Collin's Blessing

How lucky are we? My in-laws were going to fly out to come to Collin's blessing then decided if they were going to be paying for plane tickets, why not just pay for us to come to AZ so all the family could be a part of it! So nice. So last Thursday we packed up (a bit more involved with a baby) and flew home for five days!! (Side note: I think it's funny that when we are in Buffalo I refer to AZ as "home", but when we are in AZ I refer to Buffalo as "home". So which is it?? :)

Collin was excited to be on his first plane ride! Can ya tell? :)

I was so worried that he would cry and annoy the people around us, but he did great on both flights and slept most of the time! When we sat down on the first flight, there was a man in front of us who took note of our seat choice, waited just a few seconds after we sat down, then moved a few more rows up. Haha. Guess ya can't blame him.

We flew Southwest, which doesn't have T.V. screens (boo!), but we did have Travis's lap top! We watched Bolt on the way there and I laughed my head off! Such a funny movie. Granted, I do have a thing with animals that pretend to be human. I mean seriously, it's hilarious. And the hamster in this movie had me cracking up. Then on the way home we watched Tremors. Anyone remember this one? I remember watching it when I was younger at my cousin's house, the Montagues. That's where we saw movies that were PG-13, but we didn't realize they were PG-13. I promise Mom! I just remember being kinda scared by this one and I wanted to see what it was all about. It was kind of comical, really. I was mostly embarrassed that the lady sitting next to us would see the screen and wonder why in the world we were watching something so corny/gory/old school. The other one we watched recently that I remember from the Montagues house, was Gremlins! Oh wow, corniest movie ever!

Ok- back to the trip! Well, Collin had only met Grandma Sharon up to this point so he had lots of fun meeting all his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Here he is with Grandpa Evans, who we are so grateful is still with us! (He was the grandpa who had the heart attacks a month ago)

Cousin Neil was so sweet and wanted to hold him. Neil loves babies.
Here he is meeting Kael, Chase Rogers' son. (His torso is displayed in the back :) They are about 4 months apart and I'm sure will be great friends!

Great Grandmother held him for at least an hour while we went swimming. She had the magic touch!

Here he is with Uncle Craig (a whole 8 years older than him, haha)

Here he is with my twin sister, Shelley.

And now Lane, Shelley's son, finally has a cousin on the Lindblom side! When we came over for the first time, Lane was so excited to meet "Tollin" and promptly placed a baseball mitt on his lap so they could play catch. So cute. I don't think he's so sure about the whole situation!

Sunday was wonderful! My mom always said that she loved baby blessing days more than Christmas and now I know why. He started to cry right before it was time to go up, but we got him swaddled and asleep just in time for the blessing. On the other hand, I cried through most of it! And I was lucky enough to have three different people take notes, so we have most of what was said in writing. I am so grateful for the gospel! And I'm so grateful for a husband who is worthy and holds the priesthood. What a blessing that is!

These are my two sisters. Whenever I look at pictures of the three of us I can't help but think of that song.... "one of these things is not like the other... one of these things just doesn't belong" Haha. Luckily they both have on tall shoes so they look more my height at least:)

This is everyone that came to the blessing, minus Chase and his wife, and my cousin Leah.

Great Grandpa Jess, Grandma Ann, and Great Grandmother.

The Grandparents

Lindblom side, minus Christopher and Jael who are in Switzerland.

Evans side

Here's our munchkin in his blessing outfit that Grandma Ann bought for him.

The two most common commets I get are "Oh, look at those big eyes", and "Oh, he look at those little chicken legs!" There is a roll people!! Check out the chub on that thigh! Well, it's gettin' there anyway.

Our parents live less than a mile apart, which is SO convenient, but it's also hard to divide up the time equally. Memorial Day was so fun! We spent from 9-2 with the Evans and the rest of the day with the Lindbloms. We attempted to teach Collin to swim- he wasn't digging it. Actually he very loudly let us know that the water was not to his liking.

Check out that bottom lip!!! LOVE IT! It's so hard not to laugh when he pouts that out. He gets so indignant and want me to know! He's looking at me like, "What the heck Mom!" It's seriously my favorite face.

He only suffered a few minutes, then got bundled up and fell asleep in my arms. Such a love.

We were not without entertainment! David likes to scare us all with his acrobatics by jumping off the roof into the pool. Now he's trying flips. He's lucky he still has his teeth. . .

.. and so is this kid! Sweet Lane busted his mouth while running on the deck. After spurting blood and screaming it out for a few minutes he was ready to go swimming again, much to Grandma's chagrin. I thought it was funny that everyone kept asking Travis to check his teeth and make sure they were ok. I was thinking "Uhhhh, he's only done one year of dental school..... not sure if he's qualified to do that, but oh well!" It made everyone feel better I guess, haha. By the way, doesn't he have the most amazing eyes!

After swimming and eating the day away, we went with my family to go see the Night at the Museum sequel. Pretty funny movie.

And at the end of the night, my cousin Leah came over for one last visit. I thought it was funny that even though my eyes burned from exhaustion and I could tell her's were doing the same, we still could talk for hours. We used to have sleepovers and Shelley barely lasted past midnight, but Leah and I would talk until the sun came up. We get along so well. I love her to death and hate living so far away from her!

We had such a fun trip and can't wait to do it again in July! Woohoo!

Another week....

Well, it's midnight and I couldn't sleep..... I know- I'm just as surprised as you! So I decided to do a post. I actually got a decent nap today so my body must just not know what to do with enough sleep. I never know what my posts will be about until I upload the week's pictures, so here's what came up this time!

I was swaddling Collin on Tuesday night and I got up to grab something and when I walked back in the room I found the little turkey watching T.V!!! Now, if he's going to be contaminated at such a young age, at least it's with one of my favorite shows! Haha. And I'm so sad the finale is this week. So I have to put a plug in for my favorite, Kris. I've never voted in any other season, but I'm voting now because we can't let Adam win!!! I know it's inevitable, but gosh darn that guy BUGS! Enough with the ugly screaming already! And ditch the eyeliner and black nail polish! Pu-lease!

Blue Steel, take two. :)

For one of Trav's presents I got him Bison tickets. The Bisons are Buffalo's baseball team but they are just a farm team for the Mets. As you can see from the seats behind us, it was a packed game. :) It's was actually pretty fun, we haven't been to a baseball game in a while. Our friends, Bron and Megan came too with their baby, Lily. As you can see from my jacket, it was a pretty chilly night. Trav pretended to be helpful all night by holding Collin, but really he was just trying to stay warm! Just kidding, but seriously :) We are planning a short trip to AZ this week and I don't know if I can handle 100 degree weather! I'm starting to think 70 degrees is too warm! Anyway.... afterward we hit up Applebees happy hour and were thrilled to be accompanied by the high school prom crowd. Complete with matching neon orange dresses and suits no less. I should have taken a picture!

The Buffalo Bison was making his rounds so we snagged a picture. Collin was thrilled, or maybe just sleepy. Hard to tell :)

Milestones

HaPpY MoThEr'S DaY!

Haha, now who wouldn't want this little bundle of joy?! :)

Well, this past Sunday was my first Mother's Day and I finally understood why my mom dislikes this "holiday" so much. Not that it isn't full of good and honorable intentions, but it's a little awkward in church when the speakers are going on and on about how wonderful women/mothers are and all you want to do is squirm in your seat and think of all your shortcomings! However, I do think my mom is the grooviest around and my I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in- law! I was a bit disappointed in our ward gift though..... I love flowers, but Southern Estates does it right with a giant Symphony Bar! :)

Trav was so sweet and got this Willow Tree figurine for me. I LOVE it- he did good! And Collin got me The Giving Tree book. I didn't grow up with that book, so it's new to me, but I have a feeling it will be a tear jerker through the years. And check out the treasure on the back!

Yowzeers! Most authors put a small snapshot on the inside cover, but not this guy! Now, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but this would have scared the crap out of me as a kid!


Moving on..... tomorrow is Collin's 2 month birthday! His doctor's appt. isn't until Friday though, so I won't have his stats until then. He is such a sweet boy. Most people say he looks like Trav, but a couple have said he has my eyes. They are dark blue though and it's an ongoing debate as to whether they'll turn brown. He is so smiley and coos up a storm! He's also learned to bite down with his gums after he's done eating and is bored. That has GOT to stop quick! :) I can only imagine what it will feel like when he has teeth!

I love his dimples and bald head. When I saw this picture I couldn't help but think, "ET phone home!" Haha.

And he's already decided what he's going to be when he grows up... a shot put thrower! :) Or is this the pose that football players make?.... I dunno!

April showers.....

bring May flowers!!

So last week, I was dying to go for a jog all day and knew I had to hurry because it was supposed to rain. Well right when I stepped out the door, the sprinkles started. No worries, I would just go quick and it probably wouldn't rain too hard. WRONG! In just a couple of minutes it downpoured. I thought my eyeballs would get bruised from the missles falling from the sky. It only took two miles for me to be drenched from head to toe. And I wanted to cut off my hair rather than pick the nasty rats nest out! It was BAD.

On the bright side, we got these beautiful tulips bloomin' in our front yard!

And for our last bit of news.... Trav is officially done with his first year of dental school! And this is how he spent his first day off- weeding the front planters. :) He has a month of spring extension, but technically those classes are second year credits. I can't believe the first year is over. We've had the best time here in the armpit of New York! Seriously though, it's been such an amazing experience. I'm so proud of Trav and all the work he's done (no way would I have the motivation/brain power/patience to do what he's doing). He's studied countless hours, become an online Risk champion, tormented poor Jacob :), and eaten more wings than anyone else I know. (Well.... besides Doug and Bron!) Just kidding, but seriously. Trav, I love you and am so grateful I get to be on this adventure with you!

HELP!

I don't know what else to do. It all started back in college. My roommate's sister was in town and spending the night with us when it first happened. I was having a nightmare (I still remember every detail) and I started hyperventilating in my sleep. My roommate's sister had 911 dialed in her phone when I finally woke up. They said it was so scary because they woke up to me violently sucking in air like it was my last breath. They thought I was having an asmtha attack or something similar, and they couldn't wake me up.

Now, having nightmares is nothing new to me, but the hyperventilating started then. Ever since, it's only occured rarely, until now. Over the past year or so I've been averaging a couple a month and this past week I've had five, two being last night.

Trav will usually try to shake me out of it, but sometimes he's afraid to do that because one time it made me freak out even more. When he touched me, that was the "bad guy" grabbing me. Most of my dreams are of getting attacked, some are of random ways that I'm dying (falling off a cliff, drowning) and others involve scary things happening to Collin that I can't stop.

Maybe you think I love horror movies or read Steven King novels, but it's quite the opposite. The last horror movie I watched was The Grudge, and that was back when Trav and I were dating. I hate scary/gory shows and books. My favorite shows are American Idol and The Office, and I'm currently reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven. And if my dreams truly corrolated with disturbing things I had just done/watched, then how do you explain last night? Trav and I watched the Disney movie, Bedtime Stories, read scriptures, said prayers, and went to bed. And then I had two horrible nightmares.

Things seem to be escalating too. In my dreams, I'm always trying to scream, but I can't. It's like I have no voice. Well last week I found my voice. I was asleep and Trav was studying downstairs when I screamed out "HELP!" with everything I had. He came running, but I had woken myself up with the scream. Things are always out of my control. Like I'll push on the brake as hard as I can while driving, but the car won't stop in time or do what I want it to do.

Usually the nightmares involve dying, which is scary enough, but every once in a while I swear it's like there's an evil presence in my dream. I've racked my brain to think of something in my life that is causing that. The only thing I can think of is the music I listen to when I exercise. It's not Satanic or even "screamo" music, but it's the R&B/rap music that's fun to dance to. Music that's on the radio like 98.5. It's not Mo Tab, but I wouldn't think it would warrant evilness.

Does anyone else suffer from this? Any solutions?I know I'm high strung and a "worrier", but how do you change that? I've always been that way. I don't get enough sleep as it is, but now I'm interrupting what little sleep I do get with panic-sleep attacks and my loud hyperventilating is waking up not only Trav, but now Collin. I don't know what to do. Help.

Feliz Cumpleanos!

Yep- it's true, this guy turned 26 yesterday! Hard to believe, huh? :)

I think his mother should get a present on his birthday every year, because Trav was the "unwanted" fourth child in five years! Haha. Poor Paula had her hands full! And boy am I thankful she endured! Now this goof ball is ALL MINE! :)

So UB doesn't recognize Cinco de Mayo as a holiday.... so poor Trav had to take a final on his special day. :( Besides that, he got to eat donuts for breakfast, open some fun presents, go shopping, eat imatation Cafe Rio for dinner, and have friends over for cake and ice cream!

We went shopping as a fam, and Collin had a great time blowing bubbles while we shopped! This is his latest pastime.

Trav dodged a picture for a while, then finally allowed one.

Ok. I thought this was cool! At Aeropostale, the glass doors on the changing rooms are clear until the worker puts their key in and then it changes so you can't see through anymore. The stall on the left is empty, so you can see the bench, but the one Trav is in, is fogged up! Perhaps you've already seen this, but we never shop anymore, so it was new to me!

Here he is opening his new Badmitton set. Yeah, he's all about Badmitton lately..... I don't know. He also got a soccer ball and baseball tickets.

Hopefully you can tell that this is supposed to be a tooth.... I thought it worked out pretty good, which was shocking, because ideas like that NEVER work out when I try them!

Jacob and Katie got him a nerf gun. He was more than thrilled.

And here is Collin the next morning, still pooped from the previous days activites. :)

OK, so now this story HAS to be shared. If you've ever seen the episode of The Office, when it's Michael's birthday, you'll appreciate this. Late last night, Trav texted my sister Marcie this- "Hey, Happy Birthday Marcie". You see, Michael did this because no one remembered his birthday.... so he would call someone and wish them a Happy Birthday. They would say, "it's not my birthday." And then he would say, "oh, I thought we had the same birthday." After a long pause, they would grumble, "Happy Birthday Michael." Haha. Ok, so Trav sends the text, and Marcie texts back, "Huh? It's Cinco de Mayo.... I'm not Mexican!!" bahahaha. You gotta love Marcie. It didn't even click. My two sisters battle for the dumb blonde award constantly and it's hilarious! I love em' to death! I join in occasionally :) Just ask me about my peanut butter story.... yeah, it's a doozy!

Ok, now I just have to share a few tidbits about my Travy...

1- He is quite the neat person. What I mean by "neat" is... I NEVER have to pick up clothes he's left on the floor. He squeezes the toothpaste tube from the bottom. His shirts are categorized by color. He hates when junk is left in the car. His "toiletries" all have their specific place on the shelf. He always wipes the toilet seat off after he's used it!! I like to joke that since I grew up cleaning the nasty toilet used by my four little brothers, I was blessed with a super clean husband! But best of all, he never complains when I happen to drop some clothes on the floor, squeeze the toothpaste out the middle, or leave some trash in the car. What a sweetie! :)

2- He likes to go shopping. Now I'm not saying that he begs me to go to the mall or even gets excited when I ask him to accompany me inside Forever 21, BUT he also never complains about it either! And he likes getting new clothes even though he hates spending the money.

3- He's a sucker for Drumsticks (the icecream kind), hamburgers, Toblerones, bacon, French Onion Sun Chips, Cafe Rio sweet pork burritos, Pepsi, and roast beef sandwiches. He doesn't so much like mushrooms, tomato soup, ranch, pie (what the... ?!) or fresh tomatoes.

4- He is GREAT with kids. Kids just seem to gravitate to him and he can always get them to laugh. He's a natural with them.

5- He read ALL the Harry Potter books in less than a month.

6- In high school, he favored the sports with the least amount of clothing, i.e. diving and wrestling. He actually got a new speedo for this birthday too! :)

6- He is the perfect man for me and is quite the romantic too. He actually likes talking with me! I hear this is rare for a guy, but we could talk for hours and frequently do :) For our first Christmas he made me the sweetest book he titled "The Bad Day Book". It was full of pictures of him making funny faces with little quotes of reasons why he loves me. It was for me to look at when I was having a bad day to cheer me up. For my 24th birthday I told him I didn't want any presents, I just wanted to have a fun day.... so he managed to find someone to take us flying and we even got to fly a little ourselves, then I got to go shopping, have dinner at my favorite restaurant then laugh the night away at a comedy club. It was my favorite birthday ever.

As Melissa likes to say... I think I won the hubby lottery too! :) I don't know how I got so dang lucky!