Spring is here!

We've had some amazing weather the last few days. Our thermometer says it reached 70 yesterday! Adelae and I were just DYING to get outside. We went for a nice long walk and played at the little playground in the apartment complex. Adelae LOVES to watch the ducks and go down the slides. My little one has no fear at all! She'd almost rather walk down the slide than actually slide down it. And she has decided that she can do it all by herself. No help from mommy is needed.





These are a few of the pictures I took yesterday. You can see the rest at www.ftwaynecollinses.shutterfly.com

Still Waiting

Lots of you have been asking if we've heard from BP yet. The answer is NO! We're still waiting and waiting and waiting. I think they'll let him know either way, so we're just waiting on a phone call or a letter or something. I'm starting to get a little anxious. Our lease is up in about 3 1/2 months and we really need to start looking for a place sooner rather than later. I was hoping we could move to a place with a yard, but it's all on hold for right now. Thank you all for your good thoughts. I'll keep everyone posted!

My kid will never....

Before I was a mom I had a definate idea of the things I would never allow my kid to do. Well, almost 14 months later, I realize that it has all changed! Actually, the slide started almost from the minute she was born.

Things I swore would never happen:
Sleeping in my bed
Being addicted to the bottle
Have to be rocked to sleep
Run around in a dirty diaper
Wear a "leash"
Screech over and over again in public places
Run around the house with snacks of any kind
Watch too much TV
Not listen
Not eat meals

Things that have happened:
She slept in our bed for 4 months
Won't sleep without a bottle first
Absolutely has to be rocked to sleep. No question
Hmm...is that poopy I smell?
I'm seriously considering buying a harness. Like a leash, but with a more PC name.
Screeching...all the time! I think she likes the sound of her own voice.
Oh yeah, she loves to carry around her graham crackers. No sitting still for my little one!
Too much TV...well, not too much, but The Backyardigans and Diego are definately our friends.
Not listening...I guess it comes with the territory. She's normally pretty good, unless it's something she doesn't want to do.
Eating has always been a challenge. Adelae has her ideas of what's good and what's not. There is no possible way to make her anything she doesn't want to eat.

That said, there are lots of things that I swore she would do, and she does. Only if she feels like it of course! There are days when she tests my patience to it's fullest. I'm not a patient person, but I'm learning. I think it's so funny that I had such a perfect ideal image of what motherhood would be like. Lots of cuddles, snuggles and giggles. I sort of forgot about the temper tantrums and the idiosyncracies that make us all human. I know that I am blessed to have such a wonderful little girl, but would it be too much to ask for the kid to nap once in awhile?! :) I've been told that she has the disposition of her mother. If that's the case, I have a feeling we're in for a tough road ahead. I'm looking forward to it though. Now if we could just get her to say MaMa!
Remember the screeching? And temper tantrums...Yup..there's one in full force right now. Looks like Diego's over and so is the graham cracker. Time to go play blocks...again! :)

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. We were able to see lots and lots of people. On Saturday we saw Donn, Rick and their whole family, David, Iris and the boys, Mike, Diana and their boys, and Uncle Don. It was a great visit. Adelae loves playing with Joshua and Jonah. Joshua was so sweet to her. He kept giving her hugs and holding her hand and walking with her through the house. Too cute!

Easter Sunday we went to Dad and Carol's and were able to see just about everyone, including Carol's family. Ben got to ride the 4 wheeler. He had so much fun taking Alli, Morgan and Corbin for rides. We were exhausted when we got home. I think Adelae is just starting to come down from all the excitement.

Dad and Carol got Adelae a Longaberger basket for Easter last year. We plan to take pictures every year with her basket. It's amazing to see how much she's grown in just one year. I see her everyday, so for me it's a much more gradual process. However, when I looked at her picture from last year and the picture from this year, I was amazed! It really shows how much she's grown and changed in this last year.






You can see all of our Easter pictures at www.ftwaynecollines.shutterfly.com

Nervous

Ben's test for BP is tomorrow. Please wish him lots and lots of luck. If I know him, he'll start to get nervous sometime tonight. This is something that he really wants for all of us. While we're in the area, we'll get to see some old friends and some wonderful family. I'm excited for our little overnight trip!!

Lent

Every year around this time I start pondering my faith. It's not that I don't believe in God, because I do. I was brought up Catholic. I was extremely active in my church until sometime in high school. I think I quit going regularly about mid way through my jr. year. Since then, I've flirted with church, but I've never really made a serious commitment. I have to admit that I wanted to start attending before Adelae was born, but I was ashamed. I was an unwed mother-to-be. Catholisism tends to look down on that. After Adelae was born, we did actually try a church. It was a Church of Christ and just wasn't the right fit for us. So, at the start of Lent, I once again began thinking about my less than stellar church attendance. I kept saying I was going to go. "This Sunday" I would say to myself "is the Sunday I go to church." It never happened. So, today (Sunday) I woke up, had my coffee and went to church. It was nice. Not earth shattering, but the Gospel did touch me in a certain way. It was a reading about a blind man that was made to see. It's, in my opinion, a metaphor for our sins. If we're blind, we are unaware of our sins and, coincedentally, can't repent and be saved. I've been pondering the message all day. It seems that redemption really can be had by all, as long as we are willing to recognize and admit to our sins.

Sorry, kind of got side tracked there :) I do miss church. I miss the church society. I'm also a little embarassed that Adelae hasn't been baptized yet. So, I plan on attending again next week. I liked the pastor and the other moms in the cry room seemed nice. Hopefully I'll be able to stick with it this time.

Busy Busy

We've been so busy over the last few week. I feel like I'm never caught up on things. We've had birthday parties, double ear infections, the flu, overnight guests, and more birthday parties! Not to mention, working overtime and babysitting! We're busier than we have been in a long time, and it's great! Ben's still anxiously awaiting his test on March 10. I'm excited cause I get to meet up with some of my friends from the Fab Feb Moms board. Then it's off to BG to see Amanda, Jason and Carter. From there we're heading to the Geist household to stay the night. I'm hoping to catch up with some of my old RemTec friends as well. I haven't seen them in forever! Seems like whenever we go to BG we're always trying to cram in as mnay visits as we can. If we don't get to see you, it's not cause we don't want to!

I've been given the opportunity to help out a friend and make a little money as well. Craig and Cassie (our good friends) need a sitter for their two kids, so they'll be bringing them here on a pretty regular basis. It'll be nice to have a baby in the house again. Maybe it'll cure my baby fever! Ben hopes so.

Speaking of Ben, he's been super busy too lately. He's working a few days with Craig. I'm not really sure what they're doing, something to do with bagging corn I think. He comes home pretty sore! He's glad to be working a couple more days. I think it's good for him ;-) He actually likes it!

The end of March signifies a summer filled with Wannemacher family activities. We have weddings, graduations, vacations, birthdays and our regular get togethers. I'm excited! I love seeing my family.

Other than that, we're anxiously awaiting spring. I can't wait to be able to open the windows again.