Good news, I passed my tests! Thank you Lord!! I was releived. Now, all the annoying last steps like waiting for an interview with the state and going downtown to get my fingerprints made for a background check. Not to mention the $100 that I have to send with my request for the interview. Anyway, the job hunt is on. The chances of me finding a teaching this fall are very rare but it could happen! If a school was willing to hire me even though I'm getting ready to have a baby that would be absolutely wonderful! Wonderful because I would have a paid maternity leave versus unpaid at Urban Tulsa.

Not looking forward to another long week at work. (5 days plus some evenings). I'd appreciate prayers for energy and patience!

Tonight is the end to a long week. I worked 40+ hours this week for the first time since Wilder was born. Trying to get some extra time in while Blake is home for the summer to help save for my time off again with the new baby.
I missed Wilder this week! I think it's been good and fun for Blake and Wilder to have so much time together but he still missed his mamma! He is almost walking now and I think he says dad sometimes. Other than that just lots of deedle dee's. (the mad deedle dee's are the best).

I had a scary experience last Sunday. I had a wreck. I hit anothe car that pulled out in front of me driving about 45. Luckily it wasn't my fault. Pretty good crunch but to Blake's disapointment the Saturn probably won't be totaled. Wilder was in the car but was protected just fine in his carseat, and I was OK. I think this was divine intervension - just the day before we had taken our car to the fire station to get Wilder's forward-facing carseat installed. He would have been in it but we had to take it out because we realized the front straps weren't connected. He probably would still have been fine but still may have hit his head. So yeah, he's still in his rear-facing seat for now.

I felt fine but was worried about the baby so I went to the hospital to get checked out at my doctor's recommendation. We were lucky not to have to wait in the ER but got to go right up to labor and delivery to get checked out. They put me in my own room right away and hooked me up to the monitors. Everything seemed to be find but the doctor wanted me to stay for 4 hours! I guess to make sure I wouldn't go in to early labor. So, Blake and I just watched HGTV. Mom was sweet to come over and stay at our house until about 12:30am until we got home.

The funniest thing about the wreck was Blake's arrival on the scene. I had gone to the store and somehow managed to take both sets of keys. After the wreck I of course called him hysterical and he said he'd be right there...run right there from our house to 41st street, about a mile. poor guy. Meanwhile the ambulance and firetrucks came and I asked a girl that was standing with me to go and try to find Blake and give him a ride. Before she got back I saw him riding over the top of the hill on his bike as fast as he could then jump off the bike and throw it in the grass. He said he didn't realize until later how embarrassed he should have been in front of all those firemen and cops. Guess you had to have been there, it was pretty funny.

But yes, we are very blessed...in all things.

Thanks for the congrats everyone! Crazy that they can tell it's a girl from this photo. All I know is it looks a lot different than Wilder's did! We're excited! Now the hard part - girl names, Blake and I don't agree on many yet so it'll take some work. Yes, Janet, I may need some more predictions!

IT'S A GIRL!

Wilder's First Swim!
Today we took Wilder to our friends Chris and Jen's new condo and tried out the pool. I was so excited to go to Wal-Mart (rare, I know) and buy him "swimmer" diapers and a baby floaty thing. Wilder loved it - way more than I even thought he would. This kid has no fear - kinda scary. It was so fun watching him and Blake play. Blake would throw him up and catch him in the water and Wilder just laughed. He didn't even care if he got water in his face. He was even trying to eat the water. We all had a blast. Lately I have been so amazed at how physical and curious he is. I keep thinking, "he's only 10 months!" I actually feel really blessed that we have a happy, thriving, healthy little boy even though he's crazy! What else could we ask for? I have had my moments lately that I start feel overwhelmed with what's coming - especially when its difficult to get Wilder to bed..."how in the world am I going to take care of two babies?" I know, it's possible and we'll manage!

Yesterday I took my tests to get my teaching certification. They took me longer than I anticipated, it was along 8 hour day. Hopefully I passed, there were some hard spots but a lot that I know I did well on too. We'll see, maybe I'm one step closer to becoming Mrs. Collins and making this much desired change for us.

And...Wednesday is my big ultrasound. We've decided to find out if it's a girl or a boy. I came around once I started thinking about specifics as to what we would need and felt the need to be able to plan things a little better. So hopefully the baby will cooperate Wednesday and we'll be able to tell...check the blog!

Happy June everyone. I say that because June is my favorite month. We have our anniversary, my birthday, and it's the start of summer! Blake and I went to Branson last week (I got a good deal through work) and celebrated our anniversary. We stayed at the Chateau on the Lake-probably the nicest resort in Branson so we felt pretty special. No, we didn't see any shows, just drove through the strip and were amazed at what a wierd little town it is. Wilder stayed with his grandparents and did great.

We've kicked into summer mode meaning I'm at work and Blake's at home. I'm trying to work an extra day this summer while I can before the baby comes. I do hate being at work when Blake and Wilder are at home - keep your fingers crossed for that teaching job, it will be so nice if it all works out (I take my tests on the 23rd). Our goal this summer (in addition to getting another baby's room done, weren't we doing this last summer?!) is getting some work done on our house. Blake has started peeling wallpaper in the kitchen-"bye bye cherries and teapots!"...in addition to trying to keep a very active 10month old entertained!

I'm working on getting a new camera so I can post pics again. More soon.

A quick post! I had an ultrasound yesterday, isn't this cool? I told my mom today that I think it looks like a girl - ha! A longer update coming soon!

Finally an update. I'm sure everyone has been tired of looking at that same 'ol pic of Wilder, me too. Usually when I sit down to update the blog I have a photo in mind that I want to post and it goes from there but I haven't been taking any pictures because my digital camera is dead. However, I had Wilder's photo made a few weeks ago, this is our favorite pose. If you're wondering about the shirt, it looks dated because it was Blake's when he was a baby! Wilder is doing really good, it won't be long before he's walking and he's getting 3 more teeth on top. He's a really happy baby most of the time and I decided tonight that the sound of his laugh is probably my favorite sound.

Well seems like the Collins household is busy as usual. Blake is working towards the end of school which is a crazy time and mowing as many yards as he can afterschool. I am about 14 weeks pregnant now and already have a little belly. I've been feeling good - past the sick stage and to the "give me food now" stage. Fortunately I've been getting a walk in almost everyday so hopefully I won't get too huge! I go to the doc tomorrow to see how things are going. I know it won't be long before we can see what the sex is but Blake and I aren't exactly agreeing on that right now. I think it would be fun to wait this time and be surprised in the end...for lots of reasons that I don't want to go on about here, however, I can see Blake's point of wanting to find out so we can be prepared. So we'll see how that turns out. But geez I have been tired! Lord help me to get through this pregnancy and to take care of Wilder to the best of my ability and superpowers for when there's two!!

Today was "bring your wife to school day" for Blake. Actually I was a guest speaker for his classes. I talked about all of the different things in the art field that I've done since college (which is little bit of everything) and the different careers you can pursue as an artist ect. (I got paid a nice little sum of money that made it worth my while :)) Boy do I have an even greater appreciation for Blake's work. We did seven classes in a row with a 20min lunch! There's barely time to go to the bathroom! It was good to be in the classroom and get an idea of what it would be like to be a teacher. Some of you may know that I have plans to try teaching. Yes, kind of an idea that took me by surprise but actually if it works out will be very ideal for a working mom as far as the schedule goes. And Blake and I will have summers off together. I'm going to try elementary or junior high art. I won't go into detail but there really isn't a ton that I have to do to get my alternative certification and start teaching. I'm taking some tests in June that I'm studying for now and if I pass those I'll be on my way. I'd appreciate any prayers for this new endeavor - for the timing and for finding a job!

Hope everyone is doing well, I'd love to hear from you.
Love Shelly

Our parents didn't exactly get the shirt right away, we had to help a little! It's true, Wilder will be a big brother this November! A happy surprise indeed. I'll post more later, I'm ready for bed now! Just wanted to let everyone know!

Love Shelly, Blake, & Wilder

I know, I've been way behind on my updates. (thanks for the nudge Sheila) Here is a photo of Wilder swinging at the little park by our house. He loves the baby buckt swing (I know, I've got it covered because I'm a little anal about germs). As you can see, the patch...only one more week of wearing them. His eye surgery is this coming Friday the 23rd. Please pray for the him and the doctor. Keeping up with him has been quite the challenge lately, he has mastered crawling and is into pulling up on anything he can get his hands on. I think we've got an early walker here!

Without rambling on about all the stress lately, how about something fun! I got free tickets at work for Blake and I to see Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard (and other old guys) in concert last Thursday. Blake loves old country and I'm coming around. I'd never seen either of them so it was fun - wow, they are OLD. The coolest thing, UTW did some trading so we got limo ride to the concert! Fancy huh?


To all of you who read this, I'm glad you do. I wish I could stay in touch better. Deanna, Brandy, Emily, Saundra, Kaci...I hope you all are doing well. Leave me comments, I'd love to get 'em. And you all should get blogs too.

And the pic of roy is just for fun. Currently Wilder's most favorite thing...the magic beagle.

Isn't Spring refreshing. Just makes life better doesn't it.

Love Shelly

OK, I was just joking about food poisoning! We were misdiagnosed at the hospital, it was a stomach virus after all. Sunday evening Blake and I thought we were out of the woods but shortly after we put Wilder to bed he started vomiting. I've experienced this weekend what I'm sure all mom's agree is the hardest thing as a mother - to see their babies in pain. Not fun. It was very scary actually. I knew how hard the virus was on Blake and I, I could only imagine how it would effect a baby. I was scared he would get dehydrated and pass out like I did. We went straight to the emergency room and spent an awful night waiting and made it home about 5am. I HATE EMERGENCY ROOMS!!! It's true what they say you have to literally be dying to get any immediate care. Blake and I just took turns holding Wilder. Fortunately he slept through most of it, he would just wake up to vomit, cry, then go back to sleep pretty quick. Finally the doctor saw him about 1:30am and gave him a couple of supositories that stopped the nausea until he was able to keep fluids down. The little guy never got dehydrated and amazed me at strong he was during the whole thing. God definitely answered our prayers and was close to us. At one point afte the doc had examined him he woke up and was just as happy as he could be (between rounds), he was laughing...it was like God knew we needed to see that he was ok and see him happy for a little while. He amazed me at how much better he was today. He didn't vomit anymore and is recovering fine. Blake and I both stayed home from work today to rest and take care of Wilder. I have fallen in love with my little guy all over again! (I'm sure this is only one of many more times). I so enjoyed being his mom today.

So thank goodness this weekend is over! Hopefully none of our parents get sick from not knowing it was a virus. And I thought it was worth mentioning that Blake and I did not have left over turkey chili for dinner tonight - we weren't taking ANY chances!!

Today was so nice outside. Finally, some Spring-like temperatures. It felt so good to get outside, the weather was so calming. Blake worked in the back yard and Wilder and I hung out. I liked this pic becaue it looks like he's posing for the shot and he's saying "mom, i'm gonna be ok!" Sweet little face!

love to all.

Well Blake and I didn't exactly spend our Saturday as we would have planned. We both got food poisoning Friday night. We have narrowed it down to the ground turkey he bought from WalMart on Friday. Mine started at 3am Saturday morning with four rounds of vomiting. The last round I passed out I guess from dehydration...so we decided I should probably go to the hospital. I got an IV and was feeling better at the hospital then it hit Blake. Poor guy had to wait 3 hours in the waiting room for me while he was sick himself. We made it home about 4pm Saturday and both went straight to bed and pretty much slept through till 7am this morning. Luckily mom and dad were available to take care of Wilder. He had his first sleep over away from home. He did great! We are so lucky to have family here. I can't imagine both of us being sick and not having anyone to help out. Thank you mom and dad. We are feeling pretty good today just tired.




I meant to post this earlier. On Valentine's Day I went to my aunt Sheila's wedding! Here is a pic of the happy couple, Mr and Mrs. JR Dilliard. It was really sweet, from what I know thus far JR he seems to be a great man and I know their marriage will be blessed. After the wedding I rushed home to make my heart-shaped cake. (for some reason I was determined to try it this year) in efforts to make Valentine's sweet for us. I thought it turned out OK. Blake did some artwork for me for VDay - I was so excited. It's been a while since he's drawn anything for me. It's an illustration of me all wrapped up in different color ribbons that represent the sun, the sky, and the sea...three of my favorite things. (I guess maybe I've been whining about Winter too much lately so I guess he figured this would help me imagine another place!) You just have to see it!

We've got a busy week ahead. I take Wilder back to the eye doctor on Tuesday morning then to his regular doc on Wednesday for his 6months - can you believe he's 6 mos - appointment which means shots, yuck.

And today is my mom's birthday too. Happy Birthday mom. She received a wonderful serenade from everyone - our entire family and all the other happy customers at Mazzio's for lunch today. I do think she was a little embarrassed...and mad too!

Take Care everyone.

Thanks to everyone who said they would be praying for Wilder. He goes back to the doctor on the 20th to see if the patches are making and progress. I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile it's been a struggle to get him to wear them. Mainly because they're sticky and come off. I'm going to look for a real pirate's patch with a strap today to see if that will help, plus it's much cooler! Here are the pics of the VBS decorations I mentioned.

I'm looking forward to the warm weather today. Bre (Blake's sister) is coming to visit and we're going to head to the park with Wilder in the Jeep stroller to enjoy it while we can...is Winter over YET?

This litte duck seems to be one of Wilder's favorite toys right now, funny huh.

It's Friday evening and I'm happy to finally be home. I had a busy two days at work and left today with work still to do! Don't you hate that?

Blake has had a busy week as well. The word got out at church that Blake is an art teacher and guess who was volunteered into doing decoratins for VBS this Saturday? You guessed it. Mannford is having a one-day winter VBS, the theme is Survivor. So the auditorium is complete with a waterfall with actuall running water and a smoking volcano! In addition to helping to construct those Blake made huge cut-paper murals of a jungle scene and an ocean scene. He probably spent about 25 hours this week getting it all done...all for a 5 hour VBS! Crazy! I'm proud of him for using his talents and I know that his work will be a blessing.

Anyway, I wanted to give everyone an update on Wilder. I took him to the eye doc on Tuesday and he does have Strabismus - the type in which the eye muscles pull inward. He is going to wear eye patches for three weeks then go back to the doctor to see if there is any improvement. The doc didn't sound too optimistic that the patches would correct his vision (straighten his eyes) and said more than likely he would have to have the surgery. I was discouraged because everyone I've talked to told success stories of babies that wore the patches, did eye exercises and they were fine. Maybe his eyes are worse, I don't know. Please pray that God will correct his vision with the patches and that he doesn't have to have surgery. Even though the surgery is an easy procedure it still makes me a little uneasy.

Looking forward to the weekend. I'll post some new pics of Wilder soon and some of the decorations at church.

Wilder's mobile. Um, Space Cowboy theme! Complete with cutout aliens and flying horses...He loves it!



Wilder mid scream and laughs in his saucer.


Doesn't he look all grown up sitting up like a big kid!



Did you know that here is are Bald Eagles along the river and Avery Drive? We've had fun looking at them and their nests when we pass by. Blake took this pic last week when he took the Beagles to the river. Apparently they don't get their white heads until their about 6 year's old...animal fact for the day!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Starting with the ice storm two weeks ago - yes, I felt sorry for all those who had problems with their electricity being out and such but wow it was awesome being forced to stay home. A lady at church made a good comment that maybe it's just God's way of making us slow down when storms roll in, I agree. Blake and I stayed in, built a fire, got the house super clean which felt awesome. When that was all done we actually had some time to work on getting our office (second bedroom) cleaned and actually hung some things on the walls around the house - it's actually starting to look like we live here now! And I got my sewing machine that I got for Christmas out of the box and started reading the directions...ok, it's a start. I even worked on a photo album/scrapbook with pics from our wedding and honeymoon that I've had for 3 years! We even finished Wilder's mobile and have it hung over his crib. Yeah so slowing down makes me feel rested and is goooood. So now that the office is functional I have no excuses to start working on a piece of art every now and then. That's my goal. So it's up to all of you to hole me accountable!

Blake ended up being out of school for the entire week and was ready to go back Monday. can you say stir crazy? Hey but the time in the house has prompted us to start peeling the wallpaper in our kitchen - bye bye cherries and teapots! So soon I will be deciding what color to paint, maybe I'll post a photo and get suggestions!

This past weekend Blake and I made time to go out with our friends and Wilder got to spend time with his grandma and grandpa. We saw the new James Bond movie. On the way home somehow we got on the topic of our favorite movies and tried to name our top ten favorites...fun to think about...what's yours? Here's what I came up with (not in any specific order)
1. Almost Famous
2. My Best Friends Wedding
3. Forrest Gump
4. Signs
5. Blue Crush (soley for the surfing not the acting)
6. The Pursuit of Happiness - have you seen it? it is sooo good, i cried my face out.
7. The Parent Trap
8. ...ok, that's all I can think of for now...

Our little man is doing much better now that he's over his ear infection - please pray that he doesn't get any more. He has been more like himself the last few days with his laughing out loud and he's screaming again so I think he feels better :)
He is sitting up now and making attempts to crawl. I love him so much and he is truly the joy of my life!!

Much love to all!

OK Anonymous! more pics to come! Hopefully this weekend I can get the blog caught up. Our precious Wilder is doing great, he had his best night of sleep yet last night! And he is just so stinkin' cute right now! I don't want him to grow up!

Thanks for all of the encouraging comments :)

So the blog got a makeover! Thanks to all of you who have been leaving comments on my blog. I love reading them. I check it a lot at work and get excited to see a new comment. It's an easy way to stay in touch!

I have enjoyed being home the last two days today and definitely have enjoyed the warm weather. I took Wilder out in our jeep stroller yesterday and had to air up the tire 4 times! So anyone know how to fix a flat on a stroller?! There is a trail that connects to our street with a small playground at the top of the hill. After passing it a hundred times on our walks I stopped to swing yesterday. Wilder was asleep in the stoller so I obliged! Crazy how relaxing swinging can be! It definitely took the tension out of my body! It felt good to stop and enjoy my surroundings and to take a few minutes to reflect and thank God for the simple things and all of our blessings despite the stress we've had lately. And also to just be reminded that He is present! It has been so hard for me to stay spiritually healthy now that it is such a time challenge to have any kind of personal life! I think it's taking me a little longer than I expected to adjust to motherhood than I thought, I suppose all moms have the ongoing challenge of caring for themselves as well as they care for their little ones! And just think, I only have one!

As for Wilder I think he is over his ear infection and feeling much better, he's been in a great mood this week. I decided we needed a family photo for Wilder's first Christmas so I got us an appoitment at Target this last Saturday - it was terrible! Wilder definitely wouldn't coopertate so all we got was one lousy sheet of one semi-decent photo of the three of us. And a very expenscive one at that, I chose Target becasue they are the most affordable in town. However, Blake lost some cash when he was pulling coupons out of his pocket and I guess someone in the store decided to pick it up instead of return it to him. So yeah, that plus the crazy Christmas crowds at 71st and Memorial made for a not very fun Saturday. Oh well, better luck next time.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season! I'm trying! We drove around a little last night on our way home and looked at some lights!

Love ya!

Wow, I have some catching up to do. It seems like this last week was forever long-or just eventful. On my days off this past week I decided (and had been planning) to go to OKC to visit my friend Jolyn and see baby Kaitlyn. I questioned going just because all the work involved and thought I'd probably just be more tired from going - but i did and it was a good trip. I started getting ready at 8am Tuesday morning to leave at 2 o'clock! it was fun seeing Jolyn and getting to talk to her about motherhood. It is amazing how different kaitlyn and wilder are, wilder is so active, kaitlyn is much more laid back - like her parents according to Jolyn! Anyway, Wilder and I made it home Wednesday morning before any of the weather hit.

Of course Blake had two snow days Thursday and Friday, I was so disappointed that I couldn't stay home with him and Wilder. I ventured out in the jeep both mornings and made it to work with no problems on the snow or ice. I actually was the first one to work Friday morning - I still think I deserve some sort of prize or something! Blake was a little worn out from being home with Wilder both days - Wilder's his new thing is wanting to be mobile all the time, you should see how he loves to stand and bounce on his legs. We can't wait until he can crawl on his own, I think he'll be less frustrated and hopefully less fussy. Blake did manage to get out of the house Thursday when I got home from work to get out in the snow. He loaded up the beagles and headed to the river in the jeep. Of course they all had a blast and aftewards I heard Blakes ongoing request of "can we please move to Colorado?" He absolutely loves mountains and snow. Blake took this photo of our house on Friday morning - isn't it pretty!

Yesterday, as Blake's birthday gift, he and his dad went to Kansas City to watch the sooners play in the Big12 Championship. You can only imagine how excited they were. For two guys that can talk about football for an entire car ride home from Ada to Tulsa (2 hours on Thanksgiving Day) this was a pretty big deal. They made it home about 3'oclock this morning. So, yesterday Wilder and I hung out with my mom and dad. We went to visit Papa in the hospital - which he is doing great and coming home today. Then dad watched Wilder and mom and I went to the mall. I hadn't been shopping in so long so it was super fun to just see stuff! I love Christmas decorations - ornaments, lights, trees, you name it. When we got back to the house we were getting ready to eat dinner and the electricity went out!! -one hour before the game! you can image the frenzy this sent my dad into. (can you blame him?) after getting the generator working and realizing the TV was out because the cable was out too we came to my house so they could watch the game.

Well, have to wrap up quickly, Blake's awake and it's time to get moving towards church.

Isn't Fall the best? Everything is so pretty. I'm loving Fall this year but am definitely dreading winter. I don't do winter. Wilder and I enjoyed the weather last week when it was nice and spent some time looking up at leaves in our front yard. Wilder is 3 months and 1 week today. I've been telling everyone that it's starting to get fun now (not that is wasn't before, but you know...) He's crying less although he still has his fits and developing quite the little personality. He has definitely won me over but I still have to show him who's boss sometimes! I love when he just stares at me with this delighted look in his eyes and you can just tell that his little brain is figuring something out. And I think he likes his momma! He gets so happy when I talk to him. He's still not sleeping all night because he's hungry! We can't keep him full, we started him on rice at night but I think it's gonna take solid food before he sleeps all night. Blake and I are still tired but seem to have gotten used to the 2am feeding, we have the routine down so well that we don't even have to say anything. Something like this: We hear Wilder stirring or crying, look over at the monitor and yes his eyes are open and he somehow he got his little arms out of his swaddle (if his arms are moving he ain't sleepin - his way of keeping himself awake). Big sighs from Blake and I, he gets up heads to the kitchen to make a bottle, I get up and get Wilder, change his diaper and try to keep him pacified until the bottle comes. Blake hands me the bottle, I feed him in the rocking chair, Blake gets blanket ready for swaddle and the dropper ready for gas medicine, burp him, swaddle him, turn on music, pacifier in mouth, and he's out. Pretty smooth...we'll sleep when we're dead right!

For Blake and I it seems that in many ways we are simplifing everything. We have learned (are learning) some hard lessons lately. (don't we all!) It's easy to get priorities out of line and we realized pretty abrubtly that ours have been a little messy! Our finances really are the main way this showed - new house, cars, & baby all in the same year is a lot which has made for some stress especially with my time off work and being part time now. So we are getting rid of things we don't need and have made some new committments. I think we have decided on a church! Wow. I know, we've been looking for a long time and really just dragging our feet. Blake and I were able to put our differences aside and agree that what was most important for us and Wilder is consistency and that feels good.

Much love to everyone. More soon :)