Farewell to Diapers

This past weekend Emma said farewell to diapers and decided to potty train. We have been blessed that our last two potty trainging experiences have been so easy, no thanks to Aaron and I.

When Dalton was 27 months he took off his diaper, got on the potty and never looked back. I think to date we have only had 3 accidents. He made us look like we had things down as parents, I was sure Emma would make us work for it.

This past Saturday Emma decided that she did not want to wear her diaper, but instead she wanted to sport the trendy thick panties.I thought she would wear them for a bit until the novelty wore off, but she had other plans. She kept her panties dry until nap time, and for her nap I put a diaper so she would not have an accident. I put her down in a diaper and walked out. When she woke up I went into her room to find that she took her diaper back off, put panties on and was dry. I thought this was totally crazy, after all she just turned two last month! I guess no one informed Emma of this because we have made it an entire week in panties.

She is so tiny that I actually had a hard time finding panties that fit. So blessed by this determined little girl, and thankful I only have one kiddo left in diapers.

Our last camping trip....

We went camping last weekend for Labor Day and it was officially our last camping trip in a tent. We have been camping for the last couple of years with two good family friends, The Burress and Hargrave family. We all started out in tents, but times are a changing, we are offically the last in our group that are still tent camping. I have never slept in a camper until this past weekend after a 20 minute storm completly flooded the ground and bottom of our tent.

Thankfully Alicia and Rusty let us crash in their camper. We had the girls in bed with us, while Jackson and Dalton shared a bed. All it took was one night, Aaron and I said we will not be camping again until we have a camper.

After the rainfall and tent drama the weekend went on as usual.The kids played in the back of the Rusty's truck bed with a rope for hours. I think Dalton stayed their all weekend. Emma was given her own soda, which is a treat. She only gets sips of soda here and there, but since we were camping we gave her a half a can of soda.

We decided to go to the look out tower and to check out the water. The big kids were able to ride their bikes from our camp sight. The rest of us piled in the car and met them over by the lake.

Halle,Jackson, Rylee,and Jadyn

 Kinley was not impressed with the watch tower. She would rather sleep in her daddy's arms.

 Emma walked around and picked flowers.

 Poor Dalton was not as lucky and got stung  by a bee. I just got a new lens so you will have to forgive my pictures. Hopefully, I will figure out how to work my camera better over the next year.

Dalton is a sweaty mess.

 We ended up going for a drive and getting some ice cream at the emporium in town. Emma did not even make it out of the park before she was out like a light. She ended up sleeping through all of the ice cream fun.

The on our way back Aaron wanted to look for future fishing spots. While we were driving around we were able to get out of the car and walk around. The boys were deep in conversation while watching all of the boats.

Where Does Time Go

I have been sitting next to Emma for about five minutes just thinking about where the time has gone. She is two and it seems like that I just bought her home from the hospital. I was one of those boy moms that said I could care less to ever have a girl. That I was fine being a boy mom, but I was so wrong. I am so thankful that God new my heart better than I did. I am so blessed and humbled that he let me experience the joys of having a sweet tender hearted girl.

Don't get me wrong I am scared to death of what my girls will be like at 15, but while I was looking at Emma rock her baby I am sure it is totally worth it. She was a blessing after a horrible, horrible pregnancy. She was my first baby to nurse and only want her mom. So much so that we did not spend a night apart for 14 months. After two highly active boys she was our calmness. So tonight I am thankful for Emma. Emma who loves babies, necklaces, shoes, singing and has the sweetest smile I have ever seen. Thankful for a God that loves me so much that he gives me the very best.

She melts my heart.

Kinley's First Tooth

We have had a really cranky girl on our hands the last couple of days and we finally found the culprit...a new tooth. Our poor girl who is a sleeper has not been napping very well and even waking up in the middle of the night. We knew something was up, but since Emma did not get her first tooth until 13 months I was not even thinking about her cutting a tooth. I tried to get a picture, but the tooth was barley poking through. Praying now that it is in that we will get our happy girl back.

A Closet Blogger

When I first started trying to blog in 2008 it was so family that lived out of town could keep up with what was going on in our family. It was a great thought in theory and I am sure there are so many bloggers that this worked for, but I would so often forget to do it or put it off for another day. Recently, two of my closest friends began blogging to chronicle the day to day happenings of their home and I began to think about attempting to blog again. Not getting bogged down with the pressure of making the perfect post, but instead trying to capture moments. I  don't want to miss moments of my kids life because it passes all too quickly. So, I am determined to blog not for friends or family, but to blog and capture my family. So that I can look back, remember, feel and soak in what it was like to live in that particular moment again. So for now I am a closet blogger whoever stumbles upon it I hope you enjoy getting to know our crazy.

So what has happened since 2009...

The biggest change is that we finally evened out the odds in the Collins' home. We added two beautiful girls to our family. Emma Kate who is now 2 and Kinley Rae who is 4 months. We are now a family of 6.

Emma Kate

Sweet Kinley Rae

 They both have been a huge blessing to our family. It seems crazy that we started out as a boy home and now we have both.  We went from the land of mud, guns and always moving to purses, babies and shoes.

Jackson is now 9 and Dalton is 4 both boys have been great big brothers.

Jackson

Dalton

Along with adding two beautiful girls to our family I took on graduate school. I don't know if I was crazy at the time I enrolled in a masters program, but two kids and two years later I have my Masters in Educational Administration. I said that I would NEVER go back to school, but I actually heard myself say the other day that once the kids are bigger I may attempt getting my PhD. I think I may have been inhaling too many cleaning products.

Dalton is 17 Months....and I am still not the best blogger

Well life around our house is busy as usual I thought when I started staying home I would have more time to blog, but it seems that the opposite is true. I was so blessed to be able to consult again at an elementary school. I go to work on Tuesday and Thursday from 9-2. My Aunt is able to keep Dalton while I am working. I am also in my fifth class of graduate school and will be done next December..so life is busy, but we are having a blast living it!

We went to take Dalton's picture yesterday with one of my best friends.....we were so amazed and she was pretty proud of herself. In 10 minutes and with the help of a few skittles we were able to take some really cute pictures of Dalton. Here are a few..
Jackson is in a dual language kindergarten program this year and doing really well in school. He loves going to school with Aaron everyday and being in Waller schools.

Dalton is offically on the move....

After much anticipation Dalton has finally decided to try this walking thing. He is still very wobbly, but has began walking right before he turned 14 months.

Here are the beginning attempts at his walking.....he falls and sounds like he is fake crying, but we have figured out that it is what he does when he sees a camera. So I guess he is smiling for the camera. Just click below and you can see him go ....

Dalton starting out...

And here is Dalton walking ....YEAH!! I am still figuring out how my camera works so sorry for turning it sideways....I know now which way to leave it.

Man on the move

Here is one of my new favorite pictures of Jackson .... I just can eat him up.