Meet Samantha Gene Collingwood!

Samantha was born on Wednesday, May 13th at 6:26 a.m. I went into labor with her an hour before I was scheduled to be induced, and had her about 2 hrs. later - no epidural again! Thankfully it was quick! She was 7 lb. 9 0z. and is 21 inches long. We are so excited to have her, and are all doing well!

Time for an Update

My main excuse for not blogging a lot lately is that our camera has been broken since February, and I like to put pictures with my posts! (If that seems like a long to time go without a camera, just remember how long it took us to get a new phone.) Anyway, read on to see what we've been up to lately, and enjoy a few pictures taken with the new camera! Oh, a little disclaimer on the pictures: they're a little blurry because I forgot to focus first.

Just three days left!

These are not cute pictures of me, but this is what I look like 8 1/2 months pregnant! At least I got a pedicure last week. We had a couple false alarms this week, but for some reason this baby is not ready to come out yet! So, despite getting more swollen by the day (and not being able to feel my fingertips,) I've been running around trying to keep my house clean and so I thought I would include some pictures of Claire's room and the guest bathroom that we finished last month.




Also, when Jerry's dad was here last month, they redid the pantry by putting in new shelves (there are more behind the wall) and adding this really cool shelf that can hold up to 600 cans! I'm not sure I like the red (it matches the kitchen,) but will not be repainting it any time soon!

Brewster Lane Block Party

We live on the best street with lots of great neighbors and kids! Tonight was the annual summer block party, with lots of good food and a bounce house for the kids. I managed to take a couple pictures from my chair.

Cowboy Darren

This was taken at a birthday party for our neighbor's five year old. They had barn animals and a pony to ride. Darren said it was the best party he's been too! He has also had a lot of fun playing T-Ball lately. He is a lot faster this year. He is also about as good as Jerry at "Bop-It" and would play video games all day if I let him. Darren is learning to read quickly. He has a pet fish named Jack, and about 20 pet rolly-pollies. Darren has a very sensitive side and hates to think about any bug or animal getting hurt. He has been such a good help to me these last couple months. I appreciate his sweet prayers each day that my back will feel better. We are so grateful for him! He has a great sense of humor, and is a great big brother and son.

All about Claire!

What can I say about Claire? She is as sweet and cute as ever and really good at playing with Miles and helping me. She also sounds like a teenager when she asks me why she can't have more shoes, headbands, jewelry, clothes or as many barbies as her friends, or go places that ALL her friends are going! She is going to a handful in a few years. Her favorite items of clothing are a green cardigan, white or brown leggings (with nothing over them,) or pink sweatpants, and her new Little Mermaid swimsuit. She seriously tries to wear these with everything, everywhere! She still likes all of her dress up shoes but has worn out several pairs and is outgrowing the rest. Just like the stepsisters in Cinderella, she is determined to "make them fit!" Her very favorite song is "When Grandpa Comes," and we sing it at least once a week for family home evening. Even though Claire is already becoming very aware of what other people think about her, which brings out her shyness, I hope she knows how special we think she is!

All about Miles!

Miles is our little daredevil. No one has told him that he isn't big. He has the cutest big head of curly hair. He loves the swings, as you can see, especially big kid swings. He also goes down all the slides by himself. Unfortunately, Miles learned how to run this month, and has also figured out that I can't run after him - so our park time has been limited to Darren's t-ball practices.

Some words Miles says are: hi, bye, mommy, daddy, Miles, Darren, Claire, baby, bubbles (for milk,) tickle tickle, upstairs, yes, diaper, gross, outside, cheese, shoes, Me-Me (his blankie,) fish, puppy, papa, sorry, Joey, Tommy, Natalie, and juice. He loves to swing on the clothes bar in our closets and can walk up and down the stairs. He loves to help me clean. I also caught him waddling behind me just like I was tonight!

Miles loves Darren and Claire, and especially loves sharing a room with Darren. We call him our treat monster because he takes other people's treats when they aren't looking. His other trick is standing with both feet on the seat of his rocking horse and rocking back and forth, like riding a motorcycle.

Visit with the Fam

L-R: Paul (16,) Ellis (22,) Christy (27,) Mom, Dad, me, and Taylor (23)

A couple weeks ago, the kids and I went to my parents' house for a few days. All of my siblings were there to see my mom's senior vocal recital. It was fabulous! She really has a beautiful voice and we're so proud that she'll be graduating this weekend. Her degree will be in vocal performance. We also had fun visiting with everyone. We were sad that Jerry couldn't be with us.

All ready for Baby!