure I just had Alder a few weeks ago but when I look at the calendar, it's already August...almost September...how'd that happen?  I'll tell you how...when your days are only 4 hours long, the months go by SUPER fast...and nothing gets accomplished, because 4 hours is only enough time to feed, bath and change your children before it's time to go to bed and then do it all over again the next day. 

I guess the main point of this post is KIDS ARE A.W.E.S.O.M.E...and what's even more awesome is the day to day appreciation that spews from their little mouths on a 24/7 basis...all that love and admiration...the constant "Thank-you-mom-for-giving-up-your-life...your-intellect-your-body-your-soul-for-us" reminders is really key to waking up each morning and doing it all over again.  (For all of you non-moms out there...this is not REALLY what happens each day...it's more like constant demands to do better and guilt trips, intentional or not, that make you question if you're really cut out for this low paying, no vacation time, job) BUT in all seriousness, it's worth it...or I wouldn't have as many as I do. =)

Haven't taken very many pictures lately but here are a couple...notice that neither of the boys could pay attention to my taking the picture...they were too busy watching/playing video games...





Notice when I try to get Adler to look at me instead of the video game Asher is playing, he gets irritated for a split second!

You're Like A Balloon Tie-er!

Why is it that every single day I have these grand plans of what I'm going to accomplish and yet, they never happen?  Well I'll tell you what my problem was today...I got stuck reading a few new people's blogs.  I'm telling you...discovering people's blogs is dangerous...in the respect that you can't pull yourself away.  I was reading this one woman's blog today who has a son who is 17 months and 4 month old twins...and she had a post about being a sloth and how she was super lazy...never wanted to get up and do anything or exercise, etc, etc...and I'm sitting there like, I know, right?!  These blogs, if you find the right ones are so easy to relate to so it's easy to get pulled in.  I may not have gotten much accomplished but I did manage to take the kids out to make some water balloons and play in the pool so I think I did alright by them...their friend Malachi came over and after making about 5 water balloons for him, he says "You're like a balloon tie-er!"...yes people, that's about as far as my title goes these days...I tie water balloons and that's what I'm good at =) 

Anyway, on to some recent pictures...

So you're pretty much a rockstar if you can get a picture of this guy without him blinking in it, so I figured we should post this piece of glory.


Yes, this is Asher in his underwear...Chris isn't the type of fella to let his boy run around outside in his underwear but I just don't think it's a big deal and so when I was flippin through one of my US magazines the other day, what do I see? None other than Gwen Stafani's oldest son Kingston rockin out in his underwear at the beach...as for the second picture, doesn't it look like a drunk person paved the road? It's all "follow the yellow brick road"...but not.


Pretty sure these pictures alone would bestill Chris' very own beating heart...man, if Ayris were to play the guitar, Chris would be in heaven...


So, the awesome mom that I am decided to go to Toys R Us last week because they were having a BOGO sale on all things crayola. I found what I thought would be a super cool new product...they're called window crayons. At first, I thought, good, this is keeping Ayris' attention...then I realized they were drawing on each other's faces...I still was like whatever because it was giving me the time I needed to clean the kitchen. By the time I was done, they had it in their hair, all over their faces, on their clothes and the most super coolest part of all was that it was ALL OVER MY CARPET. WTH? How old are you? So the next 45 minutes was spent getting out the shampooer and cleaning the carpets and then throwing the kids into their second bath of the day.





Oh look at how my baby bird is growing! I had Ayris take the picture on the right to try and show how he is working on his chunk legs...



Here are more attempts to show you Adler's growth...the first pic looks like he's getting frisked...


The poor little guy seems to be teething a little ahead of the game (at least when compared to my past children) so he spends most of his days doing this when he's not sleeping (Sophie the giraffe is in the mail as we speak!)...


This for sure would win me some mother of the year awards...these would be donuts...WITH sprinkles...I know right? Even I wouldn't go this far...but that's what the kids wanted and I don't make donuts often so I was like whatever...let's live this life for one day. However, our McDonald's order today was just as impressive "Hi, yeah, can I get a mocha frappe (me), an orange pop (Ayris) and a hot fudge sundae (Asher)??" I think if Adler had been old enough to join in he would have asked for a cherry pie...he seems like that kind of guy...he's my old soul...I can totally see him sitting in a dinner eating cherry pie when he's a grandpa...but yeah, we should all just be called Sugar Collins...except for Chris...he totally does not fit in when it comes to that.


Why so serious??




Adler: I am the mob boss and these are my minions...

Back To The Olden Days...

So it's taken me a good two days to even complete this post...it's been a daunting task.  It started with me trying to find Chris and I's marriage license so I could confirm our eligibility for insurance (I just gave up and paid 9 bucks to get a copy made) and ended with my scanning in and editing all of these photos.  I have four boxes under our bed...one for each of the kids mementos and one for Chris and I (which obviously hasn't been touched since we had kids...there aren't a lot of memories to fill it with that can't be put into the kids boxes!)  ANYWAY, as I was digging through Chris and I's box, I came across a bunch of pictures of when Ayris was a baby and a few of Asher and then I found a little ziploc of some pictures of myself...I found myself crying when I was looking through all the pictures of Ayris.  It was so much easier to be her mom then and that sounds bad, especially considering she's only 4 and we have many more years to go but she needed me then and she didn't have the attitude she does today...she wasn't constantly questioning me, nor did she know all the right buttons to push to drive me absolutely insane.  Like I said, it was easier, but that doesn't make me love her any less...I just found myself saddened by how quickly it went and scared by the fact that it doesn't seem to be slowing down.  She used to be a full blown baby...she didn't know how to walk or talk...she was just my beautiful little girl who would forever hold that most special place because she was my firstborn child.  Once I got to the pictures of myself as a little girl, I wondered if my own mother, when looking back on my baby pictures still felt that same pang of 29 years gone by...does it ever go away???  Then I was thinking of a list of things I wish I'd known before I had children...and all of that is what follows in pictures...

Apparently people were afraid to center pictures back in the day...these were originals and they're both veering towards the left. And yes, I know that's a super scary birth picture...I swear babies are coming out cuter these days! Or maybe it's just MY babies that are coming out cuter?? Doesn't it just look like I came out talking though?? "Look Mr. Photographer...first off, you're standing a little too far to the right, my picture is going to be off center, and second, what's up with these bright lights??? It's making it difficult to open my eyes and that is obviously my best feature at the present time!"

I kind of look like I should be in the sound of music wearing this getup below...




Good grief, could I get any cuter mom???  Thanks for passing down the good genes...and thanks for developing a better sense of style by the time I would have been old enough to be embarrassed by it =)


By the way, I'm pretty sure the kids big heads didn't come from me afterall...can you tell from looking at the picture on the right, what child of mine that is??

Look at how happy I was...uninhibited smile and all...

K, now starts the portion of what I wish I'd known before having kids...1)  To have relaxed more instead of trying to fit a million things in...when we went to Hawaii we had things planned for every second of our stay (including waking up at 3 a.m. one morning to go see a sunrise...who does that on vacation???) and now having three kids, you can bet if we went to Hawaii, we'd probably make zero plans and instead stay in the room sleeping 75% of the time while eating and laying on random beaches the other 25% of the time.  And along the same lines as relaxing...to enjoy the view...it was easy to take for granted the palm trees and the sprawling ocean since we could have moments of silence whenever we wanted but now...times of peace and quiet happen few and far between...

2)  That this was as thin as I was ever going to get...that I was in fact thin and not ridiculously fat like I thought I was (I was 5 months pregnant in the picture below)..

And about 7 months pregnant in these pictures--I weigh the same now as I did in these pictures and there is no baby on board =(

3)  That actually being pregnant was even more enjoyable than all of the times I dressed myself up to be pregnant (as pictured below...(first picture is real pregnant, second picture is dressed up pregnant) I can't count how many times I would shove blankets under my shirt to see myself with that little belly...even before I'd formed a thought in my head about wanting kids and how many, I loved the idea of being pregnant)



4)  That there was no reason to be scared upon finding out I was pregnant.  There is absolutely nothing on this earth that could compare to having a child...nothing.  We had just found out we were pregnant before this picture of RJ and I was taken...

5)  That as awesome as being a mother is, it also sucks major butt sometimes.  There's feelings of guilt for yelling too much that day, feelings of inadequacy, feelings of being overwhelmed and probably most of all on my part, feelings of being underappreciated (I know...they're only 4,2 and 3 months...not quite old enough to understand appreciating their mama...my fear though is that they never will realize all of what it takes and means to be a mother...except for maybe the girls...and even then, it'll take having their own children for it to fully come to fruition). 

6)  That these perfect little human beings that you birth with those big blue eyes, all of a sudden turn on you and start shouting crazy untrue things like "You're mean mommy!", "I love Grandma more!" and "Leave me alone!" but in reality, at the end of the day, you're the most important person to them and they don't really love grandma more.  I actually just realized this one today because when Ayris told me she loved Grandma Molly more than me, I told her she could go pack her bags and live with her then because I didn't want her to suffer through living here when she could easily go live with the one she loves more...probably not my most defining moment as a mom but AGAIN, it's that feeling of underappreciation rearing it's ugly head...accckkk!  Suffice it to say, Ayris did not want to move out...thank the good Lord himself because I'm not sure what my next move would have been had she asked for a plane ticket???  So the lesson learned here is that children can say mean and evil things BUT, as an adult with far more knowledge and the ability to alter perception, you can get your children back on track in no time =)

7) Siblings love to hate each other.  Seriously, I cannot wait to have 4-5 children and see the type of relationships they'll all develop with one another as they grow older together but man, they fight like cats and dogs at these ages...if they're not screaming, they're hitting, if they're not hitting, they're pushing, if they're not screaming, hitting or pushing, they're sleeping...and that's about as far as the daily routine goes...but by golly, when one of those children leaves the house to go somewhere else without the other, it's like their best friend has left.  They like the extra attention they get from Chris and I but the time is usually filled with "I miss Ayris" or "When is Asher coming home?"

The picture on the right is one of my all time favorites of Ayris and Asher together.

8)  Raising daughters is hard.  I don't remember wishing one way or the other for a boy or girl when we found out I was pregnant but once I found out it was a girl, I was super excited to buy all kinds of girl clothes and have girl talks and watch movies together, etc...MAN, I wasn't thinking about how that female psycho gene would actually be implanted into my very own child...seriously though...it's difficult...and no one ever told me that it happened so young...one would think that a girl could wait until she was at least a teenager to develop some attitude...it started at like 3 with Ayris.  But I'll say it again...she's in a rough spot...she's the firstborn, she's female and there are more expectations placed on her unfortunately...expectations I swore she'd never have...there's more mom guilt to add to my plate...

These were the pictures below that got me started with my trip down memory lane...look at how cute and full of life she is...you just don't realize how crazy difficult it is to be a parent before you become one...constantly trying to figure out how to be the best parent you can be and like the quote above...basically having your heart walking around outside your body at all times...I'm far more afraid of bad things happening now that I'm a mom...things that could potentially take my children away from me...



Look at how blonde she was!!  Now she's borderline turning into a brunette...All of my little blonde haired children are going to the dark side =(

Ayris will always be this little girl to me...spunky and so completely in tune with herself...she knows exactly what she wants and has a knack for putting together some of the most uniquely fashion forward outfits I've seen for a 4 year old.  She is my determined/strong willed little girl...just like her mama...which is probably why she knows exactly the right ways to get me going.


This is a picture that came out a few years ago that I found in my box too...I thought it portrayed motherhood quite well on more days than not...


and THIS is one of my alltime favorite emails/forwards: 

What Do You Do All Day

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in
their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers
strewn all around the front yard.
The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and
there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even
bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded
against one wall.
In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the
family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was
spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled
on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand
was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of
clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that
something serious had happened.
He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the
bathroom door.
As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn
over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been
smeared over the mirror and walls.
As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed
in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked
how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened
here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you
come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?'
'Yes,' was his incredulous reply.
She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.

THE END



Oh my goodness, this cracked me up too (I found it online when I was trying to find the above passage

Upon telling people we're stay-at-home moms, we SAHMs have all heard (or heard others thinking) the question, "But what do you do all day?" In an attempt to shut those people up -- I mean, explain -- I have created a cheat sheet for you to whip out the next time someone asks this question.

Note: Detractors may point out that the following figures add up to more than 100 percent. This is no accident. In addition to no pay, there is no vacation or weekend from this job, either. But the benefits .... ah, they last forever (just ask any accidental SAHM who's a former corporate achiever). Anyway, here's the time breakdown:

•Picking things up -- 25 percent
•Putting things away -- 20 percent
•Pleading with other people to pick things up and put them away -- 10 percent
•Taking kids to playgrounds, playdates, music class or other activity to prevent them from destroying house -- 10 percent
•Doing paperwork (school, doctor, daycare, etc.) -- 2 percent
•Wiping bottoms, washing hands or otherwise assisting in the bathroom activities of other people -- 4 percent
•Dressing and undressing other people -- 6 percent
•Teaching other people to dress and undress -- 4 percent
•Preparing food -- 10 percent
•Helping other people eat food -- 10 percent
•Cleaning up after food preparation and consumption -- 10 percent
•Doing laundry -- 90 percent
•Worrying about money -- 15 percent
•Picking up and dropping off other people -- 22 percent
•Getting gas (for car) -- 2 percent
•Getting gas (from eating hot dogs and mac & cheese) -- 1 percent
•Paying bills, clipping coupons, talking to various "service" people on the phone -- 6 percent
•RSVPing, shopping for, and going to birthday parties -- 13 percent
•Reading stories -- 15 percent
•Making up stories -- 12 percent
•Grocery shopping -- 50 percent
•Making lists for grocery shopping -- 45 percent
•Doing things for self (showering, eating, going to the bathroom) -- 4 percent
•Threatening others -- 2 percent
•Bribing others -- 3 percent
•Answering questions (i.e., "Do dinosaurs have birthdays? What color is bear poop? Do fairies wear helmets? When a skunk bites you, does he say sorry?") -- 24 percent
•Repairing household objects that husband can't or won't fix -- 2 percent
•Indulgently ordering unnecessary child gear and toys online -- 3 percent
•Feeling guilty about the fact that you don't work "outside the home" -- 7 percent

Hahahaha, Do fairies wear helmets, do dinosaurs have birthdays...if those questions alone don't excite you about becoming a parent, I don't know what will...honestly, it's things like that that make the million loads of laundry a week and ridiculous amounts of attitude worth it all...seeing how these little miracles that YOU yourself made learn and grow everyday...and that I, as a stay at home mom get to witness it...well again, there's not much else I'd rather be doing.  I feel so fortunate that I have the ability to stay at home with my three beautiful kids...so thank you to Chris for making that possible!

Alright, after the 100+ hours I put into this, I'm going to click publish post...I should be good now for a couple of weeks right??? =)

Load the Car with Angels...

So first off, was anyone else kept awake by that crazy storm we had last night?  I must've been up for about an hour...AND when I went outside this morning, I noticed that our glass patio table with the umbrella and all had been blown over onto it's side...that thing is not light.  And the lamest thing of all is that we've had this STUPID newspaper sitting on our roof since winter and wouldn't you know THAT didn't get blown off in the storm...pssshhh.
Anyway, as I was laying in bed listening to the crazy thunder go on and on, I decided to go online and 1) look if we were under some kind of weather advisory (we were but just thunderstorm...I wasn't going to get all hot and bothered unless it was a tornado advisory) and 2) I decided to check for any articles on the star tribune about this guy that was hit in Lakeville a few weeks back.  I never wrote about it then because I was a little emotional about the subject...I had taken the kids to the park (I didn't even want to go in the first place...I should have just stayed home!) and during the course of it, a car hit a man and his wife on their motorcycle...they flew through the air and landed on the pavement...the woman got up right away but after about 15 minutes, an HCMC helicopter landed on the road and airlifted the guy away.  I held back tears the whole way home (the helicopter landing 20 feet away from us really did me in) and scoured the Internet the next few days trying to find out if the man had survived.  A few days ago, I finally got my chance to find out when I was pulled over for turning right on red (I apparently didn't stop before turning...who knew you even had to stop???) and I asked to cop if he knew anything about it...he did and he informed me the guy had died.  Turns out he was only 40 and he died 3 hours after being airlifted to HCMC.  I HATE crap like this.  I do the whole "what if" thing...what if he'd just waited a few more minutes before leaving...or if he'd just stayed at home in the first place...what if the 17 year old who hit him had been paying attention??  And then, I upset myself further by thinking about that person waking up for the day putting on their socks and shoes, not knowing that 8 hours later they're going to be hit by a car and die...it makes me sick just typing it out.  DEATH + ME do not go together well...I obviously have some kind of issues.  Anyway, back to my point...as I was laying in bed last night thinking about God (anytime it thunderstorms, in my head it seems like God is mad, which is weird too I'm sure...I'm just all kinds of messed up people!  You have no idea...really) and the man who died...I was thinking about how I need to start saying a little prayer every single time I get into the car...and how I need to say it out loud and it needs to be the same exact prayer...and that I need to have the kids say it with me because 11 years from now when Ayris starts driving and 13 years from now when Asher starts driving, my hope is that it will be BURNED into their memory and they'll just automatically say it each time they get into their cars themselves (honestly, I'm still not at a point where I'm even going to allow them to drive ever...but I imagine it will happen at some point)...so today, I asked Ayris if she remembered when the accident happened at the park...yes she did...and I told her that the guy died and explained how dangerous riding/driving in cars can be and how I'd like to start saying a little prayer each time we get in the car and could she help me to remember...well she sure could...so then I asked her what we should say that would remind God to protect us and keep the angels with us in the car at all times...to which she said we should say "Load the Car with Angels" because we need a lot of angels so they can protect all of us in the car.  I'm already envisioning us standing in the Target parking lot holding the door open for this line of angels that need to get in the car...while people wonder why the door is open and we're waving our angels into the car...our invisible angels. 

One of the things I often wonder about is if prayer can make a difference in the outcome of our deaths.  If everything is already set in stone with our birth and death, then can praying a prayer of safety for myself and my children alter the course of an accident that could have been had?  Or is it merely something that will give me piece of mind each time I get into the car?  I guess for now, I'm just going to have faith that my family will live long and healthy lives.

That's all for now...I have pictures to edit and then I'll get another post up =) 

Finally Got Some Editing Done...

Alright, here's some random pictures from the last couple of weeks...



Ayris just got a big girl bike a couple of weeks ago so this is her first time trying it out while Asher rides on her old trike (Asher has a spiderman bike waiting in the wings himself...he just doesn't know it yet...until his birthday)



Ayris being her Ramona Quimby self and it FINALLY happening...Adler fell asleep in the jumper!





Another one of those shots where one boy is in focus and the other isn't and then the reverse of the initial picture...





Don't they just look like they're ready to start a family?? =) This is Susie and boy don't I wish she lived in MN...like right next door. Seriously. The girl must've held Adler for half of the day and didn't even give him up when he got fussy...she was a pro...



And, she even got him smiling...









Adler has just recently gotten into watching t.v. Anytime it's on, he'll turn his head towards it and watch it...AND, I finally got the Bebe Pod so Adler can start sitting up on his own...he's never been a fan of laying on his back...he'd rather be in the know...we had a Bumbo with Ayris and ended up taking it back because her legs were so chubby that she would get stuck in it...I read online that the Bebe pod worked better for kids with chubby legs...even though Adler isn't super chubby yet...we're only in month three =)



And this picture is for my friend T...she kept calling me a Cullen because of the perfection that is my chalk white skin...well, I just wanted her to know that we are raising baby Cullen's here in the Collins household as proven by this picture of Adler's legs that Ayris took...



That's all the pictures I have for now. I wish I'd taken a picture of my friend Michelle's super cute baby Charlie...I was convinced that Adler was growing at a slow pace because he still seemed like such a little tiny baby to me...yeah, he's totally not...compared to Charlie, he's like a super ginormo chunk-a-monk!