In 118 days

We get to do this all over again, and I can't wait! 


Can you believe how much life changes in 22 months?!?

Your wedding day is the best day of your life... until you have a baby.  So when you have another baby, it means there is a tie for Best Day of Your Life!  Awesome, right?  I know.  I love love love the newborn stage.  The squeaky little noises, the constant diaper changing, the never sleeping, the lactating at the grocery store when someones kid cries because you are a MOM now.  It might not sound that glamorous but seriously, there is no better feeling than holding a brand new baby and knowing that you and the hubby actually made this little miracle.  And the whole 'nobody knows your baby like you do' thing is pretty amazing.  What could be better? I say nothing could be better. 
 
My whole life I wanted to be a mom.  I tossed around other career options like becoming a teacher or nurse, but I knew in my heart I wanted to stay home and sing the ABC's and watch Sesame Street.  I have all the qualifications needed; like numerous pairs of pajama pants, being able to manage on 3 hours of sleep and I have endless amounts of patience for little people.  Which may explain why I don't have much patience for adults.  I give it all to the kids, and I'm o.k. with that.

On another note I only have 1 rule for this new baby scheduled to arrive on April 14th.  This fetus of mine may come on any date other than April 7th.  Let me explain... Once you become a mom, your life is no longer your own.  Ever. Again!  You get approximately 2 days for yourself now, Mother's Day and your birthday.  And even then you still have motherly duties to tend to.  My 30th birthday is April 7th.  So I obviously made my doctor grab his black sharpie marker and note in my patient file that the 7th is simply not an option for delivery.  He knows I'm serious.  And that's why Dr. Thomas is the most amazing doctor ever.  As selfish as this all sounds, I must admit it is completely true.  If this baby decides to arrive on the 7th it won't be the end of the world but it will mean the days for 'just me' are cut in half.  Being a mom means being selfless so I guess I will just have to deal :) since I know it will all be totally worth it in the end.

What I really can't wait to see is Collin's little face when he sees 'his baby' for the first time.  He is so excited to be a Big Brother.  He kisses my belly daily and says, "Hi baby, I'm your big brother."  It is enough to melt your heart and make you want to have a family as big as Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar from 19 kids and counting. 



O'Neill Thanksgiving

We celebrated with my mom's family on Thanksgiving.  My parents both have such large families so we trade off every year.  Next year we will spend Thanksgiving with the Woods gang.  Which will be so exciting since 3 new babies will be here by then!  I have been nominated as the family historian since I always have my camera with me.

Collin and Maddi.  Doesn't Maddi look so grown-up here!?

Uncle Josh, Collin and the Indian

Me, Deeds and Auds

Grammy, Bones and Auds

KO and Elisa

Frank, Bones and Dylan

Josh, Jeremiah, Megan and Cameron

Collin and Auds

Maddi, Yaya, Bones and Brody

Brody and Papa.

Collin and Uncle Miah

Having fun under the dining room table.

Cameron and Collin

Now on to the madness we call Christmas!

Nelson Thanksgiving

The best part about being pregnant during the holidays is actually having a real excuse to wear elastic waist pants!  The not so best part is the lack of cocktails to spread the holiday cheer.  The amount of food consumed in the last 2 weeks has been ridiculous and oh so delicious.  We had a great time the Saturday before Thanksgiving with Cameron's family.  We have so much to be thankful for and family is at the top of the list.  It is so nice to spread out the festivities and not have to run all over town stuffing our faces.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from our early Turkey day!

When you get our Christmas card just pretend you haven't seen this picture before, ok?

So thankful for these two!

The seesters in their matching aprons.

Thankful for cheesy prom poses.

Boys just being boys.

Checking out the doggies from upstairs.

Robbie tending to the little ones.

How cute are these two?!?

Raise your hand if you are stinkin' adorable!

Not bad for 5 wiggly kids :)

Serious discussion going on here.

Collin loved Aunt Jean's magnifying glass collection.

Uncle Duane, Ashley and Curtis

Don and Robbie

Jean, Bill, Rhondi, Rocco, Barbara, Stefanie and Brian

The Pia Family

Uncle Bill and Aunt Barbara

Rachel and Ashley

Just a little sip...



Collin saying goodbye to his girlfriend Helen.  He is in love with her.  Seriously!



Helen and Collin last Thanksgiving.  Obviously a lasting relationship.



Veterans Day

I know this is old news by now but it was a fun memory with Collin and a few of my cousins so I'm going to share.  The annual Veterans Day Parade downtown is awesome.  My parents took us as kids and it is fun to carry on the tradition.  There are a ton of floats, bands, military men, tanks, horses...  Serious eye candy for a little kid!  We patiently waited 1 1/2 hours for this thing to start because the internet is a horrible liar and said it started at 10:00, so not true!  That's a long time for a 21 month old to wait out in the cold.  MoMo bought Collin a flag that kept him entertained for a while.  And when he was over that she just tossed him around a bit to keep him laughing. 

Collin loves his MoMo.  Especially when she does this!

He's probably peeing his pants right about now...

Just some fake cries to show his frustration with the looooong wait.



I think it's starting!

 



Worth the wait to see this cute little face.

He loved the parade.

Veterans Day Parade 2010

Veterans Day Parade 2009

Collin has grown so much since last year!

Thank you to all the Veterans who have served and are serving for our country!