It Works!

Okay, I seem to be able to get pictures on here again, so here are some I wanted to include a few weeks ago...

This was during all of the snow. Riley LOVES snow, and wants to be out in it 24/7. This is seriously all he did for about two days:

Look at those cheeks!

Happy 2009!

I have been trying to update our blog for the past couple of weeks, and can't get pictures to upload for some reason. It just stalls after it says that it's "100%." If anyone who uses Blogger has any advice, it would be appreciated! :) They finally worked this time, but it took for.ever. Things are going well in the Collins household. I am still off work until mid-February, and Boeing gives Jeff about a week and a half off during the holidays. We have been enjoying some good family time. :) We have been very busy, of course, with something to do almost every day. We had a wonderful first Christmas with Kaitlyn. Christmas Eve was spent at Jeff's dad's house in Kent (Grandpa Rick and Grandma Sue), Christmas morning at Gma Bonnie's and Gpa Roger's, and the rest of Christmas at Gma Debbie's and Gpa Dave's. It was very laid back and relaxing, which was perfect! Kaitlyn got her 2 month shots on the 23rd, and apparently wasn't feeling well from them, so it was an interesting few evenings after that. She was a little crankster, but is now back to her sweet self. :) I felt so bad that she obviously wasn't feeling well. At her two month appointment, Kaitlyn weighed in at 11 lbs., 15oz., and 24 inches long (however, I think the length is a bit off - the girl was pulling her legs down so much that her head wasn't touching the top of the measuring thingy), which puts her around the 80th percentile for weight and 95th for height (if the 24 inches was correct). She's doing great! She has been very good to her mommy and daddy, sleeping 7-9 hours each night. We are currently working on getting her to nap well somewhere besides on a person. I have been trying this for a while with not much luck (her record in her crib is 35 min. at a time, and that was a really good day - it's usually 20 min.), but I will be on a mission next week when our schedule is back to "normal." It's really hard when we are always going somewhere and not staying home. Our biggest reason for wanting this to happen is that she will be going to day care three days a week when I go back to work, and we don't want her to have to be held all the time because they won't be able to do that! She is smiling all the time now, which is the best thing ever; we can't get enough of it. She is finding her voice and making new sounds all the time.
The other night, we left Kaitlyn with Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Debbie, and cousin Caiti while we went downtown for Happy Hour. This was about the fourth time we have left her for a few hours, and it's getting a little easier for me. It's definitely much easier for Jeff since he goes to work, but I am still working on it. :) She takes a bottle at home just fine, but has had trouble with it every time we've left her. So, not only is she starving, but this means that she cries and cries for whoever has her. We don't want that for her or for her babysitters, obviously, so we are going to have to keep working with the bottle. It was fun to walk around downtown while the lights are still up. We went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for appetizers and a drink, then to Benihana for the same thing. :) We enjoyed it so much that we went back the next day with Kaitlyn for some shopping and lunch. For New Year's Eve, Jeff, Kaitlyn, Riley, and I hung out at home with pizza and ice cream. We had a LOST (tv series) marathon on DVD, and enjoyed a quiet night at home until the fireworks started. We live in an unincorporated county, so they are legal. Kaitlyn is obviously a pretty heavy sleeper when she gets going because the boys down the street were setting off what must have been m-80's pretty much right outside her window, and not a peep. The explosions were coming through her monitor they were so loud. I thought for sure she was going to wake up after a particularly hard time going to sleep. I felt so "old" because I was ready to go out and give those "pesky teenagers" a piece of my mind if she woke up...
Whew! There you go. Jeff's on baby duty, so the update got a little long...Here are some pictures!

Worn out from the Christmas festivities...

Uncle Rob showing her the tree

Kaitlyn watched everything Grandpa did :)

A teddy bear from Gma Bonnie and Gpa Roger:

The fam "all dressed up" :)

In her dress from Grandma Bonnie:

Kaitlyn next to her gift from Mom and Dad: A Galloping Jumperoo to use in a couple of months. She looks pretty excited, huh!

I'm a dork, so I took a picture of her first Christmas tag from us :)

I have more pictures that I wanted to post, but it's not working! I'll try again later...

I'm Obsessed :)

I promise that I did not have a baby just so that I could set her up for pictures. :) However, I will admit that I am having fun doing it...

Merry Grinchmas!

My Grandma Gertrude and Grandpa Bob introduced me to The Grinch when I was little, and it's been my favorite Christmas movie ever since. :)
I've been having fun with picnik.com. You can do fun things with your photos:

Here's the real picture - Kaitlyn enjoyed her photo shoot :)

7 Weeks :)

On Saturday, we headed to Puyallup to Jenni and Ben's for a CWU Christmas gathering. It was really good to see everyone; we always have a good time. We were laughing about how different our get-togethers are now. :) Many of us either have babies or are pregnant.

Here's Kaitlyn and Paige on Sunday morning (we spent the night). Yes, our daughter is more than 2 months younger than Paige, but is pretty much the same size. :)

The girls: Erin, Jamie, Jenn, Mollie, Gina, Carli, Kara, Lisa

The boys: Travis (Kara), Ben (Jenn), Justin (Erin), Matt (Jamie), Jayson (Mollie), Jeff (Lisa:)), Colin (Gina)

Kaitlyn and I played some dress-up yesterday. I swear it was her idea!

Kaitlyn and I went back to bed together on Saturday morning. I got up eventually, and she decided to sleep longer. I just love this picture :)

For some reason, I think it's really cute how engrossed she gets with her mobile jungle friends. She'll sit and watch them forever....

Jeff helped Kaitlyn hold her own bottle. :)

After bath time:

We are all doing well. Jeff just started school again yesterday after a 6 week break. :( We are both really glad that he decided to take the break, and are very excited for him to be done in the spring.

We got our Christmas tree on Sunday, so the next step is finding time to decorate it. I also want to be sure to decorate the house, which is harder this year. :) I can't believe that it's already December! I keep thinking that I'll be back to work before I know it...it's going so fast.

Happy December!

Pictures for Your Friday :)

Kaitlyn and I went over to my parents' house today for a visit.

Grandpa Dave is a pro at getting her to give in to sleep :)

Then he gives her to me so that I can relax!

Another picture with my favorite hat:

All bundled up for our walk yesterday

She's going to kill me for this picture someday. I got another hat from ETSY, and I have been attempting some cloth diapering (a few a day - hey, every little bit helps!) I have these cute, colored covers. The hat is lavendar and the cover is lavendar, so decided that it would make a cute picture. Hmmm...

Our Big Girl! (6 Weeks Old)

Kaitlyn will be 6 weeks old tomorrow, and we are assuming she is over 10 pounds by now. She now has a nice roll in her "little" thighs, and has pretty much outgrown her newborn clothes. :) It's so amazing how much she is already changing and "growing up." She is beginning to discover new sounds she can make, and has started smiling! It's still in the beginning stages, so I'm sure it will get even better, but it melts my heart all the same. :)

This is not a good picture, but had to share anyway:


My grandma Donnie's sister sent us this blanket with Kaitlyn's name and birth date embroidered on it. Very special. :)

Big girl lifting her head :)

I found this hat on ETSY - I love it!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving at Jeff's parents' house on Thursday. There's a picture of Aunt Stacey and Kaitlyn at the bottom. My cousins, Katryn and Anni, were in town, so my mom did a dinner on Friday evening. Anni's son, 'Io (ee-oh), is a year old. He's adorable! Apparently, he likes boxes. He got himself into the little box one of his toys came in and wanted his mom to pull him around in it. So cute.

Katyrn and Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn has been rolling over! Jeff saw her do it at about 4 weeks, but I didn't see it until Thanksgiving. It could be a fluke, but she did it four times in a row, so we are proud of her! :) Hopefully the video works - I caught it right before she went over.