Baby S

And he's here!  Well, he has been for four months!  Sullivan James Collins.  8lbs 1 oz of pure JOY!  We had a great experience the second time.  He looks NOTHING like his brother and came out with a full head of black hair!  



He's a chubby, chubby doll!  His current stats from his 4 month appointment are 25inches and 17lbs!!  What a husker!  

Sullivan LOVES to roll over (already, yikes!) and he just sat in his highchair for the first time this week.  See above.

Sullivan is so absolutely chill, he loves his brother, and he laughs the most at his daddy.  When we were in the hospital, he and I just hung out and watched HGTV all day.  He hardly ever cries (but when he does its in the middle of the night!  Ha!).  He is currently sleeping 7:30 - 4:00 and then has a snack but goes back to sleep until 7:00.  He is the easiest baby to fall in love with and I am constantly just wanting to EAT up those rolls.  See below.

Sullivan makes me want to have 10 more babies, but I'm still working on finding a daddy for those extras.  Brooks cracks us up by calling Sullivan his full name "Sullban James Collins" when prompted.  Brooks loves his brother and has not really acted out very much.  Brooks has started referring to himself as "Brooksie" since joining Ellison's class at MDO.  Even his teachers call him that now!  I love every day I get to spend with these two.  Blessed and so happy!  

Upcoming Season...2 weeks to go!

The date is set, our bags are packed, the crib is out and the breast pump is sterilized.  While I wanted to write a post about how excited I am about meeting our new bambino... I can't help but feel extremely sentimental about my little busta', Brooks.

I am fully aware that I have an influx of hormones running through my blood, but it seems like these last couple of weeks I've spent hours just staring in awe of my little baby boy.  I've spent more time than usual cuddling, snuggling and just telling him I love him.  I know everyone loves their kids, but he honestly is the cutest, sweetest toddler I could possibly imagine.

Brooks loves to look right at you and tell you he loves you.  He gives big hugs and kisses, and pats your back when he's going to sleep at night.  Brooks tells me "I have to be real easy" when hugging Mommy and then jumps with all his might when hugging Dadda.  He has the sweetest disposition, and he still says "Mommy hold you" about a dozen times a day.  Thank the Lord he still wants me to pick him up and puts his head on my shoulder when he's tired or sad.  We moved him to a toddler bed a couple months ago and have been laying down with him at night until he falls asleep.  I have heard this is a bad habit, but truthfully it is the best part of my day.  He says "Mommy, you wanna lay down wit me," or "Dadda, lay down wit me," and then pulls your hand over his little body to snuggle.    I get so excited when he wakes up in the morning.  He crawls out of his bed and shuts his door, then walks into our room with his blankie and says "I wake up!"

Brooks loves cracking eggs with me in the morning, loves making coffee and toast, and starting the blender for "pooddies" (smoothies).  He loves going to "school" (MDO) and has the best class of mostly little boys.  He loves Mrs. Bobbie, JJ and Nate.  He says "Have a good day at school" when I drop him off and runs with all his might to me when I pick him up.

Brooks loves playing cars, trains, and "making coffee" on his workbench.  He knows the names of several Thomas characters and especially loves the Crane from "Down by the Docks."  He wants to read the longest books he can every night, to postpone the inevitable night night time.  He also is currently obsessed with Monster Trucks.

Brooks loves his Dadda, and runs to the door when he comes home at night.  He loves his Mawnee, Grandpa, Grandma, Pappy and GiGi.  He loves YaYa and Bubba, and would spend every waking moment with his cousin Ellison, if they weren't always on the verge of World War III. 

We are blessed beyond measure.  And while my heart leaps when I think about meeting our new little man, I tear up or sob uncontrollably when I think about how much I care about the little fella curled up in his bed right now.  My heart could burst.  

I thank God every day that I get to be the Mommy to that little busta' - and I can't wait to get one more!  

Brooks is 2!

I just wanted to take a minute for myself to document how fun 2 is for us!  I know the "terrible twos" are coming, but so far Brooks is just an absolute hoot and I love hanging out with him.  First of all, I heard horror stories about little boys verbal development and just assumed he wouldn't actually formulate understandable words for some time.  However, our little dude is a talking machine!  Just a few weeks over 2 now, he can literally hold a conversation with you.  He loves to talk about his guitar, and he can sing all the words to Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver.  He also asks to watch John "Denber" songs on you tube - I am certain I created a monster.  He is quite the hit with several friends when he pulls out his REAL mini guitar and starts strumming away.  He also, I just discovered last night, can sing the whole song That's The Way Love Goes.  His Daddy sings it to him on his bedtime nights and I had no idea!  He currently is also sitting watching the movie Rudolph - circa 1995.  Willie got it in the $1 section at Target and Brooks LOVES it!  It is the only movie he will watch (longer than 5 minutes on you tube).  He repeats a lot but yesterday told me he "went to the park earlier" - which I thought was very advanced - isn't that an adverb or something?  Some of his favorite lines are:

• "I'm so cute"
• "Whatcha wanna eat" - which is what he says when he is hungry
• "Mommy- it's the Snow Monster" - from the Rudolph movie
• "I play with JJ and Nate" - his friends from school
• "Love you, see ya later" 
• "I need help"
• "I go to Mawnee's house"- my Mom
• and of course "No," "that's mine" and "it's my turn"

He loves playing with his cousin Ellison which we are lucky enough to be able to do a couple of times a week.  He and Ellison are basically the same size and have so much fun having tea parties, eating cookies, and generally destroying wherever they are playing.  Currently sharing is not really a practice they understand and Ellison usually gets her way, but we are worried about the day he realizes he can beat her up!  Hopefully he'll stay this sweet.

Just to be fair, and to remind myself in the future; It took me 40 minutes to write this post.  I was disrupted by the spill of an entire cup of water, a blow-out poopy diaper, a banana an peanut butter refill, and Brooks request/demand to "get his clothes on and go to Mawnees."  Haha!  Two.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

What a blog failure I am!  It's been almost a year since my last post.  I still love looking back and reading what I had written so I am pressing on... and jumping back on the wagon.  

The big news!  We have just found out we'll soon be a family of 4!  Well, soon being next June.  The Kate and Willie show has taken a fun turn again.   Brooks will soon be 2 and will have a little bambino sibling when he is 2.5.  We are so blessed!

Unfortunately, I am currently in the throws of horrible "morning" sickness.  I'd like to strangle the man who came up with the term since most women I think experience symptoms all day.  I am just one of "those" girls who seems to have utterly unbearable nausea day and night.  My poor, sweet, patient, kind and annoyed husband has been waiting on me and taking care of little Brooks for several weeks now.  It hasn't been easy for either of us, but I'm afraid he's bearing the brunt.  Luckily, we are at 11 weeks so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Hopefully just a few more weeks!

Next post, updates of Brooks.  Stay tuned!   

Episode 4: Year One

Brooks!  11 mos

As I sit here and reflect on the past year... I can't believe how incredibly fast it has gone.  In just a few weeks our little buster will turn ONE!  I feel so unbelievably blessed by the direction my life has gone. Never could I have predicted that I would have this darling child, a good marriage, and a job that I love at this time in my life.  The age of 32 has been good to me and I feel the need to count my blessings!

This entry is all about updates.  I had originally intended to be a "real" blogger but I sure fell off the wagon! Several changes have come since my last few "episode" and I forgot how wonderful and therapeutic writing can be.  I am really going to jump back on writing train and make this blog a go! 

Episode 4:  Brooks  is 11 months 1 week!!!!!!  Love.  Love.  Love him.  Stats:

• Over 25 lbs (at 9 mos he was 25lbs)
• He is taking steps every day, but not really "walking" - he actually to 7 today!  He crawls so fast though that I think he has no interest.
• His first word was "hot"! (He thinks all food in general is called "hot").
• He can say hot, up, hi, dadda, "mumum" - which is a cracker not me, hi dog, elmo, and just started pointing to pictures and calling them all "books" - he thinks every picture is him!!!
• He picks up many items, puts them to his ear like a phone and says hi.
• He LOVES to read Curious George and "touch and feel" animal books.  And he's having a Curious George birthday party!!!

  

  I just think this is hilarious.. I look weird but look at that FACE!

Here are a few pics from the past 6 months.

BATHTIME!

So Happy (:

Sleeping Angel

I didn't pee!

Mama Jan and Grandpa

Hiking in Colorado

Lakehouse

He doesn't like crawling on grass!

Big Boy Walker!

Morning bottle and cartoons.  Love this time!

More to come!!!

Don't be stupid - a realistic guide to parenting.

Here we are- 5 months, 4 weeks and 1 day into parenting. The main thing I've learned so far.... don't be stupid. After a fairly successful few months (minus one ding on the head and a slight catapult out of a swing) I thought I should share my advice.

Immediately after Brooks was born- I spent HOURS pouring over the babywise book. My sister had followed this book and had an amazingly happy 6 month old who slept through the night at 9 weeks! Every time I would nurse (which in the beginning was 8-10 times a day) I would read every chapter - reading and rereading the "schedule," the nap suggestions, "waketime activities" and of course the part that read "99% of baby wise babies sleep through the night at 12 weeks." So, when 12 weeks came and went and my little angel was still sleeping only 5 -6 hours increments- I deemed myself a babywise failure and turned to another book- the happiest baby on the block. After three pages I need a tall glass of wine followed by a skinny margarita- I was doing it all wrong! Where babywise had said don't rock the baby to sleep - the happiest baby said to rock at every nap and night! Where babywise said don't use the swing or the car as a sleeping "tool"- happiest baby said to use them all! Including the dryer and a sound machine -whatever works! When babywise said let the child "cry it out" at night- happiest baby says to pick your child up every time he/she cries at night- up to 70 times some parents have done!!! The list goes on...

Thanks to a very supportive hubby and realistic sister, some wonderful friends, and my momma- I realized I wasn't a failure! I learned that every baby was different and that I had to carve out my path with my own gut. I remember one night when the little guy was crying and I was trying to "cry it out"(which I was a TOTAL failure at anyway), my husband said "why again can't we go rock him? He is a baby!" and I thought - man I am Stupid! We can!

When Brooks started sleeping, I thought "which book was it that worked!!" Bottom line- no book, sister or blog can teach you how to be a parent... I am happy to say the little guy now sleeps about 10 hours a night through a combination of rocking, holding and crying that worked for me.

Now, if I could just apply this to the rest of my life- next blog- "Don't be stupid- how to lose the last five pounds (or ten if you just had a baby)."

Episode 3: “Your life is like a pimple on an elephants ass"-A Love Story

Since I’m chronicling life here, thought I should tell the story of how the Willie and Kate show began…

After spending a year living in Manhattan, I decided the city life was not for me and made my way back to the simple life in OKC.  My sister was getting married and I was devastated when I missed anything that had to do with her wedding.  I admit, I missed my family.  It seems like so long ago considering I now spend AT LEAST every other day with 4 generations of Robinson women: Grandma Billie, Mama Jan, Sister Sarah and now Baby Ellison (it helps they all live on the same street).  Anyway, I digress.  After returning home to shack up with Bill and Jan, I longed for an interesting job that would be easy to leave if I decided to move back to Colorado.  Thanks to the Daily Oklahoman, I became a photographer at a local studio (an extremely coveted position that required a High School degree).  I had studied photography VERY briefly in college but apparently that was enough to take pictures of elementary school children.  I befriended another outgoing young girl named Patty at the studio.  She was fun, artsy, and we had a lot in common.  She turned out to be the daughter of the studio’s owner (this will matter later).  Patty and I spent a few months hanging out and one day over Coronas she suggested I go out with her friend Willie.   Sidebar: This was not the first time I had heard of Willie.  He was a photographer at the studio as well (his dental career hadn’t turned out quite as planned) and had a reputation for being sweet, funny and a little out of control.  Plus one of the other girls I worked with was stalking him (and by stalking I do mean checking his work schedule every day and trying to get sent to work with him – NUTZO).  One thing led to another and we went on a date, then two.  It’s funny looking back because I was immediately drawn to him.   I don’t exactly know what it was but after only two dates I knew something was different about the guy who had the same name as my dog (which is precisely what I told him upon meeting).  Now to the title of this blog.  During our third date our friend Patty called and asked us come meet her for a drink, she had something to ask.  Long story short, her dad was trying his luck at expanding the company to Switzerland to take pictures on the mountain and she wanted to know if we would like to come.  WHAT and WHAT?!??!  Yes, this kind of thing really does just happen sometimes.  Immediately, Willie agreed.  I immediately agreed, then disagreed, then agreed, then confessed “I have to talk to my dad.”   You see… It had been almost 7 years since I had lived in Oklahoma and my sweet, sweet father had just paid for my plane ticket home after I had declared my hatred for living so far away.  He was so looking forward to me living here and getting a “real” job and settling down.  So when at 6:00 the next morning, during his first cup of coffee, I revealed I had this opportunity and I was probably going to go he said, and I quote, “Your life is like a pimple on an elephants ass,” then promptly left the room.  As my mother and I looked at each other and laughed hysterically she reminded me that my father would better accept this kind of news at the cocktail hour after a few martinis.  Needless to say, after learning that we would travel to the “Aspen of Europe” dad wasn’t so upset and thought it would be a great adventure.  As the story goes, Willie and I went on the journey (the background pic on the blog is us in Switzerland) and so in a roundabout way my dad got his wish.  We jumped in with both feet and had the time of our lives!  We spent two months together working on the mountain and traveling around Europe.  Somewhere along the way we decided that this was the real deal and thus began the first season of the Willie and Kate Show.